As is the norm, once again this year I ordered some 'surprise' presents for myself so that I can have something to unwrap on Xmas day. I'm of an age where realistically I have everything I need, so I tend to buy a few bits'n'bobs for my wargaming, be it books, figures or terrain. This year I treated myself to a range of pieces from Commission Figurines, where I get my mdf figures from, Leven Miniatures whom I've used for a few years now and whose buildings have featured in many an AAR and new for this year, from Battlescale, whose sculpting I've admired via their Facebook page.
All the items arrived in plenty of time and were very well wrapped and delivered in sturdy cardboard boxes, which is nice to see, as you always worry about items being damaged in transit, especially at this time of year. All the pieces will have a variety of uses, from the late 17thC all the way up to WWII, but all will form the core of various BUA plans I have for my games.
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| An mdf building based upon one in Potsdamer Platz, Berlin 1945. As the main facades are identical, I added some more damage to break up the symmetry as well as adding some card paving and rubble to the base. The PzIV is from Pendraken and 10mm, whilst the mdf figures are on 25mm/1" bases and are around 8mm high, to help give an idea of size. |
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| The other main elevation. I added some plaster to the end walls to help with the distressed and damaged look and will probably add some posters too for a bit of period flavour. A really nice kit that is easy to put together and modify if required due to it being made of 2mm mdf. |
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| A small inline castle tower that will be used mainly as part of a fortified manor, but could easily be part of a small motte and bailey structure. |
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| Another Leven Miniatures tower, this time a standalone one, but with some supporting defensive walls etc. The plan is for this to be used in Ireland in the 1690's but can be used with the following too. |
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| A Leven Miniatures main gateway front elevation. This will form the main entrance to a medieval BUA, with scratch built walls added to it as I see fit. The above tower works really nicely with this one. |
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| The rear elevation. |
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| A Russian hamlet set from Battlescale, that will work from medieval times right up to Operation Barbarossa and beyond. Some of the buildings will be modified slightly to give great variety and all based up individually, to give the feel of a spread out collective farm etc. |
I'm very pleased with my 'surprise' presents and hope to make a start on some of my plans before the end of the year. Finding the space to leave stuff out is a bit tricky at present but you never know. To give you and idea of what I'm hoping to achieve, the following photo is from
Jon Bleasdale's superb Blog and shows how good 6mm games and terrain can be:
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| This is a set from Total battle Miniatures and I think you'll agree that Jon has done a superb job in bringing this to life. Truly inspirational stuff! |
So until next time stay safe and keep healthy!
Some nice kit there! I’m a fan of the Leven stuff too. That last pic of the TBM town looks fabulous.
ReplyDeleteThanks and I'm happy with my choices. I've always liked the Leven stuff but preferred the Battlescale Russian buildings The TBM town is stunning, as is all of Jon's terrain and miniatures.
DeleteNice terrain additions! Jon's walled town is stunning.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon and hopefully more updates soon. All of Jon's work is brilliant and hard to believe it's 6mm too!
DeleteGood haul Steve. I saw Leven at a wargame show years ago and they had all their buildings painted and in presentation cases and the range looks superb. I know from experience how gook the Battlescale resins are ….. very clean, no bubbles and no tidy up needed. I agree about Jon’s medieval town, it was an absolute eye-catcher in his recent posting.
ReplyDeleteThe range is superb Norm but as mentioned above, I preferred the Battlescale Russian hamlet. You cannot fault Jon in his games presentation, as it's brilliant on all fronts. Certainly worthy of a magazine article me-thinks.
DeleteSteve....The buildings look great but after your "added extras" they look fantastic. I really like the MDF figures, had these been around years ago I think I may well have used them in preference to screws !!!!! Regards.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tony. I hope the buildings work out as planned. The mdf figures are great and really have a lovely old school feel to them:).
DeleteI nice collection of new toys Steve…
ReplyDeleteSmall scale architecture has really improved in quality and quantity over the years…
All the best. Aly
Thanks Aly. The quality has certainly improved an awful lot since I got back into wargaming some 20 years ago. There is also a good mix of manufacturers to choose from which is a big bonus too.
DeleteThose are some lovely looking building there Steve. I trust they’ll feature in your battles in the not too distant future.
ReplyDeleteWaaaayyyy back (you know, before all this Covid thing) when wargames shows were a regular occurrence, I went to the Joy of Six show in Sheffield - a showcase for the smaller scales, primarily 6mm scale and I managed to pick up a fair bit of 6mm & 2mm terrain, all of which was impressive and really well made. It’s certainly a big improvement from the buildings that featured in my youth… A 6mm scale village at least looks like a village for 6mm and 10mm scale figures, whereas one 28mm scale building only ever looks like a single building and never, ever like a village/town.
Let’s hope ‘22 is a significant improvement.
Geoff
Ps/ I enjoyed your earlier 2021 End of Year Review too. Can you ever have too many figures/terrain/books? I think not
They are really nice Geoff and hopefully will feature in the New Year, assuming the seemingly constant wet weather eases here long enough to spend some time making and painting in the garage. The Joy of Six is a show I'd like to attend just to see something different. Maybe 2022 might be the year?
DeleteIn all honesty I've come to realise that many of the figures bought over the past ten years will never really get used, talk less of getting painted. Core periods is very much the way for me going forward. Too many books? A tricky one this mainly due to storage issues!
Very nice small scale scenic additions Steve and of course the final image of the walked town shows just what is possible...it looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThanks Keith. The 'finished product' does look great and my aim is to achieve a similar look. Hopefully I can start next week once my wife returns to school and I have more free time during the day.
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