Having problems with Mojo aka the dreaded painters block

Hi everyone just thought I throw out that I've been having issues with painters block for a few months that has progressively gotten worse. I think it has more to do with a lack of direction then it does with actually painting plus irritating low level flu's that keep cropping up, lack of energy and a stiff neck are not helping much either. This is effecting my painting output, blogging both writing and reading pretty dramatically. It's also come at the worst time right in the middle of the Analogue Painting challenge which I've been reduced to more of a spectator then participant.

The lack of direction is I can longer decide how to base my figures or in what scale to do them or what rules to play them for. I don't have this issue with strictly skirmish games like WWII etc. or F&IW etc., but rather large or army based games.

I'm trying to decide what periods I want to do in 28mm, 15mm and what I want to do in 10mm which I happen to think is great for mass battles and if I want to do a period in more then one scale.

For 28mm Ancients/Mediaevals I cannot decide if I want to have more figures per base giving a better visual, but extremely time consuming with a much higher probability of the project never getting finished or go with fewer figures per base which is less impressive visually, but greatly increases the chances of seeing the project completed. It looks like an easy answer and say go with the one you'll finish, but one must factor in you'll always wish it was bigger! F**king conundrum!!

Also with some of my 28mm I'm a bit tired of sabot basing which I don't like all that much, but find it necessary with some periods as doing the same period twice in 28mm is impossible for me, but I'm still not happy I'm pushed into a corner like that.

Oh now lets talk about a scale that has caught my eye which is 10mm which looks great for mass battle btw! However then in creeps the problem of number of figures per base and how big a base to use. A big base crammed full of figures looks the best, but costs more time in painting, money and more importantly flexibility in terms of gaming. Smaller bases look less impressive and are more time consuming to move, but are more flexible for gaming. So again what the heck to do!

15mm is flat out annoying to paint! You have to paint all the bells and whistles you do at 28mm, but just smaller so takes to much time for the effort and result. However, it is a very popular scale making getting games easier and has a very large selection of figures to choose from. Basing issues are just as much a pain as the other scales.

I'm not having these issues with 28mm ACW/AWI as those projects are so far along that those decisions have already been made and are pretty much set in stone, but sadly I'm just not in the mood for them right now.

With a dozen projects all wanting my attention, but with no real plan  has pretty much frozen my brush in place.

On the positive front I've lost none of my mojo for wargaming and enjoying myself quite a bit. I would say the biggest impact has been my introduction to Piquet's Field of Battle2 series which is awesome! I promptly ordered Field of Battle2 and Pulse of battle which I'll go into at a later date.

Well, I hope to make some decisions soon and get back on track and give all of you something to read. 

British Legion Cavalry

My first miniature post of the year begins with AWI in the form of the British Legion cavalry. The British Legion otherwise known as Tarleton's Legion or Tarleton's Raiders is an American Loyalist formation that is a combined force of both infantry, cavalry and light artillery. The Strength of the legion varied but at full strength it stood at 250 Cavalry and 200 Infantry. The Legion fought in numerous engagements, anti- guerilla missions and punishment raides to include the siege of Charleston, Monck's Corner, Lenud's Ferry, Waxhaws, Camden, Fishing Creek, Wahab's Plantation, Fishdam Ford, Blackstock's, Cowpens(Losing all their infantry here), Cowan's Ford, Tarrant's Tavern, Guilford Courthouse, Francisco's Fight, Gloucester. The British Legion was disbanded on October 10, 1783 with most of it's members settling in Nova Scotia Canada.

Banastre Tarleton is probably one of the most controversial figures in the war with many believing him to be a murderous commander while others think he is a victim of propaganda. Just to give you an idea of some people's opinion of him think of Mel Gibson's The Patriot and the brutal British commander in the movie is supposed to be based on Tarleton. A lot of this stems from what is reported to have happened at the Battle of Waxhaws. This engagement resulted in the catch phrase Tarleton's Quarter. My personal opinion is that it was a civil war of sorts especially in the south with a lot of bad blood so I think both were pretty ruthless in dealing with each other and atrocities were likely committed on both sides, but I think Waxhaws either through fact of events or propaganda ramped things up a few notches and both sides took revenge killings on each other when the mood and opportunity struck. I feel I need to add that as the commanding officer Tarleton is responsible for his troops as he instilled both discipline and code of conduct. One must say Banastre Tarleton was a very effective cavalry commander either through tactics or ruthlessness or a combination of both. Whatever your opinion on Banastre Tarleton from murderous thug to brilliant cavalry officer you have to admit the man could design an excellent hat! He designed the Tarleton featured on these gents and as a matter of fact everyone liked it so much all light cavalry adopted it in the British forces.

As a Southern Campaign enthusiast this unit was a pretty much a must do as the Legion was so active in the war there plus my collection is in desperate need of cavalry to run some particular battles. When painting the unit I pretty much used Don Troiani's painting and description of the regiment down to the horses being a mixed lot of what they could get their hands on. Equipment I kept as uniformed as possible as I feel cavalry were better equipped and found it easier to maintain it.  I enjoyed painting their simple, but rather elegant uniform and of course the Tarleton hat's which are my favourites of the war. As you may have noticed I couldn't resist playing up the bad guy image and mounted the commander(perhaps Tarelton?) on a black stallion.:-)

Thanks for viewing!:-)
Miniature Company- Perry Miniatures