last year's logo |
First up, taking stock of my current lead-pile. Here's what's currently in my stash:
12x Foundry Valkyries
1x Reaper "Ice Queen"
1x Reaper "Cactus Joe, Gorilla Gunslinger"
1x Reaper "Magda Mintsilver, Female Dwarf"
1x Oathsworn "Female Fighter"
1x Oathsworn "Pregnant Villager" (given to me as a freebie for supporting their "Heroines in Sensible Shoes" Kickstarter)
1x Dark Fable "Prophet of Set"
6x Dark Fable "Cultists of Set"
1x Reaper "Bones" "Jabberwock"
pictured: little weirdo |
The big challenge is having the closet door open; Atticus, our cat, is obsessed with the closets in our apartment and will take any opportunity to get inside, find a dark corner and squat there for hours. We keep our closet doors rubber banded shut because he's figured out how to pull them open, and we don't want to risk the little weirdo pulling something down on himself and getting hurt. So I'll have to lure Atticus out on to our enclosed patio or something and close him out so I can ransack the closet.
Once the Bonus Rounds get announced, I'm going to try to do as much as I can for them with Reaper Bones figures, seeing as how I can paint those in the winter without having to worry about priming them beforehand. I've got a pretty good handle on painting Bones now so I think I'll have better results this year than I did last time around.
I think I want to give myself a big project for the winter as well, and I'm leaning towards assembling a couple retinues for Lion/Dragon Rampant. I got the rulebook for Lion Rampant for Christmas last year and found it a really enjoyable read and looks like it'd be fun to play; I imagine Dragon Rampant, the fantasy version, would be much the same.
I'm looking at using 1/72 scale plastic figures for this project, to lighten the financial cost and to speed up the painting process; using the Plastic Soldier Review website, I tallied up the numbers and types of figures I would get from buying one each of Zvezda's Hundred Year War English boxed sets; I figure these would be a good choice for "generically medieval" retinues. I did the math and figured out how to turn the contents of those two boxes into two full size, 24-point retinues for Lion Rampant with only about six figures left over for future projects.
While there's some Frostgrave interest growing at my FLGS, and Guild Ball is very popular among the local wargaming contingent, I'm hoping to stir up interest in other games as well, and I think Lion Rampant would do well if I can run a few high-visibility demo games.
For those who aren't interested in historical games that don't involve tanks, a purely fantasy army is called for, I think - brightly-colored knights aren't enough on their own, but brightly-colored knights and a dragon will draw people in. For these people, I'm thinking of grabbing a couple boxes of Dark Alliance "Army of the Dead" figures and putting together a retinue of skeleton warriors to march inexorably across the land, laying waste to all in their path.
I've never painted 1/72 scale figures before; I had a couple boxes of them as toys as a kid, and my dad always hated them from his model kit building days because back in the 1960s and 1970s the tools needed to successfully paint these little soft plastic figures just weren't available. I've been reading tutorials to figure out how best to apply paint to these figures and not have to worry about it immediately flaking off. Should be an interesting exercise, to say the least.
So that's what I'm looking at right now for this winter's big painting challenge. I think that'll put me at a good start and keep my morale up through the long, dark Rochester winter.
That's planning and dedication for you Bill......me on the other hand????
ReplyDeleteYou're a rascal of a badger Ray, you'll knock something out that'll put me on my arse! That is if you don't get Tamsin and Anne after you again!
DeletePlanning already? Good gravy, that's organised.... I'm also impressed by the small size of your leadpile, I only wish mine was even nearly that modest a size.
ReplyDeleteSave your applause Jamie :) I only recently came back to miniature painting after a long hiatus so my lead pile is slowly growing!
DeleteThat is some seriously impressive forethought, but I like the idea of priming whilst the sun is shining, perhaps some head scratching is required.
ReplyDeleteso efficient, will have to go and buy some primer
ReplyDeletesame here Martin, primer and a set of snips to remove the tabs from a few figures that I don't want to put on slotta bases!
Deleteoh goodness is it late enough in the summer we can start thinking about the winter challenge... I guess it is.
ReplyDeleteI also tend to be pathologically early when it comes to showing up for events!
DeleteSurely you are misapprehended thinking they are your closets? Obviously they belong to little weirdo who simply lets you make use of them (I also am a human slave to cats)...
ReplyDeleteHe actually is allowed free reign of the lower shelves of our linen closet - he's turned the shelf containing spare pillows and blankets into his personal retreat from the world.
DeleteThat being said, I am fairly certain it's just a matter of time until we're paying him rent!