Jim's Wargames Workbench

Black Sheep Miniatures, available from Warbases, have added some new Wild West figures to their range including a band of Pawnee braves and a posse of Pinkertons. These were so nifty that I couldn't resist ordering a set of each of them, despite having more than enough 28mm lead of the same ilk. The holidays are just around the corner, so I will have some painting and modelling time to kill, which is as good an excuse as any!

I splashed out on the pre-order deal for What a Cowboy! today, in the hope that it will be worth the not inconsiderable price tag. It seems that wargaming is an ever more expensive pursuit these days, compared to the 1980's, when a photocopied set of typed rules put you back a couple of quid, but then you do get the full surround sound, technicolour hard copy, an all singing and dancing pdf copy, the no-doubt essential card deck and the superfluous but handy tokens for your hard-earned pocket money. It's just as well that I already have the figures and terrain, otherwise this would be a real ball-buster for my bank manager!

I'm coming towards the end of the Knights of the Sky 1917 model building project, with the two Esci Nieuport 17s I was building now scrapped as surplus to requirements and the Airfix Roland CIIs just needing decals to be finished. I'll be glad to see the back of these, to be honest, as it was only supposed to be a January project and it's run over time.

I'm now a bit adrift, in terms of my next project and in danger of the dreaded doldrums if I'm not careful. The 15mm Picts rebasing and painting would pass the time but it's not inspiring me that much, while the Red Actions Freikorps would be quite a lot to bite off and chew in the time I've got up to Easter. 

One thing I could do is have a go at some 1/2400th Tumbling Dice ships for Mad for War, which I could nibble away at over the next four weeks or so. I've been reading the 'how to' on the League of Augsburg blog and quite fancy having a go at a French privateer squadron, as described in the Mad for War rule book.

http://leagueofaugsburg.blogspot.com/2020/02/painting-12400-scale-ship-model-for.html?m=1

This would also give me time to finish off some things that have been hanging about, including the 1/2400th Argentinian pre-dreadnoughts and the 1/600th Battle of Britain RAF and Luftwaffe fighter squadrons. I could even paint a couple of 28mm figures for A Fistful of Lead, who knows? 

I think a mix and match of things is the way to go to avoid getting bogged down in another big project, with the inevitable over runs and log jams. I've got the weekend to mull it over but I think I'll just pick up something to do that won't take too long to complete and will tick off some things on my 'to do' list at the same time.

With What a Cowboy riding over the horizon soon, I've been adding some extra figures to my old west lead pile, with a view to painting at least one and hopefully two new gangs. The first of these will be bank robbers, using both Artizan and Foundry figures, while the second will be ranch hands, again using the same sources. 

I've also added some of the relatively new Artizan mounted and dismounted character packs to give me the option of using horse riders in my games, something I haven't done before even though my lawmen have mounts. I'll fit this project in somehow, as I do like a bit of western action and enjoy a decent gunfight game of Fistful of Lead, even if the What a Cowboy rules turn out to be wonky?