40mm Reinforcements Arrived! Terrain gathering...

Well, they arrived quite a long time ago - almost exactly a year ago.  So long ago that I'd forgotten I ordered them! Quite embarrassing, really.  So just to remind myself what was ordered here it is:

40RTW1 Armoured Pikemen "Charge Your Pike" 5 figs @$17
$17 to make Romanoff Trained Bande of 15 figs + command

40ECW3 Musketeers Firing, 20 figs @ $45
40ECW202 Infantry Command B, 5 figs @ $17
$62 for 25 more foote

40ECW5 Cavalry in Back-and-Breast 7 figs @$45 [parliament cavalry with Pistols]
40ECW203 Cavalry Command 3 figs @$23
$68 for 10 more cav figs

40ECW101 Mounted Dragoons 3 figs @$23 x 2 = 46
40ECW102 Dismounted Dragoons 5 figs @$14.50 x 2 = $29
$75 for 6 mounted and 10 dismounted dragoons

TOTAL = $ 222.00

Shipping from Old Glory was pretty quick, I remember, and no problem despite the Christmas season.

So, first comments...The figs look great - especially the dragoons, who I'd definitely get more of.  The firing musketeers are also very nice.  The cavalry and Romanoff are like the previous cavalry and Romanoff, needing some assembly and work. The foote dragoons and firing musketeers just need their heads screwed on [don't we all...] and a little cleanup.

All are very nice figures, and I'll be doing a series of reviews of them very soon.  This force puts me around 100 foote and 28 horse, enough to do plenty of games.

Along those lines, my recent inspiration has been to play skirmish games where 1 Figure = 1 Man.  This way even just 10-15 men will make a game.  I also have some cattle from my 40mm adventure in Vikings and Saxons - they were acquired inexpensively at a train shop [since closed, regrettably...the train and hobby stores are closing quite regularly in the region].  The only thing left to get organized is the terrain.

To that end, I'm grateful it is Christmastime [well, almost Christmastide] which is when the craft stores will be dumping all their extra stock of Christmas towns, etc.  I'm prepared to hit the local Michael's and wherever else on Christmas Monday to see what they want to get rid of - previously, I've done quite well, acquiring a village wall, plenty of hedges and a few odds and ends. I wasn't sure they'd fit in here, but the hedges are just around gun height, and I'm considering making some stands for the hedge bases in the future:

The hedges look a bit shorter at this angle, but you can see that the second fellow has his hand near the top. In the distance, you can see that the classical ruins from the pet store [for aquariums] are a little small, but not bad, while the 25mm hills just don't fit. Featured to left is my fiery Cavalier general, who is clearly giving an oration to his safely hiding musketeers - is he exhorting them to advance, or just berating them for sacking a local village without his permission? That story has yet to develop!

Very much desired on my holiday shopping will be a bridge, some craft birdhouses and wagons. Plastic floor mats make good planted fields, and there are some sources for Canadian Pine Stems here, which I shall look into:
http://www.miniaturemarketplace.com/Canadian-Pine-Stems-12In-X-20Mm-10Pc-P52122.aspx
http://store.littlecooncreek.com/craft-supplies/canadian-pine-stems-20mm_2503-32/
http://www.dollhouseheaven.com/Canadian-Pine-Stems-12In-X-20Mm-10Pc-P52122.aspx

These sources were found at Lead Adventure Forum, at this nice little batrep I saw recently:
http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?topic=81336.0
not only does the terrain look great, but it is about a game with just what I was thinking - using Muskets and Tomahawks for the late Renaissance, including Colonial Adventures!  More on this very soon...

Hope the return to 40mm is interesting to followers of this blog - interestingly, there will be more on 6mm and rules to play them very soon, but they are all headed in the same direction, which is interesting and fast play with interesting and fast painting!