Hobby Update May 2025

 Well, another month has gone by. The year seems to be flying by. Gaming stuff was hit and miss. got a decent amount of painting done though gaming itself was sparse. Had a fairly busy month around the house outside of gaming with repairs and plantings but, its all good. So lets see how the month went.

Books

Finished a couple of books this month. First was this one.

It is an older book on Luther's early life through the Diet of Worms. While it is an older book, published in 1957, I found it, in parts, a very compelling read. 

Then there was this one.

The Midgard rules have really got my mind going in a different direction for some of the periods that I have figures for. Namely El Cid. But, also my interest in Arthur was piqued. I thought I would pick this series up since I like his Saxon Chronicles, and the Sharpe books so much. I have to say, I am not sold on this series after the first book. We will see how it goes over the other two.

Purchases

I have been keeping purchases lower this year. While tempted as usual, my self control has been greater. I did find a decent lot of FIW figs on Goodwill for a decent price. A box of French line, and 2 packs of Rangers all from Warlord, and a box of Perry AWI Brits, which are out of period, but I think they will do.

I also picked up the latest edition of Muskets and Tomahawks. I liked the first edition and decided to pick up the 2nd ed.  Figured they would be good for smaller scale skirmishes, outside the scale of Sharp Practice.

I bought the latest book  in Rick Atkinson's AWI trilogy. I rarely buy new books but I have been waiting for this one to show up, and did not want to wait.

Games

I was pretty busy this month so time for only one SAGA game in our league. Didn't go so well. I am thinking I really need to take the next step and track my opponents abilities better. Could have saved me a bit of trouble if I had. Live and learn! No pics as my army is still a work in progress. 

Painting

Got a decent amount done this month painted 225 figures. Mostly 15mm and quite a mix of stuff. I am wrapping up my Mexican American War project, so that is a bunch of odds and ends, though I do have some infantry coming up this month, mostly US. I finished mostly artillery, limbers and supply wagons in May. Also some ACW. I am wanting to do New Market, so of course I need some VMI cadets, and I found that I needed more cavalry dismounts. Outside of that, a couple units for my French SAGA army, some Alpini weapons teams in 28mm, and some 15mm Achaemenid Persians. I did finish up the basing on most of my Italian wars stuff, though I have some units to rebase still, which I need to get done this month. Here are the ones I finished this month.

This is almost the end of the project. I'll have the rest done in June. This is a mix of stuff, French, Swiss, Spanish, German, and a few Italians. The figures are as varied, being Essex, Roundway, Rank and File, Old Glory 15s, and Alternative Armies. Just about have this project done, just need to finish up basing on some stuff and it is done.

Well that wraps up this months fun. I'll see you all next time!

Hobby Update April 2025

 A third of the way through the year already! Wow! Time is certainly flying by. Last month was a pretty good month overall, and a good lead in to the nice weather months. So, lets see what I did this month.

Books

Actually finished a couple this month surprisingly enough after the three I finished last month. I usually have a gap but I was close to finishing one and the other was a shorty.

First up was this one

After watching American Primeval I wanted to learn more about what was touched upon regarding the Mormons and what was going on at that time. Wow, a lot! This is a well written and engaging book about the "conflict" between the Mormons and the US government, well, and anybody wanting to get to California. Eye opening, there should have been quite a few people dangling from a noose, but, there wasn't. Highly recommended.

Then there was this one.

Every once in a while, Instagram will lead me somewhere I did not know I wanted to go. That was the case here. There was a suggested post from a person talking about their struggle in getting their Korean citizenship back. She looked Korean, so I started digging to find out what the deal was, and found she had written a graphic novel about her experience as a Korean child adopted outside Korea, Sweden to be precise. It is an interesting and heart rendering story to be sure.  The ending was not particularly surprising but it was bittersweet none the less. The book really makes you think twice about what's really going on in these adoption centers. 

Purchases

Purchases this month were an eclectic bunch. First off I picked up the starter set for 02 Hundred Hours. I have to say that reading the book about the Bielski's motivated me to do some partisan actions. I thought that would be an interesting game to do that with, and it seems as though it is easily solo-able. 

Wargames Atlantic really has a nice selection of digital prints and I came across one of Basil II The Bulgar Slayer. I have been needing a theme for my Byzantines, and I finally found one. He came in this month from Strange Plastic WA's third party printer. I keep wanting to get a printer but I have held myself back. Not sure how much longer I can do that.

I had purchased some German Grenadiers that were supposed to be out of the box but a complete box, from Noble Knight Games off eBay. When I got them they were 2 sprues short. I contacted them and they handled it right away, sending me a complete unopened box of the same. Now I have plenty of troops to build my Spanish Blue Division.

I also picked up 12 of the new Wargames Atlantic Peasants to build some Ribauds/Brigans for SAGA Age of Chivalry. I like to have some options.

Some additional Bolt Action Items were the Armies of Germany book from eBay (many hobby stores have an eBay store as well), and a mix of British Airborne figures, dice, and pin markers from Goodwill. 

Then lastly I picked up the Warlord Chronicles set of books. I don't know much about Arthur, so I figured Mr. Cornwell's books were as good a start as any. I'm About halfway through The Winter King already!

Gaming

I did manage to get in a game last month! our SAGA league started so there should be a game every couple weeks. In addition I am planning on getting together with the MESBG group in a couple weeks. Things should be looking up in this area.

Painting

This was a very good month for painting despite being sick three weeks ago. You know, I've noticed, at least for me, its not that I get any sicker now that I'm older, but, it takes a good week to recover back to normal afterwards. Anyway, back to painting. Here is what I got done.

222 15mm Italian Wars figures

23 28mm Samurai

3 28mm Romans

The Italian Wars figures complete that project for now. I have what I need for Pavia, and most of what I will need for the rest of the scenarios. I will need to add some Italian foot but those can come later.

The samurai are just figures from my prodigious collection of unpainted samurai, and the Romans were to complete a couple command stands.

Here are some pics of the stuff I finished off with basing and flocking this month.

Silver Bayonet British

Silver Bayonet British

Silver Bayonet British

Silvar Bayonet British

Clan War Crab

Clan War Crab

Clan War

Clan War

Warlord Games mounted Samurai Box from Test of Honour

Same as above

The Silver Bayonet French

The Silver Bayonet French

The Silver Bayonet French

The Silver Bayonet French, the one on the right just screamed Haitian/voodoo to me.

Zenit Ashigaru

Warlord Games onna-bugeisha

Then my favorites, The Seven Samurai from Grey for Now Games

Kyuzo and Heihachi

Gorobei and Katsushiro

Kamari and Shichiroji

and, of course Kikuchiyo

Have no clue what this is, but, it was fun to paint

More Silver Bayonet British

Well, that is it for this month. It was quite productive and fun. I'll see you all next month!

Happy Hobbying!

Hobby Update August 2024

 I decided to do things a bit differently with my blog. Its been 4 months since I posted last and it seems like a bother at times, or repetitive, to me at least. So, I just don't do it. But, inspired by some others, I am going to do it more as a monthly hobby update covering gaming, painting, reading, and purchases. The painting will always be stuff from a couple months prior that I just based and finished. Basing is one of my biggest hurdles and there is generally a delay when it comes to that part. Right now I have the entire armies for Albuera waiting to be based, as well as a large portion of the Battle of Falkirk Muir. It will probably get caught up some by the end of the year but probably not completely. So, lets get started!

Gaming

This is easy, there was none. We had a lot going on last month and early this month, so, I kinda took the month off from doing any gaming. May get back to it this month, but certainly next.

Painting

The time I have for painting has diminished for the forseeable future, but, I still get a decent mount of painting each day. Here is some stuff from this spring.

First up Spanish Civil War

Carlist Requetes

Carlist Requetes

Carlist Requetes

Militia

Militia

Militia

Republicans

Italians

Up top are Carlist Requetes, a bunch of militia and Republicans in the middle, the last 5 pics are all Italians. All figures are the old HPC.

Here we have a bunch of Mexican American War American militia and mounted rifles. These are all Old Glory 15s, with flags from The Virtual Armchair General.

Reading

Finished a couple of good books this last month The first is a holocaust related one called The Lost

While the outcome is the same as most Holocaust reading, the authors journey to discover their fate was quite interesting. A more thorough review can be found here

The other book I finished was this fantastic volume

Absolutely loved it, a somewhat more complete review is here

Purchases

This month saw a few book and gaming purchases. I did get a few figures, a box of Perry ACW cav for a Bushwhacker project, a few sprues of Warlord Pike & Shotte foot for my 30 YW project, and a handful of 15mm ACW just because they were such a great deal.

I also got this KS in the mail

I look forward to going through this. I like the period, and these are supposed to be great rules for it.

I also picked up a few books

Got these new from Daedalis Books for under $10 each. I think the total was under $40 including shipping.

There were some eBay finds as well.

I have been picking up the Pacific editions as I find them at a price I like. I found a three book lot including one of the European books, and they threw in the Bulge book for free. Some nice pickups overall.

Well that's it for this time. See ya at the end of the month!