Haitian Shock Markers and other ramblings....

A couple of items that have been in the queue for quite a while.

First up Haitian Regular shock markers, as the games have got slightly larger the need for more shock makers has reared it's head, these started out as British Militia from Trent Miniatures, but paint up reasonably well for the Haitian loyalists.

I have opted for two dice spaces to try and reduce the number of counters on the table.

They still need some static grass, something for Warfare tomorrow.

Next up a Warning Beacon from the Too Fat Lardies it fits nicely into the campaign and can serve as a jump off point or simply table clutter. 

The cage needed a repaint as in a moment of madness I painted it as if made of wood, that would not have lasted long once it was alight.

I used real twigs which did not look right so resorted to painting them, how mad is that.

The Insurgents below show the size comparison.

It's the annual trip to Warfare tomorrow as the Wyvern's lend a hand to Paul at Kallista with the Battle of Mohi. Another Hungarian adventure as the Mongols look to take on the might of King Bela IV and his heavy cavalry... More on this in future posts.

Reading is always a very relaxed affair, plenty of room to get around the table and the ability to wander off and make those purchases that you convinced yourself you did not need in the morning but felt the need to buy at 3.00pm

Meanwhile I have decided to have a clear out in the man cave and off load some of the periods that have had little game time over the past couple of years. I have been reasonably focused of late trying to expand existing projects or merging games e.g. V in Africa or Modern Russian - Sci-Fi.

The Spanish Civil War Collection is one of those that has lacked game time and the urge to expand the numbers to a second faction. A shame really as they are probably one of the best paint jobs and include a mix of Empress, Rif Raf and NorthStar, with unique head swaps.

If you can give them a home they are on E-bay now see the link below.

Spanish Civil War - Chain of Command

 

 

Chain of Command - Moroccan Infantry Section.

Last of the Spanish complete for the Wyvern Wargamers Chain of Command SCW Project.

A full Moroccan Infantry Section for Chain of Command with a couple of support options, with figures drawn from three separate manufactures, so plenty of variaty within the unit.

HQ section (Plana Mayor) which consisted of the Platoon Commmander, A first Lieutenant (Teniente), a Platoon 1st Sergeant (Sargento Primero) and two additional men.

 

The Section (Pelotone) consists three squads (Escuadras) of 15 Riflemen and an LMG team, which is able to be broke down into Two Rifle armed fire teams of 6 riflemen each and an LMG fire team of two gunners and three riflemen.

Spot the difference - Just noticed them when putting the pic up - one of the infantry is based on a 2p rather than a 1 pence piece - bugger.............

I have finished a support option of a mortar squad and tank hunter team, I suspect a few extras will be on the shopping list for Salute with an AT Gun, Cavalry squad and Tankette on the wish list, but this force for now should give me plenty to put on the table..... with the first outing in a couple of weeks lets just hope they dont succumb to the curse of freshly painted figures.....

Northstar SCW - Moors - Part 2

Last weeks all dayer proved to be just the tonic to kick start the painting season....

Unfortunately the last few weeks have seen little in the way of activity and these have been sitting at the foot of Lead mountain since Febuary, with the planned first outing @ the Wyverns in April, I need to put my foot down otherwise my platoon will be seriously under strength.

Dressed in the traditional Morrocan Chilaba Northstar's offering lack some of the finer detail of Empress but once painted and based compare well to the others.

The now customary comparison shot.
L-R  Rif-Raf, Northstar, Northstar, Empress, Northstar, Empress

Rif Raf Miniatures LMG Teams - Head Swaps

With the final infantry on the paint table for the SCW Morrocan infantry platoon, time to turn to a little more support.

I was not that enamoured by the Empress Miniatures LMG team, besides which it comes with a tank hunter team, which I am not convinced that I need more than one in any regular Chain of Command game.

So I picked up a the LMG pack from Rif-Raf which came in moving and firing poses which would give me enough to complete the fire teams for my platoon, unfortunately they were wearing steel helmets and side caps more suited to the Falangista than the Morrocans so time to take to the power tools.

Their heads were removed very easily with a craft knife with very little damage to the webbing or existing shirt collars, using Empress's Morrocan head spures I pinned their new heads and filled the joints. the Empress heads are a surprisingly good fit to the Rif Raf dollies and once painted you can't tell the difference.

 

I added two shock marker frames just in case I need to record both dead and shock results, but I don't feel they detract from the bases. As these Nationalist troops are in summer shirts the actual uniform design fits in well with the other uniform styles within the platoon already completed.

They compare well to the existing Empress LMG team and the use of Empress heads gives a good degree of uniformity - not a bad Saturday's work.

 

Northstar SCW - Moors

Another week another SCW offering, currently within the Nationalist ranks we have Empress Miniatures, Riff-Raff Miniatures who have produced the old Force of Arms range and now Northstar with a small range of Moors.

They lack a little detail in the battle kit and the weoponary when compared to the other ranges and are some what limited based around 4 single "dollies" but they compare well in height and stature providing further variation for the Morrocan Platoon.

In my haste to get them preped for painting they ended up on 2p's rather than 1 pence pieces which will set me back a couple of days, but as they are all in Morrocan Chilaba, they should not take to long to reach the table.

Rif-Raf Miniatures - Review Part 2

The Wyvern Wargamers latest project continues to take shape, in an earlier posting I uploaded a couple of pics of Rif-Raf Miniatures Moroccan Infantry these are now finished and have been added to the ranks of Spanish Nationalists. 

Once painted they mix in well with the Empress Miniatures and certainly add a more uniform feel to the ranks of the Army of Africa each wearing the small Turban with only the Officer wearing the Rexa.

Rif Raf Miniatures First and third from the left.

A Rif Raf Junior Leader and Empress Senior Leader

I have ordered a couple of packs of NorthStar's Moroccans lets see how they match up, more on those once they arrive in the post.

Rif-Raf Miniatures Moroccan Infantry.

The Moroccan reinforcements from Rif-Raf Miniatures arrived in double quick time, great service.

Direct comparison pictures between Rif-Raf and Empress proved hard to find so I thought I would post up a couple of pics.

The Rif-Raf miniature Moroccan's have a more regular feel than their Empress equivalent, I like the rolled shelves and the fact that they all wear the small Turban or Rexa rather than the red tarbuch.

Initial thoughts are that the Empress miniatures are easier to paint, the various equipment and rifles are more defined as to are the faces, Rif-Raf have a certain charm about them, they compare well in size and build and the poses are dynamic but not over the top. Both ranges fit in well together and their addition will reduce the number of duplicates within the platoon.

The weekend saw the remaining batch of SCW Moroccan's cleared from the paint table.
29 Down another, 34 to go.
 

LMG Fire team and additional Riflemen. 

50mm Mortar team, spotter and supporting rifles, I am pleased to say you can't tell these had their heads removed and replaced with a turban and a fez, its certainly given me the cofidence to carry our further modifications for the other support elements.

  

The Senior leader and NCO get ready to take to the field.