Ballyfoole Light Infantry and More

O'Ryan's Hunters (or Jaegers) of Ballyfoole, commanded by Captain O'Ryan - their origin as dragoons can still be seen in some of the accoutrements and uniform.

Maggie O'Toole, vivandiere for the Ballyfoole army

All of the above, as well as these two are Foundry miniatures.

The following 4 figures are from Askari Miniatures. I had ordered a sample pack and mentioned interests in Northwest Frontier Colonials, French Foreign Legion (ala Beau Geste) and possibly Pulp/adventure (albeit I'll probably go more Victorian era than 1930's). These are the figures they sent. The service was great! I ordered the figures on a Saturday night and received them the following Tuesday or Wednesday. Askari make several ranges that fit my description above, including some figures you don't usually see, like a set of "diggers" for an archeological dig. The fellow with the pickaxe is from that set (I did trim down his left arm a bit. The way it was sculpted it looked like he had a long sleeve on that arm and it was kind of an odd shape. So I shaved off the edge of the sleeve and filed doen the elbow a bit).

Prices are very reasonable, too. I expect I'll be ordering more from them in the future.

Colonials

No pictures this time, but I do have some minis on the painting desk in various stages of completion (and more recent purchases in the wings!).

What I've been up to lately is further exploration of Colonials. I purchased the GASLIGHT rules after several people recommended them. I think they may be just what I was looking for. Fairly simple, yet adaptable, with main characters and regular troops, small units, mostly simple mechanics (although the rules for distributing casualties seems a bit convoluted; maybe it's not so bad in practice). I've also ordered additional Pathans and a few other figures (from Askari Miniatures , Brigade Games and  Old Glory Miniatures, as well as some more Foundry miniatures. Taking advantage of a recent discount offer for the latter.). Most of these look like they should "play well" together and it gives me more variety for my Pathan units. What I liked about Askari is you can order a sample pack of 4 figures and let them know what you're interested in. I mentioned interest in a couple of genres. They sent me some suitable figures, including one figure not released yet. And the service was very quick. I'm sure I'll be ordering more from them at some point.

Just the other day I was trying to find more info and inspiration for Colonial gaming and happened across Adventures in Jimland . These are a set of rules described as sort of a cross between Source of the Nile  (for those familiar with that old boardgame, which I enjoyed in my younger days) and Dinosaurs of the Lost World - another game I used to enjoy with gaming friends.
I also found reports from Jimland by the author/game designer. These can be downloaded from the NAGSsociety Jimland reports . There are hundreds of pages of reports. I've only just started reading them, but so far I'm finding them very entertaining with just the right touch of humor and adventure. Sure to be a great resource for inspiration. Has anyone played Adventures in Jimland or read the reports?

Now, to get more miniatures painted so we can head off to uncharted lands!