Project Updates - Mons, Napoleonic Austrians and Antietam

I've been busy with podcast and painting activities, meaning little time for blogging. But, this blog is intended as a long term diary of thoughts and hobby progress so fear not dear readers!

Firstly, the podcast is going great guns. I am really pleased with how things are going and the amount of downloads suggests that there is a market for it! The next episode should be out tonight with an interview with Greg Wagman from Little Wars TV Suffice to say I really hope Greg returns to the podcast at some point - maybe with another member of the team who can extol the virtues of 6mm :-)

Hobby wise, I have now completed a division of British and a division of Germans for my Mons game using Great War Spearhead.

The first picture is before the 'Magic' is added. The 'Magic' is Windsor and Newton Nut Brown ink. It really is magic as you'll see. I am very much of the minimalist school of painting. Especially with 6mm, for me it's about getting enough done to let the viewer know what they are looking at, without fussing over every last belt and strap. These Germans have been sprayed with Halfords Grey primer then 5 colours added. Army Painter Leather Brown for the boots, pouches ans hair, Army Painter Fur Brown for the rifle, Army Painter Plate Mail for the rifle barrels, Army Painter Barbarian Flesh for the er....flesh and Army Painter Skeleton Bone for the helmets.

This picture shows the before and after the 'Magic' . Up close and personal it may look a bit rough, but at gaming distance (the 3 foot rule...) they look excellent!

The next three pictures are the whole division minus two infantry units I'd already done as a test for the scheme. Always useful to paint a unit or two up two nail down what colours go where. In 6mm, this can be literally half an hour or even less and is time well spent. I painted the rest of the divison in a long afternoon.

And for those who haven't seen it in the flesh, this is the wash (actually an ink) that I use. Per Broden from Roll a One and Dr Mike Salwey who runs the painting clinics at Joy of 6 and the Partizan shows were the original proponents of this ink. The magic refers to the way the ink runs into the creases and crevices of the 6mm figure leaving the principle colour practically unchanged. There is a slight darkening of the main colour, which is why you should always use a colour a shade lighter than you would for larger figures.

I'm not sure it works so well on larger figures and would sticj to Agrax or the Army Painter shades for anything larger. But this little jar really is 'Talent in a Jar' and is highly recommended. There are other shades such as Peat Brown which works but I would expoeriment and see what works for you.

In other news, I have painted up the first two regiments of Confederates for the Antietam game. I have painted Rebs in every scale going and for some reason love it! I think it's the freedom to use so many different uniform combinations, getting away from a 'uniform' look! The plan is to get them done by Christmas. This might be a bit optimistic. I am confident I'll get a game on before Christmas playing the Bull Run Altar of Freedom scenario as it's quite small in Altar of Freedom terms with only around a dozen bases per side. I'll update with progress as I go.

The Napoleonic Austrians are going well. No pictures yet, but I'm well on the way to having the Baccus army pack done, and have ordered extras to bolster them out to complete the order of battle for the Sacile scenario using Blucher. So, Grenzers, Jaegers, Grenadiers plus some infantry in helmets are on their way to me.

That'll do for now. Hopefully time for some more painting later. I'm also awaiting bases from Warbases for the Germans so I'm hoping the postman has a small package for me later.

As ever, play nice and keep talking about six.

Robert Dunlop

Hugely interesting chat with Robert Dunlop tonight for the podcast.

Robert has done an awful lot to bring the Great War to life on the tabletop. His mega games at the Joy of Six are hugely inspirational. I heartily recommend that you head over without delay to his  Great War Spearhead website to check out the fantastic pictures of his games over the years.

As a taster check out this image of his recreation of the battle of the Somme from 2016.

Robert gives an insight in his inspiration, how he buids the games and how he paints and collects the thousands of figures he uses in his games.

The podcast episode should be up early next week.

Just Do It!

How many times do you have a fit of enthusiasm for some hobby time, only to it down and suddenly all of your mojo flitters away leaving you sat slumped shouldered and fed up?

What about when the 'new shiny' syndrome hits and figures are bought at a show. You rush home full of expectation, sit at your hobby desk, only to find  yesterdays project sitting in the way. So you clear that away to make room, promising to yourself that you'll get back to it later. Several years later you find that long forgotten project in the dark recesses of your cupboard, unloved and unwanted.

Or, you sit down wanting to crack on with a new painting technique you've just read about on the internet only to find either you have no figures prepped for painting, or that they are undercoated in white and the new technique calls for zenithal highlighting over a black undercoat.

Then there's that time when your enthusiasm is positively spilling over. You've got a clean jar of water. Paper towel to the side. A new fangled wet palette to try out. Your figures primed 'on trend'. Your brushes have a perfect tip that will be perfect for the smallest detail. This is it! Your ready to crack on with your British for your long dreamt of Napoleonic project.

 Now, where's that bottle of Scarlet from Vallejo. A rummage through your paints finds Pure Red. No. Not right at all. Carmine Red? Too light. Cavalry Brown? No, that's from when you were painting in the Dallimore way. You're a basecoat and wash man now. Blood Angels Red? Don't be daft, you're a serious historical gamer. Ah, there it is. Scarlet Red. You give it a shake. Mmmm. Doesn't seem like there's much in the bottle. You squirt out a mixture of air bubbles and that creamy medium with a spot of red in it. Never mind, you know you bought a new bottle at the last show. But where is it?

3 hours later, you've given up and gone back downstairs in a huff to read the latest polemic on TMP.

My advice? Just get on with it. Those figures aren't going to paint themselves. 10 minutes a day yields suprising results. And if you cant find your Scarlet Red, well, Blood Angels Red is pretty close and you're going to splash Nut Brown all over it anyway - so Just Do It!

More soon...and remember, keep talking about six.

Episode 2 with Peter Riley, talking the Little Bighorn.

God's Own Scale Episode 2 is now out and available on all good podcast apps. It should appear over to the right hand side very soon.

A nice chat with Peter Riley (rules writer extrordinaire) about his award winning Battle of the Little Bighorn game.

Enjoy!

Project Updates.

A quick post to update on my 6mm porjects for the rest of this year (subject to change at a moments notice of course!)

1. Thiepval

This remains in the purchasing, research and ideas phase. I don't anticipate the actual painting or construction phase to start until the autumn. I have plenty of thoughts around how to represent the wire, woods, the elevations and the trenches. I'm actually picking up the trenches this week from Timecast having had the email that they were ready whilst I was away on holiday.

2. Antietam

The figures will be collected at The Other Partizan. Painting for this project will start failry soon towards the end of August and I anticipate that they will be done fairly quickly once I get going. Given the opportunity of a couple of full days, I think I could make sterling progress. To actually get the game on the table, I am aiming for the end of the year. However, I do intend to play a couple of the smaller battles as I go. Certainly 1st Bull Run should be playable pretty quickly.

3. The Alma

Using War Against Russia, and Irregular Miniatures, this is nearly ready!. Just artillery and officers to be painted. Interestingly, the board for the scenarios in the rules covering all of the major actions, is 22" x 16". This is roughly the same size as a cork notice board, which I shall be using to construct a dedicated board for the game. Apologies for the rather poor picture of the painted foot figures.

4. 1809 Austrian Napoleonics.

This is my joint project with Ade. I've painted one unit as a test and intend to crack on with the rest over the next few weeks. At The Other Partizan I'll probably pick up some Austrian infantry in helmets which were still in use in 1809 as well as a bit more cavalry. More on this very soon.

And that's it....





Actually no. No, it's not.

5. Whilst in Ypres, I was inspired to look at the Mons scenario from the Great War Spearhead 2 rulebook. Okay, Ypres, isn't close to Mons, but Mons is the first major enagagment for the B.E.F. With the figures for this battle, I'll be able to do the retreat to the Marne, 1st Ypres and maybe even into early 1915, with Loos. So, on impulse, whilst away enjoying the lovely wines and food of the Rhineland Palatinate, I ordered the figures for the the Mons scenario which will also be collected at the Other Partizan.

So that really is it. A major problem in the past has been overwhelming myself with too many projects and amassing a lead pile of shame. I think what I have in the list above is manageable, with short term and long term projects that I hope to progress to a conclusion within the time periods specified. That's not to say there aren't other projects that are on my mind. ECW, Punic Wars, WW2, Spanish Succssion, WotR and Zulu Wars are all on the agenda. But, I'll resist any purchase or serious thought until major progres is made on the above 5 projects.

Yeah, right....!

More soon...

I can't possibly paint anything so BIG!

The common refrain often heard about 6mm, and often repeated by Peter Berry is the comment "I can't possibly paint anything so small". It might be felt that at times this attitude is at times somewhat apocryphal, if it wasn't for it being repeated across social media, forums and in conversation with the unenlightened.

Only yesterday I read a post on Twitter about somebody complaining about failing eyesight and the impossibility of painting anything smaller than 28mm. To this, I would say 'Hogwash, poppycock and buncum'. I'll reverse the phrase and suggest 'I can't possibly paint anything so BIG!'. Stick with me for a moment.

Unless your primary enjoyment is painting  buttons, lapels and cross belts, this hobby is about playing with toy soldiers. Wargaming encompasses many disciplines whether that be painting, research, making scenery or rolling dice. But to my mind, the principle goal is to actually play with your toy soldiers, either recreating historical battles or playing plausible games in your chosen period in a fictional setting.

I went to a show in Reading 10 years or so ago. There was a magnificent display game refighting the Battle of Blenhiem in 28mm. Thousands of figures from flank to flank on a table at least 16 foot long. Really very nice. But it wasn't a game, more of a static display. And how long must it have taken the players to paint it all up - never mind the scenery. I was led to believe that the figures were painted by just one or two of the players at the table. As a veteran gamer, the very thought of the effort to put on such a mammoth game made my head hurt. But what about the newcomer to the hobby? I imagine, that although aspirational, the newcomer would think 'blimey, I couldn't paint all that...and how much to buy all of the figures?"

I'm not bashing the larger scales here. There are some fantastic displays at shows up and down the country and the magazines are full of them. But, goodness me. The larger scales aren't the be all and end all of the hobby, despite what the hobby press and most shows might seem to suggest.

Lets take a pretty standard unit of 24 British figures for the War of Spanish Succession. In 28mm, to paint them to a tabletop standard - ignoring buttons, but getting the colour where it needs to go might take at least 3 painting sessions of maybe 2-3 hours. I haven't hard evidence of this but I reckon I could paint 8 figures in a session. That may be optimistic, and they certainly wouldn't be figures that would withstand close scrutiny. But I think I could do it. This works out at least 15 minutes per figure, but in reality would be closer to 20 minutes with no highlighting; at most a basecoat and a wash. So lets settle on 3 hours per night totalling 9 hours to paint 1 unit of 24 figures.

Compare and contrast, dear reader, with the same unit in 6mm. Arguably painted to the same level - basecoat and wash. There are two or three methods for painting 6mm to a good standard. Peter Berry published a guide on the Baccus website link here using a black undercoat. He estimates that his method works out at 2 minutes per figure using a production line method. Another method is to spray the figure the principle colour - red, blue, grey or whatever, block in the detail and then wash with a dark brown ink whether that be the Army Painter range, those GW washes or even artists inks from Windsor and Newton. I have used this method previously and would estimate a similar amount of time per figure as the black undercoat method.

So, at 2 minutes per figure, my maths works that out at 48 minutes per unit. In the time it takes to paint your 28mm unit, you can paint at least 11 units of 6mm figures. And I have to say to paint your 28mm unit in that time, you're probably not going to be running around showing them off as your best painted figures ever. Probably. Of course someone may prove me wrong on this and knock out an award winning unit in an hour. But I doubt it!

Over the course of a month of painting your 6mm figures, I'd hazard a guess that you could paint the best part of an army for a small to medium game. In 28mm, you might manage 3 units. Not quite enough to play with. Maybe 6 months later, you might get those figures on the table. Returning to an earlier point, if painting the buttons, lapels and crossbelts in 3 shades, I doubt you'd get that far.

Now, if painting is your main pleasure with a game once in a blue moon, then that's fine. As I've said before, and I say again, this hobby is a broad church with room for us all. However, if you've just come into the hobby looking to fight your first battle on the dining room table, then 6mm is an excellent choice. If you're an Ancients gamer there are many great ranges, but the handily produced boxed armies available from Rapier here make getting a game on your table quickly very easy.

Take for example their Republican Romans which for £14.50 you get:

• 1 Mounted General
• 3 x 54 Hastati / Princeps
• 1 x 54 Triarri
• 1 x 24 Velites
• 1 x 18 Heavy Cavalry

240 foot figures and 19 mounted. At 2 minutes per figure that works out at around 9 hours painting, allowing  more for the mounted.

How about some Carthaginians to oppose them: 

• Mounted Command
• 2 x 54 Infantry (African & Spanish)
• 1 x 36 Gallic Infantry
• 2 x 24 Skirmishers
• 1 x 18 Punic Heavy Cavalry
• 1 x 15 Spanish Light Cavalry
• 1 x 12 Numidian Cavalry

192 foot figures and 46 mounted figures. Again I would think 9 hours would get these done. So 18 hours work and you have two small armies within a months work at most to play a game. Try that in 28mm.

So, I ask you, how can you possibly paint anything so BIG!

Somme 4

I have now had word from Timecast that my trenches and other bits are done for my Somme game, I shall collect them on my return from holiday in early August.

I spent sometime yesterday furthering my research into the Thiepval sector, during which I came across this letter, written by the Rev. Major R. H. Royle, M.C,, 11th Manchesters at Stuff Redoubt.

"And what of Thiepval today? A few scarred lumps., a score or more smashed up stones, one solitairy civilian grave (alas, how many more graves of our brave laddies?) mark the site of what was once a flourishing and contented village.Yet, the scene is not without a brighter side. Within a mile of poor devastated Thiepval, shell holes have been filled in, barbed wire removed and trenches blocked up. Already the French peasants are reaping their harvest, back once more in their own part of their beloved France, living like foxes in holes in the ground, old Nissen Huts, trench shlketers - anywhere, but full of joy at being home again after nearly five years in exile. At Pozieres, a little child was playing on a swing on the top of our old battalion HQ..."

published in the Salford City Reporter, 1919, after Major Royle had returned to the battlefield that year.,

What a moving piece of writing, telling of the continuation of things following the devastation of the previous few years. It can often be forgotten that the battlefields we study and walk were the homes, back yards and work places of the civilians who inhabited the lands before war visited them. And what of them once the fighting had stopped. what was left for them to rebuild those shattered lives?

Spending Money and Antietam 1

One of the favourite pastimes for any wargamer worth his or her salt, is spending money. It must be so, judging by the amount of posts you see across social media discussing 'lead mountains'.

For the uninitiated, a lead mountain is the pile of unpainted figures  gamers accrue over a period of time. Presumably with the intention of painting and playing with it at some point. Though judging by some accounts, there are people with unpainted figures that they purchased years ago.

I am no different. Having said that, this year has seen an unprecedented purge in my collection, to the point where 'nearly' everything that hasn't seen the light of day for a few years, painted or not, has been sold on. Which is both cathartic and a little bit scary!

With my recent commitment into 6mm, I already have several projects, both large and small on the go. From a small Crimean collection from Irregular Miniatures which will cover all of the major battles, to my Somme project for the Joy of Six 2020, and now...the American Civil War.

I have talked about my own interest in this period elsewhere. It is an enduring passion of mine that is difficult to explain. I have always loved the old black and white cowboy films and played with the Airfix ACW figures as a child. My introduction to the Stoke club was playing large scale American Civil War battles in 25/28mm. This inspired my first forays into historical research reading the likes of Bruce Catton and James McPherson.

This coincided with the first airing on TV of the Ken Burns documentary. Since then I have lost count of the number of times I have watched/listened to that series whilst painting. Films like Glory and Gettysburg also had a significant impact on me. So, having found myself recently sans an ACW collection, it was only a matter of time before I dove back into the period.

I have been hugely taken by the Little Wars TV series on YouTube. In the last post I linked to their recreation of Antietam using their own Altar of Freedom wargames rules. I have had these for some time and although I'm yet to play them, they read very well and having a couple of battle reports on YouTube helps with understanding how they work.

Having talked about the relative costs of fighting a battle like Antietam on a grand tactical scale, I have taken the plunge and ordered enough figures for the scenario in the Altar of Freedom supplement, All Quiet on the Potomac. I'm picking them up at Partizan on 18th August.

I can't wait to get going.

P.S.

Anyone looking for a good one volume account of the Battle of Antietam should get this book. Written by Stephen Seers, it is a very readable account that covers all of the bases. It's also available on Audible for those that use that service. He has written other books on specific battle of war including Gettysburg and Chancellorsville.

Price

Price, and perceived value of what you get for your money can be touchy subjects in our hobby.

When I first started at the Stoke club back in 1989/90, Dixon 25mm American Civil War figures were all the rage. We gamed with them almost exclusively playing large ACW battles out over a period of 4 or 5 weeks. Nearly everybody in our room at the club (10-12 of us) bought and collected some Dixon's to contribute. At the time they were 50p a figure. We would play usually a 1:40 scale and so a unit of 10 figures would represent a regiment of 400 on the table. We occasionally doubled up the units to 20 figures if we were playing a particularly small battle. The discussion around the club, as prices started to rise would be that if ever figures even approached the £1 mark, it would be the end for us.

Well, we are still here. Dixon figures (still my favourite 25/28mm figures ever!) are now £1.50 each. Most metal figures in the scale are over £1. With plastics such as Perry, the cost of a figure has actually come down to just over 55p each which is amazing if you can be bothered to glue hundreds of the buggers together!

For me, gaming in God's Own Scale has numerous advantages, not least of which is cost. As I start to work out what periods I want to do in the coming months (...most of them!), I thought I'd take a look at comparative costs between the various scales. To put it into some context, I have chosen to look at the Antietam scenario for Altar of Freedom. You can see a video AAR from the Little Wars team here Antietam is always a battle I have wanted to game at a Grand Tactical level but never gotten around to it.

Working from the OOB in the Altar of Freedom scenario book, the requirements are:

Infantry - 1920
Cavalry - 72
Guns - 28
Generals - 10

This works on the assumption of 24 infantry to a regiment, 9 cavalry to a regiment and 1 gun to a battery. To purchase this complete from Baccus would be somewhere, around £178.70, opting for the cheapest options available (i.e. unit or booster packs). Rapier would I think come out a bit cheaper and when I do come to ordering the figures, I will be getting some Rapier for variety.

TYPE	TOTALS	PERRY	DIXON	PETER PIG	PENDRAKEN
INFANTRY	1920	1066	2316	816	336
CAVALRY	72	120	288	61.2	26.25
GUNS	28	200	245	95.2	49
GENERALS	10	30	40	14	3.5
	£	1416	2889	986.4	414.75

To explain my choices. Perry Miniatures are by far the cheapest way to game in 28mm, using all plastics. They do have a significant range of metal figures to supplement their ACW range, but the above numbers are based on plastics, apart from the Generals.

Dixon, as stated are my favourite figures and so it was interesting to see just how much it would cost me to do a large ACW battle in metal.

Peter Pig have, in my opinion the best 15mm ACW range around, as do Pendraken in 10mm. If I was to choose to do this battle in any of the scales mentioned, these manufacturers would be my choice - in 28mm, Dixon if I had the cash, Perry if I didn't.

It's no surprise that 6mm comes out significantly cheaper. You get less metal for a start. But also remember the space saving. To play the Antietam scenario as written in 28mm probably needs a 12'x6' table and in 10/15mm, probably a 8'x6' table to fit in all of the features required to make it a decent representation of the field of battle.

If you haven't clicked the Little Wars link, go and do it now and just have a look at how the table looks that the guys play the battle on. It's pretty amazing, including Burnside's Bridge, the Sunken Road and the Dunker Church. It's all there. If you walked up to that table at a wargames convention with no figures on it and no other material to give it away, I'm pretty sure any Civil War enthusiast would be able to work out which battlefield they were looking at.

This isn't to denigrate the larger scales. If you have the space, the money and the time to paint over 2000 figures to do this project from scratch, then I congratulate you. I'm sure it would look awesome and be a hell of a thing to see. But, again referring back to the Little Wars re-fight, to my eyes, that looks equally awesome and it is what I intend to do. So for the last 6 months of the year, alongside my Somme game and other gaming commitments, I'll be blogging my own interpretation of the Antietam scenario for Altar of Freedom.

I'm on holiday for a couple of weeks. WiFi permitting, I'll write a couple of further posts, but until then - play nice!

Joy of Six 2019

A truly wonderful visit to Sheffield for the Joy of Six 2019 last Sunday. I can't put my finger on why this show felt so different, but it did! Maybe because everyone there was of a similar mindset. Our hobby is in a real golden age where we have never had so much choice, but with that comes more and more dilution and diversity as gamers choose their own preferred version of what this hobby is. 

Years ago, if you played Ancients, you most likely played WRG. If you played WW2, maybe WRG 1925-50 or latterly Rapid Fire. ACW? Probably Fire and Fury from the mid 90's onwards.

Now though there are dozens of rules sets, in every period imaginable, with figures ranges from 2mm and up for your chosen period. So, the coming together of people with a love of one scale in particular for me is the primary factor. Yes, the games ran from Biblical to Modern, from rioting Brexiteers to the snow covered planet of Hoth, but the one linking factor for all of the games was 6mm. 

I took quite a few pictures, but not as mnay as I'd like, and not in any sort of order. Must try better next time.

This was an excellent Vimeiro game from Kevan Baker and chums. He took the time to explain the scenario, lay out and aims of the refight, for which I was most appreciative. 

 Didn't get details of this one, I'm afraid, but it was a Great Northern War set up and looked splendid.

 A XXX corps dash up Hells Highway towards Son bridge. South London Warlords put this on using mainly GHQ kit. Looked amazing and I think really highlights the problems XXX corps had trying to charge up a single highway

 I was sad not to get more details of this game or who ran it because it looked wonderful. From a glance it was Pirates and a small seaside community about to be paid a visit.

 Qadesh using Big Battle DBA. Again, I didn't get back to this game to discuss progress or the incentive behind the game. Lovely though!

 Award for most bonkers game of the show (...and quite possibly the most bonkers game I have ever seen) was this. Brexit, the Riot years. The aim for one side was to escort the PM from Westminster to Buckingham Palace to hand in her resignation and then to No' 10 to collect her things and fly off into the sunset. Unfortunately there mobs of looters and rioters in her way, and the tabloid press were present to record it all. The 3 gents playing the game were well into it and it looked great fun. Used the old Riot! rules from Matthew Hartley and available from Irregualr Miniatures.

 A new manufacturer of 6mm scenery whom I forgot to take the name of...zoom in on the picture and you will make it out. Absolutely gorgeous stuff here. I nearly went back and got the church which was only £8! Great value.

 Nick Overland playing Target Saigon, 1975 and the last days of the Vietnam War. I tihnk they were using something like Sabre Squadron for rules. This was in the early stages as the White Star forces made their way from the jungle towards what looked to be a heavily defended village with lots of NVA in attendance.

 This game intrigued me, put on as it was by Gripping Beast. Not sure on the forces, but Martin and Andy were explainign that it is the big battle variant on Swordpoint. Looked very nice and engaging.

I'd like to award this game the Gods Own Scale Silver. James billed this game as Jaco (Bite) sized Culloden. I was very taken with the game, the presentation and the overall feel for the whole thing. The mat was custom made by Tiny Wargames, I believe at a cost that made my eyes water! But, lovely and again, I was sorry that I didn't get back to take a closer look.

 A new company to me from Poland, GM Boardgames. They are producing 3D printed figures and were ahowing off Franco Prussian and ACW. I think that the cloth is from Cigar Box. Their figures looked excellent and whoever painted moustaches on the Franco Prussian War cavalry needs to be applauded.

 A very nice Normandy breakout game from the Mailed Fist using Iron Cross rules. A lot of the scenery came from GS Miniature Workshop. They produce those woods with a lift off canopy, allowing troops to be hidden inside them. Very nice!

 For many, the piece de resistance. Per Broden's Poltava. a 16' x 5' extravaganza. There are plenty of pictures across the webs of this. Check it out.

 6mm RCW from MAD gamers. I had a nice chat with Trevor at the end showing me how they had sourced all of the figures required for this project. Jolly good!

 Walt at Commission Figurines produced a spectacular Volley and Bayonet game set in 1813 and using his own MDF figures. These have to be seen so be believed. Incredible work from Walt.

 I didn't take as many pictures of this as I'd have liked. Robert Dunlop put on the Eastern front WW1 battle of Gnila Lipa (silent G!). Had a lovely chat with Robert. He and his games have been a huge influence on my own desire to put on Thiepval at the Joy of Six next year.

 More of Per's wonderful game, hopefully showing the detail he put into the presentation of the game.

Time ran away with me on the day. I can't remember the last time I stayed until the very end of a show. I attended both seminars which were great, but occupied 2 hours of the 6 hours of the show, so next year may give one of them a miss. I particulary enjoyed bumping into Neil Shuck and Mike Hobbs from the Meeples and Miniatures podcast and having a chat which led to an invite on their show. We recorded last night and the show should be out sometime next week. Purchases amounted to another British Divsion for the Thiepval game plus...an Austrian Napoleonic division to join my co-conspirator in gaming on his plans to refight the 1809 campaign. 

I've painted the first unit up in double quick time. Not too bad I think using the Windsor and Newton Nut Brown as my magic wash.

No pictures, but Dr Mike Salwey was in attendance as usual with his painting clinic. Fascinating to hear his thoughts on Contrast. I think the browns will work wonders on ACW Rebs!

So, Joy of Six recieves a 10/10  (or 6/6 as someone mentioned on Twitter!) and also a Gods Own Scale Special Award for Best Show of the year so far. Well done to Peter and his army of yellow shirt helpers for putting it all together to allow the customer to have such a great day.

I've also dug out some Heroics and Ros ACW gifted to me by Jeff Davis a good few yeras ago. Can't decide whether to rebase these for Altar of Freedom or just keep them as a nostalgia collection. The figures whilst beautifully painted in the main are tiny dating back to the early 1980's when Jeff painted them. On thge one hand there is enough here to refight most of the major engagements of the
ACW, on the other the sculpts don't really stand up to the modern likes of Rapier and Baccus.

I'll decide shortly!

More soon...

Sunday Looms

As I  type, the Joy of Six show is now only 3 days away. Ade is joining me on the adventure, eyeing up some Napoleonics for a Blucher project. I'm honestly not sure what I'm looking for, but will endeavour to share the spoils around as many of the traders as possible. They have shown willing to attend what is a niche market within a niche hobby. Okay, the attendees will all have a penchant for 6mm products anyway, but even so they deserve some support!

There has been an interesting debate on Twitter around the lack of 6mm articles in the mainstream wargames press. I bought my first magazine of the year this week which was Wargames Illustrated. The production quality is excellent and more colour photographs of toy soldiers than you can shake a stick at - but all of them 28mm models. In fact a couple of articles, w3hich were interesting reads in themselves, had the opportunity to highlight the availability of a relevant 6mm range of figures but it seems that 10mm was as low as the author would go.

There is the age old adage that an editor can only publish the articles he is provided with. Having highlighted the paucity of 6mm content in Wargames Illustrated, I took to Twitter and generated some discussion. It turns out John Treadaway, editor of Miniature Wargames had spoken at a seminar at the Joy of Six 2018 asking for more 6mm related articles. Guy Bowers of Wargames Soldier and Strategy has made similar pleas. It seems the biggest perceived obstacle is the difficulty of photographing 6mm so that it competes at an aesthetic level with 28mm (or even 15mm I suppose). I have to challenge this with the following gallery. Each of these pictures, to my eyes shows that not only can 6mm be photographed, 6mm games can look every bit as good as any other scale.

Each of these have been grabbed from a quick Google Image search.

This first picture is an old stock photo from Baccus, judging by the green base edging. The English Civil War horse have also been rescultped. But what a lovely little scene. Simple, but a sense of movement to these troops of horse as they make their way through a village.

With the fairly recent re-sculpting of the English Civil War range, Peter Berry has shown off here with the new Scots. For element based games such as Polemos ECW, a 60mm x 30mm base is standard. And mighty fine do the bases look. But, if funds allow why not double or treble that size and play with blocks like this?

Here we have one of the God Father of 6mm, Per Brodens many display games from the Great Northern War. A conflict about which I know absolutely nothing. But how can one say that 6mm figures don't photograph well when you see an image like this. Reminiscent of one of those old paintings depicting a battle scene. Marvellous!

So, 6mm only looks good on mass eh? Another image from Per's collection. I don't need to say any more.

Possibly one of my favourite images of 6mm figures ever. Peter produced this little scene to show off the figures, and he did a mighty fine job of it. I think this was in response to a similar argument that 6mm figures have no detail and are too small to look good.

The Siege of Manchester from Derek, who has produced other such excellent games as Leipzig Lite and Gettysburg at the Gallop which have inspired me to do Blenhiem Blitz (eventually).

This model was a limited edition given to visitors to the Baccus Open Day a few years ago. Title the worlds smallest wargame. I think this picture belongs to one of the guys involved in the Rather Large Towton project. If you know who owns it, I'll give due credit. 

Another favourite image from the Baccus studio. A simple scene of Dragoons lining a hedge. Undoubtedly, this is Oakey's Dragoons within the Sulby Enclosures. But once again, it demonstrates that 6mm can be photographed and still show individual character on these miniature masterpieces.

Another inspirational picture from an inspirational blog. The owner posts as 'Whirlwind' on the Heretical Gamer blog (link to the right). This is a recreation of the Battle of Stoke Field. A small table with small figures, but showing the weaving battle lines in a lovely little set up with rolling hills and a small hamlet in the background. 

Each of these images are shown without express permission, but I hope the owners will approve of their use as each one shows how great 6mm figures and games can look, and how well they can be photographed.

On another note, please check out this very interesting piece written by Mr Per Broden. Quite thought provoking. 

Pers thoughts on engagment at shows

More soon...