On Bloody Ground - Cover art for a new rules series

 

I've been a bit excited the last couple of weeks as, for the first time, I have one of my paintings as the cover of a glossy book.

Some may be aware that I painted this oil commission of "King Harold at Hastings, 1066" a few years ago for an esteemed senior wargamer who lives not far from me, and it was spotted on my website about 5 months ago by the authors of these rules.  David and Dan Toone are a father and son team from Essex who have big plans to make an impression on the world of Ancient and Medieval wargaming with something a bit different. In these days of fashionable small scale skirmish games with sword, spear  and armour warbands they are offering a "big battle" game. Still designed for a basic 6 foot x 4 foot table and armies manageable by most gamers' resources, they can be ranged up as big as you like.

At this stage it is important to me to point out that the "The Norman Conquest" is merely the first of many in the pipeline and I will say more towards the end of this post - please read on.

In the words of the authors 

"OBG - The Norman Conquest is a 64 page, perfect bound rulebook, with common sense core rules, including brutal combat and a system of orders that makes the game dynamic, exciting, fun and challenging.

The rules are designed for use with individually based 28mm miniatures, but can easily be adapted for use with any scale or basing.

This first book in the series covers the Dark Ages in Britain between the 8th and the 11th centuries and includes army lists for Saxons, Vikings, Normans, Irish, Scottish and Welsh.

If you have any questions regarding the game and it's mechanics, or more specifics on how the game plays, don't hesitate to contact us.

We will be creating more videos on the mechanics of the game, as well as battle reports and information of our newest releases.

On Bloody Ground can be found and bought on our website here:

www.wipgamesandminiatures.com

Also check out or new Facebook group dedicated to WiP Games and Miniatures and everything to do with On Bloody Ground:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2739106046226902/"

That says it all really.

My readers know me as a keen "horse and musket" wargamer with a strong bent towards World War Two as well. Although I've played a lot of Ancient, and a fair bit of Medieval in my time, in no way do I pretend to be any expert in the history and mechanics of the warfare of those eras. So I can't give an opinion on how "good" the rules are, but I can say that if I was not already up to my eyes in a big project (see some forthcoming posts on my Napoleonic 1809 campaign progress) I would be highly stimulated by this book to get some boxes of plastic Saxons  and say, Vikings, and have a go.  Suffice for now for me to present you with photographs of some pages from the book which I hope will be enough to help you to decide to buy a copy at the very reasonable price of £15.  It is A4 size, easy to read text with lots of diagrams, and feels like a durable volume that is good to handle. As you see above it is backed up by lots of information and free downloads elsewhere on the internet. There is also a blog On Bloody Ground

A very comprehensive and useful contents list, and there is also an index
at the back

Your existing base sizes are not a problem, evidently as long as you
can fit figures into a unit footprint base, which remains constant
throughout the game. Not a bad idea to represent the fluid
formations of the period thinning out with losses and exhaustion.
Skirmishers operate as individual figures though.

There are 8 pages of really useful photos of actual units and game-specific vignettes - not just eye candy but a real aid in understanding how to form armies, plus useful stimulation on "uniforms" for beginners

The six nationalities represented in this volume each have three pages
 packed with useful examples of unit types

I'm proud of another little contribution of mine -There are a number of black and
white vignettes of details of the cover painting which have been used as chapter
 endings etc. Hopefully they give a little added stimulation to get on with the wargaming

The Future

David and Dan are being naturally pragmatic in these difficult economic times and future volumes depend to some extent on sales of Part One. But each period has its own devotees so, personally, I am optimistic that they will be successful in more than just "The Norman Conquest" era. They have plans for releases in the following order:

The Reconquista

Rome's Gallic Wars

The Persian Wars

Alexander the Great  (a favourite of mine which I am looking forward to)

They are already working on a series of 28mm white metal figures but the only info I have on those is that it will be  Greeks and Achaemenid Persians first

And in answer to my basic question David said:

<<Each book we produce will have the same core rules, with variations in special rules, arms and armour as necessary for the period. So players can buy one book and play to their hearts content with no need for anything else.>>

To finish here is sneak peek of the Cover for Book Two which I have completed, and the expectation is there will be more paintings to come for the following titles.  If you are not already aware of my art work please take a look at my website Chris Gregg Art. If you are already one of my art patrons then I think you might like to start collecting this series as a little sideline to your investment in my art - Thank you. 

The Soldiers of Islam gather to make Holy War c. 1082 
(original acrylic painting by Chris Gregg - COPYRIGHT)

Standing with Ukraine - a new Hussar painting

 My blog has been quiet  for quite some time and I've been very busy, among other things, in organising several wargaming weekends for 2022, more on that in the next blog hopefully. More significantly I've been stunned by Mr Putin's action against Ukraine and it makes a mere hobby pale into insignificance compared to the plight of the many thousands he has put to flight and deprived of their homes.

Apart from making mere donations like so many others, last Sunday, realising that things for the women and children of Mariupol was going from bad to worse, I resolved to use what little skill I have to try to raise more money than I can afford myself.

Since then I've been trying to do the best job I can to pay tribute to the fighting spirit of the Ukrainian people in a painting of the Mariupol Hussars in 1812.  Admittedly then, their homeland was part of Russia and fighting to protect it from the French. How times and politics change!

So I present you with the finished result and invite you please to read on - find out more about the painting and how to bid.

"Determination - The Mariupol Hussars 1812".
Acrylic on canvas 16" x 12" by Chris Gregg 2022

This is an acrylic painting on canvas and is 16 inches x 12 inches (40cm x 30 cm), unframed, but with painted sides and is ready to hang or frame. 

I had thought to just dash it out quickly and cash in, so to speak on the zeitgeist. But dashing off paintings is not my style and it soon became evident to me that as my clients like detail and accuracy I had to do my best within an artistic spirit, and it's taken about 15 hours work over 5 days. As every day has passed the plight of the besieged in Mariupol  has got worse and my sadness deepened. I'm privileged to know a few people, Ukrainian and Russian, in the UK and with relatives in those two blighted countries. They are all on the same side.........Just as the Ukrainians and Russians were in 1812 and in 1941. It's not my fight (yet!) but I'm hoping this painting can raise some money by an online auction.

Many of my readers will be familiar with some obvious artistic influences from the Napoleonic era and in my humble way I hope I'm paying tribute to them too. Funny though, these were all painted in homage to an autocratic ruler who also had disregard for how may lives were lost in pursuit of his goal of a Europe united under his leadership!

Théodore Géricault - Charging Chasseur

Edouard Détaille - "Vers La Gloire"

"Towards Glory" - detail

Edouard Détaille "Le Trophee 1806" 4th Regiment of Dragoons

Capturing enemy standards seems to be a theme of these glorifications of war from the 19th Century. For mine I have gone for the Ukrainian flag as a background to show solidarity, not captured, but preserved. The same colours are echoed in the Mariupol Hussars uniform and purists might say it should be "dark blue"; but I looked up all the sources I could and artistic representations varied from sky blue to dark blue and everything in between so I used my own instinct of what works best.

I've called it "Determination" and I've tried to reflect that in the expression of the Hussar and the defiance in the horse's eye (as in Gericault's too). The sun flashing on his blade is another "Don't mess with me" message which I get from the vox pop TV interviews with 2022 Ukrainian fighters.

So, maybe you have thought you might like one of my original paintings but never had the excuse. I'm auctioning this to the highest bidder via email or DM on social media by 11pm London time on Tuesday 15th March.  I will donate all the proceeds (minus insured postage to your location) to a suitable Ukrainian aid charity. I have in mind the UK Disasters Emergency Committee, which is reliable 

https://www.dec.org.uk/appeal/ukraine-humanitarian-appeal

I normally sell this size picture for between £125 - £175 so I'm starting the bidding at £100 please. If there is only one bidder you'll get a bargain! But I hope it will raise considerably more!

Feel free to email me with questions , and especially bids! If there is anything to report I will post an update on here each day.

Thank you for whatever you are doing to help.

Chris

UPDATE

2100 Friday. Very pleased to say the bidding has started at £125 

UPDATE

Sunday 12 Noon - Bidding now at £151 - very many thanks 

UPDATE

Sunday 1900 - Now up to £200 looking good, thank you

UPDATE

Monday 1500 - Going really well - Bidding now up to £250. Still a day and a bit to go so you still have plenty of time to cash in your Premium Bonds and bid! 

CONCLUSION

Wednesday 1100

Well I didn't get any further bids last night but really pleased to say that we have raised £250 on my work on this painting. Better yet, one of the thwarted bidders has donated another £100 for the DEC Ukraine appeal on the strength of me doing  a commission specially for him later this Summer - possibly of the Saxon Zastrow Cuirassiers fighting the Russians in 2012; look out for that in due course.

It's been an interesting but demanding exercise as I spent a lot of time promoting it round the web. Successful bids came via a personal email shot to over 60 addressees - many past or current art clients or wargamers.  I did a small a paid boost of my Instagram post which evidently reached over 5000 people and solicited about 100 "likes" but no direct bids. Useful knowledge for the future and for anyone with an Instagram account it seems a fair and cost effective way to promote yourself if you have something special to offer (Yeah, I know I'm normally irresistible anyway!!!!).

I only had one "adverse" comment via Instagram Direct Message. That was from a person called  "Elina" who complained that a Russian "imperialist" Hussar was an insult to Ukraine. I get the point but tried to address it in my blog. "She" said I should have done a Cossack, so I agreed and tried to engage her in helping me by advising of the right sort of Cossack so as not to cause offence again. Sadly by that time she had gone "User not found". So if you are out there "ellina" please get back in touch.

I find it ironic that in 1812 the Cossacks too were fighting the French in the "imperialist" Russian army. But more significantly, we wargamers and military art enthusiasts associate Hussars with hard living, bold, smartly dressed and daring soldiers but look on cossacks as pillaging near savages in tatty uniforms and who only fight from ambush. Hence my choice of a Hussar.....but I'm really pleased to see that with the help of UK-supplied anti-tank missiles the current Ukrainian soldiers are fighting successfully from ambush and knocking out hundreds, if not thousands, of Russian vehicles.........So the real choice for me is what art subject is likely to gain the best price for the cause! I think I made the right decision, I'm pleased with the painting and excited to think of where my buyer will put it in his home.

Thank you to everyone who helped, bid and supported in whatever way. They are fighting for us and it goes on.

CG 16th March 2022

Introducing my new(ish) Art website

One of the things that kept me busy during much of the lockdown period last year was working on a new website for my art, a lot of which is military related. I was very lucky that well known wargamer Colin Ashton has a talented wife, Katherine, who is an IT teacher by profession and web designer in her "off duty" time. Colin volunteered his spouse's services as he is an ardent collector of my paintings and great supporter of everything I do.

So I submitted masses of images and plagued Katherine till the Summer when it was almost ready and then I had to learn how to  keep it updated and maintained myself. We did this by means of several Zoom video sessions, and what a wonderful teacher she proved to be, so that by Autumn I was able to start updating it and unleashed the published version on the world in late November.  Some of you may have seen mention of it on your Christmas cards from me.

I'm very pleased with it indeed as the forerunner was a shared site among  Cheltenham artists and Andy, artist friend and webmaster, admitted that it was now outdated and could not effectively be updated. That site still exists however with most of my work from the Noughties up to 2017 still to see. There is a link to all that stuff from the new website.

It has been a work in progress since Christmas (slowed down by my having to paint for an exhibition locally, now in progress and going well) and still is in minor details. But at last I think I have got almost all my existing stock of paintings for sale on there as well as very much else.

There is a Welcome page from which you can navigate to everything else either via the front pictures or a Menu at top right.

Welcome page

Screen shots of CG Art Website pages

There is an About page which has a lot about me and there is more on various Theme pages that fleshes out my artistic history and motivation and methods.

About the Artist

The main part of the site is seven Theme pages:

Drawings, Fantasy, Military, Hussarettes, Landscapes, Figures and Portraits

Themes

The commercial part is a "Works to buy" page and there is an (irritating?!) animated button on each page with a quick link to it - go on - you know you want to! Currently there are over 30 paintings there for sale of nearly all the genres I cover.

Works to Buy

There is a page just for new work, so I can show off the latest commissions too.

New Work

And just for fun, some of my favourites merely to look at - called the Gallery page. Here, as throughout the site, you can click on the images to enlarge the view and click on Information buttons to find out more about the painting, sometimes with staged demos of how I composed and painted them.

Michelle of Mortier's Guides
Acrylic on canvas 10 x 8"
Ian Allen collection

Gallery

Finally, I hope, if you have enjoyed a look around the site and want to contact me about anything (maybe commenting on paintings, enquiring about a commission or wanting more info before buying) then please use the "Contact" page at the end. That should go directly through to my usual email as if non-contacts try to email me direct it has been known to go to my Spam folder.

As an incentive I'm offering free UK postage (or equivalent value discount for overseas buyers) until Easter as an introductory offer if you use the Contact page. So now is as good a time as any to buy if you see something you like. And if you'd like to commission something special, such as an Imagi-nations military subject or a favourite battle story, a military lady or even a Fantasy or Sci-Fi subject, then I have experience in them all and we can have fun working on it together.

Thanks for reading this and I look forward to hearing from you.

Chris
(aka Sir Joshua Gregg RA)

Saxon Rudnicki Uhlanen 1757
Acrylic on canvas 15" x 8"
Colin Ashton collection