2019 A Load Of Balls

Not only does this sum up 2019 it's also my last purchase of 2019!! Having painted very little through the year some of my paints have started to come out a little thin so a ball bearing a bottle should help do the trick. 

I crashed out of last years painting challenge almost straight out of the blocks. The reason is the ongoing poor health of Cath. Early last year we were told her condition was very serious and late stage bowel cancer was the chief suspect. Fortunately this was not the case though through the next three months various other life threatening possibilities just kept replacing others that had been countered out. Currently waiting the latest batch of test results as they still can't say what it is. Life continues but much slower. Cath remains in a lot of pain, has replaced none of the weight she lost (over 20% of her weight) but in many other ways has improved. All this has really dented my creative interest but fortunately it has come back though I don't give it nearly as much time as I have prior. 

So a potted history of my 2019 hobby time.

I did get a couple of SYW 15mm French command stands finished for my son and another that still waits on being based. I also started three battalions of infantry. These I have picked back up recently and will be finished in January, 12 months after being started.

Nothing from then till contacted by a mate asking if I would do another diorama for his ASL tournament. I was happy to oblige and it actually got me back into doing some painting after more than eight months of nothing. So a big thanks to Martin for getting me started again. I will blog it sometime soon(ish) This had the added spark of making me want to try my hand at doing dioramas just for fun. I have yet to act on this but the cheques in the post.

The money I made from the dio I spent on a airbrush and compressor which I have only had a minor play with so far but that is one reason to clear the desk of my son's figures. Not sure where I will go with this but I really want to get into this.

Next up was a quick paint for Cath, a figure I bought years ago and was always going to get round to painting. In the end it was rather quick and done. Again try to post later.

The last item of 2019 was a bust for my nephews Christmas present. I never got great pics of this but again this will find it's way onto the blog.

Never quite got round to getting any games in this year, now been a couple of years and that will have had some effect but really have not had the energy to finalise the games that I was going to get in. 

So as you can see the year was mostly balls but were still here so lets see what happens now.

Back in Black

Well it's been awhile again. Whilst I have painted some bits and bobs I have slowed down a great deal I suspect mostly down to not getting a game for , well since last year! However I have started to paint up more but mostly it's either a couple of big commissions or it's just stuff I just wanted to paint with little thought of actually needing too.

The first of the commissions has been for Leven Miniatures and that has got me wanting to paint buildings again and the other is a 28mm dio that I may not be able to show off till about the end of November but has been great fun to paint.

What I have painted has been a mix of 6mm and 28mm Fantasy, I am not even doing anything Fantasy at the moment!

Another big negative was not being able to make Joy of Six this year. All work related as my boss was on holiday and I also had other staff off through sickness. Given that Lee and myself had been getting our armies sorted for a rather large Ancient demo game it was a very big downer. Still we now have a whole year to try and actually play the scenario and get a better grip on the rules. Yes I am trying to polish the turd of disappointment.

Right now I have a bunch of 6mm ECW figures on the bench as I recently bought the To The Strongest For King and Parliament offshoot and having played the demo game have high hopes that these rules will in fact reignite what was once my favourite period. Better still if it does then my old 15mm army can be dusted off and brought back out to play.

My blogging won't get back to the hay day, I just don't have the time, dedication or material but I will try and get it back at least to a fairly regular appearance.

Christmas Presents from Kind Friends

As many of you will realise I neither ran Secret Santa or took park in Santa Clause this year so it was quite a surprise when I received two presents from Secret Santa. Well Christmas day found me receiving not two but four presents.Words fail to show my appreciation as I just did not expect such gifts. Just shows how great our community is.

From America I received this Leven Miniatures windmill that will see use in upcoming Peninsular games with The Boy and Lee. I actually have an unpainted one prepped but waiting some paint and did want to get at least one more so a perfect present. The kids devoured the Peeps too having had some at previous Christmas's usually from my wifes friends.

I have already mentioned the £10 Baccus gift voucher which I spent on some more 6mm figures that arrived Christmas eve. These included yet more peltasts and lots more phalanx figures. These Peltasts will fit in lovely with my army for Magnesia and being troops I have been putting off for months I now can use these as a basis to copy. These will give me four units so is a real boost.

The fourth present was another four units of Gauls which again can fit right into my plans for Magnesia. 

So what can I say other than a heartfelt THANK YOU to the kind folks who have given me such wonderful gifts. 

Other more expected gifts with a wargames slant (i.e. off a list) has been the rest of the troops needed for Magnesia, a copy of To The Strongest! rules that we are planning on using at the Magnesia game at Joy of Six which I have had a quick go with Lee last week and seem to run well and hopefully will play fast enough to actually show good progress at the one day show.

I also got a book on Dunkirk that may provide a scenario or two's idea for ASL but if not be a good read. I also have had enough figures to provide me with four more Battalions of infantry for my SYW 15mm Prussians which will not help me keep up with Lee but at least gives me a respectable force to try and see him off.

So quite a haul and I am very pleased with what I received, hopefully you all will also have had a good Christmas and look forward to a good New Year. I will be posting some of my more recent finishes having done the final touches to a group that were all based at the same time.

Christmas Gifts

Well I have not posted in an age as I expected but a couple of very nice surprises have given me the desire to post. I have received to gifts in the last week. One in the form of a box labelled from Secret Santa and a second as a Gift Voucher from Baccus.

I do not know who these kind people are, but thank you very much. One is going under the tree later to be opened on Christmas day and the other will be used as soon as I work out my final list for our display game for next years Joy of Six.

It just goes to show what a wonderful hobby we have and I can't tell you how much both gifts touched me and just at the right moment as I was feeling a bit down, so again thank you so much.

Other news is that I have continued to paint and have notched up quite a tally running into November. November itself as seen me just paint up four units of Gallic infantry in 6mm, the mix of colours and more limited time proved to slow production right down but with those in the back mirror I am pleased to report that I have done about half the work needed on two battalions of 15mm French SYW infantry for The Boy. These will be finished very soon and will be added to his growing army which will grow aplenty more next year with another four battalions of figures on order from Santa.

Not that my army has not had some help, five battalions of infantry and three regiments of Dragoons have almost emptied the mountain of my SYW, just a few infantry battalions and a Dragoon regiment to paint up but again Lancashire Games will be assisting with a few more infantry battalions.

Keeping with the Prussians I have painted up three battalions of Prussian Guard infantry for my 6mm Naps, need the figures for another two battalions to be able to do the last three, these being Adler Russians in reality. These may make the blog once I have done the base work, building up a bit of a stash of basing, also including some British Generals for The Boy's 6mm Naps that Lee gave him ready painted crews for 6 guns Lee also gave him. Next up for that army is yet more infantry.

Sounds like I will be busy in the Analogue Painting Challenge? sadly no, after thinking about it for a couple of months I stepped off the roster as I felt that I would not do myself any good taking part this year. Last year I pushed hard and then going to Heroes for a long weekend of ASL really left me very fragile and thus whilst I will follow it this year keenly I will be producing at a rate far below what I can do but at a level I am happy with.

More of my time has been spent on scenario design for ASL and whilst I have just three new scenarios under test I have a bunch of other ideas going through further research. It's amazing how much time is taken up by the various stages of design but I am really enjoying it and my book collection certainly has benefitted from it. 

As for blogging I think you will be seeing a bit more of me again, I have really enjoyed the rest and whilst I thought my painting might suffer for the lack of blogging it's not and indeed I think not thinking I need to blog this has actually meant I was more at home sitting at the painting table. Well all apart from those Celts LOL.

Chatter Behind The Bike Sheds - No Wolrds For Me

This is how I thought I would feel but I am more shrug. I have found shows more difficult since The Boy has got into gaming and wants to go to them. It almost seems like work to try and balance doing my stuff and getting the most out of a visit for my son. The fact that he waits patiently as I AGAIN stop and chat for twenty minutes as we nip to the next game he wants to play etc just makes me feel worse. Balancing the desire to chat with mates, supervising The Boy's purchasers and games as well as my own retail needs does make it difficult. 

Not making a show I have been looking forward to for months and not really being too bothered is a bit of a shock. Especially as I thought I was going to make it with no problem not having worked out my rota properly. The Boy is OK with it, I did say he may still be able to go with Lee but he is happy to have a game or two with me when I get home from work on Sunday.

I of course will miss the chance to catch up with a few mates which is the only part I can't manage to substitute via the net, however I will try and make sure I get to York being the next probable show for me. 

It does beg the question are shows losing their attraction to me other than the obvious face to face meet ups that normally only happen at such shows and if so is it the same for others?

Whilst I did have some good ideas on what I planned to buy I have so many figures  (over 5,000) that I won't miss out and even do myself a favour by not going. Get the lead pile a bit more under control. However below is a list of sorts of what I would have been looking at getting.

15mm Ancients 

I was certainly going to buy a couple of packs of Forged In Battle Alexandrian phalanxes, enough to give me three more pike blocks, even though I don't actually need any more blocks. I would also get some command which I probably could do with. I still have a few blocks worth of unpainted figures that I still have yet to paint.

I was NOT going to buy any more Magister Militum companion cavalry. I still have two units worth from the last Worlds waiting for me to paint. These should get painted in the upcoming Analogue Painting Challenge at which point I will need to decide if I want more cavalry and if so who from.

6mm Ancients

I have six units of Persian cavalry to paint up (108 figures) a few units of Thracian infantry (about 96 figures) and four phalanx (400 figures) clearly I need more, lots more. 

With Lee pushing his Romans I will be further building the Macedonian army. I would have picked up another four or six phalanxes and possibly another three units of cavalry. 

The Persians still need a lot of help to get up to a large enough army to face the Macedonians as they already stand. For this I would have added some more Persian cavalry, most likely the heavier options and some Satraps. I now have six Hoplite units so for infantry I would have gone after levy bow and javelin armed troops.

15mm SYW

The other main and fairly fresh project would see me dropping a few pounds the way of Old Glory or Timecast for more cavalry. I have plenty of infantry awaiting painting, two Lancashire Games battle packs untouched but cavalry wise I just have the unpainted I have used in a few games that need de-basing and painting up. Command and Artillery I have a plenty.

The Boy needs more of everything but he is happy with what he has till we get a few games in. He should be more excited once I have his Blue Moon dragoons finished (current project)

6mm Napoleonic's

Can I seriously consider buying more? The bulk of the 5,000 is indeed 6mm Napoleonic. Well true I do have rather a lot but the Polish need some command and these I need to order from Adler for picking up from a show. So this will now have to be Triples if he travels to that show, or mail order if not. Either way I have plenty to keep me busy for now.

I do plan to get back to painting up more of the Prussians and even more of the French at some point. At the moment the 6mm Ancients and 15mm SYW are absorbing most of my painting time.

And that's it, I stocked up with bases some time ago so am good to go and now I have Thursdays off from work can nip over to Mansfield if I am running low on the odd bottle of paint. So anyone who is going to the Worlds please keep an eye on Lee and remind him he still has SOME space in the shed!

That Time of Year.........................

Every year give or take a few months I take my computer to be cleaned up and generally given an health check. Well it's here again so I will be off line for about a week to ten days dependant on if something needs fixing. It's running real slow and I was lucky I got it back last year without much pain in the wallet. This time it may be more of a case of get yourself a new one than all is ok, lets see.

So I won't be visiting blogs or posting here till I get it back, at least I have enough things to paint without the need to check the internet, so it's not all bad news. See you on the other side..........

The Boy goes Roman

My wife mentioned the other day that our son had the opportunity to own a Roman shield that the school was throwing away, would it be OK? Further discussion included I could hang it on his wall or door. To be honest I was all up for it from the start, anything that promotes his interest in history, especially military gets my vote.

Fast forward 24 hours and I get home to this! A full size replica with a brass boss, the rear and edge covered in faux leather with a handle built into the area behind the boss.

The school had moved to new buildings and whilst it was moved across it was then tossed in the skip as it was no longer used. Not sure about mounting on his door but it was well worth saving and The Boy is still jazzed about it.

China Trees

Some may remember me buying a bunch of trees from China a year or so ago. I picked out the ones that would work with 6mm and put the rest to onside where they have sat ever since. A couple of weeks ago I pulled them back out of a box and have started to base them up for use in 15mm games.

The smaller tree's used for 6mm look better than their larger brothers as the plastic growth looks a bit too plastic but for the price they work good enough for me.

A true 15mm scale cavalry unit to show the scale. I have around another twelve I have yet to base which will give us a nice low price option on trees to go with the others that are available so if we need a good sized wood it's covered.

That still leaves me with over 100 6mm Leven Miniatures trees to base up. These are much better quality as the trunks and branches are wire allowing me to change their shapes and the greenery is far more realistic.

 I suspect I am not the only one that manages to forget such tasks and need to set time aside to do them. It's not that I don't enjoy doing as I do but still they keep being passed over.

Chatter Behind the Bikesheds - Blogging V Facebooking

Something I have been mulling over for the last few months or longer has been the relationship between running a blog and posting on open feeds and pages on Facebook. Both have their advantages and draw. However how well do they sit together?

Blogging has been here for quite some time and peeps like me have managed to rack up quite a few posts over the years. However Groups and Pages on Facebook have really taken off in the last couple of years and a good number of quality communities have sprung up making such sites as TMP rather less the place to hang, (ducks and runs for cover).

Buggles

We all know Video Killed the Radio Star but is Facebook standing over the mortally wounded Blogger with a knife dripping blood? Probably not but I do think if you swap the knife for a pool cue and a few hours in A&E and you would be closer to the truth than most would want to admit.

But for all the attractiveness of Facebook Groups I wonder how many will wake up in the morning to see the beaut from the night before actually is a bag of spanners? I mean you can't really argue against the speed of response to a quick post. The likes seem to come faster than light and if you time it right the comments can be thick and fast. 

Set against this Blogging gets very few likes as the images get seen by a lot less people, likewise comments seem to be mostly the same few who regularly comment, it's so often the same crowd. OK lets rewind a bit, you mean it's the same peeps most of the time, these guys must really be into the stuff we write then. Now THAT is cool and it's even cooler when an old post gets a comment, especially when it also is from a new follower. 

That's the biggest weakness of Facebook, one post gets plucked out by Facebook every now and again to point out you have been mates with X for x years and here's a post you shared. other than that your pretty much bolloxed regards looking back in time on posts you have thrown into the wide world. 

What I really find useful is situations like when I was wanting to know which way the flags should go on the colonels battalion for my SYW Prussians. On the excellent Seven Years War Wargaming group a quick question was very well answered. A great resource and shows Facebook at it's best for gamers.

Blogging will always have it's place, at the moment I do think it's at possibly it's lowest ebb and will remain so for some time but as bloggers start to realise they are missing chunks of their own hobby history I believe more will either return to blogging or blog that bit more often. I make no secret my main reason for blogging is self serving. I do it because I enjoy it and enjoy the feedback.

My recent posting rate has dropped way off to one post a week from the heyday of five plus a week and average of three a week. That is despite having plenty to blog about and more to do with the lack of time to keep my blogs fully updated, play the games I do and actually paint up figures. I can live with that, though my aim is to get back to three posts a week. Lets see how I do with that over the coming month LOL.

Partizan Blogging Meet

So this coming weekend is Partizan. It's a bit different this year as it's at The Showground and not it's old location at Kelham Hall. Those who have visited Hammerhead recently will be aware of the benefits of this venue. Shame about the old location as it has a lot of charm but I think the plus out paces the negatives. It's also a little bit special as Pete (Panzer Kaput) has organised a Northern Bloggers Meet for 1pm at his game (always a treat for the peepers) from where we will mooch off to a secondary location to chat and general banter. Even though it's a NORTHERN blog meet some of the natives from down south are attending, yep looking at you Tamsin! 

It goes without saying that I will be in attendance with The Boy and Lee. I may be a bit cranky as it's the last day of a week off, but at least I will finish in style.

1,000th Post Must Mean a Giveaway

Way back on 8th September 2011 I started this blog to chart my return to painting after about a twenty year break. I never expected it to reach the point where I could write a post regarding hitting 1000 posts, never mind that I would have done so in such a short period of time.

Looking back I have certainly painted up a fair few figures during the last six years, indeed I have painted more in this period than all the time I was painting the first time around. Learning so many new techniques and being a more mature painter has meant I have made a steady improvement in my skills and style. 

A big change has been my flirtation with 6mm in the early 90's becoming my main scale to paint. Not that the other scales miss out but due to Project Waterloo and now the Ancients bug I have been bashing out 6mm like my life depends on it.

I have always thought blogging as more a selfish act that a sharing one. We do it as much for the response from followers as the chance to share our work. I am lucky my wife takes an active interest in what I paint but for the main part one battalion of French line infantry looks more or less the same as the 50+ I have already showed her. So it's to you dear reader that I have to thank for making comments and keeping my ego topped up and desiring more, more I say MORE :-)

So what better way to thank the poor sods who follow this blog than do a giveaway? It's about time as it's been a long time since the last one, now what can we go with?

Two boxes of Tajima1 grass tufts of your choice from the grass tufts range (up to £6 per box)

Thirty mixed height trees from Leven Miniatures wire tree range for 6mm gaming as pictured above.

2x Copy of the Latest The Manor roleplaying zine packed with interesting bits and pieces.

So that's four prizes, feel free to throw your name in the hat for any or all the listed prizes, I will be closing the giveaway on the 26th and announcing the prizes on the 27th. 

No extra goes for blogging about it or adding links back here but it would be great if you do as it gets a wider audience, good luck to all.

A Slow Year Painting

It's no secret that since starting the new job in March my painting time and production have gone down the toilet. It's not been helped by the fact that my main projects game also was reached meaning no targets need to be reached.

However I have a few other projects that whilst not on a time limit are getting more attention than others. Of course the next three months will be all about the Analogue Painting Challenge. I have a few plans to get myself an extra hour a day IF I can get it past the boss and capable to keep it going.

Projects that will feature heavy in 2016 will obviously include my 6mm Ancients, I am coming to the end of the Macedonian army for the time being so a switch to the Persians is on the horizon, possibly as late as March.

Keeping with 6mm I hope to get on with my Italian's for my Napoleonic's and get the Poles started as well.

15mm Should see my Ancients topped up and the Persians finished. I also hope to add to the Macedonian cavalry. It's possible but unlikely I will get more ECW, mostly cavalry, that fully depends on if I actually use my 15mm ECW I have.

Beyond that it's just painting what I already have when the whim takes me. I have well over 5,000 figures in hand spanning loads of periods and scales so I have plenty to keep me motivated. So I guess it's time to see what I have painted over the past twelve months.

6mm Infantry Battalions 109! yes one hundred and nine battalions, that's over 3,000 figures and that's a slack year lol.

6mm Cavalry 37 regiments, quite a few more than I would have thought.

15mm Infantry 238, mostly painted in last years challenge.

15mm Cavalry just 78 mostly in the challenge

28mm Infantry 65, not a great year but not bad

28mm Cavalry not a single figure.

So not a terrible year at all but lower than any year since I came back to the hobby. I think this trend will probably continue and my painting will drop a little more. However if a project comes along that would all change.

2016 will be the year of variance as I tackle many a different project, so it may well be a lot more interesting for the follower as well as for me.

Happy Christmas To You All.

My old Christmas Dwarf

By the time you read this I am assuming I will have watched the kids open their presents and in turn have opened mine including the much awaited Santa Clause and Secret Santa items. I really love the whole concept and I can't wait to see the reactions of not just my targets but of others who also have taken part this year.

Of course I may well have other hobby related items though most of the rest I will have had more of an hand in so probably no real surprises. Not that I will be on my computer much (if at all) on the big day as I am back to work on Boxing Day so will be spending much of the day playing with the kids. Indeed more or less a rerun of Christmas Eve but with new toys :-)

So whatever you are doing (or did) I hope it's a most pleasant day for you and yours.

Books and Yet More Books

I went to Cromford (near Matlock Bath) recently with Cath for a walk and a bite to eat. Whilst there we often call at Scarthin Books, a lovely mix of new and old books and pre-Amazon was my main source for second hand military history books. These days I come out more often empty handed than with anything but not on the last visit.

I have seen Redcoat a number of times but not picked it up but I fancy something a little more general to have a go at at some point. It's a shame it does not seem to bother going back to the times when the redcoat was first worn as a national uniform but I am happy to give it a fair go.

Bonaparte in Egypt was bought as I really have little knowledge of the campaign and thought it would be good to know something so it will join the ranks of books yet to read. Something I do not dare to do a list of.

I did not stop with Scarthin, having seen Persian Fire down at The Works and slowly working my way through The Heritage of Persia I thought this might be a nice follow on to that. Talking of which I am finding it a bit heavy going having just finished another book written is a similar style. That's not to say I am not enjoying it though the Sharpe books keep getting in the way.

I have also recently bought another two Kindle books so I think it's safe to say my purchases are outstripping my reading at the moment. Really need to improve on that LOL

The Other Partizan...................

Well I won't be making anyone rich at Kelham Hall tomorrow as I head into the third month without a single figure purchase. Simply put I have so many figures I want to paint it's not worth me getting any more. Well unless I see something I really want that is.

What I do want though is to buy a few replacement paints and probably some new colours as well. I went all spreadsheet and 5.45 this morning I was putting the finishing touches to the list.  I probably will pick up a few more bases and such but I don't see me doing much more retail wise.

Looking forward to checking out some games and hopefully getting The Boy into a few games, the Minion Racing game looks a likely candidate. I look forward most to catching up with friends at the show. I will of course visit Peter at Baccus just to see if my resolve will stand up to the test.

To help keep my hands in my pocket I received a package today that has some Commands and Colors goodness in it but more on that in a later post.

Lee like me is not really on the hunt for stuff to buy, we have looked at what we need for next years game and it looks like we are mostly sorted so no mad painting of figures, just sorting out the terrain and buildings by the looks.

Books, Books and even more Books

I was recently thinking about the amount of history books I buy in comparison to the amount I read. Whilst I do get through quite a few in a year my purchasing tends to run about even with the odd peak or dip each year.

Not that I will get to the point where I keep a close note as I might not quite like what I may find out. Today was a family day, first day off since the kids broke up from school so we went out for the day.

We ended up at Bakewell where I picked up the two WWII books pictured, a snip at £5 each. The other two have been picked up recently, Voices from the Napoleonic Wars just after Joy of Six and Waterloo about a month ago. I'm mostly reading fiction at the moment but I plan to get one of these started soon the question is which?

June Jumble

What a month June was, my worst production in over three years. It was no coincidence that it also coincided with my starting the new job that mixes long hours, long journey time and working eleven out of fourteen days. However things are settling into a routine and for the next couple of weeks at least I can make use of having Wednesdays off whilst the kids are at school. 

So before I go into what I painted I thought I may as well come clean on some of what I received this month. I received three packs of figures from Commission Figurines, French Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery. These are 6mm MDF figures that are a close size match to Baccus.

The artillery look like they will be fun to assemble, that's a job for latter this week. The cavalry look easier though I have yet to prep them and so more on them later.

Close up of the infantry, there is some detail picked out for you though more detail needs adding. I have actually painted up a battalion this afternoon whilst waiting for Hougoumont's ornamental garden to dry. More on that when it's finished. They are quick and easy to paint and again more in an upcoming post.

I also had the chance to buy some old Chariot Miniatures Hoplites at a very good price so grabbed them building back up my 15mm stock piles.

In the same offer was a bunch of Persian cavalry and as I would be looking for more of these at some point took the opportunity to snag a bargain. So on a month of low production I managed to get figures in all three major scales, oh dear...........

6mm

Whilst I added ten battalions to my pile in May I at least managed to paint up four in June so the overall trend is downwards still.

No command has been painted in June so remains on Plus 15, Boney and a few mates NEED painting in the next few days so at least that will start to drop.

I managed to paint up one cavalry regiment but remain Plus 9 overall so post JoS will see my cavalry get more attention.

All other 6mm remains the same and will do so for a while yet I fear.

6mm commissions only four buildings have been painted up but I have a chunk of Steve's half finished and even more for Lee put aside till after JoS then that category should see good reduction.

15mm

Infantry Plus 62 and cavalry Plus 46 (thirty one additions) but overall since starting the tally they are actually down on total numbers.

20mm 

Remains Plus 96 infantry and Plus 6 cavalry, need to get back to doing these as I hope to get to use them when it comes round to our Christmas game round at Kev's.

28mm

If you thought my 6mm was out of control take a look at these numbers. 

Infantry a further Plus 9 in June so Plus 80 in total and fortunately only Plus 4 for the cavalry.

On a positive note I don't see me buying much in July and my painting time has increased allowing me to get on with part painted projects. July tally should look better than June's and with Project Waterloo getting out the door I hope to be in position to both play the actual game and painting up other projects.

900th Post -THANK YOU ALL

That's right, this is the 900th published post and I have all you followers new and old to thank for keeping me blogging away. It's a great opportunity to look back at the blog and into the future.

It all started on the 8th of September 2011 so it's going on 4 years old, not bad for something that was set up to record my unsteady steps back into wargaming after about 20 or so years rest. So much had changed in those years. Techniques had improved and of course the internet had allowed these new ideas to spread around the wargaming and painting world to the benefit of all.

I also needed the help though my basic skills were surprisingly quick to come back I found that such as the army painter dip made my work so much better. Indeed I was to dip so many old figures making them look much better when I came to rebase them that it felt almost like new armies!

Whilst I was happy to jazz up old figures I had no wish to go back to old rules and found Fields of Glory for Ancients more to my liking. More recently I have moved on again to Hail Caesar which gives a faster game and whilst it has less historical feel I much prefer the faster looser game and expect it to remain my staple for Ancients for years to come.

I flirted with Imputus but disliked some of the rule systems and the one army I painted up for it was sold when my opponent when off in a huff over something (never did find out why, or being honest care).

I also made a move that in the end was the biggest change to my future wargameing choices and that was the finishing off of the 6mm Irregular French army and playing it against my Irregular Prussians. However buying the Baccus figures to add to my French saw me sell off the two armies and replace with a mix of Adler and Baccus and of course cross pollinate over a number of other periods in 6mm.

The crowning glory of 6mm for me was Dr Mikes painting clinic that Ian showed me how to paint 6mm faster and with more impact. So a big thanks to both of them. This has lead to me being able to paint up my half of Project Waterloo and beyond. When I started back into 6mm I had almost no experience painting buildings and through Total Battle Miniatures and Timecast started to learn how to paint up buildings and of course since have moved onto Leven Miniatures where I have had such a concentrated experience and have much improved in style and finish.

Two other new area's of interest have both been 28mm. Western gunfights and Saga are both fairly low figure count interests but they have caught my children's interest and have allowed me the opportunity to share this wonderful hobby with them, such a very valuable and precious time.

Not that it stops there, two good old mates who stayed with the games have again crossed swords with me and much fun and blood has been shred over our figures.

A rather unexpected but VERY welcome effect of starting the blog has been the making of lots of new friends and new wargaming buddies. I really could not put a price on that, especially the support I received whilst ill and trying to get my self back on track and the main success was hobby related.

As for the future, I think as work settles down and I get used to the new pace I will again post almost as regular as I ever have. With Project Waterloo almost complete (less than three weeks to the Joy of Six) more time will be available for doing many other projects that have taken a back seat. Although Lee wanting to send Napoleon into Russia will see yet more Napoleonic legions marching off my desk, other periods and scales will still get plenty of opportunities, well at least till I am given my list of figures and date to get them done :-)

Whilst blogging seems to be a tad less fashionable than Facebook groups I think it will far out last these once the full realisation of how temporary your offerings tend to be compared with a living blog like I write and follow.

So again to all you lot, thanks for coming round and here's to the next 900 posts!

Fathers Day and Shield of Cholm

I had a nice bunch of presents today for Fathers day and then we went out to spend the day out and about. The original idea was to go to the park but that was hit on the head as it's closed due to a rock slide! 

Instead we went for an ice cream and a walk along the shops and the kids wanted to go into a shop selling various collectables and well junk. 

I was looking in the military memorabilia with a mix of British WWII Medals and cap badges etc when I spotted what I assumed was a replica of the Cholm Shield. Especially so as it was listed at £10. I actually left the store but decided that it would look cool attached to my dice tower and went back to buy it.

My interest was stirred because I have the excellent ASL module on Cholm by Le Franc Tireur (LFT) and I though this would be an excellent prop to have lying around when I play some of the scenarios or campaign.

Imagine my surprise when I took a much closer look and found it to be the real deal. Two variants of the badge exist, one with three pins holding the back plate in place and another with four pins (mine). Also note the H has the line across the uprights is lower than the middle, this is also a variant as it's available as both on specialist auction sites. The four pin, lower bar version seems to go for about $1500 in the States. 

The cloth background is available if Field Grey (Army and SS), Black (Panzer) and Blue (Airforce). Mine looks really fresh from the front but if taken off the badge shows some staining under the rear plate so I think it's been turned round to show it's best side.

So a really good find that added to what was already a great day.

May Day May Day, The Lead Pile Is Calling

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, I started a new job on Monday and it's eating up a ton of time at the moment, though I get Wednesdays off so will be doing some catching up today.

Keeping with the theme of busy through work excuse I slink into my work progress and what with interviews kids being off school and all the prep to start work I have rather let it slide on the painting desk. Not good news given I attended Triples and bought some stash, so it does not look that good when viewed from the point of reduction. 

6mm

Baccus have a lot to answer for, with their release of the last new French Napoleonic codes and my buying a big bunch of Ancient Phalanx figures has seen the pile grow by he equivalent of twenty battalions set against the painting of just ten so a PLUS 10 for the infantry.

Cavalry has been my bane in 6mm and I again added to the pile with another ten regiments worth BUT have exchanged or painted enough to keep the same number of excess, that being ten more than when I started keeping count!

Again for command I was hit by the release of My Little Ogre Play Set (Napoleon and friends) has pushed up my command figures by Twenty one, not great news as it was already PLUS eight. The good news is that I will be painting up the little man for Project Waterloo as well as others so I hope to get this back to zero within the nest two months and have no reason to buy any more for some time.

The only other change has been the painting of four buildings leaving me on an eye watering PLUS Twenty Eight!!!

15mm

15mm has only gone down each month since December last year with purchases far outweighed by painting well this month saw an increase in cavalry by sixteen figures, 12 for an extra Companion unit and I plan at least one more and figures to add a fourth command stand for my Persians. Hopefully these will be painted up in the next month or two.

28mm

28mm is the only other scale to have seen any changes, I have bought another ten figures for roleplaying with the kids (D&D) but did paint up twenty five though this still leaves me on PLUS seventy one.

I would say May has been the worst month for painting in the last 14 or so months. Fortunately my spending has been quite restrained meaning little damage done. However between now and Joy of Six will see me working hard on getting the last bits finished such as the few units I need that were missed on the original OOB and of course the buildings for Leven to go on his trade stand as he will be attending it as his first wargames show. I am also basing up a bunch of trees for our game.

I have twenty regiments of Baccus ACW infantry close to being finished but have put them on hold till I have some of this work done. June will not be a very productive month but it will be a focused one.