In between getting distracted by World War One and 6mm Trojans, I’ve been pushing on with completing some more units and heroes for the 28mm Trojan War project. Having finished off my army of Lucid Eye Amazons last summer, the goal is to get a small force of Achaeans to go up against them.

I’ve been fortunate in acquiring several lots of secondhand minis for the project so have a good stock of metal, mostly Foundry but including some Casting Room, Newline, Lucid Eye, Old Glory, Eureka and Redoubt as well! So I’ll be ending up with quite a mixed force, which suits me, as I like variety.

I finished off 24 Minoan style spearmen at the end of last year who I’m broadly envisaging as Greeks.

They’ve been colour-coded to an extent with red tunics and plumes and I’m rather pleased with the cow-hide shields, which I’m finding incredibly therapeutic to paint!

The latest batch has been 24 warriors that I’m planning to use as Achilles’ Myrmidons; I’ve gone with grey and black tunics to suggest an ‘ant man’ theme with a nod to the Troy movie.

Shields have a strong black/white cow-hide design to fit in with this.

The figures are less Minoan than the spearmen and more ‘heroic’, with a good smattering of armoured and sword-armed warriors to suggest their success in battle.

For Achilles, I’ve gone for the named Foundry miniature – I’m not convinced about him yet and may transfer him to a more heroic base in the future!

Patroclus is another Foundry model.

To screen the Myrmidons, I’ve painted up a couple of units of Foundry archers in the same colour scheme.

Ajax the Great was in one of the batches of secondhand Foundry minis that I acquired and he is a great sculpt – top work by the Perrys on that tower shield!

Following January’s game, I had the urge to scratch the WW1 itch again and fixed up a game with fellow Great War enthusiast Tom WD. This time, I decided to run something very loosely based on the Ypres battlefield we had visited in November 2018, where the Mk IV tank ‘Fray Bentos’ broke down while attacking a series of farms that had been fortified by the Germans.

In the last Chain of Command game I ran, I hadn’t allowed enough support for the British (please note I am improvising my own scenarios here rather than using the templates, so all design errors are my own). This time around, I wanted to see whether a single British platoon would have a chance of taking a dug-in German position with a decent amount of support.

Using the supplement ‘CoCing Up Through The Mud And Blood’ from the 2014 Lard Christmas Special, I gave the British a 1917 platoon with the following additional support: Mk IV Tank (Male), 13 pdr gun with 5 crew and junior leader, Vickers MMG, pre-game bombardment (the standard one from CoC which inhibits deployment of enemy units during the first turn).

The Germans had a standard platoon with the addition of a Maxim MMG with 5 crew.

Terrain-wise, we were playing up the length of a 6 x 4′ table. The British deployment area was liberally scattered with craters and trees which we counted as Soft Cover, Broken Ground (and Soft Ground for the purposes of the tank bogging down). The area in front of the German-held farm was partially blocked with barbed wire and designated as ‘Abysmal Terrain’ (using a set of modifications to CoC from Storm of Steel‘s Alex Sotheran; the net effect of Abysmal Terrain is that a dice roll is made when units move into it, giving random hindrances to movement. As it happened, the British barely made it into this area of the table, so it was a moot point).

I decided to pre-set jump-off points given the nature of the scenario; Germans and British both had four each. Following this, we rolled for Force Morale, getting an average 9 for the Brits and below-average 8 for the Germans.

I took the first phase as the attacking player. Traditionally, my favourite tactic is ‘charge’, but recently I’ve been reading Mark Bretherton’s blog and Len Tracey’s ‘Fire and Manoeuvre’ article in the 2023 Lard Magazine which have both encouraged me to take a less hasty approach! I had several good command dice rolls right at the start and decided to make best use of these to get my support units onto the table. With the tank’s slow movement – and having to deploy on the rear table edge – I brought this on first, closely followed by the field gun (on Overwatch) and Vickers MMG.

Tom rolled multiple 5s for the Germans and was content to sit back racking up the CoC points while I got on with it. However, I’d decided that I needed to push forwards while the German deployment was restricted by the barrage. 

Next up, my ‘fire’ units – Lewis gun and rifle grenade sections – came out in cover to the left and right of the German position.

With no action from the Germans, I was possibly over-hasty in deploying my bombers and finally my rifle section and Sergeant well forwards, albeit on tactical. 

Then it all went a bit Pete Tong!

Firstly, my tank rolled a double 6 and bogged down in a shell hole, needing to wait until the end of the turn to attempt to free itself. This also neatly blocked the line of fire for the field gun in the meantime. With all my units deployed, Tom decided to spend his first CoC dice to end the turn, meaning that my barrage ended just as the first Germans started to appear. While I was now free to try to get my tank out of the shell hole, it also meant that all the tactical and overwatch markers I had placed on my units were lost. 

This, of course, was followed by the Germans rolling a double phase and getting their machine guns into action….

Despite a few good saving throws from the Brits, casualties and shock began to mount for the forward assault units; the bombers in particular took an absolute hiding, had their junior leader killed, and then broke and fled, causing the first hole in the Force Morale. I hastily used my only CoC dice to avoid a morale test for the junior leader getting wounded (rather than the more serious setbacks that followed) and was left on the back foot.

Fortunately, Capt J. Hunt (in command of the Mark IV) was able to get his driver on the case and revved his way out of the shell hole. The tank’s 6-pounder then caused some consternation amongst the Germans, followed up by fire from the field gun and Vickers at the back of the field being commanded by Lt M. Walker. 

Unfortunately for me, the Brits were on the back foot having lost enough Force Morale to lose a command dice. My troops were stretched too thin and a few duff command dice rolls meant that the Germans were soon having a field day. The rifle section found itself trapped just in front of the German trenches, and both attached leaders were wounded. In a triumph of awful dice rolling, Sgt J. Clark was hit twice in succession, then rolling the maximum -2 Force Morale for ‘senior leader wounded’ each time. We were now down to 1 Force Morale (compared to the Germans’ 7) and the end was inevitable. Despite bold attempts to shell and bomb the German MMG, which was pinned and came close to breaking, the continual fire on the rifle team eventually broke it and ended the game.

Lots of fun, albeit a game of two halves, and a good couple of hours with decent banter with Tom in between. I felt that I probably should have held my assault units back slightly longer than I did, but overall this scenario might have been better suited to Big CoC with two attacking platoons rather than one. Certainly, the fact that the support options did not come with any additional command dice meant that it was hard to activate them once the front units were engaged, but that’s how CoC is – it forces you to manage your resources very carefully.

Time to go and root out the unpainted Great War Miniatures and plan another game!

‘That looks like The Last Supper,’ remarked my wife as she passed the painting table, looking at ‘El Cid’s Battle Council’ from Reconquer Designs. Well, I don’t actually think that she’s too far wrong given the level of artistry in the sculpting! 

I regret that I have only painted a few pieces by Reconquer Designs – having collected a substantial El Cid force in metal back in the 2000s, I don’t really need any of these 3D printed wonders – but these are just too good. It’s easy to tout STLs and 3D printed miniatures as the next big thing, though I think it’s fair to say that the technology is still being learned and that great historical sculpts are not yet widely available; however, Reconquer Designs sculptor Marcos is absolutely nailing it for medieval Spain. 

Marcos is a fan of realistically-proportioned models, so Reconquer Designs minis follow this aesthetic. You can buy the STLs to print yourself although I purchased ready-printed models from Iron Gate Scenery in the UK; these were very fine prints with excellent detail and nearly all the supports removed (there were a couple of tiny supports I needed to trim away, but preparation was incredibly quick). 

Care has to be taken with the finer parts – El Cid’s sword (from The Duel vignette), for example, is quite vulnerable to damage. His opponent was provided with a resin spear but I quickly replaced it with a metal one from Northstar – a very easy process, as the hand is printed open and required no drilling out.

Each figure was then superglued onto a small piece of plasticard (the models come without bases) and undercoated with matt white primer.

I shan’t bore you with the details of painting, but everything was done with a mix of GW Contrast Paints, traditional acrylics and inks. The detail on the minis is quite extraordinary and with realistic gaps cut away that would be filled in on a traditional metal model (for example, straps hang away from the body and stirrups have gaps above the foot), they reward some careful painting.

I’m no Kev Dallimore but spent a little bit of extra time adding details where I could, though I still draw the line at painting eyes!

Once all the painting was complete and models varnished, I assembled both vignettes on irregular MDF bases with chamferred edges. 

I decided to arrange all the figures in El Cid’s Battle Council to all face in one direction – slightly contrived but great for photo opportunities!

I can’t recommend these models highly enough and will probably be back for more in the future. The range continues to expand with some very interesting models for the 12th and 13th centuries, as well as plenty of characterful vignettes.

It’s a little-known fact that, when I got back into historical wargaming 30 years ago, I kicked off with some armies in 6mm. 

Despite always having loved 28s, 6mm allowed me to create something that looked like an army – on a budget. Irregular Miniatures and Heroics & Ros provided me with a pretty spectacular force of Romans and Ancient Britons which took to the field for many a game using the DBM rules.

After recent tinkering with 15mm Saxons and 12mm Great War, I’d been considering a smaller scale diversion for my ongoing Trojan Wars project. 10mm was a distinct possibility, but the biggest selling point for 6mm was the incredible resin walls available from Leven Miniatures. These would remove me from the insanity of trying to make a wall section in 28mm at a fraction of the cost and hassle!

With some of these ordered, I started laying in samples of 6mm minis. I went back to old favourites Irregular Miniatures for some Minoan spearmen. 6mm guru Daniel Hodgson kindly advised me to have a look at Baccus, who don’t have a specific Trojan Wars range but have several ‘Biblical’ codes that could be pressed into service, so I ordered up some sample units of Hittites and Sea Peoples. Last but not least was the 6mm range from Rapier Miniatures which includes specific Trojan Wars models including chariots and a Trojan Horse!

Here’s the Irregular Miniatures Minoan spear block. I like the fact that these are cast in strips with multiple variants, making them ideal for massed units. 

The downside was that the bases had a lot of flash so required quite a bit of cleaning up to get them to sit flat. The minis are ‘true’ 6mm and therefore a bit smaller than Baccus and Rapier, but none the worse for that. 

Rapier Miniatures are a ‘big’ 6mm (more like 8mm) and full of character. The models are cast singly, which is good for heroes and skirmisher bases, but less so for ranking up big units, for which I prefer figures cast in strips. 

The moment I opened the box from Baccus, I could see why they came so highly recommended. Very neatly cast minis in strips with minimal flash meant that I was able to get them undercoated and ready to paint in short order.

Although the minis were cast in strips of four, I cut a few of these up and added some Rapier Minis for variety. Some minis also made it into separate hero bases or thin strips of spearmen to stand on the walls of Troy.

Baccus Hittite spearmen were subbed as Mycenean warriors with a few extras added from Rapier Miniatures. 

I’ll definitely be getting some more units added to this project in the very near future and it would be good to source some beached ships for the Achaean camp. Anyone know of any good STLs (without oars)?

Seeing as it’s the festive season, it’s probably time for the pics of the Draugr from Ragnarok Miniatures. I’ve never been a massive fan of undead but the current crop of outstanding miniatures has been slowly crumbling my resolve; the rather wonderful Oathmark Revenants, alongside skeletons from Reaper, Oathmark and Wargames Atlantic have all found their way onto my painting table in recent years.

These ten minis are the Draugr Hearthguard in tattered robes, led by a Draugr Lieutenant and a Necromancer Warlord. Coincidentally, one of the sample force lists that I’ve written for Midgard Heroic Battles is an undead horde under to command of a necromancer by the name of Ulric Deathwhisperer, and I’m wondering whether this is the mini for the job.

These are chunky 28mm sculpts from Colin Patten and very compatible with most of GB’s other ranges. After painting a fair bit of plastic and resin recently, it was fun feeling the heft of a metal mini again. The castings I received were very clean and required only minimal clean up, quickly pushing their way to the front of the painting queue! Plastic bases for Saga and cast metal weapons are provided, though I used Northstar wire spears alongside the metal swords and axes.

I hemmed and hawed about whether to go with GW Contrast Paints on these (requiring a white undercoat or black with white dry brushing) or traditional acrylics over black. Eventually I went with the latter, but then spent some time being slightly unsure of what I was after. Colin Patten’s painted examples are incredibly good but I wanted something with a little more colour. However, my first attempt probably had too much bronze and blue.

After taking some advice from chums on social media, I revised the bronze armour idea (which doesn’t really work as they’re meant to be Viking age) and went for a lighter skin tone. 

Having used a dry brush of Army Painter Gunmetal as the basic armour layer on all the models, I tidied up the undercoat and then used a base layer of white acrylic on all the skin. When dry, I used some GW Contrast Paints to pick out the skin, followed by a thinnned-down highlight of acrylic white. This gave me a stronger contrast between skin and clothing. I cut down on the blue clothing of the test mini and went with black, grey, blue-grey and off-white instead.

Several folk recommended Kev Dallimore’s guide to painting the Oathmark Revenants, which in turn sent me hunting for green ink in the painting cupboard.

I found dug out some elderly bottles of ink: Oldhammer fans will recognise the venerable example on the left and I suspect the right hand one dates back to my student days. Both were still perfectly serviceable!

Some thinned-down washes of the green ink really did the trick, tying the models together and giving an unnatural tinge to proceedings. I also weathered the armour with a little brown ink to suggest rust and age.

Shields received some Celtic-inspired spirals painted in light grey and then highlighted in white. It’ll sound crazy to some of you, but I really enjoy hand painting shield designs – it’s challenging at the start of a session, but once I get into it, I find it very therapeutic. 

The eye sockets were shaded in black before I dotted in the eyeball with a light blue and a final highlight of white for that ‘restless undead’ look. After a coast of matt varnish, I added a few extra highlights and then based them up in a fairly neutral scheme that should work both on grass and snow mats for gaming.

After the initial prevarication, I’m pretty pleased with these and am sorely tempted to knock up an undead horde! One for 2024 maybe? Season’s greetings to you all!

I was delighted when old chums Gripping Beast became the distributors for the Ragnarok range of Norse fantasy minis, sculpted by GB co-founder Colin Patten. I already have a number of Colin’s Dwarves from various companies, so while I didn’t really *need* any more longbeards, the Durinn’s Folk range had to be sampled!

In the pictures, you can see a collector’s pack of Hearthguard Attacking With Heavy Weapons plus a Warlord. The hearthguard are supplied with separate mattocks (very Tolkien) and double-handed axes, but I couldn’t resist replacing a few of the weapons with a sword and a pair of halberds borrowed from Front Rank medieval weapons packs (also available from Gripping Beast).

As I already have a Dwarf army painted in a blue/ grey colour scheme, I didn’t want to deviate from that. With the armour and helmets on these chaps – heavily influenced by the early medieval Vendel culture – I went for a black undercoat, drybrushed all the metalwork with silver, and then built up layers for the main colours. 

The shields come with a nice moulded hammer and anvil design which I highlighted in various shades of blue before blocking in the metalwork and adding a few rivets for variety.

These are cracking models and entirely compatible with all of Colin’s previous work for different companies.