A little progress

In preparation for our game at Border Reiver I needed a few more trees. These are a little different to the others as I was looking for a solution to hold the flock better. The last batch had shed quite a bit. These have slightly thicker flock, which was actually worse. I then decided to brush on some watered down paint like I did for the 15mm hedges I did for Marston Moor. It sort of worked a bit, but they were too bright. Finally I gave them a spray coat of grass green, which seems to be working. I think I'll always lose a little flock through usage.

I think I'll go back over the other 7 and give them a quick spray. The other item I did was another small field. This was my last base from Warbase and some left over coir mat and Renedra fencing. Took about 10 minutes to put together and only slightly longer to paint up.

I did actually manage to complete another 5 more figures, They are still taking too long to get anything done. Hopefully when the rain actually stops this year I may get some enthusiasm back. There are 3 more Welsh spearmen and a couple of extra archers.

On Thursday night at the club, we gave the scenario another run through, no pictures as Thom brought along the Keep that he had finished for the game. It is superb and it is modular. He even has the STLs to add extra walls and towers.

Additional scenery

While I still have no real enthusiasm for painting miniatures, I muster up a bit of energy for a few scenic bases. I decided on these just to give me a few options to change the layout of the table. First up was a pair of outbuildings from Renedra, the crates and barrels are from the plastic Wargames Atlantic sprue. Once again a simple paint scheme, just simple dry-brushing for a nice rustic effect.

I was also provided with a coir mat from Andy to allow me to make a couple of fields. I just used a couple of off cuts added to bases from Warbase. For one of them I added some spare pieces of wattle fencing and a piece of hedging.

I think I should have enough options now for creating villages. Robbo has picked up some various animals from Warbase to add some character to wooded areas, such as deer and wild boar. I hope to try and get them painted up.

Another practice run

So in an attempt to re-gain my mojo and prepare for Border Reiver, we had a second run out of the scenario. This time I made a few amendments. In the layout the Church was moved to the other end of the table, its original location will be covered by a Norman keep/ (currently a proxy on the table). Thom reckons the keep will be ready to use next week. The wooded areas were also combined and no more than 3 units could be hidden in each. This was to stop the outlaws simply overwhelming their opponents. I also changed the deployment zones for the 'Lady' who is now in the centre of the table and the 'lover' who will deploy along the southern short edge of the table.

No battle report as such as the game was more around getting the rules right and making sure that it runs smoothly. We got through about 5 turns in a couple of hours and will complete the game next week. So far no faction has managed to achieve any victory points and the 'lover' has not been so rash this time.

The 'Lady' and her escort

'The lover' sends forward his serjeants and bowmen

First outlaws appear

Loosing a volley into the escort

More outlaws up to no good

The 'Lord' sends forward his mounted serjeants

A clash of steel, the escort are heavily beaten and break

Commander of the escort holding the crossroads

Mounted troops closing in on the escort

More outlaws appear, eyeing up the chickens

Outlaws trying to set fire to one of the buildings

More outlaws appear along  the edge of the woods

Heavy fighting in the village

It's been a fun game, even with 1 new player being unfamiliar with the rules, it ran smoothly, he even commented on how the basic rules are easy to pick up which is a good sign. We'll see how it all unfolds next week.

The struggle continues

So I finally managed to push through and complete another 6 figures for my Welsh faction. It's taken nearly 3 weeks to get these done. Nowhere near my best work, but good enough to get on the table, a shame as they are nice figures. I still need to add some tufts to the bases once they arrive.

The shields could definitely do with a bit more work, but will do for now. The padded jerkins came out a bit too grey, but will help differentiate them from the English. The only other thing I worked on was a simple log pile, which will come in handy as battlefield clutter. They are simple modelling sticks cut down to about 2-3 cm. I may try and make a few more as nice and easy to do.

The logs were coated in a light brown wash with some bits of flock added to look like a bit of moss.

Output down, Mojo gone

So after a very productive 2025 on the painting front, it was bound to happen. My mojo has just got up and left the building. So far 2026 has been a bit of a shocker, on a personal level we unexpectedly lost our beloved family dog. To say we are not happy with the vets or the insurance company is an understatement. I've lost track of the number of phone calls, appointments and bills all to no avail. As a family we are slowly trying to move on.

To compound things I've come down with a rather severe case of flu which has floored me this week. I've literally no energy for anything, even had my first day off work today for the first time in over 10 years. So after 438 days in January it can well and truly f#*k off.

I did manage to finish 2 pieces for the upcoming Barons War display game. They had been painted earlier in the week, just needed basing, which I forced myself to do today. They are the 'Tax collectors' cart from warbases and a resin camp fire from Debris of war.

The horse on the cart was already painted, just needed adding to the base before basing. I did try to pick up a paint brush earlier on a couple of Welsh Spearmen, that lasted about 10 minutes. Hopefully things will begin to pick up.

Barons War practice run

So on Thursday night we had a practice run through of the game for Border Reiver. It wasn't ideal as we two players who were new to the game and didn't know the rules, so were guided through the game by myself and the other 2 players. One of them disregarded the objectives for his force, despite repeated reminders about his objectives. There is no battle report, though I did take a few photos of the game. It was more about seeing how it ran.

A couple of quick amendments are needed:

1. For the escort as they got pinned in their deployment zone. I'm thinking that they will automatically move each turn unless the escort commander spends a command ordering them to halt. 

2. The two small woods will need to be combined into a larger wood as all of the outlaws deployed from the same small wood. May also use tokens to represent their hidden deployment including a few blanks

3. The number of units hidden in a wood will need to be limited

4. The Church will be moved to the opposite table edge in place of a small wood, this will also give some room for a Norman Keep that Thom will be providing.

It was still a fun game even though the 'Lady' saw her 'Lover' cut down by a unit of serjeants from her own escort.

The 'Lady' and escort

The 'Lover' and companions

The 'Lover' charges into some serjeants to reach the 'Lady'

A 'Lover' is no more

Mounted serjeants crossing a field

The 'Lord' hanging back at the church

The Outlaws reveal themselves

The 'Lord' and 'Lover' troops ignoring each other

The Outlaws make an attempt on the dowry

I'll make the amendments in readiness for a run out next week.

Baron's War bits and pieces

With the upcoming Border Reiver show in March I have a planned run through of the 4 player scenario at the club next week. I did a quick set up this week which gave me an idea of what else I needed for the game. The first thing was some extra trees and shrubs for the wooded areas. I set to work on more of the 3d printed trees from Thom, 6 more added to the collection to bring me up to 7. I also created 3 small bases to act as undergrowth in the woods.

New woodland

shrubs/undergrowth

A figure for size

The trees are quite substantial, but that does help reduce the number needed as they cover a good area. I/ve got 4 more that I need to start work on. The next items on the list were some gravestones for the churchyard and a couple of benches to give the village that lived in feel. The gravestones are from Debris of war and the benches were donated by Andy, I believe they are from Wargames Atlantic.

The gravestones are probably too late for this period, but they add a little character to the table. I also spent some time organising the 4 forces to be involved. Each force is around 600 points. 

Current table layout

The 'Lady' and her escort

'The Lover' and retinue

'The Lord' awaiting his lady

'The Rogue' and his rascals

I did manage to get a few figures painted as well. A new Baron and his bannerman to command my Welsh forces. They are both from Footsore miniatures. The heraldry is loosely based on one of the shields from here Nobles of North Wales. I'm quite happy with the results. I also completed two more archers for my outlaws.

'Welsh' Baron

A pair of Outlaws

Hopefully I can get some more figures done as my output is well down at the start of the year, I've only done 7 so far, I normally aim for around 100 per month.