Monday 27 June 2022

Boudicca/ Boadicea and six chariots Ancient Briton 1

 Well this is a bit different! In order to have a game at the club I needed to have an army to go up against an Early Imperial Roman one, I've got plenty of historical armies but not one that works for that( my Early Imperial Roman army is not finished and  based for Impetus/ To the Strongest!) So I figured I'd be able to scrape a stand in army using my pagan Saxons/Picts and Irish , I remembered I'd picked up Boudicca/ Boadicea ( you choose, I don't mind!) A warlord model from Orcs nest which is one of the only bricks and mortar shops left in central London that sells wargames figures and I try and find something to buy when I go in there and the last time I was in there ( some time ago!) This is what I got as a long term build an opposing army for my Romans, I didn't think I would need her quite so soon  !  One chariot is clearly not enough so, as I am a cheapskate, I ordered three mdf chariots from warbase for £9 , I already had some 25mm horses that I'd got to mount my English civil war dragoons on, so I press ganged them in , then I decided three wasn't really enough so I scratch built three more out of balsa, irregular wheels,wire, 1/72 wicker panels and three spare mdf poles left over from my great Italian wars wagons( see Stew, never ever throw anything away!) I also felt the warbase chariots were a little chunky so I wanted to go slightly thinner but I still needed to fit figures based on 1p coins on them.

















 You will I hope, excuse the paint job, essentially in the week leading up to the game my wife got covid which meant no spare time in the evening during the week, she was meant to be taking our daughter to Cambridge to see the Rocky Horror musical for the day on Saturday leaving me with eight clear hours of painting, instead of which I had barely two hours, up till midnight to paint seven chariots including herself and driver and an old GW druid that I rebased onto a penny, he just seems slightly portly! I've chucked some flock at least on their bases after the game which was great fun, fast and brutal, I was in it up until the last go when it all collapsed and I didn't really use my chariots well but, first game great fun and we've agreed on a rematch next month and I've got to join with the cool chariot kids! At least I've managed to squeeze a post into June! The infantry and cavalry are on temporary bases I've got a cunning plan to economically replace them with ancient Britons down the line but for now they'll do! Next up we return to our normal programing ,Napoleonic  probably Austrian ?
All the best Iain 


43 comments:

  1. For a quick job Iain they look very effective, sounds like you had fun in the game, and look forward to seeing how this force develops.
    Sorry to hear about Covid rearing it's head, and hope all are safe and recovering well

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    1. Thanks Dave, they'll do and finally ( day 10) on the mend!
      Best Iain

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  2. Great quick job...so lovely - and impressive - chariots!

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  3. Great bit of scratchbuilding there Iain. You might have won the game if you’d just thought to mount a Vickers machine gun on them!

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    1. You see, I knew I missed a trick, quick let's add a maxim and I've got a tchanka or something like it, always fancied doing the Russian revolution, of course warbase do one in mdf!
      Best Iain

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  4. Looking great sir!!
    Love the chariots a lot!
    Best regards

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  5. Can't beat a chariot, especially those Ancient British designs can you.

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  6. Getting an army from scratch, with conversions and scratchbuilds along the way is no mean feat. It may be a bit of a rushed job from your pov but It looks more than adequate to me.

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    1. Thanks Joe kick, bollock and scramble, we aim for adequate and sometimes we achieve it!
      Best Iain

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  7. Great work there Iain....Ancient Britons us an army I have considered, based mainly on the fact it would give me an excuse to have Boudicca (not to mention her daughters!) leading the charge! Your home made chariots look pretty good to me...

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    1. Thanks Keith, funny you should say that, I'm planning on adding the Bad Squiddo Cartemdua
      ( two versions) and adding my footsore Guinivere to a trio of chariots to stand in as her daughters, pretty happy with my home made chariots, certainly the price!
      Best Iain

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    2. Lol, you won't be surprised to hear I have looked at most of the Bad Squiddo figures on multiple occasions, Matt! And apologies for calling you Iain back in June...don't know why that happened!

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    3. I thought you would! I don't mind you calling me Iain, it's my name after all!
      Best Iain

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    4. Bloody hell - I must have been having a real "senior moment" a couple of weeks back - maybe I need to have a doctor test me for early onset dementia?! :)

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  8. What a fun article! Daring conversions, medical drama ( I do hope your wife has fully recovered) time constraints, figure substitute ploys and made the cool kids chariot circle .

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    1. I agree with Joe! This was a fun article to read, Iain. Well, excluding the COVID hit to your wife. Great job on getting this army ready for combat in record time AND getting in a game at the local club.

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    2. Thanks Joe, yes on the mend finally, glad you found it entertaining!
      Best Iain

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    3. Thanks Jonathan, yes good to get a game, even if prep time was a bit tight! Glad to have joined the cool chariots club too!
      Best Iain

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  9. I find it fantastic that you found a way to build three additional chariots, they all look great! I hope your wife recovers soon!

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    1. It's always fun doing a bit of scratch building, glad you liked them and yes my better half is now recovering!
      Best Iain

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  10. Unbelievably quick work Iain, and very effective. They look great. I hope your wife wasn't hit too hard and is on the road to recovery.

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    1. Thanks Lawrence, nothing like a deadline to push one on! Or maybe that's just me? Nasty case of covid but beginning to get better now!
      Best Iain

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  11. Sorry to hear the missus was taken ill, I do hope she recovers soon. Chariots look the business, and are all the more impressive for being scratch-built / kit-bashed. Nice work!

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    1. Thanks Markus, yes my wife is on the road to recovery thankfully, glad you liked the knocked out chariots!
      Best Iain

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  12. Excellent work! Gotta love some ancient Celts and chariots, and Boudicca herself!

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    1. Thanks very much Fitz and of course she's the first name down on the army list!
      Best Iain

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  13. They're lovely models, Iain, and funny that you and I are both doing chariots at the same time, though in different scales. I played in a game of Infamy, Infamy, recently, where the British chariots mostly seemed to be battle taxis, rather than the shock weapons I had hoped they would be. I hope your wife is feeling better. Cheers, Michael

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    1. Thanks Michael, my wife is getting better, they're a bit more shock like in kings of war, it's a bit simplified and generic compared to Infamy Infamy but still a fun game!
      Best Iain

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  14. This darn covid is all over the place again! GWS to the wife.

    Great chariot models and scratchbuilding skills Iain. Well done!!!

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  15. Yes the point is proven; never throw anything away. 😀😀. Nice job on the chariots. I’d would never of thought to make them do they could accommodate a base. 6 seems like a lot to me though I have no chariots.
    Glad to read the wife is getting better. Sorry for the slow response to your post. I was off and away from the internet. 😀

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    1. Thanks Stew, alright just being silly you can't keep everything just most things!
      Best Iain

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  16. I just love these Iain. They are so much the better and more individual for the conversions/scratch-building; one of the best parts of the hobby for mine.
    Regards, James

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    1. Thanks James, yes , realistically if I look at my hourly rate , I should just buy them new, it's just much more satisfying to scratch build them!
      Best Iain

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  17. Awesome work Iain! I love the chariots. I have scratch built two to round out my Celtic/Gaul army as well. Like you I used left over parts, balsa and card. I never throw anything away either! 😉

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    1. Thanks Vol! I'm sure your scratch building is another level , judging by your ships and dioramas! Of course never throw anything away!
      Best Iain

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  18. Oh, nice! These are fantastic!

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  19. Nicely done Iain, needs must and all that. Proper modelling skills... and I bet the chariots will perform even better next time too.
    Best wishes,
    Jason

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    1. Thanks Jason, absolutely needs must, to be honest they've consistently underperformed but there is still hope!
      Best Iain

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