Starting the Irish Brigade

 Hancock arrives and takes charge with his 2nd corps.

 Following a knee jerk impulse, I started the Irish brigade at last. This is the first batch to be blocked in then painted with Army painter Dip. Due to the strong tone being a bit ‘thick’, I tried out the soft tone instead. I actually think it works better on the light blue trousers.

 I gave some of the Irish brigade grey trousers as beloved by illustrated uniform books, just to cover myself. However, the majority will be the standard sky blue colour. Likewise with the uniform, I have scattered a few shell jackets in there for the New York side of things, but most will be the standard sack coat.

 I wanted these veteran fighters to be quite dynamic so opted for skirmishing poses from Redoubt, the heads are from Steve Barber models and are his Irish heads. I quite like them because they have box wood and harps etc pinned to their kepis. Not quite sure if they did this for the three days at Gettysburg but it does make them stand out from the rest of the army and gives them some nice Irish character.

By the time of Gettysburg the Irish brigade was the smallest brigade on either side, having been decimated in earlier conflicts. Armed with smooth bore muskets, firing buck and ball, these tough fighters would push on to take the Stoney hill at Gettysburg in the battle for the wheat field.

Moving on up

 It’s that time again after every big basing day where troops get loaded into trains and sent up country. This latest bunch of blue bellies set off to join their new brigades...up stairs.

 The filthy orcs too start to pack up and move out.

 The only problem is they are running out of space,

Basing ACW

 Again a basing of Luke APS ‘Arid grassland’ seals the deal with these Union troops. Onto this a layer of mixed herbs are added. I think this is a really important part for these guys as the effect is one of dead leaves and undergrowth. To me it helps give the American look. Also they are dead easy to find in the shops and are cheap to buy, a must for any civil war gamer I say.

On top of these layers I put a few patch’s of 4mm grass with the flock box. You could use tufts but I think the Flock box gives a better result.

 A look at bases with and without the mixed herbs. To get that real American taste... always add a few mixed herbs!

 I always end up arranging five bases after I read in ‘Regimental Fire and Fury’ that the Irish brigade at Gettysburg accounts to this on the board. A whole brigade whittled down to the size of a small regiment. Well I have the Irish brigade under coated and ready to go, however there are many more than these five bases. Maybe have to play earlier battles with them.

Basing in the Afternoon

 The fantastic discovery of  Lukes APS Ready made ground scatter has saved me a ton of time when it comes to basing. The Arid grassland mix is perfect for these fantasy figures, it is also great for most things including ACW and AZW.

 Wood glue then a dunk in the ready mixed ground cover and the job is done. I always try a sprinkling of mixed herbs and then some static grass to finish the job.

 Twigs from the garden make good fallen logs.

Another great find in my war games hobby was the Flock Box, the results you get from it are superb and very realistic. It can get a bit of a chore if like me you have 30 little bases to crank through, however, the the effort is always worth it. The effect is great!

Green Stuff Night

 I have had this Ogre chieftain from Reaper for a couple of years now, as I thought he would make a good leader for my Gundabad trolls. To my surprise he was a good size and really looks the part with his huge mace. So, as I have a bit of free time tonight I thought I would quickly try to bash out some green stuff creations. The Elves too have been needing cloaks for a while so I put them on the to do list. Again, quite quick jobs once you have cut out the shape from a piece of rolled out green stuff.

 I brought down one of my Gundabad trolls for comparison and a good job I did, for my first attempt was too small and had to be added to. Although the Hobbit movies were quite poor, they do have a lot of good designs in them and I was always taken with these troll helmets.

 The surgeon’s table is ready, let the conversion begin.

 Elf cloaks, I have tried to make these a bit flowy to show movement. After all they are nimble Elves in their soft dancing shoes twirling and gliding around the battlefield.

 This is the last thing you see from your trench.

 I gave the chieftain and couple of axe cut across his helmet, at first I thought I had ruined him but they are kind of growing on me. Once painted I shall try to make them more obvious. He leads from the front and it shows.

The good thing about modelling orc and troll armour is, it doesn’t have to be perfect. If it’s a bit wonky... that’s fine, orc smiths are pretty shoddy at best. This thing has been crudely hammered out of old bits of iron and bolted together, not a straight line in site.

 The Dark Alliance troll for scale, a nice fit with the slightly bigger Reaper bones model.

Two tribes go to war...

Orc filth storm the ramparts.

Basing this lot I was aware of how fragile some of the plastics are compared to the metal figures. The guys with the really delicate stuff I tried to put into the middle of the bases surrounded by their stronger lead brethren. We will just have to see how they stand up to wargames, they should be alright as the plastics have the ability to bend rather than break.

 Now it was time to put this new lot along side the last batch completed earlier this year. Funny enough that last lot numbered six bases also, very handy for making units. Three units for Oathmark with their four bases each.