Merry Christmas to all.

Dearly wishing a very Merry Christmas to friends, bloggers, followers and all your kin. I hope you all have a happy and contented festive season. 

Thank you to my blogging Secret Santa, who generously chose me a selection of nefarious armed cultists from Artizan Designs. Very useful antagonists for Pulp adventurers, including one toting a flamethrower! Now, to do them as a Lovecraftian cult or the classic Pulp purple robed style? 

And thanks once again to Ian and Cath for organising the event, which never fails to give a cheerful surprise on Christmas morning. 

Wish List to Santa 2015

Christmas is coming! Which means the blogosphere is abuzz with excitement about Ian and Cath's legendary Secret Santa. Once again I'm joining the fun so I can look forward to opening something hobby-related to open on the day. 

I actually looked back over my wish list last year and much of it is still extant - clearly 2015 hasn't been a year with lots of purchases for me. Still, to keep things fresh, ideas for my Santa below:

Empress Miniatures Spanish Civil War (which ended up being a focus of painting this year, if not gaming)

Nationalist foreign legion firing

Nationalist foreign legion command

Republican militia - Any packs!  

Republican command

Nationalist Guardia Civil - Any

Antitank to deal with those troublesome T-26's

Sally 4th 

Pulp Alley Leagues - A Pulp Alley Expansion

Pulp Alley Fortune deck

Footsore Miniatures Arthurian/Late Roman ranges

Any! (Not sure what I'd game with them but they always paint up so well)

Perry Miniatures Sudan 

Egyptian Cavalry Gendarmes and command

Pulp 

Cthulhuoid creatures or Cultists from Artizan, Pulp Figures, RAFM or Modiphius

Hopefully that gives plenty of food for thought!

Merry Christmas everyone

Just a quick post to join in the chorus of 'Merry Christmas!' posts. I hope each and everyone one of you enjoyed days filled with happiness, wherever you are or however you spent it. 

Image credit

I had a good hobby Christmas, with Sudan reading material from the mother-in-law, a paint station from the wife and of course the annual Secret Santa organised by Ian and Cath. Santa kindly sent the 15mm Germans some armoured support with what appears to be a Peter Pig PzIV platoon. One looks a bit worse for wear from allied bombing though.

Thanks very much Santa - excellent choices!



Christmas brings a pause from the brushes, but I hope to be back at it soon. 

Dear Santa...

Well it is that time of year again, apparently! The Secret Santa was so successful I raced to throw my lot in again. I have my target and hope to get shopping soon.

No doubt my Santa will find clues for me here, but here are some ideas based on my current interests:

-28mm SCW
I've just placed a reasonable order, but some Empress Republican Militia could also come in useful.

-15mm WWII
I've got a US and German platoon and a reasonable terrain collection now. Support options, particularly armour would be welcome. For the US I've already got a Greyhound and Sherman Jumbo. My Germans have a Hetzer, a Sdkfz250/1(0) and a 3.7cm Flak. Other 15mm vehicles or guns from the Chain of Command support lists, perhaps.

-28mm WWII
Yes two scales syndrome. I've a load of Artizan Designs and am loitering at 'half platoons' for both British Commandos and Greatcoated Germans. SWW157, SWW158, SWW152, SWW133, SWW023, SWW079, SWW071 are all be useful to start rounding either force out.
Alternatively, I've a budding desert war collection. I have a Perry Afrikakorps and a Sdfkz222, so either other Perry supports from the Chain of Command list or a Desert Rats plastic box would build it up nicely.

-28mm Sudan
There are always packs to add the the collection, though I've come to a point where I don't expect it will be a focus over the coming months. Still, Perry SB1, SB20, SB41, SB47, SA12 and SA14 are all on my 'I'll pick these up one day' list.

-28mm Pulp
I do fancy pushing the old Pulp project into Mythos games, for which I could do with some cultists or gribblies from Artizan, Pulp Figures, RAFM or Modiphius.

Well, hopefully that's enough to get Santa started!

In other news, a first for me this week, converting 15mm WWII. Fiddly work, but really just a bit of wire, green stuff and clump foliage to make a couple of pioneer teams with a flamethrower to give my US something to worry about.

Santa has sided with the Mahdi...

Image source 

...this year, with my Secret Santa delivering Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah himself, the infamous guerrilla commander Osman Digna and more Ansar 'Jihadiyya' rifles to add to the painting queue.



An excellent choice, thanks Santa! And thanks again to Cath and Ian for organising us.

Wishing my fellow bloggers a very Merry Christmas filled with good humour and just the right amount of over-indulgence. I look forward to seeing everyone's finest work over 2014.

Merry Christmas bloggers!

A short message to wish a very Merry Christmas to all of my readers and followers. I hope you have a pleasant holiday full of good cheer, good company and good food, wherever you are in the world. 

And also a special thank you to my generous Secret Santa. The rattling package of small boxes was as suspected: Perry Sudan British infantry and Bashi Bazouks. I'm really looking forward to adding some colour to the latter. Ive already got a pack of mounted ones primed, together I think they will be useful for Sudan or as irregulars or slavers for Pulp gaming. Santa also sent some reading material, 'Waterloo Recollections', which looks like a fascinating selection of first-hand accounts. Thanks Santa! 

Dear Santa...

Ian over at The Blog With No Name is kindly running a gamer blog 'Secret Santa' for Christmas this year. Which is a smashing idea - who doesn't like presents, particularly gaming-related ones that our loved ones won't buy us! Assuming Royal Mail get the parcels to everyone, of course!

I'm aware that I have somewhat electic tastes and flit around projects a lot and  in'real life'  I'm  accused of being difficult to buy for (not true!). So thought I'd give my Santa some ideas by way of things I've recently had my eye on. 

First up, some reinforcements for my Napoleonic Spanish. To be a standalone force, they could do with some cavalry. I reckon the Perry French hussars would be perfectly serviceable as 'Maria Luisa Hussars', though a whole box is a squeeze out of budget. 

Don't they look dapper?

Another option would be to start another unit of infantry. I've been very tempted by the new Offensive Miniatures line as they seem very well matched to Perry, unlike Capitan who are a bit scrawny. I do like the bearskins on those Grenadiers, though the Line are the classic Spanish look.

The recently revealed Secret Project would also benefit from a couple of packs. Ive been using the Perry Miniatures Sudan range, many lovely models there, but I particularly fancy these packs:

British infantry firing line

10th Hussars swords drawn

Bashi Bazouks on foot skirmishing (above, nice to get some colour on the battlefield)

Sudanese Baggara Horse with spears

Another thought, my Saga Viking force could do with another unit of Bondi to round it out. Gripping Beast do a perfectly sized pack, and are nice minis to boot! 

I hope that's useful, Santa, unless you've got some ideas already...