Apologia

So what happened? To be honest, various things. First, and most importantly, the boys found an interest in fantasy and sci-fi games.  I thought that they might like skirmish games set in pirate and fantasy settings, but this spiralled into Frostgrave, X-Wing and a couple of other things (in the queue, and at the moment not even out of the box, are "Blood Red Skies" and "7TV", which Hugo picked up at Salute last year; and, I fear, the new "Harry Potter Miniatures Game" has cough Hugo's attention).  That meant that I sent most of last year painting figures for various fantasy/pirate games which I felt I couldn't really post on TQ.  That was a bit daft really, as pirates count as "historical".  Anyway, I really enjoyed working through my Foundry pirates leadpile, adding to the collection with some sculpts from Musketeer Miniatures (now Footsore, I believe) and North Star.  This all expanded into "Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago" - I bought the books and "Nickstarter" stuff, painted up a fair few of the official figures, and even dug out some unpainted/half-painted old Citadel Amazon and Slaan figures that I've had sitting around for 30 years.  Visiting the local pet shop to acquire scenery with the boys was fun, as was making my own palm trees and ruins scenery pieces.  This was all good stuff and I was getting close to a stage where we could start playing F:GA when the second thing happened...     

Last November, Hugo (who is 9) came home from school saying that he was really enjoying "Warhammer Club". I assumed this was some sort of computer game club, particularly given that he said it was all about robots in helicopters fighting spacemen or something like that.  A couple of conversations later I realised he was playing Warhammer 40K, albeit in a very basic way. I dug out a large box of un- and semi-painted Space Marines from my youth and, yes, this was indeed Hugo's new obsession (I had to explain what a Space Marine was - he really did think they were robots; I never worked out the "helicopter" bit).  So since then I’ve been painting GW stuff round the clock - Space Marines and Necrons mostly. And buying relevant gaming mats. And building 4Ground sci-fi scenery. And spending too much time (and money) at GW Chelmsford and on the Element Games website. Again, I didn't think that all this GW tomfoolery was worth posting about; although I realise now that the story of how an historical wargamer pivoted to paint power armour, lightning swords, "Doom Scythes" and worked towards what became his "Warhammer birthday party" in early January with 11 of his friends might have made an interesting series of posts.

The Hawk Lords - Hugo's chosen Space Marine chapter

Thirdly, there have been some practical issues.  Something's wrong with my camera and/or pc and it's proving very difficult to upload photos for posting.  Work and the routine of family life have seemed much busier, which has eaten into my painting time; but the reality, if I'm honest, is that I just lost the habit of blogging towards the end of last year and I realised that I wasn't really missing it.  I found myself taking a rest not just from this blog but from forums and other places I used to visit quite regularly as I felt I'd almost changed hobby.  I think at the back of my mind was a feeling, as noted above, that TQ has always been about horses and muskets, and that fantasy and sci-fi skirmish games wouldn't sit well here.  But I didn't realise how long I'd spent away from historicals, and I can see very little but 40K and Frostgrave for the forseeable future, to be honest.  The reason is simply the chance to do something miniatures-related with the boys; and also because chances for historical games are very rare these days, and at least if I paint figures the boys will actually play with then I feel that what I'm doing has a practical purpose.  Let's face it - most of the historical stuff I've painted over the past 15 years has largely remained in unopened boxes...

My Christmas project -  4Ground sci-fi scenery and 25-year old (at least) Mordian Iron Guard figures. 

One of the games at Hugo's birthday party - "Space Marines of the Caribbean".  One of my aims at Hugo's birthday was to show the boys what "real" scenery and terrain looks like.  There were quite a few "wows" and parents asking where the mats come from.

The other main game was "Assault on Precinct 4P" (that being Hugo's form name).  Necrons v Imperial forces.

So I've actually been very busy since my last post.  Maybe I'll post some photos of the current status of Hugo's "Hawk Lords", Monty's Necrons and, err, my Cadian "Blue Helmets".  Maybe I'll post pics of Foundry's pirates range, pack by pack, if anyone's interested in this sort of stuff.  Maybe I'll even post about the Continental Light Dragoons I painted at the same time as these militia, and then completely forgot about.  And did someone say that the Perries had released some more AWI?  Nah, that can't be right.

I've been making lots of palm tree scenic bases too.

A collection of North Star's Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago metal figures.

I've really enjoyed painting all these old Foundry pirate figures.

Close encounters in the Ghost Archipelago.

There is no feeling like discovering a use for stuff that's been in the leadpile for what must be almost 30 years.  Citadel Amazons from the mid-1980s, sculpted by a certain Alan and Michael Perry (whatever happened to them?)  

Every fantasy game needs a giant ape.

Foundry's "Treasure Island" characters - I see a couple of American militia colonels here...

A pirate type from North Star, with pet dog and pet chimp.

I think the pirate figures are some of the best sculpts Foundry produced.  A very talented chap that Will Hannah.

Test

Just testing this all still works.  It's been a while...

Back home...

...and rather surprised to see all my Photobucket-hosted photos still on the blog.  Who knows what's going on - did I somehow renew my account automatically and consequently they let me off the USD 400 per month charge?  It's a good thing, of course.  Let's see what happens...In the meantime, a fantastic holiday was had in New Zealand.  We flew in to Christchurch, where it was 31 C.  That proved a bit too much for the boys, but we had a wonderful first day walking around the beautiful botanical gardens; there was something about walking amongst flowers in bright sunshine that seemed to lift my jet-lag and mood more generally - instantly I felt like I'd been on holiday for a week already.  The botanical gardens contrast with central Christchurch, much of which was destroyed by the earthquakes of 2011, including the historic cathedral.  The damage was worse than I had realised (notwithstanding the appalling death toll), but the people who live there are clearly eager to rebuild.  I'll do a separate post on what I saw in the local museum.

We then drove down through Lake Tekapo (or "take a poo" as the boys called it...) and Lake Wanaka to Queenstown, the self-styled "adventure capital of NZ".  Situated above Lake Wanaka is the glorious Rippon Vineyard - see the photo above.  This is often what you see when you Google "NZ wine" - it's one of the most beautiful vineyard settings in the world.  Queenstown is more brash than Wanaka, but has easy access to the wineries of Central Otago and all sorts of outdoor pursuits if wine isn't your thing.

The landscape of central South Island - all lakes and mountains.

The very blue Lake Tekapo.

Vines in the Gibbston Valley near Queenstown.

The Gibbston Valley is good couple of degrees hotter than its surroundings - an excellent place to grow grapes.

Chips for the boys and a tasting flight for the grown-ups - something for everyone.

Seriously, though - are we done with wine tasting now?

Queenstown itself is located on Lake Wakatipu, which in films has stood in for Loch Ness. 

Kawarau River - scene of Queenstown's famous bungee jumping experience (just behind where the photo was taken).

After a week in Queenstown we travelled back up north to see Mt Cook, or Aoraki, the highest mountain in Australasia, where we saw real icebergs in the glacial Tasman Lake, and we then spent a few days in Canterbury, north of Christchurch.

Tasman River valley, with the tip of Lake Pukaki in the distance.  Long ago all this was glacier.

In the middle of this photo of Lake Pukaki you can just see the peak of Mt Cook above the clouds.

It was then time for a leisurely drive back to Christchurch through the Waipara wine region - Black Estate and Greystone being particular favourites among the wineries we visited.

Vineyards in Waipara, north Canterbury.

Hugo at Villa Maria's winery restaurant/cellar door at Mangere near Auckland airport.

We flew back to North Island so we could spend Christmas with the Kiwi's family, who live about 2-3 hours' drive south of Auckland in Tauranga.  We drove down after an excellent luch with friends at Villa Maria's winery restaurant just outside the airport.  At Tauranga I met up with wargaming friends Valleyboy and Captain Chook, both of whom have now built new homes with proper customised wargames rooms.  After a few days with the whanau we travelled back up past Auckland for a final week staying by the beach at Omaha, near Matakana.  Matakana is another small wine region just an hour's drive out of Auckland.  Like Waiheke Island off the Auckland coast, Matakana is mainly known for its Bordeaux-style red blends.

The serene vineyard at Brick Bay, Matakana.

Monty on the sculpture trail at Brick Bay.

Vines at Ascension Vineyard.

Sunset in Omaha.

When there's a storm outside all you can really do is sit back and drink some of the country's best wines...

Unfortunately the final two days of the holiday were spent in the company of a tropical cyclone, but that aside we were very lucky with the weather.  We had about 2 hours' rain over Christmas, I think, but that aside it was pretty much 25-30 degree heat the whole trip.  Even near Mount Cook it didn't dip much below 18 Celsius.  We visited a couple of museum that contained militaria, and I'll post about those in due course.  It was a wonderful holiday, probably the first NZ trip that the boys will really rermember (even thought it's Hugo's 4th, and my 7th); hard to believe that we now have the long 3-4 year wait until the next visit.  When planning this blog post I was tempted to go on a rant about airplanes and flying, but Legatus Hedlius does that sort of thing so much better.  Suffice to say that I am constantly amazed, and infuriated, by the selfishness of other travellers/passengers and the complete inadequacy of airplane food (they should just give up and cut prices a bit accordingly).  I had some interesting chats with my father- and brother-in-law about the UK, Brexit and NZ identity - again, perhaps this is best left for another time.  Another highlight was discussing the Ashes tour with my Australian brother-in-law - that was the first time I've been called a "Pommie bastard". I think it wasn't meant maliciously, but sometimes it's hard to tell with the Aussies... 

A lot of wine was consumed, of course.  My holiday notes confirm that we visited 27 winery cellar doors and I drank at least one glass of 133 wines (including a truly execrable white from France served up by Singapore Airlines).  Down in South Island it was all about pinot gris, Riesling and pinot noir.  I didn't really warm to Otago's sauvignon blancs, as they are usually barrel-aged and mixed in with a bit of Semillon - perfectly good wines but I'm just too used to the traditional NZ sauvignon blanc style.  The pinot noirs, on the other hand, were gorgeous (if expensive).  Up in Waipara we had some lovely cool-climate chardonnays and Matakana provided some fruity roses and robust, but elegant, reds.  Passing my in-laws' allowed me to pick up some wines that have been resting there for a few years - I opened my Dry River whites, a riesling and pinot gris, which were wonderfully aged examples of the varieties, which reminded me of the famous Hugel wines from Alsace.  You'll never go thirsty in NZ - craft beer is the hot thing now and we enjoyed a few of those too.  

So for those interested in such things, wine highlights were as follows: Mount Riley Limited Release Central Otago Pinot Noir 2016; Gibbston Valley China Terrace Chardonnay 2015; Amisfield Pinot Noir 2014; Brennan Pinot Noir 2009 and 2011; Brennan Pinot Gris 2014; Waipara Hills Equinox Chardonnay 2015; Maude EMW Pinot Noir 2016; Pegasus Bay Merlot/Cabernet 2013; Mt. Rosa Pinot Gris 2016; Man O'War "Exiled" Pinot Gris 2016; Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc 2017; Sileni "Cut Cane" Hawke's Bay Merlot 2015; Villa Maria Reserve Malbec 2009; Crossroads Winemakers Collection Cabernet Franc 2010; Mills Reef Port 2006; Esk Valley "The Terraces" 2004; anything from Chard Farm (in Otago) and Black Estate (in Waipara).

 

Stonyridge's "Larose" - possibly NZ's greatest red wine.

   

 

Update

Sorry - the blog died for a few months.  There are various reasons for that, primarily work being very bad of late; and general disinterest thanks to the Photobucket situation.  I've been exploring Photobucket alternatives, but very slowly, and in fact I received an email from Photobucket last week telling me that my (paid-for) subscription was coming to an end in December and thereafter I'd lose hosting services unless I coughed up the $400 they are now asking for.  That's not going to happen, so I'm afraid some time over the next couple of weeks all the photos on my blog are going to vanish.   It would be easy in these circumstances to simply walk away - I don't know how much time it would take to reconstitute over 500 posts that stretch back over 10 years, and the thought of doing so is highly depressing.  But on reflection, I'll give it a go.

I've now paid for hosting services with Imageshack and the long task of migrating photos and blog links is underway.  Unfortunately there is no chance of this task being completed before the Photobucket photos disappear (not least because I myself disappear to New Zealand in a couple of days' time).  I'm sorry if that causes inconvenience for anyone researching AWI or other units and wants to see some painted examples.  If it's AWI uniform info you're after, I strongly recommend Steve Jones' Black Powder supplement "Rebellion", which contains pretty much everything you'd need to know.  So far, I've posted the AWI Patriot cavalry and many of the earlier French Napoleonic posts - there's no logic behind that, really, and it's a drop in the ocean.  But I have to start somewhere.

So here, by way of a test example with new Imageshack links, are some "wip" photos of various things I've been working on and playing around with.  I've found that, almost subconsciously, I'm been drifting towards games and periods that I think my boys would be interested in.  The pirates are all Foundry figures, and will form a sort of Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago meets Blackbeard sort of game.  So I've fallen badly behind with posting photos of what I've been painting - mainly Napoleon in Egypt things and about 60 pirates (many of which are "touch-up" figures I painted about 25 years ago).  This does mean, however, that I should be able to hit the ground running next year when I return from NZ.  Have a great Christmas everyone.    

All new paints.

Far left a "touch-up"; other two are new paints.

All "touch-ups".

Two are "touch-ups; two are new paints - not saying which! 

The current state of my Napoleon in Egypt project.

What's currently on the workbench; along with skeletons and more pirates...

Militia cavalry

These are the Perry militia cavalry, sold in the American AWI range but I can't see any reason why they shouldn't be used for un-uniformed Loyalists.  Looking at the "British Grenadier!" scenarios, you need militia cavalry for Monmouth (4 figures), Camden (6), Petersburg (3), New Garden (20) and Cowpens (8).  The last two scenarios will obviously require some additional figures from other units.  There are 2 packs in the range and you can see that there are 3 basic poses in each pack: hunting shirt leaning forward, coat leaning forward and coat leaning back.  The figures in the two packs have different headgear and sometimes footwear, so the figures aren't exactly the same across the packs.  The right arms are separate so you can customise whether you want officers and buglers etc.  I perhaps didn't vary the angle of these arms as I might have done - they are mainly pointing forward in a "charge" position.  

These are nice, dynamic figures, although they are a fair bit bigger than my Eureka and Foundry AWI cavalry.  The metal is quite soft, which means the swords bend easily and the horses' legs need work to straighten them out.  I spent longer on the greys than I have done before, trying to capture a more realistic impression of what the coats can look like.  Not much more to add, really.  The 4th Continental Light Dragoons are next.

6 figures.  Painted June - August 2017.