1812 Overture (no cannons)

 Having received my 1812 The Retreat from Moscow rule book I got straight to work on gathering the necessary terrain - which is helpfully listed in the rule book.

Luckily I had my snowy mat already (aka white table cloth)

I had also purchased earlier this year 80 n-scale pine trees for no real reason other than they were cheap. Some of these needed to be sprayed with a little white paint and based in snow.

Also in the terrain mountain were some n-scale tree armatures which with spray and basing would be snowy deciduous trees.

Some fences that I had bought last year from Pendraken that had been unsuitable for the purpose in mind would also be handy.

I needed to buy 6 buildings so went for my favourite cheap ones. The same as that had recently been featured on the blog as Chinese farm houses. While there were some card ones available, these would nearly be the same price with postage from overseas.

I also needed snowy rivers and roads/tracks. I already had these in paper terrain so printing them out and adding to magnetic paper, a bit of white paint and snow flock and I am done.

To cross the rivers I will need three bridges. These were built up out of toothpicks.

Then come the various markers that need to be made up. These I have made from small coloured discs and simply labeled.

Some piccies!

I  have set up the largest scenario which is meant to be four foot square. As I am playing in 10mm I have converted this to 50cm square. Everything is there but the buildings are not yet painted. Excess trees are on the left.

A bit of a closer view. Not quite perfect to the design but it is all there. REP markers are where the Russians arrive from and blue exit markers for the French to reach.

Roads are a bit iffy where they are overlaid but being magnetic they should not slide about too much.
The fences don't quite match the scenario layout but are close enough for me.

Another overview. In the top right corner is the French entry point, a Russian Entry Point, and a second green marker which identifies the last place Russians appeared. This is necessary for determining where they will appear next turn.

Loot markers added, not necessary in the last scenario. I have made a simple Regimental Eagle to add for the last scenario.

Closeup of my trees. I am quite pleased with these, although the the pine trees are a bit bright.

One of my bridges. As I was adding the snow piles I realised I could add one, two, or three piles each so they can be easily identified if ever necessary.

The figures have been readied for painting. They are in their summer uniforms, but at this scale with a bit of paint this will not be a problem.
I am going to base them on some clear plastic discs which should make them stable enough.

So now I am nearly ready. I am currently painting the British Napoleonic artillery and once done the 1812 troops are next. So fingers crossed a game before winter is over (down here)

Blogging Restart

 After a absence of four months I am restarting the blog. I know the internet has been filled with speculation and unfounded conspiracies relating to this catastrophe but I will set the record straight 😁

 In March there was a re-arrangement of my household which caused what was to be a short interruption but extended due to laziness, a lack of things to post, a secret project that took my hobby skills elsewhere and a three week adventure in Europe from which I have recently returned.

The secret project will be revealed in January next year, the laziness was caused by an excess of Napoleonics to be painted, and the three week adventure in Europe to be reported on in due course.

To get myself back on track I decided on a terrain project as this always helps my hobby mojo. So reviewing 2025 purchases of a Chinese VSF army I have completed the additional terrain necessary to play it once I get around to painting it.

First up some appropriate buildings.

I purchased two European type farm houses in MDF and added the bits in white to make them a bit more Chinese influenced.

This is the sort of thing I was looking for.

This is my final result

And the second building with some French colonial oppressors for scale

 

I also bought three Great Wall card models that can be placed in a line for my own Great Wall. These stretch 90cm together so will look OK on the table. Here the French are place holders showing how the walls are just the right size for 10mm. The large tower can fit an artillery piece while the rest of the wall will easily fit 6 bases of infantry.

So while these will never win any awards they work quite well for the few times they will be used. 😂

My travels in Europe took me to Amsterdam, Bruges, and Brussels so look forward to posts on each of those. When in Brussels I took the time to go to Waterloo for the day so may do a post just on that.

Other hobby news. 

I purchased the Pazzoot Retreat from Moscow campaign and Pendraken miniatures so hopefully when that turns up I get cracking and paint it, although I will also need to get some terrain for it as well. 

For nostalgia reasons I have also purchased the rereleased Airfix Romans and Gauls, and the Robin Hood and Sheriff of Nottingham sets as well as the medieval castle. The plan for these is to make HoTT armies  to add to the other 1/72nd scale HoTT armies I don't use.

I also have purchased a 1/144 scale Landing Ship Tank, which is a particularly pointless purchase but does have an amusing (to me anyway) story - of years of longing, inspiration, success, rejection, regret, and finally redemption -  to go with it.

And also I have started my British Napoleonic army so hopefully this starts to appear as well.

So a full line up and I hope to keep up a regular 2-3 posts per month.

Napoleonic Parade

 Normal programming has returned.

A parade of my French and Dutch Napoleonic armies.

Both have had their bases freshly flocked to make them presentable on any wargamers table!

The French Army was painted in the second half of 2025 while the Dutch were painted in late 2022 or early 2023.

All figures from Pendraken in 10mm

A bird's eye view* of the battlefield. The French force in the foreground are attacking the Dutch across the river who are defending their windmill.

* actually one of the Montgolfier brothers.

I have updated my terrain as well. With new streams and rivers and roads that have all been flocked on their edges to blend in better as well as being based on  1mm magnetic adhesive paper. This lies a lot flatter than when thicker material I used before. 

I have also made some additional fields and bought some cows and sheep to add for scatter terrain.

Just the Dutch

And the French from overhead

French from their front

Closeup of M. Napoleon surrounded by his favourite things. The Old Guard to the right, the Grenadiers to the left, and the Grand Battery to the front. (and a nice place to sleep behind him)

French from the side

Dutch at an angle

Atmospheric shot of the French through the trees. (Ridley Scott will be quietly jealous)

Now he will be furious.

There is a lot of the little buggers!

Not so many Dutch.  Where are the damned British!

When will the British turn up? When will a game of Napoleonic's be played?

Stayed tuned ..... but not soon.

I think we will be going Victorian before we go back to Napoleon. (And maybe fast forward to the 400th century, but nothing is set in stone it is all written in the sands of the desert 😁)