Sunday 27 March 2016

Making trees

In one of those moments of madness, I decided to have a go at making a few trees. Since the downsizing of the club, these are the one item of terrain we are lacking, particularly for 25/28mm games. So a quick gig around in my useful terrain box I located a couple of barbecue skewers, some left over florist wire and a half empty bag of clump foliage.

First off I cut the skewers to a suitable length and then twisted various lengths of florist wire around it to look like suitable branches. I then glued everything in place and attached it to a small mdf Base and left for about an hour to dry.

Basic tree frame
Once the glue had dried I gave the whole thing a quick paint using a suitable dark brown. Once again left for an hour to dry. Then taking the clump foliage I glued suitable amounts to the branches, somehow sticking more to my own fingers. You can then add more or less foliage to meet your own tastes. Once finished it was a simple matter of basing the finished models.

2 finished trees
Trees with 28mm figure for scale 
Not to bad for about 20 minutes work not counting drying time per tree. I've now built 3 and ordered some more florist wire as I now want to build a few more.

Saturday 26 March 2016

AWI 2nd Virginia

Adding to my American forces I present the 2nd Virginia Continental regiment. The majority of the figures are metal Perry's in short sleeves. The command is from the plastic sprue as well a a single Foundry officer. The flag once again is from Maverick Models.

2nd Virginia 
2nd Virginia 
2nd Virginia 
I have also painted up a much needed Artillery piece but I'm awaiting an order of bases from Warbases to finish the model off. I've also had a go at making my own trees which I'll try and post tomorrow.

Thursday 24 March 2016

AWI Battle report

A bit delayed, but here is a write up of our club game last week using Black Powder. Tom took control of the British, he had 4 line regiments, 2 small units of light infantry and a 6lb Artillery piece. He organised is force into 2 brigades. George took command of a small brigade of loyalists of 2 small infantry regiments and a small unit of cavalry.

I took command of the Americans tasks with controlling a small village and a hilltop with a small redoubt on it. I had available 6 regiments of Continentals, 2 small militia units and 2 tiny units of riflemen. Splitting into 3 brigades, 1 defended the village, 1 the redoubt and 3rd brigade held in reserve. My lack of Artillery was to prove the Americans undoing.

American position
The game began with a rapid advance of the British while the Americans held position. There was minor skirmishing between some riflemen and the British light infantry. Then Emmericks Chasseurs blundered and charged into the wood occupied by the riflemen. It took a few rounds of combat before they managed to dislodge them.

Riflemen and light infantry skirmish
Chasseurs engage the riflemen 
Over on the British right flank, the 1st brigade began to exchange fire with American militia while their Artillery got itself into position and began firing at the 15th Virginia holding the village. The disorder in effect of the fire allowed the 2nd British brigade to advance and engage the village. Eventually the 15th capitulated and fled the field.

Militia come under fire
15th Virginia under fire
The British began their assault 
At this point I brought forward the reserve brigade to try and plug the game. Then the militia fell back under pressure from the British light infantry. The British infantry began to flood into the village while the loyalists began to attempt to outflank the redoubt.

American reserve committed 
British advance
American redoubt
The attempt by the loyalists to outflank the redoubt met with disaster as the 3rd Maryland about faced and poured a devastating volley into the cavalry, routing them from the field. The British legion met with better success storming the redoubt and forcing the militia unit back. Meanwhile the British infantry assaulted the 2nd South Carolina, unfortunately the Americans  were no match for the cold steel of a bayonet charge and we're quickly routed. With the Artillery now concentrating against the redoubt and with 2 broken American brigades we ended the game with a solid British victory.

Give them cold steel
Overall a very enjoyable game. The lack of Artillery hindered the Americans with the British able to inflict casualties at range before their infantry closed to the assault. The majority of my Continentals performed poorly on the day.

Friday 18 March 2016

AWI 15th Virginia Continentals

With a game coming up last Thursday I quickly managed to get these guys finished off. I'm sure the bases were still tacky during the game. Needless to say they did suffer from the fresh painted unit syndrome. I painted these to represent the 15th Virginia. I chose these as they gave a second unit in brown coats. The figures are all Perry plastics and the flag from Maverick Models.

15th Virginia 
15th Virginia 
I have also put in an order with Perry miniatures for enough figures to put together 2 more Continentals in a mix of coats and shirt sleeves. I also picked up a 6lb Artillery piece.

Sunday 6 March 2016

AWI Commanders and Chasseurs

As I stated in yesterday's post, I have put together a couple more commanders to lead the troops into battle. First up is a second commander to lead my loyalists. The figure is from Perry's and the officer is in a cut down coat.

British Commander
British Commander 
Next up are 2 command bases that I put together using some spare command figures from the plastic Continentals boxed set. These guys will act as stand ins until I get some more mounted commanders. I'll probably the relegate them to act as poor command bases in Black Powder.

American command 1
American Command 2
After finishing the foot element of Emmericks Chasseurs, I finally finished a small mounted element. I used figures from Perry's mounted militia. They look suitably uniformed to act as loyalists.

Emmericks Chasseurs 
Emmericks Chasseurs 
Loyalists forces so far
This brings my loyalists up to 2 small infantry and 1 small mounted unit. I have enough figures to put together 2 more standard loyalist infantry units. Then I'll have to add the mounted component of the British legion. Then it will be back to add more militia and Artillery to my American forces.

Saturday 5 March 2016

AWI Patriots and Loyalists

With our first game coming up next Thursday to try out the Rebellion supplement for Black Powder, I decided to make so more headway. More troops the better. First up is some more Continentals, the 7th Virginia. This brings me up to 5 regiments. The figures are a mix of Perry metals and plastics. The flag is once again from Maverick Models.

7th Virginia
7th Virginia
I have also added another small unit of loyalist infantry. This time Emmericks Chasseurs. These are all from Perry plastic Brits. I have also been making progress on the mounted element.

Emmericks Chasseurs 
Emmericks Chasseurs 
Tomorrow  I'll be posting some extra commanders and hopefully the mounted Chasseurs.