All your base are belong to Polyfilla.

Well, that is the case for the Barbarians anyway.  Spent the last couple of mornings after work doing all the filler work on all the bases I'd already assembled, and I have sorted out a little force that I'll get to painting as soon as possible.

Going with General, Shaman, 5 Infantry bases, 2 Scout Archer bases and some Snow Trolls.

Plan for tonight is to get the majority of the painting done on the bases before work.

Big Update.

So, yeah, I have been pretty busy between work and the kids being off for Easter...

...but I've still managed to get a bit done.

Orders arrived in from Copplestone and Veni Vidi Vici so I have all the resin terrain pieces, some Archers and some handy 15mm scale Viking transfers and basing paste.  As well as a free tape measure.

Ok, so, on the painting front, I've finished 3 bases of Beastmen, one each of Additional Hand Weapons, Spears and Armoured with Great Weapons.  I didn't go with the snow style bases, as I wanted to have them rampaging through the undergrowth, and when I add the Chariot conversions, well, they will have wheels, not runners, so they wouldn't work too well in snow...

Pig Stickers

Pig Sick

Pig Headed

 I really like the various shades of blue, with each model being sprayed, inked, and then drybrushed 3 different shades.  I have some purple ones started as well, I'll mix these in to further bases, and I have some based up to act as high ranking Beastmen on the Command stands.

"They call me MR. PIG!"

 And I've done a conversion of one of the Beastmen with a Chariot Miniatures Wielder of Magic to make a Beastman Shaman.

Hogwart's School.  Class of '12.

Apologies.  I'm out of puns at the moment.

Nothing too complex for starters, just a headswap and a little putty work to cover up the saw marks.

I think I'll follow the general build of my Cave Imp army for these guys, but as there are no missile troops, it'll be -

• General
• Shaman
• 2 x Additional Hand Weapon (rather than Clubbers)
• 2 x Spears
• 2 x Armoured Beastmen (rather than Slingers)
• 2 x Monstrous Beastmen Berserkers (rather than Cave Lizards)

I still need to pick up the  Beastmen Berserkers, although I have started painting up the Champion from the Beastmen heroes pack.

He'll either get mixed in with one of the bases, or I'll base him up on a 50x50 base with a few smaller Beastmen around him, and use him as a unit filler model that counts as two stands.

I also grabbed one of the Flames of War small barns from Warbases to paint up as a test piece, rather than tiling the roof, I used some fake fur to give it a thatched look, as it ties in better for Fantasy/Dark Age style games.  The wood panelling was hand painted (whilst tipsy), because I figured the lines didn't need to be too straight...

A house, a house, my kingdom for a house.

Infantry for scale.

So, yeah, that's about it for the update.  I did get my PSC Panthers in, and have built one of them up, absolutely cracking kits.  I also might have to get some more after reading this...

Finally, I ordered the Wolven from Rebel minis, as well as a few other bits and bobs, I'll list them when they arrive.

Cheers.

The Icelords of Isthak

Well, I guess I'd better catalogue my order for the Demonworld stuff eh?

I managed to snag a couple of blisters (including postage) of Empire Mammoth Hunters on ebay for less than the price of a unit, as I figured they might work with the Copplestone ones.

And then I went a bit mental and ordered a bunch of stuff -

Beastmen with Hand Weapons (40)
Beastmen with Spears (40)
Armoured Beastmen (32)
Beastmen Polar Bear Riders (8)
Ice Witch Furies (40)
Snow Barbarians (40)
Snow Cannon
Ice Witch Battlesled
Ice Witch Personalities (5)
Isthak Human Commanders (4)
Warlocks & Necromancers (6)
Zombies (40)
Demons (6)


oh, and some Thain Wolf Spirits for my Barbarian Shaman bases.

I do really want to play Demonworld, although, it seems to be mainly a German thing, and I even went as far as getting a bunch of bases cut by Martin at Warbases (support your local business, right?).  I dug out the Battlelore board, and the hex bases fit on it, but I might just stick them on 50x25mm bases, so that they work for Mighty Armies and my own rules, which are still unnacounted for...

I did get around to cleaning up the full unit of Spearmen and Armoured Beastmen, had them primed and inked, and then figured that I would base them in 3's rather than 4's.  Being that there are generally 3 sculpts per unit, it looks a bit better IMO.

I'm going to try and get a few bases done over the next couple of days, as a Mighty Armies force, probably based the same as my Barbarians.  I'm not sure that I'll use the Polar Bear Riders as is, I think there might be a few purchases made from the Thain range to outfit them with Giant Boars and Boar Chariots.

 Speaking of which, as I said earlier I've ordered a couple of packs of the Barbarian Archers, as well as the 3 terrain pieces from Copplestone, which should be here soon.  I'll probably pick up the Picts too at some point, but I'll wait for a few more packs to be released first.  Is it just me, or would they make fine 15mm Orcs?

 And these Wolven models from Rebel Minis are just screaming (howling?) out to be bought and added to the Barbarian horde.

Bugger.

Yes, I'm still alive. No, I'm not zombie Jesus...

Been a while eh?  I blame that Dunc fellow for jinxing me...

Well, it's been an eventful start to the year, though sadly, not on the gaming front.  The festive period is always a bit mental in retail, right through to Easter, so I've been pretty busy at work, and to top it off, Mrs. G fell down the stairs and dislocated/broke her coccyx...  Fast forward about 5 weeks, to the night before she was due back at work, and she walked into a radiator and dislocated/broke her toe.


Ditz.

On the hobby front, I've assembled a couple of boxes of PSC's Panzer VI H's.  I'm taking the time to make them all unique with battle damage and stowage.  I'll do a more detailed explanation when I get some pictures up.

My homebrew rules that I was working on have, over the rearranging of everything that is Christmas, gone AWOL.  Luckily I have some bits typed up, but I am missing a lot of the scribbled notes, which is a bit of a bummer.


I have picked up the Demonworld rules and Army Books, and have a chunk of Isthak models to be getting on with.  Part of me wants to base them up as a Demonworld force, although, I imagine opponents would be few and far between (always an excuse to do a 2nd army...) and part of me thinks I should base them up for my homebrew rules.  Still undecided.

Oh, and I ordered some of the new Copplestone Barbarian Archers, and the resin terrain pieces.

I think what really prompted me to post though, and this is probably brought on by a real sense of unfulfilment at work, is a recurring dream of boxed sets of 15mm plastic fantasy figures.


Yeah, start small eh?  I know it is unlikely to ever be realised (by me anyway) barring any sort of lottery win or unbeknown relation suddenly shuffling of the mortal coil, but it keeps coming back to me.

Obviously, there are numerous questions to be asked, like, why has nobody done it before, or, if they have, how come I can't find any mention of it?  Is there even a market for it?  And all sorts of technical issues to be dealt with, like, how much does a sprue mould (mold?) cost exactly?  Going rates for sculptors, 3 ups, undercuts, marketing etc etc.

Still, we live in hope.

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 IV (and other stuff)

Of course, my knowledge of Roman numerals is nowhere near as great as my capacity for buying stuff, so I may have to work out a new heading method...


Anyway, orders arrived this morning from Copplestone and Fighting 15's, haul as follows -

Copplestone -

3 x Barbarian Command packs - because I wanted 2 army standards for the base stand, plus a spare one for a chariot conversion.  Plus, 9 units worth of command will be good for the army.

2 x Shapechangers & Cave Bears - I wasn't overly concerned about the Bears, but the Barbarians with two-handed weapons are sweet, and will make do as the start of a small unit.  I've emailed Mark about them being released separately, and he said he'll see what he can do.

1 x Snow Trolls - because I needed another one to go with...

1 x Yetis - Yeah, they are 28mm scale, but should make a very imposing Champion/Hero model for my Snow Trolls.

Fighting 15's - Eureka 18mm Fantasy

A selection of Uruk-hai, to do a Lord of the Rings themed Mighty Armies force.  One pack each of Armoured Man-orc Command, Crossbows, Pikes and Blades, as well as Orc Command and Orcs on Fell Beasts with Blade.  Which are 'Warg Riders' and not to be confused with the other type of fell beast.  Like this -

Copplestone 10mm Fantasy

Which is from Copplestone's 10mm Fantasy line, and was painted a couple of years ago.

I like the Eureka stuff and will definitely be ordering more (at some point, he says, remembering rash New Year Resolutions) and will aim for full 40AP forces of the Fighting Uruk-hai (Armoured Man-Orcs), Uruk-hai Scouts (Man-Orc light infantry), Orcs (Errrr... orcs) and Warg Riders (Orcs on fell beasts).  I'll have to re-check the Wielders of Magic pack I picked up from Magister Militum to see if I have a suitable Saruman, or start browsing to see if I can locate one.  Having painted a huge 28mm Uruk-hai army in the past, I'm pretty sure I can use the same colours and methods on these guys.  Painting white hands on the shields might be a challenge though.


In other news (of the non-financial variety) I've assembled 2 Panther A's for my Flames of War force, and they are really bugging me.  Drilling out tiny gun barrels is not the stuff fun is made of...  I've also built the Famo and an 8rad, as well as the two Stug G's, which are being used as test pieces for camo.  This has brought home why I shy away from historical stuff, as prescribed uniforms really aren't my thing.  Don't even get me started on insignia.

I shall endevour to get some WIP pictures up in the morning after work, as well as updating the Backlog (of Doom!), and, barring the orders from Rebel Minis and Khurasan, that should be it for the year.  If/when I make that big Splintered Light sale order, it won't arrive until January anyway.

Caved (bear) in...

Ok, so I caved in and ordered some of the Barbarian Command packs, some of the Shapechangers and Cave Bears, more Snow Trolls, and a pack of the 28mm Yeti's to use as Snow Troll Heroes.

I've also added a new page, which has a listing of my entire 15mm backlog, as a motivator for myself to get working on stuff.  It's a big list, so I expect progress will be slow between the various things I have to do.

Dunc, over at Dunc's Persistent Tangent has been looking over his past year in gaming, and looking to the future, and has asked for readers to share their plans for 2012.

So, here goes -

• Stop Smoking.  Not strictly speaking gaming related, but, tennuosly, it means I will have more funds for toy soldiers...
• Stop Spending so much on Toy Soldiers.  Kinda at an impasse with the above.  I plan on taking advantage of the Splintered Light sale before the end of the year, and, once a few more things I'm after are released, I'm going to treat myself to a huge Demonworld order, and I want to keep up to date with the Copplestone 15mm releases, but that is pretty much it, until I clear a large chunk of the backlog.  Honest.  (This doesn't apply to hobby supplies such as brushes, paints, glue, basing materials however.)
• Pay off the Credit Card/Overdraft.  Ah, now we are getting somewhere, should be a bit easier if I can stick to the first two.
• Clear out some of the stuff I'm never going to use, or haven't looked at for years.  Which would also help with the above.
• Paint lots.  And lots.  Barring my commission work, I'm really going to make 15mm the focus of 2012.  It might be overly optimistic to say I want to do an army a month, so I think 6 40AP Mighty Armies forces as a minimum over the course of the year is an attainable goal. 
• Sort out a decent lighting set-up and learn how to use the digital camera better.
• Get my 15mm Fantasy rules to a stage where they can be put into pdf form.  

So, that's my plans for 2012.  Some easier than others, but, all attainable with the right amount of willpower and support.

I'll echo Dunc's question, and ask "What are your hobby plans for 2012?"

New 15mm Northlanders and Similar

From Copplestone -

Just released a 4 new 15mm packs:

http://www.copplestonecastings.co.uk/range.php?range=FM

FM7 Barbarian Command. 

3 chieftains in mail shirts, 3 hornblowers and 4 standard-bearers - one army totem (the Giant Elk skull) and 3 clan totems (the Aurochs Clan, the Bear Clan and the Wolf Clan), all marked with runes of power.

Image copyright of Copplestone Castings.  Used with permission.

FM8 Shapechangers and Bears

3 mighty, heavily-bearded men with the huge bears into which they can transform themselves.

Image copyright of Copplestone Castings.  Used with permission.

 FM9 Cave Bears

The 3 bears from FM8 without the shapechangers.

Image copyright of Copplestone Castings.  Used with permission.

FM10 Wolf Pack

16 wolves in 4 different poses. Please note that these wolves are the same as TM8 10mm Giant Wolves with the addition of an extra pose.

Image copyright of Copplestone Castings.  Used with permission.

Next 15mm packs: Barbarian Archers and a Mammoth.

And to go with them -

Image copyright of Ral Partha Europe.

22 different packs for the Warlords of Thain, including the much anticipated (on my behalf) Wolf Spirits.



Good stuff indeed, will be putting in an order very soon.

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.

  

Apparently, it's not babysitting

if they are your own children...


Still, babysitting duties aside, between shipping the Punk Princess out to Granny's for the night, putting the Baby Princess to bed, and letting the Fairy Princess watch her 'animal programs', I've managed to clean up and assemble 3 bases of CC Yeti's and 2 bases of Northlanders.

I've started re-arranging things, so that, where possible, I'm sitting with units of 6 bases, or 3 for the bigger ones.  Firstly, because I have a feeling this is roughly what I want to work into my own rules as being the 'standard' unit formation, and secondly, more importantly, because once you add the command models into the middle of the front rank, it looks cool, like a proper unit, and that is kinda the whole point of things.

Saying that, I'm now sitting with 2 units of Northlanders that are 5 bases strong.  The 6th base in each unit will be the command base (leader, banner, musician - pretty standard fare) once the models are released, with another set of 5 bases to clean up and assemble, 3 bases of Werewolves, with another 3 bases to clean up and assemble, 3 bases of Yetis, 6 bases of Giant Wolves, well, 7, but that extra base will be a test piece, a Giant Werewolf, and a hero type base.  Then there is the SLM Mountain Giant, who will be squeezed in as a Frost Giant, and the Greater Wyvern, who will make a fine, if rather imposing, Ice Drake.  Oh, and the beardless Northlanders, who will be drafted as Young Barbarians.

I still have a whole bunch of hero type models to do, but I'm waiting on some Demonworld releases to sort out my Shaman bases, and maybe tart up the General's base a bit.

I somehow managed to put another order into Tin Soldier UK...  Not quite sure how that happened, but it should provide a nice selection of random fantasy type stuff to muck about with.

Heading out for the nightshift now, but, Princess permitting (I can't wait until they are old enough to want a long lie on a Saturday morning), I'm hoping to get the next 5 bases of Northlanders cleaned up and assembled.  Purely because I promised the Fairy Princess she could do all the breaking up of the cork placemat for the rocks on the bases.