New boardgames

A very interesting and quick playing Waterloo simulation arrived in the mail the other day. This is from an outfit in Finland, U&P Games, and comes highly recommended by Phil Sabin. Besides looking rather pretty, the game ships to Japan for a very reasonable price. 

(Edit, see here for a review of the game by Steven M on his blog).

And while we're talking boardgames, I've just finished prepping a solitaire print-and-play game called "Roman Conqueror" from Berserker Games. It took quite a while to do; I put the counters (and there is a decent number!) onto the cardboard I use for my miniatures bases. Next time I think I'll follow the designer's instructions instead of trying to produce materials fit to survive a nuclear war!

Anyway, more on these in due course.

A host of Romans

...and the painting is finally done. 16 units of 18 - with a few other bits and pieces as well - just waiting to have bases flocked. There aren't many better feelings in wargaming then getting an army off the painting trays!

Right, time to sit down with a beer and listen to a spot of cricket...

Home stretch.

Now doing the final touch ups for my second army of RCW Romans. Last batch of figures (37 Donningtons) has been painted using the super quick brown undercoat method, and it's just a case of checking belts, scabbards, plumes, helmet cheek guards, and other bits and pieces and making sure that the various paint jobs match OK.

I say "just", but it's still taken three or four hours work!

Next post should be one of relief that it's finally over!

A nice little something in the mail...

Had a couple of packages arrive today. One from Simon Miller (and brilliant it is, too):

And another from Donnington miniatures:

Looks like I'll be able to get those RCW Romans done after all!

Waterloo

Have a day off today so decided to set up Waterloo using SPI's Napoleon's Last Battles.

Camel cataphracts done.

Well, after my little armour disaster (and subsequent repaint) the camel cataphracts are finished. These figures are Essex 15mm and something else (Tabletop?) that all came in a TMP deal, and I thought I would get these done as generic 'heavy camelry' types (+ their scout...) for, perhaps, Commands & Colors: Ancients, or To The Strongest! scenarios. I think these are actually Sassanids or Parthians, but as far as I'm concerned (or until I take the time to read something on the subject!), a camel is a camel and I'll use them as whoever.

These were a little fiddly to paint because I couldn't get the thin Essex bases to sit firmly on either two-sided tape or blu tack and had to keep picking them up individually. Next time I do Essex mounted I think I'll just glue the damned things down to avoid this problem!

Anyway, good to have something more done, and for all my muttering I do actually like the figures, too.

Stuffing up cataphract armour since 2006...

Well, I've done it again: gone and stuffed up painting cataphracts! You'd think I would have learned by now not to try anything fancy, but I did, and it looked like rubbish, so I'm having to redo part of the armour.

Next time I hope I will remember: dark iron, dry brush with silver and then leave it alone, for goodness' sake!