Bohemian Pike & Shotte for the Thirty Years War

During my last visit to Greg's he showed me his Thirty Years War efforts using Warlord Games' 'Epic' range. As typical, his painting was fabulous, and they really looked the business all ranked up with an impressive hedge of pikes. I was so impressed by them that I wanted to give them a go myself as I was looking for any excuse to collect pike & shotte for this period. As Greg had already started in with the Imperialists, I suggested I give the Protestants a go, starting with the ill-fated Bohemians from the beginnings of the conflict.

I managed to find one of the all-in starter box sets on deep-discount, and so here are my first efforts with an infantry pike & shotte 'frame' from the range.

I like how shoulder-to-shoulder the troops are designed for each strip. I find this makes the painting of them a little easier. That being said, I thought it odd that the front rank of the pike figures are designed with a 45 degree action pose, whereas the shotte has been designed in marching, or at-rest attitudes. 

Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I started pillaging the commanded shotte portion of the frames (which are posed as loading and firing) in order to make the handgunners a little more dynamic, and thereby blending better with their active, pike-armed comrades. As this process was a little fiddly, I'll probably do this just for a few units, maybe to denote veteran status.  

I primed the strips dark brown and then drybrushed them light grey and finally white to help the Contrast paints to do their thing. I then went in with a small brush to pull-out some details and add further highlights. Similar to my other small-scale projects I only paint details on the front rank, keeping the following ranks fairly minimal from the shoulders down. I figure, there's no point painting stuff that nobody sees. I like the more desaturated look to the figures, but we'll see how the process holds up when I get more done down the road. I think I'll want around 10 of these units to make a creditable force.

As to basing, I wanted something a bit more flexible to work with different rulesets.  Warlord has their own 'Pike & Shotte' rules, which are a descendant of Rick Priestly's venerable but still excellent 'Warmaster' system. Those rules have each unit made up of four bases, allowing for various formations to be reflected depending on their arrangement. 

While this is great, our group also enjoys the 'Too the Strongest' rules (the 'For King and Parliament' variant for this period) where we've been having fun making-up single bases to depict units, allowing us to make mini-dioramas to add colour. We also have found that the single-base approach also makes gameplay a little faster, being as players only have to move one thing as opposed to several bits for a unit. Horses for Courses!

Anyhoo, as the bases that come with the box are plastic, I contacted Precision Wargame Supplies to have them cut me steel bases as replacements. I did this as I like the added weight that the steel bases provide, and they also allow me to use magnets (without messing up the polarity) for the large sabot basing I had in mind for the large single bases.

This led me to contact our friendly terrain Minion Byron (also of Northern Lights Terrain) to have him cut me a few bespoke sabot bases as a proof of concept. These sabot bases are 190 x 60, with cutouts for 3mm magnets to keep the steel-shod figures in place. I also put in a cutout for a unit label. I still have a few tweaks I want to do, but I think these will serve nicely.  

One thing about the scale of these figures. They call them 'Epic', intoning that they are around 10-12mm, like their earlier efforts for other periods, but these are actually true 15mm (foot to eye). With that being the case, I think these might mix well with other 15mm ranges such as those from Steel Fist Miniatures, Peter Pig, Naismith, etc. More on that later as I try mixing a few of these ranges in.

Thanks for dropping by!

- Curt

15mm Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) Raiders and Targets of Opportunity

Here is a LRDG raiding patrol along with some Stukas, supply dumps and fuel depots to serve as appropriate targets.

When I first saw these 15mm models released from Battlefront a few years ago I knew I wanted some to create some sort of airfield raid scenario. 

I don’t know about you but as soon as I look at a Chevy 30 cwt, festooned with all its gear, automatic weapons pointing everywhere, and packed with bearded maniacs it just screams for sh*t to blow up. 

'Yoo Halloo! Lock and load the Twin-Ks lads, we're going to partaaay!'

So, with that in mind I’ve been picking up assorted ammo dumps fuel depots, etc from Battlefront and Baueda for the raiders to mess with.  (Thanks to Nick for the tips on crate/drum colours.) I hope to make up around a dozen of these as targets as targets for the LRDG raiders.

The fabulous desert mat is from Alf over at Barrage Miniatures. It’s roughly 8x5 feet and will serve admirably for our future North Africa raiding game (and I imagine for any post apoc games). 

Alf's (from Barrage Miniatures) desert mat

...sorry for the glare on this image...

The Stukas are 1:100 scale diecast models I picked up cheap-as-couscous on eBay. I’ve dorked around a bit to dirty them up with some sand erosion and exhaust staining but otherwise they are pretty much stock. Again, they exist purely to sit on the airfield and get blown to smithereens. (I'm on the search for a 1:100 scale Ju-52 to serve as another juicy target...)

I’m thinking of either modifying ‘Formula De’ or ‘Chain of Command’ for the core rules (who knows, maybe I’ll mash them together). It will be a quasi-cooperative game where each player will command a single vehicle along with 2-3 LRDG raiders - the 'winner' being the team who amasses the most damage points, while still managing to stay alive and escape.

I need to find some sort of tents or Quonset huts for the aircrews and airfield staff. If anyone has ideas I’m all ears. I’m also working on some Afrika Korps personnel and assorted vehicles and equipment but that will be covered in a later submission.

Next up will probably be some more Russian Civil War stuff.

15mm WWII Tank Battle: Hunting T-34s

Sylvain, in his usual phlegmatic gallic style, tells Jeremy to cheer up - there is always the good wine (or is that whine?)

Sylvain here, reporting from my basement. I hosted a game set on the Eastern Front and the players were provided with the following intelligence:

German Objective: May 1942. The rasputitsa is almost over. In one month, the Heer will launch Fall Blau. High command wants us to test the Soviet defence line and to accomplish our mission, we have been given three band new PzIV equipped with the new long 75mm gun. A recent air reconnaissance patrol reported the presence of a company of T-34s in the village of Karrotgrad. This is where we are going. Our mission is to hunt T-34s.

- The German player gets one victory point per T-34s destroyed and minus one victory point per PzIV F2 destroyed.

Soviet Objective: Kamarads, the Motherland has been invaded by the nazi barbarians and the time for retreat is now over. General Zhukov wants us to protect the village of Karrotgrad and I intend to destroy any enemy coming close. We already have a company of T-34s, the best tank ever designed. We also received 10 new tanks from our Canadian friends. We will see what we can do with them. If we see the enemy coming, we will hunt him with our T-34s!

- The Soviet player gets one victory point per German vehicle destroyed and minus one victory point per T-34 destroyed.

House Rules: The core rules were “Flames of War” with a few significant changes:
1. The turn sequence used cards (inspired by Too Fat Lardies).
2. A spotting rule was added to make reccon units more important (inspired by Firefly).
3. The artillery was off board (inspired by reality).

Jeremy, in the back, confident that the Gods of Dice will be smiling upon him. (They won't!)

My goal was to come up with a somewhat realistic simulation of tank warfare on the Eastern Front with 15mm miniatures. I decided to set-up a table as big as possible. It was 10'x6', and there was barely any room to move around.

Each unit (platoon or company) was represented by a card. There was a deck to set up on the table an another deck to use for orders.

Jeremy commanded the Panzers while Curt and Stacy oversaw the defences of Karrotgrad. The Soviet players hid half of the cards representing their units under terrain features like hills, woods or buildings.

A BA-10M, minding his own business.

I added a rule for spotting. It was to be used by the German to reveal Soviet units in ambush and by the Soviet to accumulate "threat points". These threat points could be used to call reinforcement and stronger units, like a company of T-34s, required more points than a simple platoon of anti-tank rifle.

Some German panzers bogged down in the stream.

Jeremy entered his units on the other side of the river. There was a small platoon of BA-10M in the woods that the panzers quickly dispatched. However, Fortune started to become unfavorable to the German side. You can see in the picture above that some units got bogged down while crossing the river, including the Air Liaison unit in charge of calling in the Stukas.

Lend-Lease Valentine tanks sent from Canada, in neat parade formation, en route to intercept the panzers.

This was a very lucky company of Valentines. They survived a few bomb runs from the Stukas (when the observer was not trying to push his half-track out of stream) and many hits from the German guns.

Realizing that staying too close can be dangerous, the Valentines fan out in the field.

Destruction brings satisfaction to the host.

More reinforcement on the way. This does not look good for the German.

 

The Valentines are standing firm in front of intense German fire.

A company of seven T-34s enters the battlefield. Is there any end to this flow of reinforcement?

In conclusion, the German did not make it very far onto the table. Crossing the river proved difficult, with lots of units bogged down. It took too long for the German to deploy effectively and use their superior gunnery. Basically, the Soviet were able to destroy the German tanks piecemeal as they showed up.

The house rules I prepared for this scenario did not work very well. The spotting rules were not clear enough and the Soviet were able to activate most of their units before the German got too close. The activation sequence needs to be fine-tuned as well. Eventually,  I will come up with a satisfactory set of rules. I just love 15mm scale and I have a few more ideas for scenarios.

Many thanks to the players who showed up. Their patience and good sense of humor made the whole evening enjoyable despite glitches in the rules.

Entry #3 to the 8th Lead Painters' League: 15mm Late War German Panzergrenadiers & StuG

Here is my third entry to this year's Lead Painters' League, a section of late war Panzergrenadiers, all festooned in winter camo, StG 44s and riding a hastily whitewashed StuG III.

For some reason I've always been impressed when seeing photos of infantry riding tanks. It always looks so incredibly hardcore seeing infantry precariously perched upon multi-ton armoured fighting vehicles, heading off into battle. (Cripes, I get skittish when city road equipment rumbles by my yard when I'm mowing the lawn...)

These 15mm figures and the assault gun are from Battlefront. Very nice models all around. The StuG was a breeze to put together and I quite liked grenadiers as well. They were cleverly posed so that you could easily place them in a variety of positions so no two groups would look alike.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that these guys got the nod from League voters, especially as they were fairly monochromatic and in a relatively small scale. I was delighted by the positive response.

I should have my 4th entry posted here soon as that round is concluding in the next day. It's a bit different but members of the 'Wild Bunch' will see my homage to our recent Painting Challenge.

Thanks for dropping in for a visit!

From PhilH: 28mm Colonial British Hussars, Mahdist Gun and Crew & 15mm WWII American Infantry (84 points)

From Phil:

My final offering to push me towards my target. The British in the Sudan finally get some cavalry support, the rather dashing 10th Hussars. Not a fancy pelisse in sight by this era, but I still think they look fine in their navy striped trousers and spiked helmets. Deployed from India, they were in khaki. This is my first stab at getting the right khaki for the Sudan. 

Next up, a captured Mahdist gun with Egyptian gunners. I based the Beja overseer separately as I though he'd come in useful as a slaver in Pulpy games. Also, at a push I may end up using  this for somewhat bedraggled Egyptian artillery (ignoring the shackles). Until I inevitably get around to picking up the Krupp from the Perry Egyptian range. I was trying to get hold of some round basing 'holes' to make my own sabot trays for the Mahdists and also mount the overseer snugly on this base. Hopefully they will arrive at some point so I can drop one in and sort the Mahdist unit bases once and for all. 

Finally, a couple of test minis: 15mm US paras for Chain of Command. A quick job over a brown undercoat, not much to say. 

Lovely work Phil. I'm particularly impressed with the metallics you've achieved with the gun - perhaps a bit too clean considering the crew but, wow, the smoothness of the steel is wonderful. Great job.

This selection of miniatures will give Phil 84 points, exactly enough for him to hit his 700 point target. Congratulations and well done Phil! 

From KevinS: 15mm WWII American Armour & Challenge Desperado (44 points)

From Kevin:

Just finishing off some more projects.  Here are some Battlefront 15mm US tanks.  From left to right: M18 Hellcat, two M4 Shermans, and one M4A1 Sherman.  They were all painted in Vallejo colors with an airbrush.  Then I washed the tanks with AK Interactive's Nato weathering set.  These were a breeze to paint up in comparison to the earlier 28mm submissions.

This is my competition "entry fee", soon to depart San Diego for the frozen wastes of Canada.  I have no idea who manufactured this figure, but I acquired it some years ago when my local gaming friends were into Legends of the Old West.  I never got around to painting it up until this week.

Nice work on the tanks Kevin and thanks so much for the great figure (he has an excellent Sam Elliot moustache).

The Yank armour and Challenge Desperado will give Kevin 44 points. Good job and thank you!

From KevH: 15mm AWI Command Stand & Artillery Limbers (22 points)

From Kev:

Well!!!! 

We are nearly there, I am rapidly trying to get some of the Saracen Cavalry finished in time. 

I aim to end the Challenge with a few Camels, haha. 

First up is a few bits I have been pottering away at over the last week. My first AWI, American Brigade Command. 15mm Lancashire Games Miniatures. A mounted and Foot officer.

Then followed by a couple of Limbers. These are the condensed limbers I will be using for our Black Powder games. Just two horses and a generic Rider. This was a couple of testers to see how they would look for the game. I am happy with them and the very quick simple paintjob.

I have got 22 of these lil buggers to make. They are 15mm Minifigs.

Test successful, I say! Another new project for us to enjoy, wonderful. These look marvellous Kev and I can't wait to see this army develop over the coming months. 

The command stand and limbers will give Kev 22 points.  I'll keep an eye out for those camels...

From TamsinP: 15mm Mongol Cavalry (108 points)

From Tamsin:

For my 18th entry in this year's Challenge I've gone for something a little different - some Mongol mounted troops. The figures are all 15mm from Donnington Miniatures.

"Why Mongols?" you ask. Well, the Korean army lists in FoG allow you to take nomad troops either as an allied contingent or as mercenaries/auxiliaries within the main list. This provides a very useful addition to the main Korean troop types.

First up we have 24 light horsemen. I went with fairly muted colours for these, with some splashes of colour.

Next up we have a command group for when I use them as an allied contingent.

"Hang on a second - that drummer's horse's head looks a bit strange"

"Oh, that would be because it's a camel, not a horse!"

It has come to my attention over the past few weeks that there was a rule for this year's Challenge that I'd missed in Curt's email to us late last year. It appears that every Challenger must submit at least one painted camel. When I realised this omission from my plans I promptly ordered one and here it is in my Mongol command group.

I do have some more Mongols for this small force - some foot archers and some heavy cavalry - but they won't be painted until after the Challenge.

I should also note that this will probably be my final entry, unless I manage to find enough time over the next few days to complete my buccaneer dragoons or command groups.

That is a very cool add on to your Korean list Tamsin and I quite like the way you've painted and arrayed them.  Of course the star of the group is the kettle drummer on the shaggy camel - wonderful.

These Mongols will give Tamsin 108 points. An excellent finish to your Challenge run this year. Well done Ms. P!