From MilesR: More 10mm Russo-Japanese War and a Romantic Surprise (320 Points)

A moderately sized swath of 10mm Russo Japanese War figures.  These are the new sculpts from Leon at Pendraken Miniatures and I really do love the line.

First up are 24 bases of Siberian Infantry.  I building my armies (and the accompanying rules) so 1 base equal a battalion.  Hence 24 bases equals 2 Divisions - only 22 more to go.  Most of the time in-game, these will be grouped on bases as regiments of 3 battalions, but every now and then players may want to detach a single battalion to grab an out-of-the-way objective or (more likely) as as a speed bump for a pursuing enemy.

Well if one does the "R" part of "RJW" one better do the "J" part too.  I've completed 12 bases of Japanese infantry in winter coats and a whole bunch of artillery - specifically 9 batteries of 75mm guns 3 batteries of heavy artillery and 4 of siege guns.  Don't tell anyone but the siege guns are actually WW1 British 9.2" howitzers.  Both sides had dedicated batteries of 75's for each division and the Japanese had some heavier guns in independent formations.

During the war, the Japanese field 13 divisions - yet I only have 9 division batteries completed - have my math skills deteriorated that much?

NO! I'm cheating.  I've learned for any Little Wars TV video project to send some of the miniatures out to be painted by somebody with some actual skill.  Those are the troops you'll see in the close ups.  My stuff, mercifully is held in the background where the focus is fuzzy.  I've gotten 4-5 division for each side painted that way and will eventually so you some side by sides so you too can laugh at my limited skills.

And now for the "Romantic Surprise".  So surprising that I put my pictures on the right side of this post!  We live in crazy times.  My lovely yet fierce wife really surprised my for Christmas and got my a Xtool S1 laser cutter.  I love this thing and have started designing some 15mm buildings.  First off the assembly line is a 15mm Norman themed church (you can also see a earlier "prototype" in the back ground).

Designing these buildings has been really fun and I've found it A LOT easier than 3D CAD - maybe it's all those years I've spent spelunking in spreadsheets.  I've got 4 other building designs to test out (a couple of houses, a Cafe and a replica of our wargaming clubhouse

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I'm also working on some gaming aids for the RJW/WW1 ruleset and just generally messing about

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Overall I'm having a blast and will be happy to share any designs for those who want them.

The materials used is 3mm MDF for the structure and "Thunderbolt Paper" for the details like the window frames.  What is "Thunderbolt Paper"?  it's .02 inch think cardboard that I stumbled on for making detail parts like shutters and window frames.

I still have a lot to learn but have great expectations for my laser focused future.  At least now I can make my own bases in bulk!

Here's a look at the file layout - I still have a lot to learn on how to build these things.  On the file image red=cut, blue score (cut a thin line) and black is the engrave.  The black part didn't show up but it's for the hatch to the floor of the tower (center bottom of the image)

So what's the final tally?

10mm Infantry figures        144 x 1 Point = 144

10mm Artillery Crew 16 bases x 5 crew each = 80

10mm Guns 28x3 = 84

15mm Church - well its 6x3x5 inches so thats 90 square  cubic inches and the holy cube is 216, so 90/216 =42% lets round that to 8 points

And now I'm going to be a little cheeky and try to slip this church past the librarian as a "Romance" submission because the my wonderful wife surprised me with the laser cutter.  I think we can ALL AGREE that nothing says Romance more than a Laser Cutter - can I get a "AMEN"? 

I really don't deserve her and live in constant fear that one day she will realize she can do WAYYYYY better than the likes of me.

add 20 points for Romance and we get to 336 points

OK, enough rambling from me - Gus wants to go back outside and play in the snow!

What a great entry, Miles! First let me say (again) that I absolutely love your growing Russo-Japanese armies. As has often been said, 10mm and other small scale miniatures look great in their mass, even spaced out like your RJW formations. Now these are great, but your self-designed and built church is even greater! What a fine piece of handicraft that is. Well done indeed! Now, I have one or two surprises for your esteemed self. In the first place, I have re-positioned your photos to the centre as you have undoubtedly seen. It is all fine and good being a rebel, but we cannot have photos aligned to the left or the right. I am sure you will agree that that way lies the road to chaos and anarchy, if not madness. In the second place, although I will not laugh at any of your work, even (or especially) close up (would love to see some of those), and I am sure you deservingly love your spouse,  and the present she presented you with is extremely useful and a sign of loving insight into your wants and needs, I will not buy in your futile attempt to pass off the church as a valid entry for the Romance Section on that basis alone. Should you have adorned it with a newly wed couple (or one after many years of marital bliss for that matter), it might have different. So, 316 points. I will round that off to a still quite impressive 320 though, because that church is rather awesome!

Martijn