Monday, May 10, 2010

Some Day...

It was a hot and dusty day as the column moved up the valley, interrupting a flock of vultures feeding on a carcass.
Meanwhile, distant figures on a mountain shadow the column.
A closer look at the tribesmen.
And, on another continent, a new acquisition for the zoo. These brown zebras, known as Quaggas, are fairly common in Africa. Maybe some day we will acquire another one so we can have a mating pair.

All figures are from Foundry. The mountain is made from some of my last scraps of 1/8 inch thick mdf board, inspired by Major-General Rederring's cardboard mountains. See http://www.zeitcom.com/majgen/index.html for more. If you've never visited and you're doing Colonial gaming it's well worth stopping by, even though it's been years since it's been updated. I have no affiliation with the site or the group.
The mountain was my first attempt, as a sort of proof of concept. After I put it all together I realize the pieces I used between are a little narrower than my mini bases. Fortunately because of the shapes I can still fit minis on most of the spots. I'm not sure about the paint job. I wanted to keep it simple and a bit abstract/toy-like.
Comments appreciated. Thanks!

6 comments:

Bluebear Jeff said...

Quaggas! Bravo for you, sir. I remember when I first came across a reference to quaggas in a 19th century text and I had to look them up . . . a wonderful addition to your period gaming.


-- Jeff

abdul666 said...

Who will be the first to meet these fearsome hillmen: Leaguers, Batrachians, Bossa-Novians?
Looking forward to learn about adventures in the Indian Subcontinent?

A J said...

Excellent work. The mountains really do give the impression of serried peaks.

It's a shame the Major General's site hasn't been updated for some time. There's so much to inspire on there.

Chris said...

I love the mountains -- they definitely do give a nice sense of depth. The combination of rows of mountains with your shaded paint job really evokes a three-dimensional scene. I like the minis too btw -- especially the vulture and skeleton. One of the things I'd like to get around to doing myself are figures like that which give character to a tabletop.

Fitz-Badger said...

Thanks for the comments! :)

Maybe none of the above, Jean-Louis. Actually I'm working on building up my Ballyfoole forces. I want to do more Highlanders and more Grand Thidwick forces as well. The League heading for a split? Could be. We'll have to see where the current war with Batrachia goes. I'm thinking of letting the other members go their own way and concentrating on this subset, under a new name. Some sort of United Principalities or Brittanica or something...
There could also be Btrachian Foreign Legion showing up in some cases. Or some nasty Bossanovan "advisors" to the hilltribes and others...

As for the mountains - anyone who has been reading this blog probably knows by now that I'm trending towards simplification and smallness (number of figures/unit; terrain and table, etc.) - KISS = keep it small and simple (to coing an acronym). I am liking the idea of simple painted roads and river sections, buildings, and now mountains (and maybe other backdrop/theter scene-type stuff). It's a different look from the cool realistic terrain and/or large battalions. Not to everyone's taste for sure, but I like it. :)

tidders2 said...

Nice selction of animals to add to your collection. Love the mountains.

-- Allan