Do you want proof?

A few days ago, I dared say I was using a headtorch when painting. And some of you wanted a proof. Well, yesterday evening, while inking and washing my unit, I took my tablet and here is the picture:

So, my third unit is almost complete now. I just need to do some touch-ups and highlights, and then varnish and voila.

you an see a real difference

Comme j'avais ose dire que j'utilisais une lampe frontale pour peindre, j'ai du me justifier. C'est maintenant chose faite, na. Et pis j'en profite pour vous montrer l'avancee de mon battlegroup. Il ne me reste plus qu'a faire les eclaircissements et vernir le tout.

Tata.

One more step

Didn't do much yesterday evening, simply because I went to the club and got to play a game of Force on Force. Sorry no pics this time, but I didn't think I'd play. As always, I really like this game, and I might in the near future start my Sci-Fi project again. Anyway. While mini-me was napping ( though a tad short) I managed to get some painting done on my Mirliton. Now all the bases are done. The nest step will be inking and washing, and then highlights and touch-ups.

This guy will be my ref figure to show you the effects of washing/inking over base colours/ bare metal

Je n'ai pas beaucoup hier car je suis alle au club, et je me suis retrouve a jouer une partie de Force on Force, regle que j'apprecie beaucoup. Pas de photos car APN oublie, desole. Je pense ressortir mes figs SF un de ces jours moi. A part ca, j'ai termine de passer les bases sur mes Mirliton. Prochaine etape, wash et encrage. Et pour terminer, eclaircissements et finitions.

Bases and a secret

Quite windy today here in London... oh and rainy too. So, stuck at home with the missi, I tried to paint a little. I managed to put many bases on my hallberdiers ( skin, red, brown and blue). I'd say they should be done by the week-end. At the moment, I'm not disappointed by the Mirliton figures. They have one weakness: the weapons are separate and are a tad fragile in my opinion.

And now for the secret. Until now, only Ray knew about the way I was painting. Now you'll all know. The problem I have is I can't plug any lamp in the living-room near enough the table. So the only way for me to get enough light is... to use a head torch:

Comme il fait un temps de merde ici, et non ce n'est pas le temps habituel en Angleterre, je suis reste coince a la maison avec la puce. Bon, pas super facile de peindre, mais j'ai reussi a passer la plupart des bases sur mes hallebardiers Mirliton, qui sont vraiment reussis. Seul point faible: les armes separees et qui sont un poil fragiles a mon gout. Et en bonus, je vous devoile ma super technique pour peindre: je ne peux pas avoir de lampe pour peindre sur la table du salon ( trop loin des prises). Du coup, j'utilise une lampe frontale et j'avoue m'en sortir pas trop mal.

Scottish arrows and Spanish hallberds

I have to be honest with you. I have some hard time finding enough mojo to keep me busy painting at a steady pace. My new job can be quite exhausting and I prefer reading a good book instead of painting. I still managed to finish painting my first longbow unit, which will be full of Scots. But more about them later, when I'll have them varnished. At the same time, I've prepped an other heavy weapon unit, this time from Mirliton, in their Condotta range. The minis are just great. More info on them when I'll have them painted. This unit will be under command of a Spanish Noble, well, at least Spanish from his origins.

Je vous confierai volontiers qu'en ce moment, ma motivation n'est pas au beau fixe pour la peinture. Mon boulot est quand meme fatiguant, et j'avoue preferer lire un bon bouquin. Il n'empeche que j'ai reussi a terminer la peinture de ma deuxieme unite, qui represente des archers ecossais. Plus d'infos a  leur sujet quand tout sera termine et vernis. Dans le meme temps, j'ai prepare une troisieme unite, des hallebardiers de chez Mirliton, qui representeront des troupes venues du Sud de la France, et dirigees par un noble d'origine espagnole.

The battle of Salutesville, 1862

I was today at the Rejects after Ray called me to act as a substitute for a game of Fire and Fury. On my way there, I met Tamsin, who was also invited. After some talks with the local police (erm), we arrived at Postie's, and there we met Jack, Postie (obiviously), Lee, Fran (who was actually cooking, by god the pasta were good, I need you to give me the recipe, simple yet effective, Fran), And Curt. Yup, a real convention, full of celebrities hehe. Once in Postie's shack, I must say I was impressed by the sheer size of the gaming table. 

It was supposed to represent the battle of Salutesville (pun), in 1862. Each one of us played a corps. If I recall, I had the 12th, with some troops from Pennsylvania and Ohio. I won't talk about it much, except it was good, fun, full of swearing from Fran ( and myself sometimes). Quite a lot of head banging because of the numerous ones we all threw. Yep, that was a good game. I can't report much because iI had to leave rather early. My corps, on the far left, had to move forward, push Jeb Stuart's cavalry, and assist the center by sending some troops on the other side of the fordable river. Easier said than done.

I'll just show you some pics and then you'll see a slide. Enjoy mates. To conclude, I had a really good, even though I didn't speak that much. Sorry guys, I'm not very talkative, but then you just can't compete against Fran and Ray :) It was really nice finally meeting you all, and Postie, thanks for the game. In the end, I was given the status of honorary member, French chapter, which I accepted proudly. And Tamsin gave me my well-deserved pize for winning the draw ;)  Anytime for a new game guys.

My favorite pictures:

Come on, not a one!

Pom pom pom, more troops for us

I'm broken, we should concede the draw guys ( before their center broke ours...)

Salut a tous. Aujourd'hui j'etais invite chez les Rejects pour une mega partie guerre de secession sur Fire and Fury. Ce fut l'occasion de rencontrer des celebrites parmi les bloggueurs, et croyez-moi, je ne fus pas decu. Nous avons joue un scenario sur un affrontement hypothetique a Saluteville. J'etais du cote nordiste, sur le flanc gauche avec mon 12e corps. Comme vous pouvez le voir, il y avait de la fig et de la bonne humeur, et des jurons. Franchement, entre les 1 au de, et les deroutes, c'etait que du bon. Je laisserai mes confreres s'occuper du rapport de bataille car j'ai du partir avant la fin. une chose est sure, je reviendrai, car on sait recevoir chez les Rejects.

Thank you honey! My Salute

I arrived today at 3.30 pm at the ExCel, to attend to Salute, THE wargame convention... yup, the doors closed at 5pm, leaving me 1h 30 to savour it. To be honest, I was disappointed: too much SF and 28mm for my taste, and not enough 15mm sellers. The gaming tables looked rather good to me, but I didn't have time to enjoy them. In fact, once I had picked the pre ordered items, and shaked a few hands, mainly from French friends, but also Ray's, Fran's and Postie's, it was already time to go. So why should I say thank you honey? Well, my wife started a new hobby, which caused me to leave home that late ( remember, I have a mini me at home). So, thanks to her, I couldn't see the whole show, meaning my wallet was still full afterwards... Ok, tomorrow will be the main event, with lots of pics I'm sure. Ray and Fran told me we would be 6 bloggers gaming, including Tamsin. Yup, it will be our gaming conv ;)

salut tout le monde. je vais faire court car je poste depuis ma tablette et c'est un chouia ch... de blogguer. enfin bon. mon Salute a moi fut tres court, car ma femme a commence un nouveau hobby qui m' a coince a la maison. du coup, je ne fus present que pendant 1h30...tant mieux car j' ai je pense evite plein de depenses inutiles. un peu decu par les vendeurs avec assez peu de 15mm. surtout du SF et 28mm etbonnnn. Les demos avaient l'air pas mal mais la encore j' ai vraiment survole. ma vraie convention aura lieu demain aupres des Poqtie' s rejects, une journee de jeu. yay.

A WIP and a Salute list

I'll be attending Salute tomorrow, and I feel really excited about it, even though I won't be staying long because of my wife's new hobby... Darn. Anyway, just before I'll show what I intend to do, let me show you first some WIP pictures:

The Romans are almost done. I just need a few touch-ups, one highlight for the spears and the white on their shields before I stick the LBMS decals.

And then I started painting my second unit of medieval ecorcheurs: longbows.

Now for the Salute part. You might have read that some bloggers do lists. Well, mine will be short:
- some 6mm stuff for my French army (already paid)
- some 28mm for SAGA (preordered already)
- some brushes and dice
- have a look at Donnington's Spartacus range for my 2013 project
- meet some bloggers
- Give Ray his prize.

And that's it! No fancy stuff just because I don't have bloody room here in London.

And speaking of Ray, he called me yesterday to act a substitute for a Postie's ACW game on Sunday. How could I refuse? My wife said ok, but I'm sure I'm gonna pay for it, someday.



Salut a tous. Demain, c'est Salute, et comme j'y serai pour peu de temps, j'ai decide d'etre organise et de faire une liste, comme d'autres bloggueurs. Comme vous le voyez, cette liste est courte. Helas, manque cruel de place a la maison. Bref, j'en profiterai pour papoter et baver devant les tables. Dans le meme temps, j'ai continue a peindre les Romains, presque finis, et commence une unite d'archers. Faut que j'avance quand meme.


Et pis, dimanhce, grosse surprise. Ray m'a contacte pour venir faire une big partie ACW. Miam, je vais en profiter a mort.Ciao.

A prize and an important (?) question

Yesterday evening, just before going to bed, I went to Tamsin's Blog, and there I discovered I had won a prize! Hurray! I wanted the M.A.S.H DVD set and got it.

 

Ok, there was no real competition, since we were only two, but then, it's always nice to get a present ;) 

Now, for the question: as you know, I'm now working as a tutor, but in fact I'm considered as self-employed. Yesterday, I was tutoring in another tut. company simply because it was large enough to teach in front of a group of pupils. After the lesson, the manager spoke to me and asked me if I could work for them. Now because tutoring is part time, most of the time anyway, I could work for both companies. But then, am I allowed to do it in the UK law? I read my first contract and there is no exclusivity clause, so I think I could. What do you think?

A mes chers lecteurs francophones: bon, pas de question pour vous, sauf si vous vous y connaissez en droit du travail anglais. Bref, le post du jour sera plus court, simplement pour mentionner le fait que j'ai gagne un prix a la loterie sur le blog de Tamsin. J'avais demande le coffret de M.A.S.H et l'ai gagne. Yeepeeeee!  Bon, des que m apuce dort, je file peindre un peu.

Homs 1281, a mega-battle

Hi folks. Yesterday evening I was at the club, not knowing what I could play. As soon as I arrived, Gordon asked me if I could join them in a refight of the battle of Oms, in 1281, between the Mongols (and allies) and the Mamluks. More info there. I gladly joined them, and took charge of the Mongols'right, full of Seljuk, Armenian and Georgian allies... Yup, it's a mess to command, but I had some good troops. Facing me, Tamsin had some mounted units and volunteers. My units were slightly better than hers. I managed to break through her lines, but some of their troops were flanking me, so I'd say we were even, though I had an advantage, with a second line coming up. Meanwhile, the Mongols' left flank and center had to manage against some lancers (not good), and so they were starting to break. We called it after three hours, with what could be considered as a marginal Mamluk victory, with historical results. Thanks Gordon for the game. Now time for the pics:

Hier soir, j'etais donc au club, ne sachant pas encore a quoi j'allais jouer. Gordon me propose de se joindre a la partie de FOG qui allait demarrer, proposant de rejouer la bataille d'Oms de 1281, entre Mongols et Mamelouk. J'ai bien sur accepte et j'ai pris en charge le flanc droit des Mongols, bourre d'allies armeniens, georgiens et turcs... Bonjour le bordel. Face a moi, Tamsin et l'aile la plus faible des Mamelouk... Bref, j'ai reussi a enfoncer sa ligne, mais elle avait commence a me deborder sur l'extreme flanc, Au centre et sur notre flanc gauche, les choses etaient moins roses, avec nos pauvres gars a cheval devant affronter des lanciers a cheval. Aie. Bref, apres 3h de jeu, nous avons conclu sur une victoire marginale des Mamelouks, avec des resultats historiques concernant le comportement des troupes. bravo Gordon pour cette belle partie.

Getting there

I didn't have time to post yesterday so I'm doing it now. I managed to paint quite efficiently this week-end, and I'd say the Romans horses are almost done. As you can, all that's left are the highlights and the shields. The Roman army is now almost over. Tonight I'll go to the club, and maybe I'll paly a big game of medieval FOG or a game of Ironclads. We'll see.

Meme si je n'ai pas eu le temps de poster hier, j'ai bien avance la peinture de la cavalerie romaine ce week-end, comme vous le pouvez le voir. Il ne me reste plus que les eclaircissements et les boucliers a faire. C'est bientot fini... Ce soir, direction le club, pour soit faire une mega-baston FOG medieval, ou bien une partie de petits bateaux avec Ironclads.

A  suivre

Poton de Xaintrailles

I just finished painting the figures for my first unit. They're varnished, but not yet based because I'm waiting for my bases and the banner from Vexillia. In the meantime, I'll be nice and give some pics:

my feeble attempt at hand painted heraldry, poor Poton.
ma tentative d'heraldique pour Poton

Jean Poton de Xaintrailles was a French knight and commander who has joined Joan of Arc, and fought efficiently. But when the fight ended after the truce, he found himself unemployed, along with his troups. So he became an "ecorcheur", a free company, terrorizing the North East of France.

 Because he was still alive in 1444, I decided to include him in one of my veteran unit, full of tough guys. Most of them are generic, but some wear the white cross from the House of Armagnac. So now I can use them either as Free company, French army, or whatever.

J'ai donc termine de peindre les figs de ma premiere unite d'ecorcheurs. J'attends encore mes bases et mes bannieres. Pour vous faire patienter, ce groupe comprend notamment Jean Poton de Xaintrailles, ancien capitaine de Jeanne d'Arc. Tres bon combattant, il se retrouva neanmoins sans boulot au moment de la treve et commenca donc a ravarger le Nord Est de la France avec une bande d'ecorcheurs. Etant toujours en vie en 1444, j'ai suppose qu'il avait repondu a l'appel du roi et avait rejoint les rangs. Il figure ici parmi une unite de purs veterans, des brutes. A part lui, quelques autres portent la croix blanche des Armagnacs. Le reste est suffisamment generique pour me permettre de faire d'autres armees.

Les Ecorcheurs

I've made my choice for the medieval army I intend to paint. While looking for something interesting on the net, I stumbled upon this project, a WAB Free company. What could be interesting? Well, we're in 1444, just after the truce of Tours. The kingdom of France is now ravaged by unemployed veteran soldiers, the "ecorcheurs". Some of their leaders are former Joan of Arc lieutenants. In 1444, King Charles VII decided to regroup them and send them in a military expedition against the Swiss... What is funny? This 30000 strong army is under the command of the Dauphin and some of the King's generals. Ha ha, interesting. It's a Free company but it's also a French army. on August 28th, they meet the Swiss and after a bloody day, the Swiss are all but dead. What? The Swiss have lost? Well, they were outnumbered 10 to 1...  It's definitely the army I want to paint. So, after picking things on my lead hill, I prepped a dismounted men-at-arms unit, full of veteran heavily armoured bastards.

J'ai finalement fait mon choix d'armee pour le tournoi interne du club. Apres avoir regarde sur internet, je suis tombe sur ce projet WAB. Il s'agit d'une grande compagnie un peu particuliere, ayant existe en 1444. Cette annee-la, la treve de Tours a pour consequence de jeter sur les routes des milliers de veterans desormais sans emploi. Le roi Charles VII decide donc de les regrouper et de les envoyer en expedition contre les Suisses. Nous avons avons donc une armee disparate, dirigee par les generaux du roi. J'adore le concept. Le 28 aout, ils rencontrent et battent les Suisses, qui y restent tous. Il faut dire que nos amis suisses etaient a 1 contre 10. Alors forcement... Du coup, voila mon projet, avec un historique a peu pres etabli.

Grandson 1476, a test game

Last week, I gamed the test-demo for Salute, about the battle of Grandson, opposing Charles the Bold against the Swiss. We used Hail Caesar and try to figure out the mechanisms, for the game to be smooth enough for the 21st.


La semaine derniere, j'ai participe au test de la bataille de Grandson, entre Charles le Temeraire et l'armee suisse, avec les regles d'Hail Ceasar.

Charles' army, beautifully arrayed for battle
L'armee de Charles, prete a la bataille

The Swiss in the fog
Les Suisses dans le brouillard

My command: gendarmes and crossbowmen
Mes troupes: des gendarmes et arbaletriers

The Swiss start slowly...
Un depart a la Suisse...

We deploy peacefully
un deploiement paisible comme un bourguignon

Oh dear, the Swiss are now on the fast lane...
Aie, les Suisses ont accelere

Pikey...

Pikey...

Pikey...

Can you see my clever plan?
Voyez-vous mon plan genial se dessiner?

Wait...

Charggggeeeee!

Impressive results, but my flank attack didn't break the pike block
Tres joli score de ma part, mais je n'ai pu briser le bloc de piques...

Meanwhile, the Swiss are dangerously near our lines...
Et les Suisses qui se rapprochent dangereusement...

Still not broken, but we have some reinforcements.
Meme avec des renforts, on ne les brise pas.

Ouch?

Are my gendarmes going to die?
Mes gendarmes vont-ils y passer?

He he, no kebab, but another flank attack
he he, non, car je charge a nouveau sur le flanc!

and another one!
Et une autre charge a l'oppose du chanp de bataille

The mighty hand of God, aka George...
La main de Dieu, cad de George

Well, as yo can see, the Swiss were soundly beaten. Thanks to our gendarmes and some tweaking still to do, the Pike were unable to withstand the flank attacks. But then, the rules are not meant for this period...

Comme vous pouvez le voir, les Suisses ont ete massacres. Aucune chance face aux attaques de flanc des gendarmes. Il va falloir revoir les stats des unites. Autre probleme, les regles ne retranscrivent pas vraiment les specificites de la fin du Moyen-Age.

So many things to do...

Sorry lads, you won't see our friend Blackadder this time. I'm quite busy at the moment, and I prefer writing down "important" things. But don't despair, you might see him again soon, unless you don't want to see my pathetic attempts at British humour. Anyway. During the Easter Week-end, I couldn't paint much. So, I only painted the last parts on my dragoons, and then I prepped 15 Romans horsemen, and 18 longbowmen. The problem is, I still don't know which army to pick for the club comp: Swiss? French Ordonnance? Quite typical, but then, I want to use what I already have, though unpainted...

Le week-end de Paques fut loin d'etre productif de mon cote. J'ai tres peu peint, et comme j'ai commence a donner des cours, j'ai maintenant peu de temps pour moi. Bref, J'ai quand meme pu passer les dernieres touches de peinture sur les dragons, et ja'i egalement prepare 15 cavaliers romains, ainsi que 18 archers longs  pour le tournoi interne du club. Le hic: je ne sais quelle armee choisir. Suisses? Ordonnance francaise? J'ai un stock de figs non peintes donc je vais voir ce qu'on peut faire.