"It's a Fair Copse"

Work on terrain continues, and I textured the bases of the tree stands that I posted last week.  Since then I've made some more, along with the first part of what will be a Russian village that I hope will do service with both my 20mm WW2 Soviets and my 28mm  Napoleonics. 

The village unit consists of a resin cottage from Britannia Miniatures, and one of the wonderful Pegasus Hobbies Russian farm houses.  The white patches are glued-down bits of old dishcloths, with the rest of the base textured with a "putty" made of white glue and sand.  Once it has all dried out, I will prime and paint it all.

 

click to enlarge 

The buildings are fine for my 20mm miniatures of course, but they should also do for 28mm as well.  The Pegasus Hobbies building kits in particular are on the larger end of 20mm, and given unit footprints for Horse-and-Musket games, going down a bit in size for terrain pieces does not look out of place.

The pine trees were easy enough to do, and are ready for painting but the deciduous trees will require some more work, as the flocking drops off the branches at a drop of a hat(chet?).  I will just do the messy job of soaking the foliage with watered-down white glue to seal everything together, and adding more flocking to the trees for depth.

Pining away

Yesterday saw the West Tokyo Wargamers hold its first gaming day since the big quake on 3/11, and it was great to see so many people turn out- even if it did mean space was cramped!

No Napoleonics this time, as Achilleas was celebrating the Easter holiday while Matt was playing host to a visiting friend, so instead I took part (sort of) in a fun British vs German WW2 game.  

However, I did get to meet a first-time visitor to the club, Rod, who is interested in doing 28mm Napoleonics and even has his own copy of Black Powder.   So at our next outing it in May it looks like there might be five of us playing Napoleonics! 

In the meantime, here is a work-in-progress photo of a quick and simple terrain project I've been working on.  

I've long been meaning to put some effort into "tarting up" our table with some better looking terrain pieces.  So inspired by an article I was reading in a past issue of Battlegames magazine, I took a hot glue gun and tacked down some old GW trees onto some unwanted CD's (after gluing card over the holes, of course).  

I then took some papier-mâché and spread it thinly over the bases.  When dry the papier-mâché set rock hard with no warping, and this evening I will be adding some patches of sand to the bases for more texture.  

After painting, I'll then glue down some foliage, fallen branches, and flocking around the bases so as to match our table mat.  

These are looking pretty good so far, and when complete I have some deciduous trees ready for the same treatment.

One of the discs is/was an old compilation of country music that somehow managed to find its way into my otherwise-country-&-western-free CD cabinet.  The only decent use I could find for it, in my honest opinion.  Sorry, Garth Brooks, but different strokes 'n all that.

Battle of La Tour Sanglant- the Movie

Back in February I promised that post with details of our last game of Black Powder- the (fictional) Battle of La Tour Sanglant.  I thought I would put together another video gloating over- or rather, I should say, coolly and dispassionately analyzing the events of the day (yeah, right).

I was in the middle of working on it when the earthquake/ tsunami struck on 3/11.  Obviously in the days that followed I had neither time nor inclination to work on it.  

But time is a great healer, and I've recently been finding myself wanting to get back to some semblance of normality, which naturally includes time for hobby activities.  So along with getting in some more painting, a high priority was finishing that video seeing as I had already put a lot of time into it.  

Here it is- see how the 18e de ligne- "le Terrible"- earned itself elite status by performing above and beyond the call.  

The Bonapartist Propaganda Machine at its well-oiled best!  I'm sure Matt and Pete will be disgusted with the triumphant tone- even the editor of le Moniteur may well be blushing in his grave.  But hey, winners write history, losers just keep re-writing it until it starts to look the way they want it to.

Eagle-eyed gamers familiar with Black Powder may spot the error we made- I didn't realize it myself until re-reading the rule book after the game.  Oh, well. 

This month at the club it's WW2 and the Soviets, as Matt and Achilleas can't make it this Sunday.  But our next Black Powder game will be in May, and we're all looking forward to it.

Trying times

The past few days have been very trying as I am sure you all understand, but I just wanted to post to say a sincere "thank you" to all those who have sent emails expressing their concern and best wishes.  We really appreciate it.

I lived for a good fifteen years in the region that was struck by both the quake and the tsunami.  Nine of them were spent in Sendai and in Ishinomaki, which- along with other communities situated along the coast- have been hit hard.  

Many people I know and care about are still unaccounted for, and with upwards of 450,000 people without homes in evacuation centres, it will be a while before I can find out whether they are okay or otherwise.

Ishinomaki as it is now.  I lived not far from the hill where this photo was taken.

Things are still chaotic here in Tokyo with train delays, cancellations, and power cuts, and probably will be for a few weeks yet.  But in time life will get back to some kind of normal rhythm here, and I may even find myself in a state of mind to start thinking of toy soldiers- but not quite yet.

I did come across this quote in this article online, which is why I am confident that Japan will recover, even if takes a long time and even if it is never quite the same again.

"Some workers showed up on Monday at a factory in Kuji even though it had been destroyed. Asked why he was there, a young worker smoking a cigarette outside the skeletal remains said: "Because it's a work day."

They've been down before, and they'll get up again. 

The French Victorious!! Battle of La Tour Sanglant

At last, good news for the authorities in Paris- French arms emerge victorious!  Vive l'empereur!

 

The "same old style"- that did just fine at Austerlitz and Jena- did just fine on Sunday as well!

This past Sunday at the monthly gathering of the West Tokyo Wargamers saw us playing Game #5 using the Black Powder rules, and it was a most exciting game, the decision being in doubt right up to the last few moves.

Other good news was that Achilleas has been accepted for his Phd program, which means that he will be staying on here in Japan for another three years.  Congratulations Achilleas, and we are glad that you will be with us for some good games to come!

On to the field of honour.  Achilleas and I were the French as usual, the army being led by General Tallon and his sizeable bureaucratic entourage.   Matt and Peter had the Brunswickers, British and some Russian artillery, all under the command of the Brunswicker General Schwartzotter.

Given physical limitations as a result of my recent -ahem- "indisposition", I was not able to sit down to finish anything new in time for the game.  Fortunately though, Achilleas could add a unit of cuirassiers, as well his recently-completed 57th reg. de ligne ("Le Terrible").  

For the Allies, Matt could boast his first unit of cavalry, a really attractive regiment of British 14th Light Dragoons.  These were some wonderful miniatures out of the Perry stables. 

This time there were only two units of unfinished miniatures on the table, so our games are starting to look serious affairs!

Turnout at the club was high, with upwards of twenty people taking part in games as diverse as 15mm ancients, D&D, boardgames and of course our own Napoleonics game.  Unfortunately, the club was only able to book one of the smaller rooms at the centre this month, so table space was at a premium. This meant that there would not be a lot of open flanks, so this would have to be another hard-pounding slugfest.

Both sides were pretty evenly matched.  Although the French had larger battalions, the Allies had rifle-armed units.  The 14th Light Dragoons- while not getting the Marauder rule- got the Ferocious Charge bonus.

It was decided that the French would once again try their luck as attackers.  Bien sur. The allies would benefit from the cover of the Tofusky Redoubt.  This time however, each side took turns to place a piece of terrain down on the table, and the Allied army- being the defenders- deployed first.  

We ended up with a layout and initial setup that looked like this.

click on map to enlarge

Note that the French decided to deploy their strength on the right flank, leaving the left relatively weak but with the cavalry in a position where there was at least some open ground. 

Previous games saw French advances grind to a halt due to unsupported units with inadequate reserves being shot up one after another as they approached the enemy line.  This time, we were going for an attack in depth along a narrow frontage in a relatively confined space. It was a plan that paid off- just!

The next post will see how the action unfolded.  Lots of pictures! Until then, here is a bit of subdued- yet dignified- humility in victory, First Empire style. 

Piling it on...

What with work and the hobby, I have been spending a lot of time at the computer and painting table over the last few months, not to mention spending hours on end sitting in planes and trains over the course of a number of business trips.  Mealtimes have been irregular and often I've found myself eating on the run. 

The result is that I have developed a severe case of the same ailment that Napoleon so infamously suffered from on the day of Waterloo.

Suffice to say that I have new-found sympathy for the man.   If I say it is a real pain in the butt, that would be true in every possible sense of the term. 

It's one of those things that can be found amusing only by those who have never suffered from it.  Concentration powers tend to go out the window, as does patience and the ability to sit in one place for any length of time. I am just grateful that I don't have to travel anywhere by bicycle, let alone on horseback.

So painting has to be done in very brief shifts, as does working at the computer.  Still, I have been able to do a bit here and there in preparation for our next game, and I have also gotten around to putting up a report on our last Black Powder game, which you can read about here.

Not a good day for the French, but the Brunswickers are no doubt making plans for world domination as we speak.

Now where is that cushion?  Hopefully this will soon all be behind me, so to speak.

The 1/28e Légère: "Souham's Landsknechts"

Finally, a completely finished unit!  This one was only seven years in the making.  

The 1/28e Légère advances towards the foe.

We had another Black Powder game on the 23rd, which saw the 1/28e Légère make its debut as a full six-company battalion.  

The weeks prior to the game were a mad rush that saw me having to deal with a number of short-notice projects at work, a nasty flu-like viral infection, and almost all the housework as my wife has been working major overtime almost every night as accounting deadlines need to be met.  

On top of that, I was putting in marathon painting sessions that almost had me breaking the paintbrushes in frustration at slower-than-expected progress and stupid, medication-induced mistakes. 

But I managed to get a lot done despite everything.  I made major inroads on a light cavalry regiment, another artillery piece is well on the way to completion, and I was able to finish and completely base a six pdr. gun and of course the 1/28e Légère.

The voltigeur company rallies against circling Cossacks.  The fellow shooting wearing the colpack was a conversion, and the headgear was made of epoxy putty.  Of course, just after I did this Front Rank released proper light infantry voltigeurs wearing colpacks!  Ah well, at least it's unique.

The battalion in line.  

The 1/28e in column, proceeded by voltigeurs and supported by a 6 pdr. gun as Général Bouillon-Cantinat looks on.

I learned a number of lessons after painting these.  First, a black undercoat really speeds things up.  Secondly, paint the crossbelts first, and block in the colours around them carefully to save time and unnecessary painting.

Next time I'm going to tone down the contrasts a bit, and use a less varied palette for each battalion.  

When I started out painting the 1/28e I decided that it would be multicoloured as a result of campaigning and supply shortages- not to mention flagrant disregard for regulations by its proud and eccentric colonel, Col. H-P Debroullier.   All well and good, but using fewer colours will not only mean faster painting, it will also be less of a kaleidoscope to the eye.  For my next unit of infantry I want to work more on varying tones rather than varying colour.

Thus for good reason, the 1/28e will be given the nickname of "Souham's Landsknechts" by the other, more soberly dressed regiments in the 8e Division!