Two years ago, in September 2018, I took up miniature painting. You can see my first fumbling efforts here, and my very-slightly-less-fumbling second efforts here.
Since then I have continued, in an extremely unsystematic way, to collect and paint miniatures. The pandemic has meant that I haven't actually done any miniature-based gaming, but painting tiny plastic goblins has proven to be a very calming activity in these uncertain times. One of my students recently confessed that she spent her spare time assembling Gundams because it was 'meditative'. I knew exactly what she meant.
The Greenwood Gang are a good example of my haphazard approach to the hobby. A couple of years ago I bought a sprue of Dark Ages archers and painted them in green and brown, with the idea that maybe they were hunters or foresters and would thus be wearing clothes to camouflage with the woods in which they moved. From then on, every time I got a figure or two with a vaguely 'medieval outlaw' air to them, I painted them in the same colours. And so, gradually, the Greenwood Gang grew from a band of four archers to a force of thirty-nine, including everything from board game figures, to old-fashioned metal models, to modern plastics. They were painted at intervals over the last two years: some of them were painted when I was still learning and had almost nothing in the way of paints and basing materials, while others were completed much more recently. I rather like the motley appearance this gives them, even if the historian in me can't help noticing that some of them really don't belong within about five hundred years of each other.
Anyway. Here they are. There's got to be some wargame out there in which they'd count as a rules-legal force...
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Outlaws with swords.
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Outlaws with staves.
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| Outlaws with mixed weapons. |
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| Outlaws with bows 1. |
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| Outlaws with bows 2. |
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Outlaws with bows 3.
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Outlaws with bows 4.
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| The whole damn gang, swarming from their hovels to defend the forests from the Baron's men! |
"... some wargame out there..."
ReplyDeleteA couple of suggestions, since our taste seems to align in these sort of things:
"Hordes of the Things" is a great, lightweight fantasy ruleset (based on the venerable "De Bellis Antiquitatis" rules). Most warbands are in the 10-15 unit range, though up to two dozen (with cheapo units) is possible. Worth a read if you're not familiar with it, at least!
"Frostgrave," if you've a hankering for painting an allied wizard+apprentice and want to play magic-centric treasure hunters with small skirmish forces (usually a half dozen units). Supports causal campaign play with light advancement rules between battles. Well supported.
Thanks for the suggestions, Stephen. I'll look them up!
DeleteThey are some nice boys Joseph
ReplyDeleteThanks, Patrick! I've painted up several other similarly-motley forces that I'll probably be doing posts on over the next few months.
DeleteFrostgrave or SAGA for skirmish, Rangers of Shadowdeep for the ability to actually play during the pandemic because it's PvE. All are miniature agnostic, although SAGA has a bit more investment since it requires proprietary dice and cardboard boards.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips. The idea of playing a miniatures game solo feels a bit weird to me - if I'm alone with a pile of miniatures, I'd probably rather spend the time painting them than pushing them around a board on my own - but the others are good suggestions!
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