Testing the Terrain Setup

This evening I did a trial run setup of the battlefield for 1st Newbury. The purpose was to establish exactly how much terrain that is left to be done.

The result was uplifting. I got almost all the roads I need and just 40 new small sections of hedge left to do. My basic layout is sound, but needs some finishing touches.

As you can see, the pictures are not very good looking or inspiring. I blame the photo flash and the fact that much is yet to be painted.

The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Muskets

Today, I just went ahead and made that goddamn hill that I´ve been worrying about for so long. My vacation was canceled by the volcano ashes by the way.

I drew the hill on the new game mat that arrived from Hotz a week ago. Then I cut out the hill with a knife and trimmed the edges with a pair of scissors. I bought two sheets of foamboard, drew the shape of the hill and cut the foamboard. Then I trimmed the edges of the foamboard to create a gentler slope. Then I glued on the mat and cut the whole hill in two pieces for easier storage and transportation. All that remains to be done is finishing the edges of the hill. I´m still experimenting on how to best do that. Probably glue, sand and green with a hint of brown.

All in all: The hill is not perfect but it does the trick.

Update on Progress for 1st Newbury

OK, work on 1st Newbury is under way. Lots of things going on, here is a few:

Today I got the new felt game mat from Hotz. This will be used for the hill. I will cut it up (a scary venture) and glue it to foamboard or something. The mat was not the color I wanted it and had agreed with Hotz. I will complain about that later, perhaps I can get a discount on my next order (a mat with a smaller hex grid for the 2mm project).

I have finally begun making all the roads that are needed for the scenario. The hard part is all those intersections and crossroads. I had worried about doing them. But 1mm plasticard solved the problem.

Trees... I need four hexes of woods. These are fun to do, and turn out well. The process is: 1) buy grapes and eat them. 2) save and then dry the twigs. 3) cut the twigs into small tree-looking pieces. 4) glue and attach green foliage. 5) base the tree.

Now I´m off to Stockholm for a two day conference. The week after that I´m going on holiday to the Canary Islands. I hope I can put work and this project aside for a while and concentrate on getting a tan and trying out different drinks. Maybe I should bring some 6mm figs with me...just in case I get bored? :-)

Houses Painted

Pictures of all the finished houses. The first four or five are meant to be village dwellings or farm houses. The last two are humbler barns or sheds.

Little House on the English Moor

Painted the first house this evening. Very fun to do. Here are two shots, one without flash and one with.

First Houses Complete

Today I walked to the hobby store and got some balsa wood for the houses I have planned to do.

A couple of hours later and here´s the result. Together with the building parts from Irregular the houses came out very nice, at least I think so. Building them was surprisingly fun!

Choosing the windows and doors, chimneys and balconies and adding some detail like the spare gun wheel I had saved: all very satisfying. Next step is to paint them, which should also be fun.

These houses are very cheap, I got all the balsa I will ever need plus a can of spray paint for 80 crowns (that´s 7 £ or 11 $).

When I run out of metal building parts I´ll just keep making simple houses and barns. I need houses to play 1st Newbury, the battle features a two hex village and some other scattered farms and houses.

Some more pictures, showing also my new siege guns and a new unit of light infantry, plus a close up of one of the little houses:

New Toys

Two packages has arrived, one from from Baccus (my regular supplier of this addictive white metal drug called 6mm miniatures) and one from Angel Barracks (AB).

AB is a new acquaintance, selling all kinds of things for miniature gaming. Their scenery is what drew me to their webpage in the first place, Specifically, I was interested in a very smart little package they had, originally a product of Irregular Miniatures. See picture below!


For the next step in my project, 1st Newbury, I need houses. The kit I´ve ordered is made up of lots of little building components. According to AB: "A collection of windows, doors, stairs, roofs and more all designed to be pegged into balsa blocks to enable you to create your own bespoke dwellings." So now I just need to get some balsa wood and start building.

From Baccus I´ve ordered these babies below. Heavy siege guns to use as the 12 and 24 pounder guns that are part of the battle of 1st Newbury (and Edgehill for that matter). The siege guns are actually much too large for this use, neither army fielded such heavy artillery but I want the heavy guns to look different than the medium 4 and 8 pounders.

Very Hot Mat by Hotz

Some more pictures of the game mat in action.

Big picture: A brigade of heavy infantry screened by dragoons and two batteries of artillery.

Overview picture: Shows the hedge lined road I need for Edgehill. Could be better but this will have to do for now. I wish I could have a more narrow hedge lined road, but at least this one fits in one hex.

A Weekend in the Country

I got lots of painting done in the weekend, up at my parents house in the country. I did all six musketeer units I need for Edgehill, some guns and another brigade of heavy infantry. I was very impressed with the Field guns, they looked great. I was less thrilled by the smaller Light guns, I don´t think they look very good at all. Here´s a picture of the guns, sans crew that will be painted next.



I experimented with basing units, starting with some musketeers. I realize it can be done much better, but I´m OK with this look. Perhaps someone reading this blog can offer some advice on how to improve the bases. Take a look at this close up and criticize away!



While waiting for the big order to arrive, which it did last week, I took the opportunity to make a lot of terrain. Hedges and roads are my primary concern, as these are the dominant terrain features for Edgehill. Below is a picture of the roads. They are made of strips of pine wood. I made the wheel tracks by putting Scotch tape over the road and then cutting away what would be the center and sides of the road. Some wood glue, small stones and paint later they looked like this: