A Pair of Muslim Command Stands

Basic Impetvs (BI) does not require separate command stands since leaders are integrated into a unit.  Not the case for me.  For my version of BI on a grid, I field at least one command stand per army and often one command stand per wing.  My Reconquista games generally do not use more than two command stands per army since many of these games are set for four players.  I can field four command stands.

Well, the remote game on deck later today has five players. That meant I needed to hurriedly push some command figures into the painting queue to field five commands by Monday.  As illustrated by these photos, two command stands made it out from the painting desk on Sunday just in time to field for Monday's game.

Figures are a mix of Black Tree Design, Gripping Beast (thank you, eagle-eye Ray), and Artizan.  One of these stands will take its place in the game today.

I have not had BI out on the table since a few Great Italian Wars battles back in January and have not hosted a remote game since the end of September.  Hope some of this comes back quickly!

Back to Spain!

In anticipation of a return to the Reconquista and Spain, I pulled the 28mm collection from its boxes and laid out a parade.

Today's trooping features the Muslim armies gathering for battle.  Not all will take to the field but a goodly number of them will.  The collection has figures from a number of manufacturers including Black Tree Design, Artizan, Perry, Gripping Beast, and maybe one or two more.  The bulk of the figures are definitely BTD picked up ages ago.

The army will go from the parade ground straight into battle in a contest later today on the field of Huesca.

Today's battle sees me matching wits against an opponent fresh off a victory on the plains of Sumeria.  With a string of four defeats at the hands of four different players, which wily opponent will I face on the field?

Pike Block #8 for Italian Wars

Off the painting desk today is the eighth pike block to march over into the completed column in the 28mm Great Italian Wars project.  Pike block #8 maybe the last too.  We will see.  How many pike blocks does one really need?  With 39 figures mustered in each block, that is a lot of Renaissance figures to paint and field for one unit.  Eight such blocks is most likely plenty to field for one army and even having two armies with four pike block each may be good enough for many battles.

This block consists of a real hodgepodge of figures from many manufacturers.  Being the last full grouping of pikemen remaining in The Lead Pile, many different figures were called to the colors.  I count figures form Artizan, The Assault Group, Wargames Foundry, Old Glory, Casting Room Miniatures, and several handfuls from a Kickstarter Jake participated in a few years ago whose name I forget.  Jake gifted the unknown Kickstarter pikemen at Christmas 2018.  Some of the Artizan pikemen were another gift from gaming buddy, Scott.  About time I finally got them into the painting queue and out for a parade.     

Having finished off this block, unpainted inventory for this project is minimal.  Perhaps a gun or two remain and enough Gendarmes to field two more BMUs.  Not much after that.  Well, I do have four, unopened bags of Old Glory arquebusiers and crossbowmen remaining in waiting but I have sufficient numbers of those class of troops painted already.  Perhaps, I will sell, trade, or even paint these figures some day?

Included with the 39 pikemen is one stand of four dopplesoldners.  These two-handed swordsmen sure look like Old Glory figures to me.

Next time, artillery for the 30mm ECW project should be coming out from the painting desk.  Of course, the next unit may be anything, really.

Landsknecht Black Bande

While the recent steady but slow stream of cavalry has dominated new recruitments for the 28mm Great Italian Wars project, high on the list for 2017 was to field another pike block.  Well, that goal has been met earlier than expected with the mustering of 42 pikemen and command spread across three Impetvs-sized bases.  For me, that is a big effort. 

Along with the three pike stands, one four-figure stand of doppelsoldners passed across the painting desk in tandem.  To complete the pike block, four arquebusier are at work on the painting desk outfitted in the same red/black costume.

I decided to give this pike block a black and red motif similar to illustrations found describing the Black Bande.  With pikes held at a low attitude, these pikemen might pose a bit unwieldy on the gaming table.  A forty-five or sixty degree pike angle is better suited for the tabletop but the mass of pikes protruding from the block's front produces a good visual. 

Figures are all from Artizan and represent the first Artizan figures to enter into Italian Wars project.  Excellent sculpting, the style of which fits well with the other major represented manufacturers to the project.  Thus far, the project fields mostly Old Glory, Wargames Foundry, and TAG figures.

With 46 figures in this release, I am glad to have these figures finished and marked off the To Do List!  Completion of this pike block brings the total number of such blocks that can be fielded to five.  That is probably sufficient for now, don't you think?

While enough figures remain in The Lead Pile to complete a few more units including a few more cavalry, one stand of 'T' arquebusiers, and maybe enough for one or two more pike blocks, the project is large enough to hold its own in a large engagement.  

African Spearmen for the Reconquista

After a very long hiatus from the 28mm Reconquista project, a one stand, 12 figure Impetvs element moves out from the painting desk.  The three blister packs had been laying around my work area for several months so instead of binning them into their proper storage container, I painted them.  Good solution, I think!  

Figures are Artizan and this makes the second unit of these figures to be fielded for the project.  Very fine sculpting with virtually no flash.

Having not seen the Reconquista project on either gaming table nor painting desk since last winter, I should make a point of getting this project back into regular rotation.

28mm Reconquista - Black Guard II

Maintaining the Reconquista theme having seen two cavalry units and a Granada travel pictorial in succession, off the painting desk today is a twelve figure heavy infantry Impetvs stand.  This stand of heavy ( FP in Impetvs parlance) infantry is the second Black Guard fielded.  The earlier stand was from Gripping Beast (see Gripping Beast Black Guard).  This stand is from Artizan.  Both Gripping Beast and Artizan offer an outstanding range for the Reconquista.  The latest trio of Reconquista units have been added into the 28mm Renconquista Gallery on the tab above.

The painting desk is loaded with other 28mm figures in various stages of completion including SAW Americans and French chasseurs a cheval.

After a chance meeting with Kevin Thursday during a shopping trip, we decided that I would host a game on Sunday.  Although he suggested a follow-up FIW game to our earlier battle (see Battle of Carillon) would be fun, he wanted to be surprised on Sunday.  So,  no more details until Sunday!  

State of the Painting Desk

With momentum up having finished the two Reconquista heavy cavalry stands, I hoped to finish one more unit before the first half of 2014 drew to a close.  While weekend home projects, gaming, guests, and cycling kept me away from the painting desk for longer than anticipated, work did progress on a few units.  Unfortunately, none of these will make it into the "Completed" column before 01 July.  Oh well, I will have a jump on next month's painting tallies.

On the workbench today are works for four different projects.  What projects do I have in work?  The four units in work comprise: 18mm SYW Prussian musketeer, 28mm US infantry for Spanish-American War, 28mm French Chasseurs a Cheval, and 28mm Arabs.

In the foreground is one BTD Trojan chariot that arrived with this week's BTD order.  The chariot assembly is somewhat fiddly to assemble and I scratched my head wondering how to attach the trace to the cart but I believe I have it.  Initial inspection suggests that the BTD chariot dwarfs the Old Glory chariots completed earlier.  I will confirm how these disparate chariots look side-by-side once the BTD piece is finished.

Painting Desk 29JUN2014

A closer glance at the center tray shows eight Front Rank horses (in the background) that will be used in carrying an equal number of French Front Rank Chasseurs a Cheval.  In the foreground are 15 Old Glory SAW U.S. infantry.  While I have painted many Old Glory Spanish from this range, these are my first Americans for the conflict.  The Old Glory Americans exhibit excellent sculpting with much character.  These could be my favorite Old Glory 28mm figures and I have seen and painted many of the ranges!

SAW US infantry and horses for French cavalry

Next up are 23 Blue Moon AWI Hessians to be fielded as SYW Prussian musketeers.  With the lemon yellow cuffs, waistcoat, and breeches, these lads will muster out as the first battalion of the 10th Musketeer Regiment. 

Blue Moon SYW Prussian Musketeers

Finally, twelve 28mm Artizan Black Guard Moors from the El Cid range are seeing action on the work bench.  In this photo, I made a bit of progress from the overall desk shot above.

Artizan Black Guard

With the first half of 2014 ending and painting totals in the book, it is time to look back and see what I managed to paint thus far in 2014.  With no new "major" project to drive painting and increased travel, totals will be down over last year.  The answer to how much output has dropped will be left until after I crunch the numbers.  Expect a battery of analytics in the future and then you be the judge. 

28mm Reconquista - Spanish

While I await arrival of a Reconquista resupply from BTD containing handfuls of cavalry, I pushed two more units out from the painting desk.  I may be waiting awhile for the BTD delivery since BTD typically gets inundated with orders during their 50% discount offerings.  No matter; I have other items to paint.

First up is a command stand composed two of mounted figures left over from two, unrelated packs.  The Berber light cavalry figure is from Gripping Beast while the other is from Artizan Designs.  This command stand will be fielded as an attached leader in Impetvs games.

The second unit is a 12 figure stand of Crusader Spanish heavy infantry in mail from the El Cid range.  Great sculpts with much character.  As a bonus, Crusader figures fit well with my hordes of Black Tree Design Moors.  

28mm Reconquista - African Spear

Before the household stirs to life this Christmas morning, I find time to post a quick painting update.  

My first dozen Artizan figures from The Moors range migrated from the painting table.  These figures are African spearmen.  The sculpting is exquisite especially in the facial detailing.  I would like a few more of these Artizan Moors.

With the Reconquista Project's stand count now consuming about a half dozen containers, one project to tackle over the holiday is to group photos of each unit into a Gallery.

Speaking of Galleries, I added the latest AWI British foot regiment to the 28mm AWI Gallery page.

UK Figures Without Shipping Charge!

Ordering figures from U.K. manufacturers can be expensive for those of us in the U.S.A. or "Rest of the World."  Some charge as much as 40% shipping but rates have come down to an average of about 25-30% per order value.  Not outrageous but still a fair amount of overhead to swallow when purchasing from the U.K.  I should note that many U.S. manufacturers and distributors charge around 15% for shipping within the CONUS.

By examining the overseas package when it arrives, the 25-30% shipping charged is usually quite close to the actual shipping expense incurred.  No overcharging for postage from the vendors with whom I trade.

Probably not new to many but I recently discovered a means to bypass these shipping charges on select U.K. figures.  

How?  Order your figures from Caliver Books! 

On select ranges, Caliver ships for free.  Yes, free!  As a test, I placed a small order for Artizan, Crusader, and NorthStar figures and accessories.  Indeed, the order was post free! The order arrived within one week too.  As a bonus, Caliver's prices are up to 12.5% less than the Artizan web price for their figures. 

Nice!

Now, gone are the heady days when Crusader figures could be had at 40% discount through Old Glory but every little bit helps, right?

28mm Reconquista Muslim Group Photos

When churning out individual units on a regular basis, it can be easy to lose sight of the forest for the trees.  With the first Impetvs game later this morning, I pulled all of the stands from their boxes and set them out on the gaming table.

The group photos illustrate what has been accomplished on this project since mid-July. With skirmishers out front, light cavalry on the wings, and heavier cavalry in reserve, the lines of troops are about four linear feet in length and several stands in depth.

    

28mm Reconquista - Light Cavalry and Command

Fresh from the painting desk are a sampling of Artizan figures.  I ordered two packs from Northstar to compare size compatibility with the BTD figures.  In the order were one pack of Andalusian command and one pack of Andalusian light horse.

The quality of the figures is quite nice with limited flash and crisp detailing.  In comparison with BTD, these Artizan figures have smaller horses but large riders.  The effect is that the Artizan horsemen appear to be big guys riding small ponies.  When placed on the gaming table and viewed from a distance, the size differences seem to be negligible.  The pack of cavalry command I made into a command stand although Impetvs does not require such an element.

I also picked up two packs of cavalry from Perry's Crusade range.  We'll see how they compare once painted.  At first glance, the Perry's look to be a very good fit alongside BTD.