July 2024 hobby update

I was away for the first week of July and since being back work has been very busy.  However, I have completed another 11 28mm figures.  My goal in January was to complete 10 a month.  Having now completed 84 and sold 15 of the 128 that I started 2024 with, I'm two months or more ahead.  

I managed to get my planned two games in as well, so although it was a short and busy month blogging has been the only thing that's slipped.  Hopefully I'll make up on that next month and post on the figures I've completed during June and July.    

Completed

I had a few things on the table at the end of June.  Of those I've finished the following:

• 3D printed  32mm Erroish Raiders.  I really enjoyed painting these.  Unlike the Bitter Nightshades (last month), I felt very comfortable doing these.  I took a lot of time on them savouring all the detail this time rather than just wishing them done.

During the month I started and finished:

• Two 28mm Frostgrave Barbarians.  Due to an extremely lethal game of Verrotwood (see below), I needed another couple of Cultists for the Wisentii.  I knocked up these two once again using the male and female Frostgrave Barbarians sets.  The only change I made was to add some horns made with bits of staple to the female. 

• Two 28mm Oathmark Elves.  These were the last two from the sprue I bought the other year, which I'm pleased about as I'm not sure I really like them.  The first two I built I replaced the lower legs and on this pair I replaced the heads with ones from the Frostgrave Female Barbarian set.  These transformed the figures and I then had the enthusiasm to quickly polish them off.  

In progress

The other bits on the table at the end of June were: 

• Cromarty Forge 15mm Ancient German archers.  I've added all the main colours and will finish the details next month.  They'll then go into the drawer with all the others while I decide on how to base them.

• 28mm Warlord Games WW2 Germans Grenadiers.  I spent a good few hours trying different arm combinations from the bits box and finally managed to put together a passable German NCO and two partisans.  I've got all the main colours on and will finish these in August.  

• Early War Miniatures Pz IVs.  Although I said July was going to be tanks and terrain, I've not touched these.  Maybe next month?

Gaming

I squeezed in my monthly minimum two games and played: 

• Verrotwood.  I played the Place of Power which is the second game of the Awakening Campaign.  The AAR is here.  This was a very enjoyable game which was particularly brutal!

• Battlegroup.  After my first game last month I tried a slightly larger game using the Battlegroup Tobruk book and miniatures from my 15mm Battlefront collection.  These are all original BF metals based for Flames of War (which I've never played)!  The number of men in a squad are different to BG, but I went with what's in the lists rather than what's on the bases.  This worked well enough and I had a really good game.  I'm still learning and each game I'm adding more elements.  This game had more amour, infantry transports and I used some limited artillery.  I ran out of time and had to get on with real life.  After a terrible start spending the first few turns just deploying, victory surprisingly went to the plucky Brits.  The DAK were nearer to their Battle Rating limit and had very few serviceable vehicles left on the table when I had to call time.  

Ramblings, Reading & Research  

I read a couple of titles this month:

• "The Slavic Myths" by Noah Charney and Svetlana Slapsak (great name).  I read this as research for the game idea that I've been mulling over for the last year or so.  It's helped to clarify some ideas and was an interesting read.  I really liked the woodblock style illustrations.   

• Endgame 1944 by Jonathan Dimbleby.  An excellent book, with coverage of the political, strategic, tactical and operational aspects of 1944 and into 1945 on the Eastern Front.  Dimbleby doesn't shy from stating some perhaps unpalatable truths especially about the political shenanigans of the "Big Three".  His afterword is particularly thought provoking and I think sums up  current events very well.

I went up to Sutton Hoo at the end of the month for the Festival of Archaeology and in particular the Wargaming the Age of the Anglo-Saxons event.  This was put on by James Morris and chums.   James has been a wargames inspiration for me since the WAB days and I'm a regular visitor to his wonderful website https://mogsymakes.net/.    

He's run two of these events and from the evidence on the Sunday when I was there, they have been a great success.  All three tables were busy whenever we went by with people of all ages enjoying themselves.  Great to see and it was also great to catch up with him when he was packing away, which was about the only time he was free!  Sutton Hoo is such a special place and this sort of event is so  positive for the hobby. 

Incoming and Outgoings

Having only spent a tenner last month I've not even managed that this time round.  When I was away I found a model railway shop in Bury St.Edmunds called Model Junction.  They had a good selection of paints, plenty of plastic kits and lots of useful bits which is what I like most about bricks and mortar shops.  I restocked on some essentials, buying six sheets of plastic card (four 1mm thick and two .75mm) and some model railway ballast to add to my sand mix for basing.