The last two infantry units for my Midgard Warhammer Empire army

Finally! These are the last two units for my army. First up; a unit of Handgunners; 

I went back to a basic yellow and black colour scheme for these and gave them some kind of NCO whose job is to control the volley firing and reloading drills.

Next are my only other infantry missile troops, some Crossbowmen;

I've used a blue and yellow palette for these because I see them as being Tilean mercenary crossbowmen. 

The backdrop is another Jon Hodgson one.

The Foot contingent of my army is now complete; two groups of Ogres and eight of human footsoldiers, plus various leaders. 

I have assembled twelve armoured cavalry over the last few days, six heavy armoured Lancers to represent Imperial Knights and six armoured Pistoleers. I've got to finish off their horses, because a lot of the horse tack for these Wargames Atlantic Renaissance Heavy Cavalry comes as extra pieces to glue onto the horses. I'll hopefully be able to undercoat them, but I'm not planning on painting them until after my holiday.

Two more Midgard Empire units

I'm getting these finished at last. Once again, these are based on Wargames Atlantic conquistadors.

Below are two units of Warhammer Fantasy Empire spearmen (I'm not sure why the Empire never had pikes);

These are predominantly in the Averland state colours of yellow and black, but both units have a splash of a third colour, red in the top picture and green and red in the lower one. The flag in the upper picture comes from a Warhammer Wiki page and the backdrop is from a Jon Hodgson backdrop book. The first group are clearly better armoured, perhaps they are the guards of some rich lord?

Anyway, I now just have two groups of ranged troops (handgunners and crossbows) to complete and then it will be time to start sticking some Horse together.

Two more figures from Bad Squiddo

I forgot to post these earlier, so here they are. Scroll down to see both of them.

This is Jeanne d'Arc. She comes in two versions, mounted and on foot. I only have the latter. Both versions come with a nice paper banner and a metal spear to put the banner on. 

Actually, you get two flags, in case you mess up the first! The flag artwork is Martin Whitmore.

The second figure is a fantasy one.

She is a spellcaster, described as an Arcane Witch on the website. As you can see, she is hovering above the ground, buoyed up by her magical powers.

Tieflings

 Yes, Tieflings. Six of them in total. Scroll down to see them all. These ones are from Bad Squiddo.

I decided that a bold colour palette was the way to go for these lovely figures. Above we have a Fighter of some sort, possibly even a Paladin and a spellcaster with a grimoire under her arm and a mystical McGuffin in her hand, maybe a Warlock or Wizard.

Next are two more Fighters. I decided to tie all the more martial Tieflings together with the colour of their clothes, making them kind of swaggering and dandified swashbucklers. The one on the right has some kind of small pet creature on her wrist.

The last two seem to be rather useful additions to any band of dungeon adventurers; another spellcaster and a rogue. I will say that these two are my favourites of the six. I could see the spellcaster working as a Druid, Sorcerer or a Wizard and the Rogue speaks for herself. I mean, everyone likes a sneaky thief with assassin-type skills, surely?

The backdrops are, as usual from Jon Hodgson's terrific books available from Bad Squiddo or Handiwork Games.

61st Foot - my final few things

Some people may remember my 28mm Sharp Practice British Peninsular War force using the 61st Foot, the South Gloucestershires. These are the final 15 figures I planned to complete and a mere 4 years late, they are done.

Above are my final six skirmishers from the Light company, with a sergeant on the right. As previously, I have tried to make them look somewhat bedraggled and battle-worn, mainly by varying the colour of their trousers.

Below are an Ensign for the force and a drummer for the Light Bobs, I already have a drummer for the Centre Company chaps and finally, two Deployment Point markers, one for the centre company troops and another for the Light Bobs.

I like to give my Leader figures names, so the Light Company sergeant is Sgt. John Redcliffe and the Ensign is Thomas Barton-Hill. Anyway, I have now finally completed my force for Sharp Practice and hope to get a chance to deploy it at some point in the future. It now consists of four groups of 8 line foot and another four of six skirmishing light infantry, plus a fair number of leaders and support choices.

The backdrop is from a Jon Hodgson book, as per normal and the figures are from the Victrix Flank Company set.

Back to my Averland project

I sort of lost interest in this project for a while, but I'm getting back into it again. I've completed three Command stands which will act as Heroes for Midgard.

The flags used for the first two groups were downloaded from a Warhammer Fantasy Wiki site and reduced in size to suit 28mm figures. I have a couple more standard bearers embedded in two of my infantry groups using flags from the same source.

The figures are all Wargames Atlantic Conquistadors, which are perfect for this project because I have made two groups of Rondeleros (Sword and Buckler troops), two with long spears and one each with handguns, crossbows, halberds and greatswords. All pretty much standard for a Warhammer Fantasy Empire army. 

I was going to paint them all as Averland troops with yellow and black "uniforms" but I decided that I would widen the colour palette with red, blue and white, although I have incorporated black in a couple of cases.If I had to justify this, which I don't, I'd say that they were Tilean mercenary crossbowmen or troops from the personal retinue of some Averland magnate. Frankly, who cares? It just adds a bit of colour. I've decided that I will finish each group of eight figures before moving on to the next, so I get results more quickly.

Once all the infantry are done, I have 24 mounted figures to do. Twelve will be in full armour and the rest will be light horse. The armoured box contains the option of pistols, so I'll definitely do a unit of six pistoleers but will probably use lances and shields for the other 18, although I have been thinking about doing six mounted crossbowmen, assuming I can use spare crossbow arms on the light mounted bodies. We shall see.

So, I'm reasonably OK with how these have turned out. Not my best work but fine for a big army on the tabletop, where they will easily pass the 1 metre rule.

Apart from Mingard, these would also work well for Sword and Spear Fantasy in 28mm.

The backdrop is from a Jon Hodgson backdrop book.
 

Lots of buildings - click the picture and scroll down

 Well, I've finally finished these off, all ten of them. Scroll down to see the lot;

All of these buildings are in 15mm scale and are resin casts from Hovels. The mounted figures are for scale and are officers from the Lurkio Nine Years' War range, now sold by Gripping Beast.

I am pretty happy with these. I think that they'll be good for everything from the late-17th century right up to WW2. Some clearly suit the Netherlands/Belgium more than elsewhere and a few really need to be used together to make up an urban setting, but others might be OK for Normandy (at a pinch). In any case, I think that these models have a certain charm that you don't get from MDF buildings and I deliberately set out to paint them in a kind of impressionistic way rather than going for a totally realistic appearance.

The backdrop is, once again from a Jon Hodgson Handiwork Games book.

Lots of resin scenic pieces.

And there are quite a few, all 28mm scale pieces. Scroll down to see them all. The first one is from Bad Squiddo, the priest is just for scale);

The rest are all from Fenris Games. Once again, figures are just for scale;

The photo above features that almost-famous archaeologist Prof. Idaho Smith, who is also in the next picture, wondering why that strange altar appears to be glowing green in the centre.

I love this next one. It is a triangular obelisk covered in inscriptions in three unknown languages, like a kind of Eldritch Horror Rosetta Stone. It is probably best not to try and read any of the texts out loud.

This next one includes a bit of scenic scratch-building to put the strange stone head into context;

So, I am really pleased with all of these. I've had them for quite a while and I wanted to get them painted up. I've still got some more stuff to paint with MORE TENTACLES!

The backdrops are, as usual from the excellent series of books by Jon Hodgson at Handiwork Games.

Hopefully, these will get some use in pulp games and for various eldritch horror purposes.

A Big Dragon

 This is from Dungeons and Lasers. I bought the kit ages ago from Annie at Bad Squiddo.

It's taken me a long time to paint this because I didn't want to mess it up. The kit is called Durkar the Sovereign Serpent. It isn't a difficult kit to assemble but you do have to take care that all the parts fit together. I ended up using some liquid Green Stuff to cover a couple of the joints. It's wingspan is 23cm and it stands 12cm tall.

I undercoated it initially in Army Painter Brainmatter Beige and then did another spray from behind/above in AP Greenskin. After that, it was all about softening the rather raw green primer with Army Painter Warpaints Army Green and then washes of Citadel Mortarion Grime and Agrax Earthshade, followed by a lot of drybrushing with progressively lighter shades of green and a couple of stone and bone shades on the underside of the wings and body. The mouth was done with Army Painter Barbarian Flesh and a wash of diluted red paint.

The base has a moulded dungeon floor with piles of coins and treasure. I glued it onto a larger MDF base for added stability and built up the edge with aquarium crushed shell ballast and lots of PVA glue. Then I painted it to bring out the treasure etc, washed it in Peat Brown drawing ink and added flock and Gamer's Grass tufts.

I'm pretty happy with the way the dragon has turned out. A bit of a scary project at first, but after a lot of thinking and planning, it has become a pretty good piece. The backdrop is from one of the excellent Jon Hodgson Handiwork Games books.

Not sure what I'll use it for, though.

Some more fantasy adventurers

 These have all been made from the North Star Frostgrave Soldiers II box;

Above are three figures who could be a Fighter, A Wizard and a Ranger, although I did gave a D&D Sorcerer in mind when I assembled the figure with the spear and lantern.

Below are a Rogue/Thief, a Cleric or maybe another Fighter  and a Fighter or Barbarian.

Of course, these could be used for all manner of different rulesets, so they are quite versatile as to their roles. They could even fit into a Frostgrave warband quite happily.

The backdrop is a, by now standard John Hodgson one.

I am reasonably happy with these, but I think that the Cleric is possibly the one I like least. I'm not sure if I'll keep them. I might put them up for sale at the club's annual Tabletop Sale in May.

Another addition to my Roman auxilia

 I've had this guy around for a while but I only finished him yesterday.

He is a mounted vexillarius based upon the mounted centurion figure from the Victrix Roman generals set with a head and animal skin cloak from the Early Imperial  Auxilia set's command sprue and an army from the Early Imperial cavalry set. The SPQR vexilla transfer is from one of the LBMS Late Roman transfer sets. The backdrop is another Jon Hodgson one.

I think that he's come out OK and I'll probably use him in my planned Principate Roman auxiliary army for Midgard and other things too, maybe Infamy, Infamy if people I know start playing those rules again.

More Gothic Horror......

 ... from Bad Squiddo. First up, The Count and Countess (with her little dog);

Two respected (OK, feared) members of the local community, The Count and Countess turn up at all the best parties and are always sophisticated and erudite company with magnetic and compelling personalities. People often find it hard to refuse them anything and no one has anything bad to say about them, nor about the three young ladies who often accompany them on their travels around the region. It is assumed that they have a private chapel in their castle, because no one has ever seen them in church. 

OK, witches often have a bad reputation, but this is mostly just gossip and bad publicity. You shouldn't believe everything you might read in nasty muck-raking books like the Malleus Maleficarum, after all that Heinrich Kramer was just a misogynistic old nuisance who couldn't get a girlfriend. Anyway, these two witches are most definitely not bad people. In fact, they are conscientious and public-spirited young women  who have dedicated themselves to the business of Pest Control across the Carpathians and beyond. If your town or village has a blood-sucking problem, just get the Bürgermeister to get in touch with Mr Rupert Giles, Miss Summers' agent and business manager. The Misses Summers and Rosenberg will soon sort out your problems. Trust me, the problem will disappear like magic in a puff of smoke.

First post of 2026 - odd happenings in the old graveyard

I've had these Gothic Horror figures from Bad Squiddo on the painting table for a while. First, three young women;

 Clearly, they have decided to take an evening stroll, but why on earth have they chosen the old ruined graveyard? Haven't they heard the rumours about this place?

Next, the kind of people who usually hang around the old graveyard at night;

Who are these women? There is something clearly abnormal happening here. Why do we only ever see them at night? Why is it that few of those who see them are ever heard of again, and those who do escape end up babbling insanely about "Vampire Acolytes" preying on the innocent and foolish.

The scatter items are things I've had for ages and the backdrop is by Jon Hodgson at Handiwork games.

I've two more Vampires and a couple of other figures to photograph and I'll post them soon.

Elves! But not the Santa's Little Helpers variety

There are twelve in total, all metal Oathmark 28mm ones. Scroll down to see them all.

Above are two heavily-armoured High Elf warriors, a herald and a fearsome fighter with a two-handed sword.

Below, we have a hero with a mighty two-handed mace and an Elven King with a two-handed sword, probably one of those legendary blades forged by Elven smiths at the Dawn of Time.

Next up, another mighty Even warrior and an Elf Cleric.

Next a wise and puissant Elven Mage and his trusty companion, an Elf Ranger

Below are two female Elven warriors, a herald and heroic swordswoman.

And finally, two more Elf Rangers, ever alert to evil beings who might threaten the Elven homelands.

The scenery is all 3D printed stuff and the backdrops are, as usual, from one of my Jon Hodgson backdrop books.

Victrix plastic Roman auxiliary archers

 These 12 figures have been unpainted and half finished for far too long, so now they are done.

I bought the 24 figure plastic Victrix auxiliary archers set ages ago and until recently they were just sitting in a box, half finished. I decided that I'd get at least the first twelve, the so-called "western" style ones done before the end of 2025, and here they are. To be honest, they aren't my best work, but they are good enough for the tabletop. It is a shame really, because they are really nice models and I should have spent more care on them. The photos are a bit dark too but they are OK. Maybe I'll finish off the "eastern" ones better?

Anyway, they are replacing some metal auxiliary archers in my auxiliary for and I'm planning to use these in an army for Midgard Heroic Battles.

The backdrop is from Jon Hodgson's excellent range of Handiwork Games books. 

The last of my Bad Squiddo D&D figures

Only two, this time;

These two are pretty heavily-armoured, so I've decided that they might as well be Paladins. Of course, they could be fighters, but very well-equipped ones, so hardly likely to be Level 1.

I decided to keep the colours simple, but I do like the green/red contrast theme for lots of things. I'm not sure how one might play the bird of prey in D&D, but I'm sure it could be done. 

Once again, I used a Jon Hodgson backdrop.

I'm working on some more Fantasy figures at the moment, making progress but not very quickly. They'll get done before long, though.

Guards! Guards!

 Here are four more D&D figures from Bad Squiddo. Scroll down to see them all.

You could use these as fighters or NPCs. I think they work well as a pair of guards who might pop up somewhere in an adventure, which is why I used the same colour palette for both figures. Are they friends or foes? Perhaps you'll need to roll against your Persuasion to find out.

The next two are both much more heavily-armoured and look like the sort of guards who might cause a few problems for your explorers in a dungeon or maybe some other setting, like a forgotten temple in the wild hills perhaps;

I particularly like the figure on the left with the glaive. Her ornate armour is full of nice details. Both of them have a terrific vibe of coming from mysterious or unknown cultures.

Of course, they will fit into all sorts of Fantasy settings, not just D&D.

The Arcane Monoliths are from Fenris Games, an excellent source for lovely resin scenic items and the barely-visible backdrop is from Jon Hodgson at Handiwork Games.

I've got a couple more figures to post, but that's all for today.

A few more Dungeons and Dragons characters

These are all from Bad Squiddo, four figures in total (scroll down to see them all);

Above, from left to right are a Barbarian, a Warlock and a Fighter and below is another Fighter.

The eagle-eyed  might notice that the first Fighter has an artificial leg as well as missing an eye. She's obviously been in a lot of tough fights.

I like all of these figures but my favourite is the female Warlock, holding a skull marked VII, which must mean something. Who knows, perhaps she has a selection of different skulls for each day of the month?

Once again, I've used two of my Jon Hodgson backdrops, available from Bad Squiddo and Handiwork Games.

I've got more figures to post. Stay tuned!

 

Some Dungeons and Dragons characters

 These are all 28mm figures from Bad Squiddo.

These three are pretty self-explanatory; a Ranger, a Rogue and a Cleric. Ideal characters for a group of intrepid dungeoneers and explorers of the trackless wastes and forests.

The backdrop is a Jon Hodgson one, as usual.

I'm rather pleased with how they have come out. As one always finds with Bad Squiddo figures, the sculpts have lots of drama and detail about them and the casting is incredibly crisp and clean, making them a joy to paint.

I've got several more Fantasy figures to post, but I'll be doing them over a number of posts.

Six female Pulp figures

These are all 28mm figures from Bad Squiddo;

Those of you who read this blog regularly will recognise that I've used the same setting as in my previous post. Well, what can I say? I already had the lightbox set up so why not take advantage of it? I did use a different Jon Hodgson backdrop, though.

These six will work for all kinds of Pulp games, including Eldritch Horror and also for VBCW. As usual, they are lovely clean casts and a joy to paint.

I've got a lot more stuff in varying degrees of completion, so it is now just a case of actually finishing them off and not giving in to starting other figures instead!