Underway again if slowly

Well, it has been a long time, as I have not had much inclination for the wetter side of miniatures.  But, a slice of inspiration has arrived - I volunteered and was accepted to the playtest crew of Galleys & Galleons, being produced for Ganesha Games by Nic aka Mr Hotspur.



As this is intended to be a miniatures game, I would need a fleet or two:

And, here are some volunteers!  I have had these squadrons for some 14 years or so - the price is in CAD$, back when the exchange rate was quite favorable to us Yanks.



The plan is to paint these ships up, and get some gaming in.  I have half a thought to break these squadrons up and mix them into something a bit different.  Instead of Spanish and English, I was thinking maybe Dutch and Portuguese, and split the ships across the fleets of the two nations.  These miniatures will have to do for now, as the harsh reality of budget limitations for naval activities has closed in - no funds for new acquisitions, just upkeep of existing ships.







Getting these squadrons has spurred some more enthusiasm about older projects, namely those neglected ironclads; might need to drag them out as well.  And the WW1 ships, but I am not liking the way I have based them...

The table, and other stuff

Nothing much going on here hobby-wise, especially as work has been a bit crazy.  I did take the time to clear off the table:

The table, before

The table, after

Cleared off and re-organized a bit.  I am wanting to start up another 'build' round, where I clean, assemble, and prime miniatures, as I have the Huaxtecs and Islemen patiently waiting.  Nothing is going to happen with those two groups until my recent base order comes in, however!  I was experimenting briefly with some trays I received from Warbases, hoping that my steel washers would fit into them, but the washers are just too large and I have little inclination to modify either the trays or the washers to suit.  So, a small order of bases, and a couple of trays, has been made and they will appear soon.


Now, if that was not enough, this appears:

Over at Grimsby Wargaming, Paul posted a brief review of this book.  I was intrigued, but it was the finding of the above-pictured book at a local used bookstore (a hardback 1st ed for only $6.50) that has set some more gears grinding - another project, yes quite probably!  But, most likely it will take the place of my Scots project - I might be able to morph both of them together, if I am careful, and maybe I am just more comfortable with a fantasy setting than a historical setting where I might be put under a microscope for 'accuracy'.  My lovely wife - the one that found the book at the store - is comfortable with either route which is always a good thing!


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Huaxtecs, part 1

After a hiatus of about 6 years, I have made a purchase off of eBay:

And an impressive purchase it is:  Xachoti's Huaxtec Warband, from the skilled sculptings of Steve Saleh and his Lucid Eye range, which, sadly seems to have gone quiet recently.

The warband is a group of 24 miniatures - one leader and a random assortment of others in the range.  The variety is quite good, with 7 different sculpts along with the leader, and a nice mix of weapons.

The castings, with the exception of one, are fairly free from flash and are well-cast.  I will say that for the most part these chaps are bent over a bit, as readying a final blow to a downed opponent.

The close-ups show the detail, especially in the faces.  Surprisingly, a few remind me of Celts with their upswept hair!

By comparison, they should mix well with my Eureka miniatures, although the Lucid Eye miniatures will be a bit taller - in the pic above the Eureka miniatures are mounted on washers.



I'm looking forward to getting some paint on these fellows!


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Prince of Skulls

For some time, I have been wanting a copy of the above-pictured novel, and for various reasons, from complacency to downright laziness, I have never succeeded.  Until yesterday, when my copy of Prince of Skulls by MAR Barker arrived.

Now, I have a complete set of the five published novels on the Tékumel genre!


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Just arrived...

The delivery person left this for me today:

Lion Rampant, the new medieval rules from Dan Mersey, published by Osprey.  I will try and have a good look at the book soon, but two things pop into my mind immediately:

First, I am not too sure about the smallish, perfect-bound format of the rules - I am just a Luddite I suppose!

Second, the urge to get my medieval project on the table again might lead to some unpleasant side effects - orcs versus Scots might be a possibility...


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