With real life being so busy at the moment, I have started augmenting my own painting by buying already-painted miniatures, either second-hand or painted to order.

One of the stands, therefore, that I always try to visit at wargames shows is that of Instant Armies & Veteran Miniatures. They stock literally thousands of second-hand figures across a wide range of periods. They don’t usually have a sign or branding, but they are the chaps who have the 28mm figures on display on top of the wooden draws containing the 15mm figures.

I restrict myself to buying figures at least as good as what I can paint myself, and the good thing about IAAVM is that a lot of their offering, unlike many second-hand figures platforms, is of a very good quality indeed, and at prices that won’t necessarily break the bank.

They were at Warfare on Sunday, allowing me to pick up a very nice unit of 15mm winged hussars for my nascent 17th Century Polish/Lithuanian army. A night in a tray with just the bases under water and they were all ready for re-basing.

Cost-wise, they worked out at around £2.50 a figure, which is a great price considering that the base lead would cost you about £1.40 a figure with a £3-£4 painting cost on top of that.

So thnak you to IAAVM: my Polish/Lithuanians are now one unit closer to completion!