TV time

We don't own a TV, and don't have cable.  We do, however, have the Intertubes!  As a result we get to be selective about what we watch.  There's some damn good TV available and we've been able to catch up with some of it by Netflix or DVD.

Shows we're keeping up with now or have recently watched are:

Downton Abbey (although it's getting more difficult to care about anyone other than the Dowager Countess)

Game of Thrones

Gracepoint (we're mostly watching this one so we can try to identify where each scene was shot!)

Breaking Bad (pretty much watched this late at night while bottle-feeding Erik.  Hope it doesn't affect him)

Call the Midwife (this one may also be nearing its best-before date)

Doctor Who (started with the Christopher Ecclestone series, and am now halfway through the Matt Smith years)

Watched the first season of Walking Dead, decided I didn't want to continue.

Further suggestions welcome, but bear in mind that I can only fit in one or two hours per week and I've still got a bit of Doctor Who to get caught up on!

Rewatchable movies

Painting is going very slowly, so for a change, here is a list of my favourite movies.  In this case, 'favourite' means that I would (or that I have) watched the movie many times and would happily rewatch again!  No particular order, and I've decided to limit the list to 10.

The Man Who Would Be King
Casablanca
Star Wars
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Empire Strikes Back
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
Kind Hearts and Coronets
The Fellowship of the Ring
Army of Darkness
The Full Monty
Big Trouble in Little China
Galaxy Quest

OK, that's more than 10.  I'll expand the list a bit and add the following teams/directors/actors will generally get me to watch and/or re-watch their works:

Almost anything by the Coen brothers
Monty Python (or Terry Gilliam/John Cleese/Michael Palin/etc)
Bill Campbell

Finally, an update!

I've been slowly filling in the ranks of Tsar Alexander I's army since my last post.  Here's what I've managed to complete since my last post in (good heavens!) May:

Yet another line infantry regiment.  If I've got it right, these fine fellows represent the Vilna Regiment.  Perry Plastic Russian Infantry, except for the drummer who is Front Rank.  It's funny, even a single metal figure on a stand makes a huge difference!

This fellow is a Front Rank Jaeger Hornist, who will replace a drummer in one of the Jaeger regiments.

Months ago, I painted a unit of Cuirassiers, and was really impressed with their uniforms, white tunics, black helmets and cuirasses.  And then found out that the Russians always brigaded cuirassiers together so that you'd never get a single squadron or regiment of them, there'd always be at least a division if there were any present at all.  So, I finally added a second unit.  These are Front Rank, and represent the Ekaterinoslav Cuirassiers.

Front Rank has a great selection of personalities for the Napoleonic wars.  I'd previously painted Generals Bagration, Barclay de Tolly and Kutuzov, and finally broke down and picked up the Tsar of all the Russias, Alexander I himself.  Of course, I immediately realized that the Emperor could not appear without an appropriate escort, so I also had to paint up a squadron of Lifeguard Cossacks.  So, here they are!

And finally, something a little different.  This disgruntled, riderless horse is from Eureka Miniatures and was produced for their 'Pig Tickler' VSF game.  I painted it for fun - it may end up being used to identify 'blown' cavalry, if I ever need such a marker.

I have a few more things to add to my army of Alexander I, but soon I will take a break from painting Russians.  I will not say that I am finished my Russian army, just that it's time to do something different for a while.  I still want to add more hussars, dragoons, cossacks, opolcheniye, and more, but I'm almost to the point where I can say I have enough for now.  And there are members of other armies sitting in the pile stoically waiting their turn on the painting table!

TTFN

Will 

Couple of WWI models for LAF

Lead Adventure Forum has a '100 Great War Miniatures' thingie going on - these are my contributions!

These two fine gentlemen are King's African Rifles from Brigade Games - they'd been sitting around my lead mountain for several years, but can now finally join their comrades.

This one is a trench raider from Renegade Miniatures, another refugee from earlier painting who had been hiding in the lead pile.

And another placeholder!

And for 2019-11-10 yet another placeholder:

Ataman Matvei Ivanovich Platov

Here is Matvei Ivanovich Platov, Ataman of the Don Cossacks, ready to command the cossacks from my previous post.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matvei_Platov

This model is from Front Rank, and shows him carrying his traditional mace.

Les Grognards

I'm still finding time to paint the odd unit.  This one is a bit of a cheat, I blocked in all the figures over the Christmas break but only recently came back to fill in some of the details.  Looks great from a distance, just don't look too closely!

These are Old Guard Grenadiers from Victrix.  A wonderful set of figures to paint, lovely detailed faces.  And I've got enough left over for a second unit of 24 and then some!  I've assembled this unit in marching poses; the next unit (assuming I get around to it) will be in a firing line.  It's nice to have the option to do either, and the figures were fun to assemble as well as to paint.  It helps that they are all in greatcoats - much faster to slap the paint on these!

Tea break for Kutuzov

Nothing new today, just an older photo that I have uploaded for TMP!