tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780195401099519720.post4556587443022143117..comments2024-03-01T02:57:28.885-08:00Comments on Glorious Little Soldiers: Differing Visual Aesthetics in WargamingBig Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235478427317774609noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780195401099519720.post-72007057041778253842020-09-07T02:22:31.706-07:002020-09-07T02:22:31.706-07:00Yes I have and will still have a quick tinker in t...Yes I have and will still have a quick tinker in the middle of a game if such is called for Big Andyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17235478427317774609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780195401099519720.post-2084428477203451802020-08-13T03:51:08.429-07:002020-08-13T03:51:08.429-07:00I confess to an antipathy to being told what and h...I confess to an antipathy to being told what and how to do things, unless I have asked. Many/most of the popular painting and gaming styles across the years have not attracted me but I sometimes experiment with them just in case. Sometimes I even pick up a new trick. I have tried having different styles for different collections but without much success. They tend to end up in "my" hybrid style.<br /><br />As for the games, I willing admit to enjoying the mental challenge of trying to outthink, out fight and out manouevre the "enemy" in a fair and friendly manner but am not keen on systems that are too "gamey" or tied up in complex minutae. Tinkering, even midgame when called for, is quite acceptable when playing with the best sort of opponent. <br /><br /> Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04053555991679802013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780195401099519720.post-47106959584319809092020-08-12T04:54:18.925-07:002020-08-12T04:54:18.925-07:00thanks for your input gentlemen all Yes I did asp...thanks for your input gentlemen all Yes I did aspire to a gilderesque look - up to a point "shinyloo" does that today. But I don't want every army with that look. Shiny tanks do not work ! and some periods imho do not suit shiny and sometimes a more cluttered terrain may be appropriate. The problem with the "received look" is that it leave little room for heretics in the world of the infomercial. I have never been able to take painting tutorials seriously ever since I watched a GW one where this dude kept telling you to shake the paint- complete with ..er hand movements . As for the various books on miniature painting I have one bought in the 1990s written by Bill Horan all the others I have read are superfluous if you have a bit of knowledge about how paint and colour works. For me the current magazine/blog "received look" can become a dead hand of conformity if you are not careful . Buy THESE toys which you paint with THESE paints using THESE brushes- no thanks I'll do it my way after all I have picked up a few skills since 1970 - still picking some up too. Big Andyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17235478427317774609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780195401099519720.post-7401257157869264772020-08-12T03:31:27.988-07:002020-08-12T03:31:27.988-07:00Thinking a little about a Bayeux style game perha...Thinking a little about a Bayeux style game perhaps old style Lamming would work well. His poses were from the Tapestry - especially the Horses. Big Andyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17235478427317774609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780195401099519720.post-81664117601564338582020-08-12T00:35:44.819-07:002020-08-12T00:35:44.819-07:00The slightly Cartoonish stylised Bayeux Tapestry ...The slightly Cartoonish stylised Bayeux Tapestry or Hieroglyph inspired Egyptians would look splendid. Great idea. Mark, Man of TINhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10485063133593455522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780195401099519720.post-51658366283511410312020-08-12T00:33:54.585-07:002020-08-12T00:33:54.585-07:00Join us, Norm. Give in to the heady smell and shin...Join us, Norm. Give in to the heady smell and shine of the Gloss Varnish. You know you want to! Next it will be the shiny pink cheek dots ...Mark, Man of TINhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10485063133593455522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780195401099519720.post-79644491365791189732020-08-12T00:30:56.193-07:002020-08-12T00:30:56.193-07:00I became disillusioned as a teenager by this unatt...I became disillusioned as a teenager by this unattainable "received look" or aesthetic in the early to mid 1980s when Miniature Wargames came out as a colour magazine with all the photographs of the Wargames Holiday Centre troops and terrain. Bought ready painted armies? How could I match any of this on pocket money and Airfix figures? <br />When I returned to 'the hobby' late twenties / early thirties c. 2000 the perfection of the professionally painted figures in the colour magazines was even more evident, the magazines were even more dominated or restricted by the near total advertorial content, by certain expensive figure ranges and certain BER rulesets which had no appeal to me. <br />Thankfully blogging has changed this commercial strangleneck. <br />Just reading through the blogroll for starters on Ross McFarlanes Battle Game of The Month, there is thankfully room for all in the hobby and still a lot of rules tinkering and independent thought. There will never thankfully be one set of rules like there is for football. Rules? <br />As a solo gamer I have no personal liking for or understanding of the £25+ BER colour rulebook. I spent 25 pence in the late Eighties buying my battered branch library copy of Featherstone's War Games 1962 with its simple rules to tinker with and its two page Close Wars appendix and that has done me well enough for the last thirty odd years. Best 25 pence ever spent? Possibly. <br />Now I use 'mix and match' / 'make do and mend ' style whatever terrain suits the game and matches my usual shiny toy soldier gloss varnish or pound Store figure style.<br /> If there is a received look or aesthetic it's probably somewhere between H G Wells' Little Wars 1913, FE Perry's First Book of Wargaming and Donald Featherstone early Sixties. Twigs, stones, books under Felt Cloth or hex grids, bits of model railway buildings and backdrops. DIY. Happy Man of TIN! Mark, Man of TINhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10485063133593455522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780195401099519720.post-62537383574723694062020-08-11T22:35:33.100-07:002020-08-11T22:35:33.100-07:00Interesting post Andy. I think there has always b...Interesting post Andy. I think there has always been a move in the hobby to have a common look. In the early days that was down to the fact that we all used oils and enamels and looked up to people like Doug Mason & Peter Gilder with a desire to emulate their styles. Today we have a wide choice of paints, finishes, dips, washes and glazes and an abundance of painting tutorials, masterclasses and books on "how to". As such it is probably inevitable that many migrate towards a common look/style. Having said that I would hope that those of us who paint our own all develop a little uniqueness in our styles. But one of the many good things about the hobby that there is room for us all, even if those of us who eread and understand our periods are feeling like an ever decreasing minority.marinergrimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01393687295535460527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780195401099519720.post-29828512866738946012020-08-11T12:52:51.531-07:002020-08-11T12:52:51.531-07:00I have not used a painting service, though that ha...I have not used a painting service, though that has usually been driven by finances and now is just a way of life. I have always wanted to do a nice paint job and in truth, my technique and care has probably got better over the years, no doubt stretched by what others do, but despite watching some of those tutorial videos, I seem to default back to a way that just works for me.<br /><br />I am not very keen on the 'very clean' look, so generally knock stuff back with a diluted wash and then add some highlights.<br /><br />The varnish has been a thing - always reaching for the matt varnish, instead I am currently 'playing' with satin - unable it seems to make the full journey to gloss!<br /><br />Having gone on about painting, my primary thing is actually to get units to the table, but I want them to look nice. I play a lot of boardgames, some with quite dense / heavy rules, so I want my figures to be doing something quite different, something a bit more joyous that also connects me to my Featherstone roots and so in that regard, solid short sensible rules and a 'homely' aesthetic that does no fear handling is the thing.Normhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05031444717952755557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780195401099519720.post-80488609248513895762020-08-11T11:47:33.895-07:002020-08-11T11:47:33.895-07:00I had never used a painting service before I got i...I had never used a painting service before I got into the business side of the hobby. I needed to build a "Company Collection for the display case back in the days when I did 26 shows a year. I do still occasionally use selected painters but not to the extent I used to indeed it has been a couple of years at least since I last used one. I know painters who I can trust and who do a good job with my having to sell a kidney to pay for a battalion then wait a year for it to arrive. I prefer to paint my own where I can . Of those figures actually owned by me only the Sikh cavalry in the first pic were not painted by me or at least heavily refurbished id they were "old lead dudes". first pic Big Andyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17235478427317774609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780195401099519720.post-82760995358821610622020-08-11T07:26:27.228-07:002020-08-11T07:26:27.228-07:00Just as it should be Colin. Keep at it lad ! Just as it should be Colin. Keep at it lad ! Big Andyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17235478427317774609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780195401099519720.post-30518235926258076112020-08-11T07:25:14.717-07:002020-08-11T07:25:14.717-07:00But by no means impossible. I have seen a couple o...But by no means impossible. I have seen a couple of games in "black and white movie style" one a beautiful vampire game and the other a WW2 game. I know a chap who pianted his FPW troops in a deliberately"French Impressionist" style and I make a concious effort to ape Victorian genre paintings - not very well but the idea is there. Would love to see a Bayeux style game- possibly best done with flats perhaps?Big Andyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17235478427317774609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780195401099519720.post-1555028001628427532020-08-11T07:22:50.924-07:002020-08-11T07:22:50.924-07:00I agree Andy. As you know I just do my own thing, ...I agree Andy. As you know I just do my own thing, and use and abuse said BERs as I see fit. My toys. My way. And all shiney!Colin Ashtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11650235978313356607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780195401099519720.post-75225340451216720662020-08-11T07:00:34.508-07:002020-08-11T07:00:34.508-07:00The visual esthetics of the gaming table is one of...The visual esthetics of the gaming table is one of my pet peeves as well ... I feel the wargaming hobby is converging to a single dominant look which I call the "model railroad look" ;-)<br /><br />I think we need much more creativity in the hobby. E.g. there a niche for going to the glossy toy soldier look with toy like terrain. But we could even further. E..g. why not aim for a visual look inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry? Or isnpired by Egyptian Hieroglyphs? Or inspired by paintings made about the battles in the period?<br /><br />I know, easier said than done ;-)Phil Dutréhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13607941040736764291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780195401099519720.post-41281897536972394562020-08-11T06:13:32.051-07:002020-08-11T06:13:32.051-07:00Basically, for me painting is all about getting th...Basically, for me painting is all about getting the toys on the table, but, and it is a big but, I paint them to the best of my abilities, because I don't want to put a shoddy-looking army on the table. I have developed a style that suits me, which is simple; spray undercoat in a colour that will complement the finished figures, block in the main colours, do the detail bits, a bit of shading on things like cloaks and baggy fabric items, drybrushing to bring out texture and ink wash. Matt Varnish sprayjob.Carolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17068889968857575433noreply@blogger.com