Sharpe's Practice - ACW 28mm

 On April 30th, Graham hosted a Sharpe's Practice game for 4 players at the Abyss. William provided the scenario, Graham the terrain and both supplied the troops. John and myself were willing bodies in the front lines. Here are some photos from the evening's encounter.

Ball's Cross Roads August 21st 1861, resulted in a confederate victory, when Lt Carter and his three units of Volunteers, suddenly appeared at the edge of the cornfield in front of the Union troops and unleashed two  devastating volleys of fire into the massed enemy columns slowly advancing through the orchard. Union forces under William and John, Rebs under Graham and myself. 

Upon revisiting the rules, it was discovered that the deployment disk which allowed Lt Cater's Volunteers to appear was most likely too forward. None the less, IMO it will become a gaming moment to recount.

LOTRs - Haradrim or Southron Easternlings 28mm WIP

Yesterday, Chris a local brush for hire dropped off his latest work for me. After completeing the Orcs I asked him to work on my collection of the men of the east. These figures were from Harlequin Miniatures LOTR line.  Seaching online I believe I have one box of each of the following and that the line was 32mm figures, not 28mm.

Herumor's Southron Spearmen. LRB003 Harlequin, 

Ar-Feinel's Corsair Spearmen. LRB012 Harlequin 

and Castamir's Corsair Archers. LRB010 Harlequin. 

Each box contained15 figures, 12 fighting men, and command. All were ebay purchases many years ago. I will finish the bases this weekend.

Harlequin Miniatures - 28mm LOTR Orcs - Batch 2

Another 20 Lord of the Rings Orcs from the old Harlequin Miniatures line are complete. As with the first batch and as part of my ongoing triage I commissioned a local painter to paint theese figures.

 Outside completed projects, the figures I amassed over 50 years is roughly divided into 1) projects I will paint 2) projects that I will commission to have painted and finally 3) miniatures for projects that I will never use and must thus must desposed of.  I thank Chris for his assistance in helping me move forward with my Orc Warband. 

Now that the Canadian tax season is almost behind us, I hope to devote more time in applying brush to metal. Belonging to the Montréal Historical Wargaming Club has provided much needed focus for various projects. The group really forced me to up my game and akso helped reduce my mountain of shame. 

Harlequin Miniatures - 28mm LOTR Orcs - Batch 1

 This is the first half  of a group Lord of the Rings Orcs that were painted for my Army of Darkness. I am basing the figures to match the orcs I originally painted in 2010. The figures were produced by Harlequin Miniatures, the company which had the rights to LOTRs before Games Workshop. IMO the Harlequin orcs were closer to my idea of orcs, than those of Peter Jackson. My introduction to both LOTRs and DnD  dates back to the early to mid 1970s in high school. My dream then, to field an orc warband on the tabletop. 

HOTT - Dwarves 15mm

This was an army that I inherited almost 10 years ago. The figures are from Black Raven Miniatures.  Recently I was able to have it painted and I now have a fairly large dwarven force assembled to go up against my Undead. Other than the command stands I attached the figures to metal bases and I actually like the bare metal look. 

First Dwarven Corps - Still waiting for the glue to dry.

Complete Amy in it's storage box. Enough figures for three HOTT armies.

DBA Camel Army - Museum Miniatures - 15/18mm

Museum Miniatures offered a some camel figures that look like a generic line. I purchased 6 packs of  15/AC71 Camel Lancers and another 6 packs of 15/AC72 Camel Archers.  It is enough to provide 12 DBA elements. Now I have to locate an army list to fit them in. Otherwise I'll just use them as a HOTT nomadic desert warband.

Painted by Old Guard Painters

This was a spontaneous purchase on my part last year when Museum Miniatures offered their annual 25% off sale. I thought the figures looked nifty and as you can see they painted up really well. Although they are advertized as 15mm, IMO they're closer to 18mm. 

The Court of Sinister Doctor Koo

This is my second straight entry using figures from Pulp Figures China Station catalogue. PCS-01 The Court of Sinister Doctor Koo, or as advertized The Greatest Criminal Mastermind of the Far-East, perhaps the world! Definately an entry for any sort of foray into the world of pulp. 

Pulp Figures - Chinese Porters

I am a fan of Bob Murch's Pulp Figures. This was 3 packs of  PCS-09 Chinese Bearers from his China Station range. It was intented to be completed as part of the  Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge but due to time constraits it wasn't finished in time. They are intented to serve as for a backdrop for Daredevil Adventures taking place in China of the Warring Warlords period.  Ideas flow, a party of porters hired by a scientific expedition, a forced work gang for a local warlord, or dockhands on a river side seaport. 

I choose to work on these figures as I completed the Sampan. I figured a work crew unloading the boat was a great combination. I also tried something a little different with some of the bases. The other night I saw a Youtube video where it was suggested using cut up stir sticks to provide a wooden planking on the base. I applied this effect to approximately six figures to create the impression that they are engaged in work on a wooden wharf or pier.   

I also completed a separate barbarian warrior miniature. I'm unsure of its origin, but it was a slot-a-base mini. I wanted to experiment by clipping it off at the soles of the feet to see how it would attach to a base. The inspiration came from the concept of mounting figures on clear bases. Although I didn’t have any clear bases at hand, I was eager to test how straightforward the process would be.

And he appears to be missing a hand.

MTB02 - French Army - French and Indian Wars Part 3

Sunday morning I met with Luis and Graham for breakfast. Graham delivered the second batch of figures from MTB02 - French Army - French and Indian Wars. Twelve very well painted Canadian Militia figures, produced by North Star Military Figures and are included in the French Army boxed set for the French and Indian Wars. Beautifully painted figures.

Late Roman Cavalry

 This unit was also painted as an entry in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, as well as to provide some much needed troops for my Late Roman Saga Warband. It consists of a Warlord with a Draco bannerman and a 8 man Warrior Unit. This was the project that was start and go in the middle of the night during the long winter season. I am afraid I am of an age where getting up in the middle of the night, and being awake for a couple of hours is quite common.  A good time to paint. 

I purchased an unpainted Arthurian warband second hand in 2024. However it came without any horses for the calvary. I had tried various solutions including some Persian plastic horses that I had stored away but nothing meant with my satisfaction. In the end since the figures originated with Gripping Beast I wrote to the source and inquired if they could sell me the horses separately. Loki from the Beast responded positvely.