As the Curtain Falls

Well its that time of year when everyone begins posting their accomplishments for the past to see if they've attained the goals set out at the beginning of the year. So I've aptly named this post As the Curtain Falls.

I know that I am a slow painter, often needing the urge to pick up the brush. Having taken on some commissions has forced me to have more of those urges. I can say this has not been a bad thing at all.

In fact as I tallied up what I had completed I was mildly surprised.

This year I managed to complete a shocking

150          28mm Miniatures
23            Objective Markers for the HOTT Campaign
8              28mm Pirate Ships
6              28mm Skiff/Rowboats

I have a couple more near completion, but with the weather tanking again in temperature, my wife hauling me out shopping, its unlikely they will be completed until the beginning of the New Year. Many of the miniatures were consignments for my friend Brent.

So I will end the year off on a nice round number. Taking stock of what lies ahead, yes more Pirates, in fact another 3 crews worth. I've started on the In Her Majesty's Name thanks to the receipt of the Basius moulds.

Brent has asked that I get all the expansion Zombicide characters painted up for him...then of course I will need to redo them again for myself. This will also require that all those Zombies will need to worked on as well. Brent will likely also have other models he will want painted up, but that will be discussions for him & I.

I could laughingly say I paint his up for practice to make mine perfect, but perfection is in the eye of the beholder & I put the same care into all the miniatures I paint. So he can rest assured that his will be as good as my own.

So here is hoping everyone has a Safe Happy New Year & I look forward to seeing all those Christmas Miniatures make their way onto the various blogs I follow.

Cheers!

More Super Dungeon Explore

With the temperatures plummeting yet again, I snuck into the crawlspace to quickly matte spray these 2 figures, not wanting to spoil them like my pirates.

I did poke around at some hobby stores today & picked up some of the Testors Dullcote for use on the bitterly cold days when I want to finish some stuff to post.

Onto the miniatures.
Here we have the Hexcast Sorceress & the Celestial Herald.

The Hexcast Sorceress continues along the line of lavender/purple hair.

My wife liked the Celestial Herald, & I had to put her away quickly after getting the photo taken lest she abscond it & put it on the tree.

I believe there are another 5 or 6 Super Dungeon Explore miniatures left to paint, & I've got the Scotland Yard Company for IHMN & many more pirates primed & based. Let's see how I manage between now & New Years!

What was under the tree

Well now that the presents have been opened, the boxing day sale shopping finished, I was finally able to settle down to some more miniature painting & getting photos of what Santa brought.

First up we have some of the 1/43 Scale diecast police cars I found at Walmart. 2 of the Police and the Sherriff's were presents from Santa. The 3rd I picked up. I did this to retain continuity for the various Pulp, All Things Zombie & Zombicide games. I figured it would look odd having multiple variants of police cars. Another nice thing is they did not have a number on them unlike the ones below.

I picked up the SWAT van & the State Patrol car during the Boxing day sales.

My wife (aka Santa) also got me these 4 box sets from the DUST game system. Of course I don't play DUST, but they will make wonderful Pulp Secret Nazi experimental stuff. I can thank Todd in Ottawa for putting this idea in my head.

 I also received a 15mm scale building ruin from JR miniatures, but until its painted didn't want to showcase it. This is preparation of the All Quiet on the Martian Front that should be arriving in the new year.

I also found these 2 Testors 1/43 scale car kits which I had to put together. I popped a zombie behind the cars to showcase them.

I did manage to complete another Pirate Captain & Navigator & alas the Matte Spray wreaked havoc on them, though they do not look as bad outside of the photo....it sort of gives them a moth-eaten look. I think it may have been too cold when I sprayed them.

So now I have another pirate & 2 more of the Super Dungeon Explore figures drying from the dip. They should be finished tomorrow & I will get them posted.

Merry Christmas

Another year draws to a close as we gather with friends we know. To spend time with those we hold dear, knowing that soon Santa will be here. Raising our glasses and sharing a toast, the warmth of the fire making us glow.

Wishing everyone the warmest greetings and all the best this festive season.



Hope Santa is good to everyone as I am sure photos of the goodies received will soon arrive at everyone's blogs.

The Sweeney at EWG

Last night was our last club night of the year. Andy was kind enough to bring out his borrowed and modified version of a Cops & Robbers Miniatures game based on the UK series 'The Sweeney'.



We played 2 rounds. For the first game Chen & I played. He was the rogues whilst I played the detectives.

The red die beside the figures represents their hits as well as the number of die each rolls during a turn. As you are injured, your dice suffer as well. Below the detectives enjoy some biscuits & tea.

Meanwhile the bandits are making off with their plunder. Chen had to get his vehicle and booty off the edge of the board closest to me.

As each figure was only allowed to fire once...it is after all a UK based cop show, we quickly figured out that ramming other vehicles to make them lose control & hopefully have a spectacular crash was the way to go.

The chase continues.

Eventually the crooks are rear ended causing them to lose control. One of the detectives takes a shot at the driver & wounds him. I was then able to rush up and melee the wounded driver.

The second criminal took a shot at the detective still in the vehicle and then made a break for it on foot. The second detective shot him while he ran, wounding him. As you can see he is down to 2 dice while the other detective closes with him & still has 6. It was game over, with the caper foiled.

The system had very simple mechanics and any issues were quickly resolved by using a penalty of 6 being applied, thus requiring the use of a figures dice to resolve.

Another Kickstarter arrives

Actually the title is a misnomer as I've received 2 more of the Kickstarter projects. First off is Deadzone from Mantic. As its been posted on several other blogs of note, I've opted to discuss it no further (mainly as I think there is more in another carton coming).

So the basis of this post is just that....bases.

I saw a kickstarter that was developing re-usable base moulds. The company was Wargames Bakery - Basius  who ended up developing 28 different basing pads.

I opted for getting 4 of them & ended up focussing mainly on cobblestone, rubble type pads for my Pulp/Victorian Steam-punk figures.

Up first is the Baker Street 1825 AD. I placed 3 of the bases I created from it on top so you can see the size!

Up next is Wooden Decking, which alas, I shall not be using for my Pirates as I am well into the variant bases I've started. This will however be handy for Mordheim & pulp style figures.

Third is Silverfalls Junction which has a rail line running thru it.

Lastly is the Ruined Homestead. Again Mordheim & Pulp will benefit most.

Now of course I need to develop the correct amount of green stuff to use on a base to allow for deep impressions whilst preventing the overflow onto the sides of the base when making the impression. The bases below have the recessed inner, so as you can see I will need more practice.

All in all however I am quite impressed. I will certainly post some images once these are painted up. I am prepping the Scotland Yard Company for In Her Majesty's Name as the first round.

Super Dungeon Explore and Zombicide Abomination

With the cold snap over, I was able to finally get the matte overspray onto the miniatures I finished up.

First up is a Deeproot Scout

Followed by Princess Ruby

Once again, some fun figures to paint.

Next up is my first Zombicide Abomination. I think the mix of red & black do a wonderful job as dried blood. I am not sure exactly what this creature was as a human as he seems to have both a camera & a toolbelt

Another 2 dungeon explore characters are on the paint table as well as some more Pirates.

Pegasus Bridge

The long wait has paid off & I finally received my Collectors Edition Pegasus Bridge set. There was some confusion as to shipping methods which delayed its being sent, but its all good now.

 

 

I opted for the HAM & JAM collectors set which added a few extra's to this already packed box.

 

The contents were;

 

Box Contents:

• Laser-cut Bridge
• Laser-cut Cafe Gondres
• Resin Gun Pit
• Metal 5cm KwK 39 anti-tank gun and 3 crew
• Laser-cut Pillbox
• Metal German MG42 MMG team
• 40 plastic German Infantry and plastic bases
• Major John Howard and plastic base (exclusive new model)
• 10 man British Airborne squad and plastic bases
• 2-man PIAT team and plastic bases
• Scenario booklet
• Decal sheets for the Paras and Heer
• Marder III Ausf M
• Lord Lovat and Piper Millin metal miniatures
• 20 plastic Commandoes inc weapon sprues
• 6 resin sandbag emplacements (two make a single MG pit)
• 3 Heer MG42 MMG teams
• 6 dead livestock models
• Resin Sandbag emplacement for the top of the control tower
• 10 laser-cut telegraph poles
• 12 resin Dragon's teeth tank traps
• Pegasus Bridge Osprey book

I am still going through the box contents to ensure everything has arrived.

 

I have received a couple other shipping notices as more Kickstarter stuff is on its way.

The Red Devils Have Landed!

I had a couple parcel notices arrive in the post office during the week, but was unable to pick them up until today. Upon getting home from the usual Saturday chores I ripped the boxes open & was buried by what was inside.

First thing up was the base set for the new game from Lost Battalion Games. Of immediate note was the Kickstarter Logo proudly emblazoned across the box.

And then I noticed something else which kind of blew me away...they had placed a property notice on the corner with my name & backer number! Now how cool is that!

So I thought for a moment, they would have had to have each box cover of their Kickstarter supporters printed & then hope that they didn't goof on the shipments.

Another bonus of this Kickstarter was the option to purchase characters Named by you. Of course the German custom character had to be Steiner! And then I went & immortalized myself. Of course everyone at the club is now saying "I can't wait to kill Terry now in a game!"

Another thing of note is that every item of the game has a tag showing whom packaged it from Lost Battalion Games.

Again these came pre-painted, so apart from gluing them to their dog-tag base (the glue tab is also supplied) they are ready to go.

There are a bunch of other miniatures in the base box as well to get you started.

A close-up of the box contents.

The Red-Devil  base box figures.

The German base box figures.

Of course there were the extras I got as well to keep me going for awhile until they produce some more material.

Hasty Positions and Pontigou Farm

 

Infiltration and British Airborne Reinforcements.

Game Masters Aide Kit & Veteran's Pack

Of course some more of the miniatures to add to the forces. Here I have a Piat Team, Mortar, Sniper Team & Pathfinder Team.

 I also got the Operation Tonga Kickstarter Pack.

 

 



 

As you recall at the top, there was a second package. It was my copy of Heroes, Villains & Fiends for In Her Majesty's Name.

 

With a storm coming in the next couple of days, these arrivals will certainly help me weather it!

I will likely ask Scott to come out to give this new Red Devils a couple play's before I bring it out to the club, hopefully the second meeting of December.

Super Dungeon Explore

This morning I got the matte overspray done on these next 2 figures from the Super Dungeon Explore pile.

First up is a Riftling Rogue, who also appears to be some sort of vampire looking at her image.

Then we have the very cool figure of Von Wilder, who is some sort of lycanthrope or shape changer.

A size comparison of the two

And of course no post goes up without at least 1 pirate. This metal figure is from Old Glory I believe.

I've started work on the next 2 dungeon explore figures & of course a fleet-full of Pirates.