Black Ops Special Forces

This was a rush job, because I wanted to be able to use them at the club tomorrow (31st July).

 These are from the Copplestone Future Wars range. Five of them, the ones with hoods are the Hostage Rescue Squad and the other two (the commander with a cap and the trooper with a helmet and assault rifle) are from the Assault Troopers sets.

I want to use these as the kind of Special Forces stealth operatives who can infiltrate secret bases, armed compounds or clandestine installations, do the job and get out quickly. 

Their paint job is essentially all about shades of grey which make them hard to see in the dark or in the kind of tunnels and passageways beloved of film and TV whenever Black Ops are part of the plot. Even their weapons are matt grey.

Anyway, I hope that they will work for the game that Clive, one of our club members is running tomorrow. 

I will also be able to use these for the Black Ops rules written by Guy Bowers, which are published by Osprey.

Wizards and Apprentices

 Over the last week, I've managed to finish off two wizards and a pair of sorcerer's apprentices. First the apprentices;

The one on the left appears to have been inspired by a certain literary schoolboy wizard who has become a star of the silver screen and the older one on the right looks as though he might take a darker path if given the chance. On the other hand, he could just be harbouring Hamlet tendencies.

Like the wizards below, the apprentices are by Mark Copplestone and they are really nice minis. The wizards, however, are even better, really superb sculpts.

The taller, more threatening-looking wizard definitely has a strong resemblance to a very famous Grey Wizard, variously known as Olórin, Tharkûn, Incánus, Mithrandir, Stormcrow, Láthspell and, to most of us, Gandalf. In the Fellowship of the Ring, when confronting the Balrog in the deep places of Moria, Gandalf described himself as "a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor". He is probably even more famous than the schoolboy wizard above, well he certainly ought to be. 

His companion is a charming figure, a wise old chap with a book of spells, clearly about to wreak havoc upon some unruly and dangerous opponents, or maybe just lecturing a class of apprentices at Wizard School. Perhaps he is one of the Istari of Middle Earth, most likely one of the two Blue Wizards, Alatar and Pallando, who Tolkien also called Morinehtar and Rómestámo elsewhere in his Unfinished Tales. Who knows? These two wizards are only mentioned in passing in the Lord of the Rings books, suggesting that they travelled far into the unknown East of Middle Earth.

Of course, all four figures have a lot of possibilities; Frostgrave, Rangers of Shadowdeep, Saga Age of Magic, Dragon Rampant, 7TV Fantasy etc

Two more vampires

I had a quiet lazy day yesterday, what with my partner being off out all day so I got on with some more painting and did two more vampires.

These have a much more Carpathian or Eastern European feel than the previous two. They are Noble Vampires from the North Star Frostgrave Blood Legacy range of figures and I really like them a lot. I probably won't ever play Blood Legacy, but these two have so much potential for all manner of things.

I think that the forested mountains of Transylvania are likely to be their original home, because they really do have that Balkan nobility vibe about them. There is a Gothic supplement for In Her Majesty's Name which has been brought up to date for the second edition of the rules. You can download it here. These figures seem to be pretty much perfect for IHMN, but are also going to work with all manner of horror or Pulp rules, and even with The Silver Bayonet, especially if you want to play in a Russian setting.

One of the nice things about a warm day is that things dry quickly and your varnish won't go cloudy. I got up before 7:30 this morning and varnished and photographed the pair of toothy horrors. I think that they have turned out really well.

Ancien Régime Vampires

I am currently getting a few nice odds and ends out of the way before embarking on a new (as in, not one I was planning to do at all last year) big project.

First up are two vampires, both from the North Star Silver Bayonet range of figures.

I am really taken with the poses of these two, they are full of cunning and menace, as though they are waiting in some lonely place for passing victims.

I have called them Monsieur le Marquis and Madame la Marquise and I see them living in an ancient château somewhere quite remote in south-western France, maybe close to a village that is entirely under their control. Although they are dressed in the fashion of the 18th century, they are clearly far older beings, perhaps with lives that stretch back to the Middle Ages, if not before that.

Although designed for The Silver Bayonet, these figures clearly have a lot of potential for all manner of rules and scenarios. I think that they are terrific figures and they were a lot of fun to paint. as an aside, I gave Madame a green dress trimmed with yellow to echo the uniform (green with yellow facings) of the 17th century Régiment de Fimarcon dragoons, who by the Seven Years' War had been renamed the Aubigné Dragoons and were uniformed in red with (probably) green facings.

 

Bad Squiddo Undead Things

Well, I've been busy today! I was up before 7 a.m because the dogs were being loud and excitable and I've been at home all day waiting for a parcel delivery, so I thought I'd paint some things that have been lying around for ages. 

All four are Bad Squiddo 28mm figures, and I have to say that they are terrific figures to paint.

First, there are two renaissance skeletons; a Landsknecht Doppelsöldner and a fine gentlewoman, maybe a countess or duchess.

I really love these. They are so animated and full of character.

I decided to try and get a few hints of rust on the Landsknecht's armour and double-handed sword and I think that it has worked pretty well.

Both figures were undercoated in black and given a top-down zenithal blast with Army Painter Skeleton Bone spray. I then used a combination of paints and drawing inks to build up the colours. I am really happy with the end results.

The other two figures are Mummies.

These were given the same black undercoat and skeleton bone zenithal treatment and I then built up the finished effects with dry-brushing and dark brown drawing ink. They were pretty quick to complete but I think that they will work well on the table.

These will be good for all sorts of horror and pulp games, as well as 7TV Fantasy and Pulp. I cannot recommend these figures highly enough. They are excellent.

Anyway, even after all the painting, basing, spray varnishing and photography, my parcel still hasn't arrived.

Bah!

 

Another two dozen halberdiers finished!

Thanks to a dry morning today, I've managed to varnish my remaining 24 halberdiers;

Once again, these are all Perry plastic figures and the first dozen represent a well-equipped group of heavily-armoured halberdiers, probably a retinue force belonging to an important military leader or maybe a group of professionals from a condottiere's company.

I was originally going to give them a simple red/white livery but decided to add some blue to the palette to brighten them up a bit.

One of the things I really like about these Perry figures is the wide range of variations you can get from a single box, and the even more wide range of figures you can get when you add in bits and pieces from the other box sets.

I've given the final twelve a red/black colour scheme. 

I've decided to call them the Rossoneri (look it up if you don't understand this). Perhaps they might be a group of well-equipped mercenaries from Milan? I've given them a standard-bearer, too. I think it adds a nice variation. The banner is plain red. I was going to give it black stripes but forgot to do it. I might go back and add them in because I think it would be more striking.

So. I have almost finished my project. All that I have left to finish off are the men-at-arms on foot I mentioned previously. I think I'll do something else in between working on them as a break from all that plate armour.

Twelve Canton of Uri halberdiers

I've been working on lots more Perry plastics for my Renaissance project.

These are Swiss halberdiers, once again painted in the yellow and black of the Canton of Uri, led by a fully-armoured chap with a standard who is accompanied by a herald with a brass horn.

These figures are from the War of The Roses Infantry box, as were the longbows I've posted previously. I have another 24 halberdiers/billmen to finish off and then all that I have left are more dismounted Men-at-Arms. To be honest, I think that my army has too many of those and not enough cheaper troops, but the Perry Foot Knights box contains a large number of figures (38 to be precise).

Once again, these are going to be useful for Lion Rampant, Dragon Rampant, Saga AoM and Never Mind The Billhooks.