Hobby Update 03 Nov 22

I still haven't got many wargames in for one reason or another - although I did get to play a DBA game head-to-head for the first time yesterday! I really enjoyed it, although my abysmal combat dice rolling meant there was only going to be one result!!!  I have been playing some roleplaying games, specifically Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd edition (review here, adventure review here)

In any case, I have managed to get a few things painted up.  Some rather nice Stargrave figures:

There are a couple of conversions using some Gripping Beast Dark Age Warriors at the back of this one

Apologies, some of this crew have darker skintones which rather blended into the background in this shot!!!

And another bunch of Skaven, which I have in mind for a very specific project next month:

A platoon of Battlefront "Team Yankee" West German infantry, plus some civilian vehicles from a 15mm 3D printing company.  Apologies, the name escapes me, but these were actually got at the JoS show this year(!)

And some limbers for my Heroics & Ros 6mm WW2 French artillery pieces:

In my last update I mentioned that I had been painting up a few figures for my 6-year old son.  I have finished these off now, a platoon of Warlord Waffen SS Grenadiers and a platoon of their British Paratroopers, along with their 'Ruined Building'.  I think that they turned out quite nicely despite my fairly duff painting - the bairn seemed quite pleased in any case.

And lastly, I got a few Soviet assault guns from 2d6 wargaming painted up, alongside a Baccus 6mm US Armored Infantry company's halftracks and extra bazookas and what-not.

I also went to the Other Partizan show a few weeks back. I didn't stay for too long, I developed a bit of a nasty headache quite early.  I didn't get much for me, although I did pick up some cheap Airfix kits being sold off for my son. I got a chance to say hello to a couple of people, including Steve Jones who was putting on a very nice-looking WW2 game and trying to sell me on the virtues of Fireball Foward, and I had a chance to have a quick chat to Henry Hyde for the first time, which was nice.  I didn't take many photos, but I thought I might share these of the TooFatLardies amazing Arnhem game - check out just how authentic all the buildings look:

The story of this game is on Henry Hyde's latest Battlechat podcast, for anyone who might be interested.

Looking forward, I am going to start a new job next week. This new job looks much busier than the last one, so I think that painting and paying time will be at a premium.  I mentioned in the last update that I was looking to organize things a bit better to make quick games more easy for me to do.  I have had a few failed experiments in that regard but I am going to give that another shot today!  It is important to me: my life is better when I get a game to the table each week or two, worse when I don't.

Hobby Update 29 Sep 02

It has been a while since I checked in here.  It has been a strange and slightly frustrating time: gaming has never been far from my thoughts, but it hasn't necessarily felt that close to the gaming table, either.  Essentially, I thought that this year was going to be much more relaxed than it actually has been, instead a new job and some outside commitments have proved to be much more time and energy intensive than I had imagined.  I also had my Reserve commitment to fulfill, so with one thing and another I have been too busy and too tired for much gaming. And it was all going so well at the start of the year!

So, what have I managed to get done?  I have painted up some early war WW2 German vehicles from Heroics and Ros and rather nice they are too (the models, not the paint job).  A more purist gamer and modeller than myself might have done some early war infantry to accompany them but frankly I am more than happy to re-purpose 6mm infantry sculpted and painted for Normandy 1944 to Arras in 1940.  What is missing is some early war anti-tank guns but I haven't decided whether they should be 'big' 6mm to match the Baccus infantry or 'small' 6mm to match the Heroics and Ros tanks.  Decision, decisions!  Slightly leaning to the former, I think.

I think the only models I am not quite so keen on are the PanzerIs and IIs. They mostly look fine, but I can't help thinking the turret guns just look a little big.

The other painting project I have been undertaking is to paint up some Warlord 28mm WW2 figures that my youngest asked for for his birthday.  He picked British Paratroopers and German Waffen SS Grenadiers.  He seemed pleased with this first batch!

Gaming-wise, there has been very little.  I continued my fruitless quest to get the Battle of White Mountain to 'work' for me:

Another set-up shot. Notice I have brought White Mountain 'forward' a little towards the centre of the table to give the Protestant Army a tiny bit more deployment room.

The Protestant Left

and Centre

and Right

The left flank of the Imperials

and the Right

Another shot of the whole.

After these (repeated!) plays, I am coming to the conclusion that for this battle, but not for most of the others, the over-sized base depths of my figures relative to the frontage is causing the issue, since it is causing a very squashed bunching effect.  This is exacerbated by the design of the earthworks, which occupy too much room.  Neither of these things usually matter, but they do matter for this battle.  The earthworks are a relatively simple problem, I can just make them in a deliberately 'small' size to fit the ground scale better.  The overall depth is more of an issue, but with sufficient extra depth on the table perhaps it can be made to work.

And a few more White Mountain photos from an earlier game, just because...

Set-Up Shots:

Battle Shots:

The Imperial Right attacks first, up the hill

The weaker Imperial Centre, tries to tempt the Protestants out of their position

The Imperial Cavalry gets stuck into the Protestant Right just outside the grounds of the palace.

Fighting over the earthworks

The Protestant Centre takes the bait and charges forward!

The fighting becomes general over the Protestant Left and Centre

As it does over on the Right

Apart from some role-playing games, the only other thing I have managed to get to the table was a quick game of Prestonpans, using the "simple Rules for the '45" from an old Wargames Illustrated I have reported on previously.

I won't go through the game in detail, although it was quite interesting: the Hanoverian line actually held quite well initially, which led eventually to some quite dispersed and bloody fighting.  The Jacobites did eventually 'win' but with so few units left, one had the sense that if reality had gone that way, the rebellion would have been over.

So, what next?  Well, I have just received some news which likely indicates that I will be working even harder for the next few years rather than the less hard which I was expecting.  So over the next month my aim is to finish off any relatively slight painting projects and mothball anything that is left over, since I imagine that leisurely painting time will be at a real premium over the next few years.  What I will then do is create some 'packs' so that I can easily set-up and take-down a few specific games which I don't have to think about too much.  It will feel a little limiting, no doubt, but what would be even more frustrating is to continue on my present direction, which has been all-too-much to do with thinking about playing games, rather than playing games!  I am not entirely settled on which packs to create, but the watchword has to be less is more!