Assorted Gubbins!

Hi!

Its been a busy week here so painting time has been sadly limited but I have managed to get a couple of bits and bobs finished. As I was coming dangerously close to burning out on 15mm scale stuff, I decided to work through some of my leadpile of old 28mm gubbins!

First up there's an Elven noble from House Helios:

Helios Noble 

He's a Reaper Miniatures sculpt and turned out quite nicely. I played around with giving him a fire effect for his weapon and may go back to him at some point to add a little bit of a lighting effect to give it more of a glow but for the time being, I'm quite pleased with how he turned out. He will also act as a decent leader for my Helios Elves!

Next up here's a couple of barbarians!

 Leader and Berzerker

Rather aged but still fantastic Grenadier figures, I went a bit over the top to give the berzerker a properly enraged complexion.

Lastly, here's the first of my Sons of Kronos proxies for my Chronopia 15 project!

Barbarian!

I've got some holidays coming up so hopefully I will get chance to paint my way through some more bits and bobs and who knows, I may even get a game or two in!

All the best!

Chronopia Ponderings

Hi!

Its my second day off in a row and I'm sat waiting on someone coming to fix the boiler (no hot water for three days doth not a happy Richard or Amy make).

Following on from my ramblings of yesterday, I have been considering the possibilities of attempting a Chronopia project to feed my love of the old and sadly now out of production game. Down the years, I have actually painted up a fair few of the figures, even going as far as having  complete Dark Tusk and Sons of Kronos forces. Sadly they are long gone, sold off when I moved house or lost in the depths of time.

About the only figures I still have are the rather brilliant Viridian Lord and a couple of Fallen swordsmen:

While the range tended towards going for cricket bat sized weapons and big shoulderpads, it certainly had a visual style very unlike any game that came before it and it really resonated with many gamers while the rules themselves were really fantastic and the background itself was totally immersive and presented the usual fantasy races in a fresh light.

While the miniatures do still crop up from time to time, I have found that many of them suffer from lead rot which degrades the sculpt and puts me off actually wanting to get any more. This, coupled with some of the sculpts not really living up to the concept, has inspired me to revisit the game in 15mm scale.

While I am working on this project, I plan on mashing it together with two other game systems to allow me to try them out as well. The two systems are Leviathan and Crucible, both great games with interesting settings and fresh takes on the usual fantasy races.

The main problem I am going to face is the very uniqueness of the style of these games. In Chronopia, the Orcs are brown skinned, ruled by Ogres and are very much of a Saracen inspired vibe while Dwarves are walking tanks, literally covered in heavy plate armour. Some of this can be sorted out by simply converting or proxying but I am seriously thinking of sculpting some new figures to cast.

Some years ago, I sculpted up these fellows:

The Boar Company

Could I produce something similar now but to a quality that I was happy with? I don't see why not but could I take it a step further to sculpt some suitably unusual fantasy races and mash ups? I think I am going to have to get some sketching done and try sculpting up some test pieces and will see how I get on!

All the best!

Warzone 15: Capitol Light Infantry Squad and the Temptation of Old Games!

Hi!

I actually have a day off after 6 days in a row of work which has come as something of a relief and allowed me to finally finish off the first of my 15mm scale Warzone squads!

 Capitol Megacorporate Light Infantry

Its been really satisfying to finally finish them all and I must admit I'm really pleased with how they've turned out, despite me starting to flag a little when it came to finishing off the last two and reinforces the fact that I doubt I will ever have the patience to paint up a full army for the likes of Warhammer!

I gave the squad a LMG but also have some spares to allow me to swap him out for a HMG, Sniper Rifle or Missile Launcher if needed. With a little patience, I think I could complete a second squad, this time of heavy infantry or special forces which would round out the force quite nicely. I still need to sculpt up a suitable hero figure to lead the force but that can wait for a bit while I recover from the effort of getting this lot finished!

I have also managed to base up some figures I painted a while back who will make handy civilians, characters or random events in both fantasy and sci-fi gaming:

Femme Fatales!

Unfortunately, they are closer to true 15mm scale so are a bit on the short side but in game the difference shouldn't be too noticeable.

In other news, as alluded to in the title of the post, I have been pondering on the the siren call of old games. Why, I wonder, do so many folks hanker after games which have been out of production, in some case for decades, their miniatures hard to find and often quite pricy?

I suspect some of it has to do with reconnecting with one's youth but more often than not, I find these older games far more intriguing than the slick stuff that seems to get released these days (with a few noticeable exceptions!) A perfect example is Kryomek, a game I found in my local gaming store in the early 90s:

I can't remember how many times I've read the book and seriously pondered having a bash at collecting an army of Nexus Marines and inhuman Kryomek to battle it out on some alien world. The problem always seems to come when it comes to the cost of collecting a decent force, the time it takes to paint said force and the amount of space required to play it. As someone with precious little of any of these three commodities, this has been a bit of a put off. 

Similarly, Chronopia, Crucible and Leviathan, all cracking games, have been on my to do list for ages but once again the Big 3 problems have stalled my efforts.

 

With the insidious efforts of these Big 3, I haven't had much success with the projects in 28mm scale so am going to try again in 15mm scale instead. As my Warzone 15 seems to be bearing fruit of sorts, I figure it's got to be worth another shot. I have a bit of an idea of trying to sort out a couple of forces for each selected game and trying out a bit of a campaign using them before moving onto the next. With this in mind, I had best get on with some painting and will post some updates as and when I can!

All the best!

Miniature Malarky!

Hi!

Just a quick post before I turn in for the night to say the bases arrived safely the other day so lots of cleaning, priming and basing of miniatures has followed. Sadly its not the most exciting process but at least I can now crack on with getting something more exciting done! Much thanks must be paid to Grahams Wuerkshoppe for sending out replacements so quickly.

Speaking of which, I've now finished the first half of my 15mm scale Capitol Light Infantry squad and am rather pleased with how they are looking. Unfortunately its been too dark when I leave for work in the morning and when I return for me to get any decent pictures of them so it will have to wait till I get a day off before I can post a decent picture up here.

In the meantime, I will try and crack on with painting my way through as many bits and bobs as possible to get a decent update when I get chance!

I've also been perusing my old Chronopia and Leviathan books and have been pondering the possibility of recreating some forces in 15mm too. This will require a bit of conversion work in many cases but shouldn't be too difficult and will allow me to relive the glory days!

While on the subject, I am also giving serious thought to creating some 15mm scale forces that could be used in several different games as I have found myself bitten with a bit of a creativity bug as there are just so many great games out there, many of which are out of production!

Its not just fantasy that I have found myself tempted by either! Theres a plethora of games in my collection which are great but I've never actually played a proper game, a situation that I feel could do with a bit of revision over the dark winter months.

Some will require a bit of planning and work to get some suitable forces put together but I have to admit that rummaging through my leadpile of unpainted stuff, I have actually got a decent amount of bits and bobs to be getting on with so we shall see what we can come up with!

Interestingly, I do think that this fresh bout of enthusiasm for this great selection of games, both old and new, will do me a world of good as it will hopefully give me lots of leeway with painting up new and interesting units and generally making the most out of my hobby rather than slavishly adhering to one single army which would no doubt leave me bored in no time at all!

Handily there's rather a lot of crossover in several of the games with the likes of my Capitol infantry being perfectly suitable for use as Viridian Marines in Void 1.1, Union troops in Vor or even Nexus colonial marines in Kryomek!

One thing I do need to do is to get my gaming surface sorted out though. I recently played a small skirmish using Rogue Trader on a 2'x3' board and while playable in the scale, I found it a tad restrictive so really want to up it to 3x3' or even 4x3' which would be perfectly suited to decent sized skirmishes for scifi and small to medium sized battles in fantasy games. (as an aside, I will be adding photos and a battle report soon of said game which featured some rather fun shenanigans and some hilarious weapon misfires as well as a spectacular explosion or two!)

Another thing I want to try and reintroduce is my attempt to play a game a week, something I attempted with mixed success a couple of years back. This time round I think I will combine it with a review of the rules themselves as well and who knows, I may even tempt some folks to pick up some of them to try themselves!

I have no doubt that there will be pitfalls ahead with such an audacious plan but who cares as I really fancy rolling up my sleeves and having a bash at getting the most out of the assorted books, miniatures and other gubbins I've had lying around for ages and not done anything with!

As you can see, I have lots of rulesets to choose from (the pictured stuff is only a fraction of the stuff I've squirrelled away over the years) covering all manner of fantasy, scifi and post apocalyptic type games and I look forward to blowing the dust off of them and putting them through their paces!

All the best!

A Glitch in the System!

Hi!

I was very excited to find a small parcel awaiting me when I got home from work containing the bases I ordered. That was until I opened it to discover my order of 20mm round bases had mysteriously become square!

Bearded Fury!

Hopefully the supplier will be able to ship out replacements ASAP as I've totally run out now and can't do any more lead pile reducing painting till more arrive.

Still on the plus side, I should be able to get some sculpting done on my much needed day off tomorrow!

All the best!

Warzone 15: Capitol Trooper

Hi!

Just a quick update before I head out to work this morning!

I picked up a couple of packs of Ground Zero Games' Colonial Defence Troops the other day with the intention of converting them into Capitol Megacorporate troopers. A little bit of putty and patience saw a full squad converted and the sergeant based and painted (using my last 20mm round base!)

Capitol Light Infantry Sergeant

The addition of the iconic shoulderpads really has made him look like he fits in with the classic look of warzone and I must admit I can't wait to get the rest of the squad painted up too. I ordered enough stuff to give me a squad each of the following:

Light Infantry
Heavy Infantry
Free Marines
Sea Lions
Sunset Strikers

I have an idea for the Martian Banshees too but they need to come from another manufacturer so will have to wait for now as I think I have enough to be getting on with.

In other news, I also finished off a Law Officer that I've had kicking around in the bits box primed since 2010:

I Am the Law!

I originally planned on giving him a green and white scheme to fit in with my old Stainless Steel Rat projects law enforcement officers but settled on the classic Dredd colours instead. Alas I think he has been a bit battered in the years in the bits box but will do the trick!

Finally, here's a quick update on the Orcish Carnosaur I showed the other day:

Grr!

I am going for the classic colour scheme that I used back in the day for my Leviathan project as I really like the yellow and black. I must admit that this is far closer to what I always imagined that the Orcs warbeasts looked like in Leviathan than the chubby smiling things that were produced. I have enough bits to convert another two of these fellows and will be giving one a gaping maw and the last will possibly be one of the subspecies I created for the game. 

If I am to ever finish the project I need to find some more large beasts to convert into Gorathosaurs, Necrosaurs and Titanosaurs but that will require a bit of research to find something suitable to convert!

All the best! 

Warzone 15: Supreme Necromagus

Hi!

I've sadly run out of 20mm round bases so have had to put a pause on my painting until more arrive! In the meantime I've been working through a small backlog of figures I've had in the leadpile that have been based and primed, in some cases for several years!

Inspired by Chico, I rummaged out one of the Space Vikings I sculpted a few years back and finished painting him:

Necromagus!

I've painted him up as a Supreme Necromagus for Warzone as I don't really fancy going for a Chaos Space Marine vibe. Armed with a plasma carbine, this chap will be leading one of Algeroths secret cults on Mars.

Next up, here's another two of the modern fantasy miniatures that Stuart sent me the other week in the form of a Dwarf mercenary with a SMG and axe and a Ork Mechanic with pistol and big wrench:

Squat and Ork!

I do like the two of them and have provisionally named the Squat 'Three Fingered' Hoek and the Ork mech as Gertrude as I painted him as a her as she has a rather nice do and now sports a rather handy pink backpack and adds a much needed bit of diversity for the Orks!

Lastly, there's a Wallahbot for Prince Rupert's retinue:

Beep Beep!

He's from the old Laserburn range and is a little bit of a ropey sculpt but adds a handy, retro bit of gear for the exiled Prince to supply snifters of brandy, even in the thick of combat!

In other news, I am thinking about finishing off my Orc warbeast that I sculpted last year:

Raaargh!

He will be forming the core of an Orcish horde for fantasy gaming and who knows, I may even be inspired to reboot my Aeroth setting! 

All the best!

Warzone 15: Nepharite!

Hi!

I'm back from work and have finished my Nepharite proxy for Warzone 15!

Slice and Dice!

Standing over 30mm tall, the beast is armed with an Azogar chain-axe. As with the rest of the stuff I am sculpting I want it to be different enough from the source material to allow for them to be cast without the problem of IP infringement. Once the beast is cast, I will then convert him to look like a proper Nepharite with its third horn, grinning visage and plethora of spikes erupting from its shoulders!

All the best!