If Thou Blowest Not Thine Own Trumpet...

...then who shall blow it for thee?

Things have been a little quiet on the painting front over here lately, but we have not been completely idle. Long-term followers of C&G may be aware of a companion project of ours, an 18th Century ImagiNations blog, The Wars of the Sable Hat.

This blog chronicles the ongoing diplomatic and military tensions between the Duchy of Saxe-Coburn und Buchholz and the Principality of Velikye Byelgorodniya over the disputed province of Nizhny Bublik.

The armies for both sides are being painted and based by the esteemed Mr Mills, and the latest regiment

(yep, these guys)

is now on display here, with some background by your humble correspondent.

Please feel free to saunter over and bask in the ambience of a bygone age that never really was; here endeth the shameless plug!

Stay tuned...

Ev

If The Sabot Fits...

Had a day off today, so after conducting some necessary procurement of household supplies, it was back home to get some more work done on the first of the new sabot bases from Warbases.

When last I posted, I'd gotten as far as texturing and dressing up the base with sand and a few bits of marble chip. Well, after a bit more sand and a lick of paint, here's how things progressed;

OK, I was going for the 'ripples in the sand' look, but seem to have ended up with more of a 'furrows in a freshly-ploughed field' effect. Never mind, a bit more paint, and some strands of kelp fashioned from green stuff, and that'll conceal a multitude of sins;

A few more highlights where needed, and we can road test the new base with its designated occupants, well-known smash-and-grab merchants, The Sons of Death (aka "The Old Firm").

I think we might just have gotten away with it...

I am extremely pleased with the result, and am already thinking about more themed unit bases for my Scots (heather and tussock grass) and Pagan Rus (snow and ice - another area where I have absolutely nil experience!).

I would have to say that these bases are the way to go when playing skirmish games, and Warbases will definitely be seeing some return custom once I get finished with this lot...

All Warbase are belong to... oh, forget it. That line's getting old.

In the immortal words of Captain Oates, "I may be some time."

Meanwhile, the Analogue Painting Challenge continues to take its toll, with painters falling by the wayside, exhausted by their labours, while those who remain descend further into madness. Only the other day, Canister and Grape's own Millsy posted a target of 3500 points, proof positive that he is being driven to the brink of insanity and megalomania.

How will he fare? Only time will tell!

Stay tuned...

Ev

"Base 'Em Up Y'All, It's a SABOTage!"

All other hobby activity was sidelined last night with the arrival of an order from those splendid chaps at Warbases.

My esteemed blolleague Millsy placed a bulk order on behalf of the rest of the C&G chaps, and was kind enough to deliver my portion of the not inconsiderable haul yesterday afternoon.

Given the fact that my recent hobby activity has been almost entirely SAGA-related, I opted for an assorted bag of sabot bases for my warbands, in Hearthguard (4 slot), Warrior (8 slot), and Levy (12 slot) sizes. They're laser-cut MDF and give off a rich charcoaly smell that had my Good Lady Wife wondering who in our building was having a barbecue.

Gotta say, on first glance, they seem to be just what the discerning skirmish gamer needs to maintain unit coherency and speed up movement. The standard of workmanship is very good, with no rough edges or burrs.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. And what's the deal with the hex bases?
That's classified. On a need-to-know basis, you don't.

Of course, I had to try them for size this arvo and see how well they fitted, and who better to act as my guinea pigs than those Hebridean chuckleheads, the Sons of Death. Lovely family, lots of fun!

Yep, job's a good 'un.

But it does look a little bit minimalist, doesn't it? So it's back in yer box, lads, and we'll make a start on seeing if we can't make your sabot base match the seashore theme we threw together the last time. I plan to carry this technique across all my warbands, and give them themed sabot bases which match the figs.

First, let's put down a few rocks.

Oh, I'm shattered already. How do landscapers do this day in, day out?

Then a bit of sand;

Some nasty bunkers around the 18th there...

And then seal it with the ever-reliable PVA glue/water mix...

"He's just reusing the same picture! It's a scam!"

...and then we play the waiting game while it dries. And as I now have to dash out and play the social butterfly (my dears, it's SO hard being popular!), I'll come back to this tomorrow and we'll see how much more I can get done before the next blog post.

Stay tuned...

Ev

Wargame Bloggers Quarterly Issue Three is OUT!

It's here! After another three months of work the gang at WBQ are chuffed to present the third instalment of Wargame Bloggers Quarterly. Packed with great articles and wonderful photos once again, you won't want to miss this...

PK has done a sterling job as Editor-in-Chief and deserves a pile of credit. Our authors have also delivered yet again with a wide range of interesting and challenging content backed up by some seriously good eye candy. You only have to look at Sidney Roundwood's cover photo to see that!

Get your copy here.

PS. Thanks to everyone who has already downloaded Issues One and Two and continues to spread the word. The two previous issues have 4000+ downloads between them already.

28mm Royalist ECW Army on Parade

The mighty army of his most Royal Highness Charles I,
by the Grace of God King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

I've been promising for some time to get my entire ECW army out and photograph it so people can have a gander. Well, this afternoon I finally got round to it. Just setting things up took the best part of 90 minutes but when you look through the photos you'll understand why. Photographing something of this size without the benefit of a studio presents a range of challenges and overall I'm pretty happy with the images despite that.

In total there are 12 commanders (mounted and on foot), 68 horse, 252 foot, 4 guns and 12 crew. In unit terms it is 2 x lifeguard (1 in cuirass), 4 x regular horse, 1 x mounted dragoons, 2 x dismounted dragoons, 5 x pike and shotte, 1 x clubmen, 4 x artillery and a bunch of command including the King, Rupert (and Boye!), Edmund Verney, a Scout Master, Master Gunner and others.

The miniatures are predominantly Renegade and Bicorne but there's also Foundry, Redoubt and even a few Essex mixed in. Every single one was painted by me, many of them during Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge over the last 3 years. Cheers Curt!

Anyway, enough blather. Time to let the photos do the talking. Remember to click for the full sized images...

I hope you've enjoyed the photos. Please leave comments. The hits are all very nice but it's the interaction with our followers that makes this all worthwhile. :-)

Cheers,
Millsy