Back in the swing

After a refreshing break, I managed two armies this month, Selucids and Vikings.

The Selucids were a gift from someone at my club who bought them 10 years ago in a BaB but didn't know whet they were or what he could do with them. I worked out they were an old DBA V1 Selucid army, so I bought a scythed chariot and did them up for V2.2.

The Vikings were an Ebay lot - like most of my figures. I did them up nice and they went quite well too.

Busy Month

May and June were a bit busy in real life, so I only got one army sold, some Hittites. July on the other hand was much more productive.

I got rid of a SYW Swedish army in one lot. Representing just ust about the largest force Sweden could have fielded at the time, and all based for Koenig Krieg. I was't certain about this, but now it's gone it's gone. I also sold DBA Neo-Hittites, Sea Peoples and more Hittites, and again all of these were from surplus figures.

I also found out about the Essex 3 for 2 offer in July, so I bought a total of 9 DBA armies from them for future painting. I'm so much into the routine now that I managed to sell the first of these, the Gauls, yesterday on Ebay.

That's my lot for a few weeks though, I'm off on holiday at the weekend.

A Summary of May

May was a busy month so no time for blogging.

The first BH was spent at Corfe Castle a-Vikinging. The usual great time was had and we'll certainly be going back again if it's on next year.

The Late May BH weekend four of us did the 'Viking Road Trip' to the Viking festival at Jork near Hamburg. A fantastic time was had by us all. Much beer was consumed and I got to meet some old friends. The organisers gave us a proper 'fort' to fight over and I did something I've never done before in almost 30 years of re-enactment ...

I have played around with singl;e spear for many years and am reckoned to be a dab hand, but most UK folk now know me and the sad tired fat old man act doesn't work so well any more. In Germany however, I'm not so well known. To say I strode across the battlefield would be a bit over doing it, but I was last man standing from a 60 warrior 'circle' in which no-one has any allies. I was a happy bunny for many hours.

All this re-enacting meant that I didn't do anything serious in teh way of painting, but the next few weeks should see that change.

Successful Start

Well, I managed it. Three DBA armies painted from scratch, based on MDF and sold on Ebay.

Sub-Roiman British, Byzantine plus extras and Greek/Syracuse - again with extras.

In at the deep end

Like many people I've decided to scale back my unpainted lead and try to keep what I spend on gaming under control.

I've decided to paint and sell some of my bare lead mountain in the form of  DBA armies.

Not A Good Year

2009 wasn't the best for my blog was it ...

Never mind 2010 beckons and I've got a plan to do more blogging, reduce my lead mountain and fund all my new purchases.

Watch thsi space and Happy New Year !!

Army Structure

As the time for war grows close, His Higness the Duke has asked me to set down how our army is organised and will be deployed in time of battle.

The army of our Duchy comprises of 5 regiments of Foot, 4 of Horse and the Artillery regiment. In time of extreme danger there is also the Loyal Militia. In order of seniority the regiments of Foot are -

Lieb
Von Schmetterling
Markgraf Hussen
Platzach
Danuire

The Lieb has 10 musketeer companies while the other Foot have 10 musketeer and 2 grenadier. When on campaign, the grenadier companies are merged to create 2 grenadier battlions. These are normally brigaded with the Lieb regiment to form the armies first Brigade.

The second brigade is composed of the Von Schmetterling and Markgraf Hussen regiments and the Von Bothmer and Baron Katte regiments make up the third brigade.

Each Foot regiment includes two 3pdr guns commanded by the junior lieutenant. Each gun has two NCO's appointed by the Artillery regiment, and the balance of the gun crew is drawn from the regiment itself. In wartime, these guns are grouped into Brigade batteries. The Lieb regiment has four 3pdr guns, so the first brigade also has a complete Brigade battery.

The Horse comprise -

Lieb Ryttar
Klinkerhof Dragoons
Munchplitz Dragoons
Mantrow Hussars

The Ryttar wear black cuirasses and are the senior regiment in the army. Each cavalry regiment has eight companies grouped into four squadrons.

The artillery regiment comprises five companies -
No 1 company 4 x 18 pdr - Garrison Artillery at Grafstein
No 2 company 4 x 18 pdr - Garrison Artillery at Kaubenstein
No 3 company 6 x 12 pdr - Army reserve battery
No 4 Company 4 x 6 pdr - Army Heavy battery
No 5 Company is responsible for training and assigning NCO's to the regimental gun batteries. It also provides technical support and tests new guns before they are sent to regular units.

Finally there are the Loyal Militia regiments. Each comprises 4 fusileer companies based on a local town or group of parishes.