Long time.....

 Well it's been a few weeks since I posted on here, real life taken priority, work, gardening and putting up a new shed all ate into hobby time big style. The shed is kind of hobby related as it will house my boxes of figures, good solid 8 x 6 pent roof security shed, should fill it up nicely!

Not all been work and no play as I have some Carlist volunteers on the painting table, they have been undercoated and first skin tones added, not too sure if I will get a chance this weekend to add to them though, we shall see.

I got another box of goodies from Spain from TJ who has sold his 28mm Minden collection to me as he downsizes to 15/18mm, the ones arriving now are unpainted castings, French, Prussian and Austrians, all to be added to the dreaded lead pile! Also in the box were a couple of painted command stands for the Prussians, Von Seydlitz and a vignette with Frederick and a couple of staff, all painted to the highest standard by TJ, very talented he is too the swine! I've been lucky to have had the chance to acquire his collection it's been a major boost for my SYW collections.

A bonus in July's pay packet has given me some splurging money and I am looking at the American/Mexican war, small battles and some nice uniforms, regulars and volunteers, ticks a good few boxes for me. I have ordered a couple of books, uniform guides and rule book and I think the brigade deals from 1st Corps looks a good bet for me. I will go with the US army to start with and six infantry units, two cavalry and three guns and it should be good to go. A wee bit of planning to do but I am looking forward to getting dug into this project, something a little bit different for me and has enthused me I must admit. Here's a picture from Ist Corps site, to give you an idea of what they offer.

Well finally getting back in the groove after a couple of months of little activity on the wargame hobby front at least!

A wee update

 Well the unseasonably good weather continues up here in the far north but due to end this weekend.  Any free time I have has been spent in the garden and I am very nearly finished doing what is needed. More shrubs have been added and more grass taken away, less cutting Huzzah!!

My Canadian Lilac in full bloom, absolutely alive with bees and a really beautiful shrub when in bloom, I did have another one but it has died due to my ivy taking over. The next phase is putting up a 8x6 shed which will be a useful storage for a lot of my plastic tubs of completed and still to do miniatures.

On the wargames front, not much has happened painting wise but I have received lots of goodies from across the pond, loads of Minden and AWI figure from Fife & Drum, super service as always from Jim and ultra quick delivery at a real decent price, can't beat that!

The figures in the stock pile are some Highlanders,artillery and cavalry for my British army, not far off having most of what I need for this project. French artillery and officers, also got a pile coming form TJ, most of these will be used for the FIW as I have probably enough for the SYW. I also got some Austrian infantry and hussars and these are actually going to be used as a Bavarian army as they used uniforms of a similar cut, so a paint job should make them work.

Well that's about it at the moment, I have three units of British cavalry just arrived from TJ in Spain so they will needed based and hopefully this Sunday will see that happen. Until next time folks.......

In the doldrums!!

 I have had the past week off work and found myself busy in the garden, an odd day out and some really good relaxation time, great stuff but a whole week off and a paint brush not lifted once!! I pored over blogs, read a couple of articles, skimmed through some books for some ideas for games etc but not one figure painted or even primed, just no enthusiasm and it really seems like a missed chance to get something done and off the table, very disappointing.  I very rarely go through periods like this but can find no enthusiasm to pick up a brush and dab some paint on but hopefully this will pass and I can get on and get something completed.

Yesterday I got some miniatures on the table to see where I am at with a couple of different things.

Some Minden British infantry that were actually done a while ago, they will eventually be part of a 16 man unit but I have found out that I have the other figures but no standard bearers! Really annoying to say the least!

A nine man squadron of French Hussars but destined to be something different. I have three different French Hussars so don't really need another one so these ones will be repurposed to another nation, not quite sure what one yet, possibly Prussian but may go with an Austrian Grenzer Hussar regiment, something a wee bit different, they won't be quite accurate but will do what I want them for and on the table should pass well enough.

A six man British Horse Grenadier squadron and some British Horse in the background, I also have some Dragoons to do as well, these cavalry figures will do for both my WAS and SYW projects.

A couple of Saxon Cuirassier squadrons and you can just see some Saxon infantry, there is three sixteen man ones to do. When done this will give me eight sixteen man regiments which will be enough. I need some more cavalry some Dragoons and maybe a squadron of Uhlans, then it will be som command stands to finish off.

So there you have it tonnes to do and plenty of figures to paint up all I need now is the enthusiasm to get myself into gear and crack on, back to work this week so maybe this weekend will be the time to reignite these projects, here's hoping!!

Spain, why Spain???

 Although I have travelled a fair bit over Europe and Canada I have never been to Spain, no real interest in the beaches etc, so it was never on my list and now I find myself in my mid 60's it is never going to happen, Spain and me will never meet!  So why do I find myself wargaming in Spain so much?

I have a Peninsular project with Brits, French and Portuguese who will be fighting in Spain, I have a First Carlist War project with the Carlists just about done and the Isabelinos on the go and now I find myself going into the Spanish Civil War!!

Now I don't do modern wargaming the nearest I get to is the Quar and it's sort of fantasy WW1 setting, so how did I go down the SCW route?  Ebay had an interesting starter set on sale, the guy had painted up two 20 a side units plus some buildings, very nicely done to, very impressed with the standard of painting and modeling, he did a really good job, I looked at it a couple of times and then put it on my watch list, the guy contacted me and offered me the set with 10% off, so I bought it!

There are 20 International brigade and 20  Carlists plus the buildings you can see in the background, the figure are very nicely painted and based and the buildings look great and two of them were scratch built and the ruined one is a Warlord kit that fits in well. Enough to get me started and gaming right away you would think, but no there is more to come!

The obligatory Ospreys were purchased and then it was off perusing the Empress Miniatures catalogue and off course a Republican army pack was purchased and a Nationalist army pack was purchased! The packs come with 60 odd figures a side a couple of tanks and machine guns and crews, so I now have a very decent size project, another on the go, when will the madness end!!

I don't really need to add any more to this project although maybe a couple of the strange little armoured cars that featured during the conflict might be the final purchase just to finish it off.  The only thing now is to find a decent rule set that will do, not being a modern gamer a fair bit of reading of reviews and other blogs will hopefully point me in the right direction.

Anyway my fascination with Spain continues, on the wargames table at least, I have enough to get a game in as I build up the rest of the forces so it is a nice place to be in with this project.

Hopefully this will be the last time I go to Spain but who knows as the whole El Cid thing interests me a fair bit as well!

Hobby time at last!.....

 Finally got some time to do some wargaming stuff, work has been busy and last weekend it was off to Stirling for a record fair so no wargaming hobby time until Sunday.

Some Minden Russians finally get some love! I have had a three of small orders from Minden recently for some SYW Russians but they have been sitting in their boxes since they arrived. With a bit of time to myself on Sunday morning I thought this would be the time to start them off, 2 times 16 men musketeer units and 3 times 6 men cavalry squadrons consisting of cuirassiers, dragoons and horse grenadiers, this is the size of unit I will be using for this army, probably a dozen infantry,six cavalry and a couple of 3 gun batteries of artillery plus officers etc.

Ordering from Minden is a treat, they get delivered in quick time and Jim throws in some freebies that are always appreciated, top notch service. Prepping the figures takes next to no time as there is practically no flash on these figures, the are more or less ready to go straight from the box.  I glued them to their bases and got the horses primed so happy enough to get these started. No real time next weekend as it is another record fair next Sunday, down to Dundee for one of the best  fairs in Scotland.

I should be able to crack on with these in a fortnight or so and prime the infantry and start to put some pain on them. I have a couple of more infantry regiment still in the box plus a couple of mounted officers and an artillery crew and gun, so plenty to get this army up and running, just need a bit of time to get it really rolling, 

I will probably get another order into Jim for the next batch of Russians but I am swithering as I need some French artillery crew and guns so need to think about this before ordering, we shall see.

So until next time when hopefully I will have some progress to show......

The muster continues!......

 I got a box of goodies from Alternative Armies at the back end of last week, the first three unit of infantry for my SYW Dog wars.

Grenadier with dark blue facings.

Line regiment with yellow facings,

Line regiment with green facings.

All are 20 figure units and really nicely painted, very happy with them, great service from AA, really nice people to deal with, communication was good and the time to place the order, get painted, based and delivered was very decent indeed. 

The planning for the next order is underway, another three red uniformed line, just got to work out the facings for this lot. After that it's jaegers and artillery before the cavalry get their turn, this should cover most of this year and then it's on to the opposition forces. 

This project is on the move in the right direction and I am very happy with the progress, it's all going according to plan, which for me is very unusual indeed!

First Recruits!....

 Here is the first recruits to my War in Canis project, finished ones that is!

Not quite finished as I am going for a gloss varnish finish with this project so they have to get a coat of that to fully finish them. 

 This unamed, as yet, hussars were painted by Alternative Armies and really well done they are too, very happy with them.  I have three 20 dog units with AA at the moment getting painted, red coats and different facings, one yellow, one green and a grenadier unit with dark blue facings, once I get them I will post them up here.

So this project is on the go, not too sure when I will call it finished, plenty to do and get done yet, so it is a good qay into the future for calling it done that;s for sure.