Tiny Troops: Junker Convict Legionnaires

 Hi!

I've found myself rather obsessed with making tiny troops and following a bit of pondering I've settled on throwing together a horde of Junker Convict troops so I can play a solo game of Void 1.1 in the not too distant future once I've got enough gubbins made!

I wanted to start the project with a couple of large units of Convicts as they're the bog basic choice for the Junkers of Ironglass forces.

The more of the tiny troops I make, the more quickly I get and while they're never going to be super detailed, they're giving me enough to quickly and easily make some tiny armies to play a few games in the coming months!

The basic head and body are made from Sculpey while the details are put together from EVA foam which is really easy to work with and flexible to make handy helmet crests, neck guards, arms and guns, not to mention combat shields!

Each squad consists of a sergeant with crest, flamer, thermite lancer and nine troopers and I suspect they'll get wiped out pretty quickly in any game screening more valuable troopers once I have sculpted them.

Its actually quite liberating just blasting through eight stands or 400+ plus points of troops in a single day and I'm seriously contemplating this approach for all the larger scale games I have in my collection as I think I'm going to be able to make an entire army in a single days work and while simple, they have enough recognisability for me to have an enjoyable gaming experience with them.

This approach may also get use in Epic gaming and an as yet undecided fantasy project in the future as I can see myself continuing in this obsessive tiny troop sculpting binge for some time...

Worry not though as I do plan on getting on with my Rangers of Shadowdeep project this week as I've got some hols and plan on putting it to good use by sculpting as much as I physically can for the duration as I've got tons of ideas I want to try out and these tiny troops are proving to be good to get a bit of basic sculpting practice in!

I'll see what I can finish over the course of the coming week so watch this space and until then, All the best!

Magistracy Infantry Platoon

 Hi!

I found myself a little distracted yesterday, having looked through my collection and decided to work on some more of my SD scale Battletech stuff and revisit a project that had kind of stalled out so following a bit of head scratching, I set to work on making some lowly foot sloggers for my Mechs to stomp

Now having decided to make said tiny infantry, I realised my last attempt at them had been overly complex as you can't really notice detail on small infantry figures, especially when they are going to get beaten up almost immediately so spending lots of time and effort on them seems like a wee bit of a waste!

With that in mind, I went for a simple body, head and weapon look that while simple does give the impression of a tiny infantryman and with a quick coat of paint, there we go! I went for a small 20mm round base for the figures as I felt that I larger 30mm was a bit of a waste and I can group the little guys together quite tightly to represent a mass of troops milling around.

Comparing them to the vehicles and mechs I've previously made they may be a wee bit on the big side but thats ok as they're more representative of a squad than an accurate squad of troops.

Having completed them, I'm rather pleased with how they've turned out and I'm seriously contemplating using a similar approach for my 4th edition 40k project as they're rather fun to work on so I may have a bit of a bash at putting together some sample stands of Imperial Guard, Space Marine, Eldar and Orky figures to see how they look!

My next task will be to add a fourth vehicle to my Magistracy light armour and I'm also thinking about adding some Technicals with a Periphery truck or two armed with a motley assortment of machine guns...

I've got a fair few other bits and bobs finished that need photographing but I just seem to be on a bit of a roll so will keep putting together figures and painting assorted gubbins and will try to get some games in too but in the meantime, All the best!

Planet 28 Second Edition Kickstarter!

 Hi!

Just a quick update this evening as Nic Evans has launched his new Kickstarter for Planet 28 2nd edition!

I've been a massive fan of the first edition of the rules since picking it up during the first lockdown and absolutely love the simplicity and infinite convertibility of the rules and will be backing the 2nd edition as it's going to combine the original, the three expansions and indeed revised and updated rules and if he gets enough backers, an awesome sounding supplement too!

HERE'S THE LINK TO THE KICKSTARTER

I highly recommend folks take a peek as the cheapest level of support is for the PDF for £1.00 which is an absolute bargain whilst the hardback book will be £17.00 which I'll be going for as I totally want a physical copy for my collection!

Rangers of Shadowdeep Project Log Part 3: Zombies!

 Hi!

I've finished the last of the zombies I need for the first scenario of my Rangers of Shadowdeep project:

This gives me enough stuff to play out the scenario as I have a load of giant rats and spiders done already as well as some random civilians but looking at my heroes and characters I find myself wanting to make a more varied cast of figures to choose from rather than just heavily armoured Boar Company troopers and characters.

This may mean that I've got to put off playing the first game a wee bit but I think it's going to be worthwhile in the long run as I'm really enjoying sculpting and painting my own stuff!

Speaking of which, I have been soldiering through my lead and plastic pile painting whatever odds and ends I have needing done and for the most part it's been pretty fun but I picked up one of the multipart Orks with the intention of adding to my Goff Ork warband but I found the process incredibly tedious as the figures lack character and I almost gave up. 

I'll post pictures of the warband as it grows as I do want to finish off the rest of the handful of Boyz but the more of the stuff of my own that I make and paint, the more I tempt myself to have a go at just sculpting all my own figures. Sadly this is a somewhat slower process but rather rewarding so I'll see how I get on with the next of the leadpile figures and find out if I enjoy painting it more as it may just be the more modern figures that I find tedious.

I'll try and get some more pics of the other gubbins I've been working on up tomorrow but in the meantime, All the best!

Rusty Robot Reinforcements Arrive!

 Hi!

I've been plugging away on getting lots of my older sculpts and assorted goodies from my lead and plastic pile painted up and have finished a pair of Black Tribe Rusty Robotic minions:

First up there's an Electro Grub:

Electro Grubs are simple robots that the Black Tribe make use of a scouts and sneaks at the edges of their territory. These robots are roughly snake like with a bulky and crude head mounted atop a thick, flexible column of a body that can propel the Grub through The Scrapyard at surprising speed. While not the most impressive of robots, the Grub tends to hide itself in some shadowy terrain before launching itself at any unsuspecting foe and delivering an electric shock powerful enough to short out even the largest of robots CPU.

Second we've got a heavily armed Minion:

Minions are the most commonly encountered Black Tribe robot and come in a bewildering array of weapons and gear but are universally rubbish individually and tend to use weight of numbers to make up for its lack of individual quality. This particular specimen is equipped with a pair of Rattleguns, multiple barrel and unreliable weapons that blast out a lot of short range fire when they aren't exploding spectacularly.

Here's the gang so far:

I'm really pleased with how the project is slowly shaping up and I've got a Bully and a Brute still to paint to finish them off before moving onto some more Reds!

Reds and Blacks Rumble in The Scrapyard

I've almost got enough of the little guys painted to allow me to play a decent sized game but do want to make a few more assorted robots so I can play a Gorkamorka style skirmish with the two tribes duking it out in the depths of The Scrapyard for valuable scrap!

I've also been rummaging out some of my ever increasing pike of rulebooks and am finding myself assailed with ideas and while it can be overwhelming, its also really giving me loads of ideas I'm keen to try out!

Hopefully I'll get my remaining Zombies finished for my Rangers of Shadowdeep project finished this week as well as making some more characters for my games and have loads of other bits and bobs that I'm working through so watch this space!

Until then, All the best!

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!