Tuesday 27 September 2022

A Farewell, a Sunday Walk and Some Figures

 Yesterday, Monday 26 September, was the official New Zealand Memorial Day to mark the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II. A public holiday as declared and official events held across the nation. Here are a few images from the web of the main ceremony in our capital city, Wellington.






The day prior, my wife and I headed out for a relatively local bush walk, as below


A surprising discovery in one of the busy suburbs of east Auckland, Howick:












And finally, the last batch of twelve Brigade Games RCW troops have been completed, in a mix of different shades of khaki/green uniforms.







I think that is probably more than enough RCW troops for any game I will be playing in - in truth, I probably have far too many, but they have been great fun to paint! I might be able to justify more cavalry or a few command groups, but probably that's more or less the end of painting for this collection. 

What's next? Well, could be a bit of an expansion of the small WWI in East Africa collection - I always intended to get some Germans as well as the British/Indian troops already painted - but as the figures would like come from Brigade Games, that may have to wait until the NZD goes up a bit against the USD - currently at 58c US to the NZD, I can remember buying Old Glory at 85c US to the NZD about five or six years ago!

Thanks for stopping by for a look and all comments will be greatly appreciated and acknowledged!

24 comments:

  1. The unit is looking good Keith might be nice to get the collection on parade sometime, I certainly need some more cavalry in my RCW collection but am busy with other stuff at the moment. Lovely landscapes too πŸ‘

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    1. Thanks Matt...I am pretty sure I did an RCW parade quite recently, although a few units have been added since then, courtesy of the late arriving order from Brigade Games!

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    2. It’s an age thing I had forgotten πŸ€•

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    3. Don't worry, unfortunately, I completely understand! Did you see the Brigade v Copplestone size comparison on the all female figures in my previous post?

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  2. Is Howick a busy suburb now? We used to live nearby and headed up to The Prospect on a Thursday night in my youth, but invariably got bored and headed into town. I remember I had a three or four week stint in the newsagents in the shopping center at Howick during summer break one year and became quite friendly with Santa's elf. It used to have a lovely village atmosphere. Thanks for bringing back some happy memories Keith.

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    1. Well.....calling Howick "busy" might be a bit of a stretch Lawrence. Call it poetic license, to emphasise the contrast between the seemingly remote bushwalking and the fact we could hear city traffic almost the entire time, and see passenger aircraft on the approach to the airport every five to ten minutes! The Prospect is still there as a pub but I think it's had a name change. Howick still has quite a nice village style atmosphere about it.

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  3. A proper send-off, a handsome walk, and more fierce looking Russians. Lots going on, Keith. The strength of the USD is remarkable at present. Wargamers in the US ought to be filling their shelves with figures from the UK. Since many UK vendors peg shipping at a percent of order value, even better value. I should start shopping…

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    1. Thanks Jon. Sounds like it's a good time for you to add a few more pounds of lead to your mountain! We are on the wrong end of the equation vis a vis purchases from the US though!

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  4. A nice way to commemorate the late Queen and touching too. As always superb scenery and views as here it has suddenly turned rather Autumnal on the temperature front. Lovely figures as always. Sterling has hit record lows over the past few days, so our friends across the pond should get great bargains at present.

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    1. Thanks Steve, yes, sounds like the pound is in a real mess. Combined with a high USD, a great time to be buying if you are paying with USD! Fortunately for us in NZ, the NZD v GBP has stayed pretty constant, so figure purchasing from the UK is still about the same cost it's been for a year or two...basically $2= £1.

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  5. More fine additions to the RCW collection

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    1. Thanks Scotty. As noted, they are likely to be the last for a while. Still waiting for my Copplestone Turks to turn up from Caliver....sigh!

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  6. Looks a lovely walk Keith, and right scary bunch of Bolshies! Nice brush work.

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    1. Thanks a lot, Chris...lets hope my Bolshies scare the enemy next time they take to the table!

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  7. A fitting send off and nice to see the mix of Russians on offer.
    Cheers
    Stu

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    1. Cheers Stu....somewhat low key in comparison to what was on offer in the UK, but that is as one would expect. Arrived home from a work trip to Christchurch today to find the Copplestone Turks have arrived...hoorah!

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  8. Lovely looking unit sir!
    best regards

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  9. Good looking country side and figures. I have been eyeballing some miniatures from the UK thinking that now might be a good time to stock up: of course I don’t really need anything at the moment. πŸ˜€

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    1. Yes, now woukd be the time to spend USD in the UK I would say, Stew. Depends what you are in the market for but I would recommend checking out Caliver Books (they also sell figures and terrain) Somehow, they are able to sell figures slightly cheaper than the manufacturer AND if you spend £30 (about USD 65 at the moment I would think) post is free worldwide!

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  10. Great looking figures. A firing line of bolshies and dead royalty - I am sure I have seen that before 😊
    Agree that buying from the US at the moment is off the to do list. The Aussie seems to be gaining against the pound so I might do some more purchasing from the UK.

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    1. Yes I have seen those scenes from The Last Czar too, Ben πŸ˜€ I don't think our currency is so much climbing as the pound is falling...through the floor at the moment, another thing to thank Mr Putin for. The effect on our purchasing power is the same, of course....so yeah, Britain looks like the best source for a few months,at least!

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  11. More lovely scenery and toys Keith…
    How generous of the U.K. government to crash the pound so that all our friends in America can by cheaper toy soldiers πŸ˜‚

    Can we borrow your Prime Minister please ?

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thank you Aly. For myself, I would rather hang on to Jacinda but there is a large number of people here ( including most of the people I know/meet) who would be more than happy to lend her to you permanently .... such is politics!

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