Hitting a Snag

Hi!

Well I seem to have hit a bit of a snag in that I find myself wanting to do about a million different projects in different scales all at the same time and it's resulted in me grinding to a halt with all things hobby!

It's rather frustrating as I've been plugging away quite happily for a while now with my assorted bits and bobs but all of a sudden it has all stopped dead in its tracks. I think the problem is that I've been trying to put together some 2mm scale Dwarf infantry for my ongoing Land Ironclads project and it's just not working.

Orc Infantry

My Orcs are made out of plastic Granny Grid, the stuff that is used for cross stitch but I've now tried three different ways for my Dwarves using the same materials and must admit that each result has been less than satisfactory. It has got me tempted to take a peek at getting some of the Irregular Miniatures 2mm stuff but the prospect of spending even a small sum is causing me to baulk. I have tons of 15mm and 6mm stuff that I can be getting on with, not to mention the Flintloque stuff that I've been slowly painting my way through so what is it about the struggle to get some tiny, tiny infantry looking right that has resulted in such a jam?

Maybe I just need to rummage out a random figure and paint it instead but I've been wanting to get my forces for such a tiny scale game painted for a while!

The other issue I find myself flailing against is that I recently picked up a green gaming mat and it's got me looking longingly at 2nd edition 40k and 4th edition Fantasy Battle and images like this aren't helping:

Orky Goodness!

High Elf Army

On the one hand I know I'm being ridiculous as painting 28mm scale armies is now beyond me as I don't have the budget, space, time or patience for such an unwieldy project but there's still that nagging urge to give it a go and that, along with my current 2mm conundrum seems to have resulted in me utterly bamboozled as to what to do.

I'm going to take a bit of a break, go out and enjoy my day off and hopefully come back with some sort of plan but in the meantime, if you've got any suggestions, give me a shout as I'd love some advice!

All the best!

Aldi Gaming Mat

Hi!

I'd noticed mention on assorted sites over the last week that Aldi were selling a grass effect mat that many in the wargaming community suspected would do for a gaming mat so when we were out today getting our shopping, I nipped in and had a peruse.

They only had one left, the dark green one at that and at first I wasn't too sure but my ever patient wife suggested I should pick it up anyway as it's only £6.99 and we could use it for something else if it wasn't suitable for gaming. I must admit that I am super glad that I heeded her advice!

Gaming Mat!

Measuring 1x2 metres, it's perfect for gaming purposes and I had originally planned on chopping it in two for use as two skirmish mats, one green and the other somewhat snow covered but having plopped it on my 3'x3' board, I find myself sorely tempted to keep the full length as is as there's something pleasingly retro about it that got me thinking about those classic White Dwarf battle reports where either the Old World or some far flung planet had vivid green boards.

15mm scale shot

While our library most definitely hasn't got space for anything as grand as a classic 6'x4' gaming board, I do think that with a bit of bodging, I could just about manage a 5'x3' or am I being a mentalist? I'm not sure but I find myself trawling through the old Citadel terrain book for inspiration and itching to make some simple scenery to add to it and recreate some of those classic stylings!

 28mm scale shot

I think for £6.99 it's proved to be a total bargain and with a little bit of drybrushing and addition of flock it will look the business and if you've got an Aldi near you, it's well worth a peruse to see if they've got any left.

Zombie Musketeer

It's a nice change from all the desert landscapes I've been working with over the last decade or so and I'm going to use the opportunity to explore some more retro gaming so watch this space.

In the meantime, All the best!

Messing About With Epic

Hi!

Sadly hobby time has had to be suspended for the time being as we've got guests visiting so the man cave has been converted back to a bedroom but I've taken the opportunity to have a sneaky peek at some of my posts over the last few years and have taken a bit of a hankering for some more Epic shenanigans!

While I'm tempted to have a go at creating a massive army ala Epic Space Marine with entire companies of troops and tons of titans, superheavy tanks I'm much more likely to actually paint up some slightly more modest forces.

Epic Imperial Guard!

With that in mind, I will be using Epic 40k as at least the basis for some skirmishes featuring something more like reinforced platoons or possibly even smaller by converting some more stats for use with Song of Blasters!

I managed a couple of games last year using both systems and rather enjoyed the experience so think I will use it as an opportunity to both flesh out my current armies and build a few new ones too!

What I loved about Epic 40k other than the super streamlined system was in the original rulebook, the sample forces were essentially 6mm scale versions of 2nd edition 40k armies as can be seen with Force Firestorm:

 As you can see, it's pretty small with just a command squad plus two tactical squads plus a smattering of vehicles which was very doable in 2nd edition 40k and I've got plenty of gubbins that wouldn't be too much effort to paint up something similar!

Better yet, with a bit of effort, I could even use my old Codexes a bash to actually put together some teeny versions of a 40k force!

I'll need to rummage my bits boxes to see what I've got and I suspect I need some more lipped bases but I'm raring to have a go and if it gets me painting and gaming, all the better!

In other news, I've now got a Dwarven steamtank formation or two built and ready to paint for my ongoing 2mm project and I've got the makings of my Orc Carnosaurs to work on too and once the gaming room come library is back in place I'll be showcasing my progress and trying out Land Ironclads with some reinforcements!

All in all it's proving to be rather a satisfying week but I'm once again finding myself lured by 28mm and am having to resist as best as I can as I know I'm unlikely to make a go of any larger scale project that I start. Hopefully I'll be distracted by my smaller scale gubbins but if all else fails, maybe I should have a go at putting together a Mordheim style warband to test out the waters...

Anyhoo, for the meantime All the best!

Tiny Steam Tanks

Hi!

I've finally managed to get a trio of Steam Tanks painted up for my Land Ironclads project!

Constructed from some plasticard, paper and cotton wool smoke, I really enjoyed putting the little tanks together and I'm really pleased to have finished painting them too!

 Dwarven Ironclads on the move

These are class 5 and the smallest of the Dwarven Land Ironclads and I painted them up in blue and gray to represent an armoured force from the great Dwarven Hold of Kareth Dull which is situated next to the Axebite Pass.

Slow moving but heavily armoured, the Ironclad class steamtank is armed with a pair of heavy cannon mounted in a turret. The Ironclad relies on a combination of heavy plate to keep it in the fight long enough for it's powerful armament to destroy enemy Land Ironclads and Warbeasts at range as it doesn't have any close defence weapons.

With the three of the tanks finished, I can move onto painting the larger Warhammer class Land Ironclad that I've also sculpted before moving onto putting together a Dwarven Infantry Battalion as well as finally painting my Orcs Mighty Titanosaur and a third Orcish Yellowjacket unit.

Dwarven armour clashes with an Orcish formation somewhere on the border.

I must say that working in such a small scale has been really refreshing as I keep finding myself thinking of new units to add to my slowly growing forces and have had quite a few other forces that I would like to start putting together too. Handily it's also super cheap as each tank or warbeast only uses a small amount of plasticard or greenstuff so I hope to make a fledgeling Elven force next which will combine tech and Warbeasts so watch this space!

All the best!

Land Ironclads

Hi!

I managed to play a quick game of Land Ironclads this morning with my rather outnumbered Dwarven steamtanks giving the numerically superior Orcs a bloody nose.

I must admit that I rather enjoyed the game as it lasted all of half an hour and saw two brigades of Orc infantry trying to take a settlement while their Warbeasts took on the Dwarven machines.

It ended with the Dwarves having successfully defended the outpost but at a terrible cost with most of their Ironclads destroyed or badly damaged. The Orcs lost both infantry brigades and quite a few warbeasts but didn't manage to quite push the Dwarves away from the objective they were holding.

Sadly I didn't manage to get any pictures this time round but once I get a bit of spare time, I will be painting up my criminally bare Dwarven Ironclads and will get a proper battle report posted.

The Orcish Infantry supported by Necrosaur Wartowers

Looking at how things went with this, my second attempt at playing the game, I think I need to make some markers to show when units have fired as I kept forgetting and I'm keenly aware that my Dwarves need some infantry of their own as the Dwarves only succeeded in holding their objective due to some really bad activations from the Orcs.

Titanosaur Wartowers

In Land Ironclads, infantry and cavalry activate pretty normally but the larger warmachines require to roll for successful activation due to the number of technical gubbins that can go wrong with such complex machines and I used the same rules for the Orc Warbeasts, imagining it was their brutish nature not to want to do what they were ordered. Subsequently, the Titanosaurs and Mighty Titanosaur spent considerable time doing nothing much while the Dwarves were much more fortunate. 

The ensuing shelling saw two small Dwarf Ironclads decimate the Orcs infantry and Necrosaur formation while the remaining Ironclad and Cruiser shot up the larger Orc Warbeasts before they managed to get their act together.

I'm needing to get some more stuff made for the game as I really enjoyed the small skirmish I played out and enjoyed the climatic action which saw the two small Dwarven Ironclads first shell and then assault the attacking Orc infantry destroying them utterly!

Hopefully this will give me the motivation to paint my Dwarves up and add some new gubbins that I've been pondering on for a while but in the meantime, All the best!