Upgrading the paperwork

 It's eight years since Garrison closed shop. At the time, if I wanted to know what mould a figure was on I could do it it easily because the systems were online. I never used paper mould lists. Of course, the website went with the closure. So what else did I have?

First thing I did was download and print the database. This tells me everything that might be on particular moulds. It isn't always accurate.  Trouble is, only way to search this database is by go through it it page by page... We're talking about (Actually this is a guess) over 600 moulds and about 2,000 figures. I've added over 120 moulds myself.

And it is quite a long document... from comparison with a ream of paper, probably a couple of hundred pages long.

Happily, there is a low tech searchable database available... though looking a bit the worse for wear!

This has been gradually modified/updated/revised over the years. For example, I've added the actual code descriptions by gluing in bits of pages from the paper catalogue. Originally, it's just a code with the mould numbers to the side.

I can't say I've really helped - this was me going through moulds to identify where the old 20mm Napoleonic figures were!

So I'm making a start doing some newer mould lists. For the Admins figures - they weren't in the original blue book at all, it's only recently that I've started documenting them a bit better! So far I've got versions of all the Admins ranges plus the Garrison S&S Range.

This is an example of an Admins page. Thing to note is the small number of moulds any particular figure is on - plus some where I can't find which mould they are on! As an aid to identifying figures I've printed off pages from Lost Minis Wiki and added them at the end. Many of the pictures there were originally from the Garrison website but there are major gaps!

Compare this with the S&S Range - and I still haven't gotten round to adding the figures on moulds I've had made. Some of the moulds are the bigger 12" moulds that I can't use on my Tiranti. I've added quite a moulds myself to make casting the S&S Range easier, by comparison the Admins Range has been sadly neglected - though as Admins figures were basically bought as one-offs and S&S figures as units it was always more important for the S&S Range to be better organised.

Will I eventually get round to upgrading the mould lists for all the ranges? Doubtful - in reality it would just take too long. But at least I can say I've made a start.

1897 French artillery etc

Had word from Amazon that the Osprey Sino-Japanese War book has been delayed, so today's post is slightly different to what I intended...

Firstly. finished the 'not quite' French 1897ish artillery - Rose 20mm ACW gunners with a Parrot gun acting as a generic late 19th C piece! By mounting the gun on a DBX base and the crew on individual bases the guns can by used for both individual and element-based games.

Colour scheme was meant to be the same as my 42mm guns but found out I'd run out of both new and old wood paint. So I painted the guns green instead.

Meanwhile, continuing with the other two companies (or whatever) of  infantry.

 

And some Jacklex Russians and more Arabs have arrived while I wait for the release of the Chinese.

 

Steven and Admins

A while back I sent Steven a load of Admins figures - these are the excellent first results (genie looks a lot better than either I did!).

' Painting has taken a deliberate back seat for the past couple of weeks (I worried I was making it an
obligation rather than a hobby) but here are some of the Garrison Admins range I painted. Decided
to go for bright bold colours as a contrast and a change in routine to the more realistic WW2 stuff. I
tried out a comic-book style with thick black lines and hatching in the shaded areas. It was
interesting to paint the cartoon desert base for the genie. It sounds niche, but you can find a tutorial
for just about anything.
This was a fun little experiment. It won’t become my usual painting style, but I enjoyed the change.'

 

20mm French War of 1897

 

Well, really they're mostly Rose dismounted Union cavalry, they're just painted French. I used Dark Sea Blue rather than Dark Prussian Blue for the jackets - does seem to suit French better.

24 figure 6 element battalion organised as 3 2 element companies.

 

Not really accurate as historical French infantry of the time, but fit in nicely as fictional 1897 figures.

 

The initial intention is to produce British, French and Russian armies based like this. Each army to consist of 3 6 element infantry battalions, 1 4 element cavalry regiment (elements represent HQ plus 3 squadrons) and 2 guns, plus possibly a machine gun. French and British armies will be Rose (with Jaclex officers and standards), Russians will be Jacklex, though probably Rose guns. These figures will complement the individually-based pulp battalions, with the guns serving for both.

Quick 'sorted figures for painting' update - on left, all the officers, standard bearers and artillerymen I need, middle marching infantry I need, on right what's left of the marching infantry.

Cataplanan pike phalanx

 

The Cataplanan army has been sadly neglected in recent years. I've therefore just increased the size of the pike phalanx from 1 battalion to 3...

The new battalions are basically the same as previous units except I've just left the bases plain, no filler.

 

Next priority will be to add a couple more xbow units.

Contact! Update Chinese Dragon attack post (see bottom of post)

The lead Boxers get ready to attack.

 

The cavalry face them as they send a messenger back to the fort.

Suddenly there are loud noises behind the Boxers! Columns of smoke rise into the air around the curve of the hill!

Disturbed by the passage of a noisy crowd of humans two dragons burst from their rest and engulf the column in flame!

When the smoke clears five Boxers had been fried to a crisp!

Confused, the leading Boxer unit halts in indecision.

Panic! The Boxers flee in pure horror! (To stand, officer and standard bearer needed to throw 5 or 6, other ranks a 6. All failed!!!)

The dragons follow up on the fleeing Boxers, forcing some of them to try and fight back.

Mostly they ran...

Treating all the figures as individuals, the Boxers are all down as Hordes (due to panic I've listed them as Hordes throughout, the Dragons as Dragons. +6 v +2. Using colour coded dice, in this battle 3 blue Boxers used blue dice, the red Boxers orange and the green dragon green. One Boxer did really well in this combat!

 

With many of the humans dead or running away and only a couple of them still facing them, the dragons decided they'd had enough and quietly sauntered off.

Faced with panicked Boxers heading towards them the British decided to charge!

First contact with the standard bearer who died!

Two Boxers promptly threw themselves to the ground and surrendered, a couple decided to fight and the rest scattered!

One of the resistors died, the other managed to hold off three cavalry!

 Satisfied with the outcome, the British rode off with their prisoners leaving one Boxer with a story about how he defeated and drove off a whole regiment of British cavalry! Of course, they never saw the dragons so haven't a clue what happened!

In fact, the Boxers finished up with four heroes, the other three being the ones who actually fighting the dragons - which, of course, they would later claim they killed...

 As an aside, I hate it when I read a detective novel and the detective solves it by introducing something they haven't told the audience about to solve the case. In this instance, there were enough clues and hints around that this was not a straight British/Boxer contest, though some were very obscure/hidden - I would be interested in knowing how many people spotted!

So, a few hints/clues. Nothing much, but here goes:

Firstly, right away through I have made a point of stating these are Pulp scenarios. The labels of all three of these posts include 'pulp'. The pulp side of my gaming has always been very specifically placed in the Newhaven universe (with 1897 extensions) and the single based figures  (rather than element based) especially so.

Look at recent posts - the Airfix Foreign Legion 'done as pulp rather than 'authentic'', Couple of Chinese buildings '28mm individual ones should be finished for quite a while apart from 'monsters'. 20mm for larger scale battles - got a prototype hopping vampire,', etc. Clear hints that 20/28mm single based figures are often for games with a supernatural element.

Now, the first of these three posts, 'Somewhere in China'. 'Between the Boxers and the British is my newly made village plus a temple and large protective idol.Of course, the British fort is behind the idol, which is probably why it didn't work' - so what direction IS the idol facing? Answer, towards a supposed threat. And of course magical idols are designed to ward off magical or supernatural threats. Didn't work against the British - not supernatural and came from the wrong direction. Seems to be working against the dragons - they're still outside the village!

OK, the dragons. Where did they come from? Never mentioned before. Yes, they were. Look under dragons on labels you get https://easterngarrison.blogspot.com/search/label/dragon - 

They're well hidden, but they're there! And no, I didn't expect anyone to spot that one!

Then lets look at another point. The design of the board itself.

That is a very long section of woodland. Looks like a major waste of space if that's all it's used for. Yet at the other end, where a possible siege of the fort could happen:

It was stuck at the far edge of the table... useful as a source of misdirection of course, but if I had ever intended it to be a pure Boxer/British battle the forestry section would have needed to be shorter and the fort would need to have terrain on it's far side! Otherwise - a very poorly designed board!

Anyway, as said there were plenty of clues and hints... but no-one was expected to find them, any more than someone reading a detective novel should be able to work out whodunit before the detective explains everything at the end. The idea is that tthe clues are there but you aren't supposed to notice them!

Jiangshi

Simple conversion of the Rose standing ACW artillery figure. Arms bent forward, sword carved away and given a big silly hat. The Jiangshi are reanimated corpses. In theory, they are killed by sticking a religious text on the forehead, or possibly a spot of blood. On the other hand, they don't exist in real life so they can be killed in any way the rules allow. For wargames purposes, a shot through the forehead or heart would seem reasonable - this lot aren't high class undead.

I started off trying to build up the bottom of the tunic with greestuff then found that a pure paint job worked as well/better. The pistol holster on the right of the belt substitutes for the knot tying the belt. Hands and face painted white to represent the fact it's an undead vampire. The figure also has possibilities for use as civilians. I'm having quite a think about converting ACW to Chinese.

Don't usually buy many books these days but thought (bit late!) I'd get a couple of Osprey uniform books. 'The Boxer Rebellion' has arrived, 'Armies of The First Sino-Japanese War 1894-' is on pre-order with Amazon.

Getting closer.

As the Boxers approach from one side of the board...

The cavalry cross the bridge on their patrol.

Meanwhile one company of the Highlanders leave the fort, their tour of duty over. A replacement company should have arrived to replace them but it's overdue. No matter - it's a quiet sector, one infantry company plus a cavalry squadron should be more than enough!

Not quite in sight of each other yet - still part of a hill in the way.

 

The cavalry haven't seen the Boxers so the squadron splits as it carries out it's job of checking the village is quiet. Not sure if the Boxers have seen the cavalry yet!

And the 2nd infantry company get further away from the fort.