Before you are put off by the title, this will be a Brexit, Trump, Sport and Dead Rock Star free zone, which I suspect will make it unique amongst reviews of the year. Mind you, there is a danger that it will read like one of those round robins that you sometimes get in Christmas Cards. I just thought that it would be worth reflecting on what I have achieved this year in my Hobby and perhaps it will help anybody reading this to reflect on their own achievments. I do find that writing a blog helps to keep me on track with my hobby and whenever I am feeling jaded, the thought of writing the blog spurs me on. I must enjoy it – I have written 48 blog entries so far this year, so I should hit 50 by the end of the year.
Napoleon & his Guard
Strangely, for me, I started the year with a French Napoleonic subject, Napoleons Coach. I have no intention of ever painting a Napoleonic French Army, but this model from Warlord Games caught my eye. I think that the figures are beautifully sculpted and the piece makes a nice addition to my display Cabinet! I like making these mini diorama pieces and I hope that in the coming year, I will spend a bit more time on this sort of project. I already have my eye on my next display piece, the new Napoleonic boat from Perry Miniatures:
The latest from Perry Miniatures!
Talking of Perry Miniatures, my next project was the Perry’s British Napoleonic Dragoons boxed set. I completed these as the British 11th Light Dragoons for my Waterloo army.
11th Light Dragoons
Looking to the future, I hope to finish two other regiments to complete the brigade but I suspect they are on the distant horizon..
February saw slow progress as regards painting but our Wargaming group did stage a ‘mega battle’, the Retreat From Bitteburg. These battles are an opportunity to put all of our ‘toys’ on the table and fight for a full day rather than the usual club evening battle that we conduct. The battle ended in a French Victory and inspired me to try and put together a campaign for the club. It didn’t quite work out but I haven’t yet abandoned the idea.
The Scots Greys prepare to charge
In March, I completed yet another British Napoleonic Infantry battalion, the 32nd Foot. The intention is to build the 5th Infantry Division, with the 28th North Gloucester and the 79th Camerons.
First Battalion 32nd Regiment ‘Cornwall’ ready for duty!
I have actually started the 28th but they will feature in a future blog!
And so into April, which despite being a busy month with us attending Salute in London, I put together a small Vignette, my Campaign General, Sir Sydney Ruff- Diamond.
Sir Sydney Ruff- Diamond watches on as Private James Riddles rebukes the French!
As well as Sir Sydney, I also knocked out some Snow bears as a little project for DeeZee;
The finished Snow Bears
May saw a change of direction. Inspired by reading a book about the Napoleonic campaigns in the Caribbean, I painted another batch of troops for this theatre. This time it was a company of 14 Maroons from Trent Miniatures. Who knows, may be this year I will get to play a Caribbean themed game!
Maroon skirmishers
At the start of the Summer, June seemed to be a bit of a flat month in regards to painting but in reality I had several projects on the go. I started my Portuguese Infantry for the Wargames Illustrated article that I was writing, the Dark Age Irish were under way. In reality, it was quite a productive month and I was ready for my weeks holiday in the beautiful island of Skiathos.
11th Penamacor Regiment
So that was the first half of the year over. In the next blog post, I’ll show you what I have been up to in the last part of the year and for those reader(s) that do stay with it, there will be a little bonus at the end…
Merry Christmas!