Winter is here...

So well overdue post, and unintentional brake from the blog, and the hobby in general really. 

So this is an update on what I have been working on, and what I have planned for the future. 

I may not come as a supprise that I broke my "No hobby spend in 2016" vowe (you don't need to know me for this to be a surprise, come I'm a wargamer, what do you expect?). 

So what I've been up to: 

Warhammer 30k, I got my salamanders to a "reasonable standard", the army is around 90% complete. And I have no interests in adding any more to it at this time. I just don't play it enough. 

I have been working on a secret project, that is still a secret, and this is purely for the hobby doors it opens up. This has now however been placed on the back burner, due to a new project. 

The new project, Winter has come in South Wales (yes it's July, and yes it's still raining!). Game of Thrones skirmish is the new in thing that all the trendy kids are playing. As soon as I heard the whispers in the wind, I of course dived in head first with no protection. 

A few members of my gaming club, have come up with some rules, an adaptations of a good skirmish rule set (more on this to follow in a later post, we are still play testing). The game is small scale, no more than 10ish models, and very quick and easy. In the future we may look to scale it up, talks of Lion/dragon Rampant. 

Allegiances have been chosen: believing I was once a Stark nobleman in a former life, the choice was easy for me, I raised the wolfs head banner over my castle and declared for the King in the North. 

Spent a day looking for appropriate models, however the choise was easy.

The fantastic Perry minitures (WOTR infantry) provided almost everything I needed, along with a side portion of LoTR character models, which as they are sculpted by the Perry twins, fit perfectly for scale. 

Left: A LoTR Boromir model as Lord Eddard Stark the true warden of the north (fittingly played by Sean Bean). 

Right: A LoTR Aragon model, to represent the new King in the North. 

Behind: some generic Stark soldiers. 

As a box of Perry minitures provides so much 'bang for your buck', Iv decided to expand my collections to both the Boltons (boo, hiss) and the Greyjoys.

In posts to follow I plan to explain the models I used and the way I converted them to make a good representation of the factions from Game of Throns. 

Now to stop fanboying all over GoT, I have also of course set to work again on terrain for the Bolt Action Welsh Open 2016. More on this to follow also. 

Well, I've rattled on for far too long. 

Thanks for looking. 

In Fire and Darkness Tested

So, I finally have, what resembles a fully legal Horus Heresy Salamanders army. 

After a very long time, of just painting the stuff I liked the look of, and not really concentrating on any form of force organisation chart. I can't now make a fully fledged army, that quite frankly is a force to be reckoned with. 

I'm really happy with the outcome, I hit a few bumps in the road, this being me first ever fully fledged Sci-Fi "40k" army. 

I of course still have plenty to paint/make for this army. The new Betrayal in Calth box, will be a god send for all my support elements, and will really help me round the army out. 

The XVIII Legion

Thanks for looking guys. 

The Future continued.

Following on from my last post, I am aroun 94% finished on my first Morden troops. The German Bundeswehr I picked up from Eureak miniatures. 

I am happy with the way they've turned out, also with the way my interpretation of Desert Flacktarn looks. I used the sponge technique, that I usually use for weathering my tanks. 

Appolagies for the poor photographs.

Thanks for looking. 

A glimpse of the future.

The new prodject, 

The next few months, I am going to be roughly concentrating on a new prodject, involving modelling and gaming. 

This new prodject will be the Modern theatre. Mainly we are planning to set our games in the near future, a pre WW3 scenario, where the worlds super powers have sent their special forces out, to secure vital objective ect. Before open war is declared. 

This give us a broad aspect, for designing a narrative around out gaming and modelling. 

Rules set, we aren't going to settle on one set for this. But our focus will be the brilliant rules set Spectre (And thier minitures are amazing), we will also be looking at Skirmish Sangin, we have only headed good things about SS. 

Minitures, I have decided to start with a very small force of German Bundeswehr/KSK, quite frankly the G36 toting, armed forces of German these day are bloody cool. 

And I found some of the amazing Eureka minitures to be exactly what I'm looking for. Ordered from Fighting15s here in the UK, the minis are lovely. A little bit more cartoonish for my liking, but beggars can't be choosers.

Crisp models with very little clean up needed. 

I have done some green stuff work, but only a little, adding a UGL (underling grenade launcher) to the bottom of a G36. And wrapped one of the KSK snipers in a shemagh scarf, as these guys will be be in desert camouflage. 

I have also tried out the green stuff on the base trick, to cover the round base these figures come on. I heard about it on a podcast and it's worked quite wel, to blend the base.

I should finish painting these this week, so I will update this post with painted pictures, my photography however is severally lacking. I apologise. 

Hope you enjoyed, 

A little catch up.

No post last month, I need to make a schedule. But with the BAWO2015 taking over my hobby for the last few months. I decided just to settle down and do some hobby, that didn't "HAVE" to be done. 

I've managed to get a lot of work done on my salamanders of late. 

I've got a Deredeo dreadnought finished (lovely model, however terrible to pose in any position than basic boring stance) 

I managed to pose mine a little differing, with some cutting, bending and tactical glueing. The knee pads however will not sit right. If you can live with that then. I problem. (I will try and update this with a painted photo)

A Sicaran Venator, done.

This was a fun tank to paint, refreshing painting a Sci-Fi model, after painting mostly historical. Can go to town with bright colours and be a little liberal with you creation. 

I am now at the moment working on, 4 more vehicles 2x Spratan assault tanks (my favourite flavour of cheese) and 2 rhinos for the little guys).

Whip picture, airbrush work finished here. 

I've also been having some fun with hazard lines, playing around with some techniques, as you can see in the top left. 

There we go, a little update on what I've been doing.

Hope this post isn't too short. I just felt like I need to get something on the blog. 

I have a new project coming up, for a new rules system. That I am going to try and document properly from start to finish. 

So stay tuned. 

Regards,

WIP's and Chains...

The 26th of September (BAWO 2015) is fast approaching, and the days only seem to be going faster. Giving me less and less time to get all the tables ready. 

So my focus of the last month or two has had to be mainly terrain (with a few small paint projects inbetween to keep my hobby mojo going). 

I am working mainly on bits for 3 board, the Tabk factories board, I showed whips of in a priciouse post. 

A Stalingrad (Pavlovs house) board, this will focus on one relatively intact building in the centre of the board. And lots of destroyed ruins surrounding it. 

And a Berlin (style) board, apartment block and ruines (however this will be a very generic city board. 

The last few days I have been working on the buildings, but mainly the scatter terrai. To populate the open spaces, and to give it the destruction feel, without tipping a bag of chippings all over the place. 

I struggle with these type of scenes, as I never feel you can but enough rubble ect. To really give it a good look, without making the table/ terrain piece unplayable. So I've had to settle on a decent look and a more playable table. After all this is mainly for the tournament.

I was really lucky to get my hands on some half kits from warlord games. Thanks to Sam @downorder podcast for passing then on to me. Perfectly there was a T34 chassis, and some tracks, and a Panzer 4 turret. It's like somebody somehere new what I was planning. 

I love it when a plan comes together.

So what comes next is a lot of fun, brake up some cheap cork boards, smash up your pre made, paint mixed into wall filler and left to set in an old baking tray. Get the glue gun out, ready the PvA and go crazy with it. A bit barbed wire here, a track there. And... 

... Here's one I made earlier.

Seal the whole thing with watered down PVA glue, spray black, dust grey, dry brush a bit, dry brush a little more. Pick out the details, remembering Modle Mates rust effect is your best mate. 

Move on to the next. 

The big rounds are old CDs, the other boys are MDF basses I had laying about, cut to be able to slot into corners of buildings, and lay along side walls. 

Hope you've enjoyed, 

More on the Berlin, Pavlovs house boards to come soon.

Thanks for looking

What a difference a wash makes...

Just a quick post, trying to up the rate of posts, even though I get like 3 views a year (ok more than that, but I'm trying to be modest with my self pity). 

This coming bank holiday weekend, August 31st 2015. I am traveling up to Nottingham UK, to participate in a Bolt Action campaign day. Run by Sam from the Down Order podcast (highly recommend the cast, Sam, co hosts, Dave Hunter and occasionally Rich H. Are all personal friends, in wargaming circle terms. And are all extremely lovely guys) + I'm going to be on it next episode talking about the Welsh Open. 

For the day's campaigning, I will be taking up my beloved 8th Army. 

On the day we are allowed to take two lists. One infantry and one optional Tabk list.  

I have opted to take both, and really do something different with my Infantry list, well I've made it just that - infantry. 

How ever I have taken vantage of one other rule for the day. Warplanes. 

I haven't taken a lot of warplanes in BA before so I thought I'd give it a go. 

Some time last year when the optional rules came out, I got strait on eBay, and bought my self a 1/72 Battle of Britain die cast set, a spitfire and a Me109. I wanted 1:48 but the price comparison, and the amount of use I saw them getting did t way up. 

So I have dug out the spitty and tarted her up, or rather scruffed her up. 

Apologies for the poor photo quality. 

Like the title suggests, what a difference  a wash makes. Ok so I have done some sponge weathering ect. 

I am however happy with the result. I would of liked to completely repaint it, in desert camo. But my narrative suggests it has just been flown into the country, and is strait out on a mission, with no time for paint jobs. 

I'm sure I said at the start this would be a short one.... 

Regards as alway, and thanks for looking.