Thanks and thoughts. Now with more guns.

Hi,

I finished the first couple of bases of guns a ways back, in time for last Wednesday's game.  I figured it was time to post them up.

Artillery units in Maurice are single base, and there are no rules for limbers.  Instead, after guns have fired, they are marked with smoke.  "Smoked" guns can't be moved, but the smoke marker can be removed by activating to march.  With the scale we're using, my plan is to mount each gun on a 30mm x 30mm base, and then combine two such bases with a 60x30 limber base for Might and Reason.



The pictures seem a little dark.  I'll try to get some better ones later, under better lighting conditions.

On another note, I was puttering around with Blogger the other day, and discovered a) the stats option, and b) the fact that this blog has exceed 30 000 pageviews.  Yowzah.  While I do make some effort to publicize the blog, that's a bigger total audience than I had realized.  So, to those out there who read this, or have taken time out of their day to share my enthusiasm for this hobby, thanks for listening.

Disclaimer:  Not actually what I look like.

It seems an appropriate time to look back a little, and take stock of what's happened since I started this thing.  My first post was in March of '09.  At the time, I was separated, getting divorced, dealing with a running custody battle for my son, and basically picking up the pieces of my life.  The one highlight was I'd recently met a woman who seemed to be slowly restoring my faith in humanity.  At the time, I was playing around with the idea of getting back into warmachine and or 40k, but had few resources or time to devote to the hobby.  A little over three years later, I'm remarried (to the woman in question), have joint custody of my son (who spends a generous amount of time living with us), have a beautiful new daughter, have a good job in a great city, and am more or less spoiled for choice in my hobby.  Life is weird, and can be crazy, but looking back at how things have changed, I can't help but feel blessed.

Blessed.  Me, and Clovis.

In terms of the hobby, I've discovered two new games I absolutely love, Impetus and Maurice, and have playable, or almost playable forces for both, along with plans to add to those armies and even build some additional ones (I'm talking about you, Spartans).  In addition, I've picked up a few side projects along the way, for when I need some variety, including a "my favorite Khador" list, some LotR Rohan, and a few choice others (I will paint my Dystopian Wars one of these days).

Of late, however, I've been giving  some serious thought to the yawning abyss that is napoleonics.  While I've bought a few boxes, and put together a few bases of 1/72 French, I find myself having trouble committing to the scale (this despite just picking up 100 or so HaT French on an Ebay deal). There are reasons I first went with 1/72.  There are some nice figures in this scale, they are relatively inexpensive, and there's a real nostalgia factor (my first minis were Airfix napoleonics, part of a gradiose, but never realized, Waterloo diorama my dad and I had planned).  On the other hand, quality is uneven, there are even nicer figures available in 28mm and 15mm, and nostalgia will only carry me so far.

The problem is, I can't make up my mind.  28mm has the same advantages and drawbacks it always has; there are some mind-blowingly good figures (and with the advent of the Perry and Victrix plastics, many of them are not too expensive).  They reward attention to detail, and are a labour of love to paint, The downside is, "labour of love" translates to "painting them well enough that I'll love the result is a ton of work". From what I can gather, 28mm Napoleonics seems as much a way of life as a hobby.

15mm seems like less of a commitment, and depending on the manufacturer, offers much the same list of positives.  While there are an enormous range of 15mm Napoleonics out there, if I go 15mm, it'll be with AB.  The figures, while costly, are just too damn pretty to pass up.  The only downside with them I see is that every time I think of how nicely I could paint them, it occurs to me I could make 28mm look even better . . . .

I realize this is something of a tempest in a teapot, but is says something (at least to me) about the state of both my own life and that of the hobby.  I'm at a point where painting time, while available, is nowhere near as abundant as it used to be.  Among other things, that means I want to enjoy painting as much as possible.  I'm no longer willing to paint stuff just to get it on the table, or because its the cheaper option.  In fact, I'm less and less willing to paint anything I don't really enjoy painting - my painting time is too precious to let it become a chore, or to paint mediocre figures for the sake of getting them done.

At the same time, there are a lot of really good figures out there, and a lot of good games.  What Perry and Victrix are doing with plastic is amazing.  Xyston and AB set the standard for 15mm.  In fantasy and sci-fi, Spartan games and Privateer press are putting out some killer stuff, and even the evil empire, for all their faults, has been stretching the limits of what can be produced.  The problem isn't that there's nothing out there to paint or play, but rather, there's more out there than I can ever hope to finish.

I've also been lucky in finding the THMG. This is the second time I've fallen in with a solid gaming group (the first time being my stint in Newfoundland). Club members are active, friendly, have diverse interests, and go out of their way to welcome people new to the hobby, area, and club.  While I'm throwing out thank-yous, some definitely need to go their way.  Without this group of people to play with, I would be having nearly as much fun.

I should get a game in this Wednesday, though at this point I'm not sure of what.  Some of teh guys are bringing in samples of 15 and 28mm napoleonics, so maybe the touch-test will help decide me.  In the meantime, thanks for reading, and I hope you agree with me, this is a great time for the game of toy soldiers ;)

FMB