Saturday, December 31, 2011

Last Gaming of the Year

The last week of 2011 has been a gaming bonanza! I played two games of War at Sea with my friend Andrew, his son Thomas and my son Andrew! It was great fun as we played two complete games of my 1942 Mediterranean Convoy Scenario. We learned quite a bit about the significance of air power in the WaS game system. The Allied convoy to Malta did not get through in either game we played, as swarms of Stukas and Ju-88's bombed the transports out of existence! I will change the air mix in the orders of battle and we will give the game another go as soon as possible.

I also had a chance to play in an interesting Crete scenario at our monthly club game night. The rules are a derivative of "Behind Enemy Lines" and the game plays pretty well. To be successful as the German player in the game you have to understand how the rules work and you need the luck of the dice. I didn't have either of those attributes as I tried to play the game and I was appropriately unsuccessful! It was overall a fun time.

Have a Happy New Year! Hope you have great gaming experiences in 2012!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

British Foreign Units

Here are some photos of the Swiss and Brunswick units that I have painted for my 28mm Volley and Bayonet Wing Scale project.

The first unit is the Brunswickers of the "Black Horde" in English Service. The figures, even though they are almost totally black in color, still have many interesting details such as the white gloves of the officers and NCO's and the red officer sashes. I based painted the figures black and then highlighted them with dry brushing a couple of lighter shades of dark gray and then gray. The other detail I like is the well known "Death's Head" shako plate. Let me know what you think.


The other unit is De Mueron's Regiment of Swiss troops in British Service. This unit served in North America during the War of 1812, but I am going to use them in our Peninsula Campaign games. The unit consists of three center company stands, a light company stand in front and a grenadier company stand behind the unit. To the far right is a single command figure which will represent a "unit commander" in the rules. I painted the two flank companies and the unit commander recently. I tried a technique to include eyes for the figures, and I think I will redo the faces at some point to get rid of the "pop-eyed" effect.


Here is a close-up of the unit command figure.