I keep a running log of the figures I paint during the year. Because of the six-month deployment and the month prior and following it, my output for 2010 was pretty low. These are the last figures I painted in 2010, finished around 0900 on the last day of December.
Chris and I have been painting Eureka frog and turtle figures for use with G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. In early December, Chris discovered these Dark Sword Miniatures figures. They are VERY expensive. They do not have all the figures you might need to create units of frogs, but they do have some nice personality figures. To the right is the Frog minstrel, who will lead my North American frog army to victory over Chris’ south American frogs. There are few things more stirring than the sound of the bagpipes leading men (and in this case, frogs) into battle.
To help gain and advantage over their foes, my North American frogs have enlisted the aid of the court wizard. Note that To Be Continued… by GASLIGHT includes elementary rules for magic to support witch doctors and other supernatural elements of Saturday afternoon movie serials. This wizard is old and grizzled, but I imagine he’ll be able to produce some smoke and light that will cause Chris’ frogs and turtles of scamper away.
I’m not sure what religion frogs have, but it is surely under less attack than Christianity in the US. I have no idea what impact a bishop will have on my frog army, but the figure was too cool not to purchase and paint up. If nothing else, he can just be an unattached Main Character and go around beating people with his big stick. I’m thinking that he will have a positive impact on the morale of whatever unit he is near. On the other hand, perhaps his sermons are so boring that he will actually decrease morale!
Eureka makes a very nice frog being carried on a sedan chair by four retainers. Though all of my frog and turtle games have involved both my figures and Chris’ figures, moving around as much as I do means I must have enough figures to play both sides of any potential game. I needed a second king to lead the other side if I have to break my army in two for a game. The cape on this figure was separate. I really like the flintlock his retainer is carrying.
Last, but not lease, is the queen frog and her retainer. I really like the dress with the Queen Elizabeth I looking collar. In retrospect, I think the pink dress was meant to be frog skin and should have been painted green. I like the pink.
Buck’s law states that the first time you use new figures in a game they get smucked. I can’t wait to put these figures on the table and see how they do.
The last group I painted consisted of 12 dismounted Napoleonic cavalry. Many years ago, Eureka Miniatures released a cavalry unit on penny farthing bicycles. They never released the dismounts. Dismounted Napoleonic cavalry is very difficult to find. This year the freebie at HMGS East Fall In was a sprue of two plastic dismounted cavalry. Chris was able to scrape together five of them for me, and an additional sprue came with Miniature Wargames one month. Note they are not an exact match for the mounted figures, which have a cuirass. I guess they take off the armor for dismounted work because of the weight.
