ACW Painting

I have finished my Union army!  Also, in an even more incredible achievement, I did it in record time!  

The slightly smaller Confederate army was bought in February 2012 and completed in December 2012, meaning it covered a grand total of 10 months.  The larger Union army was  bought in February 2013, and have finished it in May 2013 - barely three months!  Have I undergone a three-fold increase in painting speed?  Sadly no, but the experiment has provoked a few thoughts on painting, and here are some of my 'insights', as I might grandly call them:

• The Type of Figure matters!  The rag-tag nature of the Confederates meant I spent a lot of time hemming and hawwing about them - 'does this brown coat go with those grey trousers?  Do those blue trousers go with a black hat?  Is this figure too close a copy of that one?'  All these variations created a bit of a pain, which didn't happen with the union: blue, blue, and more blue!  Bang - job done!  Admittedly some armies like medieval ones or irregular forces will always have a variety, but a generally 'uniform' force in the literal sense will have advantages - worth considering at the planning stage, anyway.  

• Real Life Matters (but not as much as you might think!)  While painting the Confederates, I put my flat on the market, sold it, and moved into a new house - it's fair to say that a lot was going on!  However, I don't think that I can really hide behind all that.  It had an effect, but overall I think if I'm honest I still had a lot of free time in evenings and so on, but I was put off by the idea I would 'only' get an hour or so to do anything, so I did nothing.  I think that even a minor bit of grit and determination would have greatly slashed my painting time.

• Go for Mass!  In my Confederate painting I did a base here, then one there, etc.  It seemed to go nowhere, even as I progressed!  With the Union army, I forced myself to do the whole lot as a big, indigestible lump.  Everybody got their shoes painted, and until everybody had that done nobody - but nobody! - got anything else, like their belts, even so much as started.  Tedious?  Oh god, yes - but I resisted the temptation to split the force up into smaller batches, as I was certain that once I'd done one batch I'd never be able to face a second. The tenacity paid off, as although painting belts or shoes and nothing else was dull, I managed to finish each 'part' before the boredom got too much, and then I was spurred on by the knowledge that I would never have to do it again.

• Focus!  Basically, don't get distracted with other things.  While the Union army was getting painted, I had my Wars of the Roses campaign, my remaining Anglo-Allied Waterloo army, a potential new WW2 Bolt Action army, and two new Ancients armies swirling around as either 'in progress', 'bought' or 'under consideration.'  However, I stuck with the Union 100% through my painting without any deviation - because I knew if I stopped, I'd not restart fr a long time.

• In a word: Momentum!  If I was to sum all of the above up in one entry, this would be the central idea.  Momentum, or the sensation that a project is 'underway' and making progress rather than 'on standby' and gathering dust, is critical.  It's also a self-fulfilling prophecy in a way, for it did indeed conform to how I planned things, with even a little investment in willpower.  Now I have the rewards of it all, as I can knock off the Union ACW project off my to do list, and get more done with other things.  A real example of how a bit of self-discipline isn't just good as an abstract concept, but genuinely and immediately bears fruit! 

Photos to follow shortly.  (Right - now to base them up and get to the games table!)

Order of Battle, 1461

[Transcription from scrolls found in the alternate-history records:]

Roll of those magnates and nobles of declared loyalty to the house of Lancaster, and the anointed king:

The army VAWARD, under the leadership of PRINCE of WALES, EDWARD of Lancaster, heir to the throne of England, and a boy of some seven years of age.  Assisting him in overseeing all practical aspects of warfare is Humphrey Stafford, Duke of BUCKINGHAM.  Also present to advise is Sir Andrew Trollope, lately master of the king's garrison at Calais.  In combination, these nobles bring some 6,000 men to the field.

The MAIN, under the leadership of his Majesty KING HENRY, sixth of his name, crowned king of England and France, Lord of Ireland.  Somewhat reticent in matters military, he is assisted by his advisor Sir Edmund Beaufort, Duke of SOMERSET and erstwhile rival of the pretender's late father, Richard Plantagenet.  Ably assisted by many mercenaries and volunteer troops supplied from FRANCE, the King commands some 8,000 men.

The REARWARD of the host, led by Sir Henry Beaufort, son of Edmund and heir to the Dukedom of SOMERSET, whose warlike disposition sees him lead the family's retainers in the field.  In addition there are many levies from the loyal city of NEWCASTLE under the leadership of Baron POYNINGS and also many mercenary soldiers for hire lately of SCOTLAND, under many worthy captains.  The Rearward force of 7,000 men raises the strength of the ROYAL ARMY to 21,000 loyal men.

Those Magnates and Nobles who profess loyalty to the house of York, claimants to the throne of England:

The VAWARD of those followers of George Plantagenet, Duke of CLARENCE and younger brother to the pretender and youth of twelve years, guided by Sir Walter DEVEREUX.  Richard Neville, 5th Earl of SALISBURY, and noted Welsh Lord William HERBERT - who, between them field 8,000 men for battle.

The MAIN is under the bellicose Edward Plantagenet, 4th Duke of YORK and PRETENDER to the crown, either traitor or rightful heir, as persuasion guides.  Ably assisted by many men of loyalty to his house from IRELAND under Sir Roger VAUGHAN and other mercenaries dispatched from BURGUNDY under captains of war, of good reputation.  This host numbers some 10,000 souls.

The REARWARD is under the direction of the pretenders' other brother Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of RUTLAND.  He is accompanied by John DeMowbray, 3rd Duke of NORFOLK and many diverse levies from NORWICH under the Baron HOWARD.  Much depleted by campaigns in the north, the Rear numbers only 5,000.  The full Yorkist host of the Pretender numbers some 23,000 soldiers and captains.

Wars of the Roses Campaign - 1461

After much other stuff to keep my attention, I have found myself leaving my WOTR campaign for a while - well, no longer!  Things have moved on again and the looming confrontation is a rather spectacular one.  

Last time we hit the tabletop, it was for another attempt by the Yorkists to put down the Lancastrian rebellion in the north of England.  This plan ran adrift at Holmewood, where some timely reinforcements and a highly aggressive performance by the Duke of Somerset saw the Lancastrians triumph.  The Yorkists had to retreat away and lost all the advantages of their earlier victory at Thoroton.  The stalemate resumed, and the northern armies had now racked up three clashes without one side decisively defeating the other.  

This was another example of something that has become a strange feature of my little re-fight campaign: the lack of any high-profile deaths for a while!  Not since Northumberland was beheaded have we seen the loss of a major figure - Warwick & Co. managed to flee en-masse from Gerrard's Cross to Calais, through sheer luck more than anything else.  Similarly, the nobles Rutland, Salisbury & Norfolk all put in a swift escape from Holmewood when things went against them.  Surely this can't go on!  

The short answer is: no, it can't.  I've gone back to the RIII board to progress the campaign.  It's the early winter months of 1461, and the remaining armies are all closing in on each other.  The Northern armies face each other across the River Trent; the Lancastrians hold London; while Edward of York has now moved to Gloucester.  They are all close enough now to combine for a decisive battle.  Whoever moves first can decide things in their favour.  

It's the Lancastrians, in the end, who make the decisive move.  Leaving the dead Earl of Wiltshire's men to hold the capital, Queen Margaret (with Henry VI and the seven-year-old Prince Edward in tow) lead their army west, seeking to destroy York.  Simultaneously, Somerset leads his army south over the Trent and the Severn to join with them for the final confrontation.  The Yorkists see the climactic battle is near, and their own northern army under Salisbury shadows Somerset's move south, so the armies all converge in Gloucestershire.  Warwick, isolated in Calais, forwards Mercenaries from Burgundy to assist.

From the 'Richard III' game rules, the armies have been nosing slowly closer to each other to try and unify, but also to avoid being caught in a two-against-one attack from the enemy.  Now, all have at last closed in enough for one side to launch an attack and also for the attacked to call in their other army as reinforcements.  Various lords are uncommitted or declaring for one side or another across the land, but the decisive make-or-break battle is finally here.

The size of the forces are certainly impressive - the maximum combination of each side has produced a startling total of 21,000 Lancastrians combining to take on a force of 23,000 Yorkists.  This, including also the time of the event (early in the winter/spring of 1461) means the 'Richard III' game has contrived what is practically a direct imitation of Towton - except in this case it is taking place in the south-west of England, rather than in the north.  

What a massive clash this promises to be!  Certainly the biggest yet in the refight (Gerrard's Cross was the next-largest, and saw about 14,000 a side)  and as befits a decisive clash of arms, it seems impossible to believe that all the Nobles converging on the field will leave it alive.  Most are fully committed and willing - although not all.  

In the Lancastrian camp, Buckingham's doubts have clearly been on the rise after a few weeks in London with the triumphalist Lancastrian die-hards for company.  Although he oversaw Warwick's rout at Gerrard's Cross, it seems that the prospect of a flat-out triumph by the Beaufort family in the king's name might not be entirely okay in his mind...  

Likewise over in the Yorkist camp Edward's younger brother George Plantagenet, the Duke of Clarence, might just be getting a severe case of cold feet at the idea of lining up against the Royal Standard on a battlefield and committing what is technically high treason.  Surely he won't betray two of his own brothers that are also on the field, though?

So - a massive battle in the offing, near-certain destruction by death and attainder for many noble families, possible treachery - and a sharp, decisive end to the first campaign with nothing less than the crown of England up for grabs!

Two Rulesets

I've recently been  pondering over two rulesets I own.  One is an old 'classic' one, while the other is a new acquisition.  Both are for quite different periods, but both are written (or at least co-authored) by the same guy - Rick Priestley.  

First is Warmaster Ancients, which is sadly no longer in print as far as I know.  I got it several years ago, mainly because I used to own and play the original 'Warmaster' from the Games Workshop fantasy range.  The Human Empire and Dark Elf armies I collected were actually the first time I ever got into 10mm, and I can still remember many fun games with them -despite the armies not numbering much over 8 or 9 units each.  So, I bought the Ancients version and recently dug it out for a re-read, which has led to much browsing on Pendraken and Magister Militum...

Oh, Angry Viking Bloke - how I've missed you!

The Second is a new acquisition, which I was recently given on my birthday.  It's Bolt Action from Warlord Games, which does small-level WW2 combat - roughly squad and company level.  I was attracted to it at least in part because the rules seem to work best in small-scale games, thus preventing the all-too-familiar rules creep which sees the table overloaded with units!  It seems very good, and reminds me of the old Games Workshop 'Epic WH40k' game, which I loved back in my teenage years.  I am now also pondering the Plastic Soldier Company range of 1/72 scale figures, which seem to be the best 'value for money.'  

Germans.  Who knew?

All this navel-gazing has been caused by a present of some birthday money, which came with the strict instruction to spend it on some models or myself!  As such, I'm planning to pop up the road to Carronade 2013 at Falkirk in a week and a half, and get myself a few bits and bobs.  Presently I'm merely enjoying the anticipation!

Army of the Potomac, taking shape

Busy, busy, busy!  I have been forging ahead with the large Union Army of 1/72 plastics, and thought I'd post some photos to show progress (apologies they're a little blurry, but I tried using my mobile camera, and it's not the best.)

 The above snap shows the whole horde at present - roughly somewhat over 200 soldiers.  I bought almost all of the figures from Italeri boxes, as I find these to be the best quality and also the easier to track down online.  I think I found one solitary box of Imex models on ebay, but that was the only difference.  

The mass above have been washed to clear off any moulding residue; clipped off the sprues; glued to card strips (from cut up cereal boxes, no less); spray-painted white with plastikote to prep them for painting, then sprayed back to Blue again (with Army Painter spray of Ultramarine.)  Since then I have been painting on an  industrial scale, painting all the trousers light blue, then all the shoes black, and now I'm about halfway through painting all the kepi visors/brims black as well.

There is only one, solitary figure that's complete at the moment.  This came about from me painting a lot of blue and black, and I creeped myself out that the figures would turn out awfully dark-looking en masse.  I finished one off experimentally, and I've reassured myself.  The remaining paint-work is almost all light-coloured (pink for the face & hands, light brown for the musket, and some silver/brass where needed, plus a light green base) so the overall model effect seems quite good.  I'm not splitting the whole collection up into batches, as I find I always slow down progress when one batch is done and I can't face starting another.  As a result, the painting at present is going 'monolithically' - so to speak.  The other day it was shoes, and nothing but.  Next weekend will hopefully be belts, and nothing else.  I'm keeping the focus on single elements so I can quickly bash through the lot, without stopping and re-doing bits here and there.  

In a departure from my normal method, I've also glues the figures onto strips together by pose - so there's no fiddling about to make sure I've got all the bits on varying models - if I pick up a card strip all the models are facing the same way, in the same position, so painting all the sides of a shoe or sword, for example, is very simple to do.  

There's also a fair bit of that appealing "detritus" of a model army in the process of assembling.  In this case, I have my Newline Designs officers to go (mounted on 2p coins) and also seven artillery pieces, plus a large caisson (from one of the Italeri Union Artillery boxes) which I have vague aims of using to decorate a little 'campsite' diorama for a supply-point.  

What I've been up to...

I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted - it's certainly not for a lack of activity, anyway!  I should really provide some sort of summary of what hobby-linked stuff I've been up to.      Over the past few weeks, I have:

Done pretty much no painting!
Okay, not a great one I'll grant you, but following my massive painting bender over Christmas I'm pretty relaxed about taking a little pause.  I've focused instead on playing some games, which has been much more enjoyable.

Played a massive board game of WW2!
I have long been a fan of block board-games, and to my mind GMT Games' "Europe Engulfed" is one of the top ones - certainly the best World War Two strategic level game I've played (as opposed to the massive economic simulator that Advanced Third Reich seemed to think it was.)  Over a few weekends I've been playing away at it, and - as I went along - wrote out a narrative of the game for myself.  I'll tidy it down, edit it up and post it on the blog.  I always find these alternative history AAR's to be fascinating reading when other people do it, so I'm finally having a go myself.  

Dug out my Hundred Years' War 6mm!
BBC 4 recently had on a little three-part series which was called 'Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years' War' - and I actually found it to be very good.  Also, you fundamentally don't see that many telly shows about wars of the middle ages, so thumbs-up for the Beeb simply for making it!  I was also moved to get my old half-rebased, half-unpainted models from Baccus 6mm out of the loft, for a spruce-up and a possible quick mess-around in some DBA-style games.


Ordered my 1/72 Army of the Potomac!
Yes, the completed 1/72 Confederates now have an enemy to face!  Or, at least they shortly will.  After much obsessive planning and preparing, I have swooped across various Amazon and Ebay marketplaces to gather all my odds and ends.  Due to the long gestation of the planning, I have also been able to basically get all the extras I wanted - such as the MDF bases for them all, some lead 'character' figures for generals, and also spray-paints to allow speedy mass-painting of all those blue coats.  

Anglo-Allied Infantry, 1815

Hooray, and Hoopty-doo!  After a very long, long, long-running painting effort, I have reached something of a milestone in my Waterloo painting project.  All the infantry for the Anglo-Allied army is now completed!  

By my count, I have painted about 310 figures for 1/72 scale infantry, in order to bring the army to the tabletop.  A few cavalry and gunners remain, but nothing major when compared to what's been done - not long before the Anglo-Allied army can be cleared away, and work can begin on the French one!

The whole collection - redcoats on the left, blue-coated Dutch in the middle, and  Green/Black-coated 'others' on the right.

British infantry and KGL - the figures have not yet been washed in a Devlan-Mud-style coat, and so look a bit bright and lacking in definition.

Trivia fact: I hate painting white straps!

Brunswicker, 95th Rifles, Hanoverian and Nassauer troops

Figures vary immensely, but the Airfix ones stand out as being particularly poor when compared to others, such as Revell and Italeri.

Dutch and Belgian troops