Ready-painted and affordable wargame units

Midnight Studio proudly announces that we will be regularly completing ready-made units using affordable miniatures such as plastic 1/72 figures and hard plastic 28mm. They will be painted to a basic standard - blocked colour, wash, and some limited highlighting- which nonetheless looks good on the wargame’s table. They offer the wargamer a relatively cheap introduction to new periods and an affordable means of collecting and gaming with large forces. They will be sold of eBay and future releases include American Civil War infantry (1/72), Seven Years War Prussians and Austrians (1/72), WWII winter Germans and Soviets (1/72), WWII desert war British and Germans (28mm), and Napoleonic Peninsular War British and French infantry (28mm). Please contact us should you require further information or would like to make requests as to what we paint.

American Civil War: Grand Tactical Battles

Made a start on a new project a couple of weeks ago. I've finally put that box of Irregular Miniature's 2mm, stuffed in a cupboard for more decades than I care to remember, to good use- for wargaming the American Civil War at grand tactical scale. Decided to use Altar of Freedom by Greg Wagman (2013), partly because they are excellent rules, partly because they are very well supported with scenarios (https://www.6mmacw.com/). Infantry and cavalry bases each represent a brigade and most American Civil War Battles can be fought across a 6 foot by 4 foot table.

The photo shows my first attempt at Union infantry. The rules recommend 60mm by 30mm bases for infantry brigades, which is quite small given that each brigade could have between three and six regiments. But I think the results are quite satisfactory in 2mm. I've used two double rank infantry blocks per regiment, each of the brigades depicted here containing four regiments and a mounted brigade command. And you could just about manage to find space for six regiments. The downside is there isn't room for skirmishers. I've also added some self-adhesive acetate to the bottom left for recording the regimental information necessary by using a fine non-permanent pen. It can be wiped clean after you have finished the game. 

RECENT READING

My last post was in March, which is rubbish. Painting commissions have left me with little downtime, and in truth, I've had nothing of interest to say. I am, however, attempting to make more time for the blog and I've even created a Midnight Studio Facebook page.

A friend of mine recently recommended the Union Series of novels by Phillip Richards to get an idea of what 'hard' sci-fi combat may look life, and I've just finished 'C.R.O.W', the first of the four book series.

The author was/is an infantryman in the British Army, so he knows a thing or two about front-line action. His experience really shows. The main character is a recently recruited grunt in the dropship infantry and in C.R.O.W we follow him on his first campaign, against the Chinese on the planet New Earth. The novel scores big with its accounts of combat, which are both visceral and terrifying. Forget about soldiers safe in their bunkers and spaceships as they remotely activate drones and other crew-less killing-machines. Here the focus is on the infantrymen engaged in nasty and very bloody in your face close combat with other infantrymen.

I would recommend C.R.O.W to anyone who wargames sci-fi. Lots of gaming potential in the novel. I've just started reading 'Lancejack', the second novel in the Union Series.

A confession

Once again, apologies for not posting sooner. Been very busy with commissions. That said, I have had some downtime to think about new projects. Top of my wishlist was Napoleonics, despite this being a period which I've always avoided when it comes to collecting and painting. As I sat surrounded by ever increasing lead and plastic mountains, I've always told myself I'm not in too deep since I've avoided the Napoleonic period. Yes, I have my hobby under control! I'm not hoarding ridiculous quantities of unpainted miniatures because none of them belong to that beastly era. And no, I'll never buy or paint them - that way lies madness. Trouble is, its become increasingly evident to myself that I've been living a lie. I actually do play Napoleonics using my friends 15mm collections, and to add insult to injury, they are usually hugely enjoyable games. In fact, some of the best games we have. Damn, I really want a Napoleonic army! Even worse, I can't help but admire Napoleon.

So, where to start? My first decision was to be sensible, and to that end, I've settled on the cheapest and easiest to paint option - the excellent range of 3mm Napoleonics by Oddzial Osmy. They offer the potential to recreate the grande scale of Napoleonic battles. My second decision was to find out more about the period, and to that end, I stumbled on the Napoleon 101 Podcast by Cameron Reilly and David Markham. I've been listening to the freely available episodes whilst painting, and I'm enjoying them greatly whilst learning lots of new stuff. Admittedly, I know next to nothing about the period, but the podcast seems a good intro. Check it out:

http://napoleonbonapartepodcast.com/#section-about.

I'll let you know how I get on with my foray into Napoleonics, but in the meantime I'll leave you with an image of the man who still seems to divide opinion like no other.

Time flies!

It's been a long time since I last blogged. Christmas, New Year, and having to paint lots of zombies for customers have kept me away. I'll try harder to ensure more regular posts. Talking of zombies, I received Zombicide: Black Plague a few weeks ago from last year's Kickstarter. I've only briefly looked into the box, but my first impression of the miniatures was positive. Detail looks sharper than with previous Zombicide games and the survivors are an interesting-looking bunch:

I can imagine both survivors and zombies being widely used for other game systems. They are relatively cheap and probably paint up very nicely. Please let me know if you're interested in purchasing some of these painted miniatures.

This new year has started as last year's ended - with my best laid plans not surviving 'first-contact-with-new-shiny-toys', that well known phenomenon which has baffled many generations of psychologists. Some months ago I did an excel spreadsheet populated with the periods and rules I'm interested in gaming (no sniggering please!). I said to myself that this spreadsheet shows the totality of my hobby and that any new entries would see me burn in hell as a weakling succumbing to temptation. Then along came the second Forged in Battle War and Empire Kickstarter. I confess to never being a big fan of ancients and I hadn't gone in for their first Kickstarter. However, this time around their lovely 15mm miniatures caught my eye and my mind turned to collecting and gaming Rome's War with the Dacians:

Needless to say, I signed-up for the Kickstarter. The War and Empire Beta rules look excellent, although its going to be a tough choice between this system, Sword and Spear, and Simon MacDowall's Civites Bellantes.

No doubt this month will bring along fresh temptation. I'm especially excited by the expected launch of Polyversal, a 6mm sci-fi mass combat game using miniatures from a number of established manufacturers:

Beyond the Gates of Antares - first impressions

I have started to read the Rulebook for Beyond the Gates of Antares. Whilst I haven't yet worked through the rules, or indeed played the game, I have read the background material, neatly organised at the back of the book, on Antarean Space, the Seventh Age, and the different factions you can play. First impressions? The Rulebook is certainly beautifully produced. Its overall design is attractive and the page and chapter layout adds to the book's readability. The text is nicely supported by illustrations and photographs, allowing you to get a sense of what the different factions look like, and although more illustrations of support vehicles would have been beneficial, this being a new game clearly limits what can be included. The book is also well written - although typos remain - making it a pleasure to read.

I found the background material immersive, leaving me with an itch to know much more about the Antarean Universe. Many Sci-Fi universes exist in our hobby, and the extent to which a 'convincing' background helps a gamer choose one game over another is a question worth asking. For me it is important to get a sense of how the forces of different factions reflect the distinctive societies to which they belong, important that these forces possess different fighting traditions, and important to understand why these factions are fighting each other in the first place. The Rulebook goes a long way to meet these requirements. Sure, more could have been said, especially since the section on Antares and its Gates was repetitive, and I wasn't convinced that the Concord would commit humans to war given its priorities and technological supremacy. Yet the book is a first attempt to bring this universe to life on our gaming tables, and given this, Warlord Games are to be congratulated on the depth and detail they weave together. I'm hooked and looking forward to future releases.

I will comment on the rules when I've actually played the game.

Just added (2)

I have added 1:285 modern tanks with camouflage to the shop. The photo shows some Swedish Strv 122s in winter camouflage painted for a customer. The miniatures are by GHQ.