Eureka! The Hawaiians Are Here!

Started a new project, after a short hiatus from the hobby. On a whim, I ordered the remaining figures from Eureka USA's Hawaiian range. They only had two packs which included figures from all of their individual sets. Came out to 42 figures total - not a bad start for a Tribal game in the future. I did communicate with Rob, the owner of the store, and he said he'd be getting more figures in sometime later. I may get another full set pack. Anyway, gave the figures a basecoat for the flesh - will add stains later to give them more of a "Polynesian" look. Otherwise, I've already submitted four games for Enfilade, our big annual convention in May. I'll be running two games each of La Haye Sainte and Peninsular War - both using One-Hour Skirmish Wargames rules. I'm also playtesting the La Haye Sainte game at a game day in March at the Veterans Museum in Chehalis.

When I was in the Boy Scouts, around 12 or 13 years old IRRC, we had a Jamboree on the island of Molokai where we earned our Hawaiiana badge. It was a week camping in Halawa Valley, a notoriously spooky place with stories of a headless priest who supposedly hung himself in an old church nearby. Dog-headed men who lived in the valley who would drag you out of the tent if you slept with your feet facing the opening. I thought, if you slept with your head towards the opening, they'd drag you out by your head too. There was also a three-legged dog that would glide down the dirt road leading down into the valley, and a ghostly Hawaiian woman who'd drag you into the small bay at the end of the valley. It was probably told to us so we wouldn't go down to the beach by ourselves.  Oh, on the last day of the Jamboree, we all wore a malo (loin cloth) which we had painted with Hawaiian designs and went off on own into the valley for the day. I made a spear and a hardened the tip in a fire, and ran around the valley trying to spear fish in streams. Never could, but had a great time - it was like being back in ancient times. 

Here's a pic of me holding a spear with a billfish point - it's from a few years ago when I was visiting Hawaii.

Well, so much for the long trip back in time. Wishing you all the best and hope your year is going well.

Black Powder, Battle of Dresden, 1813 - My First Game in 2026!

Wrapped up a very nice Battle of Dresden game using Black Powder. There were 7 players, 4 commanding the Allied army, and 3 commading the French. It was a close battle with lots of back and forth action, especially between cavalry. Small skirmish units were able to occupy the smaller buildings in the center of the table. We played 6 turns ending with a very close French victory. They held their positions around the city, although their cavalry brigade on their right flank took heavy losses. 

The Allies were allowed to go first, since the French were already in a defensive position in the city. The Russians made the first move by advancing well into musket and cannon range. They wanted to force the French out from their positions.

French left.

French Dragoons and Lancers forcing Russian infantry into square.

French Carabiniers and Cuirassiers on their right.

Russian infantry advancing.

French infantry within the city defenses.

Prussian Dragoons and Uhlans advancing.

Austrian and Prussian cavalry advancing in front of their infantry.

French heavy cavalry in combat with Prussian Dragoons.

Center of the battlefield. 

Around turn 5.

Austrians attacking the French right.

Russian infantry awaiting movement orders (they had a few failed command rolls).

Russian Grenadiers. 

Russian Uhlans charging into French Dragoons.

Prussians advancing in the center.

French and Austrian infantry clash. 

Action on the French left. 

It was great to finally get all of the models onto the table - including the large buildings that were put together last year. The players, most of whom have only played Black Powder once or twice before, all said they had a great time and enjoyed the game. I think the rules are great for fast play and we were able to get 6 full turns in within about 4 hours. A great start to the gaming new year! Thanks for stopping by and hope you all are doing well!

Battle of Dresden, Black Powder Game Setup

Tentative setup for the game on Friday. Wanted to see how the troops would fit on the 10x6' table top. Kind of cramped, but we'll see how it works out - right now, I have about six players showing up. Most have played Black Powder at least a couple of times, if not more.

The game as noted in the title is loosely based upon the Battle of Dresden. Added a little stream to slow down the Allied advance a bit as they outnumber the French.

The French are in and around the city and have their artillery in defensive positions.

Russians on the Allied left.

Prussians in the Allied center.

Austrians on the Allied right flank.

French left. The French do have a few more cavalry units which may not be historically correct, but throwing all the figures on the table for this game.

French center - with Napoleon himself in charge.

French right with Guard units and heavy cavalry. This side should be quite powerful for the French. EDIT: I moved the cuirassiers and carabiniers along with a lancer unit to the French right - to be led by Murat.

Well, so much for now - will post an update once the game is played. Thanks for visiting, and hope you all are off to a great start in the new year.

Happy New Year! & Garrison Hungarian Grenadier Skirmishers

First completed project of the year 🙂 Just a small batch (6 figs) of Hungarian Grenadier skirmishers for an upcoming 1813 game. These are the same 3D resin Garrison figures painted last month. Just modified them a bit by scraping off the gaiter buttons and painting the cuffs with points. They're mounted on 20mm washers, and then in pairs on magnetic topped 40x30mm bases.

These are the "replacements" the ebay seller sent me since the first set had half of the figures with broken or missing parts. They arrived on the last day of 2025, and I started on them yesterday using the usual method of block painting followed by Minwax stain. I did go over the white straps after the staining to make them more visible on the off white coats.

The trouser strips and knots should be in alternating black and yellow, but at this scale, just yellow looks better, IMO (and easier to paint!).

The lacing on the back of the bearskin is also painted for effect, rather than accuracy. The top lacing should be a zig zag or wavy pattern, but didn't want to spend too much time on it, only to have it look worse.

The tray has the rest of the skirmishers for the game which will be based loosely on Dresden, rather than Leipzig. At least that's what I'm planning on for now. The game will be in a couple of weeks, and already have about 6 players saying they'll make it. Only about half of them play Black Powder, so it's an honor that they committed to it.

So much for starting off the new year - wishing you all the very best in 2026!