Monday, 9 April 2012

Barracks

I've recently picked up some excellent buildings from Touching History's Paul Darnell, which will sit in a Roman camp I intend to build a little later on (perhaps in the summer).  


The buildings are simple but very effectively made from foam-board and Will's tiling (and some plastic doors); nice and light, and well detailed.  I may need some more at some stage... I gather Paul is making an entire fortress for Dug, which I very much look forward to seeing!

Sunday, 1 April 2012

So where has BigRedBat been?


I’ve been posting rather rarely on the BigRedBatCave, and much less evident on the wargaming boards, and I thought I might post a brief explanation of why and where my thought processes are going, and get it straight, in my own mind about what I’m going to be doing next.

Firstly, I’ve been unusually busy at work for the last six months, and there has been a good deal of pressure, too.  Working longer days and not knowing with any sense of reliability that I’ll be able to leave at 5:30 has put paid to my usual evening gaming sessions. I’m also too tired to face setting up/knocking down a game as I used to. This has meant that I’ve not run an evening gaming session since last October, the longest period I’ve gone without a wargame (of some description) in around 30 years.

Secondly, I found myself becoming frustrated with TMP, where I was hitherto very active.  I felt I spent too long reading the posts, and also became increasingly frustrated by the cross-posting and occasional trolls.   The last straw for me was Allen Curtis being banned, as I often enjoyed his posts and he had more historical knowledge than the rest of us added together.  So I’ve gone cold-turkey, let my subscription lapse and not posted there since November (although I do still, sometimes, skim the ancients boards).  I miss my friends from there, but, on balance, I feel it was a good call.

Thirdly, I cut back on big projects, abandoning a large game that mon ami Greg and I had planned for Salute, and a Zama-sized game for Partizan.  I just haven’t had the time to do them justice.

Finally, I recently stopped cruising eBay.  I’ve spent far too much on minis and have a huge backlog of units to complete and base up, both Ancients and my new Napoleonics.  The numerous boxes of painted but un-based miniatures are even more depressing than the even more numerous boxes of unpainted minis.  I have spent far too much over the last few years and it really is time to cut back, and even sell off some army surplus, although I am still getting some minis painted for me.

So what have I been up to, instead? 

Well, I’ve still managed to do a lot of painting/basing, which I can fit in late in the evenings and which I find relaxing.  Over the last 6 months I have got almost 500 Napoleonics ready for the table,  and also have perhaps 400 more from my former eBay purchases in some stage of readiness.  I also have a good number of Romans (mostly Caesarian and Early Imperial) that I really need to base, soon, along with a fort to house my legions.  In the short term I haveve decided to power ahead to finish a couple more brigades of French, whilst I have the bit between my teeth, before hitting the Romans again, after the summer.  

Gaming is a tricky one.  In all honesty I still haven’t got the energy, at the moment, for a regular weekly session, but I do need to work out a way of fitting in some play, even if only once a month or so.  I also want to get around to a lot of shows this year, and also play some games at weekends if I can manage it.  I did manage to play yesterday wtih RTB and friends, near Nottingham; more about this, later, on my very own Spanish ulcer...  I must say I did have a great time and came away with some excellent ideas for modelling projects...  there’s a snap of my dragoon division, above, charging onto the table for the very first time.

Cheers, Simon

Saturday, 18 February 2012

1K Lives- 1066 and all that


A local Muswellian friend of mine, John Squire-Melmoth, has been writing and reading a series a series of short stories, each of which uses exactly 1,000 words and some nice pictures to say something about an imaginary life.  This particular story caught my eye because of its connection with 1066, and because the subject lays in bed mulling over things historical before sleeping, in much the same way that I often lay there mentally reviewing my cohorts,  battalions, and painting plans in the early hours. 


The story lasts around 6 minutes; enjoy!  If you enjoy this one, another story:-


is also dangerously close to home, for wargamers...

Wednesday, 15 February 2012

Hanging Gardens

A wonderful present arrived from my mate John Smillie yesterday; well, two presents.


The small complex of Eastern buildings is sturdily made from plywood, with removable interior floors.  He also gave me 8 or 9 small but very pretty fruit trees, some of which have multiple trunks.  I've just put these on the roofs, for the purposes of the photo.

Below is a view from the rear, I just love the buttresses.  If I ever get an Eastern city built, this will take pride of place.  Thanks, John! 


John has recently set up a blog about 45 Commando in which he served, and in which his son currently serves.  He is going to build a model, using a range of 54mm Marine figures he designed and sculpted himself,  to be presented to the Commando.  Have a look here.

He's also in the early stages of making some cypress trees for me.  No one makes any cypresses, to my satisfaction, and they are a key element of many mediterranean battlefields, so I await these with considerable anticipation!  I hope they will look something like the pencil-thin ones, below, which I saw on holiday in Greece.


John takes commissions, so if there's a building you've always fancied, he might well be up for it.  Drop me an email and I'll forward.

Wednesday, 25 January 2012

Wargames Drought Continues

I have been worked far too hard by my employers, and fear that it is now rather more than 3 months since my last wargame...   However I have had time for modelling and have bought more than a few minis (especially Napoleonics), and painted quite a few too.

I have been very taken by some pics that Keith at Aventine sent me this evening; really great-looking Praetorians; I'll be having some of these!  I've nicked a picture off their site, below.  Lovely minis, and the officers are even better. They are in the shop, here.


Normal service on this Blog will be resumed in due course...

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

A Shwubbery

A big box arrived from my Scottish mate John Smillie just before all my relatives descended upon me at Xmas, and I have finally, belatedly and guiltily, got around to opening it.


John packs his models extremely carefully, in polystyrene, and these trees arrived in tip-top shape.


There was a whole forest in the box.  The trees are on twisted wire trunks, and mounted on pennies.  I'll mostly use these as fruit trees, I think.


My favourite is this lovely stand of trees with multiple trunks.  Thanks John!  If anyone wants any reasonably-priced, top notch trees drop me a line and I'll forward it to John.  Now John, cypresses....

I've not been posting here because (since Xmas) I've recently been posting on my other blog.  Don't worry, I will be back to ancients, in due course, once I've finished basing some of the other Napoleonic stuff that is nearly finished.

Saturday, 24 December 2011

2012 Resolutions

Blimey, still Christmas Day (just) and I've already knocked my resolutions together.  I trust everyone had a great time... and got suitable presents.  I got a fantastic Napoleonic book, that I'll feature in another post, and the Osprey Campaign on the First Crusade.

In 2012 my primary project will be for my Early Imperial Romans, what I'm calling my sixty/sixty/one:sixty programme.  This will involve building up my EIR Romans up to sixty cohorts of 8 legionaries, and sixty auxiliary cohorts/alae of either 8 infantry or 6 cavalry, which (with Praetorians and rif-raf) will give me around 1150 EIR figures, enabling me to fight a medium-sized 69/70 AD civil War battle, at 1:60 scale. To achieve this, I'll need to buy/paint and base something like an additional 400 miniatures over the next year.
 
My secondary project will be my new Napoleonic habit; first I shall finish my projected 100-man cavalry division, described on my other blog.


...and after that, whatever I fancy of several infantry formations I have underway.  I'd like to think I'll have a complete infantry brigade by the end of March, and at least 2 more by the end of the year. 

My third resolution is to paint a unit or two for Glorantha, which I've not really touched for 2 years. In particular, I'm minded to paint the Agimori (tall, desert-dwelling pikemen) that I sculpted and drop-cast the best part of 5 years back (below).  They are pretty crude, but at 40mm tall they are almost literally men-and-a half.  Those pikes need to be able to stop a charging rhino...  I'd then like to do some more Praxian warfare, using Ian's bison and sable nomads, and my lunar war-triceratops and whatnot.  Perhaps I might even finish the long-delayed high-llamas that we needed as mounts for that tribe...

 

This year I must spend far less than last, and must sell some miniatures from non-core periods, to raise dosh and clear space (be very afraid, my Vikings and Assyrians...).  I do find selling stuff boring, when there are so many minis to paint and blog.  :-(

Finally, this year I shall game more regularly; perhaps not weekly, but at least every two weeks.

That's the lot!  If you have any resolutions, please do post a link in the comments, I'd love to see them.