Review of the Year

It's traditional to take a short glance back before launching into a new year, and I jotted down a few notes yesterday afternoon whilst enjoying a nice malt.

Painting totals for the year:

• Successors 202 points
• Pils-Holstein project 30 points
• Napoleonics 58 points
• Back of Beyond 157 points (including terrain and adobe buildings scratch-built)
• miscellanous bits n bobs 10 points

... making a grand total of 457 points for the year. 

Not a bad output, and best for a few years, helped in some small part by me being able to make particularly good use of the early weeks of the pandemic which afforded plenty of time at the paint desk.

Gaming has been poor, of course, although I am resolved to do more solo games from now on (I have one laid out in the wargames room right now which i will get to play over the next few days).

Shows - well, the York weekend seems so long ago, almost another world, but it was a highlight of this current year, with Steve Gill and I taking the opportunity to also see the delights of York, including the Yorvik Centre which I hadn't been to for a few years.

Virtual Wargames Club - very much a highlight of the year, with a zoom gathering taking place every Saturday since 2nd May. Packed with inspiration, ideas, and a chance to share and appreciate others' efforts, it has been a hobby morale booster for all members, myself included.
I have decided to hand over the reins now to a new President/ Chairman/ organising commitee, and am delighted that what started out on a bit of a whim will continue into the new year. I will still attend when possible, and sit on the 'back-benches' contributing where possible.

So, that was 2020.

As mentioned earlier, I have a game laid out at the moment, and will post a few pictures over the coming days along with a brief battle report.

To all who have supported the blog this year, many thanks. I note that I have posted over 50 times, which is very good going for me, and perhaps reflects (along with the improved painting output) just how important the hobby is when the world around is in turmoil. I know I'm not alone in being very grateful to have such an absorbing and engaging pastime. Long may it continue...

So that was Christmas...

... and what did you get?

I did rather well, on the wargames front, even though much of that was my own doing.

Here are my hobby acquisitions:

The Back of Beyond project is well represented, via Copplestone Miniatures, and an Empress Miniatures tank for the Chinese Army (I ordered 3, but only received one... I will chase up, and I'm sure the other two will be on their way asap). There's also a box from Front Rank with some 18C cavalry for the WVS campaign.

The film DVD, Battle of Kruty, was a complete surprise. Look it up. It's right in the Back of Beyond flavour... a great guess by the donor. 

The Helion book was part of a shortlist given to a good friend some weeks ago, so was one of those happy moments on opening it up.

One additional festive item was the Virtual Wargames Club Annual which I compiled from submissions from our little club which has been so valuable during the last 8 months. The 'Members Only' 60+ page pdf is packed with articles, great galleries and eye candy, battle reports, and all manner of 'good stuff'. Members of the group are currently enjoying its contents as we speak.

I do hope all blog visitors had a great day, and managed to find some hobby-related items under the tree.

In a couple of days I will review the year... as it turns out a highly productive and fulfilling hobby year.

All the best for now...

Under the Tree

Firstly, a very Merry Christmas to all readers and commenters on the blog.

(Hmmm... these ornamental Christmas scenes happen to fit nicely with my Little Britons!)

It has been quite a year... and I will do a full review in due course.

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here, with the tree up and the kitchen cupboards full and the fridge and freezer at bursting point.

Under the tree, I have three wargame-related parcels (gifts from me, to me!)...

I just wondered if anyone else does this?

Or... if you have been brave enough to trust others with your Christmas hobby list, what are you expecting (or hoping for) under the tree on Christmas morning?

Whatever the day brings, Merry Christmas, one and all!

Terrain and Buildings

The past couple of weeks, I have been scratch-building some terrain and making adobe buildings for the Kaimenistan expedition.

The hills are made from styrofoam (using a simple styrofoam hot cutter) with some sand and stones for texture, and several layers of emulsion paint from a dark brown to a very light final highlight.

The bits of cork bark were added to MDF bases, tetrioned, and then given the same paint treatment as the hills.

The mountainous peaks were a set of plastic ones made by Kallistra which i picked up at the York show around 5 years ago. They've been waiting to be 'tarted up' since then, and I final got round to it, and painted with the same method as described above.

The buildings are mainly scratchbuilt, very simple. The gatehouse is a Sarissa MDF piece, as are the two towers, and the domed building is one of Renedra's adobe kits. The whole lot was given a simple colour scheme, and it seems to work ok. I left them 'unbased' to give maximum flexibility.

I have still got some extra details to do, such as ladders, pots and jars, and other paraphernalia to give it a 'lived in' look.

Although I had my Back of Beyond project firmly in mind when creating this, the whole set up will, of course, serve for many theatres and periods... I can see my ancient Successor armies fighting over it, for example, and my Colonial troops.

The Renedra building, in a certain light, looks like it is some sort of christmas cake, with an icing covering! Well, it keeps it festive! 

Finally, I added a bit of flock to indicate sparse patches of grass, typical of the region, and the picture shows the British contingent arriving to garrison the town.

And so, the Back of Beyond project moves forward! Next up, some more troops...

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...