2021 Roundup and Future

 

Another fairly productive year for me, lets have a look at the round up of 2021. 

Firs of all - what did I paint. The answer is:

376 Minis of all sizes and scales. So overall, down on 2020 by just over 50 minis. That I think is due to two things - there was a lot of 10mm in 2020 (quicker to paint) and my usual summer hobby slump was very bad this year. Still, that's over a mini a day so I can't complain.

Hobby Bingo wise, that gave me:

30 boxes complete - 300 points

5 lines compete - 250 points

For a grand total of 550 points. Sadly, I didn't complete the grid but that was never very likely due to the fact it contained kitbashed minis and scenery - not something I do very much of. 

Where do we go from here? Well, first off here is the traditional update on the Christmas Haul:

Gives you a very clear idea of what I want to get into next year. I have always wanted to do Lord of the Rings, though these will be for the mass battle "War of the Ring" rather than the skirmish game. I also want to start work on a personal Napoleonic big battle project. The main choice on that will be scale - 10m, 18mm or 28mm? I suspect, in true wargamer style, the answer will end up being all three!

I am terrible at keeping to targets and plans but here is my rough guide to 2022:

- Complete 600 minis (aim high!) 

- Do more of my personal stuff (of last years 376 minis, only 75 were for me)

- Get a games table sorted out finally.

- Buy less than I paint (even if the pile of shame only goes down by a few models, I'll call that a win!)

- Continue with two blog posts a month. 

Not grand ambitions for some, but for me, that's a good guide to work to. We shall see how long it lasts into 2022.

To all my readers - thanks for tagging along on my sometimes sporadic blogging. I hope you all had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all. 

Sisters Revisited!

 

December is always a tricky hobby month. It's dark and cold outside, which always causes strong hobby mojo for me, but the festive season always does it's very best to get in the way, limiting my painting time. Despite that, progress has been made. 

After some historical stuff in the last post, it was time to get back into Mordheim and the Sisters of Sigmar. My mate Steve supplied the next batch of the commission and over a few nights I finished off another load of violent young ladies:

There was also the classic mercenary Ogre to paint. Now this was somewhat out of my comfort zone (I am not good on big models), but he turned out to be great fun. I varied the skin tone on this guy - I wanted a slightly more weathered, beaten look to him as if he spends a lot of time living outdoors. I think I just about managed it:

There are still a couple more Mordheim bits to do - one final sister and a pit fighter, but they will roll into 2022. 

I shall do a round up post very soon for 2021, so stay tuned! 

Jumping Around History

 

As the title suggests, the second half of November saw two very distinct periods.

 

First up, I cleared anothe set of minis that have been lying around far too long. I think I got this German Heavy Mortar as a Christmas present sometime around 2014. It got assembled a year or so ago and then say on the WIP shelf for far too long. Pleased to say that when I got it down and set to work, it was a quick paint job and a nice distraction from wading through 144 French Napoleonics:

 

It's cetainly not a ground breaking paint job but it's completed, and in the amy. It even saw action the other day. In time honoured tradition of fielding newly painted minis, it did nothing and died quickly! The figures are all Warlord in metal. 

The other minis squeezed in at the end of November was the second battalion of French:

All very blue! It's fair to say that with Napoleonics you have to strike a balance between the paint job and the time it takes. You could spend ages on these with multiple layers of blues, some transition on all the white straps and other touches, but not sure how you'd ever get an army done. These guys are avergaing 45 minutes a man and I am half way through the four battalions. The figures are all Perry Miniatures metals.

I now have a busy desk with about 107 minis on it - a mixture of the remaining French, some more of Sigmar, some Napoleonic British and  a small smattering of 10mm. I have set a target of all of those done by the end of Janary - a tall order! I am also not sure how much will be done in December. It appears some kind of lock down may be coming which I have to say could easily hamper or hinder painting depending on what they do with schools. 

In any case, I shall have at least one more post this month for your reading pleasure, so don't forget to check back later. I hope all my readers have a good Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Mordheim - Sisters of Silence

 

After a busy autumn desk full of Napoleonics, there was a surprising twist to my next bit of painting as I went back to some seriously classic minis!

My main gaming opponent is, like me, an old GW gamer who has mostly fallen out with the current GW crop of games and minis. However, he still has a fondness for the older games and recently has been starting to build up a Mordheim collection. His first faction was to be Sisters of Sigmar and he asked me to paint them for him

I said yes straight away, even though Mordheim is never something I painted or played. I was glad that I did though as he handed over the fist 8 minis and requested a blue and white scheme. It proved to be a nice break from Napoleonics:

This was the test figure I did. The white took a little bit of experimentation, mainly due to the large flat areas but it came out quite well in the end I thought. I really liked the colour scheme and knocked out the rest over the next few days:

I have to say that these minis took me back to a time when GW was at it's peak, in m opinion at least. The sculpts are clean, the detail is amazing and they were just nice and simple to paint. There was not an overabundance of little bits like emblems, bags, detailing etc that really slows you down with the current GW models. For example, I like the look of the Lumineth but the idea of painting them makes me cold - they look way too complicated. These, however, are not. 

I returned them to Steve and he was so happy he has duly handed me another seven and a mercenary ogre as well, which are currently on the desk. Please note - Steve will be basing them himself. 

Hobby Bingo wise, two of these minis are characters so that ticks off two more boxes. I need to work out the points for them another day, but I do believe I have finally crossed off a whole line! 

Post Sumer Update

 

I always find that I have a lull over the summer months with the hobby - too much drinking beer in the garden, going away, and generally being busy. However, this summer was a particularly bad one, and whilst I did do some hobby, I totally failed at Blogging.

But here we are to give it yet another go. I am going to try and do just do two posts a month, which will be much more more manageable than trying to update every little thing I do. 

On to the updates. I won't post pictures of everything done over the summer, just the recent stuff. The desk has taken on a very Napoleonic flavour recently.

First off - personal projects. I have started a small British Force for Sharp Practice 2, which I had my first game of recently. I am nearly half way through the force with three units all done:

The idea is to use up some of my Napoleonic's that I had lying around so I didn't have to buy yet more stuff to add to the unpainted pile. As a result, these are mainly Perry Plastics, but hiding in the middle unit is a single Warlord Figure and some Front Rank minis. These are lovey minis and I shall look to get some more of them next year, slightly bulkier than the others but a joy to paint. 

On the commission front, it's the dastardly French. I have no less than four, 36 man Battalions for the 8th Light Infantry Regiment to do. One is now complete:

These are all metal Perry Miniatures and with their all blue uniforms are a joy to paint. I am already well into the second battalion as we speak. 

Finally, where are we with the Hobby Bingo:

Well, I have marked off all the "Unit" boxes and anything else I can with the units above. I have also just realised I have missed a box (the "any model" box on the bottom), so I am currently at 13 boxes done, so 130pts. I have been hampered by the fact most of my painting this year has been big historical units and very few characters or vehicles. I was never going to finish the whole grid as I don't paint terrain but I do have a few characters in the works so I am hoping to close off a few more boxes before the end of the year. 

ACW Skirmishers

 

Just a quick post from me to squeeze in the last painting of the month.

I've been working on a slow burn 10mm American Civil War project for a while now. It's not progessing very fast, but I have just added four bases of skirmishers - a total of 16 minis:

 

 

All the figures are from Pendraken and are excellent to be fair. I have a fair few more to paint up yet. I do intend to do more in depth post on the minis and the project later down the line, so keep your eyes peeled.

I've been allowed to use these 16 to claim an "any model" slot on the hobby bingo competition, which puts me at 80 points - somewhat behind the leader Lewis. March has also been my slowest month of the year so far, with only 25 minis completed. However, I remain slightly ahead of schedule for my target of 600 minis (of all scales) for the year.

Rubicon Panther

 

Continuing the theme from the last post of "models I have had for far too long," the next complete mini is a Panther tank that I think I got way, way back in the black Friday sale of 2013! This particular tank is a Rubicon kit that I picked up along with one their

The model has a tyical stop/start history. It sat unloved for it's first six months, until one day when I had a building frenzy and constrcuted this along with a few other vehicles for Bolt Action. After that, it spent years on the shelf without any porgress until two years ago. Then, I was commissioned to paint three tiger tanks and whilst I had the airbrush out I did this and another one of my vehicles - laying down the base colour and camo. It then spent another two years on the shelf. 

However, as I try to reduce the lead mountain during 2021, my first goal is to clear the half built shelf - where this has sat during that time. It finally bullied it's way to the front of the queue, and this is the result:

I have taken a fairly basic approach. Once I had dusted it down, I added decals, weathered them in and then hit it with a thinned agrax wash. Afer that,I drybrushed it, chipped it and painted in a few details. 

Now at that point I would normally seal it with Klear floor varnish before adding oil paints for weathering and then pigments, finishing it all off with a matt varnish. However, because I want to get stuff done and I think it is at a pefectly good table top standard I decided to finish there. It has now been put in storage with my German Army in the hope that it may one day see the table top. 

Bingo wise, it is another box done so I am now at 70 points - I need to up my game a little on that front.

Bolt Action 25 Pounder

 

As part of my ongoing efforts to clear the shelf of shame (where all my half fnished projects lie), I have finally gotten around to completing some artillery for my late war British army. 

 

The story behind this model will be a familiar one to many wagamers. It was given to me as a christmas present way back in 2015 (I think) and sat on the unbuilt shelf for years. I decided to finally get it build and painted back in 2019 but only got as far as building and undercoating. However, it still languished on the shelf. It's good to finally get it done. 

Lets do some pics:

 

In Bolt Action the 25 pounder is a light artillery piece with three crew. I have mounted them all a single base for ease of storage and transport. Being an all metal model it's quite a hefty piece.

Overall, I was happy with the crew but not so much with the gun. To save time I didn't weather the gun with my usual oil paints and just gave it an Agrax wash after adding chipping. In retrospect I should have done the wash first then chipping etc as the effect was a little overwhelmed by the wash. However, when based, it is not too bad and it is, at least, done. 

This kit is so old it was back when Warlord Games provided a limber and three other crew, so they have been painted up as well:

The finished mini was not quite what I wanted it to be but I am just pleased, afte 7 years, it's done. The shelf of half done shame is starting to clear!

Hobby bingo wise, I used this to fill an Any Model slot, and it gave me another 10 points.

Irish Brigade Complete

 

As promised, here is a little post all about the now complete Irish Brigade. I shall mix a little bit of history in along with the photos.

 

The history of the Irish Brigade in French service stems from the various religious wars of the 17th centruy (I don't think people were very good at getting along back then). It all started with King James II being kicked out of England and into exile in France in 1688. This was over the English not being overly keen on a Catholic monarch, and after he had a son it seems they certainly didn't want him to stay and cement his dynasty, so off he went,  in an event known as the Glourious Revolution.

However, he still had some supporters and decided the next year he would try his luck in Ireland - it seems the parliament there were still fans. After some issues though he requested some help from his French mates, but they, quite understandably, asked for some troops in return, and just like that the Irish Brigade was formed. 

Comprising of 5000 men in five regiments, they entered French service and were amalgamated into three regiments straight away.. The Brigade was kept seperate from the "Wild Geese," another unit of Irish Men in French serice, at this early stage. They often get confused.

The Irish Brigade would go on to serve in the French army for just over 100 years and became an elite unit. Although it took on recruits of other nationalities over time, it retained a lot of it's Irish heritage such as uniforms and flags until nationalised into the French Army in the late 18th Century. 

The Irish Brigade I have painted is representative of it's service in the 1709 Battle of Malplequet as part of the War of Spanish Succession. 

 

The five regiments are all named after their colonels at this time, giving them names such as Dorrington's, Obrien's etc. The battle of Malplequet was a large and very bloody affair, vey much an Allied Pyrrich victory as they drove the French from the field. However, the Irish Brigade was reported to have driven all before it in the battle and even captured several English standards. 

I have really enjoyed painting these, when all put together I think they look immense - especially with those lovely huge flags. The War of Spanish Succession is one that is on my list in the future as it such a colourful era. Sadly, with so many other projects, I have no idea when I will get around to it. 

I am please to say this order is with a vey happy client. His next commission is four units of Swedish Life Guard for the Great Northern War including something I have never painted befoe - pike armed troops! Update for that before not too long.

Man O' War

 

Whilst I sort out the post for the Irish Brigade, I thought I would take you back to the early 90's for a short spell.  

My wargaming origin story centres firmly around Games Workshop. The short version of the long story is that a friend bought a copy of the September 1990 White Dwarf to school and it got passed around the social area and when I saw it, well, that was that. My hobby was decided there and then and my long wargaming journey began...... 

I have pretty much moved on from GW now, but I have fond memories of some classic games. I recall my mum having to step ove huge games of epic on the kitchen floor whilst making dinner for example, and much fun was had with Necromunda. 

Another game that I never did as much with as I liked due to being restrained by being 13 was Man O War. I sold my copy way back in 2007 for some reason, along with my dwarf fleet, and it's nagged at me ever since. It gradually krept back into thr front of my mind over time, and for the last year I have been casually watching it on eBay, but never quite pulling the trigger. 

Suffice to say, lock down gave me the final kick I needed and I managed to snag a little bundle off of ebay:

I have to say I was happy with the price I paid for this and it's pretty much the whole game. The core box contains a lot of rules with the two expansions adding flyers, monsters and new fleets. I decided to jump right in:

As you can see - plenty of stuff. The books are in good condition as well with little to no wear on them and no rips that I can see. It did take an age to sort through it all, and compare it to the contents list for the three boxes. I was a little nervous as initially it seemed loads were missing. However, I eventually found I was missing templates for just four ships - which I was able to get off ebay on their own for next to nothing. The only individual thing I cannot yet get is the range ruler for elf ships. However, this is essentially a 12 inch rectangle of blue cardboad so nothing a tape measure can't replace. There were also no dice, but after 30 years as a wargamer this is not an issue!

The ships were in a slightly worse state:

In the core box you originally got a dozen galleys - the idea being six were pirates and six Empire. As you can see, the standard of these is differing and three have been converted to chaos galleys by having the ram's heads replaced with skulls. No big deal, they've already had a trip to the freezer so I can remove the masts.

My initial plans are to strip the galleys and paint all twelve as Empire ships - this will give me a really good core to build a fleet around. On ebay you can buy 3D printed replacement masts (already ordered) and I've snagged some extra sails as well. Once these are done I plan on adding ships as and when they pop up at a reasonable price on eBay. My intial two fleets will be Empire and Dwarves. 

I have already really enjoyed this litte nostalgia hit and look forward to charting my fleet build up with you. As a final little reminder of the way things were - anyone remember spending ages looking through catalogue pages like this?

 

What glorious memories! 

Irish Brigade: Dorringtons Regiment

 

Another post about the Irish Brigade!

This time I have completed the fifth and final regiment - Dorringtons regiment. Without further ado, lets see a picture of the battalion in all its glory:

 

 Again, red coats, but with blue facings and yellow hat lace. 

This regiment was a little more time consuming than the rest as there was also yellow lace edged around the cuffs, pockets and waitscoats of the soldiers. Not a tricky thing to paint overall but it did mean they took a bit longer. Here is a look at the individual bases of the unit so you can see more detail:

The troops:

The centre company:

The left company with drummer:

The right company with the NCO and Grenadiers:

Some differences from the last regiment is you'll not the lack of reversed colours for the NCO and drummer. I am not really sure why, but it seems some regiments did and some didn't when it came to reversing colours. 

Finally, the command stand, again with the amazing flags:

At first glance, with the red coats and red cross on a white background, you could be forgiven for thinking these are English troops, but nope - definitely Irish. 

That makes the Brigade of five battalions all complete. I have laid them all out out together to photograph (which is very ticky!), and I plan on doing a post next week with some of the history of the Irish Brigade to go with the photos, so stay tuned. In the mean time they will be posted off to the new owner this coming week.

For the 2021 Hobby Bingo, it closes another box, making five in total for 50 points. I have yet to complete a line but I think I remain in second place at present. Hopefully, I will have a more prodcutive March to catch up.