And now, as I bask by the fire here in balmy California, ambiant temperature a whopping 45° (that's 7.22222°C for those of you of the metric persuasion), with a spot of red wine and some poor defenseless vegetables, I bring you the inaugural edition of
The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge Friday Follies
Compared to the august ranks of his other vassals, I am but a callow youth, first putting paint to brush in the heady days of 1998, when Napoleon's Battles was all the rage, the Internet was just beginning, and the great sculptors of our age worked for Games Workshop, and have painted everything since. It a fit of folly, Our Beloved Snowlord, may he bask upon his multitudes of fluffy
whiteness, has handed control over to me, Friday Follies Phastasmical,
for 1/7 of the two-odd months remaining before the Mad Minute of
finishing.
And so, we shall embark on a tour through things French, and more things French, and things . . . not French; we may even find ourselves a supervillain or two. All throughout, if you find yourself lost or confused, merely look to the bottom of the post, and find solace in my rapier-like italicized wit, giving you the recap.
But first, as I stock up on the latest sandbags and budgies for the Squirrel challenge (is that an Italian army on my doorstep? Why yes it is!), I give you an image from our sponsors:
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| It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid |
Let the Friday Follies Commence!
Great stuff Robert! Funny, 'Napoleon's Battles' was also my first foray into 'grown up' rules after a near catastrophic introduction to the period through WRG. Still have a soft spot for them (their scenario books are still a terrific game reference source).
ReplyDeleteWRG 6th ed?? Not for the heart-fainted indeed.
DeleteIt was brutal. I think we would have been better off with HG Well's rules with rubber bands and ping-pong balls. As I remember, Bowen's 'Empire' series also sits within this pantheon of 'rules so opaque, but we still managed to have fun'. :)
DeleteMy first foray was actually Shako, during the aforementioned revolt against Nap's Battles, before everybody went back to it for want of something better. Even today, Nap's Battles continues to make 3/4"x1" and 1"x2" the standard basing for 15mm.
DeleteMy French loved the rule set. By Austrians hated it.
Ah, we loved 'Shako' as well. A very simple and fun set of rules, but had a tendency to fall apart with truly big games.
DeleteWRG was the reason I gave up wargaming,only to be saved by GW!
DeleteBest Iain
Cheers and good luck Robert.
ReplyDeleteBwahahahahaha!
Delete1998 you say that makes as near conteporaries.. 1993 or so for my fist minatures. It was D&D in may case. :)
ReplyDeleteAll my D&D has been miniatureless. I may be a young curmudgeon, but I've always felt that using miniatures for the fight and roleplaying takes something away from the feast of the imagination. Plus, it constrains me as the evil DM from my wily machinations against the PCs, such as fire-resistant undead, or a juju zombie taking a break on a couch due to create pit.
DeleteConversely, I do like the roleplaying aspects sneaking into tabletop games.
Cheers!
We are only slightly cooler at 6C here in snowy Wisconsin.
ReplyDeleteI think I must be a little older, my first painted miniatures were from Citadel, Tabletop Games and Heroics & Ros back in 1983.
Luckily the first two were only a cycle ride away to my younger self.
We'll have none of that metric silliness here, this is MURICA!
DeleteMy first gaming stores were just a quick walk or drive away; now, sadly, I can count on an hour in the car for most of my historical gaming.
Best of luck Robert,have fun!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Feeling ancient here...1975, Airfix Waterloo sets and Donald Featherstone
ReplyDelete1998??!! Either you are beardless baby or a late adopter. By that year my leadpile size was probably reaching around 30% of the current height...
ReplyDeleteCan't grow a beard to save my life!
DeleteI wasn't really painting much into my teens; most of my early gaming was with Dad's tanks, which were neatly divided into the piles of "looks good" (which always won) and "looks ugly" (and so got blown up), or LEGOs, action figures or the toys that come prepainted out of cereal boxes. No real rules involved there.
Welcome to minionhood, Robert. You will find multi-coloured crayons (for chewing or nasal insertion) in the drawer underneath the VCR. Yes, the VCR. We did try to persuade the Snowlord to provide a DVD player, but he refused. Mind you, we don't have a TV to plug it into anyway...
ReplyDeleteMulticolored crayons? Such extravagance. I expected to just be issued a dull pencil and be grateful.
DeleteHa! 1975? My first Airfix figs were the Infantry Combat Group in 1961. Mind you, I didn't discover rules for such games till about 1966, with Featherstone's Wargames in the School Library. First lead in the same year: two Minifigs Napoleonics, which I still have.
ReplyDelete34C here today! So over the heat. Which is why I'm off to Tasmania (aka Northern Antarctica) in a few weeks!
ReplyDelete...except it's on fire at the moment.
: (
Sounds like California.
Delete