Back to the Brushes 310

Still here and still breathing! Always a good thing. 

A quick pic to show the start of the Knights of Gondor for Dragon Rampant and fantasy skirmish in general. 

 

The rider at the back came firmly glued into the saddle!

The above along with three other horses still to be primed saw some virtual action at the weekend. The game was an introductory session to Dragon Rampant for all involve and as host a huge learning curve as well. 

Running a game through zoom on a tablet is challenging but fun all the same. Can see now why people have invested in web cams to help out with this and if lock down returns then might do the same here. 

Might look at sabot style basing for these as well for Hordes of the Things.

Looking forward to getting moving on these, the first real painting done this month! Is it possible to complete 30 figures in 13 days, we'll see. 

Stay safe and cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 274

Another two figures finished painting and this time it is two Orcs from Citadel. 

The righthand figure is from the champion from Uzegod's Mothercrusher Black Orcs and the other figure is an archer from Citadel's Orcs. Both are part of a long lived project to collect and paint some iconic Orcs for Dragon Rampant and have fitted in nicely to this month's 30 days 30 miniatures painting challenge. 

Day 26

2 x 28mm Infantry

16 x 20mm infantry

18 figures in total

Cheers for now
 

Back to the Brushes 272

Blink and before you know it another month is drawing to and end and this has been an eventful month with a few significant dates happening:

• Reaching the half century
• Celebrating 20 years married
• The young Padawan starting school.

Whilst this has all been good and rewarding in very different ways, there has still been a little time to get some painting done including the following work in progress pics:

The Late Roman archer's horses are already done and these two ponies belong to some undercoated Huns. 

Half of the started Gondorian archers for Dragon Rampant. Been playing about with the base colours for the plate armour with these so there will be some difference in the finished appearance from previous figures in this retinue.  

More Prussian Landwehr moving slowly forward. The blue is taking more time than anticipated for such a large area of colour. The base coat is looking more like a contrast paint and requiring over painting when it shouldn't. 

Hope that this has been of interest to you 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 267

A quick update on the 30 Days 30 Miniatures Painting Challenge with the first batch of figures now at the ready stage for this challenge. 

At almost two thirds of the way through its time to up the ante and get figures finished off. Here are the first thirteen figures all from Games Workshops Gondor range. 

These are for the Gondor Rampant retinue that is currently being painted with a view to taking on Mordor, Harad, Khand or Umbar in the future. Thankfully the only figures from the nations mentioned above that are liked from Games Workshop are the Mordor Orcs and there are more than enough of these in the lead mountain. 

There are thirteen here and if you notice there are also a few bent spear shafts here and there. Plastic doesn't suit this weapon type. 

 There will be more completed figures shortly. 

Day 20 - 13 x 28 mm infantry completed. 

Hope that this was of interest to you 

Cheers for now

There is Darkness there that never sleeps 2

The second unit for Gondor Rampant is now finished - the Axemen of Lossarnach led by Forlong the Fat or Forlong the Old

Tolkien describes these men as below:

Leading the line there came walking a big thick-limbed horse, and on it sat a man of wide shoulders and huge girth, but old and grey-bearded, yet mail-clad and black-helmed and bearing a long heavy spear. Behind him marched proudly a dusty line of men, well-armed and bearing great battle-axes; grim-faced they were, and shorter and somewhat swarthier than any men that Pippin had yet seen in Gondor.

'Forlong!' men shouted. 'True heart, true friend! Forlong!' But when the men of Lossarnach had passed they muttered: 'So few! Two hundreds, what are they?

Opted for grays on this unit to tie it into the colour scheme of Gondor but also to set it apart as it is not black. When placed against the Gondor swordsmen that have already been completed these fit in well with their own distinctive identity. 

The inspiration for the floral image on the standard and shield comes from two sources, firstly the Vale of Flowers is another name for Lossarnach and the Wood Lily or Trillium  Both were hand painted in the finishing stages of this unit. 

So far this year, these are the favourite of all that has been painted. Truly great figures and far more fitting for this unit in Dragon Rampant than the GW versions that are still available.

Hope that you found this interesting. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 261

As the Axemen of Lossarnach are nearly completed have made a start on the next unit for Gondor Rampant.

This unit will represent the back bone of the warband; spear armed heavy foot. There are another seven that are only primed at this time.

Boromir is included because he is there not because he is a part of the unit. 

Also started are two pieces of scatter terrain. 

The well is generic and will be used for all 28mm skirmish games. This is a 3D printed item that was picked up at Carronade 2019. 

The statue is from Games Workshop and has been gathering dust for as long as the Gondorian infantry. 

Both items have been mounted on 70mm rounds from Warbases and textured with ready mix plaster and sand. Finding this works better for larger bases than sand alone.

Hoping to make good progress with these this weekend when the weather changes. 

Hope you found something of interest. 

Stay safe

Cheers for now

There is Darkness there that never sleeps.

Here is the first of a new series of posts relating solely to the painting of warbands for use in Dragon Rampant set in Middle Earth. The title is from Tolkien and said by Boromir during the Council of Elrond. 

The first post show the first unit of swordsmen for a Gondorian warband that is currently being painted.

The swordsmen were originally purchased not long after the release of the Return of the King film in 2003/4 so they have waited a long time to see the business end of a brush.

Also included are a Captain, Denethor Steward of Gondor, a Standard Bearer and a veteran swordsman just behind the captain 

At this point the sabots have no scenic grass or tufts added however this will change to break up the black edges you can see on the figures as the sabots are not deep enough. (3mm needed not 2mm).

In game terms for Dragon Rampant these will be classed as Heavy Foot with no ability to form a wall of spears. If Denethor was with the unit they would be classed as Elite Heavy Foot.

Have enjoyed painting these figures and there will be more of the same during the coming weeks along with a few other things from here and there.

Stay safe.

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 260

Second unit for Dragon Rampant is starting to take form in the Gallowglas from Antediluvian Miniatures

These will be used to represent the men of Forlong the Fat from Lord of the Rings - Return of the King, Book Five, Chapter 1 Minas Tirith

Forlong has come,' Bergil answered; 'old Forlong the Fat, the Lord of Lossarnach.... Hurrah! Here he is. Good old Forlong!'

"Leading the line there came walking a big thick-limbed horse, and on it sat a man of wide shoulders and huge girth, but old and grey-bearded, yet mail-clad and black-helmed and bearing a long heavy spear. Behind him marched proudly a dusty line of men, well-armed and bearing great battle-axes; grim-faced they were, and shorter and somewhat swarthier than any men that Pippin had yet seen in Gondor.

'Forlong!' men shouted. 'True heart, true friend! Forlong!' But when the men of Lossarnach had passed they muttered: 'So few! Two hundreds, what are they? We hoped for ten times the number. That will be the new tidings of the black fleet. They are sparing only a tithe of their strength.' "

Great figures with a lot of character and they fit the description better than the GW figures of the same name. Will darken Furlong's helm to a near black later on today.

In game terms these will be a unit of Bellicose Foot with the Shiny armour upgrade.

Hope this has been of interest to you

Stay safe

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 259

Something new from something old; Men of Gondor for Dragon Rampant.

The test figure for the first group of swordsmen is nearly completed. With the bulk of the detail lying in the armour have opted to paint this as follows:

• Base coat - Citadel Chainmail
• Wash - Nuln Oil
• First highlight - Citadel Chainmail
• Second highlight - Chainmail and Foundry Spearpoint C Silver mix
• Final highlight - Foundry Spearpoint Silver C. 

The whole group as work in progress including Denethor, a Captain and the standard bearer above.

Cheers for now.