Experimentation, Calculation, and some French

 Hi all,

Bit of a mixed bag today.  Some pictures of the test figures I did for my Perry French (loosely based on the livery colours for Jean de Bethencourt, more on him in another post), along with some hobby rumblings about productivity, project planning, and realistic expectations.

First "test" minis for the 100YW French.  A man at arms, and some scruffy spearmen.

I've been caught in a bit of a loop lately, with the Magpie very much in the picture, thinking about possible projects.  In addition to the ones that are at least semi-active (currently 6mm Naps and 7YW, 28mm French HYW, Vikings, and Covenanters, 28mm Bolt Action, and at least 4 GW projects), I am pondering 28mm English HYW, Saxons, Successors, my much ignored Carthaginians, and god knows what else.

I quite like the Perry kits.  Tons of options, cross compatible, and with a little attention, capable of tremendous variety.

The reality is, of course, that I can't possibly do all the things.  I am probably trying to do too many things already, if I'm being honest.  Or at least, too many things at once ;)  So, I figured it might be worth thinking through what I could realistically accomplish over the next few years, and compare it to what I might want to do.

The figures are, in terms of proportion, quite "fine".  Slimmer and more human than the chunky, heroic style you often see.

Last year, I managed to paint something on the order of 200/50 foot/horse 28mm or equivalents.  That's pretty productive, at least for me, and represents a kind of "peak" opportunity.  Despite the various dislocations of Covid, working from home, the lack of a commute, etc., meant that I actually had more opportunity to paint than under "normal" conditions.  So, say around 200 figures as a reasonable, productive, but not overly ambitious production for the year.

Even compared to some older Perry sculpts (I was hoping, for eg., to mix in old Bretonnian models), they're not a good fit - at least side by side.

While I'm not temperamentally inclined to long-term planning. I can at least sort of imagine a state 5 years from now.  Given the estimate above, it's reasonable to think I could produce about a thousand figures in that period. Vikings and French HYW account for about 120 of that total (figuring a Lion Rampant force at about 60 figures per).  I probably have the same number of GW figs waiting for paint, across all those projects, or a bit more - say 150.  I'd like to bring my Royalist force up to the same size as the Covenanters, and grow both.  That's another couple hundred figures.  I'd like to finish off my 6mm Russians, match them with French, and add to my SYW.  Call that another hundred or so.

I've been experimenting with multi-figure basing on rounds.  A few people on the Lion Rampant FB group put me on to it, and I really like the effect.

So, just the projects that (at least right now) I'd be really interested in pursuing, total up to between 550 and 600 "figure equivalents", give or take.  Realistically, about three of my five years.  Just the Lion Rampant forces alone would take up a significant proportion of the next year, with any balance easily absorbed by Covenanters and GW.  Adding any additional project (like the successors army I keep thinking about) would thus either have to wait a couple years before I could reasonable expect to begin work on it, or would have the effect of stringing out existing projects over a longer time frame. 

The Spearboss.  I figure he's a little older, a little richer, and has had time to get some decent armor.

The latter, at first glance, seems like death to a project.  Pretty much every one I've ever abandoned has ended up in boxes or sold because I stretched it out over too long a period, and never got enough done to really game with them (something I'm concerned about with the Carthaginians).  However, as I look back, quite a lot of my "active" projects have stretched over multiple years, and have gone through fallow periods.

If nothing else, this will be a chance to work on my metallic techniques.  Aiming for some smoother finishes over time, I think,

If I started something new, say successors, it's probably realistic to say I might devote half of my remaining "5 year potential" to the project, maybe 200 figures (with the rest eaten up by expanding existing forces, new shiny things, etc.).  With smaller units to start - say 16 figures, that's about a dozen or so.  Which is actually not too bad.  Possible, anyways.

Assorted scruffy lads

The side my opponent will never see ;)

Overall, I think the lesson is a new, major project isn't realistic in the short term, at least without it displacing something I'm currently using, and want to accomplish.  But in the medium term, it's viable.  So maybe the goal is to stockpile resources towards that possibility, look for deals / sales, etc. and in the meantime, enjoy what I've got in front of me?  What kind of crazy advice is that? ;)