Papal crossbowmen

Here are the next results of my 2020 painting campaign. At the moment, I am still clearing the decks of things I started last year, before starting on my projects for the next twelve months.

These crossbowmen are the last of the figures I'd made up for my long-running Papal Condottiere company. That isn't to say I have no more of these excellent Perry plastic figures, just that the rest are still attached to their sprues (except for a final two mounted figures who I will be revealing in the near future).

I chose, once again, to use  a red and white livery to keep the theme going and these will be useful for my planned Saga: Age of Magic Great Kingdoms army, as well as for Lion Rampant etc.

I'll be giving the Italian 15th century a rest for a while, but I will revisit it later this year, not least because I want to do six more Swiss handgunners (in black and yellow) and a dozen more crossbowmen, the latter with pavises. I'll probably do some more pikes as well. These latter two may well be in another colour scheme, to suggest a different contingent of the Papal army. At the moment, I am considering blue and yellow, but I'll probably change my mind at some point before I start on them.

More resin scenic stuff

I am always looking for more 15mm scenic items, especially for IABSM and Chain of Command WW2, and I've bought some nice pieces from Ironclad Miniatures before. So, at the club's latest Reveille show, back in November last year, I bought a few more odds and ends which will fit in with the overall collection. 

First, a couple of burnt down wooden buildings, with just their brick chimneys still standing. Perfect for the Eastern Front, but also with possibilities for games set elsewhere;

Next, another ruined house and a fallen tall chimney which will be perfect with the bombed factory I bought the year previously.

As with all the resin pieces I've bought from Ironclad, the models are really crisp and cast using high quality resin. They are a joy to paint and look excellent on the table.

The 15mm range is quite large and there are a few nice buildings that are designed for games set in Normandy, which I really should buy sometime.

In addition to these buildings, I also got round to painting up a few resin buildings from The Square, who still don't seem to have a website, but they do have a Facebook page. The Square seem to have a presence at most wargames shows, and I always have a browse of their stuff because there is generally something I see and think would be useful. The latest things from that that I've pained are some wooden thatched houses and sheds, which I think will be perfect for the Eastern Front in WW2.

I could see these popping up in earlier periods too, most likely in my 18th century Imagi-nations Sharp Practice games 

LBWS Barn HOTT report

Well, last Sunday was our annual Horses Of The Things tournament, with a reasonable turnout of players. We all played four games each, with each game lasting 45 minutes. It was nice to see regular competitors from outside the club again.

As usual, there were many different armies on the table, so here are some pictures, including one or two you might recognise from a previous post;

I did manage to win one game, which left me in the lower portion of mid-table when it came to the overall results, but the first and second spots went to Arnaud and Keith, who are regular attendees from outside the club. Keith fielded the excellent giant pumpkin army and Arnaud had a late mediaeval army that I came up against in what actually looked like a historical encounter.  I started out with an oblique line strategy, with my right held back to protect my Stronghold. Unfortunately, at the crucial point I rolled three or four 1s in succession when rolling for PIPs, which left me at something of a disadvantage, especially as I lost the unit defending the extreme right of my line, leaving the path clear for Arnaud to capture my Stronghold. So it goes.

My first completed painting of 2020

I really had to get these done as my first painting task this year, because I need them for a weekend of 28mm Peninsular War Sharp Practice at the beginning of February.

First, 16 Portuguese Fuzileiros, in two groups of eight, with an Officer and a Drummer, representing troops of the 20th Regiment of Foot;

Accompanied by a group of eight Grenadieros, with an officer and a standard bearer.

The second officer is actually supposed to be a second standard bearer, but I really didn't need two of them and he looks fine as a junior officer. The reason that I have done a single group of grenadiers is that I have eight figures with short swords (four from the Warlord box and the four Front Rank ones), and these were only carried by flank company troops.

The figures are all from the Warlord plastic Portuguese Infantry box, bulked out with four additional metal figures from Front Rank, these are the rear four figures in the grenadier group.

People who know me generally know that I do not like painting Napoleonic uniforms very much, and these were no exception to that rule, but despite my mental moaning and groaning, these have come out OK, but I have noticed now, after varnishing that I forgot to put a small dab of blue on their shako cockades, but I can live with that.

I am also always unhappy while I am painting plastic figures, because they never really look any good until I get an ink wash on them and I've done some dry-brushing to bring out the details and textures of the figures.

Anyway, although these are unlikely to ever win any prizes for painting, they will look pretty good on the table as a useful addition to my Anglo-Portuguese army.

Just another Sunday at Lincombe Barn.......

.............and this week, many of us were practising for next weekend's Hordes Of The Things tournament.

Personally, I welcomed the opportunity for a few practice games, because pretty much the only time I play HoTT is in January each year. This year, I decided to use my Warhammer Fantasy Averland-themed army, which I put together and painted in 2017. Obviously, I won't be using all 48pts, because the tournament uses standard 24pt armies.

Anyway, on with the eye candy. I didn't take many pictures, but I did want to show my army in all its black and yellow glory;

Here are a couple of pictures of Nick's Meerkat army;

And here is another one of my Averland troops against Matt's Dwarves;

Elsewhere, non-HoTT players were enjoying such things as Saga, Seven Days To The Rhine, Alien Squad Leader and 7TV Pulp (which reminds me that I really must stop collecting figures for the game and start painting the ones I already have);

All in all, it was a pretty busy Sunday afternoon, which always seems to be the case when we end up in the smaller room.

How did I fare in my five games of HoTT? Well, probably better than I'll do in the actual tournament. I won three and lost two. I think the blend of troops I've chosen is fundamentally OK, I just need to remember that Warbands destroy Blades and Spears if they win the combat, and that you shouldn't expose your General to the risk of getting flanked and then losing in the subsequent combat .

Feeling cold? Time to get HoTT at the Barn.

A fixture in the the club's annual calendar is the January Hordes Of The Things tournament.

Lincombe Barn Wargames Society will be holding this year's tournament on Sunday Jan 19th. As usual there isn't a theme for armies, i.e. anything goes. Be imaginative. It makes for a fun series of games. Armies are 15mm ones, based as per the rules with a 40mm frontage. The entry fee, payable on the day will include the traditional HOTT lunch. Let Nick Pope know if you have any specific dietary choices regarding meat or meat-free.

We'll also have an informal Bring & Buy sale for anyone who wants to either sell off old junk desirable collectables or fancies starting a new army or period. Details on our website (www.bristolwargaming.co.uk). 

If you wish to take part, you can leave a message here, or email me or Nick via the email addresses on the club website.

Our address is;

Lincombe Barn, 

Overndale Road, 

Downend, 

Bristol,

BS16 2RW

Fenris Games - Cauldron Warband Kickstarter

Last year I backed a Kickstarter from Fenris Games. I found out about it from Annie Norman, of Bad Squiddo Games, the Mother of Peegs herself.

The Kickstarter interested me, because I already had a wonderful resin piece from Fenris and also because the figures looked so amazingly weird. I could see many possibilities for using them in various ways. 

The basic premise of the Cauldron Warband was a bunch pf plague-ridden Chaos Dwarves, Sorcerers and various other nasties and gribblies. I could think of a few ways of building them into games right from the beginning.

Anyway, the Kickstarter shipped in late December and I received my parcel on Monday. I thought I'd post a few pics, even before I'd cleaned up and assembled anything. Here they are. In addition to the figures themselves, there are some really very nice resin pieces, including some excellent detailed scenic bases that are almost too nice to glue the figures onto, the evil Black Cauldron itself and a scary Chaotic beast (called "Spot" in the Kickstarter).

I won't get started on these for a while, as I am currently devoting all my painting time to Peninsular War Portuguese line infantry.

Post-Christmas Games Day at Lincombe Barn

Between Christmas and New Year, the club always has an all-day session, with a variety of games being played. 2019 was no exception. As our regular Sunday meeting fell between the 25th and the 31st, it was a well-attended all-dayer with plenty of games on offer.

Here are some pictures I took. The first few, plus some later ones are of a Riot Control game that Clive ran in the morning and again in the afternoon, and it was huge fun to play. The table looked great too. Elsewhere there was some Bag The Hun, For King and Parliament, a 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie game and Saga Age of Magic. There were also a few other games, including Alien Squad Leader, plus, I think, a couple of others that I Didn't photograph.