ImagiNations

Again I have been awful about posting.  I have been very busy.  I retired at the end of January.  We have been getting our house ready to sell, and now have a contract pending the inspection and appraisal.  

Its an unusual house, and we love it, but its time to move back to Colorado.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLGiZy-bVqM

So, I have most of my wargaming stuff packed.  I am working on finishing up some units.

I have been working on ImagiNations in two different periods, but with the same countries.  They are the Grand Duchy of Waldo, and the Palatinate Ruskin.  Both are named after neighborhoods in Kansas City.

So the figures on the left that unpainted are 40mm grenadiers for the Palatinate Ruskin.  They are being done in NQSYW units, to use with the Charge! rules.  The cavalry in the foreground are the Grand Duchy of Waldo Light Dragoons from the late 1800s/early 1900s.  The rules are not totally decided yet, but will be old school.

I am sorry to be leaving Kansas City and the Thursday night group that games at Jaye's house.  I am looking forward to gaming with my brother and other gamers I have known for over 30 years in the Denver area.

Charge! Regiment finished

I finished the third company for my first Charge! regiment.  Three 16 man companies each with an officer and NCO, and a Regimental officer with flagbearer and drummer.

This brings my total to 102 figures and 2 guns with the grenadier company, light company and gun battery.

As yet I have no cavalry.  I haven't had much luck getting the cavalry molds to come out right.  I also am not sure what I am going to do for a mounted officer, which I would like to have for my infantry.

I still have another company of infantry to start painting up.  That will probably be a different coat color for a different country.

I haven't painted this many figures in years.  I find I really enjoy the whole process of casting and painting up the figures.

NQSYW Light Infantry Company

Latest addition to the forces of the Grand Duchy of Waldo, the first company of the light infantry regiment.

This brings the total forces to:

2 companies line infantry
1 company grenadier infantry
1 company light infantry
1 artillery battery

My next project is the third company for the line regiment, which will finish that unit.

NQSYW - An Afternoon Casting

I had painted all the 40mm figures that I had cast.  The weather was going to be 65 and sunny, perfect day for casting some figures for winter painting.
I recently bought another infantry mold, in a slightly different pose.  That one and my regular infantry figure were both casting well today.  I got 2 full companies of infantry, and a company of light infantry.  Actually, I just clipped the bayonets from 12 regular infantry and will paint them in dark green.
With command figures, it all came to 51 foot.
I also tried again to cast cavalry.  I thought I was doing well, until I went to cut the sprue metal off of them.  All but five had the swords break off.  Oh well, I will try that again.
All in all, a great day casting.
This will give me the final company for my regiment, and a light company.  I now also have an extra company of infantry, which will get painted with a different coat color, as I plan to start doing a second army.

NQSYW - Artillery Battery

I recently finished an artillery battery for the Grand Duchy of Waldo's army.  That brings me to 2 companies of line infantry, a company of grenadiers, and an artillery battery.  I need to finish out one more company of line infantry, some light infantry, and some cavalry.  I recently got a new cavalry mold, and I have a second mold of my main infantryman on the way.

A Morning Spent Casting

I recently got a cannon mold and 2 molds of artillerists for my NQSYW project.  I also got an order of metal in from Rotometals.  It was supposed to be in the mid-70s until around 11, so I decided to take advantage of the good weather and see if I could get a battery done.

Casting brand new molds always is a problem, but I got them to cast after some careful venting.  The cannon mold was used, and cast pretty well once it got warmed up.

So now I have enough for a battery for my Grand Duchy of Waldo force.

More Progress, NQSYW

I recently finished the second company of my regiment, leaving only one to go.  The figures in the background are my company of Grenadiers.

My immediate goal is another company of line infantry to make up the regiment, a company of light infantry, an artillery battery and 2 squadrons of hussars.

The figures are fun to paint, and large enough that with the optivisor they go pretty quickly.

As many have mentioned today, Don Featherstone has passed.  He was an inspiration in my wargaming, as I am sure he was to many other people.  The first Historicon my friend Darryl and I went to, we were sitting at the bar and Don came up and sat down and started chatting with us.  Its about the only time Darryl and I have been at a loss for words.  

NQSYW Grenadiers

Whe Rob and I casted last time, I was able to cast a company of line and a company of Grenadiers.  These are the Grenadiers.

I am also almost done with a second company of line from when I cast figures a week ago.  That will bring me up to 3 companies.

I also recently got in the mail 3 more molds that are the cannon and 4 different gunner figures.  I hope to cast those up soon. to get a battery.

Sure hope I like this game.  I am having a great time casting and painting the figures for it.  :)

NQSYW Project, First Unit

Rob and I recently cast some 40 mm figures from Prince August molds for our NQSYW project.  This is the first company of infantry finished for the Grand Duchy of Waldo.  They are in medium blue, with light blue facings.
I thought I would take a break from the 22m ACW figures I was painting.  I finished these with gloss, but I may spray them with a satin finish, I haven't decided.
I also am working on the other unit I got cast, a company of grenadiers.  My organization will be classic Charge!  The infantry will be 3 line companies.  I am doing stand alone Grenadiers and lights.