Planning the Parthians

I posted a query about Parthian army composition on the Strength and Honour FB group and had some really helpful responses, one of which was from Jim Webster, author of a superb guide to the Parthians for the Impetus rules. I have now downloaded a copy from Wargame Vault and am avidly reading through it to give me some ideas for the Strength and Honour army and for the Imperial Roman opposition, as the supplement covers both in detail. Thanks Jim!

Spring Cleaning

It's time for the annual spring cleaning of the project backlog, ready for the summer when I usually get at least one big project completed, although it often drags over into the autumn. I have far too many unfinished 28mm skirmish level projects on the go so, in an effort to concentrate on one key effort, I've decided to stuff them back into storage to concentrate on Chain of Command. They will return but only after I've completed the Japanese platoon that I've promised to field.

As I've committed to assembling the Japanese platoon for a club opponent, this will have to be the only 28mm project on the workbench for the next three months or so. I will also be completing my 1/3000 scale fleet for the Victory at Sea Campaign as my immediate project once I get back from my holidays. I doubt I'll have time for much else before the summer holidays but, if I can squeeze something in, it'll probably be my 1/600 coastal warfare project, as I find painting 'things' a lot easier than figures.

One possible new project in 15mm is an ancient army for Impetus but I think this will have to be my summer holiday basing project, as I doubt I'll be able to tackle it before then. The current favourite is a hoplite era army for the Pelloponesian Wars using the excellent Xyston range of figures. I'm not decided on a city state yet but the Spartans are an obvious choice, followed by the Athenians or one of the smaller Allied city states such as Corinth or Argos, all of which feature in the Extra Impetus IV supplement.

Extra Impetus 5

 

I was rummaging in the lead pile yesterday, as a bit of light relief from the pile of exam papers that I'm wading through this week, to uncover a dusty and long forgotten army pack of 15mm Essex medieval figures that I bought many, many years ago. It consists of about twenty pristine packs of various Thirteenth Century figures including mounted knights, crossbowmen, archers and foot soldiers, so a great basis for a 300-500 point Impetus Feudal Era army. As a result, I've ordered a copy of the latest supplement for Impetus which includes the relevant lists for the period, so that I can put together an army of some sort, probably Feudal English, French or German or even something for the Baron's Wars.

Happy New Year!

As we have a Xmas in France every year, the kids open their 'English' presents on New Years Day, rather then cart them across to the in-laws and back again for Xmas Day. This means that they get two sets of presents, which can be a bit much, but it also means that I get to open my presents today as well! This was the Ministry of the Interior's idea and it actually works really well, allbeit with some suspension of disbelief about the existence of a French and an English Santa. 

This year, Father Xmas got me a Bolt Action Japanese Starter Army with some extra bits and the Armies of Imperial Japan supplement, so you can guess what I'll be up to in 2014, at least in part. The Japanese will be one of my 28mm projects this year, primarily for Chain of Command but with Bolt Action as a fall back. I'm hoping to add some terrain construction to this project too.

I was also allowed to get the classic Foundry Miniatures British Commandos that I had my eye on over the holidays, with enough figures for a couple of squads, a command group and a support team or two. These will be for raiding purposes only, so firmly at a skirmish level rather than a full on platoon set up, with rules as yet undecided. 

I also bought myself a copy of Henry Hyde's Wargames Compendium, as it was less than a fiver on the Kindle e-book store and looked like an interesting read for a rainy day. I like his style of writing and, in particular, the series of 'imagi-nation' articles he has written on wargame campaigning, so I thought I'd find some inspiration in this pretty comprehensive book.

This year, I have a number of intended projects but I'm keeping my options open, with the focus being firmly on 28mm WW2. I enjoyed painting up my 28mm US platoon last year, so will be building at least one more force for Chain of Command and Bolt Action in 2014. I also want to get at least one other 28mm army completed, with the Tribal Villagers for In the Heart of Africa at the top of the list, possibly followed by the Ronin skirmish project which I didn't get started in 2013.

In 15mm, I'll be completing the AK47 army for the club campaign, but that's probably going to be it for 2014. I have some plans up my sleeve for a 15mm French Resistance game based on the AK47 rules system plus a long term goal to paint up an ancient or medieval army for Impetus, but these will probably not be happening this year.

In 1/285th, I have big plans for a Soviet mid-war air force for Bag the Hun 2, using the models that I picked up on the bring and buy at Colours. This will be a pretty comprehensive collection of fighters, ground attack, light and heavy bombers, either in winter camouflage or in a summer scheme. I will also be adding some mid-war Luftwaffe planes to complement the late war fighters that I completed in 2013.

To round things off, I will definately get around to painting up the 1/600th scale ships for the WW2 coastal warfare project, with both British and German coastal forces plus some merchant ships. I have meant to do this for many years but it's time to crack on and actually finish what I've started. As a second but much smaller naval wargaming project, I really want to tackle at least a couple of the Peter Pig pirate ships, if I can squeeze them into the schedule.

Finally, the club participation game will need to have some new 1/72nd scale aircraft, which I've promised to kit up. At the moment, this is looking like a 1915-1916 early war multiplayer game, so I'll be digging out the old kits in the loft in search of Morane Saulnier N's, Fokker EIII's and Bristol Scouts, all of which I have stashed up there somewhere along with a few other suitable model kits.

...anyway, I hope you have a Happy New Year and lots of fun in 2014!

Impetus Picts [6]

I was supposed to be taking part in a naval game at the club tonight but I was gazumped by the wife who remembered that she had a union AGM meeting that she couldn't possibly miss. I pointed out that I had the game pencilled into the calender on the kitchen notice board but it was to no avail. I went out last week so, according to the mysterious logic of the other half, it was her turn this time round.

Bugger.

Anyway, I finished the Pict re-basing after tea this evening while the younger kids were glued to Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom. The older one was out at cubs so I had a window of opportunity that I wasn't going to miss in the circumstances. The whole army is now ready for the bases to be painted, which I'll tackle after I've shifted some more AK47 stuff.

Impetus Picts [5]

I finished re-basing the last of the units tonight so now have to texture the bases before I tackle the daunting task of painting them up. In the end, I cut back on the number of figures in the javelin skirmisher units and opted for 40mm x 20mm bases rather than 30mm deep ones.

This avoided duplicating figures and allowed me to use the four leftovers plus a single mounted figure as disorder and/or opportunity markers. I have one figure left over from the original army so will try to find a use for him if I can, as I'd like to re-cycle 100% of the figures if possible.

I'm at the club for a game tomorrow night so won't be able to get any more done until Wednesday evening. I'm hoping to finish the texturing then before going back to complete the AK47 militia techinicals and heavy weapons crews, which have been hanging around  in the interim waiting to be painted.

Impetus Picts [4]

Not a lot done today on the Impetus front but I did manage to finish the texturing on the bases of the units I sorted yesterday. I also re-based and textured the archers and started on the rest of the light infantry spears. The rest will have to be tackled over the next few days but, it's another busy week so progress may be very slow. I also need to crack on with the AK47 stuff, so time is going to be very tight!

Impetus Picts [3]

We were out and about most of the day so I've only managed to do a fraction of the re-basing on the Picts that I had planned. This consists of the chariots, including the general, the light cavalry and a couple of the light infantry spear units.

They're not finished yet, as I need to fill in the white gaps with some fine sand and tidy things up a bit ready for painting. I hope to get this done tomorrow along with the rest of the units that are waiting to be based up. It'll be a bit of a rush job but I think I can crack it by the end of the weekend?

Impetus Picts [2]

I had a play around with some basing options for the Picts this evening after cutting a couple of 80mm x 40mm bases out of plastic card. I thought about buying a load of MDF bases from ERM but, in the spirit of keeping things as cheap as possible, I opted for the homemade equivalent.

As you can see, the FL spearmen will be grouped in sixes or sevens with plenty of rocks and rubble interspersed to fill up the gaps. I'd put a couple of extra figures on each base if I had them but, as this will be an army for practice purposes only, I don't think it matters too much.

I quite like the spacing anyway, as it's quite 'skirmishy'. The figures I used are the unwashed and unvarnished loose ones that had fallen off the original cards. They've now been washed and are awaiting a spray varnish once the temperature drops a bit. The figures still stuck on the old WRG 6th edition bases have been washed and sprayed already.

This means that I'll be able to crack on with the re-basing tomorrow, given a suitable window of opportunity. I'm thinking of texturing and painting the bases then adding the figures afterwards but I'll porbably just base everything up and then do the rest once the figures are in place.

Impetus Picts [1]

Let's do the timewarp again...(aarggh!!!)

Cavalry and Chariots plus General

Some shiny happy painted people

Gunge washed and matt varnished bloke on the left

I went up into the loft after work this afternoon and, after a bit of a rummage, successfully located the dusty box of Essex 15mm Picts that I'd last seen in 1991 or thereabouts.

These had been painted up in enamels during one of my irregular stints on the dole in the last great economic cock up. It kept me occupied and helped to pass the time but they're not exactly up to my current standard, although that's not exactly earth shattering anyway.

However, I have the basis of a pretty decent 300 point army for Impetus with a little bit of touching up and re-basing being all that needs to be done. I've worked out the options using the Picts list in Extra Impetus 2 and have come up with the following line up, using every single figure to maximise the points total:

• 1 x CGL Chariots (*) including General
• 2 x CGL Chariots (various weapons)
• 3 x CL Cavalry (javelins)
• 8 x FL Warriors (long spears)
• 5 x S Javelinmen (javelins)
• 4 x S Archers (short bows)

This works out at 367 points in total, so there's more than enough for a 250 or 300 point starter army. I've also found some very old irregular miniatures sheep that I can turn into a baggage element for a few extra points, although I could do with a shepherd as well, otherwise it'll look a bit pathetic.

The figures themselves have survived that last twenty years quite well thanks to a thick coat of satin varnish but this makes them a little too shiny for my liking. I did a test gunge wash on one of the light cavalry figures (the one on the left in the photo) then oversprayed with Army Painter matt varnish.

I think it looks much better, so will do the same with the rest if the figures before re-basing them. The basing is what I'm looking forward to as I have some ideas for wild and woolly mountian landscaping. I'm thinking of lots of granite boulders and scree, with dark earth ground surface and tufts of highland grass.

If I can pull it off, it'll look pretty good and be well in keeping with the Pictish theme. I'll try to crack on with the washing, varnishing and re-basing this weekend so hope to have the army ready by this time next week.

Extra Impetus 3

Some of the chaps at the club were playing a 15mm Ancients game using Impetus yesterday and I had a brief chat with them about the rules. I have little experience of this sort of thing although I used to play WRG 6th edition many, many years ago when I was at university. Since then I've been a little less conventional in my choice of rules and periods, so that conventional gaming in the WRG / DBA style has very much passed me by.

I do have a well proportioned box of 15mm Peter Pig Wars of the Roses figures that would be a great starting point for Impetus, as I have more than enough for one if not two armies. As a result, I've ordered a copy of Extra Impetus 3 which includes the WOTR lists and a campaign system, to see if I can work something out as a project for next year.

At £15 it was expensive for a flimsy paperback but I haven't been able to find a copy cheaper anywhere, despite trawling ebay and various wargame suppliers. I hope it'll be worth it and, at the very least, give me something to do with the nice Peter Pig medievals. If not, I've got a box of very old enamel painted Essex 15mm Picts that I can bring back to life from the 1980's (if I can find them that is?)

Impetus

I've had a very cursory leaf through of the Impetus rules that I bought at Colours the other day and, I have to say, they look rather good. I'm particularly taken by the clarity of the rules and by the neat system of multiple basing, which enhances the look and feel of the figures really well. I know this is of little consequence in gaming terms but, for me, it's one of the things that makes a set of rules seem 'right'.

Anyway, I've been giving some thought to what I could do with them. One option would be to have another crack at the 10mm Norse that I acquired for the defunct Warmaster project, which is why I also picked up Extra Impetus 2 in the bundle, as it features a set of lists for the Year 1000.

The other option would be to tackle my stockpile of 15mm Peter Pig WOTR figures, of which I have an ample supply. These were destined for Bloody Barons but, as no one would  be interested in this at the club, the Impetus approach would seem a better bet.

I'm thinking of getting hold of Extra Impetus 3 which has a set of WOTR lists and a campaign system. At another £15 this is not a cheap option but it would give me a good idea of the permutations that my leadpile might stretch to, given a suitable window in the painting schedule to actually get them done.

I fear another doomed project is in the offing....