More of Montrose’s Irish

This was my entry for round four of the Lead Adventure Forum’s Lead Painter’s League. This lot  finishes up two units of Montrose’s Irish for my ECW Scots Royalist force for The Pikeman’s Lament.

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

The latest batch (well… they were painted a few weeks ago, but I couldn’t post them unit the round was over). This is the picture I submitted for round four of the Lead Painters League (I happen to have won that round). Most are from Warlord Games, but I think there’s an old foundry figure hiding in there somewhere.

Here is the complete unit of Shot including six figures from the batch above and six from the previous lot

Here is the complete unit of Pike including four figures from the batch above and the eight I posted a few weeks back.

The two units together.

I have another two units of Irish to finish up - another Pike and another Shot. But they are made up of figures from Eureka Miniatures (which I ordered from Eureka Miniatures USA). The rest of the force will likely be made up of highlanders and possibly some Gordon Horse at some point…?

This week’s entry (which won’t be posted here until next week) are some Pirates. There was another THEME ROUND this week – “Ship’s Crew”. I’d thought of doing some sci-fi figures I’ve been wanting to get to – to use as the bridge crew for a Rogue Trader vessel… but they were fancy-schmansy Hasslefree Miniatures minis and I was running short on time and didn’t want to have to rush them… so I went with regular old 17th/18th century historical pirates. (it sort of fits in with what I’ve been working on…)

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Hard to say. I promised myself I wouldn’t assemble or paint any more jet bikes until I finished Rick’s Robot… I do have those other Irish to work on… I don need to get a crew ready for NEXT WEEKS Lead Painter League submission…

Oh! I know – it will probably be a round-up of the last two months tabletop gaming!

After that, things are less certain… 

YET ANOTHER JET BIKE!

Well my stuff from the Jet Bike Construction Kit Kickstarter arrived last week and of course I had to put at least ONE together…

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

Jet Bike from Ramshackle Games (the head is from Hasslefree Miniatures).



Of the 20 I ordered, 6 were for the kids (3 each) and 4 were for Amanda and John (2 each – which I’ll be painting for them), then I get 10 more just for me! Woo!



I should probably also get making some more terrain for these to dodge around…

Looks like they’ll fit right in with the other two I have.

Before I get to assembling any more of these, however, I have to get cracking on next weeks entry for the Lead Painter’s League. It’s another theme round – ship crew. I’ve been back and forth about whether I should do a couple of sci-fi ship crew or a handful of Pirates I have on hand… I’ll probably go with the Pirates – just because they’ll be quicker and easier at this point! 

I also have a fair bit of ECW stuff lingering near the workbench (a couple units of dragoons, a unit of gallopers, two more individual cavalry to finish off a unit, some more club men, two more units of Irish, loads more Highlanders, more English pike and shot).

And then there’s Rick’s robot (I’d actually set aside an afternoon last week to finish it off… but then the jet bikes arrived… GAH!?). After the Pirates are done, I’m going to finish it off before I do another Jet Bike!!! 

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Well… now that I have three bikes – we should have a RACE!!!

Or maybe I should finish the robot. 

Montrose’s Irish Shot

This was my entry for round three of the Lead Adventure Forum’s Lead Painter’s League. It’s half a unit of shot for The Pikeman’s Lament. This week’s entry is a mix of Pike and Shot to finish up this unit as well as the previously posted pike. I’ll have pictures of the complete units next week.

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

Irish Shot from Warlord Games.

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

JET BIKES!!

Montrose’s Irish Pike

This was my entry for round two of the Lead Adventure Forum’s Lead Painter’s League. It’s not a complete unit of twelve for The Pikeman’s Lament because I didn’t have enough figures for a  complete unit at the time I painted them. This week’s entry is a group of Shot (about half a units worth - for the same reason) and next weeks entry is a batch of four Pike and six Shot to finish off BOTH units.

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

Irish Pike from Warlord Games. The flag is hand-painted and based off one of the paper flags included with the Warlord Games Montrose Irish box set.

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Perhaps the Irish Shot…? Or an assortment of other odd and sundry items that have crept onto the workbench and ended up with paint on them…?

I didn’t do a Boardgame Roundup for March – so I’ve been working on one for March AND April (but I won’t be posting that for another week and a bit – It’ll be a big ‘un, as I’ve been playing a LOT of boardgames lately!) 

English Shot

After playing that second game I got motivated to finish up another unit of Shot for The Pikeman’s Lament.

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

This unit of shot – as with all of the units I have to paint up – are made up of quite a mix of figures from different manufacturers. This unit includes figures from Dixon Miniatures, Perry Miniatures, Old Glory, and even three of my own home-cast figures. The homecast figure is one of the earlier miniatures I modeled and cast (and seem to have lost both the original model and the mould!?). Painting htem up got me thinking: “I could probably do better now…” and seriously considering modeling a couple of pikemen and musketeers for giggles…

The Girl HAS been bugging me to show her how to make models for casting miniatures…

The Shot with their matching unit of Pike. I still have a unit of Musketeers in red to finish up and then units of Pike and shot in green and Orange planned.

Perhaps if I did a few figures of my own I could expand the forces into four complete companies of Red, Blue, Green, and Orange jacketed troops…? I guess I’d have to come up with some cavalry as well. Never made a horse model before…

Of course then I’ve have to run a campaign or something…

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I have a solid block of painting time set aside on Friday and I think I’m going to have to just sit myself down and, despite all the toys I’d LIKE to be painting, I think I’m going to  try and finish that darned robot for Rick… I’d like to get that done before the Jet Bikes show up and I totally switch gears and get obsessed with those (I did get a notification earlier this week that mine are in the mail!)

(of course I got a notification that my Mike Bravo Miniatures were in the mail over a month ago now and I haven’t seen them yet, so…) 

Pikeman’s Lament – River Crossing

My friend Other Tim had Tuesday afternoon off and so I set up a quick little scenario of The Pikeman’s Lament to play in the afternoon. We played with a full 24 points – using pretty much every singly-based skirmishy ECW figure I currently have… (Okay there are the clubmen… and a handful of English shot – but not enough for a unit… and some of Montrose’s Irish – but I didn’t want to use them as they are being entered in the Lead Adventure Forum’s Lead Painter’s League and figures entered cannot have been posted anywhere on the internet before…).

Other Tim rolled up a new Ensign for this game – and got a Ladies Man with “no discernable qualities other than a very fine moustache AND a pointed beard that the ladies love”. (He stared with 11 Honour).

April 1644, Yorkshire

SITUATION

Some time has passed since our last adventure. Robert MacRame in now a marked man, wanted by the law. Most highlanders finding their selves in this position head to the hills, but not young Robert…. Young Robert enjoys the comforts of home and so went into hiding…. in Edinburgh.

Our dashing young Covenanter Ensign, Evan “Holy” MacErrol, scoured the highlands looking for him, but found not a trace. He has now headed south with Alexander Leslie, Earl of Leven, to intervene in the civil war in England… As they approach York small skirmishes with royalists ensue. Evan was sent ahead to secure a ford crossing a small (but swift, and at times deep) stream…

SCENARIO

The scenario we played was Mission D: River Crossing – straight out of the book – with some minor changes due to the size of the table. The deployment zone was a bit smaller and only two units on each side started on the table – the rest would have to enter the table with

FORCES

Scots Government – Ensign Evan “Holy” MacErrol (Honour: 15, Traits: Strong)

1 Unit of Forlorn Hope (with MacErrol) – 6 points

1 Unit of Pike – 4 points

2 Units of Shot – 4 points each - 8 points

2 Units of Clansmen - 3 points each – 6 points

English Royalists  –  (Ensign Bartholomew Millerton - Honour: 11, Traits: Ladies Man)

1 Unit of Aggressive Forlorn Hope (with Leader) – 6 points

1 Unit of Forlorn Hope (with MacErrol) – 6 points

2 Units of Pike – 4 points each – 8 points

1 Unit of Aggressive Gallopers – 4 points

THE GAME

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

TURN ONE

Roughly where everyone was deployed – Scots in the bottom left of the picture (played by myself) and the English in the top right (played by Other Tim). Actually I think I took this picture AFTER the Scots had moved.

Evan MacErrol and his Forlorn Hope of dismounted cavalrymen lead the pike towards the ford. The Forlorn Hope and Pike unit moved, but none of the other units managed to move on.

Then they spied some Royalist heading their way! The Royalist Pike and the Gallopers moved and both Forlorn Hopes charged onto the table.

TURN TWO

The Scots Forlorn Hope and Pike continued their advance towards the ford and the two units of Shot entered the table.

The Royalist Gallopers started moving through the woods and the rest of the Royalists maneuvered around their end of the table – wary of wandering into range of the Scots Forlorn Hope. 

TURN THREE

Forgot to take pictures… The Scots Pike and Shot all moved and one unit of clansmen entered the battlefield. The Royalist Gallopers continued through the woods, the Aggressive Forlorn Hope  moved into the woods – for cover, and then the Pikes failed and no one else did anything.

TURN FOUR

One unit of the Scots Shot moved, but then the Pike failed ending the turn.

The Gallopers galloped across the open ground beyond the woods and into the river!

Elsewhere The Red Coat Pike unit formed up into close order and the other Royalist units danced about trying desperately to stay out of range of the dreaded forlorn hope… that has yet to shoot at anyone… and hadn’t even gotten to MOVE for half of the turns to far this game… Not sure what they were so afraid of…?

TURN FIVE

BOOM! The Scottish Shot on the left facing the Royalist Gallopers unleashed a furious volley of musketry, taking down two of the six horsemen! The sound of fire and battle inspired everyone else to get a move on (all other units advanced)!

Undeterred the Royalist Gallopers charged into contact with the Scottish Shot – the Scots got off a few more quick shots before the Horsemen made contact!

When the smoke cleared two Scottish musketeers were down – but so were two more of the Royalist horse and the remaining horsemen fled the field! A serious blow to the Royalist cause this day…

One of the Royalist Forlorn Hopes opened fire upon the Scottish Pike in for ford, causing two casualties – The Pike were unsettled by this fire from seemingly nowhere and they panicked and fled back out of the ford!

TURN SIX

The Scots Pike failed to rally and continued their flight, losing another man in the process. The Shot advanced towards the river finishing off cavalrymen and horses along their way. Everyone else seemed a little confused by all the smoke and shouting and simply held their positions (Clansmen failed to move, ending the turn…).

The Royalists began a general advance – lead by Ensign Millerton and his Forlorn Hope of dismounted cuirassier!

TURN SEVEN

The Scottish Pike rallied and one group of clansmen advanced into the woods next to the ford. The rest were shaken by the flight of their pikemen and froze for a moment to get their bearings.

Ensign Millerton and his Forlorn Hope of dismounted Royalist cuirassiers charged the Scottish Pike just as they were getting reorganized! Though they outnumbered the small group of cavaliers, they were shocked by the violence of their charge and were set to flight again after losing two more of their number.

The other royalist Forlorn Hope took potshots at MacErrol’s unit and injured one of them. The rest of the English pike lined up as on parade to march through the ford!

TURN EIGHT

The Scottish Pike attempted to rally, but lost their will to carry on and fled the field! But as they fled out of the ford, one group of clansmen poured in upon Ensign Millerton and his Royalist cuirassiers! The Highlanders took down one of them, but lost THREE of their own and ultimately fled back to the woods!

MacErrol and his men then fired on the Cavaliers taking down another. But they were undaunted! The Royalists charged out of the ford and into combat with the dismounted Scots cavalrymen. A Brief but vicious battle saw two of the Scotsmen fall and one of the Royalists – both units were now reduced to 50% - but neither failed morale – having lost more the Scots were obliged to retire from the combat while the royalists held their ground of the Scottish side of the ford! (The Scots had actually scored SEVEN hits with their defence roll, but as the “Aggressive” Royalist forlorn Hope had a stamina of FOUR they only lost one – one more hit might have spelled the doom of the Royalist cause right then and there!)

TURN NINE

The Clansmen in the woods successfully rallied. The other Clansmen were obliged to Wildly Charge the Royalist cavaliers standing in the open, killing another, but losing two of their own. They fell back from the fight. The MacErrols men then opened fire on the two remaining Cavaliers and took down another one – leaving only the dashing Ensign Bartholomew Millerton to face the Scottish Horde alone!

The Scottish Shot on the left moved across the river. The other Shot failed to shoot at anything… again…

Millerton charged the Scottish forlorn hope, killing another of them and sending MacErrol and the only other surviving member of his unit reeling into the woods behind them. (Again, the Scots scored three hits – but not enough to take out a heavily armoured cuirassier with a Stamina of FOUR!)

The Royalist Pike continued their advance across the river and the other Royalist forlorn hope took some pot shots at the Scottish Shot on their side of the river – causing a few casualties.

TURN TEN

One unit of Clansmen charged the Royalist Pike advancing out of the ford. They took down two of the Pikemen, but lost three more of their own and were obliged to retire.

A second unit of Clansmen (the ones hiding in the woods) then charged the royalist Pikemen. They killed another pikemen, but also lost three of their own, bringing them to half strength and setting them to flight back into the woods.

The Scottish forlorn Hope failed to shoot and that ended their turn!

The Royalist Pike in red charged after the wavering Highlanders. The Highlanders managed to take one down, but lost two more setting them to flight once again!

The Royalist Pike in the blue charged the other wavering Highlanders in the woods, killing three more and were routed from the battlefield.

Ensign Millerton, last of the Royalist cuirassiers charged after MacErrol into the woods. He killed the last of MacErrol’s unit before being felled by MacErrol himself…

His cries caused the Royalists to shudder… the Pike in Red failed morale and retreated back towards the ford…. But the Blue Pike and the other forlorn Hope were totally fine… so I guess it only made the pikemen in red shudder…. They were the closest. Maybe they were the only ones that could hear his cries…

TURN ELEVEN

The remaining Scottish Highlanders failed to rally, lost another of their number and continued to retreat….

The Scottish Shot on the right fired at the Royalist Pike in red knocking off two more which finally broke them and set them to flight.

The Royalists in blue advance on the Scottish Shot near them and the other Forlorn Hope advance to the river.

TURN TWELVE

The Retreating Highlanders were now down eight – with a morale of 4+, only a twelve could rally them and prevent their flight off the edge of the table. 

So close…

The Scottish Shot and Forlorn Hope fired upon the Royalist Pike, but failed to break them.

The Royalist Forlorn Hope advanced out of the river - effectively ending the game as the next turn would start with all of their remaining troops on the opposing side of the ford.

As the Royalists had the most points on the opposing side of the ford (the Royalists had 10 – the Forlorn Hope and the Pike, while the Scots had only 4 points worth of their forces on the other side of the river – the one unit of shot) they won the game – gaining Bartholomew Millerton FIVE HONOUR .

Unfortunately when we rolled  on the officer casualty table Other Tim rolled a two – “Died like a coward, begging for quarter”… Evan MacErrol has no love for the English and shows them no mercy…

Another totally fun game! Thanks to Other Tim for having a go at it with me. I’m pretty stoked to get another game going on soon – I’ll have to get some more units finished up – some shot for the English perhaps, or more cavalry…?

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Probably something to do with the Englsih Civil War… or possibly some Star Wars: X-Wing as the kids have been hounding me to play that again… 

Santa and His Helpers

I thought I’d try and get in on the Lead Adventure Forum’s Lead Painter’s League this year. This was my entry for round one – which was last week.

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

“Santa” and his helpers – more post-apocalyptic types from Lead Adventure Miniatures.

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Lots of things on the go… More ECW stuff seems most likely, but who knows!?

More Scots Covenanteers for The Pikeman's Lament

With those couple of Jet Bikes out of the way, I’ve returned to finishing up a few more English Civil War units for The Pikeman’s Lament. – starting with the Scots Covenanters (mostly because they had the fewest to do).

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

The lot of them… mostly from Dixon Miniatures.

Dismounted Covenanter Horse – from Dixon Miniatures. Four of these are entirely freshly painted. A fifth one I did a bit of repainting on. These will most likely be fielded as a “Forlorn Hope” in The Pikeman’s Lament.

A unit of Shot completed with the addition of the Dixon Miniatures. Others in this unit that were already done are from The Assault Group.

A not-so-completed unit of Pike… (figures from Renegade Miniatures, Dixon Miniatures, and The Assault Group). I don’t know what happened here – the whole purpose of the order to Dixon Miniatures was to order EIGHT Covenanter shot and SEVEN Covenanter pike to finish these two units, so I’d have two complete units of shot and two complete units of pike… Then somehow I didn’t end up ordering enough Covenanter pike!? GAH!?

I need to swap out the skinnier pikes on the older figures... but as the unit is not yet complete I wasn't feeling a huge rush to do so... 

Covenanter Casualties. One is from Dixon Miniatures, the other is from Perry Miniatures - neither were specifically Covenanter casualty figures – I just painted them that way…

The entire Covenanter force (so far). With two units of shot, a unit of pike, and a Forlorn Hope, I have only 18 points… Well, it’s enough to get started. As I did in the First Game of The Pikeman’s Lament, I could always add elements from the Covenanter DBA army - Including additional units of Pike and Shot, the Cavalry I used in the  First Game of The Pikeman’s Lament, and a small artillery piece.

I should probably get a picture of the complete DBA army at some point – as a few more elements of Horse have been completed since that last post.



I also finished up a cavalry casualty... I guess it could be a Scot... figure from Perry Miniatures.

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Jet Bike Racing?

Rick’s Lost in Space Robot?

Highlanders?

More Pikeman’s Lament?

Micro Sci-Fi (wait… WHAT!?) 

ANOTHER Jet Bike!

I was going to title this Jet Bike #2… but technically it’s #37…

Regardless, I have finished up the second jet bike I bought in January just to have some jet bikes to start playing with before the Jet Bike Construction Kit Kickstarter bikes arrive. I may even get to PLAY with these before the kickstarter bikes arrive, as long as they don’t arrive today… in the early afternoon. (I have to admit, I wouldn’t be too sad if they DID show up and I didn’t get to play with these before the is shows up... though I might end up NOT playing and end up spending the afternoon ASSEMBLING!).

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

As with the previous Jet Bike, this is another “Purple Shark” jet bike from Prodos Games.

This one I have actually painted purple.

Because… PURPLE!



This one seems a bit more... plain than the other... I got to thinking maybe I should add some sponsor logos and stuff - either to the bike or the rider's racing suit...? 

Racers! Start your Engines!!

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Scots Covenanters, Rick’s Lost in Space Robot… or maybe MORE JET BIKES!? 

JET BIKE!

No this isn’t one of the jet bikes from the Jet Bike Construction Kit Kickstarter. Around the time the kickstarter ended I was feeling very anxious about trying out Faustus Furious and I happened to notice that North Star Figures was selling off a bunch of Warzone super cheap (well… I think these were 50% off… which is a pretty good deal - £7.5 for a pair of them…? Not bad…). Anyway I picked up a pair and then… got busy with other stuff (the Vimy project, mostly…)… and never got to finishing them up.

In the end to try it out I rebased a couple of regular Motor bikes to have a go at the rules and see if they worked out.

Anyway, now that I’m done with the Vimy Project ( for now)  – and with the Kickstarter jet bikes coming soon - I thought I’d best get these done. I’d feel awful silly having bought these, just to get a few jet bikes before the kickstarter ones arrived… and then not actually have them painted and played with before the kickstarter jet bikes arrive!

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version):

Jet Bike from Prodos Games. I think it was called a “Purple Shark”. The other one I have I am actually painting purple… I’d thought about painting it pink-ish… but then thought it would look just a little TOO much like a giant flying penis.  

The head is actually a post-apocalyptic conversion head from Lead Adventure Miniatures

I have no intention of ever playing Warzone. I just picked them up because they were cool-looking jet bikes and I’m building up a jet bike collection to play some big crazy games of Faustus Furious…

The dark green turned out a bit too dark at first, so I tried adding a little highlight line along the edges of the panels and on some of the bolts - like I've seen some people do on Warhammer 40K vehicles - to make them "pop" a little. Not sure I quite got the knack of the technique, but it does look a little better than it did originally. 

The bases are 40mmx60mm MDF bases that I make myself (same as the ones I use for DBA foot - except oriented in a different direction). I marked out and drilled a hole in the center and added a bit of a bamboo skewer. I drilled a similar sized hole in the bottom of the bike. I plan to use the same size base for all of them and I’m not gluing the bike to them – at least I’m not planning to at the moment. The fit is snug enough that if you pick up the bike the base comes with it. I had thought I might make separate “Crash Bases” to put them on to indicate when they have crashed.

I’m also going to make a bunch of measuring sticks that will also be 40mm wide – so it can simply be lined up with the front of the base and if it comes into contact with any other bike – a collision occurs!

Maybe If I get the other purple Purple Shark done I could have the kids do a little race to try it out again.

I wouldn't mind tracking down a few others for giggles - like an Eldar Jet Bike...? I don't know. Who else makes jet bikes? I so wish I still have the old Harlequin one I had back in the day... I do have a pair of Imperial ones, but need a rider for one - and they look a bit goofy as there is no apparent steering device. Perhaps it's all done by gyroscopes and the rider leaning to turn...? I also have an old Grenadier Star Wars scout speeder bike... but they'd look tiny by comparison.

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Scots Covenanters

Or Ricks Robot…?