Rolling up the project sleeves

It made me chuckle....

The plans to renovate the man cave are now complete and so I can sit down and really scope out the various projects I have in mind for this year. I want this year to the year of using painted models rather than solely relying on the block armies - and that also includes the Command and Colours Ancients and Napoleonics. My problem is, and in fact always has been, I am a very s-l-o-w figure painter. I usually manage to run out of enthusiasm for a given project long before it is anywhere near to completion so if I have learned anything over the years it is that I have to be sure that what I am tackling is going to be finished. This means small, bite sized chunks of projects - DBA sized forces in fact - which is why the whole Portable Wargame/Command and Colours system sits so well with me.

The first priority will be to tackle the ships just as soon as the Stonewall order arrives. I will also be picking up some extra models for this project at Tonbridge so will have absolutely no excuse for not kicking this off as soon as possible. Painting WW1 warships is easy enough, even for me, and this will be a nice easy introduction back into brushwork. I have a set of rules to use with these models and it will probably come as no surprise that they are my own version of Bob Cordery's Portable Naval Wargame. They are simple, effective and with the all important 'feel' factor.

The Middle East project will receive some serious attention - the infantry required will be pretty minimal at around 60 figures a side - but the main effort will be concerned with the vehicles. As I shall be basing the figures individually my plan is to use the models with Bolt Action at some point. Tied in with this is the Angels 20 aircraft - which is about to head off in a new direction with the release of the Pacific based starter set - Bandits High. The boosters to go with this set includes some very useful additional models including a Ju 87 and a Sturmovik. This will mean that I shall be using 15mm aircraft with 20mm ground troops....;-)

I would love to tackle something late 19th century as well but this is a way off yet.

I also have plans for something a little out of the ordinary that will only involve me painting around 50 figures in total and I hope to unveil this once it is complete.

All in all then, I have a number of things to keep me occupied during the coming year although I daresay that something else will come along to distract me - it usually does!