Epic Celts, anyone? And Going to Partizan

I recently bought the May 2025 issue (no. 449) of Wargames Illustrated  magazine, which included a free sprue of Warlord Games Epic Hail Caesar  Celt Warriors, which I believe are 12mm or 13mm scale. I was interested to have a look at them, but I admit I don't have a use for them -  I have dabbled in Ancients, but am pretty much committed to 20mm scale for the period.  So, would anyone like them? 

 

First come, first served - leave a comment on this post, including a contact email ( I won't publish that on the blog, of course ) and we'll arrange for me to post them to you (UK only, please) - or even better, are you going to the Partizan show on Sunday?  If so, I can hand them over in person!  

As you can see, there is a nice mix of warband infantry, skirmishers, cavalry and even one chariot. One amusing feature of the warband figures is that some of them depict naked warriors.  Their modesty is of course  covered in front by their large  shields  ( and you know what they say about the size of a Celt's shield..) but from the back, it's all on show: 

 

So, if you are of a nervous disposition, be warned, you may find these a bit too 'cheeky'. I also wonder if a rules amendment might be required to give an extra  minus 1 on their combat die roll if attacked from the rear..

I have to admit I never thought I'd be having to say I bought a wargames magazine 'because of  the interesting articles of course, nothing to do with  the nudes'. 

*** UPDATE : they are taken already! Alan 'Tradgardland' has offered them a good home, I look forward to seeing what he does with them.  ****

Meanwhile, as already mentioned, I am planning to visit the Partizan show at Newark on Sunday, and look forward to an interesting day. Looking at the website, it seems we can expect  to see no less than 70  games  ( about 40 demonstration to 30 participation ), which is slightly mind-blowing!  Also over 40 traders, so plenty of shopping opportunities.

Browsing the list of games, there is a very wide range - all periods from Ancients to the Sci-Fi future and the realms of fantasy, and all scales from 6mm to 60mm ( Blitzkrieg Miniatures '60mm Ancient Battles', may look impressive!) plus aerial  and naval games.  Among those I will be looking out for are : 

-  John Kersey               1/72nd Russo-Japanese War    Nihon shugi: Assault on 203 Metre hill 

 - Anschluss Wargames           10mm WW2                                 A Small town in Italy 1945    

- Ardhammer Group               28mm French Dutch War 1672-1678       The Battle of the Windmill

- Boondock Sayntes               28mm Anglo-Sikh wars                           The Battle of Aliwal, 1846 

-  Glasgow Tradeston Club     15mm 30 Years War                                The Battle of Rocroi 1643

-  Gordon's Gophers                15mm WW2                          North Africa Rapid Fire Reloaded 

- League of Augsburg        28mm 17th Century Caribbean    Dutch Raid on Hispaniola circa 1675

- Nick Hindley                        Epic scale Napoleonics                         The Battle of Waterloo 1815

 - Simon Miller                       Lust for Glory        28mm “To the Strongest!” Horse’n’Musket 

 - South London Warlords       6mm WW1              Crisis on The Marne, September 1914 

  -  Steve Jones                         6mm Napoleonics                                 Wagram 1809

- The Yarkshire Gamer            28mm AWI                                       The Battle of Germantown 1777

 ..'and many, many more', no doubt! 

 And of course I would hope to meet a few friends, old and new   I know Postie's Rejects will be there, for starters, always good to see them.

Finally I can report some painting progress : I now have a small Italian village in 6mm scale for my 'Risorgimento' project, couttesy of Timecast miniatures and my very average painting skills. 

Something for Piedmontese and Austrians to fight over..

 

Now for the roads, rivers, railways, walls and trees...

I strongly suspect that my next post will be a report from Partizan - let's hope it lives up to expectations! Meanwhile keep well, everyone.  

 

Forming an orderly (Painting) queue

I've been meaning to take up the paintbrushes for a while and not quite got around to it - there is plenty of unpainted lead and plastic waiting patiently in various boxes, which need my attention.  A few different circumstances combined to decide what to prioritise : 

1.  18th Century inspiration

I still have quite a few 18th Century figures awaiting painting, including lots of those that came from Eric Knowles collection and inspired me to start this blog - but what has nudged me to get some more 'tricorne' troops mustered was Neil Patterson's recent examples of lovely Spencer-Smith figures on his blog Aufklarungsabteilung.  Neil had very generously gifted  me some surplus Spencer-Smiths, and it's high time I  got some of them painted.  I've decided they will represent  troops from Saxony,  a 'third force' who may side with either  Austrians or Prussians according to whatever  the shifting alliances of my imaginary corner of Central Europe dictate. So, we have 16 infantry and 6 cavalry,  which will make a  couple of Portable Wargame units of foot and one of horse. Specific units yet  to be decided, but the cavalry will be cuirassiers, I think. I won't make as good a job as Neil has, but it should be interesting to try painting this very 'old-school' figures. The officers and ensign came already painted, but in a pale blue uniform (possibly a previous owner's  imagi-nation): sadly I can't really use that, but will try to simply give them new coats and flag while leaving other parts unchanged. Fingers crossed..

Spencer-Smiths: potential recruits for Saxony

 

While I am at it, my Prussian army really needs a further stiffening with line infantry, and I still have plenty of my 1970s-vintage Minifigs Prussian musketeers, awaiting refurbishment, so I have lined up another 16 of those for painting - two more foot units in Portable Wargame terms. Here they are, after a quick spray of grey acrylic primer  The ( slightly singed ) backdrop is a wooden box from a rather upmarket brand of ready meals available here in the UK - when  its original use is done with, quite handy as a painting tray..

Minifigs: vintage Prussians

2. Epic Freebies

The April issue of Wargames Illustrated magazine in the UK includes a free sprue of Warlord Miniatures new 'Epic ECW' figures. My copy carried the Cavalry variant, and here they are

Epic ECW from Wargames Illustrated

 

These are officially 13 or 14mm, I think, but should fit perfectly well with my 15mm 'Pike and Shot' armies, and apart from various mounted troops there are some foot figures ( possibly mounted dragoons and/or firelocks ) and a couple of small cannon - all pretty useful stuff.  I have sprayed them with primer, now just need to decide how they can be fitted in to my existing armies. On Instagram, Mike Siggins has featured the infantry sprue which is also available - he is quite impressed with them,   though less so with the cavalry, he says. They don't look too bad to me, with good but simple detail and the correct proportion that is more possible with plastics - they are hard plastic too, so they won't shed paint. And they were free! 

 

3. Trial  DBA Forces 

Following my recent post debating options for Ancient Greeks vs Persians, I took the plunge and bought sets of HaT 20mm figures - 'Alexander's Macedonian Army' (set 8088)  and 'Achaemenid Persian Army' ( set 8117 ). Full marks for Models 2U website for good prices and very prompt delivery. 

Each set is a mixture of figures from several other sets, giving a spread of all types in the relevant army and ideal for rules such as DBA.  Consulting my vintage DBA edition, I was quite easily able to select figures for a suitable army for each side ( sadly, no chariots for the Persians ). I spent a pleasant sunny Good Friday afternoon sat in the garden, cutting out  cardboard bases and lightly glueing the figures to them, just to see what they would look like  - and here they are: 

Alexander's all-conquering army..

 

..and the mighty Persian host

I was quite tempted to use 10mm or 6mm ( or even 2mm ) figures for these armies and go for the 'mass effect', but  given the rather symbolic nature of the DBA units/elements, I think larger figure scales and correspondingly fewer figures can work ( think of them more like chess pieces? ) , and these 20mm plastics are cheap too.  They will get a 'stiffener' coat of diluted PVA glue ( as they are soft plastic ), then a spray of primer, then the painting proper will commence - I am going to try a  'limited palate' approach to keep things simple. I will probably have to remove them from the bases to paint, and they come without long spears and pikes, so I will be raiding the plastic broom/brushes in the house for bristles to use for those..  I suppose I could even give them a try with the DBA rules right away, and never mind the painting - 'sacrilege' to some! 

So, now I just need to try to make a habit of picking up the paintbrushes for a short session  every day or so, and we'll see how all these various mini-projects shape up. I'm hoping that the variety will keep things interesting..

 

Jon Freitag's picture of his brilliant AWI game setup

 

Meanwhile, there has been some gaming, at a distance: I was lucky enough to be invited to one of Jon Freitag's excllent remote gaming sessions, where I played one of the British commanders in a game set in 1776 Long Island.  I'm afraid our attack on the revolting Colonials didn't go too well, but it was great fun all the same - many thanks to Jon ( who has documented proceedings in a typically well-presented  battle report  )  for brilliant hosting,  and my fellow players Chris 'Nundanket' , Mark 'Jolly Broom Man' and Steve ( of Postie's Rejects fame ). A really pleasant evening was had! 

Finally, I was  impressed with what Mark ( Man of Tin ) has done with the 28mm WW2 figures (acquired free with magazines) which I passed on recently : he is 'kit-bashing' them into  inter-wars imagi-nations skirmish forces, and  provides an interesting  progress report and insight into his approach, here - I will be fascinated to see how they look when painted up.  Great to know they are being used so well, when they could so easily have just been thrown away! 

That's all for now, but as you see I have plenty to be going on with. Keep well, everyone, and a Happy Easter to you all. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fnurban #22 : Does Anyone Want These ?

Hello all, I've been having a bit of a new year tidy-up and came across the following - sprues of hard plastic 28mm WW2 figures.  Freebies from hobby magazines in the past year or two - probably Wargames Illustrated. They are as follows: 

(1) Warlord Games 'Bolt Action'  Late War British and Canadian Infantry(2020), There is a code number : 4030300011. 

 

(2) Warlord Games 'Bolt Action' Afrika Korps (2018) Code number 4030100016.

(3) Wargames Atlantic Panzer Lehr  ( 2021 )  Code WAAWA002

There looks to be the potential to make 6 figures for each sprue - though I wouldn't swear to it, as there are just so many pieces!  I don't need them, as my small WW2 collection is good old-school 20mm, and I don't have the patience for assembling these before even getting an undercoat on them!  But of course, they may be right up someone else's street - at the very least there are lots of potential 'spares' here - and it would be a shame to just throw them away. 

SO - if you are in the UK and can find a use for any of these, please get in touch via the comments, just give me your email address ( I won't publish the comment ) and I'll be in touch to get your postal address. There's no charge, it'll only need a second class stamp so I'll cover that, just to see these go to a good home. First come, first served..  BUT as I say, UK only please, sorry it will be too expensive to   post them abroad.  Also bear in mind that I was told by a friend today ( 6th January ) that they had just received my Xmas card, which I think posted on about 9th December... so we won't assume quick delivery in the current climate. 

If you are also a blogger, I hope you can show the world what a splendid job you make of  painting and assembly, and maybe even how they subsequently perform on the battlefield.. 

I'll wait for the comment(s)  to flood in ( Mrs Trellis, are you out there ? ). Meanwhile keep well, everyone.   

*** UPDATE: I'm glad to say Mark 'Man of Tin'  has taken up my offer of these,  says he hopes to transform them into VBCW / Imaginations troops in due course this year as a small ahistorical Skirmish Force , and that  he will eventually post on his blog describing what he does with them. I have posted them off, hopefully they will arrive OK and be of some use to Mark!  ***