Sweden wins the European Team Championship (ETC) in Warhammer!

Team Sweden with one of "our" guys, Robert playing Chaos Dwarves, participated in the team wargaming tournament past weekend, this year being held in Serbia. Singles tournaments are being held aswell but the main events are the team tournaments in Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Warhammer 40k and - of recent years - Flames of War. Despite its name it is really more of a World Cup with national teams not only from Europe but also from among others USA and Australia. Previous years Sweden have been close to the podium but this year we won the gold! Many congratulations to Robert and the Swedish team!

Some more information on the championship can be found here

Tents and Pavilions in 28mm scale

What could be more appropriate for a blog post during summer than a post about tents and camping. :-)

Most of Sweden have had wonderful summer weather for the last month. With such weather hobby time is sparse. Some progress can be reported however with a camp of pavilions and tents in 28mm scale being finished. Our pavilions are the Large Medieval Jousting Tents in resin from Magister Militum. The smaller tents are in plastic from Renedra.

As anyone who has lived in - or even visited - a medieval or renaissance reenactment camp will know a medieval camp has a lot of ropes in it, keeping the pavilions in place. The return to your pavilion at night can become quite a challenge.. To illustrate this linnen thread were added to the models. All of the tents were mounted on mdf bases from Warbases.

The camp.

The Pavilions.

The Tents.

Pavilions WIP with greenstuff added.

Basecoated.

Linnen thread being added to small holes drilled into the tents,
later fastened to brassrod pins at the base.

Nice working conditions up north with looong, beautiful summer evenings.

Austrian Castle Road Trip!

Some of us has a habit of once a year go for a castle road trip and see some great, mainly medieval, buildings and exhibitions. In the past five years southern France, Scotland, northern Italy, Switzerland (as seen here) and Spain have all been paid a visit with this theme.

This time the trip went to Austria (and a bit of Italy and Germany too). A lot of castles and many great collections and beautiful landscapes aswell. A great trip! Here are a few samples.

Hinterhaus Ruins, near Spitz an der Donau, Austria. Originally build in the 13th century.

Vienna Imperial Armoury, Hofburg Palace. Great collection!

Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire. Made in the late
10th or early 11th century. In Hofburg Palace in Vienna.

Taufer's Castle in the Valle Aurina (Ahrntal) in northern Italy.

Festung Kufstein. Among other things besieged and conquered
by the future Emperor Maximilian I in 1504.

Ruins of Ehrenberg Castle (as seen from the Schloßkopf ruin).
The first castle of Ehrenberg was built in the 13th century. It was largely
destroyed when the French invaded Tyrol during the Napoleonic Wars 

Timmelsjoch High Mountain Pass at 2,474 m (8,117 ft) on the Italian - Austrian border.
A strategic route that througout history have connected important valleys and cities. 

Hohenwerfen Castle near Salzburg. Originally built in the 11th century to secure
the Salzburg archbichopry against King (soon to be Holy Roman Emperor) Henry IV.
It was used as the castle 'Schloss Adler' in the 1968 film Where Eagles Dare!

More of Hohenwerfen Castle.

Styrian armoury in Graz. Lots and lots of armour!

Burg Liechtenstein south of Vienna, Austria.
Destroyed by the Ottomans it was rebuild in the late 19th century.

Not very historical, if you don't count Conan. ;-) The Arnold Schwarznegger House Museum.

Yet another Liebster nominee

 

Introduction

Sören, over at Black Powder Games, very kindly nominated this blog for the Liebster Award. Admittedly I'm quite hesitant when it comes to these chain letter kind of things. But considering that there are many noteworthy blogs out there that deserves some attention I'll bite. This time. :-)

As Sören stated "the idea of the Liebster Award is to raise awareness of new or smaller blogs with fewer than 200 followers, using the link between bloggers and readers alike. As a nominee, you’re expected to answer a few questions about yourself, your blog and hobby, and naturally give credit to the blog nominating you as well as putting forward your own candidates of good blogs for nomination, offering thus a chance for readers to discover new blogs."

The "rules" are as follows
1) Copy paste the award on your blog linking to the blogger who has given it to you.

2) Pass the award to your top 11 blogs with less than 200 followers by leaving a comment in one of their posts to notify them that they are nominated.

3) List the nominees on your own blog as well.
4) Sit back and bask in the warm fuzzy feelingthat comes with knowing that you’ve made someone’s day!

      5) There is no obligation to pass this onto someone else, but it’s good old Gandhi karma if you do so.

About this blog

1: Why did you start blogging?

After many (many!) years of GW gaming our group of gamers got in to historical wargaming and this seemed like a good way of recording our progress (or lack there of). It is me, Mattias, who run and write this blog but it is really a collaborative effort as my friends - Jocke being a usual suspect - contribute from time to time. Also, we still play Warhammer, some of us very much so, but that is really not a part of this blog more than sporadically. 

2: If you could change one thing about the wargaming hobby, what would it be?

More time for more projects? :-) To be honest I'm quite content. With real life commitments of family, work, friends etc wargaming will always come second (at best) and that is fine. One thing though - I wish it was easier to find rubberized horsehair in Sweden. An odd request I know.

3: Do you read Battle Reports and what makes them inviting to read?

I do! I enjoy them very much as they are where all wargaming efforts come together with miniatures, terrain and rules together with friends. For me personally when reading them it is mostly about the visual impact. A good historical background is nice and an entertaining and inspiring write up is always a bonus.

4: Is figure painting a chore or pleasure?

Both. It is quite a relaxing pleasure but at times it is a chore to get a particular project done. Still, if its not fun than it is hardly worth doing as this is a voluntary hobby that is competing with everything else for your time. Also, I've recently discovered that I prefer building terrain to paint miniatures. A bit of a problem really as you can play with miniatures on a piece of cloth on a table but with no miniatures you can't play no matter how beautiful and extensive terrain collection you've got. :-)

5: Napoleon once was quoted as saying he preferred a general who was lucky over skilled. In gaming, are you lucky or skilled?

Most of us find it difficult to find alot of time for historical wargaming so when we play it is more down to luck than skill I guess.

6: Could you limit your gaming and collection to one period and one size? If so, what?

To go with 28mm is easier than picking the one period. We've played mostly medieval and Napoleonic and both have their merits.

7: How do you deal with burn out?

I don't. :-) If not inspired I leave it be. Inspiration will always return sooner or later and then it's back into the saddle. I guess that is why I'm a somewhat sporadic gamer.

8: If you could only buy from one miniature company from now on,
which one would it be?
Perry Miniatures. Fantastic sculptors and many really good ranges to pick from.

The nominated blogs

There are many really nice blogs out there and it is quite impossible to select the "best". Here are, however, some of the ones that I find very worth a visit, in no particular order.

War in Black and White
http://warpanda.blogspot.ca/
A blog focused on the second world war with simply wonderful terrain for skirmishing. What every wargamer dreams of. Entertaining AARs as well.

Blenheim to Berlin
http://blenheimtoberlin.blogspot.se/
A blog of wargaming the period from 1704 to 1945 featuring some very impressive set ups and  AARs of various periods. A great blog!

Tactical Miniatures Gaming
http://tacticalminiaturesgaming.blogspot.se/search/label/Sharp Practice
A blog of many things and quiet of late. It has, however, some very good and entertaining AARs of the Napoleonic skirmish gaming including TFLs' Sharp Practice and Ganesha's Song of Drums and Shakos.

Fantasy-Gelände-Modelle
http://fantasy-gelaende.blogspot.se/
A blog of mainly 20mm WW2 gaming. In German but with pictures that speaks for themselves. Beautiful painting and fantastic terrain. And there is a "Translate" button. :-)

"Serres les Rangs!"
http://serreslesrangs.blogspot.se/
A blog of big table 28mm Napoleonic gaming. Some really nice AARs.

Last Stand Dan
http://laststanddan.blogspot.se/
A blog of some really good skirmish action in 28mm. Both Napoleonic and Colonial. All very well presented and entertaining AARs.

Situation Room
http://gerryjelliottsituation.blogspot.se/
A blog of "using 10mm figs in huge units on a huge table". And he is not kidding. Simply epic AARs!

Jay's Wargaming Madness
http://jayswargamingmadness.blogspot.se/
Mostly 28mm French and Indian and WW2 skirmish gaming om beautiful tables. Great AARs.

A Conflict of Interests
http://conflictofinterests.blogspot.se/
A blog from Sweden with some very beautiful painting and great AARs. Of late a very nice Dark Ages project in 28mm. I'm also very much looking forward to follow his Italian Wars project that are just about to take off.

Geschichte in Miniaturen
http://www.geschichte-in-miniaturen.de/EN/index.html
Lastly not a blog per see but a project that I followed the updates of for some time. A diorama project on the Leipzig campaign in 1813 in 20mm focusing on three battles Cröbern ‒ Möckern ‒ Auenhain. Have a look in the galleries under each Battle and be ready to be blown away by the sheer scale of it all. A fantastic way of getting an idea what Napoleonic formations really looked like on the field of battle. Try here for instance.




End note

It also seems like a good opportunity to thank all fellow bloggers, readers and followers out there. It is really inspiring to get your comments and to follow your own projects. That has given an extra dimension to the wargaming hobby. Thank you!

More Timber Framed Building WIPs - and a mini-review of Najewitz Modellbau

Various WIP timbered buildings.

 
More timber framed buidlings being build

The building of timber framed buildings in 28mm for mainly Napoleonics and WW2 continues.

After finishing some Perry Miniature buildings it is now time for some other manufacturers: Grand Manner's Napoleonic Europe Range, Najewitz Modellbau's range "1813" and yet another Perry Miniature medieveal cottage but this time with a roof made of tiling sheets from Warbases.

Grand Manner's Gatehouse WIP.

Grand Manner's Pigsty WIP.

Perry Medieval Cottage WIP with added window, roof tile stripes from Warbases
and a scratch build chimney.

Najewitz Modellbau's Timbered House WIP with modified chimney
and added boards on the roof's edges.

Najewitz Modellbau

Najewitz Modellbau was a new acquaintance. It is a rather small company from Germany. They produce resin buildings for mainly 28mm and 1/72 scale. In 28mm they have four ranges: WW2 ("Normandy"), Napoleonics ("1813"), Middle Eastern/Northern Africa and the Ancient World.

Having seen pictures online they appeared to have nice detail and also be rather large, the latter not that common on the wargaming market. We were not disapointed!

Having ordered some "1813" and "Normandy" buildings they arrived speedily and in good condition. A resin door for one of the houses had a chipped corner but nothing that could't easily be fixed. The first build was the Timbered House 28mm from the 1813 range.

The quality and depth of the resin casting is excellent. Only some small airbubbles on the roof tiles and a wall section that needed some minor hot water treatment to be perfectly straight. The walls have nice texture that surely will be a joy to paint.

Each building is build by putting wall and roof sections together with the insides being "blank" as per usual with resin buildings. You can assemble the buildings with lift off roofs. They come without interior floors but those are added easily enough. Best of all - appart from the mentioned quality and depth of the casting - is the sheer size of the buidlings. These buildings really have a presense on the gaming table. In that regard they compare with some of the large houses from Grand Manner but to a lower cost (around 30 Euros i.e. 25 GBP a piece). Granted, the Grand Manner buildings come asembled and with loads of extra detail - including interior detail - and with even better texture on the walls but the Najewitz Modellbau buildings do offer a laudable alternative. 

All in all we are very pleased with them and would happily recommend them.

The Najewitz building's sections.

Nice detail and depth.

Interior showing added floors and the lift off roof.

More to come eventually...

Timber Framed Houses in 28mm Scale - Painted

As posted earlier here we've build some timber framed houses using the Perry Medieval Cottage set as a starting point. They are now painted. Eventually some interior walls etc might be added but they are done for now.

The buildings are typical for the southern part of Sweden: Skåne or Scania. As you might have seen over at Dalauppror's blog they've already had their baptism of fire in a Scanian War skirmish of the late 17th century. They will however work just fine for many other regions and periods as well.

Scanian Timber Framed Buildings

The dwelling house

The barn

Detail

One of many windows - very fiddly to build!

Very basic interiors.

The Medieval Cottage from Perry Miniatures. Great kit!
Three of them were used to make our two buildings
- with added and removed windows, chimney etc.

The Hundred Years' War - a New 28mm Project

Graham Turner's beautiful painting of the Battle of Castillon 1453.
You can see more of his fantastic work here.

As so often a new year inspires new projects.

With our singelbased skirmish medieval wargaming - in a Swedish setting - now being reasonable sized (at least for now!) the time is right for trying something else for awhile.

Not wanting to travel too far in time from that project however the choice fell on the final stages of the Hundred Years' War (i e around 1450), with among other things the battles of Formigny and Castillon.

The period and choice of theatre is due to many reasons. One being the aesthetics of the red cross of the English vs the white cross of the French. Another being the use of the longbow - a weapon not used in significant numbers in many other theaters of conflict (the War of the Roses being an obvious exception). Playing the late Hundred Years' Wars also enables us to use the fantastic plastic sets from the Perry brothers.

Also, this will be our first multi based endeavour. At least initially we plan to use the Hail Caesar rule set but others rules will probably be tried out as well along the way.

Early stages yet but hopefully we will soon be able to show you more.

First batch WIP.

More to come.