Back in the Saddle Again

Taking a break from painting was definitely invigorating.  It gave the eyes a bit of a break, I ran a little more, and got ahead on my lesson planning.  But the call of the paintbrushes could not be ignored and earlier this week I returned to the painting table. While I don't have any finished projects to show, this is my progress so far.

Currently on the painting table is a unit of Steppe nomads.  These are Khitans from Essex.  The Khitans were a semi-nomadic people north of China in the tenth and eleventh century, fighting often with the Chinese and Koreans.  However, it was a subject people of theirs, the Jin, who ultimately destroyed their empire.  

The Khitans will do double duty as Steppe nomads in SAGA and in a related project I am finally moving forward on.

Below are two packs of minis I ordered from Curtey's in the UK arrived this week. I placed the order less than two weeks prior - all in all excellent service and I plan to order more, as this was more of a sample order. These are Tibetan cataphracts and heavy infantry.    

Some of the Curtey's Chinese stuff seemed overly stylized (i.e. disproportionate).  However, the Tibetans looked nice and I took a chance. I am very pleased with the sculpts, and the metal quality is excellent - some of the best I have ever seen.  

So, yes, with the Chinese, Khitans and Tibetans I am now working on more Far East figures for skirmish gaming.  My two options are to modify either SAGA or Ronin for these armies. Ideally, I will play the Chinese and Tibetans on existing battle boards with minimal modification to preserve game balance.  Stay tuned.

And finally, while I was away from the blog I backed this on Kickstarter: Resin Terrain Kickstarter

I have been making an effort to limit my crowd funding budget, but this one struck me as an interesting idea for flexible terrain solutions.