January roundup

 Decent month for hobbying was January.

For some reason my photos have uploaded in more or less reverse order, but hey ho.

Finished off the German Grenadiers, Nebelwerfer and FJ HQs that I started in December.

Managed to get some games in at the start of the year, including some Tank War and getting to field my USMC, so lots of fun was had.

I also completed some pacific terrain, a rice paddy field and some volcanic rock things.

I then moved on to building a whole new river/canal/harbour system which should work for most theatres and scales, although I'm still hoping the mod-podge dries clear on the harbour section!

I treated myself to a nice MDF bridge from Kristoff Designs as I had a £5 off voucher and it's lovely!

The Rubicon Shermans and all their add-ons arrived and i managed to knock them out, giving me a USMC M4A3 105/75mm and a M4A2 that can pull double duty as a British Firefly VC with a turret swap.

Overall I am happy with how they turned out, but feel I made some mistakes with colour choice, the hard edge markings, the oil wash (I applied it too early) so a little disheartened there, but all part of the learning process.

I also picked up the Italy : Soft Underbelly of Europe book, which inspired me to revisit my Brits to make some silencers for my Sten armed Commandos and also pick up a Highlander officer and bagpiper for some nice in-game buffs!

It has also meant I've taken a notion to bring my Commandos up to a better painting standard, and i've picked up some of the new plastic Warlord models, some Paras and desert Commonwealth sprues to do some Italy 1943 era kit bashes and make some Commandos, SAS/SRS, and some regular Scots infantry to support them.

I should also have some Winter Germans coming to fill out my Volkstrum and a Stuart M3A1 to use with my USMC and Brits.

To offset this I've continued my clear out, getting rid of a bunch of old terrain on eBay, as well as my whole 40K bits box, some of which dates back to my childhood, so a significant 'all-in' on Bolt Action for my 28mm fix now!

Merry Christmas! Last painting of the year and looking forward to 2022

I seem to always get a bust of hobby inspiration at this time of year - probably the time off work and long nights that help there.

I've powered through my latest eBay delivery - which was a bunch of German armour, given a pseudo Italy 1943 paint scheme with a little variation per tank, I'm hoping these will pass inspection in all theatres.

I also completed the German heavy mortar team as it's something my late war Germans were sorely missing.

currently on the table I've got 20 Panzer Grenadiers, a Nebelwerfer team, Fallschrimjager HQ, and some Pacific theatre terrain that Santa brought me.

Once those guys are finished my plans for early new year is to complete some more terrain, and where possible recycle some of my older stuff to give me a decent 6x4 of  Pacific themed stuff.

I've also got a couple of Rubicon Shermans, plus some add-ons for them to allow me to field some customised USMC tanks which I'm very excited about.

2021 was a decent year hobby wise in reflection;

I started the year on a 40k/Sci-Fi kick, and completed a number of small forces with the intention (not yet realised) of playing some One Page Rules Grimdark Future. I'm not in any big rush to do this now, but I'm happy to have it ready to go if the opportunity comes up.

For Epic I 'finished off' some armies - filling a number of gaps I had mostly with things I had lurking in my pile of shame. I started my long overdue Squat army but ran out of steam before getting to the infantry. 

Bolt Action was definitely the focus again in 2021 - mostly as I'm getting regular games in, it helps inspire painting up new stuff. My recently completed USMC were the highlight for me there, and I can't wait to get them on the table.

I managed to clear some space too, reluctantly getting rid of some big box games like HeroQuest and Space Crusade. I love these games dearly, but the nostalgia alone doesn't warrant keeping them around and I'm becoming ruthless now for saving space where I can and keeping my hobby space under a modicum of control.

So, looking forward to 2022, what are hobby plans/predictions;

I expect Bolt Action will feature heavily still. I'm happy with all of my forces and the variety of units. I'm not going to lie to myself and say that I won't start another faction this year. Talking to my regular gaming buddy we have discussed some winter Germans vs Soviet games, which for me might simply mean a box of Winter German infantry... We'll see!

Epic - I'm hoping to get my wind back and finish of the Squats, just to clear my unpainted pile and take them off my conscious. We've talked on the podcast about a number of games we have planned, giving the community the decision on the match up and then using the lists we discussed on the show, can't wait for this!

Other than that I've got some Ork stuff I want to finish for the sake of completeness and then I'm considering selling off my remaining unpainted epic.

40k/Grimdark future - Nothing really, I think I'll sell off my older Dark Angels space marines, and my unpainted Tau to clear some space.

I'd still love to do a small 2nd Edition era Eldar army, but it's wayyyyy down the list.

I've still got a Blackstone Fortress game sealed from last Christmas. I think I'll keep it for time being, there are some cool models in there and if I found a group wanting to play it could be good fun.

Anyhoo, that's me for 2021 - I hope everyone has a great new year!

  

Aliens and Bolt Action - Roundup

 Hi,

Moving the progress needle slightly this week...

I finished the Aliens from the GF9 Aliens boardgame, quick and dirty with drybrushes and wash.

I also dug through the sprue pile and grabbed the remaining Bolt Action British bodies I had left to muster another regular Tommy section and a 3rd Commando LMG to allow me to rock 3 x 6 man SMG/LMG Commando sections.

As usual the Brits were a kit bash of the honking old Warlord British infantry sprue, and the later 8th Army and Paratroopers sprues, to give a bit of variety.

Warlord have a new British and Canadian set coming out soon and i'll definitely pick up a single sprue assuming it's 6 man as this would nice round out my regulars with HQ + attendent, sniper team and PIAT team.

Other than that I'm mulling over a new Bolt Action army for 2021 (yes, I know I said I wouldn't)

Current contenders are - Aussies - to make use of my Jungle terrain, and could be a cool, if historically inaccurate OpFor for my DAK.

I also fancy Soviets or maybe Italians... We'll see!

I also dusted everything Bolt Action off to get it all laid out and allow me to see what I have/want.

Anyhoo - next up, finish up re-painting the British Paras, and use up the rest of my German sprues for more basic troops.