Friday, January 24, 2025

Things From The Basement New England Village


These were Christmas gifts from my Mother-in-law and wife. Things from the Basement kits are awesome. 

The Hartwell Tavern kit is great an excellent reproduction of the original.
I like the detail of the cellar door.
These are two generic colonial houses. 
Less detailed than the Hartwell Tavern but still very nice looking.
Rear view of the same houses the color choice was difficult.
This is the captain Smith House which I painted last year it's got an extra level of detail and that I really like.  
All together they make a nice little New England village... A few barns and other additions. 

Thursday, January 23, 2025

Cattle raid on Brecon, 1291

 Last Friday I wend to Arofan's and helped playtest some new rules for Late Middle ages Wargaming. I was Teamed up with Kelly and faced off against Mark and Eammon.

Kelly and I had an ambush set up and it worked great with archers and crossbow men quickly seeing off a unit of cavalry scouts. 

and other a Archery units quickly establishing fire superiority over a unit of Crossbowmen. 
Turn two things were looking good our Archers and crossbowmen had the flow on units of knights pinned down while our Knights had intercepted the enemy's leading unit of knights... Then our lord died in hand to hand combat! 
Still we managed to hold our own for a bit routing the Crossbowmen and keeping many of the enemies best units pinned down. Still with only two lesser lords we didn't have the command ability to take advantage of our good shooting. 
Our "second in command" was stuck holding the center lucky for him our peasants punched well above their weight holding off trained infantry.    
Then disaster struck as another lord fell defending the village as our opponents stormed in with multiple units... the Archers and Peasant levies broke.  A crushing defeat after a good begining. 

Monday, January 13, 2025

More Like Foxes Than Lyons Outside Frankfurt 1689

Mark and I had the French Army ecoutiering Germans near Frankfurt 
We oppted to focuse outside the town I had the infantry on the right.      
We advanced with our two batteries making a deliberate fire.  
Regiment Perche got an off an excellent volley at the German Grenadiers... killing many and causing disorder... Saddly my germans on thelft were routed in a crossfire, while the Gendarmes made an charge but the Imperial German's recovered. 
Despite inflicting a lot of damage on the Germans we were un able to break the Germans on the right and our troops on the left retreated an Imperial victory. 
 

Friday, December 27, 2024

Perils and Princess: Candy Curse

 My daughter's adventuring party gathered once more.  Our simple forest village had been troubled by strange happening. Creatures that seemed normal but were made of candy, a marshmallow squirrel among others were spotted.  

We were tasked to journey to Deerhollow a town deeper inside the forest. We joined with little trouble until we had almost reached the village where we found a boy being attacked by a bear... A bear that seemed to be partly made of gumdrops 

We were able kill the bear with a quick crossbow shot and a couple of sword slashes. And the boy Roary lead us to the village where we discovered the boy was part Gingerbread... And most of rest of the villages were also in various stages of turning into candy or confections. We spent the rest of the day getting to know the village and looking for a solution to the curse (before it hits us) 

Friday, September 20, 2024

Spanish First Rate one of los Meregildos

The ship has been on my hobby desk for way too long. I was trying a new aproach to rigging that didn't work out and I had to touch it up and start over... it took me a while to get back to it.  
This is a Simmon Mann print done for me by Arofan. Its a Santa Anna class though I preffer to call them by their informal name Los Meregildos 

The ships were build in Ferrol and Havana at the two great Spanish shipyards. 

I added a few small bits from an old Warlor kit to added lanters to the quaterdeck these were too fine to in the print file to survie the clean up process.  

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Carnage and Glory 1st Coalition Clash

I'm catching up on my battle reports over the summer. 


A view from a Dutch redout faccing the French advance. 
over to the left the Fench are hurrying forward with cavalry ahead of the infantry. 
I sned my small cavalry unity moves on to the flank of the coming cavalry clash.
Joining in... as Allied and French cavalry clash in the center  
Invantery attack on the right though the corn. 
The resultes of the cavalry clashe are mixed with the French winning one fight but losing two others.. leading to French cavalry behind the Allied line (but the unit is rather exauhsted)  
Allied Cavalry takes French infantry in the Flank
Helping stablize the Austrina infantry line. 
French intantry are pileing in as are allied cavalry heavy boddy blows ahve been exhanged but its anyones game as I have to leave... it was an eventual French vistory if I recall. 
 

La Ferme aux Rennes action at Neckar

 Another eddition of Arofan's late 17th/early 18th centeruy game. 

The Germans move in on the French camp catching it by suprise as the fog lifts... 

The works are facing the wrong way. 
French troops move out on their left... 
an exchange fire occurs... followed charged of french cavalry and infantry... 
followed charged of french cavalry and infantry... 
That goes badly for the German Allies... The French suffer too, a cavalry unit routs, and several french infantry units are hammers including the Swiss who break but then recover. 
on French right and center the battle is in the ballance but on the left the French have the advantage and the allied German force must with draw.