Work, home projects and painting miniatures have been keeping me busy recently.
The painting has been productive, and I've been focusing on trying to complete the half-finished or nearly finished units that have been taking up space on the painting table.
Pride of place so far has been this vignette for my 18th C. project, but I've also been working on my Napoleonics, so I hope to have some eye candy here very shortly.
One setback has been physical. Over the last few weeks I had been spending a lot of time at the computer at work finishing off some reports and a textbook draft. This was followed by a weekend of intense painting.
Well, I spent so much time huddled over my desk painting without taking the occasional stretch and walk, so that on the Monday I woke up with such severe back/ shoulder pain that I couldn't move. I had to take the day off and just lie in bed with pain killers until the agony subsided.
Moral of the story- I need to remember to pace myself. I'm not as young as I used to be!
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Other news is that I received my copy of Republic to Empire and it looks good! It is complex, but not necessarily complicated. At first reading, in fact, it reminds in in some ways of my old and beloved Complete Brigadier rules that I used to play back in 1985. The photos and overall design are just gorgeous, but it is obvious the rules contain a lot of "meat" as well.
Even if it means using unpainted or half-painted figures at first, (shame! Shame!), I intend to try out the starter scenario that Clarence Harrison developed, and which was played out by John in his excellent post on the Battle of Puente de Piedra.
On the subject of blogs, I've added a link to another one here. "Grognard" is a French wargamer living in Rouen, and his blog, L'épopée, showcases some very excellently done Front Rank figures. I can only drool in admiration!
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Finally, I received my latest copy of Battlegames magazine, and this edition came with a free sprue of Perry plastic dismounted French dragoons. 
The detail is amazing, and honestly these are more than the equal of any number of metal miniatures out there these days. While some purists insist that plastic models don't have the definition of their metal brethren, I'd have to say that the gap is closing mightily fast with these models.
And when you factor in the adaptability, conversion potential, and of course price, I cannot see why anyone would not want to have at least some plastics in their collection if only to bulk out the army.
Not to mention that a brigade of French infantry in plastic will be a lot easier on my back to take to the club than would be the equivilent in metal!
Of course I am not about to throw away or stop buying metal miniatures. No way. I see the best of the plastics as complementing my existing collection, not replacing them. There is room for both metal and plastic miniatures in my wargaming world.
And when you factor in the adaptability, conversion potential, and of course price, I cannot see why anyone would not want to have at least some plastics in their collection if only to bulk out the army.
Not to mention that a brigade of French infantry in plastic will be a lot easier on my back to take to the club than would be the equivilent in metal!
Of course I am not about to throw away or stop buying metal miniatures. No way. I see the best of the plastics as complementing my existing collection, not replacing them. There is room for both metal and plastic miniatures in my wargaming world.
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4 comments:
My first plastic Perrys were the two British Rifles included in an earlier Wargames Illustrated mag. Besides the flawless sculpting I was happy to see that the plastics stood up well to any abuse and handling they may have received prior to being liberated from their plastic wrap. It confirms my belief that the plastic the Perrys use are very durable. Regards, Dean
Whoa old fellah! Look after yourself! I suspect the rules for painting are similar to those for computer use - get up and have a good stretch and walk around for ten minutes every two hours at least. Trouble is painting is even worse for the posture than hacking at a keyboard - and with painting you completely loose track of time right?
Been thinking of subscribing to to Henry's Battlegames mag as well. Trouble is, WI @ $12 each available locally is just too damn convenient. I concur with yours and Dean's comments re the quality and characteristics of the HD plastics manufacturers like Perrys use.
I like some of the boxes of 28mm figures produced by HaT as well (Legere and Bavarians are particularly good) but the plastic is not the same high density stuff used by Perrys which is a real pity. There's no excuse really, the stuff is not that much more expensive when mass-producing stuff.
The sculpt work on the Perrys is also better than many makes of metals IMO - and. as you say, there is plenty of room in the hobby for both!
Cheers,
Doc
Thanks for the concern and comments!
Doc, the hassle for me is that for cultural reasons and just the shorter average height, things like tables, chairs, beds and desks are set at a much lower altitude than in the west.
Made worse by the fact that I'm still well over 6' tall, and long-limbed to go with it!
Watching me paint is like watching some amateur practising for an over-the-top part as Richard III.
Your comments are bang on- I've started using an alarm clock set at hourly intervals in case I get too immersed in what I'm doing.
Hi Robert,
I hope your back has improved, I have been a long sufferer but over the last couple of years my wife has insisted that I go to the gym 4 times per week, so it sort of cleared up! I can only paint in short bursts, ie, 45 min tops before I have to get up and walk around, this equates to 3-4 colours on 6 figure painting sticks for me, so this controls the sitting time.
I look forward to your RtE scenario, good luck. A lot of my difficulties I believe were related to the fact that I am a new wargamer, and some times the overall framework was lacking, Clarence was extremely helpful.
John
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