A Solution To 28mm Woes?

Hi!

Well my Oldhammer Slann are ticking along nicely but I still seem to have a block on my 28mm scale endeavours which is causing me a bit of a nuisance.

I still love all the classic and many of the new sculpts out there but can't ever seem to inspire myself to do any painting in 28mm scale but I think I may have found myself a solution. Over the last couple of months I've been pondering the possibility of getting some Dungeon Crawl type of games, be it Heroquest or any of its descendents and using the quest type of game as an excuse to paint some figures.

The reasoning behind this is that it will allow me to concentrate on painting up a small selection of interesting figures without having to churn through armies of lead and there will be enough different figures, races, classes and whatnot to stop me from getting bored too.

At present I am not too sure which system to go for but I do hope to have a rummage and see if I can't find some suitable miniatures to represent adventurers and even some foes for them without having to go on a spending spree.

I am also pondering putting together some dungeon floor tiles to create my own layouts too but that is reliant on me getting my mancave cleared out and my desk put together so its a bit of a boot up the bum to get me moving too!

Hopefully I will be able to post some updates on this from time to time but in the meantime, heres a pic I found on my old computer of a couple of Ork Nobs that I painted way back in 2007!

Nobz!

Slann Warband Part 4

Hi!

Well the first unit of Slann braves has been finished but getting a decent photo in the stygian gloom of Scotland this morning has proved to be a bit of a challenge!

Slann Archers

I will try and get a decent photo taken of them tomorrow when I have a day off but I must admit I am really pleased with how they turned out! I decided to go with a yellow skin colour as its a bit brighter than the usual green and with the small conversions I sculpted on earlier, I do think they look quite decent as a Slann regiment.

In keeping with the Oldhammer theme, I also went for a plain green base as it suited the Lustrian vibe more than my usual brown basing and adds a nice contrast to the figures too.

I also have my Warchief almost finished but he needs a lots more highlighting and shading to make him stand out amongst his troops and will post some pics tomorrow of him once he's finished. This will leave me with just ten figures to paint to complete Whiskey Priests How To Oldhammer challenge.

I have a unit of ten warriors with swords and shields along with a champion and standard bearer from East Riding sat on the paint table but they need somewhat more extensive conversion than the archers. I am going to give them clubs for a start in true Aztec style and they all need headdresses and loincloths adding and some will also be getting padded jerkins to represent the light armour that the unit is supposed to be wearing.

Its been an interesting experience group painting a unit like this and although the end result has been great, I'm not too sure how much enjoyment I would get out of painting too many more in a single batch again. I think in future I might split up the regiment a bit more and paint something different in the middle to keep me from despairing!

All the best!

The Counter Continent?

Hi!

Apologies for the lack of updates of late but I have been somewhat distracted by a bit of an Oldhammer project!

Whisky Priest over on his BLOG came up with the fantastic suggestion to showcase Oldhammer by challenging folks to collect two small regiments and a character using readily available or super cheap figures.

I have taken up the challenge by collecting and painting a Slann warband using 15mm figures for a fraction of the price of getting hold of these super rare figures in 28mm scale. While the project is ticking over over on my Tales From Farpoint blog, I have been wondering how I might combine the concept of Lustria with my Aeroth project.

The result has some really fascinating possibilities.

Aeroth has been laid waste by the Elves so expeditions of Humans have set sail for the fabled Counter Continent, a land long wreathed in mists, whose shores have never previously been explored with only brief glimpses seen from lost ships.

The storm of Wild Magic that raged across the continent of Aeroth has dispersed this impenetrable barrier and the last civilised remnants of humanity has fled to its mysterious shores. They have named the land Crucible as it is here humanity will be reforged and eventually reclaim their desolated home.

Handily this will allow me to combine all manner of background gubbins from Leviathan, Warhammer and even the old favorite Crucible by FASA! Imagine the conquest of the New World where Human conquistadors fight to hew out a new land for themselves while fending off attacks from the indigenous beings, namely the Slann culture and the wild tribes of humans and other, less well known races.

With the destruction of Aeroth and the Human cities that once stood there, these brave adventurers must survive the strange new world, fully aware that there is not going to be any re-enforcements or supplies!

Crucible, unlike Aeroth has been protected from the destruction wrought by the Elves by the powerful magics and technology of the Slann and the vast jungles, endless plains and mountains that the ancient race of amphibians calls home is jealously guarded by the legions of the Slann god kings.

Despite their vigilance, several small fortified towns have sprung up on the Eastern shores. The largest of which is Farpoint and it is the new seat of power for the Human race and guarded by the Principate of the Eternal Queen and the Knights of the Eternal Light.

As each continent is so different, I will be keeping the blogs separate but it gives me the opportunity to really explore another, underused background and landscape to fight over!

All the best!

Slann Warband Part 3

Hi!

Well its my day off and yesterday evening was well spent adding a few conversions to the start of my Sann warband so they would be ready to start painting today!

First up heres a couple of shots of my Warchief:

 Slann Warchief

He is suitably characterful now with a two handed warclub and a truly impressive headdress to make him stand out on the table! As these Slann are going to be from the tribal frontiers of the Slann Empire, I am giving them a somewhat less civilised look with wilder head dresses and at most a loincloth for clothing

 Headdress Detail

Next up theres my archer unit. I had lots of fun adding little pieces of jewellery, clothing, headdresses and even face swaps on the little fellows to give them a more unique look than the two available poses would have looked if I hadn't done anything.

Slann Tribal Archers

The best thing about the 15mm nature of this project is that the conversions took an evening to do and I don't feel bad about chopping up and puttying them as they are both cheap and readily available and I wouldn't feel like I was committing some sort of heresy by hacking up some highly collectable lead!

As already mentioned, my Slann are initially going to be representing a frontier tribe who aren't particularly civilised but as the project goes on, I hope to add a few units of the Emperors finest and possibly even some tech wielding types!

Anyway, I'm off to do some painting!

All the best!

Slann Warband Part 2

Hi!

Well I was pleasantly surprised to find my parcel of Frogs arrived from East Riding Miniatures this morning and after a quick unboxing, I've taken a quick pic to show the unpainted warband in all its froggish glory:

 The Slann Warband!

Looking at the figures themselves, the pictures from East Ridings website really don't do them justice as the sculpts are really very nice! Alas as with so many 15mm ranges, there is only two poses for each unit type but I am going to be spending a few hours adding small details like head dresses, feathers and loincloths to give the units a bit more variety.

I've settled on one unit of swords Slann with a banner bearer and champion and a unit of archers. The warband will be led by the tribes warchief who currently is holding a staff with a beetle on it but will be getting some proper Aztec headgear added soon!

I was thinking of painting the whole lot green but am quite tempted to go for a warmer yellow/orange finish such as this:

Four A Gremlin

Hopefully I should have the conversions out of the way by the weekend and will be able to get on with painting soon!

All the best!

Dwarf Wargolem and Elven Bloathulk

Hi!

I've had a busy few days painting and have finished a load more bits and bobs for both my 6mm and 15mm scale Aeroth project so without further ado onto the photos!

 Wargolem

Originally a Mage Knight Metal figure from Ral Partha, the model makes for a pretty good Wargolem in 6mm scale and speaking of which, I have also finished a demon figure for my Elves when they eventually get sorted out:

Demon

Apologies for the slightly blurry photo but I just can't seem to get the little chap properly in focus. He's another Four A Miniatures figure that I have had sat half painted for a couple of years now. Again he is actually 28mm scale but looks rather good as a hulking demon in 6mm!

Next up I have also got some stuff  for my 15mm scale forces too!

Elven Bloathulk

The Bloathulk is an example of the Elven use of demonic creatures from the ranks of the fallen. During a hideous ceremony, a captive is transformed from a human into a gigantic, ravenous beast that stands taller than a Great Orc. He's originally a plastic D&D figure with a little bit of a repose and fresh coat of paint!

Lastly I have also finally managed to get the two Dwarves I painted a while back photographed!

Dwarves!

Sculpted by yours truly, they are available from CP Models and I must admit I am quite happy with how they turned out!

Hopefully I will manage to keep up the progress with actually getting stuff painted up and updating the project regularly. I even have a weeks holiday coming up which hopefully will allow me to round out a couple of forces and get some games in!

All the best!

Slann Warband Part 1

Hi!

As the title says, for the Warband challenge, I have settled on collecting and painting up a Slann army! Madness you say as Slann miniatures are horrendously expensive collectors pieces that defeats the very purpose of the project!

Slann!

Not so fast though! After a great deal of pondering, I decided to cheat a bit and collect an Oldhammer army in 15mm scale! The very prospect of collecting and painting a 28mm scale army, even the 21 figures suggested, leaves me cold as I just don't think I would ever manage to get past the first few miniatures before becoming downhearted and giving up.

There is also method in my madness as there are now lots of really nice 15mm scale fantasy stuff out there that would allow a gamer on a budget or wanting to try out Oldhammer the option of collecting a force very cheaply (for example one can get 6-10 15mm scale figures for the same price as one of the old school metal Citadel ones.

A bit of googling later and I spotted that East Riding Miniatures stocks a range of Frog Folk:

East Riding Frog Folk

A little crudely sculpted perhaps but with a little bit of greenstuff, they should look the business. My order has been placed for a few packs and I now have the required 21 figures to get the warband started and even have a few left over to bulk out regiments as time allows! How much did it cost? £12 plus postage which works out at under 50p per figure when you take the extra figures into account. Not too bad for an army that would cost about £12 a figure if I was using Citadel via ebay.

I hope I am keeping to the spirit of the project which was after all to show that it is possible to have a fun game of Oldhammer without the expense! It will also be fun to represent a race that very few gamers will have seen as the Slann were such a limited release.

All the best!