Sunday March 29

Yesterday's meeting turned into something of a "show and tell" with Alex bringing the 1/72nd scale Lancaster bomber he is working on and other, finished models, Carl brought along some of his large and growing 28mmm Napoleonic collection, and, in alphabetical order, Ben, Ceilidh, David, Harley and Rex brought along the 54mm ANZAC diorama figures they had been painting. Neil and Vince have also been painting ANZAC figures. Good to see James at the meeting too, especially as he had the keys!

Games played were: Craig and Andrew playing a Marlburian battle using the Horse, Foot and Guns rules; Ceilidh, Harley and Vince played using the quick play ancient and medieval rules, DBA 3; and Ross and Vince played the card game Mythos.

Alex working on his 1/72nd scale Lancaster bomber

Alex and Rex talking turkey :-)

Rex finishing off the last of his 54mm Turks for the  ANZAC diorama

David, Ceilidh and Rex with some of the 80 54mm ANZAC diorama figures painted in the Wairarapa.

Carl's boxes of 28mm Napoleonics being checked out by David, Andrew and Craig.  Carl and Rex are planning to play using the Playable Napoleonic Wargames rules.

Some of Carl's boxes of Napoleonics.

French hussars.

Polish lancers.

Napoleon and friends.

Ceilidh and Harley getting a game of DBA 3 underway. Early Byzantines vs Sub-Roman British. 

View from the Byzantine table edge.

View from the Sub-Roman British table edge.

Ceilidh doing it!

Ross getting Mythos organised. 

Andrew  and Craig getting their Marlburian game under way. Horse, Foot and Guns work at a very large scale, each element or stand of figures is a brigade.  

Some of Craig's figures.

A view of the meeting. James, Ben and Vince are not in this pic.

Wairarapa Times-Age article about the Marauders

A nice pic and a good write up about the club in the Wairarapa Times-Age, Tuesday March 10. Big thank yous to Ceilidh for agreeing to be photographed and interviewed, and to Times-Age editor, Andrew Bonallack, for coming along to our meeting on Sunday.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wairarapa-times-age/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503414&objectid=11414708

March 8 meeting

Yesterday saw painting and gaming at the club, a new face - welcome to Alex who is into scale modelling - and the editor of the Wairarapa Times-Age, Andrew Bonallack, came along. Andrew's story and photos should be in the paper within a day or two. We will post them on the blog when they are published.

The early arrivers getting themselves set up.Others came later in the afternoon after the heavy lifting had been done!

Callum and Rex with their paints.

Rex is all concentration as he works on 54mm figures for the ANZAC diorama.

Jonathan brought along some of his bad boys to show off his work.

Harley reading from "The Book of Phil". Ceilidh, Jonathan, Ross and Harley at the DBA table. DBA are quick play Ancient and Medieval rules.

Ceilidh and Jonathan playing DBA.

Callum admiring Ross' Dystopian Wars fleets - Ottoman Turks and French. Dystopian Wars are fun rules for Steampunk games. That is, Victorian science fiction. 

Neil setting up his boardgame History of the World. He, Peter, Ross, James and Vince played.

Peter and Craig playing Craig's Wings of War, a World War 1 aerial game. 

Sunday March 8, come and paint toy soldiers, and play games

After we sent a message that we will be painting 54mm ANZAC figures at the club Sunday afternoon we were asked if people could bring other figures to paint. The answer is, "of course, the more the merrier!" If you want to paint at the club at this or any meeting please feel free to bring along any of your figures and paints.

Everyone is also most welcome to bring along toy soldiers and boardgames to play, instead of painting.

Here are some pics of club members recent efforts in different periods and scales.

Carl's 25mm Napoleonic French and Prussians

Jonathan is making progress on his 15mm Vikings. He has bought them to play quick play Ancient and Medieval rules, DBA. 

Some of the 54mm Kiwis for the ANZAC diorama

54mm Turks for the ANZAC diorama

Meeting Sunday February22

This afternoon it was great to meet new people at the club, Callum and Austen, to see Ceilidh's and Harley's new 15mm Sub-Roman British (shields still being painted), to yarn with Jonathan about his 15mm Vikings (a work in hand), to hear from Craig about more 28mm Marlburian armies on the way, and to discover that we have a bunch of people to connect to each other: Carl and Rex about Napoleonics, Callum and Peter about Warmachine, Austen and James about 40K. 

We are planning a "show and tell" day when everyone will be invited to bring along something - an army, a unit, a few figures, painted or unpainted toy soldiers, boardgames, favourite books or rules etc. You will not have to play, though of course there will be games, just come along and see what we all have. Watch this space for more details!

At today's meeting we had people playing the boardgame History of the World, a Marlburian game using Horse, Foot and Guns,  Warhammer 40K, and quick play Ancient and Medieval rules, DBA 3. 

Neil, Peter and Rex playing History of the World.

Callum (Chaos) and Austen (Dark Angels) playing 40K.

Craig (Peter the Great) and Warren (John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough) using Horse Foot and Guns. Carl came along to see what was happening and to scout for some Napoleonic gaming. We will do it!

Some of Craig's dragoons

 Cleilidh and Harley played two games of DBA v.3. Early Anglo-Saxons vs Sub-Roman British, and Early Byzantines vs Sub-Roman British.

 

Judging by the terrain, it was Britain and it had rained!

ANZAC diorama update

Vince, Neil, Warren, David, and Rex are taking part in Sir Peter Jackson's ANZAC diorama project and we are waiting for more figures for all of them to get into it. More figures are on the way, great pics of new figures are on the official Mustering the Troops blog, and Peter Jackson has sent us all the following message: 

I want to thank all the wargamers who have volunteered to help with this massive diorama project. You’ve answered your country’s call for sure!  Your work and skill is very much appreciated by all involved in the WW1 exhibition we’re putting together.

Chunuk Bair is a battle more and more New Zealanders are becoming aware of, but few really understand what it was, and fewer still can visualise it. In a museum, there are very few ways to depict the scale of the battle, with over 1000 New Zealand and British troops under attack by thousands of Turks, across a 400 yard long crest - but we thought a miniature was the perfect way.

The diorama itself will be huge - over 10m long - with the terrain accurately re-created from a digital scan of Chunuk Bair itself. High resolution scans of aerial photos taken in October 1915, reveal the remains of the New Zealand trenches, so those will be positioned exactly as they were in August. Thanks to your efforts, we’ll be able to create an accurate and lasting impression of the struggle Kiwi soldiers found themselves in, mid-morning on August 8th, 1915.

I’ve been looking at your work as it’s been posted on this blog, and it’s terrific! My only suggestion would be to vary the colours of the New Zealand shirts a little more. There are no photographs of the Wellington Battalion on Chunuk Bair, but we know the attack orders from General Godley specified “shirt-sleeves only”.

In Gallipoli by August, most sense of military correctness had been thrown out the window. Far from stepping off the parade ground, by August the Anzacs were known as “The Scarecrow Army”. Soldiers were receiving parcels from home, and new shirts from Mum were often included.  So despite the painting guide instructions, I would encourage future New Zealand figure painters to give yourselves permission to mix it up a bit. Grubby white shirts, olive green, dark blue, light grey - all would be fine, and it will give the diorama an accurate look.

The photos below will give you a sense of the wide variety of shirt colours.

Thanks for supporting this project!

Cheers

Peter Jackson 

http://anzacdiorama.blogspot.co.nz/ 

Sunday February 8

Our first meeting of the year was very much a "DBx" day. Craig brought along two of his Marlburian armies, and he and Warren played a game of Horse, Foot and Guns. Vince and Andrew brought along Early Achaemenid Persians, Athenians, Early Imperial Romans and Parthians, and several people played five games of DBA.

"DBx" is the name used for a game system developed by the Wargames Research Group. It is used for various sets of rules for Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, and horse and musket rules. Horse, Foot and Guns are the horse and musket rules, while DBA (De Bellis Antiquitatis version3.0) are quick play rules with army lists for ancient and medieval battles. Andraw is finishing his 25mm Persians, while Jonathan (Vikings) Harley (Sub-Roman British), Ceilidh (Early Byzantine), and James (ancient Spanish) are assembling 15mm armies.

We are likely to see more DBA at the next meeting and also possibly Wings of War, multi-player boardgames and more. Remember, all periods, all rules, all scales are welcome. See you there :-)

Warren and Craig going for it with Horse Foot and Guns

Andrew and Peter playing 25mm DBA - Persians vs Athenians. Neil and Rex watching.

Ceilidh and Harley - Parthians vs Romans. 

Vince and Neil playing, with Peter watching and Andrew measuring.