Rebasing DBA

Just a brief post about some rebasing I did this week. I've had these armies since v1.0 of the rules, but since I got a copy of v 3.0 recently I thought I'd update them to the new lists and freshen them up a bit.

Nebuchadezzar, or similiar

These armies are historical opponents from Book I, being Later Hebrews I/34c and Later Babylonians I/44b.

The Babylonian army

The figures are all Chariot Miniatures, until fairly recently available from Magister Militum.  But since MM closed down I have no idea who will now supply these again (if ever).

Later, Hebrews

I chose these opponents because I thought it would be interesting to pit spears and bowmen against a significant number of auxilia, which is what the Hebrews can field, as well as having a couple of heavy chariots for both sides.

Hebrew auxilia

Rebasing consisted of fixing the original thin cardboard stands to 2mm mdf from Warbases, and then adding my usual mix of coarse shelly sand painted in a sandy colour and dry brushed white.  I glued on some areas of 2mm dead grass from WWScenics and that was it. 

Serious congestion reported on the Jerusalem North Circular

I think these are very nice figures and I intend to give them an outing at some point, probably a solo game (as I slowly teach myself DBA v3.0) using the same solo rules used here.

Russians and French

I'm still expanding my 15mm Napoleonic Württemberg army, and intend to add more now that, at the time of writing, Warrior Minatures has commenced trading again (urrah!).

Russian Uhlans (Polish), Warrior Miniatures

In the meanwhile, here are some Polish and Tartar Uhlans in Russian service I finished recently.  

Russian Uhlans (Tartars), Warrior Miniatures

They can be difficult to distinguish, except that the shabraques are different and the Polish penant is blue above red, whilst the Tartar penant is the other way up, although the Tartars do also have red czapkas.

French Dragoons, Warrior Miniatures

The Württembergers also got some French allies, in the form of a regiment of dragoons.  These will eventually be supplemented by some French infantry, this time from Magister Militum, bought, sadly, in their closing down sale (whilst Warrior was offline).

Artillery limbers, Warrior Miniatures

Finally I have some artillery limbers.  These are actually Warrior ACW limbers, normally with two horses, which I modded slighly and then added more horses.  I painted them as Russian artillery, but they could be used for anything really.

Next up will be some more Württemberg cavalry and probably the French infantry, but I need to get around to painting them first.

Walls in Ruins

Further to my earlier post about some 15mm ancient city walls and buildings I'd made, I thought some evidence of violent siege would be in order.  So I made these.

Mind the gap

The idea was to have damaged sections that would match lengths of unbroken wall, so that these could be substituted in as necessary.

Rear view

The centre bit of wooden wall could also be removed to leave a gaping hole, if that was needed.

Something appears to be missing

The walls were made from cardboard and polystyrene fixed together with PVA glue.  Fine sand was then glued to the walls and painted.  The piles of masonry were made from polystyrene offcuts and were intended to hold the wooden wall in place.

Time to get the decorators in

Liberated wooden coffee stirrers were used to make the planking, undercoated in black then painted with a dark earth colour.  A couple of black washes were applied and then the wood was drybrushed with a beige or buff colour.

What, no crenellations?

Overall, I think they've worked quite well.  Just need a siege to try them out...

To be honest, the damage is barely noticable

 

Return of the Warrior

I was at the SESWC Claymore show yesterday in Edinburgh with Geoff (I may post some pictures of the show later on).and it reminded me again that I had intended to try to up my article rate on this blog (circa one post a year doesn't really cut it).   It also reminded me that one of the things I was going to write about was the apparent demise of many of my favourite miniatures (I hate the term 'minis') manufacturers in recent years.

15mm Cossacks, by Warrior Miniatures

Age, economic circumstances, global pandemics, ill health and whoever happens to be American President at the time have all taken their toll on manufacturers I have used and liked, and there have been a few whose loss I have been really quite sad about.  However, the good news is that this list isn't quite as long as I had thought it would be...

The first of these was the 'disappearance' of Roundway and Naismith, after their departure from Navwar.  I had always liked the Roundway 15 Napoleonic Russians and French (Naismith had their uses) but sadly they seem to have gone forever.  Then recently there has been Magister Militum and in particular their range of Chariot 15mm ancient figures.  It took me 15 years to collect and paint my DBM Lydian army but there are still a few small gaps (noting that by the time I'd finished, DBM had gone out of fashion).

Some indifferently painted Lydian auxiliaries, by Chariot Miniatures

Nevertheless, the good news is that there have been a couple of manufacturers that I thought had gone, but are now back (or rather they never went away).  The first of these is Navwar, which has an unparalleled range of 1:3000 warships amongst other things.  Sadly Tony Anderson died a year or so ago, but the operation is still carrying on, although there was a brief period when their website was down which made me fear the worst.

Navwar SMS Scharnhorst and squadron on homemade sea mat

However, the main thing that has prompted me to write this are the very glad tidings that Warrior Miniatures appears to be back in action, after quite a few years of nothing but a sign on their website saying they weren't taking orders due to ill health.  I'm so glad they are fit and well again, not to mention my gladness at the thought of those Russians and French I'm about to order from them.  Hallelujah.

The Württembergers are Coming

Having painted quite enough 15mm Napoleonic Russians for the time being (see various previous posts, plus this glorious AAR representing their first outing), I decided that having an opposing army of my own on hand might be useful.  I suppose I could have gone for the obvious one, the French, but decided that something from the Confederation of the Rhine might be more interesting.  Enter Württemberg.

Warrior Austrian infantry painted as Württembergers

Then there was the question of what figures to use.  As my Russian army is pre-1812, I decided Württembergers in helmets rather than shakos would be more appropriate.  Not easy to find in 15mm, but then I realised that early Austrians would do just as well if painted up properly, and the simple yet very effective range from Warrior Miniatures would be just the job.

Württemberg 1st and 2nd Regiments

From what research I managed, I discovered that at that time there were nine line regiments in the Württemberg army, with distinct facings and flags.

Württemberg 4th and 5th Regiments

I therefore decided to paint just the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Regiments because that matched the number of figures I'd bought and also the 3rd Regiment had dark blue facings which I knew would turn out the same as the tunic colour.  However, for the typical size of wargame I would be likely to run (e.g. using scenarios from One Hour Wargames, where six units in total is usually the maximum) I considered this enough to be getting on with.

Württemberg Light Infantry in open order

In addition to the line regiments I also painted up some Austrian infantry in shakos (each with its green 'turban') as Württemberg light infantry.  As you can see I had them deploying through an area of cleared woodland, the tree stumps being made from cloves liberated from the kitchen spice cupboard.

Württemberg Chasseurs a Cheval (Regiment Herzog Louis)

For cavalry I used Warrior's Austrian Cheval Leger and finished some as mounted Chasseurs a Cheval (green uniforms with yellow facings) and others as Württemberg Chevau-leger (blue uniforms with yellow facings).

Württemberg Chevau-leger (1st Regiment)

I also painted some of Warrior's Bavarian foot artillery as Württemberg artillery.  The helmets are probably not quite right but at 15mm who will notice.

Württemberg foot artillery

Finally, there was a general or two to paint.  I think these were Warrior Prussians but again who would be able to tell the difference.

A Württemberg general

Having completed all these I felt inspired to maybe add to the collection, such as getting some French allies for my compact Württemberg army.  However, sadly Warrior Miniatures is not currently active, although I have heard rumours that it will be coming back on-line sometime in 2025, which I really hope happens.