Sneak Preview

Change of pace, change of scale.

More to come, as they paint so much quicker than their 32mm version.

Too little, too late?

A recent announcement by Spartan Games on their blog, on the support for their Dystopian line of games (Dystopian Wars and Dystopian Legions). Legions was the only one of their games that interests me, as I'm really not into the smaller scale games. I'm really not sure what this means in terms of game support, which has been lacking for years now, but I'll be keeping an eye on this none-theless.

Dystopian LegionsDystopian Legions is now four years old and whilst more niche, we know that it has a following every bit as dedicated as Dystopian Wars, albeit somewhat smaller.  We are changing how we sell the product line, and will do everything to continue supporting the game and its loyal players.
We have therefore decided that all of the Dystopian Legions product line will be available via mail order from our online store only, also taking effect from October 31st 2016. By selling it as an entirely mail order product line, we can make it easier for customers to expand their armies with individual models and lower pricing by not needing to cater for packaging or trade discounts. This is a bold move for Legions, but one that we feel will strengthen the game in the highly populated 28mm scale miniature gaming space in which it competes.
This is the start of a number of exciting changes for Dystopian Legions which will firmly put the gaming control in the hands of its players. The greater customisation of purchase options will allow gamers to choose exactly how they want to play with their miniatures, from small squad-based adventures to platoon level actions!

So, all minis are available individually. This is cool I guess, as there are some sculpts I do not have that I don't want to buy a squad box just to have. This will also make the minis more tempting to those that play other games (like In Her Majesty's name), but I think it just means they hope to sell minis without having to give games or rule support. I rather feel that the second edition of this game was rushed out, unfinished then left high and dry as Spartan got their hands on the HALO IP. The reboxing of the miniatures and how the squads were built in game was also something I think was botched. Here's hoping the shipping isn't the issue that kills this to gamers outside of the UK.

Dystopian Legions: Black Wolf Raiding Party

This evening saw the completion of the Black Wolf Raiding Party for Dystopian Legions.

The Black Wolf Raiding party, is a section of mercenaries, that so far, any player can take as an addition to their regular forces. In the old rules, there was a max of 6 men per section. In V2.0, they can be taken in a section of up to 10. This can include one officer, and two specialists. This means, that under the new rules, I can play double the number of guys, but that means I have to buy another box, and I won't be able to use the officer figure that comes with it.

As to the minis themselves. I was very impressed with the minis at first, they are both finely made, and yet sturdy. They are, like all Spartan minis, 32mm, but a little more true-scale than some, which means, that even at 32mm, there is not much detail on the faces. They have little pits for eyes, and that leaves most of the definition up to the painters brush. They also have stripes sculpted into their shirts. I tried two or three various ways to make use of this sculpting, but the details are just not well enough defined for my hand, so I had to freehand on the stripes. They work at a distance, but look crude close up. I am happy with the blending on the tops of their hats though.

Officer

Ratings

Specialist

  Group Shots

I had taken these minis along to the masterclass to give a coat there, but the details and scale of them let them less than perfect for the skills I was trying to develop at the class, however, I am happy that they are finished, and I'm sure they'll see use on the table soon, either in my forces, or bulking up an opponents forces to help play a larger points game.

Meg Maples Montreal Masterclass, Day 2

Day two of the Montreal Masterclass was yesterday, and I'll both done in, and wanting more. I'm super motivated to keep on going with the techniques I learned there, and to finish the models I started.
Another full day of learning, concentrating and soaking in all I can about painting techniques wiped me out, but there was so much information passed on by the wonderful Meg Maples that I'm still mentally digesting it this evening.

Using the same two brush blending, with a bit of glazing added in, we looked at skin tones hair and fur (with a side serving of feathers, but that tutorial can be found here) and OSL (Object source lighting), which, with the two brush blending and the right choice of paint, was made to look extremely easy. the other thing we worked on were eyes. The bane of my painting life these last 20 years or more, finally I have a technique that works, and works very well. I must admit I had seen tutorials for this way of doing eyes before, but it makes a huge difference to see it being done on front of you. She also spoke of doing freehand and water effects using UHU glue. Like I said, there was a lot of information to take in!

Here is the final condition of the minis I did some painting on over the weekend. As you can see, none are actually finished.

 

Now for some better pictures of the work I did over the weekend.

Elf King

This is a Reaper mini that I picked up for a WFB Wood Elf army. He had a little bit of everything we were practising at the weekend, so he has had a fair bit of work done on him. I'm not so happy with the metallics, but I do like his cloak. His hair was not painted by me, but by Meg, as an example of what to do (the hair on all the minis she brought was already done), so I can claim no credit for that. It was not painted to completion by her, she would continue it if it were her mini, but I didn't have the mojo to finish it. I did get into the right way of doing hair on the pink hair of the KoS below. I will be using his hawk to try painting feathers soon.

Alexia

 

I'm very happy with the metallics on Alexia's sword. The deepest shade on there is coal Black with Umbral Umber, which looks almost black in the recesses. I have yet to have a go at using glazes on metals as was also suggested in the class.

Her eyes were a different matter. I restarted them 3 times. In the end I gave up (for now?) and painted her eyes in an inverse of the taught technique. Giving her a somewhat soulless look, which is fitting for her, if not exactly of Masterclass level.

VASA Knight(s) of the void.

I had two of these exceptional miniatures on the go at the weekend. This one I managed to do the eye and the hair to my satisfaction. I started on the body, but that may have to wait. I will be using her to do OSL on the cybernetic eye as well. Meg used the second of these minis to show how to do the OSL (she was running out of minis to show things on by the end of the session, so borrowed ours), and that is shown below.

As a shout out to those who I spoke to at the event that have a blog,  may I point you towards The Amazing Captain Spud, (his words, not mine) and to Yaum la Machine. Both great guys and exceptional painters whom I learned from too (as well as the many others I spoke to who either have no blog, or I am unaware of their blogs)

I had a great time over the weekend, and I learned a lot! I also broke out the sable brushes on the second day (for the eyes) and oh my, how they make a difference.  I'm a little bit in love with these little darlings now!

Finally: note to self, buy more Sanguine Base and Coal Black. They work on everything!

Meg Maples Montreal Masterclass, Day 1

This weekend in Montreal saw the last Masterclass to be held by Meg Maples in North America before she moves over to Australia. As a Christmas gift to me from my family, I went along. This was my first painting class of any kind, and I didn't know what to expect in terms of how many minis I would need, how many minis I would get through.

We were given a list of things we would need to bring, and a list of techniques we would try to get through. The first day started off with two brush blending. Before the class, I was aware of the existence of this technique, but that was about all. After a day of doing pretty much nothing bu that (the techniques was explained first for the very good reason that it was the basis of the other parts of the class) I think I'm staring to get the hang of it.

The minis I put on the table at the start of the day. There was no way I would get through that many, but it was good to have a selection to work from.

Cloak on a Reaper Wood Elf King, my first attempt at two brush blending.

Black Wolf Raiding Party Leader, an attempt at the same technique on smaller areas.

Alexia. I love this mini, and I have had her for years, but have not had the courage to paint her, as I didn't have the skill to do so to the level I though she required. No time like the present!

This mini was one where I was using the two brush blending technique to work on the metalllics. Hence all the work on the sword. I am happy with the way it turned out,  but the pictures do not do it justice, I promise better pictures after the second par of the course tomorrow.

So, I am back home with sore shoulders from hunching over under my lamp all day, and a sore head from concentrating so hard. I have never spent such a long time in one sitting painting before, and it was hard work, but the time flew past very quickly indeed. I have learned a lot, including that I need to learn more about colour theory. In addition to the technique of two brush blending, which I will not go into here, as that's what youtube is for, I learned that to get proper shading, you need to go darker than you think. For example, with the elf king's cloak in the first image, I initially went with a darker green, as per normal colour triads, but it just didn't show up at all. I soon plumped for Coal Black (P3), a dark purple/green black, which turned out to be perfect. I used this as a means of darkening pretty much all the shadows from then on. Mixing the Coal Black with an Umbral Umber (P3) gave the darkest shading on the metals too, looking like a proper black at the deepest parts of the shadows, whilst still maintaining an natural looks. I think I'll be using much more of this colour.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow, as there is a whole lot more to learn, and I'm really excited to get these minis finished.

Colore ton Monde Novembre: Veronique Dubois

This month's Colore ton Monde challenge was to paint a non-combatant. This aligned perfectly with me painting minis from the Iron Scorpion boxed set for the new v2.0 rules of Dystopian Legions. The thrust of this campaign is the struggle between two sisters, Monique and Veronique Dubois, both of whom have the MAR non-combatant, meaning they cannot be targeted/killed in game, but if the rest of the unit is gone, so are they.

So, may I introduce you to the sister who sides with the Republic of France, Veronique Dubois, medic, and unit attachment for the Armoured Marines.

 Please excuse the bleaching in the photographs, I can't find my normal camera, and the flash on this one seems to be a little overpowering.

I have played one game of the new version of Dystopian Legions, with this lady on the table, and she more than made her pints worth, as her medic skill allows a 50% chance that any on my marines that get killed in any given turn can come back. This star quality is one of the reasons she jumped to the front of the paint queue. If only I could hire her for my Britannians.

Dystiopan Legions: French Legionaires WIP

I am getting through building the pile of minis that comes in the Iron Scorpion boxed set, there are a lot to get through, many of which went together really easily. many, but not all.

I have not quite given up on building the Antarticans, but the automata are in 6-7 pieces each, and are a pain in the ass to build, so that's going slowly, and the Warmaster limited figure needs a whole bunch of cleaning up, due to flash at his feet, which really must be removed to put him on his special base. With these points in mind, it was much easier to start with the Frenchies.

I've put together all of the French models that came in the boxed set, and have moved on to painting them, finally. The first WIPs can be seen here. The scheme is pretty much the studio scheme, as I've stuck with the historical background for my KoB army and figured I'd do the same with these. The Covenant figures, being completely fictional, can obviously be done as I please.

More painting hopefully this evening.

Dystopian Legions: Codename Iron Scorpion I

My box has arrived. I am now the proud owner of the Dystopian Legions two player box set, Codename: Iron Scorpion. Not only does this box contain the new version of the rules and a campaign guide, it also has 2 armies (The Covenant of Antartica and the Republic of France), as well as templates, dice, cards and counters, but it also has scenery in the form of a ruined fort in multiple parts, all ready for the included campaign, and other games. That's pretty unbeatable for content I think. Full contents are listed on the Spartan Games website here.

I'll post pictures and a review shortly, and will get on with building the minis in the next week or so, as there area few local gamers who are waiting to play with me. November's going to be another Dystopian Legions month here on Lead and Paint!

Colore ton Monde: September, New Tech

This has been a slooooow month, with real life getting in the way of hobby time to a much larger extent than normal. I won't bore you with the details, but I will excite you with a painted mini. One whole big fat painted mini, that is the grand total of this month's gaming output. Go me!

The theme of this month's challenge can be found here, and the rest of the minis are posted on facebook here.

He is rather fat though, that much is true. He is a Sumotori, a heavy (literally) for the Triad faction in Urban War. There are another two just like him to be finished off. In the end, the paint job really doesn't live up to close inspection, but he's done.

How I spend month's gaming time will be entirely determined on which of the products I have ordered arrives first. I am awaiting the Iron Scorpion box set from Spartan, which has been already delayed at the printers, and there's usually about a month's lag in me getting things from them over on this side of the Atlantic. I am also close to receiving two Kickstarters from Chaosium. Horror on the Orient Express, and 7th Edition Call of Cthulhu. Both of which are currently scheduled for a mid-October release. If these arrive, I intend to put together a gaming group for that, which won't necessarily compete directly with my gaming time, as that's likely to be a weekend evening event, however, prepping it is highly likely to eat into my time at the painting table.

Dystopian Legion: Knightly Orders, Light Dragoons

I have finally finished with the Light Dragoons. These guys took forever, and as always, once you take some good pics of your minis, you see them in all their sloppy glory, so have to go back and work on them some more!

Either way, these guys are ready for the table, (not that two unit's will be seeing the table at the same time very often).

I was particularly proud of the hat bands on their glengarrys. The check looks fine from a distance, but up close, not so much.

Here are some group shots. The close ups are Under the cut at the bottom of the post.

 

To distinguish between the two sections, the bases are different. One with fences, and the second section with some bricks/tiles on them. I had originally though to do them with different colour facings on the uniforms, but this way they can all be fielded in one unit, is I don't want to put them on the table with their specialist in tow (the guys with the big guns).

 

 

Now, on to the individual pics of each Knight. Warning, that's a lot of pictures after the cut. Click on the pictures for larger versions, that way you can see all the flaws in my paint job!

Kingdom of Britannia: Light Dragoons WIP

Back to the Dystopian legions for a bit with the Light Dragoons. The lull in their release schedule means I can get well on my way to having a fully painted collection for my Kingdom of Britannia force.  After these guys are done, I'll only have the tank, the Black Watch to finish, and the Russian Mercs to do.

These guys have been looking at me from my shelf for a few months, but I decided, with this month's Colore ton Monde out of the way early, the path was clear.

It says something about the level of interest of this game, when I do a Google search for painted versions of these for some inspiration, and th most hits are links to my own blog! That may be the effect of my Google bubble, but I fear it's also indicative of the state of Dystopian Legions, in that there are not many others out there painting these.

Still, by painting these at the Oldies last night, at least they got some local interest, so another match may be on the horizon soon!

I now have two full units assembled, as pictured here. A bit of overkill, I'm sure, but there's at least 1 scenario that calls for that, plus the lack of units available for the game means I can use two for a bit of variety. I have distinguished between them in their bases. One unit having tiles on the bases, ad the other having remnants of fences they've just trodden over.