2 More Warlord Games ECW Pike & Shotte Regiments

 Finished the Marquis of Newcastle's Whitecoats and the Earl of Manchester's Greencoats.

I made magnetic movement trays for the pikemen and command which are based on metal washers. This helps with the arrangement of the guys with the levelled pikes.

Unlike my earlier shotte units which were based 4 figures per 40mm square, I opted for 6 figures on 60x40mm rectangles. I like the "squarer" look when they are on the flanks of the pikes, and form a better looking hedgehog with the pikes as well.

The pike and command figures. The standard bearers can be swapped out for different units.

I now have 4 foot regiments, and plan to have a total of 8 once done. This will be half of the number I had earlier, but should still be enough for decent Pike & Shotte games, especially with cavalry regiments and artillery. I also made magnetic movement trays for the single based shotte earlier painted.

Thanks again for stopping by and checking out the blog. Wishing you all the best.

At The Height Of Battle - Imjin War Naval Game Refresher

Just wrapped up a great refresher game of the "At The Height Of Battle" Imjin War naval rules. I hadn't played it in a few years, and totally forgot the rules. Thanks to a couple of buddies, who never played it before, but had read up on the rules, the game turned out really well. I scaled down the number of ships, but we still think we had too many for a first time play. One of my other buddies couldn't make it due to a last minute family issue, so one player ran the entire Japanese fleet against two players (me being one) running the Koreans. Suffice to say, the rules are good and should work out well with 6 players at next month's Drumbeat South game day in Chehalis. Although missile fire does have its place, the game really centers on boarding actions - which includes firing with light artillery from both attacker and defender during the attack. 

Each turn consists of 6 phases - 3 Japanese, and 3 Korean activation cards drawn randomly.

The Japanese fleet advances towards two squadrons of Korean ships, which include large and small turtle ships. I'll plan to reduce the number of turtle ships per squadron - as they are quite difficult to inflict damage upon.

The Japanese fleet with two squadrons split by the small island.

The white pompoms indicate heavy artillery fire - which can only be used once per turn. They're removed at the start of the player's phase in the next turn.

We only used tape measures for the 12" heavy artillery ranges. Otherwise, the turning sticks have inch markers, and the most any ship can move is 5". Light artillery is limited to 3".

The red cards indicate crew casualty. Light artillery can only inflict crew casualty, but once it does it reduces that crew's hand to hand by half.

On the painting table, I'm working on the second Battalia Starter Army box. Thanks again for stopping by, and hope you all are doing well.

Imjin War Naval Game - Set Up

Some staged shots of an Imjin War naval game for this Friday using At The Height Of Battle. A bit over half the ships are from David Sullivan's collection with their bases touched up to match the ones I have.

The great looking sea mat is made by TABLEWAR and was given to me by a buddy - who'll be playing in the game.

The Japanese fleet advancing with wings forward.

The Korean fleet in a concave formation with Turtle Ships in the center. 

The smaller ships on the Japanese fleet's flanks carry samurai and ashigaru for boarding and hand to hand fighting. They can be troublesome to the enemy.

There's debate about how many Turtle Ships were actually ever made and used during the war. Here, we've gone all in - thanks to David! David never went half way with any of of his projects.

On the workbench, I've been working on yet another Pike & Shotte Battalia Starter Army box. This time they'll be painted up as Newcastle's White coats and the other as Manchester's Green coats. Also picked up a few bases from a local vender, and buddy down in Oregon. Some 25mm rounds for FPW figures that were multi-based, and also 60x40mm bases which the musketeers will be based on 2 ranks of 3. My buddy's business is called 3D-DZYN and he makes laser cut terrain and bases - to order if needed, as my 60x40mm ones were. He cuts them pretty much immediately and mails them out quickly. I think I ordered these last Thursday (via email), and they arrived today. Anyway, will be sure to post the results of the Imjin War naval game.

Warlord Games Pike & Shotte ECW Cavalry

Here are the last of the figures from the Army Starter box. Actually, there are 4 spare unarmored pikemen (no powder bandoliers), but no arms for them. I suppose it's just how they made up the sprues. I might see if I have some spare arms from the Landsknecht sets that might work.

As mentioned in the previous post, I went ahead and added highlights, mainly to the cloth sleeves, sashes, and hats. Otherwise, the hybrid staining worked out pretty nicely. That is, Minwax was only used on the horse flesh. Agrax Earthshade used on the gloves, boots, belts, and very sparingly on the folks of the buff coats since I wanted a cleaner look.

I was reminded how much I like these figures, along with the earlier foot. They paint up nicely without lacing and piping.

The guys in blue are Prince Rupert's, and the ones in red generic Parliamentarians. I got the flags off the internet.

This project was actually was a bit refreshing, and has renewed my interest in the period, as well as the exploits of Prince Rupert in particular. I might even do something with Blood & Plunder wtih the prince since he became a sort of buccaneer later in his career.

Otherwise, taking a slight break from the painting table, and will be concentrating on refreshing myself with the "At The Height Of Battle" Imjin War naval rules. I plan to run a game next month at the Veterans Memorial Museum game day with the ships I inherited from David Sullivan's collection. My buddy who gave me the Blood & Plunder set also gave me a nice neoprene sea mat which will work nicely with the game too. Anyway, thanks for stopping by, and best wishes to you all!

Warlord Games Pike & Shotte Battalia Starter Army Cavalry - WIP

These are the remaining figures from the starter set. After a basic block paint job, I used a hybrid staining process. I didn't want to muddy up the buff coats, so used Citadel Agrax Earthshade sparingly over just the the sashes, gloves, boots, and belts. Used the Minwax stain on the horses as it usually darkens the recessed areas better. Finally, Vallejo black ink was used as a wash over the metal areas, and Vallejo Skin Wash over the faces. Once the Minwax dries they'll be given a coat of Krylon Flat Crystal Clear, and then some highlights.

The guys with red horse blankets are Parliamentarians, and the ones with blue blankets Royalists. Otherwise, they're pretty much identical.

Although I have Vallejo Buff, I used Iraqi Sand for the coats since I wanted a warmer tone. Iraqi Sand is very useful!

Just a quick update to show what I've been working on. Thanks for checking out the blog, and wishing you all the best.