Just a few things to be going on with.

Since the last post I have been a very busy little chappie. After having my wargaminig mojo reinstated after the Sittingbourne do I have painted 102 infantry and 12 cavalry in 25mm and 30 infantry and 121 cavalry in 10mm. This means that my 10mm Khwarizmian Army is well underway with 3 LC, 3 HC and 1 infantry units all of 3 bases each although I will probably need to get some more infantry for that. I have also now got a 21 figure kesig (guard) unit for the 10mm Mongols so this army now totals 84 LC in 7 units, 96 HC &EHC in 4 units and the single unit of 21 kesig. Still to paint for the Mongols are 36 LC making another 3 units. Might need some maore to make up the second tumen. The 10mm Chinese are coming along nicely as well with 36 LC in 3 units, 21 HC in 1 unit and about 200 infantry in units of spear, bow, halbard and crossbow. the Chinese cavalry can also double up as Khwarizmians should the need arise and the Mongols can be any steppe nomad army you can think of.

And now for a 10mm pictorial update.

Mongol remounts

A Mongol tumen in battle formation. HC in the front, LC behind ready to ride forward. General and remounts in the rear. 

Another view of the Mongol tumen. HC in line in the front.

More Mongols

Khwarizmian HC

Mongol kesig

Chinese (foreground) defending against Mongol attacks.

More Russians

An update on the progress of the Medieval Russians. The latest is a unit of foot druzhina and are all from the Strelets Russian Army of Alexander Nevsky (Box 0082). The only extra work has been to glue some of the shields down and use brass wire for some of the spears; these longer weapons have gone in the rear rank for protection.

NB. I cannot recommend strongly enough to KEEP YOUR FINGERS AWAY FROM RUNNING SUPERGLUE. I suppose I am preaching to the converted but guess what? I tried to hold a figure and unbeknowingly my left index finger and left thumb became stuck together. Fortunately the glue had not set properly so I could pull them apart but it was close...and painful. And then, bu**er me, I went and did the self same thing the following night. Not only that but the stuff is a real swine to get off afterwards. Obviously as you get older, the learning curve becomes more like the shape of a tortoises shell rather than a mountain peak!

It hasn't shown up too well but there is brass edging on some of the helmets...

 ...and the two blokes in the middle of the group are wearing brass armour, honest.

I know I said I was not too enamoured with painting icons but I did a quick T and triangle job and I think it looks okay. Took all of five minutes.

That now leaves me with two units left, one of militia and the other of smerdy. Both are prepped with undercoat and stain and are ready to go.


Retail plug alert:
By the way, I brought all my Russians from a very local company Andy's Models -local as in 15 minutes walk away from my house. Have a look if you are after plastics http://www.andysmodels.co.uk/ and, to see what the set looks like, go to the Plastic Soldier Review at http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Index.aspx

Painted Plastic Russians

I thought I would share some pics of my latest project, the plastic Medieval Russians. They are based, as are all my chaps now, on 60 x 40 bases from Warbases.  All of the standard bearers  have had their spear or sword removed, the hand drilled and a piece of brass wire inserted as a standard pole. All standards have been hand painted by yours truly.

 A unit of mounted druzhina manufactured by Mars (Pack 72059, Russian Medium Cavalry). There are 12 figures in the box so it works out quite nicely. All of the cavalry have been both pinned and glued to the horses before painting.

 This is a unit from the Suzdal smerdy levy (peasants). Made by Mars, they are the Lithuanian-Russian Light Infantry (Pack No 72060), there are enough figures in the pack to make two such units plus the smerdy archers below. I found out after they had all been painted and based that the chap on the far right has a separate shield, (I thought there was something strange about him). Gluing just to the paint is not good so I've decided to leave it off on him but use them on the next unit. 

A unit of Novgorod Militia. The standard is from the Republic of Novgorod so is probably more modern than the thirteenth century but I like it and other contemporary flags, apart from religious icons, are difficult to find. Although not too obvious from this angle, it has one of those Russian three bar crosses plus extras on it. These are from the Stelets Medieval Russian Militia (Pack MO48). There are enough to make two such units from the box.

A unit of smerdy archers from Ryazan. There should be a boyar type figure in the middle of the flag but my thinking was that he might have been added at a later date and anyway, as smerdy they wouldn't have had too finer standard, if any. These are from the same Mars pack as the Suzdal smerdy above. The third figure from the right is from the Stelets Medieval Russian Militia pack. These and the cavalry are marketed as being from the first half of the Fifteenth Century but I have used them otherwise it would be boring with only the two Strelets boxes to use for the whole army, especially as there are only 6 cavalry in a box.

So in numbers I have three infantry units -total of 48 figures- and one cavalry unit- total of 12 figures- completed in just over a month of painting for about an hour per day. On the workbench I have another unit of militia, one of smerdy levy and a unit of foot druzhina left to paint -another 54 figures although the druzhina are already half painted. There are 6 cavalry in the Russian Army of Alexander Nevsky box and I will probably use 3 of them as an army command base. 

So for an outlay of about £25 I've got the lions share of a complete 1/72 scale Russian Medieval Army of 102 infantry and 12 cavalry. Not bad, eh?

  

I've decided that another box of the Strelets Medieval Militia, one of the Mars Lithuanian-Russian Light Infantry and a box of Tartar Light Cavalry should be enough to see me through. It would give me a total of 11 infantry units (186 figures)  and 2 cavalry units (21 figures). Of course, for that price I could always add to it at a later date. 

A BIG Catch-Up Post

Well, I tell you, so much has happened since my last post nearly 10 months ago that I don't know where to start. So, the news in no particular order -family first:

In February this year we finally took the plunge, upped sticks and moved south to Kent, an absolutely beautiful county full of greenery, fresh air and of course, history. A far cry from the more industrial midlands. We are now completely settled in and loving every moment. Ten minutes walk from the town centre where there is every major outlet except that in amongst all of them are some independent traders and some original half timbered buildings. There is even a stone building that dates back to 15 something or another.

YO got herself married in April, her and her affianced decided to take it abroad and tied the knot in Sorrernto, Italy. Ma Subs and myself went over for the week and, to be honest, for most of the time the weather was sh*te...apart from one day, the day of the wedding. Perfect blue, cloudless skies, excellent food and with Mount Vesuvius as a backdrop, what more could one want? MO -who by the way got himself married last November at Browns in Mayfair, quite a swanky joint and now lives in Chingford- managed to get there but his wife couldn't make it as she had been on the wrong end of an RTA and had been shunted into an estate agents window the day before they were due to fly out. Bit of a dampner but fortunately, she has made a full recovery. OO couldn't make it due to prior work commitments. For everyone that couldn't get to Sorrento they had an English reception in early June so it meant another trip back up to Brum -the previous expeditions  up the M1 had been in March for a suit fitting and April to get the plane from East Midlands airport for Sorrento. More than 250 people turned up and it was an absolutely fantastic night.

OO moved south with us, lived here for a while then got himself a job in London so has moved into a flat in Woolwich. So now it's just Ma Subs and moi rattling around. She was extremely ill back in March and spent a week in the local hospital, fortunately she is well on the mend so it's all good now.

Wargaming wise, since Derby last year, where I went probably for the last time because it's at Donnington Park quite close to the racetrack and, similar to Salute, it's in the equivalent of an aircraft hanger but noisier with the cars going round the track. Didn't enjoy it too much. The only real upside was a pre-arranged meeting with a number of wargamers on the WD3 forum; really great bunch of people and a good couple of pints were enjoyed by all. Met up with a gentleman I had not spoken to or even thought about for at least 25 years -blimey, doesn't time fly when you are having fun- after finding him on t'interweb. Amazing. He now lives just over the river in Essex so we are in the process of arranging to have a game in the next couple of months.
 
Last month my mate -who moved here in August last year and once again only lives across the road- and I went to Broadside in Sittinbourne where -long story short- he bought some Medieval Polish and I bought some Medieval Russians...in plastic. Now before you completely poo-poo the idea take a look at some of the pics below. Using a new painting system of white enamel undercoat, brown wash to accentuate details, block colours and then another brown wash for shadow, since early June I have painted 48 infantry and a dozen cavalry; for me it's almost speed painting!. I'm so impressed with this new -to me at least- method that I am going to try some 15's or even 10's later...I will keep you updated.

These two are just a taster. I have taken other pics but they are still on my camera so I will post some more next time.

That's about it for now, I'm off to enjoy some lunch in the sunshine in the county known as the Garden of England.