Inquisitor and 40k Skirmishing

Hi!

Well I've got a day off already and decided that it might be a plan to use such opportunities to put together a post!

I'm currently re-reading the Eisenhorn trilogy by Dan Abnett and it's got me to thinking about putting together a Rogue Trader type of narrative skirmish using some of the Imperiums enigmatic Inquisitorial agents as the basis.

I remember picking up the Inquisitor rulebook when it first came out and quite liking some of the concepts but finding it neither fish nor fowl as it had elements of rpg and wargame but was a bit too granular for my liking. In the following years, the appearance of In the Emperor's Name and Inquisimunda have both provided a more user friendly skirmish sort of a game which may make for quite a good way to play some games.

There's also the classic Rogue Trader rules which were such a sandbox sort of a set that you could use them for almost anything, even if it was a bit clunky at times, especially when vehicles or robots were involved.

It may also be a good way for me to make use of the assorted 28mm stuff I've got lying around unpainted and unloved.

I must admit that I've not been a fan of the super Grimdark of 40k but I seem to have found an appreciation of the gothic horror of humanity versus a dark and dangerous universe and reading Eisenhorn, I'm struck by the possibilities of playing around with my own version of the Imperium and seeing what I can come up with.

By incorporating bits and bobs from several settings and adding a liberal dose of classical mythology and renaissance elements to move things on from the techno dark ages into something a bit more interesting I'll be seeing what I can bodge together.

What about a crime lord with a bunch of Orky enforcers or incursions of the followers of the Titans wanting to wreak havoc on the Imperium? Maybe a rogue planetary governor making shady deals with rebellious factions or Adeptus Titanicus adepts experimenting with forbidden technology...

The options are endless and I'm keen to get myself moving again with my version of The Imperium with Governor General van Dorn and his agents conducting a secret war in the Farpoint sector with spies, treachery and monsters aplenty!

I think I'll need to have a rummage through my leadpile and see what I can put together both in 15mm scale and possibly 28mm as it would be interesting to have larger skirmishes with 20-30 a side plus vehicles in the smaller scale whilst small, 4-8 model operations in 28mm.

It may come to nothing but I'll see what I can put together and if nothing else, I will try and post more on my Imperium, its movers and shakers as well as the competing forces arrayed against it.

In the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown Day 95: The Conclusion

Hi!

Well after 95 days of posts, I'm back at work tomorrow so I hope folks have enjoyed my ramblings over the course of the last three months!

I've really enjoyed the process and am keen to keep up the good work with the hobby front over the coming weeks and months!

Alas I doubt I'll be able to manage a post a day but I want to get a couple of posts a week for the foreseeable future as it's been quite an experience to say the least. I've sculpted, painted and gamed as well so it's been a really good way to avoid worrying about the pandemic that has been forcing everyone to stay at home all this time.

Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with the assorted projects I have underway but as the budget is getting kind of tight due to furlough, I think I'm going to have to suspend my plans for two 15mm projects for a month or so until things are more or less back to normal.

In the meantime, I think I need to keep up with the sculpting and generally painting my way through the backlog of unpainted gubbins I've got lying around, especially as I've got lots of sculpts sat awaiting paint!

I'm also hoping to get some more papertech sorted out too as I slowly work my way through the Tech Manuals.

In the meantime, I hope folks are all safe and well and have been able to enjoy their own hobby time over the last few months and many thanks for reading my blog!

All the best!

Lockdown Day 94: Lego Reinforcements

Hi!

It's been confirmed that I'm going to be back to work on Saturday so we're reaching the end of my Lockdown project log!

I've still got tomorrow to try and finish a few odds and ends but in the meantime, here's some Lego Mech reinforcements:

 Rebel Mech Lance

For the princely sum of just under £12.00 I have a complete lance of stompy Lego robots. I can see how folks get obsessed with the stuff as it's really good fun to play around with and I fondly remember spending many hours as a child creating all sorts of vehicles and worlds!

First up, I now have two Tortoise class walkers which are the core of my force. I've hept the design simple but with the possibilities of tweaking the design to give me some support or assault weapon mods.

 Tortoise class rebel walkers

Speaking of support options, here's the Fire Tortoise!

Fire Tortoise 

Rebel forces have found themselves outmatched by the more technically advanced Imperial designs and in an attempt to redress the balance have retrofitted several of their Tortoise class walkers with missile pods. These new additions to the rebel arsenal have been dubbed the Fire Tortoise, both for their additional firepower and their unfortunate tendency to explode spectacularly if their ammo cooks off.

Next up, a heavier design!

 War Spider class walker

Like the Tortoise, the War Spider is a revamped industrial mech design that the Rebels have drafted into service in a military function. Unlike the Tortoise, it has a respectable turn of speed and impressive firepower. Like other 'technical' class vehicles, it doesn't have the best armour and is prone to exploding at inopportune times but there is no shortage of volunteers to pilot the mech.

Armed with a forward mounted gatling gun, multiple rocket pods and a light pulse laser, it is more than a match for colonial light mechs but struggles with heavier machines.

The War Spider has a very low profile when it's main armament array is lowered which allows it to maneuver into position before unloading it's rocket pods and laser fire before bolting for fresh cover.

At present I only have the gubbins to make quad or non humanoid style biped mechs but I will keep my eye open for more cheap kits that will allow me to put together an Imperial lance to duke it out with the rebs!

Here's the kit I used. It costs £3.97 from Asda but I've since spotted them in Tesco for 3 for £10!

Finally, here's another quad mech, this time a heavier machine called the Guncrab:

Guncrab

Armed with a heavy laser and twin mortars, the Guncrab is a support class walker which us used to suppress opposing force with mortar fire or snipe with it's heavy gun. 

It's been great fun to work on some Lego mechs and I suspect it may involve me picking up the odd small kit from time to time to bulk out my forces!

Tomorrow will be the final post in my Lockdown project log but hopefully I'll be able to keep up the hobbying once I'm back at work, if at a somewhat slower rate of posts.

In the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown Day 93: A Tale of Four 15mm Gamers

Hi!

Following some interest in my idea for a tale of a solo gamer, I've decided to open it up to others wanting to put together a 15mm scale fantasy army and if there's enough interest, I'll set up a blog for it with each gamer submitting monthly entries for it.

Here's the basic premise:

Over the course of six months to collect and paint a complete fantasy army in 15mm scale.

Once per month post on the blog I shall create your progress for that month.

Maximum spend per month should be £15.00 or equivalent.

There will not be a prize for completing the challenge as it is purely for fun!

Points based system:

Per human sized figure painted: 1 point
Per cavalry figure painted: 3 points
Per large infantry figure painted: 3 points
Per large monster or war engine painted: 5 points

The target for each month will be 20 points which in 15mm scale shouldn't be too difficult to do and I'm aware that with the lockdown easing, hobby time is possibly going to start getting a bit limited out there.

There will also be monthly additions to liven things up, be it creating a character to lead your force or making some scenery for it to move around.

Each force should be created with a mass battle approach in mind so units should be 10+ infantry, 5+ cavalry etc. I'm not too bothered about what ruleset folks plan to use the force for so Warhammer, Warmaster, Kings of War or Dragon Rampant would be examples of the size of forces folks would be painting.

If all goes well, and we get through six months of collecting and painting each gamer will have a shiny new army to show off and use in their games and it will hopefully help to showcase how versatile 15mm is as a scale and possibly even attract a few more folks to try out 15mm gaming!

I may also do a sci-fi one if there's enough interest!

If you are interested in either a fantasy or sci-fi painting challenge, please post here or drop me an email and we shall see how we get on! If there are more than four folks interested in taking part, thats fine too!

Lockdown Day 92: Lego Fleet

Hi!

I've had a bit of a rummage through my Lego gubbins today and have put together some small vessels for space gaming and a couple of other odds and ends too!

The Assorted Gubbins!

I had more orange and grey lego than anything else in small pieces so went with seeing what I could put together using what I had.

First up, there's a small combat walker:

 Tortoise Class Walker

Armed with a gatling gun on a limited traverse turret, the Tortoise is a retrofitted industrial mech that has been rushed into service with rebel units. Slow and relatively lightly equipped, it's not much of a match for heavier Imperial designs but does in a pinch.

Next up, there's an Aerotech fighter:

MkIV Warhawk Fighter

A heavily armed fighter better suited at a ground attack role, the Warhawk is one of the many fighter classes that rebels produce. Using heavy blasters and unguided rocket pods, this aerotech fighter is a valuable asset to rebel forces.

Last, there's my fleet assets:

Shiva class cruisers and a Hammer class dropship

The Shiva class cruiser can be found in many rebel fleets and combines good mobility and firepower but lacks the staying power of heavier Imperial ships. The Shiva class hull is also modular so is also the basis of several other rebel cruiser classes.

The Hammer dropship is essentially a flying brick that can transport a squad of mechs to the planets surface in relative safety. Incapable of ftl travel, this sturdy dropship is nonetheless a great little vessel, much beloved by smugglers and freedom fighters alike and many similar vessels can be found plying the aether.

I must admit that I had rather a lot of fun putting together the ships and vehicles and wouldn't mind fleshing them out a bit with some microfighters and more ship classes, not to mention some more walkers and the odd vehicle or two...

Setting wise, I think I'll be using them in my alternative Imperium setting as I've been wanting to try out some new stuff for a bit.

I'll need to see if I can find some more orange and grey Lego to do so but we shall see how I get on.

It's looking increasingly like I'll be back at work soon so the daily posts will be drawing to a close but I hope to keep up the hobbying, despite my utter lack of focus!

In the meantime, I'll post what comes into my head and All the best!

Lockdown Day 91: Star Wars and Lego!

Hi!

I've just watched the Mandalorian on Disney Plus and really enjoyed all the Star Wars shenanigans and it got me to thinking about some of the options for Star Wars gaming out there.

I've also been devouring Star Wars Rebels, the animated tv series that came out a while back and I've found it to be a really rather good series too and I'm really enjoying finding out more of the Star Wars universe than the original movies.

It's got me to thinking about some Star Wars themed gaming as it's got lots of great elements, evil empires, brave rebels, small skirmishes and massive space battles.

I remember the bendy pre painted figures of years gone by and regret not picking up a few to repaint before they became scarce. Moving onto a more modern range, there's the assorted Fantasy Flight games, Imperial Assault, X-Wing and Star Wars Legion.

 
Now, each are supposed to be really good but there's the issue of Fantasy Flight producing Imperial Assault and Legion in two slightly different scales and the amount of tokens, cards and whatnot that they require. Coupled with the cost of figures, I'm not sure that I would be up for the investment required and the fact that Fantasy Flight seems to have been on somewhat shaky ground of late having laid off a load of staff, even before the Lockdown.

I then got to thinking about some of the cheap Lego sets that I've seen from time to time. What would the technicalities of putting on a game using my own rules and using teeny tiny Lego kits and custom creations?

I know there's Brick Wars and Mobile Frame Zero which both are based on using Lego so it's not beyond the realm of possibility to get a good game from using them. It's just a question of playing around with a different type of toy soldier than I usually do!

Looking online, there's some really amazing custom creations to be found for pretty much every kind of mech, vehicle or starship imaginable!

I'd be interested in hearing if anyone has tried the Fantasy Flight games and if they are any good or indeed if folks are using Lego in their gaming!

I've actually got some lego lying around so I think I'll have a play around with it to see what I can come up with so watch this space.

In the meantime, All the best and apologies for once again wandering off on a tangent!

Lockdown Day 90

Hi!

It's been a bit of a mixed batch today. First up, there's the last of my Pirate Lance for my SD Battletech project:

Pirate Spider Mech

I've had him base coated for a little while now and have put off finishing him for various reasons (mostly due to the teeny infantry fiasco!) but finally sat down and got him finished last night.

 

I tried to give him a more dynamic pose and rather enjoyed adding all his jump jet gubbins too. Here's a pic of him with the rest of his lance:

 Panther, Spider, Jenner, Javelin

Here's the full force in action with Red's Marauders up against Wilson's Hussars!

Mech on Mech!

Speaking of Battletech, I managed to play another game and post a quick report over on TALES FROM THE INNER SPHERE which saw one of Wilson's Mercs tangle with an unknown opponent and will be the first of a series of games I hope to play out in the coming week.

Finally, here's a quick peek at the first of my cultists:

Pud Is Good!

They're a bit rough as it's been a while since I've worked in 15mm scale but should do the job. I've still got a bit of work to do with them such as the guns needing detailing and lots of little details but even if they turn out blobby, I'm not too bothered as they are masked goons so having them perfectly proportioned doesn't matter.

I think I'm going to have to get some serious sculpting practice in for 15mm scale as working in different scales requires different techniques so I shall use this project as an opportunity to get some practice and try and get some more finesse for working with smaller figures.

I'll see what I can get finished tomorrow and post up my progress as always but in the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown Day 89: The Pudding Cult Project

Hi!

In order to get back into some 15mm scale sci-fi, I have set myself a bit of a monthly challenge to come up with a theme for a small skirmish force and then build and paint it over the course of the month.

After a bit of thought, I settled on Cultist as the theme as there's always need for some sinister cult for Imperials to squash or Dark Legion infiltrators for the Brotherhood Inquisitors to track down. Similarly there's plenty of games that needs some generic villains for the heroes to battle.

There's also the Red Redemption of Necromunda, fanatical followers of The Emperor and keen to set fire to any heretics they encounter.

A while back I also built a Pudding Cult temple:

This got me to thinking about using July's theme to create some crazies to inhabit it, be they sinister alien controlled, or simply mentalists.

I've had a bit of a rummage and found that I do still have a handful of the Alternative Armies cultists awaiting paint and I've begun work on sculpting a bunch more so I should have a decent number ready for July and the challenge!

I plan on getting the sculpts ready now and painting them up in July as well as looking through my toy car collection for some suitable sinister limousines to transport them around in. I've also got some ideas for some Pudding cult fatties and a floating lectern for the cult leaders to whip their followers into a frenzy of pudding related madness.

I'll get a pic of the first sculpts posted up tomorrow as well as the conversions I've done to the Alternative Armies sculpts too as I wasn't entirely happy with how they looked so have played around with them a bit.

I'm still trying to finalise my fantasy stuff but should have an update in my next post as well as my completed pirate lance for my SD Battletech project but in the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown Day 88: Fantasy Armies With a Difference

Hi!

After a bit of thought, I have decided on collecting and painting up a fantasy army with a bit of a difference.

I'd originally planned on going for a more traditional army such as Wood Elves or Dwarves but I was sat watching a National Geographic documentary called Lost Treasure of the Maya which had an episode about a mighty fortification built into a hillside defending the Mayan civilisation against their enemies and it got me to thinking about Conan the Barbarian and the Hyperborean world.

A bit of rummaging later, I found my old copy of the Osprey Publishing Aztec, Mixtec and Zapotec Armies:

I thought of creating a Slann type of civilisation but with nearly all human figures instead of frogs which then got me thinking about using Of Gods and Mortals as the basis of some small skirmishing as I work up to a larger army.

Just looking through the Man-At-Arms book, it's full of exotic looking troop choices and absolutely full of colour which is a plus and the cultures themselves are fascinating to read about but is it possible to take elements from these, such as the troop types and re-imagine them as something else? 

Imagine a blood soaked and savage empire of pyramid cities hidden in lush jungles but fortified against some unknown foe with all manner of possibilities to play around with from non human attacks to other tribes or even old worlder Conquistadores turning up to hunt for gold...

Sadly when I had a peruse online the two companies I'd planned on making my initial purchases from are currently closed so I think I'm going to have to rethink my plan somewhat!

I do like the idea of using some historical figures to play about with a fantasy game and instead of going high fantasy, go for a world almost entirely populated by humans but with non human beasties still lurking in the out of the way areas but as I cannot get the figures at present, I'm going to go with something I can get so I'll have to get my thinking hat on again!

In the meantime, I think I am going to write a bit of background for one of these cities so that when the figures become available again, I can place a modest order to get some odds and ends to try out the ideas I have...

I'll have another peruse of my assorted rulebooks and see if there's a different force I fancy having a go at collecting but my post tomorrow will be the initial plan for my Sci-Fi theme of July so watch this space and in the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown Day 87 Tale of a Solo Gamer, 15mm Edition

Hi!

So after a bit of a ponder, I've decided to keep cracking on with my sculpting projects but I've also got two different projects that I'm keen on doing some work on over the course of the next six months in a Tale of a Solo Gamer mini challenge!

In the last few years I've worked on a host of 15mm scale projects but seem to have lost a bit of steam with them of late so figure that this is a good time to get back in the saddle so to speak and ad such, I'm going to be working on the following:

Sci-Fi

Now the best thing about working on 15mm sci-fi is that it's quite possible to collect a force for under £20 for smallish skirmishing and when combined with conversions, original sculpts and repurposed toys or historical stuff, the possibilities are quite literally astonishing.

Squat Guild Transport

I am really keen to create a number of small forces for a variety of settings that can be rolled into whatever I fancy. I'll be playing around with some hard sci-fi as well as space opera and indeed grimdark.

With this in mind, I am going to set myself a monthly challenge to create a skirmish force on a different theme. I hope it will give me the motivation to clear through my unpainted 15mm lead pile and get back to 15mm. The aim will be to paint a couple of infantry squads with a vehicle or two and character to lead them.

Battleaxe Brigade Merc Troops

Having read back through my previous few posts, I've noticed that there's quite a few settings that I want to explore so I figure this will be a good way to do it. I'm also keen to push my painting and showcase just how versatile 15mm scale is.

Badmoon Ork Warband

For example, I may decide to put together a force from Warzone or Moongrunt or Vor using available 15mm scale proxies and attempting to capture the look and feel of the forces I'm trying to represent. It's going to be an interesting process as I've no idea how it's going to develop!

It's not all going to be sci-fi though, as I have a plan for some fantasy gubbins too!

Fantasy

I must admit that while I've done tons of sci-fi gubbins for 15mm, I've had mixed luck with fantasy and want to do something about it. I've decided to take a leaf out of the Old World Army Challenge and try to put together a 1000 point army using Warhammer 4th edition as a guide.

I'm not sure as to which army to try and put together yet as there's lots of different options to try from several companies but as with my sci-fi stuff, I am keen to showcase just what 15mm scale can do and on a small budget too!

I'm planning on trying to paint 200 points of figures each month so that six months will give me a decent sized army to work with! 

As with all my projects, I try to keep myself to a small budget and figure that my combined expenditure for the two will be £20-£25 a month but hope to see if I can spend less as it is also important to me to show just how far ones pennies can stretch with a bit of care.

Tomorrow will see my initial plan for both projects with the sci-fi theme and the fantasy army I plan on building so watch this space!

If you have any suggestions, please feel free to drop a message and I'll see how I get on and in the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown Day 86

Hi!

Tomorrow I hope to lay out my plan for the next six months with a bunch of mini projects, be they sculpting my own or working on something new but instead of rushing a post this evening, I want to finish getting my thoughts into order and will try laying it all out in one go!

In the meantime, here's a couple of pages from my sketchbook which possibly helps explain my lack of attention to any single project...

I'll have to see what tomorrow brings but hopefully it will give me the inspirational boost and better yet, be something that I can start straight away.

In the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown Day 85: Existing Project Ponderment

Hi!

Gosh! 85 days of lockdown and my 100th post of 2020. I've written, sculpted and painted more stuff in the first six months of the year than I had in the previous two combined and rapidly approaching more posts than the whole of 2017, 2018 and 2019!

Over the last few days I've posted a lot of my thoughts on the projects I find myself interested in working on in the future but I thought I'd spend today looking at the progress I've made on existing projects and what I'd like to do to flesh them out or, dare I say it complete them!

Somewhere on the Border

I can't believe it's been over a year since I worked on any of my SD scaled stuff so will need to do something about that as I've got loads of ideas for it and have just been distracted with other stuff.

There's an entire world to explore along with it's weird and wonderful denizens and settings so I think that one of the first things I want to do is get SOMEWHERE ON THE BORDER up and running again with some background writing and accompanying illustrations followed by the odd sculpt to get me going again.

The exploits of The Boar Company need to be completed, especially as they've still not tracked down Marik Goldhelm, the rogue sorcerer who has been there nemesis for almost a decade now.

War of Ashes

War of Ashes has been a fun little project to work on and I'm edging towards having two full warbands that will complete the project. I've only got about a dozen figures to paint or sculpt to finish off my True Atronians and Kuld so it might be a plan to work on them first as it's a bit of an easy win to complete...

Once I have them all done, I am keen to try out War of Ashes Shieldbash as it's a great looking game and should be fun to play and has some really characterful concepts that at least on paper, seem to have the possibility of making a really fascinating campaign.

Rusty Robots

Now I must admit I had a bit of a block with Rusty Robots as I'll sculpt a bunch of stuff for it and then go off making any more for ages but this time has been a bit of an exception as I've got a decent sized party of Reds, Blacks and Blues so even if I can get the remaining tribes basic robots sculpted, I can space out the painting of them over the course of the year which will hopefully stop me from taking another two years to do anything with them,

Looking at what I've sculpted for them at present, I think I need to rework the Blue's leader as I just don't like how he turned out but that's a post for another day. I've got the designs and I just need to write up all the background which I've discovered is in my locker at work and been unavailable to work on during the Lockdown!

Land Ironclads

Land Ironclads has been bubbling along quite nicely over the last six months and I have two decent sized landfleets but they need to be completed and have their air assets, infantry,  cavalry, contraptions and scenery done. Handily as the scale is so tiny, it's not too difficult to complete a model in a short period of time and sculpting my own stuff for them is rather fun.

I plan on getting another fleet, the Orcs (or Gorathians) finished as while they've been the first that I started, I've not worked on them in ages, instead going for the Dwarves and Vongola City State so it would be nice to get the savage majesty of the Horde completed. I also want to take a look at the thrice cursed Elves of their own city states as they combine high tech, magic and dragons!

Battletech

Battletech has been a bit of a note of interest with my on and off over the last twenty plus years but it's only been this year during lockdown that I decided to give it a try, based largely on listening to Death From Above Wargaming's channel on Youtube. I've decided to keep Battletech as my super cheap project, using paper counters, map sheets and papercraft terrain and it seems to be shaping up nicely.

I'm still getting to grips with the rules but it's quite fun to play and I plan to keep plugging away at it and see where it takes me!

Flintloque

Flintloque came as a bit of a surprise this year for me as it marks the first boxed game that I've ever managed to paint everything from. I'm rather keen to flesh out my two forces and possibly play a bit of a campaign at some point.

At present, I feel that Flintloque is pretty far down the pecking order of project priority as I have lots of other stuff that I'm working on an enjoying but we shall see how things go...

15mm Rogue Trader

I've not done much 15mm work this year and feel it's high time for me to get some more stuff done as I've got the models and really should get some more of them painted up but at present can't seem to summon up much enthusiasm for it. Maybe I just need to rummage out a random figure and slap some paint on it and see how I get on. One element I am keen to re-explore is my Stainless Steel Rat stuff as it was a really fun project back in the day and revamping it would be great!

6mm Skirmish

I've slowly been adding some Orks to my collection but have had a bit of a struggle with them but I'm hoping having taken a couple of days off will give me a fresh eye to the project. I do enjoy playing super small skirmishes with only about half a dozen stands per side so it's good to keep working at it from time to time.

Whee! That pretty much covers the larger projects I've been working on over the last while. I've got lots of thinking to do about how I want to try and motivate myself without getting stressed about the whole business.

While these are the main projects that I've got in assorted stages of completion, I've got a couple of other odds and ends that I want to work on to give me some extra impetus and I really want to play some more games with the assorted stuff that I've painted as I think that's one of the things that will really get me motivated to keep painting and sculpting.

Tomorrow I hope to post the conclusion to my ponderings and a bit of an outline on what I am going to do to challenge myself over the next six months to keep up the hobbying so in the meantime, All the best and as always thanks for reading!