Plans that survive contact

One of the issues I have often had with wargaming projects is that I have fallen foul of the 'magpie syndrome' so often. I have had a real sense of excitement for one project, bought figures and scenery as well as rules, made a start on painting them and then been distracted by the next new things that has grabbed my attention.

This has led to countless unfinished and unloved projects that have then migrated from my painting table to the cupboard and then after a while to the loft, never to be seen again. I am sure that I am not alone in this and I suspect figure manufacturers thrive on our addiction for new lead.

Having just cleared out nearly every figure I own in 15mm and 28mm (I have retained some 15mm Peter Pig to play Chain of Command with...), for the first time in many years, I have a relatively clean slate. I love and play games by Mantic Games and am heavily involved with them including being a Pathfinder (i.e. I attend shows and demonstrate their games to anyone who will sit still for 5 minutes). But for the historical side of my hobby, I am in virgin territory.

Okay, not quite. I have the WW1 figures that I purchased at Phalanx and from a few years ago I have some Crimean figures by Irregular Miniatures for use with their War Against Russia rules which have always intrigued me. I also have some Heroics and Ros figures that were gifted to me a few years ago and have sat unloved in the loft ever since. Quite a few of them are painted and I am tempted to use them for Altar of Freedom. Oh, and I have a blister each of Spanish Succession and Wars of the Roses.

 The danger is going to the Joy of Six show at the weekend where if I am not careful I could easily walk out with figures for 3 or 4 other periods. English Civil War is an almost certain purchase at some point. As is Sengoku era Japanese. A wargaming buddy (Hi Ade!) has long had a hankering to play the 1809 campaign between Austria and France. We are trying Blucher out tomorrow night. Ade would like to do it in 10mm. I may be on the way to persuading him to do ti in Gods Own Scale but I would then feel impelled to contribute. And then there is WW2. Oh yes, just remembered I have some Russians bought for Blitzkrieg Commander over 10 years! And having been to the Penkridge table top sale on Sunday, I bought a couple of lovely books from Andrew Rolph for re-fighting the Barbarossa campaign using Spearhead.

So, as you can see, I'm already in danger of being swallowed by my desire to game in multiple periods and the magpie syndrome could see me carrying my own weight in 6mm lead from the show. And that is a lot of 6mm lead.

One tactic I shall employ is my speed painting techniques where I will be far less fussy about highlights and shades. But also about belts and equipment. You can barely see these details on 15mm figures when they are on the table, never mind with figures half their size. So to start I will dig out the Crimean troops, base them for the rules, undercoat and see how quickly I can knock them out to a standard that I can game with them.

The War Against Russia rules are no longer available from Irregular but they have intrigued me for a long time. They have scenarios for all of the major engagements played out on small tables of around 4'x3' at most. They are full of period flavour with the commanders being rated on incompetence as opposed to competence. And they are one of those rule sets that look like they were produced at home on a PC, printed out and stapled together which holds a charm and sense of nostalgia for me that I can't quite explain.

So, I shall try and get some picture up this week of how the Crimean figures are going. If I can somehow get them to the stage where I can play a game with them, I may allow myself to indulge a little at the Joy of Six. In any case I am looking for scenic bits like buildings and the like plus there is a bring and buy which I hope will have a good selection of 6mm goodies to choose from. Of course, it may well be full of larger scale stuff that people are looking to shift to reinvest in Gods Own Scale. And who can blame them?

More soon...