I don't know if I've mentioned this before,but I'm retired(9 years and still loving it!) and being retired means that you have a lot of spare time on your hands to tackle important "projects"
I've been working on two particular projects this week,and keeping a pictorial record,so here goes for the first one..............
I decided that I needed(?) a gateway to add to my existing Asian-type buildings,and this is the project..................
Top photo indicates the old adage of "fail to plan,and you plan to fail!"-bottom is the wooden former (wood recycled from next doors skip!) I used.
Top shows the packet of air-drying clay that I used for the gateway(no instructions provided-more of that later!) and bottom shows the carefully measured "lump" of clay that was to form the gateway.
Top shows the highly professional tools needed for the masterpiece,and bottom shows what I achieved in just a few minutes of finger moulding!
Looking a bit better,just needs leaving overnight in a warm room to dry out.
Aaarg!!-disaster-what a set of instructions would have told me is that the clay shrinks by about 10%-this caused me to have to reconstruct the wooden former,by sawing off 1/2 inch,and then I discovered that it had also "bellied",as shown in the bottom photo!!!-where's the filler?
Having found the filler,and filled the gap,I have painted the whole lot black,and waited for it to thoroughly dry,before dry-brushing it silver to match the existing buildings.
Silver applied,and it looks okay to me,now to try it beside the other buildings................
I am aware of my lack of modelling skills,but I'm quite pleased with the result,one final shot to show 25mm figures next to the completed gateway..............
We won't be playing this Sunday,as we are going down to Vapnartak show in York.
I will post part two of my on-going projects next week.
We believe that planning and organisation is the key to a successful demo. game,so we have started to plan our game for May at Falkirk.
We wanted to do something different,and something that we've never done before,so I suggested we dust off our "BIG SHIPS",because it met both criteria. A game was planned for last night,and Dave and Paul would be the guinea pigs,testing rules and playability............
Top photo is the front page of the rules that I "knocked-up",bottom photo is the score sheet that records casualties etc.
This is the table as the "boys" saw it when they walked in,French to the left(Port)
Dave commanded the French,Paul the British.
Top photo is a close-up of the British 1st rate ship,bottom is a close-up of the French 1st rate ship.
For this game we reverted back to using our "BIG DICE"-I'm beginning to sound like Trump-BIG,BIG,BIG!!!
However,back to the game........................
Top photo shows the 1st raters blasting hell out of each other,trying to disable masts and guns and crews!! Bottom photo shows the 2nd raters doing the same.
A general view of the action!-At the end of the game(which the French won!) it was decided that the "BIG SHIPS" wouldn't be a feasible game for Carronade-it's a pity, but as we are a Club,democracy rules,so it's back to the planning table!
Paul and Dave have a game in mind,and we probably will be play-testing it next week,at Dave's house.
Sunday night saw a full complement fighting a rather savage Vikings vs Saxons game.
Top photo is scenario,bottom is table lay-out. Brian and Graham were the Vikings,whilst Dave and Paul were the Saxons-I sat this one out,and acted as referee.
Graham's right flank Vikings advance on the town held by Dave.-The viking high command was given information that the archers they had could be treated as normal infantry,and not just skirmishers,because they had a shield,armour and a sword-however they chose to ignore(ie not read!) the info given,and so lost a great opportunity!!!(why do I bother?)
Dave's shield wall-come and get it Vikings!!
The protagonists!-Brian,that's not your best side!!
What's happening?? Both Paul and Brian are moving towards each other! Paul had decided to break his shield wall and take the fight to the Vikings!(note both sides are skirmishing with their archers in front). meanwhile on Graham and Dave's flank,a most vicious melee has broken out........................
Graham has tried to force the pass,but has been met by Dave's Housecarls,wielding their big choppers(now,now,I meant axes!!)-the result was a resounding defeat for the Vikings,forcing them back!!,However,Graham also put in an attack on the Town..........................
Which was also met by Dave's Housecarls wielding their big choppers(axes!), with the same result!!
Dave's troops have driven the Vikings back!! But what of Paul and Brian? are they standing about being indolent? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!
Paul has retired(it's good being retired!) back to the town and reformed his shield wall,Brian has pressed on up the hill,and a grand melee is developing-great stuff!
After some early success,Brian suffered a morale "situation" that required him to put his "main man" into the fray,to hold off a retirement(no,I refuse to say it!),and of course,got him killed!! which meant that his whole command had to take a morale test-and they failed it,and off they ran,back to Denmark!! With both flanks held and both towns intact,the Saxons were declared the winners-hurrah!!
Well done boys,and roll on next week-I feel a sea shanty coming on!!
I received some bases from Pendraken yesterday,and included were the following,which nearly gave me a heart attack!!! and clearly shows the north-south divide.............................
Very reasonable,and of course we attend the show every year-if you haven't been give it a try!
OMG!!-for twenty quid I'd want a new suit and a "dirty woman"(not necessarily in that order!)-I am reliably informed that the show is very good though!
Should "veterans" like me have a conscience?-well,just before Xmas I took my little grand-daughter to a local pet store to show her the animals(bunnies,mice,gerbils etc.) and I noticed a young man using a price gun on some very nice looking "oriental-type" buildings-he was chatting/flirting with a "bonny" young girl,and obviously not paying attention to what he was doing!-I also noticed that he wasn't changing the price on his gun whilst moving from small to large buildings,so I shuffled across and had a look-he had put £4.29 on everything!! Being a "chancer",as well as a poor old pensioner(aka mean old bugger!) I grabbed an armful and proceeded to the till,and was charged the £4.29 for each item!!!!
I have been back since and the young man and "bonny" girl were nowhere to be seen-have they been sacked/eloped/day off???-oh dear me tears at bedtime and stress by the bucketful-should I have told them their mistake?
Anyway,I now have to build up a Korean-type army to take on my Mongols,to fight in among these buildings.
Tear-stained buildings(gold fish for the use of!)
Top photo shows first two completed and flocked units,bottom photo shows units 3 and 4 ready to be flocked-but there's more!!.........................
Top is next two units ready to be under-coated,bottom is the rest of them still in the box-thousands of 'em!!
My on-going 15mm project and solo wargaming brought me to play another very interesting solo game last week. I am basing my battles around the area which I am calling Brockwell.
This is the third game/battle I have fought,and with each "outing" I am learning and adapting my very simple rules to enhance my enjoyment of solo gaming.
This is the scenario,and I had decided to take the side of the Royalists on this occasion,and the plan for them was basically to defend the river and village,against any attacks from the Parliamentarians,but to allow aggressive moves by the cavalry.
Top photo is taken from the Royalist side of the table,bottom photo shows the initial advance by the Parliamentarians,with the King's men lining the river banks. Artillery fire from both sides was ineffectual,but looked good,with wisps of "smoke" placed in front of the guns!
Both sets of cavalry are rushing towards a melee on the Royalist left flank,as the infantry march to within musket range.
For this game,and probably future games,I opted for simultaneous movement,mainly to avoid losing sight of whose turn it was to move!!(must be an age thing!) Things were certainly "hotting up" now.
The cavalry on the Royalist left are now engaged,and the cavalry on the right are facing off the Parliamentarian cavalry on the river bank,whilst the infantry along most of the line are exchanging fire-wonderful stuff!(note the Church yard is now occupied!)
The cavalry battle on the left is now involving all of the cavalry,neither side gaining an advantage,this was soon to change as casualties began to tell,and the Parliamentarians were pushed back across the road.
The right flank Royalist cavalry have engaged,unwisely, and are being pushed back-the infantry brigade holding the river bank to their left have also been routed! but in other parts of the battle,the Parliamentarians are being beaten-I'm exhausted!!
Top photo shows the Royalist cavalry routing the enemy,bottom photo shows the Parliamentarian cavalry routing the Royalists!!!
The infantry battle was going the Royalist's way,and the enemy couldn't get across the river,so it was "count-up" time to see who had taken the most casualties!
You can see from the white board that the Parliamentarians have lost 7 regiments/units against the Royalist 4!! so a resounding victory for the Royalists.
I haven't planned my next battle yet,but it won't be long!!!
I hope you've enjoyed reading this "report",any comments will be welcome(good or bad!)
