Forming an orderly (Painting) queue

I've been meaning to take up the paintbrushes for a while and not quite got around to it - there is plenty of unpainted lead and plastic waiting patiently in various boxes, which need my attention.  A few different circumstances combined to decide what to prioritise : 

1.  18th Century inspiration

I still have quite a few 18th Century figures awaiting painting, including lots of those that came from Eric Knowles collection and inspired me to start this blog - but what has nudged me to get some more 'tricorne' troops mustered was Neil Patterson's recent examples of lovely Spencer-Smith figures on his blog Aufklarungsabteilung.  Neil had very generously gifted  me some surplus Spencer-Smiths, and it's high time I  got some of them painted.  I've decided they will represent  troops from Saxony,  a 'third force' who may side with either  Austrians or Prussians according to whatever  the shifting alliances of my imaginary corner of Central Europe dictate. So, we have 16 infantry and 6 cavalry,  which will make a  couple of Portable Wargame units of foot and one of horse. Specific units yet  to be decided, but the cavalry will be cuirassiers, I think. I won't make as good a job as Neil has, but it should be interesting to try painting this very 'old-school' figures. The officers and ensign came already painted, but in a pale blue uniform (possibly a previous owner's  imagi-nation): sadly I can't really use that, but will try to simply give them new coats and flag while leaving other parts unchanged. Fingers crossed..

Spencer-Smiths: potential recruits for Saxony

 

While I am at it, my Prussian army really needs a further stiffening with line infantry, and I still have plenty of my 1970s-vintage Minifigs Prussian musketeers, awaiting refurbishment, so I have lined up another 16 of those for painting - two more foot units in Portable Wargame terms. Here they are, after a quick spray of grey acrylic primer  The ( slightly singed ) backdrop is a wooden box from a rather upmarket brand of ready meals available here in the UK - when  its original use is done with, quite handy as a painting tray..

Minifigs: vintage Prussians

2. Epic Freebies

The April issue of Wargames Illustrated magazine in the UK includes a free sprue of Warlord Miniatures new 'Epic ECW' figures. My copy carried the Cavalry variant, and here they are

Epic ECW from Wargames Illustrated

 

These are officially 13 or 14mm, I think, but should fit perfectly well with my 15mm 'Pike and Shot' armies, and apart from various mounted troops there are some foot figures ( possibly mounted dragoons and/or firelocks ) and a couple of small cannon - all pretty useful stuff.  I have sprayed them with primer, now just need to decide how they can be fitted in to my existing armies. On Instagram, Mike Siggins has featured the infantry sprue which is also available - he is quite impressed with them,   though less so with the cavalry, he says. They don't look too bad to me, with good but simple detail and the correct proportion that is more possible with plastics - they are hard plastic too, so they won't shed paint. And they were free! 

 

3. Trial  DBA Forces 

Following my recent post debating options for Ancient Greeks vs Persians, I took the plunge and bought sets of HaT 20mm figures - 'Alexander's Macedonian Army' (set 8088)  and 'Achaemenid Persian Army' ( set 8117 ). Full marks for Models 2U website for good prices and very prompt delivery. 

Each set is a mixture of figures from several other sets, giving a spread of all types in the relevant army and ideal for rules such as DBA.  Consulting my vintage DBA edition, I was quite easily able to select figures for a suitable army for each side ( sadly, no chariots for the Persians ). I spent a pleasant sunny Good Friday afternoon sat in the garden, cutting out  cardboard bases and lightly glueing the figures to them, just to see what they would look like  - and here they are: 

Alexander's all-conquering army..

 

..and the mighty Persian host

I was quite tempted to use 10mm or 6mm ( or even 2mm ) figures for these armies and go for the 'mass effect', but  given the rather symbolic nature of the DBA units/elements, I think larger figure scales and correspondingly fewer figures can work ( think of them more like chess pieces? ) , and these 20mm plastics are cheap too.  They will get a 'stiffener' coat of diluted PVA glue ( as they are soft plastic ), then a spray of primer, then the painting proper will commence - I am going to try a  'limited palate' approach to keep things simple. I will probably have to remove them from the bases to paint, and they come without long spears and pikes, so I will be raiding the plastic broom/brushes in the house for bristles to use for those..  I suppose I could even give them a try with the DBA rules right away, and never mind the painting - 'sacrilege' to some! 

So, now I just need to try to make a habit of picking up the paintbrushes for a short session  every day or so, and we'll see how all these various mini-projects shape up. I'm hoping that the variety will keep things interesting..

 

Jon Freitag's picture of his brilliant AWI game setup

 

Meanwhile, there has been some gaming, at a distance: I was lucky enough to be invited to one of Jon Freitag's excllent remote gaming sessions, where I played one of the British commanders in a game set in 1776 Long Island.  I'm afraid our attack on the revolting Colonials didn't go too well, but it was great fun all the same - many thanks to Jon ( who has documented proceedings in a typically well-presented  battle report  )  for brilliant hosting,  and my fellow players Chris 'Nundanket' , Mark 'Jolly Broom Man' and Steve ( of Postie's Rejects fame ). A really pleasant evening was had! 

Finally, I was  impressed with what Mark ( Man of Tin ) has done with the 28mm WW2 figures (acquired free with magazines) which I passed on recently : he is 'kit-bashing' them into  inter-wars imagi-nations skirmish forces, and  provides an interesting  progress report and insight into his approach, here - I will be fascinated to see how they look when painted up.  Great to know they are being used so well, when they could so easily have just been thrown away! 

That's all for now, but as you see I have plenty to be going on with. Keep well, everyone, and a Happy Easter to you all.