Painting, of late, continues to focus on the 15mm side of the ledger. Rather than continuing a steady stream of troops for the French Revolution, I break up the painting routine to field a pair of Irish regiments for the SYW.
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| de Clare |
If these Irish regiments saw limited service during the SYW, why field them? Should I not be painting gris-blanc Frenchmen if I am to field a French Army? Quite right. I should. But, sometimes I eat my dessert first! With the colorful Irish finished (for now), SYW work will begin to pull French troops into the production queue. First, other projects are seeing activity at the painting desk.
On the gaming front, I enjoyed another fine game via Skype hosted by members of a wargaming group in the UK. This marked my third visit and game with these fine fellows in the last three weeks. Three games in three weeks? Yes, indeed! This must be a record for me. In fact, over the last three weeks, I will have enjoyed five remote games. Unbelievable, really, and definitely a record.
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| Rooth |
While remote gaming during the pandemic has opened up a whole host of new opportunities for gaming, one downside is that I cannot take decent photos from my iPad during these remote games. Therefore my chronicling battle reports from these activities is lacking. I need to find a remedy for this. Luckily, Graham captured a sampling of screenshots and retells the battle on his blog posting of Back to the 15th Century.
Tuesday's battle featured a clash set during the War of the Roses (WotR) using 25mm figures and one of the member's developmental rules. Rules are geared toward the tactical level with each commander leading one Battle. The troops arrayed "en battle" looked great with banners and colors in abundance. Interplay between the lines within a Battle is key and decisions are many. My assigned Battle contained three lines of troops. I fielded Longbowmen in the first line followed in support by two units of foot in the second and third lines. Each line had varying degrees of armor and training. My third line was peasant rubbish. Having not gamed WotR, I did not know quite what to expect.
What happened? I enjoyed the game and rules very much! My first Battle was sacrificed for the cause but I received a reinforcing Battle to deliver the coup de grace. Rules seemed finely honed and play was smooth. Looking forward to another trial run-out of the rules in the near future. With exposure to so many new and interesting periods to game, I may be hard-pressed not to add on another project or two. Did I mention the WotR game looked great? Hmm. Iain, are you taking notes?
A lovely unit, with double flags and yellow lace elevating them to ‘posh’ status!
ReplyDeleteAn upsurge in game play is a real bonus, I think sometimes we have so many wargame related tasks to do that we lose focus of the main objective .... to game! I have a part bloggy thing written on the subject and will get around to pressing that publish button one day :-)
Good to see you drawn to the loveliness that is Wars of the Roses :-)
Of late I've realised that nowadays the game is the thing for me, given I have more time on my hands. I still enjoying painting etc, but it's the game and campaign that is driving me at present Norm.
DeleteGlad you like the Irish, Norm! Typically, each battalion receives only one flag but Blue moon commands comes with two standard bearers per command set. Why not use both?
DeleteThe upsurge in gaming is a real shock. Before pandemic, I averaged, maybe one, sometimes two F2F games per month.
As Big Lee mentioned in one of his videos lately, wargaming is Big Church. Sometimes, painting is foremost, sometimes gaming, sometimes research, sometimes something else entirely! I likely spend more time painting than any other activity.
For new periods, I am drawn like a moth to a flame...
Steve, painting and research still seem primary for me but I do enjoy gaming. My latest shift to gaming has been great fun.
DeleteI'm with you, in that painting is a therapeutic exercise that helps me relax after work and in a way wargaming is a way of focusing my interest in a more specific way, the gaming for me is an added bonus!
DeleteBest Iain
Iain, like you, painting is what I do for relaxation. Gaming is an added bonus, for sure!
DeleteI entirely agree that painting is for relaxation, but at the end of the day it is really just preparation for war!
DeleteVery true, Mark. Very true.
DeleteExcellent looking Irish! Lovely colourful troops and of course splendid news that you are committing to another 2 new armies, that's what 4 armies in 2 posts? Very impressive!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thank you, Iain! I figured you might enjoy seeing WotR turn up on my RADAR! Will it become a new project? It is hard to game F2F with armies 4,500 miles away!
DeleteSplendid regiments Jonathan, what a fantastic period to paint!
ReplyDeleteMerci, Phil!
DeleteFantastic work as always Jonathan!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michal!
DeleteThe Irish are looking good. My 15mm & 40mm tricorne armies were both aimed at WAS so the Irish always arrived early!
ReplyDeleteModern tech is sure handy in times like this.
Thank you, Ross! I am only now releasing the benefits to expanding my SYW project to the WAS.
DeleteModern tech is VERY handy!
Lovely looking Wild Geese.
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated, Peter! I enjoyed your latest naval battles.
DeleteAnother two cracking regiments you have there Jonathan and ones that will bring a nice splash of colour to the table.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're able to carry on with remote gaming. Fortunately solo gaming is still working for me, but like all of us, I'm missing the camaraderie of FtF gaming.
Thank you so much, Steve! The foreign regiments will provide a nice splash of color among the sea of gris-blanc.
DeleteSolo gaming is still going strong here too but gaming remotely has sure been fun. Plenty of camaraderie in remote gaming too. There was plenty of laughter in this WotR game. It may be tough returning to normal.
Nice looking unit of Irish.
ReplyDeleteI try not to have my desert first and paint as much of the bog standard stuff as I can before allowing myself a 'little luxury'
Thank you, Paul! I usually try to pace myself too but these are trying times, right?
Delete“ sometimes I eat my dessert first! ” 😆 I like that.
ReplyDeleteAfter the Irish, you can always do Swiss, and then Germans to delay the dreaded massed white coats.
A few Swiss units have already joined the colors. I REALLY must begin painting French!
DeleteI like dessert.
Impressive group, especially when they are doubled up like that.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like my little toys!
DeleteGreat looking new regiment, Jonathan. Good to hear of your international Skype gaming, very high tech!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dean! High tech gaming, indeed! With a savvy GM, the play is effortless for participants.
DeleteGreat looking Irish regiments and sounds like you are taking to high tech gaming like a duck to water....who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Keith! Old dog, new tricks? Yep. Guilty as charged.
DeleteVery nice as usual, and those flags look great. I had a look at Not by Appointment and the SYW flags really are quite different, with some lovely examples there. I'd definitely be giving my regiments two where possible.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lawrence! Yes, David does a great job on his flags. He is very generous with his work too.
DeleteSame Irish regiments I chose Jonathan, very nice. I had a very large WotR collection but sold them a few years ago, a sad day, it felt like I had sold my children as I watched the car leave.
ReplyDeleteThanks, George! Selling a large collection would be a sad day, for sure. Building a replacement collection may ease the pain.
DeleteI sold five medieval armies that day and then promptly built five Dark Age armies!
DeleteThat’s kinda funny...
DeleteI loved painting the Irish and Swiss regiments for the same reasons. These turned out well!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I must begin French at some point...
DeleteThese Irish look the treat, Jon. Speaking of Dessert first. I'd think the French would paint up quickly, myself, but who knows?
ReplyDeleteThe vast majority of my wargaing in 202 has been with Tim and David in Scotland via Zoom, including another game this week, playtyesting the rules and scenarios for their Wars of the Roses rules. I must get around to trying my new webcam with my laptop... I've just been dreading technical issues or discovering that I need a new laptop!
Thank you, Peter! I think the French will paint up quickly. I will soon find out!
DeleteThe advent of Zoom/Skype gaming has really been an unexpected and pleasant surprise for me. Good to see you getting in remote gaming too. Like you, I have been relying on other kind souls to navigate the logistics of hosting. Perhaps one day, one of us can figure this out and game together?
Connecting with gamers across distances for virtual gaming, virtual conventions, or just for virtual interest group gatherings has indeed been one good thing that has come out of the recent unpleasantness—and I think will be staying with us for the better in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI think virtuality will remain as an artifact of this upheaval for a long time. It is for the better, as you suggest. I know my hobby has been improved.
DeleteLove the uniforms of this period, so much more colorful than the Napoleonic. Your painting skills are amazing.
ReplyDeleteYou are very kind!
DeleteI painted these regiments too, although I painted the older uniform on the Clare-regiment.
ReplyDeleteThe Irish surely are a must-have for the period. Great paint job.
I figured these regiments must surely be in your collection. Glad you like my paint job on these Irish!
DeleteIndeed. I have Clare, Rooth, Berwick and Dillon. 4 regiments are enough for a HoW-brigade, although Bulckley is looking very nice too and the only regiment which captured a British flag at Fontenoy.
DeleteLooking very good - and it's always satisfying to see my flags in action too. Thanks. I think the grey or white clad French units are nicely distinguished by the colourful cuffs, waistcoats, etc.., not to mention the always attractive flags. I don't think the French line troops will disappoint!
ReplyDeleteGlad you approve, David! Thanks for your work on these beautiful flags.
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