A Grave Matter - testbase

 Had it in the box, primed and ready to go, so it was about time to finish these. 4cm square base, 2 gravestones from Green Stuff World IIRC. I've been looking at many a peoples (28mm) graves to get an idea how I would like to see mine based up. Tufts from various sources.  28mm scaled. 

 

 

Old statues and a Sarcophagus

 I had based and cleaned up quite a while ago a few of the old plastic GW LotR statues and thought it a good time to paint it up. Dropped in a Sarcophagus from Frontline as well, from their 25mm Musketeer Range, set MR6 Graveyard. Tufts are from a lot of different sources.

The advantage of graves and statues is that you can use them for almost all periods, from old to new and future even. Right, enough for today, on with the next.

Disapointment and change on the hobby front

3 weeks to go till Crisis, I've checked the figures and the finances, gone over the pre orders with a fine tooth comb to make sure I stay within the budget and spent last night up to 2 o'clock sending them all (but 1) out, and except Foundry they all replied already! Magister Militum will have to come tonight as Evin hadn't replied yet to my question about his part of the order.


But then....


Fenris Games - not coming. :(
Renedra - not coming. :(


The Dice Bag Lady is willing to take orders for Fenris, but as I had been in doubt whether to go for Fenris Games or Thomarillion. I just edited the order and sent it to Thomarillion, to pick up all of their crypts except the small chapel and a few other small bits for the graveyard. Bye 60 euros.


Renedra....I must have misread a previous traderslist or something? Have an order for even more gravestones, bases and I wanted the church for AWI/pulp (and because it is a great deal), 33 pounds in total. Their reply was a bit short (one sentence) telling me they are not coming, and they didn't even ask what I wanted to do with the order. I'll have a rethink now about dropping the order entirely just because of the reply, it's like they don't want my business? (That's how it feels to me anyway)


The replies from Ainsty (more Crypts and graveyard bits and a big Mausoleum, total for another 25 Pounds) and Thomarillion were pretty quick (Thomarillion replied at 5:30 in the morning....mental!) and those items will be ready for me at Crisis.


No reply yet to the 32 Pound Foundry order (just 3 packs, pricey stuff), added in a last minute prehistoric killer bird for Frostgrave as a stand in Worm for the Worm Hunt. Looking forward to painting that.


For the rest I'm doing some swaps with fellow gamers, I will be getting quite a few skeletons on the sprue, new and old, as well as a Vampire and a Necromancer, plus some Flaggelants and some more Pulp African Explorers. I'll be trading some money and some 20mm items for that. I hope my current sales will sell before next week, if not, I'll do some additional discounting to push them, if not for Crisis, then just to boost my bank account.


I'm avoiding the Crisis Traders list like the plague now. I don't want to get any more ideas and what I have selected should be more then sufficient to last me till next year. I have a small amount of money set aside for impulse buys, plus another 50 from sales to take Kim out to dinner as a thank you for taking care of the kids all day while I'm having fun and her oncoming birthday.


Finally, I managed to win a large lot of LotR scenery on Ebay, too much in fact, so I will be selling off some of the bits and pieces when it arrives and just keeping what I need for Frostgrave. What I now need to look at is finding either premade Mordheim scenery or do it myself. Both should not be impossible.


My replacement parts order from 3D Horizons has been delayed, US Customs sent it back to the seller for some reason, but that is ok. I'm still working on the sketches for the towers anyway. Need to buy another roll of lead to stuff their bases with, don't want them to topple. Fortunately the local DIY send me a 5 euro discount birthday coupon I can use for that. Always trying to save money :)

Welcome to the wonderful (and expensive) world of 28mm AWI

Now that I have gone and joined the Dutch 2016 AWI project, and selected Colonial Militia, I'm for a world of hurt. Not only do I have to brush up my AWI knowledge (currently just hovering over 0), but I also need to find, base and paint enough miltia to fit a scenario of my choosing. And learn how to play the game. And not break the bank!

Yeah, no pressure!

Fortunately, because I can focus on Militia, I've now been told I can mix and match uniformed and ununiformed in the same unit. And because I will have no fixed paint scheme, it may not be as fast but there should be enough variation for me to keep going for a while (my aim will be a base a week, anything else is a bonus. If that base will be 4 figures (as Piers does) or 6 figures ( as the locals do) is yet to be decided). Fortunately, I have a lot of time till the game is started in August or September. I've already scouted a fine chap in Portugal who has 60 Militia and Continentals lying spare, so that would be a great start.

Planning this lead me to ponder what to do for Crisis this year. Sgts Mess won't be there this year so no impulse binging on little 20mm WW2 parts. Sofar I've got 50 pounds in my Paypal for pre orders and 110 euros spending cash (which inlcudes the 10 euro entry fee). I thought I would need to double that for all of my wants. So, I did the smart thing and made a list. And some terms to focus on.

Graveyard which technically falls under Mordheim/Frostgate, and 20mm Sci-Fi. So, 2-3 terms.

Just shopwise, that narrows it down to Brother Vinni, Crooked Dice, Fenris Games, Ainsty Castings and Magisters Militium. When I added up the list I was pleasantly surprised. 75 Pounds for mostly graveyard stuff, plus some merchants for Mordheim/Frostgate and some Robots. Even less if I'm honest cause I already have quite a few Brother Vinni stuff lying unpainted, so I'm looking at about 60 Pounds. Add to that some paint, some PSC 20mm armour boxes, a bag of bases and I'm up to 100 pounds.

The last time I pre ordered from Foundry, there was only a 1 figure bonus, so the only saving you really have is on shipping. Having said that, there are some AWI packs I'm interested in. As always, do I buy them now or do I wait when the lot is painted. Decisions, decisions. Not helped by the fact the Dutch AWI group is planning a group buy from Perry.

Thing is, I'm going over each and every possible purchase with a fine tooth comb. Will I build it within a year? Can it wait another year? What are the chances of this item showing up second hand coming year? Where will I find the money? How can I save money?

Well, the last things should not be a problem. I have a big box of Epic stuff that I will be selling soon, and also a lot of other GW boxes that I really have no need for (What do I need a 40K Predator tank for if all I do is skimrish? What do I look like, a Bolt Action player?). And I'm saving money by my decision not to buy premade 3rd World slums (at 4-5 Pounds a hut) I've been holding off for over a year now but by just buying a 10 sheet pack of fine wave cardboard for 2,50 euro and making my own. I want a dozens of buildings so I just went and saved myself more then a 100 Pounds. The items I did pick will be for this year, barring the PSC stuff that I buy for my German army, that is for next year. And you never know what the Bring and Buy will bring. Always a dangerous one, that Bring and Buy.

At least one thing will be free, Jasper from the WSS magazine has some Steel Master magazines for free that I will gladly take off his hands. I love reading those, with my high school French :) Pretty pictures too.

So, did I mention painting? A lot of painting? Thank the Lord for Christy.