Lord Ashram Contest

As many of you know, Lord Ashram's House of War is going on hiatus while its author adjusts to a second baby and the loss of gaming space that involves.

He is running a neat contest where readers can win a free copy of Sam Mustafa's "Maurice."  Go check it out and pay tribute to one of the best wargaming blogs out there!

18mm Blue Moon Rebel Infantry Command Stands

My last group of rebel infantry needed some flags and officers.  All figures are Blue Moon.  Flags are from GMB.  Bases are Litko.

More 18mm Blue Moon Rebel Infantry

I spent most of April painting these 120 figures.

I changed my style a bit on those hats, opting for two tone shading instead of my usual drybrush over black.

The Blue Moon figures certainly reward the extra time spent in painting two tones on everything.

I went with more butternuts and browns on these figures.  They have some greys, but not many.

I have read some people complaining that the figures are too large to fit on standard 1" x 3/4" bases.  These bases are 25mm by 15mm, smaller than the standard bases, and the figures fit just fine.  It is snug, but I like that look for massed ranks.

I have another 180 of these figures to prep.  Soon I will be able to play most scenarios with nothing but Blue Moon rebels.

ACW Gamer Issue 3

The latest issue is out, and it's a good one, well worth the $3.50 asking price.

I was able to contribute an article on painting 18mm Union infantry.

If you're interested, check it out at http://www.acwgamer.com/  I have really been enjoying the magazine, which has offered a nice balance of topics.

Blue Moon 18mm Napoleonic British Line Infantry

I was able to sneak in some painting over spring break: 80 British line infantrymen from Blue Moon.

I painted two regiments: 24th and 41st Foot.  I will be fielding these regiments in Spain, so I went with a mix of Spanish brown trousers to depict regiments which had been campaigning for a while.

The flags are from GMB.  The figures are based for General de Brigade, 3/4" frontage by 1" depth with four figures per base.

The only problem with the castings was a notch where the bayonet met the stock on one of the infantryman poses, which looked as though it might break under heavy use.  I smeared the affected area with 5 minute epoxy before priming.  You can see the resulting lump on one figure above.  It's a small defect, and I doubt it will be noticeable during play.

I painted these figures with a mix of Delta Ceramcoats and Vallejo (red and metallics).

I will probably add more grey trousers on my next batch of figures, but I do like that mix of browns and tans.  It helps these regiments look more distinctive.

The elite company men have nice looking shoulder wings.

All in all, I am impressed with these figures.  They are not quite as nice as AB, but they should hold up better with frequent gaming.

Sash and Saber Rebel Cavalry

My painting is still slow, but I am able to get a little bit done each week.  These 32 mounted figures took me the better part of six weeks.  All figures are Sash and Saber.  The flags are from GMB.  I mounted the figures on Litko bases, 40mm frontage by 50mm depth.  It's a little tight, but the figures will fit.