The good thing about 3 weeks leave is that I got a lot of painting done! Besides the cavalry and horse guns from my last post, I've also finished a battalion of Portuguese line infantry and a British foot gun battery. Pictures to come. The bad thing about this level of industriousness is that I am now suffering from muscle spasms in my back from too much hunching over the lamp at my desk. Ouch!
I've also been working on terrain as well. I'm slowly coming along with my table top mats and I've made some adjustments to the roads that appeared in an earlier posting. Apologies to anyone who's tried to replicate my method, as it soon became obvious that the warping was permanent and no amount of ironing and flattening under heavy objects would keep them flat. After discussing the problem with others at the club, I've glued them to strips of balsa wood which has resolved the problem satisfactorily. I've also made some rivers out of some cardboard mounted paper prinouts I'd got from this website but not being satisfied with its 2-D nature, I jazzed it up a bit with corkboard banks and ripple-effect plastic. I'll post some pictures of the process another time.
Taking my girls to the textiles and craft shops, like Spotlight and Lincraft (Bunnings for chicks, as John R says!) is also an eye-opener to me for the items you can find in the art/craft section. I found some acrylic compatible texture gel, one that leaves a gritty, sandy texture and the other smooth. I use the first on the bases of the figures to hide the annoying 'step' of the figures' bases and the second is perfect for mixing with blue to make water effect.
The pictures below are from the last Friday game 2 weeks ago when I took on Garry's French with my new British cavalry, artillery and the line infantry. I also gave my ridgelines their first outing too. Apologies for the quality of pictures as I should not have bothered with the flash from the start. Anyway, I was obsessed with gaining the ridge and didn't pay enough attention to the danger lurking on my flank. I still don't appreciate the fact that unlimbered artillery are not an obstacle to units in their rear, so of course Garry's lancers barrelled through the battery and cleaned up 3 battalions in a flank charge. Albuera all over again; but I didn't have the excuse of a rain storm covering their advance though!
Light Dragoons covering British left
View down the line from the British left
Advancing foot guns and accompanying infantry
Same view from the right
French view of the advancing British line
The Enemy!
Cavalry and horse guns try a flanking manouver
Infantry advance, rifles on the ridge.
Rifles lose skirmish combat. I'd split them into 2 wings; Bad mistake!
The French seize the ridge. Calamity!
The threat on the ridge I was slow to appreciate. I had plans of pulling this unit behind the woods, but didn't. Why?!
View down the line as the French saw it. Why didn't I?
The lancers launch their charge. Where's that unit of light infantry? If you look carefully, you'll see their remains under the horses' hooves (looks like raspberry jam)
The Gordons retreat before they are contacted by the rampaging wall of Polish horseflesh!
The lancers' charge finally peters out in the cornfieldfacing an infantry line which is in all sorts of bother.
After trying to extricate itself, the line is charged and fails to stand, but this leaves the lancers open to my artillery at close range , as well as an approaching column of infantry.
My reserves deploy into line to try and hold the right flank while the Gordons turn around and hold the centre. The guns take a toll of the blown cavalry, while the column advances to its flank.
Here I extract a small revenge by firing on the lancers' flank and sending them flying, but the column has suffered from close range artillery fire on the approach.
The 11pm death or glory charge! I put in a shot from my battery (missed!), then launched a charge against his Cuirassiers, which was met by his counter-charge.
Anticlimactically, we both bounced.
While I had only 2 units broken, the rest weren't in good shape and Garry had plenty in reserve, so we called it a day with the French in the ascendancy.
"Bunnings for chicks" LOL!
ReplyDeleteThe other source of interesting modeling stuff is the arts supply store - Dean's or Eckersley's. Artists use a range of acrylic modeling compounds for adding 3D-ness and textures to their work. Perfect for what we want as well.
I'm making 1:1200 Napoleonic sailing ships at the moment and needed something that looks clear and watery. High gloss clear acrylic goop (not the scientific name...) does the job perfectly.
That's similar to the stuff I have, but made by Reeves. I probably could have used more as it seems to have soaked into the cork base a bit. And as Rafa pointed out in the post above, layering the colours might improve the look too.
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