What I've let myself in for

A whole 5 models complete! 4 of them weren't painted before lockdown!

 

I'm sure like many of you, my initial optimism about the effect of lockdown on my plastic pile has faded. Not only does painting time still seem hard to make, but self-medicating my mental health by buying models has made things even worse. So, some months before the publication of this update, I found myself needing to paint a dozen knights and two cannon in time for the Clash of Kings in October.

Size comparison between Wargames Foundry (left) and Fireforge (right)

   So, the main feature of today's post is the 13th century knights from Fireforge (and a few Foundry left-overs) I got done. Given my glacial pace of painting, it was touch-and-go whether I would be able to get them done in time, but thanks to my excellent performance under pressure and willingness to accept "good enough" painting, I should be finished in time. The Fireforge plastics were bought at the start of lockdown, and to make the numbers up to 20 (not that I really needed to do that) I ordered a few extras from 1st Corps specially to join the gallant Crusader knights from so long ago (currently undergoing rennovation).

Two of the more exciting heraldries I found, "Oak tree eradicated" and "whirlpool"

I could have made up some nice, simple geometric schemes and bashed them out in a few weeks. Of course, instead I got my hands on some references of actual heraldry from the 13th century (or at least thereabouts) and have gone hog-wild choosing incredibly complicated designs with fiddly designs. I certainly have some regrets about having to draw 7 free-hand designs per model, but at least I'm able to inflict my own vision of medieval battledress on my luckless opponents. Given my usual standard of generalship, giving my opponents a headache with violently-clashing paint schemes is probably my best hope of victory...

Long-term readers may recall these were among the first models I painted for this blog

Initially, I had hoped that the old Crusader knights (as seen here) could be left unaltered and hidden them at the back. Looking at them again, I was very disappointed with the quality of the paintjobs and the model cleanup, so I decided to start again and gave myself even more work to do. I didn't need to add the C13 knights of course, but I wanted a bit more variety in my army to make it more of a mix of various periods of history than just "Normans and whatever was lying around". Buying the additional armoured C11 infantry from the Perrys to supplement my anglo-norman foot was entirely unjustified, but they look really nice. 

I thought I'd finished this one, then I compared the quality of the stars on the shield to the stars on the surcoat

In other plastic pile news, the immense pile of BattleTech stuff I ordered in 2019 has arrived and will probably be featured eventually. These will no doubt be joining the Wargames Atlantic fauns I bought during my summer Jolly in Llandudno, a lovely seaside town featuring a very impressive game shop with a wide selection of everything which is why it was totally justified for me to spend money on something I'm not even going to assemble until next year. 

A couple of works in progress, with the chosen heraldry indicated on the base

The fauns do actually have a place in a Greek mythology-themed army I have on the backburner, but isn't likely to see the light of the table for a while because of the vast amounts of new models I need for it. I've got a few items from Wargames Foundry and their offshoot, Warmonger Miniatures. They do make some lovely models, good proportions, not too much detail and good sculpting/casting but you absolutely pay the price for it. I love their satyrs, for instance, but £14 for 5 is a bit steep for me.

Entirely unrelated: a couple of Nymph Warriors from Warmonger Miniatures, painted as driadic or druidic types

And, of course, the poor old Chaos Warriors have been languishing in their drawer while all this has been going on. I do have a few lying around, varnished but unphotographed, including some of the more "hodge podge" models. These chaps are made of leftover parts from the plastic Chaos Marauders (who were made for 25 mm square bases, a bit big for human infantry in my opinion) combined with the various Chaos Warrior limbs I had lying around. 

These Chaos Warriors have been ready for their closeup, Mr. Demille for months

As restrictions are eased (wisely or unwisely), I've had several offers of gaming from various sources, and I might well make use of them in a bit, and try out that El-Alamein pint-size campaign I've been fermenting for ages. The core of the forces (Commonwealth, German and Italian) is intact, and most of the support options are in my possession, if not painted yet.

Also got these gun crew done, mostly old Airfix figures from my uncle.