Pondering the Christmas List

I know. No one wants to hear the dreaded "C" word yet. Unfortunately, it is racing towards us, and it has to be faced. On a positive note, however, Christmas means new toys! For the past year or two I've tended to be pretty frugal with my hobby spending, so I plan on getting some new toys from good ole Ma and Pa for Xmas.

Saladin's Ayyubid Egyptians for Impetus:

I'm sure everyone reading this is quite aware that I'm a HUGE Impetus fan. I am still on track to finish my 10mm Carthaginian army (working on it now) as well as my 15mm Free Company army before Christmas arrives. I love playing the game in any scale, but as a painter, it's the 15mm stuff that really spins my wheels.

You can imagine my excitement when I discovered Legio Heroica's 15mm Crusades range today. I've never even heard of this company before, and I have pondered doing some version of an Arab army for Impetus for some time. If I did, I think these models would be the way I would go.


Lots more photos of their beautiful minis can be found on their website. Anyway, I was thinking of asking for enough models to complete a 400-point army something like:

#	Unit	Type	Pts
-	Average CS, Expert CIC, Fair General	CMD	62
1	Cavalry (lances)	CM	23
4	Cavalry (lances and bows)	CM	140
1	Syrian Cavalry	CM	23
1	Bedouin Cavalry	CL	18
2	Turkoman Cavalry	CL	48
2	Kurdish Javelinmen	FL	32
4	Al-shair Skirmishers (3 elite, 1 normal)	S	54
			400

Furthermore, Extra Impetus #2 comes out this week and I'll likely have my copy by next week. This will include a host of new army lists which may very well lead me in an number of new directions. In any event, a second 15mm project means more fun painting, and an opponent for my Free Company should anyone wish to try the game without purchasing their own army.

More Old West:

Here's the thing. I've invested a lot of time and energy into old west gaming and it's reached a point where almost the entire group has jumped on the old west wagon with me. With that in mind, anything I acquire for this genre will definitely get used on the gaming table.

I realized that the one thing I am seriously lacking in my collection right now is mounted fighters. I think I may ask for one blister of Foundry riders, the ones that come with two personalities, each on foot and mounted. I've also only had the opportunity to paint one 28mm horse and would like to take a stab at some more. Lots more mounted gunfighters can be seen here.

Wargames Factory Plastics:

I love plastic models. Always have. Unfortunately, when Wargames Factory first released their Romans I was a little skeptical. The detail just wasn't there. Since then however , the company has really found their stride, and each set gets progressively better than the last. And who can argue with the prices?

Anyway, I don't really know what I would use the models for. I was thinking of using the Zulus for a Colonial version of Triumph & Tragedy, or perhaps using the Vikings for some Dark Age skirmish-gaming. Whatever the case, I have been resisting WF models ever since the Celts were released. Whether or not it happens this Christmas, it's almost inevitable that I will collapse and get something from their range at some point. We'll see.


Well, as usual, I reserve the right to change my mind entirely. If you have any suggestions I am interested in hearing them.

Thanks for reading,
JET