Old West Minis and a Brief Update

 

When TooFatLardies published John Savage's Old West gunfight game What a Cowboy earlier this year, I was eager to make a jump to a new period and a new ruleset. I've played my fair share of Bolt Action, Chain of Command, and Sharp Practice, and was just starting to get into Warhammer 40K (more on that later).

My main opponent for historical games, who played against me in the French and Indian War Sharp Practice campaign that is an ongoing series on this blog, was away on an extended trip. That meant I'd been all but out of historical gaming for a bit, and while I was looking to return to the familiar embrace of historical wargames, I was hoping for something new.

I grew up watching and still enjoy American western movies, from Wayne to Eastwood to more modern flicks like Hostiles and Hateful Eight. I'm also fascinated by the American frontier and the lives people shaped there, from Americans and immigrants looking to make a living (or a killing) to Native Americans just trying to survive in the face of a nation expanding largely by treachery and genocide. It offers a wide range of experiences and stories that can be tragic, outrageous to the point of near-comedy, and everywhere in between.

Importantly, I was also hoping for a new game system that required fairly little in the way of new miniatures and terrain. Not so I could keep myself from buying loads of new toys, mind you, but so that I could convince myself I was being responsible.

The year is nearly up and I think I've played a grand total of three games of What a Cowboy, one of which was a solo test. I hope that will change before the year's end, but I at least wanted to put up a quick hobby-desk post with some of the figures I've painted up so far. The top photo on this blog is from one of those trial games, but I didn't feel up to making a full post on that one.

The vast majority of the figures in my collection so far are from the characterful Foundry range, with some supplemental figures here and there from Artizan and Knuckleduster. The Foundry figures (or at least these ones) are on the small side, and the other manufacturers' minis are on the large side. I think they play well enough together.

Up first are my cowboys, outlaws, desperadoes, etc. Front and center is "Texas" Tom Evans, with his brother Marvin on his right. Big Marcellus Wallace is on the far right, front row, and "Snake" Sawyer on the left is eager to throw down despite his injured arm.

These might end up getting split up into rival gangs in a future campaign, it's too early to say. All these figures are from Foundry.

Next are the forces of law and order, or at least the men who have decided crime doesn't pay as well. Some of you will recognize the one-eyed fat man on the front center left. The leftmost man in the front row is likely fated to be some sort of bounty hunter, but I haven't named him yet. Rightmost on the front row, next to the sheriff and his deputy, is Frank Conners, a vigilante of sorts.

Several of my lawmen and the bounty hunter are from Artizan, with Conner and two in the back row from Foundry. Rooster Cogburn is a Knuckleduster figure. Their figures are quite big, I really don't find they scale well at all with Foundry. But as a fan of both True Grit films I couldn't very well resist having Rooster.

Finally we have unaffiliated figures, mostly armed citizens. They include the stoic Miss Blake and timely Doc Daniels, as well as the foreboding brown-coated vigilante who may bear a passing resemblance to one of Clint Eastwood's later western roles.

All these figures except for the vigilante are from Foundry, he is from Artizan.

Now, a few words as a blog update:

As mentioned, I've been either tremendously busy, tremendously unmotivated, or both for most of this summer. I've been channeling my limited hobby time and energy into Warhammer 40K lately. Not to mention most of my hobby dollars. I've been playing a good bit of 40K's 10th Edition, after only ever playing a little of the tail end of 9th.

if you care about 40K you've likely already formed an opinion on the new edition, or consulted someone more authoritative on the topic than me. But, if you care, I find 10th fairly fun but not actually terribly streamlined. Overall, I very much loathe how competitive 40K is, after coming from historical wargames where historical accuracy and modelling have been in the forefront.

I may post some of my 40K stuff on this blog when I get it to a presentable state, but I think this probably isn't really the place for it, thematically. Let me know if you disagree and would especially like to see it.

The FIW campaign series should continue shortly. Originally my plan was to alternate weeks of posting campaign posts and hobby/other period games posts, but since the hiatus I may focus on just completing the campaign posts. Get the project done with.

As far as historical gaming, the future is uncertain but hopeful. My regular historical wargames opponent has returned and is eager to play, but as I mentioned, time and painting motivation are a little short right now.

Lastly, an apology for the lack of interesting backdrop for these photos (although you may be able to guess some of the 40K stuff I'm working on by it). I haven't decided on a good place to shoot photos in this apartment since the move. It may be high time to break down and buy a lightbox.