Frightening the horses.

Large picture, click to enlarge.

"Does it really matter what these affectionate people do— so long as they don’t do it in the streets and frighten the horses!" - Mrs. Patrick Campbell.

I like blogs in theory, particularly when they are other people's, and I've had a few myself over the years. They have generally faded away from lack of interest as I rarely post to them often enough, mainly because the tide of mundanity that ebbs and flows through my day should not be suffered to wash against any shores but my own.

I do have a hobby though; painting and playing with Toy Soldiers. I can take endless interest in it and can spend countless hours that would better be spent writing, working or otherwise bettering myself painting Toy Soldiers. I once tried giving it up. I lasted a few months, when my fiancee, whose patience had been sorely tried by my abstinence, asked me, "When are you going to find yourself a new war honey?"

Like many wargamers, I am a man of many projects, almost all of which will, no doubt, go unfinished. This is where I will chronicle my progress, or more likely, my lack of progress, without frightening the horses.

My projects.

- Paint 8 Great War era planes for a convention game at the end of the month.
- Run a Napoleonic war era roleplaying game set around the exploits of the (entirely fictional) 46th Regiment of Foot, King's Royal Halberdiers, during the Peninsular War. (ongoing)
- Paint small armies for a War of Ruritanian Succession campaign set in 1837.
- Paint Napoleonic armies for...

a) The Peninsular War.
b) The 1798 Rebellion.
c) "Operation Otari" - A fictional French invasion of Britain.

The miniatures pictured above are 1/72 HAT 8146 - 1805 French Line Infantry in Greatcoats. I hadn't really didn't intend picking them up, when I actually went into the shop, I was looking for 8034 - French Young Guard, but they were there and they looked really nice in their big chunky boxes.

While they're made of a softer plastic then I used to working with they paint up rather well and like most large sets from HAT come with a wide selection of wargamer friendly marching poses. The great coats take away a lot of the need for detail that makes painting Napoleonics so time consuming.

On the other hand, now that I've bought them, I have to come up with something to do with them. While I legitimately argue that the supply situation in Spain being what it was, it was conceivable perhaps that certain units would not recieve the shako for several years after it was officially issued, though this is almost certainly stretching a point.

They will also see service as members of the Ruritanian Landwehr, when I finally get my Imagi-nation off the ground.

That said, they are very nice figures and paint up well en masse, it would be churlish to lament mustering them into the service.