Back Again

Well it's been a couple years and there's a few new things to report....

First, sad news as after more than a 20 year run, Tabitha has passed.

A regular on the blog, whether wanted or not, Tabitha has gone on to greener pastures.

As for me, the old homestead is just the same.

I survived a couple more Canadian winters...

Work has been, well, work.

Much of the year I've been riding the bus, to and from work in the dark...

But I took a look at my life, and decided on a change.

So I bid adieu to the workaday world.

And RETIRED!

They gave me a nice send off.

And I've learned to relax.

Things were percolating nicely. I quit in the New Year, then Covid 19 struck. Like the rest of you I spent time at home trying not to get sick or pass anything on to others...

I also spent time reading and rereading my histories of the Civil War...

Uhhhh, ENGLISH civil war.

And I also reread the classics..

And with the coming of spring I reacquainted myself with biking.

And spent time visiting old work mates over lunch.

But the correspondence school self defense lessons were a bust.

Ordering hobby supplies has been dicey, but the mailman is friendly as ever.

So now, like everyone else, I am dreaming of taking a nice vacation on a beach somewhere...

Ain't It The Way....

After a long haitus I dug out my camera and boxes of painted toys only to find my camera doesn't work anymore.....
So I made an attempt with my android, and here's some "results".

Comic Book Toy Lucky Revolutionary War Artillery.

They look better with wheels pinched from Eagle Games Civil War figures.

Lucky Toys Cavalry as American Militia

American Regulars

The Command Base. One thing you get a lot of in these figures are drummers and musicians.

Some Converted Renaissance Swiss Pikemen

More Conversions. Emhar Rowing Vikings are now becoming Gothic Horse. Hopefully to be at Chalons some day to face my Hun's.

Mars Thirty Years War Artillery. Mars is really going all out with their TYW ranges. I read a couple of Brigadier Peter Young's books on the English Civil War and Edgehill, and guns in this battle were a real mixed lot and rather small in caliber. Not at all like the fire spewing behemoths seen in the movie Cromwell.

So that's some of my figures, the pictures aren't so nice, so I am waiting on a new digital camera.

Fell off the Planet, again

Well Happy New Year! It's been a while.
I let the Warrior minis challenge slide, having got caught up in their 25mm war of independence range. Nice figures, but I just lost gas along the way.
I painted a bootfull of plastic though, and met a local plastic wargamer along the way.
Bought quite a few books too. So I'll start posting again.
What shook me out of my slumber was a particularly horrid DVD purchase.
I joined Amazon Prime and I have saved a bunch on postage (I have yet to do the streaming bit though) and have picked up a bunch of films.
By the way, if you haven't tried podcasting, I can HIGHLY recommend it. All sorts of shows to download as mp3's and listen on the go.
A fun one is Mancave Movie Review. Several wargame buddies in their middle age discuss films that appeal to guys while imbibing in their love of craft beers.

http://www.mancavemoviereview.com

Now, what has me on the keyboard is this title:

"Product description

The army that defeated Napoleon at Waterloo is often remembered as an iconic English redcoat force. A little known fact is that most of the men under the Duke of Wellington's command weren't English at all. Using unpublished accounts, the story of the battle is told from the perspective of those troops - Waterloo's Warriors."

I bought this title hoping it would address the 60% plus of the allied army at Waterloo, namely the Dutch, the Belgians, Brunswickers, Hanoverians and Nassauers who seldom get mentioned.

Nope. The film focuses on the 30% of Wellington's army that was Irish and the 25% of the officers who were Scots. And their pregnant wives. Yep.

This is a revisionist feminist history, and Waterloo is barely recognizable in this two hour documentary. One woman says she saw Wellington AND Napoleon that day, and Napoleon "looked like a farmer". The other woman marched in the front rank of the Royal Welsh Fusileers with her baby as they advanced towards the French. You can't make this stuff up. Also they claim Napoleon used " shock and awe" tactics that had Wellington "shaken" and "in awe of Napoleon". Oh, and Wellington was " conflicted" by being Irish and fighting for the British....

After throwing my shoes at the TV I figured I better warn somebody off of such a bad show.

Oh well.

On the other hand, THIS is a great how to book:

Beautiful, full color step by step on how to paint all aspects of wargame miniatures.

The author's writing is in a clear, concise and conversational style.

I can't recommend this book enough.

Warrior Miniatures Army O' The Month

This is the second 100 piece army I purchased this year from John Holt of Warrior Miniatures.


http://www.warrioronline.demon.co.uk/

Here's the whole lot:

This is sold as The Army of Xannthippus, and meant for the First Punic War. Here's what you get:

18 Spartan Hoplites, in two styles:



18 Carthaginian Hoplites:

6 skirmishers:

4 War Elephants:

6 Numidian Cavalry, one piece castings, in two styles:

3 Carthaginian Heavy Cavalry:

The elephants come in kit form:

They go together quite easily, I assembled mine with white glue and super glue. Over all a fun army to paint with lots of variation. The elephants are the stars of this group, the least attractive are probably the skirmishers. The hoplites are quite nice, but they have the basic problem of all hoplites and that is the long spears. John includes more than enough, and has various styles of spears available in the set. Sharp eyes might spy several figures returning a Roman pilum. But the long spears do suffer from handling, I broke several and gave up on the lead ones. I instead used the stand by, 20 gauge florist wire from Michael's. And even then I broke off a couple during the photo session. The shields stay on fine, but those spears are a headache.

As for the cost?
It was 40 pounds UK for the army, plus shipping which came to 55 pounds. In Canadian money that was $90. Starting to get pricey, but still a bargain compared to other manufacturers. It's the long distance postage that bumps up the price. 40 quid is just $66 Canadian otherwise.

So you end up with the core of Hannibal's army, as these guys could easily be used in any of the Punic Wars, although this set was probably meant for Bagradas in the First one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bagradas

I ordered yet another Warrior army a while back. This one is a bit slower arriving, so I'll hopefully have it painted up in April.

I have to admit I'm enjoying painting these various armies, and the minimal cost is an incentive to experiment with different eras.

I'll post some more of my regular plastic guys soon. I have a hankering to do Edgehill.

Bye for now.







Just A Curiosity

I recently was looking in a Dollar Store when I spied these:

It immediately reminded me of the Games Workshop 6 x 4 foot battle terrain they were selling a while back. I toyed with the idea but passed, as they were over $300.
But these are cheap!

So I bought a few and went home.
Here is what they are:

Sadly though, there is only one pattern. I was hoping there were a selection of three or four styles.
So these 1 foot by 1 foot plastic tiles are somewhat limited.
Anyway, I painted a couple just to see:

A basic desert sand being over ridden by my Caesar Hittites.
And a verdant green:

This time topped with some large 1/72 scale Romans, copies of Elastolin I think. Here's another shot, basic paint job with miracle dip.





Well that's it. A shame there aren't other terrain variations, it has potential beyond the price (less than $2 each). I had envisioned mounting 4 on a cardboard base and using putty or plasticene to smooth over the joins.