Stone Acre Carts

 Hi!

I've been footling around with making some more stuff for my ongoing campaign and have finished a trio of carts which will come in handy for objectives, to get in the way and generally make things interesting!

Carts with tiny ponies

I had a bit of a flap about what to do about ponies but ended up using some blocks of Sculpey for the head and main body while the limbs, mane, ears and tail are just EVA foam. Reins and whatnot are just painted on. 

Another view

I must admit that I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out and am now contemplating adding a small cavalry unit to my forces either mounted on comically small ponies or on some larger chargers...

Stone Acre Militia desperately try to hold off a horde of Revenants

Now I've got enough stuff painted up, I'll be playing out the next game in my campaign and controversially, I'm thinking of using Rogue Trader for it as I've got slightly larger forces than Brutal Quest is aimed towards so we shall see how things go. Will the militia and Dunston's party shepherd the wagon train to safety or will the horde of Revenants eat them? 

I admit that I've already done a playtest on a scenario which turned out to be a bit on the easy side for the good guys so have tweaked it a bit and will retry it for the battle report which should be coming in the next few days.

I've also been pootling around with a few other projects that I'm hoping to be able to post an update on soon but until I've got stuff finished, I'll not tease too much! 

Until then, All the best!

Stone Acre Militia

 Have no fear! The militia's here! 

Hi! I've got some much needed holidays from work and have been working on making some militia for an upcoming Brutalquest campaign game.

Stone Acre Militia

Armed with hefty clubs and shaky morale, they're probably not going to be too much use but I had loads of fun making the little fellows with their oversized helmets and ridiculous weapons. I'm now thinking of making another five which would give me a full unit for Dragon Rampant.

Archers

I figured that they'd probably need some ranged capabilities too so made a pair of bowmen. They have slightly smaller helmets than the clubmen so they can actually see and fire their bows with a bit more effectiveness.

Bunny and Firkin

Unlike my usual Tiny Troops, these guys heads are made from two plastic Craft Pearls that I'd picked up from the Range for £1.50ish a tub. They come in several different sizes and turned out to be perfect for daft kettle helms for my infantry.

The Full Militia

I've also been hard at work making a veritable swarm of derpy zombie types to menace my militia. The Revenants will eventually number about 20 but for the moment I've got a full dozen finished and need to paint up a necromancer to lead them (or at least send them forth to chomp on the innocent inhabitants of Stone Acre!). 

Next up will be some carts but I need to figure out how to make some tiny horses to pull them...

Until then, All the best!

Brutalquest Campaign Turn 2: Arrival at Stone Acre

 Hi!

So I've managed to put together some bits and bobs for turn two of my Brutalquest campaign so without further ado, on with the adventure!

Following the run in with the Revenants in the Debatable Lands, Sir Dunston's party have finally arrived in Stone Acre, the only settlement of any real size between the border and the Priory at Ottery St Catchpole.

Stone Acre Map

The fortified village is up in arms as multiple sightings of shambling monsters have been reported by outlying farmsteads and several more isolated smallholdings have been utterly destroyed.

The party is greeted by Bunny Goodbody (any jokes will result in being smacked around the head by her) the local representative of the Farpoint Adventurers Guild. She inhabits a rather ramshackle tower on the north west of the settlement where she tends her vegetable gardens when not hunting monsters.

Bunny Goodbody

She entreats the party to aid with hunting down the monsters as the local militia are preparing to go out to try and put an end to the threat permanently. Bunny will be accompanying them with her trusty war mallet, Carrot Smasher and says she'd appreciate some experienced fighters and a magic user to back her up as the militia are a bit hopeless.

Mindful of his promise to Lady Sylvia to aid her quell unrest in Longmyre, Sir Dunstan agrees, much to the cackling agreement of Rumblebum and long suffering sigh of Bodkin.

Albert Firkin, Stone Acre Militiaman

The party is then introduced to the militia, led by Albert Firkin, a farmer who has taken up arms in defence of the village. He points out that due to an obscure bylaw, no Stone Acre Militia member may carry a blade so the militia have to make do with heavy maces provided by the Mycologists Guild which look oddly like mushrooms themselves. 

Stone Acre Militia Men

The militia is keen to do their duty but afraid of the nameless monsters they may face out in the rolling hills and rocky outcrops of Stone Acre and are more than happy to have Dunstons' party along to help and even offers a reward of one gold for each monster slain and free bed and board while in Stone Acre.

With plans made, the trio retreat to the only tavern in the village for a good meal and well deserved nights rest before venturing forth to do battle with the revenant menace and help protect civilians who will need to be gathered from their homes and brought to the safety of the walls of Stone Acre.

I've got figures finished for civilians as well as Brother Maynard who will be making an appearance further down the line as well as Bunny Goodbody herself and have also just about finished half a dozen militia men to accompany the party on a larger skirmish in the coming week

Civilian Shenanigans

Bunny Goodbody and Brother Maynard

I still need to make some more revenants and some carts but I'm getting closer to being able to play the next game in the campaign which will see the militia and adventurers trying to defend a wagon train from monsters!

We shall see how they fare as no doubt it will be like herding cats! Until then, All the best!

Charity Shop Finds and Zombies!

 Hi!

I've got a much needed weekend off work and am about to head out to the local farmers market and craft bank in Blairgowrie but wanted to post a quick update!

We were in a local charity shop the other day and I spotted theses mighty tomes for the princely sum of £11.25:

Now I've no real intention of playing either 3rd edition of Age of Sigmar or indeed 9th edition of 40k, but I rather liked the look of them, if for no other reason than to add to my ever growing rulebook collection. 

As an aside, it's fascinating to see how Age of Sigmar has moved from a pamphlet rulebook when it was first released to a 300+ page tome in three editions. I suspect I'll be using elements of the background and factions in future projects and the artwork is pretty good too!

As for 40k, 1st and 2nd edition are the go to for me but I do have a 4th edition rulebook as I'm drawn the the streamlining they did, much like 2nd Edition epic and Epic 40k and at some point I do want to give it a try but that's for another day I think!

Possibly at some point, I would like to collect an army for 1st edition then upgrade it to 2nd edition and finally 4th edition as beyond that, 40k seems to become a sprawling beast with so many rules that I suspect I'll never get my head around, but I do have a more recent tome to add to the mix if I'm feeling bold!

Note: When I was about to post this, I discovered much to my surprise that I had a tag for 8th edition 40k. A quick peruse of said post had me tooting about how it looked really interesting and possibly a return to something a bit closer to my interests so maybe I should have a bit more of a look into 40k 9th edition than I'd initially thought!

In other news, I also picked up a copy of a very old rulebook from ebay in the form of Raven by Harlequin Miniatures!

I had picked up a copy of this in the 90's from Macs Models in Edinburgh and had obsessed over collecting and making armies using it and found the artwork by Pete Knifton to be awesome but the multi-base nature of the rules off-putting for a Warhammer gamer. I'd sold my copy off when I went to university and had a massive clear out so was really happy to add it back to my collection for a couple of quid.

Re-perusing the rules has made me realise it's possibly more suited to smaller scales, either 15mm or even 6mm which I'd not considered at the time and I'm quite intrigued to see how it actually plays. Sadly I've been unable to find any examples of anyone actually playing the game but would love to hear of anyones thoughts about it if they have!

Finally, I've got some more tiny troops made for an upcoming Brutalquest campaign!

Zombies!

Made using my typical beads and EVA foam style they're going to be menacing my adventurers soon. I also made a hulking zombie thing using a number of wooden beads and a bit of EVA foam for details and had great fun slavering it in red paint to give it a suitably gribbly look!

I've already played out the first game and it was a bit more touch and go than I expected and I'll post the battle report in the next day or so and am looking forward to playing game two! 

I do need to make some more art cards and whatnot for my characters which will add to the flavour of things and I should be able to post an update presently with much more detail of what I'm doing.

Hopefully I'll post more shenanigans soon but until then, All the best!

Imperial Reinforcements and Orkish Scum!

 Hi!

I'd actually finished these guys before I went off on holiday a couple of weeks back but hadn't managed to get any photos of them yet so here we are!

First up, there's a squad of power armoured troopers from a currently unknown unit:

Imperial Power Armour

As per usual with my tiny troops, they're made from a mixture of wooden beads, EVA foam and some plastic rhinestones for detailing. I've also made them a bit bigger than usual with an extra layer of EVA foam to their legs as well as adding little feet to give them some real bulk and heft.

Trooper Squad

I've really enjoyed making the little guys and while they're maybe not Space Marine armour classes, they will be making an appearance in my Imperial Guard force to give me some heavy hitters for an otherwise rather light platoon.

Power Armour Detail

I'll need to add another five to give me a full squad but they'll do for the moment!

Next up, here's the first ten Badmoon Boyz for my Orky army:

Badmoon Orks

I went for very bright colours inkeeping with classic Orkish style and while they're pretty cartoony, I quite like how they turned out too. I need to make a ton more of the little fellows as they're going to be the first opponents for my Imperial forces to clash with while trying to bring some order to the wild frontier of the Farpoint sector!

Orks and Imperials Clash somewhere on the frontier

I've been having a blast with making stuff this year and while I've not had any chance to play games, I've been building towards it with my assorted shenanigans. 

The next stage will be to try and start pulling the disparate elements together into something that will allow me to play skirmish games in tiny troop SD scale and platoon to company level actions using my SD Epic scale stuff. This is going to require some work but I'm finding it a really rewarding ongoing project that seems to be taking on a bit of a life of its own...

Hopefully I'll have more stuff to showcase soon but in the meantime, All the best!

The Hobby With (almost) No Budget

 Hi!

We're into June already and I thought I'd spend a bit of time rambling about my hobby choices for 2026 and on.

A lone adventurer in Stump

Sadly my budget is being increasingly squeezed by the cost of living and the dreaded Real Life and one of the cuts I've had to make is my hobby budget. In years gone by, I'd have £25-£40 a month to pick up new figures and whatnot which led to an ever increasing number of projects I'd want to try out but thats now being spent on necessities and I was faced with the real prospect of having to just abandon any hobby stuff until things improved.

My hobby is really important to me though as its my way of relaxing and de-stressing from said Real Life shenanigans so I started rummaging round for ideas for wargaming on not only a micro budget but also with limited amounts of space as our spare room, my mancave is pretty packed with books (the perils of being a bibliophile and working in a bookshop for 20+ years!) so my gaming board is 3'x3' and I'm never going to be able to get anything bigger, let alone the gold standard of a 6'x4' board.

My ramblings initially brought me to the solo RPG option and I've played quite a few now and really enjoy them but its not quite wargaming so I migrated onto combining the two, as can be seen with my Inquisitor Fisher campaigns which combined small numbers of figures into a narrative driven campaign with a lot of RPG lite additions and its been great fun. 

Stump Art Scribbles

The increase of cost of living and a bad case of loss of gaming mojo last year saw even this outlet curtailed as I found myself completely de-motivated and everything I tried just seemed to go nowhere.

I'd considered moving scale for my figures but 15mm and even 6mm figures are ramping up price wise to a point I realised that I couldn't really justify.

Things were looking a bit grim until January this year when I decided to do something completely different and just make some tiny figures that would quickly tick a box for a project I'd wanted to do for years and I made my Star Mogul Farpoint Salvage crew over the course of a week between work, quickly followed by Bossman Salvage, their sworn rivals.

Farpoint Salvage

For the first time in quite a while now, I felt the return of my hobby mojo, I was enjoying making, painting and creating entire narratives about these tiny, blocky guys and I realised that I'd found the answer to the malaise that had been effectively ruining my hobby for so long and answering the question of how do I keep the hobby that I've been immersed in for the last 30+ years going.

Bossman Salvage

While the Tiny Troops aren't too detailed, they do have a certain charm to them and with miniatures being so expensive these days, they'll do the job!

Men at Arms

Now I'd love to be able to collect and paint armies of old school figures, or pick up new games and whatnot but I just cannot afford to do so and my tiny figures have enough of a feel of wargaming miniatures to do the job.

I've used about £5 worth of materials and constructed and painted 108 figures in five months which is pretty good going covering fantasy and sci-fi. I've got the beginnings of entire armies that I never thought I'd get round to done for the fraction of the cost of doing it with actual miniatures.

While they may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I seem to have found real pleasure and a sense of achievement working on them and suspect I'm going to be making a lot more of them as time goes on. Handily I've now got my gaming board back up so I expect to be able to play some actual games in the not too distant future too.

I must admit that I've been seeing quite a few folks branching out into a more crafty hobby approach either making their own or kitbashing everything from pebbles to army soldiers and its been fascinating.

Hopefully I'll get chance to post some more pics of my next batch of stuff soon but in the meantime, All the best!

Imperial Guard Platoon

 Hi!

I've been working away on making some tiny troops for a 40k 1st/2nd edition project that I've been humming and hahing over for years and making my own tiny figures seemed to be the perfect way of making my mad ponderings a reality!

Imperial Platoon

I've pained them up in classic 1st edition Imperial Guard colours of black flack jacket and helmet, grey uniforms and red visors (which got several coats of gloss varnish to give them a real bit of a reflection).

Command Squad

The command squad consists of a Leutenant with bolt pistol, power sword and carapace armour, a melta gun and a flamer for special weapons and a pair of troops with lasguns to provide security. 

I know that it's not really codex compliant for either 1st or 2nd but I've gone for a more fluff filled method of building as it just doesn't feel right to give them all special weapons or even two heavy weapons. Game wise, they're short ranged fire support should help stem the tide if baddies get close to Imperial lines!

1st Squad

1st squad has troopers supported by a heavy bolter and a grenade launcher while the sergeant has a chainsword.

I figure this is pretty likely to be standard kit for my Imperials giving them a decent level of long range firepower to hopefully whittle down foes before they get too close.

2nd Squad

2nd squad is supported by an auto cannon and a plasma gun giving them a bit more anti-armour capability and will give my small force some decent stopping power.

I still need to make a heavy weapon squad and possibly another basic squad but I'm really pleased with how they've turned out and am now contemplating making some vehicles for them too and it's been really pleasing to make and paint the little guys as it's been a bit of a dream to collect an Imperial Guard army for years but I just don't have the time, money, space or patience for a 28mm version so this has been a satisfying little project that is achievable!

I've got a couple of days worth of holiday left so I'll see what I can get done but in the meantime, All the best!

Sir Bedevere's Bunbury Siege Tower

 Hi!

I've been working away on my Monty Python and the Holy Grail themed warband and have finished a new unit in the form of Sir Bedevere's Bunbury Siege Tower!

Sir Bedevere's Mighty Siege Tower!

Made entirely from EVA foam, the siege tower is based on the Trojan rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail but with a few alterations and will be forming a suitable centrepiece to the army.

I'm planning on using it as a greater warbeast or possibly a chariot for Dragon Rampant but am not sure which suits the model best yet but it was pleasing to make such a silly model and I really enjoyed making the wooden monstrosity.

My next unit is going to be more infantry and possibly some archers to give my slowly forming army some ranged firepower and I'm thinking on making them up like the guards for the wedding guests but we'll see what I can come up with.

Trev and Simon the beasts crew

I've also got a squad of Imperial Guard done but I'll post them up as part of my next update as I've got a second squad mostly built and will see what other whimsical bits and bobs I can get finished over the next week.

Until then, All the best!

Tiny Troop Reinforcements - Men-at-Arms

 Hi!

So April has been a very busy period with work and all manner of Real Life shenanigans putting the spanner into the works when it comes to the hobby but I've managed to end the month with my Tiny Troop Men-at-Arms for my slowly developing Dragon/Lion Rampant King Arthur project.

Doughty Men-At-Arms

I've tried to give them a certain amount of individuality while still looking part of a unified unit and am rather pleased with how they turned out, especially the kettle helms and halberds!

As per usual, they're made from Sculpey heads and bodies and details are all EVA foam and a little bit of wire for the hafts of the Halberds. At some point, I feel I will need to bulk them out a bit with command models and banners but that's a job for another day, especially as Lion and Dragon Rampant only require 12 figures per unit.

The Assembled Retinue

I'm in need of adding another unit of halberds as well as lots of other exciting stuff such as archers, three headed giants, mysterious knights who say NI! and a large wooden rabbit but as things stand, I'm really pleased with progress on the tiny guys and am surprised by just how much character they're developing.

After this army is finished, I think I'll need to make some sort of themed opposition but am not currently sure what that's going to look like. I do have a unit of Goblins so could easily begin expanding that until I've got a full 24 point army and then can begin duking it out with a game or two!

It's not all been fantasy here either as I've just finished constructing my first Imperial Guard squad for some classic Rogue Trader/2nd edition 40k goodies too and will post pictures of them on my next update but for now, All the best!

Tiny Troops- Monty Python and the Holy Grail Edition

 Hi!

I've been working away at expanding my unit of Crusaders into an entire army and for a bit of fun I decided to make some leaders for the warband and settled on none other than Arthur, King of the Britons along with his loyal retainers!

Camelot!

At present, I've got Arthur, Bedevere, Galahad, Lancelot, Robin and Bors to give me a six man unit for Lion or Dragon Rampant but plan on making their squires to make a 'mounted' option.

Royal Retinue

I've also been working on a unit of twelve men at arms to give me some numbers and will post pictures of them when I'm finished but I'm really pleased with the tiny knights as I hope they're relatively easy to identify with their tiny hand painted heraldry.

I must admit that this project is a little bit silly but it's developing a bit of a life of its own as I now need a three headed giant, a black knight and his component pieces, the Knights Who Say Ni, Tim the Enchanter, wedding guests, some obnoxious Frenchmen and a giant wooden rabbit...

I suspect that this project is going to take quite a while to complete but has been such fun, I can't help but keep working on it!

In other news, I've also begun work on making a platoon of Imperial Guard so I can tick off another hobby obsession as I eventually plan on making Tiny Troop versions of every force for 2nd edition 40k and wanted to start with recreating my old Imperial Guard army from back in the day but more on that next time.

In the meantime, All the best!

Junker Update and Tiny Troops How to Guide

 Hi!

I've finished my Junkers for the time being and am busily working on and have completed my Exo Armour squad:

Junker Exo Armour Squad

Built from engineering rigs and armed with Grape Guns and Cestus fists, Exo Armour squads are the brutal close combat specialists that the Junker legions deploy into the thickest of combats.

Junker Exo Armour Detail

I'm really pleased with how they turned out and they've painted up really nicely too with just enough of the original vibe to be recognisable as the unit types they're supposed to be!

Junkers of the XVII legion

Here's what they looked like without a coat of paint:

Exo Armour Unpainted

As they only stand about 15mm tall, there's no need to go full on adding lots of little fiddly details, just the basic shapes. Compare the early 3d sprites for computer games compared to now!

Also the coat of paint makes a massive difference as its easy to paint in panel lines, small bits and bobs such as armour plates, etc that bring the models to life. They're going to be viewed at arms length after all so there's quite a few little cheats that can be done during painting .

So without further ado, here's the tutorial!

Supplies you'll need:

Some Sculpey or Fimo clay.

A sheet of EVA foam.

Superglue, Scissors and a knife.

The first step is to make the bodies and heads.

Roll out a block of sculpey and with a sharp knife, cut it into small cubes which will form the main body of all the infantry I make. For the heads, it possible to use beads but I tend to just roll out some sculpey or Fimo into small balls as I prefer not to have to fill the holes that beads tend to have in them.

Once the bodies and heads have been cooked, its time to start construction! I cut a thin piece of EVA foam into long batons about 4-5mm wide then cut them into small rectangles. I tend to just use scissors for this and aren't too particular about making sure everything is perfectly sized.

Once the heads have been glued on I add a small rectangle of EVA foam to the bottom to represent legs. I only use one but its easy enough to use two pieces one on top of the other to make the figure taller. Next add two small pieces of EVA foam to represent shoulders and voila, the figure is pretty much made. After this its just a case of adding details to give the figure definition.

Once the figure has been built, I glue them onto small buttons which have a slip of paper glued over the buttonholes as it makes basing look a bit better.

Small pieces of foam can then be used to add armour, backpacks, helmets, hats and uncounted other bits and bobs to make them look like a proper little person. Guns, swords, shields and whatnot are also made from EVA foam. I had been concerned about the durability of such little fellows, especially as they're made of foam and a bit of glue but I've dropped them repeatedly and they just seem to bounce!

Androsynths

It's very easy to substitute different shaped objects for heads, such as the Androsynths above with their larger cube heads or the knights I've made which have cylinder heads made from cut up sausages of sculpey.

The most important part of the build process it so get the general look and feel of the original figure and with a bit of experimentation and bodging, they are remarkably effective to represent whatever army you want

So there you are! Tiny troops can be made quick, cheaply and very easily for the fraction of a cost of actual miniatures. They've been a bit of a revelation for me as I've really enjoyed making all the tiny figures and am very happy with how they are turning out and indeed what a boon its been for my hobby!

My next unit is built and ready to prime and while I'm meandering through different projects there's a sense of industry and achievement to working on them all, no matter the subject. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up the momentum over the course of the year and build and paint enough bits and bobs to play all manner of interesting games as the weather improves.

Junkers vs Farpoint Salvage

Hopefully, I'll have another update later this week with the next handful of painted odds and ends but in the meantime, All the best!