Days Gone Bye

 Wishing all my readers and contacts a Merry Christmas and all that which comes with it.

Here's a picture of me with my non-wargaming buddies in times gone bye. I wonder if you can spot me.

Take care

Jim

Barnyard Find - Group 3

 I finally found the time to peer inside the box holding group 3 of my barnyard find.

Lots of unpainted lead as you can see. Another abandoned army project.

30 Minifigs Carolingian infantry, untouched since the day they were purchased 30 plus years ago.

No command figures with them but they are still available if you know where to look.

Also a couple of 'fuzzy' archers and a few Royal Guards. (Must find out to 'macro' my phone camera).

And another 30 Carolingian infantry.

My AK47 tanks are progressing (I'm sure the late Derek would approve).

And some militia awaiting some scenic dressing.

Hope everyone is well.

Work in Progress

 Oh so busy as these pics will suggest.

I placed an order for some Peter Pig AK47 Militia and Regulars sometime on Monday 2nd September. Now it is Thursday 5th and they arrived this afternoon. Such good service.

I also placed an order at the same time to an eBay company for some tanks. Good price and they came this afternoon too!

These two groups will join the active painting queue this weekend.

These boys just left the active queue.

And these guys are currently under the 'brush'.

And, finally these guys fell into the abeyance queue, for the time being.

This Saturday I will be off to 'sunny' Gateshead to see the Border Reiver show, just a couple of hours south from here.

Border Reiver Wargames - Border Reiver Show (google.com)

Catch me and say 'hello'.

Barnyard Find - Group 2

 This box was as much a surprise as the first box.

24 Carolingian Cavalry, looking brand new when they must be 30 years old at least. (Not a broken lance in sight). Again they are the remnants of an army part completed then abandoned as newer shinier figures came along.

I'm 100% sure these are Minifigs although they don't match anything in their catalogues that I can find.

The code (A6)on the base does not match any listings I can find. I suspect that Minifigs re-did some of the figures in their Dark Ages range hence the discrepancy.

The command figures are subtly different especially the horses.

All in all they could form a significant unit or two in any Dark Ages army with a splash of paint. Off to the lead mountain they will go.

Barnyard Find - Group 1

 The first dusty box revealed a few smaller boxes and some plastic bags filled with an assortment of figures both mounted and foot but no horses. I recognised them instantly.

They comprised the unfinished remains of a Swedish Napoleonic Army which I had acquired many years ago. In fact they had entered the blogosphere quite some ago and are posted on here.

Jim Duncan Wargamer: Napoleonic Swedes - 25 mm (jim-duncan.blogspot.com)

Prior to the time of their first rediscovery I had painted and based a few battalions and then moved onto other things as the period waned in my playing group. The completed units and the unfinished units were stashed away in one location (behind the living room TV) and the unused figures went into the bathroom ceiling void and forgotten about.

Fast forward to 2017 and the painted and unfinished units were rediscovered, finished off and sold to a chum from the Kingdom. The figures in the void remained undiscovered.

Jim Duncan Wargamer: Napoleonic Swedes - 25mm - Restoration (jim-duncan.blogspot.com)

Until this weekend that is.

The void has revealed its secrets:

Units appear to be on average 14 figures strong.

A few Frenchmen will no doubt be disguised by a coat of paint.

Plenty of command.

An excess of gunners but no guns.

Grenadier command but no privates.

Some Russki's.

And Nassau

And Prussians.

Now, what should I do with them?

And: I have another 4 boxes from the void to look into.

Barnyard Finds

 Well, not really but they are a set of boxes (5 in total), covered in dust and spiders webs which I found in the bathroom ceiling void this afternoon. I had completely forgotten about them as it must be at least twenty if not thirty years since I put them there.

A quick peek revealed that some of them are full of original, unpainted Minifigs, 25mm in size, undamaged or abused in any way.

One box has a complete small scale Napoleonic Russian Navy and a few of Nelsons time as well.

It will be fun working out what they really are. I think may need access to an old Minifigs catalogue which I have stashed away somewhere.

Why was I in the bathroom ceiling void I hear you say? The bathroom light needs replacing and I was checking out the state of the wiring before purchasing something that doesn't fit.

Watch this space!

In Memoriam - AK 47

 Am still in shock at the recent passing of an old old friend Derek Hodge whom I knew from his teenage days. He had many many friends and contacts in wargaming terms so will be a hard act to follow.

I most remember him for his blogs detailing his approach to gaming modern wars in Africa and in particular AK47 Republic produced by the Rules For the Common Man (RFCM) dated 1997.

Building armies for AK47 part 1 – Generic forces – Derek's Wee Toys (dereksweetoys.com)

Building armies for AK47 part 2–Individualising your forces – Derek's Wee Toys (dereksweetoys.com)

AK47 Ztum – Setum Website Relaunched – Derek's Wee Toys (dereksweetoys.com)

The above links give you a strong flavour of the enterprise adopted by Derek and his gang who by all accounts 'had a hoot' and I hope to generate a similar dose of fun and malarkey in due course.

Jim

(watch this space)