OTTOMAN ARTILLERY - Napoleonic Naval Crew Version

As mentioned in the previous post I plan to use these for various settings that we game. As I had finished the Royal Navy crews I thought I would set up the battery with these figures and see what it looked like. All figures are from Newline Designs Napoleonic Naval range.

OTTOMAN ARTILLERY - Warfare Miniatures

For a while now I have been following Barry Hilton's progress in producing some new Ottoman artillery pieces and recently he posted that he was ready to get some produced and if anyone wanted any they just had to message him. So I immediately messaged him and said I would take a couple. They turned up last week and they are fantastic! 

The guns come with two options, the large spherical wheels or the more standard wooden wheels.

Obviously I chose to use the more unusual wheels.

As I bought two models I now have 4 spare wheels which I plan to use on a scratch built War Wagon. I plan to use these guns in a few settings including our early 18th century Sharp Practice games set in the Woebetides, a fictional island chain in the Indian Ocean as well as a Napoleonic Adriatic setting. I decided to mount the guns on a double base and have some sort of defence in front. As well as firing they will also become an objective in some games.

A few details to add, like cannonballs etc, but other then that these are pretty much finished. Next up will be some crew for these two and at some point i'd like to add a limber or two. I plan to have various crews to fit our various settings so as well as an Ottoman crew there will be a pirate crew and a possibly a Napoleonic crew.

THE WOEBETIDES - Redoubt Enterprises Tiger Mortar

A while ago I was perusing one of my favourite Facebook groups "Wargaming In India and Asia 1600-1930" when I came across a post detailing a Mortar and Crew from Redoubt Enterprises and I immediately though that I recognised some of the figures and that it might work for our Woebetides games. I was right! I had a few from a bag of figures I purchased at the local Penkridge Tabletop Wargames Sale which had all sorts in. So after a quick chat with Grubby I managed to get a few more to make the numbers up for a Sharp Practice artillery crew of 5 figures. Plus I needed the barrel of the Tiger Mortar. All sorted and I have just finished basing them up. Although after a quick chat with The Oracle of Andreivia himself we both agreed that it would probably look better with a few bits of extra ammunition added to the base for a bit more interest. So I shall sort that shortly. Leader figure still to be sorted but while I was painting them I thought I could use them for many forces involved in The Woebetides so I might add a few different Leader characters (British, French, Pirate etc).

NAPOLEONICS - Serbian Napoleonic Infantry

New Year, New Project!

One of my projects for 2025 is to paint up a load of 28mm Napoleonics for Sharp Practice that I have been buying over the last couple of years. A while ago I took advantage of a sale at Steve Barber Models and bought a load of figures for a Sharp Practice project, inspired by "The Frontier Sea - The Napoleonic Wars in the Adriatic" by Dave Watson (aka The Balkan Wargamer). It's a great book with a very useful section at the end for wargamers interested in gaming in the Adriatic. Along with the figures for this project I also bought some of the Serbian Napoleonic Infantry as I thought they might come in useful for some Sharp Practice games set in the fictional Black Sea country of Andreivia created by my good friend and fellow wargamer Richard C (Steel Lard Organiser). Richard has run many games set in Andreivia from Ancients to Modern and many of us have been involved in these games for over ten years! 

First up are three bases for my Serbian Napoleonic Sharp Practice force. 

Great figures and very nice to paint up. One of the more unusual forces you'll see on the tabletop!

Unfortunately for the time being Steve Barber Models are unavailable as I understand he is moving to France and as yet there are no updates on when he plans to reopen. Fingers crossed it will be soon as i'd like to get a few more of these plus some other figures in his ranges. 

SHARP PRACTICE II - ACW Somewhere Down the Crazy River

On Saturday 23rd July I headed back over the Peak District to my good friend Richard C's house in Storrs for a game of Sharp Practice 2. Followers of Richards' http://thelandofcounterpane.blogspot.com/ will no doubt have seen his recent work on converting some Perry ACW figures to represent the Mississippi Marine Brigade and for this scenario I was going to take on the role of Captain Daniel R Rosebush in charge of a unit from the Mississippi Marine Brigade tasked with thwarting Confederate operations along the river.

Union Briefing 

It is May 1863 and for nearly 12 months the Union has been unable to establish complete control over the Mississippi River. While the Confederates continue to hold the fortified heights at Vicksburg, the Union plan to cut the Confederacy in half remains incomplete. Despite patrolling by Union gunships, vital supplies from the West continue to cross the mighty river. However, difficulties in coordinating cross-river and overland traffic mean that supplies often wait in riverside warehouses and barns while onward transport is arranged. These temporary stashes of supplies represent targets of opportunity for the Mississippi Marine Brigade. It is believed that Confederate smugglers have been moving supplies across the river near Hackspit, Mississippi. A Marine Brigade unit under Captain Daniel R Rosebush is ordered to identify and destroy any supplies in the area. Union Deployment Between towns the river bank is pretty featureless. It’s not easy to be sure exactly where you are coming ashore. As a result you will roll a d6 to determine the location of your Deployment Point. The levee at Hackspit is steep-sided, impassible to mounted cavalry and an obstacle to deploying your artillery. When the artillery Leader’s card comes up they may be deployed as usual in contact with the Deployment Point but only if a non-artillery Group has previously had its chance to deploy onto the table and not done so (simply state that the Group in question are “assisting their colleagues”). The assisting Group may deploy as normal when its Leader’s card is drawn again after the artillery has deployed. 

Union Forces 

Capt D R Rosebush (Level III Leader) Blue 1 with Musician, Physic, Spirits & Tinderbox 2 Groups of Union infantry 1 Group of Union skirmishers 

Sergeant Walter Jones (Level I Leader) Blue 2 with 1 Group of dismounted cavalry 

Sergeant Wade Deeply (Level I Leader) Blue 3 with 1 Group of artillery

Ron took charge of the Confederate forces in the area as Sergeant Salmon A Wartner with a couple of units of Confederate infantry plus a large unit of cavalry that eventually arrived later in the game.

As I was slightly hampered by the fact that I was required to keep one Group of non-artillery troops off-table until they had used up an activation helping the artillery into position I decided to initially deploy a unit of skirmishers and push them up the Union right.

Sgt Jones and the dismounted cavalry were sent out on the Union left to take position on the edge of a small wood with a clear field of fire to the barn. 

Capt D R Rosebush  deploys on to the table with his drummer and physic.

View from the levee showing the two skirmisher units pushing out to the left and the right flanks.

Eventually I managed to get Sgt Wade Deeply and his artillery deployed along with the remaining two units of the Mississippi Marine Brigade. 

Confederate infantry move out from behind the barn and fire upon the Union skirmishers.

Another unit of Confederate infantry move out from behind the barn and start to fire on the Union dismounted Cavalry.

Luckily I had managed to get them into the woods before they were fired upon.

Return fire from both my skirmisher units start to cause casualties and also quite a lot of shock!

The Confederates were now coming under fire from all directions with the main infantry group and the artillery joining in.

After forcing the Confederate infantry on my right flank to retreat I immediately pushed the skirmisher unit towards the objective, the barn housing the supplies.

The artillery continued to lay down fire on the other Confederate infantry unit to the left of the barn.

It was at this point that a Confederate cavalry force that were in the area decided to put in an appearance and they immediately charged my main body of infantry. 

Despite causing a few casualties and some shock the cavalry came thundering onwards!

It wasn't looking good for the Mississippi Marine Brigade! One bit of luck saw a random event roll for the Confederates result in the barn containing the supplies catching fire! 

Slowly with continued fire from the skirmishers and the artillery I had begun to reduce the Confederates force morale but with the cavalry charging towards my main force I decided to try and take the Confederate deployment point and reduce their force morale even further.

As expected the cavalry charged forced my main infantry force back up the steep banks of the levee. Luckily the cavalry were unable to pursue. As you can see I had managed to inflict quite a few casualties on the cavalry but not enough to stop their charge.

As the Confederate cavalry tried to re-organise themselves at the foot of the levee my skirmishers continued to inflict casualties and shock on the two Confederate infantry units as well achieving hits on leaders further reducing the Confederate force morale.

A chapter end saw the roof collapse destroying the Confederate supplies within and my skirmishers, accompanied by Capt Daniel R Rosebush himself, were successful in capturing the deployment point.

At this point, with the Confederate force morale at 1 and the Union still on 7 Ron took the decision to retreat his remaining forces. A successful mission for the Mississippi Marine Brigade, although when the Confederate cavalry arrived I did fear the worst, but both skirmisher units proved invaluable in putting sustained fire on the Confederates throughout the game. 

Great game and I look forward to playing some more ACW Sharp Practice.

WOEBETIDES - 18th Century Sepoys

 As part of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge I recently finished these 18th Century Sepoys for our fictional Indian Ocean island chain of the Woebetides. We had planned to play a Sharp Practice 2 campaign weekend in early April but obviously with the current situation that is not going to be possible. But more positive news recently has meant we are looking at getting together in September. Fingers crossed!

The figures are from Eureka's Golconda Rising range and are pretty close to what we needed although not exactly correct. But as it's a fictional island it shouldn't be too much of an issue. They were painted up in four groups of six figures so they have a more regular look. Based on the 1p Regimental bases from Warbases which are ideal for Sharp Practice. The leader and musician are based on 2p bases from Supreme Littleness Designs. These are great as they have an area to write the leaders name or other information. I will be using these for all my Sharp Practice Leaders from now on. 

WOEBETIDES - Vulture Tribe Meeting Area

One of the terrain pieces complete that will be part of the hilltop village of the Vulture Tribe in the Central Highlands of Grand Woebetide. This is the village meeting area where the chief presides over village matters and also village celebrations take place around the fire. 

The base is an old CD with three benches from the Scotia Grendel accessories range, the fire is just small bits of gravel and scatter and the palm tree is part of an eBay purchase of several different size palm trees. The tree was painted as the basic plastic finish doesn't look great.

As always thanks for looking and stay safe. More updates from the Woebetides soon plus some more projects that are on the go.

WOEBETIDES - Scatter Terrain & Deployment Points

 A few bits of scatter terrain completed. Although Richard C pointed out that some of them could also be used as Deployment Points as we are planning on using the Sharp Practice 2 rules.

Monkey Totem which I got from eBay.

I understand it's a model of Kubo from a film.

Totem of the Monkey Tribes in the Woebetides.

Pots set from Scotia Grendel

With an added shield and weapons they will make ideal Deployment Points or scatter terrain for the villages.

A couple more of the scatter terrain bases.

Gallows, originally a Jousting Target from Blotz.

Next up my completed Woebetideus Raiding Party. As always stay safe and thanks for looking.