Moving on.

The great 28mm AWI distraction is now sold off and it's time to refocus once again. I never have regrets when I sell off figures as I know they will actually be used as intended, for playing wargames. I get my gaming pleasure from Commands & Colors Napoleonics (see below), something about those neat wooden blocks just works for me and the scenarios never fail to give me enjoyment.

So what next? Well, the main focus will be on commission work for a while now as I try to catch up, but I will also paint up the odd Fife & Drum figures, if only for display. I do have another small project in mind, much less time consuming than 28mm figures, but more of this in due course once something is painted.

I took a few snaps of the few F&D's already painted. I rebased them and they look much better. The detail is so crisp on these castings, and they lack the annoying casting worms left on the Perry figures. You can see how anatomically correct they are, tall and slim with long muskets and strong bayonets.

Borodino scenario.
I'm currently playing through the Borodino Village scenario from the C&C Russian expansion.

c&cnapoleonics.net

A strong early attack against the Russian Guard Jaeger defending the Borodino hexes has driven them out as French line infantry storm in. The attack was supported by close range artillery fire. Eugene's Corps conducts a general attack against the Russian centre whilst watching the Russian Cavalry under Uvarov who begin to advance against the weak French left flank.

The French are hampered by lack of centre cards now while the Russian hand is strong. Seeing the Russians reform for a counter attack Eugene has no choice but to throw his heavy cavalry forward to pin Russian infantry in square and reduce the command hand by two cards. It's classic C&C game play, both sides having to pull back reduced units from range while trying to feed forward fresh troops, frustrating for the French who still have no centre cards to play. At this stage its all to play for, one good card could turn the game either way now.

eBay sale of AWI's - link and more pics.

Further to my post yesterday the figures are now for sale on eBay, the link is:

eBay sale of Perry AWI figures.

I have pulled together some of my previous photos here as they are probably better quality shots than those listed!

ebay sale - Perry 28mm AWI's!

Well, I don't really understand myself exactly what drove me to paint all of these figures but something certainly did! I certainly enjoyed doing them. Time to call it a day now and get them sold on ebay, so they will be going on this evening to finish Saturday night. 170 figures, plastics and metals (around £150.00 of figures/guns etc here!).

Much as I might try I'm really not a figure gamer any longer, my gaming pleasure comes from Commands & Colors Napoleonics as I continue to play through the scenarios. I'll be setting up Borodino (Village scenario) this afternoon on the board.

Anyway, here are some of the pics just taken, I'll be uploading the best of them to eBay later today.

In the meantime if anyone is interesting in this fine collection, which is ideal for small actions such as Musket & Tomohawk rules (see link to AWI game played under these rules here), please contact me via email to discuss.

Now back on track with commercial work, of which more in due course.

American forces.

Toy soldiers, cats & dogs and Life in general!

Things are finally settling back to normal here after what has been a challenging few weeks. Most importantly Jess is now home and recovering from double pneumonia How close she came to total respiratory failure does not bear thinking about. Must indeed be evidence of the recuperative power of Hollyoaks!

The sudden loss of our friend and neighbour remains raw, but we are slowly coming to terms with that too. 46 is far too young to die of heart failure, but he suffered little and died with dignity wearing his beloved Arsenal shirt. RIP 'Ash'.

It's the end of another summer season here in Dymchurch, and the mornings are nice and quiet again. I'm doing a double walk each morning as old Marcie the Golden Retriever can't keep pace with Sasha (she came as 'Tilly' but her original name was Sasha and she clearly responded much more to Sasha). I'm doing a 20 minute walk with Marcie and then an hours fast paced walk with sash, it's doing me good as I have lost a stone in weight over the past few weeks and I can feel my general fitness improving. Funny enough I'm feeling mentally stronger too and have been able to spend time thinking about many different things,

The cats are slowly getting used to Sasha being around but steer clear of her. They have taken to coming up into the front bedroom windows now, but it's working well. Last night not so good as one of them brought a dead mouse into the bedroom that I had to remove!

So all in all things are getting back to normal.

Perry AWI's and commission work.
I have just another half dozen mounted light dragoons to paint over the next couple of days and the Perry project will be complete. 170 well painted and individually based 28mm figures. I have decided that these will go the same way of most of my work and will be offered for sale via eBay early next week. I'm going to take some group pictures over the weekend and will post them here.

This will then clear the decks for me to dedicate more time to commission work. From Monday next week I will be back at my desk from 9am to around 3pm painting as previously. As a side project I'll be working on painting the Fife & Drum figures I have.

One of the long term projects I am engaged upon is Tony's early Peninsular war Spanish army, and Tony sent me a very useful book via Ken Trotman "Spanish infantry of the Early Peninsular War" by Gerard Cronin and Stephen Summerfield. It is a most excellent book and will prove invaluable to me as a source of reference. I highly recommend it.

Here are a few photos of more recent additions to the Perry's - command bases, Rhode Island artillery, more Royal Artillery in those fine Grecian inspired combed hats, and a few more American light infantry, actually the light co of the 2nd Canadian Regt after Mollo.

Royal artillery crew - blue is much darker than appears here!

Rhode Island artillery - early uniform.

And just for good measure a few shots of Sasha on her walk. The blue car you see in one of the shots spent last night underwater, having driven onto the beach and got stuck as the tide came in. I have seen this happen many times here over the years, a couple of years back a brand new reg Range Rover also suffered the same fate, stuck in the sand, and drew a large crowd of onlookers as it slowly disappeared beneath the incoming tide.

Car being winched back up the beach having spent the night underwater!

Dymchurch beach this morning at low tide.

100.000  page views.
Finally, this blog has just passed 100.000 page views, quite astonishing, I'm really pleased that my 6mm Painting and Basing guide (link at top right), continues to gain lots of views and currently 'tops the charts' and I hope that it continues to prove useful for those working in the smaller scale. For the future this blog will remain for the most part ongoing pictures of my painting as intended, but I do hope to feature our pets now and again and write about Life in general down here in Dymchurch. Thank you to all who take time to read my ramblings and I hope you will continue to enjoy the pictures as things progress.