Peninsular War: Spanish Milita

While waiting for more figures to arrive for my Mini-hammer and Soviets I chanced upon three Spaniards who were undercoated but not yet painted, so spent an evening slapping them, with the wet end of a paint brush. This is the result.

The figures on the left and the right are from Empress Miniatures, from their New Zealand Wars range. The New Zealand Wars were a few decades after the Napoleonic War but I am not going to let that worry me too much as I managed to pick these pair up cheep as they had broken or miscast bayonets. They are carrying English kit but that works because many of the Spanish were supplied by the British. 

The figure in the middle in from Eagle Miniatures and is sporting some elements of the Spanish Regulars uniform (in this case an artilleryman). As Spanish regiments were broken in battle with the French many of the regular troops ended up drifting into service in the irregular forces, were their training and expertise were welcomed. 

Pirates: Assassin and Standard Bearer

Here are two more additions to my Pirate crew, originally intended for On the Seven Seas. To be honest I think the chance of me ever playing On the Seven Seas is rather remote, so they are just painted for fun really. And because I had them based and sprayed, sat on the painting pile while I am waiting for more Russians to arrive in the post.  The first one is from North Star Military Figures and is obviously a nod towards the characters in Assassins Creed, one of my favourite games. I painted him appropriately. He has an excellent dramatic pose. 

The second figure is a standard bearer. I can't really imagine that pirates fighting on land bothered to take a Jolly Rodger standard along with theme, so this is something of a whimsy. The figure is from Redoubt and was a left over from my French and Indian Wars British. The originally had a halberd in his hand, so was a rather simple conversion. 

Stalingrad: First Russian Platoon

I have finished basing the rest of my Russian platoon for Stalingrad. I have more figures on order from Crusader Miniatures and, with the addition of some armour or some more support options, this will make two platoons. 

Stalingrad: Platoon Support Options

Here are a few more of my Stalingrad defenders. These are the support options for my Platoon. Were would the Defenders of Stalingrad be without their snipers? And the trusted Maxim machine gun can be very motivating for reluctant raw troops, if positioned behind them to mow down anyone trying to retreat! Also I have included a flame thrower as these are something of a must in Bolt Action, especially when clearing Nazis out of ruined buildings. To finish it of I have a  medical officer and Commissar to support the platoon leader. 

Deadly Snipers Wait to Strike

Burn out those Nazis comrade!

Maxim MMG- Venerable but Reliable

Medical Officer and Commissar Political Officer

Stalingrad: New ptoject

While I wait for more tiny 15mm figures to arrive I have been finishing off another project. This one is for WW2 Stalingrad. This project sprang out of a conversation with Big Al at Earlswood Wargamming club who made the stunningly beautiful Battle of the Bulge scenery and the boards we used for Sharp Practice. Big Al said he had always fancied doing a Stalingrad board complete with cellars and so on. While we were chatting I remembered that I had about a platoon of WW" Russians from Black Tree Designs in my Lead Mountain waiting for a now aborted Winter War project (aborted when I saw the poor standard of the Finnish figures being produced by Bolt Action and Baker Company). I started to paint a few and found they were so easy to paint it was so very relaxing. I was churning out 4-5 competed figures in an evening. I have based them up with suitable ruined urban bases. I have even more on order and I plan to built it up to two complete platoons. I am not sure when Big Al plans to make his Stalingrad terrain but I know I will be ready to defend it from the Nazis when he does!

My Junior Officers

The Black Death- Soviet Sailors fighting in Stalingrad

Red Army

Minihammer: Night Goblin Squig Herd

 Here we go, the penultimate unit of my 2000 pts Orc and Goblin army for Minihammer. This one took a bit longer because I had to sculpt the Squigs. I did manage to find a few proxies on line but none that really looked like Warhammer Squigs, so I thought I would have a go at sculpting them myself. I am pretty happy with the outcome- bearing in mind that they are quite tiny- blown up here on the screen they look a bit rough around the edges but bear in mind they are only about 1-1.5cm tall and you will see that they look fine. 
The eagle-eyed will notice that their is only nine squigs in the herd- there were supposed to be three squig hoppers (goblins riding squigs) in the unit but I cocked up a bit when sculpting them as I forgot that in Warhammer Squigs go on 20mm bases, unlike Orcs who go in 25mm bases. This mistake basically meant I mad them too big, so I compromised. The three squig hopper minis will be attached to the unit and hop off to cause trouble when the bad guys get close enough. 
Incidentally the rides for the squig hoppers are the same models I used for the fanatics in the last post. 

Minihammer: Da Red Eye Night Goblin Mob

 Last week I went away and managed to smuggle my paints in with the luggage and completed my Night Goblin mob. This band of wicked little critters was from Ral Partha Europe. I had to add a few red caps using Green Stuff to make them look more like Night Goblins. I didn't convert them all, as it would take too long but converted just enough to make it clear they are Night Goblins. 

I also made a unit filler that can take them up from 36 (six stands) to 60 (ten stands) for bigger games. This takes to form of a humongous spider the Night Goblins have found in a deep dark cave somewhere and have herded into battle by prodding it with big spikes. The spider is a Reaper Bones giant spider. 

The front rank of the Night Goblins have nets. This strikes me as something of a must have. They chuck their nets before the first round of combat and anyone struck looses an attack. This is vital in keeping the goblins alive long enough for their weight of numbers to make a difference. 

The other thing Night Goblins have that are really something of a must have is fanatics. These whirling loons can, on a good day, reap a terrible price on the enemy. Even if they don't kill anyone they are sure to disrupt they enemies plans. Or at least give us something to laugh about. These fanatics were converted from RPE's mosquito riders, with the addition of a dressmakers pin as a ball and chain. 

 Here is the horde of Greenskins so far. I want to add a Squig Herd and a giant next. That will take me to 2000pts. I have to say that I am loving painting these figures so much that I think I might just press on and go for 3000 points before I start painting another army- either Chaos of Vampire Counts. 

Minihammer: Guzzard da Smasha, Black Orc Warboss

Many have heard of him by reputation and legend, but few have stood in his presence (and survived to tell the tale). Here is Guzzard da Smasha, Scourge of the Badlands and Slayer of Princes. He is the Black OrcWarboss for my 15mm Warhammer Orc and Goblin Army. This awesome figures is from Ral Partha Europe's Demonworld range and is very 'warhammery' if you ask me. Who else better to lead my minihammer green skins. 

And here is a picture of the growing tide of greenskins Guzzard is preparing to lead out of the Badlands to ravage the Old World. It's not finished yet but it is getting there. 

And here is a sneak peak at something I am working on for my goblins...

Minihammer: Finished Prototype Farm House

 I was quite pleased with the outcome of my 15mm Warhammer style farm house - you may remember it as a Work In Progress model last week. I finished it with a paint job and a teddy-bear fur roof top, which I thought would be easier and quicker than doing a tiled roof (it was). As a prototype I am happy enough with this house. I think that it is a bit too big and a bit top heavy, but that will be easy enough to correct in later buildings. I would also love to make a few ruined houses too. 

At this stage comments and suggestions would be welcome. 

Minihammer: Finished Orc Idol

This is my finished Orc idol I showed in the Work In Progress blog last week. As you can see it has been painted and has some orcs pushing it. It has six Orcs on a base that would normally hold twelve, but I think when you see it embedded into the ranks of my Bloody Bonez Boyz then I hope you will agree it fits nicely. I think it adds a lot of character and interest to the ranks too.