Look Snorri, Rats!

Just a quickie to show off the finished Rat Ogres before I go away on my jollies:

What a godsend Devlan Mud is! I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out on larger models like these, but the results are just as pleasing as with the Clanrats. It is sort of cheating, and I'm sure the dedicated painters out there are howling in disgust, but it does save an awful lot of time and effort and still gives a satisfactory gaming standard finish, which is ultimately what I'm after.

Anyway, the blog is going to be quiet for the next week or so as I'll be up in sunny (rainy?) Scotland until next Friday. We'll be playing the fourth game in our Napoleonic campaign tonight, so I'll report back on that next time!

Rats of War

Shock horror - more progress has been made with the Skaven!

First up, I went back to the Clanrats and painted in the eyes, as well as a few clan markings scattered around on shields. Just a quick snap of the Command group to demonstrate:

One thing I did realise while doing these is that I really need a new Fine Detail brush if I'm going to be painting more Skaven markings - they're all pretty fine lines and my current brush (which has seen a fair amount of service now) isn't really up to scratch...

Anyway, that's the Clanrats wholly finished now and I've started on the Rat Ogres.

Undercoated in Army Painter's "Leather Brown". The only real downside is that there are only two variants of the IoB models, combined with the fact that they're all two-part models which makes converting them a bit difficult and out of my comfort zone (not to mention the fact that I want to get them painted up reasonably quickly...). Still, a bit of variation on the painting will hopefully differentiate them enough.

Here they are with the basecoats done (unless I've forgotten something...). There are a variety of fur colours in there - Chaos Black, Scorched Brown, Graveyard Earth, Bestial Brown and also the "naked" undercoat of Leather Brown. Some are painted with solid colour (as you can see), while others have been painted in patches to give even more variety.

Despite the fact that there are only two poses, they've been surprisingly fun to paint so far. The fur variation should show up even better after the customary Devlan Mud wash, which will also pick out all the details like bandages, stitches, metal work etc.

On a slight sidenote, my appreciation for Devlan Mud has soared while painting the Skaven. I got a pot initially when the GW Washes first came out and used it on Giant Yeti (more on that in a future post perhaps), and I wasn't too impressed to begin with. The more I've used it though, the more I've come to love it. It's great for speed painting, and makes even my shoddy rushed work look half-decent when it's applied!

Anyway, I'm planning on starting the washes tonight (while I watch the concluding episode of Case Histories, plus an episode or two of Game of Thrones) and then it's on to the details! I'm planning on painting the black loincloths with a checkered pattern, just like the Clan Rictus scheme in the "Heraldry and Uniforms of the Skaven" book. Hopefully I'll be able to get the lot completed before I head off to Scotland on Friday.

Asrai.org Miniature Exchange

About a year ago, I got involved in a Miniature Exchange run on Da Warpath. For those not familiar with the concept, you promise to paint one figure or vignette in the two month time limit, and send it to whomever you are assigned. In return, you will receive a model sent by another painter.

Well, for Da Warpath's Exchange I painted up an old 5th Edition Orc Standard Bearer for jimbob1066e

It's a great classic figure (in my opinion) and I liked it so much, I bought two so that I could paint the other one up and keep it for myself.

I haven't got round to painting the second Orc yet, but I have finally gotten round to organising a similar project on Asrai.org! We've had 23 participants sign up and everyone has been assigned a painter. This also means that I'll be painting a figure up for someone as well. I spent most of Sunday evening browsing the 'net for ideas, and placed a bitz order yesterday to get all the parts I need. I've just been contacted by BitzBox.com to say that my order is now on it's way and so I'll likely be able to start building just in time for my holiday to Scotland! I might just hide my modelling stuff in the suitcase (away from the prying eyes of the other half!) and take it all with me to work on should we encounter any rainy days...

Now, the rules of the project mean I can't post WiP photos until the model has been sent and received, but I'll be sure to take plenty while I work to post when it's OK to do so. Until then, you'll just have to make do with written updates on my progress!

Rats!

You'll never guess what's happened...

I've finally finished the Clanrats!

After all that procrastinating, they only took me an afternoon/evening of not-that-determined effort to finish them off. Although it's taken me the best part of three months from start to finish, the actual painting time has been considerably less than that - I reckon I could get the next unit done with just a couple of days of determined painting. Given that it's difficult for me to get two days where I can focus on nothing but painting though, I think aiming to complete them within a week or two would be more realistic.

Looking at the photos, I might actually go back and paint in the eyes on these after all. I wasn't going to bother to begin with, figuring that they'd be lost within the mass of fur, but they actually show up quite prominently so it might improve the look of the unit to pick out those little specks of red after all.

Anyway, that's 30 Clanrats more or less out of the way! Only another 170 to go....

Form Line!

Just thought I'd show you a few Frenchies. I painted these up for the third game of the Raid on St Michel campaign. It's the most single-minded I've been about a project for a while. I know some of you are probably thinking "What's he on about, it's only seven bases?!" but this represents the most painting I've done for at least a month! It just goes to show what a few regular games can do for motivation. Now I'd better arrange some games with my Skaven to get them painted!

The Battle of St Michel

Last weekend we played the third game of our narrative Napoleonic campaign, the Raid on St Michel.

Game Three - The Battle of St Michel

This was by far the biggest battle of the campaign so far, and appropriately so given that this scenario is also the crux of the campaign. The Austrians have fought through the French resistance to finally reach St Michel, where the French treasury is located. The French have amassed forces to make a stand defending the town, and so it was that Marshal Du Bious found himself in command of the defenders.

The task was relatively simple - stop the Austrians taking the town.

The Austrians were arriving on the north side of the table, with the French defending the town on the south side. The town itself consisted of the churchyard (left of the road) and a group of houses (south and right of the road). On the left flank the road led away over a bridge spanning the river, while on the right the road led through a valley.

Because I was defending, my deployment zone was extended to cover the whole of the town and up to the beginning of the river. Any units not in plain sight could be deployed as hidden, with orders to reveal in certain circumstances, or when sighted by the enemy. The Austrians had to deploy by map without seeing the disposition of the French forces, and were allowed to start up to 6" in from the north board edge in column.

The rest of the Austrian forces started backed up along the road, but it wouldn't be long before they turned up! The white 'H's show which units were hidden at the start of the game.

The opening turns were relatively uneventful - my Cuirassiers and Chasseur á Cheval advanced to the top of the hill on the right flank, while the Light Infantry and 4th Line advanced alongside them with the Line taking up position along the ridge of the hill and the Light deployed in skirmish formation at the bottom of the hill.

Meanwhile, the Austrians advanced along the front - the infantry and artillery marched quickly down the road, while the cavalry on both flanks advances also; the Dragoons and Hussars (followed up by three infantry units) moved to take on the Cuirassiers and Chasseur; the Kuirassiers and Austrian Chevaux-Leger moved into what they thought was the empty French left flank. By the time they realised their mistake, it was too late...

It didn't take long for battle to be joined. In the centre, the Austrians had brought the majority of their infantry to bear, while the cavalry tried to break through the flanks. As you can tell from the deployment, I was expected a much stronger push on the left flank; as it turned out, the Austrians were going for a left-hook instead of the right-hook I'd anticipated!

With the Austrian cavalry on my left in trouble, I immediately took my chance and charged with both the Dragoons and the Bavarian Chevaux-Leger. The Austrian cavalry was hit in both the front and flank - much to my shock and horror though, they not only managed to hold but they fought off both charging units! Needless to say, that didn't go to plan. On the right flank, things didn't go much better. My Cuirassiers charged and broke the Austrian Dragoons, but my Chasseur á Cheval were broken in turn my the Austrian Hussars. In the centre the French artillery began their pounding of the Austrian infantry, ably assisted by the militia and 2e Line.

The following few turns formed the climax of the battle. On the left, the Bavarians rallied and ploughed into the Austrian Chevaux-Leger again, this time beating them and causing them to flee. Unfortunately, this left the Kurassiers with a clear charge into the Bavarians and they were routed in return. Meanwhile, the Light and Line moved up to enfilade the Kurassiers as they charged in, causing casualties but not enough to break them. On the right, the Cuirassiers charged and broke the Dragoons again but were then left facing two infantry squares, with the Jager providing enfilade fire. This all proved too much for them and, unable to repeat the performance at Peche Valley, they were routed. Meanwhile the Hussars followed up the Chasseur and broke them a second time, causing them to rout off table and leaving the Hussars dangerously to the rear of my infantry on the hill. The three Austrian infantry units advancing on the hill took heavy casualties on the march in; the Gyulai regiment were forced to retire, quickly followed by the Jordis, but the Splenyi managed to march through the fire and charge through the Light Infantry, who retreated to the far side of the hill.

In the centre, the 2e Militia finally broke and ran from the incoming artillery and infantry fire; the 2e Line marched forward to take up their place holding the road junction. The Austrian Grenadiers took massive casualties and were routed by artillery fire, and the Duke regiment suffered just as badly when the 2e Line got into position. Unfortunately, by this point the 1e Line had been forced to retreat after coming under fire from the advancing Hoch-und-Deutschmeister regiment.

With casualties mounting up and units fleeing all over the place, the battle was coming to its conclusion. On the left, the Kurassiers turned and charged the 3e Line despite suffering casualties on the way in. The Line broke and ran, but conveniently left a gap for the rallied Dragoons to charge through into the Kurassiers. This time, the Kurassiers broke and fled for good, having been reduced to below half strength. On the right, the Cuirassiers launched a last desperate charge at the Austrian Hussars, only to once again be defeated. This time they were too close to the board edge, and with enemy units all around they routed off table. In the centre, the pressure was becoming too much. The Archduke Charles regiment suffered the fire of the French artillery and 2e Line but returned fire and forced the 2e Line to break in turn. Meanwhile, the Hoch-und-Deutschmeister unit continued to force the 1e Line to retreat and the Klebeck marched forward in the wake of the Archduke Charles regiment. The Splenyi paused at the foot of the hill to exchange fire with the 4e Line, while the Gyulai and Jordis regiments both rallied and returned to the firefight.

The French lines were now looking dangerously thin. The left flank had eventually prevailed and cleared their opposition, but the time it had taken them had left the centre and right to bear the brunt of the Austrian assault and they were quickly crumbling. With no reserves left to plug the gap in the centre, the artillery was looking particularly vulnerable and this proved to be the case, as the Hoch-und-Deutschmeister and Klebeck regiments both charged the fortifications around the cannon and cleared them at bayonet-point. Without artillery support and a drastic shortage of non-running infantry units, it looked like the French had been overcome. On the right flank, the 4e Line were forced into square by the approaching Hussars, while the 2e Light formed column and marched away from the area to try and plug the gap around St Michel. The 1e Line continued their harassment of the Hoch-und-Deutschmeister regiment, while the Militia in the churchyard turned to face the Klebeck and the Dragoons and 1e Light moved to the centre whilst staying out of range of the Austrian artillery. The 3e Line managed to rally before exiting the table, but the 2e were not so lucky and fled the battle.

It was at this point that the game was ended. It was decided that the remaining French forces withdrew in good order, with the exception of the 4e Line who were forced to surrender (surrounded by enemy forces as they were), granting a narrow victory to the Austrians. The Whitecoats had captured the treasury, but had suffered heavy casualties to do so (far higher than the French casualties). Now the question is whether they can make it back to Austria with the money, and more importantly, with their lives. Already reports are coming in of a French force marching rapidly from the north to seize the bridgehead at Fleur once again, in the hopes of stopping the Austrians from crossing...


Stay tuned for Game 4!

Raid on St Michel

So I mentioned a couple of posts back that three of us are running a small Napoleonic narrative campaign at the club. Thursday just gone we played the second game of five linked scenarios and, as promised, here's the update on things so far

Getting Started

The scenarios themselves are from "Raid on St Michel" by Caliver Books. The scenarios are written for 18th Century gaming, but they're very easily adaptable to any "blackpowder" era. The rules we use for Napoleonic gaming are 'Rank & File' by Crusader Publishing; we like them for the very easy-to-grasp mechanics and 'fast play' style, but there are a whole host of additional and optional rules you can add to flavour and suit the era you're playing. The campaign would be fought between my French and the Austrians (commanded by Paul).

Rank & File uses a system whereby each element/base can take three hits before being removed. As a running campaign, casualties would carry over from each game with units regaining a third of the hits taken between games (so a unit that takes 9 hits i.e. 3 bases would regain one base/three hits before the next game)

Game 1 - The Bridge at Fleur

Your border forces in and around the town of Fleur have noticed increased activity by the Osterreichers over the past day or so. You thought nothing of it, as the sausage-munchers like to pose and the campaign season has not even started.


However, as dawn broke above the sleepy town and your garrison there began to go about their daily business, a sentry, seeing some movement in the gloom over the rivere, sounded the alarm. A half regiment of light cavalry had already gone out on patrol, part east and the other part west along the river. The rest of the garrison was forming up for morning drill, weapons inspection and similar dull, routine stuff. Now alerted to the enemy presence, however, it was clear that an attack was underway and the garrison made ready to defend the town and its precious bridge, whilst sending out couriers to recall the cavalry and to warn the garrison of St Michel to the south. 


DEFEND THE TOWN FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE! INFLICT MAXIMUM DAMAGE ON THOSE CURSED WHITECOATS!!!

And so my task was laid out - to hold the Austrians off for as long as possible, inflict maximum damage for minimal casualties in return and then fall back in good order. Ably commanded by Brigadier Toutou, I had a regiment of Line, a regiment of Militia, a single artillery piece and a unit of Bavarian Chevau-Leger (light cavalry), half of which were on patrol off table at the start of the game.

Deployment was largely taken out of my hands; the French units had to be positioned in specific areas around the village of Fleur; the militia had to be within the confines of the village itself and nearest the bridge, the gun had to be positioned on the hill behind the village, with the line infantry and cavalry parading in the open space behind the village.

The attackers moved first, and the Austrians entered the field of battle - first on were a unit of Hussars and three infantry units. My moves were very simple; the militia formed into line and moved up to the bridge, the line infantry moved up through the village, while the gun manhandled forward to get closer to the bridge itself.

The next turn saw the Austrian Hussars launch a rash charge across the bridge into the militia; the cannonshot missed, but the militia proved to be surprisingly accurate, killing a base of Hussars and forcing a morale check that was duly failed and the Hussars retired back across the bridge. 

The next couple of turns were all about getting into position; the line infantry took up position in front of the bridge, while the militia moved to their left to fire across the river. With the Austrian artillery and heavy cavalry foolishly placed at the rear of the order of march, the task of forcing the breach once again fell to the Hussars. Twice more they charged and twice more they were repelled by the line infantry who had formed square and by the increasinly accurate artillery fire. Meanwhile the militia exchanged fire with the Austrian infantry who had formed up across the river; the militia gave far better than they received, but ultimately the weight of fire proved to great and the militia broke and ran.

Things were looking grim for the French. The returning cavalry patrols were making their way back to the village, but the Austrian Kurassiers and artillery had finally reached the riverbank. The artillery took up position to blast away at the French infantry square while the Kurassiers formed up to launch a charge across the bridge and into the square.

Disaster struck when a stray cannonball somehow managed to strike Brigadier Toutou and seriously wound him. After taking a few casualties from artillery fire, the Kurassiers hit home. The French line finally cracked and ran; the Kurassiers pursued straight into the waiting Chevau-Leger, who held their own in the first round of combat but broke in the second due to sheer weight of numbers. With all the French forces running and their commander out of action, the game was over - the Austrians had broken through.

Game 2 - Rear Guard

The second scenario was fought along a narrow, steep-sided valley; effectively limiting the playing area to a 6' long 2.5' wide corridor, divided by a river along the length of the valley, with a ford at the Austrian end and a bridge at the French end.

This time round, I had a unit of Line, a unit of Light Infantry, a unit of Chasseur á Cheval (light cavalry), a unit of Cuirassiers (heavy cavalry) and two guns. As this was a defensible position, I was allowed to deploy up to halfway up the board, so I took full advantage of the walls and hedges dotted around; the Line infantry deployed behind the wall on the right, with the two artillery pieces immediately to their left in the gap between the wall and the river. To the right of the Line were the Cuirassiers. On the left side of the river, the Light Infantry were deployed behind the hedge while the Chasseur á Cheval were hidden behind the hill, ready to be revealed when the Austrians approached (as part of the scenario rules, I was allowed to declare all out-of-sight units as hidden until I decided to reveal them, or they were sighted).

The Austrian forces for this game were split into two sections; the Advance Guard and the Main Body. The Advance Guard consisted of a unit of Hussars and Kurassiers on the left bank and a large infantry unit and unit of Dragoons on the right bank. A random dice roll at the beginning of the game turned out to mean that the Main Body of the Austrian force would begin entering the table on Turn Four, which happened to be just as the action began. As the forces were entering the board (a whole twelve units of them, giving the Austrians sixteen units in total - compared to my five...) the Hussars on the left bank approached the Light Infantry alongside the Kurassiers and the Chasseur á Cheval were revealed. The Light Infantry fired a volley at the Hussars and caused a couple of hits while the Chasseurs moved up on top of the hill to face off against the Kurassiers. On the right bank, the Austrian Dragoons and my Cuirassiers faced off against each other, with my artillery taking shots at the Austrians as they approached and causing a couple of hits (which would prove to be decisive in the following turn).

The following turn saw the proper action begin and charges were declared - the Dragoons and Cuirassiers met on the far right flank and the Kurassiers and Chasseur met just left of the river. Crucially, the Hussars were forgotten about and failed to make their planned charge. This left the Light Infantry free to fire at them once more, again causing hits and forcing the Hussars to retire in ignominy for their error.

Meanwhile, the two cavalry charges were to ultimately decide the fate of the game. On the right flank, my Cuirassiers ploughed through the Dragoons (thanks in no small part to the hits caused previously by my artillery). They were forced to pursue, which took them into the open ground between the battle lines and still in a position to charge the fleeing Dragoons in the following turn. On the left flank, however, things faired rather more poorly with the Chasseurs being soundly beaten and just escaping being run down by the victorious Kurassiers. While things were going well on my right flank, my left had pretty much collapsed with the Light Infantry left with four cavalry units bearing down on them (not to mention the three infantry units following behind...)

Fortunately, the Austrian cavalry had little interest in the Light Infantry - they were on a time limit, and had to reach the end of the board within a certain number of turns (a fact I was unaware of during the game). This meant my Light Infantry were largely free to reform and harass the flanks of the cavalry units as they passed by while they chased the Chasseurs off the board. Meanwhile on the right bank, my Cuirassiers again declared a charge into the Dragoons who, being as they were already fleeing, were forced to flee again. Unfortunately this left my Cuirassiers in a rather sticky situation - bang slap in front of an infantry line, with a second line to their flank and a formed square behind the first line. Visions of the Scots Greys at Waterloo flashed before my eyes as I foresaw the gory deaths of my elite cavalry at the ignoble hands of grubby Austrian muskets.

Lady Luck had other ideas though it seems. The combined volley from the two infantry lines proved shockingly ineffective (only a single hit) and the Cuirassiers hit home. As expected they ploughed straight through the vulnerable line, who fled, but were now faced with the steady square. Again they were forced to charge, and again they took only a single hit from the incoming fire. They hit home again, and yet another unit broke before them. So far so good, but the Cuirassiers were now about as far from my lines as they could get, with the remaining Austrian units between them and my infantry. Pursuing the fleeing infantry (as well as the Dragoons, who had not managed to rally) off the table gave them a turn's respite from incoming fire.

Meanwhile, back at the other end of the table, the Austrian infantry was finally approaching my lines. The artillery pounded the incoming column into submission and forced them to retire, but the pressure was mounting and the Austrian cavalry on the left bank had secured free passage across the bridge and behind my forces. Fearing that I'd be surrounded and cut off from my retreat, the line regiment reformed and fell back towards the bridge, leaving the artillery for one more turn of firing before they too limbered up and began the retreat.

The game ended with both sides meeting their victory conditions; I had inflicted heavy casualties on the Austrian forces (with five units broken, four of those by the Cuirassiers!) and had managed to retire in good order with the majority of my force wholly intact (including the vital artillery pieces). The Austrians had just managed to achieve their objective; as was revealed to me after the game, the Austrians had 18 turns to get at least two units off the board - they managed it in 17. One more turn of holding the Kurassiers on the left bank could have made all the difference, but it wasn't to be. Still, I was more than happy at the result - I had suffered next to no casualties, my cavalry had ploughed through four units in a row and I had retreated my forces in good order and intact. Roll on Game 3!

In other news...

I was at Vicarage Road today to watch the Rugby Premiership Play-off Semi-final between Gloucester (Yay!) and Saracens (Boo!) The first thing that struck me was how squat the pitch is; very short, and absolutely no width at all. No wonder Saracens have conceded the least number of tries all season! There's absolutely nowhere for teams to run, and Gloucester score a lot of their tries from the wings. Some frankly awful refereeing didn't help matters either - Gloucester were seemingly penalised for everything, while Saracens got off lightly. I don't like to complain about referees and I know every supporter always feels like their team is hard done-by, but I can honestly say that this was one of the worst refereeing displays I've seen all season. That said, we really didn't help ourselves, and it's been the bane of our season - unforced errors all over the shop, schoolboy errors most of them; knock-ons, dropped catches, silly offsides. Luckily, Owen Farrell didn't put his kicking boots on until late in the half, and with five missed penalties (two saved by the uprights), we were probably let off lightly to go in at halftime only 6-3 down. The second half was more of the same. Steve Borthwick was finally given a deserved yellow card (which should have come about half an hour earlier) and the pressure was enough to give us a try and the lead for the first time in the game. Again though, we let ourselves down and gave away another penalty in the final five minutes. Just when we really wanted Farrell to miss, he came good and slotted it home to steal a win, leaving a pretty bitter taste in the mouth. On the performance of the day, Saracens weren't the better team and if it weren't for the unforced errors that have plagued us all season, coupled with a few more refereeing decisions actually going the right way, it would have been a very different result. Still, we can always rely on Leicester to do the job. Normally it would gall me to say it, but - come on Tigers!

Until next time...