And "Joanie" Gets More Kit

Back in September of last year, I showed a batch of "Rugged Adventure" figures that I had painted.  One of them was Bob Murch's "Bernadette of the Resistance" whom I renamed Joanie (after Joan of Arc -  see link for explanation).  She's armed with a German MP-40 but didn't have any spare ammunition magazines.  A friend was able to donate a couple of 3-magazine packs from a plastic German sprue.  The other day I added them to the figure.

And she's now ready to dish out some firepower on the unsuspecting Boche.

And Some Mounted Leaders

Taking a short break from painting cavalry units, I turn some excess mounted figures into leader stands and paint some of the Old Glory 15s Hun command pack as an Attila command stand.  Please click on each image for an enlarged view.

First up is a spare Byzantine mounted extra heavy horse archer.  The figure is a vintage Table Top Games (now manufactured by Alternative Armies) BYC-2, Byzantine EHC with bow.

The dark rectangle is a small piece of magnetic material
to which the leader's nametag will be adhered for games.

Next are two spare super heavy cavalry figures from the Old Glory ES-3 Sassanid cataphracts pack.  They have been painted to match the colors of the two Sassanid cataphract units currently in my order of battle.

Both have copper metallic face masks which was a common addition to the cataphracts armor.
The "red" leader has a gold gilded helmet while the "yellow" leader has a silver gilded helmet.

And finally, Attila himself, along with his standard bearer and a mounted drummer.  Attila's color scheme is based on the Angus McBride rendition of the leader in the Osprey Attila and the Nomad Hordes (Elite #30).

Attila's horse harness is heavily decorated with gold ornamentation and, although not visible from this view, he has his golden gilded bow in his bowcase.

Work continues on additional cavalry units.

And Even More Cavalry

As I prepare my 15mm miniatures to be used with the "Commands & Colors - Medieval" gaming system, I have discovered that I had much more infantry than cavalry for this period (6th & 7th Centuries AD).  So with few exceptions, all I've been doing is painting cavalry.  And I've added two more units.

First is a unit of Byzantine medium cavalry, using Table Top Games figures now produced by Alternative Armies of Scotland in their "Dark Age and Ancients Isarus" range.  The figures used are BYC-3, Byzantine Heavy Cavalry with lance and BYC-4, Byzantine heavy cavalry with bow, along with two command figures from BYC-8, Byzantine cavalry command.  These are one-piece castings and are very well done (for the most part).

I used various shades of red as their distinguishing color.  Each stand has two melee cavalrymen and one mounted archer denoting that this unit is "Medium Bow Cavalry" in the "C&C-Medieval" system.

The second unit I added was a conglomeration of various Miniature Figurines Middle Eastern light cavalry figures.  These were acquired already painted in several different purchases over the past several years.  Eventually I will replace the missing and broken weapons but as I will be needing them shortly, that can wait.  This is a very rag-tag unit, but what can you expect from 'mercenary' light cavalry?

Finally I took two spare medium cavalry figures that were left over after a previous reorganization and made them into mounted leaders.  They are, I believe, Miniature Figurines, but I do not know from what 'country' they come.  I needed them to replace two of the above light cavalry figures as mounted leaders.  To distinguish the two, I'll probably redo the shield, crest, and cloak on one of them.

The dark pieces on the bases are magnetic and are used to attach the leader's name during battles.

And even more cavalry is in the painting queue and will be featured shortly.

The Huns Have Arrived!

First, let me correct an error.  In three previous posts I misidentified some Miniature Figurines horse archers as Huns when really they are Cumans.  My apologies to the Cuman nation.

But now the Huns have actually arrived!  Part of an order from Essex Miniatures have been completed, 8 Hun horse archers from packs HU-1 and HU-6.

They will eventually be joined by another 8-figure unit and some heavier Hun cavalry.

Next in the painting queue is a unit of Byzantine medium cavalry and some assorted leaders, followed by a unit of Byzantine heavy cavalry and a unit of Sassanid medium cavalry.  This will complete the forces needed to fight the three-phase Battle of Decimum (533 AD) from the "Commands & Colors - Medieval" scenarios.

WW1 Aerial Combat with a Twist!

This past Thursday our group of five "old guys" met for lunch followed by a game at Steve's house.  I brought my Wings of War/Wings of Glory WW1 biplanes for some afternoon aerial combat over France.  Please click on the pictures for a larger image.

As game master, I developed two fairly similar scenarios set in mid to late 1917.  In the first game, two German light bombers, escorted by two fighters, had to bomb some targets in the British rear area in support of a German offensive.  They were opposed by four British fighters.  In the second game, the roles were reversed and two French light bombers, escorted by two French fighters, had to bomb some targets in the German rear area in support of a French offensive.  They were opposed by four German fighters.

German vs British scenario -- Two Rumpler C IV escorted by two Albatros D III against one Bristol F2B, one SE-5, and two SE-5A.

French vs. German scenario -- Two Breguet BR-14 escorted by two Nieuport 17 against two Albatros D III and two Pfalz D III.

In each scenario, there were six targets randomly aligned across the defenders side of the playing area.  The bombers could choose to bomb just one target with their full load or three different targets with 1/3 loads each.

Game 1:

The Germans divided their aircraft into a bomber and a fighter for each player and chose to bomb single targets.  The British had the F2B and the SE-5 under one player's control and the two SE-5As under the other.  As the second round began, the British planes fly over a massive cloud formation when suddenly out of the clouds came two flying reptiles who were disturbed by the offensive noise of the airplane engines!  They immediately attacked two of the British planes.

Notice in the background that one of the SE-5As is already on fire and the Brisfit in the foreground is gunning for the tan reptile.

The orange flying reptile was shot to pieces fairly quickly (they only had a damage level of 6) before it could cause too much damage to its SE-5A target while the second stayed latched onto its British fighter target (the SE-5).

The pilot of that SE-5 tried Immelmann after Immelmann to shake the reptile. but couldn't as his plane came apart under the claws of the beast and both of them fell from the sky.

Germans were able to hit both targets and get their bombers headed for home before the British could seriously intefere.

I had fun controlling the flying reptiles to the initial consternation of the four players.

Game 2:

With the palyers' roles reversed, the British decided on the same organization, one bomber and one fighter per player, while the the Germans each controlled a pair of similar fighters, either two Albratros or two Pfalz.

An initial scrum with the red Albatros sliding in between a Breguet and a Nieuport while the blue Albatros wanders around, getting pegged by the Bregeut's forward gun.

Later in the action both Pfalz and the red Albatros team up to down a Bregeut but the camo winged Pfalz is also shot down by the Bregeut's observer/gunner.

In this game, the French only succeeded in bombing one target with a partial bomb load.

Everyone had fun which was the object of the gaming!