2023 Begins With A Rainbow And A Roar!

 Good morning to you all,

Well, as is my way, my mercurial ways have taken a hold and I've decided to do things differently this year; taking a different road, if you will.

 

I was reflecting as we travelled through the Peak District on Monday that the way the landscape changes is what makes it a thrill every time I see the same places. When we saw the literal end of a rainbow, it made me think about the rainbow which is my hobby/life.

 As you know, I'd planned to cover another pike and shot based era this year, but on reflection, by doing so, I limit my potential for fun. That just wouldn't do would it?

So, I decided to let my whims lead me, following a few simple guidelines:

1. The figures must be nicely painted

2. The figures must be at a reasonable price (by reasonable, I mean that the price must reflect the size, quality and manufaturer of an army, rather than being 'cheap'. It's about a holistic approach not penny  pinching)

3. The figures must appeal to me. This sounds obvious, but I mean that I will steer the ship of taste rather than let wargaming 'fashion' take the helm. 

So, on Sunday evening after a few emails back and forth, I began by purchasing a very nice modern Warhammer 40K Eldar army based on the Craftworld of Iyanden:

As tyou can see, it certainly hits the spot in terms of size and attractiveness, and the price was high but fair, so the boxes are ticked. I'll be looking around for a similar sized opposing force this year.

Iyanden has always appealed to me, due to the background of the 'Ghost Warriors' and the lovely yellow and blue colour scheme. This army leapt out at me because it also looks like a feasible task force. I know it's sci-fantasy, but I still think an army should look as if it is all there for a reason.

Then, on Monday, I was offered a Late Roman army. A few numbers were crunched and I could see that it met my conditions for being large enough, at just shy of 500 pieces.

It was attractive, the price we agreed was amicable and as it was mostly Foundry models, I was very happy. Of course it has flexibility, lots of potential opponents and can also be used for fantasy games. Lots of boxes ticked there:

 

 

So, I'm really pleased that my hobby is expanding out  in ways I'd not planned. I think that sometimes, it's good to go with gut feelings on purchases and my gut feelings are all positive.

My early Parliamentarian army is with my painter as I write, which is a good thing because my wife's Royalist army is beginning to arrive on the table. Over Christmas, the Memsahib has based her infantry up, and just yesterday inbetween meetings managed to base her dragoons:

 

It's taken me three incarnations of my own ECW army to come full circle to the early period army I originally disregarded, but it's the most colourful and indeed fun to use because it has such varied troop quality. I am not one for 'killer' armies as a rule as they become quickly boring to play with.

Friends mock my way of refining my armies - buy, paint, try, sell, until I am happy, but look at this way, I can afford it and someone somewhere gets another nice army if I decide the current form is not for me. What I cannot stand, is boxes of stuff hanging around doing sod all.  If it's not getting used, it's a waste of space, so why keep it, except for vanity?

I'm pretty certain that I'll not be doing much on the show circuit this year. Shows just don't offer anything I need, want or care for. Most of my wargaming friends, go to few shows now, and losing a day of leisure at the weekend isn't  worth the trade off of looking at games that don't inspire me, unpainted figures which I'll not buy and no bring and buys to find a nicely painted new army.

Well, time passes, and so I must away and strap myself to my desk for 8 hours. Hobbies don't pay for themselves you know...

TTFN