Dangerously Mad

Well, Ive finally bitten the bullet. Three years of nag nag nag from my mates and no-no-no from me and my willpower has given in like arrows through chainmail (well, chainmail IS just a suit of holes linked together, you know). What finally broke the camels back (first post and my mataphors are mixing like a bad cocktail already) you wonder?

Normans.

Yup, that's right. You heard correctly. Bloody Normans.

You see, it all started about a week ago. I was just minding my own bussiness, browsing through the miniatures page list of manufacturers when I happened to chance upon the listing for Perry Miniatures. Hello, I thought, not the Perry Twins surely? When did they start up their own line? Arn't they still working for Foundry? Aha! No! It transpires that Perry Miniatures is more of a hobby, something they do on the side, according to the Press Release. So I think, why not take a look.

(You can take a look too if you like, the URL is :http://www.perry-miniatures.com/ )

I was blown away by the craftsmanship of the Warring States Samuari, but luckily I have a samurai force for Clan War thats never been used, so I resist temptation and refuse to buy. But then I see the First Crusade Miniatures and Im hooked. Alas, I've just been reading up on the old Bloodstone modules for AD&D and day-dreaming about adapting them to 3.5. The period is late dark ages and it involves the player characters leading armies in the defence of a Barony and then involves them in a war to liberate their entire country! Arrgh. Next thing you know, I've got a £140 put down on mini's I`ll probably never use. Or so I thought.

You see, when they arrived, they were even better in "person" than on the web. I just had to start painting them right away - tough luck my Flames of War Germans, you are gone but not forgotten. So not only have I been madly buying and basing miniatures (on Games Workshop 20mm bases - more expence) but Ive been buying up civilians from Foundry (for the villagers) as well, along with shield transfers and Banners from Gripping Beast.

My one complaint about the Perry Miniatures is to do with the shields - the miniatures are supposed to be Franks, and yes, the boys would naturally pick up turkish shields when their own ones were knackered, but why make half of the shields Tirkish? Especially when the mini's shown are all armed with Norman-style Kite shields. Sheesh!

Well, the one consolation is that if I hadnt been looking for Norman shield packs from another manufacturer, I`d never have come across the Beast's shield transfers and banners. Lovely. Ten quid for a sheet of 24 banners and £2-3 for a sheet of 12 shield transfers. Hmm, not so lovely. More money spent and here I am supposedly saving up for a new house. Still, their worth a look if your interested.

Gripping Beast:
http://www.grippingbeast.com/shop.php?CatID=60

And oh, yeah. I had to buy a new craft knife (the old one broke) and I ran out of black spray paint early on. Why is my bank account being made to suffer so? And why has my blog turned into a forum for moaning on entry one already?

Cos I'm a gamer,I cant help myself thats why (and thats the answer to both questions).

Thank God for the savings account. That hasn't been touched (yet!)

Anyway, somehow, I make the obvious connection that if I`m going to use these minaitures for a roleplaying game, I may as well make use of them for wargaming as well. But the only Warhammer Ancients supplement with a First Crusade army list is out-of-print (Armies of Antiquity). What to do? What to do? Ahah! The old cogs begin to turn (squeekily I might add, cos Im suffering from the cold) . Crusaders are Franks right? Normans are Franks right? Theres a Norman list in the Shieldwall supplement right? Saved!!

Actually it turns out the Norman list covers Western Franks in general, so I could make them Bretons, Flemish or Carovingians if I wanted. Right now Im not sure if I want too or not, as Normans get the amazing ferocious charge ability, which is just brutal. But I may have a think later. At the moment though, the concept is that the Army represents the forces of a wealthy churchman, an abbot or bishop, and that the top man himself will lead them into battle, escorted by his bravest knight's. Conversion opportunties aplenty, methinks.

Later I'll go through my Army list choices and explain why I picked what I did in keeping with the armies theme. I`ll also explain what models I`m using for each unit and why (though it might be better to save that for when I actually stick pics of the completed units up on the blog). I'll even post up battle reports to chronicle the glorious exploits of this and my other (half-finishes) armies in order to humiliate my enemies (and my opponents). Assuming I can keep my interest up long enough to even get a battle, that is.

Bet your just quivering with excitement

I may even be tempted to use this blog for its "natural" purposes and even keep a diary of "real life" online. But personally I`m not sure about that at all. My life's not for the sharing with all and sundy. But we'll see.

Anyway, thats how I went from an army of roleplaying game figs to creating a new wargaming army. But what has that got to do with creating a blog?

Well, somebody suggested that if I keep track of my progress on a blog, even I wont get bored and start on something else ( remember those Germans?). Well, it seems to have worked for Dave Woodward ( http://paintermeister.blogspot.com/ ) so hopefully it should work for me too.

Fat chance.