Hobby Update - 30 Jun 26

 I have made a little bit more progress on the painting (and repair) pile over the last week or so. I am still prioritizing stuff for the little one, either stuff that is his or stuff that is going to him. That means a lot of 28mm stuff, which although it isn't expanding my collection too much, it is at least saving some space as they leave my pile and enter his room!

 

First up is a bunch of Soviets: some Bad Squiddo Soviets (Platoon command, plus a sniper pair) and a Warlord Games sprue, kindly donated by a member of TWW! Also, the Russian from Hour of Glory and a few repaired Romans.

 

 

Some repaired Zulus, Mahdists and a 24th Foot Ensign.

Some repaired and some fresh-built British Paras, including a couple of women to use as SOE operatives and suchlike!

A couple of free gift sprues of Germans: one sprue of Panzer Lehr and another of winter German paratroopers. Anyway, they are really nice figures, both types. I will keep these ones I think, no doubt I will find a use for them at some point!

Okay, back to stuff for the bairn: US infantry and paratroopers spares and repairs:

And a USMC platoon command pack for the Pacific:

 So definitely maintaining a bit of forward momentum now. I am looking for some proverbial easy wins next, so will prioritize stuff going to the bairn (plus he has NO issues getting stuff to the table. and under the bed. and on the stairs. etc...)

 

Hobby Update - 28th March 2023

 It has been a super-busy time and no mistake! Lots of work things going on, lots of family things...at times, it has been quite tough-going. Unusually for me, it hasn't impacted too much on the gaming, but it has seemed to effect the painting side more.

 In January, I was working on some US paratroopers from Warlord for my youngest son. As usual, my painting is very average, but the figures are nice and kind of carried them through. My son seemed happy enough, in any case!

Next up, some 6mm Dutch from Baccus for the War of the Spanish Succession. And as befits that army, no more than half of them are Dutch...there are Scots, Swiss, Huguenots and Nassauers in amongst them...I mainly used a combination of the Kronstadt website and Mark Allen's old Wargames Illustrated articles to guide me; hopefully that isn't too awful a choice! I know that real afficianados should be buying Robert Hall's stuff, but since this project has a touch of the imagi-nations about it, I didn't want to pay more for the reference guide than I did for the army...

Next up, some buildings from 2D6 Wargaming, before they very sadly closed down - these are some of their Normandy buildings. They were still a work-in-progress at this stage, but good looking buildings will always find a use!

 Next, some Baccus WW2 US artillery, 105s and 155s. More nice models, and very important if you need to get a game at slightly higher command levels.

More figures for my youngest: Perry Mahdists. Again, really great figures, and not too complicated to paint. My youngest seemed pretty happy...

More Perrys for my youngest. This time, Agincourt-era Mounted Knights. I can really not do these justice, but they were nice all the same. I used the horse painting guide from Henry Hyde's Wargaming Compendium in a step-by-step wat for the first time, and it did make the horses slightly better, with more convincing socks and face markings and so on.

 And then to accompany them, the Agincourt Foot Knights:

Very repetitive I know, but same again: delightful figures, painting not so hot, but niceness of the figures shines through anyway. And the son seemed to like them too!

I have a feeling there are a couple of bits and pieces of 6mm stuff I may have forgotten to put on, but I am sure I will remember at some point! In any case, I have finished the stuff that my son had wanted me to do for him, so next painting phase will be more me-focused. In no particular order, the main 'themes' are:

6mm WW2 Vehicles and Infantry (more German vehicles and Volksturm, some US Paras)

6mm WSS/Horse & Musket (just 'bits and pieces' really, filling in gaps where I would like a new unit)

6mm Byzantines (whole army to paint up)

6mm Napoleonics (more gap fillers, particularly Confederation of the Rhine units)

6mm Ancients (a couple of minor gap fillers - e.g. some Cataphracts)

6mm SF (more gap fillers)

15mm Cold War (some militia and terrorists, plus some East Germans)

28mm Heroquest figures, plus a few historical fillers (e.g. Napoleonic French Dragoons, Vikings)

 

So more than enough to be getting on with, even if it is only the Byzantines who individually constitute a big project.

I have prioritized gaming over painting, and to some extent blogging. I am just over halfway through the Napoleonic campaign I am running with my two fantastic volunteer generals - it has been a lot of fun (for me at least), really interesting (I have a lot to write about how much I have learned whilst doing it) and has also generated a few exciting tabletop encounters. I guess depending on how we pace it, there is another 1-2 months left in this one, and I am beginning to think what the next one would look like. Additionally, there are a couple more Kampfgruppe Heller encounters for Gummipanzergrenadier playtesting to write up, a couple more Napoleonic scenario playtests to report on and a couple more 'Neil Thomas-esque' scenarios that I have played. I have a couple of days off over Easter, that might give me a chance to catch up!

 

Not Much Happening Game-Wise...

I haven't been up to much modelling or figure gaming-wise recently due to work/family life pressures. As ever, when things get tight I feel much more inclined to play RPGs, computer games or board games than miniatures wargames; even the painting has suffered somewhat. I have painted some Zulus and British for my youngest and am starting to build some Mahdists and some Agincourt-era knights for him (it has been his birthday this month) but that has been about it, with the exception of some 6mm Dutch WSS infantry (pictures soon); with the result that I have actually managed to build up a little bit of a lead pile: most of my purchases from this year's shows have remained unpainted thus far. Still, hope springs eternal!  And it isn't like I have lost any general interest, just the specific decisions I am making about any spare time have defaulted in the direction of RPGs.

I did get one game of 40K Rogue Trader in with my youngest, which he seemed to enjoy. 

 The good thing about 40K is that the basic system is so intuitive, you can get playing with it very quickly.  In this game, a small force of Space Marines is clearing a slightly larger group of Ork raiders from a ruin and an industrial facility on the outskirts of the jungle.

The hill is scratchbuilt from polystyrene, intended for a new refight of White Mountain (!)

Painting has been painfully slow recently, although I seem to have done a fair bit of constructing and preparing plastic figures. Anyway...

Some Heroics & Ros WW2 French Armour - some reinforcements, so I can field full-strength platoons for all of the major types for 1940

Some of the newer Baccus 6mm US Sherman tank variants

and more, along with some M-10s

Beginning to re-fresh some WW2 German trucks - Opel Blitzes and Protzes? - from two or three different manufacturers

A platoon of A9 Cruisers; this is probably in the 'wrong' paint scheme for 1940 (FoW guidance has this limited to light tanks and infantry tanks, whereas the cruisers were in a more medium green - however, I much prefer this more subtle camouflage scheme).

Some Zulu War era 28mm Perry British Infantry (and very nice figures they are too)

And ditto for their Zulu opponents

Another shot

I am not really sure what to use for playing with these; Neil Thomas has some Colonial-period skirmish rules in his Wargaming: An Introduction I could give a go, although they look at first glance as a fairly crude attempt. Still, worth a try I guess.

Plus some space fighters from Brigade Models - some Neo-Soviet type, I think. They are nice models although I don't have much idea of what to do with them! Perhaps I have an old copy of Delta Vee knocking around somewhere...

and some 'British' opponents from the same range.

Apart from that, it has mainly been RPGs for me (my other blog gives some idea of which games have featured) and boardgames.  For the latter, the two I have been giving most attention to are Europe in Agony, which I find just fascinating, and Over the Reich, as I continue to try and refine my own much simpler WW2 air warfare rules.