Void 1.1 and From the Leadpile!

Hi!

Well its been a busy week here with me finally tracking down somewhere to live and getting to the interview stage for another job but such jabberings are for another time! I've spent the last weeks commute reading through the rather decent Void 1.1 game books.

Void was produced initially by i-Kore until they went bust before being picked up by Urban Mammoth and Scotia Grendel and has gone through a bewildering number of rulesets, settings and visual styles but my favorite has always been the stuff that was produced in the i-Kore days.

Viridian Strike Commandos versus Junker Convict Legionnaires 

The game is set in a future where Humanity developed in a binary star system on a world called Viridia. Due to rampant industrialisation, the planets icecaps melted and flooded the planet forcing its inhabitants to tack to arc like biodomes to survive. After the floodwaters receded, the survivors were forced to come to terms with the ruins of their civilisation and re-evaluate how to live.

With the use of genetic engineering they managed to return the planet to a habitable level and became a rather interesting combination of Eco types run by megacorporations instead of governments. In the following centuries they inhabited the harsh desert of Ironglass which saw the rise of the Junkers, descendants of convicts forced to work in the marginal atmosphere and the Syntha of Prime, scientists bent on combining man and machine to improve humanity.

 Yes the Viridians have dinosaur tanks!

Following numerous rebellions which saw the independence of first Prime and then Ironglass, the tripartite alliance was formed and VASA was brought into being (a bit like an interstellar UN and police force) and humanity began exploring the stars until eventually coming across the utterly alien Korolon.

The rulebooks and forcebooks are all available as a free download from Scotia Grendel and I would highly recommend folks take a peek as theres lots of interesting stuff to read and borrow for other game systems!

On its release, Void created a bit of a ripple in the games industry as it had a markedly more high tech, light and almost anime feeling to it, especially when compared to the likes of GW and with Stuart Beel's distinctive artwork:

 VASA Archangels, girls with swimsuits, wings and guns!

Interestingly the look has darkened in the years since as can be seen from these illustrations:

Gone is the anime, here's a more grim and Soviet styled VASA which appeared from nowhere especially when considering the background!

Likewise, Viridia turned into something more akin to space Nazis! The artwork and figures became more technically advanced but it lost quite a bit of the space age fun of the original. I must admit I never warmed to it as it looked like they had looked at some of the big computer games and crossed it with GW and discarded a huge chunk of background to justify it.

So why am I looking at it now, you may ask? Well in the spirit of Budgethammer, I want to integrate the setting and forces into games in the future and really like the inhabitants of this futuristic setting. The books are quite well written and include lots of bits of fluff that could make for a good campaign or one off game and the figures themselves are still readily available for a very reasonable price!

Interestingly, the box set is still available for a very reasonable price and has a ton of plastic figures in it which would make for good additions to imperial guard and space marines too!

I think I need to spend some time developing some sort of hybrid setting that will allow me to use whatever stuff I like from each setting and create my own too but that will have to wait until after I've moved house!

In the meantime I have painted another figure from my pile of miniatures!

Bring Me Skincare Products!

He's originally from the old Darkworld game and is in actual fact made out of plastic and isn't the best figure in the world, his robes are a bit blobby, his jewels are poorly defined and he has a freakily blobby right hand but he looks ok as either a mutant leader for Sci-fi games or an evil baddie for fantasy.

I must admit if I was to paint him again, I'd paint the hood gold or some such rather than green as its difficult to differentiate between his head and the weird snake crown. Also I would hack off his blobby hand and replace it with a more suitable one! Hopefully my next paint job will be a bit more fun to do too!

All the best!

From the Lead Pile: Imperial Guard and Mystery Miniature

Hi!

Well I've begun working through my assorted unpainted lead and have completed a couple of figures that have been languishing unpainted for several years!

First up theres a somewhat converted Catachan jungle fighter:

 Imperial Guard

I converted him a couple of years back to represent a somewhat more heavily armed guardsman with carapace armour and a combat rifle. I never did understand how Catachans are supposed to have flak armour when all they seem to wear is a vest!

In keeping with my Budgethammer principles, he will see use anyway as part of my Imperial garrison force but has been on deployment so long his uniform has been replaced by a pair of jeans and a non standard combat rifle he has acquired along the way and he certainly looks the part of a grizzled veteran!

Next up theres a bit of a mystery figure:

 The Veiled One

I can't even remember who made him other than the fact that I bought him from Spirit Games a few years ago along with a couple of other miniatures. Despite the fact that the sculpting is a bit on the rough side, he has lots of character and will come in handy as either a native guide, bounty hunter or even see use in fantasy games!

The Imperial Guard garrison is slowly coming together and once I have one or two more figures painted up, will be ready for some small skirmishes!

Imperial Garrison, Farpoint

Instead of only having them for one game setting, they will be seeing action against the likes of the Kryomek or Growlers so may be proxies for Union or Nexus troops or even Capitol corporate troopers and as Budgethammer embodies the principles of using whatever you like, the force is rather apt!

I'm hoping to be able to expand their numbers to a couple of squads, a command unit and possibly some sort of small vehicle (the tanks are going to be saved until I have some larger forces!) 

I have also got some Orks undercoated on the paint table so hope to expand my Goff force too so I can get some small skirmishes in between planetary defenders and alien raiders!

All the best!

From the Lead Pile: Imperious Minion and the Undead!

Hi!

Heres the latest paint jobs in my ongoing attempt to clear my lead pile!

 Sergeant Wallace: GIVE ME CHEESE!

I don't know why but I seem to be painting an awful lot of gurning and grimacing types at the moment!

I must admit he reminds me somewhat of Wallace from Wallace and Gromit fame and I think I will be adding a dog as a sidekick at some point!

Next up theres a plastic Skeleton from the Darkworld boardgame:

Dem Bones!

While the game isn't anything to write home about, it does have some rather nice and old school miniatures. The skeletons are particularly good as they've got the Evil Dead style heads.

I'm off on holiday from Sunday so doubt I will be able to get anything else finished but hope to be refreshed and ready to crack on when I get back!

All the best!

From the Lead Pile: Dwarf Spearman

Hi!

As I have a small stack of unpainted lead and plastic kicking around, I thought I would start painting up some bits and bobs and adding them on a semi regular basis on my blog and to get the ball rolling heres an old Heartbreaker Dwarf spearman!

 Dwarf Spearman

I've actually had him sitting in the lead pile for ages before deciding it was high time to get the little fellow painted up! I experimented with washes on top of his usual skin tone and I must admit I am rather pleased with how he turned out. Sadly I think I might need to add some more highlights to his beard as its a little flat looking at present!

I'm actually starting to get a fair number of the stunties done now and almost have a small unit ready:

Who are you calling Stunty?!

Despite my plan to go 15mm for Oldhammer, it looks like I may yet still stumble through in good old 28mm after all is said and done! In the meantime they make a rather decent skirmish force for the likes of Song of Blades.

I still need to paint up a couple more that I have undercoated including some crossbow wielding types and another two handed hammerer but its been a really nice change from Sci-fi!

All the best!

Imperial Guardsman

Hi!

Once again I'm about to head off to work but have taken a quick pic of an old Cadian Imperial Guardsman I have rummaged out of my lead pile and slapped some paint on!

For the Emperor!

I didn't spend a huge amount of time on the little fellow but went for the classic grey and black uniform as seen in the days of Rogue Trader! It has to be said, while painting him, its the first time that SKULLZ seem to be popping up everywhere on a guardsman. There's four of them on him alone, including on his water canteen, making you wonder why anyone would want to drink out of it!

Here's another shot of him, this time in the company of the bulkier Heartbreaker Capitol figure:

Lets all Sneer!

I actually have just enough assorted Guard troops to put together a half decent skirmish force for Rogue Trader so expect a few more to be added in the coming weeks!

All the best!

Shoulder Pads 80's Style

Hi!

Just a quick update as I'm about to nip off out to work but heres a quick pic of a rescued miniature from my leadpile!

 Sanchez, 1980s Survivor

He's a Capitol infantry Captain that I had in my bits box for years with a missing hand and a really bad and terribly chipped paint job (done by me about ten years ago!) and will be forming the basis for a small Post Apocalyptic collection but more on that later!

I must admit I didn't even bother stripping him, just whacked on a new coat of spray white primer and slapped on some paint. Despite this he turned out surprisingly well and has lots of character and a rather Doom-eque face too. The goatee and mutton chop sideburns were added to cover some unsightly blemishes in the paint and I must admit he now reminds me of John Travolta a little...

I have decided to continue working through my lead pile as time allows too so there should be a bit more getting added from time to time!

All the best! 

Stuff From the Leadpile 5

Hi!

I've just finished a couple more Barbarians for my Sons of Kronos force for Chronopia. Although they were painted previously they needed a lot of work to get them up to standard and repair the damage caused by careless storage:

 Barbarian Hero

The barbarian hero is a limited release from the now defunct Harbinger magazine. Despite the whole magazine being a fiasco, going bust just after I had subscribed, the figures they released were really rather nice. Sadly this is the only one that I have left but he does the job for a truly heroic individual for my barbarians and towers over the rest of the force (he's on a 40mm base!)

Viridian Lord

Next up theres a Viridian Lord, this is a beautiful model produced by Target and in game terms they are heroes who have gone to be one with the Earth goddess who keeps them slumbering, buried under sacred groves. In game terms they are real monsters capable of taking quite a bit of damage while their strength makes them really nasty in close combat and they can even throw the axes giving them real damage at range!

Heres a picture of all the barbarians I have painted thus far:

Barbarians!

As you can see, the hero is huge! At present I have almost enough barbarians to field a decent Song of Blades warband but will be expanding it eventually to include all the other models I have until theres enough to play Chronopia or No Quarter with.

I find myself up and about at 6am for some reason and have been thinking about what I am going to do about getting some games that own played and have decided that I am going to draft up some 500 point forces for each game which will give me something to work towards.

Some of these, like Song of Blades, Chronopia, No Quarter and Crucible will be pretty interchangeable as the basing is identical and smaller forces like this are not uncommon. For Warhammer however, I am going to have to create a specific force as they need to be based up on square bases rather than round. 

This is a little bit of a bind as they won't have the same cross game use as I really don't like mixing base shapes. Having looked at the Mantic Dwarves I had been planning on using, I just can't bring myself to do it as they are too similar and I have no doubt I would be bored to tears painting them all. Therefore I am going to hold off for a while and search through my miniatures to see if I can locate the genesis of an army or two using older metal models. 

Sadly I am on a self imposed ban from buying any more figures until I paint up all the stuff I have in my lead pile at present and thats enough to keep me busy for months to come, not to mention the stash I have at my parents house! Hopefully I will have enough to get me sorted out and keep me entertained as well as completing a force or two which will finally allow me to play some of the games I have collected throughout the years!

All the best!

Stuff From the Leadpile 4

Hi!

Heres some pictures of a couple of miniatures I painted a few years ago and put into storage:

 Chronopia Elven Dream Warrior

First up theres the Elven Dream Warrior from Chronopia. Despite his chunkiness, I love the figure and had originally painted him up with a very limited palette. Fortunately he just needed a few little spots here and there due to being chipped before he was varnished.

Ice Elemental

Next upe theres an Ice Elemental originally from the Ral Partha Crucible range. I had just rebased him and gave him a varnish only to be horrified when I checked back to find it had gone all cloudy! I gave him a wash of blue ink and a drybrush of silver but he still doesn't look nearly as good as before I flubbed the varnishing. I think I may repaint him by mixing up a metallic blue paint over a blue base but we shall see. 

Its given me cause to pause for thought on how I varnish my figures. I must admit that until recently in my 20 years of gaming I had survived without varnish but with moving around so often over the last three years I noticed in the last month or so that my figures were starting to look a little worse for wear so  started using matt spray varnish. all seemed to be going well until this last batch of figures and I can only assume there was some moisture in the air when I sprayed the stuff this time.

Does anyone have any suggestions for producing a decent finish with varnish as I have noticed the stuff I am using at present seems to matt down even the metallics a bit too much. In an ideal world I would use brush on varnish but the last time I tried a supposedly matt varnish from the pot it turned out near gloss!

All the best!

Stuff From the Leadpile 2

Hi!

Heres the latest batch of figures I have finished for an assortment of projects.

First up theres a couple of members of two of the retinues I have been working on for some 2nd edition 40k and Necromunda type skirmishes!

The Catachans have a scout for their kill team. Admittedly he's a crew member for a heavy weapon but I like the pose and expression of the guy and with a little warpaint and tattoos he looks rather decent.

 Catachan Kill Team Scout

Next up theres a pit slave for my Adeptus Mechanicus. She's another of the Ramshackle Games miniatures I have had kicking around for a while and although the sculpting and proportions are a bit rough, she's got loads of character and is a perfect addition to the retinue of Mechanicus.

Adeptus Mechanicus Pit Slave 

Next up I have been rummaging out some Dwarves and Gobbo's so I can get some skirmishes played in Farpoint too! I have a few older figures kicking around and will be painting them up as and when I get chance. I dont have the funds to collect entire armies of old school goodness but I can still stretch to betting one or two as and when I can!

First up theres an old Heartbreaker Dwarf Crossbowman. I have a real fondness for this guy as he's the same sculpt as one of the first figures that ever had!

 Dwarven Crossbowman

Next up theres one of the old Fantasy regiments plastic Goblins. Its odd but they are better sculpts than many of the newer plastic figures out there! I usually paint my Orcs and Goblins brown or yellow but for the proper old school vibe, I've gone for the traditional Green!

Goblin Archer

I have found that painting some 28mm scale figures incredibly relaxing, especially after a very stressful few months in real life. Its been rather therapeutic to say the least and I think I will be carrying on with it as it seems to be about the only thing keeping me sane at present!

I should have a few more bits and bobs finished over the next few days including a couple more Adeptus Mechanicus figures and some Dwarves and possibly even the genesis of a Cybertronic force!

I've been following a rather interesting thread over on LEAD ADVENTURE about Warzone and I've been wondering about doing something similar myself as the Warzone factions would make a brilliant addition to a campaign using Inquisimunda or In the Emperors Name. Imagine an Inquisitorial investigation team featuring some Brotherhood figures or a Megacorp raiding team or even a Dark Legion cell!

I have a fair number of figures from a number of manufacturers in my bits box which would do for several different forces and once I have got everything painted I can always pick up a few more bits and bobs whenever I feel the need. I have come to the opinion that I am unsuited to choosing a single project and better off just painting what I enjoy. Its something I have done from my earliest days of gaming and its been a bit of a trip down memory lane as I reacquaint myself with some of the miniatures I had when I was but a youth!

As I have been enjoying the process so much I have decided to try and try and pick up some of the old figures I have sold off (rather stupidly) over the years. Fortunately most of these figures are still in production or available cheaply online so its not going to cost too much.

All the best!

Stuff From the Leadpile

Hi!

In keeping with my attempts to clear my leadpile I have just finished painting up this fellow:

Mechanicus

Hes actually a resin figure from Ramshackle Games but I painted him up as an Adeptus Mechanicus chappy so I can use him for games of Inquisimunda or In the Emperors Name!

Heres a picture with him next to a gun servitor:

Mechanicus Troops!

I've really enjoyed painting him up and used a different method for priming him, going for a white primer with a brown wash which turned out rather well!

I have a few more figures to paint to add to the force, mainly i-Kore Syntha troops who will make for a somewhat more high tech looking Mechanicus force but I prefer the look than the gothic grimness of GW (not to mention the price difference!)

Next up some fantasy in the form of Dwarves and Goblins!

All the best!