A Return to the Table

 As we approach Easter I thought I had better post an update on how things are going.  The first quarter has been a busy period for painting here, with the year starting with the Greeks and Persians that I had purchased late last year.  After checking the Army Lists I decided to up the points values for these and the Dark Age armies to 550 points each which meant buying a few more figures for each of the armies.   The Greeks were really nice to paint up and although I struggled at first with the shield transfers that I had bought, I eventually got the hang of them. Most of the infantry were units of 48 figures based on either 2 40mm x 20mm bases or 2 40mm x 40mm bases.  The smaller infantry and cavalry units were on single 40mm x 20mm bases and finally the commanders were based on 20mm x 20mm bases, this was also true for the Persian units which I started on after the Greeks.  Most of the Persian infantry were cast in files rather than strips, so I mainly used the larger square bases f

 With 2021 soon to be ended it is that time again when I look back at what I wrote a year ago and see what I have managed to achieve and what has been heaved to one side and discarded. With COVID running wild throughout the country there were no shows going on during the first half of the year, with several being pushed back until later in the year.  The Joy of Six went ahead though it was held virtually.  The ability to talk to several people about future projects and games they are planning to put on was enjoyable, though the atmosphere of a proper show was missing, but hopefully 2022 will see things back to normal.  Finally, in November I actually managed to get to a show in person, only to find out the supplier I was picking up figures from had cancelled at the last minute due to illness.  Still, it wasn't a totally wasted trip I managed to pick up some bases for a new project and a couple of reference books I will need this year. As far as gaming went there is absolutely nothi

 Well, 2020 is finally over and it is time to have a look back at the plans I wrote at the end of 2019 and to see how they worked out. Let me start with the easiest one to look at, my show list.  Basically, I made it to Hammerhead in March and that proved to be the only one that went ahead that I had planned to go to.  One good thing about that though was that my spend on figures and terrain is right down this year, especially with Baccus only opening for short periods.  So, what are the plans for 2021 well that is mainly going to be decided by what happens with COVID and the vaccine rollout, but as Hammerhead has already been pushed back until July I am figuring on going to mainly the shows in the second half of the year, which in addition to the rearranged Hammerhead show I will try to get to Joy of Six, Claymore, Fiasco, Border Reiver and Battleground shows, provided they go ahead that is. Next thing to sort out was the table, I was going to buy a folding table, but in the end I cha

Back in the first lockdown I decided to give the scenarios in the Programmed Wargame Scenarios book a try.  I controlled the attacking Royalist force, whilst the defending Parliamentarian force would be controlled by the rules given in the scenario, I will be using the Twilight of Divine Right rules again as I really like them. So, the background to this hypothetical battle is as follows.  The year is 1643 and King Charles feels that it is time that he needs to retake London, so he marches the Oxford Army south east towards Henley on Thames, little does the King know though that his plans have been betrayed to Parliament and part of the London Trained Bands have been mustered and are moving to intercept the Kings army to delay them until Essex can bring his army into play. Just north of Henley the vanguard of the Kings army approach a vital road junction only to find that several London Trained Band regiments had got there first and deployed onto a ridge blocking the route the King ne

 Well, things can sometimes move incredibly quickly at times.  Within a week of posting my last blog post, where I mentioned we were looking at downsizing, we were accepting the keys for a new property.  We have moved from a three bedroom house  into a two bedroom apartment, which suits my wife and her medical needs much better.  But, it does mean that I have lost the gaming and painting room, at least until eldest son decides to move out.  Fortunately, the painting station, figure cases and boxes of terrain have all managed to find a home in the main bedroom until they can move to their permanent home. On the subject of painting, this weekend I picked up the brush for the first time in over a month to carry on painting some French Line and Light infantry.  After this I only have a couple more infantry bases to go then I have fourteen cavalry bases and six artillery bases to do to complete the Army of the South.  I am hoping to get them all done before the end of the year provided I ca

 Well, again several months have flown by without me giving any sort of update as to how things have gone.  But, in my defence I have been a bit busy painting and reorganising things.  First things first though, my purchases.  I decided to take the plunge and pick up the Jutland fleets from Navwar and they will make a nice future project, probably 2022 the rate I am going.  On the English Civil War project, I now have all the figures needed to create the musketeer and pike only regiments and they are planned to be next on the painting desk after the the current batch of French Napoleonic troops are finished.  On the subject of the Napoleonic project, I also picked up some packs of Spanish figures to add to the British forces at some point.  Apart from figures, I have been busy buying up several sets of Renaissance rules including a set I loved back in the 1980's, the 5th edition of Tercio which I picked up when I had 15mm French Catholic and Huguenot armies.  In addition to Tercio