No Summer Purchases - Day 5 - 5.6.19

1. Stuck the shields on the 12 Spartan hoplites.
2. Primed the remaining 3 French spearmen.
3. Removed a brigade skirmish screen from their bases from my peninsular 6th division in order to rebase them.
4. Bailando!

No Summer Purchases - Day 4 - 4.6.19

1. Painted the inside of the 12 Spartan shields.
2. Dry brushed the 5 bases of the 5th division skirmishers.
3. Primed 12 of 15 spearmen last unit for my French HYW army.

Not much, but something!

No Summer Purchases - Day 3 - 3.6.19

1. Varnished the 12 Spartan shields I put the transfers on yesterday.
2. Stuck pikes on 5 old QRF TYW pikeman figures to be used as morale failure markers for TODR. Note: These are much smaller than the QRF ECW figures which are much more compatible with Minifigs and Essex
3. Put a wash of Vallejo "European Dust" on the 5th Division skirmish bases.

No Summer Purchases - Day 2 - 2.6.19

1. Ballasted the 9 bases of musketeers I put together yesterday
2. Ballasted the 2 elements of Brunswick Oels Jaegers I varnished yesterday.
3. Ballasted 6 bases of line infantry for my Peninsular 5th Division.
4. Put transfers on shields for 12 Spartan hoplites.
5. Made 4 new flags for the TYW Protestant Union army.
6. Bailando!

No Summer Purchases - Day 1 - 1.6.19

1. Varnished 2 skirmish bases of Brunswick Oels Jaegers for my Peninsular 5th Division - General D'Armee. These were previously on bases of 2s for "General de Brigade", but I'm using  3 figures  on 45mm x 20mm bases for GDA. All my close order infantry are based 3 figures to a 30mm x 20mm base.
2. Ballasted 8 bases of pike and shot for "For King and Parliament" and "Twilight of Divine Right". These were spare painted figures from the bits box. Now that I am using movement trays for this period I am trying to make the basing as flexible as possible to create 2 different sizes of  various formations in ratios of 2:1, 3:2 and 1:1.
3. While there was some PVA left in the pot I ballasted 2 bases of line infantry for the 5th division.
4. Found another 27 random painted musketeers in the spares box so stuck another 3 bases together. These were painted years ago and not up to the way I paint now but stuff it. They are 15mm and they will be lost in the large formations on the table. The whole idea is to get stuff on the table.

At the moment I am not applying tufts or flock to the bases of any figures. They will be playable with just the ballast on them. I'll review the foliage and tart the bases up later on.

Paint All The Minis Channel - No Summer Purchases Challenge

Paint all the minis video on YouTube

I watched the above video and agreed with everything he says, so I'm going for the challenge - no hobby purchases from 1.6.19 to 31.8.19

I'll post regularly (yes I know, but I didn't say daily!) on what I've done and we'll see what 's been achieved by the end of the challenge.

[It's still only May 26th though :)]

The idea is to cut down the pile of lead, stop hoarding, get stuff painted and most importantly play games.

And Marie Kondo is bloody brilliant:
Marie Kondo trailer on YouTube
Most wargamers will require straightjacketing after watching her programs on Netflix.

Murdoch's Guns - Part 2

The day did not go well for the men of Blockhouse Number 4.

After trading shots with the Americans, Pendrick's locals in the Grundy house became so elated with the effect of their musketry that they charged out of the house and around the corner into the flank of the U.S light infantry that had advanced into the farm.*

Suddenly aware that they were outnumbered 2:1 reality dawned, and with Pendrick down they ran back across the field of fire of Murdoch's militia who had now replaced Brackenreid's regulars in the front line.

George Crabtree and the voltigeurs finally arrived, but were unable to fend off the combination of American riflemen and light infantry. At least George didn't get hit this time!

Brackenreid's regulars had taken heavy shock and retired behind Murdoch's militia in an attempt to recover some order.

At this point Brackenreid decide that the guns were not worth the hammering his men were taking and chose to retire from the field.

Another great game of Sharp Practice with Dave getting revenge for the American's showing last time out.

My luck with the dice continued the abysmal streak which started last Saturday at "Wor Lard". Dave and I were lucky enough to take part in Richard Clarke's  Chain of Command Game. After making a tremendous start with command dice roles, my Japanese assault along the Rubber Plantation's railway line  ground to a shuddering halt outside a bungalow full of Dave's Australians with some truly appallingly horrendous dice throws.

*Random firing event after three consecutive flags!!!!!