End Of The Week - An End In Sight (24)

So I made my target despite the real world. It was a week where I enjoyed myself more than painting. Time with my daughter was much more fun. Time with Atomfall was also good. I might have found my next genre for a tabletop skirmish.

I even managed to get the minis on a base and apply two separate textures. I haven't quite made up my mind up about what is next. Let's face it's probably going to involve more Sludge. Whilst I can see many options, this process is coming to an end. I can see another two cavalry units but as one involves twelve models, I suspect that this is less likely. The stuff I wanted for the Quar hasn't been released yet so that is currently a no go. 

Atomfall is lighting my candle at the moment. I have done some rough calculations and I am already thinking this is more than I want to spend right now. Maybe I don't need to have all of the minis right now. Part of me is thinking I still have an arguement to settle with a Saracen. No, don't even ask. 

A Cock Up And A Recovery

So I sat down to start painting and I realised that there was an unprimed mini in the queue. Somehow I had missed it out. So rather than putting everything on hold till the morning I decided to take a different direction.

These were already in the queue. I got them, pre-assembled, two weeks ago. I think their original owner was planning to use them for Turnip 28. They definitely look better from the front. I hadn't realised how bad the monkeying around was until I started painting. By then I was all in. Not sure I will win any awards but then they are probably going to end up on a shelf or in a box.

I get to speak to my daughter soon and I am kind of excited about it. 

So this would be three posts in three days. I must be losing it.

Start Of The Week - The Furlong Before The Final Furlong

Last night I was not feeling the idea of doing something Sludge related. Since then I have assembled a unit of lancers, a unit of crossbowmen, a unit of jagers and diddled with another unit of musketeers. So I wonder what I am doing next.

I decided it was probably best to nibble away at the cavalry. These will double as light cavalry and hussars. They are probably not flouncy enough to be lancers but if I paint them as bright as I can it will probably work. Turquoise maybe? My daughter likes turquoise.

The musketeers are actually the first unit I put together. This was probably about six months ago. I seem to have lost a few so I needed to tinker.

Then there are two units of jagers/shock troopers. I got the ones on the left that were premade about two weeks ago. Another good find. The others are more of the same. Just an attempt to have more options.

Speaking of more of the same the last unit in the current plan. A unit of line crossbowmen. 

This brings to the end of the plan. I can justify having painted an army now so these really are just for funsies. Just need to get them outside so I can prime them. Whilst I feel the urge to do something else, I should be able to knock these out in the next two weeks. Then I will feel like I am done.

End Of The Week - Barely (33)

So here I am again at the end of the week. It has been interesting in terms of getting stuff done and I will sleep well tonight. In the end the planned project for the week is done. I have some shields to glue on but will wait till the bases are done before I do that. As for the bases, these now have two textures and most have a few rocks on. I have a few things to work out for the artillery and flamethrower stands. I would be painting them now but I need the glue to dry.

This is a unit of lancers. I recognise the lances may be a bit short but I have to store them. They need shields attached but these are done.

Then I have a unit of mounted knights with knightly weapons. Just clubs with pointy bits. Or maces. 

Just so I can cover the bases, there are a couple of mounted bodyguards. One for the commander and one for a planned mounted chaplain. When I say plan, I mean aspiration as I am not sure how I will do it.

Having read the rules I wasn't sure if a mounted commander was a good idea. It seemed a good idea to have at least one. So this is it. It also means that I have two commanders with sufficient painted units to create two small forces.

Finally I have the artillery crew and flamethrower. Nice to haves but not essential. These are the only ones not based yet. So when I finish these and paint the bases I can call this project done. Which I won't be doing just yet but I am claiming it as a bingo win. 

Now I have to work out what I am going to do next week. There are some crossbowmen I want to put together. Then there are a couple of units of line infantry ready to go. Or maybe something else. I could do with a unit of hussars. Kinda want to have a unit of heavy cavalry. Not sure if I like the idea of painting more cavalry. 

Been thinking a lot about my daughter this week. Have been missing her. The place has seemed empty without her.

Hard Week Coming To An End

My time this week has all been about making things hard for myself. It's been mostly about painting cavalry minis, which is something I don't do a lot of. So for some reason I decided to paint fourteen of them in in week. For perspective, it's at least twice the numbers I have painted in the last three years and probably five years.

The burden I put upon myself, and it feels like one, is to finish, ish, an army. An army I have gone to town on (in terms of numbers at least) despite promising myself I wouldn't. I look upon painting horses as a challenge. With human minis the paint process seems easier. In general it is all the same except perhaps the hair. With horses there are multiple different colours. Each colour has the same basic profile but requires a knowledge of different patterns. If you can tell the difference between blaze and snip, and star and stripe then you know what I mean. When I paint horses I want to get the white bits in the correct place.

So there are a few details left to finish. Highlighting, some metallic area and of course the aforementioned white bits. Time I was back at the coal face during which I will take consolation from the fact that they are not actual Napoleonic minis and the fact that I intend to paint some more. At least as many again if not a few more.

Start Of The Week - Sludge Cavalry And Heavy Weapons

It is starting to feel like I need to put my money where my mouth is. My plan was for twelve cavalry and half a dozen foot, probably with a small artillery piece. When I have looked again there were fourteen mounted figures. Somehow I had forgotten about the mounted commander with a standard bearer or a couple of mounted bodyguards.

In the fairly recent past I have discussed my love / hate relationship with horses, especially the 28mm painted ones. Fourteen cavalry is a big ask for me. A lot are covered in cloth, knights are a little ostentatious for my liking. The infantry are easy enough and I have the planned shields done already.

Somewhere along the line I need to have something prepped for next week. My heart tells me to prep the next twenty four infantry. This would be eighteen crossbow equipped infantry and sux crossbow equipped jagers. 

When I started this project it was abundantly clear to me that if I ever wanted to get a game together I would need to field two forces. This involved paying for and painting them. This was, err, perhaps a little off putting. In the past I have been able to do so but I think the last time I did this was not in this millenium. I was worried that I was going to struggled to get to where I wanted to be in this regard. With the figures in the queue I should be able to get there quite easily. If anything I should be able to field two larger forces.

End of the Week (23)

Despite Google, this was another good week. The New Cruelty is pleased. 

The eighteen figures of the pikemen unit is a bit of an affectation. I am not sure if I will use them. They are here really for completeness. I guess it means that I am getting closer to being able to field two forces.

I put a little bit more effort into the two officers. Again, I am not sure if I will need them but they give me options. Something to do though.

Now for the other ranks. I have done three arcanists but wanted a sorcerer as well. This is the guy in blue. I hadn't done an army chaplain. The chaplain brings some useful glam to the army. As he is likely to be important he rates some bodyguards. These were done in the same livery. I could have just used bodyguards from the pool of what I have finished but, well, you know.

I have tried to keep, as best I can, to the idea that weapons and colours define the mini. It just makes it easier if bodyguards have axes, infantry where green and if you are clerically orientated you are rocking purple. So officers carry swords and knights use maces (the closest thing I could come up with to knightly weapons).

Then the pikemen need shields. Don't start. The arms were designed for shields and looks odd without them. So maybe they are spear rather than pike. I am trying to get ahead so I need some shields for the lancers. Don't start. It's my army and I want what I want and again the arms are designed for shields. Then I need some for random officers, knights and bodyguards. They look too clean and too French.

Next week is also looking good. Time is on my side so I might push the numbers a bit. As a form.of motivation I put up a weekly plan. I was thinking that I might be starting to burn out on the Sludge front. This isn't the case. If anything the opposite is true. So it's looking like more Sludge. Whilst I have promised myself that I can buy some more minis, I am also kinda doing a deal with myself (although it seems like the devil) not to buy any more minis untill I finish what I got in February. 

I was planning on doing the same numbers again but adding in my flamethrower team. Whilst most of the Sludge stuff is technically a conversion, this is a bit more chop and change. Looking at what is prepped, it's going to be cavalry. I have six lancers, four mounted knights and a mounted commander with standard bearer. So that sounds like twenty six minis.

Carry On Regardless

I am still struggling through. I am finding not being able to watch TV in my usual way is somewhat off putting. Eventually I managed to sit down but it is oddly affecting my flow.  I am also used to falling asleep as  I watch YouTube. I would not have thought the absence of Google would have affected my life as much as I did. This should probably worry me.

Progress is not as fast as I would have liked but it is happening. I should get some more done tomorrow and I have Sunday late afternoon and evening to finish off. S I am pretty confident that I will finish by close of play n Sunday. Assuming I don't get sidetracked into my fourth playthrough of Cyberpunk 2077.

This is my thirtieth post for 2025 putting me at about the same number as I have managed in the last three years. It does feel a little like Blogger is dying and that I am falling in love with something that is past its prime again. A bit like most of my relationships and everything I am painting for Sludge. The story of my life.  

Fecking Chromecast

A good chunk of my house and life is tied up with the internet. Its how I listen to music, watch TV, not to mention this blog. Over time I have become welded to Google. This was not something I wanted t do. If anything it is something I raged against for some time. Bit by bit I have been drawn in. Now my lifestyle depends, to some degree to Google.

When I paint, or do design stuff, write, as well as just surfing the net, Google is at the heart of it. The room in which I paint has a TV which, through the magic of Google, I can watch TV and YouTube through a Chromecast. But not today. Or yesterday and probably not tomorrow. The wise ones online tell me they have deliberately bricked it. It was just a mistake, A worldwide mistake. In and of itself it doesn't matter that much. What it tells me is that this could have been something else. I am not talking Y2K, This is something that demonstrates that random stuff by one of the biggest companies in the world can just go wrong. Modern technology eh?

So I haven't done that much over the last couple of days. In spite of this I did manage to transfer some ink to usable bottles. I like this stuff but using in from the pot is hard work. I resent paying for the plastic bottles but I guess these were cheap.

At the weekend I went to a car boot and got some more minis, Probably not the best deal ever but I haven't spent any money on myself for since York. Some syuff for the Viking / Northmen game (Normans count right?) and some stuff that is prebuilt, half painted and perfect for Sludge. The Normans are for another time but the rest of it, about twenty minis will get done pretty quickly. I have yet to make my mind up if this counts as a purchase as I don't usually include anything that is second hand and brought for well below market price.

The real highpoint of the day was seeing my daughter. It's odd but everything seems to revolve around her. She makes me smile. 

The End Of The Week (23) - Just For Funsies

A good week on the hobby front. The New Cruelty is happy. I had some fun and got to see my daughter three times. There was a nasty note to end the end the week though.

I am still ahead of the game. Three small units for Sludge and some bodyguards. I got some stuff primed and prepped for the week ahead. All in all I can't complain. This is the army do far.

Whilst I can argue that this is it, I am short on cavalry. That I probably don't need. I have been thinking about this for three years now. In my head I should probably go all in.

I have another three full units plan and some light infantry. If I push it, there is lots to do. Let's face it, it's not like I am going to run out of figures. Just in the loose stuff I have figures for probably three armies.

My plan calls for me to start and finish a full unit of pikes next week. There are some other bits and pieces I plan to finish. I am going to look back at this process and think I enjoyed it. This is not my best work ever. But you don't have to use everything as an opportunity for development. This is just for funsies.

Start Of The Week - Mostly Pikemen

Getting ahead of myself already. Another run in with the bane of my existence. But I will get over it. I am starting next week a day before I am finishing the old one. Very Alice In Wonderland.

So sticking with the plan and if anything I am slightly ahead as I have prepared the cavalry, well most of it. 

Having given the pikemen a look at they needed some more prep. Sprue goo is definitely my friend this week. It made attaching the backpacks easier and doesn't leave a big awkward to paint gaps.

I needed a chaplain who can have bodyguards. So these will be mostly liveried in purple. See above. I also need a sorcerer which is below.

Then I made two officers and apparently lost one. He is accompanied by what will be the standard bearer to go with my commander.

If I get through this I have plenty of stuff in the queue. Not least of which is the cavalry. There is also a flamethrower and artillery crew.

The next stuff in need of glue will be the planned crossbowmen. This will be another full unit of six bases and a six man jagger unit. I have sorted out most of the bits but still feel the need to think about what to do with them.

Finally, having primed this guy white, it's time to get him in the queue.

I plan to give the Sludge a miss next week in favour of some dark age stuff. I am really feeling the game at the moment. It a game I don't actually see me playing. Not because I don't want to but it's down to the lack of a suitable opponent. With what I have done I could call it quits. I have done what I set out to achieve. I have another two units built already, more for opposition than for my army. 

Cavalry For Sludge

My "love' of painting horses aside it's time to do some cavalry. There are some waiting for the primer to dry. Whilst I was waiting I needed one.more heavy cavalry type and I had some bodies left over.

You can have light cavalry which may become lancers or hussars. Hussars need flouncy uniforms so lancers it is.

Sludge Progress

Making progress on Sludge sounds worse than it is. I had most of the painting done by Tuesday and needed a break. There are a few details on the shields to do and I am convinced I have lost a mini somewhere.

I had run out of the right sized bases. The game uses a lot of three and four centimetre bases which I had to cut specially. I should be good to go now.

Five bodyguards although there should be six I think.

A unit of foot knights with knightly weapons. These are not quite finished.

Two units that can be used for jagers and shock troops at a pinch.

The rest of the stuff I have put together this week. I have cobbled together a flame thrower team. Not in the rules per se but they fit the fluffy. There is a chaplain and his livered bodyguards. Then there are a couple of officers and the crew for the artillery piece I have planned.

I have finished some mounted figures too. I wanted a mounted commander and a banner man. He also needs a separate bodyguard and one more just because. Then there is a unit of mounted knights. I think I can only field four of these.

Hopefully getting these primed tomorrow. I am expecting a lot from this weekend. So will see how I go. Hopefully my energy levels will hold.

Post-Apocalyptic Terrain

I started to write this post some time ago. Now I have been playing a bit more Stargrave (well it sounds like a post-apocalyptic universe to me) and plan to This is Not a Test, I am back at my post-apocalyptic terrain.  Post-apocalyptic games are I guess what I want to do the most and I am always after usable 28mm terrain and figures. I guess it's being the child of the cold war, or maybe I just watch the news too much. My own version of Fallout is still a thing as is my own background, Underground. I guess I am also still thinking of doing this for X-Com (or ET-Com as I was thinking in terms or Extra Terrestrial COMmand).

I had some Amazon gift cards to use I went looking there. Every now and again I find some stuff and I get some stuff as gifts. So It was time for a bit of a change and I found some time. So I swapped out what I have been doing for a bit. I finished off and did some tarting up.

This whole year has felt a little apocalyptic. Everything has felt like hard work so far, In reality I should be counting my blessings. I do have a lot to be thankful for.

These didn't take that much time so I moved back to painting minis. Also good to keep painting. Despite having a lot of time this year, painting figures hasn't been up there on my list. Aside from painting up some snowtroopers for sale, I don't think I have started and finished any figures this year. There is a pile of figures that are part way through the process. They have been like that for so long that I now have to blow the dust off them before I start painting. the only other figures I have finished this year were started last year and probably almost a year ago.

So right now the only figures that I find "shameful" are the ones on my workbench. I am getting a few terrain projects done and in pretty short order.

Start Of (Another Sludge) Week

It's all Sludge all of the time at the moment. It's nice to have a project. Gives me some sense of purpose. If the is the right thing when it comes to painting toy soldiers.

The plan calls for six more bodyguards, although I probably need some more than that eventually. As mentioned before, as a kind of tabletop, shorthand, these all have axes.  At some point these will get shields to match their charge. Some of these have added short muskets. These are mostly moulds taken from other stuff as in order to get enough I would have to spend £100 to get them.

Then its six foot knights. These are all going to have individual colour schemes, they are all nobility after all. These also come with moulded short muskets. At a pinch they can act as officers, although the more I think about it, it would hope I can get round to creating something a bit more individual.

Then there are two six man, six base units. These will work as either shock troops or jagers. Pretty much the same as the regular line units just with fewer bodies in them.

There is a bit more individuality in the minis this week. So a bit harder work but not too much. Its an easier week all round, so I should get there. I have a couple of minis I want to prime white, so I will get these done. One is going to be part of the back the background work as I want to put some effort into it. I have three monsters made from plants, so basically green. These are going into the background so that everytime green comes on the palette what is left will end on these minis. 

Time for the next Quar release is getting closer. It may be sometime around March April. If I can get the Sludge stuff done then maybe I will move on to the next project. The vehicles and the terrain work for both which is always a plus.

At some point I should move back to Star Wars Legion. I have enough of it to paint now. I am not planning on making any more purchases until I have finished what I have. In my head I have an idea for A Star Wars RPG. If I can make this work I might push this to the front of the queue. There are quite a lot of new releases this year. I can see me buying some of it but its mostly duplicates so is somewhere down the list. SOmehow I suspect the army boxes will be a lot more than the £100 the last lot ended up costing.

I have spent some money on BattleTech last year. Again I have promised myself that I won't spend any more money on it until I have finished, or almost finished, what I already have. This isn't going to cost money because I said so.

Midgard is also on the horizon. I have an idea for a unit of ulfhunder and I need a few more mounted figures. Then of course there are some sabot basing. I have this but it needs texturing and painting. A good choice for a back ground project. It has the advantage that I don't need to spend any more money as I have more than enough Vikings.

The Damned are also due. It has only taken two and a bit years. I can see a lot of it going into the bits box. My bits box can now pro bably fill a transit van. There was a plan for it at the time but that has long passed. I can see some stuff for Stargrave or Five Parsecs. I thought they have some post-apocalypse uses too. I had a plan to use some of them for Last War/Mork Borg. This would be at most ten out of about two hundred plus minis. That said, Trench Crusade has come along and I do have a plan for trenches this year. I am also sure that some bits will work with the Quar.

I keep getting nagged by the idea of going back into the Spanish Civil War and even A Very British Civil War. Then I seem to remember declaring 2025 the year of the Halfling. This is probably the most hard core niggle I have to itch.

The End Of The Week (24)

So the end of the week is here. Pretty sure my daughter had given the The Rona. I feel like kack and I can't taste anything. Not sure about smell as I am so full of snot. But I have managed the target of the week and I have already started on the stuff for next week.

This now completes my first two units for Sludge, both line infantry. They are now stuck to bases which need some texture. I can't say this is my best work. Well I could but this would be an outrageous lie. It is however good enough for the purpose intended, An army that is rarely going to get played.

For some reason I am feeling the need for structure. I have the bingo, but feel the need for something with a bit more crunch. So I have a plan.

2/3         24 mixed Sludge jagers/shock troops, bodyguards, foot knights

9/3         18 sludge pike build Sludge cavalry.

16/3         6 ulfhunder 3 mounted viking 

23/3       18 sludge zouaves

30/3       12 modern ish

6/4     12 Sludge mounted

13/4       12 da/fantasy 

20/4       12 sci fi ish

27/4      12 Sludge mounted 

4/5        12 Stargrave 

11/5          ? battletech 

18/5      6 Sludge crossbow, 18 Sludge crossbow

27/5        to OPFOR or not to OPFOR?

Now for next week. I wanted some more bodyguards. Just for a visual shorthand, bodyguards are equipped with axes. Then I wanted a couple of officers and a unit of foot knights. I can't remember if this is four or six figures, I will have what I will have. Then there are two units which could be jagers or shock troopers.

Then I am planning another few weeks of Sludge after this although I may have a palate cleanse. My plan as to paint all the stuff I got in York at show this year. All of this is now primed and based aside from the stuff I wanted to prime white. mostly Vikings but some modernish stuff too.

I haven't done any Sludge cavalry yet and I have a pike unit to go. I have two line units for an opfor done already. I have plans for a unit of zouves and a unit of crossbows. The zouves may end up being some Scots Napoleonics or some actual ACW Zouaves. At some point I got six Napoleonic infantry from the cover of a magazine.  which will do for shock troopers or jagers. I also want a jager unit with crossbows. I want some knightly horse and some heavy and light cavalry. If I go all in then I might think about hussars. I also want a mounted commander and associated mounted bodyguard. This project might run and run. I need a chaplain and a sorcerer. Finally, for the stuff I have a plan for, I need to do some artillery. I have what I need for this, I just need to put it together. 

Then there is stuff I don't have a form plan for. Saints for one. I need to source a behemoth that fits my army. A fifty four millimetre knight with some work maybe? Needs some google-fu. The expansion for Sludge, Sludge Nations, also allows for a flamethrowers. Always fun, unless you are on the receiving end of course. Finally, well in the sense that I could give up here, I need some crawlers. A light and a heavy one at least. My next project is going to be This Quar's War. This is a game that is slightly better resourced and has the right sort of tanks. If I don't put tank commanders in them they will work.  Finally, ideas for which I don't have a plan for, yet, are a sacred icon and artificer with a repeating musket. What was the name of the character from Sharpe again?  

Moving on after that I need to be thinking about the future. I have a few plans for a fantasy army for Midgard. I have dome some unit trays for this as I think I may well get a game in. My next purchase is probably going to be This Quar's War. If only because it is a game that no one but me will play. This is going to be another situation where I will be buying both sides. This isn't such a big deal as armies don't stretch much beyond thirty minis. This is probably going to require less than one hundred figures to cover all possibilities I can think of.  This requires the next Quar box set to come out. 

After that, or maybe before, I am thinking about Halfings. They don't fit any real plan though. My gaming life goal, well one of them is to have a mini that I can use for each character class, race and gender. Where possible, there should be a choice. I mean a thief often looks like a ranger right? 

Just in terms of overall numbers, I am doing well. I have already manged to substantially paint more than I have in the in the last two years combined. If I can keep the pace up, which is a bit of an ask, this will be my first year where I painted a thousand figures. The New Cruelty is pleased regardless.