Blog problem

 So, I'm cleaning up the sidebars of the Chronicles. Removing defunct links, creating new ones...somebody has to do it.

Here's the problem: there are a lot of "broken" avatars under the "followers" heading. This is not a problem for the working of the blog, rather than that it is unsightly.

Does anyone known how to fix this or where to find the solution?

Thank you for helping out.

Pjotr

EDIT: Well the erudite Steve-the-Wargamer has an answer. He thinks the issue is followers who have a Google ID, but have not set an avatar on their Google profile.

We know who you are!...get cracking, or not, it's up to you.

Making ready for battle: cleaning toy soldiers

I think it maybe useful to elaborate on the process  I followed for deep cleaning the vintage Britains Deetail toy soldiers. I agree that some may find it a bit exgaggerated and swear by just using soapy water and a brush, but initial testing did show a better result with my method.

After some 40 years of being handled by dirty handed kids, having battled through sand, been bombarded with fake mud explosions, been smeared with Marmite ® and other icky stuff, then being stored in smelly cellars....one might need a bit of a clean up before presenting oneself to the new commanding general.

The first step I take after unpacking the miniatures, the knights and Saracens in this case, is to dismantle the figures. For the infantry this is usually nothing more than removing the weapons. For the cavalry it means detaching the horse housing and rider from said horse and also removing the weapons from the rider. I sort everything in plastic trays -courtesy from the local chinese take away- by type. Mind you, I don't remove the horses and infantry from the metal bases, as I deem the connecting points and lugs to be the weak spots and I didn't want to risk breaking these of.

At this stage I discovered it useful to check for loose parts because some previous owners converted their miniatures. I found some replacement metal parts such as helmet plumes. Also in this stage I try and remove anything resembling all purpose glue, blobs of hot glue or paint. Because of the type of plastic used these blobs usually peel off fairly easy. Some coarse cloth or even sand paper for rubbing and a sturdy pair of tweezers and a hobby knife are helpful tools here.

I further prepare my work space by filling an ultrasone jewelry cleaner (I have a cheap ALDI model) with  very hot soapy water, another basin with luke warm soapy water and one with clean cold water. Have a pair of tongs or any implement at the ready to remove the toy soldiers from the very hot water, a nail brush or an old tooth brush for some scrubbing and a clean towel. Or do none of the above and figure out yourself what you need after burning your fingers and making a wet mess in the kitchen whilst nearly being electrocuted.

- The setup. -

Now the miniatures take their first ultrasone bath, a couple of miniatures at a time, for 5 minutes. I fish them out and throw them in the basin with soapy water and give them a thorough scrub and put them back in the ultrasone cleaner for another five minutes, but this time the other side up, because, well because... Don't be surprised when you take the soldiers out of the almost boiling hot bath the toys feel rather soft and bendy, we'll fix that in just a moment. The process ends with the soldiers or horses and equipment being rinsed in the cold water to remove the soap and the cold water shock helps reshape the softened plastic in it's original moulded form. It's some kind of thermo-mechanical property of the plastic with the heat and cold releasing tension and restoring original bondage between molecules, I think...

Before I forget:  remember to regularly replace the dirty water. You'll find, depending on the level of dirt on the toy soldiers, and the size of your ultrasone machine, you can do up to four sessions before the water begins turning dark yellowish brown. Also, their might be other commercially  ultrasone cleaning solutions available, but I didn't look into that. 

The process ends with letting the models dry, take pictures and post everything on your favourite social media to boast about you accomplishments.

- Before and after. -

The soldiers are now ready for the fields of Mars. But there is no reason not to pick up a paint brush and restore some damaged paintwork or embellish the warriors. Indeed, one of the Shiny Knights of the order of Holy Wood elite units will represent the Grand Master himself in gold armour, surrounded by his most trusted retinue of knights represented by the alter ego's of the Forlorn Gamers. Although some of these fine gentlemen are quite demanding regarding the heraldry and this does not go well with my painting skills

Next step is to organise some  basic terrain and teach myself the Lion Rampant rules on the kitchen table. Maybe you'll hear tales of the Charge down the Table Valley and the defense of Dictionary Hill and the taking of Carbor'd Castle. Note to self: I must keep in mind the 19th century Armies in Plastic forces when planning terrain pieces!

Sincerely,

Happy Gaming!

Pjotr

Lion Rampant: an imagination medieval setting

As explained the figures of choice for some medieval skirmishes are vintage Britains Deetail knights and Saracens. These are ready to play, large enough for shaky hands to dab some colour on and mainly because it is fun to play with real toy soldiers without investing large amounts of time and money. My better half does not concur with me on this last assessment.

The Sultanate of Arrabbiata, Sultana El Arrabbiata, is the first, or last depending if one is  traveling east- or westwards, kingdom of the Near East that lies on the Hot Spice Route. This route connects the western "Roman" lands with the Far East and is the main overland route for trading goods, resources and vellum post cards.

The sultan -or king if you prefer- of Arrabbiata, Sultan Salah ad-Ot Ras al-Hanout,  better known as Saladot, has had enough. His advisors think the West is demanding to much import taxes and thus stagnating trade and in return, playing by the rules,  the Sultanate is not getting enough revenue from import from of the West. Saladot also thinks the West is demanding to much from his administration, trying to regulate all trade activities to its advantage. From how much weight a four wheeled cart may carry, to the number of guards at border crossing points and even how the karawansaray should be organised...

The sultan has had enough. He called for the Arrabbexit: the great charter of trade along the Hot Spice Route was no longer viable. Western caravans were raided at and across the borders, vital trading goods where confiscated from caravans going West, heavily armoured French and English mercenaries were hired to boost the Saracen forces...things where heating up indeed.

- Recruiting troops. -

The West quickly sent their mediterranean rapid reaction force to protect the caravans. Sir Rodger Moor of Ivanhoe, Commander of the Order of the Shiny Knights of Holy Wood, assembled his loyal forces, also hired mercenaries and set of to confront Saladots marauders. He ordered his troops to carry a red cross, symbol of the crossroad with the East he was ordered to protect, as a field sign. In the end red cloth was difficult to come by because of the trouble at the border and grand master Rodger ordered that at a pinch black or white crosses would do the trick as well.

- Scrubbed and bathed, drying whilst contemplating battle. -

The scene is set, negotiators and ambassadors have been sent home, troops are gathering and skirmishes are getting more deadly as Sir Rodger and Sultan Saladot deploy their forces at the crossroads between East and West.

And so it begins...In the mean time work on cleaning and reassembling the troops is ongoing. But progress is being made and I'm happy playing with the toys and again writing about what's going on

Again, 

Happy gaming!

Pjotr

Yet another reboot?

 I suddenly found myself on different fora and Facebook pages pretty much writing the same posts and asking the same questions. The thing is, I started a project that was both collecting and wargaming with toy soldiers, that was historical skirmish gaming in a imaginations setting, that could even be considered fantasy at a pinch. In the end it seemed less work to start posting links on the different groups and pages to these Chronicles and tell the story (with maybe some pretty photos) as we go back in history to the somewhat dubious beginnings of the Nyudrev dynasty.

So, four years have past by, we all know what happend to the world back then. On top of that I underwent some major surgery and struggled with some health issues, both unrelated as it happens. Slowly I'm creating some breathing space. Fine motor skills are a bit difficult for the moment, so I decided to further explore some 1/32 or 54mm miniature gaming and collecting.

I wanted something rough and ready and my dear wargaming buddies, with who I never game, suggested Lion Rampant rules. After exploring OPR (One Page Rules) a bit and trying Mr. Neil Thomas' rulesets, I was persuaded to try Lion Rampant. 

Now for the rough and ready part: the toys. Remembering my youth and the toy soldiers I wanted but never got, I sourced some cheapish deals on Britains Deetail Knights and Saracens/Turks. Pseudo realistic enough to pass for some kind of historical skirmish gaming, playfull enough to introduce some fantasy elements and an imagined Hollywoodsian backstory. More on that later...

As I write the first loads of knights and -let's stick to the term- Saracens are being cycled through a cheap but effective ultrasone jewelry cleaner filled with soapy hot water. This,  combined with a once over with a nail brush, does get rid of 40 odd years of grime. The next stage, if I want to, would be some retouching of the paint work. Here it becomes interesting: at this stage the toys are ready for battle, but in function of a Fsuitable backstory the miniatures could get embellished with extra colour details, shield designs, field signs and what not. 

And now, glancing at the blog archive, I suddenly realise this blog is somewhat of an olympian effort, it comes and goes every four years, in sync with the olympics. 

One task at hand and I can't escape this one, as I promised those concerned, all six knights forming the elite slot of the Lion Rampant Shiny  Knights of the order of Hollywood will be colour modified according to the wishes of the former Forlorn Wargamers of number 68. I had those fine gentlemen chose a knightley name and title and heraldry much simplified so at least in spirit they will partake in a game.

Now this fine young man identifying himself on YouTube as Peachy Tips made an awesome video on making scatter terrain, ideal for all types of wargaming, from wooden blocks from a kiddies playset. So I bought a tub of the things to give me a jump start on terrain.

Troops sorted, terrain sorted,...what next, you wonder? Well, as I'm going forward with the 54mm stuff, the Armies in Plastic from the 2020 olympics will get to see some action. Smaller scales, mainly 28mm Napoleonics and 7YW imagination gaming, are a bit hard to handle right now...but I'm buying and reading the rules!

I may edit this post, it's been a while writing and conversing in English.

It's been a while indeed, but nonetheless,

Happy gaming!

Pjotr

Toy soldier fun

It all started bout two months ago when I was looking for inspiration and examples for the 42mm project I introduced in my last post, I found a number of lots of 54mm Britains Toy soldiers for sale at  very resonable price. I almost bought a number of boxes, but even at those give away prices, it would have been a serious investment. And then...

I was googling around for alternatives and I came upon Armies in Plastic 1/32 toy soldiers. And then I found a Belgian dealer, good prices and easy on P&P. I needed a plan, other than buying toy soldiers to play Little Wars, or maybe Glossy Coats and Shiny Bayonets style gaming.

Not much worried about the historical context, I ordered some boxes to make a blue/grey army and a khaki/red army. The reasoning was I could paint them in the 70's Britains Deetail style...just the weapons, skin and some details...the soldiers' plastic would be the main uniform colour.

- And so it begins -

Right, step 1 finished. Now I needed some kind of setting to do some mini campaining à la One-Hour Wargames (by Neil Thomas, nice little book, rules might just work for some 54mm gaming). I settled on a Crimea / Balaclava inspired setting where one force is harassing the outer perimeter of a beseiging army. They are the advance forces of the army that is trying to link up with encircled Petropolis. The skirmishes and at first smaller engagements are happening in the Table Valley and Wood Valley. That settled, the brave little toy soldiers need something to fight over.

-Aldi Emmenthaler cut in strips-

-I decided we needed new placemats-

- The gouache pots / placemat gabions being tested for size, I still needed to tease out the top to simulate branches sticking out-

 

 

 

 

 

Looking good I thought...

-I found an acrylic wall paint tester, just about the right shade of brown, to simulate 70's brown plastic toys-

Then  I found some cardboard boxes and made some rough and ready buildings:

-A fort-

-House searching in the village of Valcona, notice green cheese hedges-

And there you have it, humble beginnings.

Now let me share this with you, Paul supported me to restart this blog, only for me to discover that he is way ahead of me. I forgot to ask him what rules he uses for his games. Maybe we should have a game together.

I'm so very lucky to be able to do all this, must keep the momentum up...the armies need to be ready for the grandchildren to play with, granddaughter is three and a half , grandson is minus two weeks, ETA 2nd July...

Happy gaming,

Pjotr

Last in, first out

Indeed, let's start with my last finished project, just to get started.

I've always been in love with toy soldiers, especially the old "Little Wars" style castings and also with the Britains Deetail range of plastic soldiers.

I was looking for an original gift for a fellow retired officer of cavalry. The unit he grew up in and where his heart is, is the Belgian 4e Regiment Lansiers (4th Lancers Regiment). Then it struck me: why not paint up some glossy toy soldiers as Belgian  lancers? And the I thought: well, why not present them in a box, as if they where made by some toy soldier manufacturer?

And so I did...

Irregular miniatures German Uhlan Troopers, painted up as  Belgian 4e Regiment Lansiers

In the Britains boxes of four cavalry, you also had a trumpeter or standard bearer and an officer, so I made up those. The officer arm was a bit awkward as it had a hand stifly extending from the arm, so I had to sculpt on a light cavalry sword.

The trumpeter's and officer's horses are different colours from the trooper's horses. Small mistake which can still be corrected: the piping on the officer's chapska should be gold.

The miniatures where finished in Coat d'Armes paint and a coat of Windsor and Newton gloss varnish. The main colours per instructions where royal blue, golden yellow and sky blue. I'm quite happy with the "paint conversion", which is in the spirit of the old toy soldiers.

Next I wanted the box the have that retro look, so I copied the Britain's style boxes. I did however insert text on the inside of the lid, as I thought it would be a good backdrop when displaying the toys.

OOOOOH SHINY !!!!!

TADAAA!!!

I think I just might do a couple more sets like this, just for fun.

There you have it,  a first careful post, maybe the start of a renewed regular sharing of my leasure time activities.

As always,

Happy Gaming,

Pjotr

Is anybody out there?

Well, is there?

Just checking, I might just fire up The Chronicles, slowly but surely, as more hobby time is created. But then only if someone is listening.

Happy Gaming

Pjotr