All Quiet On The Blogging Front

I haven't really been doing much wargaming related stuff for the last couple of weeks or so, although I have started prepping up figures for some early 2021 projects, including my Bad Squiddo Onna Bugeisha minis which I have had sitting around for ages and ages. I felt guilty every time I saw them in the box where I keep my (supposed) priority To Do stuff. Anyway, they are now glued onto 2.5cm round MDF bases and primed in Halford's matt grey undercoat spray.

I have also started to prep up another project, this time in 15mm, which I shall keep secret for a while, because it is something of a personal trip down memory lane, in many ways, but it did require me to get onto eBay and buy some old rulebooks from more than two decades ago.

I also took advantage of the Foundry Christmas price reduction offer and bought some minis from their Seadogs and Swashbucklers range. A few of us from the club put in a single order, to maximise the discount, which was nice. The plan is for these to make up bands for Osprey's En Garde rules, or anything else that seems suitable, for that matter.

I also bought a couple of Geek Villain wargaming mats in the Black Friday sale, the first time I've ever done such a thing. I got a grassy one, which is useful for everything, pretty much, and a cobblestone one, which will be good for all manner of urban settings. I am primarily thinking of In Her Majesty's Name here, but Frostgrave seems another possibility too. I have the Frostgrave 2nd edition book on my Christmas list too, so I am looking forward to that.

Anyway, it is the run-in to Christmas now, so I am going to be pretty busy with getting the food and wine ready, getting out the Christmas tablecloth and table mats and other festive bits 'n' pieces. Tomorrow, I'll be off to the butcher for the meat , which means boning, stuffing and tying up the chicken, poaching a bacon joint (for glazing on Boxing Day), making stock from the chicken carcass and making a chocolate and lime baked cheesecake ready for Christmas dessert. and then it will be Christmas eve. when I must go to the baker to get our bread order collected, and also get whatever I have forgotten about until now.

A few Bad Squiddo odds 'n' ends

 I've been trying to paint up a few odds and ends of things I've had in my "To Do" box for a while.

These are all from Bad Squiddo and have been patiently awaiting the brush for a long time now.

First are two violent little girls with swords. They were part of the Freyja's Wrath Kickstarter that I somehow forgot to paint at the time. I suppose that they ought to be wooden practice swords, really, but I went for real ones.

I am not sure what I will use them for, but there is bound to be something in the future.

Next are three figures who were associated with the Amazons and Dwarves Kickstarter. I think that they will work nicely in mediaeval and fantasy settings, perhaps as non-player characters or as special figures in suitable scenarios.

First, a woman trying to get her basket of fresh fish past the local cats;

And finally, two women who look so alike to my eyes that I think of them as sisters;

This figure is HUGE

This figure was a freebie that came with  the latest copy of Miniature Wargames magazine. It is for a game called "Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings", which I'd never actually heard of before. Anyway, it is in 38mm scale, which seems pretty unique.

Here is the finished item, next to a 28mm Victrix Roman auxiliary cavalryman;

That is ridiculously big. Here are two more pictures of the Big Guy.

I only made him up and painted him for something to do. I've no intention of buying into a game system that uses such large minis as standard. The thing is this, though; I could see a point to him once I'd glued him together and undercoated him in black.

I think that he would be fine as a gigantic Daemonic Knight, probably as a Warlord for a Saga; Age of Magic warband, such as my Otherworld one, or for a Dragon Rampant force, which is why I used a fairly classic Chaos colour palette of black, bronze, brass, steel and red. His helmet has a weird flaming-looking crest, which I decided would look pretty good as actual flames, so that is how I tried to paint it. 

He was actually pretty easy to paint, because of the size of the model. I liked the idea of his daemonic steed having brass hooves, and they seem to have worked quite well. I left the slight amount of visible face black, to give the impression that whatever is inside the armour is Not Of This World.

Annoyingly, after I'd taken the photos, I noticed a few grains of ballast clinging to his horse barding, which I have now removed with a paintbrush.