More Normans

I completed 6 more Norman infantry today. I had a request for a pic of my entire army so far. Here it is:

The vast bulk of the figures are Foundry with a smattering of Crusader and some Old Glory crossbowmen. Here is what the groups of figures are in WAB Shieldwall terms (left to right, rear to front):

Serjeants (w/crossbows)
Serjeants (w/crossbows)
Coloni (archers)
Coloni (slingers)
Pueri (Lt. cavalry)
Liberi (Lt. infantry)
assorted Characters
Mounted Milites (Hvy. cavalry)
Dismounted Milites (Hvy. infantry)

The picture isn't very good and I've come to the realization that a) I need a better camera or b) I suck at taking pictures or c) both. So I think I'm going to invest in a new camera as they're reasonably cheap.

Last night I also got in a game of Stone Age Settlers


and a few games of Carcassonne.

I have the next game in my WAB campaign with Dave on Tuesday. If we get done early, we'll play a game of Basic Impetus and give my Macedonians are run through. Next up on my painting table is my first Full Thrust fleet.

Macedonians completed!

Finally completed my Alexander Macedonians for Basic Impetus. Here they are:

I originally had 4 minis to each skirmish base. Unfortunately I was being an idiot. The figures came in packs of 9, ergo I could make 3 base of 3. So I decided to put 4 per base, which was dumb. So I changed the skirmish bases around a bit so they have 3 to a base. Once I get working on my Successor armies I build the rest.

I also stopped in at Mission Games today and picked up a copy of the new deluxe edition of Twilight Struggle from GMT games.

The board is very nice. I'm really looking forward to playing this game.

Next up, I'll be switching to paint up some starships for my homebrew Full Thrust universe. The first fleet I'll be doing is the US Stellar Navy. The ships are from Ground Zero Games Mega Fleet Deal - New Style Federal Stats Europa. As with most things GZG, the ships are stunning. Hopefully I can do them justice.

A Wee Bit of Board Gaming

Went over to a friends place last night and played a game of Power Grid

and a couple games of Carcassonne (both published by Rio Grande Games).

Power Grid was alright but Carcassonne has turned out to be a really fun and easy game to play. The base game is pretty cheap which is nice in a board game. I purchased Carcassonne Big Box 2 at a Boxing Day sale which is was double-plus good. Besides the basic game it contains Inns & Cathedrals, Traders & Builders, Princess & Dragon, Abbey & Mayor, River 2, Count, King and Cult.

Basic Impetus Macedonians

I finished my unit of Thessalian medium cavalry and my remaining unit of Phalangites tonight. Here is the army so far.

The bases aren't done yet, I'll do them all at once when I'm finished the remaining pieces. The 2 bases of Phalangites, the Hypaspists and the soon to be started Companion cavalry are all Foundry. Everything else including the General pieces are A&A. I can't say I really like the A&A cavalry, they're clearly not as good as the Foundry stuff. And the Foundry pikes rock. Oh, and they're stupidly sharp as my hand has found out multiple times. The bases of pike are lethal if thrown.

Now up on my table is the Companion heavy cavalry, mounted and foot general pieces and a group of 6 more Norman infantry. Hopefully I can get the Normans done in time for my next campaign game with Dave on February 2nd. With a little luck I could be having some Scottish beef for dinner!

Introduction

So this is my blog. I hummed and hawed whether to actually do this and as you can see, I obviously chose to do it. I intend for this blog to cover all my gaming related activities and maybe the other odd thing or two. Like some of the guys at the local club (http://www.edmontonwargamegroup.com) I'm going to keep track of the miniatures that I paint throughout 2010. As I tend to be a rather slow painter, I have the hope that this blog will provide an incentive for me to pick up the pace. The number of minis I have painted right here at the start of this blog include minis that I started in December '09 but finished in January '10 (cheating maybe, but it's my blog, so ha!)

I'll start out with a brief rundown of my wargaming experience. I first started way back in the mid-late 80's playing Battletech, then followed by Rogue Trader. From there I migrated to Warhammer (much to the chagrin of my wallet). I've since put away my Warhammer stuff as I'm pretty much done with GW due to their asinine pricing policies, ridiculous army creep and the craptastic way they've treated the Specialist Games (the 'better games') and their fans. Other wargames I've played or play include Star Fleet Battles, Babylon 5 Wars, Warhammer Ancient Battles and Basic Impetus. I also enjoy playing a wide variety of board games including Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, Puerto Rico, Ticket to Ride and my favourite: Commands & Colors Ancients.

So to start off here is a group of 7 Norman miniatures that I finshed yesterday. All 7 are Foundry minis.


As the bulk of my Norman army is done, I'm planning on painting the remaining miniatures a half dozen at a time while I'm working on my other projects.

Presently I am painting 1 base of Phalangites (FP) and 1 base of Thessalians (CM) for my Alexander Macedonian army for Basic Impetus. After that all I have left is the Companion Cavalry (CP) and a couple General pieces. I'd really like this to become the core of a couple Successor armies or maybe a Pyrrhos army as I'd really like to get my hands on some of the gorgeous elephants from Aventine Miniatures.