Club night, new project alert, painting update and the SM challenge...

Last Friday saw the first game of the year. Stef and I faced off in a game of Songs of Blades and heroes, Stef bringing along a warband of LotR Southrons and I dug up my Confrontation Griffons. Normally this games is supposed to be a quick one, but because of some crappy dice rolling we switched turns faster than statistics would predict so it took a long time before we had something resembling two battlelines forming in the center of the board.
Stef had sent a pair of archers out in front as skirmishers, always good for a quick kill, right? Not even close. I managed to get one kill in before the end of the game, on the other flank where there were no archers. A good thing, as those two archers would kill (or help killing) no less than five of my troops. The heavy infantry were looking on from a distance (and fearing job cuts in their branch of service).

At this point the game ground to a halt as a long lost member made a re-appearance after a long absence and the three of us got talking "Old School Gaming" and "Imagi-Nations". Something Stef and I have discussed as a possibility many times before, mainly based on the Wars of Faltenian Succession series in the excellent Battlegames magazine. I reread that series over the holidays as it came up in one of the "View from the veranda" podcasts, so the idea had come to the front again. Just what I need...
Later that evening I checked out Peter's blog "The Nyudrev Chronicles" (see my list of blogs) where he describes his efforts on "De Dietsche Unie", his Imagi-Nation based on the local area. I also looked at his Minden miniatures for his first infantry unit and I immediately started drooling. Great looking miniatures with a definite Old School look and reasonably priced...
Maybe I'll send for a small trial order next month, ten or so figures... But first I would have to decide on the background for my own little nation (as I was typing this bit, I came up with one of my silly, double entendre acronyms, but I'll keep it to myself for the moment).

This would bring my counter back up off course, but I'm on track to push it down again in the next couple of hours as I'll be finishing another batch of Blitzkrieg Commander infantry stands. When these are done I'm going to go back to 28mm for a bit and finish some of the odds an ends that heve been stranded on the painting table for a long time.

And now we get to the SM bit... Knowing the kind of guys that frequent blogs like this one, I am pretty sure all of you were thinking Space Marines, right? On the table was a five man SM squad and as I started slapping on a first coat of paint I started thinking (I know, nothing good ever came from that). Given the high point cost of Space Marines I should be able to finish, say 100 points of figures each month, giving me a smallish force by the end of the year.
I had painted and finished three figures as a test for the clour scheme, all I have to do is redo the base from the "Green fields of Kent" to the more realistic grey gritty bases I paint presently and finally give them back banners. That way I can claim about 100 points for this month as the figures are an officer and two sergeants. And the squad I just started will give me the points needed for February.

So in short and on the plus: played a battle, had a great club night, kept on painting and started a limited side project based on figures already owned...
Bad thing: I see something new looming on the horizon...


Happy painting and gaming!

Quick update

So what have I been doing since the last post? Not as much as I would have wanted, even though I'm still steadily working my way through the painting desk.

I finished a batch of infantry and mortar stands for my late Russian Blitzkrieg Commander and have prepared the next one. They're glued, washed and base coated, ready for the painting brushes. Last friday at the club the painted ones got a lot of amazed looks from the warhammer crowd... amazed that these tiny 6mm figs can have painted webbing straps and even wooden rifle butts...

Other than that I've only been working on some pieces of streetfight scenery, made by UK based "Black Cat Bases". They produce a rather nice assortment of mundane items, ranging from discarded matrasses to vending machines to trash bags etc etc... Always great stuff to fill up the alley ways and streets during your gang wars/zombie runs...

And I really shouldn't hit myself over the head about the slow pace. After all, I did finish 33 figures this year, short as it may have been untill now. That still is more than one per day. I'd be a very happy camper if I can keep that up for the rest of the year...

Wait and see!
Happy painting to you all...

Going negative...

...and I'm not talking about the temperature. I just finished a few stands of BKC infantry, plunging my counter into negative territory. The next few stands are only slightly behind, so the counter wil drop again in a day or so. OK, I'll still have to spray them with matt varnish and flock them but that will have to wait till the temperature climbs again. And because that is only a minimum of work left on these figures, I declare them finished...

Coming back to the weather, the forecast is for lots more snow coming in over the weekend. Tomorrow after work I'll be doing my shopping and then I won't be leaving the house for a few days (took monday off as well to give road crews time to clear the roads for me ;-) So I'm looking forward to three days of painting, reading the new BKC rules, etc etc.

Hope you guys have a wargames filled weekend to look forward to as well!

What's up, Doc?

I seem to have reconnected with my paintbrushes over the last few days. Compared to most I'm still awfully slow but I think I should have finished the Blitzkrieg Commander stands and the first Impetus units by the end of the week. Plunging my counter solidly into negative territory (where it should be)... And no real need/urge/opportunity to buy anything new at the moment. Wierd, doesn't sound like me...

I dont know why, but it looks that GHQ 6mm infantry is by far my favoured painting job, even with all the detail that is on these microscopic men. I am considered to be quite mad by my fellow club members because I paint the webbing straps, but they are that good, they deserve it.

And finally a big welcome to the latest follower of this little blog: Tim. Almost into double digits now

Plans for 2010

But first a quick look ath the last figures from 2009. These are a pair of Minbari Torotha class escorts and a Morshin class carrier from "A Call to Arms". The pictures are that good because of the light conditions outside (the snow reflects too much light) and the models themselves only have their satin varnish coat on, it's way too cold to break out the spray can. I kept the paint scheme very basic (and close to the picture on the fleet box they came in): a bright blue basecoat drybrushed with some light grey... Simple but effective.


So, what are my plans for the new year? I will be sticking to last year's "spend less, play more, paint more" idea. I have also decided to focus on the following projects for now:

-Blitzkrieg Commander: get to grips with the new version that just came out and continue painting my late war Russians

-Impetus: at long last my Carthaginians will emerge from their cupboard onto the painting table. The first two units of Balearic slingers are already mostly finished.

-A Call to Arms/Federation Commander: more of a side project really, painting those spaceships will break the drudgery of painting loads of similar infantry.

-World at War: add the last finishing touches to my infantry and get those tanks done.

-Clearing the painting table: get rid of all the odds and ends that clutter up my table.

All in all rather limited objectives for the moment and I'm hoping to keep it that way...