Expanding 15mm Confederates - for Shiloh

 Project continues

this time foot and horse brigades

bare metal

base black

dark brown layer

damp white

color under-coat

 

This was all done over the easter weekend, so about 30 mins a day.

Then activities picked up fast and the brush spent less time in hand.

ink layer done

tunics

hats, muskets and blankets

on bases

all flocked

 

Since these photos they have had flags put on the three foot brigades and then stored - only two more divisions to go ... then all of SHILOH will be ready for basic action.

I am planning on some more draft horses for gun teams and at least six wagons for supply purposes.

Still on track to get Shiloh minis done this year, then comes figuring out what I need to generate for Gettysburg, casting and preparing.  Let alone that elusive table time with the Shiloh set ...

ACW 15mm forces expand for Shiloh

 Started on March 10, by March 21 all the painting was done and the flocking was finished on the 23 of March.

base coat was black
then a dark brown coat
then a 'light brown' (almost white) drybrush
then a color coat (as seen here)

ink layer (fresh and wet still)

base color layer
white on the horses for A.S. Johnston

mid-tones and some details

highlights & metallic parts

off the painting sticks and onto bases

flocking completed

All of these troops are now filed into a Confederate storage space and three brigades of foot and one brigade of horse have been assembled and as I write this, they are at the inked stage.

Moving along on the 15mm ACW project and I can see the light of a Shiloh battlefield coming ... maybe this year?

SHAKO II pickup game using random terrain

 One last game session at the Kelsey Center in Sayward.

It was an amazing fast-paced game played by two experienced players.

Austrians vs Italians and Bavarians.

Since both players were so experienced there were virtually no delays between moves and both players were fast in taking actions.

Again a time-lapse was made of the game and some images were inserted into the video.

It was a simple Italio-Bavarian attack against the Austrian defenders.

Austrians chose to line up everyone on the front line and push forward along a line of tall hills in the south, with a division holding a lower hill in the north.

The Italio-Bavarians, foot troops moved forward to engage on the low hill, then cover the flank from the tall hills - then on turn four the flank riding light cavalry division arrived and smashed the Austrian position on the low hill - driving over the Austrian field command HQ.  It was a 'French' victory with horrendous casualties among the foot troops.

At one point, just before the light cavalry flank arrived the Italians were in danger of retreating from the field - the casualties had been that bad.

I am attaching all the images this time that were used in the video.

the many casualties around the Austrian Grenadier
Battalion
seen here also is the 'shaken' markers that I use
a 1/2 wagon wheel and a drum or broken musket

many many casualties pile up around
a Bavarian 1/2 foot battery ...

French Light Cavalry Division
seen across the top of this image
command figure in top right corner

Austrian horse did tough work off a tall hill and into
a thicket of woods - defeating a Jager brigade by flank
attack while pushing on the front!

In the end Austrian divisions just could not maintain
morale while loosing so many men

All-in-all a really great game!

Thank you Chris for coming out.
Thank you Alex for making the space available.

Next game day: SHAKO II

 The next game day in Sayward, at the Kelsey Centre is set for March 17.

I am doing a SHAKO II participation game and plan to have enough commands for up to six (6) players, possibly eight (8) if the situation warrants.

 

I have also started on my Shiloh 15mm confederates, so that project will see completion in the next 60 days ...

Frosthaven Commission stage one

 That (not so) little painting commission has been completed.

I was asked to *not* share all the progress here, as in the past, as the minis are 'secret'.

It took some searching to find reference images, of other painted minis or the game cards ... I shall only be sharing the first stage of the minis, for now.  Apparently the game changes as the different characters are introduced and the images I could find were of slightly different color variations and treatments of the miniatures.

the full first set

different stages of painting progress

I had a small challenge with this set of minis, they are made of a 'bendable' plastic, that I found did not take the base coat spray.  I used a zenithal method, with black and white base coat, which I have used on many other metal miniatures without issue.  The paint remained 'tacky' for about 6 days, this much delayed my starting on the painting of the miniatures as I did not know what the 'tacky' effect would be to paint applied to the minis.

As it turned out the paint tended to 'pool' if it was too thin, so I needed to use the base layers in a thicker, wetter mode than I normally do.  This also caused the base paint color layer to need more time to dry and set before I could start on the shading layers.

I ground up some white crystals for the 'snow' effects on the bases.  Then used a bunch of different flocking methods to complete the bases.

Client wanted a bright color set and a glossy final finish, this did make taking pictures of the finished minis a challenge.

The second set of minis for this commission is also done ... I have been asked to wait on sharing the process.  So I shall end with this little teaser:

PULP ALLEY game on 18 Feb 2024

 We ran another game at the Kelsey Center on February 18 and it was a blast to get the minis out on that fabulous table set of Rob's.

I have processed the images captured in the game into a little video of the action, hope you enjoy it.

 

Next game day is Sunday March 17, 2024, we are looking at doing a SHAKO II game.