Take the High Road?

 Progress with the Back of Beyond project continues, and following the recommendation of one of our commenters, Jonathan Freitag, a couple of posts ago, I ordered the DVD, High Road to China.

An enjoyable couple of hours on Friday evening... ok, it's an 'average' film, but plenty of enjoyable bits for the wargamer, and a few decent battle scenes to get the creative juices flowing.

I'm currently working on some buildings for the project... hopefully something to show before too long.

Did anyone order Chinese?

The build up of forces for the Kaimenistan (pronounced Ky-men-istan) expedition continued this week.

As yet, the composition of the sides is rather shrouded in mystery. The Brits shown last time, of course. But who will they fight? Who will they ally with?

Meanwhile... a Chinese warlord is amassing forces on the border, and threatening to extend his influence west into Kaimenistan. 

So, here is the first unit of Chinese infantry:

These are Copplestone figures. Lovely to paint. And fairly simple... so i was able to speed paint them; Fifty Shades of Brown-y- Grey.

More of these to come.

A couple of Chinese officers also...

I'm also working on a whole load of buildings, and other terrain items too. Inspiration is coming from all angles. Not least frequent visits to the now archived Major General website.

With so many possibilities for this project, it's difficult to keep it in check. I'm already thinking planes, trains, automobiles ... and boats.

Rules will be the popular "Setting the East Ablaze" which have a certain flavour and ethos which fits for me.

So, back to the workbench. Thanks for your interest and comments. 

New Project - Welcome to Kaimenistan

Thanks to all who commented last time, and for some interesting guesswork about what the new project might be...
40K indeed! Lol! 

So, welcome to Kaimenistan (pronounced Ky-men-istan). Somewhere in the Back of Beyond, circa 1920s.

I have long wanted to own a model Rolls Royce Armoured Car, so that's where I began (Empress Miniatures).

Then came a Lanchester Armoured Car (Empress Miniatures) which I painted a slightly different shade of tan/ buff.

For both armoured cars, I added my own 'decals' and also the 'campaign clutter, boxes, tarpaulines etc.

As for the figures... I began with some Sikh infantry, and British officers (Copplestone Castings).

And then, a Naval detachment (Copplestone again).

and Naval Officers... Lt Gieves, Lt Hawkes, and an as yet unnamed character...

Here is the British force so far...

I have enjoyed pottering around with this. Painting units of 10-12 figures certainly makes a change from the larger Horse & Musket battalions I'm used to, so it is satisfying to be able to get something complete in fairly quick time.

The other thing I am noticing about this project is the range of activities involved... not just painting figures, but modelling the armoured cars, and making buildings. I am even contemplating some plastic kits which will really test my skills as I haven't built such things for decades.

More to come soon...