MDF Bases by VP Sales

I was looking around for bases, and wasn't sure I wanted to go with Corsec as it's a special order item, altho I like dealing with Corsec and have no problem recommending them. 

Did an internet search and stumbled across a series of base auctions by VP Sales. They were in batches of 10 for $2.50, plus a modest shipping fee. While VP didn't have exactly what I wanted, I asked via eBay message if he could make them, got prompt reply, and decided to give it a go. All went quick except that I messed up my shopping cart and then Christmas intervened [and I would certainly not fault anyone for slow service on that day!] and I felt stupid.

In any event, I got 60 custom bases in 3mm laser-cut MDF:
50 square bases, 1.5" @ $15
10 rectangular bases, 2x3" @$3.50
Combined shipping from KY 41042 was $5.00 for USPS 1st Class, 12 oz package.
Total price was $23.50, or 40 cents a base, payment was by Paypal.

Quality is just fine, and they exactly match up with my Corsec bases, so no accuracy problems here. They were shipped in a box with peanuts, no breakage.

Unless someone has a much better deal of which they know, I'll be ordering from VP again. VP Sales info:
[EDIT -Corrected] Website is HERE
eBay ID: showcaseterrain1
email: vincep@twc.com

I'll be using these for my skirmishing 40mm ECW trials, and other big fig skirmish games [more on this very soon, trials are already underway!]. Not only do they reduce damage to figures, but I've decided that square bases are the way to go as it is easy to measure facing / sides off the corners.

Romanoff Pikemen - RTW1 'Charge Your Pike!'

This set has the same approach as the other Romanoff packs, 5 multi-pose figures who therefore require some thinking and assembling. This does result in an ability to play with the poses and reduce the "toy soldier effect" if desired, and get more realism albeit at the price of some more work. There are:

• 5 identical bodies / trunks in back-and-breast with tassets [no gorget],
• 5 identical nicely sculpted swords,
• 6 pairs of arms [2 types - one set has the right had pushing the pike from the rear end of it, the other set has the right hand holding the pike shaft, so based on the provided arms you will have three of one and two of the other],
• 5 heads with helmets in three types [2-2-1, the 1 has no mustache, the two others both have a slightly different face with very different helmets].

All are pretty clean with nice small details like the fastening buckles on the armor, etc.

When assembled, they will look something like the below pic; this nicely shows both hand sets and the narrower helmet of the closest pikeman compared to the others, so for example you could have pikes up as high as about 45 degrees or completely leveled with the ground:

http://www.oldgloryuk.com/thirty-years-war/english-civil-war/43/154/408/416

with gracious permission from Andy the OGUK chap! Check out his site for more pics.

It should also be noted that the arms all have the somewhat "older fashion" of wings on the shoulders.  These are part of the arm sculpt and as they were falling out of fashion during the ECW one may consider trimming them off or down a bit.

For me, I like a little more variety in the leg posturing, and I've included the pic from my other post on Romanoff musketeers firing, to show how I snip the base and then use it as a lever to manipulate the leg somewhat. Combined with some head and arm posing differences, and you get a nice natural and realistic effect.

Based upon the above pics, and a close examination of the two sets of arms, I can actually see a few other possibilities for "postures" [poses] of these pikemen.  Looking at my trusty copy of de Gheyn [by Dover Editions] I'd say that the most restrictive pair of arms is the one with the long-extended right arm, but could still have the following postures:

Granted, these are not radically different poses!  But you can see this as both a fighting posture and a transitional posture in the notations.

For the other pair of arms, there's several different postures:

These two show a high point, useful to spare cavalry figures in contact a spear in the face! The second is some sort of trailing pike posture, which also shortens the distance the pike tip would be in front of the figure and therefore within the base.

These two postures have an interesting facing, with a flat body but forward pike. The lowered tip will - again - keep that tip out of the way for gaming. Only thing about this posture is the left hand would have to be flipped over so the palm is down [twisting, or cutting off and gluing back on].

I think these pics show how effective a real drill manual is - that is also easily accessible - and how simple it is to not only get variety of pose but also to find historical postures that are "gaming friend" and teach a bit about drill in the 17th C.

Hope this is useful for you if you are considering getting into 40mm, ECW, or just picking up a few packs of these sculpts to make a unit.  Mine will make their way into my ECW story as some sort of Trained Bande for the county in which my fighting will take place.

S&S Dragoons - 40ECW101 & 102

Ok, the first of the reinforcements in my mind is the dragoons.  They come in a pack of 5 foot or 3 mounted for $14.50 or $23 respectively. All the figures are very nice, and they are a must for any serious gamer as they are present in every engagement, and they are basically the "first to go, last to know" people of the ECW.

The foot pack has two firing, one loading, one cocking and one ready to fire, but not leveled yet. There are five heads with brimmed hats [cavalier style] and one Monmouth and one Montero cap.  All are very crisp, nice castings, and look like a pleasure to paint in the near future.  The interesting thing is that with two mounted packs [6 figs] and one foot pack [5 figs] you get the one lost figure who's holding horses.   Still, they are a lot more expensive than regular foot, so it is great that they are lovely figs.

Each stands about 32mm high without a head [granted, an important issue for all soldiers of the ECW] and has cavalry boots and about 12 "apostles" of powder to load with, which distinguishes them from regular cavalry or infantry.

Below a comparison shot of Romanoff officer from the command pack and one of the dragoons. Clearly, the Romanoff is about 3mm taller, in the 35-56mm height range, that's not taking into account the height of heads that are interchangeable, in any event.

As for the mounted dragoons, there are the same three as usual horses. Two figs are identical and holding a matchlock musket in a hand that is unattached. One is holding the musket braced against his thigh in one piece. There are 4 big hats, one montero and one monmouth head.

Overall, these are great figs, and well worth my time and effort. While I'm not thrilled about the horses, I'll hope that they all fit together better than the cavalry.

Since dragoons are "force 1 figures" who fight nearly all the time, I'm glad these are nicely done. They will figure prominently in skirmish and larger games, providing a mobile force of firepower and seizing objectives just like they did in real life.

The only thing that's a tad annoying is the expense - a force of 6 mounted and 5 dismounted dragoons is about $60, but one doesn't have to field them as a single force, so I look at it as about two small units for $30 each. I figure in colonial times, these mounted men would serve as scouts and work the road networks most likely, as well as occasionally venturing out into the less densely overgrown wilderness, so will be very useful.

In any event, looking forward to painting these up!

40mm Reinforcements Arrived! Terrain gathering...

Well, they arrived quite a long time ago - almost exactly a year ago.  So long ago that I'd forgotten I ordered them! Quite embarrassing, really.  So just to remind myself what was ordered here it is:

40RTW1 Armoured Pikemen "Charge Your Pike" 5 figs @$17
$17 to make Romanoff Trained Bande of 15 figs + command

40ECW3 Musketeers Firing, 20 figs @ $45
40ECW202 Infantry Command B, 5 figs @ $17
$62 for 25 more foote

40ECW5 Cavalry in Back-and-Breast 7 figs @$45 [parliament cavalry with Pistols]
40ECW203 Cavalry Command 3 figs @$23
$68 for 10 more cav figs

40ECW101 Mounted Dragoons 3 figs @$23 x 2 = 46
40ECW102 Dismounted Dragoons 5 figs @$14.50 x 2 = $29
$75 for 6 mounted and 10 dismounted dragoons

TOTAL = $ 222.00

Shipping from Old Glory was pretty quick, I remember, and no problem despite the Christmas season.

So, first comments...The figs look great - especially the dragoons, who I'd definitely get more of.  The firing musketeers are also very nice.  The cavalry and Romanoff are like the previous cavalry and Romanoff, needing some assembly and work. The foote dragoons and firing musketeers just need their heads screwed on [don't we all...] and a little cleanup.

All are very nice figures, and I'll be doing a series of reviews of them very soon.  This force puts me around 100 foote and 28 horse, enough to do plenty of games.

Along those lines, my recent inspiration has been to play skirmish games where 1 Figure = 1 Man.  This way even just 10-15 men will make a game.  I also have some cattle from my 40mm adventure in Vikings and Saxons - they were acquired inexpensively at a train shop [since closed, regrettably...the train and hobby stores are closing quite regularly in the region].  The only thing left to get organized is the terrain.

To that end, I'm grateful it is Christmastime [well, almost Christmastide] which is when the craft stores will be dumping all their extra stock of Christmas towns, etc.  I'm prepared to hit the local Michael's and wherever else on Christmas Monday to see what they want to get rid of - previously, I've done quite well, acquiring a village wall, plenty of hedges and a few odds and ends. I wasn't sure they'd fit in here, but the hedges are just around gun height, and I'm considering making some stands for the hedge bases in the future:

The hedges look a bit shorter at this angle, but you can see that the second fellow has his hand near the top. In the distance, you can see that the classical ruins from the pet store [for aquariums] are a little small, but not bad, while the 25mm hills just don't fit. Featured to left is my fiery Cavalier general, who is clearly giving an oration to his safely hiding musketeers - is he exhorting them to advance, or just berating them for sacking a local village without his permission? That story has yet to develop!

Very much desired on my holiday shopping will be a bridge, some craft birdhouses and wagons. Plastic floor mats make good planted fields, and there are some sources for Canadian Pine Stems here, which I shall look into:
http://www.miniaturemarketplace.com/Canadian-Pine-Stems-12In-X-20Mm-10Pc-P52122.aspx
http://store.littlecooncreek.com/craft-supplies/canadian-pine-stems-20mm_2503-32/
http://www.dollhouseheaven.com/Canadian-Pine-Stems-12In-X-20Mm-10Pc-P52122.aspx

These sources were found at Lead Adventure Forum, at this nice little batrep I saw recently:
http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?topic=81336.0
not only does the terrain look great, but it is about a game with just what I was thinking - using Muskets and Tomahawks for the late Renaissance, including Colonial Adventures!  More on this very soon...

Hope the return to 40mm is interesting to followers of this blog - interestingly, there will be more on 6mm and rules to play them very soon, but they are all headed in the same direction, which is interesting and fast play with interesting and fast painting!

Comparison: 40mm Command Packs, Romanoff v. Sash and Saber

Finally, after quite a bit of delay I'm back on this project.  Real life issues like work, family, moving, and some gaming distractions [witness my Dark Ages blog, "Spear to the Strife"] have slowed this project down quite a bit.  But the Neal Thomas rules and some focus have me back at the ECW.

Goals at this point are to finish cleaning and assembling the ten command then the ten cavalry.  After that, it will be time for gap filling, then priming.  Still can't decide what colors to prime in, tempted to go with white to brighten the color palette in general but grey and tan are also possibilities.

So I've a pack of both, partly for variety and partly because I wanted very much to see what the Romanoff figures were like as sculptors usually try their best for command figures. EDIT: found the pics at the Old Glory UK site:
Romanoff Command Pack Pic @ OGUK
S&S have pics of both command packs.  Anyway, the packs are:

Romanoff = 40RTW3 - Infantry Command (5 figures), $17  

S&S =  40ECW201 - Infantry Command A (officer-Sergeant-Drummer-2 Ensigns), $14.50

S&S Command Pack A pic

Romanoff on the left, Sash and Saber on the right.

There's a second Romanoff command pack 40RTW8 that has "officer in armor" in the description.  There's a second S&S command pack B that has officer, ensign, fifer, drummer, preacher.  

S&S Command Pack B pic 

I will find this obvious Parliamentarian pack irresistible!  Actually, I'll be getting them both...

Anyway, what is in them?

Well, there's one unfortunate problem, which is that I appear to have used the command bags as a place to store much of the extra bits for both makes, as well as having grabbed some of the bits out of the bag for use on my infantrymen.  Very sorry about that!  But there are some pieces that are definitely included in the command bags, so no doubts there.

The Romanoff bag has - more importantly than the bits - four identical bodies lacking arms and heads, with the fifth being different, slimmer, check out the pic.  The four certainly have a big buffcoat and turned down boots, the fifth just a regular coat, stockings and shoes.  

Gear included is a selection of heads, a sprue or two of their arms, two arms with flag staffs, a sprue of their excellent swords in scabbards, an NCO halberd, and officer's partizan, and of course a drum.  All the poles seem a bit soft to me, and would need replacement with piano wire as they'll bend, rebend and then break, needing to be replaced anyway.  Hands included are pistol, baton, open, closed around pole [needs drilling], gesturing.  Plenty to work with.

The Sash and Saber bag has five different bodies, as follows:

1. drummer with tassled buffcoat, right hand holding drumsticks and left arm draping over drum [quite a casual pose, really], stockings and shoes.
2.  A "likely" officer due to the VERY big sash, armor, and sculpted lace.  Also has the big turned-down boots, holding right arm in air [quite a dramatic pose].
3. Two Ensigns with right arm, open hand.  One has lace, a large sash, and turned down boots.  The other a jack [maybe buffcoat vest] stockings and shoes.  
4. Waving left hand fig, sort of a "move up with me" gesture, has jacket, large sash, stockings and shoes.  

Gear included is a drum, an NCO halberd hand and an officer's partizan hand, both pole arms with tassles.  There's several heads including a bare one and of course an arm waving a hat.  Overall, if you are realistic about the variety of clothing that may be used in the field, most of the figs offer quite a bit of variety for poses in the command group or among the infantry, really.  Perhaps the only restrictive thing is the lace which should really be for officers - but then again, there's always looting, eh?

Size comparison: the 2nd from the start and end of the line are the Romanoff.  You can see that they run about 2-3 mm taller, mainly in the legs.  Still, people come in all shapes and sizes, so they should mix fine especially with heads and arms.  I think that I'll put two of the Romanoff in each group, where their sameness can be hidden a bit better with good posing and painting, not to mention arm/head selection.

A bit blurry, but this photo shows the height difference a bit better.  Basing can also help - cutting down or raising up the figures base when mounting into units.  Not worried about it, actually just happy with the variety.

Next up will be cleaning and prepping, then of course assembly.  None of the figures has excessive flash or mold lines, but all have some.  Shouldn't be too much trouble, but how the heads and arms fit is important - dictates how much green stuff will have to be used to fill the gaps.

Excited to get to these, finally, after lots of delay!  All that's left after these bags is the 10-fig cavalry unit from S&S [7 troopers and three command], which I very much look forward to - ECW oddities and plenty of cavalry are a big part of the period's interest for me.

40mm Figure Comparison: Romanoff v. Sash & Saber

Well, inevitably there just HAS to be a discussion of this, it's one of the most popular and perhaps important topic of shared info regarding figs.  Amazingly, I didn't even think to compare them and I didn't notice a size discrepancy until I started to play around with basing schemes.  Check out the photographic evidence:

The Romanoff has longer legs and is a bit bulkier.  They're a net 2-3mm taller and I probably wouldn't mix them in the same regiment altho they'd be fine on the same table.  This is important b/c there isn't a ton of 40mm sculpts out there for ECW.  The variety Romanoff offers is quite useful for my early war style of regiments, and I wouldn't want to have to pass on them.  The identical pics just vary the light conditions as each shows different aspects better, I think.  At some point I need to get some Jacdaw figs as well:
http://www.oldgloryuk.com/disp_items.php?m=47&sh=2

While the Romanoff are more expensive and take some time to assemble, I still enjoy the final result and look forward to the command pack.  I'll add some pike to it as well for a full regiment which I intend to use as Trained Bande.  Then they too can fight for either side!

Romanoff Figures: Cleaned, Assembled, and Reviewed!

Two packs of Romanoff 30YW / ECW figures.  These I got from S&S who export them from OldGloryUK.com far as I can tell.  I _believe_ that OGUK also adds to the line with new sculpts periodically.  At the S&S catalogue, they are:

40RTW4  Musketeers - firing and loading with felt hat             (5 figs) $17.00

40RTW4a Musketeers - firing and loading with monmouth caps (5 figs) $17.00

Unfortunately for the pic, I sorted out all the monmouth caps for pikemen and added more felt brimmed hats from S&S.  But you can see what you get, basically.  Each pack had five identical bodies (humph, would prefer at least two different bodies) and six sets of arms/gear to make the 5 figures.  So you can make three loading/three firing, then two of the other.  Five nicely sculpted swords and I believe it was six heads, maybe a couple more (the command pack has 8 heads for 5 figures).

*research point - Osprey ECW vol 1: Infantry suggests that the monmouth / knit caps were favored by the pikemen as they wore them under their helmets for added comfort, while the brimmed hats and caps like the montero were favored by musketeers [perhaps to keep sun out of the eyes while firing?  maybe the brims helped keep the lock dryer during wet weather firing?].  Interesting and makes sense, so I'm running with it*

The amount of mold lines, flak etc was average for an OG casting, but there weren't any really bad ones across the face and such, and most cleaned up easy.  Only annoying problem was a line that was _in_ the trouser side, sort of a groove in fact, that resisted all but the most aggressive filing attempts.  In the end I had to settle for a combo of filing and filling them, unknown if it'll work.

Assembly was not bad and often fun.  I enjoyed making natural poses and thinking about what the guy was doing.  Also, as a former military man, I know that during any drill there's always some variation in how people stand and do things.  During this period drill was even less strict and uniform, so there should be more variety.  With the slight variation in the arms and different heads, several different figures can be made. 

At $17 for 5 [$3.40 ea.] they cost 50 cents more a figure than S&S 5-packs, and $1.15 more than the "value-pack" of 20 firing figures from S&S.  So the bottom line is get them for pose variety - if you value that then great, but if not go for the S&S, I guess.

Now, how do they turn out?  Well, just fine, really.  But it takes a bit of modelling to do it with the separate arms, weapons, and swords, and heads!  I found it pretty fun, but not something I'd do for an entire project.

Cleaned and assembled, five giving fire and 5 loading.  Are the poses accurate?  One seems to be - my copy of de Gheyn has the exact loading posture, holding musket and priming the pan w' fine powder from a flask:

And this is how my assembly came out:

I also tried to vary their relative foot positioning so they didn't look _quite_ so identical in body.  I think with the painting and basing I can succeed in this a bit more, altho for real variety I'll have to await the Montrose highlanders Chris is progressively offering this summer and fall!  Now the shooting posture and posing:

The Romanoff pose has the gun crooked in the bicep/elbow [ouch!] disregarding recoil.  The de Gheyn postures don't show that in the postures just before/after firing either, so in my mind they've been taught their postures by a veteran who has them holding their 'peece' slightly lowered just before/after actual firing.  They still look just fine and having done lots of shooting/drilling, I'm certain that there's not just one way to do it, and the period definitely had lots of self-proclaimed experts with their own ways.  Fair enough.

This stage went fine - big question for me is will the priming process fill up the gaps between the arms and bodies a bit more - they're too obvious right now.  I'll try some gap fill and see how it goes.

Overall, I give them a 7.5 for average casting and value, but superior posing and pose variety.

Review of Sash & Saber Musketeers Advancing, 40 ECW4

Pics of my cleaned, primed and assembled S&S Musketeers Advancing - 40ECW4.  You get 20 for $45, which is $2.25 a figure, a great value for one's line units.  I would say that they had an average amount of cleaning for Old Glory castings.  Some fine mold lines, some parts that I filed lines deeper, the occasional flash.  The heads add great variety - it's amazing what even changing the position of a head can do!  Again, there are three variations in a 7-7-6 ratio.

My one complaint is that the sword scabbards are unusually thick and attached to the base with a large chunk of flash.  This has to be cut with metal snips and then I used my Dremel with a metal carver to shape the big thick rectangular sculpt a bit.  They would be much better off as a separate casting which would enable them to have a lot more detail and be correctly sized (scaled up they're about the size of a 2by4 that's 3' long!).  The ones on the Romanoff sculpts are separate and they're lovely scabbard sculpts - perfect proportions and nice details overall.  Compared to regular Old Glory they are almost twice as much - the 25mm are $1.16 ea without any discount - but they are nearly twice as big!

I give them an 8 for variety, 8 for value, and 7 for overall sculpt/casting quality, for a 7.5.

"With whom do you consort, Roundhead currr/ Cavalier dog??"

Thought it was about time to post a review of one of my favorite "inspirational cds" for painting my ECW figs.  The Baltimore Consort plays music of the 16th-18th C. as a consort (type of period ensemble) with authentic instruments and accessible interpretation.  So they sound good and are also generally understandable, basically.  This fall marks the beginning of the group’s 31st season as one of America’s favorite early music ensembles. The Consort has made fourteen recordings on the Dorian label and has toured widely in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
http://www.baltcons.com/recordings.htm

My favorite recording from them for the ECW is "The Art of the Bawdy Song" with the Merry Companions (a pick-up catch song and beer swilling group, far as I can tell - the certainly look like they're having fun in the album's pics!).  These songs are from an earlier period and would probably be either "old favorites" by the 1640s or have been reworked to similar melodies.  However the lyrics are priceless and the subjects timeless and of great interest to all soldiers from the Phoenicians to the SEALS.  You also learn a lot about the culture in a "first-hand" manner more like a memoir than a secondary source history.  And how can you not like lyrics such as:
You're a rogue, you've cheated me, I'll prove before this Company,
I caren't a farthing sir, for all you are so stout!
[response]
Sir you lye, I scorne your word, or any man that wears a sword,
for all you huff who cares a Turd, or - 'Who cares for you!?'
[can't you just see the overdressed, boozing officers in a tavern?]

Other songs include "The Old Fumbler", "My THING is My Own", & "Come, come, let us drink".  Also to my amusement I learned that "the Irish Jig" is period slang for sex.  Perhaps in a field, hard to tell from the song.  And the song is hilarious.

Anyway, I've three other albums by them, and they are NOT bawdy but are still very well done.  They provide a refreshing change of pace from the modern rat race and help us to enter another time and place, and isn't that one of the draws of historical wargaming?  Perhaps a future post will feature the opinions of my commanders upon their men's off-duty activities...

Musketeers - March!

Couldn't wait so broke open one of the two large packs of S&S figures.  I've one of pikes and one of Musketeers, at 20 figs for $45 they're the best bargain at $2.50 a fig.

REVIEW: They are quite crisp [hard metal and relatively clean] and have many nice details, including snapsacks, powder flasks, "apostles", bows on britches, and some nice details on the Matchlocks.  There are three poses advancing, and you get a perfect 7-7-6 spread.  They also come with musket rests [nice touch for early war especially], 3 sets of 4 brimmed hat heads + 2-3 individual ones, 2 bare heads, 2 monmoth/knit cap heads, 5 montero cap heads.  There is a bit of flash in hard-to-reach spots, but the mold lines are faint.  I don't find them to be unusual in cleaning either way [unusually clean or messy].

These can easily be used for early or late with and without rests.  The head variety is solid for brimmed hats but the caps / bare heads are only 9, so one would probably have to ask for extra montero hats, for example, which I am certain they'd be happy to provide (based upon past excellent service with Old Glory who casts and ships for S&S).  With only heads to attach they'll be a snap to assemble.

Overall, I give them an '8' for solid sculpting, nice options, easy assembly and metal quality.

The Colonels Prepare to Clash...

Despite years of relatively amicable co-existence in the county, and two years of service together in the English regiment during the Dutch Wars, these two gentlemen find themselves in opposition to one another for King and Parliament.  It makes a sad but all-to-common part of the unfolding story of 1642 England.  

When Charles raised his standard in Nottingham on August 22nd, both gentlemen fully expected to find the other on their side and looked forward to serving together again in The Cause.  So certain in fact that not until they found the other _also_ recruiting near the county seat did they realize the other's terrible choice!  

Startled words were exchanged but blows were avoided between the respective recruiting parties.  Still, having known the other man as a person of fine character, good breeding and unimpeachable honor, it remains a disturbing breach to relations.  Of what cost to this and other friendships will the coming struggle be??

My two cleaned and assembled commanders.  Part of the fun with these figures is designing them yourself with a little story in mind.  The fellow on the left is my Cavalier.  Disdainful of his opponents, he's dressed for a hunting party.  He refuses to don armor since they'll "disperse the Roundhead rabble like the outlaws they are" and has lost his hat with his rushing about.  He's well known for his sanguinary disposition, fiery temper, immoderate drinking, course language, and - since the death of his second wife - late-night carousing.  He's shouting 'Onward!  Onwards! For King and the Right!' as he advances, urging his men to follow him to Glory.

My Roundhead is much more subdued, having finished his morning prayers and interrupted his  reading of the scriptures to deal with the ongoing situation developing just outside the borders of his estates.  He is soberly dressed for war in a "back and breast" and holds his horse steady as he directs the placement of his troops in a professional, scientific manner quite in touch with the latest military studies and his Dutch experience.  He regrets the entire situation, but sees it as only his duty for uphold the ancient rights of all Englishmen against the King's rule of tyranny. 

No names yet - those they get when they're painted.  I think some family names from my British side are in order - more fun than historical personalities and I can't make any research errors!

Aside from getting the bodies to sit properly on the horses, the cleaning and assembly of the figures was quick and fun.  Their stories and personalities were formed during the process of selecting their heads and arms.  While I think they both are representative of a typical officer of their sides, they each have some individuality that I'll flesh out as the blog continues.

As the forces assemble, the first construction had to be the commanders.  This gave me time to work with the parts and get a feel for the figures.  Next up I have to work on the infantry commands, trusted men who will be under them in the battles to come, along with some musket-men who can move fast to seize key features in the county for their Cause.  This also suits my painting approach, as I like to simultaneously work on special characters with individual details and common soldiery I prep and paint in 'assembly-line fashion'.

Ta-DAAAAAA!  The Sash & Saber "40 ECW 204" bag contents revealed in detail!  Special thanks to yarr68 at TMP for the advice to use Google Chrome to work on the blog instead of Internet Explorer (obviously a Google conspiracy at work here...).

In the bag you get 2...horses [walking, standing] 2 bodies [not attached - they are demonstrating my choices of body+horses], 4 heads [bare, helmet, and 2 broad-brim hats [1 lots facial hair and 1 less facial hair], 5 arms [baton, sword waving, sword pointing, finger pointing, waving hat] and 4 holstered pistols that attach to the knee of the figure with a peg [you can only not use by filling in the hole].

MY REVIEW: 
The two figs are $17.  The selection of bits is great and they fit together quite easily with minimal fitting.  Only slightly more work than assembling a cannon or knight with shield and spear.  Flash and mold lines are average amount for an Old Glory figure [ so more than perhaps a premium casting] but clean up much more easily since the figure is so much larger the files and such spare the detail.  My one irritation is that the bodies don't fit well to the horse - the tails of their coats and one's sash ends are in the way of the raised saddle back.  They both required some fitting, but one needed a lot of work to get him to settle properly.  I'm OK with that for a general figure, but not thrilled.  
I give them a 9 for sculpting, price, options, assembly, but -2 for the bodies not fitting the horses which I consider to be an avoidable sculpting error.

First Purchase! Sash & Saber + Romanoff

With most of my ECW 25mm eBay auctions making great progress in bids, I decided ten days ago that I could allow myself to place an initial order of 40mm Sash and Saber (from whom one gets Romanoff 30YW in the USA, also):
www.sashandsaber.com
Romanoff are from the UK but S&S imports them.  They are more 30YW but the differences are little to none for most figures.

The order included the following, and Chris explained by a _quick_ reply via email that there are extra heads and weapon in the packs, including heads with the Montero Cap (unmentioned in the fig descriptions and pics):

20 Unarmored Pike, 20 Muskteers Advancing, Command A [5]
Cavalry in Buffcoat & Cav Command [10], 2 mtd Generals,
A Romanoff Command [5] and two Romanoff firing musketeers [10].

Total of 60 foot, 12 mounted for $240 USD [including shipping]. Infantry are about $3 USD and Cavalry $10. USD 

So, more expensive than big Bicorne and Renegade figs, but not by much with shipping and such figured in for those figs from UK. The foote come in around $2.50/ea, but the horse average out to $10 with command  [lotta lead I guess!].  Price comparison:
Renegade (shipped to US) = $2 foot, $5 mtd
Bicorne (  "       "          ) = $2.50 foot, 6.50 mtd
S&S/Romanoff [free shipping ] = $2.75 foot, $10 mtd
But as I will have smaller units of the 40mm, it probably won't be a lot more than a premium 28mm project.  The cav is the big expense, and I plan to have plenty of it!

Excited about painting them as well, since it'll be a snap to put on a few extra details quickly with my trusty Micron pens.

First Post! "Why ECW" and "Why 40mm?"

Well, both are good [rhetorical I admit] questions.

English Civil War was one of my first gaming adventures with my first club, then the North Penn Wargamers.  They'd a somewhat battered collection of ECW in 20-25mm but I loved the variety of weapons and the strange terminology.  But there's lots of reasons to game this period:

• Plenty of resources in English,
• Plenty of novels/memoirs in English - always keep me motivated to paint and play,
• Colorful uniforms and unusual styles [compared to now],
• Interesting weapon combinations - sword/pistol cav, pike/shotte infantry,
• Good balance btw Horse & Foote, with Artillery a bit weak - good!
• Firepower is important but not overwhelming,
• The miniatures fight for either side since there are few distinct uniforms, yay!
• The war itself is an interesting clash of both religion and politics, giving plenty of reasons for almost any wargame event or scenario,
• Lots of interesting personalities and units,
• Lots of interesting small campaigns and clashes.

Whew!  Isn't that more than enough to drop some silly project like starship combat or anything by Games Workshop??

I put my 25mm Old Glory onto ebay, which was a pre-condition of buying the 40mm. I refuse to do it in two scales.  Painted buffcoat regiment of cav, 20 gunners with three bigger guns and eight small, and about a hundred pike and shot infantry with command.  Some of the auctions have sold, but for those of you who insist on 'playing small' my eBay ID is "Double-a-68" : http://www.ebay.com/itm/181195945853?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

This of course begs the question, "Why 40mm - especially when you started it in 25mm??"  Which a gaming buddy did ask, and it's a good question.  The bottom line is that I wanted to use these big figures - more visually interesting and easier to paint, I believe.  As I get older and move to glasses and other optical improvements, the thought of working in figure sizes I can't see except as fuzzy little blurs is just too much!  Also, this is America - Bigger is the New Better, right?  And I have to add that I was inspired by the pictures of other's work in 40mm. 

Finally, Chris at Sash & Saber is doing a great job making it all affordable at good wargame quality.  The net cost, if one makes regiments with a few less figs than some of the larger 28mm like Renegade, can actually cost less on a project basis if not quite on a figure-by-figure basis.

It was a little hard to put up figures that were finished as well as a project that was on its way, but the actual painting didn't inspire me despite the high quality of the Old Glory ECW line.  Also, as I my new goal is to always field both sides of any gaming project, I figured I may as well start something fresh.

Enjoy the cartoon I finally got up with the correct sizing - it's my favorite ECW humorous bit.  Prince Rupert and his famous poodle face off against Pym and 'Pepper' it seems, with the well-dressed and coiffed cavaliers to the left and the somber commoners to the right.