Two months' labour (of love)

The absence of a major project for next year's show circuit has certainly not seen me switching off the paintbrush or evicting the muse, but has seen me doing something slightly different.

For the past several years, I have painted almost nothing except 28mm figures, anything from Dark Ages (SAGA) to late 17th Century (my stalled "1690" stuff), with mostly Medievals in between, and mostly with next year's show game firmly in mind. The few other things have included Mad Mullah Chapman's Turbaned Terrors (20mm Afghan insurgents) and some 15mm 2nd SS Panzer Division.

That was until now.

I bought two 10mm fantasy armies from Pendraken at the Derby Show last October, largely on that whim that grips me whenever I go to a show or see something new (magpie, me???), and in the esteemed hope that I would indeed see this one through. Well, I have seen this one through (almost...), by not only painting all the original figures I bought for my chosen Goblins and High Elves, but most of the extras I bought in April to fill things out a bit! I am averaging at least a couple of units painted a week, which is light-speed in my book!!! I approached the project with a little trepidation though, as I was simply unsure how I would paint figures so much smaller than the norm. Would I enjoy it? Would I be trapped in trying to do everything my 28mm way? Would I like or want the end result?

I am not one of those wargamers who are fantasy-averse, nor one who only ever buys metal figures, plays Napoleonics exclusively or only collects 15mm offerings, etc. I thought I had become a confirmed 28mm man, though, given my recent buying and painting history of the past five years or so, but life is getting in the way...

I'll explain.

1) 28mm figures are not cheap and I like lots of figures in the main rather than skirmishes, though will happily play those too.
2) 28mm figures take up a lot of time to paint, a lot of space to store and a lot of tabletop to have in the average British dwelling.
3) My eclectic tastes would see me firstly bankrupt, secondly divorced and thirdly deceased long before I ever got around to doing all the stuff I would want to do.

In light of all this, 28mm is a nice to have, though I am still committed to getting some French Wars of Religion figures done for 2019 (400th anniversary of Moncontour, Jarnac, etc) and to eventually finishing my "1690" project. I seriously doubt my Ancient Indians will ever be matched by some Macedonians/ Successors (though I have the figures), whether my Celts will ever see the light of day (though I have the figures), whether my Pacific WW2 forces will ever be done (though I...yeah, you guessed).
The way forwards for me has to lie in smaller scales in the main, however, simply for cost and storage issues if nothing else.

I expect future, big projects to be in smaller scales than 28mm.

Still, I do have an on-going quandary with these small figures, especially when multi-based, though it will be a no-brainer to those more versed in their completion. That quandary is around texturing their bases. I usually use textured paint rather than sand and glue, but either way, I need to work out my technique for completing these bases. Then I can play some games and decide if I like the rules! This basing quandary is a "biggie" for me, as I like basing marginally more than I like varnishing, and that and preparation are my absolutely least favourite things to do with a wargames figure.

And there's still the 7 Years' War in India, 1859/ 66, Eastern Front, Great Northern War...

Here are some samples to date.

G

"One rules set to rule them all, One rules set to find them, One rules set to bring them all and in the darkness bind them..."

Some trolls. I like trolls. As anyone who has ever fought my old, 28mm Orc army, you can have lots of fun with trolls. Well, your opponent can, when they wander off in a daze, not knowing why they are where they are or what they should be doing, whilst the rest of your Orc army is ground into the dust or shot down by silly Elves with uber-accurate bows...

Mirkwood's finest. I actually plan to get some of these for Lord of The Rings and similar 28mm fantasy games. They are about 30mm across which would be 6 feet in GW-scale! That's a Giant Spider in my book, if not exactly the fully-fledged Shelob!

The Goblin command group. They are all shaded and highlighted, just like my 28mm's, and still easy to do despite the small size. I like the aesthetic, so I will persist!