The Mill, part 9, and a little planning for 2016

Today’s work on the mill has focussed on three tasks:

Getting the main structure painted (excluding the thatched roof)

Finishing the base

Fixing the structure to the base

The next phase will be to paint the base and finish the thatched roof. Then apply the water effect.

I have begun some work on the first stage of the associated bridge.

The Annual Plan 

At the same time I have given some thought to my projects for the year.

They say it is good to commit your plans to paper (or digital paper in my case) to keep focus on the goal. Although I have a pretty strong record of completing projects of late (even if they do stretch beyond the original scope), I am well aware that I am easily side-tracked when new figures appear on the market or when some great photographs of a different period appear in Wargames Illustrated!

So here goes my plan for the year - more than likely subject to change without notice:

The Certainties:

Crimean War Project:

This will be the prime focus for this year. I need to have the armies completed for a game that will form a part of  our annual gaming week away, probably in September or October. I have this pretty much planned out with seven monthly purchases all carefully timed so that the credit card charges roll over into the next payment period so that I can manage the financial impact of the project.

Russian Napoleonic Project:

The first Napoleonic army I ever owned was a Russian army and I have a soft spot for them. My original Hinchliffe Russians were sold long ago and I have been thinking about replacing them ever since the Perry’s brought out their plastic figures. So this will start this year, more or less in parallel to the Crimean project. My goal will be to complete the infantry, and maybe some artillery, during the year. The cavalry will follow next year.

Buildings:

These will be a number of these for the Crimean and Russian Napoleonic projects and they will be slotted in as time permits and as the whim takes me. The first items will be the Mill and a bridge. Following that will be some structures based on some of the Roger Fenton photographs from the Crimea.

The Possibilities:

Great Northern War:

I am seriously tempted, but it will be dependent on the Ebor figures becoming available. I would expect this to be a small project maybe half a dozen infantry units three or four cavalry and some guns….oh dear I have this feeling of déjà vu…it sounds rather like the Wars of the Roses project that started with a target of six units and ballooned to 23!

Second Schleswig-Holstein War of 1864:

This is more likely a probability than a possibility. I have wanted to do this for many years as a part of my Wars of German Unification collection. This can be a small project. Eight battalions and a couple of batteries, will give me a complete Danish division, and I already have the Prussians and Austrians. This may well be handled on a “unit here and a unit there” basis.

Carlist War:

This is the danger project for me. Ever since the recent article in Wargames Illustrated it has been gnawing away at me. There are so many tempting units that it could balloon very easily.