First, though, I 'd like to share a memory with you. Last week my father died, rather unexpectedly. My Dad was 81, so I guess unexpected is not entirely true, but somehow you think of your parents as immortal, and there were no signs that he would go so soon. My dad was my best friend. He was not a wargamer in any sense, but he was the one who bought me my first Airfix soldiers when I was a little boy, and he was the one who took me to the only shop that sold tin model soldiers in the Netherlands in 1980, the Boutique De La Grande Armée in The Hague. I think he also bought me my very first wargame figures then, and I still have them. Of course, for a lad of 12 or 13, they had to be the Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard, and they are Hinchcliffe 25mm. They are still based for the WRG 1685-1845 rules:
The second figure from the left in the front row was painted by my dad as a example; ruining it with a home-made wash was all my own idea, some years later...
Thanks dad for introducing me to a lifetime passion!
As I live in Belgium and my parents in the Netherlands, getting to my parents' and back was not straightforward. Still, both before my journey and since my return I have been able to do some painting. The weekend before last I had found an unexpected treasure in my pile of shame in the shape of 8 Essex 15mm late Roman clibanarii. I did not remember buying them, must have been sometime in the nineties when I was building an army for the Newbury Fast Play Ancient Rules we then used at our club in Delft.
So I decided to paint them up, using contrast paints, apart from the metallics (which obviously is most of these figures...) which are a mixture of Citadel and Vallejo.
I have based these on a single base, for I am looking into To the Strongest and into Aurelian, the ruleset by Sam Mustafa.
So there you have it. I'll track my way back to the posts of the last week and add some comments here and there!
Sorry for your loss Martin, I know what you mean about immortality, when my dad died at 89 it still came as something of a shock! I spent a bit of my inheritance on my Great Italian wars figures so that when I painted them and later played with them I'd think about him. Your late Romans look excellent, just the ticket for To the strongest! (I don't know about the other sets!)
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
That's an excellent additional way to remember your dad. I'll keep that one in mind!
DeleteSorry for your loss and you’re dead right about thinking they’re immortal.
ReplyDeleteReally nice to hear of the good memories you have and nice painting too, the twenty tiny riders are particularly nice.
Thanks Jamie.
DeleteWe always assume our parents will always be with us, my condolences on your loss.
ReplyDeleteThe Romans are nice, I think most of us probably have minis in our piles we don't recall buying.
Thank you. And I am sure there is more where these came from....
DeleteThanks for sharing your personal memories ........
ReplyDeleteThanks for indulging me.
DeleteMy deepest condolences on your loss, Martijn. Having a parent pass is always very hard. It's quite touching seeing the unit of Hinchcliffe Imperial Guard with your dad's figure nestled within it. Very poignant.
ReplyDeleteYour late Romans looks excellent. I'm slowly working on a 'secret' To The Strongest project as well. I may get it done sometime during this decade. ;) Best of luck with yours!
Thanks for your kind words Curt, I really appreciate it.
DeleteSincere condolences Martijn. Losing a loved parent is always a heavy blow; in time the pain eases but the fond memories will remain.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of those Mike, thanks!
DeleteSorry to hear about yoir dad's passing, he clearly had a great positive influence on you
ReplyDeleteHe sure did and I hope he will continue doing so. Thank you.
DeleteVery sad to hear of your loss Martijn. Lovely to see those old school Hincliffe old guard. Lovely looking armoured cavalry.
ReplyDeleteThanks, very kind!
DeleteGecondoleerd Martijn! I can only imagine how hard the trip from Belgium to here and back must have been with the strict Belgian restrictions. As it happens I too have visited the Boutique de la Grande Armée with my Dad. But not in 1980, I was born that year ;-)
ReplyDeleteI hope you were allowed to say your goodbyes in a satisfying way since that is not always the case these days. Anyway the figures look very good indeed.
Thanks Sander. Obviously, there were only a limited number of people allowed to attend, but it was gratifying and dignified, and many people were able to watch through the internet. Go figure; that's perhaps one of the few upsides of this Corona thing, people get very creative!
DeleteSorry for your loss. Lovely work.
ReplyDeleteThanks Adam.
DeleteVery sorry to hear that, Martijn.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
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