AT ARMS DISTANCE

So yes I “bit the bullet” and procured some IJA troops for Bolt Action. Or rather I secured some more troops, since I already had a tank in the "lead-pile". BUT,

I hate painting miniatures. 

There I said it.

I’m not very good at it, I never have been and I have never bothered to spend the required time to get good at it. 

And if I am 100% honest I am not sure I will ever spend the time to either.

I love the look of a painted army, and would never field one unpainted, but it is the history, the research, playing the game, the collecting, and the camaraderie that are the highlights of the hobby for me. I do however like making terrain which ironically does include some painting. (go figure)

The fact I have painted armies is more a result of, at one time, having a disposable income high enough to start my various collections, and throughout my wargaming life buying or being dumped with old projects from friends for whom a period or scale no longer held fancy. The number of units that I have actually painted is quite small, and while it is in double figures, it’s not as high as it probably should be for forty plus years in the hobby.

Kleve-Berg, my single painted battalion from my first "lead" purchase.

The figures I have painted are “table top” quality at best only saved by some nice basing and some pretty flags. So “at arms distance” is how I hold my mini’s and how I like to look at them. It’s also probably why I love 15mm, there is enough detail to look good en-masse but not enough to show my lack of paint brush dexterity, thus I get to have the “sense” and “look” of a battle while also recognising my painting limitations. 

Sadly being of a certain vintage, I now need to get myself a magnifying lamp* before I start putting paint onto plastic and I need to embrace more "modern" painting techniques beyond blocking and dry-brushing. Which brings me to Speed or Contrast paints, brand description aside, these do offer a short-cut to someone like myself. Videos online show a 28mm figure table ready in as little as 10 mins (plus drying time).

Whole squads ready to fall-in and offer themselves up to the vagaries of my poor decisions and the fickleness of the die in a gentlemanly repast accompanied by a fine spirit. Sounds too good to be true.

Wargames Delivered, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LURg44kQekY&t=5s

And while this sounds so simple, there are no hobby stores where I live, the mail is unreliable at best, and as I mentioned in a past post things like paints have to be purchased as part of holiday and travel plans, which sometimes limits the options available often due to stock and delivery time limits. And while others question the use of AI in the hobby, its support in identifying matching colours between manufacturers of both model paints and commercially available spray paints has proven a boon for me, and has helped plan my next (painting) steps.

* I can no longer see the little buggers in enough detail to paint them without some technological help. And even with the help of my specs I don’t feel comfortable unless the model is a lot closer, thus a good light source and a magnifier is now needed.

DIPPING MY TOE - BOLT ACTION

not pictured: a box of IJA Bamboo Spear Fighter Squad

I decided to do it.

Many years ago after a visiting my mum and hometown I was later surprised by a parcel from a friend. He had inquired into the "what's and wherefore's" of Wargaming, "dipped his toe", decided it wasn't for him, and then sent me his few initial purchases as a gift. A single IJA Type 95 Ha-Go tank accompanied by a Japanese Daihatsu-class Landing Craft, both were 28mm, which immediately told me my description of scales had failed, but I was quite touched by the gesture and these have sat proudly inside one of my collection cabinets ever since.

I have also Dived (and travelled) across the Pacific and thus swum (and trod) many of the battlefields for that theatre, and while I did start to raise forces for the Fall of Singapore in 20mm (painted but not based) I have never really fully embraced the Pacific and the Far East. 

And with too many options on the Allied side to narrow down without some long thinking, but only one for the Axis, I resolved to start there and raise a small IJA force. After all the Japanese are needed everywhere in this theatre so are somewhat essential.

So I then did what all "real" Wargamers do, I rushed out and spent a pile of money without a clear plan or any idea what I really needed. And when I say "rushed out" I mean I spammed an online store with my credit card and had the parcels delivered.

And thus, faced with a boxes of figures and a new "lead-pile" I have retroactively decided on a plan to start with a small 3rd Ed.* 500 pt. force, a (hopefully) manageable chunk to try and paint and ONLY when it is done slowly expand this effort 250 pts. at a time. Ideally I should not have to purchase anything beyond my initial "splurge" apart from the usual consumables that a new project usually demands. (any paints, glue, decals and basing materials, etc...) But I am sure this will change as no "army" is ever really complete, and I already know I need an extra tank or two...

So my first "paint of attack"

So 40 figures to paint up, with a rough plan for the next 250 points to include some tanks, but first things first, and for the start of the new financial year, I now have the start of a plan. (maybe even a cunning one)

* I will most probably need to buy the 3rd Ed. Rules and the new Armies of Japan book as well.

TAKING STOCK & STEPS

A long time ago, on a table far, far away...

I’ve always played 15mm when it comes to Horse and Musket and my Greek Hoplites, 20mm when it comes to World War II, and 28mm for Dark Ages, but that is only a small skirmish collection gifted from a friend over thirty years ago and is really only two small skirmish forces with enough flexibility to act as Normans, Saxons or Vikings, but not all three at once.

I also have a few “Oldhammer” armies but they are currently packed away and have not seen dice or a table for at least a decade.

My wargaming room, my figure and terrain collection, and my war library, all remain "at home" while I am currently living in another country. So save for a small box of modelling supplies, some terrain projects that I resolved to complete and a small collection of figures that I included in my shipping.

Also there is a lack of opponents in this part of the world which means that I have to focus on other aspects of the hobby and then seek out active time to game when holidays roll around which is also time I want to spend with my wife as we do our best while being geographically separated. (Visa requirements and job contracts can be a bit bothersome for the married expat)

A lack of opponents also means a lack of hobby stores, this, coupled with an unreliable mail service means any projects need to be carefully planned around holiday and travel plans, with "blitzkrieg" shopping strikes to gather everything that is needed. Which means flexibility when it comes to consumables, particularly around paint brands that might not be readily available. AI has proven a real boon here, enabling me to quickly identify the closest colour and style match between manufacturers. It helps offer good suggestions for alternatives and has allowed me to "translate" the paint options used in some tutorials to more readily available choices when I go holiday shopping, and when I do get to visit some of the local art supply stores.

Luckily my gaming group resides in the same city and country as my wife. Unluckily they all have a not so minor obsession with Bolt Action, particularly Bolt Action in the Far East. And with so many years (and dollars) invested in 20mm World War II, the idea of a 28mm project is one I have chaffed at, but am also slowly coming around to the idea of, even if I still hold some reservations. Though, if honest, I'm starting to see some merits, chief being that in the small windows of time that I do have I would be able to bring something to the table.

So in short, my hobby life has to compromise to fit around the realities of needing to “earn a crust” while also competing with a hobbyist (moi) who is quite skilled at finding reasons to procrastinate. And yet at the same time I need to scratch my hobby itch and maximise the time I have.

Or as I like to say “too many periods, wrong scale and not enough time”.

TAKING THE PLUNGE - MY FIRST HISTORICALS

 

I was 16 years old the first time I rolled die and consulted tables as part of a Historical Wargame, prior to that a tennis ball had served as thrown "artillery" and fallen "green army men" were simply those who took a tumble while spread out across the lawn and gardens of my childhood home. Back then Games Workshop was a very different company than it is today and the path from Dungeons & Dragons to Wargaming while including the odd foray into White Dwarf was not as followed as perhaps it is now. Instead, a best friend, a supportive military and model railway loving father and the guidance of a High School History teacher or two, provided the gateway into a hobby that has remained a consistent, if not always visible, part of my life.

An ESCI plastic army of 1/72 Napoleonic French that saw me through High School, was replaced with a 15mm metal army sometime in my University years, and although I say "replaced" in truth this was the start of my own personal "lead pile". Later my armies for this period grew to be one of the biggest in my painted collection, growing to include sides for the Peninsular War and for Waterloo. However the original figures purchased with the plan of doing the army of Kleve-Berg foreshadowed my hobby future and largely to this day remain unpainted save for a single battalion that is part of my French Confederation of the Rhine Division.

This was followed by DBA Greeks and dabbling with the Prince August Moulds both which included trying to melt thick rods of plumbers solder and cast my own soldiers. On a whole these exercises were less than successful and later, in my late thirties/early forties, and as funds allowed I did finally collect 15mm Ancient Greek Hoplite armies, but 25/8mm Napoleonic has forever remained a dabble at best, and I don't foresee this ever changing.

Later ventures into WWII, the Seven Years War, Skirmish Dark Ages and the American Civil War in different scales were in equal parts inspired by the opponents I had on hand, personal whims, movies and/or book inspirations and the futile desire to "try to finish a period". Oh, and there was period when I explored "Old-hammer" but that was more a Dungeons & Dragons inspired choice than a serious attempt at raising an army.

But no matter where this hobby and my distractions took me, both my Wargaming and my Historical Wargaming adventure all started with Napoleon.

SO WHY BAYONETS & BARRELS?

Short answer: Alliteration in a Blog title sounds right. Slightly longer answer...

The "Bayonets" is easy, the vast majority of my Wargaming is done in the "Horse and Musket" period, whether it be Napoleonics (where it all began), the 7YW, the ACW or even the Banzai & Beach storming charges of WWII, the bayonet is part of the equation.

As for the "Barrel" the answer has a few nuances, it's something to keep the powder in, without them both musketry and artillery remains silent and ineffectual, fine spirtits are matured in them, and in some distant past in a small corner of Ireland through way of my paternal grandmother my family were Coopers.

SMALL STEPS

I've started a few blogs over the years and all of them started with the simple idea to document and share my hobby progress. But rather than focusing on the small measures and musings of my own progress I would get swept up in the idea of audience. This in itself is not a bad thing, since the act of blogging (unless done privately) is a shared experience, but for me it oft became the driving reason which is where the inevitable distance and motivation eventually waned. And yet, at the same time I enjoyed the camaraderie, the digital connections and most of all the inspiration. In a life with so many distractions I admire those who are able to carve out time to focus on their hobby and then find further time to share it seemingly with the intent that their audience is quite simply, themselves.

As an affirmed Wargaming butterfly, whose geographical location results in a decided lack of opponents and for whom the focus is, for the next year, reduced to making small progress on the “lead pile” while also finalising many of the small, often terrain related, project elements that always seem to remain incomplete, I am left to wonder, can I do the same? Can I focus on my own small steps, taking and acknowledging inspiration as it strikes, but with a focus on my own efforts and progress?

Or maybe, will it be enough if this space just offers my own nostalgic trip through my personal wargaming history and in doing so remind me of the ebb and flow of hobbies in general, and offer a glimpse of how far I have actually come.

So this is “another” first post to simply serve as the digital journal equivalent to a programmers "hello world", and to mark another beginning. I’m still yet to fully decide the type of things I intend (at least at the journeys outset) to include here, instead this is a simple first musing as I play with the template and flex a little HTML and CSS knowledge while also contemplating possibilities.