Civil War Rages in Western Pennsylvania!

OK not really, but a bit of history came alive with the 6th Annual Civil War Weekend sponsored by the Andrew Carnegie Free Library. The library is home to the restored Thomas Espy GAR Post 153.

The event included exhibits, a Civil War era tea, and military drills and skirmishes between Union and Confederate forces.

Civil War Medicine displays, Infantry drills..

artillery, small arms and civil war recruiting demonstrations were all part of the event.

One of the reenactments (pictured above too) was the Battle of Mechanicsville, also known as The Battle of Beaver Dam Creek. The actual battle took place on June 26, 1862, in Virginia.

It was the start of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's counter-offensive against the Union Army of the Potomac, which threatened the Confederate capital of Richmond.

General Lee attempted to turn the Union right flank, with troops under "Stonewall" Jackson, but Jackson failed to arrive on time.

Instead Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill, reinforced by one of Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill's brigades,  threw his division into a series of futile assaults against the Union V Corps, under Brig Gen Porter, which occupied defensive works behind Beaver Dam Creek.

Confederate attacks were driven back with heavy casualties. Porter withdrew his corps safely to Gaines Mill.

Well, after an inspiring day, back to the workbench!

Have a Great Battle!
The Old Crow

Apache Indian Chief from Black Scorpion Miniatures

About a month ago we showed you what was on the workbench at Battlegroud Hobbies and said we'd get some images of the Apache Indian Chief from Black Scorpion. Well without further fanfare, here they are!

Joshua once again did a fabulous job on the detailing of this fabulous miniature. We wanted a natural looking base so carefully selected the stones for color so they would not need painted.

Medium tan ballast was mixed with our basing material and applied around the stones

We drilled a small hole in the base and stuck the brush into it and trimmed to suit.

All in all he turned out to be a splendid piece!

Til next time, Have a Great Battle!
The Old Crow

Warhammer 40K Ork Warboss Painted!

Well we finally have the Warhammer 40K Ork Warboss completed. Joshua had him almost done a couple months back but never quite happy with the final product. So after some prodding he got the old tyrant done. Here he is in all the Photoshop glory we could come up with!

I whipped up a 40K Base for him by adding some chopped sprue as beams, some stone blocks we molded and our basing material.

Primed it and...

after a few coats of paint, some mud effects, some rust and a final drybrush to highlight it was done. This was very similar to the Warhammer Dreadnought base we did a post about.

Now on to the Orc Warboss! He'll eventually led our Orc mob to great victories. Joshua has been helping with the mob too. We'll post images eventually! Here are a few shots.

Notice the smile for his close up

Power claw!

Nice detail work on the claw cables and mechanical bits!

Here's a detail shot on his back...

and on his bolter, chainsword and the shading on his arm!

Love the detail work.

Here he is behind a defensive position, very unorky if you ask me!

We'll leave you with another Photoshop piece, how about that lens flare!? Let us know what you think!

Have a Great Battle!
The Old Crow

Warlord Games releases new Assyrian Cavalry for Hail Caesar

How could I not mention new releases this month from Warlord Miniatures have what every army needs, that is if you like historical Assyrian forces. Warlord released Assyrian Qurubuti Cavalry for Hail Caesar, both spearmen and archers to lead your forces into battle.

These guys are sculpted nicely and come in packs of three for £8.00. There is also a command group available for the same price and a regiment pack that contains 6 mounted metal figures armed with spears and include a command group.

The  Qurubuti were the personal bodyguard of the king, or prince. They would be very well trained and likely veterans or members of Assyrian nobility. Heavily armoured in iron and bronze and riding a felt or leather barded horse, they would be a formidable opponent. The fully armoured horse only appeared towards the end of the Neo-Assyrian empire, most likely to protect the valuable mount against the new threat of the steppe horse archers.

It appears that Assyrian cavalry units were equipped with spear and bow. The spearmen carried a bow in their quiver, presumably these were used when the spear was broken or lost. The Assyrian King Sargon II reigned from 722–705 BC and at times went to battle accompanied only by his Qurubut, of which the cavalry numbered 1000.

For you history buffs, here's a relief of Sargon II and dignitary, from a wall of the palace at Dur Sharrukin in Assyria.

Have a Great Battle!
THe Old Crow

New Warhammer Fantasy releases from Gamesworkshop - Karl Franz on Deathclaw and Empire Demigryph Knights

New releases this month from Gamesworkshop for Warhammer Fantasy Empire players, a new Empire General or Karl Franz, on Deathclaw and Empire Demigryph Knights box sets!


In my opinion, Gamesworkshop has been doing some great things with plastic kits. The Empire hero on Griffon is no exception. Your Empire General can go into battle on the back of one of the most powerful mounts in the Warhammer world. Better yet put your wizard lord on the ferociuos mount so he can get to the action and deal out some serious damage.

And to trump all others, you can mount Emperor Karl Franz, Prince of Altdorf and Elector Count of Reikland. He wields Ghal Maraz, the fabled hammer of Sigmar, crushing his enemies with every blow. Karl Franz is always at the forefront of the battles against those that would dare attack the Empire. His griffon Deathclaw is the mightiest Imperial Griffon that ever lived!

The plastic kit contains a 50x100mm monster base and 74 components with which you can build either Karl Franz on Deathclaw, or a General of the Empire or Wizard Lord on a Griffon.

Now the noble knights of the Empire have good reason to feel assured when they ride into battle upon a Demigryph. These Warhammer world beasts are stronger and tougher than a warhorse, you'll want to get your Demigryphs up close to your foes, where it will use beak and claw to rip apart their armour like a can opener. When a Demigryph attacks, it strikes in a blur of motion, pouncing upon the enemy before they have time to raise their weapons.

If you're lucky, the Knight might even get to attack something too!

The plastic kit contains three 50x75mm monster bases and 83 components with which you can build three Empire Demigryph Knights.

With these guys you will have a great battle!
The Old Crow

French Napoleonic Hussars by Perry Miniatures

Gotta love Perry Miniatures and these phenomenal French Napoleonic Hussars!

Let's start with the beautiful cover art on the package by Peter Dennis. It really gets you thinking about heroic charges against great odd.

Now, here's what you get in the box, a comprehensive historical guide to all the French Hussar units dating from 1792 through 1815!
And Fourteen 28mm hard plastic figures to build. The detailing is superb, just what you'd expect from Perry Miniatures.

The command sprue has enough pieces to make a trumpeter or standard bearer and an officer. Each Hussar can have their functional campaign dress uniforms or the more elaborate full dress uniforms.

There is also enough different heads to outfit your Hussars in the early period Miriliton hat, the Bell top Shako, Cylindrical Shako, Coverede bell top or the Fur Colpack worn by most elite Hussars.

There are four trooper sprues, three troops to each one, with all the same options as the command sprue.

And lastly, four horse sprues, also with three to a sprue.

We spent about 2 hours cutting pieces from the sprues and putting these guys together. We assembled five of the 14 available.

Trooper A with raised sword...

and his opposite side.

Trooper B has his sword arm fully extended

The trumpeter has his sword in the sheath.

With a few modifications, a regular trooper becomes the standard bearer.

There you have it for now, get some of these beauties and start building your forces! The hard part is deciding on which of the 18 Hussar regimental schemes to paint.

Good luck in deciding and have a great battle!
The Old Crow