The Last Figures for 2011

The final figures to be completed for 2011 are more recruits to venture up the Ohio valley to take on the French & their Indian allies.
All are Sash & Sabre 40mm figures.

Painted with block and wash with a few highlights.

Mounted on mdf bases from Warbases and using flock to represent summer flowers.

The figures are dressed in a variety of coats, hunting shirts and buckskin as befitting the militia troops raised ad hoc by the local government in the absence of regular English troops (most of whom were further north on the shores of Lake Champlain).

Overall theses were hard work. Easy to paint but take an awful lot of preparation with flash & bad casting causing some of the figures to be slightly out of alignment where the mould has slipped. Only thirty more to do!

That concludes the painting for 2011. Early in 2012 will see more Persian cavalry completed along with the last of the American militia (as above) and the first of the rebased & reorganised Swedeborg troops for the GNW. Watch this space.

It only remains for me to wish each and everyone one of my readers a very Happy New Year!

A Face to the Future and the Past

Like so many others in the hobby, the time between Christmas and New Year is a time for reflection and to consider what the future may have in store.
2011 was in so many ways both a disappointment and a surprise.

Disappointing because for a whole variety of reasons my participation in the hobby was curtailed to almost nill. I've only blogged about two games that I organised at the club. I think I may have been involved in a couple more but overall it was a very poor year for me to get figures on the tabletop. Report card D-

On the reverse of that of course was the success of our club outing to Sheffield Triples. I may not have played many games but that one game had the Wow! factor in bundles.

Surprisingly the lack of gaming time did mean that I had excess time in the painting room. Not only did I get the entire WSS project rebased in time for Sheffield I also revamped the Wars of the Roses collection as well. Add in the completion of the Scottish Civil War army and a hefty chunk of the new Persian army, it was probably the best year I've ever had for painting. I think that I've painted or rebased something like a 1,000 figures this year (400 in the Persian army alone to date). Report Card A+.

So what about the resolutions I made for 2011?

First was to rebase the Great Northern War project. Not even started that. A whole year with hardly any activity on that score. Report card F.

And I say hardly any activity because I did break the second resolution I made. that was not to spend any money on new figures. Not only did I buy some more shiny from Musketeer but I bought an entire Persian army! Report card F.

Overall score for the year has to be a C-. Improvement needed on the gaming front and the Great Northern War project.

For 2012 I can see the completion of the Persian army. I have sixty horse figures to complete and that will be that. The GNW may get a figure purchase boost with Bill bringing out those excellent command figures and artillery crew and I'd like to think that with the Persians being finished I can concentrate on actually painting them!
What I don't see is the purchase of whole projects for the next year. The odd few (hundreds?) of figures but not the numbers that I bought this year. There are no plans for another large army in the pipelines. Yes I know I've said it in the past but it's true. If it hadn't been for Hail Ceasar and the plastic ranges available for the Persians that wouldn't have happened this year either. (No one is planning a revolutionary new set of rules that will tempt me are they?).

I also want to complete some of the other projects that have been hanging around for a long time now. 15mm Austrian Napoleonics being the prime candidate. Half of them are based and painted, of those that are painted only half of those are on bases I like. There is still an entire division of foot to paint and a Kuirassier brigade to complete.
The 40mm FIW set up will probably amble along for a while too. I've got thirty figures in the box to paint but in no real rush to do so. A few purchases at shows next year if nothing else takes my fancy is all I'll commit to right now.
With Victrix bringing out some early war French Napoleonics I am considering revamping the French Napoleonic army. Another couple of battalions would balance it out nicely. Most of it is from Elite and whilst they look okay I know I can achieve a much better finish now then I could when I painted them twenty years ago.

So I think 2012 will be a year for repair and renovation rather than new arrivals.

Whatever it may bring I can only hope that it will be better than last year for gaming.

The Last Post (before Christmas)

Laid up with not a lot to do except get a bit of painting when the wife isn't looking (she doesn't like me trying to get into the loft with only half a leg working).
And that bit of painting was to get 12 Persian light cavalry from Immortal Miniatures completed.
This time, and for speed, I used an entirely dip based methodology. White or grey undercoat for the horses with various shades of brown on top. Then Army Painter Strong dip.
The riders were black undercoated, block painted and then dipped with the mid shade dip before highlighting. The only exception being the white armour which was painted on top of a grey undercoat after the dip (only because I don't like the way the white shades to brown if done before).

The figures themselves are one piece castings and are just lovely.

And that my friends is that.

Time now for one more day at work, cook the turkey, open that bottle of Glenlivet 12 year old malt and give a toast to you all.

Merry Christmas.

To the Forks of the Ohio

Several years ago I posted some photographs of 40mm Indians that I bought on a whim. The intention then was to start a French Indian War project but I had really no direction or aim with it.
So I purchased some more of the Sash & Sabre range - provincials and Canadians - to go with the Indians. Bought a while and left in the big blue box.

Forgotten until I read Harold Coyle's "Savage Wilderness" recently. Coyle sets his story against four characters from the colonists, English regulars, French regulars and the native Indians. These four characters interact with each other during the struggles from Washington's first attack along the Ohio, to Braddock and ultimately Quebec.

Having read the book I think I'll base the skirmish to start with Braddock because the provincials here have begun to adopt the more informal dress rather then the uniform of the Virginia regiment and to devolve into ranger companies.

Starting with Braddock also lets me have English regulars in full European dress or to move into the later attack on fort Carillion where the dress was adapted for the continental style of warfare.

These are the first six figures of the 20 bought but fun to paint.

I've tried to use a variety of figures in hunting frocks and semi uniform. The last figure wears the full tunic at least with tricorne edged in black silk (using Mollo's "Uniforms of the Seven Years War" from Blandford as a guide.

The figures have suffered from being in storage. The muskets are badly bent and have proved just about impossible to straighten properly. Quite a bit of flash as well and in some cases hard to remove. Overall though I really enjoyed painting them.

Persian Reinforcements

The first metal cavalry to be added to the list - Saka horse archers from Immortal Miniatures (see previous post for news of this company).
Twelve delightful figures.

The command pack has a leader in a distinctive pointed hat, musician with horn and standard bearer (my only disappointment was that the banner for the standard was broken and beyond my skill to repair it).

I intend to use these in two small units so there are subtle variations in the painting. No two figures are the same but they do have commonality - six shades of green, six of blue for the saddle blankets for example.

Bases are MDF from the ever reliable Warbases, grass & flowers from Antentoceti.

Once I've recovered tomorrow from the surgery I'll post some pics of the 18th century diversion I've been talking about.

New Shiny Coming Soon!

There won't be many excuses left for me not to complete the Great Northern War project once Gripping Beast get these new boys from Bill cast. Moving to the other side of the pond hasn't prevented Bill from turning in some excellent looking figures. I can hardly wait to see them in the metal.

Swedish cavalry command. Super, smashing, lovely as some would say.

Russian artillery crews. Awesome.

I've still got loads of the last releases to get underway and a wad of cash ready for these new ones. Early resolution for 2012 - go back and rework the Great Northern War!

In other news....

Stephen May has sold Immortal Miniatures to Warlord Games. Stephen started Immortal and managed everything himself, then when he found that difficult he moved the casting to Northstar (in both cases I found the service and response excellent). Earlier this year Stephen found himself able to manage it all again and took the whole company under his own management. Now he's sold it lock stock and barrel I gather to Warlord. My hopes are that he continues, as promised in the newsletter, to create more figures (my wife probably hopes he won't!) and that warlord maintain the excellent work they've done so far with this new range of figures.

Quick Update

Things may slow down on here for a while (okay I know it's slow right now but ....).

I'm due to go in for another operation next week. The other knee this time for a matching pair. The consultant is telling me that the internal damage is worse in this case but hopefully the arthritis isn't (if it is I'm looking at new knee caps in the next few years and I'm not even fifty yet!).
Whatever the outcome my ability to get into the loft will be curtailed for a few weeks and so I will not be able to get to the painting desk for that time. That means he Persians will have to wait (I've just started on the first of the light cavalry) as well as a slight diversion into the eighteenth century - more on that later.