By Fire & Sword: Swedish Skirmish set update

I posted a couple of weeks ago about the casting issues I had with the Swedish Skirmish set and then about how Wargamer.pl had got in touch and were going to send me a replacement set. Well now the replacement set has arrived and the quality of the castings is great and there's none of the problems I had with the original set. It did take almost two weeks to arrive and I was getting a little worried but out of the blue they e-mailed me to see if it had arrived yet which I thought was good customer service and anyway it arrived the next morning. Overall I'm happy and will be buying more figures from them, probably a Cossack skirmish set but I'm going to wait for the rules to come out to make sure I like them before investing more heavily.

Swedish Skirmish set problems fixed

Just a quick update. 

Since my last post, about the quality of the castings in the 'By Fire & Sword' skirmish set I bought, the manufacturer has been in touch with me and is going to send me a replacement set. So you have to say that's excellent customer service. I'll do another review when they arrive.

Quick Review: Swedish Skirmish set for 'By Fire & Sword'

UPDATE 19/5/2013: Problems mentioned below now fixed and I give the set 9/10

My eagerly awaited Swedish skirmish set for 'By Fire & Sword' arrived from Nothstar yesterday morning so as promised here's a quick review.

The models come in a colourful box with a large photo of the box's contents on the cover. The rear of the box has a list of the contents with some nice historical background for the units it contains.

Inside the box are two cardboard boxes containing the figures separated into plastic bags with foam padding top and bottom.

The set includes the figures, nice pre-cut metal bases and a sheet of flags. Everything you need to get going. I particularly liked the separate brass spear/lance for the standard bearer as it's top is pre-ground to a nice shiny point.

The figures themselves are ok. There's a nice mix of figure poses and horses and the detail is about the same standard as Essex miniatures. But, and it's a big but, every figure had a heavy mould line round it and I mean every figure. I've been buying figures for nearly fifty years and these have to be the worst batch I've ever had. We've all had the odd figure in a batch with excess flash or a thick mould line but not on every figure. The photos below give you some idea what I'm talking about. I don't know if all their figures are like this or the moulds need replacing or their quality control is just rubbish. But it's going to take me hours if not days to clean off the heavy mould lines on these figures. If I'd bought them locally I'd be returning them to the shop.

Overall I'm incredibly disappointed. I like the idea of the all-in-one pack and I think it's well executed with the flags and bases etc, and I'm looking forward to getting the rules which sound great. But the castings are just atrocious. If they were ok I'd give it 9/10 but as it is it's at best a 2/10. I was going to buy extra figures from them to bulk up my skirmish force to division and probably buy at least one more faction but I can't see that happening now, which is a shame. It looks like I'll be getting my figures from other manufacturers if I decide to expand on my forces.

My Latest Purchases

After being good for a while I've splashed out on a couple of new projects. The first is 'By Fire and Sword'. I'm going to buy the rules when they come out but in preparation I've bought a skirmish set of figures so they'll be painted up ready for the rules when they arrive.

I wanted to go with the Ottomans but the skirmish set is all cavalry and I'm not a big fan of all cavalry forces. I was more interested in Janissaries and other Ottoman infantry. If I like the rules I'll have a look at the lists and maybe build up a skirmish force rather than going for pre-made. The next set that got my interest was the Cossack set. I was surprised that it was mainly infantry and wagons as I always think of Cossacks as hordes of cavalry, but something about it interested me. After some research it seemed that the Cossack forces are mainly infantry and suit a defensive player. As much as I liked it it wouldn't suit my temperament. So what did I buy? Well I went with the Kingdom of Sweden skirmish set. It appeals to me as it's a good combined arms force and I've always had a thing for Reiters. So here's a photo of the set I've bought.

My other project is one for the future as it won't arrive until September. I gave in and pledged to the 'Heroes of Normandie' kickstarter. I went with the £45 pledge as it was the best value for me. I was tempted by the £90 pledge as you got all of the stretch goals but I didn't want to invest that much in a game that I may turn out not to like.

I'll do a quick review of the BF&S skirmish set when it arrives and hopefully some progress shots as i get it painted up.

Quick Review: 15mm MDF Walled Farm from Commission Figurines

A few days ago I took delivery of the new 15mm Farmhouse complex from Commission Figurines. It comes in three plastic bags with the parts already punched out, as can be seen in the photo below. The parts are mounted on an 8" x 9" base and the finished model has internal floors in two of the buildings as well as removable roofs. There's lots of nice detail on the windows and doors as well as exposed brickwork in various places to give the farm a 'lived in' look.

There are instructions on how to assemble the model on their website but it's pretty straightforward as the parts only fit in one place. I would recommend that you use a sharp craft knife or file to slightly trim the various tabs and slots as some of them are a very tight fit.

You start by assembling the three roofs.

Then you move onto the external walls.

Once that's completed you can start adding the various buildings.

The Barn

The Barn and the Farmhouse

The Stables

Once those are in place it's time to fix them to the base.

Next up are the inserts for the barn and farmhouse which provide the base for the internal floor.

The internal floors added

Lastly it's time to add a couple of cosmetic touches in the form of an outside staircase to the barn and extra detail to the gateway.

And that's it, a very quick and simple model to assemble. Certainly a lot less complicated than the 4Ground kits I've built in the past but still a very nice finished model.

I'd like to say here's one I finished earlier but the one shown below is a painted model from their site. Sadly I don't think my painting will be up to this standard.

The finished article

So what do I think of it? Well the finished model will make a great centre piece for my Napoleonics but it's generic enough to work ok for any period from the 18th century to the modern day. It went together easily, the price is good at £22.50 and the removable roofs and internal floors are a good idea. I can't see any downside to the model so I give it 10/10.

If you want one and aren't in a hurry you could choose one of these for £20 by selecting it as your pledge option in Commission Figurines KickStarter. There are also a number of other good deals on offer as they look to expand their range into 20mm and 28mm. I've pledged for some of the 28mm stuff to use for Bolt Action.

I've added a link below to one of my reviews of their 15mm WW2 buildings for those of you who are interested.

Quick Review: MDF terrain from Commission Figurines

MDF Buildings Kickstarter

Last year I made some posts about the great MDF buildings from Commission Figurines (links at the bottom of this post). Well now they're looking to expand their range with a Kickstarter project. They're not looking for tens of thousands of pounds like some Kickstarters just £6,500 and the various pledge levels are good value for money. So if you're in the market for some MDF terrain check it out. I'm going to go for some of the 28mm stuff for Bolt Action and Pulp Alley. To whet you appetite here's some eye candy.

The new walled farm

The terrain in action at Derby 2012

Their first design - Berlin Strasse

More pictures can be found on the Kickstarter page and their site. If you have a blog I'm sure Walt would appreciate it if you could give his KickStarter project a quick mention.

Links:
Quick Review: MDF terrain from Commission Figurines
FoW: MDF Terrain

The Re-Basing Begins

Having decided on the rules I'm going to use I've now started on re-basing the 500 or so figures making up my British and French forces. I've got three French battalions done so far and I've already got re-baser's thumb! This debilitating condition is caused by the sharp protrusions on the figure bases digging into your thumb as you try to carve away the glue and basing compounds.

I'm probably going to leave the bases bare until I've re-based all the figures and then add the scenic effects.

As I expected I've ended up with bunch of spare figures I can't use like standard bearers because the figures I bought were organised in units of 16, not the 24 I'm using. I'm also still pondering what to do with the Confederation of the Rhine units. The uniforms are too different to just merge them into larger units like I did with the French line units. I can probably make one 24 man unit and maybe one more with some judicious repainting but I may just put them all on eBay and use the proceeds to buy some more painted French figures.

Quick Review: "Napoleon at War" Chasseurs a Cheval Brigade Box Set

Since I'd finally made my mind up about which rules I was going to use I could sit down and see what units I could make with my eBay purchases and what I still needed to buy. One of the things I would need was a brigade of light cavalry for my French. I had a look on ebay to see what painted figures were available and added a couple to my watch list. But I also had a look around a few online shops for unpainted options. It was then I spotted that Northstar had some of the N@W Chasseur brigade box sets on sale at £14 instead of the usual £27.50. As the price was a bargain and the uniforms are fairly simple to paint I decided to buy a box. For those of you not familiar with this range it provides box sets and blisters containing complete units including bases for use with the N@W rules. I suppose the idea is to help people new to Napoleonics have an easy entry into the game.

A few days later the box arrived. As can be seen below the front of the box shows a nice picture of the painted up figures

The back of the box lists the contents and has a painting guide. While the painting guide is useful it doesn't show the back of the figure or the saddle cloth, so it's of limited use. It also doesn't show the elite company figures who have a busby and someone new to Napoleonics may find this confusing. Just as well I have numerous reference books and the Internet to help me out.

The figures come in a plastic tray with foam padding and have no more bent swords than you would expect with the usual ziploc bag packing you get from most manufacturers.

The figures themselves are fairly flash free, on a par with most other 15mm figures I've bought from various manufactueres. The detail is fairly crisp and they should paint up well but they are not as good as AB Miniatures or Blue Moon figures but they are cheaper. The horses look a little chunky to me especially for light cavalry, but overall they're a decent set of figures.

Before I'd bought this set I had the impression that they were overpriced and you were paying over the odds for a box set with bases and a painting guide. They're certainly more expensive than Essex figures but they're 18mm not 15mm and they also have the benefit that you just get the figures you need. No more having to buy figures in packs and having some spares left over. Now I've had a look at these I think they're pretty good value for 18mm figures and I'd certainly consider buying more. However the prices are going up on March 1st so we'll have to see if the new pricing makes them less attractive. As I only paid £14 for my box I give them 10/10 but at normal prices I'd rate them about 8/10.

Too much choice is a bad thing.

My eBay purchase of Napoleonics figures arrived last week and they're about what I expected. The painting is ok but nothing great. However there was a problem with the French army. Half of them were Confederation of the Rhine Infantry which I had not been expecting. I went back to the listing and it said Napoleon's army which I had read as French so my own fault really for not checking. But now I have a problem with how I going to base the figures as they're in units of 16 or 20 and I was planning on using units of 24 or 32. With half of them being CotR troops I can't merge the units into larger ones as I'd planned because of the uniform differences

But the basing issues don't end there. I had intended to use either the Lasalle or FoG:N rules as they both use a 40mm frontage for their bases and I could base up the figures so they could be used for both rules. But  the Lasalle army lists don't have much flexibility with regard to the units you can take and the required number of units for a valid force would mean I'd have to buy more figures.

Fog:N, on the other hand, has more flexibility in what you can take. However it is a corps level game with units representing demi-brigades/regiments as opposed to Lasalle's battalions. This has the benefit of needing fewer infantry figures as you can replace a base of infantry with a base of cavalry or artillery to represent an attachment to the unit. However having looked at some pictures I didn't like the look of the units and it didn't feel right to base units that way.

After much thought I decided to go with Lasalle as the rules seemed easier to pick up and learn and I would base in 24's and bite the bullet and buy some more figures. So I ordered a bunch of bases and got my pdf copy of the rules printed out. It was at this point that I encountered the 'Napoleon at War' rules.

I came across these on the TMP boards and did a bit of research on them. They seemed to be easier to learn than Lasalle and they were based on 24 man units, plus they had flexibility in the army lists to let me pick and choose to suit the figures I had bought. But the basing is really weird and not compatible with Lasalle or FoG:N. It would also mean buying yet another set of Napoleonic rules. So now I'm thinking about going with N@W but I've just laid out £20 for printing and bases for Lasalle. I briefly toyed with the idea of using the 40mm bases for N@W but decided against it  as I didn't want to have to fudge things to make it work.

After much wailing and gnashing of teeth I decided to go with N@W as they seem to fit best with what I want. Also I can still use them with Lasalle if need be as base sizes aren't critical as Lasalle uses base widths as the unit of measurement. So I've ordered a set of the N@W rules for £22 from Stafford Games as they were the cheapest place I found that sold them. I'm sure somewhere down the line I'll find a use for the 40mm bases I'd ordered. But I can't help feeling life would be easier (and cheaper) if there wasn't so many rulesets to choose from!

Decisions, Decisions

Now the two painted 15mm Napoleonic armies I won on eBay are on their way to me I have to think about re-basing and rulesets. From what little I can see in the pictures it looks like the French are 24 figure units and the British 16 figure units.

The French

The British

Hopefully the French will be a straight swap for whatever rules I decide to use, although I may have problems with flank companies etc. But the British will definitely be a problem with their 16 figure units if they're painted up as distinct regiments.

My choice of rules is between Lasalle and FoG:N. I have both and I like elements of each of them so I think the final decision may come down to whether I have enough figures to make armies for the lists specified. I may have a problem with Lasalle as I don't think I'll have enough French troops to build an army with the listed requirements. Of course I can always try to trim things down but I'll only know for sure once the figures arrive. At least both systems use the same basing so that won't be a problem.

At the moment I'm leaning towards Lasalle as they seem to be a bit simpler to pick up, but I'll hunt around the net for some reviews and have a quick read through both again before I make my mind up.

I succumb to the lure of eBay again!

I've been wanting to get back into historical gaming (ACW, Napoleonic, WSS, Renaissance) for a while now, but not having any figures painted up has been a problem. The majority of local players don't play these periods so that means that I need to provide both armies to get a game. Although I have plenty of time to paint figures I'm terrible at getting things done unless I have a deadline to work towards. This is usually a game I've arranged which forces me to buckle down and get painting. But having to paint two armies really means I have to have them both done before I can arrange a game. So I'm in a bit of a catch 22 situation, I don't buckle down to paint without a game arranged and I can't arrange a game until I have the figures painted.

So I've been looking at painting services but I can't justify the cost when I have the time to paint things myself. That means checking out eBay on the off chance of a bargain. That's when I spotted two auctions of painted 15mm Napoleonic armies, British and French. The French army was listed as being over one hundred and sixty infantry, thirty plus cavalry, four cannon, one ammo carriage, eight Generals, one command tent, redoubts, and barges for river crossings.

Part of the French forces

The British was bigger with over two hundred infantry, over fifty cavalry, five arty and crew, four gun carriages, nine general officers and Wellington, command tent, redoubts, destroyed cannon and a gun carriage.

A shot of some of the British figures

The painting looked ok in the photos included. So I thought if I could get them for the cost of the metal it would be a good deal. I'd decided to go to £90 for the French and £100 or maybe £110 for the bigger British force. The French army finished first and I'd decided that if I didn't get it I wouldn't bother with the British force. So with 18 seconds left the bidding was at £67 pounds and I put in my max bid of £90 and waited. I got lucky and won the army for £69 + £10 postage. A good price as it was less than the cost of the metal.

The British force was at £55 and I put in my max bid of £100 with 18 seconds to go and it sat at £57 pounds until 1 second to go when it shot up to £100. A sniper had put in a bid of £100 as well but as I'd bid first I'd won.

So over 360 infantry, 80+ cavalry, 9 artillery pieces, 18 generals plus various barges, camps, redoubts etc all painted for a total of £188.98 inc postage. Well under the cost of the metal alone so I'm pretty happy with my purchases. I'll do some pictures when they arrive.