Goodbye 2016, Hello 2017...

Time once again for a What Was vs. What Might Be post. I quite enjoy reading other people's efforts in this regard and hopefully anyone who wanders past here today enjoys mine too...

So here's the obligatory annual round-up of:

1. What I planned to do
2. What I actually did
3. What I didn't do

Just for once it seems parts 1 and 2 coincided. Hold on to your hats!

Finish the WFB Savage Orcs
Done and dusted! I managed to knock this one off quite early on in the piece, thanks in no small part to last year's Painting Challenge. I even managed to get an army gallery up on the blog as proof.

Finish the 40K Space Marines

Another one nailed! I added a couple of bits and pieces to the outstanding pile to boot including a bashed about Land Raider which took some repair work but now looks the business. These guys also received the army gallery treatment.

Finish the Epic Squats

Phew! I only just managed to squeeze this one in (i.e. two days ago!) but that still counts. The paint is barely dry on the last few miniatures and the army gallery will be along in the future as documentary evidence. It'll be a big one - I have nearly 9000 points worth! In the meantime here's the land train...

Finish ALL the remaining Flames of War

Done! The last couple of items have just been completed and submitted to the Challenge blog. That's the very definition of cutting it close but I made it! The biggest part of this was all the outstanding DAK infantry, support weapons and artillery.

Finish my extra Dystopian Wars Britannian ships

Another winner for dinner. Yet to get an navy gallery but finished none-the-less. I made a rod for my own back by picking up a load more of this stuff for a sing at CANCON but still managed to smash these out and finish off everything needing painting. I didn't much like the original aircraft carrier prior to painting but I'm a big fan now...

So that'a ALL FIVE major goals knocked off. I'm still pinching myself about that and wondering where on earth I found the time and focus to make it happen. If only every year was like that!

Side Projects
There was also a list of side projects in case I got bored with the above:

• Orc Skirmish Warband
• Frostgrave Warband
• 40K Imperial Guard (Cadians)
• Finish off the Necromunda collection (Delaque, Ratskins, Pit Slaves, Chaos Cultists, etc.)
• 28mm French and Austrian Napoleonic skirmish
• 15mm French Napoleonics
• Runequest army for To the Strongest
• Continue the Imagination project

Of all these only the Imagination project really got a guernsey which is hardly surprising considering. At least I did manage a good effort in that regard...

At least some of the other stuff is slated for this year's Painting Challenge so that'll put a further dent in the list.

Other work...

Lists aside, I managed to build and/or paint a fair bit of other stuff too when the "distractibility index" reached the high end of the scale.

Games & Peeps...

We had out first Antipodean Bloggers Meet-up which was great fun. If you can make it this year we'd love to see you there!

In between all the painting and modelling I happily managed to get in some cracking games with some wonderful mates. Pick of the pile was ECW with Paul and Alan...

Awwww..... Sad face!

...and Imaginations with Evan...

Awwww... Sad dice!

Plus there was plenty more with all the other C&G lads including some smashing WFB Sunday arvo games with Russ, fingernail chewing Flames of War with Cory, bloodthirsty SAGA with Nug and cracking 40K with Marcus. Thanks lads!

All up not a bad 2016. Hope yours was just a good...

Glorious Plan Millsy 2017

So what about 2017 then? This is a bit up in the air at the moment, largely because 2016 was such a raging success projects-wise. I hadn't anticipated being in a position where I have nothing major locked in. This isn't to say the lead pile is manageable (or even properly documented!) but it does leave me with options...

Warhammer Fantasy Empire

These guys have continued to amass through 2016 and I'm keen to make a start. Still thinking about colour schemes and snaffling up odd items so that might not happen but you never know.

Something new???

I've got 3-4 potential new projects rattling around in my head which have been on hold while I whipped myself to finish other ones. I might just let myself off the leash a bit this year and hook into one of these....

• Bolt Action Kokoda Trail in 28mm
• 55 Days at Peking in either 28mm or 15mm
• 6mm or 2mm pike and musket, probably ECW

So that's it for another annual wrap. Before I go there's just time to wish you a Happy New Year from Evan, myself and all the C&G lads! Thanks for popping by. We'll see you in 2017.

Cheers,

Millsy

Off and running in Painting Challenge VII

So with about a week of hols under my belt (to say nothing of my own body weight in Christmas munchies) I've made a modest start in this year's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.

My first post was something of a pick-n-mix of stuff to round out various projects...

There's more pics and some background on the Challenge blog.

Cheers,
Millsy

Merry Christmas!

It's been something of a tumultuous year here at Chez Millsy but one thing has remained constant - my enjoyment of my gaming hobby. The reason for that is quite simple. I have a wonderful set of intelligent, witty and caring gaming buddies both here in Australia and also around the world. You guys help keep me sane and made the more unpleasant aspects of 2016 seem a lot less overwhelming.

So from Evan, myself and all our the boys here at Canister & Grape a very Merry Christmas! We hope you have a safe and enjoyable time and that you perhaps find a new toy or two under the tree tomorrow morning.

Cheers,

Millsy

CANCON 2017 Aussie Wargame Bloggers Meet-up

After the success of last year's inaugural CANCON Aussie Wargame Bloggers Meet-up we'll be going around again this year. Kiwis (and even "Northern Folk") are welcome too cause we should always play nice and be neighbourly.... :-)

Here's what's on offer for Saturday 28th January 2017:

• 1:00pm - Initial meet-up in the Board Games section in the Northern Hall at CANCON to say g'day, check out respective loot bags and plan for any shared afternoon shenanigans. 
• 6:00pm(ish) - Pub dinner and extended tall story session.

After last year's demands for a SAGA campaign book resulted in it being delivered just a few months later surely we can achieve something even bigger in 2017. Thinking caps on people!

If you're an Aussie blogger feel free to pinch any and all of this post to spread the word.

Hope to see you there!

Cheers,
Millsy

Heroic Fighters of the Known World, Part the Second

Back in July this year I posted about how I'd managed to get my sweaty little grippers on a complete set of Heroic Fighters of the Known World. I was most pleased about this (to say the least!) and waxed lyrical at some length...

Today I finished painting four of the set of eight miniatures. I wanted to get these done before the Challenge kicked off as they're not something I want to rush. Here's how they appeared in the Citadel box art of the time.

And here's how mine look now they're got a new coat of paint. I had intended to take individual pics but it started to rain and I was lucky to get these groups shots in. Left to right we have Lord Aquila, The Moon Duke, Manfred and Ulrik Ulrikson.

At the time I acquired them I had intended to paint them exactly as they appeared in the box art. For some reason I became increasingly dissatisfied with that decision and in the end went my own path in varying degrees, keeping some elements and adding my own spin on others. I'm quite comfortable with the final paint job and won't be second guessing myself so all good.

There's no way I'm going to finish the other four members of the team before the Challenge kicks off so I'll have to see whether I'm inclined to spend time on them during or afterward. More on that when it happens.

Cheers,
Millsy

Classic Wargames Books Collection continues to grow...

Most of the time my insomnia drives me bonkers. There's a good reason sleep deprivation is considered a form of torture and an effective one at that. Just occasionally though it works in my favour, like this morning when I managed to find the mother of all fleaBay auctions to add to my Classic Wargames Book Collection.

Check this out... six titles from the Knight's Battles for Wargamers series in great condition and all in one auction. I've already got a copy of Saratoga 1777 but it's not in the best nick so happy to replace with the copy here AND add another five titles.

I also managed to find a copy of Dettingen 1743 in reasonable condition, leaving just Oudenarde 1708 and Minden 1759 left to complete the series. If you have either of these last two and would be willing to part with the please let me know via the contact form or by email if you have it.

For those interested in some background on the series the Lone Warrior blog has a well written and informative review written by Rob Morgan.

Recent acquisitions plus the six additional titles found today will boost the collection total to 83 books. There's currently another 39 on the wishlist, some of which are inordinately hard to find so patience (and perhaps more insomnia) will be required to assist in finding the remaining missing titles.

Edit: I've created a new page with my wishlist on it for those who are willing to sell or trade things I don't already have. Thanks Jonathan for kicking me into gear, I've been meaning to do that for ages...

Cheers,
Millsy

2016-17 Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge thoughts...

Despite Curt not formally announcing anything as yet there's a definite buzz starting to build across the gaming blogosphere as the 2016-17 instalment of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge draws closer.

I'm going to participate once again in what will be my fifth consecutive effort. This evening I've been faffing about NOT doing any prep and instead having a bit of fun looking at past efforts. In order to keep Miles happy I've conducted a little statistical analysis of the previous four years...

Lies, damned lies and statistics...

Each year I've tried to challenge myself in a different way, shifting my focus from one area to another. Last year I really hammered the bonus rounds, racking up a total of 906 points from those along the way and gaining a podium finish in every single round. This year I'm going to cherry pick just 2-3 bonus rounds I think and try and find some other area to dive into. Not sure what that will be at this point though.

So tomorrow I'll start prepping in anger and at the same time try to clear a few half finished projects lurking about as well. I find it a good incentive to be able to start with a clean workbench so I need to get my finger out to make sure that's the case before kick-off.

Cheers,
Millsy

Paint Table Saturday

It's been a while since I've done one of these but that's largely due to the fact I seem to have a lot of stuff only just started on a Saturday afternoon and consequently not much for show and tell.

Today, however, I finished a unit of 18thC hussars for my imaginations project. Evan and I have a game coming up next weekend and these chaps will be making their debut in the service of Herzog Mikhail Johann von Hollerenschaut IV of Saxe-Coburn und Buchholz.

And so ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the just finished and yet to be based CR Nr. V, von Leightfynggar's Hussars!

These are Front Rank miniatures from their 18thC Austrian line. Lovely miniatures but for some reason they gave me the very devil of a time to paint. Not sure why but they are done now so no matter. I have another unit to do which will be predominantly blue but given how frustrating these were I suspect they will be a while making their way onto the workbench.

With the hussars out of the way I've started work on an artillery regiment, AR Nr. 1, von Fuse-leighter's Battery, once again Front Rank Austrians. They will have scarlet facings and despite the fact the gun carriages look black they are in fact base coated in a dark green.

In other game related news I managed to at last pick up a unit of Warhammer Fantasy Grave Guards for my Army of the Lichemaster project.

I've been after these for a solid 2+ years but until now have not managed to find a complete unit at a decent price. I'm more than a little chuffed to finally get my mits on these.

I've also managed to pick up the last two Alan Perry sculpted chaos hounds (undead and scorpion tail) from this set:

These will soon join their friends who I painted earlier this year in the painting challenge...

Picking up a couple of hounds seems somehow poetic as we lost our last four legged canine friend yesterday. Hardy, our beautiful lab/kelpie cross, has been with us for something like 14 years but hasn't been himself for a few months now since his little life partner Minnie passed on. It seems losing his constant companion exacerbated his ageing and various ailments. In the end we decided we had to do the right thing for him and let him go no matter what we wanted.

Both of them were rescues (like all our pets) and it's a little easier knowing they had a wonderful life full of love and companionship instead of the alternative. We think Hardy had been mistreated before he came to us but he soon shook that off and the real Hardy came out, full of energy, quick as lightning and as gentle as you could wish for. Here's Hardy and Minnie together in much happier times...

Who, me? No, I'm fine here thanks. You can go outside and I'll just stay here...

Stackable dogs, the ultimate in space saving inventions!

And finally, here's how he looked the day we brought him home. Completely irresistible I think you'll agree...

See you later mate and thanks for the memories :-)

Cheers,
Millsy

NOT Paint Table Saturday

There are times when it's a good thing to acknowledge the parts of you that are ordinarily kept locked in a dark cupboard where they cannot distract you from functioning in the real world. *

This afternoon I did exactly that. For about 4.5 hours. Apparently.

By way of explanation let me write a short piece of pseudo-math so you understand...

Still not clear? OK, let me spell it out. I was updating my wargame book collection to account for some new arrivals and noticed one of the cover images was pretty ordinary. Colours were off, the pic was blurry, ragged edges, etc. etc. Clearly that wouldn't do so I fixed it.

Then I thought I'd better check the cover next to that one. Guess what? Rubbish! OK, that's fixed now. You can guess where this is going...

Anyway, safe to say I've not painted anything I was intending to paint. But at least IT can be put back in the cupboard for a while now and I can go back to playing nice with the general public. Mostly.

* Well that's my excuse anyway.

Cheers,
Millsy

Imagination infantry regiments completed

This morning I finished painting two new 24 man regiments for Evan's imaginations army from the fictitious country of Velikye Byelgorodniya.

The first of these is the Kholodniyy Borscht infantry regiment in their glorious beetroot red jackets. Their regimental colour reflects their beetroot-centric theme as well...

The second unit is the Kapusta Zemlya infantry regiment, famous for their duck-egg green jackets (or should that be cabbage green jackets)?

The miniatures are all wonderful Front Rank stuff from their Seven Years War range. I really enjoy painting them which is probably a good thing as I have close to another 150 in boxes to do (and that's just the infantry!)

On the painting table at the moment to follow these will be a small unit of hussars for my army along with some foot artillery. If you are interested in our imagination project you can visit the blog which contains background info, maps, and our desperate attempts at humour.

Thanks for popping by!

Cheers,

Millsy