Dispatches from the Mess

28mm Napoleonic Horse Artillery

2012-02-04T23:40:00.000-08:00

An Alladin's Cave for wargamers in the 1990s

Way back in the early 1990s I travelled throughout the UK and Europe with my then girlfriend and now longer suffering and patient wife. It was during this time that I purchased my first lot of metal figures from the famous wargaming shop, 'The Guardroom' in Dunstable. I'm not sure if it is still operating as a business but I have fond memories of spending an hour or two each time I visited the place, much to my wife's frustration. They specialised in selling ready-made armies covering all periods and scales. It was this marketing ploy that convinced me to visit the shop and spend several thousand NZ dollars (something that is only a dream now that I have a family and mortgage!) buying Napoleonic French and British 25/28 mm armies, as well as Confederate and Union forces for the American Civil War. At the time I had to buy competing armies as I was a solo gamer living hours away from a wargaming club.

All the Napoleonic figures were Essex figures, whose poses seem somewhat dated in 2012, but were fantastic to me back then when all I had previously owned were 1/72 scale plastic figures with limited details to paint. After spending so much money purchasing my new metal warriors, I went even further in paying someone else to paint and base them for me....something I would never consider now. They were based with balsa wood which proved too weak to sustain the battering my armies got in the September 2010 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck Christchurch. The silver lining to this event was that I was forced to re-base the troops on MDF stands that should last the distance.

French line horse artillery

Royal Horse artillery supported by the 12th Light Dragoons

Over the festive season I finally got around to re-basing the horse artillery stands for both the French and British. I had to do a bit of touching up with the paint work and had some trouble matching the colours...but I'm not too worried about the end result. I didn't have any spare British artillery pieces to attach to the limbers, so I've used spare ACW cannons instead....not ideal but only the purists would notice.

Woodland Indians

2012-01-29T18:26:00.000-08:00

In keeping with my intention to focus on painting up units from the Horse and Musket era in 2012, my latest completed unit is a war party of 18th century North American woodland indians. Almost all of the figures are from the superb range produced by Perry miniatures, apart from the two chiefs dressed in French military coats that are Front Rank figures. The Perry figures are slightly smaller than the Front Rank items but that doesn't seem to be an issue once they are painted. Both product ranges are highly detailed, making them easier to paint. I particularly like the poses created by the Perry twins which seem more life-like than some other manufacturers.

These proved fast to paint but I did have some difficulty in getting the right look in regard to war paint on the faces. In the end I kept it simple mainly due to my limited painting skills and left it up to a bit of dry brushing and washes to bring out the details of the figures.

I intend to use the war band for both the French & Indian War and the American War of Independence.

I'm currently working on Canadian militia and coureur de bois to accompany the indians, while I've just undercoated a unit of Front Rank FitzJames' Horse which will be my first SYW French cavalry regiment.

Zombies

2012-01-23T02:38:00.000-08:00

Geoff Martin of the Southern Strategists recently light-heartedly described me as a 'wargaming snob' in that I have only ever shown any interest in gaming historical periods. However, I prefer to consider myself a 'wargaming purist' as it is the history of war and the human experience of it that is reflected in the gaming I prefer. Needless to say I was somewhat sceptical of any enjoyment factor when Geoff proposed that we have a zombie game at the Mess last week. I had previously only experienced fighting against zombies once in a Victoriana African exploration game where they proved near impossible to kill....and of course to the purist fighting zombies is hysterical not historical!

Never the less, the zombie game was held and fun was had by all who played. Geoff and his mate Bradley have constructed a shopping mall model for their zombie project which includes a car park, a number of shops and cafes, as well as an escalator. While this model is yet to be completed, it proved an ideal layout for such a game where three of us played as humans, with three character figures each, while my 10-year-old son and his friend played the multitude of zombies that we had to combat.

The aim of the game was for the humans to enter the mall from the car park, search the shops within the mall for a number of packages and ammunition, and return to the car park with the items without losing any characters. Each character was armed with a variety of weapons, including swords, pistols, shotguns and a chainsaw (which came in very handy for cutting through walls).

The scenario proved to be challenging but the humans gained a minor victory by retrieving most of the loot and escaping while losing only two characters. Sadly, one of my characters ( the bald guy with the Samurai sword) drew a dud chance card that saw him being surrounded and killed by zombies only a few steps away from the finish line. I like to think he sacrificed himself so that the others could survive.

This proved a very enjoyable and simple game that was fast moving and held the interest of all the players. The kids thought the game was 'cool' and it certainly proved fun trying not to be killed by an every-increasing horde of undead. However, it's unlikely I will be dragged in to playing such a game very often as for this 'purist' it was certainly on the fringe of what I consider wargaming.

The Shopping Mall and car park. Entry to the mall was through the glass doors at the front

The humans being attacked by zombies as they first enter the mall to begin their search.

The humans escaping and about to cross the finish line as the zombies close in on them.

My samurai sword character holding off the zombies so that the others could escape...well that's my version of events anyway.

My three characters at the start of the game approaching the mall. The shotgun-wielding cop and the samurai sword bloke proved very effective in disposing of zombies.

Rodger Wood took the photographs of the game and more of them will be able to be seen on the Southern Strategists blog once he uploads his report of the game....hopefully this week sometime.

SYW Highland Foot Regiment

2012-01-10T18:44:00.000-08:00

It's been a long while since my last post, which indicates the small amount of painting on my part and lack of games being held at the Mess. However, just prior to Christmas I finished painting and basing a unit of 25/28 mm Seven Years War Highlanders. The battalion mainly consists of 25mm Dixon figures, although it also includes some 28mm Front Rank troops as well as 'Big Wully' who arrived at the Mess with my copy of the 'The Last Argument of Kings' from Warlord Games. Actually, two 'Big Wully' figures are included in the unit as Warlord kindly supplied me a second figure after the original had arrived with a bent and broken sword. The Front Rank figures were included in the command stand as the Dixon standard bearers were too small to accommodate the favoured GMB flags that I use.

I originally intended this unit to portray the Black Watch for my '45 and SYW projects, hence the buff coloured facings. The regiment didn't get royal blue facings until 1758 so I figured I could get away with the facing colour for the early part of the French & Indian War. However, several other Highland regiments had buff or yellow facings during the period which allows me to make the unit fairly generic. GMB currently don't have the buff regimental flag for the 42nd Foot (Black Watch) so I've just used one that I already had from my AWI collection.

Most of my battalions for this period consist of 6 stands of 4 figures, but in this case I have gone for 8 stands of 3 figures (apart from the command stand). I did this so that I could portray the regiment as skirmishers as well as making it a bigger unit numerically. The Highland battalions were historically larger than normal foot battalions in the British Army as many Highlanders flocked to the colours to avoid starvation and poverty in the mid 18th century. There are also more officers in this unit than I would normally include, but again this was historically correct.

I've also painted an individual dismounted senior officer. The Front Rank figure is of Lord Loudon but could be used as a generic commander.

I'm currently working on finishing a warband of Perry Woodland indians, as well as Canadian militia and Coureur du bois. Despite friendly pressure from other Southern Strategists, this year I'm determined not to be side-tracked into other projects until I have finally complete my own projects.....this could take a while!

Napoleonic naval game at Conquest 2011

2011-10-30T01:14:00.000-07:00

For the past few years I promised myself that I wouldn't get caught in the trap of having to paint up units at the last minute for demo games at the annual 'Conquest' convention held in Christchurch during October. Sadly, yet a gain I set a low standard and failed to achieve it in this regard.

This year the Southern Strategists decided to have a Napoleonic naval battle using the superbly detailed 1/700 ships from the Skytrex range. The bulk of the fleets had been painted by Dave Houston who had introduced the group to naval wargaming last year. As a sign of 'solidarity' (a socialist term frowned upon by Dave who is our resident law firm partner and card-carrying member of the ultra-conservative 'Act' Party here in NZ), we all decided to buy and paint up at least one ship each to provide a sizable game. Several months out from the event another member of the group pushed for the demo game to be a 28mm Victoriana Dark Africa skirmish game. 'Great' I thought as that meant I didn't have to supply any newly painted troops. However, the gaming gods were against me as three weeks out from the convention our Victoriana specialist panicked at the thought of transporting all the required terrain to the show and suggested we revert back to the naval game. 'Bugger' I cried as I that meant I now had to rush to paint up two 3rd Rate ships that were languishing in my lead pile. So, yet again I was still finishing off the ships in the wee hours of the morning before the game, cursing at fingers glued together while try to add rat-lines and rigging. As it turned out my ships entered the fray without any 'colours' and banners due to frustration and tiredness getting the better of me.

Fortunately the effort was worth it as our game received plenty of public attention throughout the day and was a novelty for those use to gaming tables covered with armies instead of model ships. Although not based on any specific battle, the game played using Warhammer Trafalgar rules proved somewhat historical in that both fleets (Franco-Spanish alliance against the Royal Navy) fought until they were near exhaustion, with wind direction determining manoeuvring.

Sadly, my two ships, the 'Berwick ( a French 74-gunner) and the HMS Defiance (another 74-gunner that was seconded to the Franco-Spanish fleet for the game) came to a sticky end on their first outing; the 'Berwick' blew up after leading the vanguard of the Allied fleet, with the 'Defiance' having to strike it's colours after losing all it's cannons and crew. Still, a very enjoyable wargaming genre that provided some variety to the convention and hours of satisfying gaming and convivial banter.

The Southern Strategists table at Conquest...only a few paces from the bar as usual!

Rodger Wood took some images of the game and convention which he will put on his blog 'Rebel Barracks' and the Southern Strategist blog in due course. The convention and swap-meet was well supported as usual, but the most striking image he took records the only female gamer at the convention fully engaged in the 'Flames of War' competition. This sparked some light-hearted suggestion amongst our group that she had an unfair advantage over her opponents in that most male gamers would feel distracted by her womanly qualities and fail to ruthlessly attack her forces, giving her victory. It was certainly unusual but refreshing to see a woman getting involved in such a male dominated hobby.

The valiant but hapless "Berwick" - blown to pieces in it's first engagement

The Berwick before sinking

The fleets collide...the Berwick about to take on three British ships (top centre)

Is that the rule book or a Womens Weekly that she's reading?

HMS Defiance firing a broadside

The Defiance in action before losing her cannon and crew

Now that these ships are done I can get back to my French & Indian War/ Seven Years War project that I have struggled to finish.....

1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot -Seven Years War

2011-10-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I placed a post of the blog, which is mainly due to my slow painting of figures. I've got a few projects on the go, but watching the rugby World Cup, which is being played here in New Zealand, has been a bit of a distraction as well.

I've just finished painting and basing the 1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot for my Seven Years War project. These are the superb 28mm Front Rank figures that I love due to the detail that makes them easy to paint. This is only the second British regiment that I have painted so far and this time I changed the painting style; previously when painting faces I left black shading from the under-coat and painted in the eyes. However, this time I just gave the faces and hands a wash using Citadel's Gryphonne Sepia wash. This certainly cut down on painting time but the jury is still out on the final result....my 10-year-old son is my greatest critic of my painting and he prefers my previous painting style.

These units should prove very versatile as I intend to use them in my '45 project, along with gaming the French & Indian War and the Seven Years War in Europe. I'm currently in the process of finishing off some 25mm Dixon Seven Year War Highlanders that I'm painting up as the 42nd Foot (The Black Watch). I have these troops wearing buff facings so that I can use them for the '45 project, as well as for the French & Indian War. The only problem that I have struck with them is that the Dixon standard bearers come with the flag pole attached and are too small for the GMB flags that I use. To remedy this I had to order a couple of Front Rank standard bearers so that the regiment could proudly display their colours. I'm not too worried about the size difference as I have also included in the unit the 'Wee Wully' Highland officer that was free with the Last Argument of Kings supplement for the Black Powder rules; this figure is larger than the Dixon figures but should fit well with the Front Rank standard bearers on the same stand. The blue facing of this unit is much darker than the photos portray, using Vallejo Imperial Blue to get the right dark shade required.

I've also included in this post my newly re-based British Legion cavalry from my American War of Independence British Army. I've had this unit for some time but they suffered casualties in the September 2010 earthquake that struck Christchurch. Hence, they have received a fresh coat of paint and have had their balsa wood bases replaced with mdf ones....and nicer flocking.

Another long term project has been the building of an 18th century brigantine from the plans Gary Chalk published in Wargames Illustrated in the 1990s. Again, this has been a slow process but I thought I should provide a photo of the progress made so far. At this stage I have the 'bones' of the ship together but with plenty of work still to come. Originally I intended this to be a pirate ship but will ensure I have a number of different flags to attach to it to provide some versatility in what I can use it for. I've already decided to call it the 'King James' in honour of my Irish Jacobite ancestors, so I suppose that prevents it from being part of the Royal Navy....meaning I'll have to produce a second ship to fight against it.

1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot

Royal regiments had dark blue facings and, in the case of the 1st Foot the officers & drummers, had Royal gold/ yellow lace

Tarleton leads his British Legion cavalry

Front Rank British Legion cavalry 'refitted' & ready for action

The brigantine 'King James' under construction- fortunately I haven't glued the masts and bowsprit in yet as it appears the bowsprit is too long and I need to swap the masts around....still a work in progress!

Oh, I just about forgot to mention that the book I recently wrote for Osprey, 'The New Zealand Expeditionary Force in World War 1,' is due to be released on 18 October. The artwork by Mike Chappell is simply superb and I'm thrilled that he has agreed to be part of the second project covering 2NZEF in World War 2, which won't be released until late 2012/ early 2013.

25mm North American buildings

2011-08-15T00:18:00.000-07:00

Christchurch is in the grips of a polar snow storm today, with businesses and schools closed. This meant that there was little chance of me getting any writing done with my wife and kids home for the day as well. The silver lining was that it gave me an opportunity to introduce my 9-year-old son to painting terrain. He has been keen to start painting paint figures but I thought he could start by undercoating some stone walls that have been languishing unpainted for a number of years. A wargaming colleague from Wellington has a teenage son who does the basic painting of his figures, and if I'm ever to see the end of my lead mountain then I will eventually follow the same path.
This afternoon I also photographed some 25mm North American building that I finished painting in the last couple of weeks. I 'rescued' them second-hand from one of my fellow Southern Strategists who had them for sale in the annual wargaming swap-meet here in the 'garden city.' I think they were originally purchased from Military Miniatures in Auckland and designed by Mark Strachan. When I received them they were in a semi-painted state and gave the appearance of being from a long-forgotten project that had died through lack in interest. So, one man's junk became another man's treasure.

After a new black under-coat, a top coat and then some dry brushing...plus some basic flocking...they were ready to make an appearance in any future AWI or ACW games. The general store, log cabin and barn are smaller than the Hovels buildings that I have for the same periods but should be ok if placed together as a small hamlet or farm.

Napoleonic French Vivandiere

2011-07-31T19:30:00.000-07:00

Recently Warlord Games released a Napoleonic French vivandiere figure with an accompanying donkey. At about the same time they also released a 4-piece mule train in their 'Pike & Shotte' range. I had been thinking of securing both sets to provide some baggage for my armies and their world-wide free postage deal inspired me to make the purchase. The vivandiere set is the first to see a coat of paint and I saw this project as a nice wee interlude while painting several large battalions. The great thing about this set is that it came with a choice of heads and arms to attach, providing alternative poses and hat selections. I chose to have my vivandiere armed with a pistol and having her brimmed hat turned up. As my Napoleonic French army is based on a Peninsular force I figured she needed to be able to defend herself from Spanish guerrillas and drunken French soldiers who fancied their chances in a bit of 'slap & tickle'. She has yet to see any campaigning and I'm yet to provide her with an appropriate sobriquet. I'm open to any suggestions!

Napoleonic- 12th Light Dragoons

2011-07-22T17:53:00.000-07:00

Way back in 1994 when I last visited the UK I had a bit of a spend up at the Guardroom wargaming shop in Dunstable. They specialised in providing ready made armies for those gamers who were starting out building up new metal armies. I had purchased four of these armies when I had been in the UK in 1991 and by 1994 I needed to fill some gaps in these. To that end, the purchases in 1994 included a 12-figure regiment pack of Essex 28mm Napoleonic British Light Dragoons that I needed for my Peninsula project. For 16 years they languished in a box unpainted until last year when I determined to paint them up for a demo game that the Southern Strategists put on at the annual 'Conquest' convention here in Christchurch.

Although another gamer got to command them in their first outing...and I got to fight against them...they performed well. However, at the time they didn't have a standard, which I have recently rectified. Hence, these images were taken recently to celebrate them receiving their new superb GMB standard.

I chose to paint them up as the '12th' mainly because I had access to some colour photos of the 12th Light Dragoon reenactment group to use as references, plus I liked the yellow facings that made a great contrast to the dark blue jackets. I still have a unit each of heavy dragoons and Hussars to paint for the project, but they will probably remain in their packets until next year.

New Osprey Men-at-Arms title- New Zealand Expeditionary Force in WW1

2011-07-21T01:35:00.000-07:00

Some followers of this blog may be aware that over the last couple of years I have been researching and writing a PhD thesis on the Officer Corps of the New Zealand Army, covering WW1 and WW2. It has been a great journey so far and along the way I thought that it would be good if somebody wrote an Osprey title covering the NZ forces of this era. When I suggested it to Osprey they asked if I would be interested in doing it. As a result the first title 'The New Zealand Expeditionary Force in World War 1' is due for release in October. A second title 'The NZ Expeditionary Force in WW2' won't be released until early 2013 due to the number of projects Osprey already have pending, but work is already well underway.

Researching and writing the book was certainly a learning experience for me, especially in regard to the various uniform details covering the different corps within the force. I have been fortunate in receiving expert advice and guidance from a number of other NZ military scholars which has ensured the book is more accurate than it would have been without their help. I have also been able to reproduce a large number of photographs that have never been published before which will make this book unique.To top it off, Osprey secured the services of Mike Chappell, an outstanding military illustrator, who has provided the superb colour plates of various uniforms and equipment.

I have a sizable collection of Osprey titles which I have gathered over the years, but I never thought one of them would be one I wrote myself. Although I know all the information inside the book, I can't wait to get a printed copy in my hands.

Dark Ages Saxon Cavalry

2011-07-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

Last week I finished off a unit of Saxon cavalry to complement the two Huscarl war bands that featured in a previous posting. I rushed to get these done for a fortnightly game that Rodger Wood was putting on for the Southern Strategists here in Christchurch. Sadly, I was AWOL for the game due to rugby coaching duties but the fantastic lay-out can be seen on Rodger's blog at http://rebelbarracks.blogspot.com

I found these figures easy to paint and had intended to 'tart' them up a bit by using commercial slide transfers on the shields from Little Big Men Studios. However, I ended up painting them myself so that they would be ready for the game...alas, it wasn't an issue in the end. I intend to use the figure on the grey horse as the overall leader of my Saxon horde. I still have two 'Fyrd' war bands left to paint up but these will have to wait as other projects have priority at the moment. Perhaps I will have to purchase a small contingent of archers to provide some missile firing to soften up the enemy, which I think will complete my small Saxon force.

I may have mentioned before that my main interest is in the 'Horse & Musket' periods, and to this end I'm currently working on a Seven Year War project. I'm half way through painting up a British infantry regiment to add to the one I had painted a few years ago. It's been a bit of a drawn out process, being distracted by other projects taken on by the Southern Strategists, but I'm determined to see this through over the next year or so...time will tell.

Zulu War - Natal Carbineers

2011-06-11T22:37:00.000-07:00

Late last year I discovered the superb 28mm range of Empress Miniatures. I initially purchased some of their dismounted Natal Carbineers to be included in my small Zulu War British force. I had already painted up a company of Black Tree British infantry and the Carbineers were needed to provide a mobile scouting element.

Once the Carbineer figures arrived I realised that they were slightly smaller than the Black Tree troops, but when painted up and mounted the difference wasn't a problem. These figures had come under some criticism on the TMP forum regarding the over-sized spikes on the helmets, but in my opinion they look fine.

Earlier this year I purchased the newly released mounted Natal Carbineers so that I could portray the unit scouting and skirmishing dismounted. At the time there was no mounted officer available in the range but this has since been rectified. The officers now come in a single pack that has one mounted and one dismounted officer wearing a braided jacket...which is on my purchasing list.

The figures have lots of detail, almost no flashing to remove and are easy to paint.....and the quick and friendly service I received from Empress makes me want to spend more money with them.

Saxon Huscarls

2011-05-27T02:04:00.000-07:00

Although 'Horse & Musket' is my favourite period, somehow I managed to allow myself to be convinced by several of the Southern Strategist boys to delve into the Dark Ages. I'm not sure how this happened but their argument that I wouldn't have to paint a whole army...only 2 or 3 warbands...may have clinched the deal. The other blokes had already bought a horde of 28mm Renegade figures, so I followed suit. To be quite honest, it was fairly painless buying the few figures that I needed as Renegade remain some of the cheapest 28mm metal figures on the market.
As usual, I ended up buying more figures than I had originally intended. However, they were quick and easy to paint compared to Napoleonic or Lace Wars battalions that I'm use to. The agreed size of the warbands was only 12 figures per unit, so I decided to initially paint up two units to begin with. The most fun was had deciding on the shield designs, which I painted myself in the end after initially toying with the idea of buying the superb slide transfers from Little Big Men Studios. I'm sure they would have enhanced the end result but I took the cheaper option.
In the past I have painted in the eyes of my figures, but now rely on washes to bring out the facial features. This technique works well with finely sculpted figures, such as Front Rank, but Renegade are not as defined which gave a less than desirable result. That said, Renegade figures are robust and solid, which I like...and competitively priced as well.

This project also gave me an opportunity to attempt to make my own cloth banners. I had read several articles where gamers had used cotton cloth to make flags, so I thought I would give it a go. I thought I would keep it simple to begin with by tracing the outline of Celtic crosses on the pieces of cloth that I had cut out...then I painted the whole piece with watered down PVA glue to stiffen it. This was followed by adding the colours using Vallejo acrylics. The banners were then glued to cross standards that I put together using florist wire. A fairly average result but I intend to be a bit more adventurous when I paint up the mounted troops and two units of Saxon fyrd that are still in their packets. The figures were based for skirmish games but I painted and flocked a couple of Citadel unit bases to move the unit around when they are to be used in large battles.

AWI Black Powder game at the Redoubt

2011-05-14T22:17:00.000-07:00

The British left flank advancing from Freeman's Farm to engage the rebels. All the 28mm figures are from Front Rank.

British grenadiers advancing and supported by light infantry, Royal Artillery and Hessian grenadiers. The farm house and fences were scratch built by Rodger Wood.

The 5th Foot advancing to the beat of the drum in parade ground fashion.

The British centre and left flank attacks engaging the rebels.

The 42nd Foot (The Black Watch), supported by the 47th Foot, exchange volley fire with rebel militia.

The 5th Foot in melee with rebel militia.

My Royal Artillery supported by Dave Houston's superbly painted Hessian grenadiers.

Last week the Southern Strategists gathered together at their home base at the Redwood Redoubt after it had been out of commission for a number of weeks. In celebration an American War of Independence game based on Freeman's Farm was put on using the Black Powder rules. A full report of the game will eventually be posted on the Southern Strategists blog but I thought I would take the opportunity to post some of Gavin Bowden's images of my British troops in action. Although these guys are veterans of a number of battles over the years, they have only just been reformed after suffering considerable casualties as a result of the September 7.1 earthquake here in Christchurch. The troops had previously been based using Balsa, but the figures are now standing firm on MDF and have been flocked with my new system. A number of bayonets had to be super-glued back on, flags needed re-attaching, cannons needed re-assembling, officers needed remounting and most troops needed their uniforms touched up with a bit of paint, even though they had all received a coat of protective varnish when they were originally painted. I have still to re-base and re-mount the 17th Light Dragoons and Tarleton's British Legion Dragoons but that's not such a big job for me to do over the next few weeks.
I've been a bit slack in posting lately but I finally got back into painting after finishing my first Osprey title which proved quite time consuming.....more on that later. This week I've completed a mounted detachment of Empress Miniatures Natal Carbineers that I started painting way back in December last year! I'm also near completing two foot units of Renegade Dark Ages Saxons.....so I can feel a photo shoot coming on to record the occasion......so much unpainted lead, but so little time to fix it!

Let the battle commence!

2011-04-12T05:45:00.000-07:00

Finally, after a year of disruptions The Mess hosted it's first miniature battle. I hosted the Southern Strategists for our fortnightly game, which is usually held at the Redwood Redoubt but has been out of commission for a week or two. A light-hearted and in-depth game report has been posted on the Southern Strategist blog for those who are interested: http://southern-strategists.blogspot.com

My main wargaming work of late has revolved around re-basing figure stands that were damaged in the September quake. Most of my early painted units were based on Balsa wood which proved too weak when thrown about. I have nearly completely re-based my whole 28mm AWI British force, with only two mounted regiments and mounted commanders to go. My French and British SYW troops also now stand on MDF bases, so that the armies now have a more uniform basing structure.

The Southern Strategists have decided to put on a demonstration Napoleonic naval game at the annual Conquest Wargaming show held in Christchurch at Labour Weekend in late October. Hence, I now have to painted two 74-gun ships of the line for this encounter. I've attached a photo of my miserable effort so far, but I intend to progressively get these ships built and painted over a number of months while continuing to work on other projects.

I've attached some images of recently re-based units and the undercoated hull of the French Skytrex 1/700 model ship currently under construction.

Getting there!

2011-03-29T18:09:00.000-07:00

Expert blogger, fellow wargamer and Fusilier General, Roly Hermans, kindly offered to help in modifying my original header to the superb item that now proudly introduces this blog. This was much appreciated and it certainly enhances what I had previous constructed.
I have also finally settled on the background picture that was proving elusive. It's a map of the battlefield of Waterloo, although most of it is covered with the body of the blog. However, I reckon the map gives the blog a military feel. It's still a work in progress but I'm feeling a certain satisfaction from what it is looking like so far.
I'm hosting the first official game at the Mess tonight (15mm Volley & Bayonet Zulu War) so I hope to have a few images of the game on the blog in the following days. Beers are in the fridge, so it's off to Mrs Miggin's Pie Shop for the light supper!

Before and after the quake

2011-03-28T00:12:00.000-07:00

I only had the display cabinets a couple of weeks before the quake made short work of them. I've added some before and after photos to convince others to secure their cabinets and book shelves to the wall so that this doesn't happen to you. The people of Christchurch had no idea that their city was built on a fault line.....but they certainly do now!

In the beginning.......

2011-03-27T21:17:00.000-07:00

After years of following blogs of other wargamers, I thought it was about time that I put one together myself. I've enjoyed seeing what gamers around the world are achieving with their painting, terrain and games and thought having my own blog would be a record of what I've managed to put together.
When building a new house I managed to convince my wife that a games room was essential to marital bliss...as well as providing a place for father and son bonding. She wasn't totally convinced but thought wargaming was cheaper than gambling on the horses and it would keep me home from the pub! Well, I seldom put a bet on anyway and I still get to the pub, so I figure I'm a winner either way.

We've been in the new place over a year now and I still haven't had a wargame in the 'Mess.' I chose this name for the room as a play on words....it has a military theme and for many months it was a mess, especially after experiencing a 7.1 magnitude earthquake here in Christchurch in September 2010. The two new glass display cabinets with all my painted figures in came crashing down, spilling out the figures and breaking up stands. Thankfully, I didn't lose too many bayonets, but I'm only now getting my battalions and regiments refitted to fight another day.

My main periods of interest are those of the horse and musket era, ranging from the Seven Years War through to the American Civil War. However, of recent times I've succumbed to the pressure from others to delve into the English Civil War, World War 1, Napoleonic Naval and more recently the Dark Ages. Most of my figures are 28mm although I do have some SYW and Franco-Prussian War 15mm armies.

I've been a member of the Southern Strategists Historical Gaming Group for the last 13 years and I'm also a member of the Friday Night Fusiliers Wargaming forum. Now that I have my own games room I hope to get stuck into painting units from my lead mountain and have a go at recreating miniature campaigns...either with others or solo efforts. So, I hope that others will be interested in what I put on this blog over the next few months and years...and I look forward to receiving any comments you wish to makes.

Cheers!

Stacky