So, to catch up...

Yeeash. It's been almost two full seasons since I last posted. I find that spring and summer demand being outdoors to soak up the sun. That being said, I did manage to putter along with a few things during the warm weather. The most significant of these was a return to the Wars of the Roses. I love this period and have eked out a small collection of singly-based 28mm figures for skirmish gaming, but I've always wanted forces large enough to play the larger battles. That's all well and good, but I am also quite aware of my time and patience for taking on a project that would require hundreds of figures. After several Napoleonic armies, Italian Wars, WWII, WWI,  etc, etc, I just don't think I have it in me anymore. 

As a bit of a rewind, about 10 years ago I picked up a few of Peter Dennis' books featuring his cutout paper soldiers. I was immediately charmed, especially his WotR book. I duly made colour copies on thick cardstock and began to scissor them out. And I scissored. And scissored. It didn't take long for me to discover that the time I was saving in painting was being quickly absorbed by having to carefully cut out the intricate serried ranks of archers and men-at-arms. I managed to get a few units done, but the blush quickly came off the rose and I abandoned the project.

Now, fast forward to this past year where I discovered that Peter Dennis had partnered with WoFun Miniatures to print his WotR flats on plexiglass. The units come vibrantly printed on neat little plexi sheets and are an absolute breeze to punch out. I ordered a bunch of the 18mm frames and came up with some basing designs on Inkscape that would fit with my 'To the Strongest' and 'Strength & Honour' collections. My good friend Byron over at Northern Lights Terrain was good enough to cut them for me. Here are some of my efforts with the first batch.

incorporated unit identifiers etched on the bases

Archers waiting to do archery things

The Heavy Hitters, but also great arrowstorm targets

Light cavalry to sow confusion on the flanks

Archers with stakes arrayed in front.

Assorted commanders

'A horse! A horse!'  Here's Richard III chasing for a remount. 

Men-at-arms

A few units of billmen

For fun I put in red flowers for the Lancastrians, red for the Yorkists and a combination for those cads who flipped sides (Boo! Hiss!).

Finally, a shot of where the collection is at now. 

Not bad, but I still have quite a few units to base. Hopefully by the end of it I should have enough to do some of the larger battles of the period.  

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Moving on, we recently returned from a great vacation meeting up with hobby friends in Toronto, Holland and Belgium. 

While we were in our stopover in Toronto, my good friend Greg treated me to a wonderful game of Warmaster featuring his beautiful Empire and Orc collections. 

I think the battle came down to the last stand between us, which always is a sign of a great game.

We arrived in Holland and met up with Nick from 'Moiterei's Bunte Welt'. To escape the congestion of Amsterdam we stayed in nearby Hilversum which we highly recommend. The three of us spent a few great days hanging out and taking in the Rijksmuseum. Nick brought out his copy of 'Undaunted: Battle of Britain' which was excellent. I think we played around 8 games of that in total. Great fun.

Nick paying homage to that curious Corsican artillery officer...

Nick, Sarah and I enjoying 'The Best Apple Pie in Amsterdam' at the Rijksmuseum restaurant.

Next we were off to Belgium where we met up with Martijn and his lovely family.

Martijn and I had a great game of SAGA featuring his excellent collection of Vikings and Bretons(?).  Even thought I tried to snatch a win by going after his warlord the dice were not with me and he saw me off to my longships. A great game with wonderful company.

We also had the delightful pleasure to meet up with Sander and Arthur in Antwerp's city center. We had a wonderful visit with lots of stories and laughs. 

Otherwise, the majority of the trip involved eating and drinking lots of decadent things, while walking and cycling in the vain hope of burning it all off. A great way to spend a few weeks!

Next Up: I dunno, who's up for a group paint thing this winter? :)