Early September 2014

Hello again Folks,

I've been working on a variety of different things.

Starting with Dystopian Legions, where I have finished my Captain, wearing a slight variation of my Desert uniform so he stands out as an officer. I am also working on my machine gun.

My Dystopian Legions Captain ready for action, wearing a variation of my Desert uniform I made up for my Dystopian Legions, based loosely off the Sudan War.

I have painted a Vampire from Westwind Productions Empire of the Dead range, ready for Dice and Decks Halloween Painting Competition (more of a whilst I remember thing than a need to get it done).

My Vampire from Westwind Productions, only thing that isn't finished on this model is the base

My third thing is building my Penisular Regiment of Napoleonic British Infantry from Warlord Games I mentioned in my last post. I have cut the regiment from large unit of 36 to a slightly larger than normal standard sized unit of 32 for Black Powder.

My Peninsular War Napoleonic British Infantry, slowly assembling.

I also have built a few more British for Bolt Action. As I have neglected this army compared to my German forces, which isn't very patriotic of me!

I had a game last Friday, Germans versus Airborne British, which was finished early, but was a close game that I enjoyed much more than I sometimes do - my tanks did something creative and took out a Sherman through combined fire! The Tiger immobilised it, and the next shot from my Panzer IV destroyed it, ending any threat to my heavy vehicles. Pictures below:
 

The Tiger stalks a Sherman from behind a house

The battlefield, Germans taking up positions behind the Church, and British Paratroopers head through a garden on the right.

This coming Friday I will be playing a game on my desert board against British 8th Army using my Afrika Korps force, which should be an entertaining game, if I get my last squad built. So until next time folks.....

April 2014 - Been a while.

My apologies for such a long gap between now and my last post, but events have kept me busy. However, I have some more wargaming news to share, especially to do with Bolt Action and my German force.

So what's new? I hear you ask. 

Well, I have played a few quick test games of Empire of the Dead by Westwind Productions, and I think it was quite fun, although we only had a few games involving basic grunts, with no crazy gear or special powers to confuse us. So displayed below this paragraph are some pictures of the games I played during February/Early March;

The layout of the board for our first Empire of the Dead game, the house did have another floor and a roof that are removed here for gaming purposes.

Another victim of Victorian gang warfare....... and a good jab with a shank from behind.

"Ross Kemp"  - a rather portly Victorian gent with a bold head, despite being unarmed, this guy proved to be the game maker, taking out people with a good swing of his fists! His name goes down in glory amongst those of us that played the first Empire of the Dead game. I owe him a good paint job now!

Since then, however, I've been playing Bolt Action again, using both my British/US force and my rather under-used German force. It was decided last week that the German force was a tad under-strength, due to some lack of building on my part, and so I'm building more infantry that had't been built before now, and in the process I decided in discussion with some of the other players at my local games club that I ought to equip them as rather well equipped Grenadier Veterans, armed with the STG 44 assault rifle. The only problem with this is that the plastic boxes only come with a few on the sprues, 3 at most per box. So as I have had to order more bases,( I use 25mm round ones from Games Workshop), I have also ordered metal STG 44s from Warlord Games, along with 20 black order dice for Bolt Action, so my D6s can be used in game rather than as order dice. Some pictures from previous weeks games:

My Brits/US from Europe Late War take on a Russian horde.

My Late War European theatre British and USA force. Some of the men were made up using US Marines from the pacific I am still assembling for a seperate force, this includes a painted officer seen kneeling in the middle of the picture.

My low strength German force deployed for battle and being outflanked by British on the right of the ruined building.

Russians advance on the left and my Germans take a battering from a artillery strike called by an Artillery Observer.

Outflanking British get shot up by one of German squads in a rare moment of success!

I have decided to turn my force from a reinforced platoon into a full Grenadier / Panzergrenadier company (the difference is mainly to do with mobility/transport related).
Another rather more obvious addition to my German force is an extremely unsubtle method of adding to the force's strength, my Panzer IV Ausf H, has a new friend to help it, a Tiger I, which is being painted at the moment, along with most of the rest of my Bolt Action forces. I have however, finished my first German NCO armed with a assault rifle. The Tiger is having a base, as each time I pick it up I rub a bit of paint off the tracks at the moment, this is made from a Games Workshop movement tray, filled with old bases and gree stuff to flatten it, and then I plan to make track marks and rocks to make it look like a dirty old track worn in the grass for the Tiger to move along. In progress pictures shown below:

The assembled Tiger.

First basecoat of paint before I begin applying a camouflage colour scheme I have found online to it.

The base I made for the Tiger tank before any paint is applied or any more flock, this layer is to be painted before more flock and static grass is used to make a field that the Tiger is tearing its way through.

The base with pins to hold the tank, the first layers of paint, a basic green and two tracks for the tank, made using Games Workshop Agrellan Earth texture paint, the flock and static grass will cover the green areas with flattened patches being stuck to the track areas to simulate flattened areas the tank has torn up.

The Tiger also saw it's first game on the 18th April, but it suffered from Tiger fear and was instantly destroyed by the first shot from the enemy during the game (unfortunately, this was the first shot of the game full stop) - a shot from a 17 pounder anti-tank gun. I lost the game, despite a few good rolls and a valiant defence of the farm by my German force.

Gaming Table, 18th April.

My German force I used on the 18th April, not even half of what I will have when everything is assembled.

However, this morning, the 19th April, I got some more reinforcements for the force, with the addition of two SDKFZ 251/1s or "Hanomags" to help my Germans get more mobile on the field, and hopefully save the infantry from being shot before they have a chance to act. I haven't fully decided how, but I want to make these look slightly different with some field conversions. One of the Hanomags is already being constructed. Work in progress pics below as usual;

Purchases from Pegasus Hobbies and Games, Monmouth, on its opening day.

Flame marker

Smoke marker

My first Hanomag so far, other elements will be added to make a unique looking vehicle.

These goodies were purchased from a new store run by a former Dice and Decks club attendee.The shop is found in Monmouth and is called Pegasus Hobbies and Games.

I have also painted a few more German infantry, with a variety being added into the uniforms, the Sniper now has his spotter in a splinter camouflage pattern as well, on both his tunic and his helmet. I have tried to make sure there is a bit of variety as this adds realism to a sligtly unrealistic force (the Germans by the late war weren't very well equipped when compared to what they were expected to be armed and carried around in, the ideal was Stg 44s and half-tracks, when rifles and trucks were more likely as the war drew to a close).

Front view.

Rear view.

I have also got my hands on a copy of Star Trek Attack Wing to have a go with, but a game hasn't happended yet...

So for now that concludes news from me. Till next time folks.....

Recent project updates, and newer items.

Hello again folks,

I haven't posted in a while but I have actually finished some models in the meantime.

First off I have been working on some models for Westwind Productions Empire of the Dead 28mm game set in the Gothic Victorian Horror world of their own design. I have had the rulebook for several months but until recently never got around to actually having any models to go with it. A recent visit to Dice and Decks Gaming Club by Square Orange Games solved this issue, me coming away with a models; Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson, Cedric Hyde, and a Demon Butcher, along with the Gentlemen starter faction pack. I have painted several of these models so far, except bases, the Butcher (dressed, as shown in the picture below, as a rather bloody chef), Sherlock Holmes, and a few of the Gentlemen. The first Gentlemen has officer's trousers on, showing he is an ex-military officer and hopefully, as future games may prove, an affinity for fighting. As my Gentlemen faction is based around a ex-military veteran's club full of old eccentric soldiers.

The first of the Gentlemen I finished

My faction  President at the back, with another of the Gentlemen at the front

Mr.Holmes

My demon-butcher - as a Chef!

I have also started painting Dr.Watson to accompany Mr.Holmes onto the dim streets of Victorian Britain.

I have started some more of these gentlemen, and so I hope to show a few more off in my next post.
In other painting related news, I have also painted some two more Vietnam era US soldiers for playing Force on Force in Vietnam. 

Additionally, I have re-varnished all of my finished Aghanistan/modern Force on Force models so they don't shine as much now as they originally did.

On Friday I travelled to Firestorm Games in Cardiff and yet again, purchased yet more models for my collection; the Vampire faction boxed set for Empire of the Dead, as a potential opposition faction to my Gentlemen. I also purchased a box of 44 28mm Vikings so I can actually start work on a faction for Saga, which I bought the rulebook for last month. Having played a proxy game at the start of February, I am very excited to actually have a faction for yet more games, as it seems to be a very interesting game. I have assembled six models out of the 44 available so far, 1 is my Warlord, and has been completely painted over the weekend, 4 are his Hirdmen, the elite troops for each warband in Saga, and the final is a spear armed warrior, as I have decided for ease of identification to arm each type of soldier differently to the other. I have started painting two more of the Vikings as shown in the pictures below.

My first Viking and Saga Warlord

When Square Orange also last visited, I bought the boxed game for Dreadball by Mantic Games, and having played a game with Neal at Dice and Decks back in early January when it was snowing, I am quite keen to have another go with my own team/s. The boxed game contains two teams; Orcs/Goblins and Humans, two balls, and a referee in terms of models, a book of team roster sheets, dice and counters, along with a pitch, deck of game cards and a rulebook. I have started work on a Orc (the larger and thus more dangerous players from the Orc side), and a Human, both teams have red, but the Humans have black suits and Orcs where metal coloured armour. The pictures below show my painting/assembling progress so far, both teams are assembled, but neither has been painted really, except for the two mentioned earlier.

My first match with own Dreadball set, approximately half-way through.

I have also played a game of Dreadball and won, so hopefully the potents are good for this game...

And after a fortnight of university, I went home and did some more work on the Judicator for my Warmachine Menoth faction, such as finishing the assembling of the legs and hips, and nearly having finished painting it, I have begun doing more towards the top half, and in particular the torso, which I'm having trouble getting a smooth white paint scheme on for some reason. I have also attached the right arm to the shoulder.
I also cleverly maanged to flock the base without the model being on it, leaving space for the feet due to a template I made of the Judicator's feet, alas the plan didn't quite work, and I was slightly off with where the feet would be on the base, but not by far, and this will need to be rectified when I go home again next weekend.

The right arm attached to the shoulder. One less task to do later in building the model

 My final addition to this post in terms of progress is a bit of work I did on my Realm of Battle Gameboard, which long time followers will know I have had for a while, and am painting in a desert colour scheme, and thus why a few of my models have desert colour schemes for their armour or bases.
I did a bit of detailing on the cracked ground which I made by converting the uncovered skulls into patches of dried ponds or cracked ground. Further to this I painted more of the cliff/rock areas brown and then went over them with watered down sand to make it seem more worn and sand weathered.

I am very happy with the way this board is going so far, and I'm planning on cracking on with it once the weather improves from british winter to something approximating dry/warm.

I have two new projects coming - Dropzone Commander from Hawk Wargames, which I got the rulebook for when I went to Firestorm games and have a potential fellow collector for it already, and in this game I am intending on collecting the UCM, due to their very Halo-esque appeareance. And a secret-ish project I plan to unveil truly once I have gotten close to finishing it - but I shall leave you with a line which will probably give you an idea of what I am going for: "Citizens! This is the Law, disperse immediatly or we shall be forced to use lethal force to do so!"...

Until next time then readers!

6th July 2012 Painting Competition at Dice and Decks Gaming Club

On 6th July 2012 Dice and Decks Gaming Club is having one of it's reasonably regular painting competitions, with a variety of categories for members to enter. I have already got two entries ready to enter the Single Miniature category (Professor Erazmus from West Wind Productions Empire Of The Dead series, and a British Steel Armoured Suit from the same companies Secrets Of The Third Reich series). I'll stick pictures of these up post-competition, in case club members who visit this blog get an early glimpse of their rival entries.  I have effectively painted the British Steel model twice, as I washed it with badab black a little too much to begin with, dulling it to the point of no detail being visible, so I went back and re-painted it all. I'm pleased with it alot - and 4 more are en route and will be delivered to me on the 6th.
However here's some work in progress images of the Secrets of the Third Reich British Steel model:

Front View

Side View

Close-up of the Union Jack symbol on the left shoulder

 

However, my latest idea is to enter a 54mm miniature into the Open category, in this case I decided to use a figure from my 54mm Victrix Napoleonic Infantry set. Instead of doing a red coat, I've decided to convert it a bit; and turn it into a member of the 95th Rifles (fans of the Sharpe series will like this one!). 

I've chosen the body with the least work needing to modify it (it already has a belt which the others lack, for example). The shako hat needed to be the most modified thing - requiring a filing on the badge, before being redone with green stuff to create the right symbol. 

The next stage is to remove the bayonet from the musket and then turn the musket into a rifle. As well as add a few more details to make the weapon look better.
Work in Progress images here:

The Shako badge basic shape

The body I selected to convert into the Rifleman

Converted rifle, made from a musket

 

Pictures from my Work in Progress Dystopian Wars fleet are finally here (Sorry this has taken so long, folks!):

Two Attack Class Frigates with a Tribal Class Cruiser.

I apologise for lack of turrets on the Cruiser, but I'm still painting those! I am greatly pleased with my WWII style "Spitfire" style colour scheme, being used on all units.

One completed base of Tiny Fliers!