More Jungle Terrain

I have been working on some more of my jungle scenery. I made a large piece with a swamp in the middle. this ads a nice bit of variety as it is more open and allows figures to be laced on the base easily, but still maintaining the over grown jungle feel. It is the biggest base I have made so far. I was concerned about warping as it was so big. It warped a little bit, but not enough to be disastrous. 

I also made another piece of more fantasy/pulp/scifi terrain in the form of another giant mushroom. These mushrooms were resin ones I bought AGES ago (maybe as long ago as 1991) but are still available from Scotia Grendel (link).

Jungle Terrain Work In Progress

 I have not been idle the last few weeks. I have been making lots and lots of jungle terrain. Much of this is bits and pieces of old terrain re-based, and the rest is bits and bobs I bought from the pet shop or cheap home-wear houses like B+M and Poundland. This terrain will be very useful, as it can be used for Burma (Bolt Action), Africa (Congo or Force on Force) or even the Caribbean (Pirates or Freebooters Fate).  It could even be used for Scifi or fantasy too. 

There is lots more to follow. I plan to make more, including center pieces and more unusual pieces. 

Freebooter's Fate: The Imperial Armada Crew

Just because I wanted to post something this weekend, I had a look through my shelves at some figures I painted during the last twelve months that I never posted on the blog. I found some Freebooters Fate figures I bought at Salute 2017 to show off. I apologise for the bad lighting but there was no natural daylight around when I took these pictures. 

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. 

Freebooters Fate: Brotherhood vs Pirates

Pulp Citizen and I got together for a bit of fantasy skirmish using Freebooters Fate. I played my Pirate crew, and Leon played his Brotherhood assassins. We pooled our resources with the board- Mostly it is Pulp Citizens stuff, but with my trees, a few houses and lots of trade goods I have just finished painting up. All the buildings are from 4Ground, and the trade goods are from Ainsty Castings.

Apparently our two gangs clashed over the particulars of the ownership of a goat...and something to do with a wedding...to be honest the historic reasons behind the feud between the Brotherhood and the Pirates is a bit sketchy. Not that they usually need much of an excuse for a fight. 

The Pirate Crew- Jolly Good lads

The Brotherhood- Dastardly cut-throats and murderers!

Two brave Pirate Deckhands spoiling for a fight

The sulking Master Assassin -boo hiss!

Harlequin worming her way through the seedy backstreet

Before coming to a sticky end at the hands of Krud

 The scrap went well for the Pirates, as they were able to exploit they shooting abilities from cover and finish the Assassins before they could close, while Krud- certainly the man of the match for the Pirates- brained two of the Brotherhood's specialists before being taken out by (fittingly enough) a poisoned dart in the back from the master assassin.

Master Assassin wonders where the rest of his gang went

Captain Rosso says 'extra rations of rum for everyone who survived.'

French and Indian Wars: Horse and Cart

Just a bit of scenery or an objective for French and Indian Wars. I showed it off in the same picture as the Village Girls a few weeks ago but it was in the background and I though it should deserve a larger photo. The horse and  cart are from Warbases and the cargo is from Ainsty Castings. It will be useful for many setting as well as the FIW, from ECW right through to VBCW and WW2.

Freebooter's Fate: First Battle Report

Pulp Citizen and I have played our first game of Freebooter's Fate. It was rum-soaked swash-bucklin' romp. Captain Rosso tried to extract some payback for an insult from a local merchant who refused to deal with his crew. Unfortunately for Rosso the merchant was secretly a member of the Brotehrhood, a guild of assassins. When Rosso turned up to 'have a chat' with the merchant the Brotherhood were already there, lurking in the shadows!

The now dilapidated Merchants district was deserted when Captain Rosso arrived. Never a good sign. 

Sneaky rats hiding in the shadows

Rosso runs into an assassin, and is taken out of the fight early

Rosso's deck hands get a little revenge by beating the crap out of a lowlife they find lurking in a back ally.  

Assassins are less scary when they are the ones being surprised. Especially when that surprise is a bullet in the forehead. 

Unfortunately the pirates actions are too little to late, as the Brotherhoods killers close in on her!

The last plucky pirate meets her end at the hands of the master assassin of the Brotherhood. And a lackey because apparently he was too scared to face her alone!

French and Indian Wars: Major Toby Topping-Smyth, British Army

Now I am in the mood for some more 18th century goodies here is Major Toby Topping-Smyth of the British Army, garrison commander in my fictional American settlement. Topping-Smyth is a somewhat uninspiring character who lacks the finances to buy a better commission, and has lacks the bravery to go out and earn one. Never the less, he represents the King, and and takes his duties to protect the settlers very seriously. Which is fortunate, because with the Canadians, French and Indians threatening the settlers, not to mention the pirates (see previous post), then things are about to get decidedly more challenging for the Major. Will he rise to the challenge, or be proved lacking? Time will tell. 

The figures are by Redoubt. If I can add one more NCO to my force I can field them as a garrison force in On the Seven Seas, so I will get even more use out of them. The good thing about the British Army of the period (1740 up to the AWI) is that they were going all over the globe fighting anybody. As well as the threat of the French and Indians in America, they fought the Spanish in Havana, the fought in the Indian subcontinent against the French and the other sort of Indians (Clive of India), They fought the French (again) and their allies in the Seven Year War in Europe, The fought the Scottish Jacobites in Britain and fought the French (yet again) in Africa! Busy fellows these British army chaps. 

On The Seven Seas: More Pirates

Here are some more pirates for my 'On the Seven Seas' Crew. These are by North Start Miniatures. I love painting these guys- they have just the right amount of detail-flat areas ratio for me, and their faces are very characterful. I have treated myself to some more sailors so I will have a fully crewed ship soon. I have also been watching Black Sails, which is really getting me in the mood!

On The Seven Seas: Pirate Crew

  I got these for Christmas, and have really enjoyed painting them. It's given me that eighteenth century bug again. As you can see I haven't held back on the colours, going full on for garishness and tastelessness. My pirates like nothing more than spending their ill-gotten gains on bright coloured clothing. Not very realistic or historically accurate but what the hell- their captain is Captain Hook for God sake! 

  The only down side of this is that the On The Seven Seas starter kit doesn't contain enough figures for the starter crew, so you have to go an buy as second box- and then you end up with spare! Just silly if you ask me. 

  The figures are from North Star. I am considering getting sailors from Foundry or Galloping Major to fill out the ranks but I am not sure about scale compatibility, and beside, these North Star ones are a pleasure to paint. 

Freebooter's Fate: The Pirate Crew

Here is Dirty Maria, another crewman (crew-woman) for my Freebooter's Fate pirate crew. She brings the crew to six. 

Freebooter's Fate: Pirate Crewman

Introducing Stabby Pete, a crewman for my Freebooters Fate pirate crew. I bought him almost twelve months ago at Salute and just finished painting him. A nice characterful model that was a pleasure to paint!

Scenery for Pirates (Arrh! Jim Lad!)

Here is a few of pictures of the latest bits of scenery I have been making. These are from 4Grounds and they are from their Fabled Realms fantasy rage (they are from the Mordenburg range- not at all based on inspired by Mordhiem) They certainly wouldn't look out of place on a Warhammer table but I think they will do for a number of other genres as they are mercifully free from grinning sculls and other Games Workshop inspired oddness.


Included in the range is three different types of houses- Dockside, High Street and Back Street. Dockside is the grandest quarter, where the burgers and merchant's homes and so on. They are three stories: The ground floor is accessible from the street and is a cellar or a shop. The main family residence is accessed via an external staircase. High Street houses are simpler affairs, but still impressive, while back street houses are simple single story structures. There are also a number of ruined versions of the houses and a very imposing inn. 

I picked up a back street house and a dockside dwelling, principally to use for On the Seven Seas and Freebooter's Fate. They are pre-painted and Laser Cut from MDF, and come with a step by step photographed instructions which were very useful. The smaller house took about an hour to build but the larger one was more complicated and took about 5 hours (I would probably be quicker next time, and I used PVA, which I had to wait to dry during a few of the more delicate stages). 

They are lovely models, with lost of nice details like doors that open, and even a trap door. They also have fully detailed interiors, which is great too, especially for skirmish games. I lightly dry brushed the timber work and roof tiles to help pick out the detailing and cover a few burn marks. This took about five minutes, but really enhanced the over all look. I particularly liked the way they are made to look a bit 'wonky': the roofs and walls slope at weird angles. Having grown up in Chester, where we have some of the best preserved Tudor timbered buildings in England, I really liked this as it looks very realistic and stopped them looking too boxy. 

While I intend to use these houses as pirate dwellings I can also see they will be useful for Lord of The Rings, VBCW, ECW or a whole host of other settings. My regular gaming buddy Pulp Citizen is getting a couple too, and when we put the together we will have the start of a little town!

Peninsualr War: Royal Navy Ships

I bought a couple of ships to go with my Napoleonic sailors- but with a mind that they might be good for Freebooters Fate or On the Severn Seas (a game my son and I fancy getting into in the New Year). 

I got these from Eleven Tree Designs. They are laser-cut but pre assembled and are detailed enough not to need much by way of painting. They usually come with long masts and rigging, but I thought that would get in the way on gaming, so opted to have these cut off masts (which made it a bit cheaper too).  

Eleven Tree Design were a good company to deal with. I contacted them through their Facebook account and they were helpful and even game me a discount as I was buying two ships. the cost was good too, compared to the resin ones on the market. 

Freebooters: Cookie

Due to a catastrophic computer failure I am struggling to post this using my IPad. Hopefully I have managed because I do hate to miss a deadline. Here is the latest of my dreadful pirate crew for Freebooters's Fate. In this week I have painted a deck hand who seems to be some sort of maniac knife wielding ships cook. 

Time is really tight at the moment as I struggle with real world commitments and certain self imposed hobby deadlines, but I am delighted to say that, thus far, I am on schedule for Freebooters July 

Curly Sue and some scummy,scurvy sea dogs looking for boot; Argh!

Freebooter: Curly Ann

I have just finished my latest freebooter's Fate pirate, a named character called Curly Ann. She is a slick, bad ass pirate wench with a massive gun.

I apologies for the substandard picture again, but I didn't have time to set up the lights right. It seems that life is just too busy at the moment. What I will do is promise to take a good group photo of all of my pirates in August, when Freebooter Month is compete. 

Anyway... there is number two done. I hope you approve. 

Freebooter: Deck Hand

For my Birthday this year my old mucka Pulp Citizen bought me a stater pack of Freebooters Fate figure- namely some pistol wielding piratical scurvy dogs. In order for Mr Pulp Citizen and me to actually get round to painting these figure up in a reasonable time frame he called for yet another themed painting month- and so July is Freebooters Month. 

We have both promised that we will churn out one Freebooter figure per week, which will mean by the end of July we will both have a painted starter faction for the game, so then we can get some action in.

Here is my first entry- a scurvy, rum soaked deck hand soiling for a fight. I don't like this photo, but I was very busy and I only had a few minutes to set up the shot- you will have to forgive me.