2011 Plans

With 2010 drawing to a close, I sat down today and sketched out some 2011 plans. Most of them revolve around clearing a mountain of 15mm and 28mm DBA/HoTT armies that have built up. Over the past year most of my gaming has been DBA/HoTT and I expect this to continue into 2011.

I have a variety of 15mm classical Greek armies to finish off from last year. I also have two 15mm early imperial Roman armies as well as a 15mm Volga Bulgar army. Most of my commissionw ork (which is pretty backed up) is also in 15mm so I'll likely be turning these out for most of the year.

For my own gaming, I have a variety of 28mm projects. The most intimidating is a 28mm Samurai DBA army. So far I have done one test base (curse you Dave Senior!) and am mulling how to tackle the rest. Brighter colours, I think.

I also have a large stash of 28mm GW Empire figures that I will make a renaissance Italian army out of for DBHX or DBA-RRR. I'm quite stoked about this project right now so it might be the first up for 2011.

There are also a bunch of fill-in projects for completed armies: a few HoTT elements for my Gallic/British army, some foot knights for my French medievals, and some auxilia for my Romans to allow me to field an early imperial Roman army. Plus there is a goblin army gathering dust. And I'm going to build an army with my daughter of some sort--if she can play chess then DBA should be easy enough to try. I also have some bits and pieces to continue expanding my 28mm dark age armies, although I'm waiting on some more plastic releases before plunging in further.

Squirreled away somewhere in the basement is a stash of 1/72 figures that I have an eye on for AWI/War of 1812 armies. I did a bunch of militia up previously. And I'm sure there are completed Indians somewhere (can't lay my hands on them at the moment). I think I'll rebase these for a DBHx standard and then paint to fill with an emphasis on the War of 1812 (with the anniversary and all next year).

Up next: I have almost finished painting a 15mm Etruscan army (just focusing on the details) and they should roll out early next week. And I have a holiday-themed army which I'm basing up. I hope to get a game in with Bruce this weekend and then the last club night in Tuesday!

28mm Celts: Progress!

I'm pushing hard to complete a stalled 28mm Celt/Gallic DBA army project that I started last Christmas. It is part of the TTGN Old Project Challenge. I made quite a lot of progress this week.

First up were six bases of 3Wb. These came out pretty well, showing the diversity of the Celts in colour and weaponry. I came up one shield short in the end so I will need to paint one up and glue it on later. These are all Wargames Factory plastic Celts.

I finished two bases of 3Cv horsemen. These fellows look a bit rag-tag, which was my intention. The fellow in the middle on the left has obviously captured a fair but of Roman equipment.

These two bases of 2LH are supposed to be skirmishing horse units. I took the saddles off of these horses so the riders were bare-backing-it.

These two units of 2Ps have a fair collection of ranged weapons, including a bow and a sling. And finally I finished a HoTT cleric or magician element. He is a 28mm metal from Warlord Games. The standing stone behind him was "sculpted" on the fly out of blue tack.

Up next: I have the flesh done on a 15mm Etruscan DBA army so I will try to bring them to completion this week. I also have the last Celtic chariot coming to me in the mail and Dave and I did a large trade this week that I will need to sort out. I also have a holiday themed 28mm HoTT army to base up (suggestions of snow terrain welcomed).

New army pages

I have been painting a fair bit this week but have nothing yet to show for it. In the meantime, I have been use the "pages" function in blogger to put together some army-themed pages to show off my troops. So far I have pages for my 28mm medieval French and my Romans.

And my wife just handed me a package of 15mm Romans that Sean from Calgary shipped up to me. So I guess we know what I'll be painting over the holidays. Thanks Sean!

EWG Club Night

We had a dozen guys out last night and three games ran. Mark and Dennis played a game of DBA that I didn't get a picture of.

Bruce hosted six guys in a game of sci-fi FUBAR, hauling out his new 15mm futuristic armies. With both walkers and hover tanks, it was a cool game.

Dave and I brought 28mm medieval DBA armies. His dastardly War of the Roses English put the boots to my haplessly led Burgundian Ordonnance three times! %#^$#*

Here are my French in all their glory. Clearly I need to paint up the dismounted knights if I want to have a chance against his bow. Only one game was close (a 5G-4 loss).

"Prepare to taste metal, ye plastic dogs!"

Up next: I have a 15mm DBA army primered and ready to go. I also have a 28mm plastic army primered. And I guess I need to paint up some 28mm French foot knights!

TTGN Old Project Challenge: Where I'm At!

The Table Top Gaming News has an "old project challenge" going on--simply, can you bring a lingering project to completion between now and February? My lingering project has been a 28mm Gallic/Celt DBA army I started last Christmas using Wargames Factory's 28mm plastics.

So far, I have completed three chariots, three bases of warband and one base of psiloi.

I also have a camp done (using Warlord Games 28mm metals).

I need to completed two bases of light horse and two bases of cavalry. I built these last week--the light horse are riding bareback while the cavalry have saddles.

I also need to complete two bases of psiloi. I built these yesterday. And then I need six bases of three-figure warbands (see below). I built these last night and this morning.

Up next: I'll start priming after I get everyone glued to paint sticks. I'm going to keep the shields separate to aid in decaling. I also have a 15mm DBA army for a commission to get built and primered. And the club is Tuesday--some 28mm DBA medieval action.

15mm Trojans

I finished a small army of Trojans (DBA army I/26a and b) this afternoon. Upon basing, its appears I came up one 4Bd unit short but that can be made up later. This was a commission so the manufacturers are a bit of a mystery but I'd guess Old Glory and Black Hat.

First up are four chariots, the General's chariot being on the far left. Returning viewers will notice the basing scheme is more arid than my usual approach. This was a request--I'm not sure I got it quite right although I think these look fine in person.

There are also six 4Sp units. They look a bit uniform (cow hide shields and all) but the tunics and whatnot are quite varied--again, a request.

And here are three (of the four required) 4Bd units, including the optional foot general (centre).

These fellows are two 4Wb bases. They are quite a lot chunkier than the rest of the figures and were a tricky to get balanced enough they would sit on a painting stick! Strange but true.

These are two 2Ps units. It appears I forgot to snap a picture of the 3Ax unit, but they are also done.

I believe these fellows are 3Bd. I almost never see a 3Bd unit (maybe in a viking army I have?). Here you can see the thicker figure juxataposed against the thinner (Old Glory?) figures.

These are the two 4Pk bases. This picture is not that great but had an interesting composition.

This one shows off the pike figures a bit better. The pikes are bristles off a toilet brush (Dale swears he did not recycle!) and are quite flexible. Dale kindly cut off and drilled out the hands before shipping. And, of course, we have the camp. I believe the horse is Black Hat Miniatures; ditto the figures.

Up next: I have one more DBA army to get to in the next few weeks. And I have entered into the TTGN Old Project Challenge where I will finish up a lingering project by February (hopefully by New Years): a 28mm Gallic DBA army. And I have been banging off a few units of hobbits while I putter.

I also see this in my 200th blog posting and I have crested the magical 2000 figures painted this year mark. Despite a lot of commission work, I have also made a major dent in my own pile of unpainted lead, which is encouraging. Getting the Gallics done over the holidays would be a real boon as well!

Duel in the Dark

Last night I dropped in on Bruce to try out the board game Duel in the Dark. This game allows two players to fight out the British night bomber attacks on German cities during the mid-war.

The components are all quite nice, with a lovely hexed game board. The basic mechanics are simple: you set up the table, the British player programs the bomber, the German player positions fighters, and the British player places his bomber and his mosquito squadron. Success is tracked on a victory point counter and all game encounters change the score (rather than tracking damage to planes and whatnot)

Each turn the mosquito moves. It can shoot up night fighters, take out defences or light up the target hex. It is most useful in trying to deceive the German about your bomber's intended target. Then the German fighter squadrons move, trying to anticipate where the bomber will be to shoot it up. Then the pre-programmed bomber move is carried out.

You play both the ingress and egress, trying to maximize your score for the night. The only tracking that is necessary is fighter squadron fuel (only four squadrons so not a chore). But there is a lot of depth to the tactical game--tough choices and opportunities to deceive and to take gambles.

I managed to score a big victory in game 1 as the British because Bruce made high-stakes choices with his fighters at the end of the game and guessed wrong twice in a row (whew!). In game two, as the Germans, I eked out a marginal victory because I basically got lucky. The exciting part will be playing a campaign over several nights as each mission (due to the victory track) will have a relationship to the other so there is an opportunity for some meta-strategy.

Up next: Still painting Trojans! I also have a few other projects on the go but I am hopeful to be done the Trojans this weekend. Focus on the Trojans!