New from Helion

Helion have launched a section on their website for second hand books. including both their own and other's publications.  I have just acquired a copy of the second edition of the Bavarian Armies during the Thirty Years War for the princely sum of £7.50 including postage costs.  That is what I call a result especially as it is actually brand new with just some very very slight delamination on the back cover.  Normal list price £25 that's what I call a deep discount.  Off to start reading now a review will follow in due course.

Progress is costing me money!

My trusty magnifying lamp has finally died!  Well to be accurate the fluorescent tube has failed the rest of the lamp is fine.   No problem though, I changed the tube when the original one failed a few years ago.  This time though, problem!  The type of tube is no longer in production and I cant find a replacement on line as everyone has sold out.  I spoke to Shesto Ltd (the maker of my lamp) who once again were very helpful.  They explained that all manufacturers have gone over to LED daylight lamps as they are more energy efficient and last much longer, up to 30,000 hours in fact.  Which is great but means I have to buy an entire new lamp rather than just replace the tube.

It's a dead lamp, gone to join the choir invisible (and yes we are ready for Halloween)

The range of new magnifier lamps is vast.  Most offer all sort of options I don't really need such as changing between primary colours, dimmer switches and the adjusting the range of colour temperatures (which reflects different daylight tones from a more blue white to a more yellow white tone) well that last one might be useful.  If they were still available a replacement bulb would have cost me around £16 plus an hour of my time doing the change over.  A new lamp will be between £30 and £60 for a similar specification.  The difference isn't huge but it is the cost of quite a few 6mm figures!  It's not that I'm cheap (alright you know me....I'm cheap) it's just that I don't like having to throw out a perfectly good item because of technology updates.  For now I will have to use an ordinary desk lamp until I decide which of the various replacement options I will go with.  Recommendations will be gratefully accepted.

Product review - Brushes from Rosemary & Co

I'm late to the party with this business I suppose.  I have been aware of them for some time and I've seen a number of figure painters who swear by their brushes, but it was only this last week when I finally got around to buying some.  What delayed my doing so was my preference for actually seeing the brush to be sure it held a good point before spending my money.  However, the number of positive reviews from around our hobby community and the fact that they had brushes which suited my needs on special offer pushed me over the edge.

Ordering was simplicity itself.  The website made selecting the type and size of brush I wanted really straight forward.  I. of course, headed straight to the special offer section (well you know how I like a bargain) and to my joy the type of brush I was looking for was on offer!  Unlike proper artists as I paint figures I work on a tabletop rather than an easel or a slope.  That means I'm looking for a brush which won't roll away if I put it down and has a distinct 'shoulder' between the handle and the ferrule so that the brush doesn't touch the tabletop and pick up dust, flock or basing sand.  It took me a couple of minutes or less to find exactly that style.  Even better the price was really good at around £5.00 per brush for pure sable in size 0 and 1.  I would have paid double that at Hobbycraft.

The brushes arrived within a couple of days via Royal Mail, none of the trouble and strife of xxx who seem to delight in loosing or misdelivering parcels around here!  They were really well packed as well.  the brushes all have great points, so I needn't have been concerned about having to see them in the flesh.  

The proof of the pudding is of course how they behave in use.  The brushes have a nice balance and the triangular 7" handles sit well in my hand when painting. The brushes don’t allow paint to wick down into the ferrule unlike synthetic brushes I have used in the past.  Paint flows well off the point too.  Clean up was straight forward as well.  All that said these are brand spanking new brushes so let’s see how they stand up to my heavy handed usage over the next few weeks.

Bring on the empty horses

Apparently said by Cecil B DeMille according to David Niven and who am I to doubt David Niven.  He meant horses without riders but empty horses has a certain ring to it don't you think?  My version of said empty horses are accompanied by their riders though.  These are dismounted dragoons in a firing line.  It's a basing idea I came up with for my 2mm ACW cavalry and as I liked the resulting look I have gone for the same look for my 6mm pike and shot dragoons.  On the plus side it shows they are dragoons rather than skirmishing musketeers and reduces the number of bases I have to create, but on the downside the horse holders and dismounted dragoons are too close together.  Still I doubt anyone will complain.

The empty horses (Which would be a great name for a band don't you think)

As well as the empty horses, as a bonus, here are some full horses, AKA the mounted variant for these dragoons.  I have painted both the mounted and dismounted versions in the same style I used for the dragoons I already had, which were painted a couple or three decades ago.  It's not how I would do it now but it keeps the same appearance with the existing dragoon base they will be deployed alongside to form a combat unit.  So that's me out of the starting blocks for October's painting work.

And here they are all full of riders

The phone camera struggled with direct sunlight and over exposed the shots by a couple of stops.  I may have to play with the images and repost them.  The black background might have been part of the issue, who knows my phone camera seems to have a mind of it's own.  Strike one against AI?

Both together

It was fifty years ago today...

 ..the 5th of October 1975 to be exact, and I was sitting in my student friend Ron's car driving from North-East Lancashire to a small village just north of York.  We were just about to start our final year at University but before we did I had something to do.  Something I was really looking forward to.  When we arrived at our destination Ron asked me "are really you sure you want to do this?".  I don't know why, I suppose someone had told him he should double check, but I was sure.  I'm still sure it was the best decision I have ever made all these years later.  So I told him so. Ron nodded at me and solemnly warned me that if I changed my mind now he would break one of my legs if necessary so I couldn't back out.  He took these things very seriously, did Ron.

A few moments later he sat me on a bench patted his pockets nervously and then nudged me to stand and step forward....just as the first strains of the Wedding March started up and the soon to be Mrs E stepped into the church and walked down the aisle.

Yes good reader fifty years ago this very day I married Mrs E so today is our Golden Wedding Anniversary.  I haven't regretted a single moment.  I'm still not absolutely certain Ron was joking about the leg though.

Hitting milestones

I just spotted that I have just passed the 250,000 page views mark.  I'm thinking that my 45 followers will not have clocked that number of views up on their own (unless they are very, very bored) and as the number of views of recent posts has risen dramatically I'm guessing that I now have a substantial AI audience.  So I would just like to welcome my latest reader SKYNET and welcome it to sentience.  Now if you could just hold off on triggering nuclear war and sending Terminator units after humanity I'd be very grateful!

Thinking about Through the Square Window (again)

I know, I know.  Using my brain twice in the one week, I'm going to need a lie down after this!  However, after my last post Gordon has been kind enough to explain his thinking behind the rout and pursuit system.  He explained that normal movement represents the slow and steady movement intended to keep troops in their proper ranks and files and pursuit is where units go on a mad dash chasing a broken foe.  This is anything but slow and steady and the troops are disordered and so able to move much faster.  My own view, supported by experience herding cats (or as it is properly known marshalling re-enactors) leads me to agree with this.  Once troops move forward in a charge their officers have lost most of their control over what they do next!

Based upon this the rules provide pursuing troops multiple moves across the full turn to simulate such events.  It also creates unpredictability which again seems right.  Rupert's Horse and their tendency to pursue and loot rather than sticking to the job in hand comes to mind.

So to clarify how I think it works I need to show a simplified version of the turn sequence.

1.  Command phase.  This includes rallying routers and pursuers (where they were in rout or pursuit from last turn) and where they fail to rally from rout or pursuit making further rout and pursuit moves, BUT not any resulting combats which happen at step 7.

2. Player one moves and shoots.  This includes declaring charges and making tests on the charging unit and the testing unit.  There is a small chance that the target may rout rather than fight melee.  They may also retire or voluntarily evade.  Player two's rout, retires and/or evade moves are now made and player one.  Player one now charges, pursues or follows evaders.

3.  Player one shoots and player two again has a chance of routing if casualties are inflicted.  Player one may pursue routers arising from this step

4.  Player two moves and shoots  and reactions are tested as at step 3 above.

5. Melee combat.  Both sides fight so both sides have a chance to retire, rout, follow up or pursue depending upon circumstances.

Ah the Victorian idea of heroism.
It probably was not this heroic and involved far more running away

The turn now ends and you move back to the command phase.

So using a pair of units who haven't been in combat prior to the current turn as an example (and only looking at things from player one triggered combats).  Nothing happens until step 2 as there has been no previous combat so nobody has to be rallied.  Units can rout at steps 2 from the being charged test or from casualty reaction tests from shooting.  Units might pursue or follow up following these actions.  Either way there is one potential rout and pursuit move originating here either from being charged or shot at.

My boys are fleeing!  Damn those dice or is it di?

Ignoring player two's charges and shooting to keep things simple next we fight melees and again there are potential routs, pursuits and follow ups.  So player two has three possible rout triggers from the being charged test, being shot at and lastly melee outcomes.  Player one also has the same three events where they may pursue the routers.

We then move to the command phase of the following turn where failing rally tests will trigger another rout and pursuit move but not combat.  Add to that the fact that pursuers will make full pursuit moves until rallied and may contact other enemies where they will fight melee immediately and make further follow up pursuit moves from those fights as required and it is clear that it is possible for pursuits to cover a lot of ground very quickly.  Just to add to the fun pursuers are classed as "not rallied" in melee combat and will run the risk of becoming out of command on multiple pursuits moves!  Gordon did say he wanted chaos once units engaged!

I'm not sure I would be keen to hang about to face this TBH