Collecting to an Order of Battle

When I am thinking about collecting historical miniatures I like to pick a battle, research the order of battle present, then collect towards that.  It gives me structure and form.  Of course I'm willing to deviate from that when a unit is just too cool to leave out.

Monthly Retrospective 3

Month four of 2012 is over.  This year is going blindingly fast, to me at least.  This was a productive month in some respects and not so much in others.

I started 15mm for Sci/Fi this month.  That's a big step.  I prefer 28mm models, and I'll still game in that scale.  The reasons I finally succumbed to the dark side of gaming are probably pretty familiar to all those that have already made the leap.  There is a huge, and ever expanding range of models.  They are dirt cheap.  They paint up quickly.  The terrain is much cheaper than 28mm.  There is freedom to build whatever force you want. (Technically this exists with 40k as well, but GW would have you believe that is not the case).  There are a ton of different rule sets out there.  I bought some test models, ARC fleet from CMG.  I liked them, even the infantry.  So I ordered a bunch of Sahadeen and two Vipers from Rebel Minis.  Those arrived yesterday and look very nice as well.  I'll be doing a review on them as I assemble them.  I'll need to put in another order to CMG to flesh out the first order, but that will give me two armies to game with.

Painted CMG ARC Fleet

Painted Romans

I have painted my first box of Romans.  I still need to put the decals on the shields and attach them, but I'm counting these as painted for April.

Command

Completed 15mm Sci/Fi

I have completed my first batch of 15mm figures.  These were a nice change of pace from 28mm.  Much faster to get done but still with nice detail.

Bike, Grav Scout and two of the infantry.

I have, deliberately, gone with a darker color scheme on these models.  We'll see how it looks on the table, but most of my armies are pretty light.  This is a departure for me.

15mm Terrain

Hobby Lobby carries a line of scenic pieces for kid's school projects.  They are small kits to dress up a diorama.  I was in picking up some Liquitex, for 15mm basing, and saw a set on clearance for $3.00.

The first 15mm terrain, with CMG Recon Trooper for scale.

The set came with two wind turbines and two solar panels.  The stands for the solar panels were broken, which is probably why it was on clearance.  That's ok because I don't plan on having them as stand alone pieces anyway.  The two wind turbines will go on some big round bases.  The two solar panels will go on the roofs of two different foam core buildings, to "sci/fi" them up.  The rear panels for the solar panels will go on the walls to the same effect.

Romans!

I have assembled the first box of Warlord Romans.  I have two of the boxes of twenty Legionaries with a scorpion.  This is one, out of the way.

Box art from Warlord Games.

15mm Sci/Fi III

I was so taken with the CMG models that I just had to get some paint on them and see how they looked.  I am going to be basing the infantry on washers.  That will allow me to transport them with magnets.  I don't have any washers of the appropriate size so I was not able to get them based and, therefore, basecoated.  The grav scout and the bike, on the other hand, were ready to go.

The CMG Grav Scout.

I'm very pleased with how this came out.

Celts!

As you may remember, fascinated as you all are by all of my doings, I bought a box of Warlord Celts in February.  Rather, SWMBO bought them for me as a Valentine's day present.  They arrived in March and sat for a couple of weeks.  I have finally gotten them assembled. 

A Celtic Warband, marauding across my desk.

15mm Sci/Fi II

My order from Critical Mass Games arrived yesterday.  Only ten days from shipping in the UK to arriving here.  Not bad.  This was a trial balloon to see how I feel about 15mm.  I've been staring at my FoW US Army models and trying to project from there, but I wanted to see these in the flesh.

So... how do I feel about them?  I'm happy.  There's good detail on these.  The vehicles are very nice.  The troops are small but look great.  The price is definitely a sweet spot, and it makes SWMBO happy.

 A little blurry but it does the job.  This is the first order I placed.

Harad Army - Completed

Here are the shots of my completed Harad army for Lord of the Rings.  I actually took these three weeks ago and just found them on my camera.  I'm very pleased with how this army came out.  There is, certainly, room for improvement and I could tweak quite a few details, but all in all I'm very happy.

The entire army, with some extra models to give me choices.

15mm Sci/Fi

I finally took the plunge, sort of, in a "one toe in the water" sort of way.  I placed an order with Critical Mass Games for some of their ARC Fleet models.  This is strictly a trial balloon, so it's a small order.  I am awaiting receipt of one pack of eight ARC Fleet Recon Troopers, one Recon Grav Bike and one Grav Scout.  The total, with shipping to the US, was about $23 dollars.  I've spent more on a few beers at the local pub, so if I hate them then I'm not out too much.

Picture from Critical Mass Games.

Picture from Critical Mass Games.

Picture from Critical Mass Games.

Battle Report - High Elves vs Isengard and Galadrim

The Thursday night league has closed but that is still Lord of the Rings night down at Collectormania.  We have not had any games in a couple of weeks and Jonathan and I were both Jonesing.  In addition, Huntsman is back in the rotation, so there are three of us who plan on being there every week.

Last Thursday was the last night back and with three of us we had to get creative.  We decided to play a three player game, (all right, so not really that creative when you have three players).  There was an objective in the center of the table, victory points for each model within six inches when the game ended.  There is random deployment with a die roll determining where each warband comes in.  A 1 means, not this turn, 2 your opponent chooses a North/South edge, 3 your opponent chooses an East/West board edge, 4 you choose N/S, 5 you choose E/W and 6 you choose any board edge.  There are also points for wounding and killing the enemy general.  For players of LotR this is the Hold Ground scenario.  The effect of this deployment, with just two players, is chaos as warbands come in all over the table and head for the center to mix it up, often fighting as they go.  With three players there was even more confusion. 

Initial deployment.  Arwen will come in behind the ruins top center.  Galadhrim top left and bottom left with Rumil's band bottom center.

Prize Giveaway...

No, not mine.  I'm pointing you all in the direction of a prize giveaway on another blog.  This is a cool one for two reasons.  First is the interview with Rob Lane, of Bane Legions.  If you haven't seen these minis, holy cow, go take a look.  They are producing some awesome stuff, and I mean that in the literal sense of the word, it is inspires Awe.  It's also interesting to get a view into the inner workings of a small mini company.  It's cool, for me at least, to see how these small companies get started and do their work.  So read the interview if you are at all interested in how your minis get made.

Picture from BaneLegions

The second reason to head on over is the prize that is being given away.  Krull.  This is what a Balrog should look like.  This makes a Blood Thirster look meek.  This thing is huge and ugly and down right beautiful.  Getting entered in the draw is easy, so go for it, you have nothing to lose.  To give you an idea of the size of this thing, a 28mm mini, standing on Krull's base will come about to his knee.  Go here to see the size comparison.

I have been remiss...

I usually acknowledge the new joins to my blog.  By usually I mean, of course, the one other month that I've done it.  I forgot the other day, when I was doing my monthly retrospective but now that I've remembered I want to give appropriate props.

Seven new people joined my followers this month.  This probably seems quite trivial to most readers but here's the thing; these are the first followers I have that I don't actually know in person.  I started the blog for my own edification.  It helps me stay focused and motivated and to track my changing interests.  It keeps all of my hobby stuff in one place.  I can look at my painting over time, I can see how my interests change.  All of the blogs I like to follow are in one place, allowing me to quickly see what has been updated.  The blog served a bonus purpose of giving me somewhere to put battle reports from our local club.  Prior to this month all of my followers were people I actually game with.  The fact that others have shown interest is flattering but it also increases the pressure I put on myself to actually try to put up quality content.  This is a good thing, of course.

The first person to join (actually the last day of February, but I'm running the show here and can do what I want) is Lee Hadley of Big Lee's Miniature Adventures.  I've really enjoyed Lee's blog.  He has a wry sense of humor, a variety of interests and, awesomely, lives close enough to the Bovington Tank Museum to visit it. Go visit his blog and watch the video of the Tiger tank driving around; it's pure gold.

Monthly Retrospective 2

Another month down and not as much to show for it as I would have liked.  Still, I like to take a look back to catalog the progress; it helps me to keep motivated.

I only got twelve models painted.  That's way below my, frankly tiny, goal of twenty.  Even if I add in the models from last month it doesn't average out to 40 in two months.  So, a bit of a failure there and it makes me somewhat sad.  On the other hand, I finished my Haradrim army for Lord of the Rings, so that is something to celebrate.  I'll hit them with some matte varnish this afternoon and be done with it.  This actually slowed me down because I didn't have another project queued up to work on.  I'm still doing conversion work on my Elves and I'm still assembling the Celts.  So, lesson learned.  Have projects ready to go on the paint table.  Second lesson:  paint consistently during the month.  Not exactly ground breaking, I know, but there you have it.

Product Review - Kobblestone Miniatures

This is a quick product review on some Kobblestone Miniatures castings which I just ordered.  I've been working on terrain for a table to go with my Haradrim army.  The two hills, covered here, are part of this.  There will be a small village in the center of the table, with walls, houses and a market.  The village will need, of course, a water source, hence a well.  I have seen many, many traditional European/North American wells but nothing that really fit what I was looking for with this table.  Until, that is, I found this.

Picture from Kobblestone Miniatures.

I went online to place the order.  I was torn between the Spanish type well.  SWMBO suggested, rather unreasonably I thought, that I just buy both.  Why didn't I think of that?  As I was scrolling through the page she said, "What's that?  You have to buy that too".  "That" is their market set, which is totally awesome as will be shown below.

The next Project II

This one is a little bit embarrassing, since the pictures are poor.  My photo foo is low today, obviously.  I have some ideas on what is causing me problems so hopefully I can improve on that.

Here's my new list:

Warband 1
Arwen - 60 pts
High Elf warrior with Banner and spear - 35 pts
6 x High Elf Warrior with shield - 60 pts
4 x High Elf Warrior with Elf Bow and spear - 48 pts
1 x High Elf Warrior with Elf Blade - 10 pts

Warband 2
Erestor - 80 pts
6 x High Elf Warriors with shield - 60 pts
4 x High Elf Warrior with Elf Bow and spear - 48 pts
2 x High Elf Warrior with Elf Blade - 20 pts

Warband 3
Galadhrim Storm Caller - 60 pts
6 x Galadhrim Warriors with shield - 54 pts
4 x Galadhrim Warriors with Elf Bow and spear - 44 pts
2 x Galadhrim Warriors with spear and shield - 20 pts

39 Models
599 points
3 Might
7 Will

The force is short on might but with two Nature's Wrath and Erestor's special rules I think it will balance out.  Now for painting and play testing.  I had to convert all of the sword and shield elves.  I've been working on that for the last two weeks and finished yesterday.  I still have to make the spears for the High Elf archers.  I'm, quite frankly, procrastinating on that since I don't want to do it.

Pictures below, I've included one of the Galadhrim, just for the sake of completeness.

Erestor, banner and Arwen.  Archers in the rear.

Painting Status III

I've been wrapping up my Haradrim army this month.  I don't think I'm going to make my goal of twenty painted models for March, but I'm really quite pleased with how these came out.  It's another twelve models.  Six Warriors with spears and then all of the heroes and specials.  I'll get my Betrayer painted up, to use instead of the generic Nazgul model I have been using, but that should be it on this army.  It's going to be used by the Traveller, while he decides if he is going to invest in the game or not.  I lent him the Fallen Realms army book so he can start making his own lists, instead of using mine.  If he chooses models that I don't have painted then I'll be re-visiting this army.  I suspect that Suladan may get painted in the next couple of weeks, for example.

Without further ado, here's the new additions.

All twelve models.  There is a ton of light on these guys, I don't know why they come out so dark.

Nuradan - front...

and rear.

Aladhi - front...

and rear.

Banner bearer front.  He is not part of the current list, but such a beautiful model...

From the rear.

The Master - front...

and back.  Every time I look at these pictures I find something I missed.

Hornblower - front...

and back.

Mumak Chieftan - front...

and back.

Six spearmen.

I'll do an army shot later today with all of the lads in one place.  It's in the seventies today so, as long as the wind doesn't kick up, I'll be varnishing this army later in the afternoon.  I had hoped to get it done by the first part of March.  That didn't work out but I'm still pleased with my progress.  Now I just need to step up the pace so I can get these 39 Elves and 104 Romans and 43 Celts done in a timely manner. 

The next project

One warband for my new army.

Here's the first warband for my new army.  Twelve Galadrim warriors, four with bow and spear, two with spear and shield and six with sword and shield.  The warband is led by a storm caller, which brings us to an interesting story.

Games Workshop makes a Stormcaller model.  It used to be available as a single metal model in a blister.  With the new format they repackaged it into a box of Galadrim command and made it in resin instead.  This is totally awesome because it means not only is the individual model I want more expensive but I have to buy three other models, that I have no use for, in order to get it.  Of course by totally awesome I mean it sucks ass.

At this point the only models I'm buying from that company are one offs that I need to finish an existing army.  I have to add a few heroes due to the new warband creation rules.  I'm not going to rant here, I'm really not, but what the hell GW?

The Storm Caller is the chappy front and center.

I'm making a conversion to get my storm caller.  Everything you see here is straight out of the box.  The staff is a spear, with some work done on the hand to make it fit.  I'll dig through the bitz box to see if I have something appropriate for the end of the staff.  Worst case I'll make something, badly, out of green stuff.

The archers have had spears added to them.  The two spears, and all but one of the sword and shield elves, are straight out of the box.  The last sword and shield dude has been re-cut to make his two handed stance into a single hand stance.  It's a little awkward now but should look fine once he has the shield attached.

The other two warbands of this army are High Elves and are requiring a huge amount of converting to get right.  I've had to make shields for the sword and shield elves.  I am also having to scratch build spears for the archers, as the only way to get High Elf shields and spears is by buying the three model metal blisters of spear elves.  I'm not going to be doing that, thank you very much.

More to follow on the Storm Caller and the other two warbands.

A question of Scale

I'm considering issues of scale.  My favorite scale is 28mm.  I love the balance between detail and size.  There are a lot of manufacturers out there for all periods/genres.  The only real drawback, from my standpoint, is cost.  Other than that, this is the sweet spot for me.

The two other scales I'm willing to consider are 20mm and 15mm.  There are a ton of minis for all historical periods as well as fantasy and sci/fi, available in both.  Honestly, I'm not even looking for fantasy in anything but 28mm.  It's when looking at historicals and sci/fi that I have to give this some thought.

The largest WWII mini game is played in 15mm.  I think, for my purposes, WWII will be 15mm and 28mm.  I'll have to decide if I'm actually going to play Flames of War before I buy any more 15mm stuff.  There are several promising sets of rules for platoon or lower combat that would be great with 28mm.

Looking at other historical periods, ancients, medieval, Napoleonic, ACW, I can see the attraction of giant armies in those periods, I'm just left cold by the models.  I have several blogs in my blog roll from players who game in those systems.  I'm trying to find the attraction for them but I just am not seeing it yet.

So, where does 20mm come in?  Modern and Sci/fi.  There a ton of nice model makers out there working in 20mm.  Nice vehicles, good infantry, nice terrain.

Here's the thing.  I don't really care about collecting different scales in and of itself.  That's not the issue.  I have every intention of collecting WWII in both 28mm and 15mm.  It's the terrain that causes me issues.  I love terrain and want my tables to look great.  That means a lot of stuff, because let's face it, people don't normally fight over empty ground.

If I buy the, really tempting, stuff in 20mm, then that is a whole different set of terrain I need to collect as well, and that is what makes me hesitate.  So, if anyone can tell me what they love about 15mm as well as reasons to take the plunge on 20mm, I'd appreciate hearing it.  I'm still early in my collecting so I have not committed myself to anything.