Sorry, I haven't updated for a couple of weeks. I've been busy with real life stuff. Last weekend was our church weekend away - 260 of us taking over an entire hotel in the Lake District for the weekend meant that, as churchwarden, I had a fair bit to do. The weekend was a roaring success, but coupled with a lot of meetings afterwards, I think I overdid it, and haven't felt very well since about Wednesday (when my last meeting was). Anyway, enough of that, and onto wargaming.
On my workbench are a couple of Victrix Peninsular British colonels, which I'm painting up, slowly, as a means of deciding whether (a) I really want to do the Peninsular War in 28mm and (b) whether 'The Dip' will work well enough for Napoleonics. A 'yes' answer is required to both questions if I am to proceed. Napoleonics is a return to my childhood, as well as my earlier wargaming career - I greatly enjoyed making 54mm Napoleonic figures, starting with the Airfix 10th Hussar, and progressing to others in the series, and then various Historex models. Airfix's 'H0/00' Napoleonic figures were some of the earliest I used for 'proper' wargaming, later supplemented, and then replaced by, Hinchliffe Models. And then, in the late '80s, I built up corps-sized French and Anglo-Portuguese armies in 6mm, using Irregular Miniatures, and played many a memorable game.
I also find myself thinking hard about the idea of a gladiator game... I'm sure I can do better than Warhammer Historical's Gladiator. It's a very 'pretty' book, but the rules, being based on LotR, don't exactly 'scratch my itch' - they're far too simple, and don't excite me at all. I want a game with rather more detail - including 'realistic' injuries (I suppose I am bloodthirsty - perhaps I ought to have been a Roman!) and reasonably realistic recovery from said injuries.
21 Jan 2012 - Update! I've just 'dipped' the two colonels. They looked rather 'grubby' until I took a brush dampened with white spirit and 'dry-brushed' the white areas (breeches, belts, turnbacks, gloves, plume) to 'clean up' the white. They look as if they're going to look pretty good when they're finished. I was quite surprised how few shades of colour I used while painting them - only fourteen. That compares very favourably with a Roman legionary which will typically have thirty shades of colour - and they aren't the most complicated of the 'ancients' figures I paint. They were a fiddle though - all the lace, buttons, etc, are slow to paint. I expect I'll get quicker. So far, it looks as though this project may be a 'goer'.