Persian Diversion!

My little Ancient diversion continues with the completion of the first two ready made armies from Essex, A few quick comments on each, references to DBA2.2:

Later Achaemenid Persians 420BC- 329BC Book II/7. 1xLC (General), 2x3 Cav. 2x2LH, 1xSCh, 2x2Ps. 4x3Ax. Just squeezed this army from the Essex set after ditching all the useless early 'Violin' shield 'Immortal' style figures, about 16 useless figures but still! I confess I still have not yet got a grip on painting those Persian colours and designs so what we see is just an impression but I'm looking into shield designs. It's been great fun though and something very different for me. Of course most DBN armies contain options so I'll be adding 4 bases of 4x'Sp' (spears) by way of mercenary Hoplites to replace the 4 x3 Auxilia and give the Persians a bit more oomph! I'm also painting the 'Cav/General' 3 cavalry as an option to the light chariot General simply because the mounted General figure is just packed with character.

Alexandrian Macedonian 355BC - 320BC. Book II/12. I can call these done! 1x3Kn (General), 1x3 Cav, 1x2LH, 1x4Ax, 6x4 Pk. 1x2 Ps. 1xArt. Plus options. Phalangite shield transfers by LittleBigMan studios, might try to add an outer bronze ring but otherwise ready to play.

Macedonian Early Successor 320-260BC  Book II/18.  By swapping out the artillery element for the elephant I can field several of these armies from what I have. I rather fancy myself as Ptolemy Keraunos (280-279BC) as I get to command the army from the elephant! 

All great fun with so much potential going forward. I know that I will be adding an Hoplite army next but before that I want to play around with the 'camp' element for the above.

A big thanks to Geoff for his help in sorting out the Persians especially!

Have I got those Dolphins upside down?

Seasons Greetings, dodgy Achaemenid Persians and that elephant!

Firstly I want to send Seasons Greetings to those who follow my little blog and especially to those who have supported my painting service over recent years (or decade in Old John and Tony's case). 

I do hope to get a little actual wargaming content on here soon now that I am close to finishing my first couple of DBA armies, our youngest son in law has expressed an interest in historical gaming (he's a Warhammer player), so plan is to suggest a learning game together over the festive break. 

I think any future DBA armies will be possibly Xyston Miniatures as I have to say I have not been overwhelmed by by the Essex figures sadly. The late Persian ready made army contained quite a number of figures that were not at all suitable for the period so had to be consigned to the spares drawer. but at least I managed to get a basic 12 element force from what was there. I will need to add more spears as options. So, sufficient to get started with at least! I quite like the Essex elephant though and thoroughly enjoyed painting it although it's not useful for fighting the Achaemenid Persians. Next up I need to paint some Hoplites, possibly Spartans and Athenians using those fine LittleBigMan studios full colour transfers.

Cheers for now, have a good one and see you in the New Year.

Commission photos and DBA.

As promised here are the completed five regiments and horse battery that comprise the Epic Guard cavalry commission for Tony2 that I finished off basing yesterday, a most stirring sight. These along with the Prussians so far will be heading off in the New Year.

I have finished off the Confederate Brigade box for Noel. Noel agreed that the Rebs look more historically accurate with just the single classic battle flag so one standard pole was cut down to a rifle which works quite well. Another Union Brigade box will be heading my way next. I must say that I really enjoy painting the Epic ACW's, the figures are very animated and give a real sense of movement. I would imagine that if Warlord were designing these now they would have fixed bayonets like the Napoleonics but no matter, they look good to me.

As time seems to be flying past I'll be starting on the December batch of 300 Rebs for Chris next but painting them alongside the Peter Pig EWC's for Graham which should see me comfortably through to Christmas.

Meantime I have continued to paint some Ancients for myself with the Macedonian army completed except for the Elephant.  DBA v2 has  certainly helped clarify the composition of the armies and a big thanks to Geoff who has been helping me out with his knowledge of DBA and ancient armies. I have to say that the Essex Miniatures ready made Late Persians has caused me a few issues as the first eight figures I painted were early Immortals and have no place in this army! I have consigned the 16 figures with the older 'violin' shields to the spares draw and can just about still make up 12 elements from what's left although I plan to add a couple of bases of mercenary hoplites as options. I could not resist painting the Generals light 2 horse chariot. Once the new shield transfers arrive from Littlebigman studios I will replace all of the Phalangite transfers with better quality ones.

 have also now tracked down the correct threads for rigging my two Napoleonic Langton ships thanks to my wife. I hope to get started on this in the week. Graham C very kindly sent me a copy of the hardback rule book 'Blood, Bilge and iron Balls. which I have been reading through alongside researching the subject of Napoleonic Naval warfare in general.

Epic Dutch lancers & Prussian artillery, more ACW's and a chariot!

Painting production was a little slower this week due to a sprained right wrist that was quite painful for a couple of days, however I soldiered on with it strapped up and managed to knock out a reasonable amount of painting, the Dutch Lancers and 2 batteries of Prussian artillery for Tony2 and 100 Epic Rebs for Noel. I'm really pleased with the Lancers and these will be joining the Polish Lancers, Empress Dragoons, Horse Grenadiers and Chasseurs that are already painted. I will get a few group photos as soon as I finish the basing on them all, no doubt the 100 strong Imperial Guard cavalry will look a most imposing group together.

A note to the Eagle eyed among you, yes I missed the trouser stripe and this has been corrected :)

Below: and onto to more Epic Rebs! To be honest I LOVE painting Epic Rebs and now have a reliable method for painting the strips at speed which produces really pleasing results. These are for Noel, aWarlord brigade box of 3 x 100 figure regiments, a battery of 3 guns and 3 mounted officers.

I  also painted my first scythed chariot, a most vicious instrument of War pulled by four greys. Possibly I should have saved the Greys for the generals light two horse chariot but it's done now! Looking at it I must admit it's a little bright overall but I did copy it from Googled reference images so think it's OK. I also managed the first 8 spearmen so 3 elements towards the Later Achaemenid army (#33). I have the elephant and another pack of Companion cavalry of order from Essex along with some more shield transfers from Veni Vidi Veci and LittleBigMan studios, the latter being in glorious full colour. Plan is to replace the current Phalangite shields as they look a bit flat. Meantime I'm watching a lot of good DBA videos as recommended by Geoff and it's really inspiring stuff. I think the combination of a small playing area (my trusty old folding card table), simple rules, the ability to paint and collect many different armies and battles that average 45 minutes will sit very nicely with my current situation. I may have to invest in DBA Version 3 at some point but have V2 on order, picked up secondhand. 

The run up to Christmas will see the completion of Noel's Reb brigade box this week followed by more lovely Peter Pig ECW's for Graham (the war has now moved North of the Border) and the December batch of 300 more Epic Rebs for Chris in NZ so fairly busy. New Year will start with a return to Epic Prussians and I have a box in hand for good Old John which I think contains more Winged Hussars, I dread to think how many of these John has in his vast collection.

Epics and more Epics plus more Macedonians!

 Another weeks commission work completed in the form of 2 more Epic Prussian infantry regiments for Tony2, 1 line and 1 Landwehr, each consisting of 120 figures in 3 x 40 figure battalions, strips cut in half and based on 20 x 30mm bases as requested. I am keeping the Landwehr coats (Litewkas) slightly lighter blue than the Prussian Blue of the line to represent the cheaper inferior cloth used as most references seem to suggest, as usual blue looks slightly brighter in the photos under the lights. It also gives a little more contrast to the overall look of the Prussian army. Prepping up today 20 French Guard lancers for the Dutch (Polish already painted), 2 x 3 gun Prussian artillery batteries and a couple more mounted officers to finish this months batch.

Total painted figures so far toward this large commission will be:

6 x 120 figure infantry regiments (18 battalions) = 720 figures.

French Guard cavalry, 5 x 20 figure cavalry units = 100 cavalry

2 batteries of guns (6 plus crews)

Mounted commanders.

Next batch will be dedicated to Prussian cavalry as I have all those from the Bluchers  Army box plus an additional cavalry Brigade box plus odd sprues to do. There are also 12 French heavy cavalry sprues on the way from Warlord via their Black Friday sale! Tony2 is going BIG on this project.

Thursday is scheduled for the start of another ACW brigade box for Noel, 300 figures plus a battery of guns, 7 days painting, then onto more 15mm ECW's for Graham so it's keeping me busy. December will see another 300 Epic Rebs for Chris in NZ.

The completed 2 WSS German regiments for Tony (Foy) were posted early this week but have yet to arrive due to postal strikes! Well packed though so will be fine but I'll be glad when they arrive.

My little foray into DBA using Essex Miniatures continues to tick along with the Macedonians almost completed. I have just another 8 Phalangites to complete the options provided and I'll be adding an additional Cav. element plus an Elephant which will allow expansion to Early Successor army. To be honest I really just want to paint an elephant! I also need some shield transfers for the shields of the Auxilia.

Meantime today I simply cannot resist starting on this 4 horse scythed chariot being the start of Later Achaemenid Persian army (33). Always wanted to paint a chariot but never done so I don't think.

Trying a different basing style!

I noted as I looked around at images of ancient wargame armies that many had bases far lighter than my usual style so for my DBN armies I wanted to try something a bit different. So I went back to good old filler powder! The dry filler was then painted with watered down Vallejo Flat Earth and then some trusty Japanese Uniform ( a must have shade that I use on a daily basis, perfect for a highlight mix into Flat Brown on horses etc), was blended in wet on wet. Very happy with that result but next I wanted to add some patchy grass areas. Traditionally I have always used static grass for this but decided to try a touch of Javis flock for a change and I'm really pleased with the overall clean and simple look. I might touch in a few grey stones on the rougher areas but will resist the urge to use tufts.

With 6 elements done I can turn my attention to the 24 Phalangites which comprise the bulk of the army. really liking the old Essex Miniatures again, some fine facial detail and very clean crisp castings. Service is second to none, I ordered the follow up Persian army on Wednesday, shipping confirmed Thursday with RM delivery confirmed for today, pretty hard to beat I'd say. I'll be using shield transfers from Essex on the shields, lifes too short for painting shield designs! The Persians look great and I will get to paint a couple of chariots.

I can see myself adding a different army each month as a nice little side project and while I'm not getting myself too excited about the gaming side I do see this as being perfect for my wooden card table painted and finished to match the basing, there is something about the sound of a dice rolling on wood that is very nostalgic in these days of fleece mats. 

New basing, so far in DBA terms, 1 x 3 Kn (with General), 1 x 3 cav. (Companions), 1 x2  light horse 2 x 2 Psiloi (archers) 1 x 4 Auxilia (peltasts) 1 x Art. (bolt thrower). Note: Base edges just need finishing.

Bit late to the painting desk this morning due to waiting for the plumber to have a look at the shower but time to crack on with the second battalion of WSS German boys for Tony having finished the first yesterday. Orange facings against blue coats (Dark Prussian dry brush followed by Flat Blue highlghts) is a pleasing combo. Next battalion has Red facings. Next week I'm back with Tony2 for 10 days of Epic Prussians, some line infantry and artillery plus the French Guard Dutch Lancers to complete the Guard cavalry.

Hesse- Kassel Infantry Regt. Stuckradt - a few heads of blonde hair for the German guys!

First 300 Rebs, Napoleonic ships and some Macedonians!

Some shots here taken yesterday of the first batch of painted  Epic Rebs for Chris. Hopefully you can see that I Have tried to vary the look between the brown/grey and the slightly more uniform grey with pale blue cuff patches, three of the former and two of the latter. They have had two coats of matt varnish. As Chris will be basing them to his own spec and adding flags I can call them finished. I will keep them in their units of 6 strips painted when packing. So that's 5 down with 39 more to go plus artillery! This commission will proceed at an agreed 5 regiments - 30 strips - per month, cheers Chris.

Next up and ready prepped for starting this morning are two 20mm WSS regiments for Tony, they look like Giants after the Epics! 

I have also been tinkering away on the Napoleonic ships in the evenings with the first two built and painted, .6mm holes drilled out for the rigging. In future I'll drill the models before painting but no damage was done in the process. Next step is to add the main standing rigging before adding the etched brass shrouds/ratlines and then the remaining rigging as described in the Rod Langton guide. Both ships are 'At Quarters' so no ships boats on deck - they would have been towed behind in action - the sail sets are 'Easy Sail' with Courses (lower sails) furled which was done in order to reduce risk of catching fire when in action. Just need to track down the recommended threads now and my wife is on the lookout for me. The resin sea bases will be improved once the ships are rigged with additional highlights etc.

Tiny holes 3 each side for passing the thread though for rigging.

I have also been enjoying myself painting a few Macedonians towards a DBA army. Lovely old Essex Miniatures, crisp castings. The bulk of the army will be Phalangites, 6 bases of 4 figures with pikes and shields should look quite impressive. Just a nice background project and I'll be ordering the opposing Persians this week. Going to keep the basing lighter than my usual style which should help to set off the colourful troops.

And finally, talk about it's a dogs life! Poppy certainly knows how to make herself comfortable.