Dark Age Buildings Part 2

                              

A few more snaps of my Dark Age buildings made by Grand Manner, continued from my last post.  All of these are 28mm resin buildings.

Building Three - Small Dark Age dwelling thatched -timber and daub

There is a joy in trying techniques and then trying to add a few more refinements.  There is a muted-ness (is that a word?) in the colours used on these houses.  With the flakes of wattle and daub coming away there is an element of decay in these houses. An honest peasant sort of house with this being totally unassuming.  Airey, spacious with rustic charm, all terms that modern real estate people might call it.  

I know it was just fun to paint, and make it look lived in and blending in with the environment over time.  I imagine that the wafts of smoke from the open hearths would be the first thing that an approaching traveller might see, rather than the houses themselves which would blend in so well to the landscape.

Many of the colours used in all of the buildings were the same paints, but I tried very subtle differences just so they did not all look the same.

Building Four - Dark Age Medium Thatched Dwelling

This is one for the more upwardly mobile sort of peasant.  The porch must have been the social equivalent then of having a Ford Mustang in the drive.

Again I love the little touches that Grand Manner added.  The heavy fabric curtains, allowing an element of colour, the axe outside ready for more of the frequent log-chopping for the hearth.

This building is wood panelled throughout and I really was unsure initially how best to go about this. Again I decided that deep browns were not the way forward, leaning instead towards buffs and greys.

The internal details were a joy to paint.  The top shelf of the shelf unit was a detached item that was glued on after the lower shelf contents were painted.  This was a great idea and gave more space to wield the brush. It was fun painting the contents of the food baskets. I can't recall ever doing anything quite like that before!

Building 5 - Medium Dark Age Dwelling Thatched - Timber and Daub

Another simpler type of house but still enjoyable to paint. I was glad to finish these. I found I got engrossed in the detail and the temptation to keep adding more was ever present. 

Amazing to see that wood panel floors are back in again in popularity, a timeless classic look!

Just some animal pens to go in the next post.  These houses were great things to do as a different sort of project.  I didn't feel like painting intricate figures last week and I also wanted to practice my techniques as I also ordered a medieval town set just before the Grand Manner unpainted buildings offer expired.  These should arrive tomorrow!  

Dark Ages or Early Medieval Buildings - 28mm Grand Manner

 

The wanderer returns!  It's been a busy few months but hopefully normality is back. The first thing I have done since my return is to paint some Dark Age buildings...or early medieval, as it now seems to be called.

My intention for doing this was primarily for using them for the 'Dux Britanniarum' Rules.  I had play tested them but without using any objectives and found this was not fair on the rules. It really needed something to add the drama and purpose to the combats.  Hence a village.

The buildings are by Grand Manner, and I have long coveted owning some of their fine models. Alas the price was always beyond me.  I am one of those wargamers who has always been happy to invest in troops but rarely on terrain pieces.  This is changing for me now, I am glad to say. However, I noticed several months ago that Grand Manner were selling unpainted resin models for a limited period.   It was an offer too good to miss!  So I bought 7 buildings of various sorts.

Building One - 'A' Frame House

I would not class myself as a terrain modeller. I tend to stick with model soldiers, planes and vehicles. That kind of thing is in my comfort zone. I have had a go at scratch building bits and have done some building painting, but I always considered it passable rather than good.

I wanted to make a real effort on these.  One thing that helped was the very clear definition of the superb casting.  I realised that with washes and dry brushing I could probably get a good effect.    I set about studying as many real thatched buildings and model buildings on line.  One thing that was  apparent was how cut wood isn't really brown. It is almost anything but, but I think we tend to be used to seeing shades of browns with our modern shed paints.

So following some minor de-flashing, and washing, I applied a Vallejo Burnt Umber undercoat and off I went!  My method really involved applying lighter and lighter shades and then an Army painter wash or several and then re-highlighting.  This proved to be very effective.  

I really liked the small details in the houses that can be seen inside. These are all part of the wonderful resin casting and not something that I have added afterwards.

Building Two  - Wattle and Daub Store Hut

All of the buildings have so much character and were great fun to try techniques out on.  This store hut looked like it had seen better days, so I tried to find ways of ageing it.

The Army painter washes were great to apply to reduce some of the whiteness and introduce decay  to it.

I'll post the buildings in several parts as I seem to have to post one picture at time or they all go in reverse order. There must be a better way of posting pics.

Anyway,  I'll leave these for now and continue shortly (without a gap of 4 months this time!)

28mm - 1066 Norman Infantry - Victrix

A Happy New Year to you all!  I am just writing this in the last hours of 2021.  I know this is my 2nd post in less than a week after an absence of 6 months, but I wanted to do one more post to finish the year on.

These are the plastic 28mm Norman infantry from Victrix.  I must say that I really enjoyed building and painting these. There are many options of heads and weapons and I don't think that I have two in this selection (it is only about a third of the pack shown here!)  that are completely identical.  

The figures are slightly taller than the Old Glory, Conquest Miniatures, and Gripping Beast that my Norman Army is so far comprised of.  If I keep the Victrix figures in their own units then I think it will not cause issues.

I have been continuing to experiment with new painting techniques.  Mainly this is to try to speed up the process.  There are just so many things that I want to paint and spending a month on a unit is just too long.  I have bought a set of Army Painter washes and used these to do the lowlighting.

My method now subdivides into 4 'blocks': 1 Basic Painting - starting with  a black undercoat and then a semi drybrush of white to show details and yet leave black in the deepest creases. I then use light shades for the clothing and skin (in Foundry paint terms this is the lightest 'C' shade). This light method is continued on everything, wooden weapons shafts, leather etc. Only the weapons are not done with a silver but a medium metal shade.

This is then followed by 2. The Wash Phase - I apply appropriate washes. By appropriate I mean green wash over greens etc and flesh wash over skin etc.  Where there is no wash to match the colour I tend to use Army Painter soft tone.  Armour and weapons gets 2 coats of Strong tone.

Next is 3. The Highlight Phase - I go back over with the light colours on tops of creases and put detail on, such as eyes, lips etc, lace work,  hair and beards etc.

Finally phase 4. The Final Bits - this is black lining in (this should be minimal as the shades should have done the work), highlight metal with silver etc, dry brush Vallejo Iraqi Sand to bring out leather, wood, and hair detail. I also use a black paint pen to draw around the inside edge of the shields to sharpen them and introduce shadow.  Matt varnish spray and then semi gloss on plate armour and gloss varnish on sword blades and spear points.

I will no doubt change this process as I keep on doing, painting is a process of constant evolution after all.  I probably won't use this method on Napoleonics and will stick to my ABC Foundry/Dallimore system.  For troops of a more rough and ready era, the washes seem to do the trick and to be honest, I don't think they look any different to troops that I have spent considerably longer painting.

There are more pictures to follow below, but there is little more to say on the painting methods.  I am enjoying the quicker results for sure.

Interestingly I found a sheet of paper today that I wrote in 2013 listing my projects and future projects and giving them the status of 'not started', in progress, and 'playable armies'.   There were many armies either not started or in progress.  I was delighted to see that I could now turn most of these armies into 'playable' as the troops have increased in number since then.  

Each time I play a game now, I seem to make a list of anything that seems to be in too short a number and then proceed to place an order.  It does seem that each game I play now costs me around £50 now in orders made straight after the game to fill in troop gaps! 

Anyway, it's all part of the fun.

I wish you a HAPPY 2022!!!!

Battle of Hastings 1066 and Happy Christmas

 

Well, I'm back! That was a longer absence than I expected!  I was determined to get at least one more post in before Christmas, mainly to thank you all for your kind comments on my posts during the year, but also to wish you all a very Happy Christmas.

I have been busy painting and playing some excellent games too.  Since July, blogging posts have taken a back seat as my second job became busy and also the shooting competition season started in earnest (after having been postponed for so long due to Covid).  Something had to give and it was the blog posts.

I have lots of freshly painted units to take photos of and post but this is all going to take time. This might well be where the holiday period comes in very handy.

The posts below are from a very recent Battle of Hastings game. Ian commanded the Normans and I took charge of the Anglo-Saxons: 

As per the historical battle, the Anglo Saxons awaited upon Senlac Hill for the advance of the Normans.  The rules used were 'Hail Caesar' which ,when tweaked for the period of history being played, we generally find to be excellent.  

A few skirmishers seen leaving the Anglo-Saxon position to hurl sling-shot at the approaching Normans.  Various extra rules have been put in place. For instance Huscarls form the front rank. As soon as a unit becomes worn, the rear Fyrd fill the front lines and their stats are used instead.  This represents the fatigue and disproportionate weight of combat wearing out the Huscarls.

The Normans advance solidly onwards.  The Normans are a mix of Conquest Games, Old Glory and Gripping Beast.  I have just added Victrix Normans to their army (these are slightly larger but look fantastic).

The infantry melee begins!  The red dragon banner of Wessex in the foreground with King Harold attached ready for combat.

The red pipe-cleaners denote 'worn' status. The Normans attacking uphill into the axes and spears of elite troops suffer but they achieve their goal of wearing down the Huscarls.

Casualty markers increase among the Anglo-Saxons (Aeronautica Imperialis flight bases - most useful for the Stamina and excess casualties stats - they do need to be made prettier though!)

The worn markers start to appear too as the Norman cavalry rip holes in the Anglo-Saxon line. I might need to reduce the size of the pipe cleaners - it's interesting to see the pics and realise how ugly too many markers can appear

With the cavalry beaten off the Norman infantry return. This time they force the ridge.

Great gaps appear in the line.  In the picture above we see a Norman unit in retreat towards the retreating Anglo-Saxons. The reason for this is that the Norman unit had managed to flank the Anglo-Saxon's and the latter had to turn a unit to fight them. Having won, the Norman's run in the wrong direction. Alas the Anglo-Saxons now have an enemy to their own rear.

A view from the Norman lines as the gaps are ripped in the Anglo-Saxon shield wall and units break.  Ian commands the Normans to a great victory.  There are many losses to the Normans but that  means more booty to share among among the victors!  Another fabulous game!

As usual after a game, I look at the troops where I have shortfalls, and how a collection can be improved. Inspired by the game I usually make an order within a day or two and get painting on the new units.  I ordered Victrix Norman Infantry after this game. They really are superb figures and I still have 2/3rds of the order to paint up!

Anyway, Have a great Christmas and superb 2021 if I don't get to post again before!