Aberillo - An Old West Town in 28mm

 As described in the previous post about the pueblo of Vacaloco, Aberillo is a town close to the border where Welsh settlers decided to make their home. Quite why it was named Aberillo isn't clear: there is no river Illo and certainly no river mouth. We can only assume that these early Welsh settlers had a sense of irony.

Aberillo, or at least my ambition to build a western town began with the purchase of four extremely good value MDF building kits at Hammerhead in March this year. I was lucky. Hammerhead turned out to be the last wargames show of 2020, and who knows when the next one will be. These buildings were from the Cactus Creek 28mm range by Warbases. They're very simple structures with square windows and are considerably improved by a little extra work, but were an excellemt start. All other buildings were scratch-built mainly from cardboard, MDF and balsa. I will put up a step by step guide to how one of these buildings was made in due course for reference.

Barrels and crates are from Debris of War, and figures from Foundry Miniatures, Artizan Miniatures, Great Escape Games, Knuckleduster (Gunfighter's Ball range), and Dixon Miniatures, and despite minor scale differences work pretty well together. The wagons are scratch-built, using wheels from Irregular Miniatures. All other terrain items are scratch-built. 

Below are photos of the finished setup, which didn't quite all fit on a 6x4 table - the church is therefore slightly out of the town. More photos will no doubt follow with games played on this terrain. Enjoy! 

Welcome to Aberillo

A view down Main Street towards the station

The station master checks his watch - the 3:10 is late as usual

On the platform, passengers are getting impatient

But there's no sign of the train along the empty track

As Mr Ying brings in the laundry, a pair of prospectors enter the town

Doc Brown watches from a distance, keeping a low profile

Bob comes out of his hardware store. Where are all the customers?

Further along Main Street, something has drawn their attention

The old timer shakes his fist. He has no idea what is happening

Patrons of the Belle Vue saloon, and the tobacconist, come out to see what's going on

Nothing distracts the legal staff here, though. Forms need to be filled in

While Mrs Evans wonders what's going on, Mr Evans rings his bell. Fresh bread is baked and ready!

Maybe there is a story somwhere for the local paper?

Outside the barber's shop a travelling salesman is drawing a crowd...

...drawing everyone's attention with his banter

Bronwyn's girls watch from the balcony 

Dr Quack's Elixir Tonic Wonder Cure-All sounds a bit too good to be true

Dai, the undertaker, doubts this will affect his business

A wider view of the scene

Outside the town, the gravedigger takes a break from his work

While Rev Byron Frimstone practices his sermon

I've had a lot of fun making all of this, and am looking forward to playing some games as soon as lockdown permits!

Here are some shots of the whole table setup. Apologies for the poor games room lighting.

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Vacaloca - A Mexican Pueblo in 28mm

I've always wanted terrain and figures for Old West skirmish games and made the decision in July that this would be my next project, despite the only models I had for this period being a few cheap MDF kits that I hadn't touched since purchasing. Despite having these buildings I decided that I would start by first creating a modest Mexican Pueblo and getting a few figures to suit, and then if time permitted to expand this by building a small Western town. It didn't take long for all this to get well out of hand.

This project represents most of my efforts over the last three months and I ended up with just short of a hundred figures, 27 buildings, all of which were scratch built other than the four MDF kits, which I modified quite a bit, plus all sorts of scatter terrain to suit. 

In the process of making all this - with the ultimate objective of having a setup and game that I can play at Bangor, Wales next August (coronavirus restrictions permitting, that is) - discussions with friends and the creation of some very bad puns led me to the idea that the part of the Old West that my model would represent would be an area near the Mexican border that had been colonised by Welsh settlers. The town was duly named Aberillo and the idea stuck. I'll put up a second post soon with photos of the final setup for that town, but this post focuses on the Mexican Pueblo, which I chose to name Vacaloco.

In time, of course, I will be using this terrain for Western skirmish games, and after a lot of hunting around I am intending to start by using the Rules With No Name by Wargames Foundry, possibly with some adaptations based on good ideas from other rules. But the setup is rules agnostic and will do for any Western skirmish game.

Here then are some pictures of the finished setup for the pueblo of Vacaloca, somewhere just across the Mexican border. In these pictures all is quiet and peaceful; as games are played photos of Mexican bandits and the heroes who will face them will be posted in due course, and I might also blog with pictures of those characters separately as well.

Sleepy Sanchez takes a nap

Peasants go about their business in the pueblo

While the men discuss the weather, the women gather food and water

The well in the centre of the village is a regular meeting place

And the water is clean and good

All is quiet at the church, for the townsfolk are busy at their chores

A long view through the pueblo

A closer view of the north end of the village

All terrain apart from the basecloth is scratch-built. Buildings are made from cardboard, MDF and odd scraps. Saguaro cacti are made using the simple and brilliantly effective method described at the western games blog, although using Milliput and my own basing style. Mexican villagers are from Wargames Foundry. 

Here are some views of the whole table setup (with apologies for the poor lighting in my games room).

Views of the table setup

Images of Aberillo to follow in the next post!

Desert Forces for 15mm Chain of Command

Following up on the last post showing my LRDG force, here are some images of DAK and 8th Army troops that I completed around the same time. Most of the figures are Battlefront though a few Peter Pig and Skytrex models have sneaked in as well. Vehicles are all Battlefront except for the Panzers which are all from Plastic Soldier Comany and the Matilda II which is a Zvezda kit.

DAK Aufklarungs platoon

More than enough motorbikes here to provide vehicles for a DAK recon platoon using the provisional army list available from the TooFatLardies blog. These are Battlefront models individually based and painted in a variety of colours to reflect the availability and provision of machines for the desert war.

Two SdKfz 232 (8-Rad) armoured cars

No Aufklarungs platoon would be complete without some heavy support. I have two models because they were originally bought for Flames of War, but you never know, they may well both come in handy.

Kubelwagens

The universal small vehicle of German forces in WW2.

Heavy weapons support

Heavy support for the DAK comes in the form of one PAK38 and a tripod mounted MG42.

Lighter support weapons and observer teams

Two light mortar teams (mortars are scratch-built from plastic card), two anti-tank rifle teams (which can be used instead of sniper models if required) and two observer teams (with scratch-built radios) provide lighter support for the DAK platoon.

Four DAK infantry sections with officers

While the army list requires three sections within the platoon, I've added models for a fourth section as this is a possible cupprot option that can be purchased. All figures are Battlefront.

Panzer platoon

Playing Big Chain of Command allows for the possibility of fielding an armoured platoon, so these lovely Plastic Soldier Company tanks provide for a variety of options within that. Models represent four early model Panzer IIIs, one of which is the command tank, one short-barreled Panzer III, and a short-barelled Panzer IV (back left). Beautiful models.

British transport

These models were originally purchased with the intent of wither providing vehicle transport for foot for Flames of War, or for use as objectives in raiding scenarios. Both sides made much use of captured vehicles, so while these are British trucks they can be used by either side. The car is a die cast model that fit for style and size and can be used as a command vehicle or a scenario objective, for example in a "capture the General" type scenario. Lots of possibilities here!

Matilda II

I just love the look of Matilda IIs in desert colours so had to have one of these. Mine is a Zvezda plastic kit.

British suppport weapons

Mortars, tripod mounted machine guns and two 6-pdr guns make up possible 8th Army support.

8th Army infantry platoon, with additional section and various options

As with the DAK platoon, the fourth section is an additional support option. Sections allow for officers to be equipped with rifles or stens in accordance with the options in the army list.
 

Making Ford F30s for the LRDG - Part 3: The Finished Models

Ford F30s for Chain of Command

Before I start, an apology. This is the third and final part of a set or articles that I started back in 2013. I know, I really have taken far too long to finish this. My excuse is that I had originally made the Ford F30 models for Flames of War, and it was around this time that I lost interest completely in that rule set, mainly because I object to having to fork out for new books every few years - but also that we started playing Chain of Command in 15mm and (in my opinion) it's a much better game.

This meant that my F30 models have sat around primed and ready to paint, along with a load of 15mm 8th Army and Afrika Korps models, for a quite ridiculous number of years. It has taken lockdown (and the promise of playing some Chain of Command desert war games) to bring them to the painting table, and finally they are done and I am writing this post.

I said at the end of the second post in this set that the third one would show the all-important finishing touches, but apologise for never taking any photos of the final assembly of the vehicles and the stowage added. Where I can remember, I've described this in the notes under the images. This, then, is a short post to show some pictures of the finished models. I have not added specific unit markings to the vehicles, though. If decals had been readily available I might have and maybe I will do this in the future, but I like the look of the vehicles as they are anyway so let's leave it there.

Here then are photos of the finished figures, along with images of the rest of the vehicles in their units, and their crew, who are now based for Chain of Command rather than Flames of War.

One of the finished models on the painting table

I painted the F30s in a camo scheme plausibly used by the LRDG of Canadian sand (Vallejo green ochre with a lighter highlight) overlain with sharp-edged bands of azure blue (Foundry tomb blue). Stowage added to the vehicle comes from items in the bit box, and rolled canvas made from Milliput.

Another of the F30 models on the painting table

Camo netting within the stowage is fine cotton netting that has been soaked in PVA glue before attaching to the model. As well as looking good this is very effective at hiding minor errors! I based the trucks on spare Flames of War infantry bases which were slightly enlarged by cutting two bases and gluing them together to the required length. These were textured with a mix of filler, PVA, water and fine sand and sprinkled with chinchilla dust to give surface texture. When dry, bases were painted with cheap emulsion paint - Crown Brown Sugar, dry brushed when dry with Crown Biscuit.    

Truck #1

Truck #2

Truck #3

When I painted these models I also painted the rest of my LRDG models, so here are some pictures of them as well.

Officer's car (left), Ford command car (centre), Ford radio truck (right)

Early patrols in which the Ford F30s were most likely to be used would not have been equipped with jeeps but would have used older vehicles such as the Ford patrol cars above for their command vehicles.

Two LRDG (SAS) jeeps 

These type of jeeps would have served as command vehicles for later LRDG patrols.

LRDG Patrol #1

SIx Chevrolet trucks forming two half patrols. One of these is fitted with a 20mm Breda gun.

LRDG Patrol #2

Patrol #2 is painted in the same camo scheme as the Ford F30s. Again, one of the trucks carries a Breda canon.

LRDG for Chain of Command

Finally, figures to crew these vehicles. These have been individually based for playing Chain of Command in 15mm.

Saga - Age of Magic: The Challenge (9)

The Undead Legions

The completed army: (L-R) Titan, Scourge, Warriors and Hearthguard and Warlord

And more of them: (L-R) Black knight (mounted and foot options), Scourge #2, Warriors

My long-waited fifth faction completed for Saga: Age of Magic is at last completed. This faction has gone through various iterations in  preparation since my original concepts, in particular the mounted Hearthguard.

 

I'd originally thought this would be a nice and easy faction to get on the table, as I already had the Revenant army. One play test sorted that out though - no way was an army largely made of the Mindless (despite being possible) likely to work at all well. The list I came up with was:

 

Necromancer (warlord)

Black knight (mounted)

1 x 4 Hearthguard (mounted)

2 x 11 Warriors (skeletons)

2 x 11 Warriors (skeletons, bow)

1 x 20 Mindless

 

To make this, and to allow for variations on a theme, and to add in some optional extras that looked nice, what I ended up putting together was:

 

Necromancer

Black Knight (foot and mounted)

2 x 4 Hearthguard (mounted)

24 x Warriors (skeletons with spear and shield)

24 x Warriors (skeletons with bow)

Titan (giant mummy)

Scourge (wyvern)

Scourge (skeletal dragon)

 

The mindless are Revenants which I already posted about a while ago. I'm not repeating that here.

 

The necromancer

The necromancer warlord is an old Reaper figure previously used for roleplaying that I repainted and rebased.

 

The black knight (on and off his horse)

The foot version of this is what I believe to be an old Asgard miniatures (remember them?) figure which I altered the helmet of long ago. I changed his weapon for a double-headed chain mace duplicating the one used by the mounted chap, made him a cloak from green stuff and added a big sword.

 

The mounted model is a Kings of War revenant figure and horse, with head, weapon, cloak and shield from a Fireforge plastic knight, made good with green stuff. The horse pose was slightly changed and I added some Black Cat miniatures skulls to the base. The shield design was made to mimic the one of the foot version using green stuff.

 

Both figures painted black and highlighted with lighter stages and metallics using Foundry paints.

 

Mounted skeletal Hearthguard

I originally bought the Kings of War mounted revenants with the intent of making them my hearthguard, but the figures didn't sit well alongside the others and even with some head swaps and other conversions I wasn't happy with them. It's interesting how my opinion has changed with time - when I first discussed these I seemed quite happy with the old plan! At Hammerhead earlier this year I came across a chap who was selling some painted mounted skeletons which I suspect are Games Workshop figures - though I have no idea. These looked right and were well priced so I bought them (sadly there were only seven). The eighth one of these is a Eureka figure. He's slightly different but not enough to worry.

 

All figures were completely rebased and repainted. Their weapons were removed and replaced with spears made from brass rod to which I attached some nice spear heads from the Warlord Erehwon skeletons (see below). Some careful drilling was required. Their shields are ones I bought loose from 1st Corps.

 

Skeleton bone colour was made by painting the figure white and washing with sepia. Once that was dry I highlighted carefully with Vallejo Iraquian Sand.

 

The shield designs are transfers, see below.

Skeleton warriors with spear and shield

Skeleton warriors with bows

 

A closer shot of two of the warriors

The bulk of the army comprises skeleton warriors, with spear and shield or archers. After looking around at different manufacturers I opted finally for Warlord Games' Erehwon skeletons, and bought two boxes of them. Now these are lovely figures. But whoever decided that they should be made up of so many different component parts that are so difficult to be assembled together should be put up against the wall. Why are the feet not part of the legs? These are an absolute pain to put together and difficult to repair when they break as well, and despite the fact that they do loo lovely, I would not recommend them to anyone and would never put myself through the pain of assembling them again.

 

Because the feet are a separate component that attaches to the legs, and I intended to base them normally, I alo had to add small pieces of sprue between the bottom of the feet and the base - so one extra part. I based them all on 25mm repair washers to give them a bit more weight and used milliput on each to ensure they were firmly held in place.

 

Spears are made from 1mm brass rod in my usual way (hammer the end flat, trim with clippers, file to shape, cut spear to length). The shields are from 1st Corps. I do not like the shields that come with the Warlord figures. They're probably historically accurate proportions for Greek hoplite shields but they obscure the details of the figures because of their size. I suspect Harryhausen realised this as his skeleton warriors from Jason and the Argonauts and other classic films also have smaller shields - and this is the look I was going for. I realised after I'd bought them that these shields come in two types - one in a hoplon shape and one circular but with a central indent. If I'd known this when I bought them I would have bought two packets so as not to use this second design, although in the end it worked out fine.

 

The smaller shields meant that I had a bit of an issue finding sheild transfers that would fit, but after some trial and error I found that LBMS 1/72 hoplite designs fitted the hoplon shaped shield perfectly, and Xyston 15mm hoplite designs fitted into the indent of the other shield type. The transfers went on easily with the aid of some decal softener.

 

The shields were given the effect of age and verdigris using - very sparingly - Citadel technical paint Nihilakh Oxide. A brilliant paint with a name that is really difficult to remember, say and spell. I'll call it Verdigris. Despite their daft names, I'm incredibly impressed with Citadel technical paints. Highly recommended if you can remember what to ask for when you're in the shop.

 

Giant mummy - Titan

This figure was an old and very badly cast figure in my spares box that was looking very sorry for itself. Originally its fist was its raised right hand and in its left it wielded what appeared to be the forearm and claw of some kind of reptile which I suspect it was using as a sort of mace. I made him right handed, adding a more Egyptian style mace made from kebab stick and green stuff to his raised hand (so as to look more like he was taking the archetypal smiting pose of many a pharaoh) and removed the strange mace from his other hand, which I repaired with green stuff. To give the figure a sense of motion I added frayed bandages using strips of paper which I blended as best I could with the ones cast onto the figure. Painting hides many a sin here, but he turned out rather well in the end I think.

 

A pile of skulls, and a claw

The claw was repurposed as some sort of objective token or marker. I've no idea when I'll use it but it was a shame to throw it away. The pile of skulls was bought on impulse from Eureka miniatures. You never know when you will need a pile of skulls.

 

Scourge: wyvern

Another repurposed old role playing figure, repainted and rebased. I suspect this is a Reaper miniature. Very nice casting.

Scourge #2: Skeletal dragon 

I saw this chap online and had to buy him. A beautiful figure from Reaper miniatures.

 

The crypt

 The crypt (model originally from Debris of War) has actually been complete for some time but looking back at previous posts on this theme it seems I never posted a picture of it, so here it is.

 

Looking forward to playing some games now!