Batteground - ACW Game and stash!

Yesterday saw the culmination of the group project by the Old Guard Wargame Group , as we put on the ACW Battle of Stone River at our local show Battleground.

Firstly we must say a real well done to Leon and the team at Pendraken for all the hard work put into making this a great event. Its really growing as a regional show . Yesterday was a busy day with good traders and attendance right through the day . There were 7 of us there from the Old Guard and we all took a number of breaks for shopping excursions a number of times.

Each of the guys had completed various regiments , I had also done most of the terrain. Photo credit  Roy Williamson

James, me, John, Martin, Pete, Angus, Stig - we were missing Stuart

James's beautifully painted Rebs all lined up for the fray. - Photo Credit - Roy Williamson

Stigs Union Regiments await the onslaught ..

Martins Union reserve units decide to try a flanking march.

The addition of strips of variably flashing LED;s added to the atmosphere - and were much appreciated by audience!

At this point the Union struggled roll above about a 2... and Confederates were rolling consistently high... its been a theme in each of the games we have had... much to the chagrin of the Union players!

John gets his reinforcement brigades on the move as Angus takes the fence line at the first attempt.. 

The action was hotting up

Stigs and my units fail to hold Angus and fall back...

Martins counterattack was beaten back - and we all agreed this ended as confederate win . The union  commanders  were of course too distracted by shopping ! well that was our excuse!

We had lots of good chats over the day, and lots of positive comments - which helped. A few of us in the group will continue to build up forces , while me move on to another group project next year.

It was a very good show for shopping. We were also located right next to the bring and buy , and were able to nab some quick gains through the day . We also visited the trader throughout , and I am sure buoyed by a great atmosphere on the day a number of bust budgets adding various goodies.

As for me this was my stash..

Old Skytrex ships for a WW2 project picked up from the bring and buy,,,

6MM buildings from Leven - James , Martin and I are going to to 1980's stuff. - as they  picked up a real bargain in the b&b with a massive British force, to match my rooskies 

Basing tufts and bases from warbles

tools and airbrush bits 

and ... oh dear..... where will this lead...

Overall it was a brilliant day out... 

ACW - Union infantry and the table

A decent bit of progress made last week . I completed the union infantry brigade I had on the paint desk. It will see its first battle this coming weekend as guys from the Old Guard club give the game a run out at the Battleground Show.

I do like the mass effect that is possible  10mm- the brigade marches to battle 

I made some rocky outcrop terrain pieces from cork sections this week too, along with finishing the last of the trees to add to the table - takes it up to 200 of them altogether.

I just need to get my 3 limber teams done this week

Another plus to the 10mm is they make this kind of thing economically viable!

I have some Confederate troops on order from Pendraken to pick up this week to start with the opposition. I will be mostly finding someone to paint them I think as the old eyes are not holding up so good with them. So much so I have had to resort to using some magnification.

A 2x magnification Optivisor

I have previously tried a magnifying lamp but I could not get away with that. The Optivisor is comfortable to wear , not too heavy and it is making a real difference. For now I only need it for 10mm , reading glasses are fine for any larger figures or terrain.

a view through the visor ..

This week has also seen work on Curt's Stradiots - with all the fiddly bits now completed , namely the shields, hats and faces .. just the main clothing parts and highlights left to do,

The last of the paint table lurkers!

The clock is ticking down to the launch of the winter challenge... stand by your camels!

Time to prep... winters coming..

My peak painting production time is fast approaching - I have been stocking up on lead and mdf over the summer , so I have made a start on going through it , just to see if there are any extra bits required. I will be at the Battleground show in Stockton on Tees later this month with a small shopping list !

I intend to take the Sudan project to its final phases - ok it will never actually finish but all the major items will be done. I have some key Imperial units left to do and a significant uplift to the Egyptians and Sudanese army units. Well with 3 x7 litre boxes of lead there is still a lot to do.

There are some interesting mdf kits in the to do list

A bunch of resin items to add to the river options 

and I have a pretty good stock of bases , but you can be sure I will need some of some sizes I don't have  

Oh and another whole new project in the wings .. back to tanks!

As for other bits on the go ...I am working on clearing the desk of 10mm ACW terrain and Union infantry , and some 28mm Stradiots for the Snowlord. They are getting there, starting to get some nice colour on them 

Its going to be busy!

We Will Remember Them

Tyne Cot Cemetery - November 6th 2017

This last week Mrs D and I spent a couple of days in Ypres and we revisited the the Passchendaele area - its 100 years since that gruesome battle. We also took in once again the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate.

On Monday we had the large cemetery at Tyne Cot to ourselves - it was early on bright morning and we were able to pay our respects. 

With over 12000 graves and 34000 memorial names to those with no known grave it really is a "Silent City"

As November the 6th was 100 years to the day of the final attack of the Canadian 2nd Division into the centre of the village of Passchendaele we made our way a few minutes up the ridge to the village.

The new Canadian memorial due to be unvieled- looking toward the Church in the village - the line of the last attack

100 years to the day - Not Forgotten

I stood in front on the graves of men killed exactly 100 years ago - I wondered did their relatives ever  get chance to visit from their far away shores? Perhaps they could take comfort that someone  was there to remember. 

A Crisis visit - part 2 The Games

There were lots of different games last weekend. I spent the first hour wandering around taking in the spectacle - and drawing inspiration. So here are some the items that caught my eye.

Loved the baloon in this Congo game

3d Print Arnhem 1944

Loved the buildings

Nice trees... 

The peat ship of Breda game - cracking modelling

30 Corps break outing large scale! 

Modern special forces - Spectre

Gangster! Chicago Way

Pirates!

18th Century game - great model making

Flying machines!

The massive fantasy game - some amount of work

Its really got me thinking about doing a game next year...