Monday 21 July 2014

Advanced Heroquest and old lead.


Nice and short: some Island of Blood box set Skaven for AHQ and some old citadel lead adventurers and heroes to face them.

My WIP Warpfire Thrower.
I don't have an original Warpfire thrower and the IoB one is really ugly and flat. It looks like Hasbro had already taken over. But with some Skaven cunning, bits of an awful rat ogre and some procreate I set about making it mine. Needs a little work but I looking forward to OSL'ing it if I can.

My skaven Warlord. Hopefully his armour colour and fur will make him recognisable in a horde.

Some of the Skaven, including a severely directionally challenged champion.

Aenur Sword of Twilight (Mordheim not vampires) The Moon Duke and a Thug (My Witch-finder's man of persuasive means)


A dwarf scout, a human scout and a templar all early Citadel.

Possibly my favourite dwarf model. Not too GW and nicely Tolkien. This chap is what I think of when I think "fantasy". And he's packing lots of weaponry.

Human Scout and Chaos Dwarf both repaired.
Both of these models have been in my collection for years (childhood) but have always been broken and clogged with some old, manky paint. Biostrip sorted them right out and with the addition of a bow for the ranger/scout and a mace head for the dwarf they were reborn. The mace is from a spare Rackham Confrontation Goblin Ashigaru and fits in perfectly. The bow is made out of finecast sprue and was FOE's excellent idea. A lot of people don't like Finecast but I discovered that it's really useful, and can be carved easily, and I will be keeping it for any future projects.

A small selection of my adventurers.
  
A range of suitable heroes I dug out from a couple of roses tins. There is more somewhere........ seem to have a dwarf fetish.
 So more 15mm to do (scenery and figures), Rats to base and then some 28mm to paint, My warlord marines need their final gear check and a couple of bits of procreate'ing I'd missed and they'll be ready to paint. Much to do but I'm actually feeling like I'm getting somewhere.

Thank you for taking the time,

BALM.

Sunday 13 July 2014

Some cowboys and a windmill.



I've painted up some Peter Pig cowboys recently to use as pretty counters on the game Gunslinger by Avalon Hill. Gunslinger is a fast paced Western-era shootout game, and it doesn't use dice. Instead all results are determined through cross referencing the information found on the card at the top of the draw pile.
My Marshall and Sheriff with mandatory big moustaches and both carrying invisible bag pipes. Or they both have a stitch.
 The characters actions are assigned by the player in the form of cards from your permanent hand. Each character has a different selection of the cards available making them all feel like individuals with different strengths and weaknesses. The turn is split into 5 phases and each action card takes a number of phases before being performed (there are some that take 1 phase like draw, cock etc) and are set down at the start of the turn and everybody reveals what they are doing phase by phase. This makes gunfights simultaneous and bloody. This is a game that takes nerve (as much as the death of a cardboard chap can provoke at least) as aiming takes time and you don't know if the other players will shoot first. Often gunfights are over in a few seconds in real time , and it's rare anyone gets out scot free.
I have two identical chaps in the same pose (but bent by me for variety) and painted in similar colours as generic cowboys/bandits/gunslingers. 
It's not too hard to find as a second hand game but it is a much loved classic and often commands a high (ish) price. But worth every penny, cent or phnobian dong. There is an updated fan version here which is streamlined and free to download and print yourself. There's also a vassal module.


Rifles are deadly in gunslinger and far outdistance the best handguns.

I don't know why I forgot to photograph one of them. They all look the same to me (is there a name for cowboy racism?) and the three gunslingers are purposely dressed in blues, browns and a spot of red for one group, and with the law men in greys and black.

I'm going to do a few more when I next need an escape from germans but I'll try and play a simple game of Gunslinger and put it up. I also purchased this rather fine windmill last week for 20% of it's original price. I know it is 1/87 but was wondering if I took the top rail off and modified the doors whether it would look ok.


I've nearly finished some barbed wire and other barriers and they'll be up next. As a final note I went into my FLGS this morning and picked up Human Fighter Male v2 from Otherworld Miniatures. They are nice, classic D&D art fantasy but would mix well with most things. The sculpt is crisp and the pose believable. He'll be lucky enough to get based ASAP as I haven't painted 28mm in ages, especially not a miniature that just made me buy it. He will adventure into many AHQ dungeons.

It's been a long time since I've seen a miniature and impulse bought it at anything other than car boots and bring and buys. 


Thanks for taking the time,

BALM.





Monday 7 July 2014

Tanks. Just a lot of tanks.

Over the weekend I met up with my FOE at Bovington Tank museum for the wargames show there. It was a strange experience. The traders were dispersed throughout the tank filled museum, sheltering in the cramped niches between vehicles of every kind; like small crustaceans in a tidal pool. And it was almost eerily quiet.


I only bought two things (I found my usual shangri-la, or bring and buy as it's also known, to be somewhat lacking) a copy of Samurai Blades and a 1943 german field manual on defensive emplacements. Weird mix but both brilliant in their own way.

A beautifully modelled game of Sword Beach.

I totally forgot to record who these chaps were so apologies: you table was great.

I'm making the basic defensive options needed in Chain of Command currently and hope to get the finished and up soon. A great deal of trial and error was needed but I'm now getting somewhere. FOE and I decided to get together in the next month or so for an intensive weekend so I need to start thinking of some ideas for our games. I've also relied on his scenery for our recent gaming history, and so feel like I need to be providing more (especially as I've finished a platoon), which is excellent but ultimately, like all true hardcore/deranged gamers I'd imagine, I want my own set. If I can get a few more bits done  now our next games should be starting to look quite pretty.

Another great game.


I also got to meet Piers Brand and see some of the lovely work he's done on the most recent 15mm PSC stuff. It actually looks even better in person. I'm not sure about anything I've painted now. Nice bloke though. Until the sun comes out and I can get some pictures of my fortifications and cowboys please enjoy a few pictures of tanks.

Black Prince

A Valentine and a cruiser.

Panzer III N with transportation jerry can racks.
  
There's a SdKfz 251/B hiding there.

M8 Greyhound.

M10 and an M3A1 Scout car.

A Jagdpanther.

A Tiger II

Thanks for taking the time,

BALM