As I'm hoarding all my toy soldiers for the start of the Challenge I thought I'd get a bit of work done on some terrain before it's 'all hands to the oars' for the next three months.
Back in the day, Forge World used to make a wide range of wonderful resin scenery, yup, not just whacky sci-fi tanks with guns that look like their compensating for something and armoured 'humans' who look more like walking volkswagens, but stuff you could actually use for things other than the GW family of pocket-emptying games.
I've managed, through hook and by crook, to pick up a few Forge World gems over the years. You can see their wonderfully sculpted 6mm castle and windmill here, but for todays post I'm featuring their excellent 28mm artillery emplacement which features finely sculpted gabions, log buttressed earthwork, assorted barrels, etc.
No assembly required! It's all one piece. I like that - nice and simple. I think it will be a great objective in a 'Sharpe Practice' skirmish game or to serve as cuirassier-bait as one of the smaller fleches south of the Great Redoubt at Borodino.
To provide a sense of scale, I've manned the emplacement with a 28mm French 12pdr and its crew. The gun is an old Elite model (a hefty beast) and the crew are from the venerable Foundry range.
Anyway, if you come across any of these rare lumps for a reasonable price (I know, what are the chances of that) I recommend you to pick it up as it's a great bit of terrain.
On a side note, I've decided to conduct a little experiment regarding my photography for the blog. My old warhorse camera, a wonderful Panasonic Lumix, is dying a dignified death so I thought I'd let it 'diminish and go into the West' while trying something else. So I've been casting my eye around for a replacement camera, reading reviews and consulting with friends who are photo buffs. I was ready to plunk down some substantial dosh on a new rig, but then I had a wonderful discovery - my new iPhone 5s actually has a pretty decent integrated camera! So, for for the balance of the Challenge, all of my personal submissions (starting with this one) will be photographed with an iPhone. In addition, I'm going to audition various photo app software and try out nifty lens add-ons, like these from OlloClip to see how their macro, telephoto and polarizing lens work. All this should be dorktastic good fun!
