Building Some Units...

My painting "mojo" seems to have escaped me this week...I just can't seem to find the time or energy to finish up the few projects that are lingering on my table.  So, this week, I did what all hobbyists in such a situation do....I started a bunch of new projects!  haha

I recently ordered a batch of 100 20mm square bases with the "horizontal" slot...and upon their arrival I've had the urge to get some of my many units based up and ready for priming.  I'm really making a push to get as many units as possible in a game ready condition...even if they are not painted...so that I am more likely to actually use them in games...which I hope are going to be a more common occurrence this winter.  One of the major impediments to that task was the lack of straight slot bases in my collection.  This shipment makes this work possible.

Here are the units that I managed to get set up over the last couple of days...as you will see I have been focusing on getting some missle troops ready to rumble.

1. Dwarf Crossbows

This unit is composed mostly of Marauder Dwarf sculpts (MM15s) and includes some wonderfully characterful pieces.  The shooters in the front rank are all "plug-in" figures that could be armed with a spear or Crossbow...sadly I only have 4 of the six crossbows that I need....but I'm fairly confident that the ones produced by White Knight for his dwarfs will fit these guys pretty well.  You may also notice that the musician for this force is actually the piper that came with the Marauder Pike Dwarf Unit (MB1) and that the Standard is from the MM11 dwarfs.  (The Pike unit will be built with the MM15 Drummer).  Fellow dwarf fanatic, Hitmonkey, on Bugman's has recently started painting a unit of these and his work has been a great inspiration for me to do something with mine.

2. Empire Handgunners

Here we have a unit of the excellent Puff and Slash Empire handgunners that came out towards the end of the 3rd edition.  I'm a big fan of the Empire forces that were released at this time...and these handgunners fought many a battle on my table back in the day.  I could have wished for one more variant on the shooter poses but I'll work with what was produced....though I've been considering a head swap or two...

As you can see I need to convert that slightly damaged halberdier into a standard bearer.

3.  Empire Archers

Continuing with the Empire theme I also got this unit of archers based....more lovely sculpts though a little more difficult to rank up.  I have yet to find a musician I like for this unit...so they may have to survive without one.

4. Empire Crossbows

Closing out the Empire branch of my army for this post is a unit of Crossbowmen...again dating from the end of the 3rd edition.  With a command section of Marauder Figures from the MM61 range.  Sadly the drummer causes a lot of problems with ranking these figures so I might have to figure something else out for command models...but these look good for now and are painted...so YAY!

I've never been a fan of the big black plastic crossbows that game with these, and many other 3rd ed shooty types, so I'm exploring weapons from other manufacturers.  If you have suggestion please leave a comment.

5. Bretonian Armored Bowmen

These are the figures that have sent me down the rabbit hole of chasing 4th and 5th edition Brets for a small army...I've owned a number of these sculpts since they were released in the mid-90's but only got around to painting some for the last LPL contest on the Lead Adventure Forum.  In the process I realized that they are just great figures and that I needed to own them all!  You will notice two plastic figures in this group...despite my nearly unviersal contempt for plastic figures these ones are not too terrible and blend in well with their metal counterparts...well enough for the back rank anyway...:-).

Well there you have it...five new units for me to work on...that should keep me busy for the next lifetime!  Sadly this is but a fraction of the units I need to build up and paint...sigh...and YAY!

So what have I learned during this exercise?  A few things have come to mind.

1. I've often said that I like to collect "units" rather than "figures" and I think that mindset shows through with this selection.  This thought probably really places me outside what most Oldhammer folks would call the "classic" period of citadel figures...but I am starting to feel that the figures from the end of the 3rd and the early years of the 4th editons make the best, most cohesive looking , units.  I still appreciate the earlier models tremendously, particularly the RoR, but for much of my army I prefer this slightly later style of troops.  (please don't throw rocks at me...)

2. I have way too much painting ahead of me!  I'm going to have to work on some systems for speeding up my process with these units.  I would love to spend unlimited amount of time on each figure...but at the rate I'm going these guys will never make it to the table top in a painted form.  Comprimises must be made in the hopes of having completed armies before I die!

3. I seem to like units of 18 for shooty types....but now that I look at them...maybe 22 would be better...hehehe

4. As I finish these units up and get all the final little fiddly bits for them I can see my collecting focus really shifting to quality over quantity.  In almost all my units I'm looking for just a few pieces to make them complete...hopefully a reduction in the amount of time spent on ebay will allow me to make more progress on getting table ready units in a game.

5.  100 straight slot bases was not enough! I see another order in my future...

Anyway...enough rambling for today...got to get back to work!

Cheers,

Blue