That’s a cheery thought isn’t it.
If you’re British it’d be best to get the sprouts on about now I reckon.
June’s HYW painting progress has been glacial, though an actual glacier would be very welcome around here at the moment, cos It’s….soooooo…ruddy…hot.
Okay these chaps are Perry 28mm French levy spearmen the front rank of which I’ve equipped with pavises in order to give them a vague stab at survival.
When it came to a design for the front of the pavis I was a bit stumped until I found inspiration in my local towns 14th century defences.
This is the Zizim tower in Bourganeuf. Built to house a captive prince, (like you do). It’s the right period too as it happens (the lovely cone shaped roof is a late 15th century addition).
I get the feeling that progress will be modest on the HYW project given the weather, the number of units I hope to field and the current empty status of my wallet. What’s really needed while this ticks along in the background is a smaller scale skirmish type game that I can use with Mr Lambshead’s dice less rules. You know the sort of thing. 8 - 12 figures per side, bit of character development, ongoing semi campaign etc etc.
No.
Stop it.
No!
Must stay focussed on the HYW stuff.
Okay we’re sticking to the HYW. Debate over. Good.
With that settled I guess it wouldn’t hurt to just browse the internet a little bit, would it?
I mean what’s the worst that could happen? I am, after all, renowned for my iron will…my ability to resist temptation…my erm…
Oh bugger.
No one’s going to notice if a bit of cash leaks out of the household bills account, are they? Where’s the harm. I’m only stealing from myself when you think about it - and they do say your a long time dead. I mean, I could’ be knocked down by a bus tomorrow never having done 1930’s AVBCW.
Oh the horror.
Toodleooh mes amis.
That’s a fine looking tower. But wasn’t it princesses that got locked up in towers? How very diverse of the locals.
ReplyDeleteChris/Nundanket
We’re equal opportunity hostage takers out here. Actually the jokes on the French. They captured a very wealthy and well placed dude and thought he’d be good for a decent ransom amount. They housed him nicely only to find that his brother in the holy land considered him a political threat and was glad he’d been nabbed. No money changed hands and the poor sod ended up in that tower for the rest of his days. On the plus side he did have an excellent view.
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DeleteNice work on the front rank spearmen they look good and having the pavises may give them a slight chance of survival! Now AVBCW is an interesting one, plenty of scope with that one and good fun too, one for the "one day" for myself be interested where you go with it.
ReplyDeleteHi Donnie, I almost went there previously in 10mm with bigger units and based around the general strike in 1926. I think there’s a tab called « strike » somewhere to the right of here. Probably best to have a couple of projects on the go to keep the overall enthusiasm up…well that’s what I’m telling myself anyway. lol.
DeleteGood idea to spend it all - an elderly friend keeps reminding me that ‘there are no pockets in shrouds’!
ReplyDeleteThe shields look great. I have much empathy with you re the heat …. I just hate it even when the sun comes out and I have the white legs to prove it! We think it is hot here (UK) as we declare our latest heatwave, but in truth it is nothing compared to what our European friends are having to put up with. It’s hard to paint anyway as the acrylic dries on the brush in this weather!
42 degrees in the car today. Nonsense. Trip to the shops abruptly cancelled. The acrylic hasn’t had a chance to dry on the brush so far because the heat has left me almost catatonic. Lifting a cold beer is as much as I can manage at the moment. One blessing is that the ever growing grass has turned into a parched and brown dust bowl…so I’m spared the mowing if nothing else.
DeleteThis all looks and sounds excellent - very nice indeed. I like the tower too.
ReplyDeleteMention of Mr Lambshead reminds me of a very old Scottish primary-school joke. Young laddie with a shopping bag goes into a butcher's shop in sunny Leith:
Laddie: Mr MacClafferty, ma maw says hiv you got a sheep's heid?
Butcher: No son. Tell yer maw it's just that I part my hair in the middle.
Tee hee, love it.
DeleteNice looking figures and the new distraction will be interesting....whatever happened to your Victorian era Brits fighting alien invaders you were engaged in when I first happened across your blog?
ReplyDeleteGlad it's not too hot to prevent you doing the important stuff...like drinking cold beer 😀
Good point about the VSF stuff Keith. Might have to dig those lads out and give them another whizz round the table. Mmmm.
DeleteFine work there Mark:)! The weather here has put pretty much all gaming activity on hold, as like you, it is leaving us in a rather lethargic state. In the last heatwave a few weeks ago, I got in the car mid-afternoon after it had been in the sun all day and it showed 40C on the dashboard readout!!! I could only just hold the steering wheel, which was a first.
ReplyDeleteAh, the AVBCW, a great 'what if?' period to game as I know to my cost;)! To help justify things, you could have the action taking place in India to start with, given you have some lovely buildings and terrain already. Or it could be a sort of Brighton esplanade type action? If you do go down this route, I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what you come up with:)
Stay cool old chap!
Cheers Steve, that’s some creative thinking on the terrain front. I intend to limit the number of figures I buy and leave more cash for terrain. I’m going to need a decent selection to make things look okay. Good job the old birthday is on the horizon! Incidentally you’re a braver man than me driving a car in 40 degree heat!
DeleteLOL. What's the worst that could happen? No harm in looking right? I'm just looking...
ReplyDeleteand then of course you just bought yourself 20 more miniatures to paint...
Nice dudes.
I needed them Stew. You know how it is.
DeleteLovely new toys Mark…
ReplyDeleteYou have reminded me that I have a few AVBCW hiding somewhere…
I may dig them out and see if I can fit them in with my little Dads Army project…
Flutter 🦋 Flutter 🦋 Flutter 🦋…
All the best. Aly
Hi Aly. Some of the figures would actually fit in very nicely with Dads Army. Not sure if you’ve seen the Empress 28mm 1930´s tanks and armored cars either (bet you have) but they’ve got a tremendous range of unusual armored cars etc that’d also fit right in.
DeleteGreat work on the shields JBM. The figures look great and good to have some local flavour.
ReplyDeleteThe tower itself looks picture perfect, although it seems to have a mold line running down the side 😂 But just the place to hold a prince or two.
Pity about the heat slowing your painting. It is certainly hot, even by Australian standards, and no fun at all unless you are drinking beer in the shade somewhere.
Hey Ben, I’ll go and see the mayor tomorrow and ask if I can scrape the mold lines off and get the thing repainted. Digital photography always shows these things up! lol. Doing my best to keep out of the sun - too darned hot to do anything meaningful in the garden anyway. Beers in the spa, is the way to go.
DeleteMarvellous post as always; I had a good laugh or three. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteFantastic painting of the shield designs and the fellas themselves too. Dunno about this slow progress stuff. In the first two photographs of the newbies and troops already painted, I spy two small armies—*and* you have to assemble the b@stard things first!
Have you painted those figs for the Very British Civil War already, or are they photos c/- the temptation site on the interweb?
Not entirely relevant, but let me introduce you to structured procrastination: https://structuredprocrastination.com—if you have not come across it previously. A deliberately tongue-in-cheek stab at popular psychology/management which is far more edifying and useful than any popular psychology ever will be.
Best wishes, James
p.s. I see from checking out Bourganeuf (my knowledge of the geography of France does not stretch to many small villages and towns, save for those involved in 1814 or 1914–1918) I see that you are near smack bang in the middle. Looks like a grand little spot.
Hello James. Glad you had a titter. Serious business getting the sprouts on in time. Don’t want to spoil the big day with them being undercooked now do we? Slow progress on the painting front, mmm, it is really when you consider I’m retired and I’ve little else to do with my time. Gotta pull my socks up and knuckle down or some such. The photos don’t reflect my work - they’re from the Empress Miniatures and Footsore websites. Sadly I didn’t see the « caution rabbit hole ahead » sign when I logged on. Bourganeuf…it’s about 20 mins away. I live in Pradeix a tiny hamlet under the auspices of St Dizier Leyrenne. Kind of central geographically (but if you asked a local they’d say we’re in the north east of the south west), lol. I check out the procrastination thingy when I get a mo later on. If it’s hot at your end get in the shade and grab a beer. Doctors orders.
DeleteJust visited the suggested site - tres amusante. I’m now putting the authors idea into action. I should be painting minis of course but instead I’ve put it off in order to reply (again) to your earlier comment. lol. I reckon I could get the hang of this.
DeleteMervailleuse! :)
Delete(Not hot here in July, but beer is good at any time. 'It's not just for breakfast' as stated on a witty stubby holder from the student's assoc. of the uni. that I used to teach at)
Nice HYW reinforcements! Good looking tower too, not a fan of AVBCW but they look like they'd work for Spain, now your talking!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Hi Iain, I’m not that keen on some of the more cartoony aspects to AVBCW I have to admit, but I see it and will portray it as a serious clash of ideologies every bit as vicious as the SCW. As it happens I will need to use a few SCW figures by the looks of things to provide a light mortar team for the blackshirts.
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