Incoming VI (although, it's probably a bit more than that...)

So much for trying not to spend too much...


I was going to hold off on getting the Copplestone Picts, but the 10% discount code swung it for me, and I ordered them at the last minute.  Well, about 7am yesterday, and they turned up this morning.  How's that for service?

Also, package in from Stateside, from Rebel Minis with my order, which was -

Image courtesy of Rebel Minis.  Used without permission, no challenge intended.

2 x Packs Romana Wolven. Didn't realise how big these guys actually are.  They will possibly be part of the Barbarian force, or perhaps the beginnings of a full Werewolf army.

Image courtesy of Rebel Minis.  Used without permission, no challenge intended.

2 x 15mm Elementals.  Really like these sculpts, there is something quite cartoony in the heads.  Looks like I'll be doing a Sorcerer's Legion army too...  Of course, I'll need more than just these guys.

Image courtesy of Rebel Minis.  Used without permission, no challenge intended.

2 x 15mm Gargoyles.  Again, some models for the Sorcerer's Legion.  I reckon these will be pretty quick to paint up (once I get around to it) possibly with all sorts of overgrown vegetation effects to really give them that dilapidated statue look.

Image courtesy of Rebel Minis.  Used without permission, no challenge intended.

 1 x The Scourge Heavy Weapons Team.  Some heavy reinforcements for the previous Scourge models I picked up.  They were out of stock last time I ordered, so I figured I'd grab them whilst they were available again.

Image courtesy of Rebel Minis.  Used without permission, no challenge intended.

1 x Titan Marines MK1 HAMR Suit.  And this big guy is to reinforce the Titan Marines.  Scalewise, probably something I'm a bit more familiar with, being about the same size as a light 'jack for WARMACHINE.













So yeah, more lead for the lead pile, thus guaranteeing my continued existence.  (As everyone knows, when you paint your last unpainted mini, you die...)

I have a few days off coming up, and between her shifts and commission work, I'll try and get some more 15mm work done.  I'm pretty close to finishing off my Shaman base, and it'd be nice to knock out both the Archer bases too.  Or I'll do a bit more to the Beastmen, or start the Sorcerer's Legion...   Speaking of which, I'll probably rustle up a suitable Demonworld figure to use as the Sorcerer, as well as the cultists that I'd have gotten if I'd bought the box set.

Incoming V

Ok, well with the Christmas rush and whatnot, I've neglected this a bit, however, in my defence, I did have a Forgeworld Toad Dragon to finish off, and just picked up a commission for a Grey Knights army.

Got my package in from Rebel Minis on Christmas Eve, a few packs of Demonworld minis from the missus on Christmas Day, and my Khurasan order arrived a few days later.

Haul as follows -

Rebel Minis

Wolfen Army
22 x Titan Marines Infantry
6 x Titan Marines Command
6 x Titan Marine Heavy Weapons
2 x Titan Marine Mortar Teams
MATV Apache
21 x The Scourge (Aliens)

Demonworld

10 Beastmen with Hand Weapons
10 Beastmen with Spears
3 Beastmen Command

8 Armoured Beastmen
4 Beastmen Commanders
10 Brothers of the Icelord

Probably enough for a full Mighty Armies force, but they will certainly need reinforced for larger games.  Really impressed with the sculpts, especially considering some are over 15 years old, and am keen to add more to the collection in future.



Khurasan Miniatures

 INITIATE CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL
6 x Timonid Black Tigers
26 x Chewk tribesmen
Chewk weapons teams (two chewkgun (MG) teams with guns, two chewkbomber (mortar) teams with guns, two chewkzooka (bazooka)
4 x Octopus God Cultist High Priest and Inner Sanctum Bodyguard
4 x Octopus God Cultists with Rifles



And so with that, I bid you all farewell to 2011, and, very soon, welcome to 2012.  I've been doing a bit of discussing gaming with a mate, and we have come up with some rough plans for a year of gaming, but I'll talk about them next time.


See you all next year!

Incoming Part III

Well, orders arrived this morning from 15mm.co.uk, Tin Soldier UK and Renedra.

Haul is as follows -

15mm.co.uk - lots of Grey Aliens and Octopods, as well as some 20mm round bases.

Tin Soldier UK - variety of fantasy monsters (dragon, giant, giant spider and crocodile) random fantasy packs of Orcs and Humans, a bunch more Aztecs and a couple of terrain pieces.

Renedra - lots of 50x50mm bases and lots of 25mm round bases.

What I'm thinking is to use the Renedra bases for all my Fantasy and Historical stuff, and the 20mm round bases for Sci-Fi, because, then I can always add extra bases from GW which I have loads of anyway.

I reckon I have enough Aztecs now to do a full 40 point Mighty Armies force, probably mostly Light Infantry with Swords/Spears and Archers and Slingers.  The Eagle Knights seem to be carrying bows, so they might be Heavy Infantry with a Shooting I attack. 

As for the Northlander Barbarians, I managed to get a few bases built up over the weekend, and currently have 7 bases of Barbarians, 3 bases of Werewolves, 3 bases of Yetis and the Giant to texture and paste.

Barbarian Army so far...

Here is a 'standard' unit in my thinking, minus the command base, which is yet to be released.

A Mountain Giant from Splintered Light, he is absolutely huge, would probably do as a Giant for most 28mm models.  He will be a great centrepiece model for the army, looking forwards to tackling him.

The Giant Werewolf.  I'm going to go back and re-do the face and ears grey, as he looks far too much like a giant rat at the moment.

Close up of the Giant Wolves and Werewolves.

The Yetis - Some Monstrous Infantry to support the horde.

  

Deflowered.

Well, being that my blog has now been deflowered by Dunc, I guess that means I can't be quite so lax in updating it, or putting up pictures as promised...

The shaved Barbarians turned up from Copplestone yesterday, so that is something else to get started on too.

So, here they are, after much promising, my Barbarian army, which has yet to get a cool name.

First up, 8 bases of Copplestone Casting's Northlanders, a mix of axe and sword models.  I think for Mighty Armies, I had planned to use them as Heavy Infantry with the Horde and Fearless skills.  For my own ruleset, they will be both a mainstay and horde unit, and make up the general line infantry for the Barbarian list.

Next up are some Copplestone Giant Wolves from the 10mm Fantasy line, but they scale in well, as you'll see further down.  Again, for Mighty Armies they will be standard Light Cavalry, and for my own rules, probably a support unit.  The reason there isn't eight bases, is because I used a couple of them to flank my General stand.

Some Splintered Light Minis Werewolves, count as Heavy Cavalry with the Horde and Relentless rules for Mighty Armies, and probably another mainstay unit for my own rules.  I might have to get someone else to write the Werewolf rules, or, personal preference will make them unstoppable.  Interesting fact - every order I've made from Splintered Light has had a pack of Werewolves in it.

The General stand - Copplestone 15mm Barbarian Character, plus a couple of individually based ones to use as testers.  Here you can see that the Wolves scale in pretty well, although, knowing that there are 15mm ones in the works, he might be relegated to a basic hero in my own ruleset.

Finally, the Behemoth.  A gargantuan Giant Werewolf, which is actually a 28mm scale werewolf model from Heresy.  He is a Monster for Mighty Armies, I think I had him down with Horde, Relentless and Fearless, but I'm not 100% on that.  For my own rules, I will have to fudge him in somewhere, or he can just count as a Frost Giant or something similar.

All the bases are from Renedra, and have broken cork (from an Ikea placemat) to represent rocks, this is covered with filler, which I think was actually meant to be for fixing a crack in the wall, but my need was greater, as it makes great snow.

And I need to see the stuff she ordered from RPE, so that I can work out how well it scales with what I already have.

Been a good day.

Well, perhaps good isn't the right word...  Productive perhaps.


Package arrived from Copplestone Castings early this morning (ordered yesterday) and it should have meant I had all the 15mm Northlander packs to date.  Sadly, there was a mis-pick, and the beardless Northlanders were AWOl, with a pack of Barbarian Heroes in their stead.

So I emailed CC, and took the opportunity to ask about future releases whilst I was at it.

Picked up a bunch of storage trays when I was out, and spent the remainder of the afternoon sorting out all the 15mm stuff I've amassed so far, which is a fair bit, it seems to accumulate a lot quicker than 28mm does.  I also sorted out some of the files on the laptop, and organised the rules and stuff I've downloaded.  I picked up the Song of bundle and the Splintered Lands rules yesterday from Wargames Vault.

Also, got a reply from Mark saying the missing pack was going in the post today, and, regarding the next few packs, here I quote -

The Barbarian Command (3 leaders, 3 hornblowers and 4 standard bearers) and Shapechangers with Bears should be available by the end of next week, or at worst the following Monday.   There will also be a pack of wolves (a modified version of my 10mm Giant Wolves).

Which is good news indeed as it turns my ragtag horde of Barbarians into a fighting force to be reckoned with.  It also means I am going to have to come up with some command model rules too...  The extra Heroes pack might just find itself turned into a Splintered Lands warband as I'd already based the two tester models on round bases anyway.


In other news, I managed to persuade the missus to make a small Demonworld order from RPE, just so that I can gauge the scale of the minis and see how compatible they are with the Splintered Light and Copplestone stuff, basically got all of the smaller packs of Beastmen, which, should they prove too small, still be enough for a full Mighty Armies force.

Oh yeah, and Splintered Light is running a 20% off sale until the end of the year.  Roll on payday, I feel the need to amass a few more Cave Imps, Satyrs and Dark Elves.  And no doubt a bunch of other stuff too...

On a roll.

Well, this morning I managed to texture the bases for 4 stands of Northlander Barbarians, 1 stand of Werewolves (SLM), 6 stands of Giant Wolves and 2 Heroes.

I emailed the guys at Ral Partha asking for a timeline for the remaining beastmen figures for Demonworld, and when they were planning on adding the Thain spirit wolf things, and got a speedy reply saying they would bump them up the schedule and, fingers crossed, they should all be available by mid-December.   Roll on Christmas!

So, it looks like I may just have to give in to temptation and pick up those remaining Copplestone packs, although, I was trying to hold out for the new ones that were promised in the newsletter.  Command models, beyond general and wizard aren't required for Mighty Armies, but I plan on adding in some rules for them to my own ruleset, which continues to remain nameless.

Cave Imps

OK, so, I said there would be pictures to follow. I just didn't specifically say they would be of the Barbarians...

Between work, kids, painting and so on, I managed to knock out the Cave Imp army set I'd picked up from Splintered Light Miniatures over the course of 3 or 4 days, just doing a half hour or so at a time.  They are based up for Mighty Armies, but, I've put together about 6 pages or so of rough rules for my own 15mm scale game so far, and the basing will be 100% compatible.

Of course, being that they are quite obviously Troll dolls (child of the 80's right...)I just had to paint them up with all sorts of wacky hair.  I spent a bit of time swithering between random colours on each base, before settling on the more unified colour based on rank/equipment.

First up, the Shaman stand. 

Then, both the Shaman and General

Followed by some Clubbers

The Spearmen (Spearimps?)

and finally, the Slingers.

I still have the lizard bases to finish off, mainly because I'm not decided yet on what marking I should do for them, so far they are the same colour as the Imps on the underside, with a light green back.  I'm thinking perhaps some kind of grey stripes or mottling.

In addition to finishing of the lizards, I reckon I'll add a bit more to the force.  I still have to pick up the Yeti's and Yeti Catapult, and I think I'll add some bases of Pike Imps using the long spear models, and add in some more lizards as a cavalry type unit, although, obviously without riders.

In other news, the Barbarians are pretty much ready to be primed, just a little more work on the giant Werewolf's shoulder, and the bases have all been textured to represent the frozen tundra of their homeland.

Barbarians

Well, the Copplestone Castings 15mm Barbarians, or Northlanders, are absolutely gorgeous miniatures. Really. They look just like shrunk down versions of Mark's 28mm work for Foundry.

I picked up a pack of Swordmen, Axemen and the Heroes and have formed them into the basis of my first 15mm Fantasy army.

I've mixed the sword and axemen together, and added in some of the 10mm Fantasy Giant Wolves (also from Copplestone) as they fit in really well. The Giant Wolves will be used as cavalry type units, as there are currently no Northlander Cavalry available, and I also plan to mix some in with my characters. I finished off the army with some Werewolves from Splintered Light Minis, and a 28mm Werewolf from Heresy miniatures, to count as a huge wolf type giant.

The models are all cleaned up and attatched to bases, with the exception of the werewolf, who needs some putty work on his shoulder, and a certain something for his base to help anchor him/provide balance.

Pics soon.

Where to start?

Well, only time will tell if my current fascination with 15mm minis will last, so I guess I'd best start by laying out what I currently have planned, by way of how I came to be here.

I've been involved in gaming now for just over 20 years, after being captivated as a young 'un by the television advert for Heroquest. That was the catalyst for what has turned into, what is best described by the other half as, an obsession.

Over the years I've played a variety of games, covering a variety of periods, in a variety of scales. Mostly it was 28mm stuff, but I was always partial to some Warmaster (10mm) and had a huge amount of Space Marine (6mm), or Epic Warhammer 40,000 as the youth of today will know it.

More recently, two things stand out as prompting my interest in smaller scale models, namely Mantic Games Kings of War rules, and picking up a copy of Battle Lore. The Kings of War rules, despite being intended for 28mm minis, deal with complete unit removal rather than individual casualties, like Warhammer, which made me consider dioramic unit bases, rather than individually based models, especially if I was only going to be using them under that system. The Mantic tagline advocates Big Battles, Big Armies, and I was quite taken by the irony that, the smaller the models, the bigger the army, in scale, rather than stature.

The second thing, Battle Lore, was probably due to the fact that it was a full stand alone game in a box, and I really enjoy how it plays. Of course, the modeller in me wanted to do a bit more, add some creative flair, so I started looking around at how to customise the set. I'll pin the blame on Boromir and Kermit, as reading his blog turned me over to Splintered Light Minis, and many hours were spent going over the online store. Of course, since then, I've done a lot of research into different 15mm manufacturers, and created a disgustingly large wishlist of minis I want to add to the collection.

Really, between the two, I came to the conclusion that, smaller models means I can get more of them onto the table (and therefore in the house) and I've even contemplated trying to write up my own d10 based multibased fantasy ruleset.

Currently, my plans consist of painting up the contents of the Battle Lore box, plus the expansions I already have, and picking up the remaining expansions. I also have a large Flames of War force (Hitlerjugend Panzer Kompanie) sitting in the boxes and blisters, so that will need some love, as well as a couple of Splintered Light Minis boxes (Gnomes and Cave Trolls) for Mighty Armies, and a bunch of Copplestone Castings Barbarians.

Those will be the subject of my next post.