First AWI Miniatures

Innit nice when you buy a bunch of stuff for a new wargaming project and then actually start it?  

Here we have a post with my first AWI miniatures.  Now the project begins in earnest.  

AWI Progess

Man, it has been fooooooorrrreeeevverr since I painted any 28mm miniatures.  It's a skill that's more subconsciously remembered than consciously practiced.  Too bad I was never very good to begin with so the memories are even more hazy.  

In my excitement of starting to wargame the Revolution I've been ignoring chores in order to paint, and managed to finish 16 miniatures for the British Army.  

First 8.
I've also been reminded that photographing 28mm miniatures is hard.

First 8 from the rear.  I like the way the white crossbelts came out.
Since whomever is playing these guys, that's the main thing they're gonna see.

Next 8.  Just more of the same.

Now the uniform is supposed to look a little like this: 

Though I like more of a Blue facing on the Redcoat.

Which is kinda hard to see in the group photos.  So in honor of these being my first AWI miniatures and painting 28mm for the first time in forever  (having a little girl means you've seen Frozen a hundred times, so that phrase is never far from your mind, it's not even the first time that I've told this joke.  It's even funnier in repetition)   here are some close ups....

I like this sculpt of the guy biting the cartridge. 

Enough of that now.  It's more my wanting to show my enthusiasm for this project than my painting skills.  

Keep It Goin' Keep It Goin' Keep It Goin'! 

It's gonna be a long haul getting this genre to the gaming table.  So keeping up motivation and enthusiasm is critical.  Especially since I'm still in a state of no gaming lockdown.  So how to do it?

There's shopping of course, the small rush when a package arrives:

My houses from Sarissa arrived. On first glance inside the package they look a little small.
And,
This is a really exciting photograph.

And of course there is entertainment.  For inspiration I've recently finished reading;

By reading I mean listening to the audio book while in the car,
and while painting.
I ain't gots time to read! 
But the book is recommended.

 

I suppose I could find a good AWI movie to watch.  I've recently subjected the wife to rewatch the History Channel's series on Washington, which I thought was pretty good and is on Amazon

I also like the Blue coats with the buff facings.
and this makes up for the boring Sarissa picture, Because this one is exciting on all sorts of levels.

The only other AWI movie I know is The Patriot, which I'm not gonna watch.  Not for any snobby historical reason, but because I don't like watching a father mourn his son.  No I didn't give any spoiler alert, it's been 20 years. 

A Big Thank You to Norm

I take it back! I have played a game! Set in the Revolution even.  Best Blogging Buddy Norm on his blog ran a Play By Email game of the Battle of Germantown.  It was my first time playing anything by email, and I had good fun.  I played a minor role in the British defense, which really helped me get int he mood for painting British Redcoats.  Thank you Norm.

You can find the ARR and Norms blog over here on the CLICKY CLICK

So the plan is keep turning out British until I get tired of seeing red, and then will probably dig in on some terrain.   With any luck, the AWI project might see the table in some form by the years end. 

Thanks for stopping by, Thanks for reading.  

The Price of Revolution

This costs how much??

This post is Dangerous.

I saw a post on TMP about how much does an army cost and it got me thinking (a dangerous pastime, I know).  Now today we have a post about the costs of starting a new genre in wargaming.   NEWS FLASH; this silly little hobby is expensive.   In OTHER NEWS, water found to make people wet.

But SSShhhhhh, don’t tell the wife. 

Not that she reads this blog anyways.  She knows I have it.  But she’s never gone “Hey, I really liked your last blog post.  It reminded me of how funny and attractive you are; (/seductive voice) COME TO ME.”

 Link to the TMP page if so inclined: TMP

 

Buying Frenzy:

Like many wargamers, I already have a decent collection of miniatures, rulebooks, and terrain; so when I do buy stuff, I’m just adding to a previously started project.    Therefore the purchases tend to be in smaller batches; a box or blister of miniatures here, some terrain there; modest amounts. I don’t like the lead pile to grow unchecked.  This tends not to be super expensive because the initial set up costs have all been paid. 

It’s been forever since I started a new game project from scratch like I have with this 28mm AWI project.  Mostly scratch, I have some appropriate 28mm terrain because my dark ages and LOTR collection is in 28mm; fields, roads, and some trees.  But nothing else. 

With an upcoming pay cut for all of us state workers I been doing a lot of my discretionary spending now, before it’s too late.  In a few months I might not be able to buy my family the nicer things, but we can all have some comfort in my new, totally awesome AWI miniature collection.  (That last bit makes me sound selfish, I should talk to my editorial staff).   Usually these costs are way more spread out and therefore obscure.  Yet being in a buying frenzy and rapidly making purchases brings it all to light. Which just goes to show, when one is too busy to paint and cannot play games, one will always find time to shop. 

 

The dangerous bit: How much does starting a new period really cost? 

I broke down the spending into categories, then rounded the costs to friendly numbers for easy maths.  Then there is some witty commentary on how this cost could be adjusted.  Prices include shipping to my house because ain’t nobody shopping in person during these days of pandemic... 

Rules:

Musket and Tomahawks II Rule bundle: Main rule book, AWI supplement book and card deck, and tokens: $70

You need rules to play a genre by.  I bought this through a pre-order and so got a small discount.  I don’t think $70 is an outrageous amount to pay for a modern day rule set.  Regardless of the rules themselves, the books are of high quality.  

Miniatures:

Brigade Miniatures AWI British: $100 for 48 miniatures

Brigade Miniatures AWI dirty revolting colonists Americans: $160 for 78 miniatures.

This is a steep cost.  BG miniatures are rather on the pricey side at $2 a miniature.   There is a 10% discount but that really just cancels out the shipping costs.  There are cheaper options out there that could bring down this cost.  I went with BG for a couple of reasons:

I wanted the British to be in the 1768 warrant uniform.  The uniform we all think of when we say Redcoat.  I know that realistically/historically this uniform went by the wayside rather quickly in the AWI in favor of lighter modifications.  But I wanted turnbacks and large cuffs dammit. 

And while I don’t have anything against plastic miniatures, I just like metal ones better.  If anything it saves me the step of building them.  Though plastic is much cheaper.  Everyone goes with Perry Miniatures for the AWI, and I wanted miniatures different from everyone else.  (Though the plastic Perry box set of AWI British infantry is in the 1768 warrant uniform, but I wanted more variety of poses, but I bet I’ll pick up a box eventually). 

And most importantly, BG was open for business during this pandemic. 

Another preference of mine that raised the cost was for dirty rebel patriotic militia.  Using Militia always means needing more figures, because their quality is in the quantity.  If I had gotten more continental line infantry the cost would be less. 

Small pile of Continental Infantry on the right,
LARGE pile of Militia on the left.

I am though, overall very pleased with my purchase and really like the miniatures now that I’ve painted up a few.    

Bases:

BG Miniatures do not come with bases, so I ordered some.  

Shogun Miniatures 25mm round magnet bases.  $40 for 150 bases. 

I could of gone cheaper with plastic or fender washers, but have plans for how I am gonna store these miniatures and how I eventually want to use them in large units.  So I wanted magnet bases.

Plus, with Magnet Bases I can make troops march up the fridge.
Just to demonstrate that magnets work.

 

Terrain (didn’t have much to start)

Battlefield Terrain Concepts fences kits: $65 for 3 bags (each is supposed to make 5 feet).

Future Fences.
15 fifteen feet might sound like a lot,
but from prior experience I know it's not for a wargame table.

Sarissa Precision North American Buildings: $100 for 5 buildings

I don't have the building yet, and with shipping from the UK to USA being what it is these days, don't suspect that I will anytime soon so no pic...

Naturally I didn't need to buy 5 buildings all at once.  I just figured that I'd want 5 eventually so might as well get them all at once so I can make homesteads or villages versus just having a single house here or there in the woods.   

Total:

$535 without even playing the a game yet. 

This is not a humble brag.  I genuinely find this stuff interesting and it’s a side of the hobby that we don’t talk about much.  We all come from different SES and have different amounts we can afford.  The costs of wargaming is one of the daunting aspects that keeps people out of the hobby or even out of a particular style or period of play.  I have often heard that the rise of skirmish games is due in part to the cost of acquiring large armies.  

I generally don't have a strict hobby budget.  I tend to get what I want when I want; mainly because I am a grown man with a decent job and my hobby is literally the only place in my life where I am able to do that.  Everywhere else in life is compromise.  However, I'm also generally responsible and am not a spendthrift.  But this is clearly a large investment and goes to illustrate how expensive starting a new miniature project can be.  And why these days I don't just start new genres without serious thought for a few years.  And believe it or not, it's out of character for me to get so much so quickly.  It's the old experiment; get everything at once and see of you can paint it all before going on to something else.  How often have we tried that int the past? 

Though, I have been known to focus on genre for a lengthy amount of time. 

Or maybe it's a symptom of this Pandemic.  In any case, this genre might well cover my spending for the rest of year.  Unless something really cool comes along.  Or maybe if I actually do paint it all,  I'll get myself a small reward. 

Besides, during the pandemic I've been saving a lot of money on haircuts...

This is my COVID look

Thanks for reading.  See you again soon with a hobby update.  

I have begun my Rebellion (AWI)

"A Rebellion is always legal in the first person, such as 'Our Rebellion.'  It is only in the third person - 'Their Rebellion'- that it becomes illegal."

Ben Franklin

Regular blog followers know that for awhile now, I've been talking a big game about starting the AWI someday.  Probably for so long now that people are thinking I'm all hat and no cattle.  Well, today is the day where I put my money where my mouth is.

There's something exciting about starting a new project as one anticipates future games with pretty soldiers and terrain that are MINE MINE ALL MINE!!!  And there's something terrifying as well because you know it's going to be a LOT of work before you get there.

Blogs are Awesome for this Sort of Thing

One of the things that I've always enjoyed on blogs; is going through posts and seeing a project start and continue on (and on and on) until it reaches the point of being a glorious collection.  This sort of linear documentation is something that blogs excel at; especially if the project starts from scratch like this one is.  One can learn a lot by following someone else's journey.  So I hope that someday, someone, will have an enjoyable reading experience by clicking on the AWI label and having it all displayed before them.  That is, if they stomach all the lame jokes.  Like did you hear that joke about the Liberty Bell?... It really cracked me up.

How To Begin the AWI: Start with Rules

Some people start a genre by wanting to paint the figures, foolish people that they are.  I like to start with rules that will provide a game that I want to play.  This is because I am a gamer over a painter. I also think it's better to start with a skirmish game where the demands for the number of figures is probably lower.
It's all well and good to think "I want to play AWI with Black Powder, so let me see now, I'll just need to paint 200 figures per side in order to get a decent game going...." 
I don't have that kind of determination.

On the other hand, the demand for terrain might be higher, as most skirmish games are more fun when there is more terrain on the table.  This will also be a bonus; as terrain all squished together on a 4x4 table for a skirmish will look juuust out right when all spread out on a larger table for a mass battle.

The imputes for starting the AWI came when my package containing my bundle of goodies for Muskets and Tomahawks 2nd edition arrived on my doorstep..

Main Rulebook, Redcoats and Tomahawks Supplement
Cards and Tokens

I am somewhat familiar with M&T since I have version one just lying around on my bookshelf...for years.  I had played it a few times and had started a British force for the FIW, but it was one of those barely started genres that didn't survive the PURGE.

SIDE DISCUSSION: What was the Purge?

The Purge was when I was moving from the Bay Area to the Sacramento Area 5 years ago and realized that I had WAY to many miniature wargames projects that had a bad stutter start (that's a racing term).  These kinda started but ultimately stalled projects were all way too much to pack and transport, so they were all sold away for dirt cheap, given away to deserving friends and undeserving rascals, and some were simply trashed. The PURGE was mostly miniatures, as rulebooks don't take up that much space.  It was a liberating experience all in all.

 M&T II is a skirmish game that plays on a 4x4 table and usually has around 50 figures per side.  The idea is to get enough figures and terrain all painted up and lookin nice to make for a good game; and as the collection grows I'll be able to move up to larger games like Sharpe Practice 2.  Eventually some sort of mass battle game may be in the far off future as well. My megalomania for large AWI battles will only be checked by cost and time. 

After I read the M&T II to make sure that I still liked the rules (pretty sure I do) and watched some YouTube vids, I created some army lists to know what I wanted to buy for the miniatures.  I didn't have any AWI miniatures so this is a blank slate. 

So few things in life are blank slates.  It's kinda nice. 

*YouTube AARs are always a mixed bag for me.  There's an art to make it interesting.  I like it more when they showcase the rules mechanics and like it less when it's a pure AAR.  Also I get super annoyed when they get rules wrong.  We're all human and make mistakes of course.  Actually I only get annoyed when watching Too Fat Lardy videos that feature the rule writer himself and STILL gets the rules wrong. 

Then Get Some Figures; And Being Sensible About It

For me, buying figures is the 'getting serious' step for starting a genre.  I'm one of those guys whose gonna get both sides and all the terrain so I can host the whole sha-bang and win over friends and followers, and gain wargaming super stardom.

And while I know we all do it from time to time, I actually don't like it when I buy miniatures and never get around to painting them.  And they just sit there in the lead pile staring at me chanting 'waste of money, waste of money.'  I got a whole lot of dark ages Norman infantry and cavalry that do that all time, more annoying because it's in French.  Everything sounds more insulting in French.  Just like everything sounds angry in Japanese.

The obviously wise way to go about starting this genre is the 15/18mm scale.  It's much cheaper and easier on the storage.  Plus, a big bonus would be that a lot of my ACW terrain (like the ubiquitous snake rail fence) would be able to pull double duty in both theaters.  Therefore getting the whole AWI genre to the game table faster and providing miniature wargaming economy. 

Also, it's a smart idea to start small with a modest order of miniatures and FOCUS.  Don't order more miniatures until the current ones are painted (or near enough).  This way the lead pile will not grow unnecessarily and motivation to keep painting won't be crushed under the weight of all that lead.  And I won't feel guilty when I abandon it for awhile when distracted by some other sexy younger project.

It's an entirely sensible plan;

So naturally I ordered a mountain of 28mm miniatures from Brigade Games.  

Along with some 28mm fence kits from Battlefield Terrain Concepts.

A little over 100 hundred miniatures is a mountain to me.
50ish British and 70ish Colonials seems like a fitting start.
I am the picture of a sensible human being.

Guess what I'll be doing for awhile. 

Because in my heart, I knew I wanted the 28mm spectacle.  

I have some small consolation that my 28mm Dark Ages collection has a limited amount of terrain that can pull the double duty.  A plowed field is a plowed field in either the year of 898 or 1778.  A patch of woods is a patch of woods.  Or so I'll tell myself.  Don't burst my bubble.  

SO. 

It has begun.  Hooray for new projects!  

In my enthusiasm and just to get the hang of it all again, I painted up one British Regular as a test figure. 

These troops will have Blue facings,
Making them the 4th Regiment of Foot and a "royal regiment."
But I just like the look of the uniform.  

This is the figure before I apply the quickshade.
I'll wait for that step until I paint up a bunch of them.

Hey!  Long time, No Post... What Gives?

Life has been busy.  All work and no play.  Basically I've been like a single parent lately.  The wife has some sort of mysterious aliment (was tested for COVID and is negative, so that's not it) that has put her down for the count most of the time.  So I have All the kids, all the home school, all the chores, and still working (half from home, and half at the office).  5 days a week I am dad and Mr. Mom.  It'd be a bummer except we're still in a state of shelter in place and it's not like I'm missing any gaming  or any other fun opportunities.   Still, as a result there have been drastic cuts to the 'Department of Free Time."  Hopefully the budget will increase soon.  

They say that husbands/fathers tend to over estimate the amount of work they put in toward household chores and child rearing.  Well, not THIS GUY.  

The bright side; mass accumulation of hubby points.  We've already discussed how these can be spent.  

Till next time then.  Keep yourself and loved ones safe.  Thanks for reading.  

2 more 74s (is fun to say outloud)

But first a little message from our sponsor:

Back to Work!

I reported in my last post that I was taking some time off due to all the COVID 19 stuff.  Well, that lasted about 2 and half weeks.  I had wanted more time away., but after increasingly shrill and threatening phone calls from the boss; I was basically ordered back to work or risked termination.  Which kinda forced the issue.  All my requests for time off were basically denied, because no one in my family had been infected.  Of course, the whole point of taking time off was to prevent infection.

Overall, I have mixed emotions about it.   While I wasn't particularly excited about losing some paychecks and prestige for "working through the hard times,"  I did feel good about putting family first and it was nice to just kinda be home.  Now being back to work it's nice having the income again and a reason to know what day it is and to take a shower, but I'm a little resentful about being forced to go back to work before I decided it was a good time.

OH WELL.  Be a man and suck it up buttercup. 

After all, with the unemployment situation that many people are facing I'm grateful to be in a good position, even if it forced upon me...
I could go into more details but it'd be too boring to explain, and I'm sure you get the gist. 

I did take advantage of the telework option. so I'm going in half time and working from home the other half, which is actually a pretty nice set up so far.  Basically I am at home for 5 days and work at my institution for 2 days a week.   YAY!  Plenty of time for house projects and using manly tools like screw drivers and wire strippers.  I've been doing so many manly stuff that I'm almost tempted to drink black coffee.  (no one in their right mind should drink black coffee, I needs me my delightful French Vanilla creamer) 

Pretty Pictures of Pretty Ships

On to the real stuff, the stuff that really matters! The stuff of 1/1200 model ships.  When I die, bury me with my ships.

Here we go with 2 more glorious miniature ships to join their fleets.  Both of these are generic 3^rd rate 74 gun Ships of the Line.  It’s too bad that Kublacon is cancelled because I’d be in a very good position to finish up the rest of the ships I had planned, and maybe even make a few game enhancing extras like cool markers for broadsides firing besides me making BOOM! KA-BOOM! Sounds loudly at the targeted player.

Here is the French-y. 

This ship has red sides.

Some nice looking rigging

My fingers is sexay and I know it.
In a manly way though.

Stern cabin

Ready to go fight the evil British

Here is the British-y  (that doesn’t sound right)

This British 74 has grey sides.  Just to be different from all the other British 74s.

Some more nice rigging

Stern Cabin

Ready to fight the evil French.
(yeah I got hairy fingers, because I am, so extra MANLY)

With these two ships completed and safely in the storage bin, I'm faced with the burning question that faces everyone once in awhile....  So Now What?  

The Funky Hobby

We've all been in the hobby funk before.  I've got it now.  With Kublacon being cancelled my hobby goal is removed and I'm sort of flailing about finding a project to hold my interest.  Like most of us wargamers, I've had these periods of low motivation before, and I know they pass; though it does seem like bad timing, because at least in theory, there should be even more time for hobbyness with the whole state being on shelter in place orders.  I have 3 known cures for hobby funk.  I'm not saying these work for everyone, but these do work for me.  They are"

1) Do something else for a little bit:

I'm doing more stuff around the house.  The wife has already re-arranged 3 rooms with me as the Manly Muscle moving the heavy furniture.  I've also thrown myself in with some home improvements like switching out some ceiling fans and changing a garbage disposal that I discovered was leaking.  It also seems like a good time to finally redo our stair rails and banister.  

The main point is that I'm being very manly around the house.  I think I've described myself as manly several times in this post by now, so I'm sure I have you all convinced.  It's like taking a break from miniatures but still doing projects that engage the mind and hands, instead of just watching TV.  I'm also trying to exercise more.   This has the added bonus of earning hubby points as things in the house improve. 

2) Clean the hobby desk:

A cluttered desk is a cluttered mind.  Some say it's also the sign of genius.  But what are the odds of me having the Brawn and the Brain?  No.  Actually, the more messy the hobby desk gets the less room you seem to have.  

My wife and I have hobby desks that face each other (though she doesn't use hers much).
My side has gotten quite messy.

That's better.  All clean, everything in a place. 
Ready to go for the next project.

 

Now when inspiration / motivation returns, it'll be easy to pull out whatever project sparks it and get right down to it.

I left 2 unfinished 18mm CSA Brigadier generals on the hobby desk because they've been there for YEARS.
It is my tribute to all unfinished projects everywhere.  At least they don't take up much room.
One day, I'll paint them. 

3) Start a New Genre:
This is the 'break glass in case of emergency option.'  I might have to use it.  The AWI has been calling for awhile. 



In any case: I hope you all are in good health and doing well in these crazy times.  Continue to take care of yourselves and your families. 
And as usual, thanks for reading. 

COVID Cancellations (and more fun with ships)

We're all fine sheltering in place.  That's the good news.

CANCEL One Paycheck or Two

I've decided that during all this craziness that I am staying home.  We're taking the isolation very seriously.  I could be going to work but I think that is a little on the reckless side because I work in a place where the virus will run rampant.  I don't work in a hospital, so don't judge me too harshly.  I just don't want to expose my family to serious sickness.  It's hard to do the right thing by everyone, but family first.  I'm not getting paid, but I am in a position that I can afford that (well, afford is a strong word).
On the plus side, My wife is ecstatic about it as I am around to help out with the kids and home schooling.  And The Endless home projects she is discovering.   There's also a little more hobby time.

On the negative side; a week and a half in and I am utterly bored.

CANCEL One Garage Sale

I was gonna miss the Conquest Convention because my wife had decided that instead of having fun that weekend, we needed to participate in one of those huge community garage sales for children items; those things were people pack into a warehouse with all the stuff that their kids outgrew but are still in good condition so they can sell it to someone with younger kids.  She was right, of course. We got a garage full of old kid stuff that gots to go; clothes, toys, and a pretty odd assortment of My Little Pony plush dolls that daughter #1 suddenly decided one day weren't cool anymore.

We were working very hard to organize and price all these items when we got the email that the event would be cancelled due to COVID 19.  And I, the master manipulator, puller of puppet strings, immediately thought, "Well now, I've earned some hubby points by doing all this pointless work sorting items without compliant, and with the giant sale cancelled I wonder if I could swing by the convention?  But don't bring it up now, it's too soon.  She's still pissed about the sale being cancelled.  Wait 2 days and then bring it up..."

CANCEL Conquest Sac

A day later and Conquest Sac was cancelled, due to COVID fears.  

So when that fateful weekend arrived I decided that I would do some solo gaming and practice an Age of Sail scenario that I might use at Kublacon at the end of May.  With gaming opportunities low and needing some more experience with the Blood, Bilge, and Iron Ball rules and try out some of the house rules.   I broke out 2 squadrons of 4 ships each and had them sail toward each other, on a collision course with destiny for a solo game.

Game set up.

British Squadron had 1 80 gun ship and 3 74s.  French Squadron had 1 120 gun ship and 3 74s.

close up of the French

British

Some British Ships.
I'm in real danger of painting every British ship yellow.
For the next one, I must try out a different color scheme just to mix it up a little.

As both fleets are sailing toward each other (OK, Fleet is a strong word), I decided that each would try to take the Wind Gauge but by different means.

The wind is coming from the right.  I forget to put a wind arrow.
The British admiral signals for his ships to turn into line abreast formation and sail up wind,
The French Admiral signals for his ships to turn in succession.  

A few moves in and it starts to get critical on who will get the next sail chit first.

It's the British, and the lead British 80 gun ship opens up on the lead French 74

Getting ahead of the British is gonna be impossible,
so the French cut left to engage and pick up speed by turning down wind.
Remember the wind is coming from the right.

The lead French 74 is taking a pounding.

The British with little options, attempt to thread the needle.

"It's warm work..."

aaannndd around this time in the game I stopped paying close enough attention to report on the happening.  There was more game but my motivation to chronicle it sank.  But I ended the night with a better understanding of how the rules interpret Age of Sail tactics and how to run the game at Kublacon.

And I had a good time.

CANCEL Kublacon 

I know, you all saw it coming!  A  little while ago I got an email that Kublacon will be cancelled as well.  Expected, but still a let down.  I was progressing on the next two shops quite nicely and even mostly on target to getting all the ships I wanted done in time.

French ship on the left, British on the right.
WIP shots.  

I guess I'll finish these two ships since they're almost kinda sorta nearly done already.  The think about if I want to go on to something else or continue with being a shipyard. 

Cancel on Birthday Party

Second Son had his second Birthday, but sadly the party will have to be postponed.  My wife insists that we're only postponing it, not skipping it.  I'm not so sure.

Stupid Virus is Cancelling All My Fun!  

I hope you all are keeping yourself and your loved ones safe and sound.  All and all everything here is going to be alright.  Everything in life is only for now.  I hoping that with good thinking and common sense, we'll all see the other side of this thing sooner than later.  

In the meantime, I'm gonna try to not lose my mind with boredom and get some more painting time in.  I even had to start running OUTSIDE like a poor person instead of at the gym.  I know I'll have to go back to work eventually, but I'm monitoring that week by week. 

But let's take care of ourselves and each other.

And don't worry about me, I know I am rich in other ways....

But How long will it last?

Thanks for reading.  And I mean it; keep care of yourself and loved ones.