Back to the Dark Ages

Greetings Gentle Reader,

Ok, so this is what happened: I was in a charity shop recently and spotted this audiobook on cd:

...for the princely sum of £3. I read a lot - I've read this particular novel twice (as I have all the Uhtred books), but it occurred to me that this could prove an excellent companion to my journeys up and down the M27, A3, M25, A1(M), and indeed the dreaded A32.
And so it proved. I thoroughly enjoyed Jamie Glover's characterisation, and the battle scenes really came to life.

This eventually (in my tortoise-like brain) led to me considering my collection of Dark Ages figures, an eclectic mix of manufacturers but still vaguely impressive en masse. I decided to beef up their numbers, and replace some of those I'm not particularly happy with (some of those Gripping Beast poses are very odd....), with a view to using them for a Dark Age variant of Lion Rampant.

I ordered a bunch of bits from Crusader Miniatures via North Star, and (a first for me) tried a couple of packs of Drabant Figures from Old Glory. They were delivered within days (well done Old Glory!) and are lovely little items:

 

 

 

They look to need minimal cleaning up, so I shall get them assembled and based today and await my North Star order before painting them all in one go.

 

Anyway - Happy Easter to you all! I'm off to search for this particular Easter Bunny:

 

 

 

 

Until next time.....

 

 



 

Paint Table Saturday

Just a (relatively) short post as it's a hectic Saturday at Pendragon Towers, not least because we are off to see Julia Fordham tonight on her Porcelain 25 Tour. I am most excited, being a long-time fan who has yet to see the songstress live. Her intimate small-venue gig will be preceded by good curry and followed with good company and merlot. Roll on!

On the Paint Table today - My prepped retinues for Lion Rampant. These Perrys seem to have taken an age to prepare, and have been augmented with a handful of Crusader Miniature archers, as I was starting to suffer from Plastic Paralysis..... I know people offer painting services, does anyone do preparation services?!

Still to do the additionals (mercenary crossbows, mounted knights, pikemen, etc) but this is enough to get me started, not least because our guest lodger (daughter's continental boyfriend) has departed which means I have the dining room table back - the paints come out of storage tomorrow! Hurrah!

In the centre of these Wars of the Roses troops stands the incongruous Mariel Twinspar. She is a female pirate by Reaper Miniatures, and I plan for her to be my contribution to Roy Williamson's Naval November themed paint-up. She has a resin timber-effect base I had lying around which seemed appropriate. There may be another item for Naval November later this month, it just depends on workload:

 

I have completed both my Secret Santa and Santa Clause obligations, so am ahead there at least. I have also completed Bernard Cornwell's The Empty Throne:

I view the Uhtred novels in the same way I do beers - There're no bad ones, just some better than others! This one is a splendid romp that slows about midway, but then picks up again and delivers a very wargameable (is that a word? Google+ doesn't think so.....) action toward the end, albeit at large skirmish level and requiring a bit of scenery! Recommended, as are all Cornwell's Saxon Stories series.

Until next time...................

Goodies on the horizon.....

Spotted this on pre-order via Amazon whilst looking for something else entirely!

 

 

 

Whilst I know Mr (Dr?) Thomas has his detractors (mainly due to the simplicity of his rules) I have used and enjoyed his other offerings, admittedly with some minor modifications, so am looking forward to the release of this one, especially as I have limited space (and often limited time) in which to game!

And of course, despite the lovely weather at the moment, I am looking forward to September, and the release of this:

If only as an excuse to finally paint up all the gorgeous 'Rebellion' figures I bought from Ebob!

(see them at http://www.ebobminiatures.com/index.htm)


Until next time......