What's on the table - December 2016 UPDATE

Not too bad a month, I completed 3 of my 5 key items and one of the additional ones:

• Newline Designs 10mm Greek Hoplites (2015) - no further progress
• Artizan Designs 28mm LRDG (2013) - COMPLETED
• Oathsworn Miniatures 28mm Burrows and Badgers Fox Rogue (2016) - COMPLETED
• Oathsworn Miniatures 28mm Burrows and Badgers Shrew Warrior (2016) - COMPLETED
• Cromwell Models 1/76th Pz IV (2014) - significant progress
• Artizan Designs 28mm WW2 Partisans (2013) - no further progress
• Battlefront 15mm British LRDG Ford V8 trucks (2016) - COMPLETED

Additional items I worked on:

• Oathsworn Miniatures 28mm Burrows and Badgers Rabbit Heroine (2016) - cleaned up
• Oathsworn Miniatures 28mm Burrows and Badgers Toad Animist (2016) - cleaned up

So that's it for this year. 2016 has been a strange old year in which the world has become a more uncertain place. Hobby wise it's been my most productive year since 2012. I've become more focused and I'm sure doing the blog has helped with this so it's served it's purpose and I'll be continuing it for 2017. 

I wish everyone a very happy New Year, all the best for 2017. 

Furry critters.....and a snake

When I went to Salute this year my main purchase was a batch of 15 of the fantastic Burrows and Badgers figures from Oathsworn Miniatures. Readers of this blog (there may be one or two of you out there) will have noticed that I've been completing a few of these as the year has progressed. Last week I finally managed to take some photos.

L-R top row: Fox Brigand, Ferret Rogue, Otter Rogue
bottom row: Weasel Rogue, Mouse Knight, Adder Mage 

I love these figures. They combine two of my main passions, wildlife and miniatures! Each one is oozing with character. Michael has done a superb job reproducing the nuances of each species with his sculpting. And Jo and Michael of Oathsworn are top people as well. 

Fox Brigand

  

Ferret Rogue

 

This was the first one I painted. I chose to paint her with the classic Polecat facial markings.

Mouse Knight

 

Weasel Rogue

 

If I was picky this is more Stoat sized than Weasel but what's size between Mustelids!!!

Otter Rogue

 

 Adder Mage

 

This one caused me a bit of an issue as I'm not keen on snakes. It's a lovely sculpt but it gave me the creeps doing it and looking at lots of pictures of adders. I was going to attempt to do a male Adder with it's distinctive black and white scales but felt that it was so well sculpted that I may overdo it and spoil it. So it was finished very simply with multiple grey and black washes over white primer.

Hope that you like them and that I've done them justice.

What's on the table - December 2016

Here we go as we enter the last month of the year.  Stuff in progress:

• Newline Designs 10mm Greek Hoplites (2015)
• Artizan Designs 28mm LRDG (2013)
• Oathsworn Miniatures 28mm Burrows and Badgers Fox Rogue (2016)
• Oathsworn Miniatures 28mm Burrows and Badgers Shrew Warrior (2016)
• Cromwell Models 1/76th Pz IV (2014)
• Artizan Designs 28mm WW2 Partisans (2013) 
• Battlefront 15mm British LRDG Ford V8 trucks (2016

The in-progress tray as we start December

The aim is to complete the first five items off the list before the end of the year. I've got a bit of time off over Christmas so this should be achievable but who knows what will come along to distract. 

What's on the table - November 2016 UPDATE

Here's the update to the November list.

• Newline Designs 10mm Greek Hoplites (2015) - skin painted 
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Adder Mage (2016)  - COMPLETED
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Otter Rogue (2016)  - COMPLETED
• Artizan Designs 28mm LRDG (2013)  - skin and base uniform colours painted

Additional items I worked on:

• Peter Pig 15mm WW2 Japanese infantry (2016) - cleaned, painted and varnished  waiting to be based
• Artizan Designs 28mm WW2 Partisans (2013) - clean up started
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Fox Rogue (2016) - cleaned up and primed
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Shrew Warrior (2016) - cleaned up and primed
• Battlefront 15mm British LRDG Ford V8 trucks (2016) - cleaned
• Cromwell Models 1/76th Pz IVH (2014) - cleaned up, case colour painted

My WW2 groove is still well and truly on. I've even had inspiration to get on with the Pz IV which has been my bête noire since I started the blog. In terms of completed items the list may not look too clever, but I've a number of things ticking along that will hopefully be finished off in December to end the year on a positive note.

1/144th WW2 planes

Since my splurge on the Punic Wars 10mm project in August, I've been trying not to buy  anything that needs "doing". I've bought some books and some hobby supplies (varnish, grass etc) but no minis or kits. My resolution for the rest of the year was only to buy if it's a). something I've been searching for that's out of print/production and an example becomes available  and/or b). is something that's on the want list and is a very good price. Otherwise I'm trying to resist. 

Resistance crumbled last week. I really enjoyed making and painting the Revell 1/144th Micro Wings Hurricane and Bf-109E in the summer and I've been trawling eBay on and off for more of these little beauts having been outbid on a couple of auctions. However, persistence pays off and I managed to pick up these little lovelies for £2.00 each. And they met both of the above criteria...surely that's justification enough?

As well as being lovely classic WW2 aircraft all of these have a wargaming use. The Corsair and Hellcat have multiple applications. I could use them as support for my FEC forces in Indo-China or for the inevitable 15mm USMC Pacific force that'll be collected at some stage. The Stuka gives me a further option to the two Eduard Stukas that I need to build. That leaves the Me-262. Well everyone needs an Me-262 don't they? 

I realise that I've come late to this party and Revell no longer make these kits. I'd be really interested to pick up more and also if anyone has a definitive list of what Revell produced. 

Bf-109 and Hurricane

What's on the table - November 2016

Here's what's in various states of completion as we start November.

• Newline Designs 10mm Greek Hoplites (2015) 
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Adder Mage (2016) 
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Otter Rogue (2016) 
• Artizan Designs 28mm LRDG (2013) 

A nice manageable list.  A couple of items that aren't completed but that have dropped off the list from last month, are the Peter Pig 15mm WW2 14th Army infantry and the dear old Cromwell Panzer IVH. The PP figs are all finished bar basing. I'm not sure whether they'll get based in teams or singularly yet. The Panzer IVH has been put in a drawer as I've lost patience fiddling about with it. 

I'll probably start my packet of PP WW2 Japanese Infantry alongside trying to complete the above. I do like these little fellows and will work out an order to build platoon sized forces for Bolt Action. 

What's on the table - October 2016 UPDATE

Updates to the original list:

• Cromwell 1/76th Pz IV H (2014) - no progress
• Newline Designs 10mm Greek Hoplites (2015) - flesh areas painted
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Adder Mage (2016) - main colours blocked in 
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Otter Rogue (2016) - main colours blocked in
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Weasel (2016) - COMPLETED
• Revell 1/76th Comet (2014) - COMPLETED

Additional items I worked on:

• Artizan Designs 28mm LRDG (2013) - cleaned and primed
• Peter Pig 15mm WW2 14th Army infantry (2016) - cleaned, primed, fully painted and varnished.

We were away mid-month so I didn't do too much. The highlight of the month was completing the Comet, which the infamous Pz IVH aside was my oldest outstanding kit. You can read more about that on my post here.

I had a bit of a WW2 renaissance when I saw the lovely SBS Mike Owen figures for Gorgon Miniatures advertised on TMP. I promptly dug out the old packet of LRDG that I'd picked up for a couple of quid back in 2013 and started on them straightaway. I have been very close to getting shot of these on many an occasion, wondering what I was going to use them for as I don't game WW2 in 28mm. However, I am partial to Mr Owen's work and already had the matching pack which I finished in 2007. So they've now on the table and will be painted just for the joy of it.

Also, without really planning to, I  did a packet of Peter Pig WW2 14th Army that I picked up at Salute. I got these just to see if I could still paint 15mm what with the bifocal blues. Happy to say I still can and I'll do a full write up on these once I take some photos.

1/76th late WW2 British armour

Over the last few months I've completed three British tanks- Sherman Firefly, Cromwell and Comet in 1/76th scale. This was the first British armour that I'd done in this scale, my 1/76th collection being Eastern Front. I have done a fair bit in 15mm though.

It's been awhile since I completed a plastic kit and it took me a bit of time to get into the groove again. I made mistakes with each one, which I'll mention below, but overall I'm happy with the results of all three.

I built and painted the Comet and Firefly over the same period this summer. The Cromwell is the Airfix kit which I picked up in 2004 from eBay for about £5.00. It's one of the newer Airfix kits released in 2011, consisting of about 90 parts. I was really impressed with this kit having made a number of the old Airfix kits over the years. It went together very well, with little/no flash on the mouldings and made a very nice model. A bonus for me was the track moulding in one piece plastic rather than the old "rubber band" type. They worked a treat. 

Airfix Cromwell

The Sherman Firefly was another £5.00 eBay purchase. I bought it on a whim in May this year on the way home from work - the danger of smart phones! It's the old Matchbox kit re boxed as Revell. I like the old Matchbox kits. They're a good balance between being straightforward and not too fiddly to build yet still looking good for wargames purposes. This one went together without any problems apart from the very last part where I stuck the two main assemblies together without fixing the turret retaining ring. However, this self inflicted annoyance aside, it was another pleasing and successful build.

Matchbox/Revell Firefly

The Comet was bought back in 2014 at the same time as the Cromwell. Once again it was about a fiver and like the Firefly it was an old Matchbox kit re boxed as Revell. This was a breeze to build. I think this had a lot to do with having recently built the Cromwell and Firefly and I'd refreshed my skills. As seems to be the pattern at the very last I cut one of the front towing hooks off the sprue and it pinged across the room never to be seen. Mildly annoying but not the end of the world by any means. Of the three builds I think the Comet was my favourite. 

Matchbox/Revell Comet

I like to add a mix of putty, washers, old figures etc to the inside of my plastic tanks to give them a more weighty, satisfying feel. Obviously the best time to do this is during construction but I only remembered to do this at this stage for the Comet. For the Cromwell it wasn't too much trouble to fix as the turret is removable so I could pack it in. With the Firefly where I already had to correct the forgotten turret ring, I ended up drilling/cutting a whole in the bottom of the tank so with a pair of tweezers I could fit the turret ring and then I could pack the hull.  

I painted the wheels and associated parts of the Cromwell and Firefly as I assembled them. They got a base coat of Vallejo Model Colour (VMC) 924 Russian Uniform. The wheel rims were painted VMC 995 German Grey . I then painted the superstructure with a base coat of VMC 897 Bronze Green. This didn't give the colour I wanted so I repainted with Russian Uniform and applied a wash of VMC 890 Reflective Green or 894 Russian Green (can't remember which), Citadel Badab Black, VMC Glaze Medium and water mixed to the standard skimmed milk consistency. This added a nice depth to the Russian Uniform base. I then highlighted with Russian Uniform mixed with VMC 886 Green Grey to varying degrees and then a final touch of pure Green Grey on some areas.The final step was a dirty wash of Vallejo Game Colour Earth to the wheels and sparingly to the hull. 

The Comet was painted in exactly the same way apart from I didn't do any painting on the sprue and only painted the wheels when they were all assembled and stuck to the running gear. The other difference was I went straight to Russian Uniform for the base colour. Machine guns and tool heads were painted VMC Black base with a pencil highlight. Tool handles in some shade of Citadel brown I forget which. The tracks were given a base of some Citadel muddy colour with a drybrush of VGC Boltgun. Then they were washed with a Citadel Devlan Mud/Badab Black mix and then a bit more of a Boltgun drybrush. As a final finish odd areas were very lightly drybrushed with VMC  124 Iraqi Sand which has to be one of my most used/useful colours.

And that's it. I will add some stowage when I get hold of some and possible some markings. I don't really have a firm idea of what to use them for past the usual Normandy/Market-Garden scenarios for the Cromwell and Firefly and an East v West 1946 scenario for the Comet. But before I do that I'll need to get hold of some Brit infantry. 

What's on the table - October 2016

So we're into the last quarter of the year and here's the list of what's on the table as we start October:

• Cromwell 1/76th Pz IV H (2014)
• Newline Designs 10mm Greek Hoplites (2015)
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Adder Mage (2016)
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Otter Rogue (2016)
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Weasel (2016)
• Revell 1/76th Comet (2014)

Oathsworn Adder, Otter and Weasel primed and ready for painting

Ah, the Cromwell Pz IVH bless it. Stlll there and still not much happening. I periodically inspect the ultra-flimsy badly fitting turret shurtzen, scratch my head and then put it back on the table again. It's a pity that overall it's such a nice model as I'd be tempted to use it as a wreck otherwise. I'm also tempted to hybridise it with an with a poor old Fujimi Pz-IVJ that has seen better days. If I put the two together I may get a half decent model.

The Matchbox/Revell Comet has been a nice kit to do and that should be finished this month. I think I bought it with an idea of a 1946 Red Army v Brits "what if" scenario. This will be the third British tank I've built this year and will do a write up on the 3 kits at some stage.

I'm still thinking about the 'Nam project, just finished reading Matterhorn and waiting for what Peter Pig release before taking this any further. I believe that PP are revamping their 'Nam range November time. I have a couple of packs of PP WW2 figures that I purposely bought at Salute just to see if I can still paint this scale so I'll try and fit them in during October which will help my decision making. 

I've also been mulling over finally redecorating and revamping the room where I do my painting and modelling.  I bought a filing cabinet off eBay a while back for the purpose of organising my 15mm and 20mm collection and it's sat there empty. With the weather and light changing I think it'll be good to start sorting that out. I'm also playing with the idea of seeing if I can find a nice old desk to replace my current uncomfortable painting table and chair. It's all towards the greater good.

Bye, Bye Boutiques

This is a piece that I wrote early on but didn't get round to posting. As I think about what I'm going to do for the last three months of the year I came across it and decided to post it. 

As part of my overall strategy of balancing the three demands of Time, Money and Space I decided to look at whether to clear out any of the "boutique" games that I'd purchased in the last couple of years. As it was I hadn't been too indulgent and I only had the Batman Miniatures Game and Carnevale to look at. 

Having collected a few Batman comics when that was one of my things back in the 80s, I always had a soft spot for the Caped Crusader. When the game came out it coincided with Gotham starting on the TV so I was enthused to order a copy of the rules with the Alfred figure. Both the book and figure were top quality. I then starting to properly think about what was needed to play a game ie. a number of very expensive figures which would need very careful (read time consuming)  painting . Would it keep my interest long enough to warrant the outlay in money and time?

My other impulse boutique purchase was Carnevale, which came on the back of reading the excellent "The Bellini Card" by Jason Goodwin, one of his Yashim the Ottoman Detective novels . This book is set in Venice and reignited an interest I've had with the city since visiting it. I'd been aware of the Carnevale game for awhile and decided to take the plunge. An order for the rulebook and a starter set of figures was placed and duly came. Once again lovely book and figures. But after the initial excitement reality struck. Long term was the outlay worth the return? 

After much thought and being ruthlessly honest with myself I decided that the time needed to paint up opposing factions and make appropriate terrain for what may be only a couple of sessions of gaming, coupled with some significant monetary outlay on assembling the forces meant that neither game was viable. 

A quick post on The Lead Adventure forum and within days both Batman and Carnevale had found new homes and I'd recouped a fair amount. And I think that's me done with the boutiques. As a postscript to this I've since found out that the makers of Carnevale have gone belly up so I'm very pleased that I didn't invest any more in this. I have boxes of Celtos figures and the AE:WW2 rules gathering dust to show what happens when the boutique bubble bursts. 

What's on the table - September 2016 UPDATE

Updates to the original list:

• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Mouse Knight - COMPLETED
• Cromwell 1/76th Pz IV H – no progress
• Revell 1/144th Hawker Hurricane – COMPLETED
• Revell 1/144th Bf-109E – COMPLETED
• Newline Designs 10mm Greek Hoplites - no progress

Bf-109 bouncing a Hurricane - Revell 1/144th Microwings

Additional items I worked on:

• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Adder Mage - cleaned and primed
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Otter Rogue - cleaned and primed
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Weasel - cleaned and primed
• Revell 1/76th Comet - main assembly complete, base coat applied

I more or less stuck to the plan for September completing my third Burrows and Badgers figure and the two 1/144th planes. I'm not going to say too much about these as I want to post separately on each. 

Essex Warriors Open Day

Sunday saw the Essex Warriors open day held at Writtle Village Hall - http://www.essexwarriors.org/?cat=2

I've been to this show a lot over the years. The guys at the club are a good bunch, there's always a few traders you can pick some bits up off and there's a good old fashioned bring and buy. I've usually managed to get rid of items that would never make the painting table   - we've all got items like that. This year though I didn't have anything that I wanted to take along and I think that's a sign of success. I've been more discerning in my buying recently and I've also been more disciplined in actually completing stuff. 

Apologies for lack of any details and image quality but here's some shots of games held by club members:

ACW game

Colonial Game A

Colonial Game B

I managed to pick up 3 books all in good condition for under a tenner from the bring and buy, and got a bottle of Anti-Shine matt varnish from Andy's Models, a trader that regularly attends. Not exactly last of the big spenders but I was happy and I'm not looking to add to the lead/plastic/resin pile until I decide what to do re. Vietnam and the other projects that have been bubbling about in my head. 

This show is the opposite of Salute, the other show that I regularly attend. It's good to know that the hobby supports both extremes of scale and they are both as important to the hobby if we look at more than just the financial aspect. I look forward to next year. 

What's on the table - September 2016

Here's the list of what's on the table as we start September:

• Cromwell 1/76th Pz IV H (bought 2014)
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Mouse Knight (bought 2016)
• Revell 1/144th Bf-109E (bought 2015) 
• Revell 1/144th Hawker Hurricane  (bought 2015) 
• Newline Designs 10mm Greek Armoured Hoplites (bought 2015)

The Cromwell Pz IV is proving to be a pain in the rear which is why it's been an ever present on the What's on the table since I started in May. It's a resin kit with incredibly fragile turret schurtzen. All of the supports were either broken when I got it or have broken just by looking at them.  As is well documented on various forums, whilst producing lovely models Cromwell Models are a nightmare to deal with, so there's no chance of approaching them to get a replacement. In fact to get this kit I had to go through a third party. Additionally the model didn't come with the side schurtzen or with the supports on the model which is pretty poor as all Pz IVHs had them. So I'm going to have to do a fair bit of scratch building to get the model to look half way as it should. It's a real shame because the rest of the kit is lovely.

This is the smallest list of items in progress since I started the blog in May.  I'm on holiday for the first two weeks of September and this made me focus on getting things finished rather than starting anything new. When I return from holiday the goal is to complete the Mouse Knight and the two 1/144th planes but I don't envisage there to be much else that's happened when I publish the update at the end of the month. I really want to crack on now with my Punic Wars project. 

So until mid September...

What's on the table - August 2016 UPDATE

Updates to the original list:

• Privateer Press Hordes Satyr Shadowhorn – COMPLETED
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers - Mouse Knight - some progress, base textured
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Ferret Rogue - COMPLETED 
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers Fox Brigand – COMPLETED 
• Cromwell 1/76th Pz IV H – no progress
• Airfix 1/76th Cromwell Mk IV – COMPLETED
• Airfix 1/76th Opel Blitz – COMPLETED
• Revell 1/144th Hawker Hurricane – good progress, just detailing and decals to complete
• Revell 1/144th Bf-109E – good progress, just detailing and decals to complete
• Revell 1/76th Sherman Firefly – COMPLETED
• Newline Designs 10mm Greek Hoplites - no progress

 Additional items I worked on:

• Newline Designs 10mm Greek Hoplites - additional 23 figures cleaned and primed

August was quite productive considering I spent a lot of time watching the Olympic cycling and gymnastics and Team GB generally being very impressive. How refreshing it was to watch what appear to be intelligent, normal, well-rounded people represent their country with pride, dignity and integrity.  The contrast couldn't be greater to the Euros debacle. Rant over and back to the important stuff.    

All of the 2014 purchased figures are now complete which is a milestone I'm pleased to have achieved. And for the first time since I started this blog I don't have any Privateer Press figures on the table. I love these but I take a lot of time trying to do them justice. For the time it took me to do the five figures that I've completed this year I could do platoons of 15 or 20mm figures. I've still got a Gatormen posse unit and the Carnivean/Ravagore/Scythean kit to do but they were 2016 purchases and are well down the schedule. Once I've completed the 10mm Hoplites that'll be 2015's purchases completed as well. I think that the blog is serving it's purpose of keeping me focused.

Punic Wars goodies

My Newline Designs Ancients order came through last week. As ever good service from Newline, they really are very easy to deal with. A good, easily navigable website, easy and clear order and account system, good postage rates and always speedy to get your goodies to you.

My order consisted of 1 pack (30 foot/12 horse/3 elephants) of each of the following (codes in brackets):

Roman Hastati (10R12)
Roman Princeps (10R11)
Roman Triarri (10R10)
Carthaginian Elephants (10CA04)
African Heavy Infantry (10CA01)
Libyan Heavy Infantry (10CA02)
Numidian Cavalry (10NU02)
Numidian Infantry (10NU01)
Samnite Infantry (10SA01)
Celtic Warband (10CE01)
Spanish Scutarii (10SP01)
Greek Hoplites Advancing (10GR02)

That gives me around 300 10mm figures to paint.

To support this new project I've been raiding the county library service and digging out the few titles from my collection.  Here they are in all their glory.

The butterfly calls

I refer to my posts of  15/07 and 22/07 where I talk about my next projects. I have to confess that in the last 7-10 days the wargames butterfly* has visited and although Vietnam is still very much in the frame I've started a different project. And it couldn't be more different to those mentioned on 15/07. I've started a Punic Wars project. 

Quite a diversion from the Vietnam War. I've started ordering library books, researching on the web, bought an Osprey and even ordered a few hundred figures without my usual agonising about it. 

I blame reading.  On the work commute I'd been reading the excellent Marathon by Christian Cameron. I had read Killer of Men earlier in the year and similar to then I started thinking about Ancients. I had already dug out the pack of Newline 10mm Hoplites (bought on a whim last year) as a bit of practice to try and decide on scale for the Vietnam project.  I think the stars aligned or something but coupled with reading Marathon and Newline's summer sale it all happened very quickly. 

I'd looked at the Greek/Persian wars before when I had some long since eBayed Immortal Hoplites and had decided not to collect. But the Punic Wars has a lot going for it. Hoplite armed infantry, Numidian and Celt allies, elephants, Scipio and Hannibal - what more could a lad want I ask you?

I have a lot of research to do and I very enthused. However, I haven't abandoned the Vietnam project at all. I'm going to order some Pendraken Punic Wars and when I do I'll get some 'Nam samples. And I'm going to split my research time between the two. Strangely I think they will complement each other as my autumn/winter projects. Terrible to think like that when it's only just August but the way the weather was at the beginning of the week it has made me think that way.

*wargames butterfly - thanks to Mike Hobbs mikehobbs.co.uk for naming the condition. I came across Mike's blog a few years back and recognised a fellow sufferer. 

What's on the table - August 2016

Here's the list of what's on the table as we start August:

• Privateer Press Hordes Satyr Shadowhorn (bought 2015) 
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers - Ferret Rogue, Fox Brigand and Mouse Knight, (bought 2016)
• Airfix 1/76th Cromwell Mk IV (bought 2014)
• Revell (Matchbox)1/76th Sherman Firefly (bought 2016)
• Cromwell 1/76th Pz IV H (bought 2014)
• Airfix 1/76th Opel Blitz (bought 2015)
• Revell 1/144th Bf-109E (bought 2015) 
• Revell 1/144th Hawker Hurricane  (bought 2015) 
• Newline Designs 10mm Greek Armoured Hoplites (bought 2015)

I only managed to complete the 2 figures in July.  For August my aim is to complete the Cromwell Mk IV, Sherman Firefly and Opel Blitz as a minimum and also make some real progress with the Oathsworn Miniatures figures. 

What's on the table - July 2016 UPDATE

Updates to the original list:

• Privateer Press Hordes Titan Gladiator and Cannoneer – COMPLETED - HURRAY!!!
• Privateer Press Hordes Satyr Shadowhorn – no further progress
• Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows and Badgers - Mouse Knight, Ferret Rogue - no progress Fox Brigand – good progress, all base colours complete
• Cromwell 1/76th Pz IV H – no progress
• Airfix 1/76th Cromwell Mk IV – minimal progress, 2^nd base coat applied
• Airfix 1/76th Opel Blitz – no progress
• Revell 1/144th Hawker Hurricane – minimal progress, primed
• Revell 1/144th Bf-109E – minimal progress, primed
• Revell 1/76th Sherman Firefly – minimal progress, 2^nd base coat applied

 Additional items I worked on:

• Newline Designs 10mm Greek Hoplites - good progress, cleaned and primed

Titan Cannoneer

Research and scale questions

As mentioned in my last post I've started thinking about a new project. To this end I went through my book collection and also picked some up through my excellent local library service. Here they are:

This week my copy of the Flames of War Tour of Duty supplement arrived. I'm very happy with it, it's very good background info for whatever rules and whatever figures I end up using. It was a bit of a steal for £8.99 off eBay.

I still haven't completely decided what scale to collect 'Nam in. I have an Indo-China collection with 40-50 20mm Liberation Minis Viet-Minh figures, a few buildings, some palm trees and other assorted terrain bits that would all do very well. That leaves me to add in some AK-47, RPG and RPD armed troops and that would almost be one side complete. 

For the USA and or ANZACs I'd have to start from scratch. Dependant on the size of force and how much armour I wanted this could be costly.

Or the alternative is to go with 10mm using Pendraken and Timecast. All excellent stuff. Decisions, decisions but I've made a start and will look at properly costing out what size force I want to collect before I make any purchases. 

Just one more new project

As we approach the middle of the month I thought I'd better do an update for my not so many readers.

The month so far has been a titanic struggle or perhaps that should be a struggle with Titans. I've finally gotten round to painting the Skorne Titan Gladiator and Cannoneer that came with the small Skorne army that I got off eBay in 2014. These are big figures covered in detail and are taking up all my hobby time. 

As I persevere with these I'm thinking of starting a new project. The last new project I started was back in 2013 when I took a diversion to Afghanistan and which ended up as a 1920s NW Frontier project. Since then all of my purchases and time has been spent on adding to existing projects. Ah, not quite true as I bought a load of Burrows and Badgers minis at Salute.  However, that doesn't count.

In the frame and being researched at the moment are:

• Six day war - 6mm or 10mm 
• Vietnam war - 10mm
• 1980s Europe - 6mm

I've definitely been influenced by the Battlefront offerings for each of these eras, but I baulk at paying the BF prices. However, I do like their books and their website is full of useful information. 

The three conflicts offer something different for me. 10mm is a brand new scale. And for the Six day war and 1980s Europe these would involve far more armour than I currently use for my WW2 games which are no more than a troop of armour per side. 

I'm currently working out costings, looking at suitable ranges and manufacturers and reading about the conflicts. I'm hoping that by the end of the month I'll have made a decision and ordered my first units.