Despite the damn small motherfuckers ...

I guess, myself, like all of us, after some days after the lockdown, went into their cupboards for food and other things ... I turned to my metal mountain! And shockingly to my surprise I seem to have lead without bases and bases for no miniatures ... so I decided to show what I scrambled together ...
some of my old GW bi-hander will be newly based for Renaissance 28mm into 4x4s.
then some 2p sabots will be getting green, then some dispersed Austrians will getting painted (28mm) and the rest of the 10mm French guard Voltigeurs (the white on the long sticks) will get finished, and then some "entrenched" markers (10x60mm) will be produced for my still very much alive project of Guns of August - WW1 in 6mm.

The next little projects ...

 I finalised the 10mm French Guard Chasseurs with their lovely little yellow gaiters and some command and the Guides a cheval as well as the 6mm Germans french British Belgians Netherlands Bulgarians and Greeks .... the rest of the Russians are still at Baccus.

Yesterday I ordered also something from northstar figures ... yes, definitively withdrawal syptoms ...

 Stay tuned, stay alive and take care!

Napoleons III Chasseur a Pied de la garde

Guard chasseurs again

The command of the guard corps and the Guides of the Guarde (plus command in the back)

my 6mm collection for Guns Of August 

the Centre power side

the allies so far

Moravia 1758

It was Seven Years War, 28mm, my toys and my rules (Seven Years) again a fictional battle / skirmish. The Prussian had to leave Moravia, as most of their army already had, through a mountain pass into Silesia. But as is the fate of stragglers, they knew there would be some resistance upcoming (in the form of an Austrian brigade) and to make it " a little" (haha!) tougher, a little Hungarian Hussar / Grenzer hunting party was chasing them.

Bart volutneered to be the Austrian brigadier, Peter the chasing Hungarian, and Mike and Alisdair the unfortunate Prussians. Points would be awarded only for Prussians who made it off the right table edge (and some carts and mules, in the same quality category as all units, especially their leaders weren‘t that good.)

Mike and Alisdair got an initial double move and made good progress, but then Barts brigade blocked their way. Their efforts to circumvent or to punch a hole into the thin white line were rather unfruitful and seemingly unorchestrated. Even though Peter (aka the chasing Hungarian) rolled for a long time until his troopers were allowed onto the battle field.

When this happened his skirmishers went for the waggons and even Alisdairs last ditch charge (with his veteran grenadiers) failed  the Prussian fate was sealed. An overwhelming Austrian victory!

On the other side I have to agree that the scenario rules were more brutal than I had anticipated! It was rather extreemly difficult for the Prussians to make it through. But on the good side my skirmishing rules work, within some battle context. I've not set out to design a pure skirmishing rule set.

Having said that, I probably can get my hands on a review/ re-editing of the rules, as this %"§$%&567...ing virus shuts peux a peux everything down.

Photos by Bart, as I forgot to pack my camera ...

P.S. No real Prussians were harmed or killed in this battle, as it were my Hessian AWI contingent that thankfully agreed to step in as gaiter free Prussians ...

Take care everybody!

initial set up

the Prussian tross

The Austrian tross

The Austrians quickly expanding

The Prussians advance

The white line

The Prussians form line

And trying to circumvent the lines

But will be blocked by Austrian dragoons (as skirmisher here as well) 

Then the Hungarians appear

the lines dent

the dragoons keep skirmishing 

but fail to punch through

the Hussars fall into the back

... and onto the baggage train

one last Prussian charge

but their lines are in disarray ...

Irgendwo im nirgendwo ... Ost-Deutschland end of WWII ...

This time it was 54mm, Mikes collection of WW2 Russian and German 'minis', at a village at the end of the war along the road to Berlin maybe ... a scenario from the rulebook of the skirmishing rules ... that I forgot, sorry, but the rules were super easy!

So, while Peter and Alisdair fought for the Endsieg, me and Bart were putting a prematurely end to the 1000yrs Reich. In the middle of the 6x4 table was a bombed-out house, and both parties had to fight over it - a prime objective. The secondary one, was to get a or some men in the deployment zone of the enemy. The third, to kill as much of the enemy as possible - easy!

Bart had a plan, I was storming the house, while his troops and the sniper would sneak around and provide fire cover! My captain was first in the house - the hero of the people! After that, we made sure we won the initiative as much as possible, and every German that dared to show up in the window of the house at their side was shot to pieces.

The HMG42 in particular was a bullet magnet! I guess I shot 3 soldiers in total, I don't know how much Bart killed, but we got in the house with 2 soldiers, Mike, who was umpiring, wanted to do a final count, but Peter just waved by ... we had had lost just one trooper, while only a few Germans, were left and we had the house ... the fall of the reich was a bit nearer and Nikki/Valerie/Petrouschka or Katja or whatever her real name was could file in a positive report for the Stalin ... and we might would get home after all ....

the evil Nazi Germans defending the Reich

The heroic Captain Molotov is the first in the house! 

more comrades show up!

while the other comrades sneak around the ruins

But the Germans are armed with a deadly heavy MG the 42... uofff!

But we have Petrouschka ... or Valerie? ...

I called her Nikki our sniper veteran in the trees!

Comrade Grigory with his SMG giving fire cover for the hero of the people

and another comrade at the edge of the house appeared

whenever a German face appeared in that window we would pull the trigger 

The Captain Molotov jumped and threw a grenade ...

but not much happened ... the 2 Germans were shot before the grenade detonated elsewhere

In the end we had 2 soldiers in the house - victory for the revolution!!!

The Battle of Soggy Bottom repeat - ECW

It was 28mm, and right in the English Civil War, while using "For King And Parliament" - our Sunday game ... Bart was the King and Campbell the Cromwell.

It looked like a nice uneventful afternoon so I decided to be Parlamentarian, with a couple of Pike&Shotte units bang in the middle not much to do just advance and weathering it out, while the Horse flanks will decide the battle.

But then in our war council, it was revealed how few and shitty our cavalry was and they would be expected to be run over soon ... any minute  -  so the infantry had to save the day, and act quick ...

So as I advanced with the lot in line, the King‘s veterans came closer nearly shot Campbell‘s Cromwell away... juuust about it.

Then we advanced and shot and advanced and shot, slowly grinding them down, and at the end I just shot and charged two units of the King off board - that were my 6 points (of course the others had much more kills/points!!!) towards a parlamentarian monarchy, and the end of a wholesome, organic, and vitamin rich (blood) ECW Sunday afternoon battle.

The rules worked a treat and the miniatures were splendid. Of course you could have done all with the Pike&Shotte rules, but then half of the crowd would have had me tarred and feathered ... or were at each others throats because of the interpretation of them rules... haha!

Please enjoy the actual photographical documentary, taken from historical tin-miniatures - no real humans or animals were hurt in the process.

initial set up 

with forrest at the edges!

jolly roundheads

and Cavaliers

and some Scotts

at first the Royalists advanced in the centre

my sector advanced further

supported by lots of cheese crackers

Then the cavaliers chargedin

some Scotts defending some racing grounds ...

and me troops advanced

and shot(t)

and shot the enemy away 

on both sides of my sector

to the point that royalist cavalry had to come and charge me in the flank ...

... without effect, but to withdraw a bit ...

while our cavalry made an more clever stance as it might appear 

the opposing flank charger  got the same of that treatment and the last Royal coins were ours!

Cromwell was happy!