Now, The Legatus knows he should spend a lot more time on preparing scenery for his (largely potential) games. The recent completion of the Roman Galley for Big Red Bat's game had got me thinking about doing some more scenic items so I could, perhaps, put on a game at Guildford (I always seem to join other peoples games). I did, once, put on a Lord of the Rings game at Guildford and provided a cloth, trees and hedges and even a building or two from my Dark Ages collection but that was very much a one off.
For the Lord of the Rings games I used to have with my son we did actually have enough trees hills and what have you, plus the Forge World Weathertop which conveniently broke down into pieces which could be used separately.
Latterly, I have really been enjoying painting my Boot Hill Miniatures Mexicans but really if you are going to paint Mexicans you have got to think about having a bit of the Alamo to fight over. I wondered about how hard it would be to make a wall or too. Then, while researching pictures of the Alamo I came across the insanity that is the Hudson & Allen Studio complete Alamo. No, surely not! Unfortunately, me looking at it coincided to the day with a new contract at work. Reward time! In not much longer than the time it took for Santa Anna to besiege the Alamo itself, a very big box indeed arrived from Vatican Enterprises, Wargames Scenics in Michigan.
While intellectually I knew that this was going to be a big item when I laid it out on the floor it really is massive (about 4' by 5'). Forget your Warlord Games Rorke's Drift, or Pegasus Bridge this is real wargames scenery. The problem, peering down on it, is that I realise that a few dozen figures are not going to be able to attack it and 18 (at my current ratio of 1/10) are not going to be able to defend it. More thoughts on this will follow on my new Americas Wargaming blog in due course. I'm also going to need a lot of paint! "You'll need a bigger brush!" as my son, rightly said.
Now I have to paint it! One piece at a time, as Mr Johnny Cash once said. So do I start with a big piece or a small piece?
Big piece!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely start on the biggest piece - that way you'll have made a good inroad to the project, so it is more likely that you will complete it (well, that's what the theory says)
ReplyDeleteExcellently reasoned psychology! Big it is!
DeleteExcellent...I'll give you a couple of weeks to sort it all out and then I expect a game at Guildford. ..no excuses!! :)
DeleteAbout 2017 I think...
DeleteWe always like it big
ReplyDeleteJesus! (or should that be "hay-sus" - Mexican right!?) 4' x 5' That's Huge! Never mind the paintbrush... you might need a bigger gaming table too! Time to convince your good lady (AKA 'Old Bat' to use your parlance) that you definitely now need a custom games-room of your own, to put the new games table and this fine piece of terrain, in!
ReplyDeleteYou're gonna need a lot of figures to attack that Monster terrain!!!
ReplyDeleteIt should look amazing! But yes, you will a few more troops!!
ReplyDelete"C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre: c'est de la folie!" ;-)
ReplyDeleteExactement!
DeleteA well traveled gentlemen like yourself should know everything is bigger here in America. Start with the largest section after that you can convince yourself that the smaller pieces should be easier to paint.
ReplyDeleteI've seen that piece and admired it - but always thought it was more a club piece. Wouldn't it have been a bit more sensible to buy that Osprey on Spanish Colonial Fortifications in North America, and then do a small outpost that's kind of representative? Of course sensible and wargames don't always go together!
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with this project, I'll be watching eagerly.
Sensible? Sensible?
DeleteGood luck with your Alamo. If you want some morale boosting inspiration with big scenery have a look at Kevin East's Hougoumont http://notjustoldschool.blogspot.co.uk/p/kevin-easts-hougoumont.html
ReplyDeletecheers
Chris
Hougoumont! Excellent! Next!
DeleteYee gods that's big... time to buy an airbrush???
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that if you get bored with Mexicans and Texicans - maybe you could transpose the Alamo to Southern California and have Mexicans versus Russians in a "what if the Russians demonstrated a bit more interest in moving South along the Pacific Coast?" game.
ReplyDelete