First painted figures of the year

It's been a while coming but a recent surge in motivation aided and abetted by the new magnifying lamp has seen a few new troops ready to hit the table.

8 velites from Miniature Wars, and from the Xyston Greek pile 16 skirmishers, 12 light cavalry, 27 heavy cavalry and a general. There are also some Xyston Spartan cavalry with hamippoi in frame, but I am not counting those. They were painted last year - it's just taken me six months to flock the bases!

Next on the list is more hoplites. After that it will likely be either Persians or the remainder of my Successor pike. 

But I do have large piles of Crusaders and Saracens and Hundred Years War English and French which could make a change of direction. We shall see!

Painting spree: Crusaders and Thebans

With 2016 winding down there has been a flurry of hobby room activity as I frantically try to improve my painting total for the year.

Crusaders of the Miniature Wars range from Italy:

Easy to prep and nice to paint. Spears were a little spindly, but life's too short to bother replacing them with wire (MMV, of course).

Xyston Thebans:

A bit of a mission to prep, and I had real painter's block with these. It was the shields that were the problem; I just couldn't paint a satisfactory club for love or money. In the end, I decided to mix symbols and just get them painted. A few snakes, a few goblets, a few minotaurs, some clubs that were less atrocious than others, a few plain coloured, and there they are. I'm not very happy with them but a bit of flock and a game or two and I'm sure they'll grow on me.

WIP

It's been some time between painting posts, but with the New Year break approaching a light has appeared at the end of the work tunnel and instead of the grim struggle to get through each day, week and month dominating one's thought, there is a daily-strengthening interior voice that goes something like 'oh, good, game day is approaching!'

To that end, I've been clearing up a few odds and ends.

I tried to clear up about a hundred Celts, but that turned out to be beating a fragile head against a plaid wall, and I thought, to paraphrase Robert Plant, 'little Gauls, I'm gonna have to put you down for a while.'

Thankfully, there were a few Miniature Wars (ex-Strategia-e-Tattica) Crusaders in one of the primed boxes to get to grips with. These will do double duty as Normans (I know, a little dubious, but I don't have any other figures that can pass for Norman foot).

Another night or two should see them finished, and the painting tally may end up being added to before the year is done after all.

Shots of Sentinum

I was looking through the camera today and found some shots from a solo game of Sentinum I played in January.  It's a slow news day, so why not post some?

Game was, naturally, Lost Battles.

15mm Minifigs here, with command stands from Magister Militum.

Mix of Lancashire, Magister Militum, Old Glory, Tin Soldier and Xyston for the Samnite and Gallic foot

Miniatures Wars (from Strategia Nova) Romans, Miniatures Wars and Old Glory Samnites.

Old Glory Chariots, Xyston Gallic horse, Magister Militum Romans. 

I think we can see who won this!

Some notes on the whiteboard...