Monday, June 8, 2020

First AWI Miniatures

Innit nice when you buy a bunch of stuff for a new wargaming project and then actually start it?  
Here we have a post with my first AWI miniatures.  Now the project begins in earnest.  

AWI Progess


Man, it has been fooooooorrrreeeevverr since I painted any 28mm miniatures.  It's a skill that's more subconsciously remembered than consciously practiced.  Too bad I was never very good to begin with so the memories are even more hazy.  

In my excitement of starting to wargame the Revolution I've been ignoring chores in order to paint, and managed to finish 16 miniatures for the British Army.  


First 8.
I've also been reminded that photographing 28mm miniatures is hard.



First 8 from the rear.  I like the way the white crossbelts came out.
Since whomever is playing these guys, that's the main thing they're gonna see.




Next 8.  Just more of the same.







Now the uniform is supposed to look a little like this: 


Though I like more of a Blue facing on the Redcoat.

Which is kinda hard to see in the group photos.  So in honor of these being my first AWI miniatures and painting 28mm for the first time in forever  (having a little girl means you've seen Frozen a hundred times, so that phrase is never far from your mind, it's not even the first time that I've told this joke.  It's even funnier in repetition)   here are some close ups....


I like this sculpt of the guy biting the cartridge. 













Enough of that now.  It's more my wanting to show my enthusiasm for this project than my painting skills.  

Keep It Goin' Keep It Goin' Keep It Goin'! 

It's gonna be a long haul getting this genre to the gaming table.  So keeping up motivation and enthusiasm is critical.  Especially since I'm still in a state of no gaming lockdown.  So how to do it?
There's shopping of course, the small rush when a package arrives:

My houses from Sarissa arrived. On first glance inside the package they look a little small.
And,
This is a really exciting photograph.


And of course there is entertainment.  For inspiration I've recently finished reading;

By reading I mean listening to the audio book while in the car,
and while painting.
I ain't gots time to read! 
But the book is recommended.
 
I suppose I could find a good AWI movie to watch.  I've recently subjected the wife to rewatch the History Channel's series on Washington, which I thought was pretty good and is on Amazon

I also like the Blue coats with the buff facings.
and this makes up for the boring Sarissa picture, Because this one is exciting on all sorts of levels.

The only other AWI movie I know is The Patriot, which I'm not gonna watch.  Not for any snobby historical reason, but because I don't like watching a father mourn his son.  No I didn't give any spoiler alert, it's been 20 years. 

A Big Thank You to Norm

I take it back! I have played a game! Set in the Revolution even.  Best Blogging Buddy Norm on his blog ran a Play By Email game of the Battle of Germantown.  It was my first time playing anything by email, and I had good fun.  I played a minor role in the British defense, which really helped me get int he mood for painting British Redcoats.  Thank you Norm.

You can find the ARR and Norms blog over here on the CLICKY CLICK


So the plan is keep turning out British until I get tired of seeing red, and then will probably dig in on some terrain.   With any luck, the AWI project might see the table in some form by the years end. 

Thanks for stopping by, Thanks for reading.  

39 comments:

  1. Thanks for the shout Stew and glad you enjoyed the PBEM game. Love the 28's, that is a really nice start.

    At the 2017 Phoenix Wargame show (UK), the Dumfries Wargamers had put on a really nice Bunker Hill game, using Black Powder rules. It looked pretty much a frontal assault that did not require too much terrain.

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    1. No, thank YOU Norm. 😀
      I agree that Bunker Hill is not especially onerous when it comes to terrain. But it also depends on how detailed you want to get. In the long long term, I’m hopeful to put on that scenario. Everyone loves a bunker hill scenario. 😀

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  2. Great start to your British. They look superb to me. Good point about ensuring figures under your command look good from the back. Unless they are running away, the rear view is all one ever sees.

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    1. Thanks Jonathan. Often times we really only see the backs of the troops we are commanding and only about the upper chest, shoulders, and heads of the bad guys due to us standing over the table. Sometimes I think I should not bother painting beyond those parts. 😀

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  3. I think your 28’s look just fine mate and always have done.
    The blue stands out from the table far more than that dull charcoal/green/whatever.
    Yeah, no Patriot for you. Last of the Mohicans is a little earlier history wise but close enough I think with all its muskets bad powder smoke fun.
    Enjoying following along with your enthusiasm on this project matey

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    1. Thanks Dai. I know I’m like the housewife who always says the house is a disaster when it’s perfectly acceptably clean. I’m like that with painting. 😀

      Yeah I’ll pass on the patriot. It’s not that I’ll collapse at the mere dramatization of dead children but I don’t need the emotional needle. Plus it happens like twice in that movie! More spoilers there. I am unrepentant.

      Besides; movies and TV often get a father’s grief so wrong. We can’t become avenging badasses and we can’t go nuts without serious consequences. I also get annoyed when its dragged out for one episode and then never comes up again in the series. Lame.

      But then again it’s sometimes worse to watch when they get it right. The ACW movie Lincoln gets its too right. How it tears at them. I could watch the Patriot again and be fine if motivated, but I won’t watch Lincoln again.

      And I feel like I should end on a more positive vibe... have you read Last of the Mohicans? The book is crazy different. Including people dressing up in a bear skin and pretending to be a bear to rescue Alice from the bad Indians. 😀

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  4. Good job on those Red Coats, painting red and white are both tricky colours to get right.

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    1. Thanks Chico. It’s nothing fancy. Really I think the figures are just really nice and easy to paint do its easy to see what color should go where. 😀

      I’m glad we’ve started to swap comments on each other’s blogs. We keep this up we can become best blogging buddies. I just read your post on starting the FIW.

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  5. Great work here. Keep it going :)

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    1. Thanks Duc. I appreciate the comment. I’m definitely gonna try to keep it goin-keep it goin-keep it goin full steam. 😀

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    1. Just like yourself! You fine sir.
      Thanks a lot. 😀

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  7. Go go go the project is live. Thankfully I have a head start as your enthusiasm is looking pretty strong. Big benefit for me is the terrain is pretty much nailed from the ACW. Will watch with much interest, realistically I am hoping to get gaming in the autumn at least with Rebels and patriots if not a full Germantown battle. But you have enthused me get on with my first American regiment.

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    1. Thanks Matt. I rate highly on enthusiasm but not much else. It’s smart that all your gaming is in one scale, it does make the terrain requirements easier. I thought about it, but went in the other direction. 😀
      I have 8 more regulars painted now but gonna tackle some light infantry before I give them all the dip and varnish. I like doing that in big batches.
      I’m also hoping for some gaming in autumn but it’s yet to be seen. 😀

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  8. Looking great so far! That red seems just right, and should stand out nicely on the board.

    And your photography is good too. I have found that as my cellphones got more sophisticated that the photography improved. No doubt because of my skill, and nothing to do with the cellphone?

    Now crank out another 100 of them, and then do the same thing for the good guys/traitors.

    Painting/coloring question. Should the breeches and the cross belts be the same white? For Napoleonics, which I am more familiar with, the white of leather is from pipe clay, and the pants are just white fabric, so they quickly diverged from one another. Then again the French were perpetually poor, so who knows, maybe that was just them!

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    1. Thanks Las. I did use my cellphone to take the pics and gave it the ‘vivid’ filter just to play around with the options and make the colors brighter. Bc I live in a dungeon with only one shaft of light.
      There’s actually only about 25 more British left before moving onto the Americans. Skirmish games rock.

      Yes, I think you’re right and technically the pants and crossbelts should be the same white. I think it’s the effect of the army painter dip that made the paints more dark. I’m gonna use the excuse that the pants would be dirty after all that marching in the dirt. 😀

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  9. Great start Stew! Do the individual bases hint at skirmish games?

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    1. Thanks Mike. I like individual basing to play skirmish games but can move into mass battle with the use of movement trays. 😀

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  10. Looking good Stew. Another make for terrain for you to look at Charlie Foxtrot Models (https://www.charliefoxtrotmodels.com/)
    As for movies how about Revolution, the Al Pacino film.

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    1. Thanks Tony. I did check out CFT and I just kinda liked the look of the Sarissa better. Of course, it’s all just pics online so who knows. And no reason I can’t expand with Charlie terrain later. 😀

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  11. Very nicely done figures and photos: if your paint job can stand up to close up photography (like this), then it's very well done, indeed! As far as AWI, I listened to Mc Cullough's "1776" as an audio book and found myself raring to jump into the period (fortunately, the madness passed): recommended.

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    1. Thanks very much Ed. I do think it’s a decent paint job, I’m just self conscious. 😀
      I’ve already read 1776 but a reread/ listen wouldn’t hurt.

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  12. Lovely looking Brits! They're great looking 28mms so stop moaning! Revolution had Mollo as the costume designer, he wrote Blandfords American War of independence book,his dad Boris used to run the National Army Museum ,I read an article in Military Illustrated about how he approached it and which regiments he chose, he also did Star wars, pretty good!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain, yes Iain; no more moaning from me. 😀
      I’ll have to check out the movie. Sounds promising.

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    2. Have you had a look at Steve's painting shed blog, I went to look at his Dux Bellorum stuff which is fab but he also wrote the black powder AWI supplement and paints lots of great looking AWI figures, worth a look!
      Best Iain

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    3. I actually DO own that book. It’s a great resource for the AWI. 😀

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    4. Sorry, I wasn't clear, I mentioned the book to establish is credentials, on his blog he has his own AWI rules for free download, and scratchbuilding terrain guides,fencing,houses etc that I would buy in a magazine if I were doing the period and of course lots of specific units for both sides for various campaigns.
      Best Iain

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  13. Frozen is a source of wisdom not only for life, but also miniature photography. "For the first time in forever, there'll be music, there'll be light." I think light is key - the more the better.

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    1. Thanks FMB. Frozen is indeed choc full of lessons and dreams. Frozen II on the other hand is how those dreams come crashing down. Way too serious.
      Glad you like the figures 😀
      It’s funny how I seem to have light to paint but not take great pictures.

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  15. The redcoats look great! I imagine you have quite a lot to paint so hopefully you're able to keep your momentum going. I'm excited to see the revolting colonists as I would imagine you'll have to paint them less uniformly since they were pretty ragtag. I'll be curious to see how those buildings come together as well. I have been eyeing Sarissa stuff for Fallout as they look to be high quality. Keep the hobby updates coming! :)

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    1. Thanks very much Kuribo. It’s true that the British tend to paint faster because of the snazzy uniforms. And luckily there’s not much left of the British to paint. There is a crushing amount of rebel militia to paint for the other side, which will lack the uniformity, so it’ll take longer to paint. 😀
      We’ll have to see how the Sarissa comes together.

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  16. Appears to me you haven't lost any skill at all, and if you have, you had way too much skill to begin with! These are superb!
    There are some older movies about the Revolutionary War. Revolution 1985, April Morning 1988, All For Liberty 2009, and a newer one I haven't seen Beyond the Mask 2015. Then there are the excellent classics: Drums Along the Mohawk 1939, Johnny Tremaine 1957 and The Scarlet Coat 1955.

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    1. Thanks Vol. superb is a strong word but I do think they come out looking good. It’s just a vase cost plus high light and the dip. The dip fixes everything. 😀
      Thanks for that long list of movies. I’ll have to see if they’re available on Netflix and such.

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  17. April Morning and All For Liberty are free on Prime and the rest are rentable. Netflix only has The Patriot and the series TURN.

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  18. These look absolutely brilliant Stew. The speed of your painting is bloody impressive let me tell you. Great stuff.

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    1. Thanks Carlo. Glad you like the miniatures. The whole point of going 28mm was to put a little more umph into the aesthetics. And the project is moving along nicely. 😀

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