Podcasts.....

 Well not too much happening on the hobby front, busy at work and in the garden, got to while the weather is good!, and other than checking out a load of blogs I have started listening to podcasts.  I have come to these very late, never bothered with them before but I was missing out that's for sure.

I have started listening to The Yarkshire Gamers podcasts and a mighty fine listen they are too!  Ken is a big game wargamer and interested in the history of wargaming amongst other things, so ticks the boxes for me, the first two I listened to really pulled me in and got me hooked.

 I listened to the Peter Morbey one which was really interesting to me as I am a big fan of Elite Miniatures and got a real good insight into how he works. Talk about a one man band! Peter designs the figures, models them and casts every thing himself, talented man indeed!

The second one I listened to was the interview with Robbie Roddis, his blogs are a real treat and I follow him as he always has something interesting to say, this podcast was a real treat, really good fun and some great stories from his life in wargaming, He also talks at good length about Peter Gilder, another of his blogs, and I found it very enlightening and very interesting, cracking listen.

Ken has a good sense of humour and puts his interviewees at ease and the chat rattles by and seems to pass in an instant, can't recommend them highly enough and I will be listening to a couple more this weekend that's for sure.

The other thing I have been poring over this week has been the various blog posts from folks lucky enough to have gone to Partizan last weekend. Coming from the far north, shows are not really on my radar due to work and life commitments but come retirement that will change and I hope to hit a few when the time comes. Anyway I really enjoyed seeing the photos of the games on show and I know a lot of people call it the premier show on the circuit and with the quality on show you can see why!  So much inspiration to glean from all the lovely photos taken, time well spent I think.

That's about all I have to say just now and hopefully some hobby time might be had on Sunday as Saturday is work in the morning and gardening in the afternoon, we shall see! So until next time....

The start of the Peninsular project!

 While waiting for my initial order to be cast from Elite Miniatures I went and purchased two ready painted units of British line infantry off ebay, they weren't overly cheap but then again for the work on them they weren't too dear either, I feel they were a bit of a bargain to be honest.

Painted by Mac Warren and they look very nice indeed, two 36 man battalions that have given me a real head start for this project, I am aiming for three units per division and three divisions per army plus cavalry and artillery and command stands, so this plus what I have on order will give me the first division plus the start of the other line division and the lights division, things taking shape very nicely!  

The second line division will be one British line and a couple of Portuguese ones, the Light division will be the 43rd, the  71st and the 95th rifles, then it will be heavy dragoons some Portuguese dragoons and some hussars, then the artillery a mix of British and Portuguese, so a nice mixed Anglo/Portuguese force with different enough units that should keep me interested and stop the butterfly flitting about too much!

A slight diversion! again.....

 

Although I was working last Saturday morning I had the Monday off due to the bank holiday but got next to nothing done on any projects. After work on Saturday it was gardening duties, much the same this weekend!, so that was a write off.

 Sunday saw me and my mate Kev set off at 6 o'clock for a whistle stop tour of the central belt, vinyl hunting, Glasgow, Stirling and Dundee, various record shops visited and some goodies bought for the collection, never got back until 8 o'clock at night so a loooong day but some great banter and a really good day out. Record Fair coming up in June back in Dundee so that is the next vinyl hunt!!

Monday was a real lazy day as I was pretty much washed out after the previous two days, this getting older thing is a real pain! Very little hobby stuff done, a little bit of touching up on some flag poles from the 10mm LoA figures I recently purchased, and some basing done on them and that was about all I did on the wargaming front, other than peruse various blogs that passed my day very nicely.

On the 10mm project, I placed another order from Hinds and will be doing what ever needs done to them this weekend, I thought I would have everything I need for this project but may end up buying some more from Pendraken and painting to suit the ones I have, not too sure on this but will have an inventory this weekend to see where I am with this.

The other big project is the Peninsular one that I embarking on, my order is placed with Peter at Elite and just waiting for my goodies to arrive, two British battalions one Rifle, a heavy dragoon regiment and a battery of artillery, a fair investment and a lot of unpainted metal, my focus will have to be strong and the butterfly must be repressed that's for sure!! Well that's all I have to say for this week, so until next time,,,,

Things getting done!!!

 My Peninsular project is still in the planning stages, so I cracked on with some figures that have been part completed since a couple of months, good chance to finish this unit off!  This is my small GNW project, I finished a gun crew and I am now working on the gun, also on the table is a 20 man charging infantry regiment in karpus, they are well on the way to being done, just a few colours to block in and then a wash, varnish and base!!

My GNW project is going to finish up at around 4 foot, 2 cavalry and 1 gun and crew for each side, and I have most of the Swedish miniatures already bought and most of the Saxons that will face them as well, it is a nice little side project that I pick up and put down and is not too much of a priority, All the figures are Warfare miniatures and they are lovely figures, the charging regiments have a great sense of movement and are very good value if you buy the regiment packs. Should be able to crack on with them this weekend.

My other ongoing project this week is getting to the finished stage, over the last year or so I have bought various foot, artillery and cavalry figures of Ian Hind on ebay, These are 10mm Pendraken League of Augsburg range and are off course painted and based. Here is an example.

They are very nicely done and bar an odd paint chip need no work on them, when I acquire a few more I will have enough for a decent game, I think the totals are around 8 foot, 5 cavalry and 6 guns a side, then it's choosing the rules and getting a game done. On the Honours of War page on Facebook there is a WSS amendment that should work well, I think I will go down this route.

The other figures that are near to completion on my painting table are 5 Giant Ice Trolls of the North from the Wars of Ozz game, these are painted and ready for some varnish and basing and they are good to go, they are lovely animated beasties and could do for any fantasy setting.

So that's my update for this week, actually getting something done and finished is a major boost for me and the thought of finishing off the 10mm painted one is a real win for me, not having to paint or base them has been a boon that's for sure given my glacial painting!!! So till next time.....

Latest Purchase......

 

This is my latest purchase and the possible start of a new project! Not another one, I'm afraid so, very much in the planning stage at the moment but with some inspiration gleaned from various blogs I really think this could be one to go for. If it happens I will be going down the Elite Miniatures route as I really like these figures a lot and they do a pretty extensive range of Spanish, Portugues, British and French and should cover all the figures I will need.  Not totally decided on rules, maybe Black powder but we will see, the book purchased will be used for some ideas to begin with but I may well go with the main rules.  I already have some uniform guides for British and Portuguese and off course the French, will have to find something that covers the Spanish if I decide to go down that route. 

With this project being a distinct possibility I may get rid of some of the stalled projects and sell a few of them, I will think about it but it may be the time to pass some of these onto someone who will use them, time will tell! I do have way too many projects on the go and will have to prioritise and rethink what I can and can't continue with.  Interesting times as always!!

Bits and Bobs.....

 This weekend was one of doing bits here and there but not really concentrating on one thing. I got three sixteen man units of British infantry for my ongoing AWI project primed ready for some paint. All the figures are by Fife & Drum and them and the Perrys make up all my units, Continental and Brits and both work well enough, the Perry ones are a bit chunkier but do for me, the F & D ones are lovely, very nice elegant sculpts.

The next work done this weekend was getting some paint on 5 Giant Ice Trolls of the North which are part of the Wars of Ozz range, I have a few Ozz figures and have actually got some finished! These Trolls are allies of whatever faction you want, I have them all blocked and ready for a good wash, then highlights and they will be good enough for me. I don't do a lot of fantasy and this and Slaughterloo are my main fantasy projects although both have Napoleonic uniforms to some extent, anyway these will be done soon enough.

The last work I did this weekend was some Perry Paraguayan from their War of the Triple Alliance range, I have a only a few packs of these bought, this ones and some Argentinian infantry and cavalry, I am doing this as a small project and units are only 12 men each and 6 cavalry, I am not too sure how many units for each side, will see where it takes me, The figures are lovely, I really like them, but then I am a fan of the Perrys. I have the 12 man unit all blocked in and just a bit of final detail to do then a wash and highlight and I can get them based up.

The other wargaming part of my weekend was the usual reading of various blogs and one I really concentrated on was Unlucky General, a cracking blog and I read all his posts on his Peninsular project and his Waterloo one, really top notch and very inspiring. He tends to use a lot of Elite Miniatures figures and I must admit I really love those, they look great en masse and have a certain "old school" feel to them. 

Well it was a busy enough weekend for hobby time and also got some gardening in on Saturday so all in all a nice weekend and ready for the onslaught on work on Monday!!

Back to the grind......

 I have just had a week of work and pretty much all hobby time was spent on my Quar project but I am pretty much done with this for a while and need a break from them and do something more historical. I did a fair bit of work on the Quar and the project is going well, so I am happy enough with that. 

My break from work was just what I needed, the weather in part had held and I was able to get my garden into some shape ready for the new season, all weeded and ready for planting up in a few weeks. The weather up here in the far north usually means what gets planted down south you can add 3-4 weeks up here before you do likewise.  I am back at work today, a Saturday I know!! but it i only for the morning and it means my desk will be cleared and ready for Monday, all the 3 or so hundred emails will be mainly deleted and a clean slate for the new week, also we usually do breakfast when working on a Saturday which is always good!

Now to get back to historicals but I really can't put my mind to do what!! I had thought about the Epic ACW project but the figures weren't calling out to me! I will have to be in the mood to start this project and the mood is not with me at the moment. So it is back to the 18th century or maybe the Carlist War which will take my fancy, probably won't get anything done today but tomorrow should be a nice easy day with minimal chores to do, so painting will take place!! Just what!?

I have come the world of blogging rather late and some say that the world of blogging is dying, sure a lot of blogs have withered away due to Facebook etc. but there is still a load of cracking blogs about. I spend a fair bit of my day checking new posts and commenting on said entries, all of which I never really did before. I had always been interested in a couple of blogs but never really explored the wide range out there, glad I did as there is so much inspiration, tips and encouragement to be gleaned from the wide world of gaming.  Long live blogging!!!

Anyway have a great weekend wherever you are and hopefully I will decide on what figures are going on the table for tomorrows painting, I have a bit of time to mull it over!!