Four Colour Super Minis

Dusty Old Camper Van for Shanty Town

2012-01-21T12:46:00.000-08:00

The ubiquitous VW Camper van can be found in just about any corner of the world. This one, to be found in my African Shanty town, is in reasonably good repair, except for a little rust and dirt. It's more than capable of transporting a fire team or two of my African militia, as long as they can get it started.

Another Disney Cars vehicle. This one required a bit of green stuff to fill in its mouth, just above the bumper, but that was it.

Beat-up Banger for African Shanty Town

2012-01-20T13:51:00.000-08:00

Here's my latest bit of scenery for my African slum- A rusty old car. This car is well past its sell by date, but some ingenious mechanic has managed to keep it serviceable, just about, by retooling parts from other cars and welding flattened-out oil cans to the body to repair the holes. More rust that car, its unlikely to provide much cover in the event of a fire fight.This one was another Disney Cars vehicle. He was called 'Fred'. I am not very familiar with the films but I think he was a character in a spin off TV series. The only conversion I had to make was to re-sculpt the front bumper (fender) with green stuff, as it was twisted into a goofy smile. Very heavy rust and weathering seemed the order of the day.

Ray Gunn: Soldier of the Future!

2012-01-18T07:56:00.000-08:00

A while ago, when I posted the dastardly Doctor Dust, Jay asked to see Dust's nemesis, Ray Gunn. It's take me this long to get round to digging Gunn out, dusting him off and photographing him. Anyway, preamble over, here is my favorite pulp hero Ray Gunn: Soldier of the Future.

Ray Gunn is a pulp ere hero who found himself trapped in the early twentieth century after falling through a time portal while fighting forces of the Potentate of Mars in the twenty third century. Ray Gunn uses his superior scientific knowledge, along with his trusty pistol and two fists, to right wrongs and protect the weak.

The figure is a Heresy crewman, with a gun swap. The retro style gun is on one of the Heresy weapons sprues. I painted this a while ago, and I think it shows. My painting technique has really improved in the last couple of years since I have been photographing my figures and blogging about them. These something about blowing up a 28mm mini to seven inches high that really shows the areas you need to improve on. That said, I love this little guy, not least because he has got the coolest pulp hero name ever!

Look What I Found in Poundland!

2012-01-14T06:25:00.001-08:00

Usually, when you look in bargain basement shops, you usually find tat. Every once in a while, you find a real gem. I was in Poundland a week or two ago, looking for cars that might scale OK with my 15mm zombies. (Poundland, to any readers out of the UK, is a shop where everything they sell is £1). Anyway, I managed to find these lovely not-Hummers, and they are in perfect 28mm scale. Some have sirens/flashing lights on the top, while others are in an army style. Needles to say, I cleared the shelf.

Here's a pictures with a 28mm Copplestone figure so you can get a feel for the size.

Although they are nice enough as they are I will be repainting them to suit my 28mm African terrain, probably as part a government motorcade. It's easy to see these lovely models used in any modern or near future setting, such as Pulp City, or a Zombie incursion. I might pop back next week to see if they have got any more.

Ulric Bloomen: Agent for Hire (KKBB)

2012-01-13T01:41:00.000-08:00

The world is full of unsavory characters willing to sell their services to the highest bidder. This is a resent pictures of Ulric Bloomen, a former East German spy, who now works as a freelance agent and assassin.

Another Copplestone KKBB figure, and a particular nice one. I always love painting Mark Copplestones stuff- he is by far my favorite sculptor when it comes to painting- his stuff might not be that dynamical posed, but his clean lines, lack of clutter and his characterful faces are always fun to paint.
My instinct when I picked up this figure was to painting him in dowdy colours, perhaps a grey or navy jacket etc, but I fought the urge and adopted my KKBB mantra- 'Brighter is better'- and opted for lime green. I am delighted with the result, a this figure immediately stands out from my VBCW figures with his unlikely choice of coat. Not very inconspicuous form a spy, I will grant you, but I think it has a cool retro Austin Powers look to it. So far I am pleased with the way my colours are coming out with this range.

Evil Genius and Goons (KKBB)

2012-01-12T05:34:00.000-08:00

Since my good lady wife bought me the entire range of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (KKBB) stuff for Christmas, I have been painting a few of them, just to try out some ideas.

KKBB is based on the old spy movies and TV series from the sixties and seventies, like James Bond and The Man from UNCLE. Drawing on this source, and the spoof movie Austin Powers, I have opted to paint my KKBB stuff very colourful. This will also be a nice change from my VBCW painting, which, being set in 1938, has used very dowdy and dull colours.

Here is my first KKBB post. Evil genius Doctor Helmut Von Kriegg, megalomaniac scientist dedicated to world domination, along with some of his jump-suited henchmen and, of course, his pet Persian cat, Mr Pickles.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a range of miniatures jointly sculpted and manufactured by Artizan Designs and Copplestone Castings. Here the evil genius was from Artizan, and the henchmen from Copplestone.

Obviously there is some cross-over potential to my to my

four-colour stuff here too. The henchmen could easily be employed by a super villain, which is useful.

Good News Crossover

2012-01-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note- Crossover Miniatures, the kick start company I blogged about earlier in the week, has just managed to raise the requisite $4000 they needed to begin production. I would like to congratulate those involved, and wish I could have contributed financially too. I am eager to see what comes of Crossover Miniatures, and will be following them avidly over the next few months.

Well done chaps.

African Shanty Town Shops

2012-01-05T05:06:00.000-08:00

Once more inspired by the excellent Call of Duty MW3, I have built this row of shops form my African shanty town. It is inspired by the market scene in the missions 'Back on the Grid' and 'Fatal Extraction'. The building in notably more up-market that the shanties, and reflects the fact that the shop owners have got a little bit more resources than their poor neighbours.

Its a two story building with a flat roof and a balcony. Access to the roof is either up a ladder on the side or up a stairwell inside. The roof and the first floor are removable to allow figures to be place inside.

I know it's not quite a shanty, but even in shanty towns you are going to have to go some where to buy your food and AK47 ammunition. It adds a bit of height to the battle field, and as it is one of the only brick build structures in the area, I am sure it will be a desirable objective in a fire fight.

I am going to add some market stalls, and build the dilapidated church that also features in those COD: MW3 missions.

I can even remove the balcony floor all together and opt for a single story building with a flat roof.

Crossover Miniatures

2012-01-04T13:56:00.000-08:00

A new start up model company has very recently come to my attention producing four colour superheroes and villains, in 28mm scale. This company is called Crossover Miniatures. As far as I know they are based in the USA. Here's some of their greens from their range. They plan to make 8 models, with interchangeable heads, plus a pack of four thugs and henchmen.

The sculpting standard so far looks very high, and the whole thing looks quite exciting. The thing is with this company, they want people to pledge money, presumably to contribute towards the start up cost, and in return you will receive some miniatures.

I have come across this start up pledge thing before, but have never participated. It seems like a good idea to me. The chaps running this one have just 13 days left to raise their target of $4000, and so the pressure is on!

Unfortunately, due to financial constraints, not least my wife loosing her job, I am not in a position to join in with this offer, although I would be tempted if I had a few spare $$$. I really want this project to succeed and get of the ground, and so all I can do is blog about it and hope that some one else who read this blog might be in a better situation than I and can help with the pledge.

Why not check out Crossover Miniatures at their website here.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/211492152/crossover-miniatures-a-new-superhero-miniature-lin

Disclaimer- I have no connection with Crossover Miniatures whatsoever. I am just an interested gamer spreading the word about an existing new project. Any questions, comments or queries should be directed to Crossover Miniatures.

Happy New Year

2012-01-03T01:49:00.000-08:00

As this is the first post of 2011, I feel it is customary to offer a quick review of the year, and to outline the planed projects form the next 12 months.
As far as the blog goes, it continues to go from strength to strength. In January 2010 I had 3 followers; in 2011 I had 33. Now I have 68, including many loyal followers who regularly post comments, which is fantastically encouraging to me.
My mate Leon often is often playfully critical that the content of the blog has deviated away from the core content, four colour superheroes and villains, and it has, to an extent, as I have began to include other projects I have been working on. 2011 saw more VBCW, a few pulp heroes, more zombies, some more sci-fi, 15mm zombies, flames of war, and of course my new obsession, the African shantytown. That said, 29 of the 95 blog entries last year were, in some way, related to four colour superheroes, so that’s still a strong theme.
My plans for 2012, apart from preparing for the forth coming end-of-the-world by stocking up on zombie fighting equipment (somehow I am sure that the apocalypse will certainly include zombies), will be to complete the shanty town, then populate it with some African militias and some special forces for force-on-force; to add more 15mm zombies and some police to my collection, and to build more cardstock buildings for my zombie survivors to fight over (a mall or a hospital seem likely); my VBCW army will be expanded too, starting with the royalist defenders of Chester, although I have plenty of ideas for the Wirral Socialist Council too. Of course, I will continue to add more super-powered core content to the blog as the year goes on.
One exciting new project for 2012, and one I know Brummie is going to enjoy, is Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (KKBB). KKBB to the uninitiated is a range of retro-spyfi miniatures produced by Copplestone Casting and Artizan Designs, reflecting the golden age of spy movies like James Bond, Man from UNCLE and the Avengers. Luckily for my, by wife was kind enough to buy the entire KKBB range for me for Christmas, and soe I will certainly be rolling them out throughout the year, along with some suitable scenery (doomsday devices and shark pools seem inevitable!). Gaming-wise, Leon and I plan on using 7TV, but I haven’t read the rules yet, so I couldn’t comment on the game. So there you go. One year down and another stretching out ahead of us (well until all that business with the zombies at least). I hope this year brings you all you want, and thanks for reading.

Shanty Town Watch Tower

2011-12-29T03:46:00.000-08:00

I have been adding some more bits to my African Shanty town slum scenery. This time I built a watch tower on top of a small hill.

The shanty is set into the hill, and topped with a watch tower, giving the militia a commanding view of the whole town. A fence stretches across the hill, restricting access to the town. Luckily enough for the attackers, there is a storm drain that runs right under the watch tower, allowing stealthy access to the shanty town.

I built the hill form foam card and covered it with Modrock and then I sanded it and added bits of corrugated card, match sticks and balsa continue the junk feel. The fence is built form balsa and aluminium mesh, and is designed to link up with the other bits I have already built.

Like the other bits of scenery for the shanty town I have built this with function in mind. The shanty roof comes off, so I can put figures inside, and the storm drain means that attackers will have a choice about taking out the defenders or sneaking past- Very Call of Duty!

Wrecked Car for my African Shanty

2011-12-21T02:12:00.000-08:00

I thought my African Shanty town needed a few beat-up old cars hanging around to 'modern' it up a bit. I looked around for a source of suitable models, and came up with a surprising find.

Modern 28mm civilian vehicles are a bit of a rarity. You can find Hummers and Toyota pick ups in some ranges, but they are expensive. for this project I wanted something a bit different. I have had plenty of experience converting die-cast cars into wargaming pieces, having done it for my VBCW and Battle Cars collections in the past. The trouble is that most die-casts are not in '28mm scale', which is about 1:56. It was by chance I stumbled on the fact that Disney's Cars die casts are something close to 1:56 scale, although there is some variation across the range with some of the small cars being undersized for comic effect.

I thought I would start with Tow Mater, the tow truck. I bought him on eBay for about £5. I drilled out the bolts underneath so I could take it apart. I took the mouth piece off the front, and removed the tow hook thing on the back. I used a bit of card to build up a new front, and built a scenic base to fit in with the rest of the shanty town scenery. I also cut down one of the tires to make a flat tire out of green stuff.

A quick bit of paint, a bit of rust effect stippled over the top and plenty if GW washed to add a lot of weathering, and hey-presto! A suitably wrecked piece of war gaming scenery.

Here's a shot with a 28mm Russian (I haven't got any Africans yet) for comparison. Bear in mind, this isn't a Toyota type pick up typically used as 'Technicals', but rather an older 1950's Chevy type, which was a bigger beast. Scale wise, I think it's about right. I have also got a nice small salon car (I think it might be an old Skoda) and a VW camper to do next.

More Shanty Town Scenery

2011-12-18T01:33:00.000-08:00

Ho ho ho! Amongst all the festive foolishness and Christmas tree construction I have managed to get a few more bits of my African slum scenery finished. It's building up into quite a collection now, but I would like to add a few more buildings, and may be a big centerpiece too.

First off, a couple more shanty shacks, being built in the same way as the previous ones. This one has a balsa wood ladder up the side. Gaming access to the flat roof increased the gaming potential.

This pool of contaminated water was made from card and DAS modeling clay. I made the office chair myself, from some left over Fimo. The toxic waste barrels some heartless multi-national company has dumped near the slum are made by Fenris Games (I am not implying Fenris Games are a heartless multi-national company by the way).

The barricade/rubbish tip is made from bits and bobs of things I made or found. I made the settee and the green foot locker from Fimo. There is also a telly and a bin bag, but you can't see them so well in this picture. The rest of the stuff is by various manufactures, or just junk and off cuts left over from other projects, or from building the shacks.

Here's a close up om my settee. I am rather pleased with it.

Christmas Madness 2011- Return of Bad Santa!

2011-12-16T01:28:00.000-08:00

Never let it be said that Bad Santa is not persistent. Despite his defeat at the hands of Good Santa and the Pulp City Superheroes last Christmas, he has returned once more to cause some festive mischief.
This time Bad Santa was trying to steel the Christmas Spirit to wreck Christmas for the citizens of Pulp City. Luckily, Good Santa and his Superhero allies have banded together to try to stop him.

Leon's excellent and quirky battle report can be found over on the Pulp Citizen blog. Put down your mince pies and mistletoe and go and check it out. While your there take time to admire the bespoke Christmas Spirit markers I made for the battle report.

Christmas Madness 2010 Redux

2011-12-08T10:27:00.001-08:00

Pulp Citizen has posted a jazzed up version of the Christmas Madness battle report form last Christmas over on his excellent blog. Here's a link.

http://pulp-citizen.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-madness-2010-redux.html

It's well worth a read if you never saw the original battle report. The Christmas Madness 2011 report will be on it's way soon, so 'be good, for goodness sake'!

Captain Max Strong and the Rocket Rangers

2011-12-08T03:42:00.001-08:00

Ready to right wrongs and defend the free world from the forces of tyranny and fascism, the Rocket Rangers! Captain Max Strong, their fearless commander, might lack subtlety, but no one can say he gets results.
I found these lovely models, made by Pulp Figures in a bag of hand-me-downs from my old mate Leon, who decided he wasn't going to use them (Cheers Leon!). You can't beat them for pulpy nonsense.
Work is still progressing on my slum shanty town. I haven't been distracted yet, but I thought you might like to see a bit of heroic pulp stuff- Not four colour, but damn heroic anyway.

Sierra Leone Slum

2011-12-06T02:45:00.000-08:00

If you have followed my blog for any length of time you will know that I have a habit of getting totally distracted from my current project and stating a new one completely on a whim. I am sure I am not the only wargamer who has this problem.

OK, that said by way of an explanation, it's time to announce my latest distraction/project. Having played COD:MW3 far too much of late, I have been particularly taken by the level fighting in the slums of Sierra Leone, and thought "I would love to do a wargame in a slum". Without more thought as to exactly what wargame I would play, and totally lacking suitable armies to fight over it, I broke out the foam card, balsa wood and corrugated card. This is what I have made so far. ..

This is the first shanty I made. Basically I made a box with foam card and stuck bits and bobs to it. All the buildings have lift off roofs, so I can get my (currently non-existent) miniatures inside. The shanties are bigger that they would be in real life- some might say palatial in fact- but that was so I can get my big clumsy fingers in. I haven't bothered painting the interiors.

I had a lot of fun experimenting with painting the rust- I used various techniques from stippling to inks, and I am generally pleased with the results.

I made this mattress myself from Fimo- great fun and easier than you might think. The rest of the stuff is bits of balsa wood, match sticks, tooth picks, resin barrels by Fenris Games, gravel out of the garden and other similar bits of junk. The fences are made with aluminium mash used to repair car body work- available from Halfords in the UK for £1.99 an A4 sheet.

Coming soon- More shanties, more fences, a hill of rubbish and a polluted stream. I might do a little market place too, and may be a Church or some ruined colonial buildings too.

As to what I am going to do with this terrain, who knows: Force on Force seems an obvious choice, given its origins in COD:MW3, but equally it would be useful for Necromunda, AE Bounty, and 40K. I am open to other suggestions too.

Doctor Dust - Pulp Villain

2011-11-27T14:14:00.000-08:00

Just to have a change of scene, I decided to finish off a Pulp Era villain I based ages ago but never got around to painting...

Introducing Doctor Dust, Mad Scientist and Evil Villain. The dastardly Doctor's plans have, so far, consisted of trying to use giant mutant dinosaurs to hold Manhattan to hostage, and the invention of a doomsday device capable to reversing evolution.
Luckily for us, the two-fisted rugged hero Ray Gunn, Soldier of the Future, has been on hand to thwart Doctor Dust's dire plans, but for now the dreadful Dust is still at large. Maybe his next plan will prove to be our undoing!!!

This is a Black Cat Bases figure I picked up a while back at Salute 2010. Its a cool figure that just screams 'pulp' to me. He's a bit on the small side compared to the Pulp Figures and Artizan Designs 'Trilling Tales' but not so much it looks silly.

Creatures in the Sewers!

2011-11-24T03:02:00.000-08:00

There are many dangers to the brave heroes who venture into the depth of the sewers and catacombs...

I am not sure where I got this figure from. It's resin, and on a 50mm base, but other than that I am not sure. It's going to be a useful piece, in My supers campaign it can be a lurker in the sewers, but it could just as easily be a Conan demon, or a native beast in my SciFi or Pulp campaigns. I love stuff I can paint for lots of setting.

15mm Zombie Town USA

2011-11-23T00:38:00.000-08:00

Following my impulsive purchase of a big bag of 15mm Zombies from US company Rebel Miniatures a few months ago, I decided I needed some suitable 15mm scale scenery to go with them. The main problem with that is that 15mm scenery available on the net tend to be SciFi or WW2, and as Rebel Miniatures figures are distinctly American looking and modern, I needed to make my own buildings.
The theme for my zombie town was a run down inner city neighbourhood. I used some photos I found on the net to inspire my, and used ModelBuilder to create the buildings. It's not finished yet, I think I need some bits of 'street furniture', like trash cans, fire hydrants etc, and may be some burnt out cars, but it's finished enough to show it off.
I am thinking of using Ambush Z or All Things Zombie as a rules set, but I haven't decided yet.

An overview of Zombie Town on a quiet night.

Burt gets trapped on the upper floor of a drug store.

Eerrggh...brains....biscotti....

The shambling horde!

Gun Bunny and The Bride try to shoot their way out!

The Slime Thing!

2011-11-18T00:46:00.000-08:00

The sewers beneath the city are really not a safe place to be. All manner of strange things have been reported there, but perhaps nothing stranger that the creature many have come to call 'The Slime Thing'.
Quite what the Slime Thing is, if it exists at all, no one can say. Some maintain that it is a hideous mutant, or the result of one of Dr Otto's failed super-soldier experiments, While others insist that it was a petty thug or homeless man who fell into a pool of mutagenic pollution. Some believe that it is an urban spirit, a supernatural manifestation of the pollutants and toxins pored into the cities sewers over the years.
Whatever the truth of it's origins, one thing is certain. Anyone venturing into the sewers, or into the deeper catacombs, had best beware, for the Slime Thing can move silently, and attacks without mercy, often dragging it's victims into the depths of the sewage, where they are never seen again!

This miniature is a demon by Heresy. It is a very large multi-part miniature, being on a 40mm base. I painted it and highlighted it, then gave it a heavy gloss varnish to make it look suitably slimy.

Deacon, Champion of the Order of Anubis.

2011-11-17T08:25:00.001-08:00

I am sorry I have not posted anything for a little while. There are a combination of reasons why not, but mostly it is because I bought COD:MW3. I am sure I am not the only one who has found that there are very short of time over the last couple of weeks.

Anyhow, now that I have clocked the games campaign mode I find myself free to post on the blog once more.

Deacon is a champion of the Order of Anubis, the secret sept of vampire knights dedicated to the protection of vampire kind form the multitude of threats that they must face. His own origins are lost in time, but he claims to have been a Nubian slave who, in life, served the Ancient One known only as 'The Egyptian'. Although powerful and very old himself, Deacon has always shunned the Machiavellian world of vampire politics, and instead has traveled the world, studying the ways of war. Unlike many elders, he has always embraced new technology and tactics, so long as it enhances his abilities as a warrior.

I am not sure who made this figure: I think it was West Wind. Obviously it was based on Blade, and so I painted it accordingly (although I gave it a bleached blond 'fro, inspired by Wesley Snipes in Demolition Man as I thought it would stand out better in 28mm). It's not the greatest ever sculpt, but I could hardly do a cabal of modern vampire knights without at least paying tribute to the films that inspired them.

Trachanka Armoured Car Company (VBCW)

2011-11-09T01:21:00.000-08:00

When King Edward refused to abdicate in 1936 the resulting constitutional crisis in Britain tore the country apart, and allowed Mr Oswald Moseley to seize power. Moseley's ultra right wing fascist government did not sit well in many of the industrial cities of the north and midlands, and when the dockers in Liverpool refused to unload supplies destined for the fascist forces, the resulting 'mutiny' lead to the formation of the Liverpool Free State. Although the LFS claims to be none-partisan, they are in truth dominated by socialists and communists.
The Wirral, a peninsular of land just south of Liverpool, is likewise dominated by Socialists, this time by the Wirral Socialist Workers Council. The WSW is predominately based in Birkenhead, Ellesmere Port and Helsby, and their control over the more rural parts of the peninsular is less absolute. The WSW claim to be allies to the LFS, but in reality they are nothing but a subservient partner in the relationship. The WSW supply Liverpool with food, steel, the shipyards in Birkenhead, concrete, chemicals, munitions, and in return receive aid in the form of manpower and weapons, including a trickle of Soviet made weapons imported from Russia.
The LFS are aware of just how critical the Wirral is to their continued existence- Without the supplies shipped through the Mersey tunnels the city would have fallen long ago- but with Liverpool besieged on all sides by the forces of king and government, they are hard pressed to free up much resources to help the Wirral Socialist Workers. Therefore, improvisation is often the key. One such examples is the "Trachanka Armoured Car Companies" that have recently been seen in battle. The idea was the brainchild of Spanish war veteran and Communist warrior-poet Juan Caballero. The concept is based on the Russian Civil War era trachanka, a cavalry carriage with a heavy machine gun mounted on the back. Caballero got the ship builders in Birkenhead to add armoured plates to a modified truck, then had them weld a soviet made Maxim HMG to the deck. The results were surprising effective, providing the WSW with some much needed mobile armour, and since then the shipyards have been converting as many trucks as they can find to this role.

The trucks are Lledo die-casts, with plasticard armoured plates added. The crew are by various manufactures- Eureka, Black Tree Designs, Musketeer Miniatures, Wargames Foundry and West Wind. The guns are by Black Tree Designs and Eureka. The Stowage is by Games Workshop.

Halloween Madness Battle Report (Pulp City)

2011-10-31T03:19:00.000-07:00

My old gaming buddy and Pulp City obsessive Leon (AKA Pulp Citizen) and I recently staged a Halloween inspired game of Pulp City. We used the invasion scenario from the main Pulp City rules, and a huge horde of shambling zombies.

I played the villains, and Leon was the heroes. We held a truce (of sorts) while we dealt with a horde of zombies unwittingly unleashed on Pulp City.

Using the marvels of computers Leon managed to turn my photos into this fantastic battle report...

Battle of Causton

2011-10-31T03:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend saw my Very British Civil War army batting in Evesham for the BG4 (which stands for Big Game 4). Many thanks to VBCW co-creator Mort for organising it.
The battle was raging around the fictional Midsommer town of Causton, and saw an alliance of Socialist and Anglican League defending the town against the armies of the Fascist government and the Royalist army. I fought for the upstanding Socialist Brigades.

There is a full battle report on the Gentleman's Wargame Parlor. Here's a link.

Jade Avenger Sighted in City

2011-10-24T02:40:00.001-07:00

The mysterious hero known only as the Jade Avenger has been sighted in the China Town district, where he was believed to have been battling the forces of the nefarious Dr Fu and his Triads. One eye witness states that Jade Avenger protected a local herbalist from Dr Fu's gang, defeating seventeen of his hoodlums before the local law enforcement arrived.

Jade Avenger is believed to be a master of the esoteric martial arts forms, and may have studied at a legendary school in the Himalayas.

This miniature is by Hasslefree, and like all of their stuff, it was a joy to paint. The base is, as always, by Fenris Games.

Rapid- The Most Dashing Hero In Town!

2011-10-21T01:26:00.000-07:00

Rapid is one of the new generation of superheroes. He is young, dynamic and enthusiastic, but often acts before thinking things through, a trait which, coupled with his smart mouth, often gets him into trouble.

The tabloid press tends to have a love-hate relationship with Rapid: They praise his heroism and good looks, while at the same time are suitably outraged by his wild partying and risk taking.

Rapid remains nonplussed by the frenzy of media attention his activities often stimulate. Rapid claims that, to date, his greatest achievement was winning Spandex-Rear of the Year.

I am not sure the make of this figure. I know it was a Sandra Garity sculpt, and I got it of a guy in the USA, and that it is now out of production.

The Order of Anubis Operatives: McLeod and Amelia

2011-10-13T01:12:00.000-07:00

The Vampire community has many enemies, and their masters- the Old Bloods, although venerable and powerful, still fear the human hunters, the witches and of course, their most ancient foes, the Werewolves. Many centuries ago the Old Bloods formed an order of knights, The Order of Anubis, to watch over them, and protect them from their enemies.

The Order of Anubis still carry out their duty. Their methods and weapons might have changed, but their steely determination, relentless vigilance and deadly skills have not. Some of the order are mortals, who watch over the daytime world, when the vampires sleep, but most of the orders operatives are vampires, many of whom have centuries of experience at fighting their master's foes.

Amelia is relatively new to the Order of Anubis, having only served since the sixties. She has quickly earned a reputation as being both reliable and lethal.

McLeod is a consummate professions- a cold-hearted killer who will wait patiently for days for the right time to strike. When he does attack he is as fast and as deadly as a snake.

Amelia is by Copplestone Castings, from their Future War range. The fangs were just painted on, not sculpted. McLeod is by Heresy- He's not actually meant to be a vampire either, but I was particularly please that he had a bat on his belt buckle- a nice little detail I wasn't expecting.

These guys will from the bases of my modern vampire range, inspired by the movies Blade and Underworld (and their sequels) and by White Wolfs Gothic-punk game Vampire, the Masquerade. I am on the look out for more miniature that have the right feel for them, and will add to the range as and when I get them. They will be used in my supers RPG campaign, but if I paint up another one I could used them as Hired Guns for my necroplain team in Pulp City too.

Saxon War Band Grows

2011-10-11T02:46:00.000-07:00

Gripping Beast, who are hosting the VBCW game in Evesham, are perhaps better known for their range of Dark Ages miniatures. They have just brought out an exciting new skirmish level game for this period called Saga.

In preparation for my forthcoming purchase of the Saga rules when I down to Beast Towers, I have been adding to my nucleus of a Saxon war band, with the addition of these stalwart defenders of England.

Here's a picture of my completed-to-date shieldwall. I recon I am about half way there, and then I have got to start on their foes- the dreadful Vikings (to be commanded by my old chum Leon- he has no taste for this Dark Ages nonsense but has agreed to play if I paint the figures).

The figures are Gripping Beasts excellent plastic 28mm Saxons. The guy without a helmet has a head off a Warlord Games British Tommy.

Crimson Dragon Back From The Grave

2011-10-10T07:32:00.000-07:00

In certain circles, the name Crimson Blade is whispered in hushed tones- for many believe that even to speak his name is to risk invoking the terror of the undead samurai.
No one knows the origins of the terrible night-creature, but what is certain is that he is one of the most deadly fighters in existence; the fearful combination of the relentless martial arts training of the samurai, combined with the unnatural vigour and agility of a vampire make him a lethal opponent- one who can easily stand toe to toe with a pure blood alpha werewolf.

I am not sure who manufactures this figure: It might be Reaper. I got this one of Leon in a grab bag of old hand-me-downs he no longer wanted because they have integral bases (which I removed).

I painted it up, naturally as a super villain for my supers campaign, or as a Necroplane villain for Pulp City, but also, somewhere in the back of my mind I can see him in a game of Vampire the Masquerade. My plan is to paint some more vampires in the style of the movies like Blade, Underworld etc.

Old School Citadel Miniature Adventure

2011-10-09T00:46:00.000-07:00

Many years ago, when I was a small boy of 10 or 11, a misguided but well meaning chum introduced me to Citadel Miniatures. I am, of course, going back somewhere around about 1983, so the very earliest days of the hobby. I have, since then, been irrevocably hooked on little pieces of lead.

Some of the earliest Citadel Miniatures I can remember owning were part of a box set of adventures which I had got as my 'main' Christmas present one year, entitled 'Dungeon Adventurers Starter Set'. I have no idea what happened to those figures- I can remember painting a few of them, and no doubt they got used in various games of Warhammer and Dungeons and Dragons.

A few months ago I was browsing on Miniature Heroes website- looking for old Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper miniatures for my SciFi collection, when I spotted the same box set that I had received for Christmas all those years ago. Talk about a trip down memory lane!

I bought them at a very good price, and when they arrived in the post I was delighted to find that they were in fantastic condition, and that the box was intact too!

Given the age of the miniatures the sculpting and the casting was of a very high standard- much better than I was expecting. My plan is to paint them, as a occasional range, as well as I can manage- after that, who knows? I guess I could use some of them for Conan or Lord of The Rings, but given their venerable age and sentimental value, I will probably just sit them on a special spot in my display cabinet and revere them.

This Elven mage is, according to the box, called Andriel. The pit marks are, unfortunately, on the figure, and not because I mixed my paint to thick- in real life it doesn't look half as bad as when it is blown up to this size. You have to remember that this figure is at least 25 years old.

Miniature Heroes is a great website, and they sell a wide rand of miniatures, both old and new- including Reapers Chronoscope range, and a cracking collection of vintage Citadel stuff. You can find them by following this link. Just don't mix them up with the chocolates.

New Officers for Chester Royalists (VBCW)

2011-10-06T12:21:00.000-07:00

I have continued to add figures to my VBCW armies ahead of Octobers Big Game. This time it is the part of the Royalists, in the form of commanders for my Chester Local Defence Force.

Brigadier Lord Gerald Grover,

of the Chester Local Defence Force.

It's 1938, during the Very British Civil War, and the Duke of Farnham, the most powerful landowner in Cheshire, has been entrusted by King Edward with the defence of Chester, and with continuing to maintain the Chester Line against the dastardly Socialist rebels in Liverpool and the Wirral.

At the outbreak of the civil war, Lord Gerald Grover, the Duke's nephew, was serving as a Captain with the 9th Lancers, one of the old cavalry that in 1936 had been converted to a tank regiment. At The Duke's request Lord Grover immediately resigned his commission in the army, and took on the role as Brigadier in the Duke's private army, the Chester Local Defence Force.

Like the Duke, Brigadier Lord Grover is a keen exponent of mechanized warfare, and is hoping to turn the CLDF into a truck mounted infantry brigade. So far a lack of fuel and suitable vehicles has thwarted the Brigadiers attempts, and only a modest portion of his force is mechanized. He also intends to train a portion of his force as light horse cavalry, to fight as mounted infantry, as he has more ready access to horses than vehicles.

The Brigadier's striking and stylish uniform was designed for him by the Duke of Farnham's mistress, as well known Parisian fashion designer, and it is based on the Brigadier's own hunting coat and jodhpurs.

Captain Archibold Warren; Adjunct to the brigadier.

The captain served with distinction in the trenches of the Great War.

Captain Dmitri Asadov, a White Russian poet and emigre, now CO of the Duke of Farnham's much feared 'Black Russian' assault company.

VBCW Card stock Terrace Houses

2011-09-30T06:05:00.001-07:00

I have been on the look out for an inexpensive way to represent industrial towns like Ellesmere Port and Birkenhead in my VBCW games. Warbases make one in MDF, but I need loads- enough for a 2 foot by 4 fot are at least, and the cost of the Warbases models is just too much for what I had in mind. To solve this problem I ordered ModelBuilder by Evan Models form America. ModelBuilder is a program that let's you design, print off and build your own buildings.
Here are a couple of pictures of my 28mm scale terrace house prototype. The program is very versatile and can make models in various scales. I have been working on some 15mm buildings for my 15mm Zombie Apocalypse games too.

Pumpkin Teaser

2011-09-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

I have been busy making some markers for a secret Halloween project for this blog. At the moment it is so tippty-top secret that I can't let on what we are going to do with them (it's a surprise).
I sculpted them from green stuff and stuck them onto 40 mm resin bases.

Trick or treat?

More VBCW Reds for the Wirral Socialist Workers

2011-09-23T09:31:00.000-07:00

Work continues on expanding my Socialist force for 1938: A Very British Civil Was (VBCW for short). This comes ahead of the Big Game 4 to be held in Evesham at the end of October.

In my VBCW game, my force represents the paramilitary forces of the Wirral Socialist Workers Council. The WSW Control most of the Wirral, a peninsular in the North West of England. They are in conflict with the royalist forces based in Chester, and are allied to the besieged Liverpool Free State. The so called 'Chester Front' is a line of trench works and defences across the southern portion of the Wirral, stretching from Whitby to Burton. As yet the Royalists have failed to make significant in roads into the Wirral, instead concentrating the bulk of their forces on besieging Liverpool, while the WSW lack the manpower and resources to push their lines any further. Perhaps all that is about to change.

The Maxim HMG is a veteran of a weapon, having seen service in one form or another in every major conflict for the last fifty years. The WSW have recently taken delivery of a handful of these precious weapons from supporters in Russia, via their allies in Liverpool.

Soviet army instructors have been schooling snipers from Liverpool and the Wirral. In accordance with their doctrine the Sniper Platoon has been reinforced by specially trained 'spotters' armed with PPD35 SMGs (again, thanks to their Russian patrons)

Communication is vital in modern warfare. In 1938 radios are bulky, rare, difficult to maintain and unreliable. It's far better to rely on the tried and tested methods like semaphore, runners, field telephones and alike. This heroine of the socialist movement has been trained in semaphore and attached to the WSW Brigade head quarters.

During a civil war moral can be difficult to maintain. To ensure that the Socialist workers of Wirral are following their orders properly the Party has appointed a number of 'Political Officers'.

The political officer and the HMG are by Black Tree Designs (from their NKVD range). I clipped off the top of the gun crew's peaked caps and added a blob of green stuff to make flat caps. The spotter is by Black Tree Designs too, from the Soviet army range. The signalswoman if converted from a Copplstone castings Bolshevik Heroine.

Some Sillyness I Have Been Sculpting

2011-09-18T15:52:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I get overtaken by odd urges.

These usually come when I have been spending too long looking at other peoples 'greens' (by which, I mean their sculptures for figures, so called because they are usually made from a green putty known as 'green stuff'). When I am overcome by these urges I have to break out my tools and have a go myself.

Unfortunately for me - and fortunately for the countless small companies making miniatures who would be my natural rival, I am not actually very good at sculpting. Unless you have actually given it a go, it is hard to appreciate just how difficult it is, and how much skill is possessed by the men and women who make 28mm figures for us wargamers to enjoy.

An alien bug-creature, evolved on a low gravity world, where it's tiny tentacle-like legs can shift it's massive bulk.

A giant alien leach creature.

I can't tell you what this is for, it's a surprise!

Dockyard Showdown

2011-09-17T08:12:00.000-07:00

Last week my old mate Leon and I fought a brutal battle in the dock yards of Pulp City. Leon has made an amazing battle report, in the form of a comic strip- you can see it on his blog 'Pulp Citizen'. It has to be seen to be believed.
Rather than trawl over old ground and report the same battle as Leon here is a couple of pictures of the two teams involved in the battle. All the figures and scenery are Leon's, so I can't take any credit.
I did take the pictures though.

Leon used a hero team, Blood Watch: Sergeant Bale, Red Riding Hoodo, Six Feet Under, Blood Rose, Loup Garou and Moon Child/Moon Coyote; With Jane Summers and some Vigailntes in the back ground.

My team, A.R.C the mutant primate supervillains consisted of Howler, Le Murtiple, Silver Ager, Doctor Red, Chimp Chi and Guerrilla. And a couple of stolen sentry bots programed and bobby trapped by Doctor Red.

Pop over to Leon's site for his fantastic battle report- not to be missed.

Mmmm...Tiny Brains....

2011-09-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

I have been rather busy of late, getting my VBCW brigade ready for the next Big Game in Evesham in October (I will post pictures of some of the new VBCW stuff soon), but I have found time to add a few more zeds to my growing (or should that be groaning?) horde of 15mm zombies from Rebel Miniatures. I think I have got much better at painting them, as I am starting to get used to the smaller scale figures.

This larger zombie-lady is a stripey summer dress.

The vertical stripes are quite slimming.

A couple of unfortunates seen at the local mall.

This is my favorite. This victim was still in bed when he was attacked. Mercifully for us he was in his PJ's.

As you can see, these zombies are basically the same model twice over- The pack of zombies has 22 figures in it, with 11 unique sculpts. I bought two packs, so I have four of each figure in my horde. I have been careful to paint them differently, so they stand out as individuals.

tiny 15mm Zombie Apocolyps

2011-08-31T13:07:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the madness grips you and you just have to buy the latest shiny thing you have found, regardless of how practical this is. That's my excuse for embarking on yet another side project.

The other night, while looking for some stuff for my Flames of War army, I accidentally stumbled upon Rebel Miniatures, a US based manufactures producing odd 15mm figures, and I was particularly drawn to their 15mm modern zombie range. Now that obvious advantage of 15mm for zombies is that you can get an absolutely massive horde painted quite quickly,and for not too much money. I promptly ordered a few packs of zombies, zombie dogs and survivors, just to see what they are like. They arrived quickly,and I set to work.

The first few looked too dirty,as I got a little heavy-handed with the ink washes- I am not used to 15mm scale, and you don't need to use as much ink to achieved the right effect. Once I got the hang of it I was quite pleased with the results. Here's some of my survivors.

Burt used to own a gun store, and his sidearm of choice is the Desert Eagle .50 - more than enough stopping power for your average zed, and intimidating enough to put off most looters too.

Tank Girl claims to have been in the military, but here extremely aggressive nature and psychotic behaviour has lead her companions to suspect that she is just some crazed paranoid survivalist.

Lobo Sanchez used to run with street gang called the Saints. Now the Saints are all dead and Sanchez is on his own. A natural killer with street sharpened reflexes- he is born to survive.

Here's a few pictures of my growing Zombie horde- some are better than the others, but I think my technique is getting better.

A suburban family

Fast and deadly- Zombie dogs are a major problem in urban areas

An assortment of Zombiefied civilians.

Fire Support for the Chester Milita

2011-08-27T02:05:00.000-07:00

More reinforcements for the Chester Local Defence Force, courtesy of the Duke of Farhams contacts in the military. In this case, they bring some much needed fire support to the beleaguered militiamen.

The venerable Lewis Gun light machine gun, still widely in service in the British army, and an imported Bergman SMG add support at a squad level, while the platoon in bolstered by the addition of a Boys Anti-Tank rifle to hold off the Socialist's armoured cars.

The Lewis Gunner is by Musketeer Miniatures, with a minor conversion (i.e. the addition of a helmet from the BAM plastic Tommie's sprue). The SMG is a Black Tree Designs (I think) with a head-swap for a West Wind WW2 British Army head. The Boys Rifle team are by Musketeer Miniatures, and have not been converted.

Askari and Simba

2011-08-23T07:20:00.000-07:00

Askari is a supervillian from East Africa, who works an an international mercenary, hiring herself out to anyone who can afford her exorbitant fees. In the past she has worked for terrorist organisations, tyrannical dictators, unscrupulous multinational corporations, organised criminal and even pirates. So long as she is paid, she will fight for anyone, regardless of their motives or methods.

Askari is a 'Feral', a rare class of super with enhances strength, toughness and reflexes, coupled with uncanny senses. She is accompanied every where by here faithful lion, Simba.

The figure for Askari is a Superfig, which I got of Leon (cheers) when he was having a bit of a clear out. I have had the lion for many years, and I have n idea who it is by (it might be Ral Patha). The lion's sculpt is quite poor, but I managed to add some shading and highlighting to add some definition where it was lacking.

More Bits of Scenery

2011-08-21T02:48:00.000-07:00

The "Scenery Making Marathon" continues to gather pace, with some more long awaited projects being finished off.

These little 15mm scale houses are made by Sarrissa Precision, an excellent new company making scenery in various scales using Laser-cut MDF. Like their rivals Warbases, this company's products are well made and beautifully put together- I am not so pleased about the chimneys, which I feel could have been better finished, but the models are great fun to put together and to paint- much nicer than working with resin cast buildings.
Obviously I got these to use with my 15mm Flames of War armies, and as such they are painted in a style suggestive of Normandy and northern Europe, but with a different paint scheme could serve as British terrace houses for a 15mm VBCW Game (not that I am about to change scale).
I plan to do some more in the near futures too.

Next, I didn't make this one, but I bought it from the pet shop instead. It cost £12.99, painted exactly as you see it- All I had to do was cut the price tag off.
It's supposed to go in a fish tank, but instead its going to grace my jungle boards- I can see this being useful in all sorts of games, from Conan to AE Bounty. If this was sold as a piece of wargaming scenery I would have paid more than £12.99 for it, for sure. And I would have ended up having to paint it, and pay postage on it too!
A bargain, if you ask me.

Finally, for now at least, a hobbit hole- scratch built by me. With my steadily growing hobbit army for Lord of the Rings I thought I needed some suitable scenery- this is a prototype, but I am so pleased with it that I will certainly make some more.
Here's a link to a sort of WIP/Tutorial as to how I made it on the Lead Adventure Forum here.

Coming soon....Another 28mm VBCW factory, and more 15mm Flames of War French buildings.

Das Panzergrenadiers

2011-08-17T02:40:00.000-07:00

Just a quick Flames of War update- I have finished my first Panzergrenadier platoon, complete with their Opal Blitz trucks. These will support my Panzerkompanie, providing much needed infantry support to scout out the enemy and protect the valuable panzers from the British infantry.

These infantry figures are by Plastic Soldier Company and are hard plastic 15 mm German soldiers. You get over 100 models for £18. The bases are by Warbases and are pre-cut from MDF, as the PSC figures don't come with bases. These figures are nicely sculpted and well cast, with a lot of detail. The box included a few medics, radio operators and ammunition carriers, which adds to the details. I am not sure the sculpting is quite as good as on the very excellent vehicles, but they are inexpensive compared to metal, so I mustn't grumble too much. Another minor point is that they are actually relatively tall when compared with the Flames of War British I have painted- actually a head taller- they are also much more anatomically proportioned. Its only a minor thing, but it's worth noting.

The Opel Blitz trucks are resin and are made by Battlefront for Flames of War.

Battle at Merlin's Reach (Pulp City Battle Report)

2011-08-12T02:37:00.000-07:00

Another Pulp City game, over at my old pal Leon's (AKA Pulp Citizen). All the figures and scenery are Leon's.

This game was called Merlin's Reach. The back story is that Somewhere in the heart of merry old England there is a portal to a hidden pocked dimension known as Merlin's Reach. A vicious band of nefarious supervillains from the Necroplane have managed to locate the portal and have entered Merlin's Reach with the intent of gathering up a number of spirits to fuel their terrible infernal machines.

Heroic British supreme Sovereign has gathered a Team of mystical and nature orientated heroes to try to stop the villains plans.

The Villain Team- Morne, Hellsmith, Boreas, Tritonious, Twilight and Seabolt.

The Heroes- Perin, Trail, Blood Rose, Harrier, Soverin, Kitty Cheshire

Hellsmith makes a bold move- entering the ruins of a temple to seize the first of the spirits...

Perin, god of thunder, wasn't about to let that happen and the two might supremes clash in an epic battle from which only Perin will walk away...

Mean while Morne and Harrier battle it out for another spirit. Harrier gets the drop on Morne, and escapes with the spirit, racing to he sky with her prize...Seabolt get the last spirit. Sovereign tries to pin him down, but Seabolt is a slippery customer....
Tritonious uses his water powers to try to add Twilight and Seabolt bit when Tritonious is defeated by Perin, it leaves his teammates vulnerable. Twilight soon falls too...

Despite the destruction he causes Seabolt can't prevent Sovereign finally catching up with him and the villains are defeated.

2011-08-10T08:49:00.000-07:00

True to my word, I have continued to press on with getting half finished building projects completed. This week I have been painting some factory buildings for my VBCW game. This is a warehouse that I showed as a WIP in February. Now it is complete (Yay!).
I do plan to build an urban battle field eventually, but in the mean time here it is sat in the middle of a lovely green field.

And although it was slightly less time consuming, I also built these cricket stumps. What says 1930's England more than the sound of leather of willow on a sunny summers day?

There is a cricket club at back of my house, and I could here them playing while painting the warehouse- I guess that inspired me. My son says that you only have one wicket in cricket, not two as I have made, but what do I know about cricket?

An umpire, with a rifle? That's just not cricket!

Keep Calm Posters VBCW Style

2011-08-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a fantastic little website where you can create your own 'Keep Calm and Carry On' poster.

I made a couple of posters for my own amusement, one for the Wirral Socialist Workers Council (allies of the Liverpool Free State), and one for the Chester Local Defence Force, who support good old King Edward.

It's a bit of fun, so why not have a go and make your own. The site owners can also have your poster made into a t-shirt, mug, badge etc.

Scenery Workshop (Part 1)

2011-08-05T15:59:00.000-07:00

Having recently had a look in the garage, whilst hunting for something else entirely, I found that I have a number of half finished scenery projects. I am a great one for starting scenery and never getting to finish it: It's just too boring to spend a few nights painting a building, when I could spend the same time painting miniatures. What I tend to do is eagerly build it, and then run out of enthusiasm for the whole thing before it ever gets to the painting stage.

This summer, I have made my self a vow to get some of those half finished scenery projects finished and so I have suspended my figure painting (well almost) until I can get more scenery completed.

This week I would like to showcase some jungle scenery I have just finished.

This was the easiest thing to make- a few hours and I had made 10 stands of trees and undergrowth. I bought the trees off EBay from a supply in China- about £8 including p+p for 30 palms. They don't need painting and are made form quite a soft, rubbery plastic that is very forgiving as it tends to bend rather than break. I used brown mounting card for the base as this would mean I didn't have to paint it. I pushed drawing pins through the bottom of the card and pushed the trees down onto the pin. Next I glued some bits of green lichen and some bits of fish tank plastic plants from the pet shop. Finally I flocked it with may own mixture of statigrass and clump foliage.

I also made a hill. Hills are great bits of scenery as the are generally not scale specific- this one could work for 40K as well as Flames of War or even Epic. This one is made by Games workshop and is cast from hard plastic- it's a bit expensive for what it is, but it is a tough and durable piece of scenery.

I have painted the exposed rock as red sandstone, to be of more use in my Wirral based VCBW campaign, as the local stone has a lovely warm red colour, but as you can see it also works well in the jungle too.

I can see this scenery being useful for Warhammer or a Conan setting right through to WW2- Burma, Vietnam, Predator, Pulp City and all the way to AE Bounty and 40K. Now that is versatile scenery. I am tempted to make some more!

Das Panzerkompanie

2011-08-03T00:52:00.000-07:00

Work progresses on my Flames of War Panzerkompanie, with the completion of my Company Command Platoon of two Panzer IV H and a Bergepanther recovery vehicle. Technically, this Company is now complete, but I feel it needs the addition of some infantry, in the form of a platoon of Panzergrenadiers and a Panzer Pioneer Platoon.

The Bergepanther recovery vehicle is massive, swamping the Panzer IV H and StuG G tanks, but it is only armed with a MG- making it a tempting target for enemy tanks and AT guns.
The crew are a mixture of Flames of War and Plastic Soldier Company- Which shows they go together very well.

The next plan is to build up my British Rifle Company with the addition of a couple of armoured platoons and some heavier weaponry (like AT guns and MMG's). I have also recently bought some scenery, but patiently await its delivery.

Summer Holiday Trip to Warhammer World

2011-08-02T05:35:00.000-07:00

Summer Holidays are here and I had to organise a day trip for the kids while my wife was busy. Where to go? Let me think....

Warhammer World of course! Warhammer world, Games Workshop's flagship store, is in Nottingham, less that an hour and a half from our house- I perfect chance to engage in a bit of gaming related shenanigans while maintaining the pretence of taking the kids out for the day. In my defence, I must point out that my son Charlie was a keen as I was to go. Eleanor was not so enthusiastic as she wanted to go to Florida, but then you cant win them all.

Charlie took the opportunity to expand his already massive Lord of the Rings Moria Goblin army. I added a few Hobbits to my Shire army. I had previously decided not to collect any more GW Armies, as they are just too expensive, but as this was more a case of adding to an existing army I felt that is was justifiable.

All in all, Charlie and I had a great time. The whole experience for Eleanor could have been enhanced by the addition of Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

Here's some gaming tables I photographed while I was there. Amazingly, if you turn up with your own armies, you can play on these masterpieces!

This just goes to show what you can do with a ware house of plastic kits if some one tells you to design something impressive.

This is a gorgeous Eldar vs Imperial Guard table- kind of half diorama and half battle board- amazing!

A sweet little Empire Village built just using the GW plastic buildings- A bit to built up for Warhammer, in my opinion, but great for Mordhiem or similar games.

Chester BUF Militia

2011-07-29T02:01:00.000-07:00

In 1938 (Very British Civil War) the paramilitary forces of the British Union of Fascists is not as uniformed and united as Mosley's government would like us to believe. It is essentially split into two forces, the BUF Legion, who are centrally controlled and supplied, and resemble something similar to a conventional military force, and the BUF Militia, who are created locally and under the control of the local party leaders.
This picture is of the members of the Chester BUF Militia. They have been supplied by local business man and BUF Member of Parliament Sir Charles Robinson MP, who has contacts in the Nationalist government in Spain and has managed to buy up some surplus weaponry captured from the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War.
Robinson sees his BUF Militia as his own private army, and resents the intrusion of the Manchester BUF Legion in is own little war. This has lead to tension between the two factions, and it is only with great reluctance that Robinson has placed his troops under the command of Captain Webster of the BUF Legion.

These figures are made by Empress Miniatures as part of their Spanish Civil War range. I don't confess to be an expert of the period, but I think they are Nationalist troops. I have painted them as my British Union Of Fascists militia by giving them the obligatory black shirts. I kept the colour scheme simple, and found that I knocked out these five in just two evenings- something of a record for me- a damn site quicker than my other BUF uniform.

The Barbarians Gather

2011-07-22T13:17:00.000-07:00

Just another quick one, to show off another barbarian panted for my Conanesque campaign and/or my Conforntation Kelt warband. I dropped this one, and broke his axe in two places. I had the devil of a job putting it back together, and now one axe handle is shorter than the other. I don't think you could tell unless I pointed it out to you, so I am not too worried. I hope you like it.

This figure is another out of production Kelt, made by the defunct French company Rackham for their confrontation. It is a great shame they no longer make these, as they are beautiful models.

He-Who-Sleeps

2011-07-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

It is not a widely known fact that the bedrock on which the city of Birmingham is built is riddled with a honeycomb of tunnels and caverns. Experts speculate on their strange origins, with many speculating that the are not naturally occurring. Rumours persist amongst the mystic community of an ancient god-like being, Menoth, who slumbers beneath the city in the deepest depths of the caverns. The Mole People and their allies amongst the dispossessed and homeless maintain that it was Menoth who dug these tunnels in the first place. Who can say if this is true, or perhaps what it might take to wake Menoth from his long slumber.

This figure is a mutant released by Hasslefree that I bought at Salute last year.

It is huge!

Its difficult to get a sense of scale from this picture, but that's a 50mm resin base he's standing on. The base was a freebie I got from Fenris games.

Painted Panzer IV

2011-07-16T09:20:00.000-07:00

Just a quick blog to show off a picture of my painted Panzer IV for Flames of War, made my The Plastic Soldier Company, and reviewed a few weeks ago in this Blog.

I hope you will agree that it has come out well - It's in 15mm scale, and as you can see is a very crisply detailed figure. I will be ordering some more stuff, for my Brits, from The Plastic Soldier Company, very soon.

I have now finished my first bit of the Panzercompanie, having added another StuG G and a Bergepanther. More pictures of the entire company to follow soon.

Old Hero- New Street

2011-07-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

Veteran superhero Thermal has recently been seen back on the streets after a four year hiatus. Many believed the hero had retired, or perhaps been killed in the cause of his duty, but last month he was seen battling with the supervillain known as Dr Apocalypse. Since then the hero has been seen many times, lighting up the night sky as he streaks across, like a blazing comet, seeking out criminals and villains to bring to justice.
So far Thermal has remained tight lipped as to where he has been, or why he should suddenly have returned.

This is an old Superfigs miniature I painted years ago, but it is one of my favorites, so I singled it out for some special attention. Unusually, I opted to undercoat this figure in white, as I nearly always use Chaos Black. This makes the colours almost glow, which is exactly the effect I was after.
I had wanted to rebase this miniature for ages, but have been reluctant to, because I thought it would be difficult because I would have to carefully pin it through one foot, but then me old mate Leon (Pulp Citizen) told me about this technique where you trim down the intergral base to make a peg, instead of cutting it off, then drill a hole in the resin base and glue it in place. I tried it and it worked a treat!

Chester Militia Reinforced

2011-07-07T05:44:00.000-07:00

The Duke if Farnham's household militia, also known as the Chester Local Defence Force, continues to grow, as the duke has increased it's number to two companies. They are not very well equipped- just a rifle, a tin hat and some webbing, if they are lucky, but they are still prepared to fight for King and Country!

These are the latest addition the the CLDF. They are, form left to right, Iron Clad Miniatures, Musketeer Miniatures, Black Tree Designs (boar war) and Musketeer Miniatures. They have all had head swops using West Wind Games British Army heads.

Plastic Soldier Company Tanks

2011-07-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

A year ago, at Salute 2010, I got talking to a stall owner who had just stated up a new project, called The Plastic Soldier Company. The idea behind his company was that if he used CAD to design some World War 2 tanks and soldiers, he could scale them up to either 15mm, 20mm or 28mm.
I thought is was a jolly good idea.
I don't collect 20mm my self, but I know it is a very popular scale with the WW2 lot. 28mm is also popular, with a number of skirmish games being made to suit that scale, such as Operation Squad, and of course, 15mm is very popular with the Flames of War players. Of course, FOW produce their own range of 15mm men and vehicles, but as far as I know no one is making plastic tanks in this scale.
The Plastic Soldier Company now make a variety of pack sin various scales. They make the T-34 soviet tanks, the ubiquitous Sherman, usable in the US, British and even the Soviet armies, and the good old German Panzer IV. These kits come with various bits on the sprue to build several different configurations of these tanks, as wall as some stowage to individualise the vehicle.

Three of the Panzer IVs I built for my FOW army. You can see the impressive detailing- remember this is 15mm!

As I am currently slowly building up a FOW army, I bought a box of five panzer IV. I was delighted when they arrived promptly in the post and quickly put some together.
My first impression was how remarkably well made these were. They went together perfectly, and even though the instructions were a bit sparse, the kit was so well made that it was pretty obvious how to assemble them. A while ago my son and I built a 20mm Sherman tank from Airfix, which was a right bugger to put together. In contrast these Panzers were a joy to assemble. It took me about 30 minutes to build my first tank, but by the third I had got that down to just 15minutes, which is probably about the time I spent deflashing, washing and gluing the my FOW StuG G prior to painting it.
The detailing on these tanks is fantastic, and the lines are crisp and sharp. In comparison to the FOW resin/metal tanks the Plastic Soldier Company fair very well. These Panzers were far more detailed thanthe FOW StuG G's I have been painting recently.
As for the cost, well again the Plastic Soldier Company fair very well, with five Panzer IVs costing about £16.50, which is about half of what you would expect to pay for the equivalent resin/metal tanks from FOW.
That said, it wouldn't be fair of me to not point out that The Plastic Soldier Company's range is very small compared to the huge number of vehicles and infantry available from FOW, but their range does seem to be expanding rapidly. I can see that The Plastic Soldier Company are never going to make the obscure transport vehicles and alike that FOW sell, as their is only so much money to be made from these less commonplace items, but if The Plastic Soldier Company stick to the more popular units, I can see them gathering up a larger share of the market.
If I was to build a wish list I wouldn't mind seeing a Universal Carrier that could be converted into a Mortar Carrier or an MG Carrier, and a Wasp. The ever-present Jeep would be useful too, and could come with spare crews for either Brits (regular army, desert rats and paratrooper please) and of course Yanks. A trailer would be nice too, for the pioneers. And if The Plastic Soldier Company followed FOW into the early war period (not very likely I know) I know that the Very British Civil War lot (me included) would snap up those early war light tanks 28mm.

All in all, this product is first class- well cast, with great detailing on it, and a good price, especially when compared with the FOW range. Definitely one to recommend to others.

Pictish Warriors

2011-07-01T03:44:00.000-07:00

The Picts are a savage race to who dwell in the forested lands west of Hyboria. They are a cruel and debased race, and the soldiers of the civilised lands have to be constantly vigilant or these barbaric tribesmen will sweep across the Border Lands to destroy and consume all that civilised men hold dear.

These figures are Confrontation Kelts and represent the start of a warband for that game, which explains their 25mm bases. I have painted them with black hair so that they can also represent the savage Pictish warriors in my Conan campaign.

Originally I had planed to get these fellows quickly painted so that I can get them into use, and to spend a longer time painting my Griffin Warband really well. Once I started though, I found that they were such lovely models that it seemed a shame not to spend the time painting them as well as I can.
I think it is a great pity that Rackham no longer make these wonderful minis, and instead I have to hunt around for them on Ebay an the likes.

The Duke's Black Russians

2011-06-21T07:09:00.000-07:00

The latest unit for my Very British Civil War army is an Assault Company for the Chester Local Defence Force. The Assault company, also known as the Duke's Black Russians, is made up of Russian Emegre's living in Paris, who have volunteered to fight for the Duke of Farnham against the hated Socialists and Communists of the Liverpool Free State and the Wirral Socialist Council. They are famed for being fearless (and often drunk), and have a preference for close quarters battle.

These figures are from Black Tree Designs, Bolt Action Miniatures, West Wind games and Artizan Designs. A couple of them have been converted.

Scum and Villany part 3

2011-06-16T04:57:00.000-07:00

Life in the darker pats of the universe are often brutal and short. A man like Trench can make good money hiring themselves out as bodyguards, bounty hunters, or just hired killers. When times are hard, Trench is not above resorting to piracy too.
Trench never leaves his squalid little den without being armed to the teeth, and his favored weapon is an over sized Vallian Shotgun, capable of stopping the most determined attacker. Trench particularly likes the variable power setting, which means that it is still effective, even on high gravity worlds, unlike most conventional solid slug weapons.

Trench is an old Necomunda ganger I had floating about in the garage. His gun is ludicrously big, but I think it's kind of fun, and will make him useful for AE bounty too. I am quite pleased with the way he turned out.

Junia Verano- News Reporter

2011-06-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

Junia Verano is a much respected Cuban-American freelance reporter. She has traveled the world reporting from danger spots around and war zones. She is particular interested in Superhumans, and their roles in society, something which often gets her into trouble. She famously tried to get an interview with Dr Apocalypse and had to be rescued from the Supervillain's death-trap by Monarch.

This miniature is a Pulp City model- June Summers. She is cast in resin- not a material I normally buy (see my comments on Finecast), but I won thin miniature in a writing competition hosted by Pulp Citizen, and judged by the Pulp City Forum. I finally got round to painting her.

I am not too happy with the trousers, which look too shiny, but I am pleased with how the Hispanic skin tone and the tee-shirt came out.

Headman

2011-06-06T01:52:00.000-07:00

Headman is not a criminal genius, by any means. He is what he is: A brutal thug, who will fight anyone for the right money. This hulking giant of a man is rightly feared by members of the public and the criminal fraternity alike, having been involved in numerous crimes. He tends to affiliate himself with smarter supervillains rather than organised criminals, who have a habit of mocking his flamboyant costume and ludicrous axe.

One criminal Headman will have nothing to do with, however, is The Executioner- the two axe-wielding villains have a long and bitter rivalry going back many years. No one is quite sure why, and the pair of them are curiously tight lipped over the whole affair.

This model is one I got of my mate Leon in a grab bag of old lead he decided he could live without (Cheers mate). I believe it is a Reaper miniature. It had an integral base, which I clipped off and pinned it onto a resin base by Fenris Games

Scum and Villainy (Part 2)

2011-06-03T01:51:00.000-07:00

Asteroid mining is a dangerous profession, but one where the rewards can be immense. More than one intergalactic tycoon served their time strapped to the sides of a frozen chunk of rock, hurtling through space. Small wonder then that humans are constantly drawn to the dangerous profession, given their in built, gene-driven desire for self-improvement.

Dirk Sallee is just one such prospector, risking everything to work his claim. Although Dirk has yet to strike it rich, he has a good claim and has made enough money to make a living. He knows he must defend his claim against the bandits, pirates and claim jumpers who would seek to take from him what he has risked his life for.

Dirk is wearing a Mars-pattern environment suit, a protective garment favoured by the asteroid miners. Although the Mars-pattern is considered obsolete by most nowadays, it is still the suit of choice for most miners, who admire its ruggedness and the simplicity of its self repair systems.

Dirk is assisted in his endeavoured by Rustbucket, and EVA robot Dirk picked up at auction on Gallead IV. Rustbucket is practically an antique, having seen service on numerous mining colonies and asteroid mines, and its experience is invaluable to Dirk. As is it's tough polarised titanium shell.

Dirk is a Necomunda figure from Games Workshop. I am not sure when or where I got it, but I found it kicking around in a box of bits and thought it would fit the bill as a miner. Most of my other SciFi figures are lightly armed, as I wanted a sort of Serenity/Firefly look, but the rules for AE Bounty kind of dictate that most crewmen models need a rifle of some sort, so Dirk might well see service in my pirate crew too.

Rustbucket is one of a collection of robots made by Black Cat Bases. Its obvious (and purely coincidental, I am sure) similarity to a certain robot in a certain SciFi film about a Black Hole did it for me. Just too cute!

Britain's Latest Hero

2011-06-02T06:29:00.000-07:00

Red Coat is Britain's newest, and coolest, super-patriot hero. the Birmingham based superhero has been causing quite a storm in the media since his sensational appearance dealing with an outbreak of the Zombie Contagion near the law courts. Red Coat claims to have undergone a super-soldier program on behalf of the British army, but official sources in the government and army have so far remained tight-lipped out the validity of his claims.
The gun Read Coat is wielding is a Type IV Stunner made by The Hay-Don Corporation and is carried under a special licence issued by West Midland's Police. Red Coat claims his sword, a ninetieths century cavalry saber, is the reincarnation of Excalibur, and than he has been entrusted with it until King Arthur returns. While most dismiss this bold claim as fantasy, or at best grand-standing for the press, it has been noted that members of the countries super-natural community have been seen to show Red Coat unusual deference.

This figure is Sovereign, made by Pulp City, only with the addition of some dreadlocks in green stuff. I am not 100% pleased with the paint job, but to be honest paining in Red, white and blue are my least favorite paints to use.

Citadel Finecast Reviewed

2011-06-02T04:58:00.001-07:00

Games Workshop has finally unveiled their new business, namely the Citadel Finecast models. These are resin cast versions of their more popular figures from their white metal range. This appears to be and attempt to move out of the business of making ‘lead figures’ entirely.
The economic reasons for this move are well documented, as the rising cost of the white metal alloys had driven up the costs of the metal miantures across the industry. Games workshop, however, have blazed the way in passing on these price hikes to it’s consumers, with a figure that might have cost £4 a couple of years ago now retailing for £10-12. And as it looks likely that prices will remain high, or increase in the future, it is easy to see why GW is looking for alternatives. Their plastics ranges are doing well, and without doubt GW have been a leader in the industry in this area, however, for some figures plastics are never going to be economically viable- the moulds just cost too much money for the likely return.
GW also assert that their Finecast range is made from a resin that takes up more detail than the white metal, meaning that the resin figure is much closer to the original ‘green’ sculpt.

A picture from GW's own website- Nice!

There are members of the war-gaming community on the Internet, who see GW as the ‘Evil Empire’ of the gaming community, will always heap criticism on GW. While I don’t collect any GW stuff any more, I wan certainly not one for these rabid, frothing fanatics who will bleat on about how terrible GW is. That said, there is a lot of criticism about the quality of the Finecast products on the forums, and I have to say some of it seems justified.

A picture from LAF- Not so nice!

Resin is always going to be a hard product to cast in- trapped bubbles can ruin a miniature, and once cast it can’t be melted down like white metal can- this means you need a vigilant quality control. Unfortunately, GW seemed to have rushed out their Finecast product, and there are endless complaints online about their figures being incomplete, mis-cast or requiring some green stuffing just to get it to look right.
I went down to GW too look at this product myself, and I have to say that the quality of the resin was generally high. It was indeed possible to see much more of the detail on the Finecast model than on the white metal version. However, I looked at about 10 packs, and even a very cursory examination revealed that one of the Eldar charters had a miscast wing- Not a very scientific study, I will grant you, but 1 in 10 is far too high.
Another criticism, and one aimed at resin stuff in general, is that it is just too fragile. It was not hard to see that the Finecast figures will simply not withstand the rigours of war gaming. Resin has, by and large, been used in the industry for collectors and diorama painters, and not for gamers. As GW are just casing resin versions of their metal figures, they have a great many spiny bits and fiddly bits that will easily break off. This is especially true of the Lord of the Rings stuff, which is sculpted with much more delicate weapons etc. I looked at Aragorn on a horse, with his sword held aloft. There is no way that sword would even survive the painting process, never mind gaming.
The third consideration, I would say, is the cost. GW were quick to increase the prices of their white metal figures as soon as the going got rough, but there is no sign of them reducing the price for the Finecast product. This means your still paying £7-8+ for a model on foot, so you’re no better off than when you had to buy white metal figures. To conclude, the introduction of Citadel Finecast to replace white metal is a bold, or desperate move. The miniatures produced are indeed more detailed than the white metal, but the quality control needs to be stepped up a lot to reduce the amount of faulty products reaching the shelves. Further more, while Finecast will certainly suit the painters and collectors, the gamers out there are going to wonder why they are paying just as much for a fragile figure that is less ‘fit for purpose’ that the white metal ones- it’s a compromise at best and this product should either be better, or cheaper.

Super Agent

2011-05-30T05:59:00.000-07:00

The constant threat of meta-human activity has lead to some governments in the world to seek to control meta-human activity. One such government is the United States, whose draconian laws governing meta-humans have often been criticised by civil rights campaigners.
The US Government's principle agency to deal with meta-humans is MACE (the Meta-human Activity Central Executive), whose mandate covers meta-human crime and threats to homeland security.
Special Agent Mari Lopez is just one of many agents of MACE, specially trained and equipped to deal with a wide range of meta-human threats.

I am not sure who manufactured this miniature- I got it of my mate Leon, who decided he was probably not going to get round to painting her. I rather hope there are more of them, because I wouldn't mind building up a little team of MACE agents.

Scum and Villainy (Part 1)

2011-05-29T00:49:00.000-07:00

The universe is a big place, and one it it easy to hide a warship in. Little wonder then that some former Naval officers, when they fall out of favour with their respective governments, take to piracy to earn a living. Hal'ethar is one such individual.
Having fallen foul of the complex political machinations of Ethak high society, the warship captain Hal'ethar was sentenced to death in his absence. His loyal crew helped him evade the Death-hunters sent to 'terminate his command' and now they lurk amongst the Elysium Nebular, praying on free traders and sometimes even navy patrols. He is particular vicious when ever he comes across a Ethak ship.

There is a bit of a story to this miniature. It is one I have had in my collection for at least 20 years, but for some reason never got around to painting. Eldar was one of the first 40k armies I started with, back in the days of the oddly idiosyncratic 'Rogue Trader' version of the rules.
I found this miniature in a tin in my mum and dad's loft and thought it would make good eBay fodder. Oddly enough, when I listed it it did not sell, despite a low listing price, and being a very collectible model. I wasn't too sad, because I think I had already made my mind up that I wanted to paint it.
The sculpting and casting on this miniature is first class, especially given its age. It was a pleasure to paint. I chose a paint scheme reminiscent of Storm Trooper armour, because it contrasted nicely with the plate/chain mail look. I opted to give him blue skin and white hair to make him look more alien (and also in a nod to 2000AD's Rogue Trooper and Star Trek's Andorrans)

Brigadier '38 Review

2011-05-27T02:36:00.000-07:00

Solway crafts and Miniatures, the publishers behind 1938: A Very British Civil War (VBCW), have just brought out a rules set called Brigadier '38. This is the first rules set published for VBCW, although some homes spun rules have been freely available on the net for some time.

I should explain, for the uninitiated, that VBCW is somewhat unusual, in that it is more of a concept, that a game. The setting is in 1938, and is based around a fictional "what if?" scenario when King Edward refuses to abdicate, sparking of a British civil war. When the writers of the background came up with the idea, they felt that small games could be adequately managed using any rules set the players felt drawn to. This proved very popular amongst the players, as they didn't have to buy new rules etc, and could adapt systems they were used to.
For our games Leon and I adapted FUBAR which is a game written for participation games at events. FUBAR is a well thought out, well play tested, and very simple rules. It lacks a point-based army building system, which we got round by writing our own army list. FUBAR has the added advantage of being freely available in the net as a PDF.
Brigadier '38 has been developed primarily with larger games in mind, where lots of players bring their armies and participate in what the VBCW community refer to, not surprisingly, as a "Big Game". I myself attended Big Game 3 last year, and it was immense fun, but readers might recall I was underwhelmed with the rules set we were using as it was confusing, and open to interpretation. It is hoped that Brigadier '38 will overcome that problem.

I should add, at this point, that Brigadier '38 is not the rules for VBCW, it is just a rules set. It is not intended to become the only rules used, but I imagine it will become the de facto rules set for the Big Games.

When I first got the rules out of the envelope I was surprised: It is quite small. It is a handy sized A5 rulebook, ideal for slipping into the old gaming bag. The production values are quite high, like all of Solway's products, with high quality illustrations and lost of nice pictures of VBCW miniatures.

There is no 'fluff' background in this book- it is a pure rule book. For the details of the background you really need to buy the source books from Solway. The rules themselves cover most of the things you would want a VBCW game to consist of, like tanks, artillery, cavalry, communications, bicycles etc, and a simple and concise enough to speed up even the largest Big Games.

The games is turn bases, and each turn consists of Initiative, Orders and Movement, Firing (which is split into artillery, primary fire and secondary fire), Rations and Melee. The orders rules are the stand out bit for me, as I haven't played a game which used a system like this. officers can give commands out the the entire Brigade, or just a Battalion, or even an individual company (the basic unit of the game), and the rules cover the many problems with communication in 1938- crummy radios, telephone lines being shelled, signalmen being shot etc.

On a critical note, the rules are a bit scant on explanation, and that can lead to a lot of scratching of heads as you try to figure out exactly what it means. Once you have figured it out though, it is usually quite easy and obvious, but a few "for examples" would have helped clarify what is going on. In addition, there is often confusion around some of the terminology used. For example, you have the terms Battalion commanders, Brigadiers and officers used frequently, without an explanation for the exact meanings of the terms. Another criticism is the use of abbreviations without an explanation. One class of vehicle is described as "Softskin small in MC or MC combination"- I still have no idea what that means.

Even taken into account these criticisms, Brigadier '38 looks like a well thought out and well produced rules set, that will allow fast paced, and highly characterful games based in the VBCW world. I think it will be well suited to the games I play at home, with about 60-70 models on the table top, but will come into it's own for multi player games like the Big Games.

Some News

2011-05-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

Here's a few bits and bobs of news for me to pass on.

My old pal and gaming buddy Leon, aka Pulp Citizen, has completed his version of our 'Rooftop Rumble' battle report for Pulp City, over on his blog. I have to say, it's an amazing report, add one that I wholeheartedly recommend you check out- Seeing is believing.

The scores are finally in for Lead Painters League 2011. I came in at 43 out of 72. Not as good as last year, when I was just in the top 50%, but to be honest I thought the standard was very high this year. Well done to Frank who was the clear winner, and to everyone else who entered in the spirit of the game.

I have just posted a battle report of a VBCW battle we fought in Stourbridge last month. I posted it on the Gentleman's Wargaming Parlour on behalf of Ash, who organised this game. Ash had a computer problem, and lost all his photographs of the battle, so asked me to do the report for him. Here's a link.

What Every Villain Needs

2011-05-22T12:36:00.000-07:00

What self-respecting supervillain does not have a secret underground lair, and what is the one thing that no supervillain lair should be without?

Sharks.

The ultimate status symbol amongst the supervillain community, nothing quite says 'megalomaniac' like a shark pool to dangle unfortunate heroes over.

These hungry critters are part of a pack of rubberised plastic sharks I bought from Toys 'R' Us for £5 (for about 20) a while ago. I chopped these three in half with a small saw, and positioned them on 40mm bases. The spay is just DIY filler (plaster) roughly blobbed on and allowed to dry. It was so cheap and easy to do that I might have to do some more- with frickin' laser beams!

These will be good for Superhero games (suitably Four Colour for my tastes) as well as for Pulp-Era, fantasy and even Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

The Lead Painters League 2011

2011-05-22T00:53:00.000-07:00

The Lead Painters League is over for 2011, and all that remains is for the judges to collate the points. In the past ten weeks I have painted a staggering 59 miniatures and 5 tanks, which has gone a long way to reducing my lead mountain and finishing of some half finished projects that, in all honesty probably wouldn't have been finished if it weren't for the competition.
Score wise I think I haven't done as well as last year. I was unfortunate enough to be drawn against some of the big hitters early on, but I made a better show of it in the later rounds- I won 4 and lost 6 rounds. I will post the final results as soon as they are available.
This years competition saw some remarkable entries from many people. I was particular impressed by two painters known as Hammers and Frank on the LAF. They consistently amazed me with the quality of their work.

Round 10's entry was themed 'From the Movies'. I opted for The Great Escape. Most of the figures for this round were from Ebob, but a couple of the Germans were from Artizan Designs. I was in a bit of a panic when my figures hadn't arrived a week before I was due to start painting them. I contacted Bob, of Ebob, and he said they were out of stock, and he was having difficulty getting more due to Salute 11. Eventually they arrived, and I managed to get all 10 painted in just five days, which I thought was quite an achievement.
I envision the Germans getting used for Pulp-era games, or perhaps a weird world war 2 theme. The British airman and Steve McQueen will get pressed into service somewhere in my VBCW armies, as air crew, mechanics and drivers.

Rooftop Rumble for Pulp City

2011-05-20T04:43:00.000-07:00

Skyline Looking Cool

Leon and I fought another Pulp City game yesterday- but one with a bit of a difference. We styled this one a Rooftop Rumble, as all of the action took place on the tops of the high-raised buildings in Pulp City. All the heroes and villains had to swing, jump or fly from on rooftop to the next. The big clock tower in the middle effectively limited lines of sight, to make the game a bit more strategic.

I was on the side of Justice two of the big hitters in Pulp City's hero community, taking the newly reworked Solar, the brilliant Dr Mercury. I also took the two rooftop vigilantes, Jade Hawk and Skyline (Obvious choices, given the terrain we would be fighting over).

To counter my force, Leon opted for Supreme Zed (a zombie supervillain!), The Avatar of The Jaguar, and his side kick, Stalker, and then, for a bit of long range poke, The Gentleman.

We both opted to take a reporter covering the story. I took Jane Summer, from Channel 4 News, while Leon opted for Channel 1's notorious glory hound Lance Waverly.

Now, unfortunately most of the pictures came out bad, so You will have to use your imagination a bit.

The Good Guys started out with an aggressive move from Solar, who flew across to the Villains building, ready to perform some serious beat down on Supreme Zed. Unfortunatly, Supreme Zed charged him and pummeled him out of the sky. Before he could recover The Gentleman took him out with a shot right between the eyes. This was a bit of a shock result, given how tough Solar is, and threw my battle plan into chaos.

Stalker and The Avatar of the Jaguar advanced across the rooftops on the opposite side of the board, and as soon as Avatar came in range he was pounced on by Jade Hawk and Skyline.

Normally the two level one heroes wouldn't have been a match for The Avatar and Stalker, but up on the rooftops Jade Hawk and Skyline are in their element, and they managed to take both villains out. Jade Hawk was badly wounded in the attack, but survived.

Elsewhere The Gentleman and Supreme Zed overpowered Dr Mercury, leaving Supreme Zed free to race across to the Hero's building, where he attacked Jane Summers, the reporter. She was no match for his brutal attack.

Skyline took out Lance Waverly, but not before the reporter could bag some impressive footage of the roof top vigilantes in action. Skyline then tried and failed to take out Gentleman, who had remained in the Villains building, and so the game ended with a very close result: Villains won by 1 Agenda Point because of Lance's film!

Argh! Zombies!

2011-05-15T07:02:00.000-07:00

Reports are just in of a new outbreak of what experts have named the 'Z-Contagion'. It seems that police were called to an incident in a kebab shop is Sparkbrooke, Birmingham, when one of the customers reportedly 'went bazerk' and started biting other customers. The Z-Contagion soon spread, affecting another four customers before armed police could 'contain' the outbreak. Experts from the Department of Health and the Ministry for Zombies have been on scene, and say it is too early to attribute the Z-Contagion outbreak to a 'dodgy kebab'.
These rotten fellows are another Lead Painters League entry. I got them of Leon, who was chucking out some old lead. They are by Copplestone castings, and like all Mark Copplestone stuff, was a pleasure to paint. I have now got a hoard of 15 zeds, if I include those Christmas themed ones form studio miniatures I painted for Christmas Madness 2010. I plan on using them in my supers campaign, but also for a proposed zombie invasion Pulp City game, as some paint in the future- expect to see more zombies in 2011.

Operation Ratcatcher Part 2 -Battle Report

2011-05-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

Belatedly, I have managed to get around to writing up the battle report for the second battle of Thaunton Le Moors, our last VBCW game. we fought this battle on the same day as Part 1, but with the Lead Painters League and going on holiday, I just didn't get round to posting it until now.

If you would like to see it, pop over to the Gentleman's Wargaming Parlor (Link), the home of all things VBCW. Post a comment here, or on teh forum, to let me know what you think.

First FOW Tanks

2011-05-08T10:51:00.001-07:00

My Flames Of war army continues to progress very slowly. I added Five StuG III panzer to the list of completed minis as part of my Lead Painters League entry. The StuG Assault Gun was a workhorse of the German tank companies, even if it was not as respected as the bigger tanks. I just had to have some in my German army after playing Company of Heroes on the PC.

I am rather pleased with the paint job on the camouflage, which involved a lot of blending and so on. I painted on the badge, as I hate using decals, especially tiny ones. The tracks I am not so happy with, however; I might dry brush some weathering onto them to finish them off.

I have found that painting tanks for FOW is much more fun than painting infantry, and on the plus side, you don't need to paint so many either, as they cost more points value.With this in mind my FOW armies in the future will probably feature a lot more armour, and minimal infantry.

Confrontation War Band Begins

2011-05-04T02:41:00.000-07:00

Lead painters league, the annual painting competition on Lead Adventure Forum, is always a good excuse to paint some projects that have been half-finished for some time. This latest lot is a perfect example of that. Me Old Pal, Leon, encouraged me to buy these guys, which are now out of production. I had to source them on Ebay, which is all part of the fun. Leon's idea was that we would each build up out war bands and duke it out as an alternative to warhammer etc.
That said, I didn't need much encouragement, as these are lovely miniatures, as all of the Confrontation minis are. It's a pity they are no longer being made.
With these five finished, I have the beginning of a war band. I think I will need about 15 models in total. As yet, as far as I know, Leon hasn't even started his yet, so perhaps this will serve as some encouragement to him.

These miniatures are produced by the now defunct French gaming company Rackham, for their game Confrontation. This faction is a human faction known Griffins. They are stunning models, and a joy to paint.
When painting them, I chose a tight pallet, drawing on the ecclesiastical purple to reinforce the idea that these guys are holy warriors. Following a style I ready about in an old White Dwarf 'Eavy Metal article I added the same purple, in tiny amounts, to all the other colours on the model, including the metallics, leather and even the flesh. This adds to a cohesive pallet that makes the models very eye catching. In addition I deliberately chose the same highlight colour (Bleached Bone) for the entire model.
I think that these might be the best figures I have ever painted.

Shield Wall

2011-04-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

No posts for the last couple of weeks because I have been enjoying the sunny climate of Orlando, FL, and the general madness of Disney. I have, however, continued to post entries in the Lead Painters League, having been painting like a furious monkey prior to going away. Week six saw me post something a little different, namely a dark ages shield wall. I am not generally a player of historical war games (VBCW being something of a exception, because it is part-fictional and part fact based) but I really enjoyed an article in Wargames Illustrated which described making a scenic base for you figures, and fancied giving it a go. I love the Gripping Beast Saxons, and as I am a big fan of Bernard Cornwall's Warlord Chronicles trilogy, I thought why not?

I know me old pal Leon was a bit suspicious of the Saxons. Perhaps it's because he's half Finish, so there for something of a Viking himself, or perhaps he thinks I will be lured away to the dark side of historical wargaming. Anyway, he needn't worry, because although I enjoyed painting these guys, I think I have got it out of my system, for now at least.

I have painted them to represent a mixture of Pagan and early Christan Britons, circa 5-6th century (the so called Age of Arthur). I know they might not be historically accurate, but I don't care that much. I based them individually on the usual 20mm bases, but then made a scenic tray 11cm x 6cm, which is an odd size, but happens to be the size of the unit bases in Games Workshops War of the Rings. I figured if I ever get round to painting up more I could use that rules set, and it has the added advantage of giving me loads of room to artistically pose my miniatures on the base.

Anyway, I hope you like them. I really enjoyed making and painting them.

Evil Clowns!

2011-04-10T03:43:00.000-07:00

Every villain needs henchmen. That is just one of those facts of life. They are going to need some nameless lackey to do their leg work: robbing computer components; engaging in theft to finance the villains operation; building and maning their secret lair, and obviously battling superheroes (or at least just long enough for the villain to make his escape).

All that most henchmen need, by way of a return, is access to high-tech military hardware, and a snazzy uniform. Some villains go for jump-suited thugs, others for robbed cultists. Only the deeply disturbed villain goes for the one thing almost guaranteed to strike terror into the hearts of good and honest people: Evil Clowns!

These Evil Clowns have been given access to some serous hardware, in the hopes they might soften up the heroes enough for their boss to take them out. These minis are made by Black Cat Bases, and I painted them for the Lead Painters League competition.

I was acutely aware that I have been blogging a lot about VBCW of late, and so thought to readdress the issue by doing tome thugs and henchmen.

I am very scared of clowns, and thought that painting these fellows might be in some way cathartic, but alas, as these are clearly evil clowns, it has only served to reinforce my previous stereotypical ideas of evil clowns.

It was something of a relief to paint bright primary colours since most of the things I have been paining of late have been drab camouflage green or muted 1930's colours.

Manchester Regiment

2011-04-07T02:54:00.000-07:00

The Very British Civil war of 1938, like all civil wars, turned brother against brother. This was also true of the regular and territorial army, which, torn between loyalties to the people of Britain and to an unpopular King and a fascist government, found itself split between the various factions.

By an large, the Royal Navy sided with the left wing militias of the dock yards, where as the RAF tended to side with the Royalist factions supporting King Edward. The army, however, found itself torn apart. In Liverpool, the King's Own Liverpool Regiment was ordered to shoot on anti-fascist protesters who refused to disperse. The officers refused to follow out the order, and soon the majority of the regiment was in full mutiny, and sided with the socalist mayor of Liverpool. This act lead directly to the formation of the Liverpool Free State.

The Manchester Regiment, however, remained loyal to the crown, despite misgivings about the fascist Prime Minister and his black-shirt BUF paramilitaries. The Manchesters now fight as part of the 'Northern Army Command'. They are currently on the front lines of the siege of Liverpool, or acting as flying columns maintaining the supply lines between Manchester and the troops fighting in merseyside and Cheshire.

Two companies of Manchesters have been garrisoned in Chester, and placed under the command of the Duke of Farnham. The represent the solid backbone of the defence of Chaster, and when the time comes, will be ready to take the fight to the Liverpool Free State.

These models are the plastic Tommy's produced by Bolt Action Miniatures/Warlord Games. They are nice models, with interesting and characterful faces. I converted a few to have their respirators in the 'ready position' to make them look a bit more early-war.

Operation Rat Catcher Battle Report (Part 1)

2011-04-02T08:21:00.000-07:00

Operation Rat Catcher began as a reconnaissance in force of Thaunton le Moors, North of Chester, when the BUF Forces under the command of Captain Webster, ran into stiff resistance from the Wirral Socialist Volunteers. You can read a full, in depth narrative battle report at the Gentleman's Wargaming Parlor (GWP3);

Here's a Link.

Raid on New Brighton (VBCW Mini Battle Report)

2011-03-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

Captain Webster of the Britsish Union of Facists- (BUF) had a problem: His loss of the company colours at the Battle of Cornhill Farm had left him in a position of weakness amongst the loyalist commanders in Chester. Webster is desperate to impress the Duke of Farnham, who currently has over all command of the Chester defences, but the defeat at Cornhill has left him in an embarrassing situation. Fortunately, Webster had a plan.

Using Fascist contacts in Deeside, Webster managed to borrow a small fishing boat, and a couple of landing boats. He has assembled a crack team of volunteers, mostly BUF, but also a few men recruited from the Dukes own ‘Black Russians’, who are always keen to strike a blow against the Reds, and the Manchester Regiment. Under the cover of darkness and a dense sea fog the team landed on the beach a short way from the Tower Ballroom, in New Brighton, where the Wirral Socialists are keeping the BUF colours as a trophy. The team managed to break into the ballroom after hours and make off with the flag. All they need to do was get back to their boats without being detected...

This was the plot of a short battle we fought today. Webster and his commandos needed to make it across the board back to their boats, bearing the newly liberated company colours.

Here's what happened...

Captain Webster leads his commandos across a field, trying to avoid Wirral Socialist patrols and a watchtower with a searchlight.

Unfortunately they blunder straight into one such patrol, and the alarm is raised.

Wirral Socialist Volunteer militiamen carousing in a near by pub join in the fray. They are quite drunk, but still well armed and dangerous.

The remains of Websters commandos are cornered in a field near the beach- so close you could smell the sea. They have no choice but to make a break for it, ducking and weaving as the dash across the open field. Webster is 'winged' by a bullet, and one of his men is killed, but the last commando carrying the flag escapes off the beach.

The outcome of this battle was a draw, as Webster never made it off the board. Luckily for him, he managed to slip away unnoticed and make his way overland back to Chester- no mean feat, considering he had to cross about 18 miles of hostile territory, on foot, with a bullet in his posterior!

Ra RA RA! We're Off to Smash the Oiks!

2011-03-28T02:23:00.000-07:00

The King's School in Chester is one of oldest schools in Cheshire, having been founded in the reign of King Henry VIII. It has a long history of educating the boys of the bright and good of the Empire, training future generations to be leaders, businessmen and administrators. During the Great War the school formed a Cadet Rifle Corp, training the future generations to lead the man into the slaughter of Flanders.

With the outbreak of the so called British Civil War the Head Master ordered the formation of a new Cadet Rifle Corp. Headed up by maths master Eric Watson, a veteran of the Great War, they represent a well motivated and organised militia force at the disposal of the Duke of Farnham in the defence of Chester.

This minis are made by Gripping Beast in their Woodbine range. They are meant to represent specific characters in a Dr Who episode (The Family), but are also perfect for VBCW. As far as I know they are in the authentic colours of the King's School, and yes, the King's School really did have a Cadet Corp during WW1! That's what I love about the 1938:VBCW setting, when you start looking into local history you uncover these gems of knowledge that are far more bizarre than anything you could make up.

In our game will be using FUBAR. The cadets will be 'Green' troops, but the inclusion of Master Watson will upgrade them to 'Seasoned' due to his iron discipline, strict rifle drill and battlefield experience.

BUF Mobile Information Wagon

2011-03-25T02:26:00.000-07:00

Captain Webster is CO of the Manchester British Union Of Fascists company station at Hoole Hall, near Chester. He was a man who has a grammar school education, and remembers well the lessons of history. "Who ever controls the mob, controls Rome"; With that classic adage in mind, he has coined an imaginative way of promoting his cause (by which he means the BUF and the King's, of course).

The Mobile Information Wagon is Websters latest brain wave, it houses the latest advanced technological equipment, such as loud speakers, a mobile printing press for pamphlets and gramophone recordings of rousing patriotic music and long rambling speeches by Prime Minister Oswald Moseley. It travels around the countryside and towns, ensuring the populous remember who is running this country.

The first two Information Wagons were destroyed by angry rioters, but the Webster ordered his men to add boiler plate armour to the latest wagon, making this one a little more durable. Now it is time to unleash the new Mobile Information Wagon on the people of Chester and South Wirral.

This is a lledo Walkers crisps van I found on Ebay, with a few modifications. The loud speakers I bought of my son (I know!). There out of his Lego box.

In our game it will count as a lightly armoured vehicle, with out weapons or troop carrying capacity (the back is full of pamphlets and other equipment). it will have a detrimental effect on the enemies morale and communication (it's sort of an anti-standard bearer).

VBCW Civilians

2011-03-20T16:28:00.001-07:00

Civil war is something of a misnomer. It is a sad fact that when a country is torn apart by violence and strife it is often the ordinary citizens who are the ones most grievously harmed. This bunch of civilians, innocent bystanders in the battles of the 1938 Very British Civil War, are just an example at the sort of folks who are the true victims of the war. Depicted are Beth Holmes, a house maid; Biggins, Lord Farnham's butler; Little Jimmy Patrick, a curious schoolboy; Mr Pennington esquire, a gentleman farmer; Old Gibbons, the village grave digger; and Mrs Mavis Longwood, a spinster.

This was my first entrance into the Lead Painters League- 2011. The theme for the round was Civilians and Bystanders. I seized the opportunity to get some of the VBCW Civilians I had kicking around painted. I think one of the cool things about the LPL is that you end up painting stuff you might otherwise put off, like these lovely models.

I didn't do too well in this round, having been randomly drawn against a very nicely painted entry. Better luck next week.

If you are curious, the maid, butler and grave digger are by Artizan Designs, from the Thrilling Tales range. The boy, the portly farmer and the spinster are by Gripping Beast, from their Woodbine range.

Mini Pulp City Battle Report

2011-03-18T10:28:00.001-07:00

This week saw a few more games of Pulp City fought over Leon's excellent gaming scenery. We trailed a demo game Leon will be running at Salute '11 (look out for him if your are there). I won by being sneaky, and just plain lucky too. I managed to get my reporter into position to earn agenda pints (victory points) by claiming an objective, and by snatching some cool footage of me whipping ass. While Leon certainly took out more of my guys, I managed to gain more agenda points, and claim the victory.

Iron Train, Jade Hawk, Skyline and Solar- My well balance heavy hitting Pulp City Heroes (Leon's minis, not mine)

The second battle was nothing like as close. Leon had this theory about using a gun heavy gang, hoping to blow me away at range. Unfortunately, the mission was a take and hold, which did not suit his style of play one bit. He was hammered into submission in just three rounds.

Leon's shooty villain team; Howler, Dr Red, Guerrilla, The Gentleman and a couple of robots.

Now I am not saying his theory is unsound, and perhaps in another mission he would have fared better, but there can be no doubting he was severely limited in this particular mission.

Dr Red, loonie explosives specialist, loots an ammo crate.

Lead Painters League 2011 gets under way.

2011-03-16T17:14:00.000-07:00

The Lead Painters League competition for 2011 is now underway, on the Lead Adventures Forum. it's a ten week long painting competition, when entrants are encouraged to file a new 5 man (minimum) squad/team/party each week. Having a deadline is a great way to get some serious paining done, as well as a lot of fun. I entered last year, and managed to get a lot of those half finished projects completed. I am hoping for the same result this year.
It would be wrong for me to provide a link to my entry, as that is seen as touting for votes, but if you are interested here is a link to the competition. There are some really great miniatures in there- well worth a scroll through.
In accordance to the rules, I will have to wait until next week before I can post photographs of my first entrance on the Blog. Keep watching and waiting!

West Midlands Military Show

2011-03-15T13:06:00.000-07:00

This Sunday saw Wolverhampton hosting the West Midlands Military Show, a wargaming and military model convention. This was the first year I had been to the event (actually it was the first year I had even heard of it). The hall was crammed with retail stalls and demonstration games, along with a huge number of chubby middle aged bearded blokes (of which I am of course included- nothing like conforming to a stereotype to help blend into the crowd). There were a few notable retailers missing, such as Gripping Beast and Copplestone Castings, that I had expected to see because they are local, but on the whole there was a great choice of manufacturers and retailers there- some of which were completely new to me, which was nice.

A Peninsular War Board- very characterful and atmospheric- not my period, but it made me want to start!

I went with me old mate Leon, who was reluctant to venture out in day-light. I managed to lure him with talk of new metal shiny things for his collection.

We set off, and got there about 30 minutes after it had opened- which is the best way as there was no queues. We set of orientating ourselves to the stores, and plotting what to buy. Unfortunately, with my holidays imminent I had a strict budget, although I could easily have spent twice as much- very tempting. I'm away during Salute 2010, so this was a chance to splurge some cash on more lead for the lead mountain.

Check out this AWI table by Ladywood wargamers- I love these frontier town- it looks like something form Dr Quinn- Medicine Woman!

I bought a new carrying case from KR muilticase, which will be for my VBCW stuff. I also bought six pack mules (for Cowboys, and also for VBCW- when the petrol runs out), some more heads for my VBCW Militia men from West Wind Games Berlin or Bust range. Perhaps most randomly of all, I also bought a box of Gripping Beasts plastic Saxons.

"Saxons?" I hear you say "What?".

Well at least that's what Leon said. And my wife when I got home. I don't know what I was thinking, but they just looked soooo nice!

A very interesting game of Plains Indians Vs Cowboys- Nice scenery!

After spending all my cash - I was lucky there was no cash point, because I was sorely tempted to spend more- Leon and I wandered about the gaming tables, admiring the scenery, taking a few photos and chatting. Everybody was very friendly: Well there was one table where the gaming group were using computers instead of dice to resolve their battles, but they looked like they were having a miserable time so we avoided them, but otherwise everyone was great.

Critical Mass- A very interesting possibility.

We did play a very cool game called Critical Mass, which was a 15mm Scifi Game. We only played a quick game, but both found the game to be entertaining, and the miniatures to be most interesting. I think that could definitely be a future project. Critical Mass is still at the Beta stage of development, but the writers hope that the printed rules will be out in September 2011.

Silent Blades

2011-03-11T02:43:00.000-08:00

The Dojo of the Purple Lotus, based in the rougher districts of Tokyo, is a seemingly ordinary working class gym and dojo. That is until one scrapes a little deeper, and finds that it is the home to a criminal organisation that trains assassins, and then hires out their services to the highest bidder. The killer known only as Silent Blades, is perhaps their greatest protegee and their greatest failure.
Born to a lower caste family, she was sold to the Yakusa at an early age, and handed over to the Purple Lotus for training. She excelled at every manner of killing, and in many ways was a model student. Unfortunately, she was also stubborn and rebellious, something her masters never managed to beat out of her. Once she had finished her training, she turned on the Purple Lotus, killing her former master after a exhausting battle, then hunted down and murdered her former owners- the Yakusa gang who had bought her. She fled Tokyo for Europe, where she still works, hiring out her services to anyone who can afford her fees. She is still hunted by the Yakuza and by the Purple Lotus, and they would pay well for any information as to her location.
with the Lead Painters League looming, I wanted to get a bit of practice in, so I painted this lovely miniature. I am rather pleased with the way she came out. This mini is a Reaper assassin I have had for a long time, just waiting to be used. It's a nice posed figure, but the sculpting on the legs is a bit poor, given reapers usual high standards. That said, I am delighted with the latest villainous addition to my supers collection. I have already done her stats up for Squadron UK. She is very dangerous.

Using BAM plastic bits for VBCW

2011-03-04T05:17:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I bought a box of plastic Tommies (ie WW2 British soldiers) from Warlord Games (their Bolt Action Miniatures- or BAM- collection, to be precise). These were £20 for 25 plastic minis. There was some debate on the various forums as to wither that represented good value for money, giving that you can buy 20 metal BAM for £25, and metal minis are a lot less bother to put together (and are arguable more durable). My feeling is that, while metal minis are much easier, this overlooks the fact that you can use the extra bits you haven't used up for conversions etc. Here a few shots of some of the components I have used converting models for my VBCW army. See what you think.

A west Wind Resistance Fighter- he was carrying a Sten gun, so was no good for VBCW, as it's the wrong period. I cut the gun away, then used a saw to cut a grove into his fist. The BAM Tommy gun slipped in nicely. Quick but of green stuff over the fingers, and it's done!

Musketeer Miniatures Standard Bearer- I already have this model with a flag pole- it was simple enough to use the duplicate by drilling into his fist and slipping the BAM trenching tool into the hole. A Black Tree Designs Boer War mini, and a Musketeer Miniatures Lewis gunner, with nice new helmets. In the BAM kit the helmets are separate to the heads. This make it simple to change the helmet on a model by cutting away his hat or hair and gluing in into position. This is great for these two models, who would be impossible to head swap with, because it would have damaged the weapons.

Following 6mlPhills suggestion, I used the BAM Tommies to make drivers for my fast scout cars. Still a WIP, but I think you get the idea. The car is Lledo.

I hope this might inspire you, and make you look again at the BAM plastics.

VCW Red Lion Pub

2011-03-03T02:51:00.000-08:00

I have just finished another building for my Very British Civil War board, in this case, as Red Lion Pub. To any readers not from the UK I should point out that 'The Red Lion' is the most popular pub name in England, which makes this a rather useful piece of scenery.

I am delighted with the way it came out. The bricks look better than I thought they would and I am delighted with the windows. I thought afterwards that perhaps I should have painted cross tape on the windows, like they had in WW2 during the Blitz, but I didn't bother because I likes them so much, and I didn't want to mess it up.

This model is made by War Bases, and is cut from MDF using lasers (very James Bond). It's a beautiful model, and a delight to assemble. It's like one of those 3D jigsaws, but for people with no skills. The only bit I had to model, was the roof, which was a bit time consuming. When I get more Was base stuff, I think I will get some pre-textured plasticard roof tiles to save myself a job. That said, I am cuffed with the way it came out.

This piece also came with a back yard, which I forgot to paint (Douh!). That will have to go on the 'to-do' pile until needed. This pub will feature quite strongly in my next VBCW scenario.

Hired Gun

2011-02-21T03:21:00.000-08:00

There is always going to be thugs and bandits who will sell their services to the highest bidder. That is a fact of life; from the earliest days of humanity there have been sell-swords, mercenaries, free companies and, more recently, hired guns. This individual, the self-styled 'Urban Cowboy' is no different. He would shoot his own grandmother in the head for a quick buck.

I painted this as a bit of a warm up for the upcoming Lead Painters League. I bought this miniature ages ago to be my Scum character in a Dark Heresy campaign. Unfortunately I ended up running said campaign instead of playing in it, and so I never got to use him, so I thought I would paint him up for Pulp City. In Pulp City you can have henchmen called hired guns, and in the first edition of the rules there are four in a team, as opposed to the three per team in the PDF play test rules we used to use. Being a man down, I thought this guy would make a suitable addition to my gang.

The miniature is by Black Scorpion. It's a nice enough sculpt, but the shotgun is a bit 'fantasy scifi' in a Games Workshop style. Having been painting a lot of ww2 and interwar models of late, I find the whole GW clunky/chunky aesthetic to be a bit silly. On the plus side, it is so generic will be useful for Dark Heresy, or perhaps as a zombie survivor, or even as one of the teaming masses of scum and villainy set to occupy my forthcoming SciFi campaign.

Four Colour Super Science

2011-02-18T05:43:00.000-08:00

Mad science is a fundamental part of all the best superhero stories. Think of the works of Brainiac, Dr Cyber, Doctor Doom and other such sicko-scientist. It seems reasonable that a four colour supers campaign will inevitably features some elements of super-science, and with this in mind I have just finished off the first of my mad scientist inspired techno-gubinz.

These pieces are resin and are made by Fensis Games. You can find them on Ebay in the UK. They represent some generic bitz and bobz that you might find in a mad scientist's secret underground laboratory/lair. I could also see them running up in a scifi game, as part of a engineering room or something, or even part of a Kiss Kiss Bang Bang subterranean lair. I am nit sure what they are, but the could be some sort of field generator, or even a doomsday device.

They have been augmented with a few stick on jewels I found in my children's craft cupboard, and a shiny semi-opaque marble I my son sold me (That's right, sold me! The cheek of it! I probably bought it in the first place).

On a different point, I am delighted to report that I have picked up forty followers. Its great to know that there are so many hobbyists interested in my work, an I love getting comments. I will keep posting more of the same sort of random things, so long as you guys keep reading it. I hope the newbies like what they see.

VBCW Cardstock Buildings

2011-02-14T11:57:00.000-08:00

Scenery is a bit of a bugbear for me. On the one hand, good looking scenery can really enhance the enjoyment of a game, and on the other hand bad scenery can ruin a game- in my opinion. The problem is, good looking scenery is expensive and/or time consuming to produce. I would rather be spending my cash and evenings on collecting and painting more figures for my various projects. It's quite a problem.

Last week while checking out the Gentleman's Wargames Parlor (home of VBCW on the web) I came across some discussion on card stock buildings (also know as papercraft.) To the uninitiated, Card Stock Terrain is printed, or printable, building facades that can be mounted on card stock and constructed into cheap, easy to produce, buildings. Now I had come across the idea before, and my mate Leon had looked into making some for his Supers/Pulp City campaign, but hasn't got round to it. The problem was it always looked like cardboard, and I had previously dismissed it. This week, however, on a whim, I thought I would give it a go.
The whole process was very simple, requiring very little modeling/DIY skills. The only equipment needed is a good craft knife with a fresh blade, some 5mm foam centered card, some mounting card, some PVA Glue, a couple of elastic bands and a printer (preferably someone else- this keeps the cost down even more).

I liked the results so much, I thought I would post a tutorial to tell you how I did it.

Step One

Print the image off. There are lots of web sites catering for the trains and wargaming enthusiast, and some even have free stuff. I got this one of Ebob's website, where it is free to download. I printed it onto good quality white paper, using the printers maximum quality setting.

Step Two

I coated a sheet of mounting card with a thin layer of PVA Glue, and then stuck the roof picture to this.

I repeated the process with the wall sections, mounting them onto 5mm Foam Centered Card.

The sections were them allowed to dry under the weight of several big books to keep them flat. It takes about an hour.

Step Three

Then I cut out the wall sections and roof section with a craft knife. I used a new blade to keep the edges sharp.

Step Four

I marked 5mm from the horizontal edge of the short wall sections. I carefully cut down through the card and foam, but not cutting all the way through. I removed the 5mm strip and discard.

This will allow the pictures to but up together and not leave any white bits of foam or card showing.

Step Five

I scored down the center of the mounting card roof section, removing a thin slither of card without cutting all the way through. This will allow the roof to bend to form an apex.

Step Six

I assembled the wall sections, gluing them to the mounting card base and to each other with PVA glue.

Next I glued on the roof and secure it with elastic bands. Take care not to put too much tension on the bands as it will warp the model. It takes about an hour to dry.

The End Product

This is an army barracks. It took about 15 minutes to make, not including drying time. I can see it being useful as a VBCW Army or BUF base, or perhaps as a farm out building or workshop. The cost was probably no more than 30p. There we go: Cheap, good-looking and quick (just like me!).

You can't say fairer than that.

Not So Scary Now

2011-02-13T13:09:00.000-08:00

Here's what my ten year old son, Charlie did yesterday. It made me laugh to much it made me choke on my tea. I had to photograph it and share it with you.

Somehow a Necron just isn't as scary with googly eyes.

Look What Came In The Post!

2011-02-13T00:12:00.000-08:00

Wednesday morning saw my post man struggling up the drive, bearing a small but deceptively heavy box. Upon my return from work I hurriedly tore of the carefully taped packaging, and started rummaging through the packaging material. And what did I find in side?

A horde of VBCW figures!

Some Early WW1 British- I might make them into police auxiliaries, or possibility Liverpool Free State Regiment.

I bought them of a fellow VBCW player who is sadly having to sell off his collection of figures for personal reasons. I was delighted when he agreed I could take all 85 unpainted miniatures off his hands. As it took me 12 months to paint that many miniatures last year,this little lot should keep me busy for a while.

Some of the civilians. Unfortunate, as there based with white, and I always base in black, I will have to re-spray them and paint their faces again. I love these miniatures, there so characterful.

The miniatures are mostly Musketeer Miniatures or Empress Miniatures, with a few Wargames Foundry WW2 stuff thrown in too. They are all really nicely sculpted, and best of all have already been deflashed.

A collection of various leftist militiamen and Local Defence force set to reinforce my existing armies!

Some Spanish Civil War Carlist troops. Not sure what to do with these yet, but they may be the start of an Anglican League force at some point in the future.

Lead Painters League 2011 Starting Soon

2011-02-11T12:10:00.000-08:00

Last years Zombies (converted from GW Zeds)

That time of year is here again- the new Lead Painters League, 2011, is due to start soon. For those of you who don't know, the Lead Painters League is an online painting competition hosted by the Lead Adventure Forum. These is no prize, apart from bragging rights; it's just for fun. The basic idea is that each week, for 10 weeks, competition entrants each enter a photograph of a squad of at least five miniatures they have painted. The entrants are paired off at random, and then forum members vote which one they like the best. Points are awarded for painting, and for each new entrance, so it is advantageous, but not necessary, to enter a new photo each week. There are also three bonus rounds too, when more points are awarded for entering a photo of miniatures based around a certain theme. This year the bonus rounds are 'Civilians and By-standers', 'Africa' and 'Scenes from the Movies'.

Last year was my first year in the LPL, and I really enjoyed it- it's a challenge, for sure, but it's also a chance to paint 50+ miniatures in 10 weeks, which is a lot of lead. Last year I managed to paint some SciFi barbarians, supervillians, super heroes, zombies, cowboys, and Victorian explorers (you can see what I did by using the search feature to click of Lead Painters League).

This year I am planning to enter again. Despite my best efforts I still have a lot of lead left in the garage waiting to be painted. This year I plan to split my entrants between my various interests: VBCW will feature quite strongly, with plans for Civilians, Schoolboy militias and good old trusty Tommys; For Scifi/Supers I plan to do some helpful robots, some evil clowns and (if funds permit) some more zombies. For the 'African' themed round I might do some Boers (with the plan of converting them into VBCW militiamen when the competition is over). The Movies round is proving to be a bit of a tricky one at the moment. I am thinking Shawn of the Dead, Casablanca or perhaps Last Man Standing at the moment, but I am a long way of making up my mind.

One thing is certain, I am likely to be busy for the next couple of month, and you can expect to see a lot of figures appearing on this blog.

Very British Scenery (WIP)

2011-02-06T03:48:00.000-08:00

I have been jolly busy of late, building some scenery for my 1938: A very British Civil Car (VBCW) campaign. Some of these are home made, while others are bought.

This one was a model I got of Leon (I forget the manufacturer). Leon kindly gave it to me after he upgraded to a bigger, and more importantly pre-painted factory. I like this model, because it had a nice inter-war look to it. It measures about 6 inches by 1o inches, so it is quite small, but it has a detachable roof. I added a mezzanine floor to give it some more interest for gaming. I am going to make a few more simple modifications before spraying and painting it.

All my own work- this is a ware house to go with the factory building. Its made form foam-card, card and balsa wood.

The roof comes off too, making it a really useful gaming piece.

This pub model is by Warbases.com, and is specifically made for the VBCW setting. I had to add the tiles to the roof. I used card, but it took hours to cut the tiles out. Next time I will buy some embossed plasti-card with the design already printed on it. A lot less bother this way.

A bunker, made by me. Its made from foam card, and covered with plaster filler. It looks a bit big, because I wanted it to be able to house a squad of 12 model, on 30 mm bases. The roof comes off (obviously, or I wouldn't be able to get my models in it)

All I have got to do is paint them now (That's the bit I like least). My plan is to get at least a couple of them finished before my nest VBCW game.

Cat Lady

2011-01-30T11:46:00.000-08:00

Cecilia the Cat Lady is the local eccentric homeless person. Many view her with deep suspicion; or at least those who see her at all- most look right through here as if she wasn't there. However, the wise know that Cecilia, and people like her, can be a valuable source of information, as not much happens on the city streets they don't know about.

I have just finished reading Neverwhere, by Niel Gaiman (one of my favorite writers). It's the story of the the people who 'slip through the cracks' in socialty, and enter a shadow world below the streets of London, a world occupied by strange and wonderful people.

This figure reminds me of the characters in the books (there isn't a Cat Lady in the book, but there could have been). I bought this miniature from Black Cat Bases. I have to be honest and say that some of the stuff from BCB is a bit ropey, but this miniature is really well sculpted and characterful.
She will make a useful addition to my collection of civilians and by-standers, and being based on a 30mm base, will also be useful for Pulp City too.

Predator Alien

2011-01-27T05:54:00.000-08:00

Something is stalking the Superheros and villains alike. In the last few months a number of super powered individuals have been killed, their bodies having been found later, skinned, decapitated or otherwise mutilated. No one knows who, or what, is responsible for the killings. So far the only eye witness, a meths-addled tramp, has failed to throw any light onto the mystery: The only thing he could say was "The night came alive and took them!"

Predator aliens make a neat villain for a one off supers campaign. With their preference for hunting dangerous prey, what could be a more suitable victim than a gun touting cyborg or a 7 foot wall of living rock? The fact that they kill villains and heroes indiscriminately makes them a bit of a head-scratcher in a who-dun-it type adventure. Added to that the fact they are invisible, super strong and have cool high-tec gadgets too, any you have a ready made plot for a great evenings adventure.

I got this figure of Leon, who gave me a big bag of his hand-me-downs (thanks Leon). It's Copplestone Castings. It's also going to be useful for my scifi campaign, and for AE Bounty - I do like figures that are multi-functional.

VBCW Cornhil Farm Battle

2011-01-19T13:26:00.000-08:00

Time now for the second instalment in the 1838: A Very British Civil War (VBCW) campaign. In the second battle, Leon took control of Juan Caballero and the Wirral Socialists again, while I took Captain Webster’s Manchester Legion of the British Union of Fascists (BUF).
Helsby is a small town on the River Mersey, fairly unremarkable were it not for the fact a prominent outcropping of red sandstone, known as Helsbey Hill, overlooks it. The hill is the location of four fixed-gun emplacements that are one of the cornerstones of the Socialists defences, as they dominate the Mersey, the mires and the surrounding area. As such, the Socialists have seen fit to ensure Helsby has its own garrison, as well as fortifications and trenches. Taking Heslby will be no small task, but one that is essential if the Royalists are going to capture Helsby Hill.
Captain Webster of the Manchester BUF has taken upon himself to take Helsby Hill, as he believes that will be sufficient to draw him to the attention of the commanders of the army, and perhaps even the King. He desperately wants to earn status, with the eventual goal of becoming ennobled. To this end he has been probing the defences of Helsby in preparation for a push as soon as the weather bucks up. He has been given permission to commandeer Hoole Hall, just outside of Chester, to use as his head quarters, and he had a large force of BUF billeted in Hoole.
In preparation for the attack he has established a forward base and supply depot at Cornhill Farm, just south of Helsby. During his push he plans to relocate his head quarters there, and use it to resupply his troops. He has managed to scrounge a tanker of fuel from the army, and has sent it to Cornhill Farm until it is needed. A small garrison of BUF guard the farm, along with the farmer and his sons, who are die-hard royalists. Juan Caballero, while recovering from his wounds in Helsby, heard tell of the BUF’s planned push, and also of the location of the depot at Cornhill Farm. He hatched an audacious plan to capture the fuel tanker before the attack, thus delaying the push, and buying more time for the Socialists to reinforce the defences of Helsby.
Juan’s forces attacked at dawn, catching the defenders of the Farm by surprise. The bulk of the Socialists crossed the open fields surrounding the farm, coming under light sporadic fire from the defenders, but Juan sent one squad, supported by a pair of Russian-trained snipers from Liverpool, up the railway tracks to try to hold off any reinforcements that might arrive by rail.
The Socialist force stalled trying to find a way through the barbed wire stretched across the field. Although shots were exchanged with the defenders, casualties on both side were low. Finally word got through to Hoole Hall, and Captain Webster, grabbing what men he could (a platoon of BUF guarding the train station in Hoole) and raced to reinforce Cornhill Farm. The train arrived under full steam, its carriage laden with BUF fighters. Just as the heroic Spaniard led his men through the wire, Webster’s train drew to a screeching halt alongside the farm and the BUF pour out. Captain Webster, not as heroic as Juan, directed his troops from the safety of the carriage. The Socialists ambush the BUF as they scrambled off the train, wiping out one squad, and the sections HMG. The remaining squad, and Captain Webster’s command squad, struggle through the hedgerow to the farm, just as Juan’s Socialists storm the barricades and wipe out the last of the defenders.

The Socialist succeed in outflanking the BUF reinforcements, and the last BUF squad was wiped out, leaving Captain Webster and his command squad facing the whole of Juan Caballero’s force. The Captain surrendered to the Spaniard, and the BUF banner was captured, along with the fuel truck.

Later Captain Webster was handed over to agents of the BUF in Frodsham in exchange for some of the prisoners captured previously, along with a crate of good scotch whiskey and two packs of rough shag pipe tobacco. To Captain Webster’s continuing humiliation, the Socialists refused to hand over the BUF banner, and instead hung it in the dance hall in New Brighton, where it became an object of ridicule, referred to as ‘The Spaniard’s dish cloth.’

VBCW Skirmish in Frodsham

2011-01-14T02:09:00.000-08:00

This week Leon and I fought our first battle (well two battles) of our 1938: A Very British War (VBCW) Campaign. Our campaign is centered around the goings on in Wirral and Cheshire.
The Wirral is a peninsula that juts out into the Irish Sea between the rivers Dee and Mersey, and it holds a great deal of tactical importance to the siege of Liverpool. The Liverpool Free State (the Socialist lead government of the now independent city of Liverpool) is battling the forces of the Royalists and the British Government (in the form of the Manchester Legion of the British Union Of Fascists).
The Wirral is of great importance because its farms produce food for the besieged forces of Liverpool, while it’s industry (e.g., Birkenhead’s Shipyards, Ellesmere Port’s Chemical and cement factories) help the Liverpool Free State (LFS) maintain its control over the city.
The LFS controls most of the Wirral, but in the south of the peninsular Royalist forces from Chester and Manchester contest their control. Siege lines are drawn up between Ellesmere Port and Chester, and the Royalists know that if they can take the Wirral then the will be able to tighten their siege on the city of Liverpool.

Our opening battle was a skirmish between two patrols, around the town of Frodsham. Frodsham is a small town north of Delemere Forest. As neither the Royalists nor the LFS have a presence in the town it has become a haven for spies, smugglers, refugees and profiteers. Sergeant Major Ramsey, of the BUF was leading a patrol of twenty members through the farms on the outskirts of Frodham, when he encountered a similar sized patrol of Socialist Militia, lead by the Spanish Civil War veteran Juan Caballero (some time poet, some time painter, lover and fighter).

The Socialists seized the initiative and raced off to occupy the farmhouse. They use their van as a roadblock to stop the BUF outflanking them.

The BUF, slower to respond, skirted their way around the outskirts of the farm.

Sustained fire from the Socialists forced the BUF to skulk in cover, but Sergeant Major Ramsey managed to keep his squad moving, dashing from one patch of cover to the next. A lucky round of shooting from Ramsey and his men saw Juan Caballero go down, along with most of his squad, swinging the odds in the favour of the BUF. This allowed the BUF chance to regroup and press on. The Socialists move into the farmyard, seeking to push the BUF out of cover. Ramsey took a gamble, charging his squad into the open to counter the Socialists in the farmyard. Shots were exchanged at close range, and although Ramsey’s squad lost a couple of men, they all but wiped the Socialists out, forcing them to withdraw. The BUF capture the farm and some prisoners. The wounded Juan Caballero escapes with the remnants of his force in their vans.
This was a very basic battle, designed more to get us both familiar with the rules we were using that to test our metal. For the rules set we opted for FUBAR, a free downloadable game designed for demonstration games and alike. As such the FUBAR rules are very simple and quick to learn. They are printed on a single page of A4 paper. We felt that the rules performed well enough, but that they would be better if there were more squads involved. Also, because there is no points based system in the game, we felt that the BUF’s slight superiority in firepower games them a tactical advantage. (Although I was spooky-lucky when I rolled seven 6s on fifteen dice for shooting, mowing down the best part of a Socialist squad).