Plans for Lobositz

As mentioned yesterday, I am doing little bits, slowly moving forward. For instance last night I started basing my Panzerjager Abteilung for my Cavalry Division as well as starting to paint my Prussian Army in 6mm.

King Frederick with IR3

This is more of a project moving forward and I've got a scenario both for Volley and Bayonet and Honours of War for the Battle of Lobositz - the first major battle of the Seven Years War. So as such I'm going to base my Infantry up by Regiment to match the Regiments that were there - I know most of the time I won't be able to match it up perfectly but I wanted some variation between units. In 6mm this is quite basic but I reckon I can detail lapels, collars, cuffs and turnbacks. As such I have used Kronoskaf to work out what regiments had what - I also have a set of the colours from Baccus to distinguish further.

Regiment	Lapel	Collar	Cuff	Turnback
3	None	Red	Red	Red
5	Cream	Cream	Cream	Red
7	Pink	Pink	Pink	Red
9	Red	Red	Red	Red
13	White	White	White	Red
17	White	White	White	Red
20	Red	Red	Red	Red
21	None	Red	Red	Red
27	Red	Red	Red	Red
30	None	None	Red	Red
36	None	White	White	Red

In total for the Prussians I will need the following (with what I have the models for in brackets):

• 11 Infantry Regiments (12)
• 2 Grenadier Regiments (4)
• 1 Hussar Regiments (3)
• 4 Dragoon Regiments (3)
• 9 Kurassiers (6)
• 4 Artillery (6)

So there are a few bits I need (and obviously an OPFOR) but its a strong start.

Little By Little

I know it seems like a flurry of action but there's not actually much happening - just a little by little - mostly just finishing off the odd bit. But if I clear a bit of space I can get on with some more complete projects which will hopefully be a bit more impressive. And I'll also post a picture showing everything!

Last Nights Work Drying

Shocking picture I know but I was hiding out in the shed. At the back, left to right there is a Sdkfz222 which just needs cavalry markings, 3 HMGs which need texture and my Bicycle Battalion HQ. On the front row from Left-Right, I've got the 3 Early War Panzers which just need divisional markings, 6 StuG III/StuH '42 which I've given a wash to try and reduce how bright yellow they look. Finally in the shadows is my Brigade Command stand for my final Canadian Infantry Brigade - this brigade has been half painted for a long time so a bit of work and should be able to significantly increase my force.

Brigade Command

Its an excessive vehicle but there is no Divisional Commanders in Spearkrieg Commander so I'd rather use it for this than have it sitting around doing nothing. Also helped that I had a spare finished officer model from when I downsized my command stands.

Panzer Grey

Continuing this no plan painting action; some of which is because my polyfilla ran out so I can't base anything right now.

First I pulled out my small collection of Early War Panzers and decided to repaint them. Unfortunately I seem to have lost most of their turrets so I am left with a single PzIII 37mm, 2 PzIII 50mm and a PzIV with a short 75mm. However having painted them in a lighter grey I then used a brown wash and they look really good. I just need to add some appropriate markings and base them and this can be the core of a battlegroup to support my cavalry. Better pictures will follow.

Panzers!

 I'm also fleshing out my Cavalry - painting support weapons and starting on the building blocks for the 2nd Regiment.

HMGs

Whilst I had the grey out I've been working on my elephants (the cavalry have gone away to make some room). So far I think they look ok.

Heffalumps

Still doing bits and bobs - need to get more bases and just keep motoring. Still got a brigade of half painted Canadian Infantry to finish!

German EW Bicycle Battalion

Just to prove I am painting and its not all words:

Bicycle Battalion

The glues still drying on the bases but this is the core of the battalion. As per usual Pendraken figures and I have the command stand and support elements still to do but they should take little time.

To be honest I'm not necessarily working very efficiently for the purposes of the blog - what paint time I get now is wedged into small time gaps so I try and get as much done in one go as possible. So at the moment I have these, early war German support elements (37mm ATGs, MG42s, Mortars), Fallschirmjager AA Support, Numidian Cavalry, Carthaginian Forces, Prussian Seven Years War Infantry (in 6mm) all on my table - you can see some of the mess in the background.

Now I need an actual rule set to use for Seven Years War (6mm). I'm probably going to base battalion groups on 3" x 1.5" bases as per Volley and Bayonet but I've also got a copy of Osprey's "Honours of War" rules which use multiple stands per battalion. Now I might be able to amend these and use markers to show casualties, formations etc but are there any others people could suggest?

Brexit

First of all, I voted in. And the fact that the UK has voted to leave both angers and scares me both for my own and my kids futures. But I'm not going to discuss my reasoning here - I'll just get angrier.

So what I am going to discuss is how I'm going to react. First of all I'm going to really stop procrastinating with life, this means more, more of everything.

1. Accountancy course - at least one evening a week spent on this (preferably more)
2. Increased painting - well more a clear out of my models - this will mean selling most of my old stuff which I'm never going to do anything with.
3. I have long wanted to emigrate or at least live out of the country for a year or 2. This is for me and my kids to experience the world. I've always delayed and thrown up reasons why I shouldn't - maybe finally I have something to push me.
4. More Fitness - so American Football, taking kids for runs etc
5. More Ink - by that I mean some ink.

In other news, does anyone have any good resources for uniform guides/recommended rulesets for 7 Years War? Got a start on a Prussian Force in 6mm for this.

Underpainting

So I had a couple of hours to myself this weekend and decided to review what minis I had. And all in all wasn't a bad time productivity wise.

My bicycle battalion got there texture added to their bases ready to be painted, and a few other early war cavalry support assets got undercoated. Also decided to undercoat my Carthaginian Army or at least bits of it before the spraycan ran out - this is a project I started over 5 years ago - woops! If I get on with this I might - might I say - get a Republican Roman Army to face them.

In other news I also wondered if anyone had any experience with RPGs in a box. I've got a few actual RPG sets but its really hard to get the continued interest in people to come along and play and really get into it. I also really want to play for once rather than DM. So suggestions and volunteers please!

Withdrawal Symptoms

So I've not been to Lancaster Wargames Club in quite a while now (apparently its surviving without me) and I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms. I still think I've made the correct decision and American Football is really clicking with me (Outside Linebacker/Safety/Aceback) and my team (Morecambe Bay Storm) are coming together.

Despite this I still feel the pangs of missing battling it out on tabletop (Rome Total War only goes so far) and me and the missus seem to be playing less boardgames for whatever reason.

I had a look at my 28mm Vietnam stuff the other day but I've not got the energy to run a Tour of Darkness campaign and I don't have enough for a full company action.

So I'd like to play a WW2 game at mine - I have scenery, a table, a few ideas and models. This is an open invite to the people of Lancaster (UK) to come along and play a game which could turn into a linked campaign depending on how it goes.

If someone has early war Russians or indeed Poles - these guys want a run out.