Keeping a blog up to date is very hard. Hats off to those who have the discipline to put up quality posts on a regular basis. I am not one of those people…
Anyway, I hope 2025 has been good to all of you. A lot has changed since the last time I posted and I thought I’d share a quick update.
The biggest change is that I’ve moved to a new house! We are now empty nesters and built a new home in the southwest Twin Cities metro area suitable for the way we want to live that will also allow us to age in place. From a gaming perspective I have a new, dedicated hobby room that is large enough to hold my painting table, all of my wargaming supplies and host a permanent game table as well. I plan on building a new table or set of tables that will allow me to have at least a 6′ x 8′ gaming space and possibly larger. I have my painting desk set up but everything else is still a jumble of boxes right now. Getting that in order is my fall project once we sell our old place and finish the main floor decorating.
Beyond that, I’ve continued gaming on a regular basis at a friend’s house, focusing on 15mm WWII, 15mm ACW and other games on a rotating basis. We’ve played Chain of Command 2 in 28mm a few times and really enjoyed it. I may look at doing 1940 Germans and/or Brits to go along with another local gamer’s plans for it.
For my personal projects, I continue working on grand plan for big battalion 28mm Napoleonics. I’ve amassed a decent-sized French army now with 13 battalions of painted infantry and a 6-pd foot artillery battery ready to go. I have some light cavalry in the painting queue and plenty more infantry to work on after that. I’m glad I have a backlog to work through as the current US administration’s tariff plans are throwing a wrench in the miniature wargaming business with many UK manufacturers pausing sales to the US until the new customs setup crystalizes. An unfortunate situation that is hopefully temporary.
I plan on experimenting with slap chop and similar techniques to produce more infantry units quickly. I have enough French to run a decent game but need opposing forces. A local gamer has some Austrians he’s working on and I will either augment that or work on some Russians.
I also have a small number of units for the Great Northern War in 28mm. I have two Swedish and two Russian infantry regiments right now and am planning on using “Beneath the Lily Banners” or possibly Simon Miller’s new “Lust for Glory” rules once they are available.
Finally I caved and bought the latest Warhammer 30K starter box and hope to build some troops to play that. The new FLGS in my area is very GW-focused from a miniatures perspective so I would like to find some other locals to play with. 30K is “almost” historical wargaming so maybe I could find some converts along the way. 🙂
Anyways that’s it for now. If you’re in the Twin Cities, MN area and are interested in any of the projects I mentioned, do get in touch.
Posts Tagged '15mm'
2025 Update
Published August 20, 2025 miniature-wargames , Napoleonics , painting , World War II Leave a CommentTags: 15mm, 28mm Miniatures, fantasy, hobby, miniature wargaming, miniature-wargames, miniatures, Napoleonics, painting, wargames, wargaming, WWII
Happy 2024
Published January 14, 2024 Uncategorized Leave a CommentTags: 15mm, 28mm Miniatures, miniature-wargames, Napoleonics, wargames, WWII
Here I was trying to keep up with this blog on a more regular cadence and suddenly we have a 7-month gap between posts. The best of intentions and all that… Anyway, I thought I’d write a short post to talk about what’s transpired since the last post and what my gaming plans are for this coming year.
2023 was a good year for me gaming-wise as I started actually playing games again on a regular basis. I started out the year playing with one of the long-established groups that meets at a local game store. They play a wide range of historical periods along with Fantasy and Sci Fi. Regardless, they have a few constraints that dictate the rules used: Games last no more than two hours, and they often have to support a dozen players more more. The games are fun, but tend towards the simpler side due to these limitations.
Mid-year I managed to join up with another local group that plays out of the organizer’s home, focusing mostly on ACW & WWII historicals and Sci-Fi games with the occasional pulp game tossed in for good measure. With a smaller group of players and fewer games in the rotation we use rules that have more complexity to them and I find them more intellectually stimulating. Compared to the previous decade where sometimes I only played a game a year, 2023 led to much dice rolling and camaraderie. I’ve missed it and am looking forward to more.
Painting-wise, I also had a productive (for me) year. Here’s the tally:
– I finished a full reinforced platoon of 28mm Late-War WWII British for games like Bolt Action or Chain of Command.
– I painted three stands (30 models) of Northstar’s Oathmark Human Infantry for the fantasy rules played by the group at the FLGS.
– I completed around 40 28mm Models for the “Back of Beyond” or Russian Civil War. Mostly red sailors with command and a Maxim MG team along with a few other characters of dubious intent.
– I started about 25mm WWI Austro-Hungarian Infantry from Brigade Games also for the Russian Civil War.
– I started painting 28mm French Napoleonic Infantry but ran into painter’s block. The method I chose to follow was very detailed and as I figured out about 2/3 of the way through a battalion, impractical for building armies at scale. I need to continually remind myself that at three feet distance those highlights are practically invisible.
– Finally, I have around 16 of the new plastic battlemechs for Battletech that are in various stages of completion.
All in all, a productive year.
For 2024, I am going to try and tighten focus. With the Back of Beyond stuff more or less finished for now I plan on shifting back to 28mm Napoleonics. In addition to my first contact that is painting Prussians here in the cities (Hi Jason!) I also recently found out that another member of my Wednesday night group is painting Austrians (Hi Chris!). So cranking out Frenchmen will be priority #1. In addition to the Perry, Front Rank and Calpe minis I’ve already purchased, I bought myself a resin 3d printer for Christmas and am going to be purchasing the STL files from Piano Wargames. They look like lovely sculpts and are sized to match well with the Perry models. They should fit decently well with Victrix as well.
As a palate cleanser or change of pace from rank after rank of French Infantry, I have purchased some 15mm WWII minis. My Wednesday Night group likes Fireball Forward for WWII in that scale and I am also looking at O Group and the Battlegroup series of rules for doing larger games with combined arms. The 3d resin printer will come in handy here, too.
Finally I have some old 15mm Sci Fi models that I would like to use. Small figures with simple paint jobs so get some forces going relatively quickly.
Those are the plans. I will endeavor to try and keep the blog updated on a more regular basis as well. Life gets in the way but I will do my best.
I hope 2024 is better for all of us.
New 15mm Figures from Blue Moon (aka Old Glory)
Published March 4, 2010 ACW , miniature-wargames , Napoleonics , wargames 7 CommentsTags: 15mm, 15mm Napoleonics, ACW, miniature-wargames, wargames
Big advertisement on TMP this week from Blue Moon Manufacturing announcing the start of a 15mm Historicals line. OK… this wasn’t a huge announcement on TMP, but it’s interesting to me for the following reasons:
- While I’m unsure about the actual ownership it appears that Blue Moon is owned & operated by the same folks that do Old Glory25’s out of Central Minnesota.
- There was the big split a few years ago where Merrimack/Old Glory 25’s received the 25mm and 10mm Old Glory lines while the 15mm Old Glory lines were sold to 19th Century Miniatures, who continue to sell both Old Glory and Battle Honors figures among others.
- It appears that Old Glory 25’s is making some moves to get back into the 15mm game. They can’t use the name ‘Old Glory’ for their 15mm figures due to 19th Century Miniatures’ still using that name for their 15mm figure ranges. I’m sure there’s some contractual deal with that but I have no knowledge of anything. It appears to me that Old Glory 25’s is using the Blue Moon name to launch their new 15mm lines instead.
- The new figures appear to represent a new pricing point. Before Old Glory traded on the value play of getting big bags of figures on the cheap. When their 15mm Napoleonics first came out they were $10 for a bag of 100. Now they’re up to $17 for a bag of 50 (though you can find them cheaper than that online) or around 34 cents per figure. The new Blue Moon figures look to be nicer sculpts than a lot of the Old Glory 15mm lines and are priced accordingly at around 50 cents per figure. This is still cheaper than AB at 65 cents per, but they appear to be moving more towards quality sales pitch versus mass quantities.
- The TMP announcement includes a teaser at the end indicating that they’re going to expand this range to a number of other periods including Marlburians and Great Northern War (yay!) along with plains wars and the French & Indian War some time this summer. They also mention long-range plans for new ACW & Napoleonics ranges. This is good news to me. The Old Glory 15mm ACW range is getting long in the tooth and a number of their figures have molding issues that ruin otherwise decent figures. Some new competition is always a good thing.
Overall I’m excited by this announcement. New figures is always a good thing and I’ll be curious to see how Joel & Teresa manage this line going forward.
Painting Update
Published September 10, 2009 miniature-wargames , Napoleonics , painting , wargames 2 CommentsTags: 15mm, miniature-wargames, miniatures painting, Napoleonics, wargames
The AB figures are a joy to paint. This new style I’m using works very well on these figures, for the sculpting is smooth with a minimum of creases and whatnot that would break up the solid colors.
I’ve had probably five or six 60-90 minute sessions into these figures so far and they are somewhere around half done with the actual painting. According to the progress chart I use on this site, once the figures are fully painted but not based I gauge that at around 85-90% done. I need to order new bases from Litko, and since they seem to ship via slow boat (from Indiana no less) these figs won’t be fully done until sometime in October. That said, I expect to be done with the actual painting sometime this weekend. Then it will be time to clean up the next regiment.
The main difference with this new painting style is the need for precise brush control. It’s still a work in progress for me, but I’m finding I can do very fine detail with a size ‘0’ brush as long as the point stays together. I have yet to use anything smaller. The main issues I’m having right now are color coverage with the brighter colors (white especially) over the dark grey base, and I’m also having fun trying to show the natural folds in the clothing. Over time it will get better.
Once this unit is painted I’ll fiddle around with my wife’s digital SLR and try to get some nice pictures posted. So far, I think it’s safe to say that I’m very happy with the way things are turning out. If I can crank out around a brigade per month with this style, that will be awesome.
AAR: SYW Koenig Krieg Battle – 06/06/2009
Published June 8, 2009 Uncategorized 4 CommentsTags: 15mm, Centurions, Koenig Krieg, miniature-wargames, seven, SYW, wargames
The following bit of blatant propaganda factual reporting is offered to provide a clear picture of the action that took place at the Levee Cafe on Saturday, June 6th, 2009. For the record, I think everyone had a good time, and it was nice to explore another period in the ‘big battle’ format that a room like the Levee offers.
Rules used were the first/second editions of Koenig Krieg and the figures were 15mm scale. It was the baptism of fire for my brigade of Prussian line, and overall I think they did fairly well. I’ll definitely need to add to these forces over time. KK provides a fast and furious game with a few idiosyncrasies that will be noted in the report. The number of brigades on the table did slow the overall game down due to the activation sequencing we were using (each side nominates a brigade to move and then rolls to see which has the initiative), but I though that it added a little tension to the game, since fire effects are adjudicated immediately after each unit fires. A trade-off for sure.
If nothing else, the game advanced at a leisurely pace. We started late, ate lunch and then adjourned for a long dinner. The game was called when our Austrian commander had to leave. The game’s outcome was pretty clear at that point, as the Austrians were in terrible shape, and we would not be able to achieve our goals of holding both crossroads. That said, the Allies were not having things go entirely their way either. I’d call it an allied minor victory if not a draw. Anyway, read the following report for a ‘fair & balanced’ view of what happened….
NOTE: The ranting nature of the report will be even better if the reader imagines it being read by Dr. Doofenschmirtz.
Continue reading ‘AAR: SYW Koenig Krieg Battle – 06/06/2009’
Which is Worse?
Published May 31, 2009 miniature-wargames , painting , rants , Seven Years War , wargames Leave a CommentTags: 15mm, miniature-wargames, miniatures painting, Seven Years War, SYW, wargames
I’m not sure which is worse when it comes to painting 15mm figures: painting shako cords for Napoleonics or tricorn tape for 18th Century periods. For now at least, I’m going with the tricorn tape. Trying to paint relatively straight lines on curvy surfaces sucks!
Ah well… I’m well on the way to having IR#26 done for this coming Saturday. Just a few highlighting steps left and then basing/terrain work.
Whatever Happened to the Old Heritage 15mm Historicals?
Published April 8, 2009 ACW , miniature-wargames , Napoleonics , wargames 11 CommentsTags: 15mm, Confederettes, Empire Miniatures, Heritage Miniatures, Napoleonettes
I used to love the old Heritage/Empire Miniatures 15mm Napoleonic and ACW lines. The first metal horse & musket miniatures I bought were 15mm Heritage British fusiliers looking natty in their bearskins to face a few strips of the old first generation Minifigs. At the time the Heritage/Der Kriegspieler figs were the best on the market, but over time they were eclipsed by other, newer manufacturers. These new figures dwarfed the old Heritage figures, and the scale creep that took place over time along with lack of availability forced these figures into retirement.
Years pass, and while other old ranges make comebacks, the classic Heritage figures never return. Now I know why:
The historical figure lines of Napoleonettes, Confederettes, and
Classics are owned by Mark Blackmon and were made by a company he
called Empire Miniatues. They are no longer in production and are not
likely to ever be again. I am told by those who have contacted him,
that he wants way to much for the rights, and still wants a say in
their marketing and production after selling. All these lines were
well done, and popular, but the lack of production drove away buyers
to other companies.
Damn.
More Fun With Old Glory
Published April 5, 2009 ACW , miniature-wargames , painting , rants , wargames 1 CommentTags: 15mm, ACW, miniatures painting, Old Glory, wargames
I had a chance to do some more work on those 15mm Old Glory ACW figures. I’m working on a bag of Confederate command and one of Confederate infantry in march attack. As is usual with Old Glory (especially their older ranges like this one), there are good and bad things.
The good points are that they’re dirt cheap. 15’s are pretty damn cheap as it is, and Old Glory is definitely on the less expensive end of the spectrum. There’s also a wide variety of poses and some nice individual sculpts.
The bad points are that some of the sculpts are poor, with awkard poses, pinched or pulled faces, and freakish hands. These figures are in the minority, so if you wanted to, you could simply ignore those figures, give them to your friends, or paint them up as separate units and dedicate those figures to be the ones doled out to those gamers that always show up but never paint anything.
The larger problem is that these figures should have been re-molded some time ago. I’m not sure when these figures were cast, but many of these specimens are suffering from bad flashing, bad shifting and some bad mudding. For those that may not know, ‘mudding’ refers to the excess metal on a figure that results over time from hunks of the rubber mould being torn out as the figure is removed. The affected areas are usually places where there would be overhangs in the mould, so common spots are around the figure’s neck, under hat brims, crooks of the arm, etc. There were several poses in this bag of march attack infantry where the faces were obscured or even partially missing due to this problem, and others where extended hands had extra growths poking out of them. Mudding is a normal problem when working with metal casting and the rubber moulds that most figure manufacturers use. It can be held off longer by taking good care of the moulds, but sooner or later it will happen. The proper step at this point is to create a new mould, but sometimes this doesn’t happen… either because the manufacturers crush the original green in the first pressing, or because the companies can’t or won’t replace the moulds due to cost issues.
In the past, one of the main pieces of advice I got about Old Glory 15s was that when they released new figure packs, you’d better get them early, because eventually they’d rip their moulds up and wouldn’t replace them when they ought to. With these packs of figures, at least, that still appears to be the case.
So, while I’m working on painting these figures, I’m doing my best to work around and/or minimize some of these problems.
Koenig Krieg SYW Battle at the Source 10/26
Published October 27, 2008 miniature-wargames , Seven Years War , wargames 1 CommentTags: 15mm, Koenig Krieg, miniature wargaming, Seven Years War, wargames
I actually managed to show up for a game on Sunday at the Source. 15mm Seven Years War using the venerable “Koenig Krieg” rules. A fantasy battle of sorts, with Prussians and Hanoverians facing off against the Austrians with both Swedish and Ottoman (?) allies. The forces of good were represented by Tom Z. as Frederick, Joe Z. as the right wing commander, Fitz as the Self-Elector of Hanover, and yours truly as Prince Henri. The unwashed off-white rabble was commanded by Jack A. along with Noel, Jimbo, the Swedish Chef Jeff J., and Pasha Beybey (Chris C.).
It was a cluttered battlefield. I was on the left flank, where I had to deal with both a hill and large wood to my front. The center was relatively open apart from two villages slightly towards the Austrian lines, and our right flank was separated by a river that was impassible on our side, but fordable on the Austrian side. The river cut a huge ‘C’ shape, coming from the back of the table on our right flank and then turning 90 degrees rightward about 2/3 of the way into the table.
In brief, the battle involved the Austrians (Ottomans, actually) pressing the attack on their left against Fitz’s Hanoverians, who were pulling back, since there was little to be gained from attacking the Asiatic hordes. In the center, Joe assaulted the villages held by Jack’s force, while Tom and I advanced and then proceeded to bombard Noel’s cavalry into bite-sized pieces. The Austrian right had me squaring off against Jimbo. My brigade of hussars managed to beat his brigade of Dragoons & Kurassiers while my Von Kleist Freikorps dishonored themselves by getting ejected from the woods by Croats. I’m chalking that up to the horror they must have faced from the olfactory assault of both unwashed Slavs and whatever nasty food they were cooking in the woods.
Pictures of the slugfest can be found on Jeff’s Blog.
It was a fun battle, and the rules moved fast. I learned some valuable lessons:
- Skirmishers are dangerous and very effective in rough terrain. Formed infantry has no business going in there trying to clear them out. Much better to screen them off if possible and ignore them.
- Formed infantry has little to fear from cavalry. Noel tried to charge his Kurassiers into my lead regiment a few times and bottled out both times. His failure meant his units stopped two inches away from my infantry and proceeded to mill about while I shot them up.
- Prussian Hussars rock.
- Having reserves helps. Units can get beaten up and rout out quickly, and if you have no reserves to plug the line, it can get ugly for you.
The Great Redoubt 