My final completed thing in 2023

Well, despite my best intentions, I've only finished one last piece this year. This is it.

I bought this at the club's Tabletop Sale back in May for (I think) £3. It is a Warmachines Mariner War Jack, whatever that might be, but I think it will be great for Steampunk and Pulp games, either as a McGuffin, an objective or an enemy.

I undercoated it in black and gave it progressive layers and areas of Vallejo bronze and brass, with oiled steel where appropriate (e.g. on the anchor and chain). Then it got all all-over wash of Nuln Oil.

I then washed the steel with Vallejo orange brown to give an impression of rust and a wash of pale blue mixed with green to create a patina of verdegris.

When I based it, I allowed the sandy basing gunk to stick to the thing's feet, to look like sand.

The Peaky Blinder is only there for scale purposes, but I doubt that his Lewis gun would be much use against such a Behemoth.

Moon Goddess statue

OK, this is my first attempt at a photo using a background from one of my new Jon Hodgson backdrop books.

I got two books via a Kickstarter; one is a fantasy set and the other is sci fi. Both are excellent. They are available from a few different places, including Bad Squiddo and Handiwork Games.The figure is from Bad Squiddo, but she isn't available in the Shop. Originally supposed to be Genepil, the last Queen of Mongolia. Annie designed her as part of the Bad Squiddo Community Miniatures project but later withdrew her as it turns out that the source for her was actually a photograph of an anonymous Mongolian noblewoman. So, she is never going to be available and is therefore rather exclusive.

I didn't need a mini of a Mongolian noblewoman but I definitely wanted to use the mini, so I decided to turn her into a statue. I put her on a resin plinth from Fenris Games and then added a couple of MDF squares to create a set of steps. I added some textures to show that the status is of great age, both ballast and, after painting areas of moss and lichens.

For the photo, I simply posed her on one of my Warbases pre-coloured dungeon tiles.

My idea was to create an arcane statue of a Moon Goddess, sheathed in precious metals and with a prominent silver crescent Moon on her headdress. I have slightly overexposed the image to make it look like she is being illuminated by the light of the full Moon. Below is an alternative shot, which was taken without any exposure compensation.

I like both photos, but I think that the brighter one suits the purpose of making her look like she is absorbing the power of moonlight.

Now, all I need is to work out a game setting where she might come in handy. She could definitely be the objective in a Back of Beyond Pulp game.

It's been over a month since my last post.

"Well, why is that?" you might ask, and the simple answer is The Dreaded Painter's Block. It isn't that I've done no painting at all, it is just that I keep losing interest and leaving things half done.

However, I have found a way to actually complete a few things, by painting things that are simple and have very few stages from undercoating to completion and here are some of them;

Firstly, above are eight Skeleton Warriors.  I actually really like painting Skellies. They are a quick win, which is why I dug these out from a box of odds and ends and got working on them. I hoped that they would kickstart me into doing a few more things, and they have. Below are a few more quick wins, a giant snake and two small dinosaurs;

I'm working on the basis that one day I'll need a giant snake and a couple of small dinos.

I bought all the above from Bad Squiddo. Annie occasionally goes through her stock and sells off odds and ends that she no longer wants to keep in the catalogue as sale items. It is worth checking regularly to see what she has in her Bargain Bin. Remember though that once these things are gone, they probably won't be restocked.

I've got a few other things nearing completion, so they will be another post.

It's November again, which means only one thing

Yes, it's time for Lincombe Barn Wargames Society's annual show again;

 Yes, we have traders and we have demo and participation games too! There is also free parking and reasonably-priced food available too. Entry is £4 for adults, £2 for juniors.

The list of traders is;

Pit Gaming
Great Escape
Blotz
Ironclad Miniatures
The Square
Martin Hackett
Oakbound Studios
Disain Studios
History of Wargaming Project
Grubby Tanks/Brittania Miniatures
Scarab Games
Gloster Models
3D Tank Factory
Reinforcements

There is also a club table where various club members will be selling off bits and pieces that you might find interesting or useful.

However, there is not a Bring and Buy table.

So, if you are in the Bristol area, why not come along, spend some money and grab some bargains.

Four units of Knightly Orders for my 15mm Warhammer Empire project

Well, two real ones and two inspired by the idea of knightly Orders First, two units of Reiksguard Knights;

 Obviously, they have to be given a white/red colour palette, so that is what I did. I don't really have anything to add to that. 

Next a single unit painted in a red and blue colour scheme, which I think ought to make them Altdorf Knights, but maybe not one of the "official" Orders but perhaps the guards of a powerful noble in Imperial service. Anyway, my army, my colour schemes.

Finally, a complete invention, mainly because I wanted something unique and I was playing around with washes and different metallic colours. I present to you The Knights of The Rose Cross;

These had copper horse barding with oiled steel highlights and white cloth under that and black surcoats on the knights, but I wasn't happy with how they looked, so I washed them in Winsor and Newton dark red drawing ink. Intitally, I wasn't sure, but the colour scheme grew on me. I added a pink standard from an 18th century Prussian cavalry unit,  reduced in size to fit.

I'm sure that some people will say "Yuck!" but they will certainly stand out on the tabletop.

Once again, these are all from Alternative Armies.

I've primed up some infantry now and also figures for two more command bases for Sword and Spear Fantasy, so more painting to get working on!

15mm Empire artillery

Artillery in Sword and Spear Fantasy can be pretty devastating, but it needs to be protected. So, for my Warhammer Empire army, I've put together two units of Imperial great cannon, and here they are;

Clearly, in reality, each base should really only have one cannon and maybe some gabions but artillery is quite an expensive option in S&SF and I rather like the look of a crowded base in 15mm. I think that they will look OK on the table.

Next, I'm going to be finishing off the rest of my mounted Knightly Orders (men-at-arms on barded horses) and after than, I'll begin work on the infantry.

Some characters and leaders for my 15mm Warhammer Empire project

All armies need leaders, and in fantasy armies they need heroes and wizards too. So, here are a few I've completed.

Above are two generals for my army, once again from Alternative Armies. The figure on the left could quite easily be the Emperor Karl Franz and the other just has to be an Elector Count. Both are accompanied by standard bearers

Next, some Imperial Battle Wizards;

The two on the left are mounted and dismounted versions of Leonardo Da Vinci and the right-hand pair are Niccolo Machiavelli, from the Alternative Armies renaissance collection but I think that these are great as wizards. In Sword and Spear Fantasy, wizards don't really dominate games, I find them most useful to either bolster units in combat or to try and remove hits on units at the end of game turns.

I've given the mounted Leonardo figure a barded horse, to mark him out as a wizard of great power and repute.

I like wizards in purple, it seems a good colour for the Hermetic Arts and the Occult.

Finally, what self-respecting Empire army would be without a Hero on a Gryphon? Well, certainly not mine.

One of the things I like about Alternative Armies' figure ranges is that you can bout mounted figures and mounts separately, as seen here. The Hero is a man-at-arms from the Renaissance range and the Gryphon is from their 15mm Fantasy range. I think he will look pretty impressive on the table.

 

A Warhammer Fantasy Empire-themed army in 15mm

A long time ago, I created a renaissance army for HoTT, which I based upon the Warhammer Fantsy Empire province of Averland. I still have it, but I rarely play HoTT nowadays. However, I am always thinking about renaissance wargaming and a year or so ago I bought a load of Alternative Armies figures in the form of two complete (French and Italian) Italian Wars armies plus some extra odds and ends. My plan was to create a Warhammer Fantasy Empire army that I could use for Sword and Spear and, especially Sword and Spear Fantasy.

Obviously the figures aren't an exact match and the Warhammer Empire didn't have any pike blocks, but I don't see that as being too important. It is the theme that counts.Anyway, I've now made a start and here are some of my first efforts.

The top picture shows two units of mounted men-at-arms who I have painted up to represent The Order of Knights Panther. I've stuck to a blue and yellow palette and also painted their helmet plumes in a desert yellow colour to give an impression of tan panther pelts.

The lower picture is of two army generals, using the mounted versions of Georg von Frundsberg (left) and Cesare Borgia (right) with standard bearers. The former does a reasonable impersonation of the Emperor Karl Franz of Warhammer fame.

Banners are a problem. There are plenty of images on the internet, but they are very large and generally only show one side of the flag. So, I've had to download large images, shrink them considerably (which loses all the detail), create a mirror image and then join the two halves together before printing them off. They aren't great, but they will have to do.

All my units will be on 8 cm wide bases, with any Heroes, Monsters and War Wagons on 4 cm bases and leaders and magicians on round bases. I will be able to reuse my Leonardo Da Vinci turtle tank as a WarWagon and maybe also some of the other HoTT bases as Heroes too.

Unlike real renaissance armies, my units will all be painted in uniform colour schemes, to create that Empire appearance, but I can still use them in historical games too.

I bought this at the beginning of 2022 .............

............... and now, more than 21 months later, I've actually painted it!

It is a PaK 40 7.5cm anti-tank gun with five crew and a junior leader. It will be a deadly addition to my collection of German support options for Chain of Command.

The gun and figures are from Peter Pig, as are all my WW2 German troops. I decided to put all the crew on a single base and use a small dice to record casualties. Because of the size of the gun, I had to base it on a 6cm MDF disc, so putting the crew on the same base made sense. It gives the whole thing a smaller footprint than having some of the crew on separate bases, which is easier for removing casualties.

So, now I have a big A/T gun for my Heer. Hopefully, I'll be able to get it on the table in the not too distant future.

It's been a while since my last post

...But what can I say in mitigation? Well, I've been painting stuff but not completing things. I've also been on holiday in Normandy for an extended week, which was lovely. Here are some bronze Americans, exiting a Higgins boat to liberate the Le Roosevelt bar and restaurant just across the road behind me.

Here are our two Westies, Dora (furthest away) and Ralph examining Utah beach in detail.

And for those of you who like this sort of thing (I know that I do), here is a close-up of HVSS suspension on a M4A1(76)W HVSS (followed by a photo of the whole vehicle).

Of course, we did lots of other things in Normandy that didn't involve D Day, mainly because we have been there more than once in the past, but I shall have to leave a photo of the famous Café Gondrée at Pegasus Bridge.

And another of some colourful baskets in the weekly market in Sainte-Mère-Église, where we bought some terrific Calvados from the producer and pork sausages from the farmer who raised the pigs.

Normandy is well worth visiting. There is so much to see, do, eat and drink, even if you aren't interested in D Day.

Two Steampunk/Victorian Science Fiction vehicles

Both of these are from Ironclad Miniatures excellent VSF range.

The vehicle above is a steam-powered armoured car with a Gatling gun in its turret. This can also be made up with a Nordenfelt gun, which is also supplied. I decided to paint this in a neutral grey and rely on washes (Citadel Nuln Oil), dry-brushing and AK Terrains Dark Earth basing gunk to give the thing the appearance of being a hard-used workhorse. I also used a wash of diluted Vallejo Orange Brown to add a few patches of rust, particularly on the prominent bolt heads.  The figure (also from Ironclad) is there to provide a sense of scale.

The second vehicle is a steam-powered tankette, painted in a slightly more military shade, courtesy of Army Painter Army Green primer. Once again, wear and tear have been added with Nuln Oil, Vallejo Orange Brown rust and AK Terrains Dark Earth basing gunk. The tracks were given an initial coat of Vallejo Gunmetal Grey, which I've also used on both vehicles for the barrels of the weapons and the vision slits.

Both vehicles are cast in resin with additional metal parts, i.e wheels, guns, funnels, and are pretty easy to assemble. Now they are finished, I am looking at the rest of the Ironclad range to see what other vehicles I fancy buying. Hopefully, Ironclad will be at the club's Reveille show at the end of November, which will allow me to buy a couple more of these delightful vehicles.

These should be huge fun to use in a Steampunk/Pulp/VSF setting, probably using The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare's In Her Majesty's Name rules.

A final five Bob Murch figures

Well, final until I get some more!

These are called "The Daughters Of The Empire" in the official Pulp catalogue and are, like the rest of the range available from North Star.

I like these five, they have plenty of variety and ought to suit a variety of different settings. They have a definite Back Of Beyond vibe. One problem with these excellent Bob Murch figures is, for me that I just like them so much that I buy them without actually having a plan for them. I expect that they will get used at some point, but knowing that I have them makes me happy.
 

More Bob Murch Pulp figures.

These five are the "Rugged Adventuresses" set.

This set is rather interesting, I think, because they definitely have a kind of Back Of Beyond/Indiana Jones female villains vibe going on. The figure on the front right is carrying what looks very much like a Degtyaryov DP-27 light machine gun, which came into service in the late-1920s, and the woman on the far left has a Mauser C96 pistol, and has a somewhat Eastern European look to her uniform. The pilot, rear centre looks pretty Germanic to me too and the other two figures could either be heroic or villainous.

All in all, another great set of figures from the excellent Bob Murch Pulp Adventures range, available in the UK from North Star.

I recently found this figure half finished.....

.... and left in the bottom of a box. So, I thought I'd finish him off.

I started him off ages ago, when I was working on my Roman auxiliary cohort for Infamy, Infamy. I intended to use him as a character who could feature in certain scenarios, maybe as the cohort's Prefect being escorted by his troops or in some other context. You can just see the dark red vertical stripes on his tunic under his armour. Known as a tunica angusticlavia, this signifies his equestrian rank. The stripes on a senatorial tunic would have been wider. The roles of praefectus cohors was the first step on the tres militae, which was the career progression available to members of the equestrian class in imperial Roman society. To be honest here, I think that I have painted his red stripes a little too wide, but it is too late to change them now.

My Romans are the only figures that I have based on coins. The original reason for that was because during the 2020 lockdown I ran out of 2cm round MDF bases and used pennies instead. For some reason, this guy ended up on a 2.5cm MDF base, so I've glued him to a 2p coin under the MDF base, which makes him stand out if nothing else! I don't really like basing on coins, but I might as well be consistent for these Romans.

He needed basing properly and having various details picked out. His cloak also needed highlights. So, now he's finished and I can put him away with the rest of my Romans, who haven't been used for anything since 2021. One day, I'll get them out again, I hope.

 

Some Bob Murch Pulp figures

One of my aims for this year is to reduce the lead mountain. One specific target is to paint up as many of my backlog of Pulp figures as possible.

This group of five are called Count Casamir's Trans-Siberian Renegades and comprise Count Casamir, Blotsky his Chief of Secret Police, his wife the Countess, Misha the faithful bodyguard and Yolanda his daughter. 

They are incredibly full of character, a hallmark of the excellent work of Bob Murch. His figures are available from North Star in the UK and I recommend them to anyone who likes the Pulp genre.

I decided to go with a different colour palette to the one chosen by Bob Murch, because I like to give my toys my own interpretation. They were fun to paint, mainly because they are so well-sculpted and cast, but also because they just look so good. The one I found the trickiest was Misha, the sailor bodyguard. I tried my best with the hoops, but I'm not sure I've done him justice. Oveall, though, I think they have turned out rather nicely.

They clearly have lots of possibilities for gaming and I really hope they will get some action at some point.

Sixteen 17th century musketeers finally completed.

You'll need to scroll down to see the lot. First for the Blue Regiment;

 And now the Green one;

These are all from Bicorne Miniatures and they match perfectly in terms of size with the growing range from Bloody Miniatures. Below you can see these two groups augmented to form two units of 12 figures by mixing them with some Bloody Miniatures figures;

I see the Blue regiment as being some kind of "elite" unit, maybe the lifeguard of a general or maybe the guards of a major town or city. The Green (and Brown) regiment is clearly a lesser formation, maybe a trained band, a regiment raised by a local landowner or a unit of militia. They have a much less uniform appearance but as we all know appearances can be deceptive. They could equally be experienced and battle-hardened mercenaries.

I've been working away on these for ages, but I kept putting them to one side to work on other things and, finally they are finished and I am really happy with how they have turned out. I think that they are of a reasonable gaming table standard and easily pass the "how do they look from a metre away test".

Anyway, I am now one step closer to have a small force for The Pikeman's Lament or some other Pike and Shot period set of rules. I have three units of Bicorne pikemen to work on now.

These three groups complete my Spanish Guerrilla force

 Here are the remaining 18 figures, in three groups of six;

They are a mixture of Front Rank and North Star (from their Muskets and Tomahawks Napoleonic range). They look considerably less "military" that the first two groups, so they can represent civilians who have taken up arms and become guerrilleros rather than regulars who have joined the Little War against Napoleon.

So, I have now five skirmishing groups and four leaders to form a core force for Sharp Practice, but I intend to add in two groups of skirmishing 95th Rifles to create a bigger force of around 85pts. I'm thinking of it as being a deliberately "literary" force, based on the kind of units found in Bernard Cornwell's classic Peninsular War Sharpe books.

First two groups of Spanish Guerrillas

These two groups of six are all 28mm Perry Miniatures;

They are a mixture of two different Perry sets. One is scruffy-looking infantry in a mix of uniforms and civilian clothes and the other is infantry with British-supplied equipment and Spanish uniforms. I deliberately avoided any real uniformity in uniform colours, because I wanted them to look like stragglers or deserters from a variety of regiments. I'll admit to being pretty happy with how they have turned out.

I have three more groups of six to varnish and I'll photograph them tomorrow and post them up.

Keeping the Spanish theme going...........

Here is the start of my next Sharp Practice project; Napoleonic Spanish Guerrillas.

I have started with four leaders. From left to right they are from Bad Squiddo, North Star, Front Rank and Perry Miniatures. What I like here is the huge variety of different styles of the figures, giving me an opportunity to paint them all differently. The Perry figure on the right is an actual Spanish infantry officer, but the guerrilla bands included members from all over the place, including from the Spanish armies.

I now have to think of suitable names for each of them.

I am currently working on 30 guerrilla figures, which will give me five groups of six to fit in with Sharp Practice rules. The first two groups are nearly finished and they are also Perry Spanish fusilier figures, all wearing a mixture of uniforms and civilian clothing. The others three groups will be a mixture of North Star and Front Rank and have a far more non-military appearance. 

Spanish Unit For The Silver Bayonet

I haven't posted anything for over three weeks, but I have been busy, mostly working on Napoleonic Spanish types. First up, is my Spanish unit for The Silver Bayonet, a set of rules for Gothic Horror during the Napoleonic Wars. There are eight figures in total.

These four above are the more "regular" troops, an Artilleryman, an Officer, an Infantryman and a Sapper. Below are four "irregular" types, a Guerrilla, a Veteran Hunter, a Champion of the Faith and a Swordsman. All these eight labels have specific meanings within the rules.

The figures are from the official range of figures produced by North Star and I have to say that they are excellent sculpts with lots of character and nice details. I decided when painting them that I wasn't going to get too bothered over making them specific to any particular Spanish units of the period. After all, it is basically a fantasy game, although some of these could be used in historical Peninsular War games, probably as characters or specialists for Sharp Practice, although they are quite chunky and on the large size compared with Perry figures, for example.

Anyway, I now finally have a force to use for games of The Silver Bayonet. I'll have to find time to paint up the French and British sets at some point.

A break from the 17th century; more 15mm Soviet armour from Zvezda

I've been feeling the need to paint something different, so here are four WW2 Soviet AFVs.

So, above are two T-34/76 tanks. I already have one of these but I need two more for a game that is being arranged for some point in the future. The gun on the left-hand tank looks a bit droopy, but I've straightened it up a bit. To be honest, it looks OK in real life, so maybe it is an optical illusion? 

Next, something I bought in case I get around to playing some Barbarossa period games, a BT-5.

Generally outclassed by German tanks and anti-tank guns, the BT-5 was very common in the early war period, and remained in production until sometime around the end of 1941. Equipped with a 45mm M32 20K gun, it was able to penetrate the armour of the PzKPFW III Ausf. D, E, F, and G variants at a range of up to 1000m, although it was more effective at shorter ranges. It was at a huge disadvantage defensively because it was only lightly armoured and could even be vulnerable to the German PzKpfw II's 2cm KwK 30 cannon at relatively short ranges. During 1941, the BT-5 and the BT-7 were gradually replaced by the vastly superior T-34/76.

Finally, here is the SU-85, a tank destroyer designed in 1943 to use the chassis of the T-34 but armed with an 85 mm D-5T gun to provide better armour-piercing capabilities against the German Tiger and Panther tanks. Originally intended for use in the T-34/85 tank, the D-5T was replaced as the T-34/85's main gun by the ZiS-S-53 in early 1944 until the end of the war. Production of the SU-85 was ended in mid-1944 as the T-34/85 became more widely available. Around 2500 SU-85s were produced.

I like these simple Zvezda kits because you can buy them singly, they have very few parts and you can get them made, undercoated and painted pretty quickly. Without a great deal of effort, you can turn out decent-looking tanks that easily pass the 1 metre away visual test.

Oh No! Not more Bloody Miniatures!

Well, yes it is, actually and it is the last eight from sets Three and Four. Scroll down to see them all.

These six are from three different sets but I've painted them with a common palette so that they could be a group of Commanded Shot from a single regiment. I really like the red, blue and yellow combination, although I know that contrast colour cuffs might be somewhat anachronistic.

Next are two more figures painted in a similar colour scheme.

The chap on the left is another figure from the Looters set (as is the drinking figure in the first photo) and the other is from the Parliament Men set, but I've given him a more flamboyant uniform than your average sober Puritan gentleman. He will be the leader of a 12-man unit of musketeers, currently being painted.

So, that is the end of the first four sets of these excellent miniatures. I ordered sets Five and Six a week or so ago, and they are now in the queue waiting to be prepped.

In the meanwhile, I have 24 musketeers nearing completion and 36 pikemen primed ready to be painted.

I've also prepped and undercoated 34 Spanish 28mm Napoleonic guerillas and leaders for a Sharp Practice project and the eight figures from the Silver Bayonet Spanish set, some of whom might also be useful for SP.

Four women from Bloody Miniatures (plus two more men too)

The fourth release by Bloody Miniatures was called "A Chorus Of Disapproval" and contained four female figures, collectively "The Gallant Ladies", and here they are;

These made a nice change to paint, allowing for a more varied colour palette and they also provide options for smaller-scale skirmish games and ones with a RPG element. The bold young lady in high boots and breeches could also come in useful in games involving pirates or highway robbery.

The two male figures here come from the third release, "A Parcel Of Rogues", the halberdier coming from the quartet called "The Parliament Men" and the other from "All The King's Men", but I've chosen to paint them in the same colours, making them look like two members of the same regiment with a russet uniform and a blue sash;

I might have to buy some figures to create a russet-uniformed regiment now, but they could clearly work in small skirmish settings too.

Down On The Farm With Bloody Miniatures

Four of these figures are farm labourers and the fifth (smoking a pipe and holding a blunderbuss) is from the BM Militant Tendency quartet;

I am sure that figures like these will find a place in all sorts of scenarios, possibly ones involving allegations of Witchcraft and consorting with Dark Spirits, as well as more mundane affairs. I think that the chap with the pipe looks like a farmer accompanied by four of his workers confronting a bunch of marauders or looters or maybe even just a group of passing dragoons who may or may not be up to No Good. You can just hear him; "Oi! You! Get orf moi land!"

Five more Bloody Miniatures - Flashing Blades and more

First, the three Flashing Blades and then two figures who could be leaders;

These three are from a group of four who are described as The King's Men, but I think that they look great as the kind of men who will willingly solve their problems with the point of a sword. I chose a predominantly blue palette for them as a change from all the buff coats, armour and uniforms I've mostly been using so far. Swashes are definitely going to be buckled, or maybe buckles will be swashed? Who knows?

The next two are less flamboyant but equally businesslike;

The figure on the left could quite easily be another Flashing Blade, except he looks a lot less flashy and somewhat more unforgiving. He has a definite tough officer look about him. I've painted the inside of his hat with a dark metallic colour, so that his hat looks like it is lined with a "secret", a head-protecting iron cap.

The guy on the right is a mysterious and sinister character, a spy or intelligencer, someone without scruples and an unswerving loyalty to The Cause, whatever it might be.