2023: The Plan

"You do realize it's May already?"

 

The Great Move is (mostly) over and I'm getting ready to start ramping up hobby time. I have had more success with my hobby by developing a plan over the last few years and 2023 will be no exception. This year will be a little different though. On with the plan!

 

 

1. Paint miniatures for Ogre. I love Ogre. It was one of the first games I purchased as a youngster and Honorable Son #3 (The Engineer) loves the game and bought the latest version which is a lot bigger that the pocket sized edition I had!  So of course I bought him Ogre game miniatures for the game and now that I can throw a rock and hit where he lives, it'll be time for some giant cybernetic tank action. Before I moved, I did some test paints for him to see if they fit his vision and I'm glad to say that they did. Some white spray paint and GW contrast paints; hopefully it won't take me too long to finish the project . . . and I am looking forward to painting the Mark III and V Ogres.

 

Part of the game board.

 

Heavy Tank.

The Ground Effect Vehicle (GEV) is excellent for hit and run.

The poor bloody infantry. Do not underestimate them!

 

2. The Northwest Frontier circa 1890. I use the rules The Men Who Would be Kings for my Colonial battles. My initial Indian Army is almost finished but the Pashtun/Afghan Tribal force is falling behind. 

 

 

    a.  Pashtun/Afghan Tribal force. When finished the core force will be:

        3 Irregular Infantry of 12 figures each.

        2 Tribal Infantry of 16 figures each.

        1 BFG.

 

The BFG.

 

    So far I have completed one Irregular Infantry, 1/2 of the second Irregular Infantry unit, one Tribal Infantry unit and the BFG. My goal this year is to finish the 1 1/2 units of Irregular Infantry and one more Tribal unit. All of the figures (with the exception of the BFG crew) are hard plastic miniatures from Perry Miniature's Afghan Tribesmen Box.

   

     b. Indian Army. Before we decided to move I was planning on adding 1 Highlander unit, 1 Sikh unit and 1 Ghurka unit. I have scaled this back for this year and plan on painting the Gordon Highlanders. Miniatures will be from Perry Miniatures.

3. Learn/play at least two new miniature games (well new to me anyway). Here is a hint of one of them:

4. Play some games and meet new gamers! 

 

 

 

Three of my Honorable Sons live near me now that I have moved and Honorable Son #2 (The Captain) has already committed to playing the French and Indian War using Rebels and Patriots.

 

 

 

We are definitely going to play a big battle Napoleonic game since I have never defeated Honorable Son #4 (The Greatest 18th Century General who ever Lived) in a game with muskets. Of course there will be some action on the Northwest Frontier and I'm sure we will get and English Civil War game in too. And who knows, maybe we will end up in an area of space a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. I'm looking forward to meeting hobbyists in the area and have already checked out two stores.

Well that's the plan. Time to execute.

British Riflemen in Skirmish Order from WoFun Games Peninsular Starter Pack

A company from the 5th Battalion/60th Rifles.

I enjoy playing with Toy Soldiers and I love the hobby; having said that, remember at the end of the day we are playing with Toy Soldiers.

When I posted my recent purchases on several popular miniature gaming boards, I was surprised by several reactions on one board:

Of course this allows people to afford to wargame and bring more people to the hobby, which are good reasons but:

1. Nice idea but their research is a bit sketchy; white facings?

2. The colours are in the wrong positions for honour. (Referring to British line infantry battalions)

3. OK! It just makes one wonder why wargamers, even those just starting in the hobby bother with tomes of historical battles, uniform research, sable brushes, paint etc. Oh! And in some cases, conversion, to painstakingly strive for uniform accuracy of each individual figure. The Napoleonic uniform was one of the top reasons for drawing me to the hobby. I wonder what drew others?

The original photograph that caused the "controversy".

As a retired Colonel of Infantry of the US Army, Military Historian, and semi-mature adult, I wisely (in my opinion) did not decide to respond and go down those rabbit holes. I only made one response to the last comment:

"Maybe the fun, the social activity and the fun of gaming?"

Anyway . . . in my experience yes the uniform regulations say one thing, but the reality? Heck, even during my service in the "modern" era, I didn't always wear what the regulations said (where did that British scarf and German fur line boats come from anyway?).  Basically, it's just how you want your armies to look, parade ground or what they looked like in the field. Even today, modern dyes fade and there were color variations. In the late 18th Century and early 19th Century, it was even worse - and I won't even discuss the issue of resupply!

My preference for most of my armies is for them to look like what they would look like in the field at gaming distance. I'll be the first to admit though, my Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard look like they just came off the parade field because they are the Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard. It's your army!

They way I looked at the British rifle figures with white facings, grey trousers and white trousers is that you can make them whatever unit you want. They can be the 95th Rifles, the Light Infantry of the King's German Legion (KGL) or the 5/60th rifles with just a little work. I decided to paint the facings red to make them a unit from the 5th Battalion, 60th Rifles. Now the "regulations" have them wearing grey trousers and some of my riflemen have green trousers. Why? Because that's all I had! As for the "white" trousers at gaming distance to me they are faded grey with variations of the Iberian Peninsula shining on them from different angles.

Sure many of us like to do meticulous research and want our units to look just right. I'm doing the same thing know as I am getting ready to paint some Indian Service Troops and Highlanders for the Northwest Frontier Uprising of 1897 to1898. But don't ruin the hobby for others just because the buttons should be faded brass instead of shiny gold.

The completed unit.

"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams." H. G. Wells.

Experimenting with Making Videos: Tin Tin

Tin Tin, Snowy, and Cora Armstrong boat down the mysterious river.

 

One of the things I like to do is spread news about our wonderful hobby and think of ways to do so. I have had my students (cadets) refight Shiloh using Fire and Fury, I have used AWI miniatures to recreate Cowpens for my Military History Class, I have taught course on wargaming to middle schoolers using One Hour Wargames. I have even used my figures to teach Sunday School and to talk to our church youth.

So here is another attempt that I have been using on Facebook and now I'm trying on this blog for the first time: A video (really a fancy slide show) of some of miniatures. First up is that adventurous and youthful journalist known as Tin Tin:

Has it been 10 Years?

Huzzah!

I can't believe that I just noticed that this blog had its first posting on January 1st, 2010. Ten years and 243 followers (love you!) later, I am still going strong. In celebration of the fellowship of fellow gamers and lovers of the toy soldier hobby, I dedicate some of my favorite pictures of my figures to you!

 German Afrika Korps 88mm gun from Battlefront Miniatures in 15mm scale. This picture was featured in A Wargamer's Guide to The Desert War 1940 - 1943 by Daniel Mersey.

 Panzer III

The Desert Fox

More WW II in 15mm:

Aussie Infantry.

 Bren carrier and Desert Rat Tank.

 17lb AT Guns.

German Tiger.

 German Infantry.

German 10.5 cm Battery

 Bagpipes!

 Late British Infantry of WW II.

 Soviet Guard Tanks and Soviet Naval Infantry breaching barb wire.

"For Mother Russia!"

Warlord Games Highlanders. I have I think about 48 of these beauties. The great thing about the Warlord clansmen is how many individual sculpts they have that can give your clan quite the unique look.

 The Battle of Fuentes de Onoro. A big Napoleonic Peninsular battle using the rule set Volley and Bayonet. Figures are Foundry, Dixon and Perry's. The French army "technically" won the game but were too exhausted to prevent the Allied army from withdrawing in good order.

4th Swiss and 13 Light.

More Highanders!

 Arthur, Dux Bellorum. Figures from Foundry and Old Glory. The Dark Ages are a fascinating period to game and are not just shield walls.

I love the English Civil War Period. Figures by Warlord Games and Foundry. In my opinion the best set of rules is Victory Without Quarter - and they are free!

Speaking of Civil Wars, the American Civil War is a great period to start due to the ease of painting the figures. My favorite rules are Fire and Fury. Most of the figures in the picture are 15mm figures from Old Glory.

Another of my favorite periods, thanks to the author Elizabeth Sutcliff, is the Late Roman Period. Figures by Wargames Foundry. 

 I love the British Colonial period too and use The Men Who Would be Kings as my rules of choice. Figures from Artizan and the machine gun is from Copplestone.

Plus it gives me an excuse to paint more Highlanders!

 Vikings are cool. Hard plastic miniatures from Gripping Beast.

And who doesn't like flying their own X-Wing?

Or be a knight of the air?

 Fantasy anyone? Dragon Rampant - any world of fantasy you want with any figures you have!

Meanwhile back in the 1940's:

 28 mm World War II: Late German Infantry.

 British Paratroopers.

Bagpipes!

German Paratroopers.

And now my latest obsession: In Her Majesty's Name. Skirmish gaming in a Victorian Sci Fi Universe of 1895.

German Marines fighting off Troglodytes!

 The French Foreign Legion.

Tarzan of the Apes.

Fu Manchu and his Mechanical Man!

 . . . and everyone was Kung Fu fighting.

Scotland Yard and a certain famous consulting detective.

 Dorothy Gale and her Untouchables

The Wicked Witch of the West.

 United States Marshals.

 The Pinkerton Detective Agency.

 Department "H" (there is no Department "H").

Lately I have also moved into the Pulp era:

 Tintin and Company.

 Seeking Adventure!

 Where ever the river takes us.

"I like punching Nazis. I really like punching Nazis."

 The men and women of Miskatonic University.

Masked Vigilantes.

Barsoom.

 Tharks . . . and they look angry . . .

Thanks again to all who make this hobby great!