Into a new year with Fire and Sword!

2011 was a pretty good year for miniatures, if nothing else, and hopefully 2012 will be likewise. The gaming room has still not been entirely reconstructed following a bout of remodeling, so the near future may continue to be aimed at expanding my various Hordes of the Things armies and other 1/72 scale work, though I will no doubt get back to Wachovia at some point.

I have managed to get in one actual miniatures game this year. Last weekend I had some college friends over for some gaming, and while we mostly stuck to board games, I did inveigle one of them into trying his hand at Hordes--where he promptly trounced me, despite never having played before. He led the Dinotopians, while the Antediluvians under my command maintained their proud and ancient tradition of defeat. Only a couple of blurry pictures survive to record this battle...

Playing a round of Fast Food Franchise.

My Spears and Magician attempt to hold a hill.

After my Magician got snapped up by his tyrannosaur-mounted Hero and my stronghold had fallen, I realized that I had forgotten to deploy my two Riders. Ah well. Might not have made a difference anyhow...

I'm still one stand short of my goal on my Mongol project, not counting figures I have only coveted without (yet) purchasing. Unfortunately, there's a decent chance my miniatures energy is about to get diverted. 

For some reason I woke up at like 4 a.m. this morning with a terrible thirst... and an idea for a pair of matched HotT armies based on one of my favorite books: With Fire and Sword.

Poles:

Knight General (Prince Yeremi) @ 2 AP

2 Knights (winged hussars!) @ 2 AP each

2 Riders (lighter cavalry) @ 2 AP each

2 Shooters (musket-armed infantry. Could also be Spears.) @ 2 AP each

Artillery (cannon) @ 3 AP

Sneaker (Pan Zagloba in disguise) @ 3 AP

Hero (Pan Yan, Pan Longinus, Pan Michal) @ 4 AP

Cossacks:

Lots of Hordes and maybe Shooters and an Artillery, and a fair number of Riders.

Sneaker (Bohun)

Hmyelnitzki (could be a Hero General, but given his somewhat tangential role in the events of the book, could be fun to play as a God or Dragon--dangerous, but not dependable...)

In any case, the inspiration comes from the two characters represented as Sneakers, a unit which is mostly restricted to interacting with generals, strongholds, and each other... which pretty much matches their actions in the book.

The good news is, I already have some of the figures! I already have a couple boxes of Orion Polish Winged Hussars sitting around waiting for this sort of opportunity, as well as a fair number of the old Revell 30 Years' War figures. Better yet, I have some figures which were passed on to me by Ross Macfarlane:

These guys are an intriguing mix, largely converted from the aforementioned Revell types, but with a leavening of others from all over. In some cases, the years have not been kind--the paint is peeling and some weapons are bent. But hopefully some of them will be fit to see service with a little work, and the wagons will be excellent start to a Cossack stronghold...

 I'm not sure what these fellows were, but I know what they will be: Cossacks!

The "bad" news is that a number of excellent 1/72 scale sets for this period have come out in the past few years, so I will probably be compelled to buy a few boxes of Orion and Zvezda Cossacks to help build up some opposition. It would be best if I were to sit down at some point and carefully plan the minimum amount required, but in any case it may mean that my more fantastical plastic armies may end languishing for a while.

(Although when I do get back to them, I have these plastic ex-Mage Knight wolves I picked up at my local game store this afternoon, to add a little variety to the Orcs...)