End of University Splurge (over the course of a few months)

As it came to the end of my time at university, I started to celebrate each milestone with a little and also not so little purchase. Finished the final assignment? Buy some figures. Pass all the assignments in a course? A set of kits. Finish all the coursework? Well then that had to be a large purchase. As you can imagine now that all the various things have arrived I have quite the haul. So what did I get? Well let's go over it all shall we.

It fills up my bed. Too much to go over in one caption let's break this down.

So I am going to give a run down of what I have got. Given how large this stash is I will be breaking it down by which imagination they will be used for. I will also give a brief explanation as to what they will be used for. Partially so this crazy splurge can make a little more sense but also because I would like to get your input as to what I should do with all this. This is going to be a very, very long post. Anyway let's start with the imagi-nation who perhaps more than anyone gained out of this splurge: The Pan Andean Peoples Republic (PAPR)

The S-Model kits and the Caesar Infantry. Getting two sets of Chinese and French infantry was actually an accident on my part.

The PAPR gets a lot from this splurge, I essentially have a complete force minus specialised elements such as artillery. I have a stash of 1/144 aircraft I can use for them too so not much left to get in future. Let's give a run down of what they have.

• 6x T-55s (2 x 3 kit sets from the Plastic Soldier company.)
• 5x BTR-60PBs (2x 1+1 S-Model kits and one in the ICM motorcade)
• 3x Urals in various configurations (Part of the ICM motorcade)
• 2x BMD-2s (one 1+1 S-Model kit)
• 2x Chinese infantry (from the combined French-Chinese Caesar set)
• 1x Vietnamese infantry (Italeri reissue of an Esci set)
• 1x Warsaw Pact Troops (same as the Vietnamese infantry, will explain more later)
• 1x T-72B (ModelCollect)
• 1x T-62 (Italeri, part of the Gulf War anniversary set)
• 1x Mi-25 Hind (same as above)
• 1x IS-4 (Trumpeter set)
• 1x IS-7 (same as above)

Now let's go over what these will be used for. Some of it is pretty self explanatory. The T-55s are going to form the mainstay of the PAPR armoured force, with rarer but superior tanks augmenting these forces. That's where the T-72B and T-62 come in and it is likely that others will be used in future. The BTR-60s and the Urals are similarly quite self explanitory.

The Vietnamese infantry will be used to represent the mainstay of the PAPR force, their dress being appropriate for the similar climate and mountainous jungle environment of the PAPR - Oronegro - Orotinian border region. This force will however, be largely untrained and not well equipped. Which will put them at a disadvantage. To complement this force the Warsaw Pact troops will represent different local and regional forces reflecting a coalition of people's within the overall PAPR. These forces will be highly variable with some being well trained and equipped with others being nothing more than hastily raised militia. The Chinese infantry will represent the most advanced special forces available to the PAPR. These troops will be uncommon, less common than the Spetsnaz I already painted, but will be equal to many of their rivals. Speaking of which the Spetsnaz will mostly be deployed by the Hind and the BMDs. I may get some BMPs in future however, given the terrain of the border the lighter BMD may be preferred.

Now some wild wards are the heavy tanks the IS-4 and IS-7. These will complement the IS-2T tanks I painted up before. Essentially acting as the command tank. They will likely also appear alongside the regional troops as surplus from the main tank force.

So these are the the first post WW2 kits in 1/72 made by the Plastic Soldier company. Having had a look at the spures I am impressed. Really looking forward to more from them.

Now let's go see what Oronegro gained. What did the land of black gold get in the mail?

• 1x Challenger 2 (Trumpeter)
• 1x Boxer Command Vehicle (Revell, Dutch variant)
• Modern US Soldiers in Action set 2 (Caesar, mortars and machine guns)
• American Special Forces (Italeri reissue of Esci set, Vietnam War era)

So the Challenger goes to reinforce the Oronegrean tank force, which will certainly need it given how many PAPR tanks they are likely to face. The Boxer has finally been accepted for services with the British Army which means that Oronegro, using British vehicles, can use it too. Now I don't know how strict I will be with the using British vehicles vs US infantry and that being distinct. It does give a good contrast to Gran Bolivia (see below) but I do think that overall it will be covered by the rule of cool. Talking of US infantry the Caesar miniatures complete my main force adding heavy weaponry to the collection. Meanwhile the Vietnam era US infantry can represent reservists, national guard or militia. They may even stand in for other nations, they are suitably generic

So some very exciting kits form ModelCollect. However, the one from Revell was 48% off so a real score there. Then there's the ICM motorcade another one bought while on sale.

With one Oro nation to another lets move to the very interesting country of Orotinia. Now I finally decided upon a theme for the former antagonist of the Latin Wars, it's actually to keep that the same theme. Namely a Germany analogue. Although this time with some other exciting extras such as the Swedish S-Tanks. Orotinia will be quite ecclectic although the German theme will make getting equipment for them rather easy. The previously painted Germans will be re-purposed for Orotinian infantry. So what did they get? Well quite a lot.

• 1x Modern German Army (Caesar)
• 1x Leopard 1A5 (Revell from the Leopard 1A5 + Biber set, got that at 48% off! A bargain.)
• 1x Biber, bridge laying tank (Revell, from set above)
• 0.25x Cold War German Infantry (from the Italeri reissue of the Esci NATO infantry set)

So Orotinia has some of the basics already with them getting more of the essentials from this splurge. The bridge-layer opens up some very interesting possibilities for games, with one side trying to set up a crossing under fire. The Cold War infantry can serve as reservists. Meanwhile the Modern infantry will be combined with the set I painted already to form the standard infantry. Whether the Orotinian forces will remain so consistent is another matter. But we will see.

So I am not sure what the "unicorn" horn on the boxer is for, I am guessing and aerial? More importantly these Italeri reissues of the old Esci cold war sets are something I have been really looking forwards to.

Moving onto Gran Bolivia we encounter another nation who has done quite well from the splurge:

• 1x M1A1 Abrams (Italeri from the Gulf War set)
• 1x AH-1W Super Cobra (same as above)
• 1x British Paratroopers (Revell reissue of the Matchbox Falklands War set)
• 1x British Infantry in the 1970s (A Call to Arms)
• 0.25x British Cold War Infantry (Italeri reissue of the Esci NATO infantry set)

Gran Bolivia then does very well. They will also be receiving the old Airfix NBC/CBRN cold war British infantry which I painted ages ago. So as you may have noticed Gran Bolivia is the mirror of Oronegro. US vehicles, British infantry. On the whole the equipment they have is slightly out dated, at least the units that are on the border with Oronegro are not first in line. Many old legacy units, including some ancient half-tracks I have had for a while but not painted yet. In future I may buy more up to date British infantry for them and it is not that hard to get some M113 kits or perhaps some newer vehicles for them.

So here's the tank corner, including another combined box set. Got for a song too. Although that Armata, now that's exciting.

Over in the infantry corner we have a nice mix. Revell seems to be confused as the figures are in 1/72, at least mine are. Confusing.

Now we do have a few wild cards too. These have no clear definitive use and will likely be used for many things. I am going to go over this in two bits. First the tanks.

• 1x Armata (Zvezda, a really fine looking kit.)
• 2x Black Eagles T-80UM2s (Modelcollect, actually innacurate, the hull is just a standard T-80 hull when it should be longer and include another road wheel, the sets do include T-80A turrets so can be used for that too)

These tanks may see service in the PAPR but more likely only for rare special instances. I don't want the PAPR to be too high tech. More guerrilla/asymmetric warfare, with rather outdated conventional kit. The tanks can also be used in the Kievalsk/Ororussia setting. Which may be where some of the Warsaw Pact infantry are also employed. Speaking of infantry let's move onto the infantry wildcards.

• 2x French Infantry (from the combined French-Chinese Caesar set)
• 1x Counter Terrorist Elite Forces (Caesar Miniatures)
• 0.5x NATO infantry (The set mentioned above but the French and Italian elements)
• 1x Warsaw Pact Troops (Mentioned above)

The real question is what to do with the French? Specific forces for one of the nations? replacements for UN Troops? A new faction? If a new Faction what to do? It a difficult one and I am not too sure. I could always paint them us as French infantry........ but that's boring so I can't do that. The Italians for the NATO set are going to be an interesting one to use. Same goes for the Warsaw Pact troops. Some will be good for the PAPR. However, the winter troops are less usable, although perhaps there's some high snow capped mountains? Might be more usable in the other setting which is temperate. The Caesar miniatures are suitably generic so will likely find themselves quite a range of uses.

To took two photos of the infantry corner and couldn't be bothered deleting them so enjoy.

Well that covers just about everything. This post took quite some time to write. For those of you who have made it to the end, well done. I almost didn't reach here myself. I am really interested to know what people think, what themes you suggest I follow, what alternative uses might be good for different kits. That kind of thing. I have finally got my airbrush with me so perhaps these kits will be churned out a little more quickly.

That is all for the future though. I hope you have enjoyed this post and I look forward to reading your comments.

Until next time I wish you all a good day/night.

WIP - The boat my friend requested

Well now that I have completed la Estefanía the number of boats in my collection has well and truly doubled! But, why stop at doubling my collection? And as I have been making boats according to what some of my friends and family have been requesting I have one more to do. This one is.... odd. I offered to make my friend a pirate ship. In my mind I was going to make a little Fluyt. But then he turned around and asked for a Greek/Roman warship! And so it began...

This thing is very small for a rowed ship. so I'll give it some serious sail power to compensate

I'll add armour plates to the front. To protect it against cannon fire once it goes in for a ram.

The book in the background is Patrick O'Brian's HMS Surprise, an appropriate book to be reading!

I'll probably use oars (forgot the term for them) rather than a rudder on this one.

Well there you have it. My strangest boat yet. Lots to do yet but it'll be a fun one once it's done. Also if you know where I can get Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey & Maturin series cheaply I'll be very thankful. I have books 1-3 then 8. So I need to get 4-7 or else number 8 will be sitting on my shelf tempting me to skip ahead.

Boats, Ships and maybe a raft or two.

So given that I just completed El San Francisco it is time to begin on the next round of ships. I have figures on the way too but while I am at my family's house I will make the most of having access to my materials to make ships, buildings and other larger things.

One ship complete... onto the next one.

 So what to do? Well there are a couple of other ships that I was working on:

4 of the six are compete. The top left and top right are yet to be done.

These ships are a small dhow and a pirate cutter crossed with a Greco-Roman warship. But these are relatively small projects and so I can think about what to do next. And for this I will look east, Far East.

A junk. But junk it certainly is not

Turns out it is rather hard to get a good set of boat plans for East Asian ships, or at least I am not that good at finding them. Anyway I have managed to download me some plans. I have three documents that allow  me to build ships from the following countries.

1. China: I have a plan (as part of a longer document) for a sea going junk used for trade. A larger project but certainly an interesting.
2. Japan: I have got the plans for a Japanese Warship what were held by the French Maritime Museum. An interesting design but slightly harder to use given the fact the writing is hard to read and in French (which I can't read).
3. Vietnam: Compiled during the Vietnam War I have a large document full of junk and sampan designs (this was to help the US identify potential smugglers - but it is very handy for me). Many of the ships and boats are quite small and so wouldn't be that diffucult a project.

Anyway I'd be keen to hear what you have to say about these potential projects. If there is one you'd like to see, any tips you have and if you know of some plans that I could use. Also don't be afraid to let me know of some completely different boats that I could do. :-)

WIP El San Francisco 2

Well here is a little update on the ship I am building as you can see I have done mast placement, rudder and the prow. The masts have not been glued in. That is so I can remove them plater so I don't poke my eyes out. Just a small update but it means only a few parts of the structure remain and I can soon move onto cladding it in planking.

Being white makes it hard to get good photographs of the ship due to the light but here she is.

The string was just to hold the prow in place as it glued. Will be removed soon

.

Again lighting is a pain but you get the overall shape with this one.

And the rear cabin and rudder here almost done apart from the roof.

Well that's it for this post. I'll do the next one once I have moved into planking it. By that point I'll be covered in PVA glue and regretting ever getting into this hobby.

Anway that's it for now. Have a good day/night everyone. :-)

WIP El San Francisco 1

Here are a few pics of the latest project I am working on. The first of this years model ships. This is El San Francisco. It is larger than the river boats I made but smaller than the Abigail. The aim is to make a more interesting vessel by having an accessible cabin area with a removable roof. In addition this model will have similar planking to the Abigail to increase the level of detail. So far the model is rather simple but it is just work in progress. :-)

This shot is the set up I used last night to hold the gluing parts together.

made with anything to hand, offcuts, string and a handy glue tube the set up worked quite well.

Oh and that mess in the background is my workbench. :-P

This is the result I found this morning. Not bad eh?

It's not perfectly symmetrical but good enough, It'll look good once done.

I have since added the front and rear walls of the cabin so these WIP shots are already out of date

Once again an overhead shot of a boat captures one of my feet. I really must be careful with that.

Well that's it for now guys. More to follow. And to you all have a good day/night. :-)

Doubling the Fleet!

"Capt. we need to double the size of the fleet!" Well it's pretty self explanatory isn't it. I currently have 4 boats (3 river boats, 1 sloop) and my goal for this year will be to end the year with 8. But what shall those boats be? I don't want to make more small ones, at least not many. So if the current ratio is 3 small to one big let these new models be 1 small 3 big!

maybe this is a little over-ambitious?

El Francisco / San Francisco:

 The final of my small boats. Named for long time follower, the angry lurker himself Francis Lee. Pirate vessel? Trader? Naval ship? or Fishing boat? I'll let the man himself decide. I already have a hull ready and prepared for this one so it shouldn't take too long once I get my materials together.

The hull appears to be similar to those for the ships I already made, perhaps a little bigger.

La Tigre:

This one is going to be big, perhaps a sixth rate or trading vessel? Named after my Aunt Hillary (her nickname is Tig/Tigger from Winnie the Poo). This vessel will join the Abigail as the pride of my model fleet until an even bigger one comes along. :-)

I might make one a little smaller than this, around the 43cm (17in) mark.

St Michael:

Named for a man with whom I have traded many figures. A fine Fluyt for my Dutch friend. This vessel will not be as large as La Tigre but more complex with removable decks to allow figures to go at multiple levels. I will try to use my snapping shut method for these but it will take more time to do.

These are beautiful ships, the lines are very nice.

El Santiago:

Finally a really big one, for if I get through the others in one year (a very ambitious aim). This one is named for yours' truly or rather the Spanish version of my middle name (my vanity can only go so far). I'm planning a fifth rate for this one! 1 1/2 to 2 decks with lots of gun ports for the full broadside experience. I have no clue where we are going to store this model but it will be the pride of my fleet.

 

Pirates better beware of this mighty ship!

 Will these be all the ships I make? NO of course not! Will this actually take me a year? Right now I am erring towards longer (I don't have much time at home to build them). Can I have a ship named after me? Why yes, if you ask nicely. Being a subscriber for my blog(s) does help. Can you build me a ship? Well probably not, all my work takes an indefinite amount of time (no fixed times) and I haven't yet designed a model which can be taken apart and put back together for transport (wouldn't be able to mail it). But if you could pick it up perhaps, but only if we play a game with them first (I need a ruleset, may need to make one).

Anyway model ships are the pride of my collection and I want to build more. If you ever stumble across some nice plans or juicy informative pictures of some fine vessels please send them my way. But apart from the obvious needing to get on with them (and a mountain of figures) that is all for these vessels for now.

have a good day/night!

P.S. if anyone sees that set of Hät Marines and sailors for sale let me know. They'd make good crew men.

Earth Defence forces - Sci-fi fun

Well here I go off on another crazy idea but one that is perhaps not as crazy as others. Basically it's a consequence of Dr Who and we can all blame him for the idea. Basically I wish to create some Oronegrean based Global defence force. Second (or third) only in skill to the Black Angels in the Oronegrean Armed Forces - Fuerzas Armardas de la republica de Oronegro (FARO). Admitidly this is not such a big deal as the Black Angels (Los Angeles Negros) are one of the best military units of the human race, their exact position in the top 10 is unknown (like most of the other contenders).

These figures from Elhiem fit the bill. although they look a bit like Storm troopers.

Naturally I'll need some guys well creatures, mutants, robots and cyborgs to invade but as those plans are already in my head I need not go over them again.

BUT WHY ALL THIS SILLYNESS

War is hell and if Oronegro is the child of my imagination then I am putting my child through hell... I am a terrible parent

Well the real Oronegro story is quite depresssing. a story on a powerful nation ripped appart in which civilians took up arms against a democratic but quite uncaring government (and in many areas corrupt) the conflict which engulfed Oronegro was explotied and worsened by the global superpowers which were also at war! the story allows for many possibilities and I can make up lots of stuff but if I only go down the route of civil war and serious conflict (for my moderns) I don't think that I can have some really fun scenarios. sure I can have fun but none of the scenario's can be completely ridicculous and light hearted. I have been criticised for having a civil war, which is why the Soviets and the US (and any other self respecting power) is involved in an attempt to move away from the nastyness that comes with all civil wars.

if this is you call FARO... or just accept your fate. which ever is easier.

but these science fiction plans allow me to add a bit of sillyness and fun to the doom and gloom. zombies getting blown up left right and centre by a cyborg sheriff (another idea from the Dr Who episode -"a town called Mercy") Now this does not mean I intend to make Oronegro into a totally unrealistic place. the zombies, have their explanations, chemical weapons. the Advanced forces as well they pop up during the war and are repressed.

and as there are no pictures of Faro and a dalek here is the nect best thing... at least the dalek can feel safe while is raises money to help daleks avoid the doctor.

FARO is one of those groups that helps to repress these outbreaks, invations, uprisings etc. Anyway thats that. now its over to you guys for your comments and ideas

expanding Oronegro and an unexpected colony

Well as soon as I put it to a map Oronegro had to be bigger. after that first initial map I made a larger one, which required me to cut and paste mountain ranges to hide an unwanted area of coast line. but Now perhaps I shall do it all again! Oronegro is set to expand if there is the story to go with it!

what is currently is like!

As you can see from the picture above I left ample room to expand down the coasts to the south, along the coast to the north and perhaps west (the Pan Andean Peoples Republic could be encircled by Oronegro.... a tribal group or groups that split and joined the republic when it formed.

To the south the land will get dryer becoming a desert away from the coast and rivers. a harsh landscape but also full of the valuable Oronegro the oil that keeps the nation strong! To the west it would get more mountainous and harder to access and to the east similar to the west but with sea on one side exposing the coastal area to violent storms (no doubt brought about by the energy created by the portals near by presence).

needless to say, this, my first map was too small for a land that just kept getting bigger in my mind

Ideas would be nice for these areas, but still tropical and warm (though the desert will just be plain hot and dry) is the main climate. perhaps snow and high winds on the mountains separating Oronegro from her northern neighbours. this would require them to be massive given the assumed location on the globe to allow cold enough temperatures but the climatic difference at at altitude is also a by product of the portal.

let us not forget this island! this is off the coast of Oronegro at some point.

All this extra land will be excellent for the 18th century arm and the 12st century arm of the Oronegrean story with the conquest of these lands and with the tale of the civil war respectively.

Now we come to the Colony! Why does Oronegro have a colony you ask.... let me explain. when I started making Oronegro in the 18th century I started to realise as I went on how powerful a nation that large in those times would be once it reached the 21st century! The United States of America was like Oronegro born out of a colony (well 13) which in the early 18th century had a population of roughly 1 million people! Now Oronegro might not have received so many immigrants since that time, why it is not even close to being as powerful. BUT! it would still have attained some power. enough to cause the Spanish to invade in the 1860's to assert their control on what was sort of (read the story) a colony.

Now where would a colony colonise? well the USA spread across a continent and then into the Pacific... Oronegro can't really go west (there are really high mountains and jungle that way) so it must go east! across the Neo-Atlantic Ocean...
... in other words the Oronegreans sailed around the portal (no mean feat as it is huge) and went to see what lay beyond! I will make a story... I like the idea the land was found by accident an Oronegrean merchant (not the brightest) who tried to go straight from some port in the desert region to Europe (instead of going north along the coast then east) and came across what to many would have seemed impossible eastern Europe...

what a strange place this is Carlos? aye captain they don't appear to speak Spanish at all. Do you think I may have gone to far south? aye captain I think you may have.

... Now this might sound mad and it is, But its useful as it answers some questions! a) how the Soviets got involved in South America to the extent they had whole armies there and b) what would happen if you missed the portal going the other way (going to and missing results in you visiting South America). Now the Next big question is why gowan did you do that? the answer is blame computer games!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks to Arma 2 I have been playing around in both desert and former soviet block style lands! Fun but not so great for building inspiration for a Latin nation.

its the games fault not mine!

Anyway I have decided to have a colony here also! But Now I can have some real fun! basically I have 3 main types of environment.

1. Hot desert, great climate for camels not so great for people who are lost. nasty giant gold mining ants! Which are actually described in the worlds first history/nonsense book... which I have read. thank you Herodotus!
2. the Jungle and Tropical area, nice for relaxing by the beach  but seeming that some of my plans involve monsters in the jungle I don't think anyone should try and impersonate bear grills here at night.
3. cold eastern European. snowy in winter (could even see some fun icescating... or what about Oronegrean ski tours... have fun on both dune and slope.) and pretty average in the summer. beware the bears and wolfs and you should be fine. just so long as its not the Russian bear in the woods some common sense and avoiding bear tracks should do you fine.

this is a cool vehicle! no other desciption needed... off topic but its the games fault for all this expansion eastards

Naturally the concept needs development! Naturally a map is needed. but apart from that this could be quite fun. it also begs the question who is connected to whom in this world but that's not important but the most fun part is surely that if I ever meet up with any of you we can play a game. Oronegrean support for US soldiers fighting the Soviet Union as it advances westward after the Re-union possible especially if the colony was at risk.

a very different landscape would exist in the colony... yes I have used lots of pictures form the game.

have fun guys! give me your ideas also.... think it would be cool to have a James Bond style bad guy layer in the Colony just say so. A link to Area 51 in the desert area (why area 51 might be such a secret) just say. ideas for a language for the colony why not. Just mention it because that's where I need help the most now.

greetings to my new followers! hello to fogsoldiers from fogsoldiers nice to have you on board. Welcome to Mike from mikes wargame blog thanks for joining.

the begginings of a story

the year is 1735
on a balcony of the Mayoral Palace in La Ley stands a man richly dressed, though for all his noble attributes his wig is still in on its stand and his clothes are not properly put on. the must be in his early 20's but stands up on the balcony like an elder whose wisdom encompasses the knowledge of several generations. He is shaken his skin is pale although his complexion is usually a few shades darker than most of his fellow aristocrats. Eduardo Martínez is his name and he is Mayor of La Ley and the constitutional monarch of Oronegro. in his hands he holds a piece of parchment, scribbled with many signatures, a paragraph at the top being the only substantial bit of writing on it. But why would it need to be longer? Why should it contain more paragraphs? more words? For this is a declaration of War!...

there a sneak peak into a world of conflict. Be careful my friends for now Oronegro is at war the battles will soon come. 1735 is when this war starts though 1740 is when my story will really take place 5 years in and the war will have just gone through a small lull in the fighting.
I am showing you this so that you can begin to picture what Oronegro will be, a nation already worn down by a war many thought would never happen again, a nation which knows its oldest foe is about to re enter the fray, a nation which must now rely on its own leaders to take the field.

Eduardo Martínez remember this name! Born on the 17 March 1712 he has travelled great distances and seen many great things. His character shall be explained more once I have a fig for him ;-) but the basics must be covered... At age 16 he was elected, as is customary by the family of Juan Carlos the founder of Oronegro, to become La Ley's 9th Mayor. Incredibly young but also a genius whose social skills, good humour and military intellect are rivalled by very few and none are a match when it comes to their excellence in all points! He shall lead the armies of Oronegro in this war a war that had seen and would see Oronegro's highest and lowest points.

if I sound very proud of my little Eddie here I am, the character is named after my current Spanish teacher who is a very funny man, though I could never see him leading an army, or a country he is still a friend and I thought why not include him in my story... after all he is Spanish. (actually his father in Argentine and his mother in Anglo-Irish, it gets even more confusing but lets leave it at that... I my self am English, 1/4 sctoish, 1/8 Australian and distantly French, and I am descended from a Norman knight)

the story above will later become part of another chapter in my Oronegro blog but for now let it rest here... I have many things to get done, several armies of figs to paint (perhaps I can organise something at school, a war gaming club get some year nines to help paint the armies, its a possibility) I also have 3 boats to make; the Willow, the Laurence and the San Miguel... and let us nor forget its term time and that means homework.

SO my projects slowly venture on and my story becomes more complex. I hope your enjoying this slow but interesting story (I hope you find it interesting) and that Oronegro can one day bear witness to a miniature campaign that attracts the attention of many war gaming enthusiasts from around the world... well that is the dream I guess, whether it can be achieved is another thing entirely.

Characters; you choose who goes into the story

Now I am sitting here with my new laptop thinking about my new year of school, recovering my voice from Fridays shouting, waiting for steam to hurry up and finish downloading Napoleon Total War onto this computer (the disk installation appears to have issues with the new PC) and guess what I am once more thinking who can be added into the Oronegrean story???

As you can imagine this is not the best time to be thinking of characters but still I am mad, spontaneous and watching a download claim its got hours remaining is not so fun (using the internet is not helping but I am beyond caring, especially when the download accelerator can't speed up steam). Now onto more important matters than using up broadband, characters for Oronegro!

As you are all aware, hopefully, I have recently made some characters, Sir Alfred Hale and Rosa and her father. Now these are some nice characters that I hope will liven up Oronegro is the months to come, but a nation cannot be made up of these people alone, even once the rest of the Castillo family are ready there will still need to be more. Why is this? well one of the things I love is to have multiple characters, even in my moderns I had such figures as James.ep3, Bean Castrae Ted, Karri .C. Tuf, and Fixed. and although I painted more right before I swapped era's I still had plenty in the pipeline to be introduced.

The thing is with the 18th century I want to do more, I want to have not only characters that add to the story and the battles, Like Alfred, but also those who can tell stories in their own way, like young Rosa. Yet most of all I want to involve you my followers, I want to repay your kindness in following my somewhat erratic blogging, in honours! For those who gave models I built ships (almost wrote shops, though I did in the moderns) and although I still have many to build (finding the energy and time is hard during term time) but for people who just like to see what I do I though what about a character... They don't have to be named after you, they don't even have to have a personality like yours, you don't even need to tell me what they should be like, I will allow all of that but if you don't want to go that far I have no problems with that either.

SO what should these characters be like... Well there are a few things I would like to do; create some elite guards for Eduardo Martínez, each would be armoured in plate like the conquistadors or knights of old, each one would be a hero in his own right being the best of the best; create some aristocrats, men and women who light up the land with either their stories of noble deeds or shame it with tales of intrigue, perhaps more women to make up for all the men you have with this hobby; foreigners, merchants, explorers and travellers, people who are all moving around the nation each with their own stories and perhaps ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time; a bandit leader, a pirate leader or a master criminal, perhaps someone who for half their time decided to live it big with the high and mighty and yet when the sun goes down or the palatial doors of his mansion close to guests he becomes a man of little morality; Eduardo Martínez himself perhaps more than one fig to represent the mayor in his palace and with his people and the mayor with his soldiers at the front.

So there you have it lots of possibles but very few certainties and don't think that your restricted to these options you can always add your own characters with their own stories. YOU CAN EVEN ADD SOME ENEMY LEADERS!!!!!! I have not come up with the identity of the Kaxad emperor, the governor of Nouveau Paris, the lord of New Dunedin, the leader of the Oroblanco liberation front and even others.

So yes plenty for you to choose from, plenty you can come up with. Perhaps by reading the Colonisation and Expansion stories on the Oronegro blog you can find even more groups that could be represented by some characters. Now I cannot promise that every character you put forwards will be created, nor can I promise that those stated above will fit in with the story, I am not looking for 1000 characters even though it seems I have that many in my head... really all I can say is put forwards an idea and I'll see what I can do ;-D

whats on my workbench

so what is on the dinning room table workbench then? well its a scruffy disorganised chaos that somehow I manage to work in and regularly tidy away to allow for dinner, though because its summer I can leave the stuff out longer, :-). the following pictures may disturb some viewers who hate chaos and others who find the use of a dinning table for anything other than dinner a crime.

this is just part of the mess, projects I am working on

One Oronegrean supply house, you find these along the nations roads, this is a small one that is also designed to act as fortification if needed, hence the many windows on the ground floor providing 360 degree views, and the roof. which is removable.

this here is an collection of figures some Oronegrean soldiers the others are civilians

this here is the Willow a nice little cutter that will be either a transport or cargo ship

once again a look at the figs, this camera angle and lighting does not do them any favours, nor does their current stage in basing and painting, more on that later on.

and this scribbled and disorganised mess of words is an attempt to get on paper exactly how many people guns, wagons and horses are in an Oronegrean legion. the answer is 5000 humans, 50 guns, 500 wagons and 5000 horses. I will explain more once I sort out the mess into a nice chart. give me a few years, hours, months, days or weeks.

 And Now onto a little fun explanation on basing my figs... my new figs unlike my moderns will all have nice rectangular bases so that they can all be squashed together to form those rigid battle lines of the time... why I am also doing this for the civilians is beyond me. BUT whats so special is the materials I am using!!!!

I AM USING BLACK SAND AND PVA TO BASE MY FIGS!!!!

along this coast of New Zealand the beaches are made of black sand which makes them a feet frying strip of magnetic pain. (trust me it does burn your feet badly during the summer). this sand is very fine and like I said magnetic... SO the other day I went to the beach and got a bag full, then I had to dump half the sand and then put the bag inside 2 others because the load of sand was incredibly heavy. so I based my figs with the mixture of sand and PVA only to find the sand was so magnetic that even when done and flock applied a good magnet can still pull those figs around! I am now think how funny if would be to move my army from underneath the table by using a large magnet... I wonder if I could move them without my opponent noticing???

a bit of black sand on a pen which has a magnetic strip so it can live on the fridge.

OK cheating in a game aside and losing all my figs every time we go past a scrap yard I hope you are all having a great time... and one last important thing I forgot to attend to last post. My new Follower...

Hello to Abdul666 from emperor vs elector and MCristo by LaceW. welcome to the blog I know you have been unofficially here for quite some time and its really nice to officially welcome you here.

As Promised

Well, well here I go again... I have my first company of infantry on the painting desk along with a small group of civilians but I now really feel obliged to complete the two ships I planned to do in gratitude to those who gifted me figs before... namely Blue Willow (Matt) and Laurence Strong (Larry) to these men I owe these ships. The Willow and the Laurence, these two will either be naval ships or civilian. The Laurence has to be big as the Haul I received from Canada more than tripled my whole 18th century force!!!!! though I do not wish to make each ship comparative to the size of the gift Such generosity must be compensated with something BIG although not as big as the Abigail as I cannot fit another HUGE ship in my room.

SO WHAT TO BUILD????

One ship type I liked but was too large was the Batavia.

nice lines but way too big

Of coarse if I want to make a small version of this ship I will need to make some rather large alterations because naturally a smaller version would not have the same number of masts or same sail pattern... on the other hand perhaps there is a similar type of boat that can fit the role and look similar. My only problem now is what about the Willow, she will be smaller though smaller does not mean inferior or that she will be in anyway weaker than the larger Laurence.

the name Willow strikes me as a more passive one so I think the Willow should be a civilian/commercial vessel. This might be a good thing as then I can have some poor souls as a target for the Pirate sloop Abigail or perhaps even something to be defended by the naval ships.

WHAT SHIPS DO YOU LIKE??? is there a special type of boat you like or do you think that you would like another small ship... of coarse I can't build to many ships but a few more would be good some traders, passenger vessels, fishing boats and more pirates are all needed to represent a good maritime environment and I am always willing to take down ideas :-D