Reinforcements / Mission Creep

I was making good progress with the list of wargaming jobs around Easter time. Here's where I'd got to a week or so ago.

1. Finish ECW 'clubmen'. Just 'texturing the bases and a bit of touching up of paint. Complete
2. Texture ECW casualty marker bases. Complete
3. Finish ECW musketeers. Probably at least a regiment's worth. Maybe have as firelocks? Complete
4. Finish ECW command figures. A few to paint and texture bases. Complete
5. Finish ECW odds and sods, e.g. limbers. Limbers and horse teams done.
6. Paint bridges. Complete
7. Finish AWI. Quite a few Brits done but no Yanks. Brits need cleaning up too.
8. WWII Finns and Russians (10mm) - lots of infantry and AFVs. Painted sufficient infantry for a decent game
9. Touch up and base 6mm siege train, pontoons and transport. 
10. Paint and base 6mm cattle/bullocks - Baccus, bought with my Naps. Too big for my SYW (H&R and Irregular).
11. Base Leven hedges so they don't keep falling over. 
12. Finish 6mm gabions. Complete - for now, i.e. I had enough for Kunersdorf.

I ordered some more bases (30x30mm) from Pendraken that I needed for the WWII infantry and these would also come in handy for my ECW horse. Of course along with the bases I had to get some more cavalry and I needed some pikemen so I had more balance with my musketeers. While I was at it I thought I may as well get those labourers and petardiers I've been thinking about. And I'd have to get some more foot command figures. Those pikemen would go together with the already completed musketeers to make up more units. These units obviously must have command stands. As there are more figures in a command pack than I need, some can go towards the crews for the guns that I have that don't have crew for, and others can adorn generals' bases. Ditto some of the labourers - I can place some of those piles of shot I got a couple of years back into the wheelbarrows. All very useful. The guns I mentioned are actually ships guns from Irregular's 10mm pirates range, acquired for defending towns.

Ah yes, the towns to be defended. I have some buildings. Some fieldworks which do for temporary defences for places that didn't have walls. Walls. That's what I'm missing. Or rather was until the Leven order arrived.

Just a few pieces to start with to try them out for size. 1 Scale Down. Could almost be used unpainted. I'll need to make some thingamajigs to stand the foot bases on, au Foy. I plan to add some earthen bastions. I have a couple of 3mm scale bastions from Magister Militum which I'm adapting with ramparts made from 'green stuff'. Photo taken in my temporary office, aka the dining room, which also doubles up (triples up?) as the war Room.

The WWII chaps have been based and the bases textured and base coated. I just need to 'dress' them with small stones, scatter material (suitably dark for forest undergrowth) and some twigs. I'll be very sparing with my usual 'grass flock'.

And I've made a start on the new ECW foot and horse. Plenty of pikemen in there. Enough for two and a half units. Oh and those horsemen at the back on the left are mounted officers which I use as generals and 'messengers', which I had a desperate shortage of. I nearly forgot to mention them. The ones wielding swords have had their arms bent into different positions so I have a bit of variety.

The horse are Scots. Not necessarily my first foray into the Covenenters and co. They were purchased for a bit of variety in the hat department. However, I couldn't resist painting several of the horses as greys in a nod to the 2nd (Royal North British) Dragoons.

The eagle-eyed observer will have noticed the books in the photo with the walls. I've been meaning to get In Deo Veritas, Helion's new 17th century rules and when I saw they were selling them for £5 less last weekend I dived at the chance. Early impressions are that they look good.

And the second book? That really does have the potential for mission creep. I actually ordered the sister volume (i.e. Part I: the Infantry) because it was cheap* (<£8 with postage from Military & Naval). However, when I opened the package on Friday I saw they'd sent Part II despite Part I being on the delivery note. I've asked them if I can keep Part 2 for the same price and I'd still like to buy Part I. 

* I'm like Mrs Smoker in the Monty Python 'piston engine' sketch.

The main war that I can think of that this book covers is the War of the Austrian Succession. This is not too far from SYW, but hitherto I've been gaming Austrians and Prussians (with the occasional appearance by the Russians). No definite decisions have been made yet. Not by any means If I were do build up a Dutch army then I'd have to do the French as well (who would be used for SYW). And maybe the Rosbifs too. What was it about acquiring an empire in a fit of absence of mind?

All of this whilst I've got vague plans for a venture into Colonial wargaming. But what exactly? The Sikh Wars have long appealed. Or maybe the Indian Insurrection (not sure what we call the Mutiny these days). NW Frontier has an appeal too, but scarlet or khaki era? A couple of weeks back I watched Khartoum, which naturally got me thinking about the Sudan (but 1880s or 90s?).

Post Script
Part I of the Dutch army in the 18th century book is on the way. thanks to those good people at Military and Naval. So more temptation. Get thee behind me Satan.