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Well, my good folks, this is the entry that I had originally planned and hoped to submit last week until fatigue and the fiddliness of painting figures already on the base forced a change of plans:
Yes, some additions to my 15mm Choson Korean army. Previously I've painted up enough regular troops to field six mixed units of "spearmen" with either bowmen, crossbowmen or arquebusiers. Which was enough for most gaming purposes, but I think you all know about my megalomania - I want to be able to field more. With enough rear rank missile troops already painted, the only option was to add some more front rank bases. Of course, the pack sizes meant that instead of just adding six sets of front ranks I am actually adding eight! And another two general stands (not that I need them - I already had nine regular command groups) just because I had the mounted commanders.
So, on with the pics.
First up, all the front rank bases:
To help identify units on the tabletop, I've done the hat tassels in six different colours (red, white, blue, green, yellow, orange) - in reality they would have been red or black.
Just the officer bases:
And the generals:
And this is the entirety of the regular and guard foot that I've painted so far*:
*I will stop there. Honest!
There are another two almost-full file boxes (cavalry; irregular infantry) and an almost-full half-size box (generals and artillery) holding the rest of the army. And soon there will be an almost-full box of Mongols for mercenary or allied horse nomads...
Note to Miles - no points for the flags - they were made a couple of years ago.
The figures are all Old Glory 15s and painted to a dirty "campaign look" wargames standard.
MilesR: Sadly your "wargame standard" painting far exceeds my best efforts - these Koreans are really very nicely done and in bulk! I think you need to complete a few boxes of these lads....
One of the things that I found really interesting about building forces for fighting in the Sudan was the variety of troops the British Empire pulled in to fight in it. The New South Wales government offered its support (LINK) to the imperial cause and an infantry battalion and artillery battery were mobilised. This was to become the first overseas deployment for Australian forces. They did not end up doing much fighting and had only very small losses as the British government abandoned any attempt to overthrow the Mahdi who had taken Khartoum after Gordons death.
Never the less they will still be represented - along with the infantry in due course and I am sure they will participate in some "what might have happened" scenarios. Of course they will also do service in some other colonial campaigns too. On checking through the actual service records of the deployment - I find a certain Private Mills!
Battery Mascot George taking things easy by the limber
So here I have 3 deployed 9lb guns , 3 open and deployed limbers with 12 crew. The guns are the Perry 9lb set from their new Victoria's little wars sets. - I have replaced the cast metal firing lanyard with thinner twisty rope and soldered this into position so it nicely strong and rigid. Plus there is battery mascot "George" , complete with ceremonial coat. (See what I did there Paul O? - play the cute dog card in miniature form!). This is a limited edition figure produced by Jon at Ainsty for those who donated to his Combat Stress appeal
Well to move your guns you also need limber teams - of which there are 3 teams with 18 horses, 3 limbers , 3x 9lb guns - and 4 riders - there will be 9 riders eventually but due to a lead pile deficiency (hangs head in shame) I thought - and still think I had some. So anyway I am awaiting on a mail from a manufacturer re sourcing some as part of pack so will just add these as and when I get some figures. The riders I do have are a mix of various mounted figures I had lying around.
The gun teams have had a lot of work with all the various traces. The rope is made from garden twisty wire - twisted together in a drill - I needed to made 6 feet of the darn stuff to make the 4 traces per teams these were then soldered into place and the wire is coated in solder which makes it rigid. The riders have had milliput saddles made too. The limbers and horse teams are all by Tiger miniatures . The guns and crew are the Perry 9lb set from their new Victoria's little wars sets. I could have got a ready made limber set from Wargames Foundry , but I have seen it and it looked too small to me - I wanted this to be big! - I know.... I blame the sun....
The limbered teams may only spend a small amount of time on the table as that - and most definitely are an indulgence (a mite expensive one at that) - but they look the part so well when you do see them out. We recently had the limbered naval brigade teams on the table - and it just looked so much better than having deployed guns turned around the wrong etc!
I have also been working through a few bits fixing holes in the TO&E of units previously painted - one unit needing a few bit was Royal Irish Fusiliers. I have completed two open order skirmish stands (6 figures) for them as they did not have any. Plus an additional 6 figure close order to flesh them out to 48 figures strong.
There is also another separate foot figure that was lying around undercoated so I gave it tickle with the brushes.
The 2nd battalion R.I.F. - now all up to to strength!
25 foot , 4 riders. = 145 points
18 horses + dog = 82 points
6 limbers , 6 guns - could be 120 points as they are separate items - , but I think more like 15 points per gun and limber set. = 90
plus any extras for OTT modelling work!
And for your further delectation I have completed a short video review of all the Imperial forces so far.
I think i have also managed to eak out another week or so of production before the man cave shuts down for a while so i will see what i can squeeze in this next week..
MilesR: Good Lord my head is spinning - so many finely painted figures, so many different nationalities, so many brushes used up.... Yet another astonishing entry from you Dave. My tally comes to 327!
I've always said that one of the best reasons to have an imaginary wargaming nation is the fun of naming units for friends and relations. Previous challenges has seen a regiment of hussars for my Niece and a regiment of Dragoons for my (2nd) Nephew. Well for those of you who don't already know my wife and I are expecting our first child in August. This is very exciting news and means massive life changes. How it will impact my war gaming and painting I can only begin to speculate but for right now it means I have the opportunity to paint a new unit for my fictional army.
I present the Guards Enfant painted in honor of my child and heir to my miniatures. I've mirrored the colors of my current Guard infantry unit gray (the National uniform color of D'Argent) with purple cuffs and facings.
One of the beauties of this name is that it's unisex as we don't yet know if its a boy or girl. The flag is one used by the French Cavalry regiment "Royal" I seemed to be the look I wanted.
The trumpeter was done up in our wedding colors Navy Blue with "coral" (pink) and teal for the lace. The last isn't exactly a historical color but Imaginations gives one latitude with such things. Assuming my spawn get into gaming and painting I am sure he or she will inspire other more project as time goes by. For now this serves as fun way to share this with the my gaming pals. The miniatures are Old Glory 15s and should net me 32 points toward my goal and should count for the Seven Years War challenge (I've got no shot so if poeople can get in their command stand orders that would be great ☺).
MilesR: It seems calvary suites you today as your second entry is also on horseback although in a different scale. Very nicely done.
Time for a change of direction! Today's post moves me away from the Hellenistic Period to the North African battles of the Second World War. Up to now I have focused on the battles of 1942 leading up to and including El Alamein. But for the Challenge I am moving back a couple of years to the opening moves of the North African campaign and the British Counter offensive against the Italian invaders of Egypt. Operation Compass has always fascinated me, not least because the British victory was so complete and (in some quarters at least) so unexpected.
Ariete Tank Company
I have started by painting Italian tanks and have chosen to depict vehicles from the Ariete Division. This company has three platoons of M13/40 Medium Tanks, Two Platoons of M11/39 Light Tanks and a reconnaissance platoon of L3/35 Tankettes. Italian nomenclature during this period is easy to understand with the weight in tons followed by the year it entered service (so the M11/39 weighed 11 tons and entered service in 1939).
M13/40 Medium Tanks
The M13/40 featured such modern developments as a rotating turret!
The earlier M11/39's only had a limited traverse gun mounted in the hull.
Some of the tanks of the Ariete Division had a a really neat splinter camouflage pattern during this period and so I have opted to paint these to that scheme. All the tanks also have white air recognition crosses on their turret roofs so the Italian Air force does not bomb them by mistake. I've never quite understood the value of these markings because any symbol that identifies friendly units is surely just as valuable to enemy aircraft!
Add captionL3/35 Tankettes were tidy two man coffins with little to recommend them.
Italian tanks of this period were woefully inadequate compared to their British and German counterparts. Armour and armament were significantly inferior and the Italian army in North Africa suffered generally from poor logistical support and command. Having said that the tank crews were often very brave and showed great elan in battle, befitting their elite status. The Ariete Division went on to be a vital if often unrecognised part of Rommel's forces in the coming years.
Painting these as one big batch has had two effects. First it means I have been able to achieve a consistent look across the whole company. But secondly it has meant I am now way ahead of the schedule I set myself at the beginning of the Challenge. In fact there is a very real chance I will run out of things to paint before the finale in March! I may have to get my thinking cap on and hunt through my lead mountain for something else to work on. Unheard of!
Thirty tanks at 2 points each will hurtle me across my personal finishing line of 500 points. Combined with my recent Bonus round entry and other projects in the pipeline I'm on schedule to break my personal best in the three challenges I have participated in. Completely unheard of!
MilesR: Avanti! what a great looking formation. A very change change of pace within your scale of choice.
Two more units for the Pikeman's Lament cavalry this time. I took advantage of the Warlord Spruce sale to pick up a box worth of cavalry at almost half the price.
First up are the "Gallopers." Cavalry that excels at shock action. They are excellent for attacking, but are a lot less effective if they are charged and don't manage to counter charge.
You can make them "aggressive" which makes them even better at attacking but makes but also means they are likely to run straight at the enemy regardless of the odds.
I tried to use the more dynamic looking horses and riders for this unit.
Second we have "Trotters." These guys are cavalry 'Flavor' that really says pike and shotte to me.
They can have a special action called Caracole that lets them make a half move toward or away from a target and then fire. What's really cool is if their shooting disrupts their target they may immediately charge home.
This time I tried to use the men and horses that looked like they were moving at more of a walking or "trotting" pace.There are six horsemen in each unit and I can mix and match them if I want to have two units of either type. I think Trotters will be my favorite type but one can never tell until you get in a few games.
There are twelve miniatures here all 25mm which should make a nice 120 points
MilesR: Some very nicely done calvary there and point each for the banners, so 122 points in total.
I had a plan to submit 100 infantry today as next week I'm 50 and have 2 parties and guests for 1/2 the week. Also it's my busiest teaching week so it could be a quiet week painting wise. However I sit here looking at 36 partially painted figures and a Bonus round entry (I forgot about that).
So instead I have a meagre 64 figures to present.
1st up are some Nationalist Chinese from Reiver Castings that I bought at the York Show. Not the best figures but there was nobody selling Copplestone and the money was burning a hole in my pocket. They will be the foreign force supporting my Afghans in the up coming Back of Beyond Campaign vs Matt Crump
To be honest they have come out quite well
2 LMG sections
Command Section with big assed flag
This chap is a Dixon's Dahomey fighter that was in the wrong box in the lead mountain. These figures are really great
Persian Napoleon Militia force. These are Old Glory renaissance Persians and needed lots of conversion to make them suitable, esp. the hats.
Senegalese Triailleurs for 19thC Africa. Most of these are Dixon's but some are Perry ACW zouaves and the out of focus officer is a WW1 German officer with a headswap.
Overall that is 64 figures for 320 points. And now we drinking, although bonus points for anyone who knows which film the quote "And now we do heroin" comes from
MilesR: wow 64 infantry in one week is still a mighty points bomb and you'll get a bonus point for the flag! You are the first of several "big booms" this Monday
I'm afraid I couldn't bring myself to add this entry to my other post for Monday. This was painted purely as a light hearted distraction from my other projects and as such its no more than a bit of whimsy. This particular model was a freebie handed out by Wargames Foundry at a show I attended a couple of years ago. I didn't pay it much attention at the time but when I looked at it recently I realised what a lovely sculpt it was. There is so much expression and pathos in this model it was a joy to paint.
I reckon this guy has been a court jester for many years and now in his mid forties, with his joints starting to ache and feeling his age he is wondering where it all went wrong. How on earth did he end up spending his life doing a job he loathes, playing the fool and being the butt of every joke.
In case your wondering not this isn't about me, for a start I have a 'few' more pounds on my frame than this guy. And besides I'm very happy in my job. Honestly, I love it. Every single day. Day after day after day....
MilesR: Fantastic figure Lee very vibrant colors and real attention to detail! +1 point for the doll!
