Oh dear. There is a Woolshed behind there somewhere. A bit of firewood to cut up.
Heart of Oaks are our ships, Heart of oa……..
Category Archives: Woolshed Wargamer
Water, Water
Another reason why I have not been doing any painting. Can’t clean the paint crushes when you have no water.
Our water tank. It is filled from water coming off the woolshed and yard roof.
Greeting loyal readers and fellow maremmas. Now as you all know We live in the countryside. As the locals would say, We live in the “wop wops“. Far, far away from any city amenities, such as water. We rely upon a combination of tank and bore water for our water needs. A 30,000l tank supplies the house with water for everything expect the toilets and outside taps, which come from the bore. The bore also supplies the household needs of two of our neighbours, as well as a number of stock troughs. Over the last week it was apparent that there was a problem with bore water supply. So it was D.I.Y Daddy to the rescue.
Firstly, the suspected leak had to be located. Our property has been in existence for over 150…
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The Big Blow
Our only damage from the weather bomb that swept up the country today. Free firewood indeed.
Honey from Farmer Van
Greeting loyal readers and fellow maremmas. Now as you all know it is supposed to be summer here in sunny New Zealand, therefore, hot, sunny and warm. But for some reason this summer seems to have other ideas. Today a weather bomb passed over the country with 154 km (95 miles) winds blowing through Wellington. Accompanied by torrential rain. It certainly was windy here and this morning when mummy went out to feed those pesky chicken she saw a big branch blown off a tree in the paddock.
Daddy looking at the branch.
So sometime this week, daddy with the assistance from Farmer Rae will be cutting down the branch. Yeah more free fire wood.
Off We go. We have heard mention of visitors coming this weekend. As loyal readers know Me and Nellie love having guests to stay. More people to give Us the love…
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A review of 2016 in the Woolshed (July to December)
Continuing my review of 2016 in my corner of the wargaming world.
JULY
I got a present from overseas – an autographed copy of the first new module for Space Opera to come out in a few decades – another great Star Sector Atlas (The Galactic People’s Republic). If you have not seen it I did a review.
The first miniatures of the month were a regiment of Perry plastic cuirassiers. I painted these as Spanish Coraceros. This unit had maybe a troop uniformed in captured French cuirasses and helmets. I did a whole unit. I also did a unit of Front Rank Catalonian Light Infantry. These guys came out particularly well despite the lace driving me somewhat batty.
Then, as is my want, I went off on a hobby tangent. I unpacked a box full of old GW orcs – some that I had started painting with my son over ten years ago and a whole bunch of second hand ones I had brought at the time. This consumed my hobby time for the next few months for the most part. I decided to base and use them for Kings of War. The first unit was some Boar Boyz that I had pretty much done back in the early to mid-2000s.
AUGUST or perhaps ORCGUST would be more appropriate.
Everything this month was Orcy. An Orc general on a boar, lots and lots of GW Orcs based into Regiment bases. I really wanted to show that Black Orcs Matter – even old ones.
Ancillary units were not neglected. I did a Regiment of Trolls, two Hordes of Orclings and a Regiment of Orc Chariots.
Finished off the month with another unit of Savage Orc Boar/Gore riders and used a spare Grimgor and a chariot to make a Krudger mounted in Chariot.
SEPTEMBER
More Orcs. I got some heroes finished (a flagger, a krudger and a godspeaker) and finally painted my Frothers Unite-UK! miniature of Big Dave the Orc.  The Orcs were rounded off with a final Regiment of Orc Boyz (or Ax Regiment in KoW) and I also converted a Papo toy orc into an Orc Giant – Big Fecking Dave.
September was also saw the arrival of a few future additions to our freezer.
OCTOBER
This was a quiet month hobby-wise. I didn’t do any miniatures but did do some other bits and pieces. I made a bunch of buildings in the style of the Conflix buildings so popular with gamers around the world. I also made a half-hearted start on turning my GW Bretonnians into a Kings of War army – exactly what one I am not totally sure yet. Check out the Bretonnian Standard Bearer and a unit of mounted Yoemen.
One of my other passions is food. I have been trying out some new recipes this year. Here are two of my favourites. Pork a la Normand and Walnut and Blue Cheese Ravioli.
Finished of the month with another starship deck plan. This was one inspired by the great Scifi TV show The Expanse. I did a freighter suitable for a PC group.
NOVEMBER
This was the month that we got All Shook Up. New Zealand lived up to it’s reputation for the odd little earth tremor. On November 13th just after midnight we got hit by a 7.5 and a bunch of big aftershocks. A lot of damage but only a few casualties directly related to the quake. We came away with a few things fallen off shelves and about three days later discovered we had a broken water pipe. Being a resourceful country lad I fixed it myself.
I only got one “unit” finished this month. Painted up some Elite Miniatures Spanish as a battalion of Spanish Marine Infantry. Something a little different.
DECEMBER
Added two more Spanish units for my Spanish Peninsular Army. A unit of Spanish Light infantry in blue coats and bicornes and also a battalion of Spanish Militia.
Any my lucky last unit of the year was a unit that I am not sure was ever constituted much beyond the planning stages – The Regiment Elisa Napoleon. I made it from Perry plastic French line and Carabineer heads left over from my “Spanish” Cuirassiers (and some from TMPer Virtualscratchbuilder).
This past year I also did a number of product reviews and hopefully will be able to do more in 2017.
Flat Minis (plastic flats for RPG gaming) – http://www.flatminis.com
Deep Cut Studios (Mousepad style battle mats): http://www.deepcutstudio.com/
FGU Space Opera RPG (Star Atlas 4): http://drivethrurpg.com/product/169635/Space-Opera-Star-Sector-Atlas-4-The-Galactic-Peoples-Republic
Well, that was the hobby year (and a few other things) for me. All in all it was not too bad. What is in store this coming year – well, more Napoleonics of course. I have stacks of metal still sitting there waiting.
War of 1812 Americans and British also need completing. Not to mention the Kings of War Orcs, the toy ship conversions for Pirates and the old Traveller figures. Kings of War Brets and even a horde of Japanese that I think would make a good KoW Kingdom of Men army are on the cards. Of course, all this will probably be out the window and I will start doing ACW or something.
A review of 2016 in the Woolshed (January to June)
Well 2016 has come and gone. A few dead celebrities in the tail end of the year and everyone and sundry talking about the worst year ever. Guess things like 1347-50 or 1939-45 just don’t stack up. For me it has been a pretty good year. Been surprisingly happy and life has been, for the most part, pretty good. We had no floods or other rural drama. The biggest thing to hit us was the 7.5 quake back in November, and apart from a busted water pipe and a few things off shelves we were sweet.
Blogwise it has been a very good year. Doubled my page views and almost doubled readers. I have made a bunch of ‘net friends’ through here that I would not have otherwise met or known. They gave me lots of encouragement and I thank you guys for your input.
So, how did 2016 pan out?
JANUARY
Started out doing some repairs on the Woolshed and building myself a new work bench. Miraculously, it is still standing and in one piece. If you are surprised at that then that makes two of us.
Finished bench.
Finsihed wall.
I spent most of January drawing deckplans for Traveller and other Scifi games. Had fun with some Reddit competitions run by the Traveller subreddit. I didn’t win but thought my ship was pretty cool nonetheless.
FEBRUARY
February was a Zulu Wars month with work on Casualty bases and an actual game – the Battle of Van Lunteran’s Farm.
MARCH
March saw even more Zulu Wars activity as both the Zulus and Imperials got reinforcements. The Imperial forces were reinforced by some converted Perry Plastic ACW cavalry becoming British Volunteer and Auxiliary cavalry. These were my first plastic conversions of any note. Also some nice Empress dismounted versions to go with them.
Buffalo Border Guard (L) Newcastle Mounted Rifles (R)
Natal Carbineers
The Impi was bolstered by two new regiments. The uThulwana Regiment in full dress and the Evil Omen – the uMbonambi regiment. Lastly, the Fly Catchers also made it onto the table. All Black Tree Designs miniatures. Just love painting these guys. I cannot believe I did three regiments in one month.
All these new regiments needed some more command figures so also added a few more Zulu command bases.
Also scratch built some British infantry casualty bases and painted some brought casualty figures.
And lastly for March – a decent sized Anglo-Zulu game. Played with Black Powder Rules and four players new to the rule-set.
The game ended with the Zulus realising that they would, in all likelihood, not be able to breach the British defence. They retreated off leaving the field in the possession of the British.
The Zulu take the Lancers in the flank.
APRIL
I finally finished the fourth and last of the Zulu Regiments that formed the Reserve at Isandlwana and who made the attack on Rorke’s Drift. This Regiment was the uDhloko “Savage” regiment.
In my last order from Black Tree had one figure broken off at the ankle. Decided to use him as a casualty figure rather than repair him.
Then it was time to get back into Napoleonics. The first Napoleonic unit painted in 2016 was this Portuguese Regiment that I started way back in January 2015. I got the bit between my teeth and cranked out three units in a week. Also done were some Portuguese Artillery (Elite Miniatures of course) and some Cacadores.
MAY
May was Peninsular Cavalry Month. A regiment of British Light Dragoons and a Spanish Line Cavalry unit were completed. Also managed a Spanish Line Battalion – the Cordoba Regiment.
We also managed some non-wargaming related activities. A tramp up our beautiful valley looking at old abandoned homesteads.
JUNE
Two more Spanish Cavalry Regiments. The Maria Luisa Hussars. I made a cock-up with these by reversing the colours of dolmans and pelisses. By the time I realised I had already done half of them so left it as is. Also a lovely regiment of yellow coated Spanish Dragoons.
Two more infantry battalions also marched into the storage cabinets. The first was a battalion of Spanish infantry in British uniform. The Colorados were captured in Beunos Aries, imprisoned on hulks in England and finally wiped out at the battle of Medina del Rioseco. The second battalion was one I was particularly happy with. The 42nd Black Watch.
Without a doubt though, the highlight of this month was the reception of my first D&D Miniature. I was really happy how it came out and many people suggested that I should enter it in painting competitions. I did this awesome D&D Invisible Stalker.
Part Two (July to December) tomorrow. I really need to go and do some chores.
Merry Christmas from the Woolshed.
I hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy the festivities. I also hope that Santa brought you, if not lots of then at least a good selection of toys for Christmas.
Best wishes
Brian
Look What Daddy Came Home With – or – Giant Lamb for Kings of War.
How can I use this in Kings of War. A giant beast for a Forces of Nature army?
Me looking through the door
Greeting loyal readers and fellow maremmas. Now as you all know We have sheep living here with us here at Chez Jasper. Well, imagine our surprise when daddy came home with a …..
A baby lamb
Now the decision to take a baby lamb, less that 24 hours old away from her mummy is not one that is taken lightly. However, this lamb was one of triplets, with one not surviving, one being very healthy and this one being rejected her mummy. So daddy had to decided to bring her inside. Also, while the sheep have access to shelter in to the wool shed, the weather was deteriorating again so she might not have survived a night outside.
A feeding lamb
After a good feed exploring her enviroment.
Oops as slight accident.
Lambie will need to be feed every four hours for the next few…
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Remounts and Lead Mountains
This morning while working on a unit of Spanish Line cavalry I wondered how many other regiments of cavalry I had sitting unpainted out in the cupboard in the Woolshed (not counting the one of Spanish Dragoons and Hussars in my study that I am doing over the next month). Thought I would check out exactly what I had and start figuring out some sort of plan to get them painted. Then I began to wonder exactly how many unpainted Napoleonic miniatures I had. Turns out I have quite a lot. Probably only a lead molehill by comparison to some other gamers, but I don’t have to justify your lead mountain to SWMBO – just my own.
I started out looking at just the metals. Turns out I have quite a bit. Boxes and boxes.
I never actually knew that I had four French Cuirassier Regiments (two Front Rank, one Hinchliffe and one Connoisseur), two Carabineer regiments (Hinchliffe and Connoisseur), two Dragoon Regiments (mixture of Hinchliffe and Hinchliffe Foremost), another French Chasseur regiment, a Hussar regiment and two regiments of Polish lancers (mostly Hinchliffe). I found six battalions of Front Rank Bavarians, some Hinchliffe Bavarian cavalry (2 regiments) and at least a couple more divisions of French infantry (various), at least three Guard battalions (Front Rank and Foundry), a few artillery batteries and copious officer and general staff figures. I even found a unit of Scots Greys and a battalion of Foremost Highlanders in charging poses. I knew I had some Connoisseur Zastrow Cuirassiers somewhere and I found them too.
For some reason I have 24 Dutch Belgian Carabiniers. I have no idea how I came by them. I have never even wanted a Dutch-Belgian force. Likewise the dozen or so Dutch Belgians Chasseurs. Maybe I got them second hand so I could use the horses.
Then there are War of 1812 British (Canadian Voltigeurs, Glengarry Light Infantry, three militia battalions, Light Dragoons and officers), Americans (Artillery batteries, Dragoons, Militia, a couple of regular battalions, officers and so forth) and a whole bunch of Indian allies for both sides.
I have not even started on the plastic stuff yet. Lots of Perry, Victrix and Warlord Games boxes. Or the Warhammer stuff (Fantasy Bretonnians, Dwarves, Orcs, High Elves and Space Marines), or the Dixon Samurai army, or finish off the boxes of Wild West/Apaches/7th Cavalry/Pirates, etc etc etc. Hell, I even found a box of Eureka Tekumel miniatures I got about seven years back and promptly forgot about and a box of GDW Traveller miniatures that I had not forgotten about – Imperial Marines, aliens and adventurers.
All I can say is that it is a good thing Winter is Coming.
Boxes of Napoleonics
Enough Scots to make an old school Hinchliffe battalion.
Icecream containers of Napoleonics – Infantry and Saxon Zastrows.
Cuirassier and Cuirassier.
Remounts – a mix of Dixon, Essex, Front Rank, Connoiasseur and Hinhcliffe
Plastics – lots of plastics. What the hell have I got two boxes of Warlord Games Russians for?
Working with 1:1 Terrain pieces
Why I have not been doing much painting this week. After this too hard to hold a paintbrush steady.
Source: Tree Felling Dad
Plans? We don’t need no stinking plans.
The Woolshed is in need of some serious maintenance over the next year or so. I have to replace an outside wall that is slowly coming apart from age. It was constructed out of rough cut timber that was probably milled on site at least a hundred years ago. There are old shearer’s autographs on the walls that go back to the 1920s – reminders that at one stage this was a working woolshed.
But…the outside wall was not the object of my attention this week. Son and I lined a wall with scrap pallet wood to continue the rustic look of the interior. It looks quite good, if not a little rough – which is kind of the look I was going for. Mind you, if I had been going for smooth clean lines it still would have come out rough because I am not one of life’s great carpenters. Other improvements on the long term plans are a septic tank so I can install an inside dunny (there is a longdrop outside), a kitchen and perhaps a shower. This Woolshed is a work in progress but will be New Zealand’s best Man Cave before I retire!
Today I decided that I needed a workbench. It was raining so mowing the lawns did not appeal at all. I didn’t want to spend any money on this workbench, so used scrap wood that was in the wood pile in the old stock yards (the same source as the pallet wood). I didn’t have any decent timber for the bench top so what I have done is temporary until I can source some more 2″(50mm) thick timber at a good rate – which for me means free. Oh yeah – I didn’t have any actual plans – it probably shows.
I need a workbench for a number of projects that I want to get underway this year. I rationalised it to Mrs Woolshedwargmer as a place that I can repair the mower. However, I really want to have a decent work bench to start making some terrain tiles – something I have wanted to do for years and finally decided that 2016 is going to be the Year of the Wargame Table. I also want a space where I can restore an old motorcycle that we may come into possession of in the not too distant future – an old James Captain from the 1950s.
The only problem is that now that I demonstrated my ability to make a workbench that didn’t wobble, SWMBO has ordered some garden furniture – that she want me to make tomorrow. What about “Terrain Tiles” doesn’t she understand?
The vertical studs were not true, which meant every few layes of boards had to be remeasured.
The Hounds wanting some of my morning tea.
SWMBO made muffins. We love muffins.
Almost done.
Finsihed wall.
I think I measured the timber wrong.
Finished bench.
It can support a coffee cup – a good omen.
I couldn’t find my square so made one.
The Woolshed Wargamer 