Some More Thoughts About a Great War Naval Campaign

Kapitän zur See Karl Von Muller, Emden's captain.

Grateful to Thomas Brandsetter, a reader of this blog, and with a cracking good blog of his own, for suggesting that I look at a YouTube video of a fantastic naval campaign, The Hunt for the Goeben,  which was great fun to watch and chock full of ideas worth stealing.  I especially liked how the GM focused it on the Goeben, but added friction between allied (French and English) forces, and also included the Austrian navy as a player.  I also admired how requiring that French troop convoys be escorted from N Africa to France added strategic constraints for the allies and possible targets for the German and Austrian players.

The 1914 campaign I'm contemplating is a little more abstract (area movement vs hex movement in the Goeben campaign) but there are allied navies (the French and Russians have several ships in the N Pacific and the Japanese may enter the war - think of the language problems), there are also allied troop convoys to be escorted, and adding Von Spee's squadron as a possible threat would keep the allies honest and give the star of the show, the Emden, some potential cover and helpful diversions of enemy hunters.

As an example of the area movement system I'm contemplating, here's a portion of the map from Avalanche Press' Cruiser Warfare, showing dispositions at the end of the Aug I turn (turns will be biweekly, two a month).  Ships can move one area a turn.

Here Emden has slipped out of Tsingtao at the start of hostilities, leaving ahead of a French and English fleet which are now blockading the German-held port; Emden's goal is to unite with Von Spee's squadron at a pre-arranged location and receive further orders.  Meanwhile, the rest of Admiral Jerram's China Squadron is keeping station in the South China Sea in case Emden tried to head south.  Unlike the Goeben game where ships move through specific hexes, the mechanic I am taking from Cruiser Warfare allows a ship or group of ships to search within an area each turn, with success after applied modifiers on a 5 or 6 on 1d6.  A "6" means that the searchers achieve surprise, rather like HMAS Sydney surprising Emden at the Cocos Islands.  I'm considering changing the mechanic slightly and using a d8 or even a d10, just to give the raiders more of a chance.

Once a ship is sighted, the next step is to determine time of day.   I think merchant ships will automatically be sighted during the day, but for encounters between hostile warships I'm thought of a d6 to determine AM or PM and a d12 to determine the hour of contact.   The next step would be a mechanism to determine the distance of the contact (close, medium, far) and that might be up to the player, eg "You see smoke of [# of ships] on the horizon, do you wish to investigate or to steer away from the smoke?".  After that it would be a matter of the relative speed of the ships, possibly limited by damage from a previous encounter or coal supplies, to see whether a fight happens.

Thinking about the time of day a fight might occur led me to investigate night-fighting according to Naval Thunder: Clash of Dreadnoughts (NTCD), the rules I will be using for this campaign.  The German Navy put great stock in night fighting, and you may recall that at Jutland several British ships were mauled when they got caught in searchlights and gunfire.  In NTCD, the German player enjoys a first salvo at night, which means that a German raider might have a better chance to survive a combat if at night.

To test that proposition, I introduced two likely opponents, SMS Koenigsberg, sortieing from her starting position in East Africa, and the HMS Weymouth (below).

Both ships are light cruisers, but Weymouth has superior guns (6 inch vs 4 inch) and can take more damage (22 damage points to the German 14).  Both ships are lightly armoured, so any hit had a good chance of penetrating and causing critical damage.   Since I was pressed for time, I used the mapboard from the old Avalon Hill game Wooden Ships and Iron Men, and the counters from Avalanche's Cruiser Warfare.  I used the stats and rules from NTCD.

I played three encounters, starting at medium or close range and in all three fights the German first salvo was a definite advantage.  In the first fight, Weymouth obligingly exploded from a magazine hit before it could return fire.  In the second and third, Weymouth returned fire but also lost, though not before causing enough damage to Koenigsberg to make her future raiding career precarious.  The lesson is that while the German player should avoid battle whenever possible, a night fight offers the best chance of survival.

Next steps:  

1) keep play testing

2) write a simple set of rules and briefings for players (reach out if you're interested in a slow PBEM campaign)

3) recruit some players for a June start

4) build more model ships!

Thanks for reading and always grateful for your ideas and suggestions.

Cheers and blessings,

MP+

Mustering Into Service: Rostovski Regiment (SYW Foundry Figs)

Marching out of the basing depot and mustering into the Czar's service is this new regiment for my Russian Seven Years War army.  These are 28mm Foundry figures, Russian infantry in red waistcoats, and they fly the banner of the Rostovski Regiment (flags by Adolfo Ramos).   They are mostly painted using the Foundry tri-tone system.

The Rostovski Regiment was formed under Peter the Great and fought in several of the big battles in Eastern Prussia, including Gros-Jagsersdorf and Zorndorf.

I always try to add Foundry's character packs to my large units and there are some tucked into these bases.  On the left below, Fyodor still wears his servant's wig that he felt privileged to wear as valet to young Sasha Grigorevich Solovev.  Now that the master is a lieutenant commanding the colour party, Fyodor is his self-appointed bodyguard. 

Private Gervasi Stepanov is mindlessly cheerful and always does his best to improve morale.

Private Morozov is getting a bollocking from his corporal for picking his nose in ranks.

Isaak Osipov is boasting about the rabbit he shot while on picket duty, "Clean through the skull, like that Jager I potted at Gros-Jagersdorf, remember?"  Looks like I need to revisit Isaak's bayonet with some silver paint!

Captain Sergei Kovalev inspects his men before they go on parade.   The good captain is on a single base for games using Sharp Practice.  I like how the Foundry Russian officers in this set all carry carbines, it gives them a business-like look.

Father Mikhail Mikhailovich blesses the regiment's colours.

Good opportunity to put all of my Russian SYW army on parade.  I definitely need more light cavalry!

Many thanks for looking, and blessings to your brushes!  Happy Easter.MP+

Swan of the East: Considering An Early WW1 Naval Campaign

 Some years back (2018 seems almost idyllic when viewed from the present) I had the good fortune to take some leave in Australia following a brief assignment at the Australian Forces Chaplain School in Canberra.  It was enough time to get to know Melbourne and Sydney and to generally fall in love with Oz.   Our hotel in the Sydney business district was beside Hyde Park, and strolling one day I came across both the Anzac Memorial and this trophy monument, a Great War naval gun.

At the time I knew enough about the Great War at Sea to recognize the name of SMS Emden, the famous German raider that gained a piratical but chivalrous reputation before being finally cornered and sunk by the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney.  This 4.1 inch (10.5cm) gun was one of several recovered from the wrecked German light cruiser and was presented to the City of Sydney in 1917.  

At the time I made a mental note to learn more about the Emden, but it had to wait for six years until I went down a hobby rabbit hole of naval gaming.   That lead me to start collecting 1/2400 scale naval models from both world wars from GHQ.  Of course at some point I was bound to order an Emden model, which is currently almost painted and nearly ready for basing.

While this and some other GHQ Great War models were on order, I picked up this book by Wes Olson when tempted by a Naval and Military Press book sale, and it did not disappoint.  

 Olson's account of Emden's brief career is gripping, and his blow by blow account of her duel with Sydney was very conflicting, as I was cheering for both sides.   Of course he tells the amazing story of how Emden's Number One, von Mucke, who was ashore on a raiding mission when the battle started, led his party across the Indian ocean in a leaky sailing boat, how they fought Bedouins in Yemen, and were finally feted when they reached friendly Constantinople.  I realized that Olson provided more than enough material and inspiration to think about a WW1 naval campaign based on the Emden's career.  But how to structure it?

I then recalled that my gaming library's shelf of shame had a small game published by Avalanche Press called Cruiser Warfare (CW).  I've played other Avalanche naval games and found the tactical system wanting, but I had a second look at CW and realized that it could give me the framework for a campaign game.  CW provides an area map for ALL THE SEVEN SEAS!, simple rules for searches, raiding, convoys, coal supplies (vital in this period and the Kriegsmarine's Achilles heal), and a complete OOB for the German raiders and for the RN and allied fleets that hunted them down.  Of course the game includes Emden:

And her nemesis:  

The objective of the campaign game for the Germans is to rack up points by commerce raiding and knock off weaker allied warships, while the Allies want to protect their convoys and run the Germans down, focusing of course on their most powerful foes, Von Spee's East Asia Squadron.  

While the whole campaign is tempting, I concluded that a simple proof of my concept would focus on the Emden, starting with the outbreak of hostilities when she was in the German colony port of Tsingtao.   Her task is to escape Tsingtao before the Royal Navy blockading force arrives, find Von Spee and receive his orders for solo raiding.   The Allied goal is to find Emden (SOS calls from merchant ships are clues to her location) and sink her before she can do too much damage.   Any encounters between Emden and allied warships will be played out on the tabletop using Naval Thunder Clash of Dreadnoughts rules, although the game will likely end with one battle, as Emden is a gallant but fragile light cruiser, and naval warfare in this period was a pretty bloody rock paper scissors affair where speed and gunnery advantages were all (as proven by the Coronel and Falklands battles where the Germans outclassed the RN and then were in turn outclassed).  

I think there's the potential for a good internet-PBEM game here, with one player playing the role of Emden's Captain Muller and other players commanding various allied squadrons in a cat and mouse game.  A more complicated game could add two more German players commanding the solo raiders Karlsruhe and Dresden, but that's too ambitious for now.

So that's the concept, and once my Holy Week obligations are over, I hope to tinker with it some more and report on Emden's progress in a test game.  Stay tuned, me hearties!

Blessings to your gaming,

MP+

Canadian Wargamer Podcast Episode 28, With Byron Mudry of Northern Lights Terrain

 James and I recently chatted with a lovely fellow named Byron Mudry, owner of a thriving Winnipeg-based business in MDF wargaming terrain and bits called Northern Lights Terrain.  We also chatted about the wargaming scene on the Canadian prairies, as well as games he is currently excited about, including Trench Crusade, and finished up talking about wargaming Canadian Great War military history.  Give it a listen!  MP+

Foundry Roman Legionairies

Marching off the painting table and mustering to the eagles this week are eight 28mm Roman legionaries from Foundry.  They are sculpted wearing mail shirts, so they don't have that classic segmenta lorica look of Romans in the films, but I think they look well enough, and from what I understand, there would be a variety of armour types in the same legion.

As I noted in a previous post, there shields are hand painted.  Sometimes seeing another painter's work, in this case a far better painter than I, provides inspiration to say "I could try that" and I'm glad I did rather than try to find shield transfers that would be the same size as the Foundry shield blanks.   The results are a bit uneven, but I have another 24 in the painting queue to practice my skills on!

Another decision that I made while painting was to give them simple linen shirts, unlike the film Romans who always seem to wear the brightest red fabric even though they're grunts.   I like the "warriors for the working day" look.  I did make a concession to the movies by giving them red neckerchiefs.

These are the first proper legionaries that I've added to my Roman force, all the other figures thus far are auxiliaries.    It will be interesting to see how some rules, like Hail Caesar or Three Ages of Rome, rate the difference.   In a build your own army points system, like Midgard, I think you'd rate them as Heavy Infantry, but not sure they would have any better armour rating than auxiliaries.   Bears thinking on.

Thanks for looking and blessings to your brushes!

MP+

Miss Maple, A Pulp Investigator

Every now and then I find it's pleasant to have a figure in the panting queue that isn't part of a project or an army I'm building, but is simply a pleasant diversion.   Bob Murch's Pulp Figures line fits that bill perfectly.   This Murch figure is a lady investigator with a kitty, who I've named Miss Maple.    Aided by her clairvoyant kitty, Justin, she's investigating a nefarious plot to rename Canada the 51st state.   She has goggles pushed up into her brunette curls, so she seems to be ready to move quickly.  Justin must be more patient with motor vehicles than my cat is!

The kitty is painted in tribute to my own buddy, Marshal Luigi, who sometimes graces this blog.  The paints are a mix of Vallejo, Foundry, and craft paints.

I've started using clear Litko bases for my pulp figures, as they work well with a variety of matts and backgrounds.   I suppose Miss Maple could be assisting some Mounties I painted a ways back, if I ever resurrect my Rockies Aflame project.  Hmmm.

Thanks for looking and blessings to your brushes.

MP+

Shipyards Update 2: Naval Warfare Bases

 A few weeks back I showed some work in progress on basing GHQ 1/2400 scale model warships.

After some trial and error with cutting techniques, and thinking through some standard base sizes for ship classes, I've made some progress.  Here is HMS Hood steaming proudly alongside my first trial piece, a Flower class corvette.  The wake and bow waves are a combination of white carpenter's glue mixed with off-white paint.  It would have been nice to put them on a proper sea mat, but I had to settle for slapping them down on the dining room table.

I try not to look too suddenly at the Hood model just in case it blows up.

Also finished is a little Great War RN squadron, two Calliope class light cruisers with an escort of three K or Acasta class destroyers.

I figured as these are all light ships, I would exaggerate the wake to suggest travel at speeds.

I find that painting these ship models is actually easier than cutting and painting the bases.

Next up:  Prince of Wales, Bismarck, and Prinz Eugen - of course.

Cheers and blessings to your brushes, MP+

Canadian Wargamer Podcast Special: Learning Midgard

Not an episode per se, we just left record on while we got together via Zoom and tried to figure out the Midgard rules from Reisswitz/Too Fat Lardies.  Had a good time, but may be hard to follow.  On the other hand, you might like this sort of thing.

 

Update from the Shipyards: Making Ship Bases

Lately I've been taking a break from Ancients gaming stuff to try and formulate a plan to base my growing collection of 1/2400 scale naval models, a side project that is rapidly becoming an addiction.

There's a running joke in our hobby about whether model tanks should be based (the correct answer is yes, they should) but basing ship models seems essential as they are delicate and are constantly being pushed forward, turned, etc.   I've learned this the hard way in my first two naval games.  So below is a glimpse of the shipyard and the materials I'm using.

I found these small, fairly thin clear plastic sheets from the local DIY store.  They're small, but surprisingly pricey.  Since my Olfa craft knife wasn't doing well scoring the plastic, I also purchased a cutting tool and a clamp to hold the ruler in place as a cutting guide.

Since the Naval Thunder rules I'm using don't have any basing requirements, I'm trying to establish some standard sizes that I can repeat for ship classes, so shown below are bases for a battleship (HMS Hood), for a light cruiser (RN Leander class) and a small escort (RN Flower class corvette).  Also shown on the cork and currently being painted is a WW1 RN Acasta or K class destroyer). The models are all from GHQ.  Given the current political and economic climate, I'm not happy that GHQ is a US company, but their products and service are first rate, even though the exchange rate on the poor Canadian dollar is painful.  

I am thinking of leaving the bases clear as I have a Geek Villain fleece mat with a very convincing wave pattern, but I'm leaning towards painting them, and maybe using something textured to create waves and wakes.   I also haven't yet figured out what sort of glue to use.  In past with American Civil War 1/600 scale models, I've tried glueing them on plastic bases but the glue doesn't hold for long.   Grateful for any suggestions you may have.

More photos once I get it all figured out.   And yes, since I'm painting HMS Hood, there will be a Denmark Straight game soon.  Blessings to your hobbying!  MP+

Freehand Roman Shields, or, Scutum Selfies

 Ave, amici!

Currently I'm working on a test batch of Foundry 28mm metal early imperial Romans, which come with separate shields, or scuta (neuter plural if I recall my college Latin).  I was vaguely considering ordering some shield transfers, but then I came across some work on the Bluesky social media site by the supremely talented @moiterei.bsky.social who still maintains an excellent war-games blog here.  

His Roman legionaries are stunning and their shields were all painted freehand, as you can see (nota bene - the image below is his work, not mine).  

His work gave me the courage to try my own freehand work, and I totally cribbed his design.   The result isn't nearly as good but to me it's good enough.

As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Blessings to your brushes,  MP+

A Hail Caesar Test Drive: Much Bonking and Hacking

This weekend in the old Rectory games room I had a few hours to put all my painted ancients figures on the table and try the Hail Caesar rules from Warlord for the first time.   I used the early German and imperial Roman army lists and had enough figures to field the following:

Roman: 1 18 regular sized and 1 8 small sized unit of Heavy Infantry Auxiliary Infantry w Spears, 1 small unit of slingers, 1 small unit of Auxiliary archers, and 1 regular sized unit of Medium Auxiliary cavalry.

German: 2 32 figure warbands, both Eager Fighters, 1 small unit of 8 javelin skirmishers, 1 small unit of 8 archers, and 1 small unit of skirmish javelin cavalry.

Most of the figures on the table are Victrix plastics, though there are a few Foundry metal figures and some fantasy castings from Thistle and Rose filling out the German ranks.

Here are the forces arrayed at the start of the battle.  I didn't put any terrain down as I simply wanted to learn the core mechanics.   I quickly realized that with infantry movement at 6", cavalry movement at 9", and maximum bow range at 18", you don't want to put the two forces too far apart.  My limited collection meant that I played with one division aside, though HC allows for three divisions per side.

Romans won the initiative, which as I understand HC means that they keep it all through the game.   The command/activiation rules mean that units might get 1, 2, or 3 moves, or none at all, depending on how far they are away from their division commander, so the side that moves second might have a better turn depending on how the activations go. 

In their first turn, all the Roman units got to move, but in subsequent moves things got a bit herky jerky for both sides, so if you don't like activation rolls, this probably isn't the game for you.  The war band on the German right held back, and the Roman cavalry were reluctant to move.   I quickly learned how missile fire worked, and between them the Roman slingers and archers made short work of the German bows.  The German skirmishers and Roman horse exchanged volleys of javelins.  It seems to me that most units in HC have some kind of missile capability, but the real game is decided in hand to hand combat.

Below, a small unit of German skirmish horse is trying to annoy the Roman left, but as they are skirmishers and the Romans are formed, there didn't seem much that they could do, and the Roman archers kept them well at bay.

Proconsul Luigi briefly visited the battlefield and watched as everyone in the centre collided.  He seemed to be planning his next triumph, with my dogs in chains behind his chariot.  I don't have a lot of experience with ancients gaming but it seems that the big scrum in the centre is how most fights are decided.

Giving the Roman archers some love.  They did well in their first fight.  My sabot bases from Warbases take eight figures, and as far as I can tell from HC, eight figures is a small unit, and sixteen would be a regular sized unit, so that's convenient.

So on to the big final scrum.   There are a lot of photos just because it amused me to see all my figures on the table, locked in combat.   One thing about Ancients, the big battles just look darn cool.

The two war bands had an initial advantage.   For their first melee they throw seven D6, hitting on 4-6, but as Eager fighters they get to re-roll misses.   The Roman auxiliary infantry elected to Close Ranks, meaning that they get a plus on on their save rolls, saving on a 4-6, but hitting on a -1.  That seemed a fair trade, and thus the Romans survived the first round with only two hits.  

However, in subsequent rounds, the tide began to shift.   In their subsequent attacks, the war bands only attack with 6 d6, whereas the Romans fight every round with 7d6.  Hits on the Germans began to accumulate faster than they could cause them.  In the third round, the Roman cavalry finally passed an activation roll and joined the battle.  Likewise, the small unit of Roman infantry joined, though how they achieved that was funny.  I rolled a 12 on 2d6 for them to join the fight, which in HC is a blunder, but the blunder table result was an uncontrolled advance into the enemy, which allowed them close the distance and contribute to the final round.

At close of play, the German war band on the left broke thanks to the intervention of the cavalry and was removed from play, while the one on the right was very close to breaking.   The larger of the auxiliary infantry had been forced to retreat in disorder, but the result was still a Roman victory.

It's always interesting to try a set of rules for the first time.  The mechanics were fairly simple to grasp and there was a clear result within six turns, but there were some dynamics that I would like to explore further, particularly how skirmish, open order, and close order units interact.   There was a moment where the Roman slingers fired annoyingly, and then in the next turn the auxiliary infantry advanced through them to seek a resolution, so I felt I was doing that part right, but there feels like more to explore.   

The two sides felt different - the German power lies in their unwieldy war bands, which felt both powerful and fragile, whereas the Romans felt more resilient. Perhaps it would have been a tougher fight if the Romans had been outnumbered.

One thing I felt I might have missed was the influence of commanders on the game.  As far as I could tell, they simply exist as a measuring point to units being given orders - if they are beyond 12" from the commander, it's harder to get them to react.  They didn't seem to have any other rule that I could see. There were rules for commanders becoming casualties, but in my first play through I couldn't see how that worked, but you always miss details the first few times.

As for the activation rules, you either like them or you hate them.   I recall the same sort of activation principle when I once tried Warlord's Black Powder, and they are not unlike Lardie rules in that respect.  

Having all these figures on the table looks grand, but in 28mm, if you use the unit sizes that HC requires, you need a LOT of figures.  Two war bands at 32 figures each exhausted my available figures, so I had to add in some fantasy barbarian figures from Thistle and Rose.  If you look closely you can see them in the back ranks of the war bands.   My friend James suggests just using smaller units, or another set or rules, such as Midgard.  Not bad ideas; Midgard certainly has some interesting roles for commanders and their influence on battles.  Another way to maximize a smaller collection such as mine would be to try playing skirmish games using a set of rules such as TFL's Infamy, Infamy, or Clash of Spears.   Those are both options to explore.  Otherwise one is looking at painting a LOT of figures, which may be what a company that makes minis and rules wants!

So, congratulations to me for trying a new set of rules and getting all my ancients figures on the table.  I'll give Hail Caesar another try down the road.  Next up, the same armies using the Midgard rules from TFL/Reisswitz.

Thanks for reading and blessings to your die rolls!  

MP+

Stinky, Hairy, and Violent Foundry Germanic Warriors

 Here are six recently completed 28mm Foundry Germanic warriors from their Ancients range.  I have a large batch of Foundry Germans in the lead pile, but wanted to see how they took paint and their irregular quality makes a pleasant break from painting a large uniformed regiment.  The shields are hand painted and you probably guessed that they aren't transfers.  :)

Young men doing what they do best, shout, posture, and look for a fight.   The fellow in the centre seems quite comfy wearing his pajama bottoms.

The fellow on the left earned his grey beard the hard way, he was probably a young shirtless buck braying in the front of the war band but he's gotten smarter over the years.  He looks like a tribal leader.

"This envoy bored me and now he's broken.  Send another!"

One thing I've noticed playing a test battle of Hail Caesar yesterday (more on that in the next post) is that if you want to field multiple war bands, you need a lot of figures.   If you use the prescribed figure count in the rules, a war band is 32 figures, and I had two on the table, which meant augmenting my Germanic figures with some fantasy barbarians.  By that point, the quality of the painting needs to bend a bit if one wants to put a lot of figures on the table.    Perhaps I should look at a skirmish game like Infamy, Infamy if I want a smaller figure count?

Thanks for looking and blessings to your brushes!

MP+

Finished: Some Victrix Roman Auxiliary Archers

A dozen Roman auxiliary archers have stepped off from the Basing Depot and will be mustered into the Emperor's service.   They'll be marching off to the forests of Germania shortly.

I continue to like the Victrix figures, they look good, are well proportioned, and take paint well.   The assembly was a bit of a chore, and while they do come in a pleasing variety of poses, there were one or two where I felt, "that doesn't look quite right".   However, they'll do.   I painted them fairly quickly, I'm not sure it qualifies as "slapchop", whatever the kids mean by that, but they are I guess what one would call "wargame standard".   I painted them with the same light blue tunics that I gave to my existing auxiliary infantry, to suggest the same legion or affiliation.

They're based individually but the washers I can use can fit into my Warbases sabots, and can be stored in a box lined with magnetic paper.

The Victrix early imperial archers set comes with 12 figures from the western empire and 12 in the distinctive dress of the eastern empire.  I'll save the eastern figures for a Middle Earth project, and while it would be nice to have another 12 of these painted, I am not sure how reliant the Roman armies were on archers - I suspect they were a fairly small and specialized arm, but not sure.  Probably for now a dozen for a small tabletop army are sufficient.

Speaking of Middle Earth, it also occurs to me that these figures could be used as Gondorian militia archers, as opposed to the Games Workshop Gondorian archers in their full armour, but that's another thought.

I noticed that quite a few of the heads are sculpted wearing moustaches.   It reminded me that in Rosemary Sutcliffe's The Legion of the Ninth, the hero commands some auxiliary archers and they are described as being from Gaul, and one thinks of ancient Gauls as being hairy fellows.   Or maybe a coincidence?    Pray speak up in the comments.

Next up, some definitely hairy ancient Germans.

Thanks for looking, blessings to your brushes.

MP+

Some 28mm Horse and Musket Civilians

Not all the figures in this post are freshly painted except for the gent in the brown coat and hat, but the rest were done later in 2024 and I don't think I've blogged them here, so I guess they count (count for what?  points?  prizes? 🤪).

Groom leads a horse out of the barn for a gentleman.   The groom and horse are from Foundry's 18th century civilian range, the gent in the hat is a Front Rank figure from their Napoleonic civilian range.  The barn is I think from Warbases.

It's funny what you see in photos that you don't see otherwise.   The poor groom looks like he has a bandage on his nose, when in fact I think it was just some pale flesh highlight that looked ok at the time.  I'll have to have a hard look at him and see if he needs fixing.   The gentleman is sold by Front Rank along with a packhorse, and I think he's meant to be a pedlar, but I decided to make him look a bit posh.   His clothing is probably too early 1800s for a Lace Wars game, but tant pis as they say. 

 MDF cart and cast metal horses from Warbases.  The kit includes a resin casting of straw as a load for the cart if one wishes.   The farm labourer is from Front Rank's Napoleonic civilians range, enjoying a tankard while stopping at a pub.

These figures could be used just as table dressing or as characters and plot points in a skirmish game like Sharp Practice.  That gentleman going for a ride could actually be a spy with valuable intelligence.   The straw in that cart could be hiding contraband or a deserter.   The farmer with the pitchfork could be a dashing intelligence officer in disguise or maybe he's just Theo from Plotzen. 

  

Thanks for looking.  Later this week, some ancients figures, and maybe a test drive of the Hail Caesar rules.  

Blessings to your brushes,  MP+

Seven Years War Russians in Two Scales

 First, a WIP of my latest big project, a 36 figure Russian regiment in waistcoats from the Foundry 28mm SYW range.   All my Russian infantry to date are in green coats, so this unit will stand out on the table, and the red is a nice look.   If I'm lucky I get a few hours a week to plug away at these guys, and have developed a sort of Zen like attitude towards painting one colour at a time on all 36 figures.

At the same time, I've had a look at these 15mm Russian SYW figures from TundraWorks, a Canadian company based in Ottawa.  I ordered an army pack during their Kickstarter last year and have just gotten around to looking at them.

As others have noted online, these pewter figures seem slim, but people also tend to say that they look good when painted.   I thought I'd give this batch, also in waistcoats a try.

As things get fraught between Canada and our neighbours to the south, it's good to know that there are home grown sources for figures.  Tundraworks has a line of Lace War and Napoleonic figures, which can be ordered from their Kickstarter page, though how one orders seems a little opaque to me.

Cheers and blessings to your brushes,  MP+