Happy New Year 2024/2025

 Happy New Year, where did 2024 go? It's been a busy year, both hobby and otherwise.

First up, last year in numbers. I managed to paint

• 181 infantry
• 63 cavalry
• 3 Bigger beasties
• 2 tiny ones
• 17 objectives and general scatter terrain
• 1 bigger piece of terrain
• 4 markers

Thus beating my stated goal of 240 models, with some margin (and a decent portion of those models were cavalry, which really should count for 2...). So how did the projects I had intended go? Well...

The French ran into a bit of a blockage, and I will have to pick them up once SAGA Age of Chivalry has finally arrived (tentative release: 12th of January), when I can take a look and figure out what they want for figures. (Still, I have painted almost all the figures I had assembled, so I count that as a win).

The Undead got down-prioritized, but still managed to acquire a decent start with 4 SAGA points worth of resurrected bodies (3 points of Warriors and 1 point of Mindless, the Undead special Levies). Not too bad, should get a decent speed going once things clear up.

The English got a severe case of feature creep, and are nominally not finished. But the only things missing are 12 infantrymen (Warriors, styled as Burgundian allies... that I need to figure out some good heraldry for) and 6 Mounted Knights. They already have 48 Archers (so I can run them as pure archers for SAGA) and 15 Men-at-Arms, as well as the Warlord, so are more than ready for play.

 The Italo-Normans are... not quite finished, but I've got 7 points and a Warlord ready, so once again, ready for play. The only thing missing is more ranged units (both Bows and Crossbows, for when they substitute in as Crusaders of Spanish), and a few armored infantry (just in case). Still, that's 33 figures in total. Thankfully, I found a good way to paint them that's fairly quick...

Also, they were finished as the Warband Challenge for SAGA Thorsday (excellent youtube-channel and SAGA community), so got painted as 1 point per month. With that done (and nailed), the last ones can hopefully be done in rapid succession.

 As for everything else... there were some big things (a Mammoth mech for Archon Studios, and a Slann from Games Workshop).

Some individual things (Ching Shih and Julie d'Aubigny, community miniatures from Bad Squiddo Games)

And even some uniformed things (after I had listened too much to Sabatons Field of Verdun) (Wargames Atlantic French Infantry)

 All in all, not bad, and I managed to avoid stalling out by switching around what I was painting.

 Now then, that was 2024. What forf 2025?

First up, no definite limit on how many minis I'm going to paint. Instead, I have plans to paint things that do not divy up into individual minis like that, in smaller scales (13.5mm Epic Hail Caesar, with 10-20 figures to a stand, for example, or Warmaster in 10mm, with 8-10). I also have many more larger models that I want to get to, and they obviously take longer than a single 28mm human (that Slann took forever...).

But of course, there are a few projects I intend to get to.

First up, the 4 from last year, since they're not quite finished: English and French for the 100 Years War, Undead, and Italo-Normans. Two of those should be fairly rapid, at least. The Undead have a dragon that I'm not sure quite how to paint...

Then, expand my actual SAGA collection into new ages with Saxons (for Age of Invasions) and the Teutonic Order (for Crusades), since they recently got a nice buff in the new FAQ... the Saxons should be easy and fast, but the Teutons... not so much (with all options, I'm going to need more than 100 models... I'll try to deal with them one unit at a time, and get them game-ready ASAP). Possibly, I'll also sneak in some Irish, once again on the theory that they "should be quick to paint".

 Outside of SAGA, there's some opponents for those Frenchmen (I've also been listening to Sabatons Stormtroopers...). Dead Mans Hand is a recurring game at the club during the summers, so at least one gang of cowboys (or close enough) seems appropriate. And the Pirate gene is itching again, so I might get to expanding my Blood & Plunder collection some more (just need to pressgang some people to play with). And somehow, I accidentally acquired some models for Flames of War, and the flame for it almost rekindled. We'll see what happens if those manage to get some paint.

And of course, there's going to be plenty of random and semi-random minis sprinkled throughout. I have some ideas for following more artsy theme-months (such as Smaugust, painting a dragon for August). We'll see how that works out.

Once again, Happy New Year.

/Fool, Out

Blood & Plunder - Extra Dutch Enter Ploeg

 Not dead, just been very busy with life in general (and a bad habit of having too many projects on in parallell, none of which are quite ready to showcase).

Back when I painted my Dutch for Blood & Plunder (way back in early 2019, time has surely flown...), I noted that they were fun to paint and I should do some more of them. Now, finally, they have been expanded with another 8 strong unit of Enter Ploeg

As with last time, half of them are official Enter Ploeg figures, while the other half are ordinary sailors (although upgraded with some extra pistols this time around)

First up, what makes Enter Ploeg fun: Blunderbusses. One of them's got a suspiciously english-looking hat, but then again, he might either be an actual englishman sailing with the dutch, or just a dutch who thought it looked useful, fashion was a bit floaty in the caribean.

Second, what makes Enter Ploeg evil: Explosives. Two fellows with bags of grenades, to mess up anyone and anything, including themselves if the dice are against us.

Of course, you need boys as well as toys (aka warm bodies to take the bullets for the important people). Two dutch Zeelieden, with some extra pistols, because you can never have too many pistols when you're in the Enter Ploeg

Finally, the last two official models, who comes with all the pistols built in.

Time to get some games in, convert some people perhaps, and then bring out the double Enter Ploeg lists! Good things games are a thing again, at least.

/Fool Out

New Years Resolutions 2020/2021

 So... 2020, the year that has been both too long and too short at the same time, is finally over. At least with the situation, I have gotten a fair bit of painting done. Let's see how I got through the resolutions I made last year.

• Bad Squiddo Games released some Amazons in a kickstarter. I got them, just need to paint them (which should be quick, as they're already primed and waiting)

As expected, these were swift and easy. They even got expanded later with a dedicated mage.

• Bad Squiddo Games also released some Dwarves at the same time. These are not primed yet, but should also get some loving paint. Possibly, I'll combine them with some Oathmark and/or Atlantis Miniatures Dwarves.

It took some time, but they all got done in time. Admittedly, most of them were quick, but as usual the last 10% took 90% of the time. Eh, they're done. And I hear rumours of another Bad Squiddo kickstarter "soon"...

• The Landsknecht need more love. Let's aim for the pikeblock being done, and hopefully some crossbowmen as well.

Managed to chip away some more, and I have now painted most of the old built models. I might have to make an actual post with these soon...

• Expand the Blood & Plunder French with some more Sailors (also primed and ready)

Swift and deadly, as French tend to be.

• Similar for the Blood & Plunder Spanish, one starter box should round out my force nicely.

These also got rounded off, and I should now have all the Spanish I'll need.

• Dito (although smaller) for the Blood & Plunder Dutch, they can do with a few more sailors, mostly to get up to units of 8. And maybe a second unit of Enter Ploeg

The Dutch, however, has been put on the back burner for now. Models are ready, but other stuff managed to push past them in the painting queue (yes, despite this year, I still have a significant painting queue).

• Shipwise, I have a Bark, a Tartana and a Piragua that need some paint (these are all from last year, and primed, so should be quick)

They were quick. Sadly, I haven't gotten to use them in an actual game, though.

• The Galleon! Keep the shippainting going, get this humongous thing done.

However, that was that for ships. The Galleon has been assembled and primed, but no actual final paint on it yet. Guess it'll have to wait for next year.

• Firelock is also releasing a 6th Rate Frigate for Blood & Plunder... I need it! Even if it's supposedly almost as huge and the Galleon

I got the 6th Rate, and it is as assembled and primed as the Galleon, but that's about it.

• Oak & Iron is incoming. Since I intend to run demos for this come Gothcon, it will be catapulted to the front of the queue as soon as I get it.

Both the Oak & Iron delivery, and Gothcon, became casualties of corona. I've got it, and a few of the ships have been painted, but not nearly enough for a post yet. Ah, well, next year, for sure.

• Take 2 on the Mace of Malcor Monsters for Frostgrave.

I have managed a few, and by "a few" I mean exactly 4. To little surprise, that is not enough for a photo session or a blog post. But at least I have another 8 that I've started to prepare, so next year?

• Victrix Vikings have caught my eyes, and I'm tempted to get a pack to paint as Jomsvikings for SAGA

The Vikings, however, got done with a vengeance. I still have a few more to assemble and paint, but this is a full warband (that even managed to see some careful gaming, when things were calmer).

• Perry Mounted Knights are assembled, but still waiting for paint. Let's try to do something about that. Perhaps I can use them for SAGA: Age of Magic...

Two of them have gotten primed, but that's about it. However, a friend got me Age of Empires II, and suddenly I have motivation to paint these up as french knights (no idea what game to use them for as that, but you can often find some way to use heavily armored mounted warriors, I think).

• Speaking of SAGA: Age of Magic, I have 2, or potentially 3, new ideas for warbands, either on their way (yay, kickstarters), or at least planned for purchase as soon as the FLGS gets them. (I'm being non-specific in the interrest of being coy with the fellows at the club, always fun springing surprises on them)

One of these ideas got tabled (and I will blame that one on temporary insanity), another was kickstarter'd, and has gotten delayed (but will hopefully be delivered early next year, and I can't wait to get my hands on it), but the third one...

The third one would be my Gauls, which not only got finished, but also rapidly expanded for SAGA: Age of Hannibal when it arrived.

• Blood & Valor (also from Firelock) is coming, I should probably look into it (which means whichever plastic ww1 army I find most interresting... or go with Italians, because my competence at the table shouldn't prevent me from playing historically)

It has not exactly been a good year for starting entirely new games in unfamiliar eras, so no...

Of course, as is usual for me, there were a few unscheduled things that got painted as well. And talking of starting new games, Oathmark was released...

...which meant that not only did my dwarves get a few additions, although mostly on the level of rounding out units...

... I also got a whole bunch of elves! Not quite an army on their own, but since Oathmark allows for mixing races, they make formidable allies to the dwarves.

Back before things got too bad, I also got some Rangers of Shadow Deep played, in co-op mode, which ended with a few models for that swiftly getting painted. Despite RoSD being a possible single player game, I haven't actually played it that way, yet...

There was also various loose and sundry, including a few more 15mm tanks, some dragons for a friend, several more-or-less random rpg characters, and a whole lot of built but unpainted stuff (darnit, I'm supposed to reduce the amount of unpainted stuff I have).

What about next year? By now, it's tradition that I make a whole lot of resolutions (and fulfil about half of them), so...

Let's start with the carry overs (the ones I am supposed to prioritize):

• Blood & Plunder need some more Dutch.
• And that Galleon.
• And of course the 6th Rate.
• Oak & Iron needs paint and love. At least these ships are smaller...
• That last warband for SAGA: Age of Magic, as soon as the kickstarter gets here.
• Mace of Malcor, now take 3.
• The Mounted Knights from Perry. Now, with some idea for getting started.

And, of course, some new ones.

• As said, I have some ideas for the Perry knights. And it requires more Perry, that has to be ordered (as soon as we know how brexit works), built, and painted. Should be easy, right?
• I have at least 2 ideas for SAGA: Age of Hannibal warbands, one easy and one hard (why do I always look at factions with a significant portion mounted on horses...)
• I also intend to finally make my own table. I have a good base (a friend got rid of his and asked me if I wanted it), but I need terrain for it, especially trees. The idea is to be able to run the first mission for Rangers of Shadow Deep, and perhaps combine it with some Frostgrave
• Talking about Frostgrave, Kromlech has some absolutely stunning terrain for it, that I need. (I just need to figure out how and where to store it first, because it doesn't look small.)
• Those Napoleonics have refused to leave, and I'm currently considering focusing on one battle, and then building a brigade from each side of that battle. No idea if it will see any table other than against myself, but it would somewhat solve my problem of being unable to pick a side and regiment.
• The Landsknecht are in eternal need of reinforcements. Perhaps a cannon this year, and possibly some ponybird knights.
• Oathmark has managed to do the impossible, and tempt me with undead. These will have to form a second army/kingdom.
• There are also promises of several exciting new Oathmark kits. Revenants will join the undead, Dwarven Light Infantry will be welcome for some variety among the short folk... and the Human Cavalry might just tempt me into a third kingdom
• Stargrave ("Frostgrave IN SPACE") is coming, so I will of course need at least one crew for that, possibly two, once it's released.

Happy new year, and may the dice see a lot more table than last year

/Fool Out

Blood & Plunder - Spanish Expansion

Somehow, my Spanish fell to the point where they were no longer my largest Blood & Plunder force. Since they're "the horde faction", this cannot be allowed to remain. Especially not since I will also need a whole lot of Spanish to crew my galleon (when I get it painted). There is only one solution, get another Spanish Starter Box (now a much nicer looking box than when I got my initial, and most of my, Spanish, in the kickstarter a long time ago). This, of course, also means that it is a long time since I painted some of these sculpts last, which is always a nice bonus. Not as nice as completely new sculpts, but a close second.

Since my old Commander has had a rough life and the paint is starting to flake, I took the opportunity to paint up a new one while still having the old one available in case of sudden game appearance). For some variety, he's not the green most of my Spanish Commanders tend to favour.

Half of the main reason I got the whole box, was because I needed another 8 Milicianos (or Hostigadores, for when I'm being sneeky), to round up my current units to 12 each. I did mention that I tend to think of the Spanish as the "horde" faction, right? Or, you never know when you need a whole lot of Corsarios.

And similarly, though somewhat less extreme, another unit of 8 Lanceros (or Milicianos Piqueros) would also be quite useful. I've found it limiting to only have one unit when I've run Spanish Militia in the past, that will no longer be a problem.

One can always use more Marineros, of course. Especially if one have a galleon looking down at you and waiting for some paint... And yes, you're seeing that right, the unit marking is correct and this will be my fourth unit of Marineros.

Finally, some more skirmishing Milicianos Indios can't possibly hurt, can they (well, they're free to hurt my opponents, as long as they don't hurt me). For some variety in skin and cloth colours, I divided up my old unit into two, and then did these into the same two units. End result is two units of 4, but each of the units are less same-y.

These can, as with all starter boxes, of course be used for a simple 100 point list. My preferred version would be the Spanish Militia, with

Experienced Commander
8 Milicianis (or 6 Hostigadores, if one have access to the No Peace Beyond the Line book)
8 Lanceros
4 Milicianos Indios

It provides a nice, balanced force that, in my opinion, plays to the Spanish advantages without just overwhelming with numbers (always hard to do with the starter boxes, and can be boring to play as well).

Of course, since I'm not limited to only the single Starter Box, these fellows will most likely get a different baptism of fire (or baptism of dice, as the case may be). Add some more Marineros (European Artillery Crew, but it's all the same), another four Miliciano Models, and perhaps exchange the commander for something a but more... swashbuckling, and we could run with

Spanish Corsairs
Blas Miguel for Commander
8 Corsarios with Bayonets
4 Corsarios (to keep the numbering intact and provide some extra fire for fatiguing purposes)
8 Marineros without pistols
8 Marineros Piqueros

And we have 157 points of mayhem. Odd points, you say? Well, let's add that ship I painted last time

Tartana
4 Light Cannons
4 Swivel Guns

And suddenly, we're at 199 points and a decent sailing force under a Spanish flag (that isn't the huge ship and human wave I tend to play the Guarda Costa as).

Now, I should probably try to get a start on one of the aforesaid huge ships... unless I get distracted by something... ooh, vikings!

/Fool out

Blood & Plunder - Tartana

I'm still alive, even in these times. I have mostly painted smaller things (finishing off various units and forces, a few stand-alones), not things worthy of a full blog post by themselves lately. With one major exception: yet another ship have been painted. This time, a Tartana (as usual, for Blood & Plunder). 

I modified it a bit, usually, the Tartana does not have a flag on the bowsprit. But ships looks so boring without flags, and the Bark didn't really need two, now did it? So a swift exchange of parts, and one more ship can show her allegiance. I got a bit of plastic tubing as well, to hold the flag, since the bowsprit does not have the usual rigging components I use to hold flags.

She looks slightly strange, with two quite large sails forward, and very little sternward. But it's not a unattractive strange, I'll give her that. Oddly pretty in fact, probably due to the sleekness.

She's also able to hold a decent amount of sailors (try to avoid the dirty joke...), with fairly open decks. The all forward arrangement of her masts means that the stern deck (nominally the quarterdeck, I think, although that might only be applicable for larger ships) is especially easy to get access to.

The ease of access is especially welcome, since the back deck is where most of the heavy ordnance will be, since there might be need to remove both crew and guns, depending on which kind of enemy fire comes pouring in.

As is usual for me, the masts can be taken down (thank you, elastic string), so that she is compact and easy to transport. additionally, the bowsprit can be demounted, with some more plastic tubing for a socket to hold it in place while "working", since she'd otherwise be too long for my usual cases (seriously, she might not look it, but she's a looong ship, especially with the bowsprit. The viking in me can't not like it). Thankfully, the elastic string is more than enough to keep the bowsprit in its socket, so no need for some kind of smart magnetization.

And all ship mounted guns are of course magnetized for storage, exchanging, destruction and whatever else may befall them, but that goes without saying for my ships.

All in all, she seems like a slightly smaller Sloop. Fast, maneuverable and with a decent but not too intensive battery of guns, while still having at least some fortitude against cannons. But we'll see how that actually works on the blue sea (well, blue table cloth, but you get the point).

The fact that the heavy artillery is sternwards, while the gaggle of swivel guns are forwards, opens up for a potential tactic of firing a salvo with the cannons at an opportune moment, and then charging in, firing the swivel guns to clear way, and then board the enemy ship. Perhaps something for Spanish Corsairs (who may or may not be led by Blas Miguel, in another attempt to achieve a melee skill of 3).

Now she just need a crew (well, not really, but I have a few more spaniards on the table, because somehow, the spanish are no longer my largest force in Blood & Plunder, and that needs to be rectified). And then I really need a game or five, once this crisis is over. At least I have enough of a fleet to lend most things smaller than a ship of the line. Although step one would probably to see how well she fares against a Bark, if the extra points are worth it (and then, against the only marginally more expensive Sloop).

Do tell me if you've got experience with this ship. Is she as nippy as I think? Is she worth it (from a pure gameplay perspective, she's cute enough to be worth it from a modelling perspective).

/Fool Out

Blood & Plunder - Bark & Piragua

Painting has happened (to the absolute surprise of noone). And this time, it's more ships (well, a ship and a half, really, and not a very big ship at that) for Blood & Plunder. Yes, plural. Because they're both too small for a decent blogpost each by themselves.

First up, the Bark. A tiny fishing ship, runabout, coastal trader and general ship-shaped thing, that were never-the-less quite popular among the buccaneers in the Spanish Main (as well as the Spanish Guarda Costa), possibly because they were easy to get hold of.

Maybe not plenty of space, but enough for a trusted crew (one kind of harbour rat or another, be they english, dutch och spanish) and some trade goods (legally obtained or otherwise).

Neither is she the most heavily armed, but once again, enough. A few cannons and swivels, enough to keep heads down as you approach. More cannons is not always better, because if you sink the enemy ship, then it gets much harder to plunder it (remember Maxim 1: Pillage, then Burn).

And there she is, Lydia as she's tentatively named (although I haven't bothered to get her a nameplate). All in all, she's a very cute ship, and just enough to teach one the basics of sailing (at least in Blood & Plunder).

Of course, all the masts can be taken down, and the flag replaced, for ease of transport and change of allegiance. And all armaments are mounted with magnets, for reasonably safe play and ease of removal (even if it will probably be rare to change all that much, since she doesn't have many options... but still, if I have a system, then I have a system).

If the Bark is small, then the Piragua is tiny. Only slightly larger than the Longboat and Canoas, this boat mostly compensates by girth, allowing for a decent amount of crew. Interrestingly enough, a Piragua can technically be towed as a ship's boat by a Bark, despite being almost as large. Ah, rules conundrums and literal reading, aint it wonderful.

 
She's got very few guns mounted, but that can be compensated by muskets. She's small, she's fast, and can carry both a decent boarding party and some fellows who keeps enemy heads down. Is it any surprise that this was also a favored ship by the buccaneers?

Once again, the sails can be dismounted for ease of travel. Although here, they're likely to be left of, because the magnets I used aren't quite strong enough (and/or aren't getting enough contact due to the layers of paint), and the rigging is non-existent, leaving them somewhat wobbly and too prone to randomly falling down for the average game. Still, it's nice to have while it's waiting its turn on a bookshelf.

And of course, the swivel guns are only attached by magnets, and can trivially be removed (especially useful if the Piragua is to be used by Native forces).

Still, she looks splendid and fast even when slimmed down. And one can appreciate the fact that Piraguas weren't as much built as carved directly from a large tree, with only some timber enhancements.

All in all, not a bad start for a buccaneer fleet. Now I just need to get a chance to field them in action, and see how they work in game... They both seem brittle, and perhaps not the most agile, but they're cheap, so one can fill them up with good troops. I'm really tempted to try the Piragua with a small unit of Sailors, and a medium-to-large unit of Boucaniers. Although perhaps those would be better in the Bark, with some gunners, and then a boarding party of some kind in the Piragua... as can be seen, ideas are multiplying.

/Fool Out, there's more sails on the horizon