To be honest it's always the figure range availability with me.
Aeons ago I started out with some 'interests' and surprisingly enough these stayed - in some sort of 'evolved ' way ever since.
As a kid I was always enormously drawn to anything Roman. Of course in my imagination those were all Hollywood Romans
Along the way I simply fell in love with Late Romans/ Dark Ages and the rest- several armies later- is history. Enormous choice of -compatible-figures by now by several top notch companies ( Gripping Beast, Saxon Miniatures, Footsore, Curteys, West Wind, Black Tree and many, many others.)
Still remember that as a 12 or 13 year old I read some 'Martini' -yes, the company that makes that awful vermouth- magazines at the barbershop. There was nearly always something of a military interest in it and this time it was an article about the French Army in Egypt. Complete with coloured- in line drawings of some of the more colourful and exotic Kleber uniforms, I was hooked from the start.
Alas, I only had part 2 and the poor barber did everything he could to get me the missing magazine with part 1 in it. After obtaining it I made up several A3 sheets and drew dozens of uniforms with a fine Indian ink drawing pen. Later I coloured them in with water-paint. Some were shown but others you had to deduce from the text. I must have been one of the few 13 year olds to uses names like jonquille, cramoisi, puce and ecarlate. Remember, copying machines were largely unheard of in those days. I still had those A3s when I married in 1976, but they went AWOL after my divorce. Together with the rest of my belongings
This interest never translated into a miniature army as I felt there were just not enough good quality figures available. Recently that has changed with some superb offerings by Paul Hicks, Eureka and Alan and Michael Perry. Thanks to Sharp Practice 2 I'm now able to scratch that particular itch without feeling too guilty. Or breaking the bank.
Franco Prussian War. A sad story. Always fascinated by the contrast between what I feel are the most beautiful uniforms ever (French) and the somewhat rugged, simplistic style of the Prussian , Bavarian, Saxon and Wurtemberg ones. When Foundry came out with their excellent range I started buying, painting, buying more, converting and painting frantically. And the armies grew. And then it stopped. Not a single figure came out any-more and essential parts of the armies were simply never made. I looked to other manufacturers to fill in the gaps (Falcon for example if someone still remembers that one) but to no avail. In the end I sold the armies, for a fraction of the cost, disgusted that after several years I wasn't able to complete them.. 1400+ figures, all painted. It's the only painted army ( well armies in fact) I ever sold. At one time I considered doing them again in a smaller scale but it turned out that I am a life -long 28mm addict.
It still hurts but.... recently at least two manufacturers have brought out new superbly sculpted FPW figures.
And whilst Sharp Practice 2 isn't really meant for that period I still bought them and haven't regretted it a single moment. It's a back- burner project but it's there.
French Indian War. Well, it started out as a skirmish project. But it spun out of control. Redoubt, a company you can rely on to make complete ranges, is obviously at fault here. And then Galloping Major delivered the coup de grace. Thank you Trevor, Susan and Lance!
Mycenaeans and Trojans. Again, not exactly my fault. Our club wanted a Troy demo game and I volunteered to do the figures. Oh, Willie we only need about 40 or 50 or so. Or let's make that just a few more. And some vignettes. And just one or two more of these perhaps?
Now, combine this with a fellow wargamer and compulsive hoarder who -JUST AT THIS EXACT TIME- decides to do away with his -literally- tens of thousands of unpainted figures. For next to nothing! He had found a new interest after collecting figures for abut 30 years.
Some of these we gave to our youngsters to practice on and others we sold at scrap prices to any club member interested. Ever seen a flock of vultures next to a fresh cadaver?
I kept the Redoubt and Foundry Mycenaeans, and Trojans (and the Foundry Bronze Age figures) and painted up some more. Still have about 500+ unpainted ones...
Spanish Civil War. My only 'modern' interest. Colourful uniforms, troops ranging from raw recruits to uber- elites. Idealogical opposites, foreign volunteers on both sides, inter- rivalry and so on. But again the well dried up. We have nearly all the 'specials' but hardly any basic infantry from either side. And since most of the battles were fought by say 70-75% of basic infantry with some others. (those specials) I gave up. Still live in hope but on the back- burner as well. Again I considered doing the whole thing in another , slightly smaller scale, because of the availability of an almost complete range. but the 28mm demon (or guardian angel?) pulled me back.
Great Northern War. Life is good. My yellow/blue and green/red regiments are growing steadily. I had been thinking about this for 25+ years but didn't want to start with another half complete range. Enter Warfare Miniatures. Resolve not to start another period down the drain. Life is good.
And then there's the Indian Mutiny. I don't know how many times I resisted buying those Foundry figures. But my earlier experience with the Franco Prussian War still haunted me. No, I wouldn't do it! And that was final!
Still, all those beautiful varied uniforms, ragged infantry and even more ragged cavalry, greater than life characters on both sides, exotic places and buildings, epic sieges with the few against the many and sometimes the few actually winning. What's not to like?
How Habbakuk, God of Crazed Wargamers, must have laughed.
And it was a man I consider a good friend that led to my downfall. Yes , you Mr Paul Hicks. You just had to go sculpting that magnificent Iron Duke range didn't you?
With a true- hearted wargamer at the helm like Col. Mike Snook you really don't stand a chance do you? 25 different figures for a 24- man unit? 80+ different rebel sepoys in just the first batch? Each and every figure a joy to behold? A website where you can find almost all the information you need? I rest my case.
Willie
A doomed soul.
12 August 2015, 11:26:40 PM
