My son has grown up enough for me to find time to work on my wargaming and modeling (not the swimsuit kind; rather the plastic airplane type). After much debate as to what army I would finally work on for Warhammer Ancient Battles (the only good thing to come out of Games Workshop) I settled for a late Holy Roman Imperial Army from the Armies of Chivalry book. Although I had found the idea of a Hundred Years War English army appealing, despite the mass of archers I needed to paint, Dark Dream Studios produced a set of gorgeous late medieval knights in full metal barding. The rest was history.
For my initial 1000-point army I decided to use two 20-figure blocks of pikemen (with associated leader, musician and banner-bearer), a single 8-figure unit of heavy knights, (again with leader, musician and standard bearer) a light artillery piece with a master gunner and a 10-figure unit of crossbowmen. With the exception of the knights, all units are mercenaries because, let's face it, militia units just won't cut the mustard. The number of figure sets required for this army is surprisingly limited and will provide me with lots of extra figures for other armies or for expanding my army list to 1500 points:

1. Dark Dream Studios European Knights
2. Mini Art Swiss Pikemen
3. Mini Art Burgundian Knights and Archers
4. Zvezda Medieval Field Power Artillery.

Next time, more on designing a Holy Roman Empire army.

The Myth of Sissyphus and the Wargamer

I finally figured out that my wife is right. I really enjoy projects that never come to fruition. The closer I get to completing something, the more anxious I become. Work is fine, stuff I do in my free time tends to get snagged up. Case in point, wargaming. I've been working on US Marines and Imperial Japanese Army figs for more than six months now. Getting both sides ready really is easier for me. Figures are always available, and I can always play solo games. Three quarters of the way to completion I thought to myself; "Why not paint some Vietnam war miniatures and base them for a skirmish game?" Good choice. Two squads of VC and USMC troops, and then I get another idea; "What about the old Hundred Year War Englishmen you were painting 2 years ago (and never finished)?" So they get paint stripped, I buy some more figs to build up my list, as you can never have too many archers, and I get ready to start on that front too. All the while, I need about 25 figs to complete both my USMC and Japanese battalions. Why do I torment myself so? Is it me? Is it my hobby? Is it a curse?