Monday, December 31, 2012

Happy New Year !!!

Happy New Year to you all !!!

I want to thank you all that have visited my blog during the year, I hope you have appreciate to read my blog as much as I have writing it, I´m also very glad for all nice comments on my blogpost. I realy hope that you will return next year;)

I thought I would round up this year in some numbers:
  • Painted only 28mm minis during 2012.
  • 1 Tripp to Salute, was a greate thing and also got a new mate, Stephen, that guided me aroud London and Salute, Thank you very much !
  • 1 Pro-painted mini in my possesion, got it painted for free thanks to Andres at Einar Olofson painting.
  • 1 Interview for a gaming magazine;)
  • 2 New gaming mates drafted to the club, Jonas and Sören, Thanks for all nice gaming this year, I hope for more next year.
  • 3 Viking ships built and painted
  • 5 Wagons/Sledges painted and builded
  • 5 Tents painted
  • 16 Beasts of burden painted
  • 21 ish Cavalry minis painted
  • 25 Tree bases made
  • 30 ish After Action Report posted at my blog :)
  • 40 Yeras of age...
  • 100 ish rebased Arthurian minis
  • 180 Blog posts
  • 273 Followers:) Thank you all !!!
  • 360 ish infantry minis painted
I´m surely forgotten some thing...

Here are some last pictures for 2012 of a couple of minis I painted for a mate, Tony, for he´s later 14th century Danish army.


They are painted in the Coat of Arms of the House of Thott.
.

The minis are from the Perry Agincourt to Orleans range and the pack AO23 Foot command standing I made some minor conversions on them both...


The left one got a new shield (an old GW Bretonnian shield I think) and I switched he´s sword for a GB axe


The right one gor a  Danish axe (using a GB plastic axe) instead for the warhammer he got and a head swap, I used a welsh? head from West Winds Arthurina range and modelled on the long hair with some green stuff.

One again...

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Medieval Sledge #2

Here are some pictures of the second Medieval Sledge/Fora that I built for my Baltic Crusade Project. Might have to build me a 3rd one to...
















Saturday, December 29, 2012

Christmas Gifts

Back in Stockholm after "Chrisymas Tour 2012" to Darlecarlia and all the relatives, I thought I would show you some of the gifts that Santa brought...

I and my gaming mate Jonas have discussed to game some Musket era gaming, Jonas had the Muskets & Tomahawks rules and thought they would be fun to test thhem out, I suppouse I wasn´t to hard to convince that this was a good Ideea...

At first I thougt I would re-base my Perry AWI Woodland Indians, but then I had a look around the webb and found the stunning Woodland Indians made by Lance at Galloping MajorWargames,

So some of the Galloping MajorWargames Mohawks found there way to the top of the wishlist with the Muskets & Tomahawks rules... and it seems that Sanata read my wishh list...Its good to have a wife that have a good connection with Santa and explains the wishlist;)

A picture of wahtt Santa brought:


The the Osprey Raid Tomahawk and Musket book was a supprise I wasnt expecting and Socks are always good to hace:)

Close up of the Mohawk War Party box, 5 bags of minis and a Painting Guide:)


Just so you know, you won´t get your GallopingMajor Minis in a Nice gift box as I got... as I made it my self, as the gift was to be delivered at the big family Santa wisit, and it look much nicer to get a box then some loose miniature bags;)

Since I helped Santa to ordered my custom Mohawk War Party it seems that Lance have made it available in he´s webshop for you all to order:)

Here are a picture of the 25  minis that are included:


If you want the box cover i made you have it here:




Friday, December 28, 2012

Medieval Sledge #1

Here are some more pictures of the first finished medieval Sledge I buillt for my Baltic Crusade Project, In Swedish they are called "Fora". Horse and Minis from Perry miniatures.










Thursday, December 27, 2012

Building a "Fora"

As you know I have built med some medieval sledges or in Swedish "Foror" or in singular "Fora".

This is not realy a tutorial just some pictures showing the different stages during my work with the 2 sledges.

The horses are from the Perry WotR WR 29 Wagon horse team, I used the two back horses and the rider, just gave him some winter clothes. For the other sledge I used the coachman from the Perry RN 34 Single horse peasant/Cossack waggon, just added a bit of grean stuff to his cap.

The sledge was build of 1.5mm plasticcard about 45mm x 25mm, the sides are about 7,5mm high. I used som sprues to build the skids.

At the bottom of this post you can find some short films about driving a Swedish Fora/Sledge.

























Monday, December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas !!!



Merry Christmas to yu all ! I hope that you will get a realy nice holliday and that Santa will come and visit you all.

Here in Sweden Santa will bring the gifts today the 24th :) I know that many of you have to wait untill tomorrow.


These pictures show the first of my scratch build medieval sledges, or "Fora" in Swedish,  for my Baltic Crusade Project, I realy hurried the completion of this one so it would be ready today;) 

I plan to put some pictures up during the week of how I built them.


The horse are from the Perry WoTR range and the Driver ar from the Cossac Wagon in the Perry  Napoleonig range. The "gifts" on the sledge i´m not sure, have got them around for some time.


I thought that santa could need some proper escort to get through the heathen ares and bring the christmast gifts to you all;)




Sunday, December 23, 2012

Good use of Perry black boxes

Just got to show you what we used some of all the small Black Boxes one get from Perry Miniatures to...

a Christmas Calender for the beloved Daughter...

Each box containded a small gift or if it was a some what larger gift the box contained a treasure map so she had to search for it...it all seems to have been very appreciated....and now there are just one left...



Saturday, December 22, 2012

Philadelphia Brigade Commander

Last? post about my ACW interlude painting the Union Philadelphia Brigade...

Every brigade needs a competent and brave commander, so let me introduce the Commander over my Philadelpia Brigade.

The minia are the givaway from Salute 2011, I wasn´t there but I got from a friend that attended and was kind enought to donate the mini, Thanks Keith !

So here are some pictures of the hero and a short historical re-cap of the brigades adventures during the american civil war.


The regiments in the Philadelphia Brigade were originally designated as California regiments. Some residents on the West Coast wanted California to have a military presence in the Eastern army and asked Oregon Senator Edward D. Baker to form a regiment to be credited to that state. Baker was able to recruit a regiment from Philadelphia, designated the 1st California. By October, he increased his command to a brigade, adding the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th California regiments, all of which were from Philadelphia. After his death at the Battle of Ball's Bluff, Pennsylvania claimed the regiments as its own and renamed them as the following:

the 1st California became the 71st regiment;
the 2nd California became the 69th regiment;
the 3rd California became the 72nd regiment;
the 5th California became the 106th regiment.


Now commanded by Brig. Gen. William W. Burns, it was then assigned to the Army of the Potomac's II Corps as the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division. It fought in the Peninsula Campaign, during which the 69th was credited by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker with making "the first successful bayonet charge of the war" at the Battle of Glendale. It also fought during the Seven Days battles, including Allen's Farm and Savage Station; at Malvern Hill it was posted on the Union right with the rest of the II Corps and consequently wasn't engaged during the battle. At the Battle of Antietam, the brigade, now commanded by Brig. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, was part of Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick's attack near the West Woods. The division ran into stiff resistance and was then attacked in the flank. Most of the division was routed, including the Philadelphia Brigade; some companies had no time to return fire before being caught up in the rout. The brigade lost 545 men in as little as ten minutes.


When Sedwick was wounded during the battle, Howard took command of his division and Colonel Joshua T. Owen of the 69th regiment took command of the brigade. In the Battle of Fredericksburg the following December, the brigade participated in the assault on Marye's Heights. The 71st regiment was assigned provost duty in the city, so Howard transferred the 127th Pennsylvania to the brigade to replace it. The Philadelphia Brigade made it part way up the slope of the ridge but the rest of division failed to advance at the same time; both this and Confederate fire halted its advance. During the battle, the brigade lost 258 men, with the 127th Pennsylvania suffering 146 casualties. During the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, Brig. Gen. John Gibbon's division (of which the brigade was a part) initially remained in their winter camps to act "as a decoy while the rest of the army marched." On May 3, the division supported Major General John Sedwick's attack on the Confederate rearguard at Fredericksburg and remained in the city afterwards to guard the city and the bridges across the river.


Just before the Battle of Gettysburg, Brig. Gen. Joshua T. Owen was relieved of command and replaced by Brig. Gen. Alexander S. Webb, in the hopes of improving the discipline of the brigade. During the battle, it defended Cemetery Ridge near the famous Angle on July 2 and July 3, 1863. On the evening of July 2, it helped drive Brig. Gen. Ambrose R. Wright's brigade back after it captured a portion of the ridge and recaptured a cannon. The 106th advanced as far as the Codori Barn near the Emmitsburg Road and the 72nd advanced just over the stone wall, before both regiments withdrew to their previous positions.

On July 3, eight companies of the 106th were sent to Cemetery Hill (the other two were deployed along the Emmitsburg Road as pickets); the 71st was briefly sent to Culp's Hill but was later moved back to the Angle. Half of the regiment was posted at the portion of the wall closest to the Confederates while the other half was 50 yards to its right-rear. The 69th manned the wall to the left of the 71st. The 72nd was posted in reserve behind the copse of trees. Two companies of the 106th returned to the Angle and placed in reserve with the 72nd (the remainder of the regiment stayed on Cemetery Hill). During Pickett's Charge, the left wing of the 71st retreated from the stone wall, allowing the Confederates to pour over. The 69th refused its right to protect its flank; however, the 59th New York, on its left also retreated and due largely to the overwhelming Confederate numbers, the 69th was unable to hold its position and was slowly pushed back. Company F was accidentally left isolated and was engulfed by the attacking Confederates.


The 72nd and the two remaining companies of the 106th behind the copse refused to counterattack. Webb was able to rally the 71st and move it in line with these two units; when he attempted to get these units to advance to retake the wall but the regiments refused to move. The delay might have been caused by the color bearers of the 71st being shot down (regiments in the Civil War usually followed the movement of the unit's flag, since orders were hard to hear on the battlefield). After other Union regiments joined in the counterattack on Pickett's Division, Webb was able to get his brigade to charge as well; although he was wounded in the groin, Webb refused to leave the field. The brigade was able to capture four battle flags (of the 3rd, 9th, 53rd, and 56th Virginia Infantry).


After Gettysburg, the brigade continued to serve in the Army of the Potomac, from the Overland Campaign to the surrender at Appomattox Court House, often losing heavily. Owen was restored to command of the Philadelphia Brigade (Webb was transferred to command of a different brigade) and the 152nd New York Infantry was added to the brigade. Owen's superiors continued to complain about his performance as a commander; at Spotsylvania Court House, his brigade was ordered to make a reconnaissance in force against the Confederate lines but Owen was absent for unexplained reasons, forcing another brigade commander to take over. The brigade last fought as a unit at the Battle of Cold Harbor, where Owen both failed to have his brigade ready for the June 3rd assault on time and also failed to participate in the attack as his division commander intended. As a result for this incident and for the attack at Spotsylvania, Owen was relieved of command and mustered out of service. On July 22, 1864, the brigade was broken up. The majority of the 71st and 106th and the entire 72nd were discharged. The remaining men of the 71st were merged into the 69th and the 106th reformed as a four-company battalion. 


During the war, the brigade lost 3,533 men out of a total 5,320 men who served in the unit, a casualty rate of 64%.

Now back to the Medieval times before the next interlude...


Thursday, December 20, 2012

Can´t see the forest...

...for all the trees...

I have made me some more bases with trees.



You might already seen them in a AAR at this blog;)


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

72nd Pennsylvania Regiment/Baxter´s Fire Zouaves

So here are the pictures of the last of the 4 regiment in the Philadelphia Brigade the 72nd Pennsylvania Regiment (3rd California Regiment) or Baxter´s Fire Zouaves.

This was the unit that was most fun to paint, as the perry Zouaves dosen´t have the option for kepis and I didn´t have the energy or inspiration to convert them all I chose to make a mix of different Zouave headgears. I´m not sure if Baxter´s Fire Zouaves wore red firemen skirts, but they give good contrast and makes the unit stand out, so I painted some anyway;)

Now I have worked my way through the 80 minis I got for this little Interlude project, just 1 minis left the Brigade Commander...pictures of him in a day or two:)

Minis from the Perry Plastic Zouaves kit with a few metal Foundry minis mixed in. Flags ofcourse from Flag of War.


The 72nd was recruited from among the firemen of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in early August 1861, with DeWitt Clinton Baxter as its colonel, Theodore Hesser as lieutenant colonel, and J. M. De Witt as major. It became part of Edward D. Baker's California Brigade, also composed of Pennsylvania regiments with California designations. After Baker's death at the Battle of Ball's Bluff, Pennsylvania reclaimed the regiments as its own, and each unit was redesignated with a new numeral. After some months of patrolling along the Potomac River, the 72nd was transported to the Peninsula. It saw its first action at the Battle of Seven Pines on May 1, 1862. During the Seven Days Battles, it supported the army's rear guard.


The 72nd was transferred to northern Virginia too late to fight in the Second Battle of Bull Run but did see light skirmishing at the Battle of Chantilly. At the Battle of Antietam, the regiment participated in the attack on the West Woods, being routed along with much of the rest of the division. Nearly half of the regiment was lost, including several officers killed.


At the Battle of Gettysburg, it defended the Angle on July 2 and 3. On the evening of the 2nd, it helped defeat Confederate Brigade General Ambrose R. Wright's attack, advancing just over the stone wall. The next day, it was placed in reserve for the brigade near the copse of trees. During Pickett's Charge, its position served as a rallying point for the left wing of the 71st and two companies of the 106th Pennsylvania, which had been driven back. Despite Brigadier General Alexander S. Webb's best efforts, these troops refused to counterattack for several minutes. This might have been due to the 71st's colorbearers being shot down. (Civil War regiments often followed the regimental flag since orders would have been difficult to hear on the battlefield.) At Gettysburg, Col. Baxter replaced the wounded General Webb in command of the Brigade, and Lt. Col. Hesser replaced him in command of the 72nd Regiment.


The unit fought well during the Overland Campaign and in the beginning stages of the Siege of Petersburg. On June 24, 1864, the regiment was mustered out of service.

A total of 1,600 men fought in the 72nd, of whom 1,053 became casualties, a 65% casualty rate.