More Pike and Shot Foot Regiments - Warlord Games and Perry Miniatures

Here are three more foot regiments - Sir Phillip Skippon's redcoats; Lord Brookes' in purple; and Lord Saye & Sele's bluecoats; all Parliamentarians.

Skippon's pikemen and command are Perry metals.

As with most of the previous foot regiments, these were chosen mainly for their coat colors and available flags. Not necessarily for participation in any particular battle or campaign.

The pikes for the Perry figures are from plastic broom bristles - which are very sturdy and flexible.

There more foot regiments remain to be painted - including another Scots Covenanter one. After they are done, the cavalry and dragoons will be worked on.

Just a quick update and thank you all for stopping by and wishing you all the best.

Warlord Games ECW Pike & Shotte Update

Finished up 6 regiments of pike and shot. Three regiments were from unpainted sets and the other three were repainted - mainly the clothing as I left the other areas like the leather equipment and muskets alone. From left to right, first rank: Newcastle's Whitecoats, Earl of Northampton's regiment in green; second rank: John Hutchinson's regiment in blue coats, Earl of Essex's regiment in orange/tawny coats; third rank: Sir Gilbert Talbot's regiment in yellow coats, Sir Ralph Hopton's regiment in blue coats.

Although I only think Newcastle's regiment fought at Marston Moor, they'll all be used in the game. I just like the variety of coat/jacket colors and the regimental flags as well.

The pike units are on movement trays for ease of play, as pikes can be a bear to handle otherwise.

There are 4 more units to repaint from the ones that were already painted by my buddy. Aldo 2 more new units, one being another Scots Covenanters regiment. I plan to paint up at least one as Lord Brookes' regiment of foot in purple. Again, not so much as their presence on any particular battlefield, but for the color of their coats and available flags. I also got some nice packages in the mailbox today too - an Osprey Marston Moor Campaign book and a small order from Perry - to flesh out another regiment. The Perry order only took 10 days to arrive - mailed out on 30 December.

Thanks again for swinging by the old blog and wishing you all a great start on the new year!

Workbench Update - Warlord Games ECW Foot - WIP

Here's a visual of the ECW foot in various stages of progress. Half of these were painted from bare plastic, and the others are being re-painted. The repainting is mostly the clothing and headgear. Also making movement trays for the pike units using plasticard and figure sprues for the edging.

With the previous four regiments painted the year before last, I should end up with about 15 or so regiments of pike and shot. After the foot, the cavalry and dragoons will be worked on. Just wanted to show you all that I'm slowly sorting out this mess of figures. Until next time, thanks for dropping by and wishing you all a great start to the year.

First Project of The New Year - ECW Pike & Shotte Revisited

Actually started on some of these before the end of last year. I ended up buying the rest of the Warlord Games Pike and Shotte figures my buddy had - although these were already painted by him years ago. He had intended to use them in TFL's "In The Buff", but no one else was interested at the time. This round of figures included 48 more cavalry (12 of which are metal cuirassiers) and 160 foot - enough pike and shotte to flesh out several more regiments. He also threw in 15 cannon and crew from Old Glory. The image below shows most of these new acquisitions as well as the ones previously painted - and just based with the newly arrived Litko bases. I plan to touch up or repaint the figures and mount them all on Litko bases. They are currently on card stock bases and easily removed off of them. The one minor issue is that my buddy used a very thick coat of wood stain on the figures so much of the details are now hidden or covered over. Not too big of a deal as these are all rank and file figures.

I added one of the new painted pike units to one with musketeers I pained with a can a light blue spray paint. The ones he had were pretty close in color, but being a bit retentive, I had to paint them the same blue to match the musketeers. I used an old tip and sprayed some of the paint into a foil make shift palette and brushed the paint on.

In addition to these figures, I also placed a Warlord Games order since I thought I needed 12 more horses for the riders I got from my buddy in the first purchase. Lo and behold he found the 12 horses with this second round of painted figures. Anyway, I added a box of Scots Covenanters to the order as it was a "freebie" add on with Warlord's order - which pretty much makes the $25 shipping a wash; in fact, the Covenanters go for $34, so, maybe I made out by $9? Oh, and I also ordered some Perry pikeman figures since again I didn't know about this second round of figures from my buddy and wanted more pikes. Oh, well, I should be pretty well occupied in the coming weeks to get all of these figures done. I am hoping to do a Marston Moor game once the figures are all ready. Thanks for dropping by and hope you're all having a great start to the new year.

Farewell to 2021 - Not As Strange As The Year Before...

But still not the way it was the year before that; that is before the lockdowns of the previous year. That all said, I was able to get in enough games at small gatherings, as well as at our annual big event, Enfilade, to be satisfied. Granted the convention only had about a third in attendance from 2019 (2020 being cancelled altogether) and pushed back from May to September, but it was still a lot of fun. As far as painting in 2021, besides a brief diversion into large scale McFarlane 40K Space Marines figures and a Sisters of Battle army, I only painted a few dedicated gaming figures. The reason for this was I had already painted a fairly large quantity of figures the year before (during the peak of the lockdown), and they had yet to see any action on the gaming table. I made it a goal to game these untested figures before the end of this year. I was almost able to accomplish this feat, but still have a few that didn't make it. These are mostly the English Civil War and a few Bolt Action figures, which I intend to not only get on the table next year, but am currently working on some additions to give players more units - namely the Pike and Shotte figures.

Here's a quick rundown of the games I played in or hosted in 2021.

Imjin War Naval Battle - At the Height of Battle

The first few games I played and hosted this year were several Imjin War naval games using models by MT Miniatures and rules by David Manley. Both products are quite excellent for their intended purposes. The nicely sculpted ships being in 1/1200th scale paint up fairly easily. I now have fleets for both the Japanese and the Koreans. It's a quick game to set up and simple to run. My buddy and I hosted this at a game day at our local Veterans Museum in July, and also at Enfilade in September.

Franco Prussian War Skirmish - Bolt Action

Around the middle of the year, I hosted a refresher Bolt Action Franco Prussian War game. I ran it again at Enfilade in September.

Battle of Hue - Arc of Fire

Speaking of Enfilade, I also played in a Battle of Hue game and a Lion Rampant "A Viking in the Sun" game. 

A Viking in the Sun - Lion Rampant

As already mentioned, attendance was about a third from the last one in 2019.

Battle of Abensberg, 20 April 1809 - Black Powder hosted by my buddy James with his figures and terrain.

October saw a return to Black Powder. First, an Austrian vs. Bavarian game hosted by my buddy at his place with his collection and terrain. 

Battle for the Farm House - Black Powder

This was followed by a "Battle for the Farm House" game finally getting to use the La Haye Sainte terrain painted up in 2020.

Battle of Gorodetschna - Black Powder

I also ran a Battle of Gorodetschna game at the end of October, using the Russian and Austrian troops  painted up earlier in the year.

EIR vs. Celts - Hail Caesar

In the last month of 2021, I was able to get in two Hail Caesar games - the first an EIR vs. British Celts and then a Successor vs. Successor game. Almost all of the figures for both games were painted last year and used for the first time.

Antigonid Successor vs. Pyrrhic Successor - Hail Caesar

I kept painting projects for actual gaming down as I felt the need to get the ones already painted on the table first. However, I did paint a few in 2021 - not the least of which was a Russian army deal from Perry at the beginning of the year. Here are of some of the my painting projects for 2021 - this will also serve to remind me of the figures that still haven't been on the gaming table yet.

Most of the Perry Russian army deal; completed in January and seeing action for the first time in October.

Warlord Games' Mk IV Beutepanzer and Renault FT-17; both painted in January also - and still needing to see action. I'm actually still waiting on an order of Wargames Atlantic French for some Bolt Action gaming.

These Perry Russian artillery batteries, along with commanders and jaegers, were painted in February.

Perry Russian High Command - they got to see action in the Gorodetschna game (even though Kutusov wasn't actually there) later in the year. These figures along with the below Celt chariots and Victrix Hoplites below were all painted in March.

 The chariots were picked up last year at the Panzer Depots' closing sale.

The chariots and hoplites were used in the recent Hail Caesar games in December.

In April and May, painted some Blitzkrieg 1/48th scale resin tanks (Panzer II & III, M3 Grant) and also a Hobby Boss 1/48th scale KV-1 Beutepanzer. Added some Perry TC's to crew those tanks and riders for a Corgi half-track. 

The Artizan Spartans above were painted in April, and along with the tanks await action in Bolt Action and Hail Caesar games, respectively. The Artizan figures were also picked up last year from the Panzer Depot sale.

In May, I received a copy of the Imjin War naval rules and ships for "At The Height Of Battle". A pack of Warlord Games Fallshirmjager in tropical kit and a 120mm resin ECW pikeman were painted for this month - mainly to keep busy. I think by this time, the urge to game was getting stronger. Up to this point in time, I hadn't gamed since January 2020!

The 1/1200th scale ships from the Imjin War starter set painted and based in June. They were gamed several times soon after. Also painted up in the same month was a small unit of Perry FFL for the Western Desert Campaign to oppose the Fallshirmjager.

A few units of Victrix and Perry Austrians were painted in June and July. They were all successfully gamed in October using Black Powder.

Wrapping up completed painting projects are these McFarlane poseable 40K Space Marines and Sisters of Battle, as well as a 40K Sisters of Battle army. I have no intention or desire to get into 40K, but I did enjoy painting these figures.

Thus ends the report of the painting projects and games I played or hosted in 2021. I shall finish this post by publicly declaring what I intend to accomplish in 2022 (hobby-wise). I hope to finally get a few Pike and Shotte games in with the figures painted over a year ago, and the ones I'm working on right now. Managed to base two regiments of pike and shotte, and a unit of pike with the bases I had onhand. Still awaiting an order from Litko to finish the rest of the figure. I also went ahead and put together two boxes of plastic cavalry and two boxes of dragoons - the latter with 12 each mounted and dismounted troopers in metal.

I also plan to get in some WW1 and WW2 Western Desert Campaign Bolt Action games using some additions to these projects. Not the least of which will be the long-awaited (by me) Wargames Atlantic French. The order is awaiting shipment once the WW2 Italians, which I added to the order, are available. Finally I wish you all an awesome 2022!

Warlord Games ECW Pike and Shotte Reinforcements - WIP +2

Hope you all had a good Christmas. In between several meals of cheer - managed to get the ECW Pike & Shotte block painting done and staining with Minwax Tudor Satin. After a coat of Krylon clear matte, only the faces will get a some attention - a wash of Vallejo Flesh Wash. Waiting on an order from Litko to base them.

They'll be formed into three regiments of pike and shotte (16-man pike, and two 24-man shotte units each). Also, three separate units of shotte of 24-men each. I may add pikes to these shotte units later - possibly Perry metals. 

Wishing you all the best during the closing of 2021 - we're actually getting snow here in Western Washington, so white post-Christmas.

Warlord Games ECW Pike and Shotte Reinforcements - WIP +1

Just a quick update - Painted the muskets, pikes, sword hilts, shoes and hats/caps. 

Next will be some of the pants in various colors, white collars, cuffs and stockings. Also, the command figures will be given a little more attention.

Thanks again for checking out the blog and wishing you all a Merry Christmas - just a few more days!

Warlord Games ECW Pike & Shotte Reinforcements

Thanks to a great deal from a buddy who had some old boxes of foot as well as cavalry, some additions to an ECW Pike & Shotte project are being worked on. So far there are enough foot for two regiments with pike and shotte, and several shotte units as well. I may add some pikemen to the shotte units, or leave them as separate commanded shotte. Wanting to keep this as a quick and fairly simple project, I started with basecoats of spray paint I already had - except for a new can of red.

The flesh, hair, buff coats, armor, leather straps and pouches/bags have been painted over the base colors. I plan to paint some of the pants various other colors for variety.

I hope to start the new year with some Pike & Shotte games. Happy Holidays!

Christmas Rampant! - Last Game of 2021 (for me anyway)

A fair number of us (12 or 13 players) showed up at our buddy Bruce's place (he's the owner/proprietor of Company B) for a multi-player Dragon Rampant game. The last time we did this was in 2019, just a couple of months before the "Big Change." It was great seeing everyone again; most of whom had played in the 2019 game. Although I've been gaming routinely since Enfilade back in September, this was the largest gathering of players for me since then. Luckily Bruce's gaming room is quite big, and although we were somewhat crammed around the gaming table, it still felt roomy. We also were well-nourished with BBQ pork sandwiches which one of the players kindly provided.

The table layout at the start of the game. I used some of my Sisters of Battle figures for my warband. The Junith Eruita canoness in her pulpit being an Elite Rider with mounted missiles and a squad of Battle Sisters as Scouts. I hid behind a tall wall for most of the game taking shots as the enemy (Snowmen and Nutcracker) would expose themselves. My dice rolling was surprisingly good for most of the game. I always managed to activate my units and caused enough hits to help destroy an entire enemy warband and also a dragon (Greater War Beast/leader) from another warband. They survived until the very end of the game - I did a suicide attack with my Battle Sisters (already at half-strength) against unit of heavy foot with predictable results to finish the game and get more refreshments.

Some images of the game - I think we played for about 8 or so turns. With such a long table, with 6 warbands per side, it was surprising each side correctly stayed together for each turn.

My "Sisters" warband taking out enemy with missile weapons from behind cover.

The opposite side of the table where I was playing. That's Bruce's warband made up of Russian (or Finnish?) ski troops.

Missile tossing hooligans.

Evil penguins.

War rabbits mounted on rams.

Might've been due to slipping on their banana peels, but this enemy warband failed to activate for most of the game.

Elves with bows, along with my Sisters providing firing cover on our right flank.

A working Christmas train.

All in all, a nice way to end the 2021 gaming year, although I plan to do one more blog post for 2021 as a wrap up for the year. Until next time have a safe and great holiday season.