A Shadow in the Blog

Dear reader,

I might have been telling a few fibs.

Earlier in the year, updates on the blog were somewhat intermittent and although I did have quite a lot going on at that time, the real reason for the dearth of updates was that I was secretly spawning a swarm of gribbly insectoid aliens from beyond known space.

Why?

Put simply, our little gaming group has a history of producing surprise armies when they are least expected: Matt's Japanese, Pete's Tau and numerous units are assembled behind closed doors in preparation for our Christmas games.

Also, Pete isnt the biggest fan of Tyranids. He says it's a specifically 2nd edition thing, but I think he's carrying some deep-seated trauma.

Therefore I was particularly saving them for him.

The initial impetus for starting a Tyranid army was a batch of 20 Genestealers I still owned from the second edition of Space Hulk.

I had planned to save them for a classic Genestealer Cult army for 2nd edition 40k, but when this project popped into my head, already having a swarm of elite melee troops helped with motivation.

I had also picked up a Broodlord more recently, with the intention to use it as a Patriarch in the aforementioned Genestealer Cult army.

I'd mainly bought it because every so often Games Workshop sends me a £10 voucher which is really hard to spend as even with the discount, having to buy fire yvfrom their website and pay postage makes it not worth the effort.

I just about managed to get this more cheaply than from a discount retailer.

However, the final straw was when the hype for 11th edition 40k began and I remember being annoyed that I hadn't taken advantage of the deal that the starter set representer in terms of miniatures.

Determined not to miss out again, and with 21 Genestealers whispering in my ear, I picked up the 10th edition starter set before it disappeared off shelves forever. I think I paid around £50.

Although several of the units in the box are not in the version of 40k that we play (5th edition), they are useable with a little bit of imagination.

For example, if I ignore the wings on the Tyranid Prime and manage to pick up another Ripper Swarm base, they are suddenly useable.

Similarly, although Von Ryan's Leapers are absent from the 5th edition codex, they are the same size as regular Tyranid Warriors and if equipped with scything talons, they're also WYSIWYG.

The 20 Termagants are no problem, other than the fact that there were a lot of them to paint.

I should really mention that I've done the whole army with contrast paints, but began with a black undercoat and drybrushed with Grey Seer to begin. The main bodies were done with Skeleton Horde, whilst Magos Purple was used for highlights.

The carapace has been done the same way I did my Giant Ants. It was painted in Doombull Brown, drybrushed Ratskin Fresh and then given a wash of Agrax Earthshade.

The Psychophage (here pictured before I'd finished the base) perhaps provides the biggest problem, but the model is pretty much the same size as a Tervigon.

So, instead of munching on psykers, you can expect this beast to be spawning plenty of new Termagants.

In addition to the models I already hand and those from the starter set, I also used a bunch of vouchers I'd received for my birthday to pig up a couple of big beasties.

First up is the Hive Tyrant which I opted to build with wings as I thought it looked cool, and armed with a heavy venom cannon to go ce it a chance of popping vehicles from a distance.

Last up, and probably my favourite model in the army, is the Trygon Prime, a nasty looking monstrosity whichbrings both combat potential and command and control yo the horde.

I chose to build the Trygon Prime over the regular Trygon and the Mawlock because I reasoned that the extra abilities outweighed the extra cost.

Needless to say, I'm posting this now because I've finally managed to get a game in with the army - a three way battle, the Broken Alliance scenario, with both Matt and Pete bringing Eldar of differing Craftworlds (Biel-Tan and Iyanden).

I'm not the arrival of the Tyranids upset Pete as much as I'd hoped, but he did immediately pivot his army and focus his fire on the Tyranids, suggesting that he's not keen on them.

Unfortunately, he'd brought an Avatar of Khaine fir which I had no answer. The Tyranid Prime was cut down quickly, but the Trygon did manage to hold him up for a couple of turns.

Fortunately, the fiery demigod eventually turned it's attention towards Matt's Wraithguard and Wraithlord, which it battles until the end of the game.

On the up side, it turns out that Genestealers are pretty good in close combat, and paired with the Tyranid Warriors, they managed to chew through a unit of Howling Banshees, a unit of Dire Avengers and a unit and a half of Guardians.

The final Tyranid was dropped by indiscriminate fire from Matt's Jetbikes into the combat with Pete's Guardians.

Ultimately, as is often the way in threey-way games, Pete and I took big chunks out of each other, allowing the slower advancing Matt to largely mop up what was left and take the victory.

I've got a fair bit of learning to do with this army, but it definitely plays differently from what I already have. It'll be fun getting to grips with it.

No changes to my numbers in this post as observant readers with have spotted that I've been adding what I painted as I went along.

A Slightly Thicker Red Line

So, I've painted some more Napoleonic British.

Ten of them to be precise; half of the main unit in my burgeoning Sharp Practice Militia force.

I'd like to stress that these aren't just the same models stood in front of a different backdrop, but are in fact line infantry from the centre company, as opposed to being from the light company.

They do look extremely similar, but there are some key differences.

The plumes on their shakos are red and white, rather than green, and the decoration on their shoulders is a little less fancy (which doesn't really make them that much quicker to paint).

These cosmetic differences are backed by the fact that light companies were sent out to form a skirmish line, whilst centre companies largely didn't do this.

In game terms, the light troops will be functioning as skirmishers, whereas the centre compsny will be in a formed block or line.

Here's what I've got done so far.

I still have another ten Centre Company to paint as well as two officers, which I'm likely to focus on next as a bit of a break before tackling the last batch of recruits.

Acquired: 76

Painted: 155

Lead Mountain: 676

Start Your Engines!

A few years ago, I started to paint up my old Gorkamorka gang and Matt and I got a bit excited about playing a few games. And so I went full steam ahead and painted up the full gang, a trukk, a wartrak and a biker. 

Whilst waiting for Matt to catch up, I then painted up a few barrels and scatter terrain. And then another Trukk to potentially start a second gang.

Whilst waiting some more, I painted up a gang of Rebel Grotz, along with cobbling together bits to finiah and incomplete Big Lugga and completely scratch built a Cutta.

And then I waited some more...

Until now!

We finally managed to get a game in, just a mere three years after first discussing it.

In Matt's defence...

...nope, I've got nothing.

Anyway, a quickly put together 'Da Rekkin Krew' which consisted of a Nob, a Spanner, a Slaver, 3 Boyz and a Grot, all piled into a Trukk fitted with an Eavy Shoots. I actually leaned into being shooty, with several of the Boyz armed with Shoots. Obviously, this sort of kunnin thinking makes them Morkers.

Matt brought along Da Smashin Krew (we didn't plan this), a bunch of Gorkers: a Nob, 2 Spanners and 4 Boys riding in a Trukk and accompanied by a Bike fitted with twin Kannons. 

Having invested quite heavily in guns, I was delighted to find out that we'd be playing Da Fight, which stayed that no Orks could shoot (my Grot was fine) until they'd been involved in a ram or a boarding action.

Brilliant.

The early turns saw the two trucks jockeying for position and I managed to get several attempted rams in, but the Gorkers kept swerving away. The cowards.

Meanwhile, I was also being tailed by the Bike, which, and in a fit of bravado, and in an attempt to break the deadlock, my Nob attempted to leap aboard, but he got thrown off, left behind and gave the Biker carte blanche to open fire on my Trukk.

Oh good.

Fortunately the biker wasn't able to inflict any damage and thanks to a convenient spin, I managed to finally t-bone the Gorkers Trukk, immobilising it and allowing me to unleash my shoots.

However, in the crash, my Eavy Shoota was damaged and it turns out that Orky shootas aren't great at damaging vehicles.

Smashing.

With an immobilised Trukk, there was no reason for the Gorkers to stay aboard and their boss and another boy mobbed my Nob and took him out of action.

Swell.

Hoping to race away from the stranded Gorkers I ended up spinning instead and so took the opportunity to smash into the Bike as well, wrecking it in the process.

Unfortunately, as my shootas were proving less than effective, this left me too close to the Gorkers who swarmed my Trukk and began a series of boarding actions with varying degrees of success.

However, those that did get aboard then proceeded to win every fight, even when I had advantage in the fights, and my numbers began to get whittled down.

Marvellous.

Finally, despite managing to take both vehicles and several Orks put of action, my Morkers bottled it...or should I say, made a kunnin and taktikul retreat.

My Nob was captured, my Grot was killed (never mind) and three of my Boyz were hurt. Matt 'kindly' ransomed my Nob back, and I did pick up several skills, but there's already a 20 point difference in our gang rantings.

Fantastic.

At least we both lived up to our gang names. DA Rekkin Krew wrecked his vehicles and Da Smashin Krew smashed my face in.

Better luck next time. Waaargh, etc.

Second Rank, Fire!

You can expect to see quite a few somewhat similar looking posts as I work through my War of 1812 British force for Sharp Practice.

So much so that I've decided to open with a picture of everything I've done so far just to make it clear that this is a different post.

As you can see, I've added another six light infantry, completing one of the units in the Select Embodied Militia Force I'm working towards.

In case you didn't know, the Select Embodied Militia were a full-time and uniformed militia raised in Lower Canada and formed from volunteers and man vlchosen by ballot. They were much better trained than what most think of when the word militia is used and are probably analogous to what we might consider as soldiers doing national service.

There's not much to say about the six I've painted as I've approached them in exactly the same way as the last seven, and I think I managed to do them more quickly (but not by much).

I've now got twenty Line Infantry to do, so I'm tempted to do them in batches of ten now that I've got my process sorted out.

I begin with a Ghoul Grey/Grey Seer undercoat and start by giving all the black and grey sections a coat of Basilicanum Grey contrast paint. I then dry brush the trousers in Administratum Grey as it's the messiest part of the process, before moving up the model from feet to head, starting with the boots.

The black parts get a coat of Black Templar contrast paint as I go, and after I've done Flesh Tearers Red contrast paint on the jacket, I shade the jacket with Agrax Earthshade. I then use Talasaar Blue on the facings before highlighting the jacket in Mephiston Red before doing the many straps in Skull White.

I then move onto the backpack which is done simply in Black Templar, Administratum Grey and Skull White. The skin is Gulliman Flesh highlighted in Kislev Flesh, whilst the plumes on the shakos are Loren Forest washed with Biel-Tan Green. Muskets are Wildwood washed with Nuln Oil (after the metal is done) and the straps (which I realised I'd missed last time) are again Skull white.

Finally I do the metals in Leadbelcher and Retributor Armour, washing them where appropriate, before basing simply with Javis Battlezone Scatter (Fields).

It's quite laborious but I'm currently enjoying the proncess, so I want to strike whilst the iron is hot and get some more done soon.

Acquired: 76

Painted: 145

Lead Mountain: 686

Night Terrors #4: Monarch of Main Street

Returning to our ongoing quest through Night Terrors, the 80's sci-fi horror themed 7TV feature pack, we find ourselves on Main Street in the small New England town of Pilgrim's Bluff, where the covert transfer of a recently apprehended,  frightened and extremely psychic alien has caused all sorts of nightmarish visions to come to life.

I suppose it was just back luck that local celebrity, the prolific horror author Richard Bishop, was having a midnight book signing, and the feverish imaginations of his fans have spewed forth versions of his most famous creations to terrifying the town.

It's down to Sheriff Tucker, who's son Teddy has given her the lowdown on what's really happening, to try to keep the good people of Pilgrim's Bluff safe.

The action takes place in the centre of the town and pits local law enforcement (along with assorted attendees of the book signing) against the main villains of Richard Bishop's most successful works.

The police are trying to reach the bookshop (on the left) to destroy the paperbacks that are spewing forth horrors, whist the creatures are trying to get to the library (on the right) to gain access to the occult tomes stored there (this is New England, remember, it's full of that stuff).

The heroic cast is as follows:

Sheriff Alison Tucker (Star)

Richard Bishop - Author (Co-Star)

Heather Gilmore - No. 1 Fan (Co-Star)

Teddy Tucker - Plucky Kid (Extra)

4 Pilgrim's Bluff Deputies (Extras)

Reporter (Extra)

2 News Crew (Extra)

Whereas the monsters of Main Street are:

Riddles the Clown (Star)

Bloody Mary Carver (Co-Star)

Mr Creak the Scarecrow (Co-Star)

Klaus Barrow the Vampire (Extra)

Guzalu the Demon Hound (Extra)

4 Night Terrors (Extras)

I opted to use Giant Ants as the Night Terrors as not only did the profile seem appropriate, but given that the creatures from the drive-in win the second scenario, so if figured that some of them might have made their way into town via the sewers.

***

As the insects that had scuttled out of the sewers began to advance on the police cordon around the library, Sheriff Tucker ordered her nen to open fire and they blasted away, bullets ripping through several of the chitinous terrors before they got close.

Richard Bishop, deciding that he had to stop his own creations, started to sneak his way to the bookshop, with Heather Gilmore and the sheriff's son in tow.

Meanwhile, the monsters of his imagination began barreling through the square, drawn by the gunfire and the scent of violence.

Despite the success of their initial volleys, the ants just kept coming, and so the PBPD were caught by surprise when the scythe wielding straw-filled maniac, Mr Creak, suddenly appeared in their midst, cutting them down like wheat.

The police were so taken back, and couldn't seem to harm the Scarecrow, that it look like they were about to be overrun when the unlikely figures of Heather Gilmore and Teddy Tucker came charging to their rescue.

Still struggling with Mr Creak, the police looked to be in trouble, but Richard Bishop managed to channel his writer's block and keep Riddles the Clown from joining the fray.

However, the demonically fast Guzalu was able to leap into the fray as the last of the Deputies fell to Creak's bloody sickle.

Confusion abounded until Sheriff Tucker was finally able to put a bullet through the sackcloth head of Mr Creak, knocking the stuffing out of him.

Heather Gilmore's stern told reminded Guzalu that he was a bad dog and he ran off into the distance with his tail between his legs.

However, a surprise attack from an ant brought Bishop low and, with his authorial control lost, Riddles was free to beat down upon the Sheriff.

Somehow Alison Tucker managed to avoid his meaty fists and between her and Miss Gilmore, they came perilously close to bring down the curtain on his act.

But the Clown was hard to kill and kept coming back from death like De Niro on a yacht.

This left Heather vulnerable, and she too was taken down by an unexpected ant.

However, just as thing looked at their bleakest, Richard Bishop reappeared in a plot twist befitting one of his novels (his endings were never very good) and Sheriff Tucker was able to try and fail once again to take down the clown.

Things looked desperate. The demonic clown towered over them, giant ants crawled around their kegs and was that a vampire approaching?

She may be a policewoman, but Alison Tucker was first and foremost a mom. She told Teddy to get away and wait for her at the station as she and Bishop prepared for their last stand.

As the creatures swarmed in, thing looked hopeless. Numerous policemen and civilians were dead, but a good number of monsters has fallen too.

Richard Bishop told Sheriff Tucker to go to her son. He would hold the library doors until sun up. She must find out more from her son and seek to stop this horror from spreading.

***

Another close fought game. The scenario was really challenging. Although the good guys had all the guns, the villains were really tough to kill making a desperate struggle befitting a horror novel.

There were all sorts of status based shenanigans going on in the background as we both used every trick at our disposal.

The final score was 3-2 to the villains as we'd both taken out just one Co-Star, although I did manage to reduce Riddle to zero health only to be saved by SFX and Bishop did come back from the dead thanks to a script card.

The results was decided by the heroic cast being axed. Again, the ant that just wouldn't die thanks to scenario rules prevented me from returning the favour onto the villains.

This feature pack has been consistently balanced and entertaining and we're hoping for more of the same from the final scenario.

The British Are Finally Coming!

Very long time readers of this blog will be aware that eleven years ago I first put paint to miniature on some Native Americans to finally begin my long postponed War of 1812 project.

Two years later I started a United States force for use in Sharp Practice, an army that took another six years to complete.

I have finally turned my attention to their opponents. The British-Canadian army.

After completing my US Scouting Force and their somewhat unlikely artillery support, I thought I'd leave things there.

However, not having enough Native Americans to create an opposition has prevented me from ever getting around to playing a game, and so returning to the War of 1812 has sat in the back of my mind until last year.

Whilst attending one of the two Partizan shows I encountered two very persuasive chaps selling second hand miniatures at a very reasonable price to raise money for veterans.

Money exchanged hands and I walked away with an indeterminate number of Perry Miniatures plastic British Napoleonic infantry.

I immediately regretted my decision as although British Napoleonics have very much been near the top of the list of armies I always wanted (thank you Sean Bean), the concept of actually painting them has terrified me.

However, several months later, the muse has finally taken me and I sat down to work out what I could do with the miniatures I had.

A quick scan of the War of 1812 supplement for Sharp Practice told me that by using some of the Native Americans I already had (an an unpainted mounted Officer), I could put together a Militia Force with 33 infantrymen.

A quick examination of the sprues revealed that I had 34 miniatures to play with. What's more, I had though that I was going to have to use the covered Belgic shakos of the Waterloo campaign, but the sprues also held just enough plumed shakos that were more prevalent during the war.

There were also enough arms with more decorative epaulettes to denote the 12 light infantry were required and I was able to rustle up just enough 20mm round bases.

I was on a roll.

Now I just needed to paint them.

I've actually been pleasantly surprised by the painting process. I've been much more methodical that I ever usually am, going back and forth to source material to ensure I got them right.

There's less red to paint than you'd think, but there are a lot of white straps and lace to detail on.

These seven are the first section of Light Infantry (hence the fancy epaulettes and green plumes) along with their corporal, and I've painted them with the blue facings of the 1st Battalion of Select Embodied Militia. Conveniently, these were also the colours of the 1st (Royal Scots) Regiment of Foot, which gives me options to deploy these models as British Regulars as well.

I'm really pleased with this first batch and keen to get on with some more.

Whether this enthusiasm holds remains to be seen.

Acquired: 76

Painted: 139

Lead Mountain: 692

When Projects 'Drag On'

I previously mentioned that I wanted to add a little something to my D&D Villains cast for 7TV...I may have lied about the 'little'.

This is Marduk the Tyrant from Archon Studios, a model I picked up from the UK Games Expo in 2024 as it clearly bears a significant resemblance to Tiamat from the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon (fun fact: Tiamat and Marduk are both figure from Babylonian mythology).

Obviously, there are a few differences, including the Archon model not having the same body shape as Snarf from Thundercats.

She was a third-party antagonist in the show who was equally an enemy to Venger as to the children. She also had a multi-tonal voice which suggest that she smoked too much.

I built the model almost as soon as I got it back home and the model went together really well, and encouraged me to potentially pick up some more of the Archon models in the future.

I then set about painting, using mainly contrast paints, with a little dry brushing and highlighting for good measure. However, I ran out of steam after getting base coats on as I think I became a bit daunted by the heads.

With hindsight, I should have left all but the central head off the model and painted them separately, as I had a bit of a nightmare getting contrast paint into all the books and crannies around the necks.

If you are picking up this model for yourself, sub-assembly is you friend.

However, having painted up the other Villains, I felt I really out to get back to Tiamat.

I sorted out the red bits of the main body I'd missed before giving the whole model a Mephiston Red dry brush. I then approached each head one at I time, breaking the project into doable chunks until she was done.

Here she is with Venger for scale.

I pleased to have go her done and I'm pretty sure I can put together a decent sized cast to attack Matt's D&D kids with. I'll just have to come up with a very thin excuse for all these Villains who hate each other to have teamed up.

Acquired: 76

Painted: 132

Lead Mountain: 692