Wars of the Diodochi - Seleucus V Emenes

Hello Again! I made a short visit to the New Buckenham Historical Wargames Club two weeks ago and took some quick photographs of the big game that was on at the time.

The game was played on a large scenic mat with a couple of makeshift hills under the mat. The rules used were impetus and the figures are 28mm.

I have included a few close up pictures for your delight but I do not have a commentary as it was a short visit to make final arrangements for the trip to Partizan later this month.

Further pictures can be found here on the New Buckenham Club facebook page.

More ACW Recruits

Hello There! As the weather has become less that 'very cloudy' here I have managed to take some photographs of some recently finished work. These will be used for larger games but as they are based singularly they are also suitable for use in the skirmish project I am working on.

As mentioned previously I complete casuality markers as I am going along and these are Redoubt Enterprises, (now under the ownership of Grubby Tanks), A 5th New York Zouave, a Union cavalryman and a Confederate infantryman. The dial bases are from Warbases.

Next up four Union regimental commanders. I have included in the larger battle rules  provision for sharp shooters. I have the packets from the Perry twins and the Confederate  marksmen from Raven Banner Games. At the moment they have nothing to fire at! These are the Old Glory range of mounted officers.

A few more mounted Confederates, here a mixture of Perrys and Wargames Foundry. The flag if from GMB.

In an attempt to get a bit more colour into the group I added some colourful blanket rolls on the two either side of the colour bearer.

Lastly a couple more dismounted cavalry. I try to do a little bit of mounted and dismounted troops at the same time as this alleviates the boredom of doing the same thing over and over again. On saying that the Confederate are such a mixture of colours you do not get bored of the same colour. These figures are from the Perry's collection again.

Maverick Models Flags

Hello again! As I am painting some Spanish Napoleonics at the moment I needed some flags for the units involved in the battle of Medine de Rioseco. After looking around the internet I could not really find what I required.

I went to the Partizan show earlier this year and the owner of Eagle Figures, here, recommended Maverick Models Flags.

I found their website, here, and set about looking into their range, which is extensive.

One of the unique things about this range is that you can chose the size of flag that you require. As the flags used by the Spanish were much smaller than those used by the French and British I required something in between the offered sizes. This was no problem and after a couple of e mails it was all sorted.

Here is an example compared to my usual supplier for flags, GMB, here, the paper is a little thinner but the detail is just as good. Surprisingly the size I asked for came in close to these Confederate infantry flags.

The closer photographs show the wealth of detail and the clear printing. I will fit these to flag poles  sandwiching a piece of aluminium foil between each side glued into place by PVA glue. 

Early WW II Germans

Hello again! After a number of family appointments I now have time to do a few more posts. I started this project a few years ago and decided to show you the results.

I have also taken the opportunity to experiment with my camera skills to improve the standard of photography for the blog so please bear with me if the pictures are variable in quality!

This model is an old Esci Panzer II with am MMS tank commander. I chose to represent the 7th Panzer Division, (which I later found out is a common choice), as the appeal of Rommel is compulsive! I personally like the the large red turret numbers, the use of the Panzer 38t mixed with German vehicles and the fact they were present in France and early Russia.

Here are two Minimi Panzer 38(t). The aerials are cat whiskers. I have based my models as this protects them from handling and as there is magnabase underneath and a zinc plate steel sheet is my really useful boxes they do not move when stored.

Here are a selection of radio and command vehicles. Here I decided to add more scenery around each item and in the case of the Sdkfz 223 I added plenty of clump foliage to act a protection as the radio aerial is fragile.

The Panzer 38 (t) command vehicle is from Sgts Mess Miniatures and is in resin with a metal frame aerial. The original master was a 3D printed object and on close inspection you can see this from the fine lines in the casting. This is hardly noticeable and invisible at any distance. The dry brushing did not really show up these lines.

Here is the ubiquitous Matchbox Sdkfz 232. The turret still rotates under the aerial however I always wonder if this a good idea as it encourages players to turn the turret and is asking for the model to be damaged! Another draw to the early WW II period is the large range of 'different' vehicles and this is one of them!

This old MMS Adler Fu-Kw Radio car is a favourite of mine. I added an MMS metal figure, probably on the look out for some Luftwaffe support! With the aerial being so fragile the clump foliage is again used as protection and the aerial is covered in camouflage netting. Although the Germans had air superiority during this period and did not bother much with hiding their vehicles the frame aerial is very fragile so a certain amount of artistic licence is required. As far as the photography is concerned I need to improve the depth of field as the focus is on the flowers in the front and not the figure and netting further back.

This hobby den Sdkfz 247 ausf b is another 'different' vehicle. I have also seen a 6 wheel version however, I believe, the four wheel version was used more during the early war. Again the aerial is a cat whisker and as this model is made from resin it suffered from the problem of the details being a little unclear. I rectified this by removing the tools along the side and replaced with the same from the bits box. This made the model look a bit more crisp. The air recognition flags came from Sgts Mess Miniatures and the transfers bits box

Another MMS metal model with a driver from the same manufacturer. I already miss the demise of this supplier however I did put in a large order before they finally ceased trading. Barry did a sterling job with this company and provided models to a very high standard. This is a Mercedes Benz le Pkw 170VK staff car and was a joy to make as it went together so easily.

This German 105mm leFH18 Field Howitzer is from SHQ as are the crew. The scenic rocks are from a bag of crushed granite. Although probably not dark enough I have used Vallejo 994 Dark Grey for the gun however as the item is quite small the optical illusion of small items look naturally dark using the 'correct' shade would make the model look too dark.

I always get these German half tracks wrong! I hope this is a Sdkfz 11 3 ton tractor, according to my copy of ' German Half Tracked Vehicles of World War Two - Unarmoured Support Vehicles of the German Army 1933-45' by John Milsom. The figure is a Dixon Miniatures 20mm German driver. Dixon provide a small WW II range which is very useful and compatible to many existing ranges. The vehicle is an old Esci model, reclaimed from the scrap box with some wheel drilled and pinned into the correct place and the tracks refitted. The windscreen is a small sheet of acetate from a box of sweets. With the change in public perceptions to the effect of plastic on the environment I expect this item to become much more difficult to get in the future, (and quite rightly so, to stop plastic pollution).

I hope to post further posts on the this and other collects in the near future.

New French Foreign Legion for the Desert

Hello Again! I recently received a parcel in the post from France and wanted to share the results!

I always wanted to add to add to my Rapid Fire battalion of French Foreign Legion and thought I only had the option of buying more of the SHQ figures. I have converted some,  by swapping heads, (kindly supplied by Ian from Shell Hole Scenics), on some SHQ Mediterranean figures but other than that I thought I had no alternative.

I know there is a plastic version of 20mm FFL but as I am a self confessed 'metal snob' I did not consider them.

Through facebook I found this company, https://lesarmeesoubliees.blog4ever.com/

I ordered the packs of FFL and here are their  figures.

I have added some completed and based SHQ figures to compare height so have placed the new figures in the same base. Overall these are a very compatable with some small differences in height and are a little less chunky in the legs. There is also minimal flash.

The three sets have a combination of mortar teams, bren gunners, an HMG, some Thompson MG gunners and the rest are rifles.

Overall I am more than happy with this purchase and would recommend these figures to anyone considering some French Foreign Legion for their collection

New and Last Company of Hampton's Legion

Hello Again! Here are the last troops to be added to Hampton's Legion. After obtaining some research information on this unit I found them to be a colourful unit with many subtle variations to their uniform. The last company of four figures was the best with a company of Zouaves.

These are Redoubt Enterprises figures with a variety of headgear. The Unit did wear turbans and they could be turned inside out. They were grey inside. They also had a selection of forage caps so I have made them dominant.

The pantaloons did not last long according to written records and were then replaces with grey trousers. The jackets did not have trefoils but did have blue trim on the edge and collar of the jacket.

It was nice to something a little more colourful and also end this unit which has eight companies and the attached artillery battery. I can now continue on the rest of the Texas brigade.

American Civil War, Battle for the Camp

Hello Again! I recently played an ACW game around a friends. It was an impromptu game with a very basic scenario.

As you can see the Union camp was at one corner of the table with a road running alongside. The Confederates entered the table, as per a chance dice roll, at the opposite end of the table. The Union forces  were also reinforced at their corner of the table by the same dice rolls.

As you can see the Union regiment  soon started to assemble from their rest and form up. The tents are scratch built and a tutorial on home to make them will be in an issue of Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy soon.

The Confederate Hampton's Legion gradually made its way across the board towards the sleepy Union troops.

The Confederates soon reached the camp and I, (the Union commander), was hoping to have better dice rolls for reinforcements. I did not and had to use another unit of infantry and cavalry to stem the Confederate tide, (Adrian had been somewhat more fortunate!). The Union had to be aggressive to make space for any troops that would eventually arrive. This led to a seesaw situation where  Confederate units in open order were forced back by formed Union troops who then presented a better denser target for the enemy as they became more vulnerable from the flanks. Here the Confederates are pushing in from the top of the picture as well as the left. 

At last the artillery arrived to 'save the day' but far too late. I had already begun to feel this was and ACW version of Isandwhalana! I tried to make more space in the camp to manoeuvre but the dice rolls for the melee results were very close but I had to pull back, actually following what was already running away.

Here you can see the more open area of the camp after a lot of my troops decided to leave the immediate vicinity.

The game overall was very too and fro for much of the time with things not going all one way or the other until getting towards the end of the game that things turned against the Union.