Back from my travels.

Well I'm back from my travels and the clue to where Ive been is in the image, and its not Hadrian's Wall. Im still jet lagged after a very long return journey from Shanghai via Bejing and Heathrow. But then the holiday was a full on cultural overload.
 I dont think Ill be eating noodles for a longtime and dont mention Pak Choi please. But it was a great experience and gave me some insight into the giant that is growing in the Far East.
 I must admit I have missed wargaming. As one gets older you finally have the time to appreciate what you have and wargaming is a big part of my life.
 I have started painting up my Republican Romans sculpted by Victrix. These are beautiful figures and very err Roman like. The Republican armies offer more choice than the later Imperial armies, well they do for me.
 I have also been constructing and painting an ECW wagon train for a large game I have coming up fairly soon.Peter Gilder and Hinchliffe produced some wonderful pieces. Hopefully I will do them justice.
 I also have a couple of SYW units on my desk ready for basing. I saw them on Hinds Figures site after a tip off from a wargaming friend [thanks Shaun] and 'had' to have them? They are painted in old school style but are top quality. I only wish I had purchased a few more but there you go.
 So hopefully I will get back in the painting groove once Ive conquered this damned jet lag. The only consolation is Ive been able to catch up on all the rugby I missed and also on the Great Train Challenge series two which has become a bit of a cult watch for me.
 The modelling skills have been very high this series and hopefully I can pick up a few ideas from the programme. Saying that the competitors struggle with what to me seems basic modelling skills, especially water effects. Still a good watch.

Brits completed and now onto some Romans.

 Well this weeks games were two scenarios using SPQR, one against the Romans and the second against a marauding band of Gauls. My Brits lost both, but were very tense affairs and very enjoyable. I used one of my chariots and a band of British light cavalry. Both proved very disappointing, my chariot being overwhelmed by Gallic warriors whilst my cavalry simply ran away.

 But then that's the way SPQR plays, make a tactical mistake and one cannot recover. My mistake against the Romans was my initial disposition which allowed John to pile into my confused slingers who didn't stand a chance against legionnaires. I then had to suffer consistent rounds of piliums as my war bands charged in. Being British my armour is poor and they tend to rely on their large shields which are temporally disabled by piliums.

 Anyway the battles give me an excuse to display the entire British command, although eagle eyed viewers will see I need to complete one chariot base. But my Brits are now complete, well apart from six light cavalry, but given their poor initiation I just might not bother with them.

 The Victrix chariot set contains a lot of extra figures, including three druids. The figure is so good I painted two up to lead my fanatics.

 You also get three Boadicea figures, so naturally I had to paint one up as a 'champion.'

 So my next little project is the Romans, using mainly Victrix figures. I like the Warlord version but think the Victrix transfers for the shields are much better. Anyway I managed to knock off a Warlord Roman commander to test the look I'm going for, and it isn't red I'm afraid.

 I 'found' some Black Hussar civilians that cried out to be painted. I want these for a few weeks time and very nice sculpts they are to.

 I will be quiet for a couple of weeks but hope to be back soon, hopefully full of thoughts and controversy.

 Talking of found figures, I was pottering around today and discovered a draw with four completed ECW artillery pieces in it.I had forgotten I had placed them there for safe keeping and simply left them unloved and abandoned. What I found worrying was I re ordered some extra guns and crew from Hinchliffe because I thought I needed more so I now have too many!

I really must get out more.

Since my last tirade Ive concentrated on more important issues ie wargaming and painting. I cannot think of a greater pleasure than sitting down listening to Spotify and daubing paint on figures. It is for me a therapy which I probably need.

Battles wise Im pleased to say Ive had a few. John and I staged two humdinger  SPQR battles which were tense but great fun. Sadly his Romans managed to desecrate the druids ring [painful that] but they did get their revenge in the second battle. I also fought a brilliant [game not me] battle against Paul Stevenson using his yet to be published ACW rules. For Paul, these rules and scenarios are developing into his retirement 'project.'

Paul has expended a lot of effort in the research of the American Civil War and it shows in the rules we were play testing. The scenario was a toughie for the Union ie me but produced a cracking battle that showed the brittle nature of the Union regiments when faced by the smaller but better motivated rebels. You guessed it, I lost.
 I really hope he finds a publisher because they are very good rules and Paul's hard work has paid off and the research gives the rules a great period feel without bogging down the game in excessive detail.

I then fought another ACW game but this time against John using the venerable Volley and Bayonet rules. We love these rules and return to them time and again. Easy to learn, quick to play and brutal they are very subtle and allow you to think about your tactics without worrying too much about the rules. Leading the Union again I nearly pulled off a surprise victory only to see a rebel off table division and some horrible rebel cavalry turn a victory into a ruinous defeat. It was a great game and I had to lie down for a nap after the exertion and I was only throwing the dice! Maybe next time. 

The images is of my first Victrix chariot. What a bugger to construct but now I have worked out what to paint before gluing it together Im pleased with the result. I know plastic has its detractors and I 'get' the point but Victrix have made some lovely stuff and these chariots are a great example of what you get in plastic. There is one drawback and that has nothing to do with Victrix and everything to do with one of the immutable laws of wargaming, ie. when something pings off the painting desk it disappears into another dimension where all the other important bits go. This time it was a small rein. I felt it fall, I thought I knew where it had fallen but could I hell find the piece. It shows how daft you become when you retire because I had a sleepless night [honestly] thinking how and where the rein had disappeared. Early next morning I was back on my knees searching for the piece. I found some plastic heads, muskets, kepis [ you would think I never hoovered the carpet] a whole bag of Crann Tara French Garde that I 'forgot' I owned behind some boxes of other stuff I 'forgot' I had before yes I found the offending rein. Talk about relief. I really really need to get out more.
 Here endeth the lesson.