More Sheriff of Nottingham cavalry...and a few Italeri Alpini for good measure.

I've been chipping away at the Sheriff of Nottingham (Airfix) figures this week after work. Only a few figures down due to deaden-work-related-fatigue. Early starts and long days. 

With this set, I've been experimenting with bolder, complimentary colours on flags, shields, 'horse blankets' (I have no idea what these are called) and tunics.

There doesn't seem to be any consensus about 'how' to paint these troops. I guess the legends of Robin Hood have been retold so many times that any sense of historical accuracy is ambiguous at best. Therefore, I've taken a kind of go-for-it liberty with these figures, and it has been fun experimenting with mixing colours, especially since I can't really get it drastically wrong.

Typically, I spend a fair bit of time clicking around and trying to chase down painting guides, most notably for my collection of Second World War figures. Previous to this project, I'd completed a box of Italeri Italian Alpini figures in a grey-green-blue 'European' field dress.  Trying to nail a satisfying result took some time. I trawled through the web, looking up painting guides, and everything I found seemed to be contradictory. 

I decided to paint these up as East Front 'On the Steppes of Russia' grey-green-blue drab.....the irony of course is that the Alpine regiments fought their notable battles during winter. Painting winterised troops is a skill-set I'm reluctant to dabble in, so I went for a Italian summer kit. The photo here doesn't really do them any justice...but then again I may be deluding myself. Maybe I should have just bought a bottle of grey-green and slapped it on. Then again, how difficult could it be to paint winter troops? Unless of course there are 50 shades of camouflage white...

There probably are that many shades.

Anyway, they're cool figures, and they have since had a brief outing on the table with a quick game of Crossfire, in which they were massacred by Russians.

Perhaps the lesson here is not to take things too seriously. Sure, I'd love to be able to paint diorama-like quality pieces & terrain in 20mm, but time, money & effort is the killer for me. I'm in this hobby for the long run, I've only been seriously gaming - in miniature - for about 8 or 9 years. I'm happy to just inch along and slowly improve painting & building as long as I'm playing regularly. That's the key for me, I don't simply want to paint & collect, I have to use the bloody things.

Back to mystical & majestical world of Arthurian Legends, and the swash-buckling-pole-tripping forests of Robin Hood. There are still a few riders to paint and base, followed by the evil barbarian hordes (Orion Vikings) waiting in the cue.