Magistracy Of Canopus Armour Reinforcements!

 Hi!

I am trying to work through painting all my sculpts that have sat languishing unpainted since I made them and this evening I rummaged out my Scorpion light tank for my Magistracy of Canopus armoured force:

Scorpion Light Tank accompanies a pair of Hunter Light Support Tanks

As with my other SD scale gubbins, I went for a super stylised sculpt that kept things simple and it took virtually no time to paint too which was a real boon too. I could do with picking up some decals to finish the trio but they're game ready as they are.

I really need to get the pirate Hunchback that I'd sculpted done too which will finish all the stuff for my Battletech project that's currently outstanding and I'm also pondering what to make next as I need a fourth vehicle for my Canopian lance and my Wilson's Hussars mercenaries need some tlc!

It's been super satisfying to paint something quick and easy and I want to keep the momentum going and keep blasting through whatever catches my eye from my unpainted pile, not to mention get some more games played but in the meantime, All the best!

Dark Angel Combat Squad

 Hi!

I needed some quick Space Marine reinforcements for my ongoing Planet 28 project so had a rummage in my lead and plastic pile and selected some of EM-4 Miniatures Space Rangers to act as proxies.

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The figures are 3 piece plug together models with somewhat static poses but they really remind me of the old Space Crusade marines as they come with a selection of rather awesome heavy weapons. 

I decided to batch paint them just to get through the lot in a reasonable time and it worked out pretty nicely, if tediously and it reminds me why I'm so rubbish at painting armies these days. Despite being around since the mid 90's they're surprisingly good sculpt though so it wasn't too onerous a task to complete the squad, hardly a surprising fact as I believe they were sculpted by Bob Naismith.

I do need to pick up some transfers for them to give them a properly uniform look though, rather than doing my usual hand painted force insignias but they will do for the time being.

The sergeant comes with a power sword and a combination of chunky las pistol and a power drill but game wise, I suspect it will represent a plasma pistol instead. Of all the weapons that come in the kit, the sculpted on sergeants weapon is the poorest and would take considerable work to remove and replace with a bolt pistol or similar but otherwise, the figure is great with is terminator style shades and 90's flat top haircut.

The heavy weapon dude comes with a HMG which I used as a heavy bolter, a large calibre gun that could easily represent a las cannon and a plasma weapon that is perfect for a heavy plasma gun but as I only plan on using them for small skirmishes I figured using the more powerful weapons options was overkill.

The troopers are armed with high tech looking rifles which are nicely detailed and are nice sculpts too, if a bit monopose. I remember back in the day, my wargaming opponent picked up 100 of them to represent a full company but never painted them.

I must admit that I'm tempted to pick up a few more of the sets as they are literally cheap as chips at £3.99 for five and painting up several boarding parties for different chapters ala Space Crusade but noticed that EM-4 have actually sold out so will need to keep such crazy ideas for another day.

Still, I now have a nice elite fighting force to deploy in small skirmishes and I look forward to deploying them on the battlefield in the near future to slay some xenos scum! 

Hopefully I'll get the three remaining Zombies for my ongoing Rangers of Shadow Deep project painted up this weekend but as I'm working, it may take a bit longer but until then, All the best!

Warzone Eternal Update

 Hi!

We've started getting some more information on Warzone Eternal with the kickstarter arriving within the next couple of months which is really exciting as I cannot wait to see the games release.

In the meantime, some official concept art has been shared on the interwebs and here's some samples from the rather talented Dan Morison:

Nepharite of Algeroth

Mishima Samurai

Cybertronic Chasseur

Imperial Blood Beret

Brotherhood Inquisitor

I'm absolutely loving the graphic novel style of these pieces and they are very reminiscent of the classic Warzone art from 1st edition and it really channels the vibe of the techno fantasy game I remember from the 90's.

No doubt we shall see more stuff in the coming weeks as we get closer to the kickstarter launch and I'll share them here but I'm getting rather excited to see what the final project looks like!

In the meantime, All the best!

Flintloque and Deadloque Additions!

Hi!

I actually finished painting these guys late last year but didn't get the bases completed until the other day so I figured it was high time I grabbed some photos of them before they got put into the cabinet!

First up, here's a new Rifle Orc for my 95th Rifles led by Lieutenant Sharke: 

I may have mentioned it before but the figures are cast from tin rather than pewter and as such are a bit of a nightmare to clean the flash off and his sword bayonet is bent and I couldn't get it to straighten out without the danger of breaking it but it kind of works for an unwashed Orc!

Here's the trio thus far:

As I've mentioned previously, the old Flintloque figures are brilliant sculpts with buckets of character and as they're so chunky, they are really pleasing to paint and they're making for a really rewarding little side project for me to pootle away at from time to time.

Finally there's an old Crucible Dwarf Thunderchief that I converted to use in my Deadloque warband:

I sculpted on the mighty Russian style hat to give him a more Flintloque feel and quite like how he turned out. The original figure was a strange combination of a really nice figure with a pretty weird megaphone combined with a blunderbuss but it does the job for a fearless vampire hunting Dwarf in the frozen Witchlands!

In other news, I've also got some bits and bobs for my Planet 28/40k skirmishes which I'll post up in the next couple of days once they're finished and I've also managed to pick up a decent copy of 4th edition 40k for a princely 99p which compared to the silly prices of 1st and 2nd edition is pretty much a bargain!

I'm looking forward to having a good read once it arrives but in the meantime I've got a fair bit of painting on the go, not to mention rummaging through my assorted rulesets for inspiration (worryingly I keep finding more stuff that I want to play or try out or paint up!)

Hopefully I'll have some more stuff to post up in the next day or so but until then, All the best!

New Year Gaming!

 Hi!

I've already covered my interest in working my way through the Rangers of Shadowdeep core rulebook and campaign over the course of the next while but I'm also pondering some other games both old and new for a bit of a spin.

As per usual, Ash over on Guerrilla Miniature Games has got me picking up new rules in the form of The Silver Bayonet and Scrappers. Both are Osprey Games and I'd initially ignored them as they just didn't seem to be my cup of tea but having watched a couple of battle reports, I'm actually intrigued enough to pick up a copy of each to try out!

With Silver Bayonet, I plan on using my Flintloque/Deadloque collection to play games with as I must admit that I'm quite looking forward to giving it a try out! As for Scrappers, I think I'm going to rummage my leadpile and see what I've got and also use the opportunity to try to get some games of Star Mogul in too.

I also got a super cheap copy of Supersystem 2nd edition which I'm contemplating sculpting some supers and villains for in my own style.

I also think I'll try out the rules for a quick skirmish game featuring Inquisitor Fisher and some foes as I've heard really good things about the system and it's based on the old White Wolf Trinity Battleground game which was great fun.

I'm also contemplating putting together a couple of articles about Rogue Trader and the basics of putting together a small force and the basics of character building and how to get the best of the rules from my own somewhat limited experience.

Finally, I'm finding myself somewhat tempted to try something completely different.

I left the hobby when 40k moved from 2nd edition to 3rd as it was so simplified and I never played it but I recently got to thinking that I love Epic 40k because it took a granular, somewhat clunky system and streamlined it right down to allow for a quick playing but still enjoyable system. What if 3rd/4th edition 40k is similar?

I doubt I'll do much with it in the near future but I may pick up the core rulebook and the odd codex if I can find them cheaply enough and instead of the £100+ for Rogue Trader and 2nd edition, the later rulesets seem to be pretty cheap at about a tenner for the core rules. I'll need to delve into it a bit but I do wonder if I can put together a 250-300 point combat patrol sort of force and see how things go.

This is very much something I'll be putting on the back-burner for the foreseeable but it may be a nice long term aim for the year to end up with a little force thats a step up from my usual skirmish warband.

We shall see what I actually manage in the next month or two so watch this space!

All the best!

Rangers of Shadowdeep Project Part 2

 Hi!

As part of my Rangers of Shadowdeep project I needed some zombies for the first scenario and have just finished the first trio!

I made them rather scabby, scarred and gribbly and really enjoyed working on the little guys and gave them a mixture of worn military and civilian attire to represent the unfortunates who have been afflicted with the gift of unlife by the Children of the Worm!

I also rummaged out another of my Boar Company troopers who had been sat primed and got him painted too!

Armed with a two handed flail, this little guy means business and adds some heavy hitting power to my Boar Company force. I actually have four of them all together so will be able to field a unit of them in larger games. 

Adventurers disturb a group of shambling Children of the Worm

I've got three more zombies to paint and will post another update in the next few days once they are done along with the intrepid rangers who will be exploring the Shadowdeep, or the wild frontier of Aeroth!

I've also got another post that I'm putting together with some musings about playing some other games that I've got lying around and one or two I'm contemplating picking up and having a bash at in the future but more on that next time as it doesn't really fit in with my Rangers project.

In the meantime, All the best!

Rogue Trader in 2022

Hi!

Just a quick post today. I managed to play my first game of 2022! 

I went for Rogue Trader and used my Orks and Inquisitorial Agents and it was utterly fantastic to get a game played after quite a few months. Instead of going for any sort of scenario I just went for a straight up battle which saw the Orks getting a bit of a beating from the forces of the Imperium. 

While the rules are a bit clunky and slow compared to more modern rulesets, Rogue Trader is such fun to play I always enjoy playing small skirmishes with a couple of squads and the odd character a side. I suspect that larger games with lots of characters and vehicles would slow things down massively.

The highlight of the game was my Ork warboss killing two Space Marines in close combat and almost breaking through the Imperial line before his small force got shredded and the lone Kommando sneaking within bolt pistol range of Inquisitor Fisher and managing to wound her before Glitterberry the Eldar shot him down with a burst of Shuriken Catapult fire.

I really need to paint up more Orky boyz as they need some decent sized mobs to soak up fire and still have enough bodies to pile into combat and want to add some more characters to my collection to give me more options for my games. 

For my Imperial forces, I want to get my ships crew up to a couple of full strength squads as they get squished in literally every single game they've been in as there just aren't enough of them!

I've got quite a few assorted odds and ends lying around that will need painting up for both forces over the coming months but I also have some Eldar in the works which should give me enough to use in small skirmishes using Rogue Trader and Planet 28!

In other news, my copy of Rangers of Shadowdeep has arrived and I got a copy of Supersystem on the cheap too which I'm keen to give a try at some point too. I've also been working on getting a couple of Worm Cultists finished for my Somewhere on the Border project and will share photos once they arrive. 

I've also got some more bases ordered up so I'll be able to get stuff based and painted in the coming weeks too which is handy.

Hopefully I'll get chance to play the first scenario for Rangers of Shadowdeep this month once I've got the odds and ends finished but will be posting the odd battle report for some other games and will be posting whatever random bits and bobs I manage to paint in the meantime. 

In the meantime, All the best!

January Project: Rangers of Shadowdeep Part 1

 Hi!

I've managed to pick up a fairly cheap copy of the new edition of Rangers of Shadowdeep from Ebay and am planning on using January as a challenge month to get myself the gubbins to play the campaign included in the book.

I've settled on using my own sculpts as I have loads of stuff to use for my Ranger and companions and assorted NPC's as well as Giant Spiders and Rats.

On top of the vermin, the scenario also calls for a minimum of six zombies so I've spent my last couple of days off sculpting some!

I need to sculpt a couple more to give me some flex in game and in the post apocalyptic Aeroth, they will be Children of the Worm, reanimated Revenants enslaved to the Great Devourer Worm, a gigantic bioengineered creature that inhabits the southern desert. It's worshippers give the gift of unlife to those desperate or unfortunate enough to fall into their clutches. By eating the flesh of the Worm, they become immune to disease and can withstand a terrific amount of punishment before being destroyed. Unfortunately the side effects can result in them devolving into a shambling zombielike creatures with only the bare minimum of intelligence!

Irksomely, I've run out of 20mm round bases so will need to pick up some more before I can get them painted but I'm going to crack on with getting my sculpting and will be adding a couple of Worm Cultists, a Worm Priest and a Blessed Hulk which will see use in both Brutal Quest and A Song of Blasters and several other games that I plan on playing during the course of the year! 

I'll be posting another update in a weeks time, hopefully with some painted figures or some built scenery but in the meantime, All the best!