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 buy 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.