Secret Santa!

A few days ago, my (replacement) secret santa present arrived, a Perry Miniatures Medieval Cottage!  A big thank you to whoever it was who sent it!

A great addition to my growing terrain pile, the kit consists of the cottage itself and some fencing along with some kind of hutch or chicken coop.  I think I'll end up using the fencing to make a field or some other kind of linear obstacle for Saga.

The cottage itself doesn't fit in too well with the time period for Saga, so I've been brainstorming an alternative use for it.  At the moment I'm thinking of kitbashing some steampunk or fantasy gubbins to it, for use in something like Malifaux or HoMachine etc.  Who knows what it'll end up as!  Thanks again!

Look! I Actually Picked Up A Brush

After what seems like weeks of procrastinating (ok it was after weeks of procrastinating) I managed to pick up a paint brush again today.  Originally, the plan was to do some prep work on a couple different projects and get a lot of priming done.  There's some rather wet weather on the way, so I'd like enough figures primed to do me over the winter.  The rain arrived early so forced me to change my mind and out came the paints.

First things first,  I had to spend a good wee while shaking and stirring the neglected tubs and bottles to even the paint out.  Fortunately, my right arm has developed considerable stamina in that motion, so it wasn't a problem.  Without getting all emo-whiny on you, I normally only paint when I'm happy and relaxed;  I haven't been either in a while, so it was quite a surprise how enjoyable the couple hours with the brush were this afternoon.

These are the first eight warriors for a Saga Viking warband that have been kicking around for a few months. Just the base colours so far, I'll add some decoration before the shading and highlighting begins.  As Odin is my witness, I will get this warband painted this year, before this:

Just fyi, for anyone who hasn't finished season one, there's a big spoiler in the trailer.

Dark Age Church

One thing that is noticeably lacking from my collection is decent amount of scenery.  To correct that, I've been gradually picking up some pre-painted bits and pieces, primarily dark age buildings.

The latest and potentially final building is this Church or Manor building.

I picked it up on eBay buy a company called PMC Games for a very reasonable price.  It's a fairly hefty chunk of resin with a decent enough paint job   Actually, as the first model was damaged in the mail, so I should point out the excellent service from PMC, who provided an immediate replacement.  Thanks. 

I might do some work on it, as the walls and ground are a bit too similar to my eyes, but it's usable enough as is.  The roof is separate, which is handy for any games that involve entering buildings.

With this, I've now got enough buildings for a reasonable sized game of Saga or Dux Bel/Brit. Still on the shopping list are some linear obstacles (Renedra do a wattle fence sprue which might do) and some areas of rough terrain (which I think I'll try and do myself.)  I'd also like a well for the small village, anyone know of a suitable 28mm scale model? 

Wargames Illustrated 311 - A Pleasant Surprise

As a wee treat to myself, I picked up this months Wargames Illustrated.  The primary reason was the Steppe Tribes battle board and faction rules for Saga that are in this issue.  Actually a bit of a sore point, I lost the Byzantine rules during one of this years frequent house moves, now I'll have to actually buy another book to get them.  Not this time.  Don't envisage collecting a Nomad warband, but you never know.

AWI? Ugg, no thanks.

I lost interest in WI when I gave up playing Flames of War and that, coupled with a few themes I didn't enjoy, means I haven't bought WI in months.  I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the content this issue.

In Saga terms, these guys look really annoying to play against.

The theme of the issue, the Philadelphia campaign, really doesn't do anything for me, but the coverage isn't as exhaustive as it has been in the past.  I really enjoyed the Longstreet designer notes, articles on the English Civil and First Chechen War and found the modelling article useful.  I even found the Flames of War battle report relatively engaging.

Although I don't see myself picking it up every month (I get every issue of the excellent Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy,)  I'll make sure and have a closer look at future issues.