Cold Wars 08

It might be too late; however, I will be at CW08 this year. I would be willing to bring my 42mm RTW figures and run a game or two although I'd like to know the interest in this before I commit.

If you have any interest in playing in one of my RTW games leave a comment to this post. I'll develop a different scenarion then the prior ones, I suspect a meeting engagement with Turkish Horse and a few more Inf Rgts to add to the mix.

Anyway let me know or I'll probably just go up for the a shopping day on Saturday.

Zvezda Castle Deal!

So here's the deal and it is for real!

Siege of the Royal Fortress for $29.99 USD; Squadron mail order has Zvezda's Ring of rule Siege of the Royal Fortress on sale for $29.99. It was $189.99; this is a $160.00 savings---YES THAT'S RIGHT I SAID $160.00 SAVINGS! It is not on the web site it is from the flyer only. USA Call 1-877-414-0434. Tell them from the April 2007 flyer page 58; Zvezda's Assault of the Fantasy Fortress; item#ZV8820; $5.00 USD USA shipping and 95 cents insurance. I bought 3 sets for less then $100, two will be presents.

You get a Zvezda castle about 15"x15" with 4 towers and a Gate, over 70 figures (medieval foot and skeleton warriors), bolt throwers and a catapult, seige mantlets, ladders a dragon the rules and a bunch of other stuff!!!!! The castle alone is worth the $30. You can find a picture of one of the wall sections in the posting below with some 28/30mm figures for size comparison.

Castle Deal

I'll add more info to this photo later but it's a great deal.

The castle is going to be 15" x 15", with 4" tall walls and 6.5" tall towers. The rampart behind in the wall is just under 3" tall and 1.5" wide.

I quickly built one of the wall pieces and put some figures around it. I'll post to my blog in the next few minutes; however it looks fine. I used an OG 28mm Ren Swiss officer, 2 30mm Redoubt Trojan War figures, 1 unpainted 28mm Crusader Norman and 3 GW 28mm Uruk Hai mini's for scale. Anyway it looks ok.

The Battle of Lovcha CW07

This was the second game I had signed up to run. It started Saturday at noon and would have well over 400 42mm figures on the table. As it turns out only one person had signed up to play in advance; however, a few more folks walked by and were more then happy for a place at the table. Again setup took about an hour, many thanks to my wife and friends for their help and support; I couldn't have done this without them.

Lovcha was another pesky fortified position that was supplying Plevna from Sophia. The town is known for the covered bridge that crosses the river Osam. The bridge was built in 1872 and is so lovely the Turks couldn’t bring themselves to destroy it. They didn’t occupy the town either, instead fortifying the heights around the area. For pictures of Lovech, Lovitch or Lovcha and the bridge check here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovech

The Russians were under the command of Prince Imrtinski and Gen M Skobolev. The Russian commanders used artillery to suppress the entrenched positions and to cover the assault columns in what would be a successful precursor to the trench warfare of WWI. The Russians cleared the trenches on the eastern side of the river and then stormed the Osam at a well known ford and through the town. The remaining Turks retreated and were hunted down by the regiments of Cossacks.

It took a little under 3 hours to play the game which is impressive considering the number of figures and that 5 of the 7 players had never played the rules before. In fact by the end of the game the players were running the game themselves and stopping occasionally to ask me clarification questions only. If you are interested in gaming the period 1850 to 1912 I highly recommend Chris Peers Ever Victorious Armies. They might require some small tweaking depending upon the war and scale you wish to use, but they are a solid system. They also give very historical results, I will review them shortly.

Here’s the link to the slide show, enjoy!

The Battle for Lovcha

The Battle of Gorni Dubnik at ColdWars07

So my first game at the convention was Friday at 4PM in the main gaming room. We drove up in the middle of an ice storm passing easily 2 dozen cars stuck in the median, flipped upside down and crashed after sliding across the highway into oncoming traffic. A ride that normally takes 2 hours took over 5 hours; we simply didn’t drive faster then 40mph (miles per hour for my friends outside of the US).

We setup the game between 3 and 4 and we were ready to begin playing just a few minutes before 4. You can follow the setup in the slide show attached to this posting.

Basically; Gen Gourko, the hero of Shipka Pass was given command of the Russian Guard Corps. He was told to eradicate the Turkish position at Gorni Dubnik. This was one of the fortified positions that were being used to keep Plevna supplied. The Guards assaulted from the East, South and West and took horrendous casualties. They did finally take the position as the sun was setting; however, the loss of so many of the Tsars beloved Guardsmen almost cost Gourko his command.

Anyway the game was to kick off at 4 although at 4:45 no one had showed. That’s right, nobody. So I went to registration and they said you can tear the game down if you want. I asked if my friends and I could play and at registration they said do what you want. During the game lots of folks stopped by to look and to chat. It seemed as though the game was well received. I invited lots of folks to come by Saturday at noon when we would be playing the battle of Lovitch. But nobody stayed to play, oh well, we had a great time. More importantly the changes I’ve made to the rules worked perfectly. The game was fun, gave realistic results, easy to play and we fought the game to a conclusion in 3 hours. We moved approximately 300 figures over a 5x10 table and had a great game with silly hats!

If you’d like to view the fight click on the picture below and view the slide show or individual pictures.

The Battle of Gorni Dubhik

Preparing for ColdWars 07

I was told once never sign up for a game at a convention if you don't already have all of the soldiers painted and scenery ready. I now know why. I signed up to run 2 games at CW07 this year and had only about 30% of what was needed done and on the shelf. I'm very lucky though as I have a very supportive family that actually enjoys this hobby. So everybody pitched in and we did make it happen. I will be posting albums of the games next; for now here are some photos of preparing.

Prepping for the Con.

The first game

Here are photos of the first game using my Irregual Miniature 42mm Russo-Turkish War figures. We used Chris Peers "Ever Victorious Armies" with some modifications. My wife and a friend played the Turkish soldiers and his son and my daughters played the Russian contingent. This was a pre-game to test the rules for convention suitability, they work very well!

First Game

A Pair of Characters!

I think adding historical and created characters to a game and especially a campaign adds a lot to the fun. I enjoyed, in both Charge and the Wargame, references to characters scattered throughout those books. I have some ideas for a few historical, fictional (based upon Boris Akunin's novels) and truly invented fictional characters to include in my own armies as they are mustered.

So here are the first two figures. Left to right they are General Mikhail Skobolev, featured in an earlier post and his Serene Highness Prince Hassan of Egypt, both of these figures are historical characters. Gen. Skobolev was nominally in charge of a Cossack formation at the start of the war and through his aggression, luck; good press (the General knew how to court favor with the foreign journalists) and tactics had advanced to higher command by the conflict end. Prince Hassan was the leader of the Egyptian division during the war and the uniform is taken from a description provided by Wentworth Huyshe from the Liberation of Bulgaria, War Notes in 1877. The Egyptians didn't perform very well during the campaign and Prince Hassan went home under a less then favorable eye of the Sublime Porte.

Another Conversion

I wanted at least one Gatling gun for my Ottoman armies. They were used, by the Turks, in defense of the Danube River and to defend the monitors that patrolled the river early in the conflict. After the Danube was breeched by the Russians they seem to have disappeared from the campaign; however, they are entirely too cool to not have at least one available model. I had thought about making one for my Russians also except I've found no reports of Russian use of them anywhere during the conflict including the battles in the east around Kars.

Irregular doesn’t make a true Gatling (they do make a Mitrailleuse stock item LWF24---a great little casting except I wanted something a little more modern looking) so I built one. I’ll follow this post with some pictures of the process and examples later. I used castings LWT8 Machine Gun and LWRB8 75mm Field Gun. These had been included in my first two purchases from Irregular Miniatures. I started this project by purchasing 2 Jolly Fun Toy Soldier Style Battlepacks: one Turkish and one Russian. These castings are included in the Battlepacks and the machine gun and 75mm field gun, while great for the Balkan Wars of 1912, are clearly incorrect for the 1876-78 periods.

I used the machine gun portion of LWT8 placing the tripod into the bits box and the limber and wheels from LWRB8; the gun and shield joining the machine gun's extra piece in the bits box. Most Gatling’s had relatively short limbers, so I cut ¾” out of the trail of the limber and reassembled it with a pin for strength. I cut a 1/8"x1” strip from thin plastic card stock for the ammo magazine. Using a pin vise I drilled two small holes into the top of the machine gun and used an Exacto blade to finish the slot for the magazine. After that it was simple to assemble the machine gun unit into the limber, which fit as though the folks at Irregular expected me to make a Gatling from these pieces.

This was a great little project, very fun and easy.

The Presents are Ready!

Well as the title suggests, the Christmas presents for Jaena and Jordan are ready. I wanted them to have the look of old style toy soldiers and needed a container that would properly show them off. A trip to the Container Store rewarded me with 9"x7"x3" clear boxes with tension hinges (actually my wonderful wife found them).

So in all of their glory here is the first regiment of toy soldiers to be presented to my nephew with hopes that at a later date it will spark an interest in a hobby that has served me well for the time that I have dedicated to it. He's still a little young; although, I hope that in a few years these fine chaps will ignite a little fire of delight when he views them.

And for Jaena, some Teddy Bears on parade! I suspect she will be happier with the princess gear that will accompany these little fellows in a separate box. In a few more years perhaps these guardsmen can find a place in her curio cabinet.

Egyptians and Russian Rifles

Today I have a few shots of a regiment of Egyptians and my Brigade of Russian Rifles. I have much more to post in the coming few weeks so stay tuned.

The Egyptians formed a separate division in the war operating out of the quadrilateral fortresses; they were involved in the operations to relieve Osman Pasha in Pleven.

This was another easy conversion. The Irregular Miniatures Turkish figure is actually closer to an Egyptian for this period then an Ottoman soldier. I used an exacto-knife and scrapped off the trouser bottoms about half way up the figures calf. After that it was a simple job to paint them in leggings with dark blue uniforms and white trim. The flag is based loosely upon a civic standard from the period. I wanted to differentiate my Egyptian forces from the Ottomans and to do that I will be using green flags for the four Regiments.

The 1st Egyptian Regiment deployed in a firing line. I'll paint one other unit in the same color/uniform scheme for brigade unity of appearance. I'd like to paint a regiment in all white (circa 1880); although I think that would be taking significant liberties. Instead I think the second two regiments will wear the blue tunic and white trousers. Each regiment will have a unique standard.

Here we have the detail picture of the rifles. I had thought to use the militia figure at rest, in fur cap, for the Rifles and Bulgarians. Instead Irregular came to the rescue with a brand new group of figures. I'll be using these figures for the Bulgarian Legion also, when I paint them. They are painted without conversion; trouser color indicates the regiment assignment. The Brigadier is wearing the white fur reserved for senior officers and blue dress trousers.

The Russian Rifle Brigade advances! At this point in history there is very little difference between rifles and line infantry. As riflemen they could be armed with the Berdan rifle instead of the Krnk; that would give them range and firepower to equal the Turkish troops who were armed with the Martini-Peabody rifle.

New Irregulars

I have more to post for tomorrow; however, here's a tease. This is my first conversion with the Irregular Minis. It was very easy; nothing more then a bent arm and a swapped head. With this minor surgery we go from the figure on the left to the figure on the right; or more properly a dismounted horse holder (as described in the catalog) to Gen Mikhail Skobolev. I am very happy with this conversion. The little horse holder casting is going to become a very valuable item for conversion.

Eureka Toy Soldiers for my Nephew!

When should you start someone out in that grandest of hobbies; collecting toy soldiers? I'm not sure I've got an answer for that; however, Eureka Miniatures has made it a lot easier to give the gift of toy soldiers to younger children. My nephew is almost 2 years old, he is certainly too young to play with lead soldiers. He is easily old enough to receive his first set for display though. At Historicon06 I noticed a new line of toy soldier style toy soldiers from Eureka Minis, Nic Robson and crew. I purchased a few with the idea of painting and giving them as gifts. They are lovely castings, very cleanly cast and pleasant to paint. Eureka has cast a nice variety with Guns, Crews, Infantry, Cavalry and Generals all currently available. I thought a regiment per year at Christmas and one at Birthdays would make nice gifts for the next few years; plus the occasional set for no good reason. By the time Jordan is old enough to play with them he should have two very nice little forces of toys. I can offer you a link to the Eureka webpage although I'm unable to find these fellows listed.

http://eurekamin.com.au/

In this range are figures for two separate armies, infantry in either bearskin or shako and cavalry in either helmet or shako. The are all about 40mm in height.

To view some painted Eureka Teddy Bears for my niece (shhhh it's a surprise) visit my other blog! I know it's shameless cross posting to my own blogs!

http://electorateofvulgaria.blogspot.com/

Here's a close up of the infantryman (front and back) in shako and regimental musician. I thought about reverse colors for the musician and instead decided that I'll make each regiment a different color. I think they look a little more like toy soldiers if all of the men of a regiment are dressed in the same colors. The "J" on the shako front is for my nephew Jordan.

A close up of the regimental commander and the standard bearer. I think simple colors and a simple paint job really make these fellows pop.

A close up of the unit flag. I wanted something that would appeal to young collector, thus the smiley face surrounded by laurel and my nephews name to add a personal touch.

After painting them I used a heavy gloss coat. I suspect they will get heavy wear and gloss easily out lasts matte. More importantly they are toy soldiers so it's only proper that they be glossed.

I enjoyed painting these fellows and I'm looking forward to a few years from now when we can sit and play a nice game of toy soldiers together. I also hope that they serve to generate some interest in the hobby. With this line of toys available it's never too early to start recruiting toy soldier enthusiasts! Great job Nic and Eureka!

An Update with photos!

My wife is fascinated by the hobby and the processes that I have developed for completing my regiments. To that end here are a few shots of Work In Process. I have finished these units although I need to gloss coat them and take some completed shots and post them here! So these are photos of 2 regiments of Russian Rifles and 1 regiment of Turks in process. BTW-the shirt is a shameless plug for the OSW group!

Here I am applying regular drywall paste to the base of a 42mm soldier. You can't actually see him; however, there is a Russian rifleman waiting his turn sitting on the table. I have a solid card table that I set up in the living room and while watching the NFL (Go Ravens!) or a movie with the family I can clean, base and putty my figures. Priming is done downstairs in the heat of summer or chill of winter and outside on those nice spring or fall days that have low humidity.

The next photo is of the drywall paste being applied. I use a sculpting spatula and apply the compound on generously; then remove any excess while smoothing the finish. The entire process takes a few minutes per model and when painted gives the miniature the toy soldier style that I'm looking for. Wax paper is used to protect the card table and to keep the miniatures from sticking to the clipboard after they are glued to their bases. I am using 1inch fender washers as bases for this project and super glue gel as the adhesive.

Next we have the finished figure being set with his comrades to await priming. On the clipboard are 2 Regiments of Rifles and in the background a Regiment of Turkish soldiers. I keep most of my projects on clipboards, they are easy to store on a shelf and make moving the projects around very simple.

The photo below is my painting table in a corner of the dinning/project room. It's very nice to have a wife and family that don't religate me and my hobby to the basement or some other room. It's much easier for me to work on projects during family television time and know that I'm still part of what's happening.

On the shelf to my right is my next project. I should finish (well the first part of it anyways--do we ever really finish toy soldier projects?) my RTW project sometime in May/June 07 time frame. Next on the table is 25mm SYW using RSM95's primarily. I will probably augment that with a few Musketeer Miniatures GNW battalions as well. Anyway click on the photo to enlarge and you'll see a handful of Vulgarians on the shelf watching my painting with interest.

Photo's Coming!

It's been awhile; I have been working on my SYW blog and sort of let this one slip. I have continued painting and have a number of photos coming, I promise, soon!

I should be posting some Russian Riflemen, Egyptians, and a couple of Generals. I have done 1 minor conversion. I used the Irregular Minis horse holder, bent his arm and attached a new head to create Gen M Skobolev. It was a very easy conversion and he looks pretty good.

So anyway, keep the faith, photos are coming.

Historicon 06

In spite of work demands and in-laws visiting from out-of-state, I managed 2 trips to Lancaster for Historicon--the first visit for me in probably 6 years. I live about 2 hours away from the city of Lancaster, which is an easy ride by car. I drive a small Saturn sedan (it’s a great vehicle, I’m very sorry to see GM discontinue it; I guess it doesn’t fit the business model of build crap and make them re-buy every few years. Sorry about the soap box) and I get about 35 MPG so gas isn’t really an issue. Anyway, my buddy Sprague and I drove up Friday and stayed for about 4 hours.

I picked up an order that was waiting for me from Rich at Dayton Painting Consortium. Rich wasn’t sure if they would get the lead spun with the preparations for the convention taking precedence. I had waited until the last minute to ask if it was possible to get 72 Russian Musketeers and 16 Russian Grenadiers for pick-up at the con. Once again, however, his excellent service came thru. (I apologize for asking so late in the process; thank you very much Rich!) So I now have enough RSM 25mm Russians for 5 Regiments at 53 figures; 2 battalions of 24 soldiers with 1 Officer and 1 NCO / battalion and 1 mounted Colonel each (4 Musketeers and 1 Grenadier). While I was there I also picked up 2 bags of Prussian Musketeers, 2 bags of Prussian Fusiliers and 1 bag of English Generals specifically to get the little ADC that is riding hell-bent-for-leather, a most animated casting, indeed. I think the Prussians may wind up being the first regiments mustered from the Duchy of Vulgaria. I will paint some honest-to-god Prussians, however, I’d like a small army from a tiny country wedged somewhere between Russia, Prussia, Austria and the Ottoman Empire. Speaking of Ottomans there was one bag of Janissaries that I almost bought, although at the last minute I talked myself out of them. Well done again, Rich and the DPC team-- many thanks!

I stopped by the Eureka booth, as Nic always has some interesting minis; I wasn’t disappointed. He has released a line of Toy Town Toy Soldiers that are brilliant. Think “March of the Toy Soldiers” here. He has cavalry in shako and helmet, infantry in shako and bearskin, artillery and a general. I “toyed” (pardon the pun) with picking up a small force. I knew, like Douglas MacArthur, I would return, so I decided to sleep on it. Eureka has also released frogs and turtles for those folks concerned about the image associated with miniature human war games; or for those gamers that just love to see little critters scampering around with weapons. They are nicely sculpted with a good variety of poses, and while not my cup of tea, still very nice. Finally, I had a chance to look at some of the 18mm Seven Years War range. These are extremely nice castings. For anybody considering 15 or 20mm SYW you really need to order a few samples of the Eureka 18’s before you buy in bulk from anyone else.

The games were fantastic (no pix-sorry-it’s the empress of the household that has the photo ability--without braced elbows I tend to shake). We saw a 25mm King Kong game with a model of Kong the Magnificent that had to be 12” tall and walls that were easily 30” tall. This was truly an impressive event. The game was wrapping up when we visited; Kong was still outside and didn’t look as though he would break into the compound. The movie crew and sailors were making short work of the locals. I listened closely but no Fay Wray, at least no screaming that I could discern. Another fine looking game was a French and Indian War canoe race game. The table was beautiful, the miniatures well painted and it appeared that all at the table were having an awesome time. Lots of good natured noise as the canoes rounded the many river bends.

I couldn’t stay too late at the con, as that night the wife and I had tickets, back in Frederick, to the local AA baseball team with both sets of parents. It was very hot, the beer was cold, our team lost and the fireworks were a nice closing spectacle to a very full day. As we walked away from the stadium in the dark we were handed loaves of fresh-baked bread by Sarah Lee representatives. My father-in-law went back and got seconds. I’m not entirely sure what the free bread was all about, although I did enjoy a nice chicken salad sandwich on it when I got home.

Saturday is the day that I had set aside to take my new bride (we haven’t been married a year yet) and her parents to Historicon. Dad-in-law had asked, “What’s all this nonsense about grown men painting and playing with toy soldiers and such?” Since they (Mom- and Dad-in-law) were down visiting from Maine over Historicon weekend and since it IS the largest Miniature Nonsense Convention that I can easily get to I thought--What the hell, let’s let them take a look and judge for themselves. Regardless, I’m not giving their daughter back, so what have I got to lose!

Back I went, for the second time in as many days, to the Lancaster Host. We arrived at noon, and after lunch next door at Lapp’s we headed to the con. My father-in-law is a retired Navy officer, who served in Vietnam during the war, and I was concerned about his reaction to Vietnam-era games. Well, within mere minutes of arriving, we were standing in front of an exact replica of the American compound in Hue City 1968 during the Tet Offensive. The wall behind the game was covered in recon maps with a nice bit of history. We watched as an NVA stand tried to cross the open space between buildings, only to be pinned by fire from US forces inside the compound. The GM used a mini laser pointer to determine LOS. The buildings were some of the best I have seen and the minis well painted. My father-in-law was fascinated; and I was relieved! Everything was ok! We moved thru the venue and watched many games. Mom-in-law rather enjoyed the set for a jungle\monkey themed pulp fiction game. The various GM’s answered occasional questions from us bystanders and I offered sideline explanations where appropriate and it was a very nice outing for all. It would have been nice to play a game, but we were once again limited for time.

We strolled over to the dealer hall and stopped at the top of the stair at the overlook. This is where I think the size and scope of our hobby really hits home. To view the panorama of vendors, humanity, history and sheer quantity of toy soldier “stuff” presented can be inspiring.

I was on a mission for my friend Sprague’s son. Brian has recently been watching and reading the adventures of H. Hornblower and wanted some English Naval Officers and a few sturdy Jack Tars! I found the Britannia Minis booth and was rewarded with a naval contingent as well as a squad of Marines. Next I stopped back by my friends at DPC and I bought a bag of Russian Horse Grenadiers, Austrian Cuirassier to be used as Russians and yes, I did buy the Janissaries! I can be so weak! LOL!

The Janissaries are elegant little fellows. The Janissary soldier is at port arms, feet spread solidly at shoulder width and sports an expression that suggests that he knows the Empire is in remission and that it’s only a matter of time until collapse occurs and yet he will do his duty. The Janissary Officer appears relaxed, one hand extended to hold sword or for encouragement, the other tucked into the folds of his garment. He has a huge moustache, bushy eyebrows and he almost looks as though he believes that while the cause is lost there is still some profit to be had in resistance. I will post unpainted photos shortly and hopefully a few painted samples soon after that. The bag also includes a generic Ottoman standard bearer. I do like him, although, I may modify him to make him a full Janissary.

With my wife in tow (the in laws had found a seat by a water cooler to absorb everything they had seen), I headed back to Eureka. Nic is a first rate gentleman and an exceptional salesman. My nephew is barely 1 year old and my wife insisted that we buy some Toy Town Toy Soldiers to paint for him for Christmas (with Nic’s encouragement). Obviously he won’t be able to play with them for some time but you can’t start them too early. By my count he will soon be the tiny general of a smaller force consisting of 2 Regiments of soldiers at 10 apiece and a Regiment of 8 cavalry. I will post photos of these stout fellows when they are finished. We will also be placing an order for a Teddy Bear SYW Regiment from Eureka for my niece. After all, it just wouldn’t be fair to favor one with toy soldiers and not the other. And it never hurts to get more females into the hobby! So I now have some gift painting to do for next month.

There always seems to be at least one item that screams “I am your next project!” I didn’t have much time to ogle them, fortunately. Sash and Saber now produce a range of 40mm English Civil War. These are some of the nicest castings I have ever seen. I don’t believe the cavalry are currently available; the castings that I did see are supberb. This started my brain ticking and I thought, “I wonder if they plan to produce a War of Spanish Succession and/or Great Northern War range in 40mm?” I fired off an email and the response is, “Yes!” The 40mm WSS/GNW release is planned for next summer. I need to finish my 42mm Russo-Turkish War project by next year. If these castings are available then, and as lovely as the ECW range, they will be my next project. If you are at all mildly interested in the ECW, you owe yourself a look at these beauties. I will most likely buy a few to paint a couple of display regiments--although I don’t really intend to play the ECW, they are just that nice.

Dinner reservations at 6:45PM at the Dobbin House in Gettysburg fortunately prevented me from spending any more time and money than I already had. Two years ago on the 24th of July at the Dobbin House over dinner I asked Gaelyn if she would marry me and obviously she said yes. Our return on the 22nd with her parents was a nice celebration. I’m very lucky to have a wife that supports my hobby and is actually interested; I’m further blessed to have in-laws that are impressed by the hobby as well (perhaps next time they visit I’ll need to have a game setup to play). I wish the same for all of you.

See you at Cold Wars 07!