Tiny Goblin Raiders

 Hi!

I've had some tiny Goblins half built for ages and finally finished them off over the last couple of days.

Adventurers Ambushed by Gobbo's!

Made from some small balls of sculpey for heads and a cube for bodies, the detail is made from EVA foam which has proved to be surprisingly versatile in several of my projects over the last year or so.

Thus far I've got a dozen of the little Guys and Gals made with a mixture of swords and clubs and will need to make more with bows, some hero and leader types but I'm quite pleased with how they've turned out.

The figures are tiny, standing less than 15mm to the top of their heads and are mounted on small buttons so when zoomed in, the detail is pretty ropey but from table distance, they're pretty much perfect.

I plan on using them for Five Leagues from the Borderlands or similar skirmish games where I need warbands quickly and don't want to go purchasing lots of stuff that doesn't see regular use.

I must admit that getting these little fellows finished has been really fun and will need to make some more of them and build up the project a wee bit too but until next time, All the best!

Gunbot

 Hi!

Every so often, i will take a commission for making one of my Rusty Robots and this little chap is now winging his way off to his new owner in the States:

I really pushed the boat out with this little guy, trying nee materials and techniques on him. I'm quite pleased with how he turned out and its got me kind of hankering to make some more. 

It took quite a bit of time to get him right but I'm pleaded with the end result as the effort was worth it.

Standing roughly five inches tall and made from a mixture of sculpey, greenstuff, foamclay, wire and beads and painted with acrylics, Its the first robot I've made in some time now but its good to see him come together over the course of the weeks i spent making him between work and real life shenanigans.

I'm now thinking of making some more tiny figures so i can get my Five Leagues campaign going, I've been doodling out ideas for the region of Longmyre along with the assorted denziens who make it their home so expect some updates in the not too distant future. 

Until then, All the best!

Tiny Goblins for Leviathan

 Hi!

As promised, here's the next addition to my Leviathan project in the form of a unit of Goblin archers.

As with my other tiny troops, they're made from small cubes of sculpey and detailed with pieces of EVA foam. While they may not be too detailed, they will do the trick for simple gaming miniatures!

As they are so small and stylised, I concentrated on getting typically Goblin features, such as pointy ears and big noses so they are readily recognisable from a distance. I had originally intended to paint them in the mustard yellow that Goblins are depicted as being in the rulebook but settled on a more traditional green as my paint collection is starting to show its age and some of the pots I've had for the best part of a decade are starting to dry out.

In Leviathan, Goblins are a slave race who basically act as cannon fodder for the Orcish horde but they do have quite good ranged combat so I've armed them with shortbows so on the faint chance they don't get shot to pieces by Dwarven artillery, they will be able to snipe back with their puny arrows.

I've also finished a unit of Great Orcs but will post pictures of it when I get the chance to complete work on their bases but I'm looking forward to making some warbeasts to give my forces some real punch and lets face it, they are the real focus of the game. 

I also need to make myself some characters to lead my army so I think I'll be concentrating on building some more of the core army choices that I need for the game as looking at the points allocation chart from Leviathan:

I'm planning on putting together a 1000 point army which I figure is the absolute minimum size force I can get away with as each army has required units and the Orcish horde requires 2 units of Orc infantry and 1 unit of Goblins.

If I make myself some standard bearers and a few unit leaders, I will end up with two units of eight Orcs and a large unit of 12 Goblins or two smaller 6 man units which covers the force requirements. I do need to spend 300 plus points on monsters though which is a lot, but also at this sized force, not that much!

I must admit that one of my pet peeves with Leviathan is the force construction requirements as its almost physically impossible to build an army at less than 1000 points. It does remind me of the old Warhammer Fantasy 3rd edition rules which requires you to have minimum units but it doesn't really fit in with the setting as well as I'd like. For example, I'd really love to include an Orc Necrodon cavalry unit but that doesn't fit in with the force structure, despite it being thematically more in keeping with the Mongol horde feel of the army.

I suspect that I'm going to end up making whatever I want and seeing how things go to be honest but at the very least, the points allocation system does give me a framework of what I need to try and get made first.

Hopefully I will have the next couple of units finished over the course of this week as I'm on holiday and I've enjoyed making the simple sculpts too!

I do want to explore the world of Aeroth more closely so while I'm making these units, I will also be using my cardboard token units that I've had for ages to play a few games to get back into the swing of things and I do want to break out Brutalquest so I can get my Boar Company or Sir Roderick back into the field as well and I've also got some of my SD scale figures that I need to paint up and have a few plans for making some more to boot so no doubt I'm going to be kept busy over the coming week!

In the meantime, All the best!

Tiny Troops: Rusty Robot Blue Tribe Pirates

 Hi!

I've been hoping to be able to get back to posting on here more regularly but as per usual work and whatnot has got in the way but over the last few weeks I've been working on making some tiny Rusty Robots and have finally got the first six finished!

The Crew of the Mean Jellybean

Thus far I've got the captain, bosun and four crew and am quite pleased with how they've turned out!

I've sculpted various rusty robots over the years ranging from massive pieces such as King Raam and the Salty Seadog next to him through to smaller ones like the first Blue Tribe bot I made about a decade ago:

More recently I've also sculpted some Red and Black Tribe bots which are closer to 28mm:

Now ideally I'd continue with this approach and end up with a full collection of rusty robots in a scale that allows for a decent amount of detail and real personality but I have come to realise I just don't have the space or time for such an undertaking at the moment so I've decided to scale down a bit to approximately 15mm scale so I have enough space to actually put together a game!

I was inspired by my tiny troops project that I've been working on sporadically which saw me create a Junkers army of surprising size for Void 1.1 as well as an assortment of vehicles and even two lances of Battletech Mechs: 

I've refined it a bit but essentially each figure is a core of sculpey with wire legs and details made from a mixture of EVA foam and paper and I was pleasantly surprised by how much detail I got into them.

I've also got a similar number of Reds under construction and plan on creating mini collections of each of the six basic tribes with one leader, a specialist and handful of basic scrapbots before moving onto expand each force with reinforcements,

Once I've got a decent selection put together I'll be trying to play out a game or two, possibly using Planet 28, Stargrave or Star Mogul as each is a small skirmish at heart! 

My plan is to create enough scenery to fill a pinboard size gaming table. I'd far prefer my old 3'x3' table but I don't have access to it at the moment and creating enough scenery for such a board would be challenging to say the least, especially as storage is an issue here at Spacecow Towers. 

I'll need to see what I can get sorted over the course of the month and will post progress when I can and this simple process of creating super cheap and easy figures has got me to thinking that I may return to my Battletech and other Tiny Troops themed projects I'd been mulling over...

In the meantime, All the best!

January Project: Rangers of Shadowdeep Part 1

 Hi!

I've managed to pick up a fairly cheap copy of the new edition of Rangers of Shadowdeep from Ebay and am planning on using January as a challenge month to get myself the gubbins to play the campaign included in the book.

I've settled on using my own sculpts as I have loads of stuff to use for my Ranger and companions and assorted NPC's as well as Giant Spiders and Rats.

On top of the vermin, the scenario also calls for a minimum of six zombies so I've spent my last couple of days off sculpting some!

I need to sculpt a couple more to give me some flex in game and in the post apocalyptic Aeroth, they will be Children of the Worm, reanimated Revenants enslaved to the Great Devourer Worm, a gigantic bioengineered creature that inhabits the southern desert. It's worshippers give the gift of unlife to those desperate or unfortunate enough to fall into their clutches. By eating the flesh of the Worm, they become immune to disease and can withstand a terrific amount of punishment before being destroyed. Unfortunately the side effects can result in them devolving into a shambling zombielike creatures with only the bare minimum of intelligence!

Irksomely, I've run out of 20mm round bases so will need to pick up some more before I can get them painted but I'm going to crack on with getting my sculpting and will be adding a couple of Worm Cultists, a Worm Priest and a Blessed Hulk which will see use in both Brutal Quest and A Song of Blasters and several other games that I plan on playing during the course of the year! 

I'll be posting another update in a weeks time, hopefully with some painted figures or some built scenery but in the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 102: Vermin!

 Hi!

Following on from my rambling post yesterday, I've tentatively settled on sculpting my own stuff for fantasy skirmishing and have finished the first dozen figures for today!

Rats

I'm keen to make a start by sculpting lots of small odds and ends that will make handy low level menaces for my adventurers and started out by sculpting a horde of tiny rats.

I was only going to make six of them but got kind of carried away and now have twelve, coincidentally the exact number I'd need for Warhammer Quest!

They're rather cartoony and stylised but who cares as they are going to be getting slaughtered in games so I don't think I need to worry too much about spending ages on making them absolutely perfect and using sculpey allowed me to churn out a good number with little effort.

I've got another batch of dungeon vermin sculpted and curing at the moment but have discovered that I've run out of 20mm round bases so have had to order another batch before I can get them painted so I'll have a bit of a backlog of figures to work on once I get back to work which is actually pretty handy as I feel that it would be a good way to spend my remaining lockdown time getting as much stuff ready for painting as possible.

I do hope to be able to use some of my existing forces to play a game or two of Brutal Quest to get to grips with the rules this weekend but will see how I get on as I've got lots of stuff still to do for sci-fi shenanigans!

Marik Goldhelm summons Vermin to deal with some meddling adventurers

I'm also busily sorting through more stuff for my sci-fi projects so I have some more stuff finished for my game this weekend. I have noticed that I'm running a bit low on figures to work on so may spend a bit of time refreshing more of my old stuff. 

I am however after adding some more suitable bits and bobs to future games and need to get my crimelord, crooked noble and lots more done as well as retinues for each but will need to see if I can find some suitable figures for each as I'm keen to keep the momentum going and get more warbands, retinues and gangs put together and more games played!

I had planned on putting a bit of a Brutal Quest review on todays update but feel it would be better suited to tomorrow and a dedicated post would be better than being mixed in with all the rest of my ramblings.

Until then, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 89: Mistress Vex of the Mechanicus

 Hi!

I've managed to get a couple of figures finished for my upcoming game, namely a new Mechanicus character and one of the notorious Giggles Clan!

Mistress Vex is an adept of the Mechanicus and is the right hand woman of Maximo, the mysterious colleague of Vash who is shaping up to be a bit of a villain judging from the recent actions of his followers.

Vex is originally from the Forge World of Victoria XV, a highly polluted but industrially advanced planet that has a strong Mechanicus presence and has been working for Maximo for some years. She is a force to be reckoned with in her own right, being heavily armoured and armed with a power axe with a built in laspistol. She never removes her respirator in public but rumour has it that beneath the armour is a stunning beauty.

I sculpted Vex using sculpey over a greenstuff and wire frame as I needed an Adeptus Mechanicus character but was disinclined to spend a fortune on buying one. Some of her details are a bit rough but I really enjoyed making and then painting her and suspect she's going to be a regular in my games!

I went with a bit of a steampunk style and am now thinking of making some Skitari for her to lead...

Next up, there's Levi Giggles:

Levi is a member of the Giggles Clan, a notorious extended family that heeds no law but their own and are fond of raiding Imperial caravans for Tech and slaves. 

Levi is heavily cowled and bears a Blastmaster which he uses to bust some awesome tunes. The discordant racket is so terrible it has been known to kill at fifty paces but the Giggles Clan love Levi's tunes.

Levi is a Ramshackle Games sculpt by Curtis Fell and is a one piece resin casting that was lots of fun to work on and will be getting some new Giggles Clan reinforcements when I get chance as I love the idea of a bunch of unhinged rednecks with a fondness for grafting tech onto themselves!

In other news, I managed to play a quick playtest of Blasters and Bulkheads and really like it thus far! I'll be using it for my midweek battle report that will be getting posted tomorrow hopefully and will post my thoughts on it with the battle report but in the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 15

 Hi!

Here's my next lockdown project addition, a Black Tribe Gunbot!

I actually made this guy during the last lockdown but didn't get around to painting him so it's really good to get him done and dusted.

I've got two more Black Tribe to paint up but once they're done, I'll need to get the Blue Tribe painted and try to get the remaining Green, Yellow and White Tribes done too. 

In other news, I'm currently working on painting up another Elven Voltigeur for Flintloque and have made a 6mm scale board for small scale fantasy gaming to give my tiny Goblin Wolfriders something to fight over!

I'll have to see what I can get finished for tomorrow but if all else fails, I have several other Rulebook Reviews in the works so can post up one of them instead.

In the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 10

 Hi!

Well it's just been announced that the lockdown here in Scotland is going to be longer than first announced (and one suspects longer still than the Scottish government is willing to admit) which is infuriating that once again I'm not able to get back to work for the foreseeable future. On the plus side, this will give me the chance to get on with some more hobby stuff which is good!

I've just finished the new Boar Company recruits and will spend the next day or two painting them up which I am really looking forward to and will post updates as I go.

I'm also working on a second Leviathan Orc which I hope to get finished over the course of this evening and tomorrow morning so we shall see how things go.

With this new lockdown announcement, I may have to expand my hobby planning to stay sane and it might be a good opportunity to re-explore my love of old and forgotten games. There's so many fascinating games that may have passed folks by it seems like a shame to miss this opportunity to give things like Vor, Void or Kryomek a bit of love too!

I need to get my thinking hat on as I'm as usual veering wildly off on a tangent but I can't help but feel that 2021 may yet mean more painting and posting while we await things returning to normal post lockdown and Covid...

In the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 8

 Hi!

Here's what I've been working on over the last couple of days, a bunch of new recruits for my Boar Company and my Somewhere on the Border project!

Inspired by the Chronopia Dark Tusk's, these little guys are eventually going to be wielding two handed Morning Stars to give the opposition a damn good thrashing! At present, they still need arms, weapons and crests adding but I'm quite pleased with progress thus far.

I'm really enjoying getting some sculpting done and hope to have these chaps ready to paint in the coming week. The guy on the right of the first picture is going to be another character, armed with a sword and boar spear. 

I'm hoping to get some more humans done in the next batch of sculpts which will bulk up my adventuring party retinue before moving onto Marik Goldhelm's renegades and either Barbarians, Horned Folk or Orcs as I really want to add another force to the mix.

As usual, I am drifting off on a tangent but am enjoying myself and that's the main thing during Lockdown but I've not forgotten my other projects as I am slowly painting up another Elven Voltigeur when I'm not sculpting and will need to take another look at my Rusty Robots to give me some sci-fi stuff to work on as well!

In the meantime, All the best!