Productive versus Unproductive

Last weekend was both productive and unproductive.  Productive in that I got quite a lot of troops based up, unproductive in that I had intended to set up and play a game or two.  I had enough time to play the games but I think the problem was that I was organised for painting and basing, not organised to set up and play within a few minutes.  And when it came to it, I just couldn't decide what to do!  So I just did some basing instead.

This week, I'm going to try something different and organize a couple of games well in advance, even though they are going to be played solo.  Today was thinking day: which games exactly, requiring which figures, rules, terrain, dice and other paraphanalia.

So, the games:  Three tabletop teasers from the Battlegames' Teaser Collection, including 'The Bridge Demolition', 'Pontoon' and 'The Bridge at Kronstadt'.

The rules: Polemos Napoleonic 'General de Division' rules, with 'regiments' replaced by 'brigades'. 

The models: The red forces will be Spanish, the blue forces French.  With that in mind, I need to sort out the following:

Spanish:
6 Regiments of Heavy Cavalry
6 Regiments of Light Cavalry
18 Battalions of Line Infantry
6 Battalions of Light Infantry
3 Batteries of Artillery
1 Troop of Engineers

French:
9 Regiments of Light Cavalry
9 Regiments of Dragoons and/or Heavy Cavalry
24 Battalions of Line Infantry
6 Battalions of Light Infantry
6 Battalions of Grenadiers
4 Batteries of Artillery
1Troop of Engineers with Pontoons

With the exception of the pontoons, which I have but aren't painted, I think I can field all of this already. 

Required Terrain:
Hills:10
Large Hills: 1
Large River: 1
River: 1
Stream: 1
Farms: 2
Towns: 2
Stately houses or similar: 2
Woods: 8
Hedges: 4
Walls: 2

I think I have most of this - or can easily improvize acceptable versions - except for the wide river.  I need to check the hills I have are sufficient, too - although I'm tempted just to use the old 'sheet over books and blocks' method.  I don't think the terrain is 'done' in a brilliant way but I'm not certain yet of 'the way ahead' so I'll wait until I am before doing anything radically different.

Paraphanalia:
Rules - yes
Orders of Battle - no
Counters to show 'shaken' levels (very important in the Polemos rules) - yes
Dice - yes
Camera - to put some pictures on here! - yes

So, things to do include making a pontoon terrain piece and a suitable wide river,  deciding whether to make more hills or not, making sure the camera is close at hand and getting all the troops ready to go.  We shall see if this works better!

Dutch-Belgian Militia

Started painting some of the Baccus 6mm Dutch-Belgian Militia https://www.baccus6mm.com/index.php?content=products today - lovely little figures, and I'm feeling more confident with these greyundercoats and black washes. I hope they turn out alright in the end!

New Armies(part1)

Having sworn to myself that I wouldn't buy more than a couple of armies with allies for any given period, I broke that promise entirely and got myself two new Napoleonic Armies at Partizan: a Netherlands Army and a Russian Army.  I've started painting up the Dutch-Belgians and have made some relatively speedy progress - eight infantry battalions and two cavalry regiments done so far.  I've really been enjoying using the new grey-undercoat with black wash that Dr Mike taught me there - for some reason I find painting over grey raised areas much more enjoyable than over black!  I don't think the end results are much better yet, but I'm hopeful that I am getting better as I get more used to it.

I've tried a different basing method too: instead of a single 60mm x 30mm base, I've tried using a 30mmx15mm base with two 15mmx15mm bases for the infantry.  It looks okay, but I'm not totally convinced yet, especially as I don't know if I'll really use the extra flexibility that this basing system would give me.

A Long Absence...

That was a busy interlude! My time has entirely been taken up with working overseas and the birth of my third child - a lovely little girl.

What have I been up to gaming-wise?  Well, I have managed to get a few games in.  The only wargames I've played have been Neil Thomas Napoleonic Wargaming and Simplicity in Practice rules, in both cases trying them out as rules for a Charles Grant 'Tabletop Teaser' from the collection of them published by Battlegames; plus a game of Polemos Napoleonics.

One unfortunate although not entirely unexpected consequence of having another little one round the house has been that I haven't been able to set-up any wargames in the house.  The games I have managed to play have been played on a a board laid flat on the grass in the garden.

And the games were very enjoyable.  The Napoleonic Wargaming rules were much better than I thought they were going to be, as they seemed almost crude when I was reading through them.  In practice they gace a very good game, with some interesting subtleties.  The Simplicity in Practice rules have been a favourite ever since I first read them in Battlegames, although they have a much more C18 feel than Napoleonic.  When I get inspired, I'll write a review for Amazon.