Projects and stuff

 Just a simple post, mostly to get me back into the swing of things with this site...

Here is a brief view of my projects:

Lots of the same from before, but some changes.

My sons and I have been focusing a lot of time and attention on Warcrow from Corvus Belli.  Warcrow is a fantasy skirmish game based on mostly original work by Corvus Belli, with a growing line of miniatures to support it.  We are big fans of Corvus Belli's sci-fi game Infinity, so Warcrow attracted us from the original Kickstarter.

Battletech is right up there as well, although we have not played for some weeks now.

And everything else is getting some small amounts of attention.  I recently received some 1/200 aircraft models - WW2 US and Japanese - and I will post about them soon.  There are plenty of options for naval combat, with WW1 ships just waiting, a few WW2 battleships waiting, and ironclads as well.  I do have my eye on the recently released 1/2400 Anglo-Dutch ships developed by League of Augsburg as well.

Malifaux is a newcomer to the desk.  This is another fantasy skirmish game, one that I have never played but have heard about from the 'Web and now from my sons who have picked it up.  'Bayou' is a faction of Gremlins in the game, and they attracted me by being a bit silly and comical.  I am not really sure how that will go - stay tuned!

I am also looking towards a medieval project.  The new 13th century figures from Victrix are quite appealing.  This would not be a skirmish game - larger battles would be the goal.  AS I have plenty of figures from other projects to work on at the moment, this will get more attention next year.

There are several projects missing from the list, however.  Spanish Civil War is gone, along with my Mesoamerican figures and Trojan War projects.  These have been sold or traded for the projects that are more active recently, or simply for $.  I have been doing some deep cleaning of my hobby storage, and making some difficult decisions on projects.  

The 15mm Greeks are on hold for now.  I am having a hard time getting myself to paint the figures, so they have been put aside for a time.

The GW stuff is on hold also; definitely no purchases for a long time now and it will be very difficult to justify more.

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A Brief review of 2023 and preview of 2024

 I am a bit late with this but let's move right along...

I can say with some confidence that 2023 was the year that I finally shifted my gaming gears out of neutral and got moving again across the tabletop.  Now, my gaming total was not as impressive as some, but more miniatures games were played than several of the previous years combined.  Here is the list:

        15 games of BattleTech

         4 games of Warhammer 40K 10th Ed.

         1 game of Infinity N4 

The boost that I needed occurred in the summer, when my local game store organized a 4-round BattleTech league.  The organizers made sure that I (and others in our little group) did not play against each other during the league.  This marked the first time in more years (maybe decades) than I can remember when I played a game against a total stranger.  Usually my gaming is with my sons or our little group, and playing against others was a bit of an eye-opener for me - for the better.

The games of 40K - against my sons - made me realize that I need to learn the rules better and focus my army along a different path.  The new edition of the rules seems to make large figure count forces, like my Orks, harder to play, but there are portions of the rules that I do not fully utilize which will make a difference once we get back to it.  Despite getting massacred in each game, it was fun.

Infinity is another game that I am still struggling along the learning curve.  It is quite different from 40K and other games but I think that once I figure out the basics it will be a lot of fun.

Concerning the Pile of Potential, I will admit that not much was painted in 2023.  I do not have a grand total but it was definitely less than 100 from all genres.  There were several bagsful of purchases especially for BattleTech, along with my 15mm Greeks.  However, I did make a considerable dent in the Pile by selling/trading approximately 700 figures in 2023.  A couple of projects went away, including my WW1 land forces and the last of my Tékumel fantasy figure collection.  Most of these were unpainted figures as I continue to sort through boxes of stuff.

And now for looking ahead at 2024:

A few changes from the previous posting of The Chart are evident (as marked in red above):

    40K slips down a bit as I rethink my troop choices;

    Goblins still in the top tier, especially as the new Fantasy Battle rules will launch soon - my sons and I are looking forward to them;

    BattleTech gets a big NO in the terrain department as we are finding that playing on mats is fine but terrain is best.  My oldest has started a BT terrain collection at the local store, and I have plans for my own collection;

    OGRE is warming up as there is to be one last crowd-funding campaign to start manufacturing the missing units from the current selection;

    The Greeks saw some progress, mostly in purchases as I finally acquired all of the Greeks I 'should' need;

    And Naval is getting under steam again but more on that later.

Gaming-wise I expect 2024 to continue with many games of BattleTech - my sons and I meet almost every Saturday now, since the league - but that might taper off as WFB comes about.  I have much to paint for my goblins but my oldest son's dwarves are waiting.  Warcrow will eventually ship later this year, and the solo projects might see some attention.

The Pile of Potential will continue to see reductions, but not nearly so drastic as previous years as most of the low-hanging fruit has been harvested.

Purchases in 2024 need to concentrate on terrain.  BattleTech, Warcrow, 20mm SCW, and others all need terrain.  Some figures will come in of course - I foresee a need for rank and file goblins for one - but those are secondary to terrain.

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The State of my Hobby, part 3

 So, where does all of this text leave me with regards to my toys?  How about a chart!

Hopefully that pic is readable.

I am going to start the periodic (and probably irregular) posting of this chart in the hope that it will keep me on course.  My hobby brain is wondrously capable of wandering off the path - which is to play games and not just think about them!

Out of all of these projects, the only one that is ticking off all of the boxes for play is BattleTech.  It has been the focus of much effort over the past 20 months or so.  Most of the others in Tier 1 just need as much concentrated effort as I put into BattleTech to become equally complete.  The exception is Warcrow, which has yet to be released.  The first miniatures, from the dungeon-crawler Kickstarter early this year, will be shipped Spring 2024, with the full tabletop game being released late Summer 2024.  Then why is it in Tier 1?  My sons are very interested and also backed the Kickstarter along with me; once the figures start to arrive they will get a lot of attention.  Also, I have a nice stash of terrain for 28mm which, when finished, will be used for Warcrow and potentially other projects.

Tier 2 is more problematic, and therefore more fluid.  My 1690 Ireland project, with very few resources here, should be lower on the list, but at the moment it is not.  I very much want to get this going, but there is a large amount of investment that has to occur first, both in purchases and thinking.  I have yet to decide on rules, and I want to have that settled first before more substantial shopping.

I am also giving more thought to naval and aviation.  Little to no terrain is needed to get started, and there are plenty of rules out there, especially for naval.  Obstacles at the moment include what era (for naval) and basing (for airplanes).  Lots to think about there, especially for naval, which can be discussed in another post!

Speaking of naval matters, I have imported all of the posts and comments from my other blog, Mini Ship Gaming, into this one.  More focus, more better, right?  

And to keep up the momentum for posting, there should be more posts about what I do play, historical or not.  In fact, I'll be getting together with my sons tomorrow; not certain about the game to be played but Warhammer 40K is likely.  Avert your eyes rross!!!

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The State of my Hobby, part 2

 (More plain old text follows ;) )

Besides the list of projects given in Part 1 of this series, there are more ideas, more miniatures in boxes  just waiting for a chance:

GREEKS  -  Despite having an actual plan for this project, it was set aside in the flood of Battlemechs that are continuing to cross my table.  However, it is not dead yet, and I am dusting it off for another go.  Originally, this project was a way to participate, if distantly, in the Society of Ancients 2023 Game Day - 2nd Mantinea, which took place about six months ago!  I intend to continue with the general theme of the project without the focus on that particular battle and move towards more of a Peloponnesian War outlook.  There was a brief moment recently where I thought 28mm might be a better match, especially with the quite close pricing of Victrix figures vs. Xyston (at least here in the US), but I am coming around to a preference for a more dense look for 15mm figures compared to the typical 28mm bases.  The issue of 'what rules?' has come up again, but I am thinking that Triumph and/or Basic Impetus will be suitable for my personal preferences.  This project will be almost 100% a solo effort, as, although I expect that my sons would be more than happy to play, I do not expect them to collect any units.

OGRE  -  Yet another sci-fi blast from the past, from Steve Jackson Games, OGRE is a game of near-future armored combat in a very different style from BattleTech.  In my view, it is sufficiently separate from BattleTech to warrant its own time on the table, with the added benefit of my idea to use historical WW2 camouflage schemes for the basic units (which should mollify my desire for WW2 micro-armour!).  With that being stated, it does have a low priority for my attention and might see some paint time once the Cold War project heats up.  I am intrigued by the idea of having a series of games using the same terrain for my Cold War/OGRE/BattleTech forces in separate scenarios.

SCW  -  Patiently waiting in the wings are my 20mm Spanish Civil War figures.  Plenty of figures are here but none are completely painted and I do not have suitable terrain yet.  This project also suffers from not having a set of rules selected, but one of the great strengths of skirmish games is the ability to switch easily from set to set.  Once I get more of the figures for the GW projects completed I want to get just a handful of troops finished for some small games.  This is another solo project.

TROJAN WAR  -  More dusty figures from the past, awaiting some primer & paint.  I have a large variety of 28mm figures from a number of sources that are ready for paint, but the original intent was to play large battles and stray away from the Iliad a bit.  As I type this, I am thinking that skirmish games might be a better option; the collection is large enough to support either direction although I do not have much in the way of chariots.

AVIATION  -  Several separate projects are lumped into this category - SCW, WW2 Pacific, and Aeronautica Imperialis.  Models are here and waiting (a common theme...) but my usual indecisiveness is slowing the process.  Basing is the issue with the historical projects, and lack of interest from others (and the shutdown of most of the AI models from GW - quelle surprise!) for the sci-fi stuff.  But, like most of my projects, once I decide on a path, then I will get going.  Similar to most if not all of the projects listed in this post, this is a solo endeavor.

NAVAL  -  These projects have run hard aground.  Naval gaming has been a staple of my gaming experience for decades (and I even have a separate blog for it), covering all time periods and scales.  But, for the past few years, I have not been able to get my head around even the simple thought of getting some ships on the painting table, and I just do not know why.  With plenty of ideas in my head, one would think that it could be easy to get on with it, but no.

MESOAMERICAN  -  This was a joint project between my lovely wife and myself.  Despite being amazingly colorful and interesting in spades, it has been difficult to think about working on this after my lovely wife passed away some time ago.  Whenever I look at the figures already finished, I can still hear her talking about Huītzilōpōchtli (the Aztec god of war) and other myths.  The recent closing of Outpost Wargame Services, the supplier of the vast bulk of our figures, after the sad and untimely passing of Jeff Bevan very nearly was the end of this project.  However, there is news of Badger Games (in the US) purchasing the 25mm figure lines, so there is a bit of hope.  This fire is not out, but definitely on a back burner for the time being.

WARCROW  -  Unlike most of the other games on this post, I have yet to receive any figures for this game, as it has yet to see publication.  Warcrow is the next game to be published by Corvus Belli, the maker of Infinity.  Warcrow is a fantasy skirmish game which will be launching next year.  My sons and I are eagerly awaiting this.

MEDIEVAL  -  This one is a conundrum.  On one hand, I have a small amount of painted 28mm 14th century Scots.  On the other hand is a large collection of unpainted 28mm Normans/Saxons/Irish/Norse.  The discovery of the 1066 cache is a recent surprise, as I had thought that they were already sent off in one of the sell-offs from either last year or the previous.  But no.  As this was another joint project with my lovely wife, she took some pains to keep it safe, and I discovered it during our Labor Day holiday week-end as I was sorting through more items that I just do not have room for anymore.  Oddly enough, I also discovered the 'long-lost' bolt from my father's venerable .22 cal single-shot rifle!  (My lovely wife was vehemently anti-gun, while I am just as vehemently for keeping old family heirlooms).  So, a choice beckons, as I can not possibly finish both projects.  I am leaning towards selling the Scots and proceeding with the 1066 project, as they would have more interest from my sons and myself.  

HORSE&PIKE&MUSKET&SHOT  -  The last project, of this list at least.  I have wanted to work on a 18/19th century project for some time, but I never quite decided which one, until a few months ago or so.  And that era would be circa 1691 in Ireland, the tussle between James II and William of Orange.  It ticks off many boxes for me, with plenty of books on the subject, a very well supported line of figures and other gaming supplies from League of Augsburg, and an interesting mix of English, Irish, Dutch, and Danish units, with enough space in between historical battles for other scenarios from my own hand.  

Well now, that is quite a selection.  By my unofficial count, there are 14 projects listed from this post and the previous one.  So much choice can be a bad thing - I remember long ago when WW2 micro-armour and predreadnought/WW1 naval were the mains, and I was just starting to dabble in 5mm ancients and ACW, courtesy of Wargames Illustrated and Heroics&Ros.

There is plenty of room for pruning this list, and there is plenty of opportunity for me to get cracking with a brush.  As always, coming up with a plan for each project will help, and then slotting that plan into the Big Hobby Picture.  To make sure that I am progressing, I am going to try and post more here as, sometimes, having an audience is a good thing and the simple act of typing should have an impact with keeping on target.

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The State of my Hobby, part 1

 (WARNING - A long wall of text follows...)

This is a bit of a sandwich filler post, as an attempt to get back into blogging again, and to keep a more concise (and therefore useful) train of thought towards my projects instead of just talking to the walls.

First off, a salute to those hobbyists that can either stick with a certain period over the years, or have the ability to process projects into a state of tabletop readiness quickly.  I find that has been lacking here for quite a long time, but I am getting there, mostly by cutting out stalled projects and finally finding a method of painting that works for me.

Without further ado, and no particular order:

BATTLETECH  -  Currently the #1 focus of my gaming endeavors.  First coming into print (under the name Battledroids) 39 years ago, the gaming group that I was in picked it up quickly and played many games, both for the group and at local shows, from 1985 to 1989, after which it went completely silent for us, with the group largely splitting up and real life pressures taking precedence.  But, two years ago it came back to my attention, with a successful kickstarter and some not so subtle hints from my sons that I should take a look once again.  I foresee that we will be playing BT for a long time!

GAMES WORKSHOP  -  Another games producer that my sons have dragged me back into (and I do not mind so much!), I am slowly building out both 40K (Orks) and Fantasy (Goblins) armies.  Another project that reaches back to the Eighties, this time I hope that much more gaming will occur.  I am not taking a power-gamer stance with either set (or any game really), and just collect what I find interesting despite its performance on the tabletop.  If I win, it will be all the sweeter!

MICRO-ARMOUR  -  Yet another blast from the past, but this time around with more focus (maybe).  WW2 and Modern gaming in 1/285 scale was a staple with the old group, and I seek to rekindle that.  This project, however, is entirely my own.  I am quite certain that my sons will play, but I have no illusions that they will collect any forces.  Right now, the plan is for 'Cold War' gaming with an eye to keep the collection of a modest size.  I have most of the miniatures that I want, largely from GHQ, and just need to get more progress on other projects before setting off on this journey in earnest.

INFINITY  -  Yet another sci-fi game that my sons have convinced me to start.  These are perhaps the best 28mm figures around, the newest metal miniatures at least.  My youngest is trying to get us to spend more time on this, as the rules are quite daunting though clearly laid out.  Again, I have most of the figures that I could ever need for this skirmish game, just needs more brush attention, and terrain.

Currently, the Big Four in my hobby circle are:  Battletech; Warhammer 40K; Warhammer Age of Sigmar; and Infinity.  These are systems that I could plan a game at the drop of a hat, and I can not foresee not having a unit of each of these projects on the go on my painting desk for the near future.  There are, of course, other projects lurking on the fringes, but that is the subject of another post.

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New rules, future projects

 As my painting and gaming mojo comes back, I have been thinking about other projects, of course!  Here are a few that are at the front of the queue at the moment:

Two very interesting sets.  

Seven Days to the River Rhine covers the Great Conflict that never was - the Cold War Gone Hot in Europe.  This era brings me back to my early days of miniatures battles, as the gaming group I was part of was writing/testing micro-armour rules for both WW2 and 'Modern'.  Decades later, it is back, with a slight twist.  The idea that I have is more akin to the movie Red Dawn instead of the book Red Storm Rising, just at a larger level of gaming.  This would not be a skirmish game.  1/285 miniatures have been acquired for this project, now known as G22.

For Whom The Dice Rolls also caught my eye when published.  Do I need another Spanish Civil War project?  That is the question, and since I have two in the works already - 20mm skirmish and 1/144 aerial - the answer seems to be, err, yes!  My original thought was to do this in 6mm, but I am thinking 10mm might be better, as the 1/144 aircraft could be used for the ground battles, and the 10mm kit can be targets/scenery for the air-to-air segment.  To my eye, 20mm would be too large for this set, but I could be wrong.  More thought is needed.

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Projects

( Warning:  A wall of text follows... )


One of the things that I like about blogging is the ability to use a blog as a concise storage point for data about projects.  I have notebooks and digital link collections squirreled away about genres, but a blog is useful for refining thoughts and placing them in one easy to access place.

So, what projects are bouncing around here?

First, I am slowly working on a Greek and Persian project.  This will be in 28mm, and the most likely rule set for this will be DBA3.0.  Right now, this project is on hold, as I would like to do this all in plastic figures, and although Victrix does have plans to create plastic Persians those plans are 3 or so years into the future.  I will continue to pick up Victrix Greeks - I have some hoplites already - especially if I can find them at a discount.

Second is another slowly forming project - Romans.  A pair of packs of the new Victrix Early Imperial Roman legionnaires have been purchased, but I need more, and of course some opponents would be nice.  Victrix comes through again with their new Gauls, which I will use as Britons.  It is slightly possible that I will extend this project with Germans.  DBA3.0 is the likely ruleset for this also.

Next would be my '1066' project.  I have made a small amount of progress with this also - Footsore Vikings have been purchased and the first unit of Bondi is on the painting table.  I have yet to determine a specific ruleset for this one; I intend to try several once this is gameable.

Following closely on the heels of the '1066' project is my Scots project.  This is based around the original offerings from Claymore Castings for the Battle of Otterburn in 1388.  I do not intend to closely follow this battle, but a close approximation is planned.  I also want to include a small French force, as one landed in Scotland in 1384 (?) and fought in some minor skirmishes before leaving.

My Meso-american project is in a state of flux at the moment.  With the release of the new line of Aztecs in 10mm from Pendraken, I have stopped active work on the 28mm project to let ideas simmer in the back of my mind.  The 10mm miniatures are great - I have some sample packs - but there would be quite a bit of work involved in getting this project running as there are no opponents for the Aztecs in 10mm.  While it is quite possible to proxy or modify figures for Tlaxcallan and/or Huaxtec armies, I am not sure about going that far, yet. 

My next project, chronologically, is a big surprise even for me.  As I began to research a naval project about the War of 1812, I realized that the naval actions, especially on the Great Lakes, were closely linked to the land battles.  One thing led to another, and now I have a book or three and some samples of figures in 28mm for US troops.  Before I continue, I need to lock down the set of rules.  I have a copy of Sharp Practice from TooFatLardies, but I am looking for a set of rules for slightly larger actions.

For the 20th century, there are two projects - WW1 and SCW.  I have some 15mm Russian miniatures for WW1, but the project just has not yet coalesced into something more solid.  SCW in 1/72 scale, on the other hand, has received attention here, but progress has stopped for now.  While coming up with a list of figures I needed to get my lists for Chain of Command complete, I realized that 15mm would be a fair amount cheaper.  (The total $ figure to get the remainder of the 1/72 figures needed would finance a complete re-do of the project in 15mm...)

And there are the non-historical projects.  Recently, I bought into the Kickstarters from Steve Jackson Games for the venerable miniatures game, OGRE.  There is also the Infinity project, which I will work on in the future although my sons seem to have gone back to Warmachine for the time being.  My 'Monster Blood Tattoo' project is still waiting for attention, not forgotten however.  And the Tékumel fantasy project is waiting patiently in the shadows...



LOTS of projects!  I am resigning myself to slow incremental progress over a broad range of projects, as opposed to banging out one at a time on a narrow front.  No gaming schwerpunkt here!!


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Project

What happens when your lovely wife is sick and unable to get out for a week-end, you feel a bit under the weather yourself, there are plenty of miniatures to paint on or under or near your desk, and your bookshelves are full?

In true Larry Leadhead fashion, one should always plan another project!

In my defense, I have been considering this for a long time, and it might not work out at all.  But, the household CFO has given a small purchase the stamp of approval, and I am striking while the iron is hot  -  30 Years War in 15mm.

The figures, for this test order at least, will be ordered from Khurasan, with a pack coming from their own range and a pack from their rejuvenated Testudo line.

As always, the real problem with this project will be rules, as it is with almost all of my projects.  That will be the next item on the agenda, as buying miniatures is easy...


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Other fantasy stuff

I have been reconsidering some of my gaming goals lately, and one of the ideas that I have renewed and brought forward to my gaming plans involves getting some skirmish groups together for some Song of Blades-type scenarios.  I have a variety of figures that can be used for this including my lovely wife's elves and my Reptus (lizard folk).

A few other groups can be formed, like orcs:

These are Old Glory orcs, from their Ghost miniatures line.  The skin color has just been started - no green orcs here!  The orcs suffer from having no magic-user types, but maybe numbers will help them out; I think that I have 18 of them someplace...


And some humans:

The sword-swingers are old Harlequin miniatures, with a musician and standard bearer included.  I am not certain if those two have an effect in SBH but they will look nice.  The crossbow types are Old Glory miniatures from their late HYW selections, and the guy in grey is a Reaper martial arts type that will be a special character.  After taking this pic, I found a chap that could work as a magic-user, so the humans have a balanced force.


The intended effect of dusting these old miniatures off and getting them painted is to get some sort of actual gaming going on here - it has been far too long...


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Dusting off this blog!

It has been a while...

Despite my affinity for 28mm, I am reconsidering 15mm mostly due to cost and space.  Money is tight at the moment as is space for games.  Also, 15mm looks better in a mass-battle aspect; 28mm nails it for skirmishes.

Along with this, the rest of the project is up for reconsideration also.  Greeks/Persians are still a possibility, but I am also thinking about Successors, Romans/Gauls/Pontics, Late Romans, and 13th century medieval.  Rules are another aspect up in the air; there are many possibilities and I can not rule out the chance that I will want to paint up some fantasy armies as well!

So, hopefully much to blog about.

The project

I have always been a bit of a butterfly when it comes to projects. Most all periods of history fascinate me, and unfortunately that makes it hard to narrow down a project and keep focused. Take this post from Jet at Geektactica - lovely stuff there. Makes it hard for me to keep to the Greek/Persian project. So, I am also thinking about a 13th century set! The pertinent army lists would be Feudal French, Imperial German, and Communal Italian.

The big deciding factor will be the availability of good minis, although the feudal armies might mesh better with the eventual fantasy armies project...

In the good news department, the bases order from Litko has shipped, so I need to get going with getting some paint on my minis.