On line army builders

In my ongoing series on hobby resources this post will cover on-line army builders.  I'll start off by saying that I'm sure there's a bunch that I'm missing, so any and all comments to point me in the right direction would be much appreciated.

A Milestone

This month, for the first time ever, I've hit a milestone that I never thought I'd hit.  As of April I have painted more models than I have bought or assembled, for the year.

It says a lot about our hobby that some people will find this remarkable, because it took so long.  Others will find it remarkable because it actually happened.  The variety of personalities and priorities that fit within the "wargaming hobby" is one of the things that I love about it.

I like to game, first and foremost.  I'm a gamer.  All other things are secondary to that.  I also like to assemble models, minus the cleaning part.  I've assembled many armies for my friends over the years as well as the commission work I do for the local painting service from time to time.

The painting has always been my least favorite part.  I've thrown some paint at my Warhammer empire from time to time.  I have a few units painted.  I've got two painted armies for Lord of the Rings.  That's where I really started to paint.

Over the last couple of years I've come to appreciate my responsibility for the look of the game.  I've always liked painted models, but was ok with the game if they weren't.  Partly, this blog has changed my viewpoint.  When I post pictures of unpainted models I can see just how poorly they show.  It hurts my pride and makes me want to do better.

The same goes for terrain.  I have a lot of terrain, most of it unpainted.  It's another thing that has bothered me more the last year or two and that I'm working to change.

The point of all of this is that I'm not just thinking about changing my style, I'm actually doing it.  Gaming is still my priority but the painting is catching up.  I'm pretty happy about that.

Numidian Light Cavalry

Today I completed another unit for the Early Imperial Romans.  This is six Numidian light horse from Warlord Games.  Light cavalry has always been one of my favorite units.  The speed.  The hard hitting strikes on the flanks.  The fragility if you use them wrong.

All six of them.

Setting the Scene

Working through my blog roll tonight I found a treasure of a post by Sidney Roundwood.  I'm going to point you in his direction for two reasons.  Firstly, this post has some great ideas and even if you only use one or two, I think they'll improve your games.

Secondly, I want to be able to find it again, and now I have a permanent link.

With no further ado Being There, by Sidney Roundwood.

Gruntz Battle Report - Federation vs Caliphate

Sitrep:  Contact reported.  Infiltration Bn elements at location 49R27438574.  1st Plt, B Co, 2nd LAR with Mech attachements.  Movement to contact.  Destroy the enemy.  Hold the town.  The APC's will advance towards the last known location of the enemy.  Mechs are scouting ahead, will rendezvous at the objective.  No Air support available.  2nd and 3rd platoons at 60 minutes for relief.  Comms plan B7.

Light Armored Recon pushing the Infiltration Bn out of the village.

Hail Caesar Battle Report - Rome vs Carthage

Saturday was the monthly Hail Caesar game.  The local shop was running a tournament so I hosted Jonathan at my place.  Our armies have both grown to the size where we can get some interesting tactical situations going.  It was both fun, and frustrating, and resulted in a staggering loss for Rome.

By the way, I recognize the anachronism of a Roman army with an emperor fighting against Carthage.  It is what it is, those are the armies we have.

Lots of maneuver, not many Romans left.

I didn't go to Salute (or Adepticon, or Reaper Con)

Anne, of Anne's Attic has started a new meme, or at least she's started one if it takes off.  She did not get to go to Salute, or any of the other big shows going on right now.  Her suggestion is that all of us in that situation tell everyone what we did do.

I've taken the liberty to expand it from just Salute to also cover Adepticon and Reaper Con, since they are both going on this weekend as well.

Roman army - Group shot

Jonathan and I played another game of Hail Caesar yesterday, though that's a story for another day.  Knowing that the game was coming up, I've been trying, frantically, to get everything painted.  Jonathan has done a much better job than me of only bringing painted units to the table.  March's cock up put me behind but I came very close.  Both of our armies are coming along nicely, though HC will play better with a lot more models than we have.  Still, here's an army shot, showing everything that is done so far.

All that are painted.

In Her Majesty's Name II

Yesterday I posted on In Her Majesty's Name.  I was lamenting the fact that the US Marine adventuring company appeared to have been removed.  My plan was to source minis on my own and use the build your own rules to build the company I wanted.  Happily, one of the authors commented and, very gently, let me know that I was wrong in my assumptions and that the Marines are still in.

Naturally this made me even more excited for the release.

Society of Thule from North Star Military Figures.

In Her Majesty's Name

This is yet another set of skirmish rules, though these are Victorian Science Fiction.  There is a fair amount of buzz about this set.  Jonathan, of The Inevitable Spark, has been, oh so gently, pushing this game.  From what I've seen I'm interested and it's a low bar to entry.

The cover looks awesome.  Steam, zombies and carnage.

Eastern Auxiliary Archers

Today I completed another unit for the Romans.  We had a snow storm roll in and everything was shut down, so I had most of the day to paint.  This is a unit of eight archers for my Roman army.  They did strong work in their last fight, which was their first outing, so I have high hopes for them now that they are painted.

Auxiliary archers.  

Praetorians!

Making up for March's failure, I finished this regiment of 21 Praetorians in the last week.  One will go on the base with the Emperor.  Sixteen will be in the Cohort and four are extra.  I'm really pleased with how this unit came out.  They are my favorite so far in this army.

He's so bad ass he can't even be bothered to draw his sword.

Terrain in the Grand Manner

To me, terrain is one of the most critical aspects of a table top game.  Good rules, beautifully painted minis, they all fall flat if the table doesn't look good.  Here's a couple of examples of what I'm talking about.  This gentleman does it right, in my book.  This is his Breed's Hill set up.  There's not too much on the table, but this does not look like a table.  It looks like a battlefield.  Even better is this War of the Roses table.  It may be the best looking battlefield I've ever seen.  

Image from Grand Manner Web Site

March and April

March was a complete failure for my hobby.  I didn't play a game.  I didn't pick up a brush.  I didn't assemble so much as a single 15mm figure.  Nothing.  While I have valid reasons (vacation, new job) I am still feeling down about it.

My plan for April is ambitious, probably too much so, but I have to pump it up to get my mojo back.

March.  This says it all.