Andreivia oi oi oi oi! (To the tune of the old Subbuteo advert)

The main gaming effort this year was the annual Crisis Point weekend, organised by Richard Crawley at Dungworth near Sheffield. The theme this year was "Andreivia Through The Ages". Andreivia is a fictional Black Sea country situated between Turkey and Armenia. It was created by Richard in 2008 (I think) for a SOTCW game, set as a UN intervention in a Balkans-esque, multi-ethnic Civil War in the early 90s.

Since then the history of Andreivia has continued to be developed. Over recent years games have been set during the War of Independence, as Andreivia fought to free itself from the collapsing Russian Empire in 1919. Games this year were set over such diverse periods as the Roman invasion and WW2 Eastern Front. Neil and I were (all in past tense of course, since this was all planned before The Event) to host the War of Andreivian Succession of 1764. Neil took the part of General Horace Wilberforce of the Honourable Black Sea Trading Company's British expeditionary army (Wilberforce Force). This left me to create the Royal Andreivian Army:

First we have the regular infantry:

There are 6 battalions of regular infantry, using the Baccus Levant infantry from the Ottoman Great Northern War range. Andreivians are of Greek ethnicity, so I've based their uniforms on traditional Greek costume. I wanted them to have a different feel to Western European troops, so I have used unformed musket armed infantry and the centre companies have spears. In fact they are quite dexterous chaps, as they have a shield on their left arm, a spear in their left hand and a musket on the right, which slots on to a rest on the side of the shields. Our chosen ruleset, Maurice, includes pike armed troops, so they would have had an effect on the tabletop.

Next, the artillery:

These are also from the Ottoman range from the Great Northern War era. I am not  aware of any country using black for their guns, so thought that it would make a distinctive (and also quick) paint scheme.

Every army needs its General:

These lads are from the Baccus Mahdist Emirs pack, with some Irregular baggage and a Leven tent. I did buy some Irregular pavilions for a more 'Eastern' look but they turned out to be far too big, so they will have to wait for another project.

Finally for now we have this chap:

In Maurice terms he is a Notable. For our game he is Prince Jerzy Drahomanov, dashing cavalry officer, arch plotter, brother of the late King and sworn enemy of the Queen Regent.

I hope that was of some interest. Part 2 will feature some allied units.

Across The Line

I've gone back over the chaps and highlighted the white & blue areas, with a few green highlights too and decided that they're done:

It's been an interesting experiment, adding the brown wash. I think that I should have started with brighter base colours than I usually use.

Tejler's Foot, with one of my Hessian regiments for comparison

I've never painted troops for someone else before. It is enjoyable, being part of a group effort, but I feel a bit sad that I won't get to see them, based and with colours flying, forming up with the rest of the army. Had timing and, you know, the world, been different, it would have been good to see both completed armies in action at Joy of Six. Maybe whoever wins them could put on a demonstration game next year? 

Thanks for looking. Next up: troops for the War of Andreivian Succession. 

Do you think that's wise, sir?

I think that I may have made an error with Tejler's Foot. Got them painted to a standard that I was pleased with and then moved on to the final stage...

I've not added an ink wash to any of my 6mm infantry before. When using inks & washes, I would normally add them after the base coat and before highlighting. I also do not own the same ink that Per uses. So it was with some trepidation that I mixed up some Coat D'Arms brown ink in a 40:60 ink to water mix and set to...

In hindsight, that mix was too strong and they are now too brown. The white areas in particular have been badly affected. It's too late to do anything now of course. I'm going to leave them overnight then go back over the white areas tomorrow, then see how they look. Might need a bit of a highlight on the blue as well.

Nearly There

Henry Hyde, in an article in Miniature Wargames magazine, once suggested finding just 30 minutes a day to paint. These short periods build up and very soon progress will be made on the lead mountain (we've all got one). I've been doing 45 mins or so a day and am nearly there:

I've taken these photos with the flash on and the green shows up much better.

I need to finish the pikes and flag poles, add some highlights to the cartridge belts, tidy up the scarved then do some work on the drummer and then these bad boys will be ready to join their fellow Denswe army regiments.

Marching On

More progress on Tejler's regiment of foot:

I've added the green facings but the effect is quite subtle (ie too dark) so I may go back and add a lighter green highlight.