The Bureaucracy Strikes Back....

Well my New Hope of having another game promo demo (or 3?) at the CRA has been suitably dashed by The Administration.

Forget that I got a player 'right away' last time and that 3-8 others were at least entertained - even though they all refused to take over the French or join in with the Russians in the game in any way - they were content to watch in 'kibitz' about things military, historical or gaming.

The only other thing that drew that many on the same night was the Kareoke (sp?) machine...

Anyway I have been told that I must clear anything done thru the main CRA offices (which I had done via email, but not 'in person' to the right people I suppose).

No matter, it was 1/2 hour extra to drive and for no positive gains from the admin at the CRA. The Campbell River crew is still curious and after Auerstadt game on Oct 14, I will be doing anohter on the 20th for them.

Just dissapointing when I hear over and over again that the 'boys' 12-22 are looking for something to do (other than playstation, kareoke, air hockey or ping-pong) and when something shows up, needs nothing other than a table (that no one else was using) and it manages to draw spectators in that group that they THE ADMINISTRATION want to shut it down.

Sigh...

Well like Grimsby Wargaming blog has done I think the idea of expressing painting plans is a great idea.

So here goes:

Between now and December I plan to paint:

4x12 man units of Russian Dragoons (I finally have the minis).
2x12 man units of Russian Cossacks (I may have another helping here, maybe not).
4x16 man units of 'Greatcoat' Infantry in Bicornes (they are Russians but I have extra flag carriers, so I can use them as anybody).
Finish some projects I started them about three months ago:
** 16 man French Light Infantry unit
** 6 Warhammer Bretonnian Knights on horseback.
** the 12xKisslev Kossavars and leader woman.
** the Titan.

In December I plan to do some 'specialty' painting:

Napoleon Bonaparte (mounted) in ridingote with Roustam
Marshal Murat (mounted in his 'King of Naples' garb)
Marshal Ney (mounted)
3x French Marshals (or Generals)
Mounted Horse Artillery Officer
all by Foundry


These will be a pleasure to paint and I plan to 'lavish' some time on them all.

January will be back to the grindstone, as these will need to be done by February 20th or so:
10x Russian Foot artillery Batteries and 30x Russian Gunners
36x French Horse Artillerymen (so that my horse guns will actually be crewed correctly)
5x12 man French Dragoon units


All of the Napoleonics mentioned above needs to be done in time for a staging of EYLAU on February 24th.

Following all of this activity I think I will have a little rest and maybe 'play' for a while.

Plans for 2007 do include looking into the many Ottomans that I got from a convention a year or two ago...

Promotions Continue.



I did a first tryout at the new LINC youth center in Courtenay.

It took some time to re-connect with the right people but I managed to get the ping-pong table net removed and the game was on!



Only one other player in the game this time, he had played once before which made set-up much easier since there was a lot of noise in the room at first.

Simple Russian rear-guard vs French advance guard.



The Russians held their own for 6 turns (2-3 hours simulated time), but once the French flank riding cavalry arrived the whole Russian line collapsed in 2 turns (about 40 mins to 1 hour simulation time).

Great game with actual counter-orders coming in from Russian commands and need for the French to hold out, which one division did not and the Grenadiers did on the hilltop, sealing the victory by standing firm and letting Russian Hussars break against their square!



One more tomorrow night, then playtest on Sunday!

Big games weekend for me! (like having 3 mini-conventions in a row).

Great Fun.

Cheers

Detail pictures:

I wanted to see what the effect of the 'sky cloth' might be like so I shot a couple of pics of the finished command figs.

Blogger only lets 5 images get uploaded at a time so this post will use the other two images now.

Cheers

GLOSS COATING DONE
SKY CLOTH FINISHED

Whew! With only a day to go I have finished the division!

Only flocking remains to be done...

Oh yes and that pesky 'basing' thingy.

Auerstadt playtest on October 1st coming up, family pictures to be done soon, so must off to chop hair and make the boys presentable before a camera.

Cheers!

DETAILS DONE!


The Division at last has the major details all done!

I had to push everything else aside this evening, painting straight thru from 6:30 pm to 1 am.

Now I let all dry overnight and get the polyshades out and 'semi-gloss' protect coat and final tint in 1 step.

Enjoy the pics, will have some different ones from a game tomorrow!

More details on the Division:


Another layer and some details now done on all the troops and another layer on all the cavalry horses and riders.

The detail lines are starting to show now.

If I can get another 2-3 hours in on this project over tonight (thursday) and a bit friday before the game demo's then I think I will be ready for Sunday October 1st and the full table playtest of the game.

More pics of the progress.

AUERSTADT Game

Day was busy in many other ways, finally got an answer about the location for my planned staging of the 200th Anniversary game of Auerstadt.

Ever since I lost the Courtenay Rec center contact, the problem of the location has been a bear.

Today I got confirmation that the Campbell River Rec center was not willing to stage the event.

So now I shall press on with a private supplier: HALBE HALL.

It is a small hall on the top of the hill in Black Creek, between Courtenay and Campbell River.

Now I must get on with the promotions work. Something I have started here.

Check out: Arcadian Guild Events for more information.

The picture is a favorite of mine from the first playtest.

Skycloth nearly done!

So with about an hour today I snuk in some time to do the green tinting of the skycloth. I had to push for the time while the sun was out since the material takes such a long time to dry!

I only need to get some bleach now to 'finish' the clouds effects and I shall have my first backdrop finished!

Took two pics, one just after finishing the green parts, still wet. The other about 4 hours later, once the sun had dried it off.

So I have decided on a photo for my use on this blog. Since I have no other hosting location for it, I shall first post here, then copy it for use elsewhere.

DETAIL LAYER

The division gains flesh tones, black on boots, helmets and hats. A few hours later, after feeding and dealing with children's complications, the green mid and light tones are layed in.

I also took a pic of the 'sky-cloth' this morning, as I had to put it out to get it to dry in the sun (it was too cool overnight to get the dyes to completely dry out).

Finally I have included a close-up of some of the Division to show the flesh tones.

Enjoy!

No new paint on the Division.

Due to good weather this morning, I was out casting, then yard working and fixing outdoor items before the rains really set in.

I did manage to sneak in 1/2 hour on the 'sky cloth' background for future use.

Everyone should start to see it in the background of pictures in the future.

SECOND COLOUR LAYER



Now the Division is really starting to take shape.

I managed to get the yellow and mustard colors on to the troops whose uniforms include those colors and all the red has its first layer (over white for 'bright' red/scarlet colour).

More to do in the coming week, but I am still confident that I can finish the painting, at least, in time for the massive playtest on October 1.

Enjoy!

INKING DONE

So while reviewing video for another project I managed to get the inking of the division done.

Switching tapes, I took some pics and now rewinding I am posing the blog.

Enjoy the pics, remember you can clik and see them bigger.

I know, I know - I had said that this was to be a hobby blog, but since I do not have any other right now - I have decided to share why my painting efforts have had to take a back seat today.

Our new woodstove fireplace has finally been finished and we started our first fire in it today, the first my family has been able to have, in the five years since we moved out from the older house we rented with a woodstove in it.

Whew! It has been a long time since I smelled the fire/heat smell and had direct access to the comforting heat of a woodstove.

So another day and another hour done on the Division.

This time only a layer of brown to 'darken up' some sections, before the ink layer likely to go on tomorrow.

I have liked the pictures showing the progress, so that I actually see the changes.

Remember that if you clik a pic you see the full size, though I have compressed the images so that they do not take forever to load.

Cheers

Whew! Another day with some painting done.

The division is starting to shape up and I am still hopeful that I can get them done in time for the October 1st playtest.

Sadly this is also eating into my other writing time to get the rule/card refinements into shape before the playtest also.

So much to do so little time...

Did two layers on all the minis with a walk out in the woods with two of my boys and the dog as well as making lunch and dinner for the family.

Who has time for TV any more?

Greetings again,

I have gotten some emails to post more pics, but since I am busy right now having to finish my Prussians for a re-fight of Auerstadt on the 200th anniversary and the partner I had in the project has backed out, I find I need to pain another division of 4 infantry regiments, 2 grenadier regiments, 3 cavalry regiments and a commander figure. This will all need to be done by October 1st, for a full playtest I had hoped to stage, but MUST be done by October 13th, as the 200th is on the 14th of October, as many may already know.

So here are the stages of work pics, just to satisfy the demand for imagery...


You may note that all the minis are mounted to small metal 'fender washers', this is so that the troops can be attached to the bases via magnets.

I may do some more exposition of the troops in action after the games planned for the end of September and 1st of October.

Cheers

Blue Bear was the one whom pointed out this blogging location to me, and so in gratitude I have added his blog to the link list on this blog.

You can also find his blog here:

Saxe-Bearstein Blog

cheers

Whew, commentary response takes little time to come here.

I have had a question about the 'casting' portion of my first post.

The castings I make are from Prince August Moulds.
http://www.princeaugust.ie/

I mentioned the castings as I wanted to showcase that it is more than possible to create a very eye-pleasing tabletop presentation with the PA castings. Also that the PA castings stand-up very well next to others by such as the Foundry, Dixon or Old Glory.

The first sample picture is of originals by Foundry (the Marshal) and I think Dixon (the Dragoon character piece, wiping his brow).

This posting shows some PA Russians, with PA gun and Minifigs Gunners. The Infantry and Gun are my castings. All are my painting.

The other image is of PA Cavalry, Cheveux-Leger (in white) used as Russian Cuirass (the armor no longer worn by the Napoleonic period made the castings work out well) and French Dragoons defending some great coated infantry in bicornes by Old Glory. The bicornes are supposed to be Russians, but since many nations used the bicorne throughout the period I like using these greatcoat boys as anyone needed on the tabletop.

Again the purpose here is to show that the PA minis work well with other makers.

In an effort to break out from my 'shell' and begin a new chapter in cyberspace I have taken the plunge into the bloggosphere.

This blog will center around my tabletop games hobby.

For the moment that hobby is dominated by Napoleonics.

So I shall start with trying to explain why, more for myself than anyone else.

I think I have set upon Napoleonics for a number of reasons:

I - The period is one of rapid change in military matters, where technology had somewhat less of an impact than 'innovation' and new combinations of ideas and technology that existed before.
II - Significant military plans and strategic system were developed during the period that still exist today (though much more refined and modified).
III - The tabletop presentation is full of color and the units are of such simplicity, Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery; that most casual observers can still follow the action with relatively little difficulty.
IV - The period of history is one of dynamic personalities, and has been recorded with some care. This makes re-creating these persons and events more interesting as there are a number of sources to turn to for inspiration.
V - I have found that, since starting on my own casting of miniatures, the creation of 'masses' of troops makes for a very 'zen' experience in and of itself. Allowing me the 'hermit' time that an introvert like me needs.

***

There, a start.