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.

Rule Books

Printed/ Bought Rules: I have DBA 3.0, Saga: Age of Magic, Xenos Rampant, Altar of Freedom and the two Scenario Books, Neil Thomas Wargaming 19th Century Europe.

What I will need to budget for: Bloody Big Battles rulebook (I had gifted my old version) and scenario books. Not sure if it is worth pursuing the Kill Team rule-books anymore. I would need at least the core rules (15 USD) and the compendium (50-60 USD), and I am not sure if it is worth it, as I can replicate some elements of Kill Team in Xenos Rampant. Still need to print To the Strongest!.

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Terrain and Game-Boards (pictures below)

What I have: I have a 36x48 and 24x24 cloth green terrain boards (I painted them a bit to break the green monotony). These are enough for Saga, Neil Thomas rules, DBA, and my Le Journal De Petite Battailes Bloody Big Battles scenarios. 

I have trees, houses, rifle pits, trenches, and one hill for small scale wargaming. 

I have a 30x22 rigid painted cardboard setting for 28mm Sci-Fi games (built for Kill Team).

I have enough self-built ruined city terrain (for 28mm scale) to cover the 30x22 play area, and cover well a 36x36 play area. 

What I will need to budget for: 1) 28mm scale mediaeval/fantasy terrain. Not a lot of it, enough to cover a 36x36 play area. 2) Purpose built small scale terrain for the BBB scenarios for the 1897 Greek-Ottoman War (these are two 36x36 scenarios, and one 48x64 scenario) 3) More small scale terrain (rivers, streams, roads, another hill) 4) a couple of more pieces of 28mm Sci-Fi Terrain 5) A 36x36 sci-fi gaming area to replace the cardboard 30x22. 6) Either a 40x40 inches foldable table, or a 48x36 inches foldable table (will depend on where we move to next year and space availability). 

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Miniatures

What I have: 

A) The most complete project are the Citadel Miniatures Death Guard force. This was painted and gifted to me by Onur. I finally added ten more pox-walkers. I have no interest to add more. As the force is, it is a more than enough for Xenos Rampant and Kill Team. 10 more Poxwalkers and some proxying would permit me to play Compat Patrol for 40k, which is the only mode of game I care about using that system. 

The full force. Agents of Corruption!

Twenty poxwalkers. Ten by Onur, ten by me

The Lord Contagion, and the Foetid Bloat-Drone

The Plague Marines

B) Tau Breacher Squad. These were bought to support my local gaming store and gaming place (XP). They initially were bought with Kill Team in mind, but are now repurposed for Xenos Rampant. 

 

C) Greek and Ottoman 10mm forces for the War of 1897: These are my old collection, rebased from 20x20mm bases to 40x20mm bases. These are built for Bloody Big Battles, but can also be used with Neil Thomas 19th Century Wargaming Europe Rules (Click here for unit cards). 

I currently have for the Greek: 1 General base, 8 regular infantry command bases, 9 regular infantry bases, 1 Garibaldini command base, 1 Garibaldini Regular base, 1 Gendarmes Command base, 1 Gendarmes Regular base, 1 Evzone command base, four Evzone infantry bases, 6 artillery bases, and two cavalry bases.

I currently have for the Ottomans:2 Generals bases, 3 Regular Infantry Command bases, 6 Reserve Infantry Command bases, 7 Regular Infantry bases, 14 Reserve Infantry bases, 3 Irregulars bases, 6 artillery bases, two 1897 calvary bases, 6 1877-1878 bases.

D) 28mm Knights in the livery of the Kings of Dain Dania and Erid Dania, for my Artesia Inspired Saga: Age of Magic Forces. 

I finished the box of 28mm Perry Foot Knights I had bought in early 2023 or late 2022. They are organized for Saga: Age of Magic, and divided into four retinues inspired by the stories and comics of Mark Smylie set in the Artesia Known World setting.  At this point I have one retinue for the King of Dain Dania, one for the Earl of Rosemont (his most loyal vassal), one for the King of Erid Dania, and one for the Barony of Araswell (from the Blackheart novels). Of course they can also be used as generic 15th century forces in historical games, or as a chivalric human kingdom in fantasy games.

What I have bought but have no started working on :

A) 28mm Perry Miniatures War of the Roses Infantry: My wife bought me these as a present, and they will be put to good use for my Artesia Sage Project. I expect to get a standard bearer for the Earl of Rosemont and the Erid King, trumpeters for the Dian and Erid King, and two groups of 8 pole-armed yeomen, and two groups of 12 bow armed levies.

B) 28mm Undead Forces: My initial plan was to built in-world opponents for my Artesia Saga: Age of Magic collection. But the cost and time it takes to just finish my Danias project has dissuaded me from this. Taking advantage of a flash sale at my local game store/paly store (XP) and seeking to also support it, I grabbed some Citadel Miniatures Undead for Age of Sigmar. They will work as opponents for my chivalric knight force in Saga: Age of Magic, or any other fantasy system we use. 

C) 10mm American Civil War forces for Altar of Freedom: In my budget I had budgeted buying such forces. But we agreed with Nacho to who I had given my old 10mm Pendraken ACW collection, that since he does not use it, I can take it back. Next time I travel to Turkey I will pick them up. They will be rebased to 60x30mm bases. I believe I have enough infantry for the scenarios I am interested in (2nd Kernstown and Fort Donelson), but will need more artillery and cavalry. 

What do I need to budget for:

1) Enough miniatures for one or two more units to complement my Tau breachers for Xenos Rampant. I will probably support the local game stores and pick up a box of Stealth-Suits and a commander figure. That will be more than enough. 

2) Crossbowmen, and some more polearm levies for my Saga: Age of Magic Artesia inspired forces. 

3) Another unit for my Undead forces. Probably the Mantic Zombies box, as I can use 20 of those for the Saga: Age of Magic Build, and ten to use with my Death Guard for Combat Patrol 40k.

3) I am missing bases for my Greek and Ottoman 1897 forces for all four 1897 BBB scenarios. About 31 bases of various unis. These will have to be covered.

5) I still want to do some 15mm DBA/ TtS collecting. Still aiming to something from 11th-12th century Middle East or Aegean region. This is of course a later project.

6) Still interested in Greek-Turkish forces for 1919-1922.

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Miscellaneous

1) Bought painting and hobby supplies. Will need new paints at some point in 2024.

2) Bought one miniature case. This should accomodate the 19th century stuff. Will buy more cases. The aim is that each collection I am focused on (28mm Sci-Fi, 19th Century 10mm, 28mm Fantasy) will have miniatures cases.

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Projects Dropped

In world 28m stuff for Artesia inspired Saga: Age of Magic. I will only built the Dania's forces in the 2024-2028 period. 

17th century stuff. I love Liber Militum: Tercios, but decided to drop it for the 2024-2028 period. 

As I said I probably will not go after Kill Team rules.