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Wednesday, November 29, 2017

An Unfinished "Finished" Project

Box of Renegade ECW Lead
When is an unfinished project finished?  When is a finished project unfinished?

While I may never strike upon an answer to the first question, the answer to the second question was resolved last week.  The answer is obvious but before I belt out this revelation, a bit of background leading to this epiphany. 

My 30mm ECW project has not seen any action at the painting desk for exactly six years.  A reasonable assumption might be that after six years of inactivity, the project was complete.  Well, that is what I thought too.  Having painted all of the ECW figures in The Lead Pile and having enough units present and under arms for large games, I figured I was finished.  I did pick up enough cavalry from Empress Miniatures last year to field one more regiment of horse but that hardly counts, right?  The Empress Miniatures' cavalry were so beautiful, I could not resist fielding one more regiment of horse.  By the way, those beautiful sculpts still lay neglected in The Lead Pile

Back to the story at hand.  A few weeks' ago, a gent on TMP was selling surplus ECW lead from a variety of manufacturers in several lots.  One such lot consisted of 80 foot from Renegade MiniaturesRenegade Miniatures?  That caught my eye.  I love those large figures!  Now I already have about a half-dozen Renegade units of foote in my ECW collection.  I like them very much and they fit in well with the bulk of my collection which are comprised of Redoubt figures.  At an asking price of about $0.75 each, I could not pass up the opportunity to snag some figures at a great price.  Did I need more regiments of foote?  Not really but one additional regiment per side would be time and money well spent.  My hope was to be able to field at least two regiments of pike and shot.  I had in mind using any left over shot to form a unit of commanded shot.

When the package arrived and I sorted it all out, what did I have?  With my standard P&S regiment of 27 figures, enough figures were present to muster three regiments of foot.  Only a small handful of figures remain unclaimed.  More than expected and very little wastage.    
Enough figures for three regiments of foote.
After sorting and organizing the lot, I popped out to Renegade's website to confirm exactly what I had.  To my surprise, the website is closed down yet again.  After closing down for at least a year in the not so distant past and then re-opening, I figured their troubles were behind them.  I guess not.  With this revelation, I am very pleased to have picked up their figures on the secondary market.  Who knows when these figures will be available again.  
Latest announcement of Renegade's website
The answer to my second question?  A finished project is unfinished when I happen upon a bargain too good to dismiss.  I am likely not alone.

43 comments:

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    1. I thought that might be the case. Thanks for confirming, Aaron!

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  2. That's a heck of a good deal.

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    1. Especially good since it appears Renegade is not currently producing figures.

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  3. I purchased Renegade Celts for an ancients army years ago and really enjoyed painting them (big sturdy fellows with lots of character), so I can understand why you couldn't pass up on a bargain like this. It's just a pity that the website is so unreliable as it rather puts me off starting any new projects with them.

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    1. I enjoy Renegade figures too. They make appearances in my Punic Wars and ECW collections. About half of my Punic Wars figures are Renegade. Big and Beautiful, that's Renegade!

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  4. Nice figures at a great price, I just view all projects as open ended in some way!
    Best Iain

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    1. Quite right, Iain. Projects are open-ended until death do us part, anyway.

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  5. New recruits are always welcome for any project.

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  6. A nice blend of enhancing the collection, not too many figures to overwhelm the painting schedule, a great price and an opportunity that may not pass again any time soon.

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    1. Norm, you are a pragmatist of the first order!
      I am in complete agreement with you.

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  7. Even when I set a concrete goal of number of units for a project something always comes along to add more. different rule set, new miniature company or a good deal. It's like shifting sand dune.

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    1. Dan, we are bailing water from the same leaking boat!

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  8. Don't worry you are not alone ... this month I painted again around fifty 1/72 DAK miniatures because I found a new color more adapt :))

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    1. Glad for the company, Mark!
      Is the new color better?

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  9. I think that lrojects are only complete until the manufacturer brings out additional figur to an existing range. A prime example for me is my Russo-Japanese collection. IT was "finished" several years ago, but not Tsuba Miniatures has released a new batch of figures - filling gaps - that will see me expanding that collection...oh dear another bit of scope creep. Generally speaking I am pretty good at managing my gaming projects these days and I keep the lead/plastic pile under tight control - although it is stacking up quite a bit at the moment.

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    1. Mark, I guess the bottom line is that no project is ever complete. You are a model of project management.

      When will we see your RJW collection on the gaming table again?

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    2. It was to have been last weekend, but work got too busy and I didn't have time to work out a game, so we played a WWI game instead. The next opportunity now will be in the New Year.

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    3. Something to look forward to in 2018!

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  10. There is only one answer to the question "How many units do I need to complete this project?"

    One More.

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  11. I may be missing something, Jonathan, but it seems to me both questions have the same answer. The need for more figures. Lol! Nice score, BTW.

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  12. Oh, the "Oh Shiny" Fairy - she is a cruel and capricious mistress.

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    1. "Cruel and capricious" without doubt but I was performing a civic duty. That is, lending a helping hand to a comrade who had the misfortune to over-estimate his painting speed. Someone had to step in!

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  13. Always need more then you have.:-) My favorite ECW figures are Renegade and Bicorne. Let's hope it's just another short break for Renegade.

    Christopher

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    1. A fine line can be drawn between "need" and "desire." Renegade and Redoubt are my favorite ECW figures. Don't believe I have any Bicorne. Oh, something else to collect!

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    2. The Bicorne range was at least in part sculpted by the same chap that did the Renegade range. I've mixed them freely in my units and you'd never know they were from different ranges.

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  14. Projects are never complete, just abandoned.

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  15. I used to think some of my projects were complete - especially my Ancient and ECW armies. But along come some new rules, some bigger battles planned, and there I am adding figures to projectors that were "done" 30 years ago!

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  16. I will tell my 20000+ toy soldiers waiting for some paint that they have friends on the other side of the ocean :)

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    1. 20,000+ unpainted figures? Wow! You have a lifetime of work to do.

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  17. Great eye for a bargain, Jonathan! I would've loved to paint their Celts. Many of my projects have started as a "too good to pass up" bargain. For some reason, I find fewer and fewer of these at TMP or Bartertown. This year, I've filled the gap by painting great figures and trying not to fixate on costs.

    Merry Christmas and cheers!

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