New year - new projects

With the New Year come new resolutions and projects, 2020 was the first year I actually tracked them and I'm going to do the same for 2021 as it helped me to keep on track.  I didn't hit all of my objectives but then again I didn't really expect to.  Those I didn't achieve have rolled over into 2021's list.

The big misses from 2020 was the failure to complete my ECW rules (for what is probably the 10th year in a row!) along with not finishing my DBA Dacian army or to fully convert my Maurikian Byzantine army from Irregular Miniatures figures to Baccus ones.  There is nothing wrong with the look of the Irregular Miniature's offerings other than I simply cannot use the close order castings due to them being modelled shoulder to shoulder.  That means I can't space them on the bases in the way I should like.  That said I met more of my objectives than I failed overall so I'm fairly happy with that.

I have made a good start on the Byzantine army conversion process, with five elements finished and another two on the painting table.  I have figures I can proxy for psiloi but I need Baccus to re-open so I can order some extra regular Sassanid infantry and cavalry to proxy for Skoutatoi and half armoured Byzantine cavalry  

In fact the need to order from Baccus is going to be a continuing theme for this year.  I have set a target of creating the three main armies from the DBA lists covering the late eleventh century in Spain, the age of El Cid project let's call it.  That's going to need a fair number of new figures from ranges I haven't previously ventured into.  Berber and Andalusian spearmen and archers can come from the crusades range using the Sudanese figures, Cavalry from the Bedouin light cavalry or Mameluke cavalry.  Spanish knights will be Norman armoured cavalry and spearmen either Norman armoured infantry or Welsh spearmen, plus Frankish crossbowmen.  I might add in some Gothic medium cavalry for the unarmoured cavalry.

This year the objectives are:

1. Finish the Dacian DBA army
2. Convert the early Byzantine's from Irregular to Baccus castings
3. Finish the 1940 British and German armies I bought 3-4 years ago
4. Finish the WW2 rules I started last year
5. Finish the ECW rules
6. DBA WOTR Yorkist army
7. DBA WOTR Lancastrian army
8. DBA Andalusian army
9. DBA Feudal Spanish army
10. DBA Islamic Berber Army
11. Finish the TD ironclads
12. Finish the H&R WW1 aeroplanes
13. Rebase my 6mm ECW collection

plus I have thought about a small 1980's Cold war gone hot project.  Based about 1982 as that is the war I would have fought in if it had all kicked off.  If I do go with that it will be 6mm probably H&R.  I will of course stray off the path described above as the 'ohhhh shiny' complex will no doubt kick in at some point!

I have already set the ball rolling for this year with the first models coming off the painting queue being Tumbling Dice screw and paddle gunboats or sloops, I can't tell them apart and forgot to label the castings.  It would help if TD had images of all of their range.  These are really nice models and from what I have seen the newer versions are even nicer.  

First off the painting desk in 2021- Gunboats and Sloops