The Black Knight...

So, I've waiting a looooong time to paint "The Black Knight".  It is hard in the US to find a good set of Knights, and I really don't want to pay $40 to have a set shipped from the UK...although they do have some very nice ones.  About a year ago I had ordered some nice new release mounted knights...soon to be my first Black Knight, only to find out they had dissolved their US contract one week earlier and cancelled my order.

So I was ordering the sets for my War of 1812, and tagged a set of Knights along.  This being one.  I did rush the paint job a tad, but again, if I don't tell, you won't notice.  The camera may show some faults, but to the regular eye, it looks good.  I must say I was a little disappointed though.  Not as impressive as I thought it would be.

Another one...

Being off for a few days, I was able to crank out a few finished miniatures.  Not my best, I did rush them a bit...but if I don't tell the slight errors, you probably won't notice anyway.

The first, is a viking by the name of Bolin Lain.  When I started painting him, I thought his head looked like a bowling ball, so instead of "bowling lane" he is "Bolin Lain"...ugh..yeah.  I thought it was a fitting name though. 

November...

Well, "November" may be an odd title for this one, as the post will really have nothing to do with November, other than it was written in November.  I just thought I'd call it November since I missed October, and this is the first in November.

Been busy...deer hunting.  However, taking a break for my birthday...did see 21 deer this morning though...

So I have never really "wargamed" - I paint historical miniatures, and enjoy creating dioramas...but I've never used any for war gaming.  When younger I had some used tank game that I played...I never understood the rules, made up my own, and actually enjoyed it quite a bit.  The only other thing I had close to a wargame was Agincourt...in theory I liked the game, but I could never overcome why play a battle that you already knew the outcome?  Suffolk was my favorite by the way.

So I get Wargames, Soldiers and Strategies.  I actually started getting it to for two reasons - one, to find out more options on different miniatures (but alas, almost all are in the UK), and two, to see how others paint their miniatures.

The magazine is heaped in historical battles, and although I still don't quite get it, maybe there is something to replaying a battle, even knowing the outcome.

This month's theme was the American War of Independence, or the "American Rebellion" or the "American Revolution".  Those poor British, still having an identity crisis coming to grips that we whupped 'em, and whupped 'em good.  No offense meant...just the way it is.

But it gave me an idea...I don't think I could ever play someone else's wargame, but if I created the rules for my own (like I did with that tank game some thirty odd years ago), I might just enjoy it.  The period I chose (and not influenced at all by this month's Wargames theme), the War of 1812.  More influenced by James Finmore Cooper's, The Last of the Mohicans, than anything else.

So here I sit, with more than two dozen American Militia and Native Americans to paint.  I named one Davy Crockett, only to realize he is wearing a beaver cap, instead of a coon skin cap (oops!).  But I think it will be good.  The War of 1812 opens up many skirmishes between different nationalities and the Native Americans...so I need not name a specific battle and try to recreate it.  It is easy to just say the Militia ran into a Native American war party and go from there.  Who knows, might we see Johann Jacob Dechard in battle?  Wait and see!

Well...back to painting...a revolution awaits!