Something old something new

Time to change things up a little. I haven't been painting many figures recently and I miss it.  Partly the drought is because I've been trying to figure out where I'm going and what to paint but the bigger problem is a shortage of figures to paint.

Almost any progress on the 1914/Colonial/Little Wars front requires me to decide on exactly what I want to make and then sculpt it and make molds. So, I'm turning to the molds I do have on hand and that has led me to my new Prince August molds, over a year old and only 4 test figures cast and painted.

Bob Cordery recently posted about his souvenir from the FLW Waterloo which brought to mind one of my favorite souvenirs: a pin from Bob Beattie's 2005 original Morschauser game using 54mm Britain's. (I don't count the Best of Show plaque as a souvenir).

Oddly enough, from 2003 most of my Prince August castings were based and organized for my first set of Morchauser based rules. At that time only MacDuff's Fusiliers were organized to take part in the HAWK's NQSYW games. That has changed of course and all of my semi-flats are based and organized for Charge! though I don't have room to field them all at home and have more than I ever take to a convention game. Since I got the new PA molds, I've been uncertain what to do with them. My first instinct was to raise new NQSYW units in uniforms of a different, more modern style than the others more as a matter of principle than in hopes of using them. My 2nd thought was to use some of the Prussians as Hessians along side my chunky AWI British but I've already started selling all but a handful of my AWI figures..

A 2004 photo of my 1740's French army based for Morshauser Meets MacDuff (MMM) before they joined the armies of Rosmark and the NQSYW.

I confess that what follows may not be completely disassociated with having been admiring the V&B based flats on the 'My Seven Years War Blog', not that I'm suddenly going to take up artistic painting styles but it does bring to mind my original vision for MMM and offers a possible new venture for me, one with few obstacles and conundrums to overcome. A quick bit of experimentation shows that 8  PA infantry or 3 cavalry will fit on a 60x60mm base and 2 such bases will fit in a square. I have no desire to fight AWI battles or the real Seven Years War but I still miss my old 15mm French Revolution armies and columns screened by skirmishers. If I were to do a NQTFR (so to speak) using  late SYW to early FR uniforms (the pretty versions not the ragged ones) using the new PA molds, put them on bases for easy handling and gaming, I would have the right sort of mix of infantry, cavalry, guns and skirmishers to fit the Table Top Teasers (and Charge! for that matter)  and my reduced table.   

2014 prototype British and Hessian. Those glossy toy style British uniforms with red small clothes and white gaiters are attractive hmmm

The current plan is to get my wood/work shed beat back into shape tomorrow and do some casting and then some painting. But, in the meantime, I have a Charge! game on the table using 1/2 distances and companies as units.

An old chestnut for OSW gamers