Major Ballsup's Hobby Shed

October was a good mix of hobby activities  I used a fair bit of my hobby time to play (see Gaming below) and also continued chipping away at the project pile. Completed Early on in the month I finished the 6mm Seven Years War Austrian Grenadiers from Baccus.  I'd started these in September and had put them to one side, as I wasn't enjoying painting them.  I'm pleased to say that I got over that once I'd applied myself and I got them done quite quickly.  I wasn't that fussy and I've now got four battalions ready in short order.  I use the same number of figures per unit as for larger scales (which I know lots of gamers don't see the point of), but it works for me.  It keeps costs down, means you actually get to play rather than be continually painting, is easier for storage and I can field more units in my limited playing area.  And what works for me is all I need care about.  I then turned my attention to the last of the 20mm buildings for the An...

Introduction Late 15th Century Spain.  As the Christians continue to push into their lands, the Moorish forces of the Kingdom of Granada try to defend their homes.  A Moorish cavalry unit led by Yusuf Naybet come across a small Castilian patrol led by Pedro Soldado.  Enraged by the incursion, he leads his force to attack. Granadan Forces Yusuf Naybet = Leader@ 1 pt with Braveheart Skill ;1 unit of Heavy Cavalry @ 4 pts; 2 units of Light Cavalry with javelins only @ 3 pts each; 1 unit of Light Cavalry with crossbows @ 4 pts.  TOTAL 15  pts. Castilian Forces Pedro Soldado = Leader@ 1 pt with Aggressive Skill; 1 unit of Fearsome Elite Cavalry @ 8 pts; 2 units of Light Cavalry with javelins only @ 3 pts each. TOTAL 15 pts. I'm using 2/3rd sized units of 4 rather than 6 miniatures per unit, and as these are 15mm miniatures I'm using centimetres instead of inches.  The gaming mat is 3ft square. Turn Ones to Four The first four turns see the two enemies advance on...

Hobby time was a bit limited in September.  At the beginning of the month, I was really busy with work and then we went away for a week. On my return, work was just as bad and home wise wasn't much better!  I’ve also spent a fair bit of time on retirement planning as thankfully it's not that far off now.   Completed I finished off the following: Essex Miniatures 15mm Castilian hand gunners.  These were very simple figures which didn't take too long to do. Essex Miniatures 15mm Castilian Gendarmes.  Horses aside, these were even simpler, being clad head to toe in armour!  I can't recall ever painting fully armoured figures and they're so easy.  The thought of adding more fully armoured troops to my Castilian forces just for ease of painting is very appealing! Essex Miniatures 15mm Granadan Noble Cavalry.  These took a bit more time to do.  I used a similar palette to the rest of my Moor force, but with deeper colours to try and reflect their s...

This is the longest update for quite some time, as August has been a very successful hobby month.  Although I've been very busy in the real world too, I seem to have got into the flow and organised my time better.  I haven't agonised over things and just got them done.  I've also played a few games which I find motivates me to do more. Completed Quite a few things finished this month: Essex Miniatures15mm late 15th Castilian jinetes for the Fall of Granada project.  I started these last month and got them polished off in the first week of August.  This gives me a couple of units for the 2/3rd sized units I am initially using for Lion Rampant.  The 20mm Indian/Afghanistan buildings that I'd assembled and textured last month were next to be worked on.  Before painting them, I'd spent some time looking at photos of Punjabi buildings, some of which were very colourful, so rather than do the usual creamy white ones, I gave these very earthy tones.  The...