King of the Mike...erm, Mark

A quick post showing the latest addition to my Rohirrim for the succinctly named Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game.

This is King Theoden, and he wasn't actually painted by me. He was part of a small bundle of miniatures I bought a while ago from Mike. As he was already done, it seemed churlish to strip him and repaint him in exactly the same colours when the effect I would achieve would, at best, only match this. Therefore I opted to simply make the basing match my force.

He doesn't have a shield because I don't actually have one to give him, I also got a shieldless mounted model (which needs more painting) in the same bundle, and it also gives me an excuse to pick up the heavily armoured plastic Theoden at some point.

I know I only painted the base and added some static grass, but getting this miniature out of my to do pile did actually require some painting and therefore counts on my tally. Complaints about this decision can be sent to the usual address of Idontgiveashit@Itsmyblog.co.uk.

Acquired: 164

Painted: 132

StuG in the Mud

After completing our invasion of Crete campaign, my Fallschirmjager needed to be upgraded to become the late war force they've been painted as. First item on the agenda was armoured support in the form of a StuG III Ausf G assault gun.

The kit is from Warlord Games and was fairly straightforward to assemble with the notable exception of the schurzen side armour, which were frankly a pain in the arse to line up.

I decided, seeing as I'd done camouflage on every other model in the army, I'd have a go at camouflage on the StuG. A little bit of asking around pointed me to a YouTube video which allowed me to create an appropriate camo scheme without using an airbrush. The video can be found here.

I'm really quite pleased with the results, especially the paint chipping I've done over the waterslide decals. This is something I might go back to do on my Russian vehicles.

The only slight fly in the ointment is that I bought the StuG based on the fact that it was the most common German armoured fighting vehicle in the war and so I was being historically accurate. 

However, this was before Pete pointed out that in game terms the StuG III only five points less than a Panzer IV, and although they share the same armour and main gun, the Panzer IV has the added mobility of a turret, an additional machine gun and the Tiger Fear rule. That's quite a lot of value for five points.

I really should read rules before buying stuff.

Anyway, I'm happy with how my sub-standard armoured vehicle looks, and it's another model finished.

Acquired: 164

Painted: 131

THEM!

Last year I backed a Kickstarter run by Crooked Dice for the launch of their 7TV: Apocalypse game. With my pledge I got the base game, an Interceptor (which I gave the Mad Max earlier in the year) and a starter cast of Giant Ants.

Why Giant Ants you ask?

Well, a number of reasons really. Firstly, I like the models reminding my of b-movie classics like the aforementioned 'Them!'. Secondly, they looked quite easy to paint (more on this later). Finally, in gaming terms they are quite versatile, fitting into spy-fi, apocalypse and pulp games of 7TV with ease, they are also more than suitable for fantasy games and even Marvel supers gaming thanks to Ant-Man and the Pym Particle accidents that happen in his vicinity.

Assembly of these was a little bit fiddly with my clumsy fingers. The queen is resin and I managed to snap one of the antennae by being heavy handed during clean up, and I also almost stuck the legs on the wrong way round. I found the antennae of the smaller ants, being so tiny, even more tricky and I managed to glue myself to them a couple of times.

When it came to painting, I kept things simple. Base coat of Doombull Brown, drybrush with Ratskin Flesh and then wash with Agrax Earthshade. The princes were done with Ushabti Bone and washed and the eyes were painted red and I added a coat of Blood for the Blood God for that glossy effect.

The hardest part of painting was handling them, as I didn't want them based before they were painting and I was also terrified I'd snapping legs and antennae. If I was going to paint more (which might happen), I'd probably insert a rod in the underside of the smaller ants for painting and clip it off when finished.

I'm really pleased with the final outcome, although Mrs Cheaphammer isn't as they creep her out something rotten, which I suppose is a compliment of sorts. I will have to be careful with them as I managed to snap an antenna whilst taking these photos.

Unfortunately, despite painting all six in the space of a day, my progress hasn't been affected as my nemesis, Wargames Illustrated, arrived with another six free miniatures (this time it's renaissance handgunners) and so the gap remains the same:

Acquired: 164

Painted: 130

Getting Board Now

As mentioned in previous posts, I'm working on a lost world themed board for the Board in Brum 7TV day in September, and two new larger elements are now completed, getting me 3very closer to a full board set up.

The larger piece makes use of a piece of mdf I've had hanging around my gaming space for a good few years and I've had several thoughts on how to use it in that time. However, it's only the impending 7TV event that has prompted me to tackle such a large piece.

Rather than do a full section of jungle, water or rocks I've decided to mix the three to create a varied piece of terrain, complete with routes through so that it doesn't block off huge chunks of the board.

As with previous pieces, the plants are cheap plastic ones from pet shops and pound shops, the livid colours don't need to look realistic for my purposes, complemented by lichen to create undergrowth and strands from a plastic grass sample sheet as reeds.

The large flower is something I made for Poison Ivy back when I was playing the Batman Miniatures Game before Knight Models had made any plants for her. I'm glad I've been able to fund another use for it.

The water is the main reason that production of this piece slowed to a crawl as I bought some water effect (Still Water is the brand) and it turned out to be totally rubbish. It took ages to dry, dried cloudy, cracked and flaked off. After two tries with it, I settled for a healthy dollop of PVA, and I think it works. The bubbles aren't great, but they're not a massive issue in a swamp.

The croc is part of a plastic toy I picked up in Australia. Although the model itself wasn't great, I sliced the top off the head and the back and personally I think it works.

The rocky pool is actually a lizard feeding bowl I picked up cheap from a pet shop. I'm less sure about this as I don't think there's enough foliage to hide its original purpose, however I've now run out of plastic plants and ivy, so I may add more in time. On the up side, it didn't need painting apart from the pool and it puts something different on the table. I may return to this one to improve it.

I've probably got enough for a table now, but I'm playing a game with Matt tomorrow and so I'll get a chance to check and see if I need to add a few more pieces of scatter terrain.

Although big, this only counts as two models, but it's still positive progress and at least they're out of the queue now.

Acquired: 158

Painted: 124

It's All Kicking Off

Every so often I paint something that has nothing to do with any of the many many many projects I have on the go.

This is one of those times.

I present Alpha Male from Kitbash Games new Supers Unlimited range.

When I first recieved this as a gift from Leon, the CEO, Generalissimo and Overlord in Chief of Kitbash Games, the pose struck me as somewhat familiar and I was reminded of hungover Sunday mornings watching WCW Raw. In particular, I was reminded of this guy, the late 'Ravishing' Rick Rude.

I was not especially a wrestling fan, but I do remember watching every week as Rick strode out to fight yet another nobody, insult the audience, claim to be the world's sexiest man (even with that mullet) and then flatten the nobody with his signature move, the 'Rude Awakening'.

Given the pose and the moniker Alpha Male, I can only assume that Rick Rude was somewhere in the sculptor's mind when creating this miniature.

I've no specific plans for him other than the fact that he joins my burgeoning collection of Kitbash Miniatures, along with Doc Cosmos and Tox. These characters exist in the Supers Unlimited game which is due for release at some point, but the characters will also receive profiles for both Super Mission Force (which I play) and Pulp City, so there are plenty of ways to use them.

If you want to get your hands on some of these miniatures, Kitbash are launching with a Kickstarter that begins today. The range is incredibly eclectic, and despite the focus on supers there are miniatures that will fit in a wide range of projects. I've already earmarked models from the range to use in my Masters of the Universe, 7TV and Marvel projects.

Shameless promotions over Alpha Male is also another point on the 2019 painted pile.

Acquired: 158

Painted: 122

It's All Ruined Now!

Recently I signed up to Terrain Time, a terrain building project during August. Details can be found at Deadly Dick's Tavern. The basics are to simply complete one piece of terrain, and although I'm planning to do more, here's my first piece.

I've been very slowly working on a terrain board for the next Board in Brum 7TV day in September. I'm aiming for something that can work for Lost World Pulp games or an alien planet such as Eternia. I'd already done three pieces of jungle terrain, so I thought a ruin would add a little bit of variety.

The base ruin is something I've had for a very long time and came from the original Fellowship of the Ring starter set from GW, which I've given a brush up. The walls are actually too thin and the reverse side has issues, but I feel that the jungle additions help hide some of the limitations of the piece.

I'd actually run out of the purple tinged leaves I'd used on the other terrain pieces and hadn't been able to find more of them. So I spent I little time removing some from my other terrain, and replaced them with some of the livid green fronds I picked up from a pound shop. This means I now have enough to give a few more terrain pieces a consistent feel.

Sadly, a piece like this still only counts as one model, however it's all progress.

Acquired: 158

Painted: 121

I, for one, welcome our new parasitic alien overlords

I've started a new army. A Scourge army for Dropzone Commander.

Yes, I know I made a new year's resolution to work on what I have, but I'd like to point out that it isn't for a new game and really is just an expansion of my Dropfleet Commander force, and given that the Battle For Earth book included rules for running a campaign across both systems, I was really given no option.

Yes, they're small.

This is the infantry contingent of a starter box I picked up cheap on Ebay. They form one of the core units required in any army.

In terms of painting, on figures this small washes reall come to your rescue, and I've not done anything fancy except the eyes, which are dots of white with a wash of Hexwraith Flame over them. This gives them a glow which reminds me of night vision goggles.

I've done the packs dark red to tie the infantry with the main colour I'll be using for the vehicles, but I'll talk more about that in a future post.

Importantly, however, getting these chaps done has a massive impact on my painting tally. I counted them as individual models when I bought them, so I can count them as individuals now they're painted.

My only purchase this week was a ridiculously cheap Lifthawk for my Resistance force that I stumbled across in Wargames Emporium, my flgs, and so the scales have balance up somewhat.

Acquired: 158

Painted: 120

The Least Effective Guards In The Universe

One of the things that has struck me in my nostalgia trips back to Eternia is that the Palace Guards really are useless.

They have one job, to guard the palace, and this is a job that they singularly fail to do in every episode where it us relevant, relying on He-Man and chums to actually deal with any threats to the royal family.

What's more, their captain, Teela, regularly abandons her post to nag off on adventures which usually involve getting herself captured.

Naturally, when the opportunity to get hold of some of these 'elites' came about, I jumped at it.

The Palace Guards are from the same source as the Horde Troopers, and as with them, I will probably pick up more when they become available again.

I've used the same colour scheme as I did for Man-At-Arms, and it was very straightforward to do. As with the Horde Troopers, Filmation did not waste animation detail on background characters and so there were no fiddly bits to paint.

In games of 7TV these guys are destined to be used as Native Guards (I think) from the 7TV: Pulp set. It's occurred to me that the Pulp profiles are more than suitable for Masters of the Universe as He-Man's adventures on Eternia bear more than a passing resemblance to Flash Gordon's escapades on Mongo, and John Carter's tribulations on Mars.

Another two added to the painted pot has that total creeping towards the magic 100 for the year.

Acquired: 157

Painted: 92

Two's Company, Three's A Horde

I promised some painted models, and here they are, Horde Troopers to confront She-Ra and the Great Rebellion.

I wanted to get something simple done after the chore of painting the Gun Technicals for Dropzone, and one of the big advantages of sculpts based on the Filmation cartoons is that simplicity is the name of the game.

They are, as you might guess, custom sculpts, and I only bought three for now...not really a horde. However, there should be another opportunity to get a few more in the future, and so I'm likely to add to their numbers.

However, three is a good number as often in the cartoons you only saw three troopers at a time due to 'cost effective' animation standards.

In game terms, I've moved away from making custom 7TV profiles for every character as the sheer volume of profiles available now pretty much ensures that there is something suitable. Horde Troopers easily fit into the minion category which there are versions of in every iteration of the game.

Three models painted counteracts my holiday purchases nicely, moving things in the right direction again.

Acquired: 157

Painted: 90

Next up, some good guys...

Channelling Cheaphammer

Sorry for the brief hiatus, but I've been on my holidays to Jersey.

As ever, part of my holiday was spent looking at things with a wargamer's eye and I thought I'd share some good spots for the game should you find yourself in Jersey.

First on the list for a historical or fantasy gamer is the frankly fantastic Mont Orgueil castle in Gorey.

This Norman castle is a brilliant place to wander about and is a textbook lesson in how much medieval builders knew about building death traps.

Whilst we're on the subject of castles, Elizabeth Castle opposite St Helier is well worth a visit as a demonstration of how fortifications developed over time. Built during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, this fort has been added to continuously, even by the German occupiers in WW2.

In fact, as Jersey was part of the Atlantic Wall but was never attacked, there are lots of intact WW2 defences to explore, including the War Tunnels, bunkers and command posts.

My final recommendation has nothing to do with wargaming and is a little off the beaten track. La Hougue Bie features an eclectic mix of historical artefacts and buildings all on the same site.

A neolithic passage grave (which you can enter) is topped with a Norman chapel where fake miracles were performed. Nearby is a WW2 German command bunker which has become a memorial to the forced labourers brought to the island. There is also a museum displaying a Celtic treasure hoard found in a field down the road and tells the story if the site, including the point where Victorians turned the chapel into a Githic fairytale tower. This is all topped off with a replica neolithic building to explore.

A brilliant place.

As you may expect, I also had my eyes open for potential gaming supplies.

A 30p plastic snake from Jersey Zoo, which is destined for my 7TV: Pulp games.

A slightly battered 1910 Renault I picked up in a model train store, which either needs the lamps replacing, or will get some armour plates for use VBCW or Operation Sealion games of Bolt Action.

Finally, and most surprisingly, is a Mars Attacks flying saucer that was half price in Toymaster of all places. I was on the verge of selling my Martians, but I'm now happy that I can add a centrepiece like this to what will become a new cast for 7TV.

Three more models are only a minor bit of digging in the hole I'm already in:

Acquired: 157

Painted: 87

The next post will include painted models. I promise.