Pet Peeve no 257 not a review of Perry and Warlord Napoleonic French Infantry boxes

OK so I'm busy painting my way through some French Infantry for Sharp Practice. I was using Perrys and then because I was hitting a painting block switched to Warlord Late French because they're in Greatcoat so far easier to paint. And all is good. I've pretty much rattled through the unit I needed and my core force is now complete. To do that I bought a box from Warlord - actually from a 3rd party supplier for cost reasons, and for some reason this box boils my blood so as it's a Sunday I thought I would share.

First up - the ££££ . 

Warlord are selling this box for £27.50 as of today. I got mine for £22 inc p&p shopping around. The box contains four half box sprues each of six models, two of which are flank company, and four metal command figures. That's £0.98 per figure. The box also contains an info sheet with some paper flags and a set of ammo box decals and a sprue of bases. 

This is the box from Perry Miniatures

It's not quite equivalent as this one has no greatcoated figures. Also the whole box is plastic. Forty-four  figures split into six sprues each of five men for the line companies, a six figure Command sprue (full size) and two four figure half size elite company sprues which are in more active \ skirmishing poses. I should add the line sprues contain arms to allow you to model them as elites in line as well. Cost from Perrys- £25 so £0.57 each. I'm sure I can pick them up for less if I shop around. The box also contains a similar paint guide \ flag sheet and bases. 

Perrys do another box with similar content but half in greatcoat. I didn't get that because I wrongly assumed I would have the fortitude to paint the whole lot in normal uniform so would not need the greatcoat.

So what is my peeve? Apart from the price, it's bloody obvious Warlord are behind the curve here. The Perry boxes are well thought out and FULL of sprues. I can't stress this enough, you feel like you're getting your $$££ worth as the box is chock full with nine sprues to the point it is hard to get it closed again. Also the box has three different sprues in there so you can get a whole unit in plastic. The comparison with the Warlord box is stark. The sprues only fill half the box, the rest is a plastic clamshell holding the four metal command figures plus some foam to hold them in place. I don't know, but to me it looks like Warlord decided not to include the command and skirmishers as plastic to keep the production cost down to one basic plastic sprue. The side effect is that you and I as the punter are paying more for less figures, some in metal, and three layers of packaging. Working with metal requires different tools and techniques than with plastic too. I know the Warlord sprue was conceived and designed a while ago, but so was the Perry. I'd also accept the Warlord sprue is slightly easier to assemble with fewer parts but it's not that much of a bonus. 

Come on Warlord. Surely it is time to redesign this box to be all plastic, including command and flank company, reduce your production costs, save the planet by cutting down on packaging and bump up the value for money to your customers. This is probably the most common of all the Black Powder range to be bought, being Napoleonic French AND Waterloo period, so it is pretty much a flagship product.

Rant over. And to be fair if you buy the Warlord army boxes or starter sets the per figure cost does come down quite a bit, and it also has to be said Perry produce their artillery and other stuff you will need in metal just like Warlord, and at a comparable price.

So am I getting wound up over nothing or do I have a point? What do you think - comment below please       

Cheating Frogs

I think I mentioned I was stalling painting my Sharp Practice French Napoleonics? Before Christmas Wargames Illustrated were giving away a sprue of Warlord French Infantry, and I picked one up to have a closer look - it was free after all. There were six figures on the sprue, all in greatcoat at March Attack. Hmm

Anyway I got a few more sprues by begging from friends (thanks Dave) and then picking up some from the Sprue Shop as I didn't need that many figures. Actually I needed sixteen. Each sprue had four line company guys and a pair of flank types with epaulettes. I needed sixteen line, so four sprues, and I would have eight spare figures to paint up as Grenadiers if I needed them in the future. I suppose I could have carved the epaulettes off them but that seems like a bit of a faff.

As I considered greatcoats cheating and as I was damned to hell for that I felt I should go all the way and just use Contrast paints. May as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb.

So after a couple of tries I discovered that the Warlord ones were very quick to paint and look ok (to me) at table distance. The minimal straps and the greatcoat covering the damned waistcoat really helped. I found I could paint them about twice as fast as the Perry models. In fact the main issue was waiting for the contrast to dry before putting another colour near - my eyesight is getting a bit meh so I do wander over the lines a bit.

So I have rattled out the sixteen needed which brings my Sharp Practice French up to complete for the core force. I will still need some supports adding before they can hit the table, but it feels like the back of this one is broken.

As for what supports? That's an interesting question. The basic French infantry unit is sixteen guys in the 1809-1812 Peninsular list. My usual first call for supports is to chuck in a gun, but the sixteen man units worry me because I think they lack the weight to carry either a melee attack in column or shoot it out with a British line. So my first option will be to add another stand of eight to each of the line units. They're surprisingly cheap at 4 support points each so shouldn't break the bank in points. Then if I have some spare support points I can take a gun, or maybe some Dragoons........

The sharp eyed (should that be Sharpe eyed??) out there will have spotted the problem. I only had sixteen greatcoated figures. So I decided I needed two more sprues. I consulted the Sprue Shop and they were a fiver each, give or take, plus a bit extra for postage. But a full box could be had for £22 inc p&p so it made sense to do that, it would give me all the expansion option I needed, plus a command group.

Which is why my "I've not bought any models this year" meme has lasted a whole seven days. Ah well.

 .  

The plans of Mice and Ken

 apparently oft go astray

So this was my Christmas break 2024 hobby plan

1. Print and Paint some Lizardmen for Warmaster

2. Repair a Pegasus Hobbies Log House - I have one with a missing roof bit so I've ordered some tiles from Warbases and my m8 Dave has laser cut me some new roof bits and bases so that's an easy one

3. Construct and paint three Pegasus Hobbies Log Houses - in addition to the above. That will give me a full log built village that will cover both WW2 Ost and AWI 

4. Construct my DMH buildings - I've "quite a few"

5. Repair \ bodge a few buildings for Irish Revolt \ Civil War

So a clear and well thought out plan.

Instead I've started painting bloody Frenchmen! My Sharp Practice French have been hovering at half done for months. I've decided to cheat and switch to Warlord models in greatcoats, err and contrast paint. Feels dirty but it does seem to work :-) 

2024 THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS

Looks like it's that time of the year again, you know, when you look back and.....

Gin powered, here are my thoughts on gaming my in 2024

So let's get the excuses out of the way. My Chain of Command KNIL hasn't happened. This is an easy one as the figures are part of a Kickstarter from May 1940 Miniatures and they've been delayed so I have an excuse. Similarly my Blood Red Skies KNIL are still grounded - printed but grounded, awaiting a spark.

Other failures to launch - 

Fallout Factions. Total fail despite models and rules looking good, just didn't catch - maybe next year??

A War Transformed - another alt history WW1 game that I bought the rules for but never really got any progress with.

Dead Mans Hand - not a total fail as we've played and enjoyed it a bit, but the town I planned is still in the box (mostly)

Football War on the ground - got the toys but no progress on paint, which is silly as they'll probably take one or two nights to do to a table standard......... 

I should also mention I'm struggling to get organised Blood Red Skies sessions to work - just not enough interest locally though I'm hoping to start again in the new year.

Stuff that has featured -

Chain of Command - ever reliable, ever dependable and rumour has it v2 in 2025. No new "armies" added but lots of odd bits added to existing ones and plenty of "stuff" still to paint.

Blood Red Skies - still a favourite though opportunities to play are dropping off a bit - may need to refocus in the new year.

Sharp Practice - Austrian and Royal Marines pretty much done, and bonny they are too . I'm struggling with the French but will hopefully get them done in the new year.

Quar - This Quar's War has been a highpoint - an Indy skirmish game about WW1 anteaters. I've got a complete Crusader force, plus some of the other factions and every game so far has been interesting and fun.

An adjunct has been the conversion of my Irish Revolt \ Civil War to use This Quar's War rules (Clash of Rhyflers). As Tod Howard said. "It just works" and I'm looking forward to more in 2025, possibly a campaign.

Bubbling under is Warmaster Revolutions - very Oldskool rework of the venerable but ignored Warmaster rules from GW in the 90s. Free rules, free army lists and cheap 3d printed armies, looks attractive. I'm working on my Lizardmen for the new year.

I also bought Bolt Action v3 - I dont really play but the troops are interchangeable with Chain of Command and it is a rules set that is popular so just a bit of insurance really.

On the down side my mobility is now getting a bit restricted - weight, health and age are making it difficult for me to get to the games room at Hartlepool Wargames Club in the Atheneaum so I'm probably not going to go often in 2025. As I joined in 1978 this is going to be a big miss, though I hope to get some games in at more accessible venues in the new year.

Anyway, that's it. Thanks for reading and hopefully 2025 will be a good year for us all. Cheers!

Rabbit Holes in Historical Wargaming

I think we all know this but here goes. One of the joys of Historical Wargaming, over and above fantasy \ sci fi, is the rabbit holes. You know, the subject or unit that drags you in unexpectedly . I know this to be true, because whenever four wargamers gather to start a new period, one of them suddenly goes off on a tangent, off the beaten path. Example - Sharp Practice. We decided to do some French for Sharp Practice, so we got French (me) French (Paul) and then Neuchatel (Rob) and Westphalians (Steve).  Now let's be clear, theyre all viable and playable, but the last two have involved a lot more effort in thought and research even though they are, to all intents, just French in the game. Also yellow Rob wtf!

One of my rabbit holes is the Dutch Airforce for Blood Red Skies. They only fought (in Europe) for five days, but once I started "collecting" I have found myself with four "Squadrons", two of fighters FXXI and G1a's and two bombers TVs and CVs. Long ago this would have been impossible as models mostly would not have existed (armaments in Miniature do some but importing is not easy at the moment) but with the rise of 3d printing I'm now good to fight the whole five days the Militaire Luchvaart (ML) did. 

Except for one plane type. The Douglas DB-8A/3N. Now I'm going to give anyone who doesn't know this plane a pass because in truth it is a rare bird, and until I was quite a ways down the rabbit hole before I even began to be aware of it. It is a bit more confusing because it is a variant of another slightly more well known plane but with a totally different name, and in Dutch service it was used in a role for which it was not designed or suited for, and all were lost in a single day (more later).

The DB-8A was a version of the Northrop A-17, aka the Nomad in UK service. This was a monoplane two seat attack bomber, essentially a dive bomber and a slight predecessor to the much more famous Dauntless. The A-17 entered production in 1935 and seems to have done reasonably well in the export market, and served with the USA, Peru, Sweden,  Iraq, the UK, South Africa Canada and of course the Netherlands. I'm only aware of the Dutch seeing action though I think the Iraqi ones may well have been used in the Anglo Iraqi war of 1941, which is a rabbit hole all of it's own. The rest were mostly used as trainers, patrol aircraft and target tugs by their various owners. Anyway, back to the Dutch. 

Being a bit contrary in all things air - have a look at the Fokker TV used a s a fighter, the Dutch thought the DB8 would fit well in the role of two seat fighter (!) with a side order of recce \ ground attack. My initial reading suggested the only unit equipped with them, 3V-2 LvR was wiped out on the ground on May 10th 1940 so they were pushed to the side of my mind for a time. Then I "did my own research" ie didn't rely on Wikipedia and bought a book!

It turns out they were not destroyed on the ground, and that a couple of flights managed to scramble and then in a series of rather desperate and valiant actions claimed at least three Luftwaffe planes before being overwhelmed by Bf110s.

So I now have a new, interesting and viable Squadron to model in Blood Red Skies. Where are the pictures I hear you ask?

Err the problem is, noone makes a model, or as far as I can see, even a viable .stl file. I'm regularly but gently badgering Roman Troyen of PlanePrinter fame, but this far my cries have fallen on deaf ears, which is a travesty of justice when you think he makes all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff. Ah well, until he get's around to it, it will have to be an unfulfilled dream.........

Hmm Anglo - Iraq war of 1941......................... 

 

Irish War of Independence - first game

In my previous post I explained the reasons why we were using a fantasy set of rules to refight the War of Independence, and the scenario we were trying out. So what actually happened?

The early morning peace was broken by the sound of a Crossley Tender approaching the farm gate. The IRA had five Volunteers awake, two sentries in the farm yard, and the Commandant and two Volunteers in the barn. The remainder were all sleeping. The Tender pulled up and the passengers, British Regulars guided by a local RIC Constable, quickly debussed and moved towards the farm gate and wall. They were here to check out a tip off, and it was a good one.

Table set up

Farmhouse and sentry

The Crown arrives

First shot came from an IRA Volunteer in the yard near the milk cart. He saw the khaki clad troops approaching, levelled his shotgun and fired. His aim (or dice roll) was good, and one of the soldiers dropped. This managed to alert the rest of the Column to the danger.

First shots

The Crown forces were now also aware there was opposition, and they lined the wall and returned fire. In the yard, the sentry was hit and fell. In the barn the Commandant started rousing his men, and put the other two who were already awake to provide some covering fire from the shelter of the barn door. 

The Army returns fire

Hold the doors!

A fire fight developed. Initially the two volunteers at the barn door were pinned down, but some very good shooting from them and the other sentry caused casualties to the Regulars. The RIC man tried to move up but was hit by a Mauser bullet and fell near the road. 

Meanwhile the Commandant had roused his men and they started to squeeze out of the barn through a narrow window and exit towards their pre arranged rally point. Just before he exited the table one Volunteer was hit from behind and was wounded.  

Making away

The Commandant covers the retreat

The Commandant joined the pair at the door and then stayed behind to cover their retreat. He could see the first sentry was down near the milk cart, but there was no way to reach the fallen man. Reluctantly he took a last shot and then ran to the back of the barn, then out through the window, expecting a bullet or bayonet to the back that never came. 

Volunteer down!

The reason the Crown forces made no attempt to pursue was obvious. They had several casualties and were much more concerned with getting their men back on the Tender and back to safety than chasing the fugitives. The would return with reinforcements later to find the farm empty. 

So how did it go? Actually the Quar Rhyfler's Pocket Book rules worked pretty much perfectly. The Republicans certainly had better dice, but we both thought we were on the right track and with a few tweaks will be our rules of choice for the War of Independence going forward.

Cheers

 

  

O'Malleys Farm - Irish Rebellion (with added Quar and "Grimsey") Part 1 - the scenario

Out for a pleasant drive. Rob's Crossley Tender and some of the passengers

I may have mentioned we have been playing Quar "Clash of Rhyflers" . Me and Rob H have also been looking for a set of rules to use for our Irish Rebellion project. The problem has been that our usual "go to" for 20th Century rules, Chain of Command, is set at a slightly higher tactical level than our games will be - ie CoC is a Platoon+ level where most of the engagements in the Rebellion are 10-20 guys a side.  As it turns out, a Grimsical set of fantasy rules about anteaters with guns is just the ticket. I've done a quick translation into our setting and we were keen to try them out, so on Thursday we went to Middlesbrough Games Club, and had a go.

Here is our first try at a scenario

O’Malley’s Farm June 1920 

It’s early morning on O’Malleys Farm. Part of the local IRA Flying Column is resting up in the barn. Unbeknownst to them, acting on a tip off from the local RIC, a squad of British Regulars is approaching the farm. 

Terrain The playing area is 2ftx2ft. The farm consists of a farmhouse and barn in the centre of the table surrounded by a stone wall with a road and hedges leading up to the farm gate. Both buildings are stone built and count as hard cover, as does the wall. Up to two figures or one LMG can fire from a window or door. There should be scattered trees and some wagons etc that will provide light cover scattered around the farm area. 

IRA - The “column” consists of 1 Commandant and nine volunteers.  One “card” worth of IRA are awake, with no more than 2 outside the barn on sentry duty. The remainder are asleep – count them as “Gobsmacked” and will take the usual expenditure of Actions to wake and grab their weapons. The IRA are armed with a mix of shotguns and rifles. One rifleman counts as a Marksman. The objective of the IRA is to exit the area with as many men as possible. No grenades are available.  

	Sk	Mt	Ma	Toughness	Equipment	Special
Commandant	13	1d6+2	5	4	Rifle	Leader 2\5
Volunteer	12	1d6+1	5	4	Rifle or Shotgun
Marksman	13	1d6+1	5	4	Rifle	Dead Eye

The British - The British consists of a squad of nine infantry, including one Sergeant and one Corporal. All carry Lee Enfield Rifles. They are accompanied by an officer of the RIC armed with a pistol. No grenades are available. The British start mounted in their Crossley Tender at the table edge on the road. Because we dont really have any rules for vehicles yet this is acting as a start \ jump off point.

	Sk	Mt	Ma	Toughness	Equipment	Special
Sergeant	13	1d6+2	5	4	Rifle	Leader 3/4
Corporal	13	1d6+2	5	4	Rifle	Leader 2/3
Private	12	1d6+2	5	4	Rifle	Support
RIC  Constable	11,	1d6+1	5	4	Pistol

Weapons

Weapon	Range band	Snap Shop	Notes
Rifle	8	-3
Shotgun	4	-1	Shotgun
Pistol	4	-1

Objectives 

IRA – Get Away! The IRA gains 5 Victory Points if more Volunteers leave the battlefield than are claimed as casualties. Otherwise the British gain 5 Victory Points. Alternatively, if the British suffer 5 casualties they will withdraw and the IRA will gain 5 Victory Points. 

Secondary Objectives.  

The IRA player may secretly designate one Volunteer as particularly important. If he leaves the battlefield the IRA gain 2 Victory Points, if he is killed the British gain 2 Victory Points, if he is captured the British gain 3 Victory Points.  

or  

The IRA player has a crate of weapons cashed at the farm.  He may choose to remove the crate by carrying it off the table, classing it as a heavy object, or hide it. If he successfully carries it off the table the IRA gain 2 VPs. If they hide it the British player makes a single skill check and finds it on a 6\- result or better. If the crate is found or recovered by the British they gain 2 VPs 

The British take the first turn. 

The Irish have local Knowledge – when the first card is drawn and discarded they may look at it. 

So that's the scenario, how did it go? Tune in next time :-)