Donnybrook Diaries.....making ground!

Hello again - It's been a while, but I've gone to ground because......I've been making ground! Well, terrain to be specific. About three months of the last year has been taken up by making terrain boards; an afternoon here, a couple of hours there, it all adds up. But now, after twenty or so years of being interested in this hobby, I'm now the proud owner of two large terrain boards, that give me a war gaming table measuring 4 feet by 4 feet.

The boards are made out of MDF board, with timber battens along the edges, then this was filled in with polystyrene sheet. Inspiration came from many sources, but was especially drawn from Gary Chalk's excellent series of articles in Wargames Illustrated, way back in the dim and distant past. Lots of sand and PVA glue, filler, a polystyrene hot wire cutter, varnish, emulsion paint mixed up at my local DIY store to match commercially bought model paint, towelling (inspired by Dave Andrews' beautiful terrain boards), static grass, reeds and bushes from various modelling shops.....the list goes on, in terms of what I have used. But the end results have been worth it. The bridge is from Hovels, and is a permanent
fixture.

 Ideas for the layout of the roads and the river, have come specifically from Clarence Harrison's excellent Quindia Studios website. Clarence has a guide on there about making his own terrain boards, and I wanted to make mine flexible, and adaptable, just like his. Although the bridge is fixed, I can use this particular board from the Mediaeval period, right up to the present day, which suits me just fine. I will eventually do another river board, which will feature a wooden bridge, which I will use for all my pre-Mediaeval games, but that is a way into the future. I like the idea of having a fixed bridge, as for me, the look of war gaming terrain is almost as important as the flexibility, and this just looks 'right'. There is also a ford located further down stream, which I'm sure will be used in some of my games.

 The colours of the board have been mixed to match GW's Steel Legion Drab as a base coat, then the 'Sand' no. 10 triad, from Wargames Foundry. This has a mid-tone to it, allowing terrain ranging from Europe, north and south, all the way to the United States, to be portrayed. Eventually over the next few years, I'll be building up collections for the American War of Independence, ACW, Peninsular War, as well as continuing with my Donnybrook ECW project, amongst others. So here I've got a random selection of buildings - Spanish and European - on display, and my first completed bases for my League of Augsburg period French force. That will be making a bigger appearance next year, but this year's aim is to complete my Donnybrook forces. I'll leave you with a few more snaps of the boards, as now it's time to crack on with some actual figure painting! These boards have taken up a LOT of time over the last few months, but I'm just a tad happy with them. It's definitely been worth it. Next year will see a 'hill' board being made (I'll play with the hot wire cutter again!), but for now, it's on to the important business of figure painting. See you far sooner than last time!

Peninsular Architecture.. and some voltigeurs!

Here are some of my French Napoleonics again - this time with added Voltigeurs! Two of the chaps have been done so far, and the next two have been started, but have been packed away with the house cleaning mentioned in my last post etc. Hopefully they will be done soon! When I have them all done, I'll post some more details on paints used and colour schemes etc, but safe to say it's a mix of Foundry and Games Workshop colours. Figures are Foundry (naturally!), and the buildings are from Hovels 'Spanish' or Peninsular War range.The two buildings are H11 Double three storey house with ornate balcony (without the balcony!) and H13 Taverna with arched porch. You might spot some cut up bits of the door mat that makes up the wheatfield, that I've added to the stable interior at the back of the Taverna. This was mixed in with PVA glue and added on to the floor of the building. The paint scheme for the buildings eludes me at the moment, as I have packed away my card files, but I have to say as a wargamer, make a record of paints or combinations of colours you use! It's saved me much heartache over the years, as I can refer back to colour mixes that I've tried. Only problem is, that like much of my stuff, it's temporarily in storage!

On another note, I've started on my Impetus armies - work on some Swiss Handgunners began on Monday night. Hopefully next time, I'll have some pics! See you soon!!

 

 

Grenadier Company

Hello again! Below are the latest addition to my French infantry battalion - the Grenadier company. These chaps seem to have taken ages, but finally they're completed. They are all Wargames Foundry figures, and as three of them are all the same figure, I've tried to introduce a bit of variety to them, with different coloured overalls, patches, blankets etc. To the right, you can see them in marching order with the First Company, and below, in the courtyard of a tavern somewhere in southern France, before marching off en route to Spain. The final figure in the company is the Sapeur, wearing his bearskin and brandishing his axe. Although sappers would normally have been with the 'Head of the Column', they were often drawn from the Grenadier company, and I like to think that he has returned to see some old comrades in arms - in truth it was just to break up the monotony of the same grenadier figure!

I hope you like them - next up will be the other 'elite' company of the battalion - the Voltigeurs - or light company. See you soon!

Hello again - with a new project!

Hi everyone. Firstly, an apology for being away so long - I know it's been a big gap between posts, but I lost the blogging 'bug' for a while. Any way, it's nice to be back, and there's a new project in the offing! Mauritzania is on the back burner for various reasons (which I'll go in to at another time), but don't fear - it will be back!

Anyway, the new project...... well it involves the alleged pinnacle of wargaming - 28mm Napoleonics. I have had a copy of the Black Powder rule set for a while, but haven't got round to trying it out yet. The idea is to build up two forces to carry out a Peninsular War scrap on a small scale, using various amendments to the rules that I've picked up from various blogs and wargaming websites. Judging by various comments, the ability to be amended appears to be the beauty of Black Powder, in the sense that it gives a great framework that can be tweaked to fit the situation of the individual gamer. In my case, it's a lack of space, limited funds and only a certain amount of painting time........like most gamers then I guess!

First up then is the start of my French forces. I've had some of these figures - from Wargames Foundry - for about 8 years, but failed to get any paint on them.... until now. This is the first fusilier company of my first battalion, somewhere in Spain circa 1813. Enjoy! Next up will be the grenadier company, in a few days time. Until then...au revoir!