Zealand WIP 03

My last post of 2011 - With ten models finished, this unit is on track to be finished in the coming week...

Happy New Year! I have a lot of different projects on tap for 2012 and I'll tell you all about them in a few days.

Zealand WIP 02

Lighter coats, six models finished!

Zealand (Sjaellandske) WIP 01

The first recruits of the next battalion in my Danish Brigade:

Now that I see them in a photo, I notice the grey coats turned out a little darker than I wanted so they are in need of another highlight. I was concerned about not having enough contrast between the grey coats and white stockings (which I never bring up to pure white on campaign uniforms), but I think the mud spatter will take care of that anyway! Anyway, as you can see, this unit will be depicted in a gun line. Most of the command figures will be in the second rank as it makes for a more effective presentation with small wargames units if the models are dealing death across the entire face of the battalion.

Now these lads are off to the tailor for some lighter fabric, which they will be sporting in WIP 02!

Danish Foot Guard (Garden til Fods)

I finally had the chance to base my first unit of Warfare Miniatures...

This is also a first look at one of the flag sets we will soon offer through Warfare Miniatures. Details soon...

Merry Christmas!

Bountiful Christmas

Wishing You a Bountiful Christmas and New Year

This was the Christmas Card we sent out this year and I wanted to share it with all of my friends who visit the blog. I also wanted to show off a little - for those who don't know, my wife Sara is also an artist and the picture above is a photograph I took of a painting that she finished last week. It is an acrylic on canvas, 36x27", and will soon hang in our dining room (when I get around to finishing the assembly of the frame).

I want to wish each of you and your families a Merry Christmas!

SAGA News

Yesterday I received my long awaited SAGA dice! I pre-ordered sets for Normans and Vikings months ago. Production problems delayed shipment, but they have arrived just in time for Christmas - hopefully the impetus I need to paint up my Norman warband!

In other news, Gripping Beast has just announced the first supplement for the game is due out in the first quarter of 2012! Northern Fury will give us 4 new factions to lead into battle, and contains the Battleboards and rules needed to play these warbands. It also has new Heroes of Viking Age for these factions plus a specially designed multi-player scenario.

    

The new factions in the Northern Fury supplement are:

• The Bretons - These warriors fought on horseback using javelins and hit and run tactics to disrupt their enemies before dealing that killer blow.
• The Jomsvikings - Pagan warriors who's wrath and ferocity was legendry, historians still argue about their existence, but now you can field them in your games.
• The Scots - Descendants of the Irish migrants established on the western coasts of Caledonia, the Scots whose spears invited death to all who came near.
• The Anglo-Saxons - Sons of Ælfred the Great, they were known for courage and tenacity in battle, the Vikings feared them and rightly so, at the Battle of Brunanburh the seeds of England were sown.

New Artillery Offer from Warfare Miniatures!

Pre-orders for the FIELD GUN and POSITIONAL GUN can now be placed in the League of Augsburg Shop. The guns come with 4 and 6 crew respectively.

The guns are ready but the crews will not be available for a couple of weeks. We are taking preorders now and to make that a little sweet we are offering two added bonuses:

1. any order OVER £40.00 and including a gun will ship free till Jan 15.
2. The first 30 orders for each gun will receive a free limber (as yet unreleased) free with the order. If you order one of each gun and it is within the first 30 you'll get 2 limbers free.

Painted and Photographed by Barry Hilton

There are also two new codes in the shop: WLOA12 and WLOA13; These are the long awaited mixed codes to allow you to add even more variety to your units!

Danish Foot Guard WIP - 03

All of the models are finished. I've decided not to use the washes. It doesn't look bad, but as others pointed out in the earlier post, they don't really need the extra step.

I would like to point out Danish grenadiers probably did not wear fur caps in Ireland (my chosen theater). It would be more accurate to portray them in cloth caps or even floppy hats like the rest of the unit. For the purposes of my wargame unit, I chose these models because their pose matched the advancing posture of the rest of the unit. I'll base these troops properly over the next few days and have the finished unit for display, flags and all!

Warfare Miniature Personalities

The sculptor's brief was to portray Patrick Sarsfield as a true hero in the Irish tradition - fearless, cavalier, full of dash and derring do. I think this is captured perfectly in this absolutely beautiful piece of work. I can't wait to get my hands on this model!

You can see the other three personality models in the League of Augsburg gallery, including King William III, King James II, and Marquis de St Ruhe (Ruth)!

Games Workshop Washes

I am experimenting with using Citadel washes from Games Workshop to unify the colors and add depth to my models. The concept works along the same lines as the Army Painter Quickshade dips with several differences. The Games Workshop washes have a high degree of transparency, but maintain a strong color even when watered down, which means I can simply apply the wash to the entire model AFTER I've finished all of my other painting. They dry flat and thus require a much lighter coat of varnish to seal. These washes are also water soluble so I don't need to keep turpentine around and I can use my normal brushes to apply it. Of course, the Citadel washes are much more costly than Army Painter since they come in a little bitty jar...

Here is one of the models I painted for the uniform guide in Beneath the Lily Banners.

The model on the left is finished in my normal painting style, simple layers, sans washes. In the photo on the right a simple wash of Gryphonne Sepia has been applied to the entire model, though I was careful not to let any areas 'puddle up' by removing the excess with a clean, dry brush (works like a sponge). The wash seems to add a richer tone and a generally smoother finish with the only sacrifice being an extra two minutes.

In the end, it may not even be necessary. Opinions would be appreciated...

Danish Foot Guard - WIP 02

One stand worth of minis finished, though not in their final grouping. The right hand base will consist of four foot and two grenadiers. The central stand will be an officer, two ensigns, a drummer, and one foot (but will count as six models for game purposes). The third stand will be five foot and a sergeant...

Danish Foot Guard (Garden til Fods) - WIP 01

I have finally gotten around to digging into my Warfare Miniatures pile and sorted out the models for four battalions of foot, destined for a Danish brigade for the campaign In Ireland 1690. Of course these units will be based for Beneath the Lily Banners which means I will need units of 15-18 models (3 stands of 5-6 models). The rules are quite liberal as far as frontage goes - anything from 15-20mm per model will work fine. I've opted for 50x50mm bases because I like the way they looked with my AWI units.

Here are my first two dashing lads from the Danish Foot Guard or Garden til Fods. These models are from the WOLA4 Musketeer Advancing pack which make up the rank and file. I removed the fixed plug bayonets, but that left me with empty scabbards on their belts. I simply cut down the blade of the bayonet to serve as the plug and glued the tiny contraption to the coat above the scabbard (you can see this clearly on the right hand model).

I want this army to have a very hard, campaign look so they'll normally be sporting scruffy chins and muddy boots. The coats and trousers were painted with Foundry Boneyard A and highlighted with Foundry Boneyard B. The cuffs, waistcoat, and stockings were painted with Vallejo Red (70926), Flat Red (70957), and final highlights of Scarlet (817).

I'll post these 'real time' as I finish them (and as I get the chance to take photos) for a running Work in Progress series.

Warfare Miniatures US Agent

Warfare Miniatures has concluded an agreement to sell products through an agent in the United States of America.

From January 2012, Triangle Miniatures in Raleigh, North Carolina will carry the full range of Warfare Miniatures products. Triangle already sells Republic to Empire and Beneath the Lily Banners. Triangle Miniatures has a great reputation for service is run by Buddy Hoch who has over 30 years experience in the hobby and is well known. This will mean quick and service and of course nice and cheap postal rates if you are a North American customer.

In the UK and for other markets the arrangements remain the same with The League of Augsburg (which will have a shop upgrade over the Christmas break) and Northstar Military Figures handling web sales. Warfare Miniatures will also continue to be available at shows through Mr Dave Thomas.

Warfare Miniatures

I wanted to post these pics for two reasons - first they not only show more great Warfare Miniatures, but I also designed them (using photos of Barry Hilton's growing collection) and they will appear as a double-page spread in an upcoming Wargames Illustrated...

Breaking a bit of news (there is a small preview in the ad), I will be designing a range of flag sheets to compliment the Warfare Miniature line. The first sets will cover the Jacobite Wars. Many will be useful for other theaters of the period, but we will be concentrating first on the units that fought in Ireland and Scotland. They will be done in the style of my free AWI flags. Besides the known flags of the theater we will offer a range of fictional flags suitable for filling in units where history hasn't endured (Many of the Jacobite devices in particular are unknown).

As usual, keep an eye here and at the League of Augsburg site for more details!

Christmas Comes Early

When I got home this afternoon from running some errands there was a box on my porch with the telltale Customs Declaration tag and Royal Mail sticker that declares a package from the UK. Inside were well over 100 Warfare Miniature castings - enough to build at least five battalions for Beneath the Lily Banners! I've painted a dozen or so of these models for inclusion in the uniform guides, but this will be my first chance to turn out full units.

My campaign of focus will be the Boyne/Augrim theater and the battle for the English Crown. My plans are to start out with the Williamite army, specifically with a Danish Brigade. The Danish regiments in Ireland appear to have been:

Garden til Fods (Foot Guard)
Dronningen (Queen's) Regiment
Prince George's Regiment
Prince Karl's Regiment
Prince Christian's Regiment
Jyske (Jutland) Regiment
Sjaellandske (Zealand) Regiment
Fynske (Funen) Regiment

For my wargames army, I think a brigade of four units will suffice and will include the Foot Guards. I'll decide on exactly which units will back them up as I get on. I am still gathering material on the uniforms and flags. I have read that the Danish troops apparently did not carry pikes in Ireland so these units will count as 'All Musket' in BLB. However, I will probably paint the pike stands for the non-guard units - one of the great benefits of this period is the similarity of uniforms between armies and the grey-coated Danes might easily pass for troops from other nations with a quick change of flags!

I have really become mildly obsessed with this period so look for 2012 to be full of units from 1690. I plan on adding two battalions of Dutch Guard, a mixed unit of Grenadiers, and a mixed brigade of English and Huguenot troops to round out my Williamite foot. Maybe by the time I get that far, the horse and dragoons from Warfare Miniatures will be out!

I should also mention that we are working on the first supplement for BLB that will focus on the Jacobite Wars in Scotland and Ireland (it's no coincidence that my first collections will be from this theater). This book is set to include an overview of the campaigns, more than twenty scenarios, and an extensive guide to armies,uniforms, and flags.

Fun stuff!

Viking Berserkers

These are the first of my 'new' Vikings, meaning that I painted them last week. Berserkers are treated as Hearthguard with a bonus in melee and a penalty on their armor.

Viking Levy

Here are four of my Viking Levy models. I still need to paint a few more to field a SAGA 'legal' 12-model unit. If I had any criticism of SAGA so far it would be in requiring the 12-model units be bow armed. Archers would have been very rare in any Viking army, but any warband resorting to Levy end up with what seems like a disproportionate number of them. They aren't great troops and they probably need the numbers to be effective, but my 6-point SAGA warband has 41 models and with 12 Levy, that's roughly a third of my force with bows. Of course, to satisfy my issue I can replace the whole lot with another band of Hearthguard or Warriors and ditch the arrows entirely. Maybe I'll use them for my Anglo-Danish warband...

My Normans arrived this week, but I've got a commission to finish up before I can start on them...

New Warfare Miniatures

There are three new codes from the Warfare Miniatures line available at the LoA Shop! There are lots of exciting plans for this range we should see new codes on a regular basis. Artillery and senior officers will follow before the end of November 2011!

WLOA10 Dismounted Dragoons with Hats

WLOA11 Grenadiers in Fur Caps Storming the Breach

WLOA14 Casualties

The Dragoons and casualties were painted by Barry Hilton (there will be painted examples of Grenadiers on the LoA site soon).

Viking Warriors

Here are a few of the warriors that will form one of the units in my Viking Saga warband (click on each image to see a larger pic)...

Next week I'll post some pics of a few Viking Levy...

Virginia Militia

I have FINALLY finished my third AWI militia unit...

It was my original intention to use the Culpeper Militia flag, but after I finished the unit I decided to make it more personal and designed a flag to represent a militia unit raised in the Williamsburg Military District. This is purely conjecture based on the Albemarle Military District flag and here is a bonus Flag Monday flag!

 

More Vikings next week and some TYW photos...

Viking Hearthguard

The photos for my Saga Vikings I posted last week were old so I thought I'd take some better pictures (click on each image to see a larger pic)...

These are Wargames Foundry models sculpted by Mark Sims (as are all of my Vikings). These stalwart veterans will form one of my Viking Hearthguard units.

SAGA

My life seems to FINALLY be returning to normal so I can get in some quality hobby time besides Flag Monday (Don't worry - that feature should continue at least through the rest of the year). I have another unit of AWI militia finished and awaiting photography, a unit of TYW infantry around the half way mark, a load of Warfare Miniatures in the mail, and of course I decided to start something new...

I check in over at Dave Imrie's Saxon Dog blog just about every day and he has an annoying habit of making me want to paint the same period he's working on (and he changes gears as often as I do). A week or so ago, he posted a small Anglo-Dane warband designed for use with the new SAGA game from Gripping Beast. I'd heard some interesting things about this game (including Dave writing "I have played 'Saga' three or four times at the SESW Club and I have to say...I'm hooked!") so I ordered a copy and it arrived yesterday. After reading through the rules (yes I read the whole book in a day - not only does it seem like an easy game, it was a fun read) I can't wait to them out.

Without going into great detail about the rules (I can if anyone wants, but there is a great review at The Man Cave), warbands are built with a very simple point system. The Warlord who leads the force (and your alter ego in miniature) is required and is free. Remaining models cost one point per group and the number of models in each depends on the class of troops you choose... 4 Hearthguard, 8 Warriors, or 12 Levy. The basic intro game requires only four points of models, moving to six points standard once you get the hang of things. Once purchased, models are grouped into units of 4-12 models. For instance, if you spend three points on Hearthguard, you could field them as one unit of 12 models, two units of 6 models, three units of 4 models, etc. You can play your first games with only 30 or 40 models per side.

Here's the great part. I ALREADY HAVE enough Vikings painted to field a four and a half point warband (the half point comes from only having six archer levy)!

These models are left over from a WAB project I started YEARS ago. I have nearly sold off this collection several times and I'm glad I didn't. They were painted with my first foray into the Kevin Dallimore style and happen to still resemble my work today. I want to go back and weather them a bit, beat up their shields to give a more battle worn appearance, and touch up the bases, but with the addition of ten models (4 berserkers and 6 archers which I already have in my unpainted mountain of lead) I can field the following six point SAGA Viking Warband:

1 Warlord (Weglaf Ravenshelm)
2 units of Viking Hearthguard (4 models each)
1 unit of Viking Berserkers (4 models)
2 units of Viking Warriors (one unit of 12 models and a reserve of 4 models)
2 units of Viking Levy (6 models each)

The actual composition might vary once I get a few games in, but you get the idea. This afternoon I dropped enough cash on the Perry site to get a six point Norman army (based on their minis from the Crusaders line). There may be a few anachronistic details for games set before 1066, but I think they will work well enough for a heroic style skirmish game.

I am looking forward to getting back into a regular painting groove and hopefully updates will come on a more regular basis in the future.