Greetings, fellow shut-ins! Real life has been imposing itself at work and on the personal front, sucking time and energy away from hobbying. So have faith, dear readers, the pace may have become a bit slower lately, but this blog has not been abandoned. As I have mentioned before, one of my resolutions has been to mix in a few more "light" posts rather than only posting when I have the time and energy to do something more substantial, which will help with blogging during busy and distracted periods. This post will fit into that category. As such, it is mostly a bit of eye candy on the recently completed great basing project (Thirty Years War figs). As usual, in this post, you may clix pix for BIG PIX.
The new additions lined up: quite an expansion!
As I've mentioned previously, this collection can be used for a variety of rules sets, to include my own Smalle Warre system. As such, there are some organizing principles at work that can come into play depending on the system being played.
I've paired my pikes and musketeers into two unit "companies" and included a set of command figures (an officer and musician) for each, color coded to reflect the component units...
...The Red and White Pikes behind their company command.
...The Orange and Green Musketeers behind their company command (you get the idea).
Speaking of game systems, I had a near miss with hosting a game a week or so ago. My friend AJ (of AJ's Wargaming Blog) came over and we were going to give Pikeman's Lament a go (one of the systems that these figs would work for). If you aren't familiar with that system, each side can build a company using points. AJ wouldn't have the time to send along a list, so rather than me coming up with two companies, I asked another friend of mine, Ralph, who couldn't play, to put together some company lists and send them along to me--I'd have AJ play one of the companies Ralph put together. In the event, the game did not come off, but it turned out to be a fun exercise to have Ralph put together some lists and me pulling out my toys to see how they would look...
Four Companies for Pikeman's Lament organized by Ralph
Plenty of Figures Left Over...
The above shot is of the remaining figures in my Thirty Years War/17th century collection after the four companies had been laid out (well, not quite all of my remaining figures: there are still two more boxes full not pictured). I think it's safe to say that I've got more than enough figures to sponsor a club game-night of Pikeman's Lament or to provide for a group of players in a campaign. I knew the collection had grown over the years from its rather modest beginnings, but still, it took this exercise gave me a solid confirmation of the size and scope of it: I had never really pulled out all of the boxes and gave them a look, collectively. It also provided me a an excuse to pull out this particular set of toys and enjoy the spectacle.
Excelsior!
Lovely parade ... time well spent.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Norm. I like to think of it as productive :)
DeleteExcellent effort! With such a magnificent rehab, this effort should be reticle day as The Great Rebasing Project. There, that does it! You have a very nice collection.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jonathan. I find touching up and configuring figures from other sources so that they blend into the collection seamlessly almost as gratifying as doing them end to end myself.
DeleteVery impressive Pike & Shot collection. Inspiring too - as I've just started the period - working on a Warlord Games Battalia box for ECW.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dean. It is a robust size for small unit company based games, which is where it began. If I wanted to do proper battles, I'd need to up the pike block count (currently only 5). The temptation is strong...
DeleteWow, a most beautiful and impressive parade!
ReplyDeleteFun to think that we can hold our own parades during these days of limited gatherings!
DeleteAs usual, not only do your figures look great but your legendary organization skills are on full display! Well done, Ed!
ReplyDeleteThanks, John. I'll happily accept "organization skills" over what others might characterize as "legendary fussiness" :)
DeleteAhhh, don’t worry; some of my greatest games are the ones that never happened. 😀
ReplyDeleteNice to take the collection out for a walk though, fun to look at. I also really like the idea of having a third party make the army lists.
Hi Stew: I think the third party producing the OOB was a nice accident that could be used to facilitate some form of hybrid solo remote gaming during these times--and as an interesting twist to incorporate into gaming when we return to the table.
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ReplyDeleteSplendid looking 17th century troops, nice to see you have some to spare! I've got pikemens lament but alas haven't got around to giving it a spin,one day!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks, Iain. There is a good amount of interest in PL in our club, but this pandemic has us spinning our wheels until we can gather 'round again and get to playing (and recent trends aren't promising).
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