Victrix EIR Legionaries Attacking- The First 16

Finished these 16 today. They paint up quite nicely without any fuss.

They're based on 20mm rounds that come with the movement trays - two ranks of three. Plan to have them in units of 12.

They'll be plussed up with a box each of Advancing and Attacking sets.

I was worried they might not rank up, but they fit onto the trays very well.

Until the Victrix EIR Legionaries arrive, l have a box of Warlord Games Celts to work on. Thanks for stopping by and best wishes to you all. 

Victrix EIR Legionaries Attacking - WIP

Although I'm still awaiting the arrival of my own Victrix EIR Legionaries order, thanks to my buddy James (who just left for an overseas deployment), I got to start work on 16 Victrix EIR Legionaries Attacking figures he donated to me.

I decided to start with a black undercoat as there are a lot of metal areas on these figures. I gave the flesh, trousers and pilum shafts a wash of Vallejo ink/stain - black mixed with flesh wash. These areas will be given highlights. I also discovered during the staining that I had forgotten to paint their scarves.

Besides the metallic colors, these are the ones used for the rest of the figures - I tried to keep colors to a minimum. Leather Brown used for sandals and straps; Beasty Brown for trousers and sword pommels and hand guards; Stone Grey for tunics and sword hand grips; Burnt Red for tunics and sword scabbards (actually with a little Flat Red mixed in); Bronze Flesh mixed 50:50 with Dark Sand for the pilum shafts.

Over the black base coat, I dry-brushed Vallejo Gunmetal mixed with Silver for the lorica and helmets. Some of the helmets were painted bronze - which I actually use a 50:50 mix of Vallejo Bronze and Copper for. The shield transfers are from Battle Flag. Great price, but they are a bit thin and delicate. I managed to only destroy two of them during the application process. A word of caution when using these - be sure not to get the backing wet prior to being ready to apply, and don't soak the decals for more than a minute or so - in fact, 30 seconds might be long enough; any longer and it gets very soft. The ends can flip over easily too - and very hard, if not impossible to correct.

Thanks for visiting and best wishes to you all in your hobby endeavors and elsewhere.

Victrix Armoured Gallic Warriors - WIP

Touched up and highlights added after a Minwax staining over a basic block paint job. Awaiting an order of LBMS shield transfers to complete them. I picked up this set from a US ebay seller and ordered the transfers direct from Victrix.

After spraying the Minwax staining with Testors Dullcote, the flesh and metal areas were given a wash of Vallejo inks. The flesh was then given highlights to areas like the noses and hands. The mail coats and helmets were dry brushed with silver and bronze.

I used an old medium sized brush when brushing on the Minwax stain (Tudor Satin). I also have a jar of thinner handy to thin down and blot excess pooled areas - mostly the legs/feet and edges of tunics/capes.

I opted for more muted colors than the previous Warlord Britons - figuring the larger shields with colorful transfers would brighten them up enough.

After these guys are done, I hope to start on the Victrix EIR Legionaries when they arrive - I received an email from Victrix a couple of days ago indicating they were finally shipped. They had run out of the Attacking set and it took a while for them to get resupplied due to the current condition. Until next time, stay healthy and enjoy your hobby the best you can.

Victrix EIR Cavalry w/LBMS Shield Transfers

The figures were completed a few weeks ago, but were awaiting the shield transfers from Victrix. Took a few weeks (actually almost a month), but well worth the wait.

I intend to have them in units of either 4 or 8 for Hail Caesar, depending upon the scenario. Of course, being based as singles, they could be used with other rules too.

The oval bases are from Litko. They also made the movement trays as a special order. It wasn't priced any more than similar trays, and was made within a few days. Really impressive service.

The scorpion motif is supposed to be that of a Praetorian unit. This iconic shield is the main reason I wanted this set.

Thanks for stopping by and wishing you all safety and good health. Speaking of health, I should mention I went to a physical therapist for the first time in my life last week. He showed me a couple of exercises for my shoulder blade and arm, and they seem to help. Have a few more visits and hopefully a long term remedy.

Warlord Games Imperial Roman Auxiliaries

An older set, but freshened up with a metal command group.

Painted these up using the usual block painting followed by Minwax staining method. Highlighting and touching up afterwards.

The wreath, star and moon shield decals have a clear backing so the basic shield color is your choice. I chose green to contrast the red and black shields I'll have for the Victrix Legionaries (once they eventually arrive - I'm hoping).

These sculpts are about 10 years old, but still very nice and paint up well. However, their dynamic poses make it a bit difficult to base them on a 40mm square; 3 figures per in open order is about the only way.

Next up are the scale-creep'd Victrix Armoured Gallic Warriors - again these are awaiting shield transfers direct from Victrix. Best wishes to you all for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.

Warlord Games Ancient British Warriors - Completed and Ready for Hail Caesar!

Yes, they're done, but I'm still waiting on my order of Victrix EIR - what started me on this project in the first place. Oh well, I still have the Victrix Armoured Gallic Warriors and a box of Warlord Games Roman Auxiliaries to work on in the meantime. Anyway, here are the Warlord guys - based 3 figures per 40mm squares.

The set comes with 40 figures and more than enough decals for the 20 shields from the plastic sprues. However, the set does come with enough metal shields for the rest, as well as some figures not needing shields, like the standard bearers and weapon in each hand guys. Granted, the bronze-faced shields were likely votive/ceremonial shields, but I've used them as I didn't want to hand-paint any shield designs.

They can be formed into two 18-man units in open order. Really can't see basing any more than 3 per 40mm square due to their lunging and otherwise energetic poses. I was initially thinking of mixing them in with the Victrix figures, but decided against it mainly because of the Victrix shields being noticeably larger. As I mentioned in a previous post, the Victrix  heads work well with the Warlord figures.

Thanks again for stopping by and wishing you all good health and safety!

Warlord Games Ancient British Warriors - WIP

Victrix heads from the Armoured Gallic Warriors set have been added to most of them. Also some of the spare Victrix standards and horns were used too. They were block painted in basic earthy tones and then some simple designs in contrasting color were added; finally stained with Minwax.

Prior to the staining. Started with four base colors - grayish blue, brownish red, pale green and off white. I only painted the designs on either the trousers or shirts; this not only was simpler, but also didn't make the figure look too "busy."

Also applied the decals to the shields that came with the set. Metal shields are also included; some of them representing iconic ones, like the Battersea shield.

Gotta admit, my left shoulder blade is giving me trouble, but I pushed on to get this far as I wanted to see this project through. Interestingly, this project started with me placing an order from Victrix for their EIR infantry - just shy of a month ago, and they still haven't shipped them. Last I was told was they were being restocked and was hoping to have them shipped this week. I'll have to send an email to them to see what the status is. I have a lot of plastic to keep me busy until them anyway. Best to you all and hope you're all safe and healthy.

More Plastic Arrivals - And More On The Way!

Well, before I could finish the EIR Cavalry, a few more recent orders arrived and they've distracted me a bit. An order each of Victrix Polish Lancers, Victrix Armoured Warriors and Warlord Games Ancient British Warriors. The Lancers were ordered back when first released, but the mailing was held up due to Covid-Ops. The other sets were ordered from US ebay sellers and they arrived within a week.

Victrix is now using large zip lock bags with their kits; which I don't mind as I can use the bags for storing stuff like terrain and such.

Check out the nice detailing on the horse blankets for the Lancers. You should be able to pick out the "N" monogram and Imperial Eagle by careful dry-brushing. These two horses are the for the trumpeter (l) and officer (r). Very nice poses.

Another ebay purchase is set to arrive this afternoon or tomorrow - a box of Warlord Games EIR Auxiliaries. The Auxiliaries and Celt/Ancient British figures are a decent match for Victrix.

Above is a comparison shot between the two makes. The two on the left are from the Victrix Gallic set and the two on the right are from the Warlord Games Ancient British set. Their heads should be interchangeable as they both have the same kind of stump at the neck. The Warlord British is the same basic set as their Celts, but with additional metal parts specific for Britons. Spikey haired heads, a command figures and various shields like the iconic Battersea shield.

And finally I am awaiting a shipment from Victrix of a set each EIR Advancing and Attacking. I ordered these several weeks ago, but according to an update from Rory there, they had run out of the Advancing set. Should be re-stocked early next week and mailed out.

Well, once I get over Plastic Shell Shock, I should be able to return to finishing up the EIR Cavalry. Until next time, stay healthy and safe!

Victrix EIR Cavalry - WIP

Just a quick update of my current project - started in yet another momentary lapse of judgment, clouded by fermented grape juice.

Dry-brushed the metal areas first, and then the flesh and leather areas. All given ink washes and then again, highlighted.

For the record, I ordered this set from a seller in the US, Phil Vernon, who I met at the WAB GT in Nottingham back in 2013. He runs an online business out of Louisiana which sells most UK-made plastic miniatures at very good prices. I'm also waiting on a set each of Advancing and Attacking EIR infantry from Victrix.

So much for now. Best wishes and good health and to you all.

Display Cabinet Rundown - Socially Distant Sharing

Well, since all the yard work is done, figured I'd share images of my display cabinets. I shared a similar post several years ago, but since then I've sold off some of the earlier stufff and acquired new stuff as well. Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy the virtual tour.

All the armor pieces are reproductions - the samurai stuff is from Iron Mountain Armory - a company in China. The others are mostly Indian-made stuff. The plate armor legs and arms were made in the Ukraine, and could actually be used in HMB/Buhurt - but not by me!

This is the larger cabinet with a sliding glass front door. Great to protect the stuff inside, but not ideal when taking photos.

 The smaller cabinet - with more conventional side opening doors.

Starting with the larger cabinet - mostly Verlinden 120mm-200mm figures. The top shelf also has some 13th C. mounted knights from Fireforge, Mirliton and others - many with heraldry from the Codex Manesse.  The bottom shelf has has 14th C. foot and mounted knights from BTD and a few Front Rank (mounted) - most of the heraldry is English nobility.

Here again, 120mm Verlinden resin figures in the back - Napoleonic French - with a lone Prussian Leib Hussar in the corner. Mostly Perry and Victrix plastics in front - a few Black Hussar, Front Rank and Foundry (Napoleon and Staff) also present.

Top shelf, Perry and Victrix British foot and some KGL Hussars; Perry French cavalry assaulting squares. Some Front Rank command figures. Bottom shelf, Trojan War figures - Redoubt and Foundry - and several OG chariots as well. A few specialty figures (like Herakles), but can't recall the maker. Some of these were the very first 28mm figures I acquired - Redoubt Trojan War range; before getting into Wargaming - I just loved the period.

Top shelf with some 120mm resin figures of various make - mostly Verlinden. Couple of Aventine elies on the right, supported by Victrix plastic Samnites and Greek cav. On the left are Crusader Gladiators. Behind them is a space reserved for a current project - hint: starts with "Victrix" and ends with "EIR." Bottom shelf a mix of large scale resin and plastic kits. The Roman Signifer is a 200mm Verlinden resin. The knights are re-released 1/8th scale Aurora plastic model kits. The Black Prince and Skinner's Horseman are 1/12th scale Airfix plastic kits. The Samurai is a resin figure from Jimmy Flintstone.

This is the top shelf from the smaller cabinet. 1/16th scale plastic Knights from MiniArt and a 120mm resin Swiss Crossbowman in the rear. In front of them some Curteys Medieval foot and some Perry HYW French. Sandwiched between the larger figures and 28mm ones are various 1/35th-54mm scale figures; a lone Tamiya 1/24th WWII German squad leader is also present.

120mm Samurai and Mongol figures - the Samurai on foot is a Verlinden with a scratch-built sashimono (the character is the Chinese character Mu - "nothingness"). Can't recall who makes/made the other two. Perry Samurai and Choson Koreans, as well as some TAG Chinese cavalry in front.

Hinchcliffe 120mm metal "Taisho" Heian Samurai flanked by mostly TAG Heian Samurai. A few Kingsford Sohei also - including the mounted one. A Reaper Bones red Oni in the back being surrounded by Sohei.

WHFB Empire. I sold off all of the "Core" troops, but the remnants can be used in smaller games like Dragon Rampant.

Top shelf has 1/12th scale Imai/Imex plastic knights. In front of them are Eagles of Empire, North Star and Perry (Zouaves) FPW figures. Bottom shelf a mix of larger figures - 120mm resins and Airfix 1/12th scale plastic kits of Richard I and Joan of Arc.

Addendum: Here's my Ikea bookcase with my reference material. I like the ones with a lot of illustrations and not too many words.

Thanks for stopping by and it would great to see posts of your collections or displays too. Until next time, stay healthy and keep up the hobby!

Spencer Smith Miniatures Mitrailleuse Gun and Crew.

As I was intending to host my Bolt Action Franco Prussian game at Enfilade in May, I wanted to add a Mitrailleuse "grapeshot" volley gun. I was hoping Soren at Eagles of Empire would have one ready in time, but it seems he had a few more projects in line before getting to it. Perusing the internet, I stumbled upon Spencer Smith Miniatures and found one in what is listed as 30mm. However, the site states that these match up quite well with current 28mm figures. As Foundry's range is quite smaller than most 28mm, and especially the largish Eagles of Empire figures, I figured I'd give Spencer Smith a shot. I'm glad I did as they do indeed match up very well, size-wise, with the 28mm figures I have for the period.

The sculpting is sort of "old school" with minimal details and somewhat static poses. The catalog list this range, as well as several others, as "Classic." In any case, the poses are fine for artillery such as these. Due to the these attributes, the figures painted up quite quickly. I haven't based them as I'm waiting until Hobby Lobby opens up again.

It's cool that the gun has a nice hand crank for the gun. There's a YouTube video showing the firing of reproduction of one of these.

The overall effectiveness of the gun in the Franco Prussian War was not impressive. A few contributing factors for this was its employment as field artillery and not used closely with the infantry. It was also slow to load and acquire targets, particularly with inexperienced crew.

Peter at Spencer Smith is a great guy and ended up sending me two orders. My original order was sent to my old address which was still in Paypay. Because of this the order was lost in the mail, and once we discovered this, Peter immediately sent a replacement set (free of charge) to m current address.

As mentioned, these "30mm" figures size and scale up nicely with 28mm, in this case Perry plastics.

Well that's all for now; wishing you all good health and the best of hobby endeavors during our current state of affairs.

La Haye Sainte - Set Up And Staged Shots

I went ahead and set up the La Haye Sainte table - just to see how things would look and fit. As I don't expect any in-person gaming anytime soon, figured this is one way I can let folks see what we could be doing once things get better again. Without further ado, here's some pictures I took with appropriate captions below each of them.

View from the east of looking at the Main Gate of the Farmhouse and the Brussels Highroad. In the bottom right corner of the picture is the Sandpit with a unit 95th Rifles.

French Engineers attempting to break down the barricades at the Main Gate. French Legere supporting them in their endeavor. Major Barring directing his KGL Light troops from the gateway. Light Company men of the 5th KGL Line have arrived to support their Light brethren.

North of the Farmhouse KGL Hussars speed down the roadway to assist; 79th Highlanders also advancing in support. 95th Rifles occupying the Sandpit, with an RA battery covering.

View from the south, with the Orchard and Barn in the foreground. The pond is just in view in the lower center of the photo. The Nassau troops had large cooking pots with them and these were used to help put out the fire in the Farmhouse.

A bit blurry, in the center, within the Orchard KGL Lights are exchanging musketry with French Voltigeurs. Another French battalion is approaching. In the actual battle, the Orchard was lost to the French early on.

Scene west of the Farmhouse. Another French battalion is advancing towards the rear door of the Barn. The night before, during a heavy rainstorm, the KGL troops occupying the farm had torn down the Barn doors and used them for firewood to keep warm. A makeshift barricade was made and this area was heavily contested throughout the battle. French Horse Artillery supporting an attack by a French Heavy Cavalry Brigade.

I'm not sure if the Red Lancers were part of this particular part of the battle, they are here for this game - as well as more French Horse Artillery, this one being a Guard unit.

5th KGL Line Battalion in square to meet the charge of French Cuirassiers. The 8th KGL Line wasn't so lucky and were cut down. Scots Greys charging the the flank of the Cuirassiers.

French Carabiniers being fired upon by RHA and Nassau troops.

Looking northeast of the battle with the Kitchen Garden being defended by Nassauers. Scots Greys rushing to save the KGL Line troops. Hanoverian Verden Field Battalion, in line in the distance.

View from the north - this is approximately the side of the battlefield where Wellington and his troops were staged.

Well so much for now. Hope you enjoyed the images and maybe someday it'll be actually wargamed. Until next time best of health to you all!