A Dilemma....

I'm trying to figure out what I'll be doing down the road as far as my painting goes. Here are the projects that I have going at present:

28mm ECW (for Warhammer English Civil War)
15mm Alexander/Persians (from Xyston, based for Basic Impetus)
15mm WW2 (Russians and Hungarians from Flames of War, based for God-knows-what)
28mm Marian Romans/Gauls (in plastic, from Wargames Factory and Warlord, based for WAB)

...and...

Napoleonics. But what scale?

I purchased a box of the Perry plastic French infantry, then got lucky and scored four French 6-lb. guns and 24 crew, also from Perry, through Bartertown for only $30. I've also picked up an occasional extra command pack or two, plus a pack of mounted colonels - also from Perry. I finished painting up the box of Perry plastic French infantry, but then started looking around my basement, trying to figure out what I'm going to do with them!

As best I can guess, I will probably be playing on a 4'x6' table. I like the look of big battalions, so I thought I would go with 24 figures. I base 2x2 (two in front, two figures in back) on a 40mm square base. The resulting battalion is enormously wide, and takes up a ton of room. I could base the figures at sixteen per battalion, but that arrangement makes the battalion look like a color guard, not a ferocious, all-conquering juggernaut.

So, I thought perhaps I'd shelve the 28mm route, and go with 10mm. No one has nice-enough looking figures save for Old Glory (this is my opinion only, you understand), but the flags are cast-on, and I abhor painting flags - especially undersized ones. So, what to do?

I have not yet seen the Old Glory 10mm in person - I've only seen photos - so I think I'm going to order a pack, paint it, and see how I like it before deciding for certain and taking the plunge. Photos and full report to follow!

Never Talk With Your Mouth Full

Things have been a little quiet here, but I do plan to start making meaningful posts in the near, near future. I got a bit busy with Thanksgiving (Happy Turkey Day, folks!) and with some family issues, but there will be actual content - meaningful content - on the blog soon.

Thanks for your patience, and Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who are celebrating.

A Sad Passing

Stefanie Spielman, wife of former Ohio State linebacker Chris Spielman, passed away today at the age of 42. She battled breast cancer for years, and was a tireless crusader for breast cancer awareness and research. Here is the URL link to the story from the Columbus Dispatch:

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/11/19/stefanie-spielman-loses-cancer-battle.html

Chris Spielman was a ferocious, All-American linebacker at Ohio State, and was a Pro Bowler in the NFL, playing for the Detroit Lions, the Buffalo Bills and the Cleveland Clowns. He was a devastating hitter and had a motor second to none, but even Chris admitted that Stefanie was the toughest member of his household.

My sister has been fighting cancer for over a decade, and this story really hits home for our family. The Spielmans have four children. Please say a prayer for the Spielman family tonight.

Go Bucks, Chris! Stefanie showed us all what fighting spirit was all about.

Crazy Times

It's hard to believe it's been a week since my opening post, but things here have been a bit crazy, to say the least.

On the weekend of November 6-8, I served on a Kairos Torch team to a juvenile prison here in my state. Kairos Torch is a three-day Christian mission - if any of my readers have been on an Emmaus Walk, they'll get the picture. It was uplifting, depressing, frustrating and intriguing, in cycles, and I haven't really processed my impressions and sentiments about the mission project yet, primarily because I then spent yesterday and today serving on a vacation Bible school at a local nursing home. It's a really neat program that was begun by our lay leader at the church my wife pastors (and I attend). It provides a VBS experience that is geared toward elderly residents of nursing homes and assisted living centers, rather than children. Today, I performed as a clown in a skit, and gave a five-minute Gospel message. So, busy, busy, busy. The good news is that a man with whom I worked on the Kairos Torch mission is a chess player, and seems really interested to try a wargame, even though he knows nothing about it. So, I might have discovered both a friend and future wargaming partner.

Now, back to wargaming. I'm trying to decide what I'm going to be doing with my 28mm ancients project I started a few months ago - Caesarian Romans and Celts, in plastic, primarily from Wargames Factory. I like the figures, but I've noticed as I've gotten older (I'm now about to turn 39) that my patience and ability to paint has apparently waned. Rather than basing the figures for Warhammer Ancient Battles, I'm thinking about basing them for Basic Impetus, and cutting the project short. It may be Magpie Syndrome setting in, but we'll see. I purchased the WAB rules on eBay three weeks ago, but still haven't received them, so I'm eager to crack the book when it arrives and see what I might be looking at down the road.

As I count it up on the table, I have about 16 Roman legionaries, 12 Numidian javelinmen, 12 Numidian slingers, 55 Celtic warband infantry and 8 Celtic slingers finished. Still waiting to be built and painted is a box of Wargames Factory Celtic chariots and two boxes of Caesarian legionaries. I've been waiting for the German cavalry to be released before buying any horsemen.

I guess I just feel like I'm going to be painting plaid and checks for an eternity. I have a bad habit of not finishing projects, and at this point (especially with limited funds), I think it would do me some good to just finish something - anything - before getting tempted by something else. Basic Impetus would allow me to field a Celtic British army almost right away, with only the purchase of a box or two of horsemen withstanding. If I try to do this in WAB, I have boxes and boxes of Celts to come. The Romans are almost finished, save for the purchase of a box of Celtic or German horse. I need some Numidian light cavalry, too, but that's easy to come by, since Basic Impetus operates by stands, not by individual figures.

I will try to post some selected photos of my finished figures in the coming days. Thanks for your patience!

All Aboard!

I've decided to join the legion of folks who blog about their hobby, so... Welcome to my blog! I hope to share some of my triumphs and travails as I venture back into wargaming after a period of relative absence.

I've decided to start several projects to "keep my fires burning," if you will. In no particular order, my projects are as follows:

1. 25/28mm English Civil War
2. 25/28mm Ancients
3. 25/28mm Napoleonics

I also happen to have a 15mm World War II collection of Russians and (gasp!) Hungarians lying around, as well as a good many 15mm ancients, and I'll be deciding what to do with all that in the coming months.

Also on offer here will be the occasional DBA army or painted unit that I might offer up for sale to some wargamer who doesn't have the time or the insanity to delve into painting for himself.

Thanks for visiting, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the blog, and whatever is to come.