An Indian Summer

With meteorological Autumn having arrived on 1st September, my mind always seems to switch back into gaming mode as Summer has finished. However after a rather iffy July and August, there is something of an Indian Summer happening here in Blighty, both literally and metaphorically speaking.

Normally at this time of year the temperatures cool and we get the odd nice spell of sunny weather on occasional heat, which we appreciate all the more knowing cooler weather is on its way. Not at present as we are having a heatwave with each day 28C (82F) or more and tropical nights where it will not drop below 20C! So it is rather too hot during the middle of the day to do anything, but at least gaming related activities can continue at a push.

Generally I've always painted in the evenings, to give me consistency of light and when the kitchen is free. But with the current heat and my wife back at work in school, I've taken to painting in the early morn, before it gets too hot. Also I've found I'm much more alert and so find it easier to do the work that requires a bit more concentration. So on average I've been able to complete a unit each day, spread over 3 sessions, so not as to tax my old brain and to keep it fun and not feel like work. This equates to main colours blocked in, then details added and overall wash applied, followed by highlights and lacquer. Some recent work can be seen below:

Ottomans masquerading as mid-18thC Indian Sepoys.

Simple white clothes with colourful headgear to make them pop. I even painted their moustaches, thanks to the simple brilliant ABC Brushes I bought recently! Flags yet to be decided upon but they will be colourful.

One of four Light Cavalry units ready for higlights and lacquer. One unit will be painted as per a Light Infantry unit colour scheme so that they can be used dismounted for future ImagiNations games.

Dave was up in Bristol this week and so popped by for a few hours for a catch up, which was nice. We ran through my thoughts on using Honours of War for 18thC India and tweaked a few things here and there. It should be fun and with elephants, camels, loads of cavalry and rocket troops, it will be a bit different I'm sure! Fingers crossed I'll get some trial games in in advance, once I've broken the back on the painting front. I'll post our amendments here and on the HoW group when i've got a spare moment or two.

This weekend I'm off to Colours, which really does mark the return of the wargames season for me. Normally the weather is OK and hopefully warmish, but it's forecast to be 28C and so will be considerably warmer inside the building, which is South facing and fully glazed on that side! I've a few pre-orders to collect and will have a browse to see if anything takes my fancy, normally a book or two. There appears to be a good mix of games and for the first time, they are running some simple intro games for kids, which is a grwat idea. How long I last there due to the heat remains to be seen, but I hope to be able to take my time and have a good wander round.

TTFN.