Balkan Wars and "So many wonderful things!"

Hurrah!! The Osprey above is not out until (allegedly) next month but for me it will be a most welcome addition to the library. It will also give me the inspiration to finally tackle the 15mm Irregular Miniatures Balkan Wars kit I have had languishing in my collection for what seems like an age. My set up for this period is not large - it was never intended to be - and each force equates to roughly a large DBA army of roughly 20 bases of models.

My project list is fairly modest in respect of models and painting with the ACW naval kit taking pole position in terms of effort and time and this is unlikely to change for a couple of months. I still have models to build for the actual fighting side and have not included the unarmed tugs, coal barges, transports and shore batteries/forts etc which will be a separate mini project all of its own.

I am going to scratchbuild some sci-fi kit for an OGRE type set up and the planning for this (designing the models) is fairly well advanced. The final amount of material for this will be fairly modest - no more than a couple of dozen vehicles or so, some 6mm infantry and probably three OGREs. I will need to tackle some terrain for this but nothing major.

I have decided to explore the Art of Tactic system produced by Zvezda although I am in no hurry to kick this off - probably because it would prove to be a huge distraction! My initial thoughts are along the lines of acquiring a couple of base sets and then add the extra kit(s) to taste - with the whole thing coming in at around £150..

My final projected project will be another scratch building naval undertaking. Previously I had mentioned about pre dreadnoughts but I have decided against this for a number of reasons. What I will be tackling though are 16th century galleys for use in the Mediterranean. I certainly have sufficient reference material for this and it will only require a couple of dozen or so models. This will explain why I have been messing around with lateen sails and such like!

Gaming wise I want to spend some time on my various Command and Colours games with the Napoleonics being the preferred option - although Memoir 44 and Battle Cry will certainly not be neglected. The beauty of these is that everything is ready to use and so the only effort additional effort involved is in designing scenarios which is a task I can tackle on my train journey to and from work. I have given some very serious thought to acquiring the Ancients version but will need to research this further.

This then is the plan (of sorts) and I suppose the only thing I can add to this is that I can offer no guarantees that in the interim something shiny will come along to scupper some or all of this!