Thursday 5 June 2014

Blenheim Blitz Mock Up

I have spent today creating a mock up of how Blenheim Blitz will look and to enable me to commence play testing. It is scaled down using 3" squares as opposed to the 6" squares the full version will use. The board is 27" x 18".  The counters are 3cm x 1.5cm scaled down from the full size 6cm x 3cm bases. This means I can see how the whole thing will fit together. Now I've cut the counters out and laid them out, I'm wondering if my order of battle is too large for the table size. There is little room for manoeuvring and I haven't put any guns on the board.

I will use the Leipzig lite/Gettysburg at a Gallop rules and play out a few turns to see how they work and make a few notes. The advantage is that I can get the rules sorted out without having the need to rush and paint up two armies. I'd like to get the balance of the figures at Phalanx but now I am thinking i need to nail down just how big the armies are going to be.


I found this beautiful map of the battle at the Obscure Battle website. Lots of useful information on there and I am sure I will be returning to it on a frequent basis other the next few weeks.

In hobby news, I have now sorted out my paint collection. I have 324 pots of paint from the likes of Vallejo, Coat D'Arms and GW plus a few others. I have ordered some paint racks inspired by Dr Mikes set up and I have splashed out on some Rosemary and Co brushes. There is nothing more frustrating than spending more time looking for a particular paint than you do actually applying that paint to a figure - which is even easier to do in 6mm. So I am hoping my organisational skills will benefit my output and encourage me to actually sit down and get some stuff done on a more frequent basis.

More soon...

Monday 2 June 2014

Bucket List

During my chat with Dr Mike at Partizan, the subject of the ratio of figures in the unpainted pile compared to expected life expectancy came up. In other words do you have more figures in your pile than you can reasonably expect to paint in whatever time you left on this mortal coil.

Prior to recent purges of stock levels I was coming to doubt this. I suspect I have something along the lines of 18 projects of one form or another in 15mm alone. Ridiculous that I spent money on figures wi a view to gaming with them and then hiding them away in a cupboard as my mind wondered away onto something else.  I also play golf to a relatively decent standard (6 handicap). In my time I have spent a lot of money on golf equipment. But one thing I have never seen a golfer do is buy a load of new equipment and then leave it in the garage untouched for years. So what is it with wargamers that we attend shows or browse the internet and then throw a load of money at a project only to have it gather dust atop the infamous 'lead' pile we all seem to accumulate.

 I am currently going through a cull of mainly painted figures. The latest sale was a large 15mm ECW collection. I have played maybe 6 games with it in 6 years. Having said that I have lived in my current house for three and a half years during which time the figures have lived in a cabinet in my garage. Unloved and I played with. Barely looked at even. So in a new spirit of frugality I have decided that if I am to undertake any new project I shall fund it through the sale of figures that have seen now use in recent memory. I have never had much of a sentimental attachment to my figures anyway and firmly place myself in the gamer camp as opposed to hobbyist/painter  camp. So funds are available.

 I would like to be financially in the black for the rest of the year. I suspect I am close to it now after several profitable sales already. I more planned but certainly I will be able to fund Blenheim Blitz plus another project or two. One thing I do aim to do is to concentrate on Belnheim. I have figures for other areas of business but they are more as painting type projects for the time being until they evolve into something more. You may see a link to a blog called The Boiling Point of Eric Jenkins over to the right. This is my fantasy/sci if blog with a heavy emphasis on Warmachine and Malifaux at the moment so there will be little time to look at other historical projects for the remainder of this year at least.

So the title of this post is Bucket List. I intend to only look at projects that can be completed within a reasonable amount of time in the future. Having said that there are periods and certain battles that I do want to play at some point. My Bucket List then for now (subject to change) looks something like this:

1. Naseby and/or Marston Moor.

Maybe as a Reduced Battle or using something like Polemos. One or the other will be done sooner rather than later.

2. Seven Years War.

I've never played this period and have little knowledge of the it but can see me doing it at some point.

3. Passchendale

I have walked the Flanders Fields many times and Tyne Cot is a beautiful place. I would love to recreate an attack up the slopes towards the pill boxes that remain in Tyne Cot cemetary. Another 3 years for the centenary so some time to contemplate this one.

4. Ancients

Mons Graupius from the SPQR rule book intrigues me. At Large scale this would look spectacular on the table.

5. Colonials

Maybe Zulu, maybe Sudan but on a large scale ala the MAD wargamers Isandlhwhana.

This is subject to change. Maybe as soon as tomorrow! We wargamers are nothing if not fickle.

My mantra for now though is discipline. Blenheim will be at a show in the autumn. Hopefully Derby work permitting. This week will see the order do battle finalised to enable me to buy the balance of the figures to get painting. I will be building a mock up of the table too hopefully next weekend so there ought to be some tangible progress to report on as opposed to rhetoric and hyperbole.

More soon...

Sunday 1 June 2014

Partizan in the Park 2

Sorry for the split post but I am writing this on my iPad as the laptop is being repaired and I struggle to format blog posts using it.

So a great show that has left myself and Ade energised for future projects and plans. I had a great time painting a unit of Seven Years War British at Dr Mikes SMS clinic. We had a good old chat about the hobby and attitudes to painting. Another chap came along and joined in (didn't grab his name) but it's amazing how a common interest such as ours can have you chatting with strangers like you have known them for years. Later in the day Mike presented me with a unit of Union infantry that I had painted and left behind at one of his clinics at the Baccus Open Day 2 years ago which was a very pleasant surprise. You can rest assured they will take centre stage amongst my Union army as it grows in the near future.
 
By the wonders of modern technology, this is the unit in progress from the show two years ago. 

I also managed to snaffle some time with Peter and discuss my Blenheim Blitz project which he seemed pleased to hear has been resurrected. He laughed at my plan to fight the whole battle in under and hour. I smiled and said "It WILL be done!" And so, though he doesn't know it, I take it as a challenge to make it so. I was please to hear that the official Reduced Battles team have plans of their own which I won't spoil here but I will say I can't wait to see what is coming up.

We also had a chat about the show scene in general and look forward to the Joy of Six show coming up in July.


We agreed many shows were stale and offered nothing different to ones we attended 20 years ago. I agree and certainly feel that they need to evolve and maybe begin to offer something new if they are to survive. I know of many shows that have fallen by the wayside over the years and it seems  to  be becoming the survival of the fittest as punters are voting with their feet and wallets. Triples a couple of weeks ago was a show not to be missed for many at the Stoke club ten years ago. Now however especially since the venue change, it's a hit and miss affair for me. This year was he first time in 2 or 3 years I have attended. Many of the games on show are the same old same old. I do appreciate the effort people put into putting several hundred (thousand?) 28mm figures on a table with nice terrain. But really I've seen it all before and it takes something out of the ordinary to impress me.

The Bruce Weigle game certainly did impress me. It probably had fewer figures on the table Han most games at the show but the landscape style terrain was a sight to behold. I have seen pictures of this around the web for years but seeing it close up was inpsirational. 

Peter has big plans for the Joy of 6 show in the future with plans to keep things fresh and  expand over the coming years into a real celebration of not only the scale but the hobby in general. I for one can't wait to see what he has in store.

Purchase for me consisted of  some stock for my Blenheim game. Foot, horse and flags mainly to give me some figures to get the ball rolling. I intend to plan out the balance of the figures to purchase at the Phalanx show at St Helens in  a couple of weeks time. I also stocked up on paint and brushes. I have probably over 200 paints in stock but you can never have enough. I do plan to get organised with my painted, inspired by Dr Mike who uses Vallejo which he decants into flip top lid bottles and stores in spiffing paint racks. Puts my storage system to shame. But I intend to change and get sorted as I am fed up with scrounging around looking for a specific paint wasting valuable time which is in short supply as it is.

I did sneak a couple of other purchases in. A box of 1914 French and a box  of AWI militia from Baccus, just as a painting project. Nothing more. Honest. No plans for big armies with them. Yet, anyway :-)

More soon....








Partizan in the Park

Myself and Ade D had a drive over to Partizan today which was located in 3 marquees in the grounds of the Kelham Hall this year due to double booking of the main venue. Thanks to the weather it turned out to be a great day. The marquees were certainly lighter as opposed to the Stygian gloom of the hall. It did get very hot particularly in the morning when attendance was at its highest, but as soon as the crowds thinned out in the afternoon things settled down to a more comfortable temperature.

Not many photos I'm afraid as the phone battery died after lunch when I was planning on taking a good few snaps. First are some Romans from Dr Mikes SMS clinic base on 40mmx20mm bases. Myself and Mike discussed basing conventions at length and I have a bit of a hankering to base my ancients (when I get around to doing them!) on this size base to use for both Hail Caesar and SPQR. I shared a vision with Ade about doing Mons Graupius from the scenario in the SPQR rule book. One day maybe.
 Secondly is a simple picture of some ECW from Peters stand, just for the sake of it. Many of you who have been to a show where Peter Has sold his wares will have seen these, but I love the look of them and if nothing else I will use this as reference for when I get around to my ECW project.