Sharp Practice II

Oooh look what I got for my recent birthday!

But what particular period of the black powder era will I consider gaming? The rules includes lists for

• French-Indian War
• American War of Independence
• Peninsular War (perhaps an obvious choice given that I already have some suitable figures?)
• American Civil War
• Indian Mutiny (oh the lure of gaming Carry on Up the Khyber!)

Plus the TFL forum has lots of extra lists, e.g. Napoleonic Russians.

Now, at least one of my chums will know the answer, so no spoilers (yet)! More news as it happens. By the way, if you play these rules then perhaps you'd like to comment on what era you play. Id be interested to hear from you.

Bristol Big Uns Club Night

Sunday night is club night for the Bristol Big Uns and we really couldn't ask for a better venue than the superb Iron Acton village hall. We've recently splashed out on some of the new mouse pad style gaming mats and very good they are too.

My visit on Sunday last was only a flying visit but it was still great to catch up with everyone and have a little natter. I couldn't resist taking a few pics to share.

First we have a game of Lion Rampant between Mike and Simon. The figures are all Mike's (20mm Zvezda I think), I reckon they look splendid! The beauty of this game is that you don't need masses of figures and you can fit a couple of games in to an evening. This has rather caught my imagination :o)

French vs English

Both sides getting stuck in!

What beautiful knights!

Archers and billmen

Next is a very characterful game of Kings of War between Dave S and Dave G. It's Forces of Nature trying to thwart the advance of the shambling Undead.

The game in the balance

Figures emerging from the water. Both sides had lovely looking units!

Excellent tomb in that unit of Undead

Alan and Nigel created a little slice of Normandy for their Bolt Action game of Germans vs US Airborne. Both sides were attempting to capture the objective (the crates in the centre).

Both sides converge on the objective

That tank (somehow) survived 8 faust shots, a 'shrek and a heavy howitzer hit!

US Airborne making good use of cover

Finally, another game of Kings of War, between Matt and Steve. Orcs vs Kingdoms of Men. Again, both armies looked excellent - Matt was using his former WHFB Orc force whilst Steve fielded his Samurai-era Japanese.

Only one or two turns to go

Steve's cavalry :o)

Gunpowder armed troops!

Matt's Orc General and his "Orc Air Force" - yes, those are flying warboars!

Hope you enjoyed the tour. Thanks for looking.

More Romans

Yes, I've been at it again with the brushes! Just a few figures this time to bring one of my 18 man cohorts up to a more durable 24 figures.

The recipe is as follows

Undercoat
GW Black Spray
Tidy up any 'gaps' with a little GW black, slightly thinned helps.

Armour
Base of GW Leadbelcher
Apply black wash e.g. GW Nuln Oil
1st highlight GW Leadbelcher
2nd highlight GW Mithril (now Runefang Steel) for the edges of the armour
Then GW Gehenna’s Gold for the brass fittings. If you have it then a dark brass/copper colour like GW Tin Bitz makes a good base coat for the gold.

Tunic (and scarf)
GW Khorne Red
1st highlight GW Mephiston Red
2nd highlight Foundry Bright Red Shade
My Legion have a range of reds for their tunics, some have the Foundry Madder triad for example, other Foundry British Redcoat. Try making some of the scarves a dirty off-white with any light brown and the Foundry Boneyard.

Flesh
Foundry Flesh triad.

Sandals
Base of GW Mournfang Brown
Apply Agrax Earthshade wash to pick out the details
GW Mournfang Brown to highlight
Or
Base of Foundry Bay Brown shade
Highlight with Foundry Bay Brown light

Leather (straps, scabbard, etc)
Practically any browns you like using! A simple base colour followed by one highlight is usually sufficient on these smaller areas.

Spears
Foundry Spearshaft triad.

Shield
Front – spray white (for transfers) then tidy the edges with black and then silver or gold/brass.
Back – Foundry British Redcoat shade, Agrax earthshade wash, highlight with redcoat shade.
After applying the transfer you may have to tidy the edge with a little dark red.

Varnish
A good coat of brush-on gloss followed by a couple of coats of brush-on matt.

Basing
Have a look here
http://thewargamestable.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/romans-re-based.html