2018 is ending and it's time for a small tradition I've seen over the various miniature wargaming blogs... that of reflections on what has been done in this year what projects are ahead for the next one!
First of all, I'm closing the year with a truly "wargaming" Christmas... a short illness prevented me from actually setting up and playing a game these last few days, but this truly was a Christmas where presents took the form of wargaming minis and equipment...
I received several 1/72 Napoleonics sets from various manufacturers (Plastic Soldiers Review for each is linked so you can see what's inside):
2 from Zvezda: Russian Grenadiers and Russian Guard Heavy Artillery.
Zvezda is surely doing some outstanding job, producing excellent sets that truly stand out in terms of historicity and sculpting... I already had their beautiful French Voltiguers, and I'm sure to take more sets from them in the future.
The Italian company has its headquarters near my home city and I visited them once. The French Dragoons are a truly excellent set and the French Imperial General Staff is a nice addition (too bad the other command sets aren't up to this standard, even if I'll take them sooner or later anyway...). The Prussian Cavalry (actually dragoons) set is described on PSR to have several sculpting and size issues and I had some doubts before, but they cover an interesting subject that isn't easy to find elsewhere and after seeing them in my hands I feel they are not bad at all. Probably the only real thing that stands out negatively is the horses' poses - some are a bit ridiculous, but that won't be enough to stop me using and painting them anyway!
All these sets complement the ones I had taken in November (Waterloo's 1815 very good Prussian Hussars, Hat's Austrian Artillery and Austrian Cuirassiers), I feel I'm reaching a very good stage in variety and quality.
Plus, I also received a modeling kit (I never had a complete one and used less-than-perfect means for cutting sprues and flash...) that is already being put to good use!
Finally, since this remains a blog that started over Risorgimento Wargaming, I've recently purchased this book on Risorgimento battles. Not many details over each single battle, but a good, quick overwiev of the campaigns and some very interesting reflections on the armies and how they fought.
Reflections on 2018...
I rediscovered miniature wargaming in 2017 (IIRC) thanks to Neil Thomas' One Hour War-games and started this blog in February this year... 24 posts (25 with this one) were written, with a lull during the summer months due to other commitments. Not bad for a first year... I started some projects, continued some, left others and started some more; overall it was satisfying because it build a small niche for personal fun. I discovered more rulesets I didn't know and lots of wargamers that play great games and paint even better. My blog is small, just a reflection of the few time I can devote to this hobby nowadays, but it was really exciting because, as they say, the best is yet to come...
...and projects for 2019
And speaking about what is to come, what are my projects for 2019?
I will probably leave the Colonial project aside, at least for a while. I'm currently concentrating on Napoleonics and want to playtest my ideas for fast Grande Armee. I aim to recreate the battle of Dresden (1813) this year, I already have most minis (I just really miss some French Young Guard, Austrian Grenzers and Grenadiers and a few other smaller bits) but I need to paint them. As usual, I'll play even if not everything is painted and even if not everything is correct (I prefer playing with proxies than not playing... because after all playing remains the real aim!).
Still, most of my time will be about painting the minis for that - and in the meanwhile play smaller games to test the rules and see if they really fit my needs.
Finally, I hope to at least write some more scenarios for Risorgimento battles, maybe continuing the Barolo campaign I have started this year...
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