Doubloons Under a Voodoo Moon

Doubloons Under a Voodoo Moon was the title for this years Mega Pirate Game, an annual event hosted by NWA. It's originator and continual instigator is Mike "Fly" Goldyn. This is the 6th year of the event and it continues to grow in popularity and size.

For the second year I played the part of the Spanish Governor ~ Don Juan h'Emmingo. Last year I dressed for the part but this year I decided against it (partly due to the obnoxious sleeves that continuously knocked over scenery, terrain, ships and figures).

Below are a bunch of photo's that I took on the day. Most of them are of the Spanish port which was supplied by Gary Richards. I wish I could take credit for such a great piece of terrain but I can't. But I can take credit for most of the Native Island terrain.

Don h'Emmingo and his daughter Ezmarelda,

the most beautiful Governor's Daughter on the Spanish Main

And also a bunch of photo's from Piotr Kaczmarek and Stephen White

The Kraken makes a nuisance of itself (as usual)

A mighty battle As the Spanish and Dutch save the British Port from pirates

American Civil War

A couple of years ago I got interested in the ACW. So, as I normally do, I decided to get a bunch of figures and paint them up. However, as often happens in the wargaming world, I've never ever used them in a game. They've sat in a display case ever since they were painted.

So today I've taken the sad decision to sell them off. I really like them but I hate to see painted figures not being used. I also put a fair bit of research into them and they equate to Cuttler's Brigade and Pander's Brigade on the first day of Gettysburg. They are a mix of AB and Old Glory figures.

Anyway I set them up on the table and took some photo's of them to help sell them (also for posterity). So here they are. Whomever gets them, I hope you get more games out of them than I have.

Pender's Brigade

Cuttler's Brigade

Landwehr Sculpt #3

It took me a bit longer due to unexpected events but I finally managed to finish the 3rd sculpt for my Prussian Landwehr.

This one's a little different in that he has a different cap, his right leg is forward and his knapsack is on his hip instead of on his back. Other than that he's pretty much the same. His cap makes him appear a bit taller than the other two.

I like the sense of determination on in this sculpt.

Sorry for the bad pics (I really need a better camera).

Landwehr Sculpt #2

It's been a few weeks but sculpt #2 is finished.
I had to wait for a musket to be cast (so that I don't have to sculpt them over and over again) and that took a bit longer that I anticipated.

Anyhoo, here is #2. He's pretty much the same as the first figure except that he seems much uglier than his pal. With this chap I decided to lean his body further forward. This gives a couple of nice effects - a) It make him look more animated, and b) it gives him more forward momentum & urgency. Both hands holding the musket gives him a look of more determination as well as a sense vulnerability.

Another thing that is different is the inclusion of cuff on his sleeves. Landwehr of this period wore a range of clothing and not everyone in a regiment could be expected to be dressed the same so the inclusion of variations is accurate.

You may also notice the axe which is carried in place of the sword normally carried by the line infantry. This was also a common occurrence with various tools carried in this manner.

All in all, I quite like this one.

One thing that I noticed is that in the photos his right arm looks a bit thin but on the actual figure this isn't the case. On a more critical look it's due to a crease in the underside of his coat sleeve. I think I might need to fix this.

I was loaned a book detailing all of the Prussian Landwehr units of 1813/14 and it has some nice detail. One image that I like is a Landwehr Pioneer. I've never seen one of these in 28mm so it's definitely a figure worth making.

The Prussians Keep on Coming

They've slowed down a bit but the Prussians are still coming.

The next lot for my Prussian Project is the 12th Reserve Infantry Regiment. These chaps are part of the 8th Brigade. I'm making both the 7th and 8th Brigades 1813. There are a couple of reasons I'm making both brigades: a) They each share half of the same cavalry regiments, b) Neither brigade is large enough to field as a wargaming "Army", c) Both brigades are based around the Leib Regiment / Brandenburg troops, & d) The more troops the better.

The 12th Reserve Infantry have a pretty simple uniform. Grey with red collar tabs (the 3rd battalion had dark orange collar tabs). I did take a couple of liberties with their uniform by adding red piping on their cuffs and along the bottom of the jacket. The reason for this being that I used Perry plastics for them and I had to slice of the cuff flaps which left half the cuff with piping and a flat bit where I removed the flap. So, a red piping line fixed this.

As for the red piping in the coat... Well their coat is not supposed to have tails but the figures do have tails. I decided to paint piping on the tails (even though you can hardly see them) because the detail on their left hand side is almost nil. So to define the line between their jacket and pants I, once again, decided on a line of red piping.

They look okay anyhow. At least I could paint the Command base to represent the Line Infantry cadre who came from the Leib Regiment (8th Line).

And here's a pic of how they may have appeared in a wargaming publication of the 1960's or 70's