What Have I Done?

I really need to stop looking in the bargain bin... all I end up doing is getting myself into trouble!

Hello everyone!

Well, I have a bit of a confession to make. Yes, I was trawling through the discounted section again, looking for anything and everything that I could possibly make use of (this tactic yielded the Field of Glory expansion from two posts ago), when I came across these fellows at 75% off:

Four Foundry Miniatures blisters: Napoleonic American Volunteers, Napoleonic American Artillery Crew, Napoleonic British Command in Greatcoats and Napoleonic American Infantry Command

Three packs of Napoleonic Foundry figures at 75% off! These packs usually run about $25 apiece, so the opportunity to snatch up four for the price of one was just too great, and I bought them.

"But Chuck!" I hear the cry. "You don't game in 28mm! You're a small figure man, fighting battles in the One True Scale!" Yes, I know. But I couldn't resist such an offer, and if THAT isn't a wargamer truism then I don't know what is.

I have long loved Foundry figures, but their high prices here in the States have prevented me from buying very many over the years. As such, I doubt that I will be getting any more. However, the packs that I bought are not really complete and/or usable in any kind of gaming, with two eight figure command packs, an artillery crew and a bunch of American volunteers. Yes, I could get several of them based up singly for skirmish gaming, but that leaves figures like ensigns sort of useless, and the artillery crew has no gun to crew!

So here I am with a bit of a conundrum: do I base up the majority of these guys individually for skirmish games, or do I use the majority of them to form the core of a couple of wargaming units for my existing 15mm/20mm armies, bolstered by the purchase of additional 28mm figures? I know I'll be buying a cannon for sure, but will it be based for big games or skirmish? Will there be other figures? I'm leaning towards the affirmative, which is a very slippery slope indeed... what have I done to myself!?

Personally I'm inclined to do a mix of both skirmish and wargame units, but I'd like to hear readers' thoughts. Mixing scales doesn't bother me particularly, not anymore, as I've seem plenty of online evidence of some beautiful games run with mixed scales. Besides, these are lovely sculpts, and there are lots of other very nice figures out there for sale. Oh boy, here we go...

Coming soon: Probably some of these new, lovely figures. I'll also have a look around the internet to see what I can come up with in order to fill out the units. I'll probably end up going with Knuckleduster... but Brigade has some nice stuff too that would probably mix well. Decisions, decisions...

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck