28mm Terrain

I've decided to get some terrain done for my 28mm games.

The walls are made by one of the CHCH gamers, I've had them lying round for some time. Next time I'm in CHCH I must get some more.








The hedges are using woodlands scenics foliage. I build the base up with a 1cm high piece of balsa which is glued down to the base, then I build up sides using permafilla. Once dried I paint it with pva and dip it into some sand. Once that has been allowed to dry I then give it a 50/50 PVA/Water mix to seal the sand. Then undercoat black, followed by a dark then a light brown drybrush.


Craig

Impetus: Vikings vs Sicily Normans

Kent came up with a little scenario. Half his force was defending a vilalge the rest were to race on as reserves. We rolled to see where the viking commands deployed and then went for it- the scenario needs a bit of fine tuning but made for an entertaining game.

I had 2x viking commands each similar in size:
1x Housecarl general
2x large veteran vikings
5x Vikings
2x skirmishers

Defending the village Kent had
5-6 mercenary spearmen
3-4 bows (T)

Reserves
3x Norman knights
5-6 spears
3-4 crossbows and bows.

As well as the village one end 0of the table had a river and that is where one of my commands ended up deploying and so slogged its way towards the village but didn't really do much.

I managed to lose both my generals and eventually have one command overrrun by rampaging knights to be crushed. In my last turn I failed to break the defenders of the village (1 unit away and the general managed to just stay alive- 1 hit left!) for a rather convincing win to Kent. Next time we'll make the reserves come onto the table in column and make the terrain a bit friendlier for moving infantry.






Kent's Gripping Beast Church

The slow advance across the river begins...


Kent's reserves arrive.


Vikings turn to meet the new threat- Norman reserves.






Fierce fighting takes place on the left flank.


But in the end the vikings are overrun and the flank collapses.




Meanwhile my other command is finally fighting its way clear of the river.


The Norman general defending the village (banner jsut above the hut) puts up a heroic defence (and survives!)


At last the vikings fight our way into the centre of the village not realising that with both generals dead and the left flank crushed it is all over.


Thoughts
A fun game and a wee bit of tweaking should make for an interesting scenario.

Napoleonic Basing
Kent bought along his painted figures and we decided we were both happy with the look of 6 figures on a 5cm square base so the issue is now resolved.

28mm Napoleonic Basing 2

The great Napoleonic basing debate continues. 50mm or 45mm frontages. 4 or 6 figures? Here are a couple of different ideas. The first are taken from Kent's website- his new French. 50mm frontage and 4 figures per base. Although they are painted to his usual exceptional standards the bases just look too sparse to me- simply not enough figures for Napoleonics battalions- I personally think these bases need 6 figures (or 5- 3 in the front rank and 2 behind).





And option 2 from the Wargaming in 28mm website- 45mm frontages and 6 figures per base (I think). I prefer the massed look of 6 figures per base but it is a 50% increase in painting required. These bases give the mass that looks right to me.

Another option would be to use 40-45mm width bases with 4 figures and use sabots if required. This may be another option worth considering.

EDIT:
Nick has sent me some photos of his 50mm, 5 figs per base- and I borrowed one of his 4 figs per base from his blog :). I do like the look of the 5. I've been perusing Wargaming in 28mm and Saxon Dog's site tonight and they have made up my mind for me- 5- 6 figs per base it shall be.









Pictures 1 and 3 give a nice comparison of his 4 figs vs 5 figures formations- I do like the extra figure in the front Rank Nick, and it is a nice compromise.

And Nick's French force- that is the massed look I'm after!


Base Width?
As for width- it will be either 45mm or 50mm. I guess 50mm would be easier in that it would keep to the same conventions as the North Island Lasalle gamers- who would have though standardised basing conventions for Napoleonics! Surely the wargaming world will turn on its axis!

I had contact with Front Rank tonight and it looks like at least a week before my order will be sent (somehow it has grown to include all the infantry I will need) so plenty of time to mull this one over.

Other news: Impetus tomorrow night
My vikings will be taking on Kent's dastardly Normans at Impetus- we shall see how well a Shieldwall can hold up to heavy Cavalry!

Craig

28mm Napoleonics

After procrastinating for a month I've decided to take the plunge and have ordered the start off my Napoleonic Russian force in 28mm. I've decided to use Front Rank at this stage- I've ordered my artillery (10 guns to start- I need 15!) some Cuirassiers and Pavlov's Grenadiers. My aim is to base the core infantry force on the 1st Division at Borodino- basically I'll be replicating my 15mm AB arm in 28mm! I'm hoping the Warlord Games plastics aren't too far off as I intend to use them for my regular infantry battalions.

With next year being the 200th anniversary of the 1812 cqampaign it seems fitting, we will aim to get organised to run a demo game to celebrate the anniversary so getting the Russians up and running seems to be a fitting goal.

Eventually I'll put together a Duchy of Warsaw force to oppose the Russians which I will be able to combine with Kent's French for a bigger battle. Poochie and Lintman are keen to do a Waterlooe themed demo game at Conquest (October) so my Russsians will not be needed and if I join them I'll have to borrow a command from them. Which means I probably should build a small French force to join them but if I concentrate on that then I won't have a force to fight vs Kent's French (and I refuse to play non historical match ups) so we will have to wait and see.

My current issue (as always) is basing. The guys are using 50mm square bases with 4 figures per base and although it doesn't look bad it just doesn't quite look right to me. In metals it will be 50% dearer to do 24 fig battalions (6 per base) but that is also 50% more painting and time required. Using plastics it isn't such as issue as the plastic ranges are cheap enough anyway. I'll have a closer look at Kent's stuff before making my final decision.

Craig

Impetus- Syrians vs Crusaders

Well it's been quiet round here for the past month. I have not touched a paint brush or a model in that time! I've totally run out of steam and inspiration!

Not quite wargaming but I popped down to the bach on Monday as we are getting a new log burner put in. Winter has finally arrived and at last there was some snow on the Kakanui ranges.

But enough of that, tonight Kent and I finally go together at the club for a game of Impetus and he showed off the start of his new 28mm Napoleonic French army- just the inspiration I need to get started on my Russians!







They are going to look great!

Syrians vs Crusaders: 400 pt Impetus Battle
So after that it was a Syrians vs Crusaders (400 pt Impetus) rematch and at last the Syrians managed to get the better of the Crusaders in a rather one sided affair!

Syrian deployment


Crusaders



Turn 1- The Syrians advance




Turcopoles race forward


On my left flank the Ghulums advance to engage the Norman infantry.





Suljuks advance in the centre to support the Gaziz and city militia.


The city milita hold the centre whilst the suljuks decimate the advancing crusader knights.




Meanwhile the Ghulums whittle away at the infantry- luckily I managed to destroy most of Kent's bow units quickly. It was a bit of a slog but the Ghulums slowly but surely triumphed.













Result:
I managed to break both of Kent's commands in the same turn, routing the Crusaders. My Ghulum command only lost a single unit of light horse. The Syrian command lost 2-3 units of infantry (Gaziz) and a unit of light horse (8 pts total) so it was a major victory. I think Kent probably split his forces too much and was guilty of not massing his troops but the terrain certainly paid a part in that. Of course my dice running hot (I rolled at least three 12s for command roles!) helped to ensure I kept the initiative throughout the battle.

It was nice to finally get a win over the Crusaders but I'm sure our victory will be short lived!