Historicon: additions to the lead pile

Last night I was able to sift through my purchases from Historicon. As usual, I had made a shopping list for the convention. Doing this, in most cases, keeps me from making too many impulse buys and it seemed to work well this time as well. I was able to make it through the biggest gaming shop in the world with the addition of only a few things to my list.

My first stop was at Age of Glory, where I knew I'd be able to find the first item on my list, Perry Miniatures Carlist Wars. My plan had been to pick up only five packs but when Steve at Age of Glory told me he had discounted that particular range by 30%, I couldn't resist a few extra packs. The discount plus not having to pay shipping costs proved a no-brainer. In addition to the Isabellino troops originally on my list, I picked up several packs of British Auxiliary Legion. These are exceptionally good sculpts and the British should prove an very attractive addition to my growing collection.

After a phone conversation with Vidal (at home living the convention experience vicariously), I was persuaded to stop at the Old Glory booth and purchase some 1/2400 Napoleonic ships. Vidal had asked me to pick up the Trafalgar British and French fleet boxes and after seeing the models in the flesh, I persuaded myself that this might be a good diversion as well and I picked up the Spanish fleet pack (the smallest of the three, so the purchase was more easily justified). These are great little models, single castings with rigging and base all part of the whole. Should be an interesting project!

Then it was off to Brigade Games for some of their Spanish-style 28mm buildings. These are planned as part of the Carlist Wars project but can be just as easily used with my Napoleonic collection, especially since I am presently building up my Spanish army. These are gorgeous buildings and should look spectacular on the table. It took a great amount of willpower not to purchase the large church model as well. I walked away with four smaller buildings and some walls. This should give me a nice little village and the church can always come along later(!). As a side note, I received yesterday the latest Battlegames magazine, in which there is an excellent article about building a very nice Spanish church that I may just attempt.

Of course, I couldn't leave the convention without some All the King's Men Toy Soldiers castings in my hands. First in line are the new British grenadiers for the AWI range. These are tasty little castings that should look suitably imposing on the tabletop (look at the photo at the left and tell me this guy doesn't look like Steve Martin!). Second are some of the brand new War of 1812 range. I chose to start with American units, although I'm sure that eventually I'll field both sides. One of the great things about this range is the variety of heads that can be purchased. The figures themselves are headless and with the various head variations, many of the line and militia units of the war can be created. Ken is currently working on more heads to add variation, including the ubiquitous round hat. I'm also trying to persuade him to add a figure to the collection wearing hunting shirt, a garment worn by many militia troops and the regular rifle regiments (I especially want to model the Virginia state rifle units in purple hunting shirts). Ken is also planning to add the turbaned shako of the Maryland troops to the list. Very cool! The question for me now is whether to wait for the turbaned shakos, convert some myself (an easy enough project), or to paint the Americans units as regular line. And if I choose the latter option, do I paint them in blue (or brown, or black, or drab) or the grey of Scott's brigade during the 1814 Niagara campaign. Ah, the conundrum!

Besides the figures, I picked up James Arnold's Crisis in the Snows: The Eylau Campaign 1806-1807. I've always enjoyed his books (Crisis on the Danube, etc) but I hadn't read this one. Crisis in the Snows deals with the 1807 campaign against the Russians and the remains of the Prussian army (after the 1806 debacle). After all the years of Napoleonic learning that I've put myself through, this is possibly the campaign about which I know the least. It should prove illuminating, especially since a Russian army is a planned expansion of my Napoleonic collection (someday).

Other than a few other purchases of bases, that was the extent of my Historicon purchases. Not bad, considering that in past years my back bumper has almost dragged the ground from all the lead weight in the back!