Last Painting of 2023

 I completed all the projects I had on my table for 2023. 

1) A Tau Commander and a another drone/tower for my Xenos Rampant/ Combat Patrol force. 

2)  A necromancer/vampire/ undead commander for my generic Undead force for Saga: Age of Magic/Age of Sigmar/ Generic Fantasy 

3) Standards and heralds for my 28mm Artesia Known World inspired Chivalric Army for Saga: Age of Magic/ Generic Fantasy/ Warhammer: Old World (?)

Taking Stock: What I played, what I wrote, and what I read November 2022-December 2023 for the Hobby

In another post I took stock of my expenses vs. my budgetary plans for January 2023. Now let us see what I gamed over this period:

Two remote online games of Bloody Big Battles using my LJdPB Oeversee 1864 scenarios. With Vincent Tso of the The Corlears Hook Fencibles (one with Onur)

A minigame of Neil Thomas Wargaming 19th Century Europe with Vern at XP Gaming & Cafe

A 400 point WH40k game with Darren at XP Gaming & Cafe

A 1000 point four player game of WH 40k with Darren, Vern, Garret at XP Gaming & Cafe

Two games of Kill Team  with Robert at XP Gaming & Cafe

A game of Brave Little Belgium with Darren at XP Gaming & Cafe

A game of Lassale 2 with Nacho at his Istanbul home.

Several games of Age of Sigmar: Underworlds with Darren at XP Gaming & Cafe

Two remote online 14 point learning games for Xenos Rampant with my Greek friends

A 24 point learning game of Xenos Rampant with Darren  and Vern at XP Gaming & Cafe.

Thus in general five historical games, five sci-fi games, and three to five (I can't remember) fantasy games. Not a bad haul gaming wise for about a year. I am very lucky and blessed to have good groups of friends and gaming buddies all over the world. 

What I read. Hobbywise I focused on the ACW. I of course also read rules, and of course for work.

1)  Walter A. McDougall, Throes of Democracy: The American Civil War era 1829-1877

2) Peter Cozzens: The Shipwreck of their Hopes:  The battles for Chattanooga 

3) Reading right now: Scott C. Patchan, Shenandoah Summer: The 1864 Valley Campaign 

What I contributed to the hobby (See material page)

Mayhem Glorantha Army Lists 

Seven Le Journal de Pettite Battailes format Bloody Big Battles draft scenarios.

Unit cards for Ottoman and Greeks 1897 for Neil Thomas Wargaming 19th Century Europe 

Xenos Rampant Forces: Agents of Corruption

 I finally bought the Xenos Rampant rules in Thanksgiving. Since then I played two decreased point learning games (remote gaming with my Greek friends) and one full 24 point learning game (with Darren at XP Games).  I am very happy with the rules, considering one of the best purchases I have done in my gaming life. 

Here I will present my Death Guard force organized for Xenos Rampant 24 point force.

Commander: Lord of Contagion 

Taking stock: September 2022-December 2023

 Having finished my current crop of painting projects, I decided to take stock of the state of my collection. I moved back to the US in August 2022 after nine years in Turkey (which were good wargaming years thanks to Onur, Nacho, Doruk and all the people that are in the hobby there). 

In January 2023 I prepared a budget  that would cover my plans for the next five years. Using that as a benchmark, let us see where we are. 

Let us see what I got, what I will need to budget for until 2028, and what changes I am making.

Project 90% complete: Tau Breacher squad

 Finished most of the Tau Breacher Squad build. I have to paint the two drones. The drones and sentry tower will be used in Xenos Rampant as a support infantry unit. The breachers are going to be used either as one 10 SP or two 5 SP squads, though I have not deiced yet on the build. 

Iliada Game Studio 6mm Ancient Mediterranean Buildings

 Ali from Iliada Game Studio was nice enough to gift me some of his lasercut, soft mdf infra structures from his ancient world line (Click here).

While a bit of a challenge to put together, they look great once placed on a base with flocking and vegetation. They come already painted. They will be used for my 10mm games. I highly recommend them.

Bloody Big Balkan Battles! presentation page is once more up

 I salvaged the presentation post for mine and Chris Pringle's Bloody Big Balkan Battles! scenario book from the Old Site. You can reach it as a page on this new site, or by clicking here.

Sometimes, thin gruel is fine: Neil Thomas Wargaming 19th Century Europe

 I finally got the chance to play a face to face historical game since my last one in Istanbul/Constantinople in January 2023. Vern, our resident GW master (he has many collections from various GW games), was willing to accommodate me. We played a minigame scenario with the Neil Thoma's  Wargaming 19th Century Europe rules, using my 10mm 1897 Greek and Ottoman collections.

Now Neil Thomas rules got me into 19th century wargaming, but quite quickly after I used them, I got Bloody Big Battles , and it won me over. I am not disparaging the NT19TH rules. They are great for what they are aimed at (an introductory set) but I also will not delude myself. They are thin gruel compared to BBB. But BBB does require dedicated terrain, and until I get a board for Grimbovo 1897 made, I cannot really do them justice. When rich broth is not available one must enjoy the thin gruel. And enjoy we did.

I kept the force similar, three infantry units, one skirmisher unit, and one artillery unit per side. I more or less set up the table as close to the sample scenario map in the rulebook. I commanded the Padishah's askerlik, while Vern commanded my countrymen. 

The game went fast, after a bit of explanation of rules, and ended in a draw. We both ended up focusing on one of the two objectives (the village), which changed hands twice. It was quite bloody with the Greeks losing one infantry unit and their artillery, and the Ottomans losing their skirmishers and two infantry units.

Unfortunately I did not take good photos. But here are the best of the bunch

Other hobby news

1) Started painting the Tau.

2) Finished reading Xenos Rampant. I am very excited to try it. 

3) Rebased the Greek and Ottoman cavalry. 

4) Order some movement trays for my 25mm stuff and model trees.