Well the first three months is almost up, and to date all I've managed are a measly three games. One large, involving a lot of reading and preparation (Hohenfriedberg) and two, small, repeated games (Hubbardton) which involved much less preparation. On the plus side, I did manage to paint six more units of AWI infantry, and read a few books.
On the to do list are the long-undercoated AWI light dragoons, Sturmi and T34s, and, the even longer waiting, castle for the long-postponed ECW siege campaign. * Technically the model I have for the Sturmi is a Sturmgeschütz IV, but I can't find any IIIs in 10mm size.
The castle still needs some pieces painting, and I need to make some towers. I'm planning on round towers. Then the whole thing will need a base to fit it to semi-permanently. By the time that's finished, I'll be lucky if I can kick the campaign off a year after I first wrote about it.
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| Nagging at the conscience |
Another unfulfilled plan is to build a French army for the WAS/SYW period. Currently this is waiting for Heroics and Ros to put their SYW range back into production. I'm thinking of building this up in three stages, getting larger each time:
- Rossbach (some of my Prussians and Austrians will stand in for the Reichsarmee);
- Fontenoy (probably along with British and Hanoverians - I'll use proxies for the Dutch); and
- Minden (hopefully stage 2 will give me enough Anglo-Hanoverians, and for the other Germans I will use Prussians as proxies).
This plan will also allow me to pit French and Austrians against each other in Bohemia, along the Danube and in Italy, as well as various scenarios involving His Britannic Majesty's Army/the Pragmatic Army.
Away from wargaming I set out at the beginning of the year to recover the fitness levels I'd achieved during the first lockdown. I had put on the 10kg I'd lost in the 3 months to September 2020 by September 2021. This time round I thought I'd try a longer term strategy. Go for a slower weight loss (say take a year to lose the same amount) on the theory that if I do it slowly I'm more likely to keep to that level of eating. Well so far I have fallen well short of the 800g a month, having lost only 600g in three months. Hmm. Must try harder.
If I've fallen short of the target on the input side, I've done better on the output side of the equation. I had a rough idea of swimming 20km and walking 50km a month and by 29th March I'd clocked up over 60km in the pool and 163km on Shanks' Pony. This is particularly pleasing as I had a week's layoff in March with the lurgy. With a couple more days I should rack up another 3.6km swimming. Now I hope to spread this self-discipline to the food side.
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| An excess of managerialism |
So overall, some failures but some success to build on. Eteenpäin!
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| Another misidentified German vehicle. From a distance I thought it was a Messerschmidt.....which reminds me of the old Stan Boardman joke https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8Yf5B6GbYk |
Your plan to field a WAS/SYW army sounds great to me. I started a similar project for 2022 but in 18mm.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see you picking up the exercise regimen. I find that as I age, putting weight on is much, much easier than taking it off.
I never had a problem for my first thirty years. Then the weight has slowly gone on over the next 3 decades. The real target is to go down two belt holes but you can’t measure small increments easily.
DeleteSeems to be an above average quarter in terms of overall achievement, so well done on that! The car reminds me of one (or possibly two) a mate and his elder brother had in the early Seventies - although I thought they were Italian,,,,possibly a similar thing by a different manufacturer? Had this look though, three wheels and the whole front of the thing was the door and swung open to allow access
ReplyDeleteCheers Keith.
DeleteWe used to call them ‘bubble cars’. The one I snapped looked particularly neat.
Thanks for the Q1 update. I think a lot of us seemed to have put weight on again over the Winter; I know I have and am trying to shed a few pounds too. Ditto upping the exercise after a long and very wet Winter here in Bristol.
ReplyDeletePendraken do a variety of Stug III's, so hopefully you can find something there to fit your needs.
As for the Messerschmitt car, I used to see one when I worked in Fulham in the 1980's. Looked great but would never want to drive one!
Bubble car - I think it may be an Isetta, which were made by BMW - Italian designed (ISO) but built under licence all over the place. Big snag is that if someone parks tight up in front of the car, you either get in through the sunroof or get someone help you lift it back a couple of feet. A sort of downmarket version of the problem with the gull-wing doors on the 1950s Mercedes 300SL, which didn't open if someone parked on each side. Anyway, nice photo.
DeleteJust shows what an idiot I am when it comes to AFVs Steve. My model IS a Stug III (Ausf. G). I think I had it in my head I needed a Stug IV but ordered what they had, and in my confusion I thought I had the wrong thing, when all along it is what I wanted. I think. 🤔
DeleteI should stick to eras without motorised transport….but I will still probably get confused by horse types.
Three games and a good lot of painting ain't bad at all! And the castle looks impressive, as do your swimming/walking distance graphs. I look forward to your take on Fontenoy..
ReplyDeleteYes, that looks like a BMW Isetta, one of which was my parents' first car - and in which the newly-arrived me was brought home from the hospital. Given that I was not the first child, I do wonder how the family all squeezed in! The advantage was that you could drive them on a motorcycle license, and I assume the tax was lower - the reverse gear was supposed to be disabled, but an easy (albeit strictly illegal) DIY modification got around that!
Interesting stuff about the Isetta. Never knew that about the reverse gear.
DeleteDid they stick you in a box on the rack at the back?
Yep, it’s an Isetta (bubble car), a German-Italian concoction. Like WW2. I had a Corgi model of one.
ReplyDeleteAll looks positive for you - I would rate your Q1 progress as successful! Must say, I’m keeping an eye on H&R too. Although I’m pinning myself to 25mm, I’ve got a backup in mind of using H&R for 19th century stuff (like 1866).
I see the FPW range is also still not available. Shame because I much prefer them to Irregular’s 6mm range.
DeleteI bet FPW would look great in 6mm.
A year from initiating to something looking like completion is a win in my book! Definitely tougher shifting weight as we age I'm in total agreement, I like the bubble car ,was that in Richmond?
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
I won’t have completed the campaign within a year. Just started it within a year. Hopefully.
DeleteAh no, the car was spotted near our local shops (‘the Triangle’) which is on the border badlands of Kingston and New Malden. The car’s not been spotted again so maybe a band of Reivers stole it away with a Fair Maid. I would not like to say whether it was the KT1 mob or the KT3 lot. I’ve lived on both sides of the border so have to be careful.
You’re being too tough on yourself matey. It’s all good. Hope Duo’s not nagging you too much. Gotta keep building that streak!
ReplyDeleteAs luck would have it I’ve dropped off Duo the last three days.
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