Napoleonic fort/Linhas de Torres - WIP

Hello!

While the painting is going slow, one of the current projects - a small fort in Linhas de Torres - is taking its shape.

The base for the terrain is almost ready and the figures arrived yesterday.

Usually I don't post the figures at this stage, but these are different (to me). 2 naval gun crews from Warmodelling Miniatures. Scale? 18mm! The fort is supposed to be 1/72, so I may have to make a few more cuts...

 I may have to get a few more figures and these look so fine! (Yes, some forts were equipped by naval guns and crews.) I'll call my friend Rui from Tempos Medievais and order it for me!


A base para o forte n.º 19 - Ajuda Pequeno - toma forma. É necessário aumentar o nível do terreno do lado de fora e "escavar" o interior do forte. Depois começam os detalhes!
Embora esteja pensado para a escala 1/72, acabei por encomendar estas figuras a 18 mm através da Tempos Medievais. Excelente negócio! Acho que ainda vou encomendar os oficiais... É que sendo um forte, alguns teriam peças e elementos dos navios britânicos!

A figure a day keeps the shrink away!

No, I'm not posting / painting a figure each day... but this one was painted in one day.

Strelets 1/72 - a Streltsy (Russian version of musketeers, I understood), 17th century.
I like these figures (it's the second I painted), they look very good, unlike many Strelets figures!

Not the best pictures though...

Some archers from Strelets

During the last two weeks I've been working on these guys (and some other stuff, but mostly these). From Strelets' Norman Archers, they will be used as christian troops of the Portuguese Reconquista or/and wargaming, as my Tempos Medievais army needs firepower! 

These are from Zvezda's Medieval Peasant army. Those arms... :(   Not sure what will be of them...

Tempos Medievais advertising space!

Hello there!!

Yes, the guy is alive! Not much time for the hobby now, but that doesn't mean I stopped thinking about it!

So, I've been living in Toronto for more than two months now, but all I could see was this shop, Sunward Hobbies. Not much figures of my interest at the time, but it seemed they had recently moved and were still setting things there. However, the Pegasus Alpha Centauri UFOs don't come out of my head! :D It seems I'll take one to Portugal... About that, it bugs me that what I would pay for that in Portugal (probably by ordering it by internet) is the same as I will(?) pay here. Consider the wages in Portugal and the ones here... no wonder life in Portugal became so hard! (and yes, I know I am writing about a hobby, but take it as an exemple)

Well, speaking of Portugal, my friend Rui already had his online shop for his books, now he moved on into figures (28, 18 and 15mm) and accessories. So, the link is on your right, Tempos Medievais Store is growing and you are free to visit it.



Ora bem, se já conheciam a loja Tempos Medievais, saibam que agora podem também encomendar figuras (28, 18 e 15mm) e produtos de modelismo. Vale a pena visitar, e voltar a visitar, porque a loja está a crescer e as novidades vão aparecendo!

Tempos Medievais Evento

Olá a todos da Grande Lisboa!!
No próximo Sábado, 7 de Setembro, o meu amigo Rui Sena - criador das regras Tempos Medievais - irá estar na loja Kult Games, com figuras para fazer demonstrações do jogo. Portanto, se já for jogador ou não, dê um saltinho à Kult Games entre as 15h e as 19h.

Sábado, 7 Setembro
entre as 15h e as 19h

Kult Games
Rua Pinheiro Chagas, 78C
1050-180 Lisboa

Giveaway prise and goblins almost done

That's right, I won one of the giveaways (the 2nd) from Tempos Medievais and got myself an English army!
This is a mixed lot, with figures from Italeri's boxes English Knights and Archers and also The Knights and Zvezda's English Knights of the 100 year war! Lucky me!

Now I'll think about what I am going to do with them! Keep the all army together, or make them join the other 2 armies I have? hum...

Meanwhile, the Goblins are slowly coming to an end! I guess they only need some wash(es) and proper bases.

Another 2 giveaways

Again, a medieval army (don't know the side) for centuries XII - XIV...

You must be the 15th correct answer (I'm sure I was the first again! I hate this method! ;) )!

All you have to do is to register at the online store (this can be a downside for non-portuguese users) and answer the question "What is the year of the Royal Battle between Portugal and Castille?" The concept of "battle royal" may be different from the translation to Portuguese, I found it close enough but I am not sure. The original in Portuguese is "Batalha Real".

Anyway, it is a tricky question, but I will give a hint... like nowadays, early Spanish loved August in Portugal!


Second giveaway, click here:

BLMA's Millionth Pageview Givaway

1.000.000 !! WOW You can't get that many if you don't paint (and paint really good!), and I can compare: I added the counter about one year after starting the blog in the end of 2010, so I think that the real number, from the beginning would round about 12.000. Another 2 years (going back to the beginning of 2009) and would reach to 22.000. Let's make it 25.000 hits! Pretty far from a million!! Congrats, Big Lee!!

Medieval giveaway!

Running now!!
The creator of the rules for Tempos Medievais - for which I have painted those russians, if someone recalls (oh yeh, it's these guys on the top of the page!) - is giving away a muslim army 500 points strong, which means about 40 infantry figures, or 30 infantry and 5 cavalry... I don't know but I am running for it too! Oh, and it's 1/72 scale!

So, go there, register at the site and answer the question:

Which is the symbolic date of the muslim conquest of the Península Ibérica?

The 10th correct answer wins it!

http://temposmedievais.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/passatempo-exercito-de-sarracenos-500pts/

Less painting, more playing

It's all connected!

And still working on it...

Archers for wargaming

The archers are from MiniArt's Hussites box and I have them painted for quite a while, but they lacked the basing, which I did now.  Nothing special, but my army for Tempos Medievais needed some more archers. Now I only need more horses... and gaming hours! :p

Os arqueiros são da MiniArt (Hussitas) e já os tinha pintado há algum tempo mas não tinha ainda feito as bases. Não é nada de especial, mas são mais uns para o meu exército para os Tempos Medievais. Agora só preciso de mais cavaleiros... e jogos!

Flags and Merry Christmas!

Hi there!!

I should already have posted this but the right opportunity didn't come up!
Anyway, at the beginning of this month I won (here) a set of Burgundian Mounted Knights. The promoter is the creator of the game Tempos Medievais for which I've been painting my Russian army. Thanks, Rui!
I'm not sure of what I'm going to do with them as they don't seem to fit in any of my projects, so it may take a while until I paint them.

Já devia ter postado isto mas a oportunidade nunca surgia. Enfim, no princípio do mês ganhei uma caixa de Burgundian Mounted Knights num passatempo promovido pelo Rui Sena, criador do Tempos Medievais (jogo para o qual ando a pintar um exército medieval [predominatemente] Russo). (Obrigado, Rui!)
Ainda não sei o que vou fazer com eles porque não encaixam em nenhum projecto... ainda pensei em fazê-los passar pelos cavaleiros franceses em Aljubarrota, mas acho que não servem. É capaz de demorar até lhes dar uso...

Meanwhile, inspired by Paul and his Almoravid army and flags, I decided to do something with my own Muslim forces that will defend the mighty Silves in Al-Gharb.
I'm painting a few figures but I tried to come out with some flags as there are a few differences: by 1189 the rulers of Muslim Peninsula were the Almoahds. The only difference for us modelers are the flags and not all of them! I searched the web (and the first ones reflect that) but the ones I know more historically accurate are from this blog. It's dedicated to Portuguese history and by someone that really knows the subject.

Entretanto, inspirado pelo mestre Paul e o seu exército Almorávida e suas bandeiras, decidi arrancar também com os meus mouros de Silves! Estou a pintar uns arqueiros (Strelets) mas decidi tentar fazer também umas bandeiras e uns estandartes. É que há uma pequena diferença entre os Almorávidas e os Almoadas que lhes sucederam e já dominavam a Peninsula aquando da tomada de Silves em 1189. A pequena diferença é para nós modelistas e consiste apenas em alguns símbolos e bandeiras diferentes.
Procurei na net e estas são uma amostra disso mesmo, mas onde sei que posso confiar em termos históricos é neste blog, dedicado à nossa história e feito por quem domina o tema.

From what I could learn, the checked pattern was Almohad. Can be used as you wish (as long the first square from the top left is black (nice, now I see that the first flag is wrong!!). The red flag with the sun and the crescent moon is one of the few I got from the blog I mentioned before.

Pelo que vi na net, o padrão em xadrês era próprio dos Almoadas. Pode usar-se com qualquer design de bandeira, mas o primeiro quadrado (1ª coluna, 1ª linha) deve ser preto (como podem ver, a primeira bandeira tem isso errado!). A bandeira vermelha com o Sol e a Lua crescente foi retirada do blog mencionado, pelo que tenho a certeza que está historicamente correcto.


I quickly tried some but this must take some time.

Rapidamente experimentei mas isto tem de levar o seu tempo.

I'll post some more flags soon. I'll keep posting during the season, but here's my Merry Christmas to all who keep following the shameful miniatures I insist showing here!

Mais bandeiras em breve. Conto continuar a actualizar o blogue durante esta época, mas aqui fica um Feliz Natal para vocês que continuam a ver as pobres figuras que vou colocando aqui!

Russian Noble Cavalry

5 Figuras da caixa da Zvezda - Russian Noble Cavalry e um "infiltrado" da Strelets Carolingian Cavalry.

If the mercenaries don't do the job... call the Portuguese Cavalry!

 Depois da primeira partida, decidi usar o exército português (as figuras foram comigo, uma vez que usei algumas figuras para o primeiro diorama de introdução ao Cerco de Silves (1189)). Surgiu a ideia de fazer cavalaria vs cavalaria... E assim foi - 12 cavaleiros Portugueses (em baixo) contra 12 cavaleiros do Sacro Império (acima), equilíbrio total!
After the first game, I decided to use my portuguese army (I had the figures, as I used some for a diorama introducing the project Siege of Silves (1189)). Then we came out with the idea of using only cavalry... and so I deployed 12 Portuguese Knights (second photo) against Vítor's 12 Holy Empire's Knights (first photo), none of us having any advantage at the start.

O jogo foi rápido e até me esqueci de tirar mais fotografias. Na primeira ronda os dois grupos colidiram com grande impacto; desta vez os dados favoreceram-me e os meus cavaleiros causaram várias baixas e tiveram poucas. O objectivo era capturar a bandeira (o que significa matar o porta-estandarte) e consegui fazê-lo ao mesmo tempo que arrasava o campo de batalha!
The game was fast and I forgot to take more photos. On the first round the two groups colided with great impact; This time the dices were good to me and my knights caused some damaged without suffering too much casualties. The objective was to capture the flag (kill the flagbearer) and I managed to do it, trampling everything on the way!

 The impact (on the public) was so good that we had several kids wanting to try the game. Mostly we (me, Vítor and Rui Dias - the creator of the rules) used the fast mode (cavalry vs cavalry) and our own figures (one of my knights fell from his horse... well, it's war, right?)
O impacto junto do público foi muito bom. Claro que os miúdos adoraram e quiseram experimentar, o que era mesmo um dos objectivos a que nos propuséramos! Usámos quase sempre este modo rápido de cavalaria vs cavalaria e as nossas (minhas, do Vítor e do Rui Dias, criador das regras) figuras (um dos meus caiu do cavalo, mas acho que guerra é guerra, certo?).

 The kids liked the way I showed the dead knights. And insisted that that was the way all my dead should remain!
A garotada gostou que eu colocasse as baixas deste modo. E insisitu que todas as figuras "mortas" ficassem assim!

 Os Hospitalários do Rui Dias. 

Rui's Hospitaller Knights.

My russian(ish) army first adventure - What a bloodbath!!

A Oestemodel deste ano foi o local ideal para umas partidas de Tempos Medievais. Duas partidas entre mim e o Vítor Mestre e depois uma série de partidas rápidas para divulgação do jogo. A pequenada delirou porque teve a oportunidade de participar! 

A primeira vez deste exército (e a minha também) em batalha começou da pior forma. Sem cavalaria, tive de chamar reforços!
The rules are from Tempos Medievais, a portuguese wargame based on medieval period recently developed. The first time this army went to battle (and my first time too) started the worst way. Not having cavalry units, we had to ask for reinforcements!

Against Vítor Mestre's Holy Roman Empire army

Exército do Sacro Império Romano-Germânico do Vítor Mestre

 I deployed my 28 mercenaries (no Russian side on the rules... yet?)

Coloquei os meus 28 mercenários em posição (ainda não existe a Rússia como entidade nas regras do jogo)

 Vítor even had a priest to bless his campaign! (of course he had!)

O Vítor até tinha um padre para abençoar a sua campanha!

 So, my reinforcements... 20 Portuguese soldiers, ten were archers, increasing the archers to 16!!

When Vitor saw this, he had the same thought Leonidas had... he would fight in the shadow!

Então, como reforços, 20 portugueses, dos quais 10 eram arqueiros, passando o total destes a 16!

O Vítor pensou o mesmo que Leónidas... lutaria à sombra!

 First move and the Empire's Cavalry were right over me!

Right were my archers wanted them!

Na primeira ronda a cavalaria dele já estava em cima de mim!

Mesmo onde os meus arqueiros a queriam!

But the dices were cruel on me! All I got with 16 archers were 2 dead horses!! The knights were still ready for fighting... only they would get to the party one turn later.

Mas os dados foram cruéis! Tudo o que consegui com 16 arqueiros foi matar dois cavalos! Os cavaleiros ficaram a pé e por isso iriam demorar mais um turno a juntarem-se à refrega!

 I tryed to surround the enemy's cavalry with all my troops, but they were weaker... and the archers couldn't risk killing their own guys!

Ainda tentei cercá-los com toda a infantaria, mas era muito fraca... e os arqueiros não podiam arriscar a acertar nos seus próprios camaradas!

 Nobody could have guessed the mess these german knights did on my russians and their portuguese allies (What?!)

Quem poderia imaginar a destruição que os cavaleiros alemães causariam nesta coligação luso-russa?(!!)

 After 5 turns, Vitor had won. (in fact, victory was his after the 2nd turn!) He didn't even bothered to slay ALL of my men! The job (killing more than me) was done and the cavalry just went away!

Após 5 rondas, o Vítor tinha ganho. (após a segunda ronda já tinha a vitória no papo!) Nem sequer se deu ao trabalho de os aniquilar a todos! A missão (matar mais que o inimigo) fora cumprida e a cavalaria limitou-se a ir embora!

Lesson to learn: never go to war without cavalry! (I'm painting mine)

Lição do dia: nunca ir para a batalha sem cavalaria! (Estou a pintá-la)