Richard's March

What a crazy month. In New Zealand we are locked down for at least the next three weeks. All schools and businesses are closed except for essential services, and we are required to remain at home except for buying food, medicine, and other essentials, although you are still allowed to walk around your neighbourhood. Needless to say, there are more people out walking each day that I've ever seen in the past.

I'm working from home, and Sarah has taken on home-schooling the kids. In a way it's a relief to have reached this point: over the last few weeks you couldn't plan even a few days ahead due to the rate at which the situation was changing. Now, we are on an island of certainty for four weeks: hunker down, stay in your bubble, and make do with whatever activities are already in the house.

March is always a busy month at work, and I ended up working some pretty long hours before the lockdown, but I still managed to get a few things done on my list.

1. Painting 28mm FJ. 

I completed two squads during March. One had previously been painted but hadn't based, and the other had been base coated. I still have some support weapons and a squad of Luftwaffe troops to go.

2. Find a set of WW2 rules that I enjoy playing in 28mm.

Alas, games are pretty much off the menu for the foreseeable future. But at least it looks like I'll have an army to use once things return to normal.

3. Paint a Landsknecht square for Impetus.

Moving on.

4. Complete a Black Seas fleet box. 

I completed two frigates and a third rate. This means I've now finished the Master and Commander box..

For my smuggler hunters, that leaves the following still to go:

• 1 x First Rate. Purchased.
• 2 x Cutter. No indication of when Warlord are going to release any of these.
• 3 x Schooner. On order.
• 1 x Gunboat Squadron: Primed.

5. Try out Battlegroup: NORTHAG, and write a review. 

There was a post on the PSC Facebook page that they would be sending a PDF of the rules to all pre-order customers, so I should be able to do this in April with some solo play.

6. Complete some of the random FOW platoons that I have lying around. 

No progress.

7. Syrians for Team Yankee.

No further progress.

8. Put together an event or campaign of some kind. 

In this time of physical distancing, this is on hold.

March Summary

• Models Finished: 20
• Leadpile Size: Reduced!
• Month Rating: Productive.

Battle of Brandywine

I played in a refight of the northern flank of the Battle of Brandywine on Good Friday, played in 28mm on a 12x6 using the Black Powder ruleset. I commanded Conway's 3rd Pennsylvania Brigade in the American centre, with two battalions (6th and 9th Pennsylvania) that I had painted, and two more that others had done.

A write-up and photos from the day can be found on The Regiment blog, so I won't repeat what's been written. Needless to say it was an excellent day, relaxed, lots of laughs and a great bunch of people to be spending time with. And despite its issues, Black Powder enabled a game where 12 players, most of whom weren't that familiar with the rules, completed a 10 turn scenario in less than five hours, including a break for lunch. The game ebbed and flowed nicely, with the result only becoming apparent during turn nine. The key to the American victory was Lord Stirling's brigade to my left, commanded by Tank Engine, which spent most of the game failing order rolls, conveniently allowing them to enter the battle fresh at the end and mop up.

Here are photos of my two battalions. Basing and flags courtesy of the guys at The Regiment.

AWI Update

Last week I finished off the last of my 28mm AWI Continentals figures for the upcoming Brandywine game. I only had 36 figures to do, but it was hard work. I enjoyed the first few, and got through the first battalion of 18 reasonably well. But the second battalion was hard going, and I was mighty glad to finish.

No photos at this stage, they're off being based to match the rest of the units for the game, but I'll grab some shots on the day. They'll look okay in amongst a mass of units on a huge table, but I wasn't super happy with how they turned out. You can pretty much get away with anything in 15mm and still have the figures look great after an ink wash and a highlight, but my painting style was found wanting with these 28s, and running up against the deadline to get them finished, I lacked the time and energy to work out how to do it better.

But all is not lost, as I'll be getting some more practice with larger figures with the next items on the to-do list: 

There's a day of Warmachine silliness coming up at the club in early April that I'm hoping to get to, so I'll see if I can get some of these done in time for that.

ValleyCon Progress - And First AWI Figure

I now have nine of the 11 armoured cars complete, with just the CHQ to go. Artillery is coming along, with Quads, 15cwt trucks and the guns themselves done, but I still have all of the crew to paint.

I've also been working on the dismounted 37mm guns. There are no BF anti-tank gunner figures for the Italian Campaign range, so I have repurposed some of my 8th Army 6pdr crews, converting them to match the rest of the army by turning their shorts into trousers.

So we're now starting to look a bit more complete, and very nearly finished. I've missed my goal of being finished by Christmas, but definitely looking good to be all done by New Year. With five weeks to go, I should have enough time to finish some terrain, and help my son Jaime with some Khador bits and pieces he needs for the Warmachine competition.

I've also painted up the first of the 28mm AWI Continentals as a test run. The Perry figures are beautiful. Slight filling required where the arms attach at the shoulders, and I had to march around the room trying to work out how the arms were meant to be positioned to look natural (for which I was of course mercilessly mocked by my family), but otherwise brilliant castings and a joy to paint. 17 more to go from this regiment, which I should be able to do in a few batches, then a second regiment of 18 figures to go after that.

ValleyCon - Seven Weeks To Go

We're already halfway through December, with less than seven weeks to go until ValleyCon. I've been chipping away, but ran into a snag late last week. I ran out of the brown ink I use for shading, and the replacement bottle I picked up isn't a colour match. And not just a slight mismatch that I'm being overly picky about: it's pink rather than brown.

So, rather than risk another bottle of the same brand, I've ordered in a different wash in the hope of getting something more reliable. That should turn up in the next few days, and then I'll be able to finish off the teams that are on the bench and post an updated progress photo.

This week I also picked up a box of Perry 28mm AWI Continentals, to paint up for a multiplayer game of Blackpowder being put on next year. I've never done anything in 28mm, but the thinking was "it's only 36 figures, how hard can it be?" My first reaction on opening the box was horror at what I'd taken on: they're incredibly detailed and I don't think my technique built on years of painting in 15mm is quite going to cut it. But I've picked up some inspiration from seeing what others at the club have been doing, and there's an excellent painting guide in the box, so we'll just have to see what happens. And it will certainly make a nice change from caunter...