Once more I'm rather excited and very pleased to be included in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. Last year I went all out to paint as many figures for as many points as I could manage, and hit the rather unexpected total of 6000 points. This year, Challenge X, I'm not aiming for anything like that. I'm hoping for a bit more quality, more or less ignoring the "quantity", though I'm still aiming for 2000 points, which is not inconsiderable, being equivalent to 400 28mm figures in three months.
My "quality" aim has three parts to it. Firstly, I want to paint some pieces which I feel are particularly interesting or attractive, such as command bases and maybe a few vignettes. Secondly, I want to paint pieces which are "missing" from some armies - I can't really call this "completing" an army, as no army is every complete, but the aim is to work on armies which are almost there, aiming to get them to feel as if they're whole. Thirdly, I want to add pieces which work as enhancements to particular projects. These are not necessarily figures, but additional features such as terrain pieces and buildings. But they might also be vehicles or perhaps even components such as standards or equipment.
I want to take this line because I too often focus on getting unit after unit done, and neglecting the details which can transform an army, or a game, from serviceable to spectacular.
To motivate me, I'm hoping to work on as many different projects as I can. I'm such an attention-squirrel, I need to be able to switch around as often as possible. However, I've four major focii - the Punic Wars, Napoleon in Egypt, Italian Wars and Black Seas.
I began the first this time last year, partly as I'd not had an Ancients project for some while, partly because I liked the variety in the Carthaginian army, partly because it seemed like a project that could be worked on with relatively low cost and partly because, well, elephants. It also opens up other arenas, such as Ancient Britons based around the Gauls, or wars against Iberians, Numidians and Greeks.
The second has been bumbling along for some while, motivated mainly by the wonderful Perry figures and, again, the range of exotic uniforms, on both sides. Napoleon's invasion of Egypt has some interesting dimensions, and it's also easy to extrapolate it into an Imagi-nations idea.
Alongside it I've built an Ottoman army, too, which I'll also be using as an opponent for my Venetian army which is the core of my Renaissance project, which also has Swiss and Landsknecht components, as you'd expect. I'm trying to be flexible with these developments so that, for example, I've the possibility of using some of these figures for Wars of the Roses or the Burgundian Wars. Probably this won't lead to big armies in any of these theatres, and some fuzziness about the appropriateness of some units, but I like to have as many options as possible.
However, the really big project is Black Seas. This is a very special project for me, as I had a fair bit of involvement in getting the rulebook together - though virtually no involvement in the design of the rules themselves (I made a few suggestions along the way). As they've now been voted the Best New Rules by Wargames Illustrated readers, I feel that some small part of that success is down to me, as much of the structure, language, style and content of the rulebook was down to me. The rules themselves are entirely Gabrio's, built on some of the Cruel Seas concepts, and excellent rules they are which I love playing. But much of the way it works as a "technical document" is down to me.
So I'm enjoying this project in several different ways - the game itself is fabulous, a brilliant balance between gaming fun and "realism". Then there's Warlord's models themselves: the plastic are superb, and the resin hulls pretty convincing, too, though some elements are a bit questionable. My developing fleets look really cool. And finally there's that niche of personal pleasure in knowing that I've had a hand in such a successful system.
My main plan is to fight the Battle of the Nile (linked to the Napoleon in Egypt project), but I'm trying to build enough ships of appropriate kinds to fight in several other theatres, too - the US Lakes, the Barbary Coast, the East and West Indies. A rich, exciting and rewarding game. So lots of painting for the Challenge.
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