February 2026 hobby update

I didn't manage to reach the hobby heights  of January this month.  Strangely enough feeling better has impacted hobby time as I've felt well enough to do other things but it's all swings and roundabouts.

Completed

Here's what I completed during the month:

• 20mm Platoon 20 Vietnamese civilians.  The majority of the painting for these was done last month, with just some highlights, varnishing and basing to be completed.  They're nice "classic" wargames miniatures, not over fussy or detailed and for those newbies only used to plastic or 3D print figures probably appear basic, to which I’d say bollocks.

• 15mm 16th Century arquebusiers.  I finished off the rebasing of 22 Essex Miniatures figures onto single 15mm round magnetised bases.  This gives the flexibility for keeping them as singles for  skirmish and forming units for larger games. I need to work out how to base the pike and musketeers, in a way that captures the era but is also practical for gaming, and then I can crack on with those. 

• Dice frames for micro dice.  These were a little job that I’d started at the end of January and took little time at all once I worked out how best to do them.  They'll be very useful for Honours of War and Chain of Command, for which I’ve already used them.  The left side picture below shows the different stages from the old base through to the finished dice frame.

• I finished off the last six of the cheap conifers I bought a few months ago.  As they're based singly and quite tall, I tried something different with the basing.  I added a 25mm metal washer to the top of the MDF base, which my snow mix (tiling grout, white paint, PVA and bicarbonate of soda) covered up well.  The washer adds a bit of weight and stability.

• At the same time as working on the conifers I based the poplars I'd bought in the Autumn.  These are by Busch and the difference in quality to the conifers is vast, and is why I finished the conifers covered in snow to cover them up!  I based the six smaller poplars on washers and the four large ones on round 32mm 3mm MDF the same as my existing poplars.  That's all the recently acquired trees based now.  I still have a few odd ones that need looking at.

• Another terrain type thing I did was to paint up some 3D printed treasure chests I'd had knocking around for years.  I needed three for the Sword Weirdos game I played (see below), but I did all of them.  Another thing off the list.

In progress

On the table as the month ends are:

• 1/72nd Airfix Bristol Blenheim. Hallelujah I found the decals which have been missing since October.  I’d stuck them between some sheets of MDF for protection, and had then put the sheets in the great big box of useful or useless bits (dependant on your viewpoint) that resides in my loft.  When putting some stuff back in the box, I found them quite by accident.  This should encourage me to finish it off, but all I’ve done this month is to mask it off ready to paint the upper surfaces.

• 6mm Baccus Seven Years Wars Austrian Grenzers.  I’ve painted and varnished these and just need to base them.  I have been mulling over rebasing my SYW collection for awhile, so may hold off on doing that.  They are lovely little figures and I've really enjoyed working on them.  

Gaming

Not as good a month for gaming as January but I still managed two games:

• First of all I played another game of Chain of Command2, with another crack at the Patrol scenario from the rulebook, with a German infantry platoon against a Red Army motor rifle platoon.  This time I finished the game, with a victory for the Germans.  They battered the Soviets with MG fire and eventually wore their Force Morale down to when they lost a Command Dice, which was the victory condition for the game.

• I also squeezed in a game of Sword Weirdos.  I’d been meaning to give the rest of my Black Scorpion Elf Pirates a run out and used a similar set up to a game played a few years back (here).  I dug out some of my Warmachine Cryx models and had a good little game.  I’ll write up the AAR when I get a chance. 

Ramblings, Reading & Research 

The only historical reading I completed this month was:

• The Great Siege of Malta.  In preparation for my trip to the Island, I thought I'd better get some reading in.  I read the Osprey Campaign on this goodness knows how many years ago, so had a basic idea.  This book gives comprehensive background on the opposing forces and the geo-political situation.  It then goes on to describe the siege itself with a good number of those little incidents described that make a book come to life.  The book finishes with a really fascinating chapter on how the siege fitted into world events at the time.  A really good book, this'll be renewed a few times I would think.

Incoming and Outgoings

Unless something too good to pass up comes along. I'm now on a miniatures spending embargo until Salute.  I've got enough miniatures to last until early Summer as it is and I want to see what’s at the show.  Therefore my purchasing this month has been limited to:  

• An olive green fleece throw from Dunelm.  My previous fleece (bought over the Internet), was too light and I was never happy with it.  This one is much better. Of  the two different Dunelms I'd visited, the 200mmx200m is never in stock, so I went with the smaller 130x170mm which was only a tenner and works fine.  It's already seen action as I used it for my game of CoC2. 

• Some ferrous backed A4 rubber sheets.  These are useful for adding to storage boxes, and also for using to form individually based magnetised figures into units like I did for my Midgard early imperial Romans.

• Osprey Campaign Kolin 1757.  I read this many years ago and while I've been working on the Grenzers, my interest in the Seven Years War is back full on and I managed to pick up this book at a good price from eBay.

• Osprey Campaign Malta 1565.  After reading the Great Siege book (above), I saw this on eBay and decided to add it to the collection.  I got it at a third of the new price and it's in absolutely mint condition. I'll be taking it to the island when I visit and use it to guide some exploring.