Bonny Anne

Hello again.

Not to be confused with 70's pop group Boney M or with real-life pirate Anne Bonney, Bonny Anne has never in fact recorded any hit singles but has in fact taken to piracy.

What's not to like about an otter pirate? Big and pretty tough in the anthropomorphic world of "Burrows & Badgers", with the "Strong" characteristic that means they hurt people a little more easily when they wish to and also able to swim (literally in real life and in the game!) should their vessel go down with all rats, weasels and other lesser creatures, piracy might be thought of as a reasonable career option for such noble creatures.

But noble creatures surely do not take to piracy. Surely noble creatures take afternoon tea and take up suitable bourgeois careers, or sit at home and keep house, play bridge and entertain other noble creatures? So what forced Anne into the life of a reaver, what nefarious deed set her on the road (or perhaps seaway) of the corsair, what dark experience saw her set to buccaneering her way around the waterways and coastlines of Northymbra? Hmm. Storyline possibilities a-plenty, me hearties! Something must have put that stern look on her face though!

At the moment, Anne is one of the crew of the good ship "Blackberry", under the command of that rake and breaker of oaths, the Black Pi-Rat. However, Oathsworn Miniatures had some greens at the recent Chillcon show and one of them was of a male, otter pirate, shirt open to the navel, baggy pantaloons, bandana and cutlass resting on his shoulder, all Sinbad the Sailor meets Cap'n Jack Sparrow. A must have if ever I saw one!!!

So, Bonny Anne may well become Jessie James, the aforementioned Sinbad-type Frank James, together the leaders of the James Gang. (You couldn't write this stuff!) And they too will need a ship and a crew, so perhaps the dirty dealings of the Black Pi-Rat will have to catch up with him and his band of shrews will desert for a more noble cause. Perhaps the Black Pi-Rat will be left with only his own kind willing to hoist a mainsail or man a poop deck on his behalf. Perhaps rats should just play with rats and not try and elevate themselves to higher concerns. I had better get building and painting some rats, just in case! Whether Thug will desert him too is under debate...

Anyway, here is Bonny Anne/ Jessie James. I hope you like her.

G

Judging by the look on her face, Bonny Anne clearly means business.

It is unclear whether she is slinging potatoes or sling stones judging by the bag, but so long as her aim is true when she gets onto the table for some games, I won't care too much!

As with all my pirate types so far, the base follows a beach theme. There must be some buried treasure around here somewhere after all.

"You won't get me, I'm part of the Shrew-nion"

Hello again.

With all due apologies to The Strawbs for abusing one of their songs for the title of this post, I felt it was time to add a few extras to my burgeoning crew of animal pirates for "Burrows & Badgers". The game features a number of "lesser creatures", the sort of thing that seems to get a short deal in the real animal world, comprising mice, rats, shrews and the like. I went with the shrew option for my first, lowly crew members.

This figure just had to feature in my pirate crew. He might only be small, but the sartorial elegance and obvious attitude won me over!

And he is almost as menacing from the back!

This figure too has obvious pirate heritage, veritably screaming "Mary Reade" at the camera.

A nice line in throwing daggers is a bonus too. Missile troops are a bit thin on the ground so far in my piratical assembly.

This figure is marketed simply as a "Shrew-zerker" by Oathsworn, but again the obvious attitude and more than borderline Napoleon syndrome on display meant he was "in" as well.

As you may have noticed, I have kept the beach theme running through the bases. This chap gets a mooring post and lengthy of rope for company, simply made with a scrap of MDF from a Commission Figurines storage tray and a length of suitable cotton.

One of the usual perks of fantasy games, and "Burrows & Badgers" is no exception, is the inclusion of magic. Here we have a Shrew Shaman trying his best to look menacing despite his small stature.

One of the treats of this project has been to paint fur again, surely one of the easiest paint jobs to make a reasonable show of. The strange, grey spike at the bottom right of his base is another piece of driftwood courtesy of the Woodland Scenics plastic tree armatures.

Finally, we have Gnarls, who features in a set with a sort of Badger Pit-fighter called "Thug". He looks rather older than his crewmates, but the metal barb on that whip must surely hurt anyone unlucky enough to be on the end of it...

 

And the obligatory (?) rear view shot.

This will not be the end for the crew of the good ship, "Blackberry", as I have several other figures already that would be suitable to join the crew and ring some changes in eventual games. Some much-needed muscle to accompany all the tiny shrews would not go amiss and maybe some more mid-ranged potential as provided by another weasel, a ferret, perhaps even a rogue otter, would blend in nicely.

When I started this project, the old cogs started whirring about different warband options, story threads and the like. Whilst I freely admit that this sort of set up is not to everyone's taste by any stretch of the imagination, I would also argue that neither are Napoleonics or World War 2, that broad range of options being an oft-quoted boon of this marvellous hobby of ours. For me, some decent-looking figures on a decent-looking table, a decent set of rules and a good scenario/ story are the optimum, regardless of period. Finally, even though I favour bigger games with armies rather than bands, my work/ life balance and other factors mean I am very firmly in the "bands territory" for the foreseeable. Whilst I will obviously try and build up my bigger forces when the mood takes me (FIW, Crimean War, some of the GW stuff I have waiting for me, for example), this little diversion will more than satisfy my need to apply paint to metal or plastic for a while yet!

G

Wild Weasel

Hello again.

Now, it may surprise you to know, but this particular Wild Weasel has absolutely nothing to do with aircraft equipped to take out enemy radar and SAM defences, but it is a weasel and it may well be wild.

Yes, I give you yet another offering in the growing range of Oathsworn Miniatures' anthropomorphic animals range for "Badgers & Burrows" which, for those who have missed it, is a skirmish game of the "Frostgrave"/ "Mordheim"/ "Ghost Archipelago"/ insert any sort of fantasy or swords skirmish game to taste that pits small bands against each other for treasure or whatever and enables them to develop between games in a campaign-like way. This one is specifically branded as a "Weasel Rogue". With his club and semi-hidden dagger, I see him more in line for pressganging some poor unfortunates so have roped him in as accomplice to the Black Pi-Rat I posted about a week or so ago. So, with that in mind, it looks like the first band will be pirate-themed and you can expect more scurrilous characters going forwards.

I must say that after painting regiments of British and French for most of the past 12 to 18 months, painting single figures is a welcome change. Whilst I always try and shade and highlight all my regiments, not to mention painting the flags by hand, I can go a bit further still with single figures, especially on some of the bases. I selected a beach theme for my pirates, so will pursue that option, especially with some of the bigger figures that might join the Black Pi-Rat's nefarious schemes. But the option to paint in the eyes, to add an extra highlight, to experiment a little with rust or other effects is there and I intend to use it on these single figures.

For those who have battled through these last few fantasy-orientated posts, please note that I am still painting "proper" stuff - His Majesty's 35th Regiment of Foot is underway, for example - but I am also hooked by the need to paint less than a dozen, quality figures in the vain hope of getting a game some time soon. And, make no bones about it, the Oathsworn Miniatures range is quality in my opinion, spawning not only a lot of ideas for different groups but also bringing some joy back into my painting, as it had become a little bit of a chore churning through 18th Century infantry.

"What about the need to research?" I hear you cry.

Well, whilst I may not need to check out my Haythornthwaites, Funckens and Ospreys, who knows what colour a shrew is? What about a weasel? What varieties are there? What colour eyes and claws do they have?

Another much-valued aspect of this project has been the need to check out images of our countryside's natives (no, not some Yorkshire farmer tending his flock!), the small, hardly noticed but always present inhabitants of our land who go about short and often brutal lives missed by everyone until one turns up on TV and we all go "ahhh". For the record, my weasels will be reddish brown, like the Common Weasel variety, and my shrews will be tricolour brown, starting with a dark brown back and fading around to light at the front. I had to do research to find that out!

G

As the figure stoops somewhat as it walks, getting both the head and the body in focus was a challenge, especially for my limited photographic skills.

The beach theme is here typified not only by the sand but by some driftwood. This is a piece of plastic armature sold by Woodland Scenics to make trees from, aimed primarily at the model railway fraternity, but eminently suitable for wargames purposes too. You might just pick out the rust tinge on the dagger in this shot too.

Club at the ready to pressgang some poor unfortunate into the crew of the Blackberry. And more signs of rust development on his scavenged pieces of armour.

The Black Pi-Rat

Hello again.

When I first heard about "Burrows & Badgers: A Skirmish Game of Anthropomorphic Animals", written by Michael Lovejoy and published by Osprey Games, I was enthused. When I found a copy whilst browsing around Asgard Games in Walsall on my first ever visit there, I had to buy a copy.

The game looked interesting. The genre looked like engaging. But where to find the figures? Oathsworn Miniatures was the answer to that one and, a quick order later, coupled with a hefty purchase at the Barrage Show, I was in possession of a number of widely varying animal warriors and magicians, ne'er-do-wells and malcontents, heroes and rogues, not to mention a multitude of ideas for how to form them into disparate warbands for the aforementioned games.

How about a Military Order led by a Border Terrier? What about a band of brave-hearted brigands from north of the border led by a ferocious wildcat? How about a beleaguered police force trying to protect the waterways of the land from piracy, led by an otter or two? What about the pirates and rogues out to smuggle, murder, steal and generally keep said river police busy? Then there are the nefarious schemes of foxes, the depraved depths of society as epitomised by a colony of rats, the inscrutable, dreamy plans of the cold-bloods. A multitude of choice, a plethora of options, a veritable cornucopia of potential gaming fun in a world ripe for imagination and creativity.

All of those and so many more are there for the making!

These figures are not cheap - the cheapest is £3 and they range through to around £12 I think for something like a badger - but you only need around six or seven for a band. I do feel they are fairly priced given the likely sales volume - these are not exactly your "I need a couple of hundred line infantry" Napoleonics! I also like the quality of the figures and, with the rules being self-contained, your outlay will not break too many banks. Unless, of course, you are like me and enjoy the collecting and painting probably more than the actual game...The figures are also metal, do not need gluing together and come with a base sized appropriately for their role in the game (30 or 40mm circular slottabases). As each figure is usable with every other one, as you make your own warband up from whatever you want up to your starting figure of 350 pennies, there is never likely to be a wasted figure. Also, the rules contain campaign rules too, so your little group can grow in stature and numbers as you play the game.

So, first up, is a figure I bought at Barrage, which I do not believe was available when I placed my first order. The fact that the range is expanding is a good thing and a good sign.

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, I give you...

The Black Pi-Rat!

Having a sort of soft spot for historical pirates (if only as a game subject - I am not sure I would want to meet or get involved with any of them!), it was a fair guess that some sort of pirate theme would emerge at some point. I have a liking for many of these figures, but this guy is one of my overall favourites, so he got first dibs on the paint, brushes and my time.

G

"Come and have a go, you scurvy dogs!" could be taken very literally in "Burrows & Badgers"!!!

Rather than do generic bases, I thought a bit about what sort of base would suit a pirate. Perhaps the boards of a ship? Yes, but limited for land-based games. How about a quayside? Yes again, but a bit too specific. So, I went for a beach, which would also pass for sandy soil. For a bit of added interest, I added a small section of broken down breakwater/ fence.

And the first one is done. Now for some crew to sail on the good ship "Blackberry".

More Maltese Marinelife

Several years ago at the Derby Show, having spent what I wanted and just checking around to see that I had not missed anything, I happened across a small stall with a few ship models set out on a largely bare tabletop. I have no recollection whatsoever who this trader was and do not recall seeing them since...A few minutes later, I had left the show to drive home, the proud owner of a resin "ship", with masts and cannon, the intention being to add this model to my then newly-painted pirates. This could not have been that long after the release of "Legends of the High Seas", my buccaneering rules set of choice at that time.

Fast forward those several years to me concerning myself with extras for the Wyrley Retinue's forthcoming "Mayhem in the Med., c.1565" game and I unearthed the ship model once more. Nephew Nick had promised to paint his Ainsty Man-'o'-War for the game, but I knew this to be a HUGE model and it was unclear whether Nick would indeed manage this, so I decided I finally had to get my little offering ready and able. A couple of days before the show, I set to with brush in hand and hereby present the sum total of a day or so's graft, the lovely "Maria".

"Why Maria?" I hear you all cry.

Well, as I said at the top of this piece, the ship was bought to provide transport for my pirates and I wanted a name that could be universal in terms of its origin and, therefore, that of its crew. "Santissima Trinidad"? Too Spanish. "Temeraire"? Too French (and famous). "Bismarck"? Too...

You get the picture.

So, "Maria" it became, able to be Spanish, French, Italian, English (if a tad exotic, but plain, old "Mary" would be too much of a giveaway).

I give you "Maria".

G

She is quite a plain creature at the moment, but I may well add some rigging from netting material and perhaps an Ainsty ship's wheel. I could not find her cannons when I took these shots, but rest assured there are six of them. Sails are again from calico tied up with "rope" from Gale Force 9.

I have no idea what colour such ships would have been in reality, but yellow seems to have featured quite a lot in sailing ships at different times, so I went with that.

One thing I have noted on ships of this era especially is decoration around the poop deck. This is my attempt to tart her up a little...

Ample room in her ten or so inches of hull length for some derring-do and buckling of swashes!

And I finally found her cannons!

Busy with the plastic

Hot on the heels of the horseflesh come yet more of my attempts to do something a little different, with yet more conversions.

As before, these sniper-types are based on Perry Mahdists from the boxed set of that ilk. I have little or no interest in the Sudan Wars, but was readily gripped by the opportunity I thought these figures could present to assist with this very project. However, the rifles contained in the box are very obviously NOT Renaissance, but Remingtons or similar, no doubt taken from some unsuspecting Egyptian infantryman before the Gordon Relief Expedition or something.

So, where to source something approaching a suitable firearm?

Cue the Warlord Firelock Musketeers...

Overlooking the obviously incorrect mechanism, which I could have rectified with a length of wire or cotton, what I was after was a long firearm and that is exactly what I got! Not only that, but the firelocks had the advantage of having the arms attached, so I did not have to carve other arms to suit. The addition of powder horns from small lengths of curved plastic, bags and pouches from Wargames Factory WoSS figures and similar sets and straps from greenstuff finished the basic figure to my satisfaction.

I based them on round bases as I wanted skirmishing, sniper types, not figures to stand in units at a later date, and they can also match up with my existing Arabian pirate figures who are also on round bases.

And that is basically that!

G

The entire 11 figures I made to fulfil the sniper remit.

The long firearms shown to effect (albeit firelocks rather than matchlocks).

A close up of one of the scratchbuilt powder horns. Very technical!

RAID!!!! 27th October 2011 (or 1690-ish)

The latest in our test games for "Cutlass" was a faster flowing affair than our previous scuffles. Bradford John (6 feet plus of long-haired, bearded Yorkshireman), Sporty Becky (5 feet plus, long-haired, unbearded, almost twelve years old, second child of G) and yours truly entered from various points of the table, intent on getting to the central house to loot it. In our way stood Nephew Nick's (6 feet plus of short-haired, bearded South Staffordshireman) crew, dotted around the table on sentry duty (not that you would know it as they could not see a thing......)

I mosied up to sentry number one and shot him, he ran, so I ran him through! Sentry number two followed soon after, but the musketeer in the ruined shack was of sterner stuff and put up a longer fight against two of Monkey Pete's (i.e. my) crewmen. But the alarm had been raised by sentry one before he died, so the game was on!

Becky (Monsieur de Fense de Fumay) ignored everyone and marched straight up to the house, past all the sentries and my sluggish landlubbers, opened the back door and went in to search for loot. If she had remembered to light a candle, she might have found some too, but six turns later, the gold came to light at last, not before John had wiped out all bar one of the remaining sentries and had reached the house himself and I had moved round the back, shooting at de Fense de Fumay's crew on the way, and set fire to the place!!!

Out ran de Fense de Fumay and a henchman and Monkey Pete chased off after him, but not before an encounter with Captain John, who had sneaked up and tried to harm poor, innocent Pete. Pete did the only thing he could and stepped over Captain John's body.........

With both John and Nick out of the game, Monkey Pete caught up with de Fense de Fumay and took him down, but the Frenchman's crew had caught up too and a bloody buckling of swashes swung back and forth. Tired and in need of a shot or two of "victuals", the Frenchies and Monkey Pete's finest agreed to split the loot and call it a day.

Huzzah for fair play and honesty!!!!! And who said "crime doesn't pay???? With John bemoaning the "family gang up", we packed up and left for the night. Don't mess with Don G! Or Monkey Pete!!!

Familiarity and better clarity of the rules following rereads and play testing meant this game flowed more quickly than before, even with Becky being a new player and not at all used to wargames. They will get more outings in the near future as we try more of the printed scenarios from the book and, no doubt, a few of our own.

The major plus point for me??? Monkey Pete can hit a bull's botty with a banjo, unlike his (late)predecessor.

PIRATES (Aaaarrrggghhh!!!!)




All good crews get a flag

 


Monkey Pete digging around in the dunes

 


Two of Monkey Pete's finest have spotted something - treasure or a native girl (you decide)



The Barbary Corsairs, possibly on a slave raid in deepest Cornwall



"you put your right arm up, your right arm down..."



Big Yousuf glowers for the camera



Cap'n Morgan, who is as blind as a bat given his last outing with the gun at Stafford Games on 13th October, seems to have got lucky nevertheless



Purser Barclay asks Roger for some help with the accounting



Monsieur le Sieur de Fense de Fumay, his first mate and current squeeze all looking menacing




"CHARGE!!!"

 

Allez maintenant vous Cochons!!!



"Zut alors! Je voudrais le nouveau armoire, je pense"



I love pirate games in the (Spanish?) Main. What better chance does one have to let rip with entendres, general bad behaviour, deviancy, skullduggery and other nefarious traits without risk of imprisonment? So far, however, we have tried out just two sets of rules, namely Legends of the High Seas (LOTHS) and Cutlass. For my money, I prefer LOTHS.

Cutlass has some good bits and give a good game, but I have reservations about the multi-moving bit based on initiative (I reckon there will be a tendency to ignore the lesser figures and the heroes will get too much of the game) and I think it is a slower game than LOTHS, harder to track and not quite "it" for me. LOTHS has its quirks, as with any Wrahammer system IMO (don't get me started on how gross spear users can be), and career progression can be a bit rapid and potentially over-powering, but it is simpler than Cutlass and, I think quicker. You pays your money, I guess..........Or more likely, robs it from some lackey of the local Governor, end up with a price on your head and spend the next few years touring sundry, sweaty, malaria-riddled holes before dying in a brawl brought on by your tongue, made loose by your dependency on vast quantities of rum. Either that, or you fall foul of the law and spend a few hours in a dank cell before they walk you out to the gallows.....

It is a great shame that Hollywood spent so much time making Westerns and so little on pirates. Then again, it is no doubt so much easier to drive out to some part of Arizona or New Mexico, knock up a few wooden shacks and a saloon, roll a few balls of tumble weed about and race a few horses around to create more dust than it is to fly to the Caribbean, build a galleon or two and blow up half an island with various barrels of powder. But Western gunfight scenarios translate pretty well to pirates and both genres are ideal for multi-player outings, so pirates will be here to stay in the G armoury.

In any case, I have just painted up another 20, with a few more (and a ship!!!!) still to come. That makes 62 and counting, surely enough for a jolly decent, multi-player, massed punch up in some far off dive.....................

Pirate game, 15/10/11

Ever had one of those days when you couldn't hit a bull's botty with a banjo???

15th October at Stafford Games - four pirate crews all after treasure being chaperoned by one of their number in a hedged, barn area. I shot, shot some more, melted down the local church roof to provide more bullets, shot a lot more and killed...............one whole enemy pirate!

And my photos look all yellowish as the light in the gamesroom is not great. I will post what I have, but, like the classic school report - "could do better". (Both the pirates and my photography).

Time to lose Cap'n Morgan on a desert island somewhere and draft in Dutchy van Drijver and his trusty first mate, Wim Unwigger, latterly of the dodgier areas of far off Rotterdam.