Proverbs 26 : 11 *

So having sold off my Ancient figures to fund other projects what could be more natural but to buy into another Ancient ruleset and start purchasing more new figures for it ! (well it makes sense to me in a perverted sort of way ) . I got their starter set off Ebay rather cheaply and it has enough figures for two warbands - one Caesarian Roman and the other Gauls . The rules are large skirmish about 10 to 30 per side depending on the nations and troop types .

The figures are a mixture of multi-part plastics and resin and are rather nice , here's a couple of Roman Legionaries I've painted up . I cheated with the shield designs and used the transfers that are included in the box . , there's a bit of work to do on the bases to finish them off . 

For the Gauls a Druid which is a resin one piece casting . I think I'm going to enjoy painting these figures and have started reading through the rules which seem simple enough and very scenario driven - which I like . More to follow .....

* As a dog returneth to it's vomit , so a fool returneth to his folly 

Seen on my walk No.2

Not anything to do with the hobby but I admire the initiative and time spent on things like this , found on this mornings walk on the old canal footpath at Hincaster .

Turned it plays a tune ! 

Snow White and the Dwarfs (had to keep the dog on the lead in case he crashed the tea party .

One of many dolls in the trees .

and gnomes .

and another .

A fairy house ? 

A baby digger ! .

An unusual bird table .

The Sacred and the Profane .

I've had these photos on my phone for about a week so I thought I'd better get them on the blog before I loose them . First the Russian Crimean war religious group , ideal for boosting the morale of the troops . The figures are Strelets 1/72nd from the General Staff and Hospital box .

Next is Captain Louis Nolan , here seen with Lord Cardigan - " there my Lord is your enemy !" , he is a conversion from a 17th Lancer Officer painted in the uniform of the 15th Light Dragoons . Both figures are 20mm Strelets who do some brilliant personality figures in their boxed sets .

Half way there !

Well I've managed to get to the 500 mile point in this years challenge after a rather slow start at  the beginning of the year due mainly to bad weather . I thought the present crisis might have effected my millage but as I tend to walk the dog early in the morning and away from the more popular routes it doesn't seem to have done . 

The Green Croats .

Finally got my SYW-ish Croats done , seemed to have taken forever to finish them - dabbling in to many other painting projects that's my problem . The figures are from the new Prince August 40mm SYW  Austrian Hungarian moulds I bought off  Ebay  . I have painted them in the uniform of the Freikorps Von Kleist 'Green Croats' as I don't have any Austrian troops in my collection . I'm in the process of casting up another dozen figures to add a second company to this unit .

An early birthday present to myself .

I saw this book on sale and thought that it would be an ideal own birthday present . I've not bought the whole series but this one features small actions and skirmishes and I thought it would be just the thing for my 40mm SYWish collection and the AGW rules .

Not cheap but a beautiful book , I'm looking forward to trying some of the scenarios out .

A return to the Crimea .

I was tidying the wargaming room today and I picked up the cardboard box that my unused Crimean war figures are kept and the bottom fell out of the box and all the sprue cascaded over the floor . So after a bit of bad language I repaired the box and started repacking them , this got me thinking - was it about time I did another unit or two ? . 

I looked on this blog and found it was 18 months ago since I did anything with these figures , so I thought I'd do another battalion of Russian infantry , to go with these I have cleaned up a Russian religious group of 2 religious banner bearers , an icon bearer and a priest . These are from the Strelets Russian General Staff and Hospital box and perhaps will be incorporated into the rules - Russians re-roll poor morale tests if within 12" ? .

The last figure I painted for this project all those months ago was Lord Cardigan so I thought it was time that I did a Captain Nolan to pass orders to him. It is converted British Lancer officer , I trimmed the czapka into a pill box forage cap and cut away his sword so that it looks like he is gesturing " there my Lord is your enemy !". 

Played by David Hemmings in the 1968 film .