Category Archives: Warlord Games

6mm Black Powder Gaming – Part 1

I have bought the new Epic Battles: Waterloo by Warlord Games and I’m slowly making my way through the painting much like Declan (when I’m not painting those pesky Kruleboyz). However, one thing I’ve noticed (as I’m sure many others have as well), is that the models are epic in scale but the basing and the rules are standard Black Powder. What I mean by this is that a standard unit in Epic:Waterloo is the same as a standard unit in regular Black Powder.

Credit: Yith’s Wagaming Blog – Check it out, its a fantastic read

This got me thinking to how you could have truly cinematic and epic battles in Black Powder by converting the inches to centimetres (like many others have done).

By doing this, you can play a regular game of black Powder on a much smaller play area – 2.4 feet by 1.6 feet rather then 6′ x 4′. But also, it gives you the option of playing much, much larger games on a regular table.

The only issue is the basing and miniatures. if you take a standard unit in Black Powder with a frontage of 240mm and divide this so it suits the cm measurements rather than inches (i.e. dividing 240mm by 2.5) you’ll get a standard unit frontage of 96mm (let’s call it 10cm). If we use increments of 20mm then the basing could look something like this:

The great thing about his, is that if you use Baccus Napoleonic 6mm infantry you can get two large bases completed for just £8.00!

But what about different formations. Well these could either be represented by a dice in one of the dice holders on the base (i.e. 3, for line, 4 for square etc) or you could just model some other bases as Square and attack column etc. I’m inclined by the later personally.

The other dice holder can also be used to measure the units stamina. For Dice holders I’m always inclined to use Pendraken.

But I’d like to know the opinions of those experienced in Black Powder and what they think!

Paints Used for Napoleonic French Infantry

This post is partly a reference for myself as to which colours to use (Citadel or Vallejo) when painting my Epic Battles Napoleonic French. I’ve listed colours that could be used from both systems.

All of the paints listed can be purchased from ElementGames. Why not use my referral code and get double the crystals when you purchase anything? XBJ9837

Line Infantry

An overall base coat should be applied with London Grey or Mechanicus Standard Grey.

BASE COAT

AreaVallejoCitadel
JacketsDark Prussian BlueKantor Blue
Belts/Muskets/Slings & LapelsLight GreyGrey Seer
TrousersAny of Offwhite, London Grey or Beige Pallid Wych Flesh, Mechanicus Standard Grey or Karak Stone
Shako & BootsBlackAbaddon Black
SkinBasic Skin ToneCadian Flesh
Collars, Cuffs & Lapel PipingDark VermillionMephiston Red
(Voltiguers) Plumes & EpaulettesBlack GreenCaliban Green
(Voltigeurs) Collar, Epaulette edging, Pompom, Tip of PlumeYellow OchreYriel Yellow
(Grenadiers) Plumes, Epaulettes and Shako LaceDark VermillionMephiston Red
Backpacks & Musket WoodFlat BrownMournfang Brown
Musket Barrel, Bayonet & CanteenOily SteelLeadbelcher
Shako Plates, Sword Hilts, Chin Scales & ButtonsOld GoldRetributor Gold

WASH

AreaVallejoCitadel
Grey Trousers, Shako Covers & SteelDark ToneNuln Oil
Beige Trousers & Shako CoversStrong ToneAgrax Earthshade
White TrousersDilute Light GreyDilute Grey Seer
Skin & GoldFlesh WashReikland Fleshshade

HIGHLIGHT

AreaVallejoCitadel
WhiteOffwhitePallid Wych Flesh
YellowFlat YellowDorn Yellow
GreenIntermediate GreenWarpstone Glow
BlackBlack GreyDark Reaper
BayonetsPlate MailStormhost Silver

Light Infantry in Greatcoats

An overall base coat should be applied with London Grey or Mechanicus Standard Grey.

BASECOAT

AreaVallejoCitadel
GreatcoatsLondon Grey, Beige or Light BrownMechanicus Standard Grey, Karak Stone or Balor Brown
Trousers & inside Open JacketsDark Prussian BlueKantor Blue
Piping, Belts & StrapsLight Grey Grey Seer
Shako & BootsBlackAbaddon Black
SkinBasic Skin ToneCadian Flesh
(Carabinier) Straps, Plumes, Epaulettes and Shako LaceDark VermillionMephiston Red
(Voltigeurs) Epaulettes & PlumeBlack GreenCaliban Green
(Voltigeurs) Collar, Edge of Epaulettes, Shako Lace & Tip of PlumeYellow OchreYriel Yellow
Backpacks & Musket WoodFlat BrownMournfang Brown
Musket Barrel, Shako Plate, Chin Scales, Bayonet & buttonsOily SteelLeadbelcher

WASH

AreaVallejoCitadel
Grey Greatcoats, Trousers, Shako Covers and SteelDark ToneNuln Oil
Beige & Light Brown Greatcoats, Trousers & Shako CoversStrong ToneAgrax Earthshade
SkinFlesh WashReikland Fleshshade

HIGHLIGHT

AreaVallejoCitadel
WhiteOffwhitePallid Wych Flesh
YellowFlat YellowDorn Yellow
GreenIntermediate GreenWarpstone Glow
BlackBlack GreyDark Reaper
BayonetsPlate MailStormhost Silver

What is Blood Red Skies?

BOARD GAME GEEK SUMMARY

Blood Red Skies is the new World War II mass air combat game from Warlord Games, written by renowned game developer Andy Chambers.

Packed with everything you need to play this fast paced air combat game, the Blood Red Skies starter set does what it says on the tin. Plus once started you’ll have the extra rules to introduce the play cards that really bring your fighter aircraft to life, allowing you to fly them just as they would have been by the Aces of WW2!

It has been given a rating of 7.4 on BoardGameGeek from 150+ ratings.

Simple but effective gameplay

Tabletop Anarchy has produced a series of videos explaining how to play Blood Red Skies.

1. Core Mechanics

2. Activation

3. Movement

4. Pilot Action

5. Shooting

6. Wingman

7. Clouds

8. Cards

9. Build A Squadron

10. Gameplay

Tabletop Anarchy also have a number of videos on painting the planes.

If you’re interested in getting into Blood Red Skies I can’t suggest you start anywhere else but these excellent collection of videos.

— Peter

Unboxing – French Starter Army for Black Powder: Epic Waterloo

Warlord Games have released their Epic Waterloo miniatures and game system this weekend just gone. I was lucky enough to pick my French Starter Set from SCN Hobby World yesterday and I was eager to take a peek and see what was inside.

It’s one of the largest starter boxes I’ve seen, and one of the heaviest! I picked mine up at 20% off for £72 through Sarah at SCN Hobby World.

Lifting the Lid

Theres a tonne of sprues inside. Ten infantry, three heavy cavalry and three light cavalry. Along with the meaty full colour rulebook, a scenery piece, painting guide and flags. I

It was all very nicely packages tightly inside. Warlord must have learnt their lesson form the ACW version Starter Set here, as a common complaint was that everything was a bit loose inside that box and often some of the contents would arrive damaged.

“Do you have a flag….?” – Eddie Izzard

They have coloured the plastic of both starter sets, (blue for french and Red for British) so if you’re eager and know someone with the other set you can play straight away without the need for painting.

Sprue 1 Light Cavalry

Hussar!

There enough here for 11 bases of Light Cavalry, as well as 3 artillery. Made up of 4 Lancer bases (one spare model), 3 Hussar bases (3 spare models) and 4 Chasseur bases (1 spare model). None of these models are command models but the addition of two Imperial Eagles on each sprue allows you to convert some in to standards. You can also use the spare models for ADC’s or for diorama pieces on your Brigade Commander stands.

Geek Point 1: The standards were made optional as none of the French Cavalry had their standards on the Waterloo campaign.

Sprue 2 Heavy Cavalry

These are the other 10 bases of Cavalry, but these make heavier versions of the Cavalry regiments. Here you’ll have 4 bases of Cuirassiers, 3 bases of Carabiniers and 3 bases of Dragoons. Again, you have the inclusion of an artillery piece on each sprue and two french eagles. There were a lot more Cuirassiers and Dragoons at Waterloo than Carabiniers but I can understand why Warlord have included one of each type on the sprue.

Sprue 3 Infantry

There’s loads of infantry… all told just over 800 men. The detail on the sprues is incredible given their size, and time has been taken to differentiate the flank companies of Grenadiers and Voltigeurs from the centre companies.

This sprue is packed. You’ve eight stands of infantry and enough skirmishing Voltigeurs for another stand, as well as some foot artillery and a command figure.

Bases

Bases… lots of them!

Of course, none of these would play well without the basic addition of bases… just look at that pile! It’s huge.

Dice

And some dice… as if wargamers don’t have enough to build their own fort! Still a good inclusion for a starter set.

Declan’s picture of the dice included

Decoster’s House – Building

Decoster’s House

Warlord games have teamed up with Sarissa Precision to bring some scenery with the boxset which also comes with its own painting guide and stencil.

Flags & Painting Guide

A great addition is a full colour sheet of French flags. This will really add to the colour and make the regiments individual on the tabletop. Well done to Warlord games for this inclusion.

Rulesbook

The full rules book for the Waterloo Campaign in Epic Battles. This appears to be a full rulebook at 260 pages. It’s in glorious full colour as well and means you don’t need a separate copy of any of the existing Black Powder rule books.

Summary

This is a great box, and real value for money. It should draw many GW fans looking to get into Napoleonics. Declan and I are just two of them.

Warlord Games Epic Waterloo – Painting Guides

In my excitement for receiving my Epic Waterloo French Starter set from Warlord Games, I’ve been perusing the internet looking for painting guides. The below are a collection of the best videos I have found. All of these videos have been published on YouTube by Miniature Realms, Miniature Wargaming Warriors

British Line Infantry


Royal Horse Artillery

British Riflemen

French Voltigeurs

French Line Infantry

Epic Battles Carabinier Test Model

I’ll often paint a single test model before batch painting the rest. It lets me take my time on making sure I’m selecting the right colours.

In the case of Napoleonic miniatures I find this is also useful as I will refer to images on my phone about the uniform of the unit I’m painting. Then, once the model is done, I can just keep it in view while I paint the remainder. This prevents me having to keep turning the old phone on and off while I paint.

So here’s the model, this is a phone picture so apologies.

And the colours I used are:

  • Teclis Blue for all blue parts
  • Pallid Wych Flesh for the white
  • Mephiston Red for red
  • Runelord Brass for the gold
  • Stormhost silver for any metal
  • Rhinkx Hide for the horse

Simples!

What is Beyond the Gates of Antares?

BOARD GAME GEEK SUMMARY

It had been given a rating of 7.6 on BoardGameGeek from 50+ ratings.

Beyond the Gates of Antares invites us to a time when mankind has evolved into new and diverse species: the strangely powerful NuHumans, masters of the Panhuman Concord; the ape-like Pansimians, the greatest warriors in the whole Galactic Spill; and feral Revers primitive Humans driven by a irrepressible lust for adventure and danger. It is a universe where technology and humanity intermix indistinguishably, where human knowledge and endeavour has long since been supplanted by integrated machine intelligence IMTel. Where humans go their technology goes also, protectors, workers, and fighting machines in the form of WarDrones armed with deadly weapons and shielded by energy fields a thousand times more resilient than steel.

Warlord Games’ YouTube channel has produced a series of excellent videos explaining Gates of Antares.

1. Introduction

2. Order Dice

3. Shooting

4. Pinning

5. The Assault Phase

6. Leaders

7. Q&A

If you’re interested in getting into Beyond the Gates of Antares, I can’t suggest you start anywhere else but these excellent collection of videos.

Peter

What is Bolt Action?

BOARD GAME GEEK SUMMARY

It has been given a rating of 7.8 on BoardGameGeek from 550+ ratings.

Written by veteran game designers Alessio Cavatore and Rick Priestley, Bolt Action provides all the rules needed to bring the great battles of World War II to your tabletop. Using miniature soldiers, tanks and terrain, you can fight battles in the shattered towns of occupied France, the barren deserts of North Africa, and even the sweltering jungles of the Pacific.

Players get to decide which of the major or minor World War II powers they would like to represent, and then construct their armies from the lists provided. Army options are almost limitless, allowing you to build the kind of army that most appeals to your style of play. The choice is yours.

The original… now changed slightly in Warmaster Revolution

On Point HQ has produced a series of excellent videos explaining Bolt Action. I recommend checking our his other videos as well!

1. Building a Bolt Action Army

2. Unit Quality and Issuing Orders

3. Combat

4. Pinning and Morale Tests

5. HQ Units and Snap to Action

6. Transports and Tanks

7. Ambush

8. Troop and Vehicle Movement

9. Medics and Snipers

10. How HE Shots Work

11. Artillery Movement and Orders

12. The Turn Sequence

If you’re interested in getting into Bolt Action, I can’t suggest you start anywhere else but these excellent collection of videos.

Peter

Black Powder Epic Waterloo British Cavalry

So my issues of Wargames Illustrated arrived this week with their accompanying sprues.

I managed to get hold of three copies of the British Heavy Cavalry sprue.

The Sprue in all its glory.

I’ve started by painting the Scots Grey’s and first off these models are really easy to paint straight on the sprue. You just need to clip away any armatures of the sprue that are connected to the horse or riders directly.

I may have gone a little too detailed considering their size but this is only because I’ve enjoyed painting them so much.

I can’t wait to see the unit finished and on its base. I’m also looking forward to painting the cannon and seeing what that looks like. Once I’ve a few units done I’ll post again.