Of Men In Tights...

Well, this week has been very very unpleasant.

I managed to get flu after venturing to York last weekend, and have been quite poorly, with today being my best day yet. I'm far from perfect but I am on the mend.

It must have been bad, because I actually contemplated a day off work on Wednesday so ill did I feel.

My good friend Roger gave me some sage advice on Thursday, insisting take a bath with an 80s RPG book. And loom, was he right. 45 minutes with a Twilight 2000 module did me a power of good.

Last night I finally managed to place my order for £870 worth of Connoisseur Italian Wars in the form of a Swiss and a Florentine army, based on the old George Gush lists - because I like them and they are a good 'go to' starting point for the period which at least do try to match historical compositions.

In the end the butchers bill shaped up thus:


Swiss:

1 x 96 pike

2 x 72 pike

2 x 36 shot

2 x 30 halberds and two-handed swords

5 x knights

6 x mounted crossbows


Florentine:

4 x 36 pike

8 x 24 shot

1 x 18 halberd

1 x 5 men at arms

1 x 10 Knights

20 x mounted crossbow and handgun


Hopefully this will give interesting games, with the Swiss storming in against superiors volumes of firepower, cavalry harassment and a few annoying pike blocks on the part of the Florentines.

I'l add a few Perry character pieces in and possibly some artillery for the Florentines rather than the Swiss given the fast advance of the chaps from over the Alps.

I'd toyed with a few manufacturers for the project but as Roger pointed out, Gilder's sculpts look like they're doing the business with the forward lean to the pikemen being notably attractive to the eye.

They will probably end up being gloss varnished too, a la Gilder for a nice old school finish.

I am not anal about basing so the infantry will be all on 60x40 bases with generally 5 figures in 2 ranks rather than 6 to allow for a little more 'movement' which will give a little life to the blocks and, allow a degree of diorama work to be applied.

Lots of flags and command will be in evidence and the Swiss advance pike Kiel will have 16 of the 20 figures in the 3rd and 4th ranks made up from command and colour bearers, with 10 in the other two pike kiels.

The Florentines will feature Giovanni De Medici's 'Black Band' and a couple of Landsknecht styled mercenary units to add texture, with parti-coloured Italians for the majority of the remaining troops.

I am not painting them of course, but my wife has named her terms and price and was awarded the contract by competitive tender.

Now, I just need my 800 15mm ECW from Lancashire Games' painting sheds to arrive and all will be peachy.

Now, if you will excuse me I am going to have a soak in a steaming hot bath.

Until next time...


TTFN

Comments

  1. Steve Williams10 February 2018 at 14:06

    I wish I could get my wife to paint for me - I might have half a chance of shifting my backlog.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Leave your praise and vitriolic commentary here...

Popular posts from this blog

How, Over 40 Years Ago, A Guy Called Andy Changed My Life With 5 Words, And Other Reminiscences...

Image
 Of late I have been having long and vivid dreams wherein, I am often walking or travelling with people I have known, some living, some passed, talking over things we had done or said. I confess that it's been eerie but also very liberating. These coversations have been so real that I have awoken in the morning (more usually, half way through the night) and been confused at my surroundings.  Last night I was speaking with Dave Hoyles  - very much alive and kicking - of Q.T Models/Museum Miniatures. The only thing I have noticed is that is often been snowing heavily in these dreams. One of my latest dreams was of the late Ian Smith, another the comic book artist Paul Green - who, thankfully is still with us. This pattern began a few years ago when I had a similar experience with the recently deceased Pete 'Greblord' Armstrong. It was a very cathartic experience for me, as I had much which needed to be said. I may have written of this before, but this particular dream was d...
Read more

A Serious Post And Another Obituary But With Some More Positive Stuff At The End

Image
 I am at an age where I would expect the odd death of someone I know, but I am starting to realise that it's the younger end of the line which is getting culled.  This week I found out through a good friend that another friend in the hobby from the old days had taken his own life, bringing the total friends lost to 5 and drom that number the number lost to suicide in the last few years to 2. Now, I've been close to that I think, three times, but I've been lucky enough to be able to turn my illogical brain around and decide that the world and my enemies will not be happy if I thrive and stay alive. So, that has been my stated mission, to live long and be hated that much longer. The first time I was taken with thoughts of suicide, was when I was banned from Games Workshop Sheffield in the 80s (see my book or earlier posts) and my so-called friends allowed themselves to be bought off, trading silence as to what a set-up it was in return for part time jobs at the store. That wa...
Read more

The Passing Of A British Wargaming Legend

Image
It is with genuine sadness and heavy heart that I must record the passing of Sheffield Wargames Society founder member and long time Chairman, Steve Roberts.    I was 13 when I first met Steve (some 43 years ago, now). It was a chance meeting. I'd been playing Dungeons & Dragons for about a year and had taken some Citadel FTZ Zombies back to my Junior school to show my headteacher there, who'd always encouraged the creative arts in pupils.    He was impressed (as you'd expect) and told me that a wargames club met at the school now, on Monday nights run by a chap called Steve Roberts.    Well, of course I was interested, and together with my friend Alan Staniforth, I attended the club, to find there was no D&D...   What there was however were historical games, played by local kids with 'Big Steve' the only adult. But he ran that club like a champion, providing all the models and simple rules, which was just what you needed to hook kids in. ...
Read more