WIP - Various

Finally assembled, ready for priming.  This shot shows how I used Milliput to create a transition between the integrated base and the third-party cavalry base.  My Milliput is probably decades old.  One component is crusty and leaves crumbs in the mix, so this application is about all it's good for now.



After priming.  A lot of projects in the works!

Top to bottom, L to R:

• Minotaurs from Godslayer (for Warhammer and Mini Mayhem). 
• Celtic Cavalry from Warlord (for SAGA). 
• Repair work on purchased Dark Elf Black Guard (for Warhammer).
• Repair work on purchased Dark Elf Shades (for Warhammer).
• Various cyberpunk for my friend, Mark (for Metamorphosis Alpha)

Coming soon:  Warhammer Fantasy, Triumph & Treachery!

WIP - On the assembly table

These are the kind of files that make short work of the metal gunk on the bottom of bases.  I filed all 10 horses somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes.  It would have been double or triple that, just using my usual triangular file.

Here I've used a Milliput slurry to fill in all the pitting on the front two horses' rumps and neck.  Unfortunately, it's hard to tell how smooth the final result is until I prime the models.  I think there will still be "shallows" and dimples, but this should be good enough for tabletop quality.

I also glued metal plates on the underside of the black, plastic bases.  The metal plates are slightly larger than the plastic cavalry bases, and the edges of the metal plates are somewhat sharp.  So that meant filing the corners and rounding them off.  More work than I bargained for, but it will make for some solid game-pieces that will feel good to handle on the tabletop.  The metal plates not only add heft, but also serve to transport the miniatures in magnetized containers.

Having based all these horses on individual bases, I finally now understand why the historical players prefer basing multiple models on "stands".  You can position the models much more realistically on stands, staggering the front-back positions and varying the distance between models.  Much more organic and pleasing to the eye.  On the other hand, basing them individually gives me the option to use them in either skirmish games, using the models individually, or in mass-combat games, using the models in rank-and-file formations.

Finally, here's my conversion for Joss, for my Ramos crew in Malifaux.  I like the official Wyrd model a lot, but it's only available in the full Ramos set, which I don't need.  This model is from the game, Eden, and I outfitted him from various salvaged pieces from my bitz box.

The original model holds a wrench instead of an axe.  I kept the wrench handle and epoxied on an axe-head, I think from Confrontation.  The cable and counterweight are the usual stand-ins from guitar strings.  The other end of the cable emerges from a power-pod on his back, not from out of his head, which is what this camera angle suggests.

I green-stuffed the mohawk.  It might need a little tweaking once it's cured a little more.

This guy is a beast in-game.  His Pneumatic Fist has one of the most brutal damage stats in the game.  I look forward to seeing him on the tabletop.

New projects entering the queue

For Saga

My buddy, Steve, and I plan to play a big game of Saga to celebrate the 947th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings.  Steve has laid out a map and a scenario, and we're getting pumped.  This is the motivation I need to start my first set of historical miniatures.  I'm going to proxy a band of Celtic warriors by Warlord Games, to use for the Normans (whoever ends up playing them in the game).

The plastic portion of the set is looking good.  Renedra manufactures the sprue, and Renedra has a good reputation, from what I've heard.  Looks like they get double duty out of the sprue, since it looks like it's basically a sprue for their Celtic infantry.  I'll have some new breeches-wearing legs to add to my bits box.  Might be good for some pirate conversions down the road.

The sprue offers a good variety of poses, heads, and weapons.

The horses are nice designs, but the casting leaves a little to be desired.  The metal gunk on the bottom of the base will require some industrial-strength files to remove all that material.  There are significant flash and mold lines (especially on the bottom-left two), and the rumps on the right-most horses show significant pitting.  The sword hilts have metal gunk on the inside, which will be pain to remove.  Looks like the molds are getting old for these horses.  Still, all-in-all, good models for the price, and I'm looking forward to putting them together.

For a friend

This next set of miniatures comes from out of left field.  One of my childhood friends, Mark, who introduced me to Basic Dungeons & Dragons, so very long ago, bought into the Kickstarter for the relaunched Metamorphosis Alpha, the 1970's D&D-like sci-fi dungeon crawl.  Mark has an odd assortment of old-skool-style miniatures that he's asked me to paint.  I rarely paint for other people, and this is one of those special occasions.  After all, if it wasn't for Mark, I would have discovered this hobby much later than 1978!

Mark has requested that I paint two males and two females.  I will definitely paint the lizardman dude, regardless.

The sculpts hearken to a bygone era.  The detail is rough by today's standards, but these would have been sharp models, back in the day.  It's going to be challenging to find a painting style that will complement the near-featureless faces.

This one by Prince August is pretty good.  She's a strong contender.

Progress for Malifaux

Over the weekend, I visited my parents, and I had a fun painting session, slapping on some base colors (finally!) for my Sabertooth Cerebus proxy and its cerebus pups.  My folks are a very  appreciative audience, and it's a pleasant way to spend some quality time with them.

Painted miniatures do perform better, even ones with only base-coats.  On Malifaux Monday, the Cerebus, with assistance from Cojo, was able to take out Izamu the Armor -- no small feat!

Bring me my mead!

And, yes, I indeed had the pleasure of sampling my first taste of mead, courtesy of my friend, Steve, in celebration of our weekend game of Saga.  And it was good!  The mead, that is.  And Saga.  A fantastic afternoon all around.

Steve and I are still learning the rules for Saga, so we're playing smaller 4-point games, instead of the standard 6-point games.  We've been swapping factions back and forth between Anglo-Danes and Vikings.

Steve did a bang-up job, painting these Dark Age warriors by Gripping Beast miniatures.

It's such a pleasure to play a tactically satisfying miniatures game with superbly painted models.  This is what I imagined the hobby would be like when I started 8 years ago.  I've finally arrived!

We wanted to add shooting to the mix, so I brought some stand-in models to help expand the forces.  I brought my Haradrim archers from the Lord of the Rings Strategy Game.  Not a perfect fit against Steve's Dark Age warriors, but close enough until we can expand our Dark Age forces.

Steve and I are both very impressed with the Saga rules design.  The rules are compact, understandable, and elegant.  They strip away complexity and yet succeed in providing a fair representation of the period and styles of combat.  It certainly leans more towards game than realism, but it delivers a satisfying blend of realism and cinema, which definitely hits the sweet spot that we're seeking from a pseudo-historical miniatures game.

The game is very well paced, too, allowing us to fit in 2 or 3 games in one afternoon, with enough time to take breaks and enjoy a frosty beverage outside.

Here we are lined up for our second game, after Steve's Vikings clobbered my Anglo-Danes in the first game, where I insisted on using my Levy bowmen, despite the counterproductive price in activation cost.

I just had to see how they performed, and they were very convincing in their cost-to-performance ratio.  They are indeed a support option, best for area denial and running interference.  You can't count on them to win a shooting battle.

I applied them more practically in the second game, returning priority to my warriors and hearthguard.  Steve exposed a flank to one of my hearthguard units, which managed to collapse the Viking flank.

The Vikings almost overturned the combat when their chieftain shockingly survived an onslaught of Danish axes and made a desperate attempt to slay the Anglo-Danish warlord.  But the loyal Danish warriors sacrificed their all for their mighty hero, allowing the head Dane to settle the score once and for all with the Viking upstart.  At least until next game!

What, another project revision?!

Yet another overhaul of priorities is in order.  Two developments drive the change in course:

1. Crystal Brush is creeping up on me.
2. I showed my Christmas present, the Saga ruleset, to my buddy, Steve, who immediately declared the game to be everything he is looking for in a wargame and moved Saga to the top of his wargaming priorities.  Since Steve probably the most available of my wargaming buddies, it makes sense to follow his lead.

While I had a few ideas for Crystal Brush, none of them were ones that I really wanted to sink my teeth into.  I want to present something respectable, but I'm not going to kill myself or make too many sacrifices in my other hobby goals.  I do want to push my boundaries, however, and I would like to earn a Bronze.  With those guidelines, here are some other criteria to help me decide on a project:

• Relatively small.  Single figure, bust, or small unit.  This will make it easier to transport and display at home.  I want to make room in my transport case for both Crystal Brush entries and a couple of skirmish armies.
• A model that I probably won't be using in a wargame.  To compete for a trophy, I'm pretty much obligated to put as much effort into the base as the figure itself, so it might as well be integrated and set the scene, making it likely that the figure will need to be permanently affixed.

So here are my candidates.  Left to right:  Steampunk Goblin bust by Forged Monkey; Mean Jellybean by Dark Age; Moraineman by SphereWars; Steambike by Maxmini.

So off the list of immediate projects goes the Tau Sunshark.  In its place, I'll press forward on my Orcs & Goblins, which I can use both for Warhammer Fantasy and as proxies for Dark Age warriors in Saga!

I still want to finish at least this one unit of Fire Warriors.  I have the main color scheme down, but there's still a lot of work left to do.  If anyone knows a fast way to paint that damn thigh armor and still show the lines, please let me know!  Washes didn't work for me.  I ended up painting each subpanel in order to etch the lines with negative space.  The thigh armor is finished for this unit, but there's another one after this one, so any shortcuts would be greatly appreciated!

In other news, I received my Rivet Wars game from the Kickstarter I supported.  Yay!  This was a pleasant distraction, while I was fighting a cold over the weekend.

Crazy-good components:

And superb box control:

Fantastic production and very satisfactory communication and delivery.  Definitely a success story for a Kickstarter.  I've had my share of duds with Kickstarter, so it's nice to see one come through so well.

Christmas score

For Christmas, I received another ruleset to add to my collection -- and to add to my list of gaming temptations.

SAGA is a historical skirmish game, set in the Dark Ages.  As a fast and light-weight game, with a low model count (particularly for historical games), it's a very accessible gateway game into the historical scene.

What makes it interesting to play is its unique activation system.  It uses custom 6-sided dice with a 3-2-1 set of icons on its faces to weight the options you have at the beginning of each turn.  Players face tough choices for both resource management and risk management.   Plus, the choices differ for each faction, thus giving flavor and different play-styles to each one.

This mechanic moves the game more towards "game" than "wargame", but it will certainly scratch the itch for a time-budget-friendly, easy-to-learn/teach game.

Naturally, I can't leave well enough alone.  Given the possibility that my buddy, Steve, is expressing cautious interest in War of the Ring, I may be able to kill two birds with one stone.  I may need to get back to work on my War of the Ring Haradrim cavalry (started and abandoned probably 3 years ago now!), which I figure will work well for both games!

Yup, the Haradrim will make great substitutes for Normans, orcs & goblins for Vikings, elves for Welsh, Empire/Rohirrim for Anglo-Danes, etc....  :-)


By the way, for anyone who tried to follow the link(s) in the previous post, and encountered only one photo instead of a full battle report / photo gallery, I think I fixed the links.  Please try again!