The Light Brigade Assembles

Hello again.

After several months of painting anthropomorphic animals almost exclusively, I decided it was high time I included something else in my schedule. My Crimean War project went into winter quarters some time back (for the winter, in fact), but Spring manoeuvres have seen the British reach the lines before Sevastopol, where various Russians have been waiting for a while now.

But what British to do first? I have a Highland Brigade. I have a Guards Brigade. I have some British line infantry in both pork pie hat and Albert shako. I have the Heavy Brigade. And I have the Light Brigade, the ones my now 20-month old Border Collie took a shine to and took into the garden for further investigation last year. They survived the encounter, as did Harry, but, in case he took a further liking to them, the Light Brigade got first dibs.

I say "the Light Brigade", but it is actually only 80% of that formation. The figures are taken straight form the Magister Militum Light Brigade pack, which features 48 cavalry figures and two horse artillery guns with crews. The figures were split into 12 lancers (which obviously had to be the 17th Lancers), 24 Light Dragoons (neatly covering the 4th and 13th Regiments) and 12 Hussars. Hm. I need figures for both the 8th and 11th Regiments for the Light Brigade, so could only do one of them. The 11th got the nod. So, four out of five regiments in the Light Brigade are done, but a visit to either Pendraken or Magister Militum for another pack of Hussars is in order. To add insult to the very minor injury sustained, I do not have a Hussar figure in my British Generals pack, so will have to use a Hussar Officer as Lord Cardigan.

Each regiment of 12 figures also came with a standard bearer included, which was also a tad unfortunate. Being somewhat anal in my pursuit of accuracy, I know that the regiments did not take their flags into battle. Undaunted, I sought images of the four regimental flags required, but came up blank for this era. Undaunted, I uttered those immortal words, "What the heck", and duly set about using a few basic Napoleonic references to base the flags upon. My Italics are intentional. Not only are the flags not copied directly from any sources but they are also rectangular, not of guidon shape with rounded or pointed tails, so DO NOT COPY THEM because they are there merely to occupy the pole! If any of them are correct, it is fluke!!! I used some reference material as stated, so the 17th Lancers get the Death's Head and "Or Glory" motto of their later incarnation, but I cannot verify the accuracy of this image for 1854. You have been warned! In defence of my conjecture/ creativity, 10mm Crimean War is not a popular period for manufacturers or gamers, hence the lack of definitive, easily available details, and I want to be able to tell quite small figures apart from normal distances, so the flags will help with that.

Anyway, I hope you like the brigade so far. I will buy the additions required soon and finish it off, then find some enemy guns to go and assault perhaps...

G

The four regiments to date, with 11th Hussars and 17th Lancers leading, the 4th and 13th Light Dragoons n the second line.

11th Hussars. This flag IS based on the Napoleonic example for the regiment, but not entirely so.

17th Lancers, with the Death's Head and blue banner bearing the "Or Glory" motto. Crimean War era? Someone somewhere will know.

4th Light Dragoons, with another flag based on the Napoleonic example, the yellow chosen for the colour of their collars and detail from the aforementioned earlier flag. As with all four flags, however, I have avoided doing the awkward guidon shape.

13th Light Dragoons, based on the Napoleonic example again for the flag coloured buff to match their facings.

Alumwell Loot

Hello again.

It is now a very busy two weeks since the WMMS show, aka Alumwell, held last 10th March at the Aldersley Leisure Centre near Wolverhampton in the UK.

I went with a plan. Definite purchases were to include some steel paper, some magnetic sheet and some more textured paint, Basetex Dark Earth to be precise and, do you know what, that plan actually survived meeting contact with the enemy! I bought all three in short order.

Vaguer plans involved something to contend the field with my as yet unpainted 10mm Sassanids and perhaps some additions to my also as yet unpainted, and largely forgotten, French Wars of Religion proposal, ideally in the form of some Reiter cavalry. Well, 19 Reiter for £2 each from Tiger Miniatures saw to the latter and Pendraken and Magister Militum saw to the former in the form of an Arab Conquest army. The choice for opponents for the Sassanids had devolved down to either Middle Imperial Roman, Late Imperial Roman or Arabs and the Arabs simply provided something that bit different. Maurikian Byzantine may well follow, but only after I have painted up the Sassanids and Arabs, whenever that may be.

The show was, I felt, more populous than recent years (especially last, held in the midst of a Siberian flourish to early Spring) and there were some good looking games on show, but arguably a diminished trade presence. Unfortunately, I forgot both my camera and my phone, so got no photos, but I can recommend this show to anyone in the area the second weekend of March next year and I will hopefully catch some of the games again later this year.

There were a couple of good looking AWI games amongst others, but a Peninsular War encounter and a Japanese vs Dutch in the Eat Indies WW2 affair were probably my favourites. I especially liked the terrain in the former and the three-engine Dutch seaplane in the latter.

So, to conclude, just a few quick photos of the best parts of the loot from the show.

G

The newly-acquired Arab army, with relevant bases and some tents for colour, courtesy of Pendraken and Magister Militum.

A long-held but largely unfulfilled interest of mine is the Austrian Empire and the wars of the mid-19th Century, so this offering form Helion was a welcome find.

Likewise this small tome, which I had seen advertised in Wargames Illustrated, I think, and my mind went wandering to the Wyrley Retinue game based on Malta 1565 that did the rounds a few years back. I still have the Turks, some at least of the terrain and enough unpainted mid- to late-17th Century figures to paint up some Venetians and Allies for a game. Venetian amphibious operations against Turk-held Aegean islands anyone? Another find at Helion's stall.

1st (Tsarevitch) Dragoons

Hello again.

It is almost a year since I bought the first of my 10mm Crimean War figures at the WMMS show last March. I painted up all except the cavalry unit I got with that first purchase - one of Pendraken Miniatures' Russian Army Packs - within a few months, but that final unit of dragoons lay dormant whilst I moved onto other things and did a bit of on/off research.

That research largely concluded with the purchase of Laurence Spring's "Uniforms of the Russian Army During the Crimean War 1854-1856" at the Derby show last October. Talk about a one stop shop for Russian uniforms! Well, almost. I have other books with colour pictures!!! What Spring's work does include however are orbats and, under the auspices of the 2nd Reserve Cavalry Corps is the 1st Dragoon Division under Lieutenant General Montressor. The 1st Brigade consists of 1st (Tsarevich) Dragoons and 2nd (Grand Duke Constantine Nicolaevich's) Dragoons.

The Tsarevich Dragoons can now take the field with their foot-slogging comrades.

I have really enjoyed painting these 10mm figures and will be doing more, not only the ones I have already bought, but I foresee some others coming along too.

What do I like so much about the 10mm I have done so far?

• They are obviously a LOT EASIER than my usual 28mm figures!
• As a result of that greater ease, they can be finished a lot more quickly.
• When I paint 15mm or 20mm, I feel obliged to paint them like smaller 28's, i.e. still with attempts to shade and highlight accurately. I still do this with 10mm figures, but it somehow seems like the effect is easier too and not just because of the size differential and reduced workload. They just seem to suit the style I paint in.
• They cost a lot less, although this is partially offset by the need to paint more figures and the need to buy more as I want bigger units.
• It is worth putting in the extra bit of effort with 10mm compared with 6mm figures, as you can still see it, especially en masse.
• Easier storage, less weight on the shelves and all those other practicalities that prevent my house from collapsing under the weight of lead in my proverbial mountain!

In truth, I have only painted Crimean War Russians so far, which are hardly the most difficult paint jobs around. I may feel a little different when it comes to the rather more sartorially-dressed British. Also, my other purchased range so far is American Civil War, so that should not tax my skills too much either, but we will see. I like the scale/ size so far and expect to continue to. Watch this space!!!

Anyway, the pictures show my Tsarevich Dragoons in all their "glory". I have another complete Pendraken Miniatures Russian Army Pack to paint, so the 2nd Dragoons will ultimately join the 1st to form the whole brigade. However, that is it for now whilst I finish my latest FIW regiment.

G

The complete unit so far, all seven bases of it. I may add more in due course.

A quick close up.

The command element.

And the whole army. One Brigadier (actually a Dragoon Officer figure from the pack - I only needed 14 figures out of the 15 in the pack for the unit), 2 battalions of Jager, 1 battalion of Naval Infantry, 3 battalions of the Minsk Regiment, 3 artillery pieces and the dragoons.

A long time ago, in a peninsula far, far away...

Hello again.

A few months back, as you may remember from a previous post, I made my usual journey to the WMMS show at the Aldersley Leisure Centre near Wolverhampton to demo our Vikings game and buy a few bits and bobs. Well, more than a few bits and bobs.

One of my major purchases was the Partizan Guide to the Crimean War and a starter force from Pendraken for that conflict, a Russian starter army to be precise, in Pendraken's usual 10mm format.

Well, the summer saw the completion of all except the cavalry element of that force, the dragoons in question being delayed whilst I sought some better source material than I had to hand, specifically covering flag details. Those dragoons are still not finished, but the rest of the force is.

This project will definitely grow as time wears on. I thoroughly enjoyed painting them and the timescale for completion thus far was measured in weeks rather than months. I still have a decision to make on rules, but have a few options there. I also need a good source of uniform and flag details for all arms, which I hope Laurence Spring's tome on the Russian army of this war will be, when I get the chance to peruse a copy, hopefully at Derby Worlds in a month's time. With both Pendraken and Magister Militum providing figures for this conflict in 10mm, I also have choices there, especially with MM's regimental light cavalry pack for the British having four regiments of cavalry, plus three gins, consisting of light dragoons, hussars and lancers, all for £27.50. Who said "Charge of the Light Brigade"?

G

The LINE INFANTRY

Three battalions, each of six bases of four figures. Now, they might not actually end up as three battalions, as I have not settled on rules yet. Regimental Fire & Fury were my first option, but I will need a LOAD more figures for that. Thus, I also considered Black Powder and Ran & File, but no decision has been made yet. The figures are a mix of cap and helmet headgear, but all are greatcoated except the officers, one per battalion.

 

 

The JAGER

 

These are non-greatcoated figures, again a mix of helmet and cap. The army pack is pre-determined, so I made the best use, as I saw it, of whatever different figures I had to hand. To make the Jager stand out, they were all minus greatcoat. Fortunately, I had enough of each different type to make the choices I made with just a few spare figures left over.

The NAVAL INFANTRY

 



Finally, I was able to muster six bases of four figures with cap and without greatcoat to form a Naval Infantry battalion. The flag was a lot simpler, but all are just rectangles of sticky label wrapped around the pole after being painted in the flat. I highlight them once they are hung. The Brigadier is the Officer from the dragoons I still need to finish.

 The ARTILLERY

Three generic field pieces with three crew figures each. The aforementioned brigadier is now a lowly battery commander.



 

More loot and a late Christmas present

Hello again.

I have finally taken delivery of a present I bought myself, ostensibly for Christmas last year, on the basis that it might have been published by then. Five months later (about a month or so ago now), I finally took delivery!

 

 



 I have been a fan of these "Wargaming in History" books since the first one came out a few years back and have bought most of them to date. This is the second covering the Seven Weeks' War of 1866 and, on first browse, seems to be every bit as good as the first volume, which dealt with the early battles. Perhaps I will review it properly once I have actually read it!

This era is one I am seriously looking to get into, being the owner of several hundred Austrian figures in 15mm, roughly 30% of the relevant infantry being in the Kittel tunic (more 1859) and the rest in the greatcoat so synonymous with 1866. I also have a couple of hundred Prussians too. On top of that, I made a serious investment in 10mm ACW last year and treated myself to some 10mm Crimean War Russians earlier this. Why the small scale? Well, my table size for games has shrunk by half as changes in the family home have eaten into space, so smaller figures is the way to go for me at the moment. I WILL do this at some time...

A small snapshot of just one of the fine photo/ map pages.

The book is chock-full of great photos (hence the high cost of these books) and good maps clearly showing table layouts for playing games. These layouts are also used to show the movement of the troops during the game recreations covered in the book.

 

 

Finally, as I reach the "end" of my French & Indian Wars project (famous last words, as I do have plans to buy a few units of regulars for both sides as I have something in mind...), I thought I would add some terrain to my sundry collections. All the above was bought at a model railway show for less than £20. I have also been collecting lollipop sticks of a particular type for a while now, namely round ones rather than the usual flat variety, to use as log cabin walls. A recent article by Diane Sutherland in Miniature Wargames showed how to do it, so a few settler cabins for the FIW are not far away(I hope).

 

And that is about it for now. Painting time is very limited at present due to a change in my work hours to straight days whilst work undergoes some major changes, but I have at last managed to finish more Rangers and some Militia for the FIW, so will show them soon.

 

I have also just undercoated some Viking archers, which I hope to have ready for the Wyrley Retinue outing to the Barrage Show in Stafford on 9th July - just four weeks today! We will be showing our "Storri's Trek 2: The Rath of Cahan" game again, but always change something between outings to try and freshen things up and give the paying public something else to see should they have seen the game in a previous incarnation.

 

G

TUTORIAL TIME! Unit basing tiny figures

Hello again.

When building my 10mm fantasy armies, I gave some consideration to how I would base them. The chosen rules ("Warband" by Pendraken Miniatures) require units to be based as a single entity on 100x50mm bases, rather than several small bases combined to make a unit as with most rules, so I was concerned at how I would base them with so many figures in the way of the glue, flock, textured paint, etc I use for such activities.

So, her for your delectation (or for you to ignore should you so choose), is my way of doing it. I make no claim to originality or even to common sense in how I achieved my aim. You may well read this and think "what a *********" (insert suitable derogatory term) at how I might have missed something obvious, but here goes.

Firstly, however, let me show you the sort of thing I am NOT concerned with here, such as this Elven command unit, seen in the first two photos. There is plenty of room in and around the figures in units like this to just stick them all down at once and texture and flock to your heart's content afterwards. So, in such cases, just get on with it!

NO!!! We are concerned with multi-figure units!

1) So, first up, gather your materials. A selection of textured paint, flock, white modelling glue/ PVA, cocktail sticks and bamboo skewers to apply the textured paint, small rocks sold as model railway ballast, grass tufts, bits of twig...you know the sort of thing, a selection of which is below.

2) Check out the two photos below, both of the same unit. Once you have your materials, take a 100x50mm base (or whatever size you are using) and paint it on both sides to help prevent warping later on.

3) Once this is dry (and after adding the little box for the unit record dice at the back left corner of the base, apply any twigs or rocks you want on the base, gluing them down securely. These will need to be bedded into the subsequent earth and grass textures to look the part.

4) Plan how your unit is to look and glue down the first row of figures, who will form the front rank of the unit when seen from the front of course.

5) Once these have stuck securely (I use superglue for this), take your chosen base texturing material (Basetex, Greenscene textured paint or whatever) and apply it around this front rank of figures, but ensure you cover enough of the base behind this front row to take the texturing up to where you intend to deploy the second row of figures. I use a cocktail stick in the main for this, but a bamboo skewer is fine for larger, less detailed work.  Sprinkle in a few of the tiny rocks from your pack of ballast as you go. They will be held in place by the wet textured paint.

6) Whilst the textured paint is still wet, glue down the second row, ensuring that you butt the front of the figure bases into the texture you have already applied so that it largely covers the front of the second row figure bases.

7) As with the first row of figures, apply more textured paint around the back of the second row of figures, again leaving enough to enable you to stick down the third row, again ensuring you push them partly into the textured paint around the second row of figures so that the front of each base of the third row figures is covered. Again add a few little ballast rocks to suit.

8) Then finish off the rest of the base with textured paint. Take GREAT care filling in any gaps by dropping in moistened textured paint form the end of a cocktail stick, pushing and shoving it into accessible gaps etc. If you do not take care, you may well end up dropping it all over a figure. If you do, wash it off immediately with water! Add a few more ballast rocks to suit.

9) Once the whole base has dried, you can add grass. Mix up a dilute solution of white glue/ PVA, apply it at the end of a row of figures and simply let gravity take it down the channels and around the figures. DO NOT allow it to build up like a snowdrift around any individual figures, but tilt the base to manipulate the flow of the glue.

10) Once you have applied the glue you want to where you want it, sprinkle flock and grass in a mix that suits your taste over the glue and tip and tap off  any excess onto newspaper, ready to collect it up later for re-use.

11) Once the grass has dried (give it at least a day), use whatever paint you like to highlight the bare earth of any visible textured paint.

12) Add tufts or other effects to the bases to finish off.

As you can hopefully see from the photos, a little care and effort, together with doing things in a suitable order, can lead to some fully based and useable figures with no gaps showing to spoil the overall effect you want. Job done!

I based my Goblins in exactly the same way, so it works for everything I have tried so far.

G

Finwe's Finest Finally Feature

Hello again.

The High Elves are here!

I actually painted the vast majority of the figures last year, but basing them has taken until this year to accomplish, as I have busied myself with other things, notably Vikings and Irish and then French & Indian Wars.

But the wait (for me at least!) is now over and the Goblins have some opposition of note (apart from fighting amongst themselves, at any rate).

The figures are all 10mm size and hail from the ranges of Pendraken. As with the Goblins, I bought the first ones at the Derby Show in 2015, buying one of the starter armies available at the time (and available still I believe, though the choices have expanded since then).

Blue is the theme colour and features on virtually all the figures to tie them together as a whole, unlike the rather more random look of the Goblins.

Now, I will show you the pictures as this juncture, but please tune in for the next post, as there are a couple of major considerations with these whole unit bases when it comes to texturing the bases that I would like to notify you about, should you ever choose to go the "Warband" route. I will do that next time...

So, till next time, here are Finwe's Finest.

G

The "Starter Army plus bits", which is still not the whole force available! The starter force is actually just 8 units, so this is a starter and a half!!!

The COMMAND stand, a mix of figures from the original command pack plus some additions.

The High Elf Sorcerers with pet statuette. It seems all the magician packs, regardless of which army they are for, get a pet statuette, rock or similar.

Massed ARCHERS!

And a close up to show my attempts to shade and highlight 10mm figures just as I would 28mm.

The open grave on the back left corner of each base is to hold a small d6 which shows unit strength in the "Warband" rules.

BOLT SHOOTERS, resplendent primarily in yellow, but with that almost ever-present blue visible too, which ties them in with the army as a whole. My thought process was that blue was their colour, but different units or types of units might have different main uniform colours, hence the yellow here and... 

...the green of the SCOUTS (again matched with blue).

But those mounted types are rather more fanciful and independent-minded, so blue may not feature at all, as on this unit, the BLOOD KNIGHTS.

The knights of the STAR LORDS regiment are mostly blue-clad, however.

The STAR OF THE AINUR regiment. The banners in all cases are simply pieces of self-adhesive label folded in half around the pole of a normal spearman figure in the case of the infantry.

The RED WINGS regiment.

The SWAN GUARD regiment.

And the two-handed swordsmen of the GOLDEN OAK regiment.

And another ultra-close up showing my attempt to shade and highlight these 10mm figures.

Goblin gribblies

Hello again.

A major part of the first few months of last year was taken up with building and painting my first ever 10mm scale army (well, size, as 10mm is not a scale, which would actually be about 1:180 I think). That army was Goblins, bought at Derby on October 2015 from Pendraken, along with a High Elf army as opposition, and both were to form my endeavours to get in some games of "Warband", the fantasy rules also published by Pendraken.

Well, I have yet to get a game in at all, but, during my break from having a show project to take up my time, I have now based all of the High Elves, having painted them last year too, and, as I will show in the pictures below, added a reinforcement to my Goblins, which is the main subject of this post. (I will show the Elves in all their frippery some time soon).

The long and the short of it is that I now have both sides to furnish some "Warband" games, if ever I get the time and find an opponent who is available when I am!

Anyway, the reinforcement...

Long time players of Orc and Goblin armies to that doyen of fantasy rules, "Warhammer" version 1 to whatever, will know these things as Squigs. They were usually fielded with some sort of handlers. Pendraken know them as Squogglers, so that is what we shall call them here seeing as how they are Pendraken figures. I am sure all the copyright stuff is done and dusted...

The "bouncy ball with teeth and attitude" idea is the same as far as I can see and, though I have no games under my belt to prove the notion, I suspect their usage in the two games is also similar. I have even included some spare Goblin/ Orc figures as handlers, all based on a 100x50mm rectangle of thin MDF, this base size being the one used for all units in "Warband" (I think...)

So, with Giants, Ogres and war machines still to add to the green ranks, (but safely mined from the Lead Mountain in readiness), I have at least finished these fellows by way of something slightly different to the usual fare of warbands, trolls and wolf riders with which Orc and Goblin armies are so replete.

G

The whole unit, simply based on one base, which I think is one of the strengths of the "Warband" rules.

I painted all my 10mm figures as if they were my usual 28mm, i.e. with base coat, wash and highlights. The Squogglers started, unusually for me, with a white undercoat. The base coat was a bright red, which I highlighted with a bright orange, then "knocked back" with a wash of red ink from GW. Although the photo might not show it clearly, there is a distinct graduation of colour on their flesh. The Orcs/ Goblins have the same minimum three-stage paint job too, by the way!

The Latest Loot

Hello again.

Every show is something of a cornucopia for wargamers, and the WMMS is no exception, despite various "gaps" in the trader line up, but what exactly did I buy? Read on!

I went with a list of stuff I "needed" (henceforth "NEED") and had vague intentions of sticking to that list. A lot of stuff below was definitely "not on the list" (henceforth "NOL") however!

 



First up is a book I found on the always-useful and enlightening CALIVER BOOKS stand. For those who cannot read or understand German, the title translates as "Flags and standards from the time of the 30 Years' War, part 4". This is definitely "NOL", but could well have been a "NEED" had I known about parts 1 to 3!!! It is chock full of colour plates of artists' renditions of various flags, this volume covering Saxony - towns, areas within Saxony and individual colonel's regiments, including cavalry and dragoons. I have a paperback booklet covering this area in some detail, but this volume is more conclusive, covers far more options and is in lovely technicolour!!! I still have several regiments-worth of figures to paint towards my own 30 Years' War collection, so this purchase will certainly help that process when the time comes. Now I just have to find volumes 1, 2  and 3...

 

 

Pure indulgence and definitely "NOL". CALIVER BOOKS supplied the book, PENDRAKEN the figures. I blame watching "The Charge of the Light Brigade" twice over the past couple of months. I also blame my desire to fulfil my megalomania to get seriously into wargaming the mid-19th Century. Quite why I am not concentrating on Austrian 1859 or 1866 (I have figures for both!), Piedmontese-Sardinian for 1859 (again, I have figures), Prussian for 1866 or 1870 (yep, you guessed it...) or my 10mm ACW collection (which has grown in metal terms but has still not been started in painting terms) is something of a quandary. One to watch. I am unclear on rules for this era too. I have a set by Ray Lucas entitled "Voice of the Guns", I have "There Are Your Guns" by Dennis Williams, I have Principles of War", I have the set by Neil Thomas in his book on wargaming the 19th Century, I have "Regimental Fire & Fury" (which I will be using for ACW and 1859/ 66 when I finally get started on those) and no doubt one or two more options lying around somewhere. Perhaps RF&F will convert to the Crimea too? But can I be bothered with all those markers to go with it???

My usual visit to MAGNETIC DISPLAYS (very definitely on the "NEED" list) yielded the customary purchasing of steel paper and magnetic sheet. I also needed some brown Basetex, some more 25mm diameter round bases and some more grass to texture bases with, so tick, tick, tick and all on the "NEED" list. I also added a pack of 60mm round bases pending the creation of some 28mm command vignettes for one of my growing collections. Missing from the shot is the matt varnish I picked up from them, or, at least, paid for. It did not seem to make it to the bag they gave me and certainly has not come home with me...

More pure indulgence, but on the "NEED" list. My desire to wargame the Austrians in various eras was missing a biggie, namely the Seven Years' War. I still do not have any figures at all for this conflict, but thought buying this might spur me on in due course. CALIVER BOOKS were again kind enough to supply me with a copy.

And indulgence does not come any deeper than this! OAKBOUND STUDIO were making their debut at the WMMS show (at least, I had never seen or heard of them before), but chatting with the chap on the stall and seeing some of their product in the flesh convinced me this was a good buy, though certainly "NOL". I bought the "Secrets of Shandisholm" sourcebook, the "Barrow Ring Burning" campaign book, got a little tool for use with their house rules (the light brown thing that looks like a crown) and a box of Spriggans to start me off. Many years ago when I was but a teen and heavily into RPG's, I was getting away from the usual Vikings/ Medieval vibe and checking out Celtic folklore, reading the Tain etc. This is it. If only this had been around in my mid-teens, I could have died happy!!! I have been reading the sourcebook and my initial enthusiasm is still very high almost a week later!!! I heartily recommend you check the website out (www.oakbound.co.uk) and I cannot wait for their forthcoming post-apocalypse rules "Factious Waste". In addition to Spriggans, they do such worthies as Phooka, Wulven (werewolves to you and I), Fae Rades (nasty faerie-types who like to manipulate the world and its denizens) and the book is littered with pictures of Warlord Celts and Gripping Beast Irish. I have figures to use for this already!!! Bonus! And not only does the website have the house rules as a free download, but they also feature in the sourcebook, so you can start playing straight away! This game should be up there with "Frostgrave" if not higher.

Definitely not an indulgence and on the "NEED" list were some reinforcements for my FIW project. MAGNETIC| DISPLAYS furnished the Indian canoes and Redoubt the various figures. I bought more Rangers, some Colonial Militia, some Indian civilians and a French artillery piece with crew. Unfortunately, the man seems to have given me a mortar instead. However, that did at least spark interest in what I might do for a future show game, interest piqued by watching "The Last Of The Mohicans" again recently...

And, last but not least, and another definite "NEED", are a couple of reinforcements for my Mordor Orcs. I have been looking to add Trolls to their ranks for some time and toured the usual suppliers of secondhand figures, as well as firsthand ones, to no avail over the course of several shows. Then I saw the drummer on such a secondhand figure stand (whose name sadly escapes me) and, duly bought, I asked the chap if he had any more, as none were on show. Returning five minutes later, he had found me a metal figure representing a Mordor Troll Captain, we agreed a price and away I went, happy and joyful! I knew those 60mm bases from MAGNETIC DISPLAYS would come in handy!!! And I got both figures for less than I would have got a brand new one from the GW webstore! To top it all, Nephew Paul insists he has another one going free, so I could be breeding trolls for a while yet. All I have to do now is find some ancient article on how to paint them...

And so concludes the tale of the WEST MIDLANDS MILITARY SHOW, 2017. I by no means got everything I was looking for (I was desperately looking to add Reiter to my fledgling French Wars of Religion collection, but TIGER MINIATURES brought none to the show and FOUNDRY were not there at all), which probably explains why I came away with Crimean War Russians and a book to boot on that conflict. I had to spend the money on something! Smoking pockets syndrome...

G