The Kickstarter Has Begun!

The day has finally arrived! You can now go and check out the full 

Kickstarter campaign page for ARMIES & LEGIONS & HORDES!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1560579763/armies-and-legions-and-hordes/description

And as a special bonus for everyone pledging in the first 48 hours, you'll receive a cool art postcard!

Please share this far and wide, and consider supporting this funding campaign.

I am writing a BOOK!

That's right, fellow blog fans! I've decided to write a book about painting wargaming collections. It will be going to Kickstarter this Friday, March 16, at 3pm EDT (which is 7pm GMT, 12pm PST, and 6am on the next day for those of you on the east coast of Australia).

What is going to be in the ARMIES & LEGIONS & HORDES book? 

I'm glad you asked. I'm going to be writing down a lot of my thoughts and philosophies on the army building and painting process in the hope that it will be helpful for everyone who has occasionally struggled with finishing an army project. I'm going to take an in-depth look at Inspiration, Goals, Expectations, Planning, and Motivations - with the goal of helping the reader to be able to map out a path to success for their own projects. This book will also be "game system agnostic", the principles described can be applied to any wargaming project, regardless of genre or period.

I'm also going to be putting together some photo-heavy features of armies and projects I have completed over the years along with a few completely new projects. The list looks something like this:

• Sci-fi Mass Battle – 40K Genswick 33^rd Rifles

• Sci-fi Skirmish – Dark Age collection and terrain

• Sci-fi Big Project – 40K Warlord Titan
• Fantasy Mass Battle – Warhammer Nuln Empire army

• Fantasy Skirmish – Fabled Realms collection and terrain

• Historical Mass Battle – Napoleonic British collection

• Historical Skirmish – WW2 American collection and terrain

• Post-apocalyptic Skirmish – This Is Not A Test collection and terrain

What is the Kickstarter for?

I would really love to see this as a printed book. I'm running this campaign to help fund the creation of a 120+ page hardback book, so that's really the focus. I want to keep the campaign very simple and focused on "The Book". There are six reward levels - one is the obligatory $5 pledge for thanks, and the other five are for a PDF version of the book or a printed version of the book, or some combination thereof.

Stretch Goals are focused on adding some of the other armies that I have created over the years.

What prompted you to write this book?

As a part of the services I offer through Dave Taylor Miniatures, I was laying out a rulebook for a friend (Disposable Heroes II for Sinister Laboratories). I had also taken the photos and was editing the book as I went. The key thing I remember was thinking "I'm really enjoying this. Seeing all the elements come together. This is something I really like doing."

So, with the skills to take photos and design and layout books, I just needed a subject to write about. They say "write about what you know" and with over 10,000 miniatures painted since 1991, the topic seemed pretty obvious. This book isn't a "How to paint..." book. There are plenty of those on the market from great painters. This is a new kind of book that focuses not on the techniques, but the psychology and planning behind big projects.

What's next?

I'm sure I've forgotten something, so when I think of it I'll post again, but really all I'd like to do know is ask you to pledge your support when the campaign goes live, and share the hell out of it with all of your wargaming friends. If we can make this a great success, I'm going to be able to explore lots of other cool ideas with other talented folks and bring their dreams to life too!

Check the campaign for ARMIES & LEGIONS & HORDES out on Kickstarter from Friday, March 16th!

Genswick 33rd Rifles Regiment, 1st Company - The HQ

Back in February I started to post some of the models from my Genswick Imperial Guard army. I've taken a few more photos since then, and thought I'd given you guys some more toy soldiers to look at. Here they are, the HQ choices for my Genswick 33rd Rifles, 1st Company.

The Genswick Rifles were inspired by the troopers of the same name (Genswick at least) from Dan Abnett's Straight Silver, the fifth (I think) novel in the Gaunt's Ghosts series. The Genswick are the first troops the Tanith encounter on the front lines of a tragic trench-war that has lasted for more than four decades. I really got the impression of an army that had been beaten down by not only the relentless grind of 40 years of toil in the mud, but also by an incredibly archaic command structure. When I built my army, I wanted the commanders to be awful stereotypes of incredibly obnoxious aristocratic fops in the best tradition of General Melchett from Black Adder Goes Forth.

Thus, Major Barnabus Collins was born. You can see him in his incredibly clean dress uniform above. He is attended by his personal physician, the regimental Standard Bearer, and 1st Company's only two functioning plasma guns. When such things existed, I had him rated as a "Junior Officer", so that I could not benefit from strong leadership, I also did not give him the Iron Discipline "skill" that I reserved for the NCOs that lead the platoons (but more on them in another post).

Above you can see my second Command HQ squad. I built this squad when we were working on an "Alien Hunter" article for US WD. I can't remember the issue number though, perhaps someone can remind me.

This squad was obviously inspired by the opening scenes from Zulu, as Michael Caine returns to his command after a successful hunt. Amusingly enough, the commander (who I never named) looks a lot like General Melchett.

And finally, I know these guys are part of the Troops section of the army, but I felt they needed to be here. This Conscript Platoon, dressed in their parade uniforms, is the bodyguard of Major Barnabus Collins. Following a bit of a snide remark I made about the static posing of the Baneblade commander model on its release, I was sent quite a few of them by amused co-workers. I was then required to assemble them and paint them up in their dress whites.

Anyway, that's it for today's post. Next time we'll take a look at the Troops that fight under the "Fighting Badgers" banner of the Genswick 33rd Rifles.

Cheers

Dave

Genswick 5th Armored Regiment, 3rd Company

Alrighty then, while my painting output has slowed a bit thanks to a persistent cold and my wife's business trip to Florida, I figured I'd finally get around to starting a series of posts on my 33rd Genswick Rifles army that people seem to be quite fond of (well, I know I am). I started this army at the end of 2003, just as the new Bretonnian models started to arrive in the US. By adding Cadian lasgun arms to Bretonnian Men-at-Arms bodies it was actually pretty easy to create and army that had a distinctly WW1 feel and a strong 40K aesthetic.

On to the first installment of an ongoing feature.

Strangely enough, I didn't start the army out with any tanks (proper tanks that is). After playing a bunch of games with it, including the 2004 Baltimore GT, I felt that this was an army I could keep adding to over the years. In 2006 I started work on the armored company you see below.

First up we have the Company Command Tank, a short-barreled Vanquisher, #301 or The Forbes (named after a friend and colleague who passed away while I was working on this project). I had shortened the barrel so that it could be comfortably be used as a Leman Russ in tournaments, without too much hassle. Other features include an extended hull and trench rails, all hand cut from plasticard - a common feature of the tanks of 3rd Company. A street light from the CoD sprues serves as a loud speaker for blasting the Imperial Creed as the brave boys of Genswick advance. When the Apocalypse command frame was available, I added the Imperial eagle radar dish. You'll also notice a number of triangles painted on the front, right track guard. This is the number of enemy armored fighting vehicles (AFVs) that the tank has taken out in combat (well... actually... not really in my battles, but just in my background story). Finally, the heavy bolters in the sponsons are Ork Big Shootas from the metal Deff Dreads, the same parts that I used for my infantry HBs.

Next up we have 1st Squadron of 3rd Company, tanks #311, 312, and 313 (or Saviour of Aexe Cardinal, Golden, and something starting with a G and ending with an F - if only I could remember it...). These guys are sporting a fairly standard Leman Russ armament of battle cannons, hull-mounted lascannons, and sponson-mounted heavy bolters (made the same way as the command tank. As with the command tank, I added the tops of armored sentinels to the turrets to switch up the profile a little bit. For this squadron without track guards, kill markings are painted on the side of their turrets.

2nd Squadron of 3rd Company are another trio of Leman Russ Tanks. #321, 322, and 323 are known respectively as Kratzenberg's Hope, Iron Gate, and Thracian Arch. This squadron obviously does not have the heavy bolters and so takes on a more mobile role.

And 3rd Squadron of 3rd Company are a set of Leman Russ Demolishers. I've always loved the Demolisher cannon, and three Strength 10 AP2 ordnance templates dropping down on something is always very tasty! Throne of Khan (#331), The Arbutus (#332), and Xerxes' Hammer (#333) are always a firm favorite! To all three I've added some of the old, old Chimera armored plating from back in the day.

So there you have it, a look at the 3rd Company of the 5th Armored Regiment. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any thoughts about what the name for #313 is, please leave it in a comment below.

Cheers

Dave