Some favourite and/or useful links from von Peter. Being the madman that he is von Peter had planned for a graphic filled extravaganza here, but came to his senses. This is a public service area, not a modern art gallery. Permanently under construction. To select a link <click> on the name.
Figures
28mm Napoleonics. Currently late Prussians, with French to come.
Great figures, absolutely fantastic coverage of the the topic with many order-able variants, individual figure purchase, good prices and informative catalogues with some uniform and organisational details. There’s much to like here and Calpe are great to deal with as a bonus. I’m a big fan (in case it doesn’t show!). Take a look. You know you need some freedom fighting Prussians to put that Corsican chap in his place!
See my Napoleonic Prussians for a further looksie.
28mm. Hundred Years War, War of the Roses, War of the Spanish Succession, Seven Years War, Napoleonics.
Generally good coverage of the topics that they provide in that most of the main troop types are available, but conversely there can be a lack of variety within troop types. Some of the later ranges have variants within codes. Earlier sculpting can be a bit ‘podgy’, but this dissipating as the sculpting gets more recent.
My Napoleonic Austrians, roughly half of my Napoleonic Russians (though this proportion will grow) and the vast majority of my Seven Years War figures are Front Rank figures.
28mm metals & plastics and 40mm. Many ranges.
The output of the Perry twins is phenomenal in its quantity and astounding in its quality. Anatomically more correct than many others and also a little smaller than some others. They can apparently be challenging to paint as they have not got the exaggerated folds etc that many other manufacturers have but I can’t vouch for that as none of their ranges currently suit me.
28mm. Many ranges
A large range of figures sculpted by some of the name sculpters. Unfortunately not much is being added to their ranges currently. Their pricing policy can be a little annoying (especially if you are a ‘rest of the world’ customer!) and the makeup of their blister packs does not always suit me. Best bought during their sales/promotions &/or taking advantage of their deal packages, unit deals etc. Still, they do have some nice ranges & figures. Some of the earlier ranges are smaller than newer ranges from competitors as scale creep takes effect and because at some stage Foundry went from 25mm to 28mm.
Roughly half of my Napoleonic Russians (though this proportion will shrink) are Foundry castings.
Many figure ranges of their own (historic plus quirky) in various scales plus other ranges, eg. AB Figures 15mm (really 18mm), plus some great scenic items.
Great service from across the Tasman in Australia. Nic and crew can be relied upon to do you right, be it service or quality ‘toys’.
They also have 100 Club (for 25mm) and 300 Club (for 15mm). These provide a way for the hobbyist to commission figures. Check the website for details of how.
Forums
A Yahoo group that I have been involved with since its inception several years ago. Setup by Roly Hermans (The Fusilier General) I am one of the ADCs (along with Eric Veitl in France) simply meaning that we are co-moderators. The blurb on the group header does as good a job as any in describing it:
The Friday Night Fusiliers began as a small group of like-minded gamers in New Zealand who share a common love for the aesthetic aspects of the miniatures hobby. Over time the list has attracted similarly inspired enthusiasts worldwide.
This group takes pleasure in figures themselves, giving as much care to the painting of the figures and the beauty of the setting of the game, as to the rules and the playing.
The discussions on this list have been much more focussed on exchange of information and ideas about figures and their reproduction than on rules and games per se.
A forum recently recommended to me, so I have joined up. Perhaps a slight emphasis on WWII but all periods covered, including science fiction and fantasy, with convenient separate ‘pages’ for the different periods and topics. Some of these pages are visible to all comers, some only to members. Seems to be a friendly and knowledgeable place to hang out. The third incarnation of this site.
A Napoleonic forum for good natured chatting. The name of this forum gives a clue as to it’s modus operandi if one has seen some of the unseemly behaviour on some other forums.
Not much happens in the hobby that isn’t notified here one way or another.
Another site which is great for keeping track of hobby news.
Rules
A family of rules all with a very non traditional approach to gaining. They use a non prescribed turn sequence which is driven by cards, the turning and (in most) the using of which is controlled by this variable dice driven thing called impetus. I’m sure this wont make sense to anyone (if it does please see your doctor!). Not for everyone, and certainly not for control freaks, but the mechanisms can produce those weird events in history when the almost unexplainable happens. Predictable games are not what you get with Piquet, then again when was war ever predictable? Some of my best games have been had using this family of rules.
This site contains the list of all the Piquet family, a ‘shop’ from which to procure them and a forum.
There is also a Yahoo group at http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/piquet/ meaning that there are now two forums for the rules, for better or worse.
A good traditional style (compared to the Piquet options anyway!) of Napoleonic wargame. As standard these rules use a scale of 20:1. The locals mostly have units built at a ration more like 33:1, and we aren’t all that keen to expand our units. As it turns out we don’t need to as the rules work fine for us as is. The site also contains a forum.
Wargaming Clubs
A local informal grouping over here in New Zealand. From the sites introduction ...
The Kapiti Fusiliers began as a small group of like-minded gamers in New Zealand who shared a common love for the aesthetic aspects of the miniatures hobby. Over time the group has attracted similarly inspired enthusiasts worldwide as "virtual" members.
Despite the fact that this is a club website, there's lots of material here that will appeal to all wargamers, no matter where from. Take a look, for instance, at our world-famous Gallery and Article pages.
We take pleasure in figures themselves, giving as much care to the painting of the figures and the beauty of the setting of the game, as to the rules and the game-play.
Barry Hilton’s website. Classifying this one is a bit of a conundrum but I’ve stuck it here, and here it will stay ... at least for now!
A visual feast (to roll out the cliches) of figures games and campaigns. Check out the large multiplayer games that the League partake of every few months. Inspirational.
NWS - Napoleonic Wargaming Society
Based in Perth, Western Australia this club does not restrict itself solely to Napoleonic gaming. Presumably the club started playing Napoleonics but luckily for us their interests have spread further. Even better for us they are not shy about letting the world see what they are up to. Well worth a perusal.
Wargamer’s Sites
Martin Kelly’s blog. Not only does Martin wield a mean paint brush but he also maintains the Calpe Miniatures website and his blog is a good way to keep up with the rumours from Calpe Towers (as Martin puts it).
Iannick Marin’s web site. Lots of 1809 Austrians and now the opposing French. Iannick also has a blog and the La Bricole forum here
Clarence Harrison’s website. Another inspirational site covering several periods and with some great tutorials. Clarence is another one of those annoying gamers who can turn out great looking figures at a ridiculous rate! J
Roly and I sometimes come to blows ... over the gaming table! Not only is he someone to fight with he is also the mastermind behind both the Friday Night Fusiliers and The Kapiti Fusiliers sites and something of a celebrity on the wargaming focused portion of the ‘net. This site is essentially a router to various other sites that showcase Roly’s talents in his favoured horse and musket era.
Serrez les Rangs! and Skoryi Szag!
Two of Robert Swan’s wargaming blogs. Robert is a prolific Blogger and links to more of his blogs can be found in these two. Serrez les Rangs! follows Robert’s efforts building a 28mm 1813 French Napoleonic army while Skoryi Szag! is the mirrored effort building Russian opponents.
Giles Allison’s blog. Another rather talented chap out of the UK. I have now had the pleasure of meeting Giles in the flesh as he visited New Zealand and kindly/foolishly met some of us Wellington domiciled types for a lunch in a cafe. Not only talented but genuinely nice to go along with it.
Eric Veitl may call the South of France home but the ‘net shrinks geographic distances to mere seconds. A fellow Friday Night Fusilier this site showcases Eric’s painting skills and his home made flags. One day I hope to meet Eric in person ... but it will take more than a few seconds for me to get there.
Johns blog tracks his journey in 28mm Napoleonic gaming through various rule sets on his beautiful gaming board.
Terrain
Modelling & Painting Services
House of Queeg Miniatures
(This was a link to Brents Yahoo group which has subsequently been exterminated. I’l leave the entry here for now as I believe that there may be something to link to in the future)
None other than himself The Great Queeg (Brent Watterson) is to be found here. He does a great job on what is probably his specialty WWII, including kit building if you’re after some armour etc. But he’s happy to turn his talented hands to just about anything (hobby related I hasten at add!!!!). See my Napoleonic Russians and the Photos section of his Yahoo group for what he can turn out.
Podcasts
The prolific Neil Shuck produces:
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‣the standard ‘Meeples & Miniatures’ podcast which roams over both board & miniature wargaming topics
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‣the weekly ‘Incoming’ vidcast of his top ten new miniature releases for the week
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‣the sporadic ‘View from the Veranda’ where Neil and Henry Hyde (the BattleGames editor) discuss various game related topics
All are available from iTunes as well as Neil’s site.
12 Byzantine Rulers - The History of The Byzantine Empire
Spread over eighteen episodes by Mr. Lars Brownworth none of which go much over half an hour and most are less. Also available from iTunes though the site has extra little snippets to download.
Norman Centuries - A Norman History Podcast
Another enjoyable and informative podcast by Lars Brownworth. Also available through iTunes.
Three presenters review their gaming, games in general and the gaming industry around-a-bout fortnightly in episodes of around 3.5 hours. Boardgames, card games, role playing games and miniature gaming are covered with much banter and by-play. they may not cover a lot of von Peter’s gaming in their show but it’s all most enjoyable anyway. Get episodes via iTunes or their site.
Miscellaneous
GMB Designs
Grahame Black produces some super delicious flags, standards, lance pennons etc. I currently use them for all my Napoleonic armies, new SYW flags, and my Empire army. In the latter case Grahame kindly agreed to customise some of his standard flags for my use - see the 17 December Order of the day update for further details on this. GMB do not currently have a website, but apparently one is planned for some time in 2008. Until then Grahame is contactable via email at gmbdesigns@blueyonder.co.uk
I use to make my bases from plasticard, but no more. Litko offer a myriad of shapes for bases, movement trays and other ‘stuff’ and if the listed shapes and sizes are not sufficient the chances are that they will custom cut what you want. Plywood (thick or thin), flex magnet & flex steel are laser cut to perfection. No longer will I put up with inaccurately cut bases.