54mm Cheap Terrain and a little elbow grease...

 This is double post day, trying to catch up...

In my last post, I snapped some pics of my AWI British in front of some buildings and tents.  

Tents are from a Timpo.  They were hot glued to a piece of cardboard and then base coated.  The whole thing was then painted and base was flocked.

The buildings are actually all wooden birdhouses you can pick up at a Michael's Craft store.

There are two versions used.  The first log cabin I used as a log cabin and then added cereal board siding.  The roof on each is individual cut cardboard roofing.  The original chimneys were removed and I added foam chimneys to the side carved from pink foam board.  Window and door details were added as well.  Base coat was applied and they were painted up for colonial period.  The watering trough was made from a foam block and covered in cereal board planks.  Barrels are the large wood barrels at Hobby Lobby painted with Sharpie wood grain applied!

The third building is a block house.  It started as a shed/ house, but then I figured I would add simple guns slits for a block house as I had seen at Old 96 in SC and the reconstructed block house there.  I still may cut the slits into the wood to give more of a depth to the firing slots.  Right now, the magic of Sharpie is again doing the job!

I'm planning on creating another building for my town.  I need to add a church as the town center.  Now if I can only find one more of those log cabins....

Next Up:  54mm AWI Continentals

54mm AWI British

 Well April is almost through and still so much to do...

Making good on my promise, below are a few shots of my 54mm AWI British forces.  I have built this force around a 24 point army for Rebels and Patriots by Osprey Publishing.  Of course, it could be used for many other rule sets.  Each figure is individually based.  Using a 40mm round base, I used a ton of cardboard from soda can holders, etc. and hot glued two of the discs together to make a base.  To add more weight to the base, I then slapped on some wood putty around the edges, after the soldiers had been secured to them. 

The figures are a mix of BMC/Americana and Armies in Plastic. As always, before painting, I wash my toy soldiers in a dish washing liquid warm water bath and let the air dry.  This helps remove the mold release agents and such to allow for a good base coat with a made for plastic primer, Krylon, that you can pick up at any Walmart.  Soldiers are then hot glued to the carboard bases.

Long story short, here is the current list for the British in Rebels and Patriots terms.

Line Infantry (includes your officer) 12 models  = 4pts.

Line Infantry 12 models = 4pts.

Light Infantry 12 models = 6pts.

Shock Infantry (Grenadiers) 12 models = 6pts.

Light Artillery (4 models) = 4pts.  (pictured with 6 models as used for Medium Artillery)

Additionally, for variety, I have the German Jaegers; 12 models for Skirmishers for 2pts and you can add Sharpshooter to the for 4pts.

In the works are some Native Americans and a unit of Cavalry.

Not all units need standards, but I chose to give my units each standards.  Each standard was converted removing a rifle and drilling holes aligned through each had to directly feed the pole.  Flags were upscaled from 28mm to 54mm, free from warflag.com. Wood glue is applied to one half and wrapped around the pole, bending the flag to give a wavy appearance and let set dry.  Of course this happens all after the model is painted!

Line Infantry (unit #1).  Figures are from Armies in Plastic.

Line Infantry (unit #2).  Figures are from Armies in Plastic.

Light Infantry (hats were slightly shaped with Dremel tool from Hessian hats).  Figures mainly are BMC/ Americana with officer and standards from Armies in Plastic.

Shock Infantry (Grenadiers) (I did some head swaps on the color guard.)  Figures are mainly from BMC/ Americana.  Standards were created from two Armies in Plastic troop with BMC/ Americana Grenadiers head swaps.  The officer is from Armies in Plastic.

Light Artillery (shown with two additional crew as Medium Artillery) (Had to do a repair job on the officer.  The models often have only half a pistol so I had to fabricate one.)  The cannon and crew are BMC/ Americana figures.

Skirmishers (German Jaegers).  Figures are from Armies in Plastic.

The British Army (so far...)

Hope you enjoyed the troop inspection! 

Next Up:  Simple 54mm terrain!

What's in store for 2021?

Welcome everyone!  

Just wanted to open up with a little background and then get into the plan for 2021!

Over the years, I've waged war across the table tops of distant worlds, fantastic realms, and historical periods from Ancients through to Modern wars; and met many wonderful people and made new friends along the way.  You find that most people who enjoy the hobby fall into the category of just being lucky to have had the opportunity to have played.  Life is busy, friends are scattered and it take a conscious effort to make time for our gaming (and usually a very understanding spouse!).  I've visited conventions where friends are seen but once a year, but the moment we hit the tables, it is like we had not missed a beat!

I've spent a lot of time in the realm of "Oldhammer"; coming from a big battle background, but I always found great enjoyment in warband and skirmish level gaming.  That is where I find myself now.  28mm has always been my scale of choice, but have also found that 54mm gaming is sure exciting to see on the table at conventions and skirmish gaming.  

Recently, I've found Daniel Mersey's Osprey rule sets.  If you have not tried them, you are missing out!  Lion Rampant, Dragon Rampant, Rebels and Patriots, The Pikeman's Lament, and The Men Who Would Be Kings all have a similar structure, but all have their own period rules that make each unique.  They are not tied to specific models nor strict army lists!  As you will see in posts to come, I have armies made of models from many manufacturers.

Lately, I've made quite a few acquisitions; the pile of pewter and plastic is growing out of control!  The plan for this year is to paint more than I purchase and knock out a few key projects.  I hope to have a model tracker rolling through this year.

Project #1 (A,B, C, D): 54mm Rebels and Patriots - American Revolution (ie. American War of Independence).  I have a full 24 point British and Continental army and am working on additions in the way of cavalry as well as bringing in Hessians and French!

Project#2 (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) :  28mm Dragon Rampant - Dark Elves, Orcs, and Western Men.  I have the Western Men covered with my good "Oldhammer" Empire troops.  The Dark Elves have been purchased and are awaiting painting.  The Orcs have almost been assembled, awaiting one ebay delivery from the hinterlands.  Within this project, I already have the makings of a Frost Giant and a Fire Giant army, as well as a Demon Army.  If it hadn't been for a lost shipment, the last army would be well on the way to completion.  I need to gather the new Demon Warriors from Frostgrave!  Joy!  There is always room for a Gnoll Army (that would be 'Project 2-G' if you were keeping up)!

Project #3 (A, B):  28mm The Men Who Would Be Kings - after many moons on the dusty shelves of the halls of unpainted plastic, I am finally going to put together the British and the Zulu forces.  Rorke's Drift anyone?

Project #4 (A, B): 28mm The Last Days Zombie Apocalypse - I've worked on collecting plenty of zombies and survivors.  Now to get them built and some paint on them.

Project #5 (A, B): 28mm This Is Not A Test - create two groups for this game. I've been wanting to play this one for years.  Maybe this will be the year!

Project #6:  28mm Blood Angels - rework the old beaky nose marines, rebasing them to bring them up to speed.

Project #7:  Star Wars Terrain - more buildings and scatter terrain for a Mos Eisley multi-player game I am looking to take to a Convention in 2022. 

Ambitious? Of course it is!  You can see how the madness creeps in with each cool model that gets produced and flashed in front of our screens!  

Hope you will stick with me to see what all transpires!

Next Posting:  54mm AWI - British and some shot of cheap "scratch built" terrain!

Grognard's New Beginning

As the title says, this is a new beginning.  I've always talked about starting a blog related to my hobby passions and just never seemed to have the time.  Recent events in my life have wisely reminded me that we all have an unknown amount of time, so we need to make the most of the time we are given.

So, I've decided to start this blog.  In the times of COVID, the gaming community has endeavored to stay strong; each of us finding ways to continue our hobby and the joys of tabletop gaming.  Some turned to solo gaming, some to reading (and writing) blogs about the latest projects.  Others finally turned to that pile of plastic and metal that we all have tucked in our closets, desks, junk rooms, etc. and got to painting them.  Of course, there is always room for more!

My hope here is to also stay in touch with old friends, scattered across the country, and talk about the hobby that makes us all one, wargaming.  In this journey, I hope to meet many like minded folks along the way, who will allow me to pull from the dusty bag of wargaming memories from time to time, show off new projects, ramble on about wargaming and maybe, just maybe, bring in some new followers to our wargaming world.

So here's to 2021 and turning a new page in my history!