Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 6

 Hi!

Here's my latest addition to the new lockdown project, a Boar Company standard bearer for my Somewhere on the Border project!

I've had this guy half built for at least three years now and spent a bit of time yesterday finishing him off. I'm quite pleased with the little boar banner top and game wise, it's got a spell eater stone built into it to divert the arcane menaces of Marik Goldhelm, the Boar Companies long time menace.

I'll need to get some more of the little guys made as it's rather fun to get on with some sculpting. Hopefully I'll get chance to paint him up tomorrow and he'll be added to the roster for a new year battle report!

Tomorrow being new years day is penned in for a bit of Leviathan gaming and if I get the chance I may paint up a Rusty Robot too!

In the meantime, All the best and here's hoping 2021 is better than 2020!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 5

 Hi!

Here's the next addition to my Flintloque project, Lieutenant Richard Sharke of the 95th Rifles!

He's a really characterful miniature and channels the Sean Bean remarkably for a Half Orc!

I have fond memories of painting him back in the mid 90's and am now really looking forward to painting the rest of his Orcish companions as they ooze character and charm.

In other news, I'm working on finishing a Boar Company banner bearer that I've had sat half done for absolutely ages and once he's finished, I'll get him painted and added to my Somewhere on the Border collection before moving onto something different.

I've also got counters made for an Elven force in Leviathan which I'm hoping to play a new years eve game with to round out 2020 and set myself up for next year but more on that tomorrow!

I'm finding this new lockdown a bit of a strange experience as combined with not being able to go into work or out anywhere, the short days are making for a short painting day but I am approaching lots of old projects and getting things done for them which is rather gratifying.

I may even sneak in my vague plan for Project Azure Aeronautica, a rather fun little side project that I've had sat around on the backburner for several years and which would allow me to play around with plasticard but I'm keen to keep things going and keep the posts going and I may post some ramblings about it and several other partially formed ideas that I've had over the years if folks are interested!

In the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 4

 Hi!

Here's the next of my lockdown projects, a Leviathan Orc from the Grendel range (still available from Scotia Grendel)

He's a hefty beast and I must admit that I had been hesitant to paint him as I'd thought he was an ugly sculpt. However as I primed him, I realised that he's quite.a nice model to work on. He's still ugly but in a good way! 

I quite like the trophies that he's adorned with and leering savagery really helps. I realise he's not painted in the more usual green of an Orc but it fits better with the setting. I plan on adding to the collection with a few sculpts from other companies as the post apocalyptic Aeroth with it's magical fallout can see Orcs mutating in all manner of interesting ways!

Sadly my varnish has given him a bit of a glossy finish in the photos but in person he's got a more matt finish. I've rather enjoyed working on him and will need to paint up some more during the lockdown!

In the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 3

 Hi!

As promised, here's the Elven Voltigeurs from the Flintloque boxed set that I've been working on!

Voltigeurs

The elite light infantry of the Ferach Elven empire, these Voltigeurs came with the original Flintloque boxed set and have been rather a lot of fun to paint. The detail is chunky and bold and they've got loads of character. 

I am always surprised by the size of the Flintloque range as they are mounted on lipped 30mm bases and are closer to 30-35mm scale than 28mm but that is fine with me as it's making them easy to paint.

I painted the first before realising that Voltigeurs are supposed to have yellow collars and cuffs so may go back to fix them but that's a job for another day!

To break up the monotony of painting up nine of the pointy eared types, I'm currently working on some other odds and ends of a more Orcy variety and have just finished the base for my Leviathan Orc and begun work on Richard Sharke of the 95th Rifles!

In other news, I noticed that I didn't play a single game of Leviathan this year which is entirely unacceptable so we shall see what I can do tomorrow, especially as the short daylight hours are meaning I have a limited window for painting figures and am going to try and get some counters drawn up for each of the factions from the original rules to allow me to try out a few different armies.

It's not quite miniature gaming but will do! If all goes well, I may try a similar approach for some other rulesets I've got a hankering to play but we shall see how I get on.

In the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 2

 Hi!

I'd planned to get some photos taken today but ran out of daylight so will need to show the first painted figures of Lockdown 2.0 tomorrow.

In the meantime, I've been rummaging around my leadpile to see what suitable gubbins I can make use of for my lockdown painting queue and have stumbled upon some of the original Leviathan Orcs.

I was very generously donated the chunky fellows along with the resin Elves that I've posted about previously but I've been hesitant to paint any of them as I'd been under the impression that they were pretty poor sculpts but having worked on Flintloque figures over the last couple of days, I decided to give them a bash and as with the resin miniatures, I'm pleasantly surprised by how much fun they are to work on.

I seem to be averaging about 1.5 figures a day at present and hope to keep the progress up during this enforced confinement. I have also got a load of assorted gubbins on the go and will try and get a few shots from the painting table tomorrow along with the completed Elven Voltigeurs and first Orc warrior.

I must admit there is something really pleasing about painting old and somewhat shonky figures as the stylised sculpts and cruder (compared to modern sculpts) style and they don't require much effort to bring out the best in them and the results are so much better than new and technically advanced designs and require a fraction of the time to complete which is proving a real plus for me. Combine this with a wide selection of random gubbins to work on and I think I am going to actually enjoy my lockdown (or at least survive it!)

We shall see if this hobby enthusiasm will keep going for the next three weeks, or however long it may be before I get back to work but I seem to be off to a good start!

In the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 1

 Hi!

Well it's the first day of the new lockdown here in sunny Scotland and I thought I'd best start it off by going through my lockdown challenge and generally doing a bit of tidying of the assortment of disparate blogs that I have found myself collecting over the years.

My initial challenge has been to paint my way through the contents of the original Flintloque boxed set, namely six Orcs of Sharke's Rifles and the nine members of a unit of Ferach Elf Voltigeurs (sadly I'm currently missing one of the original ten but if all goes well, I hope to get the last remaining sculpt from Alternative Armies!

I've got a couple of Voltigeurs just about ready and will post up the first of them tomorrow but my new enforced lockdown has got me expanding my plans for 2021. With this in mind, I've refreshed my old blogs with some vague muttering about my hopes for getting an assortment of bits and bobs done for each.

I know folks get irked by my tendency of having multiple blogs but I just can't bring myself to clutter up this blog more than it is already so will be using Tales from Farpoint for my lockdown project log and to showcase completed gubbins while each mini project has it's own dedicated space.

I hope to post here daily during the lockdown and each of my other blogs once a week with a bit of a progress report!

Tomorrow should see some Flintloque gubbins and some Leviathan ponderings so watch this space!

In the meantime, All the best!

Seasons Greetings from Farpoint!

 Hi!

Well Christmas is almost upon us and following that a three week enforced holiday for me!

Before the festive shenanigans begin, I wanted to take a quick peek back at the year to see how I got on with all things hobby related.

First off, to date I've painted 139 assorted figures, scenic gubbins and whatnot in every scale from 2mm to 28mm and above so from that perspective it's been a productive year, primarily driven by my three months of lockdown in March to June. This is an improvement over 2019's total which is fab!

I'm really pleased to have made a bit of a bash at my Rusty Robots project that has been well and truly on the back burner for almost a decade now as work has kind of taken up much of my spare time so it was really great to finally see some figures and scenery make an appearance.

I also got some Mechs built to play some Battletech using my own SD sort of style which was fun but ultimately frustrated by a series of badly sculpted infantry that required chucking. Hopefully I'll get back to them in the future and flesh out a couple of lances...

Meanwhile, my fantasy Land Ironclads trundled slowly on and I pretty much finished my Dwarves for the time being and introduced the Vongola City State to the selection of forces I can field. I really need to take a week or two to finish everything up for this project but have as usual galavanted off on a tangent more than once!

Speaking of which, my War of Ashes saw me add a bunch of Kuld but I still need to make more of the voracious little eating machines to give me a proper force. Maybe I'll get around to it during this lockdown if I get my other challenges done first...

I also managed to paint up the entirety of the original Deadloque box for Flintloque, something I never thought I'd do as I'm fairly sure that in the 28 years I've been gaming I've never completed any boxed set before!

Next up, looking at my gaming progress, I managed to play 21 games using six different systems which is also an improvement on last year but it felt like I could have done more, especially if I could just knuckle down and finish off a force or two rather than gadding off on a tangent every five minutes.

This brings me to my mini plan for 2021!

First and foremost, I really, really want to get my Rusty Robots done so plan to concentrate on getting a starter gang for each of the tribes done and a bunch of random civilians, scenery and denizens of The Scrapyard made.

The plan is to get sculpting whenever I can to build as many of the little guys as I can and then paint whatever of them catch my fancy so that I don't bore myself with doing all the same stuff. This may mean a bit of an eclectic mix of odds and sods making an appearance but it can't be helped and if I can put together enough stuff, I can start playing some games which will see rumbles in The Scrapyard making their appearance here which should be fun!

I forsee needing to invest in a hot wire cutter soon to make lots of blocky terrain but it will come in handy for lots of other bits and bobs when I get around to my other plans for the year...

I've got so many things I'd like to do given the time and I figure a three week lockdown will give me a chance to make a bit of a start on them!

It's not all going to be Rusty Robots though this year! I also have set myself the challenge of painting my way through the original Flintloque box too so will need to get cracking to get the 15 figures done and if possible try out a game or two!

Back in the mid 90's after leaving the GW hobby, I stumbled upon Flintloque and have a hankering to paint some more of the chunky little chaps so will be making a bit of an attempt to start putting the collection back together. My buying approach back then was to pick up whatever blister pack appealed to me so I had a very mixed collection with Elves, Goblins, Orcs, Dwarves and all manner of odds and ends but it somehow fitted with the game and I am keen to revisit the joys of Valon and it's assorted races. 

The need to play Flintloque isn't as great as to just enjoy the experience of painting the figures and every so often plonk what I have on the table for a bit of a RPG lite sort of scenario driven wander around the edges of the wars of Mordred.

Lastly (for now at least!) there's Leviathan. It's a project I've repeatedly picked up and put down over the years but never really stopped obsessing about so I figure I'd best use 2021 to finally get it out of my system and work on a monthly challenge I've set myself. I want to paint at least one figure, be it resin or metal from the range every month and see what I end 2021 with. 

I'm not sure if I can bring myself to use the metal figures from the range as they are massive but after painting the resin Dragonbane rider and being pleasantly surprised by just how good it was, I may try using an entirely original figure approach (for the most part as the old Heartbreaker range has lots of goodies that complement the concept!). 

I've no idea how things will turn out with all these options but I look forward to having a go and who knows, the Boar Company may yet ride again with new allies, old foes and more sculpts to boot!

Folks may notice that smaller scale projects are absent from my 2021 plan at the moment. I have found myself somewhat indifferent to 15mm and 6mm for a while now but feel that if the right inspiration struck, I'd have a great time painting those scales again but we shall have to see what next year brings. 

I'll be taking Christmas day off and then starting up my Lockdown 2.0 daily project log for at least three weeks and will see how I get on.

In the meantime, All the best and hope you and yours have a fantastic Christmas and wonderful new year!

Richard

Lockdown 2.0

Hi!

I had planned to take a break until the new year but with the utterly depressing news of a new lockdown, I feel compelled to restart my Lockdown Project Log!

This time it's going to be a wee bit different as I may be working flexi furlough (depending on if and when Sturgeon gets around to telling businesses what they can do, something she seems to be in no hurry to do) so I'm not sure I'm going to be posting every day but I plan on using this enforced break to get my original Flintloque set painted up.

I started the first lockdown painting up Deadloque so it seems fitting to start this one with Flintloque and I'm hoping that three weeks doesn't turn into three months like last time so aim to get the 15 miniatures from the set (Sadly I'm missing one of the Elves!) painted over the initial three weeks and if the worst comes to the worst, I've got lots of other odds and ends that I can work on.

Ferach Survivors of the Witchlands

As I've been feeling a bit meh about my hobby of late, I figured that painting the chunky and characterful miniatures from Flintloque may be just the thing to keep me from stressing out of my gourd about things and also reinvigorate my hobby.

If things go according to plan, the end of the three week lockdown will see all the figures painted and I'll try and get a game or two of Flintloque in as well to see how well I remember the rules from way back when. The only niggle will be that my gaming board is considerably smaller than the suggested 6'x4' of traditional gaming so it will be interesting to see how Flintloque copes in a confined space.

I hope you are all ok and the thought of another, possibly interminable lockdown isn't getting you down and the consolation of miniatures will see you through.

If it's of interest, there is a RETROLOQUE Facebook group which has been running for a couple of months which has had some really great posts which is well worth joining for some retro Flintloque shenanigans. From it I have discovered that my Sharpes Rifles figures are actually some of the original masters as they're incredibly difficult to clean due to their high tin content and apparently got shipped by mistake back in the day! 

In the meantime, All the best!

Richard

Taking a Break

 Hi!

I've got this week off work but most of it is going to be spent working on our flat so sadly once again hobby time is taking a bit of a back seat.

I have however, been reading a lot of really enjoyable pulp fiction in the form of Doc Savage, Bulldog Drummond and The Shadow.

Each of these characters tend to have fantastic adventures in the 1920s and 30s and make for great fun reads of the pulpiest sort with cliffhangers aplenty, vile villains and square jawed heroes and it's got me looking at some of my old rulebook collections and having a bit of a ponder.

There's something deeply satisfying about reading pulp fiction from back in the day as it may not be quality fiction but it's loads of fun, the only downside is it can be difficult to find but I've found a decent cashe on The Faded Page, a repository of old books which are free to download and I highly recommend having a peruse!

Sadly what little time I've had for painting has been an intensely frustrating experience as I cannot seem to get motivated or get any decent results from my painting which may be due to me just not being in the right mindset for it or a lack of inspiration but we shall see...

I've decided to take a bit of a break and get the festive period out of the way before having a fresh bash at things in 2021 which will hopefully prove to be a bit more inspired than 2020!

I may yet post some more odds and ends as I've got one or two ideas floating around but in the meantime, All the best!

A Bit of Palette Cleansing

Hi!

It's been a busy few weeks and hobby has had to once again take a back seat but I've recently placed a small order with em-4 Miniatures for some assorted plastic gubbins to allow me to get one or two quick and easy paint jobs done, namely for Gamma Wolves when I get hold of the book but also with some Battletech crossover potential.

I've been feeling the need to get some really simple miniatures that I could paint up without having to put in a ton of effort and after a bit of ruminating, I remember having a load of the old plastic Space Rangers back in the day along with the Steel Warrior Mechs. Sadly they got sold off years ago but in a bit of a nostalgic moment, I figured I'd order a couple of them to have a bash at painting.

I have very fond memories of painting them in my teens in all manner of random colours so it's going to be interesting to see how they hold up to a more modern paintjob. I'm especially fond of the Space Rangers who have a real Space Crusade vibe about them:

Hopefully they'll arrive in the next few days and I'll post a bit of a mini review but they're cheap as chips and should make for a fun little project!

I've also spent a bit of time rummaging my Flintloque stuff with the vague intention of getting some more of them painted as I was really pleased with how my Deadloque boxed set turned out during the last lockdown. I'll see if I can sort out some odds and ends over the next few days as I have a weeks holiday coming up and with Dundee being in tier 3 of Covid, we can't go anywhere so I may have a bit of free time on my hands and will try and post a bit of a daily project log to cover my progress.

We shall see how I get on but I'm rather excited to get going with it!

Inktober 2020

Hi!

I've spent October taking part in the yearly Inktober challenge which has been rather fun!

They've been a great way to get some drawing done which has in turn given me some visual inspiration for my Rusty Robots project and I've really enjoyed taking part.

If folks are interested, please feel free to take a peek at SPACE COW SMITH PRODUCTIONS.

Following the Government's announcement of another lockdown, I'm dejectedly awaiting Scotland following suit. At present I'm hoping I'm still going to be going into work as books are more important than ever these days but if the worst happens and I'm stuck in another lockdown, I'll start up another lockdown project log with a post a day of random hobby stuff.

In the meantime, All the best!

Star Mogul Project Part 3: The Rules

Hi!

Here's a quick link to the Star Mogul Rules!

Star Mogul Core Rules

The original rules! They contain everything you need to get started with the core rules and a guide to putting together your salvage company along with some hired guns and pirates to liven up games. It's also got the campaign system too along with an assortment of scenarios to play out!

Star Mogul: Distant Worlds

Distant Worlds was the first expansion to the rules and came with a guide to playing forces of Asteroid Miners and Hydrissians, an alien race with an interesting appearance and very different motivations to human warbands.

Star Mogul: Alien Evolution

The last supplement was Alien Evolution which introduced the X-12 Robot cult, a renegade group of mekks who seek freedom from their human overlords and the Mephalians, a degenerate remnant of the Mimjip Empire who operate ancient alien tech.

I'll post up a bit of a guide to the rules next time but in the meantime, All the best and I hope folks enjoy perusing a rather fun set of old rules!

Star Mogul Project Part 2: Background

 Hi!

As part of my Star Mogul project, I've decided to get the ball rolling with a quick look at the background to the setting so without further ado, let's take a peek at what we've got!

In 2227 the Tread Lightly Corp launched the Tachyon drive which allowed FTL travel and humanity began spreading across the stars. 

At this point, there were already working colonies on several of Jupiter's moons, Mercury, the Asteroid belt and Earth's Moon. Terraforming and settlement of Mars was already underway but the Tachyon drive's creation allowed for exploration of new worlds far from Earth. Initially it was the Earth's great powers who launched expeditions using the Tachyon drive to establish colonies on newly discovered worlds and exploit their natural resources but the blueprints for the drive were stolen and soon smaller groups were launching their own colonising efforts. These smaller expeditions sought to establish new and free societies, far from the overcrowded and tightly controlled Earth.

This time period became known as the Young Exodus as many of the colonists who enlisted were chosen for their youth and vigour. The call of the colonies lured many out into space to an uncertain future but many saw the benefits over a crowded and stifling life on Earth. 

The colonies were initiated, some over 100 light years from Earth but soon several began reporting discovering the ruins of an alien civilisation and further research and excavations revealed the ruins to be over 400,000 years old. These discoveries resulted in a fresh wave of exploration further into unexplored space as many sought to delve further into the mysteries of this lost alien society and the Great Expedition phase began with a new gold rush as prospectors rushed to the new frontiers in search of lost alien tech and the mysteries of the Mimjip civilisation.

By 2340 humanity appeared to be forging an empire amongst the stars. Earth had begun to regulate its population and biosphere thanks to the resources that poured in from its offworld colonies and recovered alien tech.

Things weren't all rosey though as many colonists began to resent the amount of resources and money they were being required to send back to Earth, despite a lack of political freedom or representation they had been promised. 

Soon several established colonies declared their independence from Earth but this wasn't too much of a concern to the Earth government as trade continued to flow and the sheer distances involved meant a military response wasn't feasible.

Then the discovery of the ‘Forge’ at Alpha Centauri occurred and relations broke down rapidly. The ‘Alpha Forge’, as it became known, was an orbiting starship construction platform the Mimjipani race had left behind. Its technology relied upon the gathering of rare elements from the local asteroid belt which were then shaped and tempered slowly into a near indestructible starship hull deep in the fires of Alpha Centauri itself. 

It was the outer colonists that discovered the forge and worked out its operating procedure, but the obvious military implications of the new starship hulls became apparent quickly to Earth and the governing bodies of the home system. Using heavyweight diplomatic and economic muscle, the council of Earth attempted to obtain possession of the forge for itself. 

The whole situation deteriorated badly not long thereafter when earth’s council declared all members of the newly formed ‘Federal Union’ on the Outer Rim in violation of their legal obligations and sent in a cohort of storm troopers to obtain the Forge by force. The assault was repelled, just barely, by the efforts of a lieutenant engineer Thomas Redcloud (awarded the ‘Gold Aurora’), who fixed the entire docking area to self destruct, catching the storm trooper reinforcement party off guard and allowing the defenders to consolidate their defences in time.

After this, the Frontier Union organised the Alpha Forge with heavy artillery in case Earth tried to take this valuable artefact by storm again. There was no declaration of war – the Frontier Union had no army. So they had no choice but to organise one in response to the actions of Earth, and also, the growing number of slave raids by the Hydrissian ‘devourer’ cult on the fringes of known space that began in 2442.  The Federal Defence Force (FDF) was organised and ties with the home system became much more restricted as the colonies strove for self sufficiency.

Around this time, shortly after the century turned to the 2400’s, a new threat loomed on the horizon.
The discovery of the ‘Mimjip Pathogen’ reared its ugly head, though too late for many on the frontier. Somewhere among the exploration and exploitation of the ancient Mimjip ruins a deadly virus had been released. 

The virus had lain dormant for many thousands of years, and was probably thought of as an innocuous infection by the ancient Mimjipani race. The accidental release of this virus had devastating consequences on humanity as it lay semi-dormant for several decades before it was discovered and made itself felt. By this time it had spread throughout the colonies and throughout the home systems. The resulting pandemic killed many millions, and has brought mankind’s fledgling empire among the stars to its knees.

Entire space colonies have now lain deserted for decades and much that was built has now been laid to waste. Finally, in more recent years, the Mimjip pathogen seems to have played itself out, and cases are becoming much rarer. Perhaps only those who are naturally able to fight the virus have survived. Nevertheless, the road is now open for those who are brave enough, or perhaps foolish enough, to begin the process of rebuilding what was lost.

This is where the game takes place with small groups of salvage experts exploring lost colonies for tech and fighting over the ruins of a once great empire. It is a lawless place but fortune favours the bold and money is to be made amongst the stars.

I'm hoping to take a look at what is required to play in the next instalment but I'm still humming and hahing about what miniatures to use. Do I go 28mm, 15mm or sculpt my own? Each option has it's pluses and negatives so I'll need to get my thinking hat on and figure out just what I want to do before I get the that point but I have plenty of other stuff that I can be getting on with, including putting together a bit of a campaign map showcasing the region that the action will be happing so watch this space!

In the meantime, All the best!

Star Mogul Project: Part 1 Musings

 Hi!

I have managed to get myself a new laptop (many thanks to my brother for being awesome!) which should allow me to get my blogging up and running again which is rather exciting and I'm looking forward to getting things running normally again.

I'm interested to see what Stargrave develops into as what little I've read makes me think of the old Star Mogul rules and I've been thinking of using that for the next while to give me a nice small project that can then get used as a building block for some warbands for Stargrave in 2021.

Back in about 2008, I had a blast putting together forces for the game and a few years ago I played a couple of games using 15mm scale figures and I'm rather fond of the game, despite not playing it much and it may be a fun little project to round out the year and indeed clear through some of the odds and ends from my lead pile!

My next post will cover the background of the Star Mogul setting and I'll see how I get on with choosing some suitable figures for my two salvage crews.

In other news, I've also preordered Gamma Wolves as I rather like the setting and think it might be a good project to put together in a scale smaller than 28mm and with there only being the need for a half dozen figures per side in total, it should be a fun side project too!

In the meantime, All the best!

In Search of a New Project

 Hi!

I’m currently working my way through Inktober so haven’t had much time for other hobby related shenanigans!

I have noticed that Osprey Games are releasing Gamma Wolves, a stompy robot post apocalyptic game and have announced Stargrave too which is rather exciting.

Now I’m not sure if they’re going to be my cup of tea but I am looking for a new project and will be interested to see how things develop!

I’m having a bit of a hobby slump at present following the lockdown progress I had earlier in the year so I’m keen to try out something new to get the mojo going again so if anyone has any suggestions, I’d love to hear them!

Back to Basics!

 Hi!

Well the good news is that I’m slowly getting the hang of the new blogger layout and using my phone instead of my old laptop.

Techno Wisp

I’m also taking part in the Inktober challenge over on my Spacecow Smith blog which will probably take up much of my spare time over October but I’m keen to get some more posts here to round out the year.

Following my decision to leave behind Games Workshop games and miniatures, I must admit that I had a bit of a block but have a mini plan to get through it.

I’m hoping to put together a small skirmish force for my Lost Albion setting and hope to flesh it out a bit in the coming weeks and have found myself drawn off in a tangent from the original 2mm project (as I so often do!)

It may take a while to get it put together but I’ll see what I can come up with so watch this space!

In the meantime, All the best!

An Update!

Hi!

I can't believe I've not updated my blog in ages but work has a wonderful way of getting in the way of the important business of hobby time.

I've tried to post a few different times but have found myself getting stuck but I've decided that I really need to get back into the swing of things and get some hobbying done.

With that in mind, over the last month or so I've been pondering on all manner of mini projects that I'd like to try to get myself going again but feel that the time just isn't right, especially as my car has just gone back into the garage with a worryingly leaky fuel tank so grander, more expensive projects are going to fall by the wayside for the time being.

Saying that, I have found myself looking with interest at pootling around with some 2mm stuff for a bit of a Jacobite Rising micro project.

I'm pondering playing around with some of the 2mm scale figures I got from Irregular a while back and seeing what I can come up with as it's a fascinating period of history and I'm contemplating adding some fantastical elements too moving the action to Lost Albion, a realm not dissimilar to our own but with magic and whatnot.

With 2mm being the current option open to me if I'm wanting a super cheap and quick project, I hope to really go to town with the basing which really helps bring the teeny figures to life and it may end up getting expanded a bit when the Fae turn up or the French or whatever other gubbins I fancy throwing into the mix!

The plan is to paint up the odds and ends I have which will represent the forces of the British crown and possibly some of the less rowdy Lowland Jacobite units and then place a teeny order with Irregular for the wilder Highlanders. I do plan on sculpting some eagles and the odd Lacepunk airship too to liven things up as well and with a bit of scenery, I think I can get an interesting game going, especially as I've already had quite a bit of fun with my Land Ironclads stuff...

I will need to first find where I've cunningly stashed my 2mm troops and then try out some basing options for them and see how things go but it may be the first of several micro projects for Lost Albion as if things go well, I've hopes for some Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance inspired stuff too!

In the meantime, All the best and apologies for the silence with blogging of late!

Kuld Reinforcements

Hi!

I've finished some more Kuld miniatures that I sculpted back during the lockdown:

 Kuld Horde

While most of the reinforcements are basic Kuld to bulk up the numbers a bit, I have also given my horde a long ranged option in the form of a Shuda, a Kuld who can vomit whatever it's eaten a surprising distance.

Although the little guys are a bit blobby, they really have been fun to work on over the course of the last few months. I really need to make another 10-20 to give a full horde and add a troll or two to give them some heavy support...

We also went for a bit of a drive today and visited a 5000 year old tree which was rather nice!

Seeing a living thing that's so ancient was rather inspiring and it got me to thinking of a bit of a historical/fantasy mashup that I've pondered on and off over the last few months.

I'll post up some gubbins in the next few days so watch this space.

In the meantime, All the best!

Support Small!

Hi!

I've been run off my feet this week so finding time to actually post anything here has been a bit difficult but I've managed to listen to an interesting assortment of Youtube videos on wargaming.

I've also noticed the hoohah that seems to be spreading from the real world into wargaming which I found a bit of a shame as I see my hobby as a bit of escapism from said real world and would prefer to avoid politics and whatnot in said hobby.

This got me thinking about where I am, wargaming wise these days and it also got me to pondering on a bit of a different tack. Essentially I have decided to give Games Workshops product a miss from now on. This isn't to do with anything other than they have enough fans to pump money into the business of making great figures and games. I want to spend my modest hobby budget supporting some of the smaller companies out there who aren't global titans and may appreciate some small amount of business and what little I can do to showcase their products.

It's a bit of a difficult decision to make as I do like the looks of the new 40k and the specialist games GW has produced of late look ace. I just feel it's time to move on a bit and support other manufacturers who could actually use a bit of support, especially post lockdown when folks are rather short of cash.

The Original Tales From Farpoint Header!

Over the years, I've probably spent thousands on GW gubbins, be it direct from stores or via the second hand market but that is but a drop in the ocean compared to many hobbyists who will spend that a year, rather than over quarter of a century so I doubt my patronage will be missed.

I must admit that I'd pretty much drifted away from GW gubbins over the last few months and I need to admit to myself that I am never going to have the time, space or indeed patience to collect, paint or indeed game a 40k or classic Fantasy Battle army. Instead I am increasingly sculpting my own stuff or if I do buy stuff, it has by and large been from the rather more eclectic or small scale ranges that catch my eye.

Moving forward I want to do this more often and support smaller companies who produce interesting stuff or indeed sculpt my own figures so I can lose myself in the worlds I create and not be limited by having to buy a set codex or super cool unit.

Therefore, I hope to begin supporting small!

Whee! This post has become a bit ranty but I hope that I'm not sounding judgemental or indeed trying to bash the many, many gamers who love GW product. I just feel that I personally have found my hobby has evolved in a different direction and want to meander further in that direction and continue enjoying myself!