Hobby Update: Scouts with Pistols!

I didn't get much picture-worth hobby done this weekend... hence no updates. Saturday was a beautiful 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 C, for those in the rest of the world...) in Wisconsin. A place not historically known for nice weather in February.

Location filming at its finest.

So, on this most beautiful of Saturdays, I opened up all my windows, and wandered around outside for a bit. Sunday, I hung out with a 13 day old baby, the happy, exhausted parents, and some mutual friends for a few hours. Then I did some errands on my way home, and tidied up the apartment. So... all in all a very nice weekend, but not super productive on the hobby front.

I did get in some work on the Foot Guard/Greatswords on Saturday morning. New bases all ready to go, I started prying off old models. They were all painted at once, but assembled in a few stages.. meaning I used several kinds of glue. That wasn't great for the process. Some popped off right away. Others.... not so much.

In order to not trash any models, I decided on a more methodical approach, first clearing away the basing sand with a hobby knife, then using the knife to slice or pry the feet from the base. It was labor and time intensive, but some of the models would have been ruined if I had just tried to brute force them off. The whole process took a few hours, and I soon had enough of hobbying for the day. Hoping to get back to these this week.

Great. More old magnetized bases sitting around now..

I was hoping to get in a game tonight, but it was not to be. Doubt anything will work out this week (Monday was usually "tabletop" night for most people; I am newly single, so have way more free time/me time than my peers, particularly the one with the baby). I'm considering giving Universal Battle a try. If anyone has any experience (or tips), I'd love to hear about it.

But, no game meant I could hobby! I couldn't finish the Foot Guard in an evening... but I did finish up the Scouts with Pistols tonight. Just now!

"Pew pew pew"

I love the models, aside from the horses. I think I need to go in and just chop off some of the plastic attaching hoof to base (like in the center model here). The issue is that most have just a single hoof flat against the base, so you kind of need some of that extra plastic to prevent that single point from becoming stressed or snapping entirely.. I may fiddle a bit. 

Not the best angle for him, but the guy on the left is my favorite.

I got a little wash happy with these... mostly because I spilled my container all over my desk. I couldn't think of a good way to return the contents to the bottle (I had one sponge in the apartment, and had just used it to clean out my slow cooker, which had chili mac in it), so I grabbed some other models and just started throwing black wash on every model nearby. It all turned out ok I think.

I've run these guys a few times (I started blogging after my first few games, so this blog isn't a complete record of my in-game failings), and honestly, I don't know what to make of them. A few threads in the Kingdoms of Men sub forum have discussed them, but pistols seem the weakest option in my opinion. Their short range of 12" basically turns them into 100 points of chaff... and their shooting (at 5+ to hit) may not do any damage before they are routed off the table.

The best hypothetical use I have devised for them is protectors of the gun lines. If you're fielding a lot of war machines or stationary shooters (like infantry), these could potentially intercept threats very well. They can run up, pivot shoot, all your other shooters around could take a turn shooting at the threat too. If you pivoted well, and the enemy survived, your opponent would be left with charging them, or potentially nothing (if they would need to use their pivot to try to avoid the Scouts). 

...That's kind of a pie-in-the-sky situation though, and unless you are really running a gunline (which, with 5+ across the board to hit... may not be the best idea), one could argue that their points would be spent elsewhere, on a plan rather than on some vague contingency.

As it stands, I'm happy they are done, but they will likely only be used in larger game, or if I need to field multiple armies for some reason. For now, they will dutifully guard my bookshelf.