Seleucids

I've had a rethink over my 15mm ancients project and decided to go with smaller bases than originally intended and in line with WRG standards of a 40mm frontage. I may still base some units on 80mm frontage as I have a lot of figures stockpiled. The reason for this is that I've been thinking of the types of games I want to play, and I thought DBA would be a good introduction to ancients gaming for my children. I also intend to play Hail Caesar and have a go at To The Strongest.

The armies chosen for this project are Seleucid and Ptolemaic Successors. The figures are from the War and Empire range sold under the Forged in Battle banner by WestWind, lovely miniatures and easy to paint up. I've used Foundry Paints and the usual Army Painter Strong Tone Ink.

The first units are for the Seleucids, and are from packs WE-MH02 Successor Aegema Armoured Cavalry, WE-MH06 Successor Asiatic Phalangites marching, WE-MS01 Later Selecid Cataphract Cavalry, and WE-GL09 Later Greek, Cretan and Rhodians. The shield transfers on the Phalangites are by Little Big Man Studios.

I've found painting some smaller scale figures a pleasant diversion from the usual 28mm, it'll be interesting to see how far I can progress through the 15mm lead pile during 2016.

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1866 Prussians, Infantry and Artillery

Two more infantry battalions of 4 bases each, and the first piece of artillery for my 1866 Prussians. The figures this time are Wargames Foundry, picked up off eBay cheaply and painted up quickly with the same simple paint job as the rest. They are smaller than the North Star 1866 miniatures but in their own battalions they'll be fine. This time I chose to base them on 50x50mm mdf bases, the movement trays for the other Prussians are 48mmx48mm. The reason being that I originally intended to have 4 battalions of 24 infantry, 12 cavalry and 1 artillery piece in the army, based individually so I could use the figures for skirmish games as well as Black Powder. Larger games will see 16 figure/4 base battalions as the standard infantry size, so additional units will be multi based.
The flags are from Victorian Steel and are and are for the 1st and 4th battalions of the 2nd Pomeranian.

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda - Happy New Year 2016

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda 2016.

Happy New Year 2016.

I wasn't sure what to post on New Years Day, but on reflection I think a little review is traditional, and a look forward to the coming year.

As is usual I appear to have flitted between armies and periods, painting as the mood takes me. This may not appear logical, to be honest I've always painted to a loose plan; it is though the best way for me to paint as I've always got something on the go and don't get bored. So, what have I achieved this year?

WSS French are probably a cavalry regiment and command short of being playable.
1866 Prussians are playable though I have to paint an opponent.
Sikh Wars, slow progress, but progress none the less, and I'm currently putting the finishing touches to 72 irregular foot. These will make an appearance on the blog soon.
Beyond the Gates of Antares, starter set complete, first try out with my eldest Maisie was well received, she remembered the stats better than I did!
Early Achaemenid Persians are shaping up nicely into quite an impressive force, probably concentrate on cavalry next.
ECW, added a bit of cavalry and infantry to this depleted collection.
15mm ancients, I'm plodding through the lead pile of Successors, some pictures in my next post.
A number of projects have stalled, these will probably be picked up at some point in 2016, most likely Seven Years War.

Forward looking, there's a lot to be getting on with on the painting front. Some of it is already dictated by the ongoing projects. However as always something is bound to catch my eye, I must resist...
One thing that will make an appearance is some 28mm Sassanids by Aventine Miniatures, as well as some Grand Manner buildings, and yes I will finish the near legendary Guilford Courthouse for all those waiting.

I'm really looking forward to getting some game time. Tomorrow is the first game of the year with an AWI bash and the first outing for the Queens Rangers.

I think I've covered most projects? It will be interesting to see what 2016 brings.

Thracians

A small warband of 28mm Thracians from Wargames Foundry. Lovely figures, painted many, many years ago and recently rebased. Somewhere in the lead pile mountain I have more infantry and some cavalry to paint. 

The shield transfers are by Little Big Man. 

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WSS French 2nd Battalion Artois

The second battalion for the regiment Artois are finished. 28mm Front Rank Figurines with flags by Maverick Models, and based for Beneath the Lily Banners, though will also be used for Black Powder.
Will try and finish off the bases on the units I have painted, as I prefer to flock and add tufts on a production line basis, I probably have enough ready for completing to add the final touches. Once done I'll post pictures of the army as it stands. There's still plenty to paint, I'm currently painting a third battalion for Navarre and a battalion of the Royal Italien (just to break up the grey). Will make a start on another cavalry regiment as well, just have to decide which one next.

The buildings are from my collection of POP Enterprise models.

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Early Middle Ages - Terrain

In a previous post (Saxons 1066 - The Mustering of Fyrd), I included some of my terrain pieces as a setting. I thought that I'd show them in a bit more detail in this post.

All the buildings were from POP Enterprises, and were made as a special commission that seems a very long time ago now. Sadly Clive and Fraser (POP Enterprises) are no longer with us, but  I hope they're looking down and seeing that their exceptional pieces of modelling are still doing service and have graced many a table over the years and continue to do so.

The buildings include a number of dwellings, and a Norman Keep. The keep needs some minor repairs to the paint work where it has suffered some battle damage.

The wattle fences are Renedra plastics, great additions to any terrain collection. I chose to base mine on cut out pieces of self adhesive tiles (the flooring type), the usual wall filler, sand and pva followed, before they were painted. The fences were painted a dark brown, then drybrushed with the Foundry triage Spearshaft. The bases were then washed with 'dirty water' (dilute burnt umber) and dry brushed with Foundry triage Base Sand. The fences were left to overhang the bases slightly so thaat they can be joined up in irregular shapes for the field enclosures.

The figures beneath the Norman Keep are from the collection of Peter (aka armchairsaxon).

Click on any picture to enlarge