Captain Compton Pauncefoot RN

                

I've been reading Nick Jones's Age of Sail naval rules, a work in progress but already pretty much all there, and have been enjoying them immensely, no doubt due in part to the slightly tongue in cheek writing style. One thing I did think was especially good is the system, if you can call it that, for generating officers and crew. Without giving too much away, this involves some geographical jiggery pokery, primarily in an East Anglian direction. 

As I drive up and down the cursed A303 a lot, I've opted for a West Country version, so I'm very pleased to introduce the  Right Honourable Captain Compton Pauncefoot RN, who will be taking up a command at some point on blockade duty off Ushant, unless he incurs the wrath of Rear Admiral Shepton Mallet, of course. Clever stuff from Nick and I'm really looking forward to trying out the rules in a few weeks time.

A Change of Tack

That absolute gentleman, Mr Nick Jones Esq, was kind enough to send me a copy of his work in progress Napoleonic naval rules yesterday, which use a grid system for movement and gunnery. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, this has given me an opportunity to give my mothballed French fleet of Tumbling Dice ships a dust off and a lick of paint, ready for some games in the summer holidays. As you can see, this is a squadron of ships of the line, 74's, 80's and a 118 gun flagship, together with a few frigates and brigs. I'll get cracking with these instead of my Norwegian Campaign project this week, while also painting up the last of my pre-dreadnoughts. Splendid!

Clearing the Decks

 

I've now pretty much completed the assembly and basing stage of the Red Actions! project, so have transferred all the figures to a plastic storage box, clearing the workbench for my projects this month. I'll paint up the army in the autumn, when I can spend a couple of months in it and do it properly, so over the next few weeks it's a focus on naval projects leading up to INWarD 2024.

There are two of these to complete, the first being my South American pre-dreadnoughts in 1/2400th scale, which I've been meaning to finish for a while, and the second is the Royal Navy forces for the Norwegian Campaign in 1/3000th scale, which I was supposed to have tackled over the holiday last week. Instead, I ended up tinkering with all sorts of things that were good fun but took me off at a tangent.

I'll start on the two naval projects this week and aim to get them both finished by this time next month, although it's looking like a very bus few weeks ahead for various family and work related reasons. At least the workbench is neat and tidy for a change!

Red Actions! AFSR (16)

 

I finally got round to assembling and basing the limbers for my White Volunteer Army artillery, although I'd been putting it off for ages. In the end I only glued two of them together, as it was a bit of a pain, but I think that will have to do. Now that that is sorted, I only have the Cossack cavalry to base up once they arrive, but have also decided to base a single unit of colour infantry, despite having the figures for two or more. You can't really have a White army without at least one colour regiment in it's ranks after all, can you?

Strength and Honour Roman Auxiliary cavalry finished

I've finished the two auxiliary cavalry units for the club game in a couple of weeks, so have all I need for Vespasian's force at 2nd Cremona and, with a bit of a wiggle, enough for the Vitellus' army if I end up on the other side. This second ala has blue shields to distinguish them from the first unit. I'm going to do some skirmish strips next, as I don't have any of those, to represent slingers and lightly armed speed bump types. 

Strength and Honour Roman Auxiliary Cavalry

 

I have painted the first of two units of Imperial Roman Auxiliary cavalry for my Strength and Honour army, basing them with an arid, semi-desert finish to match my existing units for the Parthian Wars. I've almost finished the second unit and just need to sort out the basing. In other news, I've decided my third army will be Numidians, as I have lots of spare infantry strips to use as spearmen and a few skirmish cavalry bits and bobs as a starting point. It's a bit addictive this 2mm malarkey...

Red Actions! AFSR (15)

            

I ordered the new Cossack mounted figures from Peter Pig yesterday, including the command pack which is now available, so will soon have enough for the final unit of my AFSR volunteer army. This will consist of seven bases that can split down into two smaller units if required, but no dismounts as yet to keep the cost down to a minimum. Once they are based I can finally get started on painting this army as my big project for 2023!

Boots on the Ground

                 

Another charity bookshop bargain yesterday, a hardback copy of Boots on the Ground by Richard Dannatt, for the price of a BLT. I ate the aforementioned sandwich while reading the chapters on Malaya, Borneo and Aden, which were very interesting and gave a sound overview of the military - political tensions involved. Very good as a primer.

Lambda Gaming 15mm Mi-8 Hip

                 

I took a punt on a resin Mi-8 Hip model as a transport hello for my Superpower Backed AK-47 army and, I have to say, I'm very impressed. The model is printed in tough plastic resin material, with no discernible lines or ridges to worry about, so cleaning up and assembly should be easy. Four magnets are included, two for the main rotor and another two for the flight stand, which I haven't included in the photos. It scales very well with Peter Pig figures and will look very cool when painted up. For £15 it's a bargain and I will definitely be ordering some more choppers for my other post-war projects. Excellent 👍

Bofors AA

 

The boy had a holiday job down in Hedge End today, so we dropped him off and then went for a dog walk down by the Solent. There I found an unexpected Bofors AA gun, which had been positioned to cover the oil refinery opposite. It's not in the original location or even the correct version, but a nice surprise on a dog walk nonetheless!