A Friend Passes, The Fantasy Collection Increases, And I Have a Rant About Plastic Figures And Piss Poor Publications

 Firstly a little sad news...

R.I.P Charles Cameron McWoof. The Mong, The Professor, The Last Of The McWoofs.

He was a Scottie X Shi Tzu, son of our first Scottie, Dogal D McWoof.

We had to have him euthanised yesterday at age 13 and a half.

A hard day, but it was his time and so although missed, we were prepared for his leaving.

There's a Charlie shaped silence here, but he is to be remembered with grins and not tears. We were prepared for the loss, but it's those hours of uncertainty that are worse, when you have to make the call on the continued existence of another living creature.

 

 

Now, our holiday continues, and yesterday, having managed to get some sleep of sorts, I took delivery of 4 elephants, from HCH Figures, and stuck Haradrim archers by Black Tree Designs in the Howdahs:

I'm more than pleased with them. They will add that 'third dimension' which lifts fantasy out from historical gaming, with larger models and magnificent beasts of war.

I also began to sort the 5 boxes I won at the auction a fortnight ago. First up were 6 units of 24 Uruk Hai, again by Blacktree Design. 

Next, I'll be starting to sort the Haradrim and Mordor Goblins. I'm basing them for the Satanic Panic Universal Rules System, AKA: 'Zapp! Thou Art Slain' which for infantry uses 6 figure groups for militia or poorly trained troops and 4 figure grouops for regulars or natural warriors. The Uruk Hai are of course well drilled and so are in groups of 4. I use WHFB single base dimensions so that they can be used with those rules too.

As you can see, they are stunningly painted models and just ooze character.

I also began work on 114 vintage Ral Partha wolves, sculpted by Tom Meier in the 70s and still some of the finest models a man or indeed however you identify these days (today, I identify as a man of nearly 55 who has only had his first coffee of the day) can own.

54 of them will have riders, the rest will be just plain old, furry, savage, growly bastards.

As I am on holiday until early September, I bought what looked to be that rarest of things, and interesting copy of Wargames Illustrated. 

However, once again, they attempt to re-write the hobby's narrative, by trying to imply that the old school gaming thing belongs to a select group of W.I-approved luminaries and that they are the setters of trends. 

Bollocks to that W.I.

Many gamers still use their 70s and 80s armies and don't do so out of any niche, Hipster, retro-fetish. My own fantasy collection is about 70% vintage and 30% modern figures. That's because I like those earlier models better (see above) than the modern tat being pedalled. 

In my opinion (others are available) the mag is really becoming an irrelevance in the hobby. Duncan MacFarlane brought us a thing of beauty, but like the fading Hollywood femme fatale, it's past it's prime and hanging on to a glorious but lost youth.

Generally these days, I find magazines about as much use as a paying for a whore at an orgy.

Now, for a bit of a rant...

In these days of having to get a permit to even break wind and then only if you can offset it by promising not to eat beef again, we seem to be ignoring the massive waste we create with plastic figures. 

All those sprues with unused and frankly unnecessary parts sit there in boxes or in my case, go straight in the bin, made from plastics which can be disposed of in three ways: landfill, incineration or recycling. 

OK, but surely the idea is to not create that problem in the first place?

Apart from making plastic goop for filling gaps, I can'y recycle the plastic myself. With metal figures, I can should I wish, just melt them down and make new models, or at least make ingots with some value. 

There are a few weirdoes, who have to make every figure in a collection different, but generally these are those ptiful individuals who call 30 figures an 'army'. 

The amount of variation you need for a regiment is minimal. Don't think so?

Then what in the name of Christ on a bike, are drill books for?

*Takes a deep breath and checks pulse*

However, even with minimal parts you can build units with a lot of variety and character as the old timers proved, time and time again.

This need for individual models is another symptom of a generational issue with having to have choice upon choice in everything.

For example, I bought 20 boxes of Gripping Beast plastics and about 300 metal figures from the same company.

Firstly, the metal figures came with round plastic bases, which being of no use to me, went straight in the bin. I paid for those (and GB are not cheap), so involuntarily paid for something useless. Then I opened the plastic sets. The plastic sets, came without bases - YAY!

I then opened 18 boxes of Oathmark figures and immediately threw away all those horrid, unwanted but still paid for, plastic bases.

Now that's a lot of wasted plastic and money.

Here's an idea... 

Produce well planned, simpler sets with bodies, heads, weapons and shields, say 6 of each. Even without posing variations you have 1296 variants available to you. For some that will equate to over 40 armies...

Make bases an optional purchase. Less pieces will mean you can get more figures in a box if sprued correctly. 

Plastic prices are increasing and so one of the original claims in favour of plastic models is becoming irrelevant as the price gap between metal and plastic (apart from those fucking companies who let's be honest are robbing us blind, mainly because people no longer buy armies. - See the cycle here?) figures narrows.

At some point, sales will plateau, and when it does, we'll see the manufacturers increase their prices again as they scramble to keep sales figures up. It's time that some in the industry took the step - a big one admittedly - of charging reasonable prices, and being honest about doing so. 

But that probably won't happen because most of the big names are bezzie mates and are effectively rigging the market. The buyers of this drug in miniature form are not helping things because they will pay whatever it takes to get their fix.

Personally, I cannot think of the last time I paid the ticket price for a miniature, with the exception of Gripping Beast metals. I guess it was some time in the mid 1980s...

Right, if you will excuse me, I have to go and get ready foir a day out and hopefully an interesting lunch with the memsahib.

TTFN