From John M: Congo Adventurers (25 Points)

Terra Incognito

In 1987, I spent 6 months in the bush in Southern Africa. For me it was the dream of a lifetime; Burton, Livingston and Stanley (being from Anglo background) were historical characters who fascinated me. I loved stories set in foreign backgrounds; Billy Bunter (I know that might make some of you laugh) originally and then the novels and short stories of Somerset-Maugham, Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene as I grew older. I will never forget that smell of Africa that first greets you when you arrive, nor the sound (Mosi-oa-Tunya, The Smoke that Thunders) of Victoria Falls as I cycled down a dirt road enclosed in dense jungle.

Well I suppose the age of exploration is long past; unfortunately what could be the start of a new  golden age of exploration, that of the cosmos, is being forestalled by the period of devolution that we now see happening. The atavistic nature of the western world, especially that of the country I live in, is going to put a stop to all that for the foreseeable future.

But anyway enough wingeing, back to wargaming. I was quite excited to hear that Studio Tomahawk was putting a new ruleset called Congo which chronicles, in a series of scenarios, adventures in the period of colonial exploration of Africa. I like SAGA and I felt confident that I would enjoy the rules (a review can be found here). So I was In Like Flynn, ordered the rules from Wargames Foundry as well as 3 boxes of figures.

Here is the start with the European Adventurers that were provided. I have to say these are lovely figures, beautiful sculpts, well cast and a joy to paint. This is my first attempt to use a base colour, wash, and then a broad highlight followed by an edge highlight. The technique is as laid out in the Citadel Painting Guide. I never could do this with battalions but with a few figures it was actually enjoyable. Still some pretty rough transitions as there is no blending, but for the tabletop they look pretty good.

I am again hoping to get a second entry for this Wednesday but I am not so sure if I will have time, but 25 points to start.

ByronM: Excellent painting and colour choices here John.  I agree they look pretty impressive for tabletop, a lot of that is actually due to the rough transitions.  I find that those rough transitions actually make figures look better on the tabletop, often over figures with a sorts of fancy blending and shading.  There is a place for either, and all sorts of blending looks better 10" away from your eyes, but at 3-4', more often than not high contrast wins the day.  I can't wait to see more of these and will have to check out those rules as well.  Maybe more importantly than the figs, 6 months in Africa on a bike?  I think you just made a whole lot of people jealous!