A Large Undertaking of Tiny Things

I want to blame the algorithm, but I feel it would be pointless.

What earthly reason could there be for including a link to an expired Kickstarter about a fantasy/historical game set during the Hundred Years War in my Google Discover feed back in 2019? Better still, what reason could I possibly have for visiting the site?

But I did, and showed it to Audrey and she agreed it was a great-looking game, having an interest in the period as she does. So when the cunning rascals re-launched a new-and-improved version of it later that year, Audrey agreed that it might make a could hobby project we could work on together over the long term as we eventually transition to being empty-nesters.

I backed the Kickstarter for Time of Legends: Joan of Arc, a game ostensibly set during the wars between England and France in the 14th and 15th centuries, but incorporating the mythological views of common folk at the time as various fantasy elements. So in addition to the knights, archers and peasant levies you might expect, the battlefield also teems with angels, devils, griffons, witches and all manner of Apocalyptic creatures.

It certainly captured the imagination of Audrey and I, and we ended up ordering the game as well as three expansions: a Village scenery kit including a variety of quaint buildings and livestock, the Siege expansion with castle walls, trebuchets and a siege tower, and the Apocalypse set, full of creepily interpreted content from the Book of Revelations, including the Four Horsemen.

The original arrival date was scheduled to be October of 2020, but then the pandemic happened. And then production issues occurred. And then the game's designer got into loggerheads with the publishers and they ended up parting ways (and taking with them my chance to grab the Teutonic Knights expansion at some later date). And finally, a worldwide shipping crisis and supply chain issues. 

All told, I was just happy to get the stuff at all when it showed up in a pile on our doorstep in late January - and such a pile:

(Canéla for scale)

Once unpacked, it looked a little more manageable, but still pretty daunting.

(The bottom box is actually just for storing the cards and counters from all the other boxes)

Needless to say, Audrey and I can expect to be painting and playing for quite a while.

Once we got the core box unpacked so we could look at the rules and scenarios, we figured the best course of action would be to paint the pieces needed for the introductory scenario, the Siege of Rennes, including the needed scenery. Then we could play it out a few times before moving on to the next-easiest scenario, and so on.

The scenario itself doesn't need a lot of pieces, but we figured it made more sense to paint all the bowmen instead of a portion of them, and same for the knights, etc. But even this tiny subset of the core box presents a pretty daunting amount of hobby work:

The good news (mostly good, anyhow) is that the figures are 15mm scale, about half the size of the Warhammer and other figures Audrey and I have both painted before, with both less area to paint and fewer details to pick out.

The bad news is my eyes are nowhere near capable of working on such tiny things anymore, and so I ended up purchasing a magnifying visor. For years I resisted using any sort of magnification when painting, since no one would be looking at them that close when they were on the tabletop. Now, I need it just to make sure the brush is going to the right place on the model. 

But I am very happy with it! Although it makes my mistakes even more painfully visible than before, the visor has restored a lot of joy and comfort to my painting, and I am grateful for that. Good thing I don't worry about looking cool when I paint though.

We also employed a trick I used as a teen when I first started painting 25mm D&D figurines from Grenadier Models - before priming them, I attached 2-3 figures onto a popsicle stick with a tiny drop of hot glue. It took a while but I know I will gain that time back by not having to drop to my hands and knees to search for a dropped model quite as often as I might otherwise!

We are also trying a new technique to speed things up a bit - after applying basic colours to the models, we are soaking them with a type of wash called Quckshade, by Army Painter. It tints everything down a bit but adds tremendous shade and depth in very little time at all.

Magic, as near as I can tell!

Audrey will be painting the rest of the bowmen while I work on the Sergeants-at-Arms and mounted knights. The relatively small numbers of sergeants let me get through them pretty quickly actually.

Units are fielded as two (for cavalry) or three (infantry) models mounted on a circular base. Although I haven't based models wargames-style for I dunno how long, my first efforts turned out all right.

And there are even a few individual figures to break up the monotony of painting larger units, like the ten sticks (20 figures) of mounted knights I keep procrastinating on. Painting a mdeival priest, or blacksmith or merchant girl is a great way to change things up. And I know Audrey is looking forward to painting up the two houses the scenario calls for, as well as the church that will come later on.

Audrey and I are hoping to get in a few more 'paint dates' before the weather nicens up, but if we don't get to play the Siege of Rennes until the snow flies, that is absolutely fine.

Hopefully, we can get through all the scenarios of the war in less than the actual Hundred Years!