Little Toy Soldiers and Such...

The Blog of Michael T. Murphy and his lifelong obsession with "little army men" and their imaginary glory, miniature wargaming, and other things...

Saturday, January 6, 2024

Cleaning the room and....a discovery!!!

 So with the new year here and upon us, I embarked upon a bold quest.

My painting area, and the entire room was a chaotic shambles.

It was time for me to buckle down and go down there and clean it, organize it, and get an idea of what I need to do for this year.

Well...clean it at least.

Stuff was "everywhere", and everywhere was "stuff"....

(Oh dear...so many projects and things being worked on, and utter chaos....)



(To include a broken chair...sigh...)



(So much "stuff"...)


And then after a little over an hour, all was clean!

("Dis place don't look half bad!")



("This looks like the place where someone like me can actually get some work done on figures here. Wait...what am I saying???")


All in all I was quite please with how it turned out. It DID need a massive assault on the carpet by the vacuum cleaner though, but it came out well.

A Discovery!!!!

One of the things about having massive amounts of miniatures (unpainted that is), is that eventually things get "lost, or misplaced", and sometimes just "forgotten". 
Case in point. 
While organizing the room, I came across a large plastic zip-lock bag, which was taped closed.
"Hmmm..." Sez I.
I open the bag and lo and behold, missing figures! 
(As well as some figures I had forgotten I had...)
First up was three bags of 28mm figures from Eureka.
100CIV28: Frederick the Great playing flute, and accompanied by the howling of his dogs.
(I posted pics of what they look like in the bags, as well as what they look like out of the bags on the Eureka site.
Also the top bag is 100CIV30 "Frederick the Great and Voltaire discussing issues"


    





The next bag was 100CIV29 "18th Century String Quartet".

  

They're ready to do dedications, and take requests of all the hottest hits of the early 1700's. Hang onto your powdered wigs people, these guys are gonna rock your ears off!


And of course, I found the majority of an Old Glory purchase I made decades Old, that I got once again for Christmas.  "Fat Governor and his Creepy Assistants"

(More Aristocrat's to rule and ruin your life...)

And so, more figures to get ready and to paint!
I'm going to be very, VERY  busy this year with the brush!
And Reaper starts shipping their B6 KS in April!!!!

Thanks for reading!
More to come!

Thursday, January 4, 2024

A New Year, and The Christmas Loot...

 Greetings and Happy 2024!

So, another year behind us all, and another one has begun.

I am hoping that Christmas and the New Year was good for everyone.

For me, it was excellent. My wonderful wife, (Gawd bless her!), and I had a great time, and all was Merry and Bright, and New Year came and we greeted the New Year in quiet but happy, celebratory style.

I then took today and wandered down to the game room with all of my Christmas loot.

My wonderful wife had told me earlier in this past November that "She didn't know what to get me for Christmas", so she ordered me to make a series of miniature orders and then give them to her, so she could wrap them and give them to me.

Like a dutiful husband I obeyed.

And man, I scored big!


The Loot....

Diligent readers will know that I have somehow and someway been dragged kicking and screaming into the 18th Century. I actually blame it on me repainting my 20+ year old Voodoo Zombies and some pirates. Those few figures gave me more ideas, and which I found more figures and more ideas. Next thing you know I am up to my wazoo in black powder, powdered wigs, cold steel, and beauty marks!
So I went down, put it all on the table and took a pic of my "loot"...

(Egad! My bank account is glad that Christmas only comes once a year...)


The Coaching Inn...

Tabletop World out of Croatia, (IIRC, they used to be in Poland), makes amazing resin buildings in 28mm size/scale. This year they announced that they were closing out and discontinuing two of their buildings in their line, to make way for newer designs of the same.
Plus they had a sale.
So I jumped in and ordered The Coaching Inn.
I'm going to do a more detailed entry on this later on, as it totally warrants it, but let me say this this is an amazing piece. It's very detailed, and very well done. Minimal flash, and was very well packed and shipped.
I also ordered their groceries pack, and they were done very well also. 
I placed some 25-28mm figures in front of them to get an idea of size/scale. Figures are from Dixon, Foundry, and Reaper.



(As I said, this is a pretty big piece...)


I'm really looking forward to painting this up and getting it on the table.

And more figures!!!!!

I realized that for my 18th Century gaming I was going to need a lot of "Civilians", (villagers, workers, aristocrats, tradesmen, etc.), so that was what most of my orders were focused on. Can't have pirates sacking a town if there are no townies to sack!
So after getting pics, I then decided to break down the entire haul and take pics of the loot, by separate packages.
First up on the scene was Old Glory.
First off, I decided that I needed some "People in charge", so who is more capable of handling the affairs of a sketchy island in the Caribbean than a "Fat Governor and his Creepy Assistants"?


(The Governor and his staff of flunkies... Who else would you feel comfortable with having them rule over you?)



And then, sometimes even fops and "gentleman" have issues with each other.
Whether it's over beauty marks, the scent of a powdered wig, or the fact that one of the men may have had a glass of claret too many, and made the remark that "Another gentleman's wife resembled a bloated warthog.", which of course demanded "satisfaction".
So I got the The Duelists package also.

("Now remember chaps....ten paces counted off and turn and fire!  And for goodness sake please try NOT to hit the onlookers this time!")


And then I realized that you couldn't have a duel without an expansion back. 
Soooo...another pack was added to the cart.

(Another unfortunate is carried off the field of honor...)



Next up was my order from Front Rank/Gripping Beast.
Being located in the UK, this was my slowest arriving package. I can think that maybe they might have had some trouble filling the order, but they made it, and I was very happy with them.
I had never ordered from Front Rank/ Gripping Beast before and I was very pleased with the quality of the figures. 
Thus two more packs of 18th Century Civilians/Workers/Townsfolk were added.




After that it was my loot haul from Foundry.
I remember the old days when Foundry had 8 figures per pack, and now they only have six, but still the quality is there after the sticker shock goes away.
I made quite the purchase of their 18th Century Civilians.

The first pack was their CIV001: "Country Folk".

("Ahhh...country folks! Just the type we need to work long, hard, hours in the hot, hot sun for his Lordships benefit....")


Next up was CIV003: Aristocrats.

("Every locale must have it's agreed upon social structure and these fine folks will make sure that they are at the top of the structure; enjoying the finer things in life, while the others work long, hard, hours in the hot, hot, sun for his Lordships benefit, (and thus, theirs)....")


Meanwhile, yet more duelists with anger management issues have been purchased.
CIV004: Duelists.

("Meanwhile on the other side of town, away from the country folks working long, hard, hours in the hot, hot, sun, for his Lordships benefit, yet another issue is about to be solved with powder and ball, and honor to be restored or lost...")



Meanwhile, I also picked up CIV005: The Chevalier.

("Not everyone has the energy, reason, nor the desire or inclination to be willing to stand outside for hours watching the country folk work long, hard, hours in the hot, hot, sun for his Lordships benefit. Some prefer the easier, and more enjoyable pleasures of life...")


And of course CIV006: Townsfolk. You can't plunder a town without having townsfolk in it to be plundered, right? RIGHT?....

("They may not be out in the fields working long, hard, hours in the hot, hot, sun for his Lordships benefit, but these townsfolks do what they have to do. For good or bad, that is yet to be determined.")


And I picked up a shepherd, his sheepdog, and his sheep, GPR004.

("A shepherd's life is mostly boring. Standing around and watching sheep eat grass, and keeping them safe and in sight. Most of the time this can be done by standing under the cool shade of a large oak or walnut tree. It may be a tad bit boring, but boring in the shade is better any day than being in the fields, working long, hard, hours in the hot, hot, sun for his Lordship's benefit.")


I grabbed the Prussian Camp Followers also. SYWP036.

("Converting these into regular island civilians. The majority of them probably won't find themselves in the fields, working long, hard, hours in the hot, hot, sun for his Lordship's benefit, but they will be doing something to better themselves and their situations; even if it is at someone else's expense.")


Naturally an island will need a garrison of troops to protect it from those wicked Spaniards, dirty dealing Dutchmen, odiferous French, and Pirate scum, and so I grabbed some SYW British troops. I know that "historically" they are not "period correct", as the Golden Age of Piracy was pretty much done, over with, and history by the time the SYW came around, but I just really liked how they looked, and for an 18th Century Imagination, who is going to pick nits?
So first up is the British Command...
SYYB002 British Infantry Command.

("A fifer, drummer, color bearers, and guard, all managed by a reliable Sergeant Major and his signature spontoon. Ready to lead the troops to march wherever they are needed on the island and in the hot, hot, sun.")



And the first unit of rank and file troops for the island. SYWB4, British Infantry.

("The first company, arriving on the island, to keep order, ensure safety from the enemies of the crown, and to protect those people that are out in the fields working long, hard, hours in the hot, hot, sun for his Lordship's benefit.")


After that, I also ordered two of the Foundry Christmas Santa figures; "Father Christmas" and "Viking Santa".

("Of course during Christmas time, if the people are good they may be visited by you know who. This will brighten up their spirits from being in the fields, working long, hard, hours in the hot, hot, sun for his Lordship's benefit.")




As a bonus, Foundry also included a free archer figure.

("Not really sure what I am going to do with this guy, but I seriously doubt if he is going to be willing to be in the fields, working long, hard, hours in the hot, hot, sun, for his Lordship's benefit...")


After this, it was off to check out my Brigade Games order!
First up was NS-MT0008: British Regular Infantry Officer from North Star Miniatures.  
This figure came in a clam shell package and was very well done. It's my first North Star figure and I am VERY impressed with it. 

("The future Captain of the Infantry Company. I am currently trying to figure out a name for him, as befitting an officer of His Majesty's troops, dedicated to leading his men to do their duty, protecting the people as they are in the fields and work long, hard, hours in the hot, hot, sun for his Lordship's benefit.")


And then I got some more townsfolk, BG-MSW009.

("Like the other folks in town, these citizens may not be out in the fields working long, hard, hours in the hot, hot, sun for his Lordship's benefit, but they are indeed "working"...as it may be called....")




And of course I need more "upper crusters". In this case BG-MSW009, "Milady and her household staff."

("Ahhh...to be a woman of social standing on this island. The gossip, the intrigue, and goings on!" She exclaimed. "Yes m'aam. It is quite the thing." Snivellers, her man-servant answered. She accepted the glass of claret from the tray he was holding out to offer her. "And it does beat being out in the fields, working long, hard, hours in the hot, hot, sun for his Lordship's benefit." She sniffed disdainfully at the thought of herself actually doing physical labor.)


And last but not least, just because he had that Kurt Russell/Snake Pliskin thing going on, I picked up "Apocalyptic Santa with machine pistol"; BG-APC165.

("Now I have a machine gun too! Ho! Ho! Ho!")


And then finally, the last packages came from Perry...
Like the North Star figures, these are my first figures from Perry, and I was very impressed with them.
I picked up two packs of CPT-16 Female Civilians.

("Plenty of women to tend to the household chores and duties while their husbands are in the fields, working long, hard, hours in the hot, hot, sun for his Lordship's benefit....")



On a whim, I also picked up AW 100 "British Interrogating a Colonial Prisoner". Can use the majority of the figures, so it should be a fun set to paint up.

("The prisoner eagerly cooperated with his captors, once they agreed to not have him out in the fields working long, hard, hours in the hot, hot, sun for his Lordship's benefit....")



I also picked up two packs of AW 73 Civilians to mix in with the rest of the lot.


("Yet more civilians, (country folk), and townsfolk. While some of these will be in the fields, working long, hard, hours in the hot, hot, sun, others will be doing their "town things". Good or bad, shall soon be discovered...")



And that was it for the minis!

My wife also got me an amazing customizable DM screen for our RPGS.  Each fold has some amazing imprinted artwork. I took pics to show them. Please click on them to get a better idea and to see them more clearly.













Christmas was indeed good...

And I close this with a last Christmas picture. Perhaps once again to remind us all of the "Greatest Christmas Gift of All, and TO all, free of charge..."


(May his light guide you always...)



Sunday, December 31, 2023

End of The Year Update....

 Wow...2023 is gone already?
I was sitting here minding my own business and working on the "Late November/Early December" update when I look at the calendar and it's 12.31.2023.
Where did the time go?
I didn't do an end of year update and reflection last year. Too much was going on, and I was trying to get my head sorted out. So, I am going ahead with a short one for this year.
Read on, if you wish.

2023...A Year in Review....

So January 2023 rolled in, and I realized the projects I need to get done. Naturally I made of list of things I wanted to accomplish, and then promptly disregarded it.
But I DID clean up my painting desk in preparations for all things planned, grand, and glorious...


(A clean workspace?!?!.... What kind of MADNESS is this?!?!?!....)



With January here, I restarted my interest in working on my Western town of Rimfire, (Arizona Territory), and finished up the Newspaper Office, and started re-working the Sheriffs Office and Jail.






And January rolled into February....
February came in, and for those chilly days, I made up a pot of Jambalaya, with extra stuff in it!


(MMMM-mmmm!)


And there was some work done on figures or buildings, but nothing was finished. 

March wandered in like a drunken sailor....

And like the whirlwind month that it is, I finished a large batch of figures, including these:










A large batch of figures, fantasy, animals, colonial, and Western, rounded out the entire batch.
I was also able to finally finish a long dormant project, the livery stable conversion I had done from an old ERTL Cowtown barn.
I also named it after my best friend, who passed away in 2021 due to covid pneumonia.




With April coming in, I was on a mad figure painting roll.
I cranked out a nice batch of Western, Fantasy, and Gangsters and G-Men from "The Chicago Way", among some others, (including redoing my 20+ year old paint job on my "Voodoo Zombie Master")...
















So far my mini completion count was going along nicely.

So with April and May, we also had company from Colorado. My wife's best friend came to visit, and her husband and me took off one day to the Indy Motor Speedway.





And I fixed them dinner...



Speaking of food...
I got a chance to try out a recipe for "Robber Steak" from the literary classic, "Dracula"...


The recipe was simple, I think though that next time I am going to try them on the grill and see how they come out.

Meanwhile I laid out a short version of my Western town to get an idea of how it would/could look....


(Not a bad piece of real estate...)


And I also worked out designs for my first scratch-built brownstone for my gangster games.

("Dis ain't a bad piece o' prop'ty eidder...")


And we found GOOD KIMCHI!!!!

(Oooooh yeah...)



And then towards the end of the month my work rate shot up...
First was a bunch of fantasy figures, including these.








And then I followed up with some pulp/horror figures...

(Yeah, if you watched Saturday morning TV in the 70's and early 80's you know WHO these guys are...)






(A RAFM "Call of Cthulhu" character figure, reading from an ancient book of evil knowledge while holding her cat in an underarm death grip. Emotional support animal or unknowing sacrifice to a dark elder thing? YOU tell me....)


And I repainted my 20+ year old voodoo zombies and a couple of pirates. These were figures from my infamous Pirate game I ran at Triple J's back around 2000. 

First up, the voodoo zombies.
Please not that a lot of the pics here show the figures to look "glossy and shiny" and that is not the case. It's the case of me using a cheap Iphone 10 camera, and the lighting.

(Voodoo Zombies!!!!)


And Pirates!!!





And then June ended, and July and August blundered in like two sleepy toddlers wandering through the house early in the morning.
My motivation essentially ground down to a halt.
And the high point of those two months was the new fridge for the game room.




We caught it on sale at Best Buy and it now holds a lot of tasty drinks!

And then suddenly summer was ending and it was September and October....
And I was dragged kicking and screaming into the 18th Century.
(Truth be told, with the pirates, I was always kind of skirting the edge of it.)
I have quietly decided to build a fictional 18th Century "imagi-nation", and right now, the starting point is going to be an island in the Caribbean named "Bloodworth Island". It's a recent "acquisition" from the Spanish by the English in one of their never ending wars. The current port has been renamed "Port Haven", and it's a haven of scum, villains, ruffians, ne'er do wells, mangy dogs, lower class men and women, and screaming brats.
Truly the new governor will have his hands full in the coming days.
But my painting queue was full....


(The table seems quite busy today....)


And the governor of the island...

("Lord Whitehall, the newly established and arrived Governor of the recent English * ahem *,  "acquisition" of Port Haven on Bloodworth Island. He is NOT impressed at what he sees, hears, or smells. He knows that although he is technically "ruling" the port, (and supposedly the island, no matter what the French, Spanish, Dutch, and other scum may say), he realizes that his rule is only as good as the troops he has to enforce it.  "Hmph!" he says to himself, (and no one else in particular). "No matter then! If I have to hang a dozen or so pirates and their supporters in this dreg of a town to establish my presence and order, then I guess the gallows are going to be quite busy soon."  Although under orders from His Majesty, he also knows business and how to turn a profit as it may be...
"Although there is always the possibility that a few coins contributed to me, may keep someone from having a short drop and a quick stop..."  He then changed his thoughts from the matter onto whether the port had a decent claret on hand for his dry palate and if so, where would he find it?")




("The Righteous Reverend Task, ( a very determined man in the manner of John Calvin and Cotton Mather), preaches the "true word" to the people of Port Haven.  Having recently arrived to the newly acquired island that is flying the English Flag, (at least in this part), everywhere he looks is bathed in sin, sin, and even more sin. The sinners are plentiful, and the sin is overwhelming. So many souls damned to the eternal fires of the lake of fire created for the Devil and his minions.  He also knows that there are witches here in town, or at least those that practice some form of the dark arts of sorcery. He has read the tracts and studied them immensely before embarking upon his journey from his comfy home in the Massachusetts Colony to this festering abominable pool of unholy deprivations.  Nevertheless he shall root out the witches, or practitioners of dark evil magic and cast them out, and bring the true word, (as interpreted by him), to all those that would hear his holy calling...")




("Nigel Tandy's musical talent and abilities, weren't enough to keep him from barely escaping England with his life, due to his dalliances with the ladies of the local gentry, (of which a few illegitimate children were born), and fleeing to Port Haven, and finding a nice, easy (by the standard here), comfy position as his Lordships musician.  By day, he plays and composes at his lordships will. He is also in demand at night for soirees, balls, dances, dinners, evening entertainment and so on.  Despite knowing what almost happened, he also understands that "pretty, rich, women are his weakness....his Achilles heel.", and knows that it will only be a matter of time before his roving eye catches the looks of one of the local upper crust ladies.  The fact that she may have a heavy purse would be an extra pleasant surprise.  But until then, it's time for him to play (once again), "Traipsing through the green meadow" on his piano forte to the delight of some of those upper crusters that wouldn't give him the time of day otherwise.")



But it wasn't ALL "Caribbean goodness..."
I decided about mid year, that I was wanting to run a Fury of Dracula Board Game for Halloween. It was going to be rp'ing, period dress, and dinner included. Unfortunately while this didn't happen this year, it gave me a bit of a head start for 2024. 
I didn't like the solid grey figures that FFG had in the box, so I painted them up per the cards.
I was dismayed and disappointed a little on the Dracula figure as there was so little facial detail.
But I did what I could.

(Dracula....)



(And the hunters...)

Maybe this year I will get to run it.

And then as usual, I had "Dremel issues".

(Oops...)


And my wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary with amazing Mexican food!!!!


(October 13th, 2012... Eleven years married and she hasn't killed me yet...)



(An anniversary feast!)



And that rounded out October....

(There's treasure everywhere!)


And we slipped into November...

November my wife and I did our Turkey Day dinner at Fogo De Chao in Indy.




(Mmmmm...delicious red meat. It's not food if it doesn't bleed...)



And I found myself being dragged kicking and screaming into the 18th Century, with more figures being painted up for the period.

("D'nembo moved slowly through the countryside, pistol and cutlass at ready. His eyes slowly and carefully scanned the tree-line up ahead for anything. Truth be told, he would he happy to hear the sounds of life around him; the squawk or chirping of birds, or the occasional sound of a large animal. But here, there was no sound.  Only silence. Which to D'nembo meant "Nothing living was around him."  And this worried him greatly...")




"Lord Mitchell looked on with slight contempt before sneering at what he saw in the town that he had recently arrived at.  Muddy, badly constructed cobblestone streets; dirty, ramshackle buildings, mongrel dogs wandering about, screaming women and their crying brats, drunkards everywhere....                  And the smell.  Good Gods the smell!   

"No matter." He said to himself. "A few quick roundups of the press gang will clear this dung heap of the drunkards and put them to good use for once in their miserable lives.  The whores will be cleaned out, the dogs shot down, skinned, and the meat given to the natives as they will probably eat anything. It'll take a bit of work to make this into a proper English town under the Governor's rulership and his Majesty The King's command, but it'll get done. But first, I need to try to figure out where I can find a decent claret, or a bottle of sherry, or even a decent bottle of port in this miserable place...."

This figure is named in honor of my best friend Mike Mitchell, who probably shares his need for a decent claret, sherry,  or bottle of port right now....



And quite a few others, to include fops, gentleman duelists, adventurers, ladies, and so much more....



















(Checking future ship projects out for size and scale of figures...)



(Possible game table size...That's a lot of land and water!)



(And finishing up some buildings...)



(As well as a cornfield scenic...)



And then the highlight of the month, was Loreena McKennitt in concert in Indy.
I had waited 30 years to see her.
I wasn't going to miss it.
It was more than I expected.




And then December arrived.
And the Christmas season was upon us...
And the house was decorated for the season.





And I decorated "The Elvis"....




And I hung up my custom made, green velveteen stocking (with leopard skin top, and nuclear green silken lining) with care....



And we decorated the house....
Tree up, lights up, all up....






And I remembered Dan on the day....and at the hour I was told....

("So fill to me, the parting glass....Goodnight, and joy be with you all....")


And Christmas Day arrived!
And our neighbors came over for dinner.

(Christmas morning and my wife's stocking is packed. She made out like a bandit...)



(The "after opening frenzy" loot beneath the tree...)



And then we set the dining room up for our meal....






And Santa brought us some of these!





And our neighbors came to dine....









And the house was decorated and glowed with Christmas magic, and it was indeed, once again, "A Hallmark Christmas Movie Set House."








And then, suddenly....that was it.
2023 is over with.
I got some buildings finished, a few closer to being finished, some more stuff worked on, and about 136 figures painted to completion.
I didn't get a chance to get everything on the list I made, and ignored done, but I knew that wasn't going to be the case, as in often times, real life gets in the way.
But overall I think I did pretty good.
My VA disability came through, and my health has improved.
I have a wonderful home, and a wonderful wife, and neighbors.
If I had any wishes for 2024, it would be to reconnect with my brother, and my kids. I do know though that communication is a two way street.
I thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and my God for all the amazing things he has brought forth into my life, and where he is leading me. I trust in him faithfully and know he has my welfare in control for 2024 and beyond.
For all that read this, I wish you joy, peace, happiness, blessings for 2024.
Thank you all for being a part of this incredible journey and this blog of mine.

Michael T. Murphy
Indiana
12.31.2023

(Cheers and best wishes to you for 2024...)