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.

Warlord Games ECW Foot Command

These are the commands for Parliamentarians and Prince Rupert's Bluecoats. Also a couple of spare figures to be leaders for Firelock units.

Luckily I had spare flags from my earlier work on ECW figures.

There are four more "extra" pikemen figures, which I may make a couple of sergeants with halberds.

Only the cavalry are left from the starter set - they'll be worked on next.

I also just received a copy of the Warlord Games Pike & Shotte "The Highest Throne" supplement for the Ottoman wars. Here it is with my modest force of Ottomans - which were originally used for a Napoleon in Egypt project.

Besides my Italian Wars figures, these ECW figures can also be used against the Ottomans.

I plan to use the scenarios and background info for smaller skirmish games using The Pikeman's Lament or something similar. Thanks again for your continued visits, and wishing you all the best.

Warlord Games ECW Battalia Starter Army - Foot

 Except for the command figures, the foot are completed.

They're in two units represented the New Model Army in red, and Prince Rupert's Blue Coats. Interestingly, Prince Rupert's Firelocks were supposedly in red coats, but for simplicity on the table, they'll be blue like the rest of the regiment.

For use with The Pikeman's Lament, a few of the pikemen will be swapped out for command figures, as the units are 12 figures each including command.

This is actually the second time I've painted up these two units - the first time was back in 2020 https://wabcorner.blogspot.com/2020/10/warlord-games-pike-shot-battalia.html . They were sold along with the rest of the ECW collection to my buddy a couple of years ago.

Also, another gaming buddy gave me his Blood & Plunder stuff. He said he wasn't interested in it anymore and that I could have it. Besides the resin ship, there are two more in plastic kit form.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by and wishing you all the best.

Warlord Games ECW Battalia Starter Army - WIP

Added some old Minwax stain to the figures. The can is over 2 years old, and I had to add some thinner to the thickened mixture. Hopefully, it'll turn out okay.

Prior to staining.

Rear of the figures, stained.

After they're dried, they'll be sprayed with a coat of matte.

Blood & Plunder - First Time Playing

My buddy invited me over his place for a game of Blood and Plunder. I've never played the rules before, but the GM has hosted the game many times over the years at our various gaming days and also at Enfilade. I'm usually hosting my own games during these events, so never had a chance to play it until today. Additionally, the GM, Adam Horton, is the local rep for the game - which is based out of Florida.

It was a four player game, I was on the side of pirates and native troops versus British regulars and their allied native troops. The objective was for the pirates to find and rescue hostages held in one of the buildings in enemy territory.

The mechanics are pretty smooth and farily easy to pick up. It is card driven to determine order of play, and also how many actions can be taken. Actual actions use D10's to resolve shooting, melee, and wounds, etc.

Pirates in the foreground advancing forward.

All the units started with 6 figures. I had two units of pirates and a unit of African tribal warriors. My first move was to have the African use their bows as they do not incur a reload.

My two pirate units were able to assault into and occupy two buildings early on. However, the hostages were not located in those. Of course, by the process of elimination, we figured out which of the remaining buildings had the hostages.

A unit of British horse coming on the table after successfully activating them on. My unit of tribal warriors in cover. They took some casualties from pistol fire, but actually ended up surviving the game.

The building on the left held the hostages, and the British and their allies occupied the area.

Since we knew the game would be 6 turns, the other pirate player and I assaulted the building with hostages. We ended up securing the two hostages (the two in dressers), and killing off one of the British units guarding them. The rules are quite enjoyable, and I would have no hesitation playing them again.

I managed to paint the metal parts and muskets for the ECW foots prior to heading out the game today. Thanks for stopping by, and best wishes to you all!

ECW Revisted & Other Projects

After selling off my rather large collection of ECW figures to a buddy a couple of years ago, I never expected to return to the period. However, I soon thereafter picked up a Warlord Games Battalia Starter Army for a fraction of the price (less than a single unit box). The box has been sitting in the garage for sometime, and I figured it was time to work on it. Here's the pike and shotte, as well as command figures, along with some inspirational reading material. They're based as singles for skirmish games like The Pikeman's Lament. Plan to paint one force as Prince Rupert's Bleu Coates and the other in red like the New Model Army.

Still need to work on the 24 cavalry and 10 firelocks. Besides this project, I also worked on some 1/1200th Imjin War ships for At The Height Of Battle. I was blessed to have inherited the ships that were in David Sullivan's collection. As you may recall, David's blog is "I Live With Cats", and he passed away last year after a sudden illness. He and I had collaborated a bit with these rules.

In fact, he first saw the ships was when I hosted a game a couple of years ago. He went all in and actually ended up getting more ships than me! He used the same basing dimensions I used - so they are a perfect match. Here they are all together.

IIt's barely noticeable, but his ships are a little lighter in color, and none of his masts have flags - I think he clipped them off for some reason. I touched up his ships to better match the ones I have. Basically highlighted the sails, and also painted the forecastles on the larger ships.

I plan to run game with these in the near future. Haven't played them in a long time, so will need to refresh myself with the rules. Anyway, just a quick update to show what I've been working on. Thanks for checking the blog, and wishing you all the best.

Hawaiian Tribal Warlords and Heroes on 3D-DZYN Bases with Casualty Dice

Just got these in the mail today from a local vendor, 3D-DZYN down in Oregon. Ron Palma is the owner proprietor of the business. He makes laser cut bases and terrain to order as well as what he has on his website. I contacted him last weekend and he made these up for me via multiple email specifications. I wanted bases to hold my already based figures on 25mm washers, and also to have integral boxes for casaulty dice.

Below is what I got from Ron - 32mm bases with 5mm holes for magnets, outer rings to attach to the bases to hold the 25mm washer-based figures, and the dice box. After he saw what I ended up putting together, he told me he could've made the bases with the dice cups already on the bases if he had known what I actually wanted. I may order those from him in the future, depending on how well these work on the gaming table.

Here are the pieces individually packaged. On added benefit was the inclusion of the 25mm wooden inserts to the outer rings. Also, although the washers have small holes in the middle, the magnets hold the figures in place well enough.

Well, so much for mini project. Time to re-read the Tribal rules for an upcoming game. Until then, wishing you all the best.

Warlord Games Onager With Victrix EIR Crew

My buddy gave me the Onager set a couple of years ago, and finally got around to building it with my recent EIR projects. I replaced the original metal crew with spare Victrix Legionaire figures since the Warlord guys are way too small to match the rest of the army.

The Victrix poses are a little static compared to the original crew, but they'll do. I used plastic broom bristles for the adjusting poles (or whatever they're called).

Added the standard bearer to the base mainly to balance the look.

Here's how the Warlord Games figures look compared to the Victrix - quite a difference.

This was another small project to use up stuff I already had on hand. I'm waiting on some bases and small dice boxes to build for my Hawaiian Tribal project. It should've been here yesterday by the USPS tracker, but it got misrouted back to Seattle - hopefully they'll get here tomorrow. Until next time, thanks for stopping by and best wishes to you all.

EIR Command Stands - Victrix Figures

Finished up a couple more EIR command stands. The below shows the two completely new ones on the right, and the one on the left with a new standard bearer - the mounted figure was already painted before. 

Below are all five of the EIR command stands. I now see under magnification that I missed the sword strap on mounted guy on the second stand from the left - didn't notice it when I was painting it. Will have to add that.

Note the guy on foot on the far right stand probably should have a cloak, but I couldn't find one in the parts bin. Anyway, these should be enough for four divisions with an army general.

Just a little project to complete the EIR army to date. Thanks again for stopping in, and wishing you all the best.

Modest Painting Project - Victrix Legionaries

Picked up another set of Victrix Legionaries to finally complete a Praetorian unit. I needed a few figures to bring the unit up to 24 figures like the earlier two units. Besides these figures, the three others not on washers will be paired with mounted command figures.

I still had enough left over Battle Flag shield transfers from a few years ago. They seem to have become aged with time, as some of them started to lose their colors when applying them. I touched up the damaged areas up, but it was a little nerve-wracking when I saw the colors coming off.

With the earlier completed figures.

There are now 3 cohorts of legionaries from Legio VI Victrix, Legio II Augusta, and the Praetorian unit.

Next up a couple of mounted Roman officers for command stands. Thanks for stopping in, and wishing you all the best.