Peter Pig Samurai.

 

In reply to my last post Brummie asked for some close up shots . I'm afraid they are not very good photos , its a lot harder taking pictures of 15mm than larger figures.

 

 

 

 

 

I found that the Peter Pig figures paint up very quickly , I used a black undercoat and then blocked the solid colours in and then did a watered down brown ink wash over it . I then touched up the highlights .

 

 

The generals command centre , I like the way Peter Pig does complete ranges with nothing left out .

 

 

I spent a bit more effort on doing the bases than I normally do . I got the ideas for colour schemes from the Osprey books. Well I've started reading the rules so hopefully we will see a battle soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Wargaming Pledge (and a apology)

 

I came across these rules , been sat on my bookshelves for 4 years - unread . To make matters worse I bothered to paint two Samurai armies to go with them and so have not used them either !.

 

 

I bought two Peter Pig army boxes (think I had sold off some painted figures so I had come into money) and painted them up . I've always had a mental block about painting Samurai and believed them to be very complicated to paint so this was also a personal 'dragon slaying' project. In the end I greatly enjoyed painting them and was pleased to find that they were easier to paint than I thought !. However I  never got around to reading the rules , I even took them camping with me (for me usually a sure fire way of getting things read).

 

 

I was talking to 'S' about this and he said it was a shame not to use them , so I said 'I'll read them and have a game !' - some doubt was cast on this and he said 'Is it going on your blog?' - So I'm pledging to read the rules and have a game before the end of September !. Watch this space !..... Oh and the apology - 'A' called round and we had another game of Peter Pig ECW, so the game I had started had to be taken down and another set up and played - which I forgot to photograph AGAIN ! ,sorry about that .

 

 

 

 

An Old Favorite (Parte The First)

Been sorting out my wargaming room (my wife refers to it as 'The Toy Soldier Room' !?) and came across my boxes of Peter Pig 15mm ECW figures , I had already had a discussion with my wargaming colleague 'A' about the advantages of the Peter Pig rule sets so I decided to have a game as it's ages since I used them.

 

The first game I played was against 'A' but unfortunately I forgot to take any photos of the game - this is a common problem with me and the recording of 'live' games - I get carried away with the action and forget to take pictures , so I set up another game and will record it as it progresses.

 

 

I just love wargaming paraphernalia , here is the Peter Pig count down recorder . The game lasts potentialy 23 moves but a D6 is rolled at the end of each move and the score is deducted - when 0 is reached the game ends .

 

 

The first move - Montrose is on the left and the Covenenters on the right of the table. There is a clever prebattle campaign system in these rules that influence the resulting game , troops may be lost due to diseases or bad weather etc or may gain in experience . Montrose in this game was suprised by the Covenenters and only had part of his army on the table , the rest appear as reserves on a dice roll.

 

 

The Covenenter center mainly made up with conscript Foote and Highlanders . One of the advantages of the ECW is that you get to use words like Foote and Great Gunnes !

 

 

Montrose's right , a Irish Regt. of Foote moves down the hill to support some Mosstrooper Horse.

 

 

Montroses left flank is threatened by the advancing Covenenter Foote and dismounted Dragoons who are moving through the grounds of Glen Balochs House. Too be continued... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bad Language and Biggles !

One of my favourite subjects is WW1 aeroplanes , since I was a small boy I've always been interested in them - I blame the Biggles books !. Having played it using 1/72nd plastic kits , cloths pegs and bamboo canes many years ago and failed - was far to fiddly , its was with great glee when I discovered Wings Of War with prepainted aircraft and okay so you loose a dimension but its much easier and fun to play.

The trouble is the beautiful aeroplanes are spoilt by a very poor pilot figure - why did they bother, in the first issue they left the cockpit empty but in later issues the have a spindly nonentity .

However help is at hand in the shape of these tiny pilots from Peter Pig !.

The finished result - however between the two lies endless bad language , super glued fingers, a cut finger , more bad language , repainting of figure after paint came off whilst trying to glue it in and finally TRIUMPH !. First you have to remove the original pilot - easier said than done as he seems molded into the plane , next cut down the new figure - you are now left with a tiny piece of  metal which is easily dropped on the floor and lost forever - start again and glue into place with a blob of 'blue tack' to hold him in place . Luckily my wife was at work and the cats left the room when the swearing started .

And to prove it was not a fluke here's another one I did earlier !. I am slowly working  through my collection some planes being easier than others - Sopwith Camels are a swine to do !

 I have also decided to add magnets to the stands and aircraft to make them look like they are manoeuvring . This was quite easy - phew !

The ball and socket magnets in place . they are called 'rare earth' magnets , why? are they rare ? if so cost very little !

To illustrate Biggles banks right

And goes into a dive . Of no practical use but they look good when playing with them .Now were did I put my goggles ?....

Old Faithful (TSATF Game Part3)

The Borsetshires move into skirmish order to make less of a target to the Afghans in the rocks . Lt Featherstone is wounded (centre of line) and Col. Hill takes charge . ( note the Afghan regular cavalry preparing to charge to their right)

On the start of the next move a random chance card was drawn .

The Afghan tribal unit charges the Gatling gun but is driven back - this makes the above card VERY  bad news for the Afghans .

The tribal unit attempting to get on the rear of the British moves slowly ( only 4" on 3 X D6 for movement) and the 14th Punjab have time to turn around and fire a volley at them . The Afghan unit pinned by the Gatling gun fails its rally test and cannot move (thanks to the chance card). The Afghan regular cavalry charge the British infantry , but the Borsetshires stand and drive them off with very accurate fire.

Another volley breaks the Afghans resolve and they flee from the Punjab's . At this point things started to go rapidly down hill for the Afghan force as they failed to make their morale checks .

The Tribesmen opposite the Gatling break and flee .

Before the Afghan cavalry can rally Col. Randall Hill leads the Borsetshires in a charge against the Afghan unit in the broken ground - who scatter ! . This glorious moment is immortalised in a painting still on view in their regimental museum in Borchester.

With this Afghan resolve faded and they retreated leaving the British holding the battlefield . Another great TSATF game , a close run thing at times but the Chance card turning up at that moment turned the game the British way . Once more TSATF  delivers !.

Old Faithful (TSATF Game Part 2)

The Borsetshires move forward swiftly - Imperial units move on a red card being drawn , the next card was a red joker this meant they could move again !.

Apologies for this incredibly bad photo - nerves were getting the better of me , the end of the second move - Ali Khat's cavalry prepare to charge the Gatling gun.

A tribal band starts to make a flanking move through rough ground - natives do not get minuses in bad going.

Ali Khat dressed in full armour leads the charge . He believes it to be magical - which it may be as he has been wounded often but never killed in any games.

The British pass their morale check and open fire as the Afghans charge in - 4 casualties are scored and the ace of diamonds is amongst them - wounding the highest level officer present , so Ali is wounded but survives again .

In the resulting melee the Afghans rolled very badly (probably seeing their leader shot down) and lost the fight - The R.A. officer and the forces second in command Capt. 'Bob' Roberts dispatching two each . However a Afghan tribal unit is approaching.

The situation after move 3 , the Borsetshires have started volley fire against the Afghans in the rough ground to their front . The 14th Punjab have moved up but their right flank is about to be threatened by tribesmen sneaking up in the rough ground. Too be continued........

Old Faithful (TSATF Game Part 1)

Sometimes you hit the wargaming doldrums and feel that you should set up a game but your not sure which period to play , it's then I turn to TSATF  and the North West Frontier in particular , my wargaming 'comfy slippers'

I set up the terrain at random put three Imperial units on the road (a section of the Borsetshires ,a R.A. Gatling gun and a section of the 14th Punjab ) . I then drew a card at random from the 24+ pre generated Afghan forces and got - 3 Tribal units , a tribal cavalry unit and a unit of Afghan regular cavalry.

The locations of the Afghan units were randomly diced for and let battle commence.

The head of the British column under the command of Col. Randal Hill. (I'm pretty sure the Gatling gun was not used in Afghanistan and the Borsetshires are in Zulu war uniform )

The 14th Punjab's bring up the rear .

The wily Pathans lie in wait .

The Pathan cavalry under the resplendent Ali Khat .

The Afghan Regular cavalry move down the road (the pile of 1p coins is how many rounds of ammo a unit has - the Afghans only got 3 per unit , oh dear ! problems with the supply chain).

The tribesmen move forward to meet the 'foriegn dogs'!.

The situation at the end of the first move . The figures are a mixture of Foundry and Old Glory and have been in use now for about 20 years. Too be continued ............