Summer is drawing near and we once again look forward to warm days and pleasant nights here in the fine state of Wisconsin.  This year the change of season has lined up with the completion of a few of my larger projects during the winter.  Last week we took a quick look at my recently completed WWI French and sometime soon I will post another article for my Bolt Action Germans and Hungarians, which were also recently completed.  Now as we move into the summer I find my painting table devoid of major projects.  My previous articles have discussed the up and coming project for Of Gods and Mortals, and the progress reports on my Legion. While there are still a couple Legion progress reports to come, I’ve been more or less painting the odds and ends I currently have lying around.  

So with my existing big projects complete, my mind has been mulling over what large projects I wish to tackle this summer.  This brief article will roll through a couple projects that I will be embarking on and will briefly discuss a few others I am considering undertaking.

Committed Projects

Of Gods and Mortals: We have already discussed the very beginnings of this project in a previous article but since we are talking about my current projects I thought I would provide a quick update.  Since the first article I’ve done some digging and settled on a few model selections.  I have decided that the bulk of my minis for the Norse troops will be purchased from Wargames Foundry Vikings.  I will also be picking up a few specialty minis for the Romans from them as well.  Beyond that I’ve found an excellent source for Gods, Heroes, and Monsters for both the Roman and Norse forces in a company called Mierce Miniatures.  I’ve only recently stumbled across this company and I’ve been blown away by the awesome sculpts they offer, and I encourage you all to check them out.  I think you will also be impressed.  While I personally am not inclined to pick up their packs of troops, I’ve found that there are many monsters and single character models that I would love to pick up and paint.  

Figure 1: A prime example of Mierce Miniatures wonderful sculpts. I’m not sure where I would use this beast but I would like to pick up the model eventually!

Hadrian’s Wall: This project is a sort of branch off of my foray into 6mm miniatures.  I’ve recently picked up Dux Bellorum, another wonderful rule set from the Osprey Games “little blue book” series.  Focusing on the Late Roman Empire/Byzantine era this is a snappy ruleset designed to play out large battles during this dark age. I’ve named the project Hadrian’s Wall because the rules focus primarily on the British Isles during the collapse of Roman rule.  As a part of this project I would like to create a table/set of scenery that includes Hadrian’s Wall.  Now, I am personally unaware of any great battles that were fought in it’s shadow but I think it would make for a memorable group game to have the last Roman Legion on the Isles and their allies defending the walls against a descending horde of Picts and Jutes.  This like my Late Roman Republican Army will also be in 6mm.  These models will be procured from Baccus once again.  

Figure 2: A quick note on Dux Bellorum, like other Osprey Wargame rules this is a model agnostic rule set, but unlike most of their other titles this rule set is also scale agnostic.

Projects Being Considered

Saga: Since I will already be building a force of vikings it won’t take much for me to add a few more units and build up a Saga force that I can use in pick up games or tournaments.

Warhammer Fantasy: I’ve been reading the articles of my fellow authors on the site and they have got me itching for some rank and flank action.  My first wargame was Warhammer Fantasy Battle 6th Edition.  And while it would certainly be a major project to embark on, I have been considering it.

The Franco-Prussian War: Last fall I read a wonderful book on the Franco-Prussian war, The Franco-Prussian War, The German Conquest of France in 1870-1871 by Geoffrey Wawro. While a bit technical at times I found it to be an excellent overview of the conflict that cut a decent balance between detail and readability.  The completion of that book in combination with seeing Little Wars TV recreate historical battles in 6mm with historically accurate force numbers made me start to consider trying to recreate the entire Franco-Prussian war in 6mm.  Baccus already has an extensive Franco-Prussian war line and with only a handful of major battles in the entire war it wouldn’t be that far fetched to try and make it happen.  Of the projects noted here this one has the highest chance of happening, though it may not happen yet this summer.  

And that will wrap things up for today.  I’m sure I’ll have some updates on these various projects for you soon.  In the meantime I hope you all have been staying safe and healthy in these most interesting of times. 

Until we meet again, happy hobbying and Carthago delenda est.