This Blog Aten't Dead

 What can I say about the past few years that has not been said? I shall confine myself to the ever-pertinent monosyllable, "Oof".

Much to my surprise and resistance, I have become embroiled in a madcap scheme to collect 28mm Napoleonics. For decades I have been adamant that this is quite the wrong scale. It takes forever to get everything you want done. I can't say I've changed my perspective, but I admit the formations do look appealing when they're done. Moreover, it's a scale other folks are happy to game at, even though the painting takes a while, no matter how many corners I cut!

Over the course of the pandemic, consequently, I have painted for Black Powder two (24-man) battalions of Hanoverians, three of British foot, 17 Riflemen, a pair of French 12-lb guns (to represent a single battery), a single Royal Artillery gun and crew, at least thirteen French battalions (including Swiss, Irish and Italian units to spice things up), five Prussian battalions and a dozen Jaegers, three (12-man) regiments of Chasseurs à Cheval, two Prussian cavalry regiments, half a dozen brigadiers, two dozen casualty markers to hold dice, and movement trays for all the above. I've also completed a huge hill with a footprint of nine sheets of A3 paper.

I've even - gaps between lockdowns permitting - managed to fit in a few in-person games of Black Powder. Remarkable. Fingers crossed, next year we'll be playing a campaign. :)

Jungle terrain

Courtesy of a mate's kind donation of lots of plastic aquarium plants, my jungle has considerably expanded. Dinosaurs, Predators, &c, &c. Loads of possibilities!

Cheap MDF ruins

These are a few kits a mate at the club bought. They are the very simplest shapes: some multi-level corner ruins with windows. I love them. There is basically an infinite amount of opportunity for personalisation. I've largely gone with a brick wallpaper motif on the outside, then balsa wood floorboards on the inside. They are so generic that they can do service in pretty much any era from the mid-nineteenth century through to Warhammer 40K. Unfortunately, I don't know where he acquired them besides "Ebay". If I find out, I'll add the information.

Tau forcefield thing?

Another thing for a friend at the club. This doodah was a lot of fun to paint. I did quite a bit of masking, chipping and loads of weathering. I think it's some sort of floating forcefield-bearing structure that advances across the battlefield. There's a big gun on a tower involved, too. The forcefield is a separate piece of translucent blue plastic that the friend who owns the kit has since inserted.

Space table

A long time ago in a blog not terribly far away, I painted a table tennis table so it provided a (nearly) 4' by 8' playing area for space battles. That's great but not portable. Ergo, meet the new table, smaller than the old table. This is 3' square, and was quite fun to construct. Show me someone who dislikes sawing up bits of wood and I'll look at them funny. I hope the pictures speak for themselves. A spot of glue plus some weight plus clamps plus time = the skeleton. Add a grey undercoat, a black gloss base, and then some gentle sprays with spraycans.

Seeing Red, er, 40K Mechanicus buildings

As previously mentioned, I've been doing quite a few Mechanicus buildings for a mate at the club. Expect more in the future! Oh, some other buildings towards the end will have their own shot soon.

40K Imperial Skyshield Landing Platform

Another painting job for a friend at the club. This is an oddball of a kit in some ways. If you don't base it, then the legs are a bit too flimsy. If you do base it, you can't access the underside. Maybe basing it but leaving the legs unglued is the option. However, by the time I painted it, it had long been assembled. Rather bored of Mechanicus red and pale blues and flashy gold for the other 40K projects, I went for a classic martial green and cream look. What? Something to the side you say? Oh, yes.

Tatooine/Desert Terrain

For a while I've been working on some multi-purpose terrain. The idea is that it will fit happily into desert, Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern, Afghan, &c, &c settings, and that some elements will sit happily in Star Wars. Yes, I've been planning for Legion. Here's some of the work so far, both in individual shots and several of a table set up. Given the surprising size of Legion figures, you'll note some of the door sizes are off. Er, small aliens live in those places. I guess.