Friday 25 April 2014

The War Between the States

Figures from the late Steve Hezzlewood's Pax Britannica range. Available from the Dayton Painting Consortium in the USA



Those who followed my old blogs will know that the American Civil War is the period I have gamed the most: 20mm is probably my favourite scale: to my mind Steve Hezzlewood's 20mm figures are the best sculpts in this scale. Ergo, these must be the best wargames figures ever. Or something like that.












They are, like the Tumbling Dice WW1 figures, under represented image wise on the net. So here is my little bit to redress the balance.

Despite the fact that I sold off all my painted ACW figures, including the Airfix ones, earlier this year and the very obvious attraction of the Hezzlewood range I have decided to start again from scratch in a completely different scale.

Here is a work in progress shot of my embryonic 10mm ACW collection:

Hopefully the base work will be completed by the end of the weekend.

10mm figures from Pendraken and based for Fire and Fury. Completed April 2014.

Thursday 24 April 2014

More German Infantry


As promised I have added to the German infantry. My main concern, with such a long break in between painting sessions (2 years), was that I would not have the same paints or forgotten which one's I used. Fortunately I found a scrap of paper which listed the colours in the tin of unpainted stuff. None of it was a dried lump at the bottom of the pot either. Very handy!

I am moving back to the British artillery next as I wait for more round individual infantry bases. Plus it makes a break from the field grey. 

However, my next post will be a small digression onto the War Between the States and more figures that are unrepresented on the internet.

22 figures, less than two companies-these units are going to be big.
10 more Tumbling Dice German infantry completed April 2014.

Sunday 20 April 2014

Looking Back To 2012


So, while I wait for the paint to dry on the latest German infantry, a quick look back at what I managed to complete in 2012. 12 infantry, 1 artillery piece and a MG and crew. Clearly I need to up my game here-"Crush the Kaiser" has over 50 figures per German infantry battalion for example. 3 battalions to a regiment. I definitely need to burn the proverbial midnight oil.


What I hope does show in the photographs is the charm of these little figures. The Tumbling Dice "Old Contemptibles" range has been around for years now, it covers the whole conflict and is very reasonably priced. Stood side by side with 1/72nd scale plastics they appear small-but they match well enough when spaced out the wargames table. Besides the range has pretty much everything you need in one place.

But enough rambling. I hope that the bases on my next batch dry sooner rather than later (I decided to use oil colour and a "quick dry" additive as the base coat a few hours ago - still looks wet to me!). Will post them as soon as I can.

Tumbling Dice 20mm figures completed 2012.

Friday 18 April 2014

So What Is Approaching?


When I stopped blogging last year I began to either box up my old figures or sell them off. I had a lot of figures and the family needed the extra storage space. I have sold off a great weight of painted and unpainted lead. All those Airfix figures are gone as well. The family have a lot of attic space but what was left for me?

In 2012 I started to collect the rather charming 20mm WW1 figures from Tumbling Dice. Fortunately they were not disposed of and as 2014 marks the centenary of the conflict I cannot think of a better place to pick back up on the hobby. I have painted a few more German infantry and just need to finish the bases before I photograph them.

I have settled on the "Crush the Kaiser" rule set ( a couple of solo runs with unpainted figures has already produced enjoyable results). So it is back to the painting table and try and remember the colours I used when I started.