With everything I have half finished makes sense to... start a whole new theater of operations.

Armed with my book Painting War 3: WWII Japan & USA Armies i'm looking forward to just painting rather then spending weeks on the research phase.

I will post the hobby progress spreadsheet below, but in a nutshell I repainted 30 Waffen SS figures, 5 Early war German Infantry  and detailed 30 of my '41 German Infantry. I'm pretty happy with that figure since that represents 4 weeks of spare time/decompressing while away for work. Here's a (workbench only quality!-sorry!) pic of some of the finished infantry sitting on my shelf;

 (Ignore the pre-work toy tanks and the Sdkfz 7 in the background, the subject of future work...)

Obviously, by the count above I've done many more than this, Ill do a quick video for the channel showing some close ups of them before putting them on the shelves in the wargames room as reinforcements! Keep an eye on the channel for a closer look, and also check out the latest review of the great Wargames Atlantic BEF Set Rex and I posted up there a couple of days prior to the time of me posting this.

I would like to mention that I didnt start these from scratch. If you check out my workbench update for March you will see the state of these as I received them 2nd-hand, so you will begin to understand the amount of work i put into them...BUT i didnt have to start from scratch. these guys were already painted in waffen SS autumn pattern camo helmet covers etc, so I stuck with that, it was especially useful as I hadn't had any SS in zeltbahn ponchos before, so now that is sorted. I put national eagles on their sleeves and cuff titles except for those without helmet covers etc which i left as generic looking German Infantry that can double up between the SS forces and Heer. I had another discussion with a fantasy player during the week with a completely valid point of view that he didnt like people getting excited by playing Waffen SS, and his values regarding that. I explained to him my point of view I have expressed on our podcast previously which is that to represent historical forces for battles in Normandy and for Market Garden one needs to have such forces. It was good to have a sensible discussion on the topic with someone again and explain the reason why someone would collect such a force - without being unhealthily obsessed by them, and hear their point of view why it puts them off- in this case, encounters with rather over-enthusiastic and passionate SS players. 

 I think a few years ago I started displaying a talent of finding 2nd hand armies at a cheap price that were capable of producing great results if repainted...with maybe a few modelling issues that need sorting out also, but are fixable. Exhibit A is the finished result, but B is the image below of some assembly issues that are the type I normally get in these types of second-hand deals:

​So, a healthy bits box is always good to bring these poses back to realistic ones im happy with....a bit of a shame for the MG number two second from right,  as he would have been a cool pose if the German MGs were fed belts from that side, never mind. 

As you can see , this latest lot of about 50 models are primed rather than painted, so its starting from 'scratch' but again a great deal and the majority of the assembly is very good, only needing mostly minor repairs, mould lines removed and the odd poses as above needing re-modelling. I have added them onto the list below, and as they are sitting on the bench now, may as well crack on with them! 

 2024 HOBBY GOALS

Updated; 2 May 2024

Colour/ Key;

Completed

In progress

EW= Early War

LW= Late War

Historical WW2

German;

EW Krupp Protze- WIP

Sdkfz 234 with variant parts

Marder III- WIP

Sdkfz 251 D x3

Sdkfz 251 C Pioneerwagon WIP

Lorraine Shlepper WIP

UNIC P107 WIP

EW Pak 36- removable crew

EW Leig 38 & winter crew variants – removable crew

EW Opel Blitz 

EW Pz III F

Pz Lehr MMG DONE

Winter dismounted Pz Crew WIP

Sdkfz 232

EW MG34 MMG removable crew DONE

EW infantry x 21 DONE

EW infantry x 11 DONE

EW infantry x 5 DONE

Detail 112 x EW infantry

LW Heer Grenadiers x 70 WIP

LW Heer Grenadiers x 50 WIP

DAK infantry x 50

Pz Lehr infantry x25

Luftwaffe 88 crew x 7

Waffen SS inf x 65

Waffen SS inf x 30 DONE

" " Nebelwerfer – removable crew

"" Pak 40 – removable crew

"" MMG x2

Waffen SS med mortar x 1 WIP

""MMG x 1 WIP

" " Med Mortar – removable crew

Heer pak 40 with summer and winter crews -removable

Heer pak 40 with removable crew WIP

Last levy infantry ( Berlin) x 20

Luftwaffe tropical ground crew x 5 WIP

Mike's Downed Luftwaffe Aircrew ( basing and detailing only) DONE

Stuka x1

Fallshirmjager infantry x 70

''Med Mortar removable crew

" Pz shrek team

" Sniper team

" Flamethrower team

" mule handler and mule x1

Opel blitz fuel bowser truck

Heer weapons teams

British Airborne;

Vehicle crew x 30

Polsten guns x 9

6 pounders and crew x 3

6 pounders limbered x 4

Med mortars x 3

MMG teams x 3

Light Mortars x 3

Piat teams x 2

Tow jeeps x 4

17 Pounders and removable crew x 2

Infantry x 150

British/commonwealth;

Sherman V x3

Sherman VC Firefly x1

Infantry inB/dress x 22

8th Army inf x 4

Bedford QLT truck

8^th Army Lee tank

Cromwell with Burlap camo

Soviet Army;

Infantry x 100

Detail /repaint soviet infantry x 100

Rebase soviet infantry x 150

45 mm AT gun with removable & alternate ( SNI )crews x 2

MMG team

HMG team

Dog mines x 3 teams

M3 White scout car

ATK rifle

Amplumet

FT team

L Mortar team

Peoples militia x 12

Jeepsand crew x2

T34/85

T34/76 (warlord)

T34/76 ( Rubicon)

GAZ AA/AAA trucks x 2

Soviet Naval Infantry;

Bronekator patrol boat

Infantry (Warlord) x 44

Infantry (3D prints) x 30

MMG team

HMG team

45mm AT gun and crew -removable

FT team

Standard bearers x2

ZiS 3 and crew -removable

Heavy Mortar and crew- removable

Light mortar and crew

Pzfaust infantry x3

Medic

Photographer- Yevgeny Khaldei

Naval political officer x 2

SMG squad

Terrain;

2x collapsed parachute canopies

Urban barricades x6

Eastern Front log houses x 2

Eastern front village base

3D printed buildings x7

Additional berlin apartment building floors x2

Stalingrad tank factory & Base

Stalingrad Barmaley fountain x2

Destroyed European buildings (MDF) x2

Dock buildings and scatter-qty

IJA Tank emplacement

Dock crane

Lowest priority "Nice to do" list;

IJA/IJN;

150 Infantry (incl teams)

Repair/paint med tank

Rebase Infantry x 100

IJA LMG relocating

Italian;

6 infantry

Replace heads on 5 Coastal Div infantry

Arditi squad x2

MMG team for coastal div

WW2 Character models;

Mussolini

Otto Skorzeny

Charles Upham

We have ways characters x 2

Berlin soviet flag characters

Vasily Zaitsev

Desmond Doss & casualty

David Stirling

Jock Lewes

BA 'Stalingrad' set soviet sniper team

USMC Cappy the devil dog & Handler

Warhammer Fantasy Empire Army;

Huntsmen x 10

Helstorm Rocket battery

Outriders x 5

Head replacement on militiaman

Bear Musician model

So there we have it, some good progress i think! Im happy with it anyway. Keep an eye out for the videos on our valhalla games' Youtube page hope you enjoy seeing them. 

Do you like to shop around for 2nd hand armies? what is it you look for in a good deal? what are your dealbreakers? Let us know! 

Dan 

It's Official! Bolt Action: Third Edition Lands September 2024:

https://warlord-community.warlordgames.com/bolt-action-third-edition-september-2024/

As a build up to me rewatching A Bridge Too Far movie (which really is a true story) with mates in a few weeks time I thought I would post a few interesting facts about the movie (no spoilers). Comment below (and chose "Subscribe to this blog post") and I will update the chat with interesting titbits over the next few weeks.

​A Bridge Too Far is a classic war film that was released in 1977. Directed by Richard Attenborough, the movie depicts the Allied attempt to capture several strategically important bridges in the Netherlands during World War II. Based on Cornelius Ryan's best-selling book of the same name, A Bridge Too Far features an ensemble cast of talented actors, including Sean Connery, Michael Caine, and Anthony Hopkins.

This gripping film not only provides a thrilling account of a major military operation, but also offers a deeper exploration of the human cost and sacrifices made during wartime. With its powerful storytelling, intense battle sequences, and rich characterization, A Bridge Too Far has become a beloved war movie that continues to captivate audiences to this day. (content borrowed from https://facts.net, I'm sure they won't mind... :-/ )

"The Eagle has landed" one of my all time favourite war movies (and books) is 100% true after all... After so much wanting this to be a 'based on fact' story for so long I'm pleased to announce that on the strength of this book cover I consider this irrefutable proof that it is in fact a true story and Jack Higgins had inside information all along.

... at least I'm 40% sure.

So, as per my list below and our latest YouTube video, My list of stuff the year is massive...PLUS I acquired Mikes awesome terrain and stuff as seen in our latest YouTube vid, and so I decided that although I was in the field and on duty during the week, it was time to move from assembly line work onto finishing some figures. 

What better to choose then than the only figures I acquired from the sale of the wargames items that belonged to the late Mike (RIP); the Wargames Foundry downed German aircrew.  

So I really want to say I cant take any credit for these figures except for basing and a few details. Apart from that, this is how they were when I got them- and I wanted to keep it that way so they are Mikes figures. 

I touched up dings, rebased and did the few details to make them look fresh and give them longevity. The bright, decaying leaves are a bit bright on these figures, but that does match them with all my other NW Europe basing for coherency. The leaves are a godsend to add some colour to bases for German and Soviet field uniforms and avoid them looking washed out. 

​These are quite clearly not the greatest photos in the world, as per the 'workbench pics' principle we use on blogposts and sometimes Instagram, but I threw them down on a piece of Scenery I also got that was Mikes and snapped a few pics in some crazy light- I thought it actually matched that of dappled light coming through the canopy of the copse of trees they are navigating through.

​I confess that I also got some lighter colour onto the head bandage as highlights, but I figured Mike would've ended up doing that anyway, so I gave myself a pass there!

​So there you go, Hope you've enjoyed seeing some pics of them and feel like I finished them off in a way that would have done Mike proud. Easiest 'tick' off the list ever...but Ill take the win, and add these guys to my shelves of German WW2 for a future scenario! 

Dan

Hope you had a chance to check out the video on YouTube showing shelves full of work needing to be done! if not, check it out here:

2024 HOBBY GOALS

Colour/ Key;

Completed

In progress

EW= Early War

LW= Late War

LAST UPDATED 23/2/24

Historical WW2

German;

EW Krupp Protze  IN PROGRESS- Assembled, base coated 

Sdkfz 234 with variant parts AS ABOVE

Marder III AS ABOVE 

Sdkfz 251 D x3 AS ABOVE 

Sdkfz 251 C Pioneerwagon 

Lorraine Shlepper AS ABOVE 

UNIC P107 AS ABOVE 

EW Pak 36- & Crew  IN PROGRESS- base coated

EW Leig 38 & winter crew variants – removable crew

EW Opel Blitz  ASSEMBLED 

EW Pz III F ASSEMBLED

Pz Lehr MMG

Pz Lehr Sniper team

Winter dismounted Pz Crew

Sdkfz 232

EW MG34 MMG removable crew IN PROGRESS 

EW infantry x 32 IN PROGRESS

Detail 112 x EW infantry 

LW Grenadiers x 70

DAK infantry x 50

Pz Lehr infantry x25

Luftwaffe 88 crew x 7 IN PROGRESS

Waffen SS inf x 65

" " Nebelwerfer – removable crew

"" Pak 40 – removable crew

"" MMG x2

" " Med Mortar – removable crew

Heer pak 40 with summer and winter crews -removable

Last levy infantry ( Berlin) x 20

Luftwaffe tropical ground crew x 5

Mike's Downed Luftwaffe Aircrew ( basing and detailing only) COMPLETED

Stuka x1

Fallshirmjager infantry x 70

''Med Mortar removable crew

" Pz shrek team

" Sniper team

" Flamethrower team

" mule handler and mule x1

Opel blitz fuel bowser truck-  In process of assembly

Heer weapons teams

British Airborne;

Vehicle crew x 30

Polsten guns x 9

6 pounders and crew x 3

6 pounders limbered x 4

Med mortars x 3

MMG teams x 3

Light Mortars x 3

Piat teams x 2

Tow jeeps x 4

17 Pounders and removable crew x 2

Infantry x 150

British/commonwealth;

Sherman V x3

Sherman VC Firefly x1

Infantry in B/dress x 22

8th Army inf x 4

Bedford QLT truck ASSEMBLED 

8^th Army Lee tank

Cromwell with Burlap camo ASSEMBLED 

Soviet Army;

Infantry x 100

Detail /repaint soviet infantry x 100

Rebase soviet infantry x 150

45 mm AT gun with removable & alternate ( SNI )crews x 2

MMG team

HMG team

Dog mines x 3 teams

M3 White scout car

ATK rifle

Amplumet

FT team

L Mortar team

Peoples militia x 12

Jeeps and crew x2

T34/85

T34/76 (warlord)

T34/76 ( Rubicon)

GAZ AA/AAA trucks x 2

Soviet Naval Infantry;

Bronekator patrol boat

Infantry (Warlord) x 44

Infantry (3D prints) x 30

MMG team

HMG team

45mm AT gun and crew -removable

FT team

Standard bearers x2

ZiS 3 and crew -removable

Heavy Mortar and crew- removable

Light mortar and crew

Pz faust infantry x3

Medic

Photographer- Yevgeny Khaldei

Naval political officer x 2

SMG squad

Terrain;

2x collapsed parachute canopies

Urban barricades x6

Eastern Front log houses x 2

Eastern front village base

3D printed buildings x7

Additional berlin apartment building floors x2

Stalingrad tank factory & Base

Stalingrad Barmaley fountain x2

Destroyed European buildings (MDF) x2

Dock buildings and scatter-qty

IJA Tank emplacement- IN PROGRESS 

Dock crane

Lowest priority "Nice to do" list;

IJA/IJN;

150 Infantry (incl teams)

Repair/paint med tank

Rebase Infantry x 100

IJA LMG relocating

Italian;

6 infantry

Replace heads on 5 Coastal Div infantry

Arditi squad

MMG team for coastal div

WW2 Character models;

Mussolini

Otto Skorzeny

Charles Upham

We have ways characters x 2

Berlin soviet flag characters

Vasily Zaitsev

Desmond Doss & casualty

David Stirling

Jock Lewes

BA 'Stalingrad' set soviet sniper team

USMC Cappy the devil dog & Handler

Warhammer Fantasy Empire Army;

Huntsmen x 10

Helstorm Rocket battery

Outriders x 5

Head replacement on militiaman

Bear Musician model 

So on Saturday, I headed over to Craigs house for a game of Bolt Action. I was really looking forward to it as Craig not only has produced a great looking table, but has also just finished painting an entire 8th Army force, based around the 2nd New Zealand Division and some special guest stars ( some might say 'rogue heroes' ..) with their ill gotten gains from a certain Mr Stirlings night out in Cairo...

The reality is that I very possibly set myself up to fail right at that fateful decision. I normally play my own game anyway, so I really didnt need to see what Craig was doing with his deployment. I would've been better off choosing and denying him the high ground. His Medium mortar and 25 pounder -both without spotters if I remember correctly- would possibly had a harder time seeing my units. Although, the palm bases counting as rough ground, no penalty to hit firing across them, meant that the table was deceptively open in regards to shooting!

Both forces tried to dominate the centre of the battlefield from the start. I wouldnt normally try to capture the objectives so early if they were in the relative open, but on this battelefield the two flank central ones were in the wadi (hard cover) and at the ford in the centre that was hard cover by virtue of it being a destroyed bridge, with the remnants providing hard cover from the sides. With that in mind i pushed my Green FJ squad up on my left flank,  initially behind the StuH that was providing hard cover from fire. 

​Come Turn 2 however, Craigs FAO called in fire for effect with an artillery barrage, which- well placed by craig- put pins on several units and devastatingly rolled a six for the StuH, then setting it on fire and the crew running for the hills (wadi's?!) and its knocked out! (Below) The Green FJ scarpered into the wadi and took cover behind some scrub while checking out what was inside the ammo case the DAK casualty was clinging to as his life slipped away 

( Sidebar: see the objective above- not my best painted but hurriedly knocked up and painted the water to try to match Craigs stream from a photo. I was actually quite happy with it, one day ill go back and detail and highlight them!)  

Not only did the bombardment play havoc, but the 25 pounder and mortar turned into sharpshooters to pay me back for my gift of high ground to Craig! with successive sixes to range in, my medium mortar and sniper team were reduced to offal over the first two turns! Craigs target and order dice allocation priorities were excellent, and swinging the order dice advantage way in his favour.

In order to rebalance the centre of the board somewhat I ran the officer on to get within range of the much- diminished FJ squads so he could balance out the pins and motivate them into action the next turn! the truck attempted to do a road-assisted long advance move and disgorge its 10 man & SMG heavy FJ squad within shooting range of the bad guys (good guys?!?) advancing on my units at the ford.

Unfortunately, after an abysmal roll on the pothole environmental effect check, the pothole spotter was clearly fighting Indiana Jones or something and the truck bumbled forward, leaving them out of position for where I wanted them...Aaaaaargh! 

Heres the view down the road from Craigs side, one can see the pressure hes kept up in the centre and turn three he brought his Blitz buggy in from his right flank. Hosing down the Green FJ squad, they took a single casualty, in addition some more shooting whittled them down to two men, who rather inconveniently had stayed inexperienced. However, they got their sweet sweet revenge when they assaulted the blitz buggy at the start of turn 4, and the buggy failed its recce escape move. Being the spiteful man I am I stalled it right where it was and the FJ proceeded to slice and dice and drop a grenade in the now empty vehicle, destroying it...a solitary victorious moment for the last couple of turns for me!

​Meanwhile back in the centre of the table, Craigs dice advantage and sheer number of shots in his shooting order was paying dividends. I had to try and get some momentum and swing some dice back in my favour, so I snapped to with my officer. the three man brit squad just heading into the rough ground had to go as Id unloaded into them last turn and failed to cause a morale check with less than 50% casualties. this turn I knew I had to charge them as they were sticking provocatively out into the open ground. 

In addition, the large regular squad that Craig had disembarked from the truck had failed to do much damage to my large FJ squad on the ford, so they too needed to be assaulted while i would strike first on the charge. 

As it turned out, I won both CQ assaults, which was great but i then had a poor regroup move roll by my smaller squad which had three men left. I was sure i couldnt reach the observer squad if i charged them because I was in the bushes at the side of the road thanks to the poor roll- bugger! However- i COULD reach his truck- until it failed an order check and reversed out of charge range...damn! What DID go well was assaulting with my (formerly) large FJ sqd vs his universal carrier with the 2nd Lt in the back, forcing him to disembark and fight and resulting in him being diced up somewhat.

But in return Craigs Veteran squad ( shown below to the left of the carrier) finally surged forward- advancing out of their cover and shot the FJ squad to bits, wiping them out!! Craig ranged in on another 6 on the officer squad in the hard cover in the wadi by the bridge, wiping them out also. 

Surveying the battlefield I decided there was little I could do to stop Craig from holding the Centre and objective closest to his side. His vehicles were likely to contest at least one of the flank central objectives i held, and he had done a great job earning so many dice for kills off me, each three providing him with a VP. I did what any good opponent would do and extended the hand to shake that of the victor- Craig played an excellent game and thoroughly deserved the win! 

A fantastic game on a fantastic board, thanks Craig! the amount he has achieved in such a short time in having a  fully painted army and a great looking table of terrain is inspiring- keep it up! 

Hi Everyone. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing this Christmas, Rex and I hope you have a happy and safe Xmas and New Years. I'm away on my honeymoon at the moment ( there is an obvious clue to my whereabouts in the images below!) but Im sure Rex might drop an update also in the coming fortnight or so.

about 10 weeks or so ago, Rex and I put out our podcast updating our hobby goals we set at the start of the year. In that episode I was really happy with my hobby output for the year against my goals I had set- with one notable exception; I had committed to painting 100 German Grenadier infantry, and hadnt painted a single one, and despite my having finished dozens of Waffen SS and Panzer Lehr It rankled me that this goal was unfulfilled. 

BUT, with Rex coming over for the wedding, we had a big game planned. It was going to be based during Op. Barbarossa in 1941- and I hadnt a single early war German painted...but the answer was simple; Paint the early war version of the grenadier- the German Infantryman- over a hundred of them!!  

 So anyways, Im VERY pleased to report that I made my 100 German 'grenadiers' ( they werent called grenadiers yet, but ill give myself a break!)...in fact 111 of them, in 3 months, while working and prepping for the wedding and the honeymoon...I think I shall rather unusually give myself a wee pat on the back ;)

I shall look forward to formulating and sharing next years hobby goals with you. probably something to do with all the figures in my luggage from our trip already! 

Talk soon, stay safe and Happy Xmas to you and your families!!

Regards,

Dan

The beginnings of a new early war German army for Rex, thanks Dan for the colours you know colour research isn't my favourite thing.

Still a couple of more things to do.

WWII Soviet paint recipe updated and uploaded, I'm reluctant to call it 'finished' (because its not) but if you find it useful your welcome to it. I'm moving onto early war Germans (on a time limit!) so this is 'complete' for a while.

New format, if you love it or hate it let me know here

Get it here: https://www.valhallagames.net/index.php/downloads/download/6-paint-guides/25-paint-guide-soviets-winter-quilted-and-greatcoat-types

Subscribe in your podcast app by searching for Valhalla Games or play in the web player by clicking on the image below​.

 New paint range from The Army Painter. Brave claims to be the best paint in the world! Keen to have a look at these.

 15mm armies I saw for sale at the recent MOAB wargame event. Click on the thumbnail to see the full sized image. If I had a spare $1000(!) I would have purchased them, nicest 15mm armies I have ever seen.

Mainly I'm putting this here as a permanent record of what I want my 15mm armies to look like one day... when I get them out of the shrink-wrap.

Soviet reinforcements have arrived... just in time as they need to fight at the MOAB Bolt Action event 0830 tomorrow. Although its only 7 guys its nice to have painted something from beginning to end and have them complete not just "90% done and I will sort the rest out later". My painting skill is improving again, another couple of squads and I will be back up to the standard I was at a 2 years ago. Interesting how with no painting getting done I had a noticeable drop in skill!

I have revamped my Soviet paint guide as well, more detail better layout. I will upload it to the files/download section when I have time.

Edit: there is the same thing with moving pictures... https://youtu.be/H9WDeZfXO0k?si=VoGt3usmqL1zc2u8

Join Rex and Dan as they give a summary on their hobby goals 2023 progress year-to-date at the three-quarter point. Have we completed our hobby goals? Have we purchased enough plastic and lead to keep the furnaces of hobby production stoked? Find out here along with news and lots of chat.

We hope you enjoy listening to this and hope it helps you paint a few more figures toward YOUR hobby own goals!

Subscribe in your preferred podcast to you don't miss an episode by searching for Valhalla Games or you can listen in the web player by clicking on the image below.

 Bolt Action - Assaulting vehicles flowchart PDF version 1 is available here:

*Now including 1 of 2 rules confirmations received back from Warlord Games

>>Download<<

If you spot any issues let us know here https://valhallagames.net/contact

​Found these photos of Soviet cav... I don't think I have shown yet. Looking back i'm pretty happy with them. Pity I only purchased and painted 3(!) less than useful.

Final decision: Angkor Wat, 'mostly' grey plus lots of greenery

I have been having difficulty using my normal method of brick/wall painting for a couple of reasons. 

1. The spray on primer/paint seams to have changed recipe and 
2. the new and improved technique of using XTC 3D or resin has proven to be not such a good idea as it nets a result that wont take a wash at all and behaves like some sort of weird contrast paint. 

I had also planned on some Gondor-white buildings for something else, that DID NOT work so I abandoned it this time round. Long story short I have the technique and can now move forward.

The other thing I have been obsessing over is gaming mats. Since I stored away the realistic Primosole bridge board I have been dis-satisfied with almost all of the terrain mats I own for various reasons.
After toying with the idea of making my own terrain mat for 5 years and with my dissatisfaction for existing game mats coalescing, with having a couple of evenings free with no responsibility and I have all my ducks in a row!

• Yesterday I gathered the required materials
• Today I washed and dried my paint sheet to preshrink it and also to get rid of the heavy folds from it being packaged.
• I think I have thought of everything (famous last words), roll on tomorrow!

Hi Dan here, the first in a series of occasional articles mapping out what's in my mind. 

So. What to do with the armies I collect that are getting bigger and bigger?

Or...is that partly the answer and not the question? Should I ask myself what collections should I invest time in to make them bigger? Or should I be enjoying making smaller themed armies for different theatres, different types of basing to denote different environments? 

The reality is that I could go in either direction and have fun collecting, modelling, painting and playing with my forces. The idea about being able to invest time in a small bespoke force is a great one, and one I've seized upon a number of times such as my 'small Fallschirmjager force to represent a part of the battle for Primosole Bridge'...look how that turned out! 

But one of my wargaming dreams /goals has always been to play BIG games of fully painted armies on the battlefield in WW2 battles. Ever since our mother bought me the Orbis book of 'Model Soldiers' and I salivated over a picture showing what appeared to be a corner of a larger battle incorporating an amphibious landing. Of course, I had -as a young boy- vast armies of 1/72 green and grey plastic 'army men' and tried to emulate the picture and had many many happy hours doing so! But now I want to do so with beautifully sculpted metal and plastic figures and terrain and build it on a scale where i can provide everything, yet others can join in games in my version of 'Valhalla"!

So...time for a Q&A for myself;

What Scale would I choose for these big collections and big games?

Bigger games in my definition are lots of figures, possibly (probably) multiple players per side, large playing areas. My vision is 28mm miniatures so they can be seen by players flanking each other while playing on a ( or multiple) long/deep playing surface. However...I already have 28mm in Historical WW2- armies that continue to get larger- so that's a no brainer for me. in Fantasy and 40k i have nice armies, but not huge armies so if i wanted to choose a different scale I could. And the same goes for other historical periods. For instance; I have a desire to do American Civil War ( ACW). I have a great start waiting for me in the Perry Miniatures Battle in a box set...but I have been thinking is that the right size for ACW battles? should I be into 15mm/12mm/10mm for it? The Warlord Games Epic Black Powder ACW starter sets in plastic are great value ( although the individual sets start getting more expensive than metal manufacturers for some reason...) and inspiring to perhaps be worth a look. Watch this space for decisions, lol. 

What periods would I collect figures & terrain for to play in Big, Big games?

The reality is that I would need BIG forces, that would be capable of splitting into decent commands for a number of generals to control in the games. its one thing to look at a 'big' force on your shelves at home, but when it hits a table the size of those in my vision it will be eaten alive by the table that wont even notice the tiny morsel! "Figures...Fahsounds of them, Sah!" are what is required.  But what periods? 

WW2..has to be. The original, and once again, love...of course! But what else?

ACW has interested me as above. Total painted ACW miniatures at the time of writing; Zero. But i DO have that big box of figures in the pile of shame, so...that counts, right?!

 Napoleonics. Yep...I have about 22 cavalry figures 'finished' for the napoleonic period ( a box of Hinchcliffe French Empress Dragoons that I bought second hand painted in a style 'of the time' (early-mid eighties i guess, judging from the Humbrol enamel finish)  because I had the opportunity and I wanted to own a Hinchcliffe unit because the brand is hand-in-hand with classic big wargaming at places like Peter Gilder's ( and those that have followed) Wargames Holiday Centre in the UK. 

 But I ALSO have a few boxes of Perry and victrix British in the that pile...and a desire to acquire Victrix French Guard Lancers, which are some of the most beautiful miniatures I've ever seen, so- that again, is an exceptional start, right?! 

On Balance I'd say I'm well ahead of the game then... I've just turned 49, and deciding to take on three periods that normally take collectors a lifetime to do one alone ( plus I have an unnatural desire to play the Sudan, but that can wait until I've knocked off these simple, short goals!!). And I've just been prescribed glasses in order to be able to hobby at point blank range in anything smaller than 1:1 scale. Simples! ;)

  But here's the thing; I'm inspired. And motivated. And this is making me make some SANE decisions along with the insane decisions we've talked about above; 

•  Work on these goals for long term gratification and triumphant conclusion, and not to chase the next new game system on the block. LESS BREADTH, MORE DEPTH in what I do.
• The fact that I do this may occasionally be less sexy and appealing as I grind out the next batch of 35 figures in the same uniform, but EMBRACE THE SUCK as I see those goals get closer with every unit I finish.
• ENJOY THE PRICE, not PAY THE PRICE of the journey to completion. I enjoy the full spectrum of the hobby; Historical research, collecting, modelling, painting, and the wargaming. I also enjoy the spectacle- just enjoying the display or photos of a beautiful game, the figures and the terrain ( or truly scenery) on the table. The journey is as important to me as the destination, as the hobby as a whole continues to entertain, inspire and allows me to decompress from stresses in life, particularly work. Even the small things such as assembling and kit bashing/converting plastics are immensely satisfying to me. So while others might avoid the time it takes and prefer to get into painting metals quicker, I enjoy including both.
• DIRECTION OF COLLECTION...i can look at things like what types of terrain, playing surface, buildings, even the ground cover based on theatres of battles/campaigns. I can narrow down and plan effectively, It  allows me to cascade these decisions down into workflow decisions and aesthetics such as coherent but versatile basing decisions for my troops bases.
• TIMING IS EVERYTHING...Understanding and planning short/medium term goals such as games we want to play and record for our Channel, and working them into this greater long term, over-arching goal. For instance; I can base models for a summer historical engagement that we want to film as long as Im clever with the materials used I can then overpaint, apply snow, etc. But the reverse is more difficult and is likely to involved completely new physical bases. Doing urban bases on models can in the same way be changed to rural bases, if the 'rubble' doesnt contain walls etc, and the rubble is more gritty, with small pebbles instead of square edged bricks and the effect is gained somewhat from paint to get the effect. 

All these things can be well executed with effort and practice...as well as restraint and long term goals in mind! I'm learning how to do them better and better all the time. 

With all this in mind, I am quite enjoying setting out on my journey. I hope to achieve such armies as befits a warrior king to accompany him into the afterlife, as seen when I visited Xian a few years ago. I hope you enjoyed this brief outline of my intended trip into meglomania, and join me sometime soon for another installment of my 'Master plan' !. 

I'd be interested in your thoughts and feedback below as to whether you've tread this path, why or why not and any advice you may have- or disagree with. 

Dan