iron mitten

Syrian Auxiliaries

2012-02-13T18:36:00.002Z

When I plan a unit I always draw up a picture of what I want to achieve.

Here is a quick sketch of a Syrian unit I'm thinking up to re-enforce one of my Eastern Armies. When you have armies of clone like Romans, I think it's units like this one which give character to an army.

ROME 2092

2012-01-24T10:23:00.002Z

2092 Rome finally conquers the red planet.

The good Old D20

2012-01-16T00:33:00.000Z

Death by T-Bag

2012-01-15T14:17:00.005Z

This is a picture I did a few months ago when I was having fun playing the new Space Marine game on the X Box. I quite enjoyed the game and was just thankful that I didn't have to paint all the characters I was gaming with.
However, this all changed when I ventured online to play, as I was slaughtered by fourteen year old boys with attitude and then T-bagged for my trouble. "Let's work together" I added only to be called 'GAY' by some brat who'd been hard wired into the actual system. So I bowed politely and got the f*ck out of there. Best leave them to it, I thought as I put on my smoking jacket and slippers and filled another pipe.
Then I went and kicked their arses at Halo instead!

The Man Cave

2012-01-08T12:59:00.001Z

Celtic Shieldwall

2012-01-08T12:15:00.001Z

Supply and Demand

2012-01-07T13:47:00.001Z

Join The Roman Army Today!

2012-01-07T12:03:00.000Z

Charles Gerard's Regiment of Foote

2012-01-02T23:08:00.001Z

Dictionary Time

2012-01-02T21:50:00.002Z

Cavalier: 1 a supporter of king Charles I in the English Civil War. 2 a gallant. 3 a cavalry man. adj. showing a lack of proper concern.

Northern Horse

2012-01-02T12:55:00.003Z

Here is a Royalist horseman at the battle of Naseby, he has had some success on the field and has procured some parliamentarian loot, however, the last laugh is on him.
After leaving the field in search of plunder, the Royalist Infantry find themselves without their much needed Cavalry support and are crushed.

By the time this merry chap returns to the field of battle, everything is lost. Including the war.

English Civil War

2012-01-02T12:38:00.003Z

I could not spend Christmas in the town of Nantwich without being affected by all the Civil war history there. Here is Royalist cavalryman in his buff coat and Lobster pot helmet.

Merry Christmas Everyone love Cromwell.

2011-12-22T15:30:00.002Z

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone from Ironmitten!

Here to play you out are the Cromwell 'Lets ban Christmas' band. Take it away fellas....enjoy.

Roman Night patrol

2011-12-15T16:12:00.000Z

Roman Patrol

2011-12-15T11:25:00.001Z

Praetorian on Campaign

2011-11-19T13:40:00.000Z

The Fierce Celts

2011-11-19T13:06:00.003Z

The only thing the Celts hated more than Rome...were the neighbours.

'Cedo Alteram'

2011-11-19T12:42:00.006Z

The merciless Centurion nicknamed Cedo Alteram by his men. It meant 'Bring me another' and referred to his habit of breaking vine staffs over recruits' backs.

When his Legion rebelled, Cedo was given a taste of his own medicine and put to death.

The Legion had its own way of dealing with such men.

War on the Frontier

2011-11-16T11:37:00.003Z

I have been finishing off those crafty Celtic horsemen over the last week and have just their shields to do.
Also I've managed to complete a unit of Jewish Slingers for my Eastern Roman army which is another weight off my mind.
I still have quite a few units to do before the new armies for COE are complete, all good fun though. In the meantime, here's an unlucky Roman guard on the Rhine.

Back to Work Again

2011-11-14T16:06:00.000Z

A quiet day for thoughts

2011-11-11T11:40:00.001Z

Happy halloween Everyone.

2011-11-01T10:07:00.000Z

painting guide for British Tommys.

2011-10-29T10:54:00.007+01:00

The new unit takes to the open field.

The new and the old. The second figure is from Crusader and is late war. The first is another BTD figure. I experimented with his webbing colour again by trying out a Coat d'arms canvas colour.

On the double Atkins!

Captain Jeffers with the 2" mortar team close behind. They will lay down smoke grenades to cover the advance of the platoon. I love these two characters (mortar guys), partly because they are standing. most other figures I have seen from other ranges are lying prone. This may be correct for firing but doesn't look that great in an advancing unit. The same can be said for the PIAT teams. This is why I went with BTD for a lot of these figures.

Private Phillips brings up the mortar.

The webbing on these chaps is another webbing variant from the Foundry paint palette.

This chap is from my late war Platoon.

Quick painting guide for Tommys.

2011-10-29T10:36:00.003+01:00

Static grass and tufts were now added to finished the base.

Heavy!

Another unit of men ready for the big fight.

A tip from Kevin Dallimore here, with the use of Terracotta 'B' to paint the lips. I'm not quite sure myself but it works well from a distance which is the main thing.

You can see here the highlighting on the Ink washed canvas. I love the speed at which you can crack through these small units using washes.

Captain Jeffer's looks ready for business. After this macro photo, I went back and touched up the detailing around his face, got to love the close ups.

I have made this small unit of men part of the Wessex regiments by giving them the Wessex Wyven on their arms.

This is captain Jefften or Jeffer's as his known to his men. It's one of Alan's old Role play characters and It's fun to create him on the gaming table. It should bring a lot more interest to the game.

Painting Tommy

2011-10-29T10:20:00.004+01:00

The canvas helmet covers are Foundry's Drab 'a', 'b' and 'c' colours layered up.

I used the same colour (Blanco 'c') to retouch the Inked webbing and equipment. This is effective and very quick and simple to do. One pot does all.

I do like Foundry's 'Spear shaft' colour for Enfields! The Inked Tamiya 'Khaki' was highlighted by using the Coat d'arms 'British Khaki' paint.

Almost ready for war.

These figures are from Black Tree Design. I like them because of their poses. They are slightly early war (BEF) and have canvas covers on their helmets. I like this aswell because it adds more character to my units. To bring them up to date with my Normandy units I have opted for the green Blanco on their webbing.

Next morning and Tommy and his pals are all dry and ready for some more action.

WWII Quick Painting Guide

2011-10-29T10:07:00.004+01:00

The new Citadel Ink range is very good. I have become a big fan of paint washes over the last few years, helped in part by the Army Painter stain results. Horses for courses here though and this Ink drys a lot quicker that AP stain. I prefer it for small units where the painting standard is going to be slightly higher.

The satisfying part of the whole process is painting on the Ink and watching the figure come to life.

I also painted on a little stubble by mixing grey with the flesh tone. This was done before the Ink wash.

The chaps are ready for their Ink shading now all the basic colours have been painted.

Quick Painting Guide for WWII Tommy

2011-10-29T09:47:00.004+01:00

I left a little black showing through around the equipment here and there. The base was dry brushed with Foundry's Sand 'a' and 'b' pots.

Foundry's Spear shaft 'b' and 'c' pots provided a great Lee Enfield colour. I'm just sad I didn't find out about it sooner. It always pays off to read the odd painting guide or too!

I found the Foundry WWII colours very helpful with painting these figures. Their Green Blanco 'c' pot gave a great colour, that kind of weird green that is hard to mix up. I didn't go for the 'B' pot but went straight for the highlight shade to paint the webbing and equipment.
This is a tip from experience.

The metal of the Lee Enfield was painted using Coat d arm's 'gun metal' paint. The whole gun would later be washed with black Ink.

I try to add a little more variety into the unit by changing the colour of the webbing on individuals. My Platoon is painted up for the Normandy campaign of 1944, so most of my men should have the green Blanco coloured webbing. A few though have not got around to colouring theirs yet and still sport the desert colours of earlier years.

Now that all the large areas have been covered I moved on to the more detailed side of things. The webbing and all its variants can be quite interesting to paint.

Speed Painting WWII Tommys.

2011-10-29T09:30:00.003+01:00

I wasn't too worried about leaving black to act as shading here either, this I can do by using black Ink.

First the Tamiya Khaki paint was splashed on all over including the helmet cover.

These are the two colours I used to paint this unit.

Then I painted the flesh tone on. For speed I didn't worry about trying t leave any black for shading purposes.

Right lets get started quick like. First I sprayed the boys either black or brown. The brown was an experiment just to see if it made things any easier. Both methods worked as well.

The lost and found Legion

2011-10-29T01:09:00.004+01:00

I found ( and repaired) this very old picture today, that I found at the bottom of a cupboard. It was drawn way back in 2001 to celebrate a Secundian victory over Alanican forces. Of course back then It was just a friendly game to test out some rules, It would be many years later that we started the campaign and things turned real.

This black shielded Legion would become the XXI RAPAX in later years, the red shields the II AUGUSTA.

A young Alanicus runs for his life as his battle line breaks up around him. That's torn It!

This will set a common tone in the Alanicus' battles to come. Nothing can stand the might of Secundian troops.

WWII Tommy

2011-10-24T18:48:00.002+01:00

I have been racing through a batch of WWII Tommies by using brown Inks. They seem to be made for the job of shading Khaki and all the other gear looks great with a good wash of brown. I'm very happy because this last batch took half the time but look just as good in my opinion.

It's made me start thinking about my American forces and how easy it would be to paint up a Platoon with the Ink wash method.

Painting again.

2011-10-24T18:34:00.001+01:00

I actually found some time to paint this weekend and blitz through some WWII Tommies. I'll post up the results shortly.

Celtic Shields.

2011-10-13T14:59:00.003+01:00

I have had Celtic cavalry riding around my painting table for about three months now...It's time to finish them off.

I drew these ages ago to help with their shield design. The stag I used for

some of the Infantry War bands and I wanted these horsemen to reflect the mounted element of the same tribe. So a white stag running on a green field was choosen to combine the images of strength and speed, things that the Celtic warrior would have wanted to portray in battle.

Dacian Dawn Raid.

2011-10-12T10:56:00.004+01:00

The dreaded falx, the most feared Dacian weapon.

"Wake up it's time to die!"

Union Regiment, 1st Corps,1863

2011-10-11T20:50:00.006+01:00

Lou takes a rest in the long grass.

A sergeant-Major steadies the line. He was a late edition and I tried the method of leaving the black undercoat around his eyes and mouth. I like the effect and will use it on the other regiments.

Here is the top view of the regiment (minus command) showing the variety in bases. Most have four figures on but the odd one or two have five to add character.

Finished Fed's

2011-10-11T20:27:00.002+01:00

When i was collecting my ACW armies back in the nineties, there was much less to choose from figure wise as there is now. Funny enough these handsome Renegade models were just coming out but proved too expensive to buy at the time. Now due to the Metal/Plastic war going on, their range has become some of the best value metals around.
Although I have seen their prices start to climb again recently as I knew they would. I bought these when their unit deals were very good and saved quite a bit of money. Although to get the variety I wanted I found myself buying some of their single packs.

Renegade are on the large end of the figure scale with that of Redoubt and as a result, don't really mix well with other ranges. This said a few Foundry wounded figures seem to fit in ok, for the next unit I have ordered Redoubt ones.

I have included figures that could act as another command base, just in case the unit has to be split in another game system.

I'm also toying with the idea of placing the two Union flags on different bases for the same reasons, so each base can act as a command. I have noticed in some rule systems a unit can be made up of as little as four bases.

The Flocking Federals

2011-10-11T20:21:00.003+01:00

The partly sanded bases are now flocked. Bushes, leaves and small grass clumps are added to finish the effect.

THUNK!

"Stand your ground men!"

Basing Iron Mitten style

2011-10-11T20:08:00.003+01:00

I have never been one to spend hours on my bases as I prefer to get on with the figures themselves. Saying that though, I have been influenced over the years by what I see on other peoples Blogs. My bases are a mix really of both speed and detail.

I like the look of sand and grit of American bases as it sums up the atmosphere nicely of the Americas. However, I don't want to spend all day sticking and painting.
The happy medium for me is to just stick small areas around the base with sand then flock the rest with static grass. The effect is the same as covering the whole base with sand and then flocking but in a fraction of the time. Clumps of grass and small bushes finish off the base and bring it up to collectors standard very quickly.

Job done on to the next...

A partly sanded base, this will be painted and dry brushed to add detail. The rest of the base will be flocked with static grass. This way a big unit can be completed very quickly and still look good.

Colour guide for Federal Infantry

2011-10-11T19:35:00.004+01:00

As mentioned earlier, I want these units look good but be turned around very quickly. Up close they don't look too good but stand up well from a distance.

The uniform is Foundry's 'French Blue' A, highlighted with 'French Blue' B.

The belts and forage bag are the black undercoat.

The trousers are Foundry's 'Sky Blue' A and B with the odd variant.

Muskets are Foundry's 'musket brown' B and ink washed with brown ink.

Although I painted the highlights on the dark blue tunic the trousers I just washed with brown Ink. This wash was used on just about everything including the blue canteens and musket.

The faces and hands were painted with Foundry 'Flesh B' then given a brown wash with Citadel Inks. Very straight forward and very quick and easy.

The flags are from GMB. I like my flags to be quite dirty and hole ridden but haven't got the heart to butcher these new ones. I might make the exception when the novelty wears off.

New bases and a nice new tight formation. Very firing line. I have tried to give the impression of the chaos of battle by making some of the bases irregular. This is done by adding the odd man and varying the number of figures on a base. Also wounded characters add to the atmosphere of the firing line in action.

A few little touches like giving the odd man stubble really helps bring the figures to life. I just need to remember to do this before I do the Ink washes next time. lots of dry brushed mud up the trousers helps with the campaign look.

Rebasing the Union

2011-10-11T19:17:00.004+01:00

The old and the new. 40mm bases replace the larger 60mm ones.

" Where's everyone going Lou?"

I first based the unit on large 60x40mm bases as I hoped to get my character into each one. However, I soon realised that these big bases would complicate things slightly of the games board and a firing line would be huge. After much debate I made the hard but right decision to rebase them onto smaller 40x40mm bases. These are easier to arrange in formations and I prefer the tightly packed ranks more. It's worth ironing out all these annoying problems at the beginning so the rest of the army is a breeze.

"look sharp boys the eyes of your General are upon you today!"

Yanky Doodle went to town riding on a donkey.

2011-10-11T18:54:00.004+01:00

Figures from Renegade.

Rough and ready Federal troops line up ready to embark on their movement bases. I want to get through quite a few of these, so I'm experimenting with quick, time saving ways of painting them.

This whole unit (32 I think) were painted all at the same time, I haven't done this for many years, but the nature of the simple uniform lends itself to it nicely.

I also made it more interesting for myself by trying out some new painting techniques. It's an old method but one I've never really used, undercoating in black and leaving enough showing to act as a shade colour. Leaving black around eyes and cuffs and collars etc is something I have read a lot about but never tried. I used to just block colour on and then shade with black ink washes.

Well I tried it and quite enjoyed it. I actually took tips from the Foundry paint guide which was interesting. Of course I cut corners to speed things up and used brown Ink washes on the trousers etc. I'll go through colours used later

I want my regiments to be quite large, so I'm painting them in units of 27 to 32 men, with a few wounded scattered around. I want the bases to be quite characterful like little dioramas.

Naps at Colours 2011.

2011-10-11T18:45:00.004+01:00

Life Guards charge home.

The glory of the Napoleonic age is brought to life in this huge 28mm game. Very inspiring stuff.

15mm ACW (Colours 2011)

2011-10-11T18:33:00.004+01:00

Great, I can see my favourites...the 14th NY Volunteers with their flashy red trousers.

I started off with 15mm ACW many years ago at the age of 15. So seeing this game really brought back some old memories (although my games never looked this good back then).

I do prefer the added detail you get with 28mm these days but these big divisional battles do look good.

ZULU'S Thousands of 'em (Colours 2011)

2011-10-11T18:20:00.005+01:00

Hosting a Zulu 1:1 man ratio game...crazy I hear you cry, well not anymore, check it out.

There's many hours of hard work gone into this massive set up and I have to say It did steal the show slightly. Very dedicated stuff.

Colours 2011

2011-10-11T18:01:00.003+01:00

These amazing shots were taken at this years Colours. It was a long drive to get there but turned out to be worth it. I did come away with some fantastic hedgerows as well which was a bonus.

My girlfriend was very impressed with all the detail of these 1940's houses and was even inspired to think about making some.

Refererence of painting 162: The 95th Rifles.

2011-10-10T13:41:00.003+01:00

First into battle and the last to leave...the 95th.

These pictures were taken at Kelmarsh Hall Living History Day 2011. It's worth mentioning that all the re-en actors here do the two days for free just for the love of the thing and at the same time teach so much to the general public. Hats off to them I say.

It's great to get up close and see the actual equipment being used and hearing the weapons going off etc. Great stuff.

Colour Reference: 95th Rifles.

2011-10-10T13:37:00.000+01:00

95th Rifle colour Reference.

2011-10-10T13:24:00.003+01:00

Many thanks to these very kind chap who cheerfully chatted to us for at least an hour. It was nice to see the uniform up close and study the equipment too.

The Baker rifle with it's classic sword bayonet.

Through the Paint Hole; 95th Rifles

2011-10-10T13:04:00.004+01:00

Hello, and welcome to another 'Through the Paint Hole', this week in the spot light are the famous 95th Rifles.

Their dark rifle green uniforms and black facings gave these men the nick name of the 'sweeps' on the battlefield. They are still some of the most popular British troops of the Napoleonic wars, thanks to many written accounts and a little help from Sean Bean.

Kettle, pot, black I would say wouldn't you...

I haven't got around to painting my 95th quite yet but by looking at this reference, I would probably go for a bottle green washed with black ink and then highlighted with bottle green again. Anyway that's enough from me lets get on with the show...So join me, as we go throoouuughhhh the Paint hole...YAAAAAYYYY

VIKINGS!

2011-10-07T18:49:00.001+01:00

Shieldwall!

Push on Boys!

2011-10-06T14:43:00.001+01:00

Secundus revisits the Civil War after eight years away, read all about it.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

2011-10-05T18:48:00.002+01:00

This picture was inspired by the true story of a fellow gamer and blogger that I read today. I have to say I do think about this scenario at least once a week and shiver.

Rebasing the Boyz

2011-10-05T14:15:00.002+01:00

Musings of a Madman

2011-09-30T16:30:00.003+01:00

Lately, I have been hard at work painting up another Union Regiment for my ACW collection. Being the first armies I started to paint way back in 1996, they are looking a little tired now and the painting standard is pretty low. So, I hope to repaint some of the early work and re base them to bring them up to date with my other collections.

However, I have been stopped in my tracks by the big basing question. On what size base do I put them. Having thousands of old ACW rule books kicking around from the time I decided to write my own, I have gathered that 40mm by 40mm comes out on top for the most popular games.

I like the idea of putting causalities on my stands and having at least five figures to a base, inspired by the pictures in the old Fire and Fury rule set.

Of course this led me to start looking at larger 60x40mm bases.

I could get a lovely looking base going on with that much room to play around with, my only problem was would that effect the game play? Would huge bases make a firing line just too long to game with?
Less bases was the answer, but that would effect the formation of the unit with less stands to arrange etc. Anyway you can see the problem and being an old perfectionist it has been on my mind for most of the week.

I think although I like the idea of putting loads of character into the bases I will go back to 40x40mm bases but vary them with figure numbers and causalities. This way I will still keep the multiple bases for unit formations and vary the look of units etc.

I need to get out more!

The Hungry Lieutenant

2011-09-17T13:15:00.001+01:00

Being Civil

2011-09-17T12:04:00.001+01:00

Union Artillerymen

2011-09-17T10:25:00.001+01:00

Confederate Charge

2011-09-17T09:23:00.002+01:00

Being Saturday I've grabbed some time to colour up these ACW pictures for the a new Osprey quiz book.

My first true war gaming love was my ACW Blandford uniform book and my Minifig15mm armies.
It's interesting to note, that even though I had a uniform book, I still painted most of my figures incorrect. Mind you at 15 I didn't care. How things have changed.

LIFE 3, HOBBY 0,

2011-09-16T12:18:00.004+01:00

I have decided that Thursday will be my painting night. It's so hard these days to find time for anything 'hobby', that I have been forced to choose a night to do it. It's off to a bad start though as last night I had to go out.

I also have a pile of cartoons that are gathering dust that need to be Blogged, some of them are hardly relevant any more. Life 3, Hobby 0.

Pictures From the Edge

2011-09-09T14:42:00.001+01:00

Under pressure...

2011-09-06T14:21:00.000+01:00

Back to the Celts.

2011-09-02T14:01:00.001+01:00

Next week is Celt week! They aren't going to paint themselves...

One from the Vault.

2011-09-01T11:56:00.000+01:00

Painting Time...

2011-08-31T12:41:00.003+01:00

I'm finally getting my head in gear as far as painting is concerned. It's hard getting back into the saddle after a long time away from the brush, but I'm going to start with just a couple of figures and lower myself back in gently.
It doesn't help that Boney keeps on at me to rebase his armies, I just haven't got time Boney...get off my back!

Roman Legionary

2011-08-27T13:56:00.002+01:00

Horse hair crests can make a man look bigger than he is, psychological warfare in the ancient world.

Finishing off the legions.

2011-08-27T13:06:00.004+01:00

I have finally got around to working out and painting up all the missing command bases for my Roman forces. For many years some of my oldest legions have been without their Eagles, well not any more. It's a little thing but it means I can sleep easier at night now.

Next up are those Celt cavalry which have been gathering dust over the last few months. Now the Cybermen are done I can get back to them and hopefully clear the table.

Eagles for the armies of Britannia, Africa, Pannonia and Gaul.

Above is the Eagle for the African forces, made up mostly of old veterans recalled back into service.

The Luck of the Dice

2011-08-26T21:25:00.000+01:00

Dark Elf Surprise.

2011-08-26T16:56:00.009+01:00

I had a lovely surprise the other day when a lone Dark Elf turned up on my door step. It had been sent by one Steve Cooper, who, after seeing my passion for the old eighties figures, had dug out then sent me one.
I didn't have that particular model which was a bonus. I was also very taken back by the extreme kindness of the chap who had to cross fire and high water to find my address. Many thanks Steve it was a wonderful surprise!

As thanks here are some real Dark Elves:

Lord Snagnec and his Black Cavern guard gather to study the strange creature killed by Longoth's arrow.
Beyond all the Gods, could it be...? The mythical being known only as a female...

The Waterloo Collection DVD's

2011-08-23T14:24:00.005+01:00

After doing my usual trawl through Amazon to check on new Historical releases, I was delighted to see three DVD's of the battle of Waterloo.
These seemed a little too good to be true at first but they turned out to be really good.
Three 90 min DVD's covering the whole waterloo Campaign narrated by a team of battlefield tour guides, which works well. Although I had to smile at their football style, blow by blow account of Derlon's attack.
I've learnt loads which is the main thing and they are good to have on in the background while you paint. I Recommend them.

Surround Sound

2011-08-19T21:54:00.002+01:00

Staying in tonight, listerning to tunes on my favourite sound system.

Hightech CyberLanding Shuttle

2011-08-16T21:09:00.004+01:00

Flocked and locked, these bad boys are on a one way mission to Earth, hold on to your Enfield Alan here they come!

Can you spot the five Stealth Cybermen...no...good aren't they.

A lone Tommy calls out in vain but is quickly silenced.

Job done, right I'm off for a Cyberpint down the Cyberpub. Mind you going to the Cybertoliet might be difficult, as I can't find the Cyberzip in this damn silver Cybersuit.

Cyberstrike Force Assembled and Ready

2011-08-16T20:46:00.006+01:00

After the Silver spray paint was dry I gave the figures a wash of black Ink. This worked really well, better than dry brushing the Silver on. This looked much closer to the original suits worn by the actors in the 80's. Here is the completed Cyberforce. It contains four squads of seven, a Stealth squad, a heavy weapon (Cybercannon), a scout squad and of course, a Cybercontroller.

Each squad is lead by a cyberleader with his black handle bars denoting his rank. There are also two casualty figures that I made up from the old Citadel plastic range. If I find time I'd like to knock up a few more, but time is a rare thing these days. Talking of time, this must be the quickest army I have ever painted.

The Cyberforce producton line.

2011-08-16T20:29:00.003+01:00

The Cybermen reveal their secret weapon.

All based and now sprayed with Silver car paint, they start to look like real Cybermen.

As their mighty strike force starts to take shape, they begin to take of the air waves with their superior technology.

Good Cyberman reference was quite hard to come by, but these detailed action figures proved a God send. Highly detailed and with detailed weapons they proved better than anything I could find in print or online.

French lancer Waterloo 1815

2011-08-16T12:20:00.004+01:00

This is a member of the Elite Company of the 6th Chevau-Leger-Lanciers. The 6th differed from the other lancer regiments by having buff coloured equipment instead of white, also the Elite companies had red crests rather than the usual black.

News from the Front

2011-08-16T00:34:00.001+01:00

A French light Infantryman.

Back from Holiday

2011-08-15T18:17:00.001+01:00

Well I'm back from Egypt and ready to kick some serious lead ass!

Off on Campaign again.

2011-07-28T15:20:00.004+01:00

After having enough of the Britannia weather, I thought I would find an excuse to lead a expedition to Egypt to shake things up a bit.

Remind them of the might of Rome and their true rulers...

Then sit back and enjoy the scenery.

Muddy Waterloo

2011-07-24T21:22:00.001+01:00

Bloody Waterloo

2011-07-24T20:53:00.001+01:00

A trooper of the 1st Life Guards at Waterloo 1815

2011-07-22T23:54:00.002+01:00

WARHAMMER WATERLOO

2011-07-22T22:28:00.005+01:00

After waiting around 10 years for a Warhammer Napoleonic rule set to appear, I can finally relax with the arrival of 'Waterloo'. I started collecting my army about six years ago with the idea that when the game did appear, I would have ready painted armies. Well the game never did appear and I got carried away painting lots of lovely blue French.
Forge World aren't in my good books after dumping the ancient side of things, but because of my long wait I was curious about this new rule set for the horse and musket period from the Warhammer team. Also it is set around Waterloo like my French forces.

I decided to take a chance and buy it. WHAM! case shot right in the nuts...£36! Well I know I've waited ten years but £36...come on.
Well, it arrived in a gold jewel encrusted case and I was very pleasantly surprised on first impressions . It looks like a well put together game with loads of useful uniform guides and illustrations.

After the disappointment of Foundry's 'Napoleon' and it's lack of support, I was quite taken back by Waterloo. My friend informs me it is based around the GW 'Lord of the Rings' game which he tells me is very good.

One of the annoying things about the game though is that it has six figures to a base (=1 company) whereas mine are based four for use with 'Napoleon'. It's a small thing and one to which the rules actually mention and say it doesn't matter. however, when you've waited so long you want it to be just right. Mind you I will wait and see if the game is any good first before I start ripping figures off bases again. If anybody gets a chance to play it or sees a review do let me know, I would be more than a little interested.

So far I can't see any mistakes which is a bonus unlike Napoleon which came across as half finished and rushed . Anyway I will keep reading ... £36 was a little steep, but at the moment it looks like it was worth every penny.

I have ordered some new 60x40mm bases... I know I know.

Rabble!

2011-07-14T17:12:00.004+01:00

A sideways shot of my Celtic shelf. I love painting Celts ever since I discovered the Army Painter method. Mind you I still need to flock a lot of these.

A quick shot of one of the many Roman shelves. I have been finishing off the last Eagle bearers for three Legions lately, so soon my Legions will be complete ( well, apart from any other units I add when the wind changes).

The French Massive

2011-07-12T12:31:00.003+01:00

A quick snap of the french shelf. It looks nice but I still have to flock more than half of them still.

However, they are now all totally rebased with four on astand. This sets me up much better for a whole multitude of Napoleonic rule sets.

I have gone off 'Napoleon' from Foundry after they didn't support it in anyway. I am still waiting for the Waterloo army lists for the game.

Cybermen made easy

2011-07-08T11:18:00.005+01:00

Here is a line up of the contenders for the forth coming Cyberskirmish. The smaller two on the left are old figures from Citadel, the first being plastic. The larger one on the plastic base is from Black Tree Designs.
The whole Cyberman order arrived really quickly which surprised me some what. Cybermen must be a lot less popular than WWII soldiers that's all I can say.
I've decided to go with the BTD figures as they are quite imposing and match the right size for Cybermen, who are meant to be 7ft tall.

I have been trying out different ways in which to paint up the Cybermen. Simple is often the hardest thing to get right and the Cybermen were very simple, being silver all over.

The silver flight suit was darker than the mask which was sprayed silver with no other details.
First I tried dry brushing silver over a black undercoat, the detail looked good but I couldn't get that DR WHO low budget look I was after.

In the end I copied the actually live sized suits and sprayed the figures with silver car paint. This works really well! I then give them a wash of Citadel black Ink and then dry brush their body armour with silver paint again. This adds more shine and makes the body armour stand out from the darker suit underneath. Very simple and the most important thing...very quick and easy to do.
Cyberleader; "EXCELLENT!"

Cybermen save money by using the Park and Ride into Oxford

2011-06-20T21:16:00.004+01:00

After seeing how much fun people were having at the last couple of posts, i couldn't resist drawing up one comment which made me laugh. Cybermen using the park and Ride to get into Oxford. Thanks Paul.

Don't worry this isn't part of the battle...although seven Cybermen did go missing for six hours during the main advance...

I got an e-mail today from Black Tree Designs, saying that some of my order has been sent out to me. Hopefully the rest won't be far behind , oh well I can always start painting them piece meal as they turn up.

Cybermen invade Oxfordshire

2011-06-14T01:08:00.003+01:00

The year is 1944 and a large Cyberforce lands in a small village on the outskirts of Oxford. They appear to be searching for something, an artifact of immense power. Above, a Cyberleader scans the area for signs of the hidden energy source.

Cyber Invasion

2011-06-12T21:48:00.002+01:00

The cat's out of the bag as far as my friend is concerned, so now I can let you know of my next project. Using COE WWII rules I intend to put on a Cyberman vs WWII Tommy game for his birthday. It should be fun and I have been busy painting a basing loads of Cybermen and extra Brits for the game. A few more PIAT teams wouldn't go a miss when facing these guys.

I have ordered the Cybermen from Black Tree Designs so I just hope they arrive in time and not next year. I had some WWII Americans turn up so late once, I forgot I had ordered them!

I have no idea how the game will turn out, will the Cybermens tough resistance to small arms fire win the day, or will it be the shear amount of firepower laid down by the Brits that swings the tide of battle?

The best thing about Cybermen is they are so quick to paint. Spray silver and wash with black...job done.

Zombies!

2011-06-06T17:43:00.002+01:00

I have started to plan some alternative war games for this year. A game of Zombies would be great fun. Has anyone got any Zombie recommendations. I saw some plastic Zombie WWII Germans, but couldn't find the company that made them.

I started planning a friends Birthday present battle , featuring Zombies of a sort but with a twist. More on that later, however I have ordered them from Black Tree so I hope they arrive this year...

This Blog smells of Heresy!

2011-05-21T13:39:00.001+01:00

It's Friday...Rejoice!

2011-05-20T11:43:00.003+01:00

" Yaaay at last, I can't believe it, it's Friday...Yay. I've never been so relieved. Too much? Ok I'll calm it down...Yay. "

Celtoc and his big sword.

2011-05-19T15:12:00.002+01:00

Celtoc gets his new sword from Renegade miniatures and shows it to the village.

Dark Elves

2011-05-19T13:39:00.004+01:00

A young Mengal Manhide pays a visit to a neighbouring settlement, within a month he will be it's new King. I have a real soft spot for the old pre-slotta Dark elves. They were designed by the perry's way back in 1984, but I didn't get around to collecting them until 1986, by which time they were all being re sculpted and suck on plastic bases. I managed to pick a couple up on eBay last month but they cost me dear. For some reason they remind me of my childhood more than any other figure range, which is odd because I only had a few.

The Cruel Face of War

2011-05-19T10:54:00.003+01:00

My friend told me the story last night of the time he was barred from playing in a Games workshop shop because his figures were last seasons.

I have to say they do tend to update their ranges quite a bit, It's hard to keep up. Still the story still makes me laugh. They were the days...

40K Space Marine Game

2011-05-16T18:06:00.007+01:00

I have to say I am getting very excited by the release of the new Space marine game from GW for the X box and Play Station.
I loved their Dawn of War series for the PC and so was delighted to find the the same makers (Relic) are responsible for Space Marine. I used to hate the idea of Space Orks until I watched the opening sequence for Dawn Of War, now I'm totally sold.
It's being released in August and I for one can't wait. Makes a nice change for me to be saying nice things about GW, but their figures and models are still over priced.http://youtu.be/aFHKIFDjk9I

After writting about it, I had to post a link to the opening of Dawn of War. Three or four years old now, but still a classic! It made me swollow my harsh words about GW and buy the game!http://youtu.be/UID6LEzvRRo

In memory of my good friend Owain Jones

2011-05-12T13:53:00.001+01:00

Brothers in arms.

Finishing of the Legions

2011-05-05T16:14:00.004+01:00

I have been racing through most of my old Legions and just finishing off the odd job here and there, this Pannonian Legion has been waiting for it's third Cohort for over a year, well, after a long drawn out march... here it is.

It still needs it's Primus Pilus and Eagle bearer to be totally complete, but they are on they're way. I also need to complete two other Eagle bases for two other Legions as well, but they too are on the to do list. When all is completed, we hope to carry on our Roman campaign but this time, using the COE rules instead of WAB.

These figures are from Companion Miniatures. The crested ones are from the Foundry Caesarian range. I used Citadel Ink wash to shade these as I wanted more control and a quicker drying time. Black Ink for the armour and brown Ink for the flesh and equipment.

Roman Cohorts in C.O.E

2011-04-27T22:32:00.004+01:00

After looking through the Clash Of Empires rulebook today and seeing their examples, I thought I would redesign the look of my Cohorts.
My Legions used to be made up of 3 x 24 Legionaries, but now I have restructured them into 4 x 18. They look a lot better and feel a lot more Roman too. The chequer board formation also adds it's self to some of the Legionary rules within the game, like giving unit support to forward units.

The first Cohort at the front with the Eagle base behind it. Followed up by three more Cohorts, this is my new Legion look. In game terms the Legion obviously can't be too big, but I like the idea of lots of men and think this grouping has the right number and feel to it.

The left over Eagle stand will join one of these smaller 18 man cohorts and turn it into the first Cohort with it's higher stats and greater man power. We plan to actually turn the Eagle stand (Primus Pilus, Eagle bearer, Vexillium standard) into a Sub-commander in the game.

Anyway I'm very happy because the units look 'Right' now and should contrast nicely against the larger 40-50 man war bands, again bringing more realism to the look of the game.

XIIII back in white

2011-04-26T16:03:00.003+01:00

Back to work tomorrow.

2011-04-25T21:21:00.001+01:00

Romans, crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle. Bronze ones are my favourites...

Roman crest colours

2011-04-25T15:48:00.009+01:00

After a lot of research this morning, I decided to repaint the XIIII helmet crests red. This was for a couple of reasons, the first was that I found the actual web site for the XIIII re-en actors and they carry red plumes. The second was that I thought red would make them look more Legionary rather than Praetorian.
However, after spending half an hour repainting...I have to say I think I preferred them as they were, so I'll be painting them back. The white plumes tended to stand out a lot better where as the red is instantly lost. They are meant to be elite Legionaries who wear their plumes to mark that fact, so maybe white is better after all.

This is the XIIII before the hair dying session. I think I prefer these.

Above can be seen a Warlord Games Praetorian, Gripping Beast Praetorian and Foundry Praetorian.

At least one good thing did come out of this mornings work and that's that I got to muddy up the shields a bit. Which I do Like.

Spray Can Method

2011-04-24T12:34:00.005+01:00

Early days yet, but I hope this saves me some time. The rest of the Legion's cloaks were painted using Foundry's Bay Brown range. So I guess we'll just have to see If this lot fit in ok.

Figures from Companion Miniatures. A nice range of figures adapted from Mark Copplestone's range of Caesarians for Foundry.

My only moan is they are priced quite high and the Centurions have MASSIVE crests. I was lucky enough to pick this lot up a few years ago at Salute. I knew they would come in handy one day. " Just don't even go there Lucious"