Tempted by Historicals

Hi!

I've got a day off tomorrow and had hoped to go out with the car now that the Lockdown has begun easing here in Scotland but it's currently in the garage for repair which is a bit annoying.

Instead, I've been enthusing on some historical miniatures.

Over the last 25 or so years, I've collected and painted loads of sci-fi and fantasy miniatures but only a handful of historicals and those have mostly been converted into sci-fi or fantasy settings rather than for historical gaming.

Recently I've got to thinking that I'd like to dip my toe in the waters and picked up Pikeman's Lament, Rebels and Patriots and Lion Rampant which seem to be fun rulesets that concentrate more on an enjoyable gaming experience than super realistic gaming.

I'm also interested in some of Peter Pigs rulesets as they seem rather quirky and interesting too and I do have a real love for the Peter Pig figures too!

The quandary is which era do I want to go for? There's literally a ton of options and I must admit that I'm conflicted with what to try out! I love reading history books and historical fiction but haven't really thought about what setting I want to explore.

The best thing about the rulesets I've mentioned is that they don't require huge amounts of space, with games ranging from 2'x3', 3'x3' or 5'x3' which is doable in the space I have and creating even fairly large forces in 15mm scale isn't prohibitively expensive.

I'll need to have a think about what I'm going to do and if it's possible to start small and build up a decent sized force over the course of a period of months and see what I can come up with as it would make for an interesting project for something I've never tried before.

I'm thinking of starting with one of the Osprey games selection as the figure requirements are lower and if things go well, trying to expand towards one of the Peter Pig rules and seeing how things go.

As usual I'll no doubt flit from this to any number of other projects but I do hope to make a bit of a go of it amongst my other shenanigans and I hope to use the opportunity to learn some more history while I'm at it!

In the meantime, All the best!

Playing Around With Land Ironclads

Hi!

Well it's been an eventful few days with odds and ends painted but nothing completed but I have been spending a bit of time playing around with my Land Ironclads project.

I've got my own ruleset that I've been working on alongside a few tweaks to the original rules as well but I've got to thinking about the possibility of using either Epic 40k or Battlefleet Gothic as they both would work really well with the concept of a landfleet of massive steampowered behemoths trundling around blowing up each other.

I need to do a bit of brainstorming to see what works best but if nothing else, it will give me an excuse to paint up the last odds and ends from the stuff I have for the project and I'm keen to keep working on my assorted landfleets.

I must admit that I'm missing working in such a small scale as it's really forgiving when sculpting and I have tons of ideas that I wouldn't mind putting together, be it monstrous wartower, steampowered land ironclad, magitech construct or even technological walker!

I'm going to do a bit of playing around with doodles and plasticard to see what I can come up with as my Vongola and Dwarves only need contraptions and some super heavies and they'll be complete. Next up I have to get my Gorathian Orcs finished and then I'll see if I can add an ally contingent of the human settlement of Pinecliff for my Dwarves. It will involve some infantry, cavalry and even the odd contraption provided by the Order of the Tower!

I'll get a bit of doodling done over the course of the next couple of days and post my progress here before tying to sculpt some of them!

In the meantime, All the best!

Age of Sigmar Mortal Realms Miniatures

Hi!

Well I've almost finished my first week back at work following The Lockdown but I've tried to keep up the hobby related gubbins!

I've managed to get the first of the Age of Sigmar Mortal Realms magazine Sigmarites that I picked up early this year:

 Sigmarite

I'm quite pleased with how she turned out as my initial attempts had been an utter failure as I couldn't get the NMM to work out so after a bit of head scratching, I decided to go for a more traditional metallic finish.

I'm glad I did as it really worked out in the end and the combination of dark armour, brown robes and cream tabard with a few blue spot details seems to have done the trick. I plan on using her and her cohorts as the basis for a Knights of the Eternal Light warband for Leviathan and rather look forward to painting the next.

I've got another half dozen to paint and look forward to getting the next added. I actually have three duplicates who I plan on converting to 40k and they may end up as an Inquisitorial retinue by adding some sci-fi gubbins!

I do have a few niggles with the sculpts though. They are massive for a start, especially when combined with their fancy textured bases and their weapons are a bit on the mighty side too with their maces being the size of an anvil!

These are fairly minor issues though as the figure does look rather imposing and will make a great basis for a bunch of fanatical templars in search of bringing the hurt to the denizens of Aeroth!

Hopefully I'll get another finished over the course of the week and I'm tempted to add some lowly serfs and men at arms to the mix to give a somewhat more ramshackle feel to the force.

In the meantime, All the best!

Inquisitor and 40k Skirmishing

Hi!

Well I've got a day off already and decided that it might be a plan to use such opportunities to put together a post!

I'm currently re-reading the Eisenhorn trilogy by Dan Abnett and it's got me to thinking about putting together a Rogue Trader type of narrative skirmish using some of the Imperiums enigmatic Inquisitorial agents as the basis.

I remember picking up the Inquisitor rulebook when it first came out and quite liking some of the concepts but finding it neither fish nor fowl as it had elements of rpg and wargame but was a bit too granular for my liking. In the following years, the appearance of In the Emperor's Name and Inquisimunda have both provided a more user friendly skirmish sort of a game which may make for quite a good way to play some games.

There's also the classic Rogue Trader rules which were such a sandbox sort of a set that you could use them for almost anything, even if it was a bit clunky at times, especially when vehicles or robots were involved.

It may also be a good way for me to make use of the assorted 28mm stuff I've got lying around unpainted and unloved.

I must admit that I've not been a fan of the super Grimdark of 40k but I seem to have found an appreciation of the gothic horror of humanity versus a dark and dangerous universe and reading Eisenhorn, I'm struck by the possibilities of playing around with my own version of the Imperium and seeing what I can come up with.

By incorporating bits and bobs from several settings and adding a liberal dose of classical mythology and renaissance elements to move things on from the techno dark ages into something a bit more interesting I'll be seeing what I can bodge together.

What about a crime lord with a bunch of Orky enforcers or incursions of the followers of the Titans wanting to wreak havoc on the Imperium? Maybe a rogue planetary governor making shady deals with rebellious factions or Adeptus Titanicus adepts experimenting with forbidden technology...

The options are endless and I'm keen to get myself moving again with my version of The Imperium with Governor General van Dorn and his agents conducting a secret war in the Farpoint sector with spies, treachery and monsters aplenty!

I think I'll need to have a rummage through my leadpile and see what I can put together both in 15mm scale and possibly 28mm as it would be interesting to have larger skirmishes with 20-30 a side plus vehicles in the smaller scale whilst small, 4-8 model operations in 28mm.

It may come to nothing but I'll see what I can put together and if nothing else, I will try and post more on my Imperium, its movers and shakers as well as the competing forces arrayed against it.

In the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown Day 95: The Conclusion

Hi!

Well after 95 days of posts, I'm back at work tomorrow so I hope folks have enjoyed my ramblings over the course of the last three months!

I've really enjoyed the process and am keen to keep up the good work with the hobby front over the coming weeks and months!

Alas I doubt I'll be able to manage a post a day but I want to get a couple of posts a week for the foreseeable future as it's been quite an experience to say the least. I've sculpted, painted and gamed as well so it's been a really good way to avoid worrying about the pandemic that has been forcing everyone to stay at home all this time.

Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with the assorted projects I have underway but as the budget is getting kind of tight due to furlough, I think I'm going to have to suspend my plans for two 15mm projects for a month or so until things are more or less back to normal.

In the meantime, I think I need to keep up with the sculpting and generally painting my way through the backlog of unpainted gubbins I've got lying around, especially as I've got lots of sculpts sat awaiting paint!

I'm also hoping to get some more papertech sorted out too as I slowly work my way through the Tech Manuals.

In the meantime, I hope folks are all safe and well and have been able to enjoy their own hobby time over the last few months and many thanks for reading my blog!

All the best!

Lockdown Day 94: Lego Reinforcements

Hi!

It's been confirmed that I'm going to be back to work on Saturday so we're reaching the end of my Lockdown project log!

I've still got tomorrow to try and finish a few odds and ends but in the meantime, here's some Lego Mech reinforcements:

 Rebel Mech Lance

For the princely sum of just under £12.00 I have a complete lance of stompy Lego robots. I can see how folks get obsessed with the stuff as it's really good fun to play around with and I fondly remember spending many hours as a child creating all sorts of vehicles and worlds!

First up, I now have two Tortoise class walkers which are the core of my force. I've hept the design simple but with the possibilities of tweaking the design to give me some support or assault weapon mods.

 Tortoise class rebel walkers

Speaking of support options, here's the Fire Tortoise!

Fire Tortoise 

Rebel forces have found themselves outmatched by the more technically advanced Imperial designs and in an attempt to redress the balance have retrofitted several of their Tortoise class walkers with missile pods. These new additions to the rebel arsenal have been dubbed the Fire Tortoise, both for their additional firepower and their unfortunate tendency to explode spectacularly if their ammo cooks off.

Next up, a heavier design!

 War Spider class walker

Like the Tortoise, the War Spider is a revamped industrial mech design that the Rebels have drafted into service in a military function. Unlike the Tortoise, it has a respectable turn of speed and impressive firepower. Like other 'technical' class vehicles, it doesn't have the best armour and is prone to exploding at inopportune times but there is no shortage of volunteers to pilot the mech.

Armed with a forward mounted gatling gun, multiple rocket pods and a light pulse laser, it is more than a match for colonial light mechs but struggles with heavier machines.

The War Spider has a very low profile when it's main armament array is lowered which allows it to maneuver into position before unloading it's rocket pods and laser fire before bolting for fresh cover.

At present I only have the gubbins to make quad or non humanoid style biped mechs but I will keep my eye open for more cheap kits that will allow me to put together an Imperial lance to duke it out with the rebs!

Here's the kit I used. It costs £3.97 from Asda but I've since spotted them in Tesco for 3 for £10!

Finally, here's another quad mech, this time a heavier machine called the Guncrab:

Guncrab

Armed with a heavy laser and twin mortars, the Guncrab is a support class walker which us used to suppress opposing force with mortar fire or snipe with it's heavy gun. 

It's been great fun to work on some Lego mechs and I suspect it may involve me picking up the odd small kit from time to time to bulk out my forces!

Tomorrow will be the final post in my Lockdown project log but hopefully I'll be able to keep up the hobbying once I'm back at work, if at a somewhat slower rate of posts.

In the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown Day 93: A Tale of Four 15mm Gamers

Hi!

Following some interest in my idea for a tale of a solo gamer, I've decided to open it up to others wanting to put together a 15mm scale fantasy army and if there's enough interest, I'll set up a blog for it with each gamer submitting monthly entries for it.

Here's the basic premise:

Over the course of six months to collect and paint a complete fantasy army in 15mm scale.

Once per month post on the blog I shall create your progress for that month.

Maximum spend per month should be £15.00 or equivalent.

There will not be a prize for completing the challenge as it is purely for fun!

Points based system:

Per human sized figure painted: 1 point
Per cavalry figure painted: 3 points
Per large infantry figure painted: 3 points
Per large monster or war engine painted: 5 points

The target for each month will be 20 points which in 15mm scale shouldn't be too difficult to do and I'm aware that with the lockdown easing, hobby time is possibly going to start getting a bit limited out there.

There will also be monthly additions to liven things up, be it creating a character to lead your force or making some scenery for it to move around.

Each force should be created with a mass battle approach in mind so units should be 10+ infantry, 5+ cavalry etc. I'm not too bothered about what ruleset folks plan to use the force for so Warhammer, Warmaster, Kings of War or Dragon Rampant would be examples of the size of forces folks would be painting.

If all goes well, and we get through six months of collecting and painting each gamer will have a shiny new army to show off and use in their games and it will hopefully help to showcase how versatile 15mm is as a scale and possibly even attract a few more folks to try out 15mm gaming!

I may also do a sci-fi one if there's enough interest!

If you are interested in either a fantasy or sci-fi painting challenge, please post here or drop me an email and we shall see how we get on! If there are more than four folks interested in taking part, thats fine too!