(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Wargames Foundry" October 2024

"The Coalition forces of the Napoleonic Wars were composed of Napoleon Bonaparte's enemies."

Ordinarily at this time of year I'd be busily setting aside some undead-themed miniatures for Zomtober. However, with my obsession for Napoleonic wargaming still going strong, I felt it would be more prudent to simply continue focusing upon my collection of 28mm early Nineteenth Century soldiers by "Wargames Foundry". Admittedly, I am finding myself increasingly distracted by some of the other figures I own, such as the "Lunar" range by "Black Site Studios". But my desire to field a significantly-sized game involving both La Grande Armée and some Coalition forces in the semi-near future is still spurring me on.

Furthermore, I am now completely falling under the spell of "The Silver Bayonet" by "Osprey Games", and the rule-set's official line of models produced by "North Star Military Figures". I've already managed to rattle off a couple of these monster hunters from the United States Unit I purchased whilst at "Colours 2024", and fully intend to finish the remaining six members of my team before I attend "Warfare 2024" in November. Indeed, one of my main reasons for travelling to the Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre in the near future will be to pick up a couple more warbands, and a few of the supernatural creatures they may well encounter on their adventures.

"Napoleon's overwhelming defeat of the Prussians in the battle of Jena was followed by the rapid collapse of the state."

This interest in "Napoleonic Gothic Horror" has also caused me to dust down my "Elegoo" Mars 3 Pro 3D Printer, and spend a few days meticulously adjusting all its settings so that it can once again produce many more successful models than failures. I've rather neglected this 'revolutionary' machine during the past year. So when I was recently asked to print the ('not Silver Bayonet') French Unit by "Koolkiwi Miniatures" for a friend, I thought I'd take the opportunity to additionally load up a fair few STL (Standard Triangle Language) files I fancy for my own tabletop too.

To get the ball properly rolling for this month though I have cracked on and completed a sixth Napoleonic Prussian soldier from the set PN063 Infantry in Peaked Cap Marching by "Wargames Foundry". As with all his identical comrades-in-arms, the figure was predominantly pigmented using "Vallejo" Sombre Grey, Stormy Blue, Heavy Red, Heavy Sienna, Gunmetal and a selection of "Citadel" Shades.

September 2024 - "Wargames Foundry" rises on a wave on Napoleonic wargaming fervour

Rather encouragingly, the past four weeks have been the third most productive period of the year so far, and have definitely helped me edge ever closer to a game of "Black Powder" by "Warlord Games". In addition to simply completing a number of historical figures, I have also managed to get some wandering creatures for Silver Bayonet tabletop ready - in the guise of some Great Big Bellicose Bears, as well as scratched a few minor itches concerning "Planet Of The Apes" and "The Lord Of The Rings".

However, I do feel that things may well change over the coming days. Whilst I'm perfectly content to stick to "North Star Military Figures" and "Wargames Foundry" for my Silver Bayonet fix, rather than look to something like the Napoleonic Dread range of STLs found on My Mini Factory, I have once again started to look at the myriad of digital files I own for my 3D Printer. This could so very easily become a major distraction for me - especially as I'm already dipping my brush-tip into the realm of science fiction, thanks to "Black Site Studios"...