Black Hussar Miniatures - Rude Highlanders

A couple more Black Hussar minis - this time a bit more comical in nature. I plan to use them as casualty markers.

The cheeky guy is with the 79th Cameron and the grinning one with the 42nd Black Watch.

Looks like I forgot to paint a few things - the buttons on the leggings...

And some of the green in the center of the dicing on the bonnet.

On the gaming front, I'm hosting a Black Powder game next Saturday.

Thanks for stopping by, and best wishes to you all.

French 2nd Empire Zouaves - Painted & Based for Skirmish

Here's a small unit of Zouaves which are intended to be French 2nd Empire. They are, of course, from the Perry plastic ACW kit, but the uniforms are pretty much identical.

The bugler's arm, as well as the firing pose arms, are from Perry Napoleonic plastic kit spares. The little flag on the bugle was made out of Green Stuff.

They're based in pairs on Litko 50mm round plywood bases. As I don't plan to paint up a large number of figures for this period, they'll likely only be used in skirmish games - someday.

This set comes with 40 figures, so they're a lot more to paint up. I plan to paint some up as 2nd Empire Tirailleurs, and maybe some as Louisiana Tiger Zouaves. The latter, mainly because I like their striped pants.

These were a nice diversion from the recent Napoleonics - although not very distant in time frame from them.

Thanks again for swinging by the ol' blog, and best wishes to you all in your hobby and painting endeavors!

French 2nd Empire Zouaves - WIP

Couldn't pass up an inexpensive box of Perry ACW Zouaves on ebay as I've always fancied painting some up. Admittedly, I've never had an interest in ACW, but figure they could be painted as French 2nd Empire troops as well.

Wanting some firing poses, I used some spare Perry British Napoleonic arms. Some Green Stuff was used to replicate the rings around the barrels. Also used Green Stuff for the little banner under the bugle - the arm being a spare from the French Chasseurs a Cheval set.

Some images from the internet for painting guides. I think the uniform is pretty much the same up through the Franco Prussian War. Some sources show the turban not being worn.

If I ever get around to acquiring Prussians to oppose the French, I may try them out using Bolt Action. I don't intend to collect a lot of figures for this, but do like the look of the troops - French in red pants and Prussian in spiked helmets! Thanks for dropping by and best wishes to you all.

Tamiya 1/48 SdKfz.251/1 "Hanomag"

Here's a Tamiya 1/48 scale plastic kit I picked up off ebay from a seller in Japan earlier this year at a great price - about half of what they go for in the US. As with all the Tamiya 1/48 scale kits I've worked on so far, it went together quickly and easily. After spraying it with a coat of Tamiya Dark Yellow (aka Dunkelgelb), it sat unfinished for several months as I wasn't sure what kind of camo work to finish it with. I don't have an airbrush, nor do I plan to ever get one - the maintenance puts me off. So I needed to find a pattern that could be applied by brush and still have a fairly decent result. I found a pattern on the internet the other day which looked do-able and gave it a try.

Here it is with Victory Force Miniatures for scale. There were two long stemmed rearview mirrors on each front fender, but ended up breaking them off while painting. Figured they get broken during gaming anyway.

The irregular, splotchy green pattern with a dark brown border looked cool in the image I found. However, looking at how it turned out reminds me of an Aloha shirt floral print.

 I tried to disguise the "flowers" a bit with dry brushing and washes.

If I ever get another one of these, I'll try out a different camo pattern. All in all a very good kit and sturdy enough for gaming (after the fiddly mirrors were removed). I know there are nice 28mm kits, but all of my other vehicles are either 1/48 or 1/50 (Corgi) models.

It was another nice change up from Napoleonic units and makes me think of getting a few more model kits. Well, thanks again for visiting and best wishes to you all.

Black Hussar Minis Napoleonic British Surgeons

Yet another vignette with several more Black Hussar (née Westphalia) minis, as well a Victrix artilleryman and limber.

I'm not quite sure who the guy with the caduceus staff is supposed to be, so just painted him up with a blue smock and what I think is a leather vest.

The shako, backpack and musket are Perry and Victrix plastic spare parts.

The saw blade has a very nicely sculpted serrated edge. The guy holding it wears some cool looking glasses - giving him a sort of Steampunk look.

There are two more limbers from the Victrix artillery set which might be used in other vignettes.

As mentioned in the previous post, the 3mm thick plywood oval base is sold by Hobby Lobby - a pack of 8 for about $2.00.

Thank you very much for stopping by and best wishes to you all. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention it, but just ordered a copy of Black Powder 2nd Edition this morning.

Black Hussar Minis (& a few others) Napoleonic Vignette

I suppose this would've been called a "mini-diorama" in days gone by, but vignette is the norm nowadays. These are mostly some of the Black Hussar (formerly Westphalia) minis from a recent first time order from them (actually I think it's a one-man show there).

The peasant woman pulling the donkey comes with the wounded infantryman set - she's supposed to be pulling the cart. The donkey is an unknown make which was purchased from a vendor at an Enfilade convention a few years ago; the 9th Hussar atop the donkey is a left over plastic Perry figure from the Chasseur a Cheval set. The three pooches are also Black Hussar figures, and the little white one looks just like my wife's doggie. The stack of rucks and ammo crate are from a Sash and Saber artillery set.

The 3mm thick plywood oval base is from Hobby Lobby - a set of 8 for under $2 with the 40% off coupon - yes, I use coupons whenever I can.

The "rope" the peasant lady is using is a length of thread which was first soaked with white glue then dry brushed.

The hussar's coat tails were originally sculpted flared back as if riding at a gallop. They were snipped off and then reposition with some scalping away from the body and gaps filled with Green Stuff.

The bandage on the hussar's left arm was also molded with Green Stuff - about the extent of my sculpting abilities.

This was a nice break from the usual work on multiple figure units and the hardest part was trying to coordinate the colors of the civilian attire. Thank you all for dropping by and happy gaming and/or painting!

Black Powder Refresher at Fix Bayonet Game Day

Just got back from another wonderful Fix Bayonet game day held at quaint and historic Fort Steilacoom. One of the local gamers is part of the historical society that supports the fort. He's been hosting this game day for several years now. In fact, when I pulled up this morning, his dad was towing away a Civil War era howitzer for a display at another event. It was great seeing folks who I hadn't seen since Enfilade in May. But, it's like I just saw them yesterday, as I've known them for about 10 years now. It was great to host a Black Powder game again - the first time since 2012 when I hosted a large Salamanca game at Enfilade. Luckily one of the players is very experienced with Black Powder and he helped clarify a lot of questions for the other five players - all of whom were either inexperienced or hadn't played the rules in a long time too. Anyway, here are some images of the games today.

British right holding on to the bridge which was worth 5 victory points. The game ended up a tie with both the French and British occupying their respective built up areas and contesting the bridge.

The French line from the left. The smaller units made up of 4 cavalry and 16 foot worked well for the 6 players on a 5x6' table - along with 2/3rd's movement and ranges.

A very tasteful looking AWI Sharp Practice 2 game hosted by Mitch B. - here's his blog: West Sound Warriors.

The "good guys" on Mitch's table.

Action during the AWI SP2 game.

An interesting looking Song of Drums and Tomahawks game run by Kevin S. and David S. Here are their respective blogs - A Gamer's Tale and I Live With Cats.

A Star Wars Armada game run by Scott M.

Great looking hand-painted 15mm armor by the host, Lawrence B. - in a What A Tanker game.

And last but not least, I picked up all these nicely illustrated books for $10 from Mark W.  Mark is a retired educator and brought boxes of books -many free with a $1 donation to the fort. Again, it was great to see gamer buddies I don't see very often and also refreshing myself with Black Powder again. Until next time, happy gaming and/or painting!

Black Hussar Miniatures Odds and Sods - WIP

Just a quick WIP shot of a few figures I recently ordered from Black Hussar Miniatures. Very nicely sculpted and great service. It only took about two weeks to get here (Washington State) from Germany. Tomorrow is the small Black Powder game I'll be hosting at the annual Fix Bayonets game day held in Quarters #2 at Fort Steilacoom. I'll be sure to post images of the game as well as the other games being hosted. Until then, best wishes to you all!

Napoleonic French and British Roll Call - Mostly Perry & Victrix Plastics

Here are the current French and British forces for Black Powder. The majority are Victrix and Perry plastics. Most of the command stand figures are metal. The Spanish Guerrillas are Front Rank figures. The old Foundry Napoleon and Staff set are also included.

I should add a Wellington figure, but he wasn't a fancy dresser, so will settle for the dashing Hussar general for the overall commander of the British.

As pictured, the French have 7 infantry units in varying sizes; and 7 cavalry unit - four light (two each, Hussars and Chasseurs), one medium (Dragoons), and two heavies (Cuirassiers and Carabiniers); five cannon - of varying sizes; there are also separately based Voltigeur skirmishers which can be used separately or in Mixed formations.

The British have 2 units of Rifles (with Portuguese Cacadores included); a unit of Spanish Guerrillas; 5 infantry units consisting of two Highland units, two regular Line infantry units and a Coldstream Guards unit; 5 cavalry units: 2 units each of Hussars and Light Dragoons and a unit of Spanish Cuirassiers; and finally 5 artillery batteries - two of which are RHA.

As mentioned in earlier posts, the infantry units can be broken down into 16-man formations which would increase the total number of units for more players. Otherwise, these can be played as is with unit size modifiers.

I may someday add a few more units - namely French Lancers, French Horse Artillery, British Heavy Dragoons and maybe a British 71st Light Infantry unit (with the cool checkered shako). But for now, it's time to get ready for the smallish (5x6' table) Black Powder game next Saturday. I'll be using one of the scenarios in the Peninsular supplement - the author notes that most of them were played on 4x6' tables, so should work out well. Thanks for checking out the blog and hope you enjoyed the pictures. Best wishes to you all!

Perry British Light Dragoons

This is the last unit from the most-recent Perry order of Napoleonic reinforcements.  A unit of British Light Dragoons in the earlier uniform. The orange facings could represent the 14th (Duchess of York's Own) or 20th Regiments. Both served extensively in the Peninsula.

The Perry set comes with several headgear options, including the later shako which was worn at Waterloo, but I chose the more distinctively-British Tarelton helmet.

Currently, all of the cavalry for my Napoleonics are in 8-figure units. The smaller size should allow for more maneuvering on smaller tables. Although at next Saturdays game, I plan to only use 4 figures per unit, as the tables are only 5x6' and I am allowing up to 6 players!

There are no immediate plans for additional units, except for maybe a couple of French Horse Artillery - just to balance out the two RHA units the British have already. I plan on hosting a few Black Powder games at next year's Enfilade!, which has larger tables - 12x6'.

Actually, a French Lancer unit (or two) may be added down the road - either Polish, Dutch or even Berg in their flashy green and pink uniform.

But those other units will have to wait, as I now need to settle on the scenario for next week's game - I'll likely use one of the ones the Black Powder Peninsular supplement.

Thanks for stopping by and wishing you all the very best!