ALMOST

I am not a particularly well focussed wargamer. I have multiple armies in multiple periods because I have an abiding fascination for military history throughout the ages. I doubt I will ever settle and there will always be a new and emerging enthusiasm for yet another period. So, I thought I'd share how these manifest in me for three would be or could be new projects which are almost there ... maybe.

When I say 'almost there' I mean armies or ideas for wargaming which have yet to develop into in a single purchase. 

The first of these is an army (and period) which I have spent quite a lot of time reading up on, researching and for which I have even developed army lists for. I reckon this started about six or more years ago and that was what has proved to be an enduring fascination for the ancient Assyrians.

I was particularly focussed on the middle Assyrian kingdoms which speaks to another tendency I have ... I like to have a different or unique army. Collecting and building such an army is more challenging because it requires careful purchasing selections and some conversions because there just aren't many options for this particular period. That's what makes it so much fun to build I suppose.

Running to a tangent here, I'm reminded of the Yarkshire Gamer's venn-diagram of wargaming. As I get older, I'm getting much deeper into research and army list development. I am going to extraordinary efforts to discover and speculate on army designs - to try and represent as best I can what an army might have actually looked like. This can be particularly rewarding and time consuming when no readily available list or uniform guide exists for a particular army or unit type.

Back to the Assyrians: the time which has elapsed has seen me settle mentally on the neo-Assyrian empire - the classical period for the Assyrians and for which there are more helpful options. My head swirls with ideas for my hobby which move from the back to the front of my thinking and then can ebb back again. After all, wargaming is not all I have to think about and invest in, monetarily or time wise. Life hey? If I think on a subject for long enough, I can tire of it and shelve it again - mentally.

I'm certain that my Assyrian army will be made real one day and it's come very close to manifesting through purchases (really close) but for the time being, I continued to hold off and it remains a dream.

Another returning interest is early colonial expansion of the French into Algeria in the mid-19th century. In other words, the early days of the French Foreign Legion. This is currently burning hot and I'm about to publish on this blog detailed army lists and some uniform and organisational research I've been developing to support it. The more classical period for the activities of the Legion would be the late 19th and early 20th century campaign made famous by P.C.Wren's novel Beau Geste. But I'm drawn to the colourful uniforms and of course, the lesser known and certainly lesser gamed period of the 1830s and 40s.

Presently the idea has rested largely with reading, but has included uniform research and browsing figure options. I feel certain that this will become real very soon. I will likely opt for large scale skirmish games or small armies and it's something I will be able to resolve over a single year in my retirement. Again, until then it will have to take its place in the queue - still another almost.

Stay tuned for a series of posts on my findings for this project. I am always interested in sharing my findings - no matter how niche or useless?

I can spend a lot of time internet browsing figure ranges and I love to wait for a 'special'. I take time to compare scales, compare prices and I also love to mix and match ranges into a unit to give that variety and interest when modelling a unit. Buying stuff really is as much a part of the hobby as painting and building - let alone actually getting a game in.

Maybe I am more of an army builder than a gamer.

I have already started limited purchases but have yet to start painting/building for my Arthurian legend armies. Definitely a small skirmish project, this will require a lot of conversions and sculpting to chase the particular aesthetic I am going for - so it will be truly unique. Even though I have started purchasing, it's very early days so this is still very much an almost army. I admit I enjoy the analysis.

I have undertaken a very limited purchase already for a Japanese WW2 force in 20mm for the Malaya campaign 1941 with a view to expand into the New Guinea campaigns after that. Again, I've enjoyed the research immensely and am looking to build a generic force capable to meeting all campaign requirements adaptable across the period. Models and figures for this are more limited than you'd think. The only reason purchasing has stalled is because I've been paying off a mortgage but as that's now done (again) I'm free to move along with this collection.

With this list of unrealised project ideas comes an accompanying requirement for terrain. I have become very interested in and invested in the look of my table-tops every bit as much as the armies which manoeuvre across them. I'm very interested in building a small fort (or two) for the French in Algeria but also for tent encampments for the Berber/Bedouin armies and I'm really keen to build a realistic looking indigenous oasis settlement. Similarly, terrain for Malaya and architecture for Malaya and New Guinea campaigning offers a broad range of fascinating build options.

I have another 15 months (likely) before I return home from mission and commence retirement so research, design and collecting is how I'm sustaining my hobby for the time being. People who have no idea often say to me, 'You'll be bored without work' or warn me about the loss of direction in retirement. Truly. It looks to me like my over-active and imaginative mind will never rest. Boredom? What's that?