Sunday 26 June 2011

Mid-Year Review

The past month I've been distracted with work, study, and my hard drive packing in, so I haven't managed much gaming. The next few weeks are looking better so hopefully I'll get back into the swing of it. As we approach the mid-point of the year the pause has given me time to think about the projects I'll be working on for the rest of the year, including some new ones! But first a recap on progress to date: the labels down the side will bring up any relevant posts.

Normans - In January I painted a 300pts Impetus 28mm Norman Army for use at the York competition in February. Following success in that competition and the following week down Didcot I had planned to do another 28mm army for the competition at Derby in October but give up on this as the Normans have remained in the box under the bed as I mainly play 15mm.

Wars of the Roses - By mid April I had painted the Lancastrian forces at Towton for a demonstration at the 550th anniversary festival. This proved to be such a success that the Battlefield Society asked us to attend an event last weekend to run the demonstration again and to look at future events perhaps covering other battles. The army currently stands at nearly 400pts for Impetus and I have bought the additional figures to take it up to 500pts which I hope to complete before the end of the year. I was supposed to run a campaign at the club but have yet to get this off the ground. This is still a hope for this year but will depend on other projects.

Lasalle - By the end of April I had completed a French Empire core plus Dragoons support which I took to Trev's tournament. Since then I have purchased another four battalions worth of painted French Infantry and continued to rebase my British. The plan is to continue to build these forces this year with the aim of running a Peninsular campaign next year. A possible 1812 campaign means that adding options to the French may take precedence over finishing the British. There is also the option of starting to build a Spanish Force.

Ancients - I have made no progress on my ancient Impetus armies this year beyond playing half a dozen games. This is a real disappointment being my favourite period, and unfortunately I doubt I'll be picking it up again this year.

Over the past few months I have began two new projects which will take priority for the rest of the year.

American War of Independence and the Great Italian Wars (1494-1529)

Both are in their infancy and I'll expand on them in future posts.


This is the first time I have tried a more project-based approach to wargaming. The results are impressive, my painting rate is quicker than it has ever been, I have completely painted two Impetus armies and have constructed two Napoleonic armies through a combination of painting myself and purchasing painted figures.

While having clear aims has helped, I think the main driver has been external deadlines imposed by tournaments and demonstrations. In the weeks running up to these events I have been able to drive myself to paint up to rates of nearly 30 figures in a day to a good standard. These intense bursts do take it out of me, and I tend to flatline for a few weeks following the event.

Anyway, I'am looking forward to the coming six months with the following priorities.

1) 15mm British American War of Independence army
2) Make by Wars of the Roses army up to 500pts
3) Start an army for the Italian Wars
4) Finish my British Lasalle army

Brushes at the ready!