Full Spectrum Daylight Bulbs.

This summer has been pretty bad so far and in one way in particular it has had an impact on my activities. The quality of the light even in the middle of the day has on occasion been awful. This as you might imagine makes painting very difficult.

If forced to use electric light I only really want to paint unmodified colours and even that is a bit risky.

I got so frustrated that I went onto eBay and ordered a 32W low energy full spectrum bulb from a supplier call Androv Medical in Germany. The bulb is supposed to give the equivalent of 130W.

The order took about 5 days to arrive - which I thought was ok from Germany.

What about the light. Well it is very, very bright and very white. When I leave the study, which is the room I paint in, and go to other rooms in the house the bulbs in those give a distinctly yellow light. I hadn't noticed before but the contrast is marked.

Now I have got used to it I am very pleased - and it really does make a difference to my painting. I can see subtle colour variations and shades and can pick out fine detail much more clearly. It's not as good as natural light at its best but I think it was a good investment.

Operation Turning Point - Flames of War Competition
July 5 - 6th


I took my Canadian Rifle Company to the Operation Turning Point Flames of War Competition organised by the Birmingham Trollslayers last weekend. The event was very enjoyable and well organised.

This was a mid war competition and although there was a slight preponderance of Axis forces the range of armies was very wide.

I have moved my web site. I had some ftp problems with the old one and I couldn't get any answers from the support team. I think I had exceeded my space allowance, but that is a guess.

I have now moved everything to Tripod. Loading and editing the site is certainly easier. I will have to go through and check things thoroughly but it is looking ok.

The only thing I have spotted that doesn't work is the hover command. The one that make a link change colour when you move the mouse over it. I will have to do a bit of research to find out where this has gone wrong - but so far I am pleased with the transfer.

You can visit by clicking the following link

http://members.lycos.co.uk/lastbunny

Loads of wargaming figures.

I have been experiencing problems with my web site. This is unusual because so far I have been very fortunate - but it obviously it couldn't last.

This is a major inconvenience as I have loads of new pictures to upload - doh!

So here they are - without explanation - which is a shame and I will need to sort the web site out another time! Probably going to have to move it - I hope it won't be too big a problem in the long run.

Old Glory 15mm Ancients

I had never used Old Glory 15mm ancient figures up until this week.

The way they are packaged makes it very difficult to get the figures you need without also getting large number of 'extras'. With 50 foot or 16 mounted to a bag for £11 plus postage it is quite likely there will be plenty of left overs.

Another factor is the lack of pictures of the figures available. The Battle Honours web site, which carries the range in the UK, doesn't have very many images and for some ranges none at all. Buying without the benefit of seeing what is in a bag can be a lottery.

However my latest project specified Old Glory figures so I took the plunge and ordered some. The first thing to say is that the service was very ggod. I placed the order on Monday and the figures arrived Wednesday morning.

When they arrived I opened the packs and inspected the figures.

The figures are cast in a soft alloy. This means all the cast spears and lances were bent. I do not like this so I went through and replaced the cavalry lances with wire. This is a time consuming but simple job and the end results are well worth it. I haven't decided about the infantry, but they do suffer from the same problem and provided I can get a good angle with the drill it would probably be worth it as well.

On the plus side I really like the horses. Lots of active poses which will (fingers crossed) paint up nicely.

How the rest paint up remains to be seen but I am optimistic.

Campaign 2008

Every May, for a while now I take part in Campaign. This is a wargames event organised by the Milton Keynes Wargames Society.

Both the format of the event and the location are a little different from the norm.

The event is held in a shopping centre. For anyone not familiar with Milton Keynes shopping centre, it is big - very big. And there is a large open space used for exhibitions and events. Campaign sets up here. So during the weekend the Great British public while they are out shopping get to walk around a wargames tournament and visit the trade stands. I know it sounds odd, but it works extremely well.

You do need to be able to answer the odd question - this year it was 'And what does DBM stand for?' The answer unfortunately is not very illuminating - why, why, why have a title in Latin! If there is one thing that is guaranteed to kill the spark of interest in a potential new gamer it's a dead foreign language.

The competition is a team event with teams of 3. Each of the 3 players is in a separate pool and can only choose from a very limited range of armies. Over the weekend each team in the league plays all the others. The outcome can be glory and a trophy or ignominy and relegation. This is a really tough event. There is nowhere to hide and no easy games!

I hope to go again next year, but the upheaval in the ancients gaming community brought about by the decline of 'DBM' and the lack of appeal so far (for me) of the two would be replacement sets has left a question mark. Next year it is likely to be a Field of Glory tournament - I will have to see how things go as will the other team members.

Of Paints and colours

Some years ago I discovered Americana acrylic paints. There was a very large range of colours and they came in bigger bottles and were cheaper than the normal modelling paints I had been using. Pluses all round. One of the colours was called 'Desert Sand' - a light beige/grey/sand colour that I used on my bases.

Over a darker yellow brown base layer, I would highlight with successive coats of 'Desert Sand' each mixed with increasing quantities of white. I was very pleased with the results.

I have just ordered some new stocks and to my horror the 'Desert Sand' had changed colour. I don't know if the colour has been changed or I have a mislabelled tube.

Anyway, I needed to base some figures. They were independent of any other project so I could use the 'defective' paint without compromising anything else. However, once the paint was on I was really pleased with the result and think it is actually better than the original. So now I am worried that the next tube of 'Desert Sand' I buy will be back to the original shade!

Continuing on the theme of paint. I have used Howard Hue's Mid East flesh as the basis for all my skin tones for several years but I was running out so I ordered some more from Magister Militum. However for some reason there was a really long delay in getting the order, so I looked at the Vallejo range. They have a wide range of colours so I tried the shadow flesh tone, the basic flesh and the highlight flesh and I was pleasantly surprised by the results. Particularly the shadow flesh. I will use these again.

To check or not to check!

I have just finished painting up one of Corvus Belli's excellent DBA Gallic armies.

The figures are really exceptional; well animated, loads of different poses and beautifully sculpted.

My problem is that when I came to base them up I found I was one figure short. Fortunately I had another Gaul available that was both compatible in size and style and actually gives one more variation to this barbarian horde.

However, I bought the box several months ago and didn't check its contents when it arrived. I assumed everything would be included.

When I eventually opened it and prepared the figures for painting again I didn't properly check. I did a cursory head count but that was all, and could easily have miscounted. So now I don't know whether the missing figure was ever in the box or if I have somehow lost it in the painting process. The most likely explanation is that I didn't glue it to the painting stick after cleaning it up. Hunting around my painting station has revealed nothing, but that means nothing, single figures can easily find little hiding places in amongst the paints or with the spare bits and pieces.

So note to self - check carefully next time - first when the stuff arrives and then when I glue it to the painting sticks.

To be positive though, I am really pleased with how these have come out and will post pictures up on my web site very soon.

Thoughts on Flames of Glory

I played Flames of Glory last night. It wasn't my first game - more like my 9th or 10th.

I am still not sure about them but if anything I am verging towards a thumbs down. In a way I think they are a great missed opportunity and in fact a step backwards. They still feel like WRG 7th.

The epic scale of DBM has gone and we are back to small skirmishes and minor battles. It doesn't matter that people tell me the a 'battle group' is a collection of units and not a single unit - If it feels like a unit, behaves like a unit so it is a unit. What defines this is that the battle group is the smallest 'piece' that can move and fight independently. In DBM it was the element, in FoG it is the battle group - so a FoG battle group is the equivalent of the DBM element.

At the same time the re-introduction of distance shooting for cavalry bows and javelins and slings of all sorts has had the effect of reducing the perception of the ground scale. At a stroke the battlefield is smaller.

Then look at what the battle groups can do. Light horse can turn and move off in almost any direction almost at will. The only time they need to test is to turn move 3 inches and turn back. Pike blocks can turn 90 degrees and change their axis of advance relatively easily, it just doesn't seem right.

I liked the dilema DBM gave you - your moves were limited and you had to make choices. I don't get the same satisfaction from the 'everything moves' bit of FoG.

In FoG, losing a battle group can be catastophic, it represents a bigger proportion of your force than a DBM element. OK if the DBM element was of pivotal importance, that to could also be catastrophic, however even if you were on the verge of collapse, often a tenacious defence could be mounted and some satisfaction gained. In FoG, it appears that the opportunities for recovery are limited.

The element of chance seems much higher in FoG. I am sure someone will try to tell me I am wrong but when you get yourself into an advantageous position with more dice and better odds than your opponent and you roll badly it has more impact than the dice rolls in DBM. You are left hoping the luck will turn and your opponent will roll badly and you roll well.

I left ancient gaming during the period of WRG7th Edition and only came back with the advent of DBM, FoG might just have me do the same again. I will try again and see if it gets better!

Some thoughts on service. It used to be the case that when you ordered stuff by post it would take 21 or 28 days to arrive. I know, it's difficult to believe isn't it.

Now service is much, much quicker and I would like to highlight a couple of supplier that offer exceptional turnround. The first is the Empire Game Store. I use this great little online shop for my Flames of War models. More often than not the figures will be with me the day after I ordered them. I actually don't know how he does it.

And second, Tony Barr at East Riding Miniatures. I have place a few orders recently for Ming Chinese and Malays and on every occasion the figures have come back within 2 days.

I am finding I can't paint quick enough!

I have two DBA armies up for auction on Ebay this week and I would like to put a new army up each week, but that is just not possible! So after the Classical Indian and the Alexandrian Imperial armies have sold, there will be a bit of a lull while I first finish off a commission and then paint up the next army for sale.

After a bit of an unexpected break I have finally updated my web site. Real life sometimes gets in the way. Not much you can do about it when it happens except be philosophical. Anyway fell free to visit at www.last_bunny.talktalk.net

At the Warfare Show last week I was looking over the Bring and Buy. I don't often do this, but there was a bit of time before the first game started and the organisers were keeping the competitors out of the main hall where the trade stands were still setting up.

As I was perusing the offerings - I saw some figures I had painted and sold a few months previously. This was an odd moment for me - I like to think when I sell figures they go off to their final home and it was a shock to see them here.

What was also a shock was that they were priced at double what I had sold them for! I went back the following day and they were no longer on display - so either they had been sold or the owner had taken them back at the end of Saturday. Personally I think if they went at the asking price they were over priced, they were ok but well below my best work.

Egyptian WIP


Bald bowmen - only one pose. Most of the main troop types in the Egyptian range only have one pose. I have 2 bases of these partially complete.



Egyptian standards and bearers.




Elite armoured bowmen. Three quarter length scale armour and a pixie hat I have interpreted as being bronze. Again two bases of these.



Marine bowmen in half length scale corselet wearing the sea kilt and with a scale headdress. 6 bases of these.



Shardana with sword and shield. I have removed the sun disks from their helemts - it was very vulneralbe and the sword is a weak spot where it joins the hand and these have a tendancy to break off. Two bases.

I've not had much time to keep this blog up to date recently. I have been working on my web site which you can see at www.last_bunny.talktalk.net and painting figures.

Sea People DBA Army

This is a Sea People army - or more precisely a Peleset army. The Peleset can be identified by their distinctive head gear, which are shown on Egyptian reliefs from the period (circa 1176BC).


Generals can either be in a chariot or on foot with the elite fighters.



Here's a close up of the main man. The model has a very nice box cab and the crew fit easily.


These are the Elite fighters resplendent in their bronze armour and weilding bronze swords or spears.


Here is a group of lesser warrior, they have no shields and are only armed with javelins and occasionally a light axe.


The skirmish force of light archers. Not even so much as a scrap of textile armour for these boys.


The ordinary warriors make up the bulk of the army. These fighters can afford a shield and the occasional bronze sword but they can't afford the shiny armour of their elite bretheren. They have to make do with toughened textile strips or go without.

These are historical foes for the Egyptians, and over a 50 year period were a significant threat to Pharoah and his people.

I have just put up a New Kingdom Egyptian DBA army on Ebay. I've had these figures for some time and there are more partially finished.

It is one of those projects that didn't quite make it to completion. Here are some pictures.


Egyptian Bowmen


Libyan warband and Egyptian skirmishers


And again from the rear.

Pharoah leading by example - If you believe the propaganda he didn't need the rest of the army.

Part of the chariot force.

The full chariot force

And finally, the Egyptian heavy infantry.

The figures paint up well and all together give a very nice impression.