Fantasy Sampler

 I haven’t posted in a while so I figured I’d show you what I’ve been working on lately. I initially started working on my old world Warhammer Empire Army. I’ve been using Wargames Atlantic conquistador infantry as my Empire State troops. The models are great and easy to paint. The torso are in one piece so all you have to do is attach the arms with the appropriate weapon. I finished a unit of spearman and halberdiers on 25mm bases. I also finished two great cannons and a mortar that are from Gamezone Miniatures in resin. I was in the process of finishing the crew, but decided to pivot and start working on various models I’ve collected for several fantasy skirmish games. I picked up rules for Frostgrave, and forbidden psalm a while ago, but got discouraged by the need for various monsters and beasts to complement the games. I was inspired to give it another try after playing in Dallas’s dungeon crawl murder hobo game he put on at Prairie Con. The murder hobo fits perfectly in the Forbidden Psalm lore. They would also make a pretty good faction for an evil Frostgrave war band. Both Frostgrave and Forbidden psalm require a large group of models to act as a beastiary and I’m challenging myself to work through a large collection models as quickly as possible to make up this beastiary. I’ll have to find the right compromise between quality and quantity, as well as efficient time use. 

My first experiment is with Hero Quest goblins which will act as generic goblins for the various games. I used contrast paints and managed to paint them up very quickly. They won’t be winning any awards, but they’re basically just game pieces so it’s not worth painting them to a higher standard.

Primarily from Otherworld Miniatures. The scarecrow is from Northstar.

A mix of bits from GW, Northstar, Mantic Games and a HorrorClix werewolf.

United for a Frostgrave warband 

Very old Hero Quest goblins painted with contrast paints from GW.

Thanks for visiting!

Are You (Really) Ready for Some Blood Bowl???

So Conscript Greg was back for a visit a couple weeks ago and suggested we play a long-delayed game of Blood Bowl, pitting my Rat-thletic Club Skavenblight team against his Carroburg Crimson Commanders. As I've been wanting to play this game for over 10 years (!) I was really enthusiastic to get it on!

 

I'm not gonna go through a blow-by-blow account of the game (being new to the rules we managed to play only one half) but it was super-fun and I totally get how Greg's LFGS crowd is really into it. We used the old Astrogranite board which I painted years ago, and just one note - the squares fit my old-school 25mm round bases much better than the new-fangled 32mm bases that Greg's team sports.

The game itself was a hoot - Greg's hapless Ogre's stupidity was matched only by the viciousness of my own Rat Ogre, who managed to put at least two of his OWN TEAMMATES (!) in the infirmary. 

There was certainly a lot of the old ultra-violence. Neither the Skaven nor the Imperials had much other than a ground game :-)

Both teams came close to scoring (the Commanders with a long run down the sideline just barely stopped by a Skaven Lineman playing safety, and a Blitzer; the Skaven with a run down the opposite sideline that came to grief with the Blitzer failing his "push it" roll and fumbling the ball on our last possession) but the half ended scoreless.

The game was great fun (I think even Dave V. and Mike F. had fun watching the mayhem) and I'm sure we'll get at Blood Bowl again, I even went out and bought the current rulebook which is a really nice hardback. I also have two metal teams to paint so there is some hobbying to do yet!

Warmaster Empire Characters

Some Empire Characters for Warmaster. Sculpts by MiniRat, printed by Excellent Miniatures.

Just one more post before Christmas - a few more Warmaster character figures, this time for The Empire. These figures are 3D prints, sourced from Excellent Miniatures, and I believe the design genius behind the files is MiniRat Studios. Here we have a wizard, a priest (certainly can be a Priest of Sigmar, but this is not specified), and an Elector Count.

A Priest of Sigmar.

Nice little shrine to accompany the Priest.

Nice big hammer to sort out those who do not believe!

My Empire forces for Warmaster are pretty old and established, but having coming across these sculpts, I thought they were all so cool that I wanted to add them to my collection, taking to the field to lead and support the forces The Empire on the table. Long time fans of Warhammer Fantasy Battle will recognize the inspiration for these sculpts from GW's long-lost WHFB ranges. 

A College of Magic wizard - spell in progress!

A really, really cool sculpt - ready to zap the foes of The Empire.

These sculpts are brilliant, and there are many, many small details that are just wonderful to see - and try to capture if I can with my brush. Like any project, there are always things you look back on and wish you could have done better, but there is always scope to improve, and these small, 10mm figures are the sort that will inspire you to keep going!

An Elector Count to lead the forces of The Empire.

Yet another amazing sculpt, tons of detail, which I did my best to capture.

In "Warmaster", the command and character models are important, but their influence is subtle - some can throw a few spells, and they can join regiments in the line of battle to add a lift their combat ability, but their most important role is to provide commands that move your units around the table. These character models add a nice touch of Empire "flavour", and I hope they can see action on the table someday soon. 

Thanks for visiting - happy holidays to everyone, and as the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge gets underway, watch for the submissions to start rolling in! 

Star Wars Legion Massive Imperial Update (including AT-ST!)

Hey all, just popping in with a pretty big update for my Star Wars Legion "Hoth" project. Basically I've finished all of the Imperial models I have on hand so just wanted to post on that. My little component of "Blizzard Force" is pictured above.

Part of the update is just Snowtroopers - two more sections are complete, making three sections for the Snowtrooper platoon! (I have another seven-trooper section on the way - those are custom 3D prints that I'm really looking forward to painting). These ones are done in the standard style - cloth bits Rakarth Flesh washed with Agrax Earthshade, then re-highlighted with Rakarth Flesh, and white bits Corax White highlighted with White Scar. So easy and simple. 

And while I'd posted the Imperial officer and comms trooper before, I finished the medical droid and astromech to complete the support section. 

Here's the medical droid and astromech.

Another addition to the support section comes from the "Cassian Andor and K-2SO" box, in the form of this KX-series security droid.

Rather than fit the arms from the rogue droid K-2SO's appearance in Rogue One, I set the droid up "unarmed" as I assume that's how it would normally appear.

Lastly, I finished the Legion AT-ST. What a superb model this is. So easy to assemble (it comes already partially assembled from the "factory") and super-detailed - it's just awesome.

I equipped the model with the optional light blasters on the LH side of the crew capsule and the concussion grenade launcher on the RH side. 

Painting was pretty straightforward - basecoat of Mechanicus Standard Grey, highlighted with Administratum Grey and Dawnstone. I did some streaking with Nuln Oil in a different sort of technique - I loaded a large brush with Nuln Oil and dried most of it off, then brushed it downwards to simulate some kind of water streaking. I also applied Nuln Oil to joints and on the legs before lightening it all up a bit with some drybrushing.

Then I went over with the sponge chipping to create some wear and a bit of blaster damage. 

So that's Blizzard Force nearly done, except for some custom 3D-printed goodies that are on the way. I think I have enough models painted now to have a game, so I'll try to put something together on that front in the next couple weeks!

Painting Challenge Submission 13 - Empire Handgunners for Warmaster

A unit of Empire handgunners for "Warmaster"

I was away last week, so could not get very much painting done for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. I did get home in time over the weekend to crank out one more unit for my Warmaster Empire forces.  This is a unit of handgunners, very useful "missile" troops in the game for the Empire player in the Warmaster game.  Their shooting is harder to stop, and any wounds you can stick to the charging units of your enemy will really come in handy.

Astonishing variety and character in these small sculpts - incredible stuff.

The colours are really loud as before, and they are from the province of Hochland, red and green.  Once again I went with brighter colours to really make them "pop" (I hope).  And although they are of course imaginary, these troops are clearly inspired by the forces of Renaissance Europe, and I believe some rather bright colours were often employed in that era.  So the province of Hochland may have to deal with dark, brooding forests and the scary Middle Mountains, but dammit, their contingent in the army will look bright and fun when they march forth!

GW's Warmaster figures are a joy to paint, these were no exception.

In an ideal world I would include several of these units in my Empire force, as the stopping power of the handgunners is very useful, particularly when confronting cheese-bag overpowered forces such as those marshaled in the name of Chaos (*cough* Chaos Knights *cough*).  The Warmaster game, however, is long-cancelled, and the figures are found only in online aftermarkets.  Handgunners in particular figures seldom appear on Ebay, so this unit will remain a little lonely for now, although fellow Challengers have suggested several alternate sources for 10mm troops which might be useful, so I will check those out.

The yellow feathers...maybe too yellow? Oh well.

Once again I must rave at just how awesome these sculpts are from GW.  Just frigging brilliant, a true joy to paint.  Man, I can't wait to get a game in again with this stuff...haven't played Warmaster in like eight years or something...

The handgunners take their place in the ranks...not to worry gents, I'm sure those Knights behind you will hold off and not trample you or anything like that.

Of course I have to include the obligatory progress shot of the overall force, which has grown from a neglected little smattering to a healthy-sized, full force ready for a game! I'm fortunate enough to have a few more units to add (included some nice recent Ebay scores, even if I can't find many handgunners) but I think, for now, this will bring my recent Warmaster painting run to an end, although with my butterfly attention span, who knows what next week might bring?

The Empire forces for Warmaster! They even have  house to defend now! I wonder if Byron could be convinced to 3D print more of that village stuff...

I'll conclude with a photo from our visit to California last week.  We visited the Palm Springs area, and while much of the trip was taken up with important activities like relaxing by a pool, sipping drinks and shopping, we also went hiking in Joshua Tree National Park, home to a surreal and mesmerizing landscape.  What an amazing place...can't wait to visit again next year.

The Barker Dam at Joshua Tree National Park in the USA...there had been some rain two weeks prior, so there was water behind the dam...it was a peaceful and beautiful place to visit, and a lovely hike...

There 24 castings 10mm in size for this submission, so this should get me 24 points.  Trudging toward the goal of 1000 - still a ways to go, but the goal is in sight. Stay tuned for more next week (I hope).  It's another "theme round" weekend and those can be a little dodgy for me...

Be sure to check out the ongoing excellent entries at the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, including more stuff from Byron, who is apparently running a painting factory...

Submission 11 To The AHPC - Warmaster Empire Knights

Two units of Empire Knights for GW's "Warmaster"

Since I let the Warmaster genie out of the bottle, I can't seem to put it back.  These figures have been neglected, unpainted and unloved for more than seven years, and since I started working on them again a few week ago, I want to make the effort count during Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.  Here are two more units for my Empire army in Warmaster, both units of Empire Knights, my 11th submission to the Challenge.

This unit is sporting colours from the Empire province of Hochland

I tried to use bright colours to create a contrast and a "pop" on some of the features

While I am often wary of, and frustrated by, painting horses, I still love using cavalry in a game.  The heavier, the better, and in GW's Warhammer Fantasy setting, the Knights of the Empire are at the pinnacle of heavy cavalry fun.  The Empire Knights are fantasy cavalry at its finest, at least for me - not fancy, flighty horses or silly magicians, but men and big horses covered in enough armour and barding to bring down a panzer division.

These gold coloured Knights are inspired by the "Knight of the Blazing Sun" from the Warhammer Fantasy setting

These sculpts are just total home runs - some of GW's finest work

In reality, armour imposes burdens on warrior and mount that can limit its use.  People and animals can only undertake so much activity wearing all that steel. But in the fantasy setting, we can just toss those worries into the bin, and the malleability of the Warhammer Fantasy Old World as a setting offers limitless possibilities.  Obscure Knightly orders? Sure. Elite guards for the Elector Count or the Emperor? Sure. Collection of well-financed, bad-ass nobles? Sure.  All together in the same force? Why not?

A closer shot of some of the Hochland lads

Some fellows in the gold armour for comparison

I know history offers some amazing examples of very heavy cavalry (man, I wish I could figure out either Byzantines or Persians so I could paint Kataphracts) but the Empire Knights in Warhammer Fantasy really fit the bill for fun heavy cavalry on the table.

Keen players of "Hail Caesar" and "Pike & Shotte" (like Curt and the gang in Regina) have noted the resemblance of these sculpts to the heavy cavalry gendarmes seen in eras such as the Great Italian Wars.  I'm hoping to try painting some figures similar to these in 28mm...not so sure I have the courage to yet tackle something like the Italian Wars, but maybe it's time to finally start an Oldhammer project...

Some serious armoured power for the Empire army!

As I have been saying while painting these figures, I find GW just absolutely hit it out of the park with these little metal sculpts.  They have tons of character - in the case of the Knights, beautiful barding, large plumes of feathers and massive lances with wonderful pennons - dramatic, flashy and bad-ass.  I painted two of these units this past week, but these are so nice, I could paint ten more before I got tired of them...so of course I've been scouring Ebay for more...

Obligatory overall photo - the force is getting pretty serious now!

In the Warmaster game the Knights are the Empire player's hammer, an integral part of the force.  For the Empire commander to be successful the halberdiers, crossbowmen and artillery will hopefully hold the line, while the Knights must charge home at the right time and deliver a blow for the forces of their Elector Count.  It will take some time to get some enemies painted, but I hope these Knights will get to make some kind of big and carefully thought-out totally reckless charge in a Warmaster game later this year.


This submission included 24 mounted 10mm figures, so that should put another 48 points on the pile, the drive to 1,000 points in the AHPC continues.  I have more Warmaster figures in the pending pile, but I think some more 30k stuff beckons. Hope to share more next week!