New Year 2023/2024

 Happy New Year!

I didn't write one of these last year (because, frankly, 2022 felt like a horrible year), but lets try to get back into things, 2023 felt like the year when I got the painting mojo back. Two projects got finished after way too long, and a third one was both begun and finished.

First up, my SAGA Carthaginians finally got to a playable state.

Since they're SAGA Carthaginians, they can do with some more figures, but this has given me a taste of what I might want, so they will be expanded... eventually.

And then, I could finally reveal my major project, Napoleonic British

Just the first (well, 2nd) Brigade, for now, but there should be more coming there. Also, eventually (I think part of what made 2022 so bad, was that I painted a lot of these, which I then didn't want to reveal... and also, those red coats are a pain)

And then, the hobby gods smiled at me, and I both started, and finished, the "Anglo-Danes" that I bought for 2022... that ended up as a shit-ton of Anglo-Saxons instead.

That was a good feeling, getting all those done in more or less one go. They're not quite finished (I have ideas for another 36 figures), but they do quite good enough for now.

Of course, these weren't everything I got painted, only the biggest projects. There were also a variety of Vikings

(A few hearthguards, a banner bearer, some Levy with Javelins, and a hero).

Also, some Wargames Atlantic Conquistadors (very colorful fellows)...

...as well as a few Azteks for them to fight and/or ally with.

(None of them are intended for strictly historical purposes, for now they'll make a good warband for Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago if that ever picks up at the club again)

In more Frostgrave-related stuff, there were some big, fuzzy fellows.

(The club has started a Wildwoods campaign, and I felt a hankering for some thing pre-historic)

And I even got a piece of terrain done!

(Yes, it IS huge)

Because I'm slightly masochistic (it seems), I also painted up some Highlanders, for those napoleonics (my, so far, single ahistorical addition, other than these, I'm sticking to the officila OrBat for 3rd Division in 1812)

Gordon Highlanders. Half a battalion as I do them. So I need to paint another 20 sooner or later... (I jest a bit, I'm not that traumatized, even if these fine fellows took me 2 months).

And in a sudden christmas rush, I started 10 English 1400s Men-at-Arms on Christmas Day. And got them finished in time for New Year

I don't know quite how it happened, but I certainly aint complaining.

Add in a variety of one-offs, random adventurers, some more monsters, and some smaller expansions for old armies, and I end the year on 

• 244 approximately human-sized figures
  
• 25 cavalry (or about that size)
• 5 bigger beastie (or things on bigger bases, at least, including the fuzzies up above)
• 1 Piece of Terrain
• 3 Saga Objectives

Not bad at all, if I say so myself.

For next year, I'll set a two-part goal. The most important one, that I think I have a chance of fulfilling, is to simply paint at least 240 minis in total (averaging 20/month). If I keep going like I've done this year, it should definitely be doable. Especially considering some of the projects I have in mind.

What are those projects, then?

Well, 4 different SAGA warbands (one of which I've already started)

• English for Age of Chivalry (that's those Men-at-Arms above, as well as some more, and lots of longbowmen), which will also do double duty for Blood & Crowns (I do so love when one project gives more than one army in the end
• French, also for Age of Chivalry, as well as Blood & Crowns. I have a few already painted, an old project that petered out into nothing.
• Undead Legion, for Age of Magic. I accidentally painted up 3 zombies in 2023, and got a hankering for more... also, I have some excellent Necromancers, creatures, and a dragon that I now have an excuse to paint and use
• Normans, for Age of Vikings, doing extra duty as either Spanish or Crusaders for Age of Crusades. I already have Normans, but with the new Victrix releases, I feel a need to redo these. And while I'm at it, I might as well do them more Italo-Norman, and make them suitable for a variety of uses.
• Something Napoleonic. Either a brigade of Portuguese (my initial plan), or perhaps just enough Frenchmen to have two forces for Sharp Practice, and get some actual games in with that.
  

That should give me plenty to do. And the best part is, I have pretty much everything I need for that already (unless I go with the French), so I'll even reduce the Pile of Shame!

Once more, Happy New Year

/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 Painting Showcase - French Reinforcements

I keep churning through my painting queue. This time, it's some French sailors for Blood & Plunder. I already have a decent french force, but one can always have more options.

As is my habit, it is a not-too-small batch of 21, with a mix of different units (and a significant proportion of reinforcements for existing units)

First up, one new and one repainted commander. On the left, Laurens de Graff (allowing for a slightly more dutch playstyle with the french, i.e. more sailing and more cannons). On the right, a repainted special gift commander from the first kickstarter, since he had gotten a few scratches where the metal shone through.

There were a few full units painted as well. Specifically, Engagés (using the Sailor Musketeer figures). A cheap unit with decent musketry can always be useful.

And what's better than one cheap shooty unit? Why, two, of course. These Engagés will be 20 points each, and hopefully require just a tad more effort to remove than they're worth. But mostly, they'll allow more options for the other units in whatever force they find themselves.

Talking about other units, two Flibustiers. The right one is another repaint (once again, plenty of wear and tear made some metal shine through), while the left one will serve as a Character when such is needed, most likely a Grizzled Veteran or an Officer. I don't quite remember where I got him, but he's originally a Forlorn Hope, which I didn't really have a need for. But he's got all the guns for a Flibustier, and will stand out nicely, so...

Two men doesn't make much of a unit, but combine with the other 7, and it's much better. The two new ones fits in quite nicely.

Similarly, the Marins got a few reinforcements, with some grenades (/firebombs/smokebombs) and plenty of blunderbusses... and a female sailor (my last from the last kickstarter) to serve as character when this unit needs one. Nominally, she can be Anne Dieu-le-Veut (wife of Laurens de Graff, above), if they're both on the table.

Of course, 4 Blunderbusses, one man with grenades and a character rarely makes a legal unit. But combine with the 6 older Marins in unit "light blue II", and it is one heck of a sledgehammer. One I should perhaps write up a separate article about (especially if led by that old terror, L'Ollonais). Do tell if such a thing would be of interest?

And finally, I can't leave the other Marin unit ("light blue I") without. In general, my sailor units tends toward 8 men strong with grenades. I'm going to ignore any grenades not actually bought for the games, and assume these sailors are instead carrying extra reloads for the pistols, some loot, or maybe a rum ration instead... always nice to have the options.

/Fool Out, this queue aint going to reduce itself.

Blood & Plunder Battle Report - Flibustier Nau vs Black Caribs

It's been quiet for too long. Quick, grab my Jolly Roger and bring me that horizon...

I got another game of Blood & Plunder in, and hopefully, I can tell its story (it was a bit hot when we played, so memory might be faulty and overheated, as can the pictures). But it was a 200 point game, first one in a bit too long for me.

I wasn't fully prepared, but wanted to try out something fancier than the usual Experienced (or Untested) Commander. And I wanted to try out the frenchmen, because I haven't used them in too long. So what would be fancier than Francois L'Olonnais (he of the many mispronounciations)? (well, maybe Laurens de Graff, but I haven't painted him yet, and there were one other thing I wanted to try out...)

End result:
Flibustier Nau
L'Olonnais (also known as Hollandaise)
6 Flibustier
7 Flibustier
(the main fighting force, being good at pretty much everything... if they survive)
4 Engagés
4 Engagés
(and some cheap support for the Flibustiers)
11 Marins with
 - 3 Blunderbusses,
 - Grenadoes
 - a Grizzled Veteran
(these are interresting. A Fight Skill of 5, Hard Chargers, Ruthless, and enough Firepower to put some fatigue on whatever they're charging first, if they have enough actions... means 11 angry sailors hitting on 3+)

Up against me were some Black Caribs (all converted from various plastic kits)

Seasoned Southern Tribes Commander
4 African Warriors with bows
4 African Warriors with bows (these two will be referred to as the bowmen)
8 African Warriors with Pistols (pistoleers)
8 African Warriors with Muskets (musketeers, accompanied by the commander to remove Slow Reload)
6 Native Warriors
 - Veterans
 - Throwing Weapons

Scenario was Rescue, with the Black Caribs defending ("they've captured some poor merchant and are going to do unspeakable things to him. We must stop them, he's ours to do unspeakable things to")

A nice village in the middle, with Africans (and natives) spread out in it, most of them in the biggest house.

In total, the big house had 4 out of 5 units, with the musketeers (and commander, and merchant) on the balcony, archers in the upstairs room, Native Warriors downstairs and pistoleers in the covered entrance.

The last unit of bowmen were up on the roof of another building nearby, having an excellent view of the area.

The frenchmen were split (to prevent the Caribs from just running away), with some Flibustiers and their servant Engagés coming in from the "north"...

 And the other unit of Flibustiers, with L'Ollonais, their servants and the horde of angry sailors coming in from the south.

The southern Engagés gets the honour of opening the firing, with a salvo into the bowmen in the big house... and 3 out of 4 hits. They're even within 12", so they get Ball & Shot on those, although the shot fails to do any more hits.

Then the Flibustiers follow up, and eager to not be overdone by their servants, get another 3 hits (and more chances for Ball & Shot).

Suffice to say, that unit of bowmen weren't a problem any more after that salvo.

The Black Caribs spent most of turn one getting rid of the Fatigue generated by L'Ollonais "Terror" special rule. And then, on turn two...

Thirsting for vengeance, the pistoleers charge through the house and into the Flibustiers with the hated L'Ollondaise.

Their pistols firing, there isn't much left of the Flibustiers afterwards. But H'Ollondaise isn't that easy to kill, he jumps over to the Marins with a Fortune Point...

And then leads them into a countercharge where everything goes of as intended. Blunderbusses and pistols leave the pistoleers on 2 fatigue (and somewhat fewer than before), and the the sledgehammer of 12 attacks hitting on 3+ arrive.

The end result is a red smear among the crops.

The rest of the turn is spent maneuvering. The Black Carib Musketeers move down as the Native Warriors move out to deal with the northern flank.

The northern Flibustiers countermove to deal with the Warriors.

And the northern Engagés move in to start a longrange firefight with the bowmen who have harried their southern brethren (essentially preventing that unit from ever doing anything useful again by making them shaken every now and then).

And then it was Turn 3.

The northern Flibustiers do what they do best, going in close and blasting things away with Ball & Shot. Only two Native Warriors are left. But these swiftly rally, and tries to get vengeance...

... Only to be shot down by the pistols of the (thought to be unloaded) Flibustiers... oops?

The Black Carib Musketeers goes the other way, and charge into the (actually unloaded) northern Engagés. Amazingly enough, they manage to stay alive and not too badly shaken.

Turn 4!

Doing a swift about turn, the northern Flibustiers rushes to their servants' aid (as do the Marin sledgehammer, but they're just a bit too far away).

Getting pounded from two directions by angry frenchmen that seem just a bit to insistent, the Black Caribs run away, and then finally fails a Strike Test.

Victory for the Hollandaise and his angry frenchmen, with surprisingly few casualties.

A few things I took away from this game:

-The Black Caribs, while potentially nasty, can get beaten, and quite well at that. Still, the list seem to work, which is good (since I designed it in large parts for my friend).

-L'Ollonais is fun with all his many special rules (and I even forgot one of them, should have had a fourth Fortune Point... that I never would have needed).

-As are Ruthless Marins with blunderbusses. They worked exactly as expected, I will have to paint up some of these "for real", instead of using dutchmen and a few copies of "Comment Parler Français".

-Engagés were surprisingly good for their points, almost like the English Militia I have had the "joy" to encounter a few times. Cheap enough to not care too much about (and wasting resources on killing them is almost always non-optimal), but annoying enough that they can't quite be ignored. I will have to paint a few of these as well, although dutchmen can serve for now.

-Ball & Shot is an actually useful rule, and not just something fluffy and nice to read. I think I rolled more 10s at short range this game than all my other games combined...

-French Buccaneers (and offshoots like Flibustier Nau) are fun to play, I need to do it more often. Perhaps time to give the Dutch a break.

/Fool Out.