A Fistful of Lead solo game and more 15mm Ancients painted.

January proved to be a very productive month for painting 15mm ancients for my Greek and Persian armies. Over 70 figures plus a set of Greek buildings painted added several key units/bases to my collection and makes both forces much more useable with a range of rules. It also makes a slight dent in my lead mountain!

Time for a few photo's of the Persians so far...

...and gathered around my fortified camp.

Happily I now have a broad range of figures in this collection, plus scenery ranging from buildings to trees, rocky outcrops etc...  I currently have some Assyrian levy troops and a large unit of Spartans on the painting table. Once these are painted I will call this project done for now but have plenty left to paint and my Macedonians to start later in the year. 

I enjoyed reading all about the Romans during January. My reading matter for this coming month of February is all Greek and Persian War themed as I hope to create a scenario based on Platea. This game, (when we are allowed to play) will use 'To the Strongest' rules and the two sides will be created from at least Stig's, Pete's, John's figures and of course my own collections so should be quite a spectacle. Herodotus will be a key read on Platea as he lists many of the troops that thought there. Both Opsrey's have good maps to help me create an accurate tabletop to play across. 

Whilst I have been enjoying how much painting I am getting done I decided to take a break and play a solo game of 'Fistful of Lead Reloaded'. This was my first try at this rule system and it proved quick, bloody and very easy to learn.

 I devised a simple scenario of a renegade Indian brave being hunted by the US cavalry led by Sgt. Ed Fuller. However, the heroic Indian warrior, Blue Horse was also leading his braves in an attempt to rescue their fellow warrior. 

Fistful of Lead (FFOL) is a quick playing, card driven rules system. I have invested in the specially printed and themed pack of cards and it proved well worth it as they really add to the feel of the game. Many of the cards have special rules that can be used if you activate one of your figures with one of those 'special' cards. 

Despite Sgt Fuller getting a kill with his very first shot, the cards were kinder to the Indians over the course of the game.  The Indians not only rescued their fellow warrior but managed to kill all the cavalry for a loss of just two of their own warriors. 

Overall great fun and a super set of rules which are ideally suited for fast fun club action and mini campaigns. When we can get back to gaming Chris and I will be using these rules for all sorts of times/era's. 

2021 New Year Wargames aims and aspirations.

 I have always been guilty of flitting about between projects so I intend to try and actually finish a few more things this year. I recently got my 28mm Wars of the Roses Lancastrian force up to the basic 100 points you need for a game. With plenty of units left to paint I am now taking a break from that project for a while to paint a few more bases of figures for my 15mm ancients. Only a week in to the New Year and I have finished a base of 12 Museum Miniatures 'Z' range hoplites and a base of 8 Hobby Products Greek Peltasts. The Museum Miniature figures are computer designed, look lovely on the computer drawing but in actual metal the detail is so finely etched it proves quite a challenge to paint. The finished figures do look lovely though. The peltasts, now available from Fighting 15's are very old 1980's figures, true 15mm in scale, fantastic to paint but sadly only come in a single pose. 

Here are the hoplites with their rear base in support (painted sometime last year). 

Hobby Products Peltasts spread across the base at differing angles to make the most of the mono pose figures. 

To help organise my painting aims I made a list which is quite long and a little daunting but I really hope to make a big dent in my lead/plastic mountain this year.

PROJECT	AIM FOR 2021
28MM Wars of the Roses Never Mind the Billhooks, TTS, Hail Caesar and Impetus	Retinue bowmen for Trollope, Somerset Retinue (both bill and bow) and command stand. Men at Arms both mounted and on foot. 1x artillery Build at least one more house/more scenery.
15mm Ancients Impetus, TTS, Sword and Spear	1x Mercenary Hoplites, 2x Spartan Hoplites, 1x Peltasts, 1x Thracian Hoplites. 2x Sparabara, 1x Scythed Chariot, 2x Assyrian levy Add more buildings.
28mm Fantasy Oathmark, FFoL, Dragon Rampant	4x goblin wolf riders, 10x dwarf Heavy Infantry, 10x dwarf Spearmen, start on the elves? Paint small groups of fantasy for skirmish. Make/paint more buildings/scenery.
10mm Romans and Britons Impetus, TTS, Sword and Spear	1x veteran legion, 1x auxiliary Infantry, 1x auxiliary cavalry 2x warband
15mm WW2 Normandy Rapid Fire, Battlegroup, Iron Cross	Paint more British infantry and vehicles. Add more scenery
28mm Western Fistful of Lead, Rules with no Name	Add more buildings/scenery
28mm Arthurian and Dark Ages TTS, Impetus, Fantastic Battles, Lion Rampant, Saga and Hail Caesar.	At least 2 bases of Saxon warband, 2 bases of Pictish warband, Pictish cavalry plus various command stands. Norman Spearmen, more Anglo-Danes and Vikings.
10mm Fantasy Fantastic Battles, War of the Ring	2x companies of High Elf Cavalry and 2x High Elf spearmen. Need to buy and paint more Barbarian Fanatics and Bison Riders.
28mm Sci-Fi FFoL	Human and Alien troops and scenery to suit.
15mm Crusades Soldiers of God, Lion Rampant	Crusader spearmen and knights, lots of Saracens. Make/paint more scenery/buildings.
15mm Biblical Impetus, TTS, Sword and Spear and Hail Caesar	15mm Hittites purchased and ready to paint (a project for later in the year)
*

* the empty box is for the inevitable new period/distraction!

So a wide selection of stuff to do with not much to buy but an awful lot to paint. No room for or mention of projects such as my 28mm Gauls, 28mm Peninsular Napoleonics, 28mm Western Desert; I am only human! However, being a complete butterfly new purchases will no doubt be made and new periods and projects started.

Another 'resolution' for the New Year is to read more of my large collection of history books, especially as I now have them all out on bookshelves in the new house. I have started with 'The Complete Roman Army' by Adrian Goldsworthy, a book I have had for some time but have ever only really dipped into for a bit of gaming research in the past. Reading is going slowly as I am making 'useful notes' as I go. I aim to read at least one book a month. Of course, current covid restrictions and lockdown should give me plenty of time to actually read.  

So 20x 15mm figures painted and no new figures purchased, a slightly smaller lead/plastic mountain already!

Finally a 'shout out' for 'Warbases', a wonderful and customer friendly wargames company. Most of my armies are based on their mdf bases. Last night on their facebook page they very kindly offered to send a free pack of their mdf bases to anyone who was a little fed up with covid, lockdown etc... (and who is isn't). This is a truly wonderful gesture from Warbases but also ensures that many more of my figures will be based on their products. If you need any bases, buildings etc... please support Warbases.