Sunday, September 29, 2024

Mixed Bag

Today's journal entry is a bit of a mixed bag with no clear direction.  Perhaps no direction at all!  

With no game on last week's schedule and visitors in and out throughout, hobby activities focused primarily on administration and preparation in short and irregular bursts.  I take that back, writing the Shiloh battle report in the previous post took a measurable block of time and concentration.  Some tasks saw completion or at least some good progress.  Others were left wanting.  Let's see what got checked off for the week.

Figure Priming.  With cold weather approaching quickly, time to jump start the figures "ready to paint" inventory before the really cold temperatures set in.  This annual fall ritual began this week.  Italian Wars, Franco-Prussian War Prussians, Sumerians, and SYW cavalry have all seen additions to the "ready to paint" pile.  Much more work to do.

Hex Terrain.  A box of wooden hexes arrived to augment both the four-inch and five-inch hex layouts.  The first batch of four-inch hexes have been painted and flocked.  With both scale hex layouts optimized for remote games, no hurry in adding to the already large stockpiles of painted and flocked hexes. Still, something to keep in work rotation. 

Flags.  With expectation that FPW Prussians will be mustering out from the painting desk, time to consider flags.  One flagsheet was created with Prussian flags along with a selection of Spanish WAS flags.  The Spanish flags are all from the talented hand of David at Not By Appointment
Storage Labels. While painted figures continue to fill boxes and new boxes are brought into service, I have been negligent in adding proper labels to these newly recruited storage boxes.  Fixed that this week by printing off a sheet of half dozen labels to give these unmarked boxes an identity and help in finding stuff quickly.  Well, more quickly.

Terrain.  Lastly, I tackled applying stain to the Gallia castle purchased a while back.  While it lacked a gatehouse, Vol (A Miniatures Hobby Room), scratch built a gatehouse for this massive castle.  Amazing what Vol created.  Superb effort!  The castle could use one more wall section.


OK. This week, Shiloh returns to the table in a second remote game.  Stay tuned for reports from the front on that one.

56 comments:

  1. Useful to get these tasks done Jon. Vol’s work on the gatehouse looks top class! And I spy a castle keep in the background!
    Chris/Nundanket

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    1. Very useful getting some of these ticked off. Vol's gatehouse if great and the keep goes with the walls.

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  2. Nice looking castle. Interesting you use both 4" and 5" hexes; which size do you use for which rules?
    Neil

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    1. Thanks! Four-inch hexes are predominately green used for most of the 10mm/15mm horse & musket rules and settings while the five-inch (brown/sand/grey) hexes are used for arid games in 28mm for the likes of Basic Impetvs.

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  3. It is always worthwhile getting some tasks out of the way. I've got a priming session booked in next weekend before it gets too damp to prime figures in the shed

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    1. I agree! Some of these littler tasks can hang around, undone, for a long time.

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  4. Tasking well there Jonathan, that's a fine looking castle.

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  5. Having assisted someone searching through a storage container looking for some specific figures amidst a wall of unlabelled boxes, I can honestly say that never have I felt more strongly that labelling boxes is essential work and not a nice to have.

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    1. Labelling boxes is essential work. I try to keep up but this time figures spilled over into six new boxes within a short span of time. I needed to get this task accomplished before I lost control of the inventory. As a bonus, I turned up a regiment of SYW Bavarian cavalry that were missing and mis-boxed.

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  6. Excellent looking castle and fine work by Vol! I think I've got a few more weeks left before I get to a priming cut off, well I hope so! I have taken to labeling boxes, done with a sharpie on a post it note and stuck on with magic tape, not as high class as yours, I think I'm more fast and dirty!
    Best Iain caveadsum1471

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    1. Thanks, Iain! Yes, Vol did a great job on the gatehouse. With so many boxes covering so many different periods and scales, a labelling system is required whether by Sharpie or not.

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  7. I wish I had labelled my boxes as I have to pull everything out when I'm looking for something. Some worthwhile tasks completed there Jonathan and the castle looks terrific. Great work by Vol. That Prussian flag sheet would make a nice pattern for a ceramic tile.

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    1. Good eye on the Prussian flags. I thought the same! Perhaps you can add labelling boxes as a new task?

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  8. The castle looks superb Jonathan, that will be useful for so many games.

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  9. You are busy with a whole range of wargaming preparations, and writing those battle reports are very time consuming.

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    1. I needed to show some progress this week besides the battle report. With so many interruptions this week, several small tasks are all I could muster.

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  10. Phew Jon even your random weeks seem pretty focussed to me 👍 lots going on

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  11. At first blush, labeling boxes may seem a bit O.C.D. , but it is a near necessity for any "mature" collection--and the same goes for terrain. Interesting glimpses of your gaming space, too. Always enlightening to see how people are set up,

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    1. OCD, perhaps, but for me with so many boxes, it is a necessity. I certainly qualify my collection as “mature.” With over 30,000 painted figures, to find anything requires some organization. As for gaming space glimpses, I need a good clean up before showing any more of the space.

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  12. The castle looks great and should prove to be very handy for a good few games and scenarios. Always good to get the mundane hobby jobs done, I always have a feeling of satisfaction when I do the "chores". I am pretty interested in the hexes and I may go down this route myself.

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    1. Thanks! Yes, very good to knock out these mundane tasks. I am sold on gaming on hexes especially for remote games and rarely play on an ungridded field these days.

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  13. Time spent on administrative tasks is never wasted, Jon, even if it's not as glamorous as painting figures or an AAR! The castle certainly looks very impressive 👌

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    1. I appreciate your assessment, Keith. This work neither adds to the games played or figures painted talkies, though.

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  14. A nice mixed bag there Jon. The castle looks great and nice to get a bit of a view of your games room. Whilst my figures and in drawers and few in number, I can easily find what I need. However I do need to label my terrain boxes, which I keep putting off!

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    1. Glad you like the castle! Perhaps I ought to clean up the room and then provide a few photos 8n a walk-around tour of the room? My terrain is kept under the game table and in an adjoining storage room. I am not so organized on this front.

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  15. Replies
    1. I will see what I can come up with to bring it onto the table. Say, I think my comments on your blog are being relegated to your SPAM folder again.

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    2. You’re only bloomin right cocker…ruddy blogger at its best!

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    3. That's what I figured! I wonder why I am being singled out???

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  16. A nice castle you have there Jonathan and could prove to be quite useful! Just got halfway reorganizing my hobby room and do things similar to you except for what's on display..-)

    Christopher

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    1. Thanks, Christopher! I really don’t have any figures out on display.

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  17. Smiling as I am moving boxes to label, nice castle. Curious where the wooden hexes are from. The flags, labels and other work is an excuse for a parade, at least mentally.

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    1. The hexes are from https://woodnshop.net/. I have been buying from this place for several years. Great product, quick service, and reasonable prices. On my last order, I received an email letting me know that processing my order would take a couple extra days due to equipment breakage and they were awaiting a replacement part.

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  18. It's good to take the time to step back and complete some of those forgotten or need to do jobs. Vol made a great job on the gatehouse!

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  19. OMG you TOTALLY need labels. I only just started labeling my boxes and I probably only have half of what you got. But I'm totally tired of doing the "now where is that box of (whatever) and ending up looking / opening EVERY box till I find it. "
    And I do love that castle. 😁

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    1. Stew, what you see in the two photos is only half of what I have too!

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  20. Love the castle, gatehouse and all. Good to invest time organising your storage boxes. Always pays off eventually..

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    1. Encouraging to see that these efforts pay off eventually.

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  21. Good to get neat and sorted! Like the castle, a grand game piece!

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    1. Good, indeed, but no figures are seeing a lick of paint with these diversions.

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  22. It must be quite satisfying getting all those bits and pieces sorted out…

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Satisfying, for sure. Similar work continues this week. Prussians are even being flagged!

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  23. The castle is looking very well although not the German style. I'm not writing much as I'm preparing for our last event in 2024.

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    1. Best of luck in your final event of the year. I will await your report once the event has concluded.

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  24. Great addition to the castle. Sometimes stockroom duties have to be dealt with.

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    1. Thanks, Richard! Those duties continue into this week as well.

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  25. That castle looks great, what period/setting will it be used for? Medieval seems obvious but maybe ancients too? Always good to have a catch-up on various odd jobs..

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    1. The castle could see service as a backdrop to Reconquista or WotR battles, I think. Catch-up continues this week.

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