Haiduk Bagpiper - WIP

Slowly adding to the Haiduk command sets. A bagpiper completed - a converted marching figure

a bit of tidying up to do, then he'll join the box of completed command figures.

Polish command figures - WIP

Slowly been getting some command figures sorted out for the Polish army project. Two mounted figures now ready for painting; also been working on Haiduk unit command figures by doing conversions of my marching figure - so far five with berdysz axe done and five standard bears started...

Simple Swordplay in Miniature Wargames magazine ...

The simple swordplay rules I developed earlier in the year to use with my 40mm musketeers (see this post) had some further development after the version that I made available.

I used the updated rules along with a scenario for an article which I submitted for publication in Miniatures Wargames. It was accepted and is in the December issue,  no 428 ,

nice to get an article published in a wargames magazine.

Polish Light Cavalry - trial figure painted

A single light cavalry figure painted up, basic but OK when painted.

now finished with the trial figures, will start work on command figures while I collect together som metal for casting up the army units.

Polish Pancerni - Trial Figure painted

Another trial figure painted up, this time a pancerni.

with basic kit of sabre and shield. I plan to have units of these with a mix of war hammers, sabres, and short lance plus carbines.

I've sample some 28mm bits and know have a range of accessories I can use (saves me making a special mould)

• Gripping Beast wire spears for lances
• Front Rank sabres and straight swords
• The Assault Group - Warhammer
• Essex Miniatures - 16c musket, to use as carbine
• Pancerni Shields - timurid whicker shields from Grippping Beast 

Next trial paint figure will be 'cossack' light cavalry'

Polish Haiduk - Trial Figure painted

One sample Haiduk casting painted up,

a regiment of these fellows will look rather nice. I have cast some more, but not enough for a regiment - I will probably use these up doing conversions for command figures, standard bearers etc.

Polish Winged Hussar Unit - WIP

After some casting, prep and assembly the first unit of winged hussars is nearly ready to go into the paint queue. I've opted for a mix of single and two wings for the hussars.

the balls on the lances are anglers 5mm rig beads. I have some work to do on the officer (who will have a cloak) and the musician with single wing (who will have a trumpet).

More Polish trial castings ...

I've finished a couple more moulds for the Polish home-cast project and have done some trial castings. Pancerni and Light Cavalry...

 Foot Officer and Haiduks...

I've one more mould to do which will contain the Haiduk again (so I can cast units a bit faster) and an Ottoman style horse archer which could be converted into a Tartar.

Time to plan the polish army units and work out much metal to get and what extra accessories will be needed (shields, lances, words etc).

Polish Winged Hussar (painted ..)

After a little bit of a tidy up got on with painting my first winged hussar; the wings have come out nicely - overall looking good

Will cast some more when I'm doing trial castings of the other polish figure moulds. The Polish-Swedish war of 1600-11 has a number of engagements which could be re-fought;  better build the Polish army first 😎

Polish Winged Hussar (trial castings ...)

I have finally got round to making a mould and have made some trial castings ... single winged hussar

a slight problem with the mould, has left a small ridge in part of one side of the wing,

a little bit of filing does as a fix - the acid test will be how it looks painted.

A Hussar with two wings ...

will paint up a couple to see how they come out. I am also working on the moulds for the rest of the Polish figure masters.

Kettelwitz Campaign PDF

I've put together the initial version of the Kettelwitz campaign PDF. It has an introductory section and includes all the relevant blog posts from May to Dec 2017 for the campaign (the pictures link to those on the posts so you can click and enlarge if you want to).

link to access the PDF is here

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kEDL-UZwGupdLaPfq9v5oCFf7Fu23yrp/view?usp=sharing

(if you have any problems with the link then add a comment and I'll fix it - should be OK though 😀 )

Simple Sword Play Rules .....

Finally got round to tidying up my simple sword play rules. These were designed as an add on to my skirmish rules, to enable musketeers type heroes and opponents to indulge in sword fights. They are very basic, but they give reasonable results. So far the play tests have provided good little games.

The rules play sheet (about a page) is available from this link

Simple Sword Play - Rules Play Sheet

[post updated 31/8/2018: moved the rules play sheet to my Google Drive]

Sword play rules test .....

Moved outside yesterday evening for 'gaming session'; indoors was too hot and there was nice breeze outside.  The 'simple sword play rules' were tested out using small scenic setups on a couple of my table riser sections.

encounters in rocky outcrops...

 After trialling 1 against 1, 1 against 2 and tweaking the rules a bit we then tried a Musketeer dealing with three cardinals guard

 

the musketeer managed top fend off the guardsmen but picked up two wounds and got away.  I need to write up the changes to the rules.

Sculpts: review of Polish Masters...

As I've been working on some TYW sculpts I decided to review the 40mm Polish masters; a few tweaks done

• The Haiduk's musket has been shortened by about 3mm
• The riders have had their swords moved to down by the side of their left boot - easier to make a mould and less problems with metal flow.
• The Pancerni has been given a new face
• The generic foot figure has been reworked, the upper body has been changed with new arm positions plus a sword added too.

Here are the masters ....

     

I am going to make moulds for these (when the weather gets a cooler),  mould list

Hussar + Wing
Pancerni + Haiduk
Light Car + Haiduk
Generic Foot figure + ?

For the Pancerni and Light cavalry I will buy some add-on bits like shields and bow cases from The Assault Group, the 28mm accessories are just about right.

Sculpt: TYW Cuirassier ...

Finished the initial pass sculpt of a TYW cuirassier;  from the photos I can see a few fluffs that need attention. Overall I am pleased with it ...

 comparison of my sculpt with an Irregular Miniatures cuirassier fitted with a Sash and Sabre head. A good size match...

Sculpt: TYW Mounted Dragoon...

Knocked up a mounted dragoon,  modifying one of my mounted cavalry figures.

also in progress in a TYW curassier.

a couple of things on the go ....

couple of things being worked on at the moment...

1) a simple set of sword play rules as an add on to my skirmish rule set; initial version has been play tested, second version awaiting a play test. Aim is to have it fit on one page ? !

2) I'm slowly putting the Kettelwitz series of games into a 'campaign pdf'; I will be trying to make something a bit more of it as sort of project in itself. Trying out my drawing skills, I would like to have parts illustrated by drawings. First attempts were bad, but after some practice I think I'm getting nearer something usable...

Those four chaps - mounted and armed with muskets

completed the two new sets of musketeer figures, the mounted set ...

and on foot armed with muskets

Those four chaps again -- WIP

I've been doing some conversions on my stock of spare castings to make up a couple of new sets of four musketeers figures - one armed with muskets and the other horseback; 

the basic non-action set...

 the new set armed with muskets

 and on horseback

the two new sets will be on normal style rather than clear bases - as they will be used mostly in skirmish style games in association with other figures.

Action poses - Traveller & Assistant - WIP

Finished the conversions to provide action pose figures for 'the Traveller' and his assistant, based on my home cast TYW ensign....

Ships crew...

The 40mm pirate figures have been painted up and based, now on board crewing my little sailing ship on the river Oudear ...

Female blade ...

all done and ready for involvement in story lines and swordplay ....

A little bit of figure tweaking ....

I've been working on some 40mm pirate figures I picked up off Ebay; three were OK with a minor retouch and were put straight onto plastic clear bases - the rest have been tweaked slightly. These chaps will crew a small ship I have and will also be useful to use as civilians.

 I put two of the same pose aside to use to make a 'female blade' for my musketeer games; these two have been suitably reworked ....

Trouble at the crossroads ...

continued from the previous post ...

the Traveller was moved out of the town of Ingelwitz by the shortest route possible...

 a man who spotted the Traveller meets with an unsavoury character at the edge of town ...

 all going well on their way to the crossroads...

 some men block their way and a couple more come out of the trees on their right - 'looks like trouble ahead' says von Messing and they draw their swords...

blades clash ....

von Messing has his opponent at his back foot, the others hold their ground - they try and keep the traveller in the middle out of harms way ....

von Messing's opponent falls back wounded, another man steps in; Scharfe dispatches his opponent and Hofler gets a wound;

 the traveller is moved up by the barn by Fischer; while the rest fight on ...

 von Messing and Scharfe dispatch their opponents, while Hofler inflicts a wound on his opponent...

Scharfe comes to the aid of Hofler while von Messing deals with the last man in his way ....

 access to the road is secured ...

 Scharfe's opponent has had enough and runs off ....

 safely onto the road and not far from the Inn...

 they arrive at the Inn and the Traveller gets into the coach ...

they are soon off on their way to Ottenheim ....

[ the first outing for my new musketeer chaps; I wrote up a simple combat scheme and tried it out for this game, needs a little refinement but it worked well]

The Traveller arrives ...

Fischer, Scharfe, Hofler and their servant Limburger had eventually reached Wittenberg and joined the Kings Dragoons. They had been taken under the wing of one of the captains - Von Messing, It was not long before they received their first orders - they were to go down to Inglewitz and ensure the  Traveller (a mysterious person who had a number of aliases) was safely conducted to his coach and then escort him as far as Ottenheim.

At Inglewitz von Messing and Fischer have gone down to the wharf;  Scharfe, Hofler and their lackey Limburger keep a watchful eye out for trouble elsewhere on the edge of the town.

At the wharf the Traveller has a last word with one of the crew of the small boat he arrived on ....

Von Messing and Fischer meet the Traveller ...

they will escort him discretely on foot to an inn about half a mile away where he will get on the coach.