State of the ADHS Nation 2023

Well, 2022 wasn't a vintage year for me, or for the blog... but let's try and put that behind us shall we and look forward!

Between generous friends, Christmas and new year sales I've added a few more projects to the backlog - it's a good problem to have!

Malifaux
For Christmas I got the Jedza core box and the remainder of her keyword boxes - so the Seeker keyword officially joins the collection.  I'm also still waiting for a M2E Shenlong core box to be delivered, if that comes through I'll pick up the other Monk boxes at some point.  There's a few odds and ends I intend to get generally, but otherwise that's it for Malifaux... until I see the new keywords coming for the latest expansion then we'll think again! 😉

Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game
I got the new Battle of Osgiliath box set for Christmas which includes forces for Minas Tirith and Mordor.  I'm waiting for a second hand Gorbag (come on, he's absoultely mad in the film so had to include him, even if he doesn't do dropkicks in the tabletop game!) and I've got a 3D printed ringwraith on order which I can use as the Shadow Lord or as a nameless Nazgûl.  Further purchases will be guided by how we get on with the game - although given the bow limits I think we'll be needing some more Warriors of Minas Tirith at least to even out all those Rangers.

Mordheim
I sent a friend some old GW Dwarfs that I was never going to get round to and in return he wanted to print me some surprises on his 3D printer... what should turn up other than an Ostlander warband (complete with Ogre) and various other bits and pieces - I won't spoil the surprise here though as I'll be adding them to the Mordheim Hireling Agency in due course!

Of Gods and Mortals
I'm chipping away prepping the mortals and heroes for the Celtic and Slavic forces.  There are a mixture of 3D printed minis from Etsy and metals from Forged in Battle and Magister Militum. 

The Silver Bayonet
I've put together quite a range of bad guys for this - enough to theme some games in Greece and Egypt in addition to the usual central/western European settings.  As I already have 15mm buildings for those settings we'll be well away!

Star Wars Legion
So I had no real plans for my hobby fund at the end of December... but had a good sale code to use at Chaos Cards so had a little look there.  I ended up going for the Star Wars Legion Core Box (Empire/Rebel one), along with Leia and Tauntaun Riders for the Rebels and Boba Fett and Deathtroopers for the Empire.  I'd like to up the non-human aspects of the Rebels a bit, but there's no affordable or easily available heads out there in the UK so I think I'll end up having to get a few whole miniatures to sub in for some of the human rebel troops. I've got some scenery on order for this too - hopefully to really make it feel Star Wars-y.  I think we'll need another troop choice for each side, but until I've got it all in hand I'll keep my powder dry on next purchases!

These last few days my mind has been turning to projects going forward - I'm very aware that at any point I may not be in a position to have a hobby fund available to me.  Other than the extra bits I've outlined above there's not all that much I want, but there's a few honourable mentions on my wishlist:

Carnevale
Other than a few reinforcements the main thing here is the need for scenery.  It's a big demand space-wise however, so thinking about the best way to do this.

Dracula's America
I keep wanting to do a Tong posse - and the Mountain Men from Great Escape make me want to do a weird cannibal cult devoted to Wendigo... 🤷

Infinity

There's a small number of things I'd like to add as options - the Gator TAG, some Chaksa Longarms, Andromeda, the new Masaai guys and maybe some other bits.  I'm limited by the number of Antonecitis bases I have in stock however as since they ceased trading there's no more to be had!

Reality's Edge/Hardwired
I've got a few spare scenic bases for the cyberpunk stuff so I'm aiming to find some cool and characterful miniatures to use those.  I'll also need some minis to use as Avatars for Reality's Edge but just can't quite decide what style to go for!

Saga

Once Museum Miniatures do the Saxons I plan on doing a small project with them and the Norman range.  I hope they do some Swabians though!

Other than all that the main area of contemplation for me hobby-wise is scenery for games.  I've got lots to be getting on with already (especially 15mm and 10mm buildings), but once I've made progress on that I'll be working out what I need to really take our tables to the next level.  

All that said, my main focus as I head into 2023 is to enjoy my hobby more - I plan to do weekly diary posts here to help me take stock each week of my progress; this will hopefully serve to encourage me and keep my mood/energy at a higher-than-2022 average.  

Wishlist and Plan-list

My mind has been turning over various ideas recently - some I can find suitable ranges for, others I can't... If you happen to know of suitable sources please do get in touch!

Wishlist

This is the stuff I can't find - either at all, or in my preferred scale (10mm).

I'm a big Shin Sangokumusō (or Dynasty Warriors if you prefer) fan; it actually led me to read the full Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong!  I would love to find a range of 10mm late Han/Three Kingdoms era Chinese - but what I'd love even more are some options for some of the great individuals from that time.  Of course the video game is OTT wackiness, but some of the designs wouldn't be too out of step with more serious historic miniatures - for example Guan Yu (he of the 'peerless beard') and Xu Huang:

Even in other scales this period and setting seems under-served - personally I think it is a very rich source of inspiration for forces, games and campaigns.  Perhaps if that lotto win comes in I'll commission a range and pay Pendraken to make it for me!!

I've also got a long-term wish to do a decent Anglo-Sikh Wars project in 10mm.  I tried in 15mm previously, but the miniatures were very poor quality so I gave up on that.  I've not found a suitable range in 10mm at all - and especially not the iconic Akali troops:

Plan-list

As for things I have found, one that I keep coming back to is a Great War Middle East project of some form - I'm umming and arring as to this in 10mm or 15mm as I have suitable scenery for either.  That would of course direct me towards one or other ranges!  

I'm also looking at the best options for some Saga Age of Vikings in 10mm or 15mm.  Museum's Normans look awesome (and they sent me a preview mini in my last order which proves it too!) but Lancashire Games have quite a nice little range for Dark Ages in 10mm.  Perhaps it'll be 1066 in 15mm and a few others in 10mm... now my mind is whirring away at the possibilities!

Overall I'm mostly now considering projects that can make use of one of my various scenery collections - think most of Battlescale's ranges in 10mm as well as Eastern Europe/Russia, Ancient Greek and Jungle.  As it's the scenery that takes up the most space, getting multiple-duty out of it is key to diversifying the modelling/gaming options.  In 10mm things that come to me quickly are (in no particular order!) AWI, Spanish Civil War, Peninsular, Crusades, Russian Civil War and I'd quite like to do the 65th Infantry for the Korean War.  In 15mm I'm thinking something for Zona Alfa to use my Black Ops scenery and I'm still thinking about adding a fourth force for Of Gods and Mortals (perhaps jump forwards in time and go Norse?).

Oh the possibilities!

To New Beginnings!

Well it has been a while hasn't it?

I'm still plugging away, slow, not steady, but always just a little bit forwards at least. 

So, in the spirit of getting organised and lighting a fire under my own behind, I've updated my projects at a glance page, but to bring everyone up to date as of today (13 July 2022) here it is:-

Across the Dead Earth
The Coggers - painted.

Black Ops
British Forces - prepped and primed.
C61 - prepped and primed.

Bolt Action
Hollywood Germans - painted, vehicles awaiting transfers and detailing. Kubelwagen prepped.

Black's Division Partisans (10mm) - prepped and primed.

Blitzkrieg German (10mm) - prepped and primed.

Burma British (10mm) - painted.

Continuation War Finns (10mm) - prepped and primed.

Continuation War Soviets (10mm) - prepped and primed.

French (10mm) - prepped and primed.

German (10mm) - prepped and primed.

IJA (10mm) - prepped and primed.

Operation Compass British (10mm) - prepped and primed.

Operation Compass Italian (10mm) - prepped and primed.

Polish (10mm) - prepped and primed.

Soviets (10mm) - prepped and primed.

Broken Legions
The Argonauts - painted.
The Barbarians (Gallic Celts) - painted.
The Kushites - painted.
Soldiers of the Eagle - painted.
Sons of Spartacus - painted.
Mercenaries - 15/25 painted.
Monsters - 0/9 painted.

Burning Sands

Animals/Monsters - prepped and primed.

Beast-Men - prepped and primed.

Boar Clan Warriors - prepped and primed.

Characters - prepped and primed.

City Guard - prepped and primed.

Death Cultists - prepped and primed.

Eastern Desert Raiders - prepped and primed.

Followers of Istaris - prepped and primed.

Lizard-Men - prepped and primed.

Merchant's Caravan - prepped and primed.

The Ovchilar - prepped and primed.

Pirates - prepped and primed.

Pit Fighters - prepped and primed.

Scenic Bits and Bobs - prepped and primed.

Southern Islands Warriors - prepped and primed.

Spirits/Elementals - prepped and primed.

Townspeople - prepped and primed.

Tribal Warriors - prepped and primed.

Tsadaqi Warriors - prepped and primed.

Western Mercenaries - prepped and primed.

Burrows & Badgers
The Wife's Warband - painted.
My Warband - painted.
River Pirate Warband - prepped and primed.

Town Guard Warband - prepped and primed.

Civilians and Mercenaries - prepped and primed.

Necromancer and Ghasts - prepped and primed.

Carnevale
The Doctors - prepped and primed.

The Great and Noble Cult of the End of Days - prepped and primed.

The Guild - prepped and primed.

The Patricians - prepped and primed.

The Rashaar - prepped and primed.
The Strigoi - prepped and primed.

The Vatican - prepped and primed.

Daisho/Ronin
Nagai Yasunari's Warband - prepped and primed.
The Wife's Warband - prepped and primed.

Monk warband - prepped and primed.

NPCs - prepped and primed.

Dead Man's Hand

Bethany's Lawmen - prepped and primed.

The Gillespie Gang - prepped and primed.

The Wild Girls - prepped and primed.

Dracula's America
The Esteemed Grand Guild of the Mercantile Brotherhood (Bethany Lodge) - prepped and primed.

Los Devotos del Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte - prepped and primed.
Lady Cleora and the Brood Boys - prepped and primed.
The Women of Letters - prepped and primed.
Sons of Bear (Gathering of the Peoples) - prepped and primed.

NPCs and Hired Guns - prepped and primed.

The Bullis Boys (recurring outlaw NPCs) - prepped and primed.

Unwelcome Guests - prepped and primed.

Dragon Rampant

Empire (10mm Rampanthammer) - prepped and primed.

Nurgle (10mm Rampanthammer) - prepped and primed.

Skaven (10mm Rampanthammer) - prepped and primed.

Halfling Shieldmaidens - painted.
Halfling Undead - painted.
The United Nations of Orcs and Related Peoples (15mm) - painted.
Na Coillte Dorcha (15mm) - painted.

Gangs of Rome

My gang - prepped and primed.
The wife's gang - prepped and primed.
Incola/Mobs - prepped and primed.

Gaslands
Team Rutherford - painted.
Team Slime - painted.

Gorkamorka
Da Red Fleet - prepped and primed.
Da Rustbukkit Salvidge and Rekkidge Kumpanee - prepped and primed.
Da Wife's Mob - prepped and primed.
Hired Guns - prepped and primed.

Hardwired/Reality's Edge

Agents - acquired.

AI - acquired.

Black Stone Commandos - acquired.

Drones - acquired.

Punks - acquired.

RAID44 - acquired.

SAR Angels - acquired.

Horizon Wars

Deathskull (Orks) - acquired.

The 16th Erin Mechanised Infantry (Imperial Guard) - acquired.

Sons of Lugh (Space Marines) - acquired.

Infinity
Bakunin - acquired.
Corregidor - acquired.
Druze Bayram Security - acquired.
Japanese Secessionst Army - acquired.
Morat Aggression Force - acquired.
Neoterran Capitaline Army - acquired.
Operations Subsection of the S.S.S. - acquired.
Qapu Khalqi - acquired.
StarCo - acquired.
Steel Phalanx - acquired.
Tunguska - acquired.
Varuna Immediate Reaction Division - acquired.
Mercs/Civvies - acquired.

The Ion Age

Prydians - prepped and primed.

Yordans - prepped and primed.

Kobolds & Cobblestones

Dwarf led warband - prepped and primed.

Orc led warband - prepped and primed.

Konflikt 47
Okkultekorps - painted, Zeus awaiting transfers and detailing, King Tiger-X prepped.

Lion Rampant
Grand Duchy of Cournailles - prepped and primed.

Great Duchy of Dumnoni - prepped and primed.

Mad Dogs with Guns

Irish Gang - prepped and primed.

Polish/Jewish Gang - prepped and primed.

Malifaux
Amalgam - acquired.

Asylum - prepped and primed.

Beast/Chimera - prepped and primed.

Big Hat - prepped and primed.

DUA/Umbra - prepped and primed.

Experimental - prepped and primed.

Family - prepped and primed.
Forgotten - acquired.

Foundry - prepped and primed.

Frontier - acquired.

Grim - acquired.

Half-Blood - prepped and primed.

Journalist - prepped and primed.

Kin - prepped and primed.

Last Blossom - prepped and primed.

M&SU - assembled.

Mercenary - prepped and primed.

Mortuary - acquired.
Nephilim - prepped and primed.

Nightmare - prepped and primed.

Oni - prepped and primed.

Performer - acquired.

Plague/Vermin - acquired.

Puppet - acquired.

Redchapel - acquired.

Revenant - acquired.

Swampfiend - acquired.

Syndicate - acquired.

Tri-chi - acquired.

Tricksy - prepped and primed.

Urami - prepped and primed.

Wastrel - acquired.

Wildfire - acquired.

Witch-Hunter - prepped and primed.

Woe - assembled.

Mordheim

Baergrum's Doom-Chasers - prepped and primed.
The Black Lion Brigade - prepped and primed.
Baron Hochroter's Unholy Retinue - prepped and primed.
The Dancers on the Waves - prepped and primed.
Les Défenseurs du Lac - prepped and primed.
The Doom-Maw Pack - prepped and primed.
Dunaar's Self-Preservation Society - painted.
The Filth-Eaters - prepped and primed.
The First Awakened of Zandri - painted.
Grodrik Gromnisson's Last Hurrah - prepped and primed.
Da Iron Moonz - prepped and primed.
The Jade Legion - prepped and primed.
Khorzak's Raiders - prepped and primed.
Da Krumpaz - prepped and primed.
Orthic's Exploratory Party - prepped and primed.
(The Wife's Cult of Khaine - prepped and primed.)
(The Wife's Dark Elf Raiders - prepped and primed.)
(The Wife's Sisters of Sigmar - prepped and primed.)
NPCs - all prepped and primed.

Dramatis Personae - 0/7 painted.  
The Mordheim Hireling Agency - 197/197 painted.

Mortal Gods
Athenians - painted.

Sons of Adonis - painted.
Spartans - painted.

Necromunda
Clan Redbeard - prepped and primed.
The Ghostdancers - prepped and primed.
The Grandfather's Hand - painted.
Heralds of Hope - painted.
K2 Command of Sector B67 - prepped and primed.
Die Schrottplatzmänne - prepped and primed.
Special Ops Task Force Sigma Black - painted.
Squad Castiel - prepped and primed.
The Straight Edge Society - painted.
The Sump-Suckers - prepped and primed.
Sven Halfhand's Boys - prepped and primed.
The Tatters - prepped and primed.
The Temple of the Rust Star - prepped and primed.
The Troupe - prepped and primed.
The Wandering Crusade from East Hive - prepped and primed.
The Wise Guys - painted.
The Yoyogi Crew - prepped and primed.
The ZEED - painted.
The Wife's Escher warband - prepped and primed.
NPCs - prepped and primed.

The Necromunda Hireling Agency - 68/68 painted.

Necropolis15
Plans afoot

Of Gods and Mortals

Egyptian - prepped and primed.

Greek - prepped and primed.

Indian - prepped and primed.

Outremer
The Crusaders - acquired.
Knights of St Lazarus - acquired.
The Saracens - acquired.
Mercenaries - acquired.

The Pikeman's Lament
Tyrone's Rebellion (10mm) - painted.

Elizabethan English (10mm) - painted.

Ottoman Empire (10mm) - prepped and primed.

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (10mm) prepped and primed.

Prince Rupert Battle of Camp Hill (10mm) - prepped and primed.

Proxima Centauri

Battlesuits - prepped and primed.

Characters - prepped and primed.

Church of Mendel - prepped and primed.

Civilians - prepped and primed.

Creatures/Monsters - prepped and primed.

Grafted - prepped and primed.

Hob Squad - prepped and primed.

KWP Security - prepped and primed.

Off-System Mercenaries - prepped and primed.

Pequeños - prepped and primed.

PolForce - prepped and primed.

Prisoners - prepped and primed.

Statlanders - prepped and primed.

Xoranites - prepped and primed.

Zern - prepped and primed.

Rebels and Patriots
ACW Confederacy - prepped and primed.
ACW Union - prepped and primed.
Canadians (10mm) - prepped and primed.

Fenian Brotherhood (10mm) - prepped and primed.

Rogue Stars
KemVar - prepped and primed.

Saga
Forannán's War Host - painted.
Hrafndottir's Raiders - painted.

Sengoku Monster Hunter
Hunters - prepped and primed.
Monsters - prepped and primed.
NPCs - prepped and primed.

The Silver Bayonet

Hunters - prepped and primed.

Monsters - prepped and primed.

Street Wars NYC
The Black Cobras - prepped and primed.
The Braves - prepped and primed.

The Ghetto Lords - prepped and primed.
The Mollies - prepped and primed.
The Napoli Boys - prepped and primed.

MVPs/NPCs - prepped and primed.

Tribal

Aztecs - prepped and primed.

Turnip18

The IXth Steckrübe Loyal - prepped and primed.

The 45th Kilted Carrots - prepped and primed.

And of course there's all sorts of scenery and bits and bobs to accompany most of that - although I'm currently trying to maximise use of scenery as it is what takes up the most space.

I'm haven't painted for a long time now - but I have continued to chip away at the 'to prep' pile of future glory (which is now mostly Malifaux and Infinity with a side order of Cyberpunk stuff and 3mm Horizon Wars).

I'm aiming to start posting here a little more frequently - if nothing else to help with my ongoing recovery with my PDD and depressive episode I'm currently in (as at the time of this post).

Expect more stuff soon(ish)!

Wild Blog Post Appeared!

The best laid plans of mice and men and all that.  But, I’m still here, I’m still at least thinking about hobby, so that’s a win right? Between a resurgent depression (managed to not follow through plans though so that's something) and *gestures at world* it's all been a struggle.

But anyway, a few bits by way of update since my last (failed) attempt to get back on the blog horse:

Black Ops
I’ve purchased two small forces for games of Black Ops – from CP Models 15mm range.  I’m going a bit imagi-nations with this, making the bad guys a paramilitary wing of the Freemen-on-the-Land movement and the good guys a special task force trying to take them and their utter nonsense down.  I’m planning quite a bit of fun terrain for this one – although I’m trying to stay the right side of post-apocalyptic looking! (whilst Zona Alfa waves frantically in the distance)

Kobolds & Cobblestones
When looking at my available scenery for The Silver Bayonet I decided to see what else I could conceivably use the same buildings and scatter for.  Well, Kobolds & Cobblestones seemed a good fit – and with Ral Partha Europe’s Demonworld range it was easy enough to put together a couple of gangs’ worth of miscreants.  I opted for the Dwarf Loan Shark and the Orc Warlord characters to lead, pretty much simply because I could get the suitable-looking single minis from RPE!

En Garde!
A further spin-off from the scenery contemplating, this is a very small project pitching Landknechts against an evil warlock of some kind.  The miniatures came from Alternative Armies and are as much an excuse to paint some Landsknechts in a less uniform style than my 10mm Empire force as anything else.

Rampanthammer
I’ve added a third army in the form of a Skaven force.  A mixture of Magister Militum’s Ratmen and 3D printed bits and bobs – got a few more bits being printed to finish this army.  As I will have some 10mm jungle and Aztec scenery I’m toying with adding Lizardmen as an opposing force (although of course the four armies can fight each other for reasons) – if I do that will be from Eureka who have all the good stuff I’d want for the scaly chaps.

Malifaux
I've kept adding bits and bobs to the stack of boxes awaiting their time on the hobby table.  Most recently the Explorer's Society and Outcast starter boxes and a few random single minis for OOK purposes.

Outremer
I've decided to shrink the scale of my previous Outremer stuff - so out with the 28mm and in with the 15mm (waiting on an order).  This will allow me to get double-duty out of most  of the scenery I'll need for The Burning Sands and free up some storage.

As for future plans I think I’m aiming to mostly add finishing touches to existing projects so that I can really start to sink my teeth back into the practical side of the hobby rather than the theoretical and acquisition side!  More scenery across the board is a given – 10mm Rampanthammer scatter/detailing, 15mm Modern paramilitary camp, 15mm The Burning Sands stuff and .  Beyond that there’s a few more Malifaux boxes I want, mostly the Malifaux Burns new title master boxes for my favourites – although I do intend to finish off the Umbra keyword too; and Jedza still catches my eye! 

Anyhoo – the best place to keep up to date with me is probably Twitter (I’m in the friendly hobby bit, honestly, it’s a good vibe!) and I'll be ramping back up on The Wargames Website especially for Rampanthammer as that's the best place for 10mm WFB style stuff, but I fully intend to update this blog, particularly with my ham-fisted attempts at writing background fluff and any interesting WIPs, and anything I actually complete painting! (no laughing at the back!!)

State of the ADHS Nation - December 2021

It has been a while hasn’t it?  Between new puppy, brain gremlins, work and more there just hasn’t been much spare mental capacity for hobby.  There’s been no painting for weeks – and barely any assembly/prep.  Just one of those things, but I’m trying to formulate ways to start making progress once more.

If you follow me on Twitter you may have noticed I had a birthday at the end of October – and it was something of a milestone so I got spoilt!  First up my better half decided to go for a huge stack of Malifaux boxes – which I supplemented through some canny purchases (including some pre-owned bits) using some gifted birthday money.  This is what has joined the collection (some has also been ordered from various store clearouts of old M2 stock on Black Friday so I’m waiting for those):-

Arcanists

Colette Core Box

Waiting in the Wings

Toni Core Box

Troubleshooters

Union Steamfitters (awaited)

Slate Ridge

Bayou

The Brewmaster Core Box (awaited)

Zoraida Core Box

A Light in the Dark

Amphibious Assault

Gautreaux Bokors

See Ya Later

Silurids

Big Brain Brin (awaited)

Listen Up!

When Pigs Fly

Explorer’s Society (and Ten Thunders)

Lucas Core Box (awaited)

Neverborn

Dreamer Core Box

Teddy

Things That Go Bump

Pandora Core Box

Juvenile Delinquents

Outcasts

Hamelin Core Box

Brotherhood of the Rat

Tainted Filth

Leveticus Core Box

Desolation

Marlena Webster

Necropunks

Resurrectionists

Molly Core Box

The Lost

Reva Core Box

Draugr

Mourners

The Returned

Seamus Core Box

Bête Noire

Undertow

From Trials… I got this awesome 10mm scale ruined castle.  It’s going to be perfect for all sorts of settings in 10mm, but will be a great focal point for my Rampanthammer in particular:

It comes in two layers that easily and cleanly fit together – I’m very impressed!

My workplace had also done a collection for my birthday, and as some colleagues know my better half they tapped her up for ideas – and she suggested Pendraken gift vouchers… so now I’ve got the things to replace my ACW tribute project in 10mm (I need the space after all), I’ve finally taken the plunge on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth vs Ottoman Empire project I’ve had in my mind for ages and I even had enough left over for some Aztecs to do 10mm Tribal plus some 15mm market tables for Burning Sands (and Of Gods and Mortals etc etc).  Not bad at all!

I’ve ordered the rulebook for Gamma Wolves (thanks to Trials… helpfully suggesting mecha as a small side project when I had some cash burning a hole in my pocket over the autumn) – and I’ve got a selection of Reaper CAV mecha minis that I intend to use.  These seem great value – much cheaper than Battletech options so a good way to dip the toe into the mecha wargaming world.

The new hotness in wargaming right now seems to be The Silver Bayonet – well I didn’t want to miss the hype train (as it’s a fun setting hot-or-otherwise!) so I’ve got that rulebook coming too.  I also had enough cash spare to get some test minis from the 18mm AB range (via Eureka UK) – enough for a ragtag bunch of monster hunters and a few opponents to boot. Other enemies etc will be a future purchase for sure once I can get a feel for how AB scales up against MM, RPE, AA etc.

There’ll be more on both Gamma Wolves and The Silver Bayonet once I’ve got them and can digest and sort more concrete plans!

So whilst the ‘doing’ might still be proving tricky, the plotting, planning and acquisition side is certainly continuing! 😊

Some things I wish I'd been told when I started painting miniatures

There's lots of blogs, YouTube channels and Patreons that will tell you how to paint at all sorts of levels - from quick tabletop to advanced techniques like NMM.  There's a whole range of specific guides out there for painting certain uniforms, hair colours, ground textures, skin and more besides.  Great stuff - and I've used lots of them myself for general techniques and specific projects.

So what can a tabletop level painter like myself add to the world?  Well, I can't give people advice on much, I'm an average painter at best - but I can hope that this post might prove helpful to people starting out in the hobby if they chance across it.  I want to share a few things that I wish I'd been told back when I first started painting.

Invest in neutral colours
Beyond the primary and secondary colours, some skin tones, and a couple of metals the paints I use far more than anything else are a rather large selection of neutrals (and near-neutrals) - greys, browns, sands, beiges and the like.  These are the colours that I have found become the unsung heroes of the paint arsenal - leather straps, wooden weapon shafts, stone, hair, shoes, clothing.  All the stuff that's important to make a miniature feel real/complete - but that you don't tend to want to overpower the focal colours (knight's tabard, wizard's robe, alien's armour etc).  I genuinely buy and use more of these types of colours than any others!

You can strip paint
Yes, if you butcher something that badly that you want to press reset, you can do that!  Now, I'm not going to pretend to be an expert - but I can confirm that metal and plastic miniatures strip just fine after an overnight soak in a Dettol bath.  Just get a tupperware box, a bottle of brown Dettol; pour Dettol into tupperware - put miniatures into the Dettol and leave.  Next day take a toothbrush to them and gently scrub away the paint (Poundland packs of cheapo toothbrushes are fine).  Give them a wash and dry then get them ready for painting again!

Nothing is cheating
There's lots of different techniques and products turning up all the time - some people will clam that certain of these are cop-outs or somehow 'cheating'.  Drybrushing, washes, contrast paints - all of these I've seen put down by some people over the years.  But stay Assassin's Creed "Nothing is true, everything is permitted" - use whatever techniques you find work for you and maximise your enjoyment of your hobby.

Not all details are equal/Three Feet Rule
This one took me a while to accept - but as a miniature painter who paints gaming pieces it was a necessary thing to learn!  When playing a game you aren't concentrating on the tiny buckles on your infantryman's satchel - but you are probably focussed on his jacket and trouser colours and his bayonet-tipped musket. Prioritising the main things will give you a much better overall look for your unit/squad (and army!).  I'm not saying to not push yourself if you want to develop your skills - and I've recently been painting leather straps on 15mm miniatures - but keep in mind why you are painting them and come to a happy point that suits that purpose best without driving you mad about toenails or the like!  For me I paint to play games with things that look cool - so that's miniatures on a gaming table... which is give or take a bit three feet from where I'm standing up - hence the Three Feet Rule.

You don't need to 'keep pushing'
Some people give the well-meaning advice that it's important to keep pushing your skill when painting - well, I don't agree.  Not one bit in fact.  If what you paint looks the part to you then you should feel in no way required to 'improve'.  That doesn't mean it's wrong to want to, but that want should come from within you - not from what someone else is projecting on to you.  

State of the ADHS Nation

So it's probably been evident from the lack of posts, but I've been in a bit of a funk recently - certainly a major painting funk.  I'm coming out the other side though so you can expect the posts to start back up again. 💪

But, funk aside, I have been getting some hobby done - lots of prepping of 10mm stuff in particular so I'll talk through those in the coming days.

If you follow me on Twitter you might have seen that I've been having a bit of a clearout of projects - I reflected a lot this last month or so and I've come to the opinion that (other than the Okkultekorps of course) larger scales is for me just no good for anything bigger than a Saga force.  They take up way too much space - space that I'd rather take up with more variety (either of forces, settings, systems or what have you).

So 28mm (well and 32mm I suppose how some of them are!) is perfect for skirmish games - from the OG Specialist Games from GW to Malifaux and Infinity, taking in any of the Osprey skirmishers along the way.  But for the Rampant rules family (for example) it's 10-15mm now for me - so 28mm Jacobites and Irish Confederation have gone.  If I can source good miniatures for the Irish in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms at 10 or 15 I'll be all over it - same for the 1798 Rebellion!

I've also taken the decision to clear out some of the lower quality minis in the collection - having not enjoyed painting the Footsore Irish (which then led in part to the funk) I've realised that life is too short for sub-standard minis.  So out went the 18mm Sikh Wars (still a period I'd like to game if anyone knows of good quality smaller scale minis!) and the Irregular 6mm Crusades (Baccus looks like the replacement for that!).

It felt rather cathartic to clear out some of the projects that once upon a time I was hyped about but had stalled for so long as to feel more like a millstone around my neck. Plus it leaves more room for plenty of those 10s and 15s (and 6...🤔) so a win I think!

I've thought a lot about the next bit - should I write about it or not - and in the end I decided that I almost had to, in order to get it out of my head (which Lord knows is rough enough without extra swirling thoughts in the mix).  Something that definitely contributed to the funk was a lot of talk about 'proper' wargaming on Twitter.  I'm sure it was all in jest, but it did make me think (and let's be frank - people often let slip their truths in their jests). Am I an imposter? Either because I don't want to play games with hundreds of minis a side, or I have no interest in painting units of 30+ minis, or because I don't want to research and write a degree dissertation for every historical force I want to do.  I don't know, perhaps I genuinely am not a proper wargamer. 🤷

Projects, more projects and planned projects

I'm not sure what it is, but I'm managing to keep chipping away at painting (photographing and blogging is another matter! 😅) and it has meant that I can turn relatively guilt-free towards acquiring new projects. Hurrah!

Now, this only relates to the planning and acquiring stage - modelling and painting is absolutely reliant on mental energy and taste at any given point so will jump around a lot!  This is what I've got swirling round my semi-functioning brain for the next few months... one point to note is that they are exclusively smaller scales (mostly 10mm).  I've got so many exciting and fun projects and collections in 28mm (or thereabouts) already that I can't really justify any others - but the small space that 15mm, 10mm and 6mm take up means I can still explore all sorts of settings without running out of space completely!

15mm Mortal Gods
You may or may not be aware but I absolutely detest the wrist joins that Footsore seem to love using in their Mortal Gods range... so, a way round this is to change scale entirely (which also means easier to store - so more likely to add new forces!).  I'll be using Museum Miniatures for this project (which are great value) - with buildings likely to come from Forged in Battle (but that'll have to wait a little bit as they aren't the best value but they do look rather good).  It's a shame to give up on the Footsore stuff, but as I reflect and look back the wrist joins put me in one of the worst hobby funks I've ever had and that's not something I want to face ever again.  Thankfully the scenery bits I have in 28mm will work fine for Broken Legions so no waste there. 👍

10mm ECW Royalist
So Trials... and me found out about the Battle of Birmingham - and, being so local to us, it seems the perfect excuse inspiration for a TPL project.  I'm going with Pendraken - and the order is in (with Prince Rupert of course) so will share more once Pendraken catch up following their move.  As with everything I do it's very much history-inspired rather than making any claims to being history-accurate.

10mm Fenian Raids
Yes, I have mentioned this previously - and you may have seen me tweet the Osprey Canadian Campaigns 1860-70 I picked up for some background reading.  This is another one from Pendraken (my new go-to it seems!) - they have a range for the Canadian side and the ACW range has plenty to use for the Fenian Brotherhood.  These were added to the ECW order above so I'll share these in due course too.

10mm Super Secret (but it is Historical)
Nope, I'm not gonna tell you about this one (not until it is all painted!) - but it's because Mrs ADHS spotted me browsing Pendraken's website after I'd already placed the order above (doesn't everyone do that to plan next purchases?).  She encouraged me to place another order for what I was browsing ("Go on, it's only a small order from what you are looking at").  What can I say, I'm a lucky chap!

On to the stuff in planning stage:

10mm Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (and an enemy)
I've mentioned this before, but with me recently getting the pair of Osprey Man-at-Arms books on the Polish Army at this time it has cemented it as something I will do.  The only sticking point is who to get as their opponent... 

10mm Lion Rampant
I've got some early stage ideas for a little imagi-nations medieval style for this - nothing too bonkers, but an excuse to paint some colourful little knights and the like. Early stages, but like most 10mm projects if you keep it focussed it's really cheap to get the minis for a whole army at the game size I prefer.

15mm Saga Age of Vikings
I'm planning on my 28mm Irish and Shieldmaidens hitting the paint table soon - but I fancy using the great value of smaller scales, combined with easier storage and smaller gaming space needed to explore a couple of other armies at least.  Current thinking is perhaps Anglo-Danes and Normans for some 1066 type action.  Again, this is at an early stage but I'm considering 15mm to use the rather awesome Forged in Battle range for this.

10mm Napoleonic
I have a 28mm Napoleonic collection - the Irish Rebellion.  Now, sadly I can't do that in a smaller scale (unless someone has a highly secretive manufacturer of suitable Irish miniatures up their sleeve...) - but I see so many awesome Napoleonic miniatures on Twitter that I think it's inevitable I'll end up cracking eventually...

From the above I think I have come to the conclusion that I have all the fantasy/sci-fi type stuff I need (well, existing forces/projects will no doubt see some additions - Malifaux and Infinity I'm looking at you) so am developing further into the historical side of this hobby.  Whatever the case, I'm positive that I'm keeping things eclectic!

Coming clean

For anyone it may have fooled - my post earlier today was an April Fools Day joke.  Of course I don't think GW is 'best of the best' and I certainly have no intentions whatsoever of dropping the eclectic approach to games, miniatures (and even paints) that I follow!

In particular I'd like to confirm that I am absolutely not giving up on historicals - quite the opposite my next new project will be... (here's the reveal for the secret project I've been teasing a bit)... 

The Fenian Raids
I'm planning a couple of small forces (one for the Fenian Brotherhood and one for the Canadians) - these'll be 10mm from Pendraken and I'm planning to use Rebels and Patriots for the ruleset.

The Battle of Ridgeway - Library and Archives Canada

But that's not all - I'm now of the opinion that in most cases 10mm will be my scale of choice for historicals going forward.  So, other ideas I've got include Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth vs Ottomans (really can't shake that one - it keeps coming back to me!) and something with Persians (if I can find a ruleset that will work - I'd like an Ancients Rampant to be released as that rule family is easy enough for my brain to work with these days). I'm also considering something for Lion Rampant (need to find some historical hook that intrigues me for that period - or perhaps imagi-nations?) and I'd also quite like to do something Napoleonic (but no one seems to do the Irish Rebellion of 1798 in smaller scales 😢).  There's also WW2, ECW and more floating around my addled brain!

Put that with all my existing projects and there's a guaranteed variety of stuff to see here, and on my Twitter, for quite some time!

A change is as good as a rest...

As you may have read on this blog or my Twitter I've been sorting and organising my wargaming collection.  I've posted previously about what my thoughts were a few days ago, but I've had longer to reflect and I've come to a few realisations that, I admit, have surprised me quite a bit now that I've arrived at a level of acceptance with them.

It's going to mean some pretty big changes around here; and I hope everyone understands where I'm coming from and gets behind me!

Photo by Alexas Fotos from Pexels

The slog of trying to find a variety of rulesets, model ranges, even paints has just become too much.  I need a way to get that elusive hobby 'fix' in an easier way - I need to streamline and focus on only the best of the best that is out there; Games Workshop.

So, out will go the various historic collections, the various rules (lots of Osprey, but plenty of others too), and even most of the other fantasy/sci-fi stuff.  I don't think most of it is worth all that much, so I'll just scrap most of it to make space.

But fret not, this just means room for more projects! And, if you've been following me, you'll know that I can't just stick with one! So, I'm planning a couple of 40k projects and a couple of Age of Sigmar projects - if I've got both sides it'll be easier to sort games!  I'm really enthused right now, so I'm going to run through my current ideas!

40k

Well, I couldn't resist going for the iconic Space Marines - and what better way to add variety to the collection than the Deathwatch? Yes, those alien-hunting specialists made up of members of all sorts of Chapters - lots of space there to create some chapters and their lore!  I'm aiming on getting the Deathwatch Combat Patrol first to start this part of the project:

I also think that the price for these 15 minutes from GW is absolutely incredible - at only £85 it's almost unbelievable they can get away with it.

Of course - I needed something for these Ordo Xenos soldiers to fight, so I looked around the Games Workshop site for inspiration... well what would be a better enemy for the Deathwatch than those servants of Chaos, the Death Guard?!

Come on now, surely every starter army needs a named special character to lead them - well this delivers with Typhus, 8 other power armoured miniatures and 30 space zombies.  At £85 I'm flabbergasted to be honest.

Clash of Death for sure between those two!

Age of Sigmar

This is a bit trickier - I'm going to have to get used to new names for a lot of armies it seems! To ease into it gently I thought I'd go with an old favourite of mine - now called the Duardin but old greybeards like me will still think of them as Dwarfs!

It seems they are available in the Start Collecting! Greywater Fastness box:

Even more madness - this is £60... for a whopping 13 miniatures.  OK, so the majority of them are virtually the same, but there's two characters in there! 

But I'll need some opponents for these sturdy little dudes... to be honest, it had to be those posterboys (and girls) of Age of Sigmar - Stormcasts.  I'm opting for the Start Collecting! Stormcast Vanguard box:

Again at £60 - this time for a dozen miniatures.  I noticed this includes both cavalry types and some small bird-faced hounds. So much variety!

I'm sure I'll be adding to all four of these boxes, but these will give me plenty to be getting on with! I hope you'll stick with me on this exciting new direction!

I've been thinking (dangerous I know)

So as people who follow me on Twitter (@alex_and__a) may have gathered these past couple of days I've been priming a lot of stuff that had backed up since before Christmas 2020, and that turned into trying to get organised in some way.

I suppose all of a sudden it all started to feel overwhelming.  I've got, by most sensible people's standards, a pretty decent sized collection across a wide range of games/settings but as with all these things storage has eventually started to become an issue.

It got to the point yesterday where I started to feel like I was sinking...

photo by Luca Nardone from Pexels

So I have started to really reflect on the various parts of the collection - was it all still serving a purpose, or is some just taking up valuable space?

Of course, some stuff was never going to be up for a cut - Bolt Action/Konflikt'47, Infinity, Mordheim, Necromunda, Gorkamorka, Malifaux, Carnevale, Burrows & Badgers, ACW Rebels and Patriots, Dracula's America - all of those were certain to not be going anywhere - they all speak to me in different ways and fire my imagination.

There were also various that have fully painted armies - Dragon Rampant (both 28mm and 15mm) and Broken Legions spring to mind - those would also have a secure place in the collection.

On the other hand, there were some that I knew straight-away could be disposed of straight away - Warmachine, Infamy, random sci-fi minis (I prefer Cyberpunk and have Human Interface stuff by the tonne for that) and the like.  I'm seriously close to slinging the Conquistador Goblins too as nice as they are they aren't really serving a purpose.

I then turned my attention to some smaller scales I have - 18mm Sikh Wars, 10mm Tudors... I realised I'd fallen into a trap.  While I am still interested in the settings, and the scales are fine, I noticed that because the miniatures are sold in relatively large packs I had made up nearly all of them - resulting in many duplicates of units in my chosen rulesets.  That's not what I like about wargaming - I don't care much for 5 units of nearly-identical regular infantry with the only difference being their flags; I like variety, I like using, and painting, a range of troop types.  So, I revised my lists for these games - reducing each down in points (although both still above the suggested point totals for their rulesets).  Much better suited to my tastes now!

There's a few instances where I'm not sure what to do... I find the settings interesting, but is 28mm still the right scale for me?  For example the Jacobites - wonderful minis, but will they always get shunted to the back of the queue at 28mm?  Or my Irish Confederation force... if it's to ever be played I'd need to get a force for them to fight - and even if I do that, do I really want an opposing army the same size?  Do I downsize the Confederation side and get a NMA (or Covenanter) force to face them?  Or do I cut my losses and replace the project in 10mm? I'm still not sure - these are two I need to reflect on some more I think.

Finally, and one that long time readers of the blog will recall me talking about, is Darklands.  Wonderful miniatures, but do I really want three Age of Magic armies (or three more Dragon Rampant armies?) - I'm not sure I do... I could make some very cool Frostgrave warbands out of them though... but then what about the absolutely incredible monsters I have for Darklands - it's a shame to have no use for those... maybe I could do a Morrow Island monster-only force for Saga (and keep some to add to my Saga Irish/Shieldmaidens?).  I'm really unsure how to proceed with that - although the plastic crate it is all stored in as metal/resin components feels like it stares at me every time I go to the geek room...

So what does this mean?  I don't know.  I have one 10mm project I have planned out and intend to buy in the next months or two - but I'm keeping that small and below the default points for Rebels and Patriots (no, it's not ACW or AWI by the way but that's all the hints you are getting!) but beyond that until I shrink the existing wargaming stash there won't be any new projects.  

I think the moral of the story is to reflect upon what you actually enjoy in your hobby and to focus on that - for me I now acknowledge that is variety (setting, rules, scales and units) - I don't need or want giant armies and that's OK.

2020 - that was the year that was

So 2020 eh?

Don't worry, this isn't another retrospective bemoaning the lack of games (although Professor Lange is getting itchy to carry out some nefarious deeds...) or the general state of the world - it's a look back at my personal hobby year, the highs and lows - and my hopes for my hobby going forward.

Silhouette of mountains courtesy of @8moments on Pexels

Painting
Although it tailed off a little later in the year, I did a lot of painting (by my standards) this year - finishing multiple armies in 28mm and 15mm for Dragon Rampant, a couple of warbands for Broken Legions as well as a fair amount of scatter terrain.  I also tried Vallejo and Foundry paints for the first time - and I was suitably impressed; it's fair to say I'm not sure why I waited so long to add these to the toolbox!

New Projects
I started a few new projects this year - the tribute project to my late father-in-law (inspired by Tyrone's Rebellion), various Buntai for Daishо̄/Ronin, Mad Dogs with Guns, 6mm Crusades and The Ion Age.  Most of these are 'complete' (maybe need some specific scenic items for some of course but that's standard!) so once I can get motoring on them that'll be more stuff to play painted.

MDF and 3D Printing
I have made quite a few MDF buildings this year (from Sarissa and TTCombat) - but I still need to paint them!  On the 3D Printing front I found a very helpful and friendly chap who sourced and designed a large amount of very specific scatter terrain for my vision of Infinity.

Twitter
2020 was the year I embraced wargaming Twitter a lot more - no, not the #warmongers side that is almost exclusively GW, but what I would call the 'historicals' (although it does include more than that - hello Infinity people! 👋).  I've become acquainted with a number of gamers that have helped encourage me and inspire me throughout the year and for that I'm grateful.

Withered Ground courtesy of @james-frid-81279 on Pexels

Painting
For periods of too long this year I was paralysed by the Brain Gremlins and unable to make any progress with painting.  I have so many awesome minis from so many incredible companies to play so many brilliant games that I need to find a way to battle the ol' Gremlins a bit better.

Old Projects
I really need to dedicate some time to working out what will 'finish' a number of my existing projects and crack on with using the hobby funds to do that rather than eyeing up new projects quite so often.

Toxicity
If I wasn't sure before, I am now that GW fandom is a burning wreckage of a road traffic accident involving a slop tanker and a used nappy recycling truck.  Outside a sewage plant.  It's sad to see as the main window into the wargaming hobby - but, to my mind, it represents an opportunity for us all to show off the wonderful and varied scope of the hobby that sits outside of the GW bubble.

White Daisy Flower Bloom courtesy of @aaronburden on Pexels

Complete the Old
Looking forward, my priorities will be to finish off existing projects before starting new - you know how it is; those odd little support choices, or specific scenery items, or minis for random encounters, those supplement and expansion books I've held off on (Konflikt 47 I'm looking at you dude).  All that kind of good stuff that can get overlooked in favour of a new project.  Now, this will include those new projects I got for Christmas that won't all have been covered here yet so there's still be more newness yet!

Get Organised
Some people may remember that I got a stack of KR Multicase foam and boxes this year - but I need to get more organised and make sure I'm able to safely store everything I have.  I think for the smaller scales I will look at alternative solutions to maximise the amount I can store in one box/container - perhaps even with any scenery specific to that game.

Find a Way
When those Brain Gremlins strike, they strike hard.  I need to find a way to build resilience against their attacks and engage in the things I enjoy more (obviously hobby is the main thing, but also board/cardgames and videogames - I'm an all round gamer!).

So, to anyone who may have read this far, well done for getting through 2020 and whilst 2021 might not mark a significant change for the better for the world as a whole, we can certainly try to make it a better hobby year! Whatever you do to see in the new year, I hope you are safe and happy as can be - have a good one!

S.W.O. 4 life brother!

 As people who follow me on Twitter or Instagram might not, I'm a fan of professional wrestling - well I've become a keen fan of the awesome Total Chaos Wrestling (TCW) that Trials of a Casual Wargamer is running over on his awesome blog.

Well, at the start of the first show of TCW Beatdown! a new stable of heels made their debut - the Stunty World Order; also known as the S.W.O. - and thanks to the legend that is Trials I've got my very own S.W.O. merch; an ultra limited T-Shirt!!

If, like me, you love professional wrestling then I really recommend you check out the TCW posts on Trials of a Casual Wargamer - and even if you aren't a mark, the awesome write-ups of the matches will satisfy the narrative wargamer in you! 

Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man? – Zhuangzi

It's no secret that I'm a hobby butterfly - and overall that's no bad thing.  Even when I only ever did one game or one force I was still an incredibly slow painter so it's not slowing me down - but it does have a negative that I wanted to talk a little about, if only to hammer out my own feelings on the matter.

Red Admiral (my favourite butterfly) courtesy of @mikebirdy on Pexels

I love having dozens of projects on the go; some ready to paint, some ready to assemble and others still in a planning stage. The idea of only doing one project actually instils a little dread in me - life is too short to play one era/setting/ruleset/scale/etc after all! When one project ends, or needs a little break, being a hobby butterfly means there's always something else to try and keep things fresh, right?

Well... in theory...

As anyone that follows me on Instagram is probably aware, I'm also a boardgamer - and it is through that particular hobby that I first came across the term Analysis Paralysis. To sum it up quickly for anyone who might be puzzled - 'overanalysing or overthinking a situation can cause forward motion or decision-making to become "paralyzed", meaning that no solution or course of action is decided upon'.

And that's the problem, for me, of being a hobby butterfly - sometimes when I reach a natural break point in a project I am just incapable of deciding what to move on to next.  I've recently finished another batch of Mordheim Hirelings for the weekly posts here - but now I'm at a loss. I know I want a change from that setting - but what to? I have no idea.

I have Dracula's America, Rebels and Patriots, Mortal Gods, Tiny Crusades and Infinity stuff to prep - all of it awesome - but with a dwindling black spray supply my energy and will to tackle those has faded to almost nothing right now.

I have plenty of miniatures primed and ready to paint of course (thank you previous years of Operation Winter in Coming!) - but then that presents its own problem; what game is speaking to me right now? Which era or setting is energising my hobby-mind? Which minis are calling my name from their pile of future glory?

(Worse still... is there anything that is enthusing me? Right now, I'm not sure...)

6 months of a post a day

So for the past 6 months now I've made a post a day.  It has been a mostly enjoyable challenge to myself to keep posting to chronicle my hobby, and I am certainly not stopping the blog, but I think 6 months is the right marker point to stop the self-imposed daily posts.  Of course I'll keep on sharing my hobby here (and Twitter and Instagram - feel free to follow!) but other than the Mordheim Hireling Agency Fridays, posts will be as and when the mood strikes to take a little pressure off my head.

I've looked back over the last 6 months here on the blog, and more generally, and it brought to mind a few things:

I've assembled a lot of MDF scenery... but still need to paint it all 😅

Thanks to a kind soul on eBay 3D printing mad things for me, I've got more (and more oddly specific) scatter terrain for Neo-Shinjuku than I thought I'd ever manage to get. 

I can now actually 'play it painted' - Dragon Rampant 28mm, Dragon Rampant 15mm and Broken Legions - which I couldn't do at the start of this 6 months.

I started three totally new projects - Mad Dogs with Guns, 10mm Tudor Irish v English (tribute project) and 6mm Tiny Crusades.  I did add lots to a wide range of existing projects over the time too however (especially Infinity bits and bobs as regular readers might be sick of seeing!)

I've seen the worst (GW) and the best (everything else) in the wargaming community on Twitter. The historical 'crew' are particularly friendly, welcoming and don't seem to mind me not being a rivet-counter which helps a lot!

I hate wrist joins.  Seriously.  Message to minis companies - if you can't manage a peg like the Gripping Beast Teutonic Knights (and maybe others I'm just speaking from my own experience), then don't do a freaking wrist join.  The wrists on some Mortal Gods stuff is actually killing my joy of the hobby right now and in part has helped me come to the conclusion to ease up on the posts as my hobby activity has totally stalled thanks to their design choices.  So, yeah, ban wrist joins if you can't do it right, for the love of all that is holy.

It has been a strange 6 months (and a bit longer of course) with COVID-19 and the like - but as an introvert the impact on my life has actually been positive: less physical interaction with people, less need to somehow negotiate social events whilst experiencing anxiety, that kind of thing.  Plus being able to run out and prime (when I have spray!) during patches of good weather (well I am in Britain!) is a big improvement over work breaks being small talk over the hot water tap with someone from down the corridor whose name I can't remember but I'm too polite to ask.

If you've read this far I hope you've enjoyed my posts the last 6 months (and before of course!) - and do hope that you check back for more (it just won't always be the next day 😉).

Wargaming Idea Stew

Like all good hobbyists I have tonnes of ideas reaching far beyond what I already have - I think of it as a kind of wargaming stew on the stove being slow cooked - some of these bubble up to the surface with more regularity than others and are likely to be dished up sooner rather than later (keep stretching that metaphor Alex!).  

Photo by Shikhar Singh from Pexels

Anyway, I thought I'd ramble a bit about the current ideas that just seem to keep popping up!  These are in no particular order, they are just what most commonly comes to mind when I start thinking about that 'next project'.

Germans vs Black's Division (Černý oddí)
A very small BA project to pay tribute to my Romani heritage in some small tabletop way (I have plenty for my Irish side already after all!).  This idea had floated around a little while (largely inspired by the article on Romea.cz - They weren't just victims: Roma, forgotten heroes of the anti-Nazi resistance) and the freebie Winter German sprue that came with an issue of WGI cemented it a little bit more.  So for the German side, I plan on sorting a very small list on Easy Army to guide the purchases to finish that half.  For Black's Division I'm toying with a couple of options - Artizan's Resistance and Partizans range and/or Crusader Miniatures Partisans. I'm going to keep this very small - couple of small squads of Germans and then a Resistance force of equivalent points - around 500 points I think should give a few options each side but not break the bank.

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth vs Ottoman Empire
I spotted the 16th century Polish and Ottoman ranges on Pendraken's site whilst ordering my Tyrone's Rebellion stuff and haven't been able to shift it from my head since. Seriously, it just keeps on popping back into my brain! I think I'll see how I feel painting up my Tyrone's Rebellion stuff - if I take to 10mm, this could shape up to be a decent sized project.

Post-Human Republic
I'd toyed with the idea of starting Dropzone Commander a few months ago, but couldn't quite make the value for the Post-Human Republic work out enough to convince me to take the plunge and I didn't want to 'make do' with one of the others that offered a better value starter.  Well, TTCombat must have been reading my mind or something because they are releasing a PHR Starter Army in a couple of days time that looks a great value starting point! This is definitely on my radar now - might not even need much beyond that starter set... who am I kidding, those walkers all look awesome!

Achaemenid Persians
I mentioned about 6mm catching my eye on Twitter and ended up having a conversation with Trials... about it - he mentioned that he had eyed the Greeks for this scale, which as luck would have it would be a perfect foe for the Achaemenid Persians that had piqued my interest! Not sure what ruleset to use for this project, which is a bit of a sticking point to this moving forward at the moment.

Between all the existing stuff and this little lot I think that should keep me going... yeah right! 😉

We do not succeed in changing things according to our desire, but gradually our desire changes*

*with apologies to Marcel Proust

I've been thinking a lot recently about the way in which my hobby has changed since my return to wargaming and wanted to just empty my brain a little by getting it down.

To set the scene a little, before I originally quit wargaming I was a pure GW gamer - primarily 40k and WHFB, but also Necromunda and a touch of Blood Bowl.

So after college and some of young-adulthood, I ultimately returned to the hobby. I picked up largely where I left off - back on the GW train. To start with it felt comforting but with an added layer of excitement beyond the nostalgia trip that was on my mind when I first returned ("no way, a plastic dreadnought in a starter set?!"). 

However, it was not to last (looking back the death knell was the push to ever larger games - probably part of why I've gone mostly skirmish now!).

Whilst 40k was quickly dropped, I did return to (the original) Necromunda and also Mordheim and Gorkamorka (that I'd missed out on first time round) and stick with them. But during this time, my eyes were opened to there being something more.

As I think back, I suppose the starting point was coming across Reaper Miniatures and them fitting in pretty easily in the Mordheim Hireling Agency.  This was a range of minis that didn't directly belong in any game I owned - but by finding them it cracked open the door that was soon to be blown wide open - I was free from the mindset that many seem to have of GW being the only creator of miniatures, the only home for game systems.

Now, don't get me wrong - I totally understand that GW is the biggest wargaming fish in the pond.  And I'm happy for all those that connect with and love their product (honestly). But, simply put, they are not the only company putting out quality product worthy of the wargamer's consideration.  Far from it.

From companies with rulesets (with or without their own miniatures lines) to those that make ranges of miniatures to use in whatever system the buyer has the imagination to use them for, there are so many options out there these days.  To my mind, it's just a great pity that more people don't seem willing to even give things a go.  

The only reason I can think of is if someone is constrained by having to play in an actual Games Workshop store (but seriously, as a young 'un I played games on carpeted living room floors so even that's not insurmountable really). Otherwise at the very least there are companies like Anvil Industry doing interesting things compatible with 40k that are surely worth a dabble to liven up the hobby - like, seriously, if I did Marines I'd be wanting lots of their Ranger Night Vision Goggles and Chain Axes (see, I'm not saying people should abandon 40k!).

Like any good ramble I don't really know where I'm headed with this - I do feel I need to make it clear I'm not saying that I'm somehow 'better' than others for not being GW-only.  People playing 40k or AoS or whatever are still engaging in one of the best hobbies on the planet and that's awesome!

I just truly feel that too many people are really missing out on a wealth of gaming and hobby opportunities by not looking beyond yet another release of Space Marines.  Go explore; pick up some scenery/basing bits from Fenris Games, or a random mini from Bad Squiddo or Alternative Armies that catches your eye.  Who knows what you might see that fires the imagination in the same way as when you first walked past a GW store and saw the cabinets in the window?

I had to get this out of my head and onto (virtual) paper - now I'm off to work on some stuff from 7 different companies for 5 different games.  Hobby Life is good!