Viking Longship

The sight of a Viking longship was seen as a sign of terror and destruction to come. Hopefully this one will do much the same to my wargaming buddies.

Constructed from balsa wood and cardboard over the past few weeks this longship has been designed to be mainly a “backdrop” piece for our games between the Vikings and Saxons. I was originally intending to make two but having spent so long making this one, I think one will do. I have, however made the mast removable.  By leaving out most of the rigging, changing the mast is an easy operation. One mast with the sail rolled up for when on shore and two masts when at sea.  You may notice that the oars are difficult to see, that is because they are stored under the deck boards at present.

It was difficult to decide on the size of ship to make. I needed something big enough to carry a dozen- or-so Vikings and still look the part. I drew out a rough plan for the base and then made it up as I went along. The dragon head became the most expensive part of the whole operation. First having to pay for a McDonalds “Happy Meal” and then having to pay again to get the toy from my son!

Roll on the first raid...

The Vikings are coming.

Rough seas.

On the high seas.

Converted slinger figure to steer the ship.

McDonalds Dragon head.

The loot.

The raid.

View of the deak.

5/60th Rifles

When Captain William Frederickson was wounded in the thigh with a musket ball from a French voltigeur, moving was not an option. He yelled,

“Where is my Sergeant”?

“Dead Sir.” Was the reply from someone amongst the trees to his right.

“Roundshot got him Sir.” Yelled another.

Sweet William removed his sword belt and looked for a corporal. There were none in sight.

“Private, Take my sword” he said to the young private crouching behind a rock a few yards away.

“You are now in command of the company. Take the men forward son.”

This is how my unit of the 60^th Rifles got to be commanded by a private.

I needed a command stand of some sort. I was going to use some metal command figures but I wasn’t keen on mixing metal and plastic within the unit and on separate bases. When one of my gaming buddies gave me another Perry’s Riflemen sprue a few weeks back I decided that it was time to make the command stand. I already had four stands painted up, two more stand and the unit would be all done. However at the moment it is just five stands until I can get two more figures.

Searching on the internet I came across a blog, http://toomuchlead.blogspot.com/ .

A great article on the 60^th Rifles and conversions of the plastic Perry Riflemen gave me the inspiration that was needed.

 The sword arm is from a Victrix sprue and likewise the scabbard. The sword belt I made from wire and paper. For the bugler, I used a spare trumpet arm from Perry’s A.C.W cavalry, cut down to try to make it look a bit more like a bugle than a trumpet.  The rifle was then move across to the left arm.

 Commanding private and Bugler.

60th leaving a farm somewhere in France.

In action during a recent game.

 I have included a few photos of some other Victrix/Perry combinations I have made.

Special thanks again to http://toomuchlead.blogspot.com/.

Mounted Saxons

Just a small group of Saxon cavalry to add to my Saxon force.  Again the flag is by Ray Rousell,  downloaded from his blog, “Don’t throw a 1” http://onelover-ray.blogspot.com/. There are some wonderful Dark Age flags there that Ray has made. If you haven’t been to his blog before then I recommend you do. You will not be disappointed.  These guys are from Renegade Miniatures, the same as my Saxon foot. All on individual bases for skirmish gaming. 

 

Dark Age Saxons

Saxon command with one of Ray's beautiful flags.

With adding a Ray Rousell flag (from Ray’s wonderful blog  “Don’t throw a 1” http://onelover-ray.blogspot.com/) I have finished my Saxon foot. At least for now! These are all from Renegade Miniatures, from their Dark Age Saxon range. I need to add some more Fyrd at some stage but for now these will do. The horse are almost done (all  nine of them).  When I have the basing completed I will take some more  photos  and put them up on the blog too. We are planning on using them mainly for skirmish games  rather than big battles so I think I have enough to start with. 

Bowmen.

Slingers

Some Fyrd.

The Huscarls.

Saxon foot.

A.C.W. Generals

Some time ago I picked up these Foundry A.C.W. Generals while on holiday in Sydney, Australia. Although I have hundreds of 15mm A.C.W figures my 28mm armies are only a few units per side so far, with a couple of guns. When I saw these guys I knew I “needed” them.

Probably not going to get them all on the table at the same time too often but they should still look good on the shelf.

Foundry Union Generals.

General U.S. Grant

General W.T Sherman

General G.G Meade

General G.B McClellan

Foundry Confederate Generals.

 

 

General R.E Lee

General J.B Hood

General T.J Jackson

General J.E.B Stuart

French 5th Hussars

Perry Miniatures Plastic Hussars

Inspired by the cover picture on Osprey’s” Napoleon’s Hussars” (the 1978 original), it was probably only a matter of time before I painted up a unit of the 5th French hussars based around this magnificent trumpeter. With a box of Perry Miniatures plastic hussars and I was away.

Although I find the weight of metal figures more pleasing, the big advantage of plastic guys is that almost every figure can be different. With enough horse halves to make up 14 horses, I only ended up with 3 repeats. Not too bad I thought.  Add to this the numerous head options, two leg options and you have the makings of a fantastic hussar unit. The flag is by GMB.