The End of the Campaigning Season.

This weekend marks the end of the wargaming season for me. The Battleground show in Middlesbrough was always the final show Id attend. Ive always enjoyed the event and when Leon from Pendraken took it over it has returned to the brilliant event it used to be. Its free.The parking is free and the day is a great way to bump into old faces and generally have a good day talking toys. So yes I'll be there and hopefully giving away stuff at the Bring and Buy to new wantabee wargamers.

Without singing their praises too much, I love the original Bretonnian archers. They are easy to paint but were well sculptured and perfect for additional Billhooks and Lion Rampant units. So I sourced a few more. These are for Billhooks and are John Neville's men. 

                     The spare ones are perfect skirmishers for my Burgundian army. Ive been experimenting with a new way to paint white, so one can see the white is a blue tinge. Years ago I used a similar shade for my Aztecs. I liked it then and like it now.

Finally my contingent of heavy cavalry for Lion Rampant. These are The Bishop of Durham's men, and because Ive got a lot of spare figures I will be painting up a larger contingent. 

My first three completed figures from the box of Dungeons and Lasers figures I bought at Fiasco. For anyone interested in the box, they contain 62 figures made from a decent quality plastic. One will need to read the instructions first because they will need gluing up. The casting quality is very high and once you understand the instructions, they're a bit like Ikea by the way, even a Gibbon like me could manage to put them together neatly.

 I really like the figures, even the small number of fantasy ones. They also come with some first rate bases, again well sculptured and in high quality plastic.

This one, has a small gold coin in his hand, whilst he has a leather purse in the other. 

Also from Leeds, I bought an undercoated First Corps elephant, minus any crew or tusks. It only cost £3.00 so was happy with the purchase. Anyway Ive now supplied the model with teeth and crew, albeit a tad anachronistic but Im happy with them, which is all that counts.  

So I now have three pachyderms that just need a pile of sarrisa bearing troops to go with them.I have the figures, unpainted but not the inclination to glue them up yet.  

 

Some of this and a little of that.

It seems I complete painting my units a bit like buses and that is probably due to me not painting as regularly as I used to, God knows why. 

At the weekend I attended Fiasco in Leeds and enjoyed the experience, not because of the games, but for the retail experience. I attended with the intention of buying some Colour Party paint and ended up with all sorts including the box below. 

Do I need to make a load of medieval civilians, probably not, but the figures just looked too tempting to resist. Anyway, there are various military figures included in the box, so I had to have them. Luckily Dave Thomas kindly discounted the box a little, so effectively I was saving money.   

The actual show was good although the lighting never helps. I really feel sorry for all gamers and traders as the lighting is notoriously bad. But the venue is first rate, with good parking and of course the museum nearby. I didnt bother attempting to take any photographs simply due to the lighting.

 As a show, the club always attempt to invite trade that one doesnt normally see. You always seem to get some decent bargains and one always gets a friendly welcome. My favourite game The Yarkshire Wargamer's Italian Wars, great eye candy.

 My Lion Rampant army? is growing exponentially, and its simply because the rules are excellent and Im enjoying painting my units.These are my latest cavalry.  

I cannot help buying badly painted old figures. Sometimes they're cheap, most times they are not. I managed to buy quite a few very old Garrison Immortal infantry, when I mean old these figures must hark back to the 1970's. They are small, made of pliable metal and look out of place next to my Victrix Persians, but I really enjoyed repainting them. Bright, brash and probably non historical. Perfect really. 

I also picked up a load of light archer cavalry. Mini fig riders on Hinchliffe ancient horses. I bought them because the horses had been painted very well, using the old oils system. Once touched up and based they have added a great generic unit.

More golden oldies. This time Hinton Hunt 30mm medievals. The standard bearer was originally an artilleryman. Now they are one of my leader options for Lion Rampant.

And just to prove Im not a total dinosaur, my latest archer unit, utilizing Footsore miniatures with one Claymore casting. As one can see, there are a few Robin Hood figures in the unit, hence the Hollywood style green outfits. Well thats my excuse anyway. I must admit theyre not cheap, is anything? but very good to paint. So a productive period and I still have one more show to attend. So get yourself along to Stockton at the end of the month, a great way to end the year.

 

A trip to Newark and other ephemera.

Before we go any further, as one can see this post is a little late. The opening image is from my favourite game staged at Partizan last weekend. The image is of the Allies marching towards their positions to advance into the maelstrom created by Marshal de Saxe at Fontenoy. I itched to have a command at this game. Its one I've never fought and always wanted to, a lovely inspirational game.
 

Although I had little on my shopping list, I did want a set of the new water features created by Martin of War Bases. For £10, you get five well produced features. I gloss varnished a couple and then put a little terrain and tufts around them to see what they looked like. They look pretty good and either way are good value. 

The free figure this year was Matilda, Queen of England, again I dashed the painting off because she was a cracking figure. She is perfect for my Lion Rampant armies. 

Again one of my purchases from Newark. This time some Crusader ecclesiastical figures from Perry.

                                     I wanted them for my Billhooks and Rampant armies.

The single figures will be added to some of my Rampant units to give them extra help when needing a decent dice score. Lovely figures to paint quickly.

John very kindly gave me some skirmish archers for Rampant which again painted up quickly.

And finally my Light Infantry for Rampant. Antediluvian Miniature lovelies. Not cheap, but very, very good figures. 

And now back to the actual show. Its a hard drive for me and to be honest isnt getting any easier, especially as Id been out the night before. So was it worth the effort?

Absolutely.

 For me its the best show in the country for quality games. The best show for facilities and the best show for inspiration. This one was a quality affair with a lot of very good games to view and drool over.

I bumped into the reprobates from Durham Wargames Group who put on the Battle of Hastings. Again a game I wanted to take part in, very nice.

And now some images from my favourite game, Fontenoy staged by the Extraordinary League of Kreigspiellers??? Most of the units were the old Minden Miniatures, now available from the USA, with a smattering of other ranges. All were beautifully painted.

Fontenoy is a hard battle for the allies but a one that poses lots of tactical problems for both sides.

You will notice a bit of a theme here as my next favourite game was another SYW affair. This time by Phil Olley. Again beautifully painted figures well presented.

My favourite unit of the day, these hussars were understated but top quality. 

Richard Clarke and his men were staging several of their games, showcasing their rules. Well staged games, by a very hardworking and knowledgeable group of wargamers. 

                           
And finally.... Steve Wood grinning like a loon and Andy Callan, who staged two games showcasing the very soon to be released Never Mind the Billhooks Deluxe.  Two very nice chaps.