Free* to a Good Home

I'm clearing out some miniatures that I know I won't use. Anyone interested?

*Terms

• I am not charging anything for the miniatures themselves. So they are FREE.
• I will also pay shipping up to $20. This should cover shipping in the US. International procurers will need to cover any costs above $20. Contact me with your location and I'll calculate shipping.
• Payment by PayPal please.
• I'm listing them in batches. I won't break up the batches.
• Contact me at warwell2 AT yahoo DOT com

Batch 1 - 3mm Ancients GONE

I was planning a 3mm Byzantines vs. Sassanids project but I never got started. Figure strips are still in their original packs.

From Magister Militum:

Six complete packs.

• SAP1 - Persian Sparabara - 60 strips of 8 figures
• SSP1 - Parthian Horse Archers - 60 strips of 2 figures
• SSP2 - Parthian Style Cataphracts - 60 strips of 2 figures
• SRA4 - Skirmishing Archers - 40 strips of 4 figures
• SRA5 - Heavy or Medium Infantry, Thrusting Spear and Oval Shield - 60 strips of 8 figures
• SHL5 - Seleucid Elephants - 20 elephants with howdah

In addition, I'm throwing in 

• a complete pack of Brigade Models' 2mm Roman Buildings. 
• 4 partially painted 6mm Irregular Miniatures Roman chariots (CV1) and 1 crashed chariot (CV2)

Batch 2 - Outpost Miniatures Ancient Galleys GONE

Part of my Byzantine project at sea, these are 1/3600 galleys and merchant ships from Outpost Wargame Services.  I  mounted ships 2 or 3 to a 1 inch cardboard base and began painting them in red and blue colors.

Batch includes:

• Triremes without sails (MED4) - 11 bases of 3 galleys
• Quinquiremes without sails (MED6) - 9 bases of 2 galleys
• Merchant ships (MED1) - 6 bases of 2 ships

Batch 3 - 3mm Pike & Shot GONE

Another project that I barely started.

These are from Magister Militum’s 3mm Renaissance range. Batch includes

• SPM6 – Cavalry in tricorn (23 bases)
• SPM4 – Pikemen with Helmets
• SPM11 – Polish winged hussars
• SPM13 – Dismounted dragoons
• SPM9 - Hussars

I started painting some of the dragoons but did not get very far.

Batch 4 - Grab Bag of 15mm Sci-Fi - GONE

An assortment of 15mm figures for a now abandoned sci-fi project. Some unpainted and some partially painted. 

I don't remember the exact package codes. I include my best guess. Sets may not be complete.

From Khurasan Miniatures 15mm generic sci-fi troops

1. Alien Hive Warriors (TTC-901?)

2. Insectoid Aliens (TTC-3700?)

5. Tigrid Aliens (TTC-1300?)

7. Furry Mini-Hellions (PLA-10?)

9. Hardshell Warriors (PLA-8?)

From Rebel Miniatures

3. Black Widow Mercs - 4 of 6 I found the other 2 so it will be complete.

Unsure about these

4. Some kind of alien. Not sure what.

6. May be Khurasan Mid-Tech Humans (FEDERAL SET 1) or Rebel Minis Earth Force Marines

8. Some kind of multi-part robots. Can't figure out what they are.

And here is one each type in the batch, in order from 1 to 9.

Fiddling Around

I don't have any game reports but I've been busy.

LARP

LARP has taken most of my time lately. Last weekend, I organized a small event, complete with feast. I made a delicious potato and leek soup from the D&D cookbook. 

This weekend I am heading to central Florida for a full immersion LARP called Mythic Adventures. I've been busy prepping for the trip.

Napoleonic Project

I made some progress with my 2mm Irregular miniatures. I nearly finished the first batch of Austrian and French infantry. I just need to do the flags.

The Austrian infantry

My first batch will give me enough troops for One Hour Wargame armies - 4 line infantry, 2 skirmishers, 2 cavalry, and 2 infantry for each army. I intend to expand the armies, perhaps to double size.

I'm still considering counters, however. I put together some new counters, adding more files per base.

I like how these turned out and will likely proceed with putting them together. I'm thinking of getting Litko plastic bases in each army's primary color, such as white for Austrians. It should help in identifying troops on the board.

Battles of Medieval Britain

I did play some games; I just did not photograph them. I pulled out Battles of Medieval Britain for a couple quick games.

Previously, I kept playing a scenario until I won. However, I have been stuck on one scenario for some time and was bored with it. I decided to take a new approach. I am now playing each scenario once, starting back with the first one. I am recording the results and we'll see how I do. With this new approach, I am 0-3. :(

The Purge

I am preparing to purge some of my unwanted miniatures from my collection. There is a large batch of unpainted Magister Militum 3mm ancients, some incomplete galleys from Outpost, and a collection of miscellaneous 15mm sci fi. I plan to post the listing after I return from Mythic Adventures.

Battle of Cremini

Napoleon in Italy Campaign

Battle #3

Background

After his victory at San Pietro, Field Marshal Wurmser leads his Austrian forces in an attempt to relieve besieged Turin. But Napoleon recovers from his wounds and intercepts Wurmser.

Set Up

I was out of town last weekend, but I brought along my travel wargame set. I did not have One Hour Wargames with me so I just kind of made up the scenario. I rolled randomly for terrain and got a town in the middle, so I decided that would be the objective.

I rolled for the forces, using a table I concocted. I gave the Austrians an extra unit.

The Battle

The Austrians reach Cremini first with a division of Grenzers.

Note: I did not take pictures of every turn. This is a few turns in.

Napoleon repulses the Grenzers from the town while French cavalry hits the Austrian left.

The French cavalry overruns the the flank.

And in the process, captures Wurmser!

After overrunning Wurmser's division, I rolled a 1 for his fate. After another poor roll and with no friendly units close by, I decided he got captured.

The remaining Austrians retire from the field.

Aftermath

The Austrians retire in disarray, with Napoleon in pursuit. He smells an opportunity to end the campaign.

Napoleon now leads the campaign 2-1. Another victory will conclude the campaign in his favor.

My Project is Stalling!

That didn't take long.

I recently decided to do a Napoleonics project using 2mm miniatures. Now that I have the minis in hand, I've lost motivation to clean and paint them. Instead, I find myself considering different types of counters.

Problem is that my current counters are not at a grand scale. I want my games to cover large battles with each counter representing a division or more. My current counters have 3 rows of 8 infantrymen, 7 cavalrymen, or 2 guns. To me, units look more like companies than divisions.

To address this visual issue, I've been playing around with some different counters.

In the first column, I shrank down my current counters by 50%. I'm just concerned it will be too hard to see the colors on the tabletop.

The second column is a more stylized approach. I'm not sold on the cavalry, however.

The third column uses symbols. This would be simplest to make.

Battle of San Pietro

Napoleon in Italy Campaign

Battle # 2

Background

After the French victory at Mortadella, Austrian commander Wurmser retreats towards Milan. Leaving a blocking force at Turin, Napoleon pursues. Near the town of San Pietro, Napoleon catches up with the Austrian rearguard.

Set Up

Napoleon leads the attack with 2 divisions of line and 1 of light infantry against a Austrian line division and a battery of artillery.

For this battle, I'm using scenario 4 - Take the High Ground from One Hour Wargames. In this scenario, the Blue forces (in this case, the French) are supposed to start with all 6 units on the board. However, my rules add activation and Napoleon was only able to bring on 3 units at first.

The Austrians will get reinforcements in later turns.

The Battle

Napoleon launches an attack on the Austrian right. The Austrian line begins to waver. But reinforcements are heading down the road.

As more Austrians arrive, disaster nearly strikes. The Austrians repulse the French attack. While rallying his troops, Napoleon is wounded!

Lesson learned. Keep Napoleon out of harm's way!

I had him accompanying the infantry attack. After the French were repulsed, I rolled to see if anything happened to him. A 1 - definitely bad. I decided that another 1 would spell his death. But the roll came up a 2 so I decided he was out for the rest of the battle instead.

General Massena takes over. He presses the attack on the hill, wiping out the Austrian infantry. Unfortunately, a cannonade routs a division of French infantry.

Meanwhile, the Austrian cavalry catches another French infantry division marching up the road. The Austrians rout their foe.

Wurmser brings up his army.

And launches an attack on the French center, overrunning the French guns.

Massena tries to salvage the situation by assaulting the hill.

To no avail. The light infantry routs.

With this, the rest of the army loses heart. Massena calls for the retreat.

Aftermath

The French retire, allowing Wurmser a chance to reorganize his army.

Napoleon recovers from his wounds, and is determined to make the Austrians pay!

What happens next? Stay tuned to find out!

GAME NOTES

I made one enhancement to the MicroBattle rules. Units that are more than 3 spaces from an enemy can route march for double movement. That worked out well.

I have been investigating various Napoleonic rules. I'll make a separate post about it.

Battle of Mortadella

Napoleon in Italy Campaign

Introduction

The new project is officially underway. I finally decided to go with Irregular's 2mm miniatures. I think there will be less work that way.

In the interim, I was hankering for a battle so I threw one together using my travel set. In fact, I decided to make it the start of a campaign. Since I'm playing French vs. Austrians, it makes sense to begin in Italy.

Campaign Rules

I want to keep it simple so I am using the One Hour Wargame "campaign." Play 5 battles and whoever wins the most is victorious in the campaign.

I did not use OHW for the scenario. Instead, I used some random charts of my own devising. I rolled "Breakthrough," which indicates that one army needs to get past the other. I haven't determined details but let's assume that 2-3 units need to reach the enemy back line.

I will play battles with my MicroBattle rules, although I have modified them somewhat from the last posted version.

Background

Historical Note: Campaign details are loosely inspired by real events, but I am in no way simulating actual history. Therefore, events may take a decidedly unhistorical turn.

It is 1796 and Napoleon has been appointed command of the French Republican forces in northern Italy. He swiftly invades the Kingdom of Sardinia and besieges Turin.

Marshal Wurmser, the Austrian commander in Italy, rushes west to break the siege. However, Napoleon receives word and plans to intercept the Austrians.

Set Up

Napoleon positions his army just west (west is up on the board) of the town of Mortadella. He has 3 line infantry divisions, 2 light infantry divisions, and a battery of artillery.

Wurmser enters the battlefield from the east. He has 2 cavalry divisions (shown above), 3 line infantry division, and a division of Grenzers light infantry.

Napoleon moves his forces to block the road to Turin. An Austrian cavalry division (right) advances but gets shot up by cannon and light infantry. The division beats a hasty retreat.

An Austrian infantry division advances from Mortadella but it gets wiped out.

The French press forward aggressively, wearing down the Austrians.

Until disaster strikes for Wurmser. The cavalry divisions rout from the field.

Then French lights rout the Grenzers.

Wurmser realizes he cannot achieve his objective so he calls for the retreat.

Analysis

The French did not really need to attack like they did. I just figured that Napoleon was not one to sit back and wait for the enemy. It was a good call.

Wurmser committed his forces piecemeal and paid the price. He should have gotten all his troops on the battlefield then advanced as a whole.

Napoleon now as a 1-0 lead in the campaign.

MicroBattle Tweaks

For this battle, I instituted some changes from my fast play experiments.

• Activation - I rolled a single die to determine how many divisions could act. I used a D6 instead of a D3.
• Close Combat - Adjacent enemies are considered in Close Combat and make opposed rolls
• Long Distance fire - Artillery can fire from afar. For this game, I also allowed light infantry to fire from 2 spaces.

I used the original casualty rolls so units could shake off hits.

I'm also considering some tweaks to make the battles seem more Napoleonic. At this scale (1 stand = a division), I don't think I need to worry about formations. I can assume that the division commander does his job and deploys appropriately. So how do I make things more Napoleonic?

For this battle, I gave Napoleon

• +1 for initiative.
• +1 for activation rolls.

As a result, Napoleon usually acted before Wurmser, and more French units tended to activate than the Austrians. That seems right. Of course, it helped that Wurmser's dice rolling was atrocious.

Are there any other changes I should apply for a grand tactical wargame?

Matchstick Army Proof of Concept

Following up on my proposed new project, I decided to test out matchstick (actually craft stick) army construction.

Here are my initial test stands - cavalry, artillery, and infantry.

I know they don't look so hot up close. 

Try looking at them from afar.

Definitely better.

One thing that really made Fergusson's original matchstick minis pop was the black separation between each "man." I thought it would be hard to do but I used a marker and it was actually quite easy. I'm curious how it will work out for blue uniforms. We'll see.

Although I still have some issues.

• I'm not all that keen on the artillery. I may add some artillerists with the cannons.
• I ended up using black for the bases so that the brown horses and cannons stand out. I would rather have brown bases so I may play around with colors a bit.

Evaluation

• This seems like a plausible approach to build cheap armies
• Stands are lightweight and seem sturdy. Perfect for portable games and I can just toss them in a bag without worry
• I am concerned about the amount of work cutting the sticks to shape
• I still may go back to old reliable Irregular Miniatures. The jury is still out.