Empire Knights or Gendarmes w/o Skirts

As mentioned before, I plan to use them for Italian Wars, although their armor is a bit more fantasy than historical. Proper looking French Gendarmes should have those skirted tunics over their armor. I did leave off their shields, but may add them later for an Empire army.

I used decals that came with the kit for the standard and also the musician's trumpet flag. Although the color scheme and helmets are for the Knights Panther, the decals are for the Order of the Blazing Sun. I thought they looked more like something from the period.

They are old models, and out of scale next to most 28mm figures, but I still like their overall look.

Along with the older Empire Knights unit painted up as Reiksguard.

Have some 3D resin printed Napoleonic Prussian artillery to work on next. Those should be the last figures needed for an 1813 Campaign game I hope to run later this year, in addition to an Italian Wars Pike & Shotte game. Until next time, thanks for stopping by, and wishing you all the best.

Empire Knights - WIP

Finished up the horses - inspired by the Knights Panther colors. They'll be used as proxies for French Gendarmes for Italian Wars.

The blue on the barding is darker than in the photos - the lighting washed it out a bit. I used a mixture of about 50:50 with Vallejo Dark Prussian Blue and Vallejo Ultramarine Blue.

The actual knights are up next. Plan on leaving off their shields to give them a more in-period look. Although I may add the shields for WHFB Empire stuff.

Death and The Landsknecht - Pike Block Upgrades

If I understand the rules in the new supplement correctly, I was able to add another 30-man pike block for a total of 8 blocks. Using the Arquebusiers and Swordsmen Forward! tactical upgrades special rules, I added two-each zweihander swordsmen and arquebusiers to 6 of the blocks (only had 12 zweihanders on hand - pardon the pun). I may add some to the other two units - one a Swiss block and the other the Black Band. Hopefully, this is how the author intended these upgrades to be used. I also arranged the pikemen wearing armor to the ranks immediately behind the first rank for the Armored Front Ranks special rule. Here are the 6 blocks with the arquebusiers and swordsmen, along with the leader and musician, in the front ranks.

Here are excerpts from the supplement of the special rules mentioned above.

The Swiss army list allows for the same upgrades. I have enough arquebusiers for the separate units to be deployed in Battle Line. I didn't see a provision for separate swordsmen units in the German lists.

Here's a picture of the 8 pike blocks - before I swapped out the arquebusiers for swordsmen.

I have to say that I was happy I based the figures individually. 

3D Print 1/16th Scale Achaean Warrior in Dendra Armor with Tower Shield

Here's the completed figure. I'm very pleased with this resin kit - minimal parts and very well-detailed throughout..

The interior of the shield is particularly well done - wicker work with support cross bars and sling.

EDIT: I've since rebased the figure on one with a smaller footprint; an oval one with the same width at the center. It's also a bit taller, so I used a thinner piece of foam over it.

I used the sponge method some folks use for AFV camo, but this was my first time trying it. Came out okay - I think better than using a brush which would've made the edges of the patches look too clean.

The detail of this sculpt is quite impressive - the leather edges of the armor have stitcing, and also securing staples. A lot of these details are the result from decades of academic research of the actual armor - which was discovered in a tomb in the 1960. The armor is dated to the 15th Century BC., and a couple of centuries before the Trojan War.

Below, he's next to a couple of 28mm Redoubt figures in the same type of armor. 

And on another note, FedEx just delivered my copy of "Death and The Landsknecht" - as well as the free figure of Richard de la Pole and few other things I added to the order to get the free shipping. 

Taking a cursory look at the contents of the supplement, it looks very nice indeed. Thanks again for visiting the blog, and hope you're all have a great summer.

WW2 Tank Battle With Lardie Rules Mismash!

Just got done with a great WW2 tank battle in 15mm that my buddy put together using several TFL rulesets. He incorporated elements from Chain of Command, What A Tanker, and even Sharp Practice. He had already playtested them before, and to be honest, it flowed really well. I've played a few games of the three sets in the past (mostly at my buddy's place), so a lot of it was familiar. I was on the German side with two Panzer IVs. In fact, our side had a total of 9 Panzer IVs, and the Americans had 12 Shermans, one of which had a 76mm, one a 105mm, and one a Jumbo in heavy armor - basically the same armor as a Tiger for gaming purposes.

Activation was random by chits being pulled from a bag (I suppose this is similar with Bolt Action too). Besides units (mostly 2 tanks or a single command tank), the bag also contained several Flags per side and Tiffin chits. Flags could be used for actions like failed activations or improving hit or saves. Pulling 3 Flags in a row allowed the last player who activated to take another turn - I think something like this is in Sharp Practice, maybe. The Tiffin ended a turn, as in Sharp Practice. Command Morale points were used per side as in Chain of Command - this was tied into the amount of Flag chits remained in the game. Also, when a side's Morale points went to zero, the game ended; in this case the Germans lost after 9 turns. We had the better of the Americans early on, one of my Panzer IVs took out their 76mm Sherman. Two other Shermans were taken out by another German player. However, towards the end of the game, the Americans took out 3 of our Panzer IVs, and our command tank was immobilized. All in all, it was a very nice game and great to catch up with old friends - there was a total of 8 players. My buddy who hosted the game will be putting together a report and hopefully QRS for the rules for future games.

The red die marker is for Shock. If successfully activated the next turn, 1 Shock is removed. Normal activation required a 5+ for the Americans, and 4+ for the Germans with a roll of 2D6. Shock points were added to this base score - so having upwards of 3 or 4 Shock Points made it difficult to activate.

My buddy had a great table layout and terrain. There was a lot of good cover and concealment for manuevering, but also a lot of areas with good LOS. The range was the full table length, but max effective ranges (without suffering minus penalties) was 60" for the German 75mm and Shermans with 76mm and 105mm guns; and 50'' for the 75mm Shermans. Each piece of soft terrain like hedges added a minus 1 to the To Hit score - the base score being 5+ on a D6. Successful hits were followed by damage rolls by the shooter, and save rolls by the target. These scores were then checked against a Chain of Command table for damage results - if enough damage was inflicted. This think this is borrowed from What A Tanker.

Movement and/or shooting was made after a successful activation roll. You could move up to 3D6 moves. The Germans were allowed to shoot after 1 move, and the Americans could shoot after 2 moves - something to do with their better suspension system. You could also move after shooting if he had not used the full 3 initially. Oh, and I should add, my buddy made his own movement D6's. He left off the 1 and replaced it with a 7 - he said he said 1 inch moves were useless.

Those are my two Panzer IVs in the picture above. Each having 1 Shock apiece after being hit earlier. No damage was sustained, and the Shocks were removed after successful activations in the next turn.

My buddy wanted us to use the grey dice to show how many D6 moves were used. We sort stopped doing this as the game went on, as it was fairly easy to remember without using markers.

I also started on the 1/16th scale Mycenaean warrior. Pretty simple color palette - bronze, flesh, and a few other colors. I will give the Tower Shield a hide pattern.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out the blog updates. Wishing you all a great and safe summer.

3D Printed Napoleonic Austrian Artillery

The sculpts aren't as well-defined as traditional figures, and some of the features are a bit exaggerated like their slightly, overly large hands and faces. However, for gaming purposes, they fit the bill nicely. I should add that the resin used appears to be very durable for gaming. 

They come with buttoned gaiters and pig tails for the rank and file for the earlier Napoleonic period. These were snipped off to represent the 1813 Campaign.

The sculpting being a bit "shallow", I ended up black-lining areas like the crossbelts since they weren't defined by the Minwax stain.

The photo below has them flanking Perry figures, which they size up nicely with.

In other news, I just received an email today from Warlord Games letting me know that my order of the Pike & Shotte "Death and the Landsknecht" supplement is soon to be dispatched. Next up on the painting table will be either the 1/16th Mycenaean warrior or the Empire Knights Panther unit.

Hobby Desk Update

Worked on some Warhammer Empire Knights after getting a box of Old World Knights. The set as 12 figures, so I decided to add two of them to the existing unit of 10 Reiksguard Knights. 2 proxy figures filled this unit, and also several had Knights Panther heads and shields (I didn't know the fluff when I painted them). Plan to build another 10 figure unit as Knights Panther. Also got two deliveries today too - one an Ebay purchase of 3D printed Napoleonic Austrian 12 pounders and crew; the other an Etsy purchase of a 1/16th scale resin Mycenaean warrior in Dendra armor with tower shield.

Below shows the 3 new figures painted to build up the Reiksguard units; the three in the back have new heads after removing the Knights Panther heads. Also painted several new shields to replace the Knights Panther ones. When I painted them years ago, I just chose the shields and heads for variety. The heads for the leader and musician are from the Pistolier kit; glad I save spare parts. I gave the leader a flamberg zweihänder held by one hand!

Here's the Mycenaean warrior kit - it has separate parts for the pauldrons, throat guard, and boars tusk helmet. Two spears were included - one is a little bent, but should be able to be straightened with some hot water. The tower shield is nicely detailed - I wish it had a Figure-8 shield instead, though.

This is a drawing I did as a kid back in the 1970s. I drew it in the style of the illustrations in the Crichton paperback "Eaters of the Dead" based on Beowulf. I envisioned the drawaing to represent Meleagros heading out to battle the Kouretes, as related in the Iliad. I was really into Greek Mythology and the Iliad in particular when I was a kid - wish seems especially weird as a third generation Japanese growing up in Hawaii.

Here's the start of the Empire Knights rebuild. Used superglue remover to remove the heads with Knights Panther helmets. Again, at the time when I built them, I had no idea of the different units or Warhammer fluff. I kind of like the look of 10-man cavalry units, they look nice in two ranks of 5 - sort of like a block. 12 figures in two ranks of 6 looks kind of too wide; also more room needed for manuevering on the table.

Well, just another short blog update to keep things going. Wishing you all a great summer!

EDIT: I almost forgot to add that I pre-ordered the Pike & Shotte "Death and the Landsknecht" supplement.

Warlord Games Landsknecht Pikemen Painted As Swiss

Not sure how different the Swiss were from their German counterparts, but these will be proxy Swiss for Italian Wars. The musician is a Foundry figure that my buddy included with the box of pikemen. He might be dressed a little earlier, but he fits in with the Swiss "look."

Keeping the clothing in just two colors helped speed up the process. Didn't have to think about color combinations. I did go over the white areas after the Minwax staining to help the colors pop.

I used the Savoy flag from the Perry Mounted Men at Arms set.

Here they are next to the GW Empire swordsmen. They'd be okay on the table together in separate units. The GW guys are a bit chunkier.

Although I wasn't planning on more pikemen, it's always nice to have more.

Warlord Games "Swiss" Pikemen - WIP

These are from a box of Warlord Games Landsknecht Pikemen that a buddy gave me. He decided to go with all Foundry for his Landsknechts. Painted them up to match the Talabheim Empire guys I have. They'll be used as Swiss for Italian War too. As usual, here are pictures of them stained with Minwax, and also before the stain block painted.

On the gaming front we just found out that the Boeing Museum of Flight has decided not to let our gaming group attend their Hobby Day in November. This is something we've been doing for at least a decade or so. Guess the new management didn't want kids seeing grown adults playing with toy soldiers.

Epirote - Greek Army Arrayed

Well, since I added the new Hoplites, figured I'd take some updated photos of the Greco-Macedonian army to date. The army is based upon the one led by Pyrrhus of Epirus. The recently added Greek & Persian Wars Hoplites may look a bit dated for the period, but they're included nonetheless. Most of the figures are Victrix with a few other makes. All of the shields have LBMS transfers. The elephants are Aventine that were painted a long time ago, but still hold their own.

Here are the infantry; again mostly Victrix. The unit front and center of Hypaspist are a mixture of Foundry and 1st Corps. I foolishly sold off my Foundry Phalangites some years ago.

Next, along with the Aventine elies, a 1st Corps Oxybeles and crew. All of these saw a lot of action when I played WAB. I only used them a few times with Hail Caesar. I did use one of the elephants in a SAGA game a couple of years ago.

The Companion cavalry in wedge formation, flanked by Tarantine light cavalry - all Victrix figures.

Finally the command figures; the Pyrrhus figure on the left and Antiochus figure on the right are from Relic.

So much for the roll call. I hope to someday run a game based on either the Battle of Argos (where Pyrrhus met his end), or maybe the Siege of Sparta prior to this. I had co-hosted a Battle of Heraclea with my earlier mostly-Foundry Epirote army when my buddy had his Republican Romans. We also hosted a Magnesia game with the army led by Antiochus - both games used WAB and were run at conventions. Anyway, thanks for the indulgence, and hope you all are doing well.