2021 Recap : The COVID Years - Part Two

 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 nothing to report with no games played at all.  I still do not have a space for putting down the playing boards, but I live in hope for 2022 in that I will get to play something at sometime in the year.

So, on to what I have been painting this year.  I managed to get a few ECW bases of pikemen and musketeers done, which means I am calling the ECW project complete for now.  The are still the Montrose and Irish Confederation armies to do, but I am in no hurry to get them done yet.  

The bulk of the year was filled up with painting French, Prussian, British and a few Portuguese Napoleonic figures.  I managed to finish the French Peninsular forces as well as some Carabiniers and Cuirassiers like I had planned to, then I saw some lovely Imperial Guard figures from Grumbler Miniatures so I decided to make a start on the Imperial Guard for either 1813 or 1815.

Sadly, my painting and photography skills do not really do justice to the beauty of these figures.  I ended up doing quite a few bases of Imperial Guard infantry, in fact, enough for all of the 1815 campaign and a significant portion of the Guard in 1813.  Cavalry and Artillery followed next and then I decided to get a few more 1815 cavalry regiments to cover the Right Wing under Grouchy.  I would probably done more, but I ran out of space in the figure case!

So, next up were the Prussians, I had started out planning to do the 1813 campaign but I decided to do 1815 instead but with units specific for 1813 added in, such as the two Foot Guards regiments and the six Grenadier battalions.  Instead of using Baccus figures for the Cuirassier and Dragoon regiments I went with Grumbler Miniatures as the models looked gorgeous.

 By the time the Prussians were finished it was the middle of November, so I decided to reduce down the resin pile and get a load of buildings done which had been hanging around for about a year.

Overall, I was pretty happy with the results, I guess I am better at painting buildings than I am at doing figures.  But, by December they were all done and I was stuck for things to paint, so back to the British to end off the year.  I wanted to add a few more units to the 1815 campaign, but after ordering a load of new flags I realised I only had figures with Belgic shakos for four bases all the rest had stovepipes and were allocated to being Portuguese Line units, which I did not have flags for.  So, I finished up the year by doing the four British bases and then I did five Cacadores battalions.

So, a productive painting year with two major projects either finished or complete enough to get some games sorted out if needed.  There are still some bits that need to added to the Napoleonic project such as, about a dozen British Infantry units for 1815, The Spanish for both sides in the Peninsula and of course the rest of the Portuguese.  Also, if I was a completist then I would also be adding the Dutch-Belgian, Hanoverian and Brunswick units for 1815.  I also still have a Corps of Russians to do for 1813 though they are on hold until I can sort out and source the flags I want for them.

The new year will see the start of two new projects, the first will be the Greek-Persian Wars and the other will be 1066.  The armies I got from Baccus are designed for the Hail Caesar rules and are about 500 points each, though I also like a set of rules called Great Captain which were made by a local club and the basing I am going to use will suit both rulesets.  Also still in the back of my mind is the Pony Wars project and of course there is still the WW1 naval stuff to get sorted out.

A final thing would be to try and do more posts on this thing and to try to take better pictures.  So Happy New Year to everyone and stay safe