Trying this once more!

I'm realising I haven't posted in over 11 years on here. A lot has changed in that time. I'm no longer a student, I've gotten married and had a kid, and lately decided along with some of my friends to give this blog thing another go.

I've gone for a slight rebrand and a simple new blog platform. If somehow you're still following this blog all this time later you can now find my hobby thoughts at Thor's Tabletop Saga.

Secret Santa, Year Three

I have been remiss about posting. I always tell myself I need to, but yet don't find the time to. Once more, I will change that. ;)

Secret Santa is coming around again this year and thought it may be a good idea to let my Santa know what minis are on my mind, as my blog is a bit out of date.

The two ranges I am super impressed with currently are Claymore Castings and Pro-Gloria miniatures. One of the only reasons I haven't ordered from Claymore Castings yet is I don't know which faction I'd like to collect, so if this is the route my Santa goes, please make the choice for me! As for Pro-Gloria, I have no idea why I haven't ordered anything from them yet as all the sculpts are fantastic Paul Hicks and his Indigogo campaign is starting early November to allow him to produce a fantastic set of plastic Landschnekt.

As always I'm happy to receive anything. Now if only my recipient would post a list...

WIP Wednesday #1

Time to  re-kindle my blog. I have vigour and excitement for some new projects and last night painted more than I have in a long time. To keep myself honest I have decided to post a WIP pic every second Wednesday of a month. Here is a selection of what I'm working on.

Genoese Mercenary Archers for my Feudal French Impetus army.

A base of Blades and Auxiliary in the back and two bases worth of Light Horse in the front, for my Numidian DBA army.

Operation Quarterback Day 1

So I am already falling behind and did only one entry in November so you will get three in December. This first one is an after action report of the first match of our club's single day Bolt Action campaign, Operation Quarterback. The participants were for the Germans; Kevin leading the defenders, Anthony (the organizer), Dave B and myself. For the Allies; Alex in command, Ernie, Markus and Tobi (a new guy).

Operation Quarterback

Operation Quarterback was a fictitious mission undertaken by American infantry and paratroopers fighting in Normandy in 1944 to secure an MSR to bring their heavy equipment and logistics inland from the beaches. The campaign consisted of four sectors; a swamp, woodland, farmland,  and a factory with outbuildings. The allies were only able to deploy armour in two of the sectors until they had secured the middle  of the AO (including the urban board) which would allow them to rush vehicles up the MSR.

The urban table

My first match was up against Ernie's infantry platoon and I held two objectives on the urban board. I had also been given the defender's special ability by high command that added a +1 to all my cover saves, this really paid off in the urban environment. The first objective was a command tent containing the German defence plans and the second an ammo cache for our heavy guns. The cache was surrounded by barbed wire and was in the woods outside the factory complex so I deployed an MG42 team in a building that could watch over it and the MSR. I figured (partially correctly) that they would be able to stave off any advance on the cache long enough for my rifle squads to redeploy.

German Deployment

The rest of my platoon deployed at one end of the factory complex preparing to hold buildings within it and set ambushes for the advancing Americans. Ernie deployed his forces in a spread out line with one squad advancing through the woods, another trying to rush up the MSR and the third cautiously moving through the complex. I believe he did not want to get bogged down in urban combat with my fallschrimjaeger but his attack across open ground turned out to be just as dangerous.

Risky advance

After a preparatory bombardment that saw some of my units pinned and some minor casualties sustained Ernie's riflemen came into view of my MG team I let loose. The bullets cut down a couple of yanks and pinned down the squad thus slowing its advance through the woods. As this happened my mortar team added to the confusion by dropping rounds around the Americans moving in the open. Although they didn't hit anyone this added pressure to Ernie to get his grunts moving and into cover.

Well placed MG42

All the while his one rifle team, and my two in the complex zipped their way between buildings trying to get the drop on each other. The American MG and mortar team tried to get decisive shots at my elite men but only inflicted minor wounds.

Some long sight lines in the complex

Under heavy fire the brave Americans attempted to storm an apartment building held by my spotter as well as the MG nest. They managed to kill off most of the MG team before entering the building and the German spotter bit the dust. The building he had inhabited was shortly retaken by a bold assault across an open street by my riflemen. The yanks assaulting the building with the MG team in it did not fare well either as before they could scale the staircase and get to the second story to finish the job, my second rifle team strapped up and pushed them from the building.

The assault

Counter attack

The remnants of his platoon pinned in the open and two nearly full strength squads of elite German troops about to open fire on them, the American officer decided to pull back. A decisive victory to the fallschrimjaeger. I believe after the first round of games the Germans had three victories and a draw thus hindering the allied deployment of armour. The report for the second and third engagements will be in the next post.

At battles end

In other miniature news I received my secret Santa gift today and am quite impressed that it is nicely wrapped in Toy Story paper and has a card taped to it. This will go under the tree once it is up. I have also been getting back into my Impetus Athenians and now nearly have a hoplite base complete and have begun work on another unit that contains these two fellows. Have a guess at what they may be, there is a hint in the picture (Markus you're not allowed to guess as you know).

Love the wrapping paper!

Who are these guys?

Continuing on an Ancient theme if you haven't already discovered the War and Empire Kickstarter by Forged in Battle I highly recommend it. Some great looking sculpts and the backer pricing is fantastic.
Lastly as we played Operation Quarterback on the 9th anniversary of Duelling Grounds existing there was a 25% off sale on all Flames of War merchandise. A bunch of us finally acted on wanting to do Bolt Action 15mm in North Africa and I picked up some halftracks to go with my DAK infantry. I also bought some paints and have begun work on a few test figures. My Stug IV also got some foliage camo post Quarerback.

DAK and Stug IV

Secret Santa Wish List #2

After receiving a suggestion by the Secret Santa organizer here is my wish list this year. Mainly I'm interested in some sets to paint for enjoyment not specifically for a project as most of my project miniatures have been purchased and await paint. Besides these I'm happy with receiving anything.

• Claymore Castings Scottish/English foot command.
• Claymore Castings English billmen.
• Pro Gloria foot command advancing. Available from Empress Miniatures.
• Any early Saxon or late Roman set from Musketeer Miniatures.
• Any late Roman set from Legio Heroica.
• Any Confederates from Pendraken Miniatures.
• Lastly any Gripping Beast metal un-armoured vikings.

Secondly here is a sneak peek WIP for my Pewter to Poppies project. If you want more info on it here is the official announcement by the club.

Pewter to Poppies

The Toronto Historical Miniature Gamers, my local club, has decided to run a charity fundraiser this Remembrance Day in order to support combat veterans suffering from physical injuries as well as those dealing with PTSD. A bunch of us are painting up a figure or two that will then be auctioned off on eBay starting November 11th with all the proceeds going to Wounded Warrriors. 

Over the next few days I will be revealing some WIP photos of the project but to keep you interested here is some of the inspirational material.

Also coming to my blog soon will be two things. First more regular updates as I'm planning for two posts a month. Second my secret Santa wish list coming up tonight sometime or tomorrow morning as I received a friendly nudge from the organizer. 

Having finished school I've had both more and less time to paint and have been spreading paint across a number of projects, but overall not enough on any single one.

Drive them off as if they are Ravens

Today I completed my first unit for Impetus, a group of Greek slingers for a Peloponnesian War Athenian army to fight of Firey Monkey Boy's Spartans. Both his Antigonid and Spartan 15mm Impetus armies inspired me to begin this project and after a first test game I am now mad about Impetus.

I have never before done multiple figures on a single base and I feel I need to practice more on not getting the wood filler on the figures as I place that down, a task I believe will be harder with the tightly packed hoplites to come. 

I learned quickly in our test game that slingers are not the greatest skirmishers for advancing as they receive a negative to shoot when moving but they make great speed bumps for adding a disruption to an attacking unit. The 300 point army will have two units of slingers but I hope to eventually do up two units of psiloi with javelins to deploy when attacking.

Next up will be the general's hoplite base as I want to get the bulk of the army, the hoplites, on the field ASAP. Figures are from Xyston.

Whoops, with the Skáld ok Kaupmaðr

Hello all,

Sorry I never got those Maurice AARs up but school took over my life. Been gaming regularly once a week at the club but sadly painting hasn't been very productive. By the end of the week I should have all my writing for the term done and have some painting time on my hands. That said I have snuck a few figures in here and there and now I shall share them.

First up is a notables base for my Maurice army. He will be a generic notable for now but once I've done up a few more bases they will be differentiated as to what sort of force they command and he will become a cavalry, or general staff officer.

Next up is my first unit for Muskets and Tomahawks which the club is doing in 15/18mm with figures from Blue Moon. My overall force at 200 points will be British light infantry but they will also have 4 members of a colonial militia acting as guides.

Lastly I have also begun painting a points worth of warriors for my SAGA viking warband that I picked up at Hot Lead. First up is the skáld. An older fellow retained to sing Jarl Þorstein's praise. He, like all good poets, has a horn of mead he is drinking from before going into battle.

Accompanying him is the kaupmaðr. Having made money trading with the Anglo-Saxons to the south of Jarl Þorstein's lands he has opted to spend his wealth on expensive clothes, as well as a golden ring, brooch and arm ring. When called upon by the jarl he brings his speer and red shield.

Lastly is a picture of the two together. I have also begun a Dystopian Wars naval project and have one frigate painted but forgot to get a picture of it. That will have to be a separate post later on.

I am Alive!

Sorry for the silence life has been hectic. The holidays hardly felt like a break as it was all go go go except for a few days spent resting with my family and my girlfriend, I didn't even pick up a brush once. Since school has started I have only twice been able to paint and did up some test stands for my 6mm Maurice army from Baccus. I almost have one company of infantry painted but am waiting on my newly placed order to arrive so that I can create more scenic bases. I have to say 6mm is nice for the speed but tough on the eyes.

Even though not much painting has happened I have played some games. I've now played 3 games of Maurice, two of which are part of the club's campaign. The first tester game can be seen here at Fiery Monkey Boy's blog. The second game was my first campaign game and I faced off against Anthony's Prussians (link to his blog) and I will tomorrow write up the battle report for that, in the mean time you can read his biased and exaggerated account on the club's Maurice blog. The third battle was fought this past Wednesday against Ernie's Prussians (well my Lollanders are invading Northern Prussia to take the pressure off my allies) and was a great game. I have written my account of the battle of Piff and Pöff on the club blog and a battle report will follow.

I have to say Maurice is a damned fun game to play especially when all involved get into the roles of 18th century gentlemen. Hopefully in the next few weeks my Baccus order will arrive and I can finish off at least one regiment of my army and putter away at the rest. A Musket and Tomahawk's project is also on the horizon so stay posted for that.

The Independent Duchy of Lolland

Here is the background of my semi-imagination for use in Maurice.

The Flag of Lolland

 The duchy of Lolland is ruled by Asger Knuth III, Hertug af Lolland and cousin to the King of Denmark. At only seventeen years of age he has already ruled Lolland for two years following his father's unfortunate and suspicious death. Asger has yet to prove himself in combat but has shown to be an astute student of tactics and quite the capable hunter.

Hertug Soren I

Hertug Asger III

Having split away from Danish rule the duchy of Lolland is isolated enough to move independantly in European politics. Further the rich farmland held by the Duke ensures that the Danish crown remains in debt to them, for without the Lollandic grain supply, the King would need to seek sustanance for his people abroad. Under the firm rule of the Knuths the duchy's military and navy has greatly expanded. Lollandic ships, commanded by Admiral Christen Benedixen, patrol the Westerm part of the sound enforcing the travel tax laid down by the current Hertug's late father, Soren I, as well as ensuring that no invading army, be it foreign or that of the Danish King, will set foot in their homeland.

Admiral Christen Benedixen

The army may not have the size of some of their neighbours but they make up for it by their high skill level. Military service is manditory in the duchy thus the well trained population can be called upon in times of need. During the previous Hertugi's reign the Lollanders began to emmulate the military of the Prussians. This can be attributed to the fact that both the late Soren and his brother Jakob studied at a Prussian military academy. The late Duke so impressed with the Prussian grenadiers instituted the wearing of mitres for all the Lolland army's infantry regiments.

Lolland is predominantly a Lutheran region and thus is closely linked to the other Scandinavian nations as well as Britain and the Northern German states, though this does not preclude conflicts from arrising between them as was seen during Soren I's reign. The Danish King threatened Lolland with invasion but after the naval battle in Strostrøm Bay the Lollanders sunk and captured a quarter of the Royal fleet forcing the monarch to the negotiating table. After this heroic action Hertug Soren I formally recognized the Lollandic marines and the Dukes now train them to become the most elite warriors of the island.

In times of need the Hertugi will lead the Lollandic army himself but when involving the duchy in foreign conflicts a general will be assigned to lead the Lollandic forces. Under the current Duke's reign this has been his uncle Jakob Knuth, an eccentric adventurer having served in a Prussian hussar regiment before returning to his homeland upon his brother's death. Jakob has the stern and well organised control of his forces, in the Prussian manner, as well as an easy going demeanour that has gained him great loyalty from the soldiers. This has caused a great bubbling of gossip in court where many nobles speculate that he may lead a coupe against his nephew and claim the duchy for himself. As of now though no tension is seen between the two. 

Generelt Jakob Knuth

Secret Santa!

Just want to say thank you to my "Secret" Santa. I had been floundering in the wind on the 6mm Maurice project but these Baccus figures have given me the drive needed. Soon I will be putting up posts about my (semi) Imagination, the Independant Duchy of Lolland.

Thank you Ian and Cath for making this a reality and I will most definitely be taking part next year again. I'm also excited that my gift reached the recipient and by the looks of it they are ecstatic! On top of that the supplier who I went through was most generous in throwing in freebies.

PS: There was a note in my order revealing who my "Secret" Santa was.

Recent Games

This Wednesday and the past I have played two outstanding games against Alex at my local club, here is his blog you should check it out. http://thebentbristle.wordpress.com/ He is a slow painter but a very good one that puts my speedy painting to shame.

Last week we played our first game of Song of Drums and Shakos in an attack and defend scenario where my boys of the Royal Irish Fusiliers fought off his Gordon Highlanders whilst defending a couple of casks of whiskey. The Irish were victorious at pushing back the Scots. I had planned to photograph the game and make a battle report but got so sucked into it I totally forgot. It had some great moments though such as my downed NCO managing to evade a bunch of bayonet thrusts long enough for his boys to come up and slaughter the Scottish NCO causing a bunch of the skirt wearing buggers to flee. I will try to remember to photograph the next game and write a report.

Then last Wednesday I faced off against Alex again while I was introducing my friend to Bolt Action. My friend Mykola and I played the defending Fallschrimjägers who had to stop the American paras from crossing the table. Again I forgot to take photos but luckily Firey Monkey Boy (another club member), who was looking up rules for us and picking our dice from the pot, took photos and wrote up a report. Here is his great blog and the battle that ensued. http://themonkeythatwalks.blogspot.ca/2012/12/dogs-eye-view.html

After last night I have decided I would like to expand my Fallschrimjägers to 1000 points and have been playing with the calculations to do that. It seems I will only need to paint up a handful more of the airborne soldiers and add a Stug III G. This may become a pre-Christmas project since I already have the infantry figures and a single tank won't break the bank for me.

Lastly in my free time I have painted up two more figures for the retinue of Thomas Grene and have begun on two more as well as the first test billman for John Tayte's retinue.

That has been my last couple of weeks in wargaming

Liebster Blog Award

Well I have been nominated for a Liebster award on my latest WOTR post, this caught me off guard since my painting is nothing special in my mind. The Liebster award is designed to bring greater attention to small blogs so that their readership may increase and to allow others to find like minded blogs that they may not have come upon otherwise. That said most of my nominations will likely be familiar to my readers. I was nominated by Moiterei (wish I knew his name but I don't speak German and can't read his profile) he is an awesome painter and I am honoured by his interest in my measly works. His blog can be found here http://moitereisbuntewelt.blogspot.ca/

The rules of the Liebster awards are as follows:

-"Copy and paste," the award on your blog and talk about it.
-Post a link back to the blogger who gave you the award.
-Select five blogs of 200 followers or less to nominate for the award and inform them of your decision by commenting on a post.

Here are my five nominations in no specific order.

1. http://inevitablespark.blogspot.ca/ Johnathan is painting up a marvelous Carthaginian force for Hail Caeser and also has some great ECW units. His painting style is clean and beautiful and he does what so few of us can do and focuses on a single project at a time.

2. http://arlequinsworld.blogspot.ca/ This is Jim's blog and though it doesn't contain much in terms of miniatures (I don't think I've seen a single miniatures post since I became a blogger) it is none the less one of the best miniatures blogs I know of. He is great at interpreting and re-writing rules and at giving summaries of historical conflicts to help gamers put them into perspective. This later skill has gained him my respect as a medievalist for he is well researched and has a clear writing style. Of great interest to me is his Wars of the Roses and Burgundian Succession rule tweaks for Dux Britanniarum.

3. http://scyldandseax.blogspot.ca/ Max is a young Frenchman with an interest in the Middle Ages. He, like Jim, is working on converting the Dux Britanniarum rules to place them into the 15th century. He also puts up reports of his test games with his great Perry conversions and builds. From his posts about his fictional nation  Runissia it is clear he has a great imagination that will serve him well in his wargaming.

4. http://flintlockandtomahawk.blogspot.ca/ This one is a little different. It doesn't do miniatures (though does have miniature related posts) but instead blogs about anything to do with the French and Indian Wars. Everyday I see there is at least one new post for me to look at and learn more about the period. My club in the new year will be starting forces for Muskets and Tomahawks set during the French and Indian Wars.

5. http://wattswargames.blogspot.ca/ Lastly I would like to nominate one of the guys at my gaming club who's painting is outstanding. I feel his blog speaks for itself and hopefully his light infantry will be up and ready for some SDS action soon.

John Tayte of Eastwood

The second warband I have begun as of late is that of John Tayte of Eastwood. The younger son of the lord of Eastwood John had no inheritance and sought his fortune working as a mercenary in Italy. He amassed a great amount of wealth and the loyalty of some of his mercenary soldiers but was recalled to England upon the death of his elder brother in an accident, to take over the Eastwood estate. 

Although England lacks the flamboyant air of Italy John has decided to dive directly into local politics to cement a name for himself in his homeland. The biggest hurdle he faces is the fact that the Eastwood estate is small, thus he has found in his father's records deeds to some of the neighbouring lands. Of course his neighbours, such as Thomas of Langley, are fighting in court the validity of these deeds but everyday it seems the two men are being drawn closer to armed conflict. If it comes to blows John is supported by some locals he has retained, but also a core of experienced mercenaries from his service in Italy.

This is my first fully completed and based cavalry figure (though I have also now based Sir Henry Grey and his retainer) and I am very happy with how it turned out. Comments and criticism is always welcome.