Mission Complete!

I never really thought I'd purchase, paint, own a 10mm Orc army. Then Wargames Atlantic comes along and released 10mm Orcs for their Fantasy Battles range. So now I own a full army....all from one box that cost less than $50!

I finished the 6 bases of Orc archers (front row behind the command bases) which effectively renders this project complete. The box provided enough figures for me to field: 6 bases of sword and shield, 3 bases of heavy axe, 3 bases of spear, 4 bases of wolf riders and 3 command stands. I still have a dozen or so loose figures that I didn't need (yet). I ordered Copplestone Castings 10mm fantasy evil characters which should be compatible in size, theme and style with the Wargames Atlantic sculpts. The plan is to include a wizard/shaman command base to the army. 

I should mention that I was in Huzzah Games the other day and saw that they now have the Wargames Atlantic dwarves and undead. Since I have a box of each on the way, I opted to buy another box of Boneblades so that I can field a proper army once Wargames Atlantic released their undead cavalry. 

I might fiddle around with the Boneblades now, I imagine they will paint up quick (essentially prime black, dry brush, pick out details like shields and weapons and ink).

I also plan to work on some 10mm International Brigade for the Spanish Civil War. Let's see how these next projects come along....

Azincourt!

I'm quite excited, something I have been waiting with anxious anticipation for quite some time has finally been released (for pre-order anyway). Last year, when I attended Claymore, I purchased the Hundred Years War variant for Test of Resolve and after vacillating on what figures to use, I  learned that Wargames Atlantic announced they would be releasing box sets for the Hundred Years War battle Azincourt (which I always spelled Agincourt, but nevermind that..). 

I felt like I was checking in on updates regarding the Azincourt releases for about a year or so. In the interim, I purchased a box set of the Wargames Atlantic Fantasy Battle Orcs and began painting them up as practice run for speed-painting (well, no painting is "speedy" for me) the Azincourt armies. When the Azincourt armies finally appeared for pre-order, I took the plunge and purchased a Christmas gift for myself (if you can't love yourself, who can you love?). I added in a box set of the Fantasy Battle Dwarves (need an opponent for my Orcs) and also a box of Bone Blades (aka undead skeletons).

Box art for the English pictured above. The set includes: 

• 246 English knights/men-at-arms on foot
• 362 longbowmen (with both bows and melee weapons)
• 105 wooden stakes (in plastic)
• Casualty figures

Box art for the French pictured above. The set includes: 

• 351 French knights/men-at-arms on foot
• 108 knights mounted
• 246 Genoese crossbowmen with pavise
• Casualty figures to include horses

A picture from Wargames Atlantic above of the painted English knights/men-at-arms.

That is quite alot of figures...and not every battle of the HYW had similar orders of battle like Azincourt. I probably don't need all 108 mounted knights to be French and I think some could be painted up as English. Perhaps some of those English longbowmen can be painted as French archers and some of the longbowmen with melee weapons can be painted up as French rabble.

The box sets also include very nice plastic bases 40mm x 20mm in dimension. While nice, I doubt I will use them. In Test of Resolve, melee units are comprised of two bases stacked behind each other while missile units are two bases side by side. I am thinking of perhaps 60mm x 20mm or 60mm x 30mm...or even 80mm frontages. I'd like to have melee units deployed as either squares or perhaps a bit wider than they are deep. 

I have quite a few painting projects milling about so who knows when I will be able to put paint to plastic on these little fellas but I look forward to everything about this project. 

Moroccan Adventure

 

Work has unexpectedly taken me to Morocco. It's not necessarily a trip I had planned to take. Whenever I travel I look for military history related sites: battlefields, museums, wargaming stores, etc. 

While I have found some spare time to investigate various landmarks (some with some interesting historical stories behind them), I haven't really encountered much in the way of wargaming fodder.

I brought with me Conrad Cairn's wargaming guide to the Carlist War (Side Note: I met Conrad at Claymore last year and he is an incredibly friendly person, an interaction that will ne a cherished memory) and that got me thinking about a Spanish theme to a Moroccan wargaming venture... specifically the Spanish Civil War. The Moroccan Regulares of Franco's Army of Africa were heavily involved in the conflict and were considered some of the elite troops for the Nationalist cause. 

I had already dipped my toe in the SCW waters when I began (but didn't finish) a 10mm Italian CTV infantry company to fight against the International Brigade in scenarios based on the Battle of Guadalajara (1937). 

In fact, I even had primed and began to paint some International Brigade infantry as well. Those are still languishing on a popsicle stick someplace in my hobby storage....they have little crude dabs of grey and brown on them and look quite rough at the moment, but I digress.... A bit of research revealed that the Moroccan Regulares fought the International Brigade at the Battle of Jarama about a month or so before the Battle of Guadalajara. In fact the very lovely wargaming blog Baber on Wargames has an excellent scenario posted for an action between the British battalion of the International Brigade and some Moroccan Nationalists during the battle of Jarama.

With this idea in mind, I placed an order for some 10mm Moroccans in winter kit from Pendraken. Of course this means that I really need to paint up those idealistic fighters from the International Brigade and since the CTV are nearly complete, I might as well paint them up too...

UPDATE: Since posting this on the blog, I also purchased a few old Osprey books on the SCW forces and another on foreign volunteers in the SCW. I also stumbled upon a few good blog posts with painting guides and color plates to aid in painting the Regulares and other factions.