Artillery Emplacement

As I continue preparations for my June convention game, I needed some field fortifications for the supply post at Wadi Zoum-Zoum.  Using some of the 1/2" blue foam that I rescued from a dumpster, I created three small artillery emplacements, each capable of holding one gun and its four man crew.

I used my battery powered hot wire cutter to shape the foam and then cut out a small base of Masonite (a type of hardboard invented in my home state of Mississippi), beveling the edges with a wood rasp.  The base was spray painted with a sand camouflage color and the walls of the emplacement was painted with a sandstone color craft acrylic.  The two were then glued together with Elmer's white glue.  Good enough right now for the first play-test on Saturday, they will eventually have interior wooden slat walls and a terrain application on the outside and the "floor" of the interior.  I anticipate that I can use these for just about any period from the mid 1700s to modern times.

Here's another view from a slightly higher angle.

The Krupp gun and the Egyptian gunners are Ral Partha figures.

The Agandar's Escort

The final native unit that I require for the first play test of my convention game has now been completed.  It is a 12-figure cavalry unit using Falcon Miniatures Arab cavalry.

These stalwart "Sons of the Desert" are all veterans of the Agandar's many campaigns against the infidels.  Riding black steeds and clothed in the green of the Prophet, they will bring fear into the hearts of their foes.

Additional Note:  A comment on The Miniatures Page asked if Falcon Miniatures are still available.  Keith Astrofsky (in Massachusetts) now owns the line and his newly redesigned web site/store is Falcon Miniatures USA.  I have not bought from him yet as these were purchased many years ago at an Historicon.

March Painting Results

March was a good month for painting as I churned out three Arab units for my upcoming convention game in June:

11 Arab cavalry (22 Olley points)
40 Arab infantry (40 Olley points)

for a total of 62 Olley points.  You may see pictures of these three units by looking at the previous posts for March.  For the first quarter I've painted 187 Olley points or about 2 infantry or 1 cavalry figure per day, on average.

Although not counted since the entire units wasn't finished until today, I also painted the 12 horses for the last of the Arab units for my convention game.  I still have to prepare the "fortified" camp at Wadi Zoum-Zoum and paint some additional palm trees and another naval gun.

I will have a playtest of the game on Saturday, April 17.  You can see the first Wadi Zoum-Zoum game at our club's website:

http://www.angelfire.com/games3/jacksongamer/grn_nile2.htm.

I'll be using the same terrain boards and buildings but probably a different looking camp has it has had a chance be developed over the years since the last action there.  A report and pictures are to come.

White Eagle Clan Infantry Unit

This evening, after dealing with a home problem (of which I will tell anon), I finished the last 8 figures for a 20-figure unit of infantry for the White Eagle Clan.  They now have three infantry units and one cavalry unit ready for play-testing for my June convention game (Bayou Wars 2010).

This unit is composed of 12 Falcon Miniatures sword-armed Arabs (with one converted to the leader/standard bearer) and 8 Iron Brigade rifle-armed Arabs.

I received the Iron Brigade miniatures from their new owner, The Lost Battalion Miniatures.  The owner has many of the Iron Brigade moulds and is going to be casting and, I think, upgrading them.  He also has a number of figures on-hand.  I ordered some of the rifle-armed Arabs, a French Foreign Legion command group (for a batch of Iron Brigade FFL I have), some ship guns, and a horse and musket artillery limber with two horses and attendant.  The service was great!

Now to the house problem.  This past Wednesday night, while getting some foamcore out to make some movement stands, I discovered that I had a water leak along the outside wall of my wargaming/computer room.  My wife, son, and I moved a batch of wargaming and stamp stuff out and discovered mildew and ruined box bottoms and loose-leaf binders.  Before it was all over, I had filled two large trash cans and had the rest of my house stacked with troop boxes, terrain boxes, etc., etc.  I only lost some stamp collecting material and some cardboard boxes.  None of my troops were affected.  The only terrain I lost was one 2' square terrain board made from a ceiling tile.  It was the bottom of a stack of them.  We tore the carpet out today and the resulting picture tells it all - a bare room!  Isn't the original 1970s tile simply horrid!

At least it will give us a chance to repaint the walls.  And we still have to figure out how to seal the exterior wall (which "backs" onto a porch) to keep the water from entering in the future.  Plus a new floor.  The adventure of a homeowner never ceases!

Happy Birthday Celebration!

All of Carpania is in celebration today as their beloved Scottish mercenary leader, General Seamus Campbell, celebrates his 60th birthday.  The Margrave has issued a special proclamation and will hold a banquet in Campbell's honor tonight in the stadtplatz of Potsdorf.  The centerpiece will be a giant birthday cake:

There will also be a magnificent fireworks display to end the programme of celebration.

General Campbell has protested all this falderol and has stated that all he desires is a quiet night at home watching a performance of NCIS on this new-fangled contraption called a telly-vision device.

Red Hawk Clan Infantry

I've just completed the second of two infantry units for the Red Hawk clan.  They are Iron Brigade figures armed with rifles.  They should provide some welcome firepower to the mostly sword and spear armed native infantry in the rest of the Agandar's force.

If you count the figures, you'll note that they are one man shy of a full TSATF 20-figure infantry unit.  I have an extra figure to add if necessary but I have been in contact with the new owner of the old Iron Brigade molds.  He is sending me a copy of the old catalog so that I can round-out not only this unit but several others.  More on this development later.

White Eagle Clan Cavalry

My second Arab clan for my June convention game, The Relief of Wadi Zoum-Zoum, will be called the White Eagle clan.  So far they have two spear armed infantry units, one of which can be seen at this link.  I've now added a unit of rifle armed cavalry made from 11 Falcon Miniatures Arab cavalry and 1 unidentified Arab cavalryman.  Like the Red Hawk cavalry (see previous post), they are mounted on Miniature Figurines horses.

 

These cavalry will bring some degree of battlefield mobility to the White Eagle Clan.  I still have a third infantry unit to paint this month.