July 2025 hobby update

Real life certainly intervened in July.  The day before we were due to go on holiday we were woken with a family emergency and we lost the first few days of our holiday. This was a real shame and cast a bit of a shadow over what would have been a lovely break.  To cap it all I returned from holiday with a stinking cold which wiped me out for a few days.  

All month I've been swinging between being quite motivated and having little interest in hobbying. However, in the later days of July, I made myself get on with some of the old shite that's been sitting about.  This has not only cleared up my table but also my mind.  Working on these simple pieces has given me some quick wins, helping to restore my motivation.  As I wrote this up and listed what I've cleared this month (especially bearing what's happened), I'm feeling quite satisfied.  

Completed 

Prior to all the drama and our holiday, I did manage to complete the few figures that were in progress from June:

  • First off I finished the five 20mm Battlezone Miniatures Red Army tank crew.  These are a mix of full, three quarters and half figures to put in the hatches of tanks.  
  • Two 28mm Gringo 40s Native Americans, an Apache Gaan Dancer and a Comanche warrior.  These are the last of the figures I bought at this year's Salute.  You can see all of them here.
 

Once I felt a bit better after my holiday, I turned my attention to some bits that have been sitting about for ages.  June was the only month of 2025 where I hadn't done any terrain so I felt it was time to get back to it:

  • 20mm scatter terrain pieces.  I'd first painted these about 5 years ago but hadn't got them on the table.  Originally finished for an urban setting, I repainted the ground with earth tones to make them more suitable for a variety of games and also added more highlights and shading to the objects.  I think they're better now.
  • 1/72nd/20mm Russian Mil-28 helicopter.  This is a die cast model I bought a dozen or so years ago when I was thinking of gaming Moderns.  I'd bought it at a show and stupidly dropped it on the way home smashing it up.  I'd long ago sold off the rest of the Moderns, but obviously couldn’t sell this, so I kept it to use as a terrain piece for my post-apocalypse games.  I've finally got round to making it look suitably filthy.  I currently can't find the bag of bits I collected when I dropped it, but when I do I'll probably make a base for this with wreckage around it.
  • 1/72nd/20mm Russian BTR-80.  Similar to above, a wheel had broken off this so it went into the terrain box.  I've added a lot of grime and weathering and it's now ready to use.
  • Metal machines 4x4.  I'd bought this toy vehicle as another terrain piece for post-apocalypse games.  This was a simple repaint and weathering job, which once I got into was relatively quick and cleared another thing that's been sitting there for too long.  I'm chuffed with how it's come up and it'll do quite nicely as a vehicle for the neo-Sov military of Grozniansk. 
  • Soviet lorry.  I’d picked this up a few years back.  After being pleased with how the 4x4 came out, I dug this out and had it painted in a few hours, even allowing for coats to dry. Like the 4x4 it’s much improved from the rather bland look it had (left hand photo), and will join the post-apoc collection garage.

  • The last pieces I knocked out were a few sections of dirt road that I needed for a game I'm planning.  These were made from a sheet  of wet & dry paper painted in emulsions and cut into sections.  They'll work as dirt roads for 15/20mm or tracks for 28mm.  I like wet & dry as it stays flat but not rigid, it's got some give in it. They took next to no time to do and cost next to nothing, just the way I like it.

In progress

On the table as July ends are:

  • Five 20mm Battlezone Miniatures Second World War German gun crew.  The last of my 20mm, these are essentially complete, being painted and varnished.  I just have to decide on whether to base them individually or with a gun. 

Gaming

After playing three times in June, circumstances meant that I didn't play at all in July.  

Ramblings, Reading & Research  

My lead/plastic hillock has decreased slightly again.  Apart from the couple of hundred 6mm, I only have nine 28mm figures to do.  They're all reserved for Verrotwood kitbashes, with the bodies all prepped.  And that's it. No other miniatures to work on. 

With the ruthless reduction of the figures stash, I have been looking at possibilities for Autumn/Winter projects.  I'm waiting on a few ranges to be released, but as yet there's nothing out there that motivates me enough to buy and complete two forces for.  

This has all left me at the point where I can really focus on terrain for the next few months and improve on the look of my games. I've spent a fair bit of time searching for buildings for the various periods and scales I have.  I’m trying to work out whether to: buy "table ready" thereby saving time but lacking individuality; scratch build my own; or buy some basic buildings and improve them. Decisions, decisions as always. 

On to reading: 

  • The first book I finished this month was "Hannibal: Clouds of War" by Ben Kane.  This was the third in the series.  I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first two.  I found the plot a bit obvious and there wasn't the large battle scenes that made the first books good.  It was still well worth reading though.
  • Osprey Essential Histories The Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871.  The FPW was the first period I started collecting when I returned to the hobby in the 90s.  I'd read a fair bit back then but I've neglected it since.  I wanted a quick read and dug out my copy of this Essential History.  It's a good intro to the subject (as this series are intended to be), but I do want to read a "proper" book on this conflict again.
 
  • And talking of "proper" books I finished the month reading "Empire of the Summer Moon" by S.C.Gwynne.  Although billed as the story of Quanah Parker (a half blood Comanche chief), this is the chronicle of the Comanche Wars in the American West, right from the days of the Spanish invasion of the Americas.  In many ways it's one of the best books I've read for a good while.  Having said that it's horrific, pulling no punches and is the most honest and balanced book I've read on the West.  It truly was a sickeningly violent  and brutal period.  The author destroys the stereotypes of the "noble savage" and "plucky pioneer", to present peoples engaged in an escalating spiral of violence.  It reminds me of the partisan warfare in Eastern Europe during the Second World War, with little or no differentiation between combatants and civilians, and both sides as guilty as the other of  horrendous excesses.  The destruction of a people and culture and the horrific cost to the natural world are all there in their overwhelming grimness too.  Bearing in mind the Comanche and other tribes liked nothing better than  raiding, gang raping and torture murdering, and the whites thought little of wiping out whole villages of women and children, it does of course beg the old question of "is it an appropriate period to wargame"?  

Incoming and Outgoings

After a "dry" June, I bought a couple of bits:

  • Plastic Soldier Company 15mm M4A3s.  Although I have read a lot about it, my interest in the North West Europe (NWE) campaign of the Second World War lags behind my principal interests of the Eastern Front and the Mediterranean/Italian theatres.  However, I do have platoon sized 15mm German and US forces for NWE Autumn/Winter 44-45.  I've ummed and ahhed for ages as to whether to sell or continue with these.  In an attempt to enthuse myself for the latter option, I picked up a box of five M4A3s and some stowage from eBay at good prices.  I'm not sure that it's really done much to inspire me, but we'll see!   There is also the option of using the M4s for Italy and the Pacific (I have an USMC platoon that's never seen action even though it was completed years ago!)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Punic Punch-up - Midgard AAR

Image
Introduction Somewhere in Iberia a Carthaginian force scouting to find the main Roman army, come into contact with a Roman force.  Hanno Barberella the Carthaginian general decides to attack.  The force rosters can be found here .  Starting positions, Carthaginians at the top. Turn One The Numidian Skirmishers are all moved one Spear Throw (ST) and all pass their Command tests to take a second move.   The first Veteran infantry unit moves once, but fails it's Command test so Nailem the Crucifier, a level 2 Hero) spends a mighty deed to move them again.  The second Veteran unit passes it's Command test and moves a second time straightaway.  Nailem moves up with them.   One unit of Libyan infantry moves twice, but the second unit is impeded by rough terrain and failing it's Command test gets caught up.  One unit of Scutarii makes it's second move ok but the second fails so Iniesta Pardinus the level 1 Hero, spends a Mighty Deed to get them...
Read more

Victrix Dark Age Archers and Slingers

Image
The last figures I completed in 2024 were a quartet of Victrix Dark Age Archers.  These were my oldest outstanding 28mm miniatures purchased in late 2022.   After completing these I thought it would be interesting to look at all the different figures I made using the Dark Age Archers bodies as the basis.  You get 36 bodies (one piece legs and torso) in each set.  Four are meant as archers, two as slingers.  There are numerous heads, arms and bits.  I sold one spruce which left me with 30 to do.  In reality I only did 28 as I used the legs from two of the archers with some Oathmark Elves. As with all plastic kits some bits work better together than others and Victrix do give instructions as to what bits fit certain bodies.  If you were doing these all as archers for the same army, you’d inevitably end up with some quite similar figures which in my eyes defeats the purpose of using plastics but that's just me.     When you’ve worked o...
Read more

15mm Tudor house make over

Image
Last October I bought a 15mm Tudor House from Warbases to see whether it would work alongside my  Hovels Tudor buildings I've had for a dozen or so years ago.  The Warbases house ( link here ) is as you'd expect a simple MDF kit.  It's nice enough but by it's very nature is flat and therefore a bit dull, especially compared to the Hovels building which is full of character.  It's also got a larger footprint than the Hovels one which is fine for skirmish games maybe not so much for battles.  I decided to give it a makeover. Before I did anything I painted the inside of the building with matt emulsion paint coloured matched to Vallejo Model Colour Leather Brown.  Then I started work.  First off I added wooden beams.  Using the lines marked on the kit as a guide, I cut strips of coffee stirrers roughly 1mm wide by 1mm deep and stuck them on with PVA.  I trimmed them to absolute length when they were stuck down.   When all the beams wer...
Read more