Three month Sabbatical

 As is evident, it's been a while.

I have had a bit of a Hobby Sabbatical for the past few months, with some thinking, reflecting, and planning time.

I've also been catching up on some reading, with everything from the 1809 campaign in Bavaria, through to the Thirty Years War, and other 17C material, getting some attention.

Talking of the TYW, I did do a little painting in the past few weeks, just on a whim.

I have lots of  special conversion figures that Brian Rigelsford made for me about 15 years ago for the Thirty Years' War project that have been calling to me for some paint, and so I pottered around with them for a while.

The first was a piece titled "Please look after him, Sir":

Then I added just a small command group, and decided to make them French, for some reason.

Then I buckled to the temptation of the 1898 Miniatures TYW French and Spanish range, producing a French infantry unit:

This could have been something to do with a number of Helion books on Rocroi and the French and Spanish armies of the period arriving!

So, it's not all been a totally idle sabbatical, but it has been very 'easy-going' on the painting front. Some would say that's exactly what a hobby should be like. Of course. 

And then there comes a moment when a fresh, structured hobby project plan emerges...

More on that at some point soon...

If Carlsberg did wargames shows... Partizan

They've been doing it for 38 years now... and it just keeps getting better each time.

Laurence Baldwin and Richard "Tricks" Tyndall have excelled yet again in creating a phenomenal show, in terms of organisation, attention to every detail, and professionalism in all their dealings with gamers and traders. Big shout out to them.

It was a great weekend; exhausting, exhilarating, and thoroughly enjoyable.

My game was small, as mentioned in a previous post, being merely the first steppe (!!) in the Eastern Renaissance project.
Looking around the hall, I was in awe of the massively impressive tables being set out... the quality of scenery just beggars belief.
However, with this game I wanted to make the point that not all demo games have to be huge affairs. I am in awe of the work that goes into the mega games we see at shows, where an army of people seem to be able to put such massive battles onto the tabletop. But, for the 'average Mr Wargamer,' such games are beyond wildest dreams. However, something more modest can be equally attractive and enjoyable to create.

Throughout the day, I was of course tied to my own table so unable to take a wander round and look at the other games in detail, so I'm looking forward to seeing all the blog posts and videos that report on the show in the coming days.  

Meantime, here are a few photos of my own efforts. I didn't get to play the game much, being engaged in conversations with old friends and interested visitors to the table all day. But that is what it is about for me, and it was great to make acquaintance with so many blog readers. So thank you for popping by for a chat.

Over to the pictures:

One thing that did seem to be of additional interest for visitors to the table was my Project Journal which I left open for people to browse through at leisure. It charts the development of the game, showing each unit as it was painted, and other scraps of ephemera.

Being surrounded by so many amazing tables, I didn't expect to win any prizes, and that has never been my reason for putting on games anyway, so I was shocked and delighted in equal measure when the judges, led by Henry Hyde, along with organiser Laurence Baldwin, came up to me around 3pm and presented the Best Demo Game award.

To all who stopped by at the table, thank you. Apologies to the many who I noticed having a peep at the game but who I didn't manage to chat to. And apologies to all the other tables I didn't get to visit. As I mentioned, I didn't get away from the table at all during the day, but Lisa's presence as chief of moral support, ensured I was fed and watered at regular intervals. As more than one kind blog reader pointed out, I think I owe her a holiday!!

Preparations for Partizan: Time for Action!

Preparations for Partizan are in the final stages...

Rumours abound in the southern borderlands of 17th Century Muscovy of an Ottoman force on the march toward the village of Akshun.
Already, Tatar raiding parties are being a 'nuisance' and burning local homesteads.

Meanwhile, in the village of Akshun itself, preparations are underway and defences are being prepared. A call has gone out to Muscovite forces under Ivan Rachmanstakovich, and a contingent of Boris Bolshenko's Cossacks are also hastening to the scene.

Above: Ottomans on the move.

Below: Those pesky Tatar 'fire-starters'.

The village of Akshun:

So, it's all set for...

The finishing touches to the Ottoman forces were a second unit of Janissaries, and the Ottoman 'Kazan' vignette:

Hope to see many blog readers at the show.

Cheers...

Springing back into Action!

Whilst I have been quiet from a blogging point of view over the past couple of months, I certainly haven't been idle on the hobby front.

Most of the hobby attention has been on the upcoming game at Partizan, more of which in a future post.

Painting-wise, in the past couple of months, I have achieved the following:

• Tatar command and lancers = 16 points
• another janissary unit = 24 points
• a vignette for the Janissaries = 6 points
• Terrain - a full new terrain suite for the Eastern Renaissance game at Partizan = 50 points.

That's a total of 96 points, bringing my calendar year-to-date total to 185, which is certainly on track.

I will post in full about the preps for Partizan in a few days, but for now here are the Tatars which I recently completed:

In addition, Lisa and I have been on our travels a little, including a trip to Devon. We stayed in a hotel near Teignmouth, The Passage House, right on the Teign estuary. On the walls of the neighbouring inn, I spotted these weapons which may be of interest. One or two curious pieces amongst the lot:

We also had a few days in Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds, famous for it's ECW battle of course.

This doorway to the church has Tolkienesque overtones for sure!

As I mentioned, in a few days I will do a Partizan preparations post. Until then, all the best...

February Digest

Following January's end-of-month post, I thought I would do the same for February as, once again, it has been a productive and varied month on the hobby front.

Despite being away quite a bit (business and pleasure), I have been getting a fair amount of time at the paint desk.

Painting points for the month are as follows:

Ottoman Spahis 12 cavalry = 24 points
Tatar infantry = 12 points
Ottoman artillery = 5 points
Muscovite artillery = 5 points
Italian farm for Billhooks game = 1 point
3 tents for Billhooks = 3 points
Cavalry leader + standard bearer for Billhooks = 4 points

Total = 54 points.

... plus the Bob Ross style painting (see post from a couple of weeks ago)!!

Here are some pictures of this month's output:

Spahis (shown in a previous post):

Tatar infantry:

Note the use of sabots. One thing I dislike about movement trays and sabots is the 'gap' left by removing casualties. So,. my own Wargames OCD solution is to create 'spacers' to fill the gap. Think it looks quite neat.

Of course, if you don't want to put them in sabots at all, they can simply look like this...

Ottoman artillery:

Muscovite frame gun and crew:

It hasn't only been the Eastern renaissance project getting the attention this month. In preparation for our recent game of Billhooks, the Condottiere set-up also got some bits n bobs done, such as this farm:

Condottiere tents:

Condottiere cavalry leader for Billhooks:

I named him Luigi Riva (if you were around for the 1970 Italy team in the World Cup, you might remember Gigi Riva... I discovered, sadly, he recently passed away).
I painted this in a bit of a hurry to get ready for the game... the power of a deadline!

Games

My previous post described the Billhooks game we had last weekend... so no more to say really, except that I am already level with the whole of last year in terms of games played!

Parting Shot

I was delighted to see the recent FB post by The Perrys and North Star Nick showing a 1672 game. On closer inspection, I realised that several of the units in the picture were painted by me about 11 or 12 years ago... they were sold on to a well-known show trader in order to find their way back to Nick's collection. So it was great to see them in the photos... one of those 'double-take' moments!

That's about it for the month.
I'll be heading to Hammerhead this coming weekend (browsing and shopping!), so hope to see many of you there.
All the very best for now...