Whilst our weather has not been as bad as that that has hit Central Europe recently, it has been pretty grim, especially today. As every cloud has a silver lining and all that, I've been able to catch up on a few hobby related things...
Chariots of Phyre
As part of my gaining knowledge for a completely new period, the following book arrived a few days ago.
I've only glanced at it so far, as I don't want to be distracted from the main project at hand, but it does look good and compliments nicely the other reference books I already have. What I do know is that I need to find that visual 'je ne sais quoi' to draw me. So far plenty to choose from, but must resist the urge to explore further...
1945
I saw this book a few weeks ago and so when in Waterstones recently, I picked up a copy as the final purchase from a book voucher I received last year.
Now normally my interest in the NWE theatre finishes with Market-Garden, but looking at the reviews of this, I thought I'd take the plunge and am happy that I did. As the author notes, 1945 onwards in NWE is often given but a cursory coverage in most books, which tend to focus on the events on the Eastern Front. Like the above, I've only glanced at this but reading the notes, I know I'm really going to enjoy reading this and hopefully this will inspire some future games and/or mini-campaigns.
19thC ImagiNations
My painting mojo has returned due to a combination of the current wet weather and the forthcoming Cotswold Wargames Day. Below are some photos of recent work.
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| A 'German' Brigade for the mid-19thC in Europe. |
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| Jaegers to go with the above, who have yet to have the flag finished and flock added. |
The 'German' infantry I've had painted for ages, but finally got my butt into gear and added the flags. These I painted whilst flat, which made to job a hell of a lot easier, combined with using my newish ABC Brushes which worked a treat. The Jaegers I started this morning and again said brushes made the job a lot easier and quicker to do compared to my old ones I used to use.
I know I prevaricate a lot when it comes to painting, but I have to keep reminding myself of the 3' rule, and focus on the unit and not too much on each individual figure. When viewed close up they look pretty crude, but are neat and tidy, yet look fine once on the table. I just need to keep reminding myself of that!
Next up is the commander and artillery, ideally some cavalry, time and motivation dependent...
Cotswold Wargames Day
The above units are for the show and should, when combined with other units I have, give me about 4 Brigades to play with, along with some cavalry. Exact details of the game and scale of action are up in the air, but I have a few back up plans if need be...
TTFN.
Good to see the painting mojo return. A new project (and bad weather) can do that! For Biblical inspiration, I recommend picking up a copy of Stillman and Tallis’ Armies of the Ancient Near East. If postage wouldn’t be so high, I’d send you one of my spares.
ReplyDeleteIt's that time of year when generally my mojo tends to return. Luckily in a sense the weather's looking pretty iffy for the rest of the week, so maybe I can make good progress...
DeleteThanks for the offer of the book, but I have a copy already. The Chariot Wars book should make a nice companion to it. There is this article too which I've only scanned, but looks good:
https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/pages/biblical-age-wargaming-by-nigel-stillman
I must second Jonathan’s recommendation - the “two Nigels” AANE is an absolute gem. Of course, the book is now around 40 years old, so I’m not sure how much has changed in the light of subsequent archaeological discoveries. Does Chariot Wars offer anything significant to make a purchase worthwhile?
ReplyDeleteYour Germans look lovely, as I’ve come to expect TBH. Well done 👏👏
I hope the rest of your CWD preparation goes well and that you have a successful game on the day. A victory would be a bonus really 😉
Cheers,
Geoff
I expect some of it may be a bit dated now Geoff, but for me I'm sure it will be fine. Those with more interest in the period might disagree! From my cursory glance it lays out the forces for the wargamer and goes into possible tactics used by the chariots. So naturally this will be read alongside the AANE book.
DeleteGlad you liked the figures too and it's easy to be critical of the painting when they are close up, something I have to remind myself will not be an issue once on the table. Prep for the show is coming along nicely, with my aim to finish a few units between now and the show.
I also just tell myself that they look fine on the table, and the small details no one even sees. lol.
ReplyDeleteGlad mojo has returned. 😀
Viewing at display cabinet distance is not what we see when on the table, especially with 10mm figures and at arms length. Nice to be in the mood to paint, as I do enjoy the end result, but the inbetween bit can be a chore at times!
DeleteGlad you are making sensible use of the crap British weather, Steve...I read a headline on BBC World saying some places got two months rain in a day...sounds like standard British fare, to be honest!
ReplyDeleteBooks look interesting and the figures very nice...to be honest, without super strong glasses. I can't really see my new 10mm Roman's in detail at all! I can see (and stress about) the detail while painting, and in subsequent photos, and thereafter, forget about what they look like entirely!
Well at least it's dry today, but some places got a month's worth of rain in 6 hours or so. Here we had non-stop rain for 12 hours, which was just depressing, except for watching the dog walkers looking extremely wet and fed up!
DeleteI don't use anything other than my normal reading glasses as if I can't see the detail with these, I sure as hell won't when they're on the table! I think my problem is that after 30+ years of making stuff, I still feel the need to make things perfect, even though I've been out of the business for nearly 5 years now. Old habits die hard! So these days brighter colours to make things pop when on the table and about 3 main colours maximum, with the odd bag etc that might need to shine to make the figure seem less dull. Any yes, after a week or so I've forgotten completely about all these bits I fretted over!
Good stuff Steve more books and painting as well 👍 I tend towards ebooks and audiobooks these days as I find them easier to access, that said I did pick up a couple recently 🤔
ReplyDeleteThanks Matt. I'm an old fashioned physical book man myself, but it does have the downside of shelf space issues!
DeleteGood books, lovely looking figures, I now aim for adequate, to try and get rid of perfectionist tendencies which has worked and improved my output and the figures are still good enough!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain caveadsum1471
Thanks Iain! I go for decent table top standard for mutliple reasons nowadays. I don't think I would want or could paint 28mm figures now to a standard I would be happy with.
DeleteGreat looking Prussians. I tried to paint those some time ago but due to my aging eyes wan't a succes.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jan:). I think they are good table top standard as it were, but have seen many other superb examples in the Pendraken painting competition, often wondering how the Hell do they achieve the detail and shading etc!
DeleteInteresting looking books, especially the 1945 one. Great job on the Germans.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked the Germans and the 1945 book does look very good.
Delete19th C Prussians: Looks pretty darned good to me! Your models outshine many, many others 🙂👍. What size are the figures, please?
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the ancients - my favourite rabbit hole 🙃
Many, many thanks for your kind words Martin! The sculpts are from Pendraken's 1848 Schleswig-Holstein War range and are 10mm. The sculpting and animation makes these easy and a joy to paint. I'm holding off on Ancients as trying to get my painting mojo back to finish a few more bases off...
Delete10mm??!! Even MORE impressive! (And yes, Pendraken are lovely neat sculpts, taking paint well. I’ve resisted ‘yet another scale’ for a looong time, BUT…).
ReplyDeleteThanks! The Pendraken AWI and League of Augsburg ranges are just stunning and hard to believe that someone can sculpt such detail at this scale.
DeleteChariot wars such a great read and source of inspiration. Good luck Steve.
ReplyDeleteFrom my cursory glance it does look good, but have put it deep in the leadpile to try and avoid releasing the 'butterfly'!
DeleteNot sure if I mentioned it Steve, but if you're thinking about ancients I've recently bought the Three Ages of Rome rules. I've played them at the Cirencester club and they seem to work well.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned it at the Colours show and can't remember if you bought the book there or not. Off to check them out purely for research purposes of course...
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