Monday 18 March 2024

AHPC XIV: From Mike W - 28mm Dark Ages, 15mm WW2 and other items!

 I was scratching my head about what to paint this week until a friend of mine, Dave from the Wargames Club, said that he had some old 28mm Gripping Beast Dark Ages (Vikings & Saxons) figures that he no longer wanted! Great I thought and I have now completed 32 of these guys!

The completed Dark Ages figures

Dave gave me the figures on Friday evening, so I spent the weekend putting these together and then undercoating them. About 20 of these guys were still on the frame, whilst the others were partially assembled requiring finishing off. With the plastics were a few metal figures, some of which I will present in this group, the others will likely follow-up in next week's post.

The two metal figures that were part of this group

Close-up of five of the figures, all with kite shields and all with Victrix Norman Heads

I wanted to assemble some of these guys as Bretons, so I used some spare Norman Hreads (Victrix & Conquest Games) and shields to give the figures this flavour, and used Breton artwork on the shields. In my mind these Bretons would be heavily influenced by the Normans but might retain some more generic features found in many Dark Age armies of the time. 

Four more of the guys, again with kite shields

Another five, all with round shields with Breton artwork.

These figures will be added to the 'Norman' pool for an upcoming game that I'll be staging recreating The Battle of Hastings,  at the club in coming months.

Next five figures, again wit Breton shields but the guy in the middle definitely has a Viking look! To his left there is a guy with a Oathmark human head with a hood and a cloak from the bits box

Painting was pretty straight forward, undercoated in grey with a white dry-brushing over the top of this. I used GW DarkOath Flesh for skin tomes and then highlighted this with Army Painter Barbarian Flesh. A point to note here is that the Dark Oath Fresh needs to be applied over a solid white undercoat, else it can look very dark, something for me to remember next time!

Six more figures

Chainmail and steel was done in GW Leadbelcher and various colours were used to 'dress' the figures, before applying a watered down dark wash to add shading. Wood was painted in Light Yellow, washed with watered down Soft Tone ink to give shading.

Last five figures, the standard is from the spares box, not Breton but looked cool

All were finished with a matt varnish and shield artwork was applied before baseing.

Next off the production line are 40 x 15mm Afrika Korps figures, I'm not sure of the manufacturer of these but suspect that they are old Command Decision figures - they're metal and have square cut bases - unlike the older Flames of War metal figures.

I use Flames of War basing sizes so here we have 8 bases each with 5 figures

Another view of the finished figures

These were all undercoated in grey then dry-brushed white, flesh was added using Army Painter Barbarian Flesh, uniforms were a mix of greens trying to replicate the German WW2 Tropical Green colour. Riles and machine guns were done in natural colours and belts etc done with brown leather. 

On random helmets, gas mask containers & water bottles I used a sand coloured paint to help give the figures a more desert feel. All was washed with a dark tone and varnished.

Close-up of some of  the figures, all rifle or MP40 Sub-machine Guns

Another close-up of the figures

Bases were finished off with fine sand and dried grass tufts.

And a very close view

Finally this week I have some 10mm English Billmen for my Flodden Project, these have been painted up as Lord Surrey's retinue, with red hose and green and white halved jackets. I have given each of these figures a leather / quilted jack and they sport either steel helmets or caps of various colours.

Six bases of ten figures in line of march, flags sourced from the internet

In a 3 base wide, 2 bases deep formation with standards to the front.

Again I have made this billman unit double sized with six bases instead of 3, as per WarMaster standards, each base with 10 figures. These tiny guys only get three flags in the unit as there are no suitable figures to convert to standard bearers! I had to press gang some spares into service here, something I'll need to sort out as I expend these armies, as I like a lot of flags in these type of units!

Unit in formation, with standards to the rear - as I prefer them to be on tabletop

And a view looking down on the unit.

Again time was a bit of an issue this week, so I didn't get everything finished that I'd hoped. There are some 10mm Flodden Horse nearing completion for next week, along with more Warlord Epic units, maybe even some more naval stuff if I have time to do the rigging!

Wednesday 13 March 2024

Formosa Campaign Latest - July Update


 JAPAN CAPTURES TAI PAK - 12 June 1895 

Moving rapidly from their capture of Ke Lang the Japanese have moved to secure the island of Formosa in strict agreement with the Terms of the Treaty of Shiminosecki and their agreement with the Qing Empire. A column was despatched on the 10th of June to secure the capital Tai Pak. This was achieved with little bloodshed despite the resistance of a gaggle of local militia who held the main city gate house for a few hours before being chased out by a ripple of artillery fire. 

MAKE MERIT BY RESISTING THE INVADER 


Senior priests of both the Buddhist and Taoist faiths have proclaimed that 1895 is a great year for making merit. A vision of the Bodhisatva Ebok was seen in the temples of Tai Nan proclaiming that all Formosans who resist the Japanese invader can expect to earn extra merit for their brave endeavours. 


THE HERO OF TAI PAK - 12 June 1895 

Though the City of Tai Pak fell easily to the Japanese forces a cameo fought around the main gate house perhaps provided evidence of the stiffening of Formosan resistance in the weeks to come. Japanese scouts in advance of the main body of advancing troops identified thatthe City was held by Hakka militia forces in small numbers. The scouting cavalry saw an opportunity to take the main gates of the City. A lively skirmish broke out at the main city gate as an able Lieutenant boldly scaled the walls assisted by two troopers at dusk. Slipping into the gatehouse they encountered a well armed militia, led by one Lan Ming Wa. Close hand to hand fighting within the gatehouse resulted in the Lieutenants death in personal combat with Lan. The remaining Japanese scaling team escape with their lives and brought up a mountain battery to demolish the gates with a few well aimed rounds of explosive shot. After some spirited sniping by the militia and a degree of unrest the City fell to the advance elements of the Imperial Guards, but Lan Ming Wa escaped with the bulk of the militia forces. 

TAM SUI HOLDS FIRM -16 June 1895 

Local Hakka Militia leader Fan Tran-Mai paraded his troops in Tam Sui today. Adored by his many men Fan spoke boldly of the bravery of the Hakka people and the solid history of resistance of the City Walls. Recalling the failed French invasion of the 1880s Fan taunted the recent Japanese invaders and boasted that he looks forward to their attempts to take the City and the many Japanese dead that will soon bleach in the sun on the planes beyond the City. His words were applauded by the thronging Formosan crowd and also watched from an honoured guest dias by dozens of US, UK and Russian citizens of the busy trading port. 

GREAT POWERS PUSH FOR CHANGES - May 1895 

The peace treaty signed between Japan and China remains a point of contention in World politics. The Treaty of Shimonoseki concluded the Sino Japanese War by China relinquishing control of Korea and handing Formosa and the Liaodong Peninsula to Japan. Russian, French and German delegations are now negotiating directly between the Qing and Japanese Governments to amend the treaty. They are particularly concerned that the transfer of ownership of Port Arthur on the Liaodong Peninsula gives Japan an unwarranted power over the Yellow Sea. This along with their occupation of Formosa worries the Great Powers and they seek a fundamental renegotiation of the treaty. 

CONFUCIUS CORNER 

A monthly note of relevant contemplation Without a block the cannon is silent Defenders stand sad and sore But a clink of silver in the right pocket Will restore the fiery cannons to life once more 

TAM SUI BESEIGED - 20 June 1895 

Japanese forces invested the City on 20th June. Surrounding the City to the landward and with a strong fleet off the coast the Japanese fired ranging shots into the City to the reply of emplaced guns who returned fire with ferocity. On the evening of the 21st a mine was exploded against the east wall. Though there was little material effect on the strong walls the citizens knew well that the explosion heralded the coming storm and all defenders stood to their weapons. The Japanese offered generous terms of surrender to the City but at this time the Cities defenders still fly the flag of the Republic of Formosa bravely and await the future with courage and trepidation. 

FALL OF TIENG-LICK - 27 June 1895 

A large force of Japanese infantry arrived before the peaceful City of Tieng-Lick on the 26th June. The bustling City had been demilitarised by Republican forces some weeks earlier and the leading citizens of the City were keen to avoid bloodshed. The Japanese Commander General Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa offered generous terms and security of all rights for the citizens of the City. The gates were opened and Japanese forces entered the City in full accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Shimonosecki. 

THE STRANGE CASE OF THE PHANTOM PRESIDENT - 27 June 1895 

Left: Tang Jinsong, Right: Another person 

A curious incident occurred as the Imperial Japanese Guard Division took possession of the City of Tieng Lick. Scouting forces screening the main body of troops reported seeing a finely dressed Qing Dignitary being escorted by a troop of horse in the vicinity of the City. Consulting their deck of cards identifying enemy VIPs the scouts believed this person to be none other than Tang Jinsong, the president of the rebel Republic. Dressed in the fine silks of a Qing Governor the identification seemed secure. But, what was he doing galloping around northern Formosa accompanied by a troop of heavy horsemen? With the peaceful surrender of the City a search was mounted by Japanese cavalry forces to find the elusive President. Within a few hours and after a brief cavalry scuffle the character was apprehended. Sure enough he looked like Tang Jinsong and his body guard fought hard to protect him, but surely he could not be the President. The dishevelled Phantom President made a sad sight when paraded before General Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa in chains. Tang Jinsong is an honoured and educated ex-Qing official able to speak multiple languages, but this fellow seemed only able to string a few simple sentences together in Han Chinese. He cowered obsequiously and seemed most interested in the Japanese coolies shoulder harnesses. Who is this man?.

Sunday 10 March 2024

AHPC XIV: From Mike W - Lizardmen, 15mm Fenians, Rogue Trader Marines, 10mm Flodden, plus more...

 I'll open this week's post with my long overdue Warhammer Fantasy Lizardmen Cavalry, how much better can it get than big lizards riding even bigger lizards!

Finally! The completed Mounted Lizardmen

These guys have been hard work, as there is so much detail on them and it takes time to do them justice, that and given that as ever, I sourced them from eBay and this meant that they arrived pre-assembled and thus much harder to get in to all the nooks and crannies to cover all the detail that is found on them.

Another view of the Lizardmen

This is a unit of 8 x Lizardmen, riding Cold Ones, I did a similar unit for an AHPC XIII Challenge last year and these were the older sculpts and as such were simpler to paint - according to my memory at least! After applying a cream coloured undercoat, I decided to make the riders green with a brownish yellow underbelly, the Cold Ones would be blue with a similar but lighter yellowish brown underbelly.

Lizardmen in column with a good view of the banner

I used GW Algae Green for the riders scaly upper surfaces and a mix of watered down GW Nazdreg Yellow and Bad Moon Yellow for the underbellies etc. On the Cold Ones I used the same mix as on the riders.though I tried to keep these lighter. I used Army Painter Magic Blue for their scales, all horns, teeth and claws were treated as if they were bones and as such got a wash of GW Skeleton Horde and then a drybrush of 'Linen' then White to draw out the highlights.

Close-up of two Lizardmen Riders

All straps were painted with GW Snakebite Leather and saddlery and shields were painted with AP Vampire Red before being washed with AP Soft Tone for shading and depth. There are lavish amounts of gold on these figures and this was done with Valeijo Brass and washed with AP Light Tone ink.

Two more Lizardmen riders

Then it was on to endless details of feathers, skulls, banners and then retouching other areas as I managed to splash / mark already completed areas as I did the details! For the record these figures contain 8 skulls!

Right Lizardmen Rider Champion and a companion

Standard Bearer and Musician, if you look closely you'll see the musician does not have a drum to bang!
 An unfortunate side effect for getting  figures from eBay,
I'll have to source a suitable drum to correct this on when I can....

I took another sprue for Warlord Games Epic 15mm ACW Confederates and decided to paint them up as Fenians for a potential 1866 Fenian Raid of Canada scenario. Now I'm no expert on those period but it has always plucked at my imagination - I'm a big ACW fan - and ways to use my ACW collection in different ways is always of an interest to me.

Completed Fenian Regiment, in epic 15mm

Unit in column of march heading to the right!

I think in reality these Fenian units were largely in Union Army surplus gear - so mostly blue - but also I'd expect a lot of civilian homespun materials as well. Looking for inspiration on Google turns up a few images but one of the most interesting one I found is below.

Image found here: https://heritagearmssa.com/2017/09/29/the-fenian-raids-1866-70/


I particularly liked this as it seems to show an interpretation of a Fenian unit in Green, so I decided to base my test unit on this image.

Marching to the left, the classic Harp insired, green flag is clearly visible. The other flag is green with yellow stars, both sourced from Google

Close-up of a couple of the bases,I could have used a union sprue to get most figures in kepis, but I liked the irregular feel of the confederate sprue with a lot of blanket rolls in the mix

Figures were undercoated in light grey and then GW Russ Grey (which is quite blue) was used to paint the trousers whist I used a mix of GW Algae Green & Orc Skin to do their jackets. Boots & straps were black and weapons, skin and hair was done in natural colours. All got a watered down Dark Tone wash before varnishing. Flags sourced from Google!

Another close-up 

A better view of the star covered flag

Final couple of bases

Next I have a small group of 3D printed Rogue Trader Space Marines, now sadly I'm old enough to remember when the original guys came out (maybe around 1985 at a guess) and I have a couple of these in my collection somewhere. One has gone astray over the years but I know have the other somewhere, I saw it a couple months back, I just don't know where at this exact time!

I'm pleased with how these guys came out

I had painted the originals in white armour, but having just done so many Tau in white, I wanted to have a break, so instead I have done them in a deep red with bright green eyes, lenses & laser sights. Belts were done in black and weapons in silver (as per my originals) with a few added details of red and blue wires.

Weapons are a far cry from the ubiquitous Marine Bolter on modern figures


Another view, showing the eys and helmet sensors

As with my originals I have given them a big 'M' as their unit badge - back in the day I called these my McMarines for hopefully obvious reasons!

This is pretty much the pose of one of the old metal figures I know I have somewhere

Final shot of the Marines

Next is another Flodden Scots unit, this time spearmen, so I assume these to be men supplied by a 'less well schooled' noble, rather than the fashionable pike block that I recently completed. I think in reality the move to pikes from spears was a contributory factor in the Scots loosing the battle, so I may be perverse in any scenario that I put together and give these guys better morale than the pike blocks as the spear had been a weapon of choice in Scotland for centuries - as opposed to the new fangled pike!

Scots Spear block for Flodden.

With a selection of flags to divert the eye!

The pointy end of the unit, again 2 ranks of three bases.

Anyway for painting purposes these guys were tackled in exactly the same manner as the pike block, as was their basing and organisation into a 3 x 2 base unit, again with lots of flags to distract the eye!

The unit marching to the left

and to the right!

Finally to get up to date with the bonuses and shelves that I have visited here is my Library Map, I forget to post this last week!

Points