...for another blog entry.
Since the podcast launched again, I've taken my eye off the ball with regards to blogging. I use Twitter, Facebook and my podcast to discuss my hobby updates and feel like I may be repeating myself here. But, I am aware that not everyone uses all of those mediums and so may be wondering what on earth is going on in the world of God's Own Scale.
Well, a lot actually. Since April and First Lockdown (FL), I have had a large commission for 15mm Austrian Napoleonics which I made a sprint start on at the time. But with FL, and no club or face to face contact with gaming friends they wnet onto the back burner. But I did manage to crack on with them last week and finished them to the satisfaction of all concerned. 270 Lanchashire Games figures, now safely in the hnads of their proud owner. Both are doing fine.
So, with them out of the way it was time to get stuck into 'The Antietam Project' (TAP). Now this officially launched on 17th October 2020, although the figures were bought last year at Partizan. Ahhh. Shows. Remember them? Around 2.5kgs of 6mm goodness.
This was another sprint start and to be honest it hasn't stopped! In a rather grown up fashion I sat in a coffee shop with notebook and pen and plotted out how to tackle around 2,500 figures. To allow myself some leeway I estimated I can paint for 2 sessions of 1 hour each per week. Any more than that would be seen as a bonus. I can paint a Union or Confederate infantry brigade in around 25-30 minutes so I was looking at getting around 112 figures done per week (28 figures to a brigade x 4).
With taking my shoes and socks off I was able to count high enough to suggest that I could be finished around early April. That seemed achievable with the added incentive that I could play some of the smaller battles along the way as the armies grew.
I may or may not have previousley mentioned that I am using Altar of Freedom by the most excellent Greg Wagman of Little Wars TV fame. The Antietam scenario in that rule book is what I am building towards. But First Bull Run, Shiloh and a couple of others would be wonderful waypoints for me to stop at and actually play some games.
However, Second Lockdown (SL) hit in early November meaning that face to face gaming in the UK is some way off. And now with the announcement of stricter Tiers once SL finishes, then it will remain thus in all likelihood until at least early February when Boris Johnson thinks we may be able to lift some restrictions.
When all is said and done, with COVID19 still here into early next year, there's no rush says I. Here is the remainder of the figures all blu tac'ed to lollipop sticks ready for spray undercoating.
Whilst painting these ACW figures it has really rejuvenated my interest in the period. In particularly I'm fascinated by the Reconstruction period after the was and the rise of the 'Lost Cause' mentality. Neither of these subjects have been on my radar previousley and in fact in an early podcast I made reference to the 'Lost Cause' as an almost glamourous, melancholic concept. How foolish was I!
Having read more around the subject, the 'Lost Cause' appears to be a far more sinister concept created by white supremacists to excuse and deny the principle aims of the Confederate government. One only has to read Vice President Alexander Stevens 'Cornerstone' speech to understand the slavery/states rights argument of the cuases of the war. Fascinating stuff.
I have a healthy list of podcast guests lined up, probably enough for the next 3-4 months worth of podcasts. I'm really enjoying the podcast at the moment. Time is the main limiting factor plus my internet connection isn't great. Hopefully this will improve at Christmas as we are treating oursleves to one of those WiFi signal boosters which I have seen good reports on.
Ok thats enough wittering on for now. Hopefully I can get to a more frequent posting schedule on here in the next few weeks.
As ever, keep safe, play nice and keep talking about six.
