Test Airfix Figure

This is a test paint of an Airfix Old Guard Grenadier from a batch purchased on Ebay.



This was the very first box of figures that I bought when I started wargaming with Little Wars in 1974. We played with them unpainted then....

A couple more units painted

I have finished another unit of Napoleonics - 8 Call to Arms French Dragoons this time.

Also here is a couple of pictures of the elephant baggage train for the North West Frontier. This has already featured in a game (that unfortunately I forgot to take my camera to...)

First Napoleonic Unit Complete

I have made a start on painting up some 54mm Napoleonics for Neil Thomas's rules and have completed my first unit of HAT Bavarians.

As can be seen from the picture below the next unit of Wurttemberger Jaegers is already on the painting table (assistance by Gizmo the cat).

Neil Thomas Moderns Game

I played a Cold War Nato/Warsaw Pact game yesterday with Anthony who was keen to try out Neil Thomas inspired Modern Rules with his collection of 54mm moderns. These are mostly Esci 1/35th, plus 1/43rd tanks and other vehicles with the occasional 1/50th vehicle.

We played down the length of a 10 foot x 4.5 foot table. The rules seemed to work while, although as the Warsaw pact I was outgunned with T-55s against Chieftans!

Some pictures of the game:

Some Experimental painting

I have not played any 54mm games recently but have been doing some planning for games and this includes looking into using Neil Thomas's Napoleonic Rules for Napoleonics and also starting a 54mm ECW collection to initially use with File Leader.

Some test painting can be seen here:








I have also been casting and assembling more troops for the German Little Wars army to oppose my British. One unit of germans is done and I have half-way through assembling a unit of Bavarians, a unit of Jaegers and 3 gun crews. They should soon be ready for some winter painting sessions.

Second North-west Frontier Game

We finally managed to get together for another NWF game using The Sword and the Flame and our 54mm collection. I had managed to finish off some more terrain which meant we could use a full-sized 8' x 5' table for the game. The scenario involved the British entering the table from one of the short sides and attempting to relieve a garrison at the other end of the table by marching down the road and clearing the valley.

[caption id="attachment_310" align="aligncenter" width="300"] A general shot of the table[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_311" align="aligncenter" width="152"] The initial British column.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_315" align="aligncenter" width="300"] ~The Garrison awaiting the relief column[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_316" align="aligncenter" width="265"] The British commander taking his tea[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_321" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The opening British move[/caption]

In the end, the British relief column failed to make it through due to some good shooting by the Pathans and the British use of close order which meant they didn't bring enough rifles to bear and presented a dense target to the natives. The game was fun and we hope to play another quite soon...

First Sword and the Flame game

Anthony and I finally played our first game of The Sword and the Flame using our North-west Frontier collection. I didn't manage to quite finish building all the scenery I wanted but the table still looked pretty good.

The scenario was based on the example game in the TSATF rulebook with the British advancing down a valley to examine a partially destroyed fort.

The British had 1 unit of British foot, 1 unit of Indian Foot, a gun and 4 crew and a half-size cavalry unit.

The Pathans had 3 units (half guns. half swords) and an old gun with 3 crew.

The British advanced slowly and met some withering fire from a group of Pathans on the second turn (7 hits from 10 shots!), which brought that unit to a halt in the open. The British managed to contain the initial Pathan onslaught but lost a complete British unit with just one man helping a wounded colleage to the rear. The rest of the pathans attempted to attack the cavalry but decided that destroying a British unit was as good as it would get and retired satisfied.

Some pictures of the action follow: