Tuesday 29 November 2016

Norman infantry ready!

I managed to finish (yeah right!) my Norman warband for Saga a few weeks back by painting up a large number of infantry. These include 16 spearmen (warriors), 8 crossbowmen (warriors) and 12 archers (levy). Once again, the miniatures are from Gripping Beast, with shield transfers from Little Big Men Studios.



Group photo of the spearmen:


Crossbowmen:


Archers:


The entire warband:


Monday 7 November 2016

Norman knights for Saga


This is the start of my newest Saga warband: Normans. First up are my warlord, Baron Odo the Outrageous, and 12 knights (mounted hearthguard). The miniatures are from Gripping Beast, with shield transfers and the flag from Little Big Men Studios.


To commemorate the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, I added a printed frieze of the Bayeux Tapestry to the base of Baron Odo. Lets just pretend that this recounts the (forthcoming) exploits of this (as yet untested) mighty warrior.


The transfers from Little Big Men Studios are both beautiful and easy to use. These ones are made specifically for Gripping Beast shields and fit on really well. Unfortunately, about half of the models have shields where the canvas runs over to the back of the shields. This meant that I had to paint "extensions" of the transfers over the edges of the shield. It was a bit challenging to mix the paints to get colours that perfectly blend in with those used in the transfers, but I am quite happy with the end result.



I also tried something new with the flag, which is paper glued onto aluminium foil. Whilst the foil allows for a better "furling in the wind" -effect, it was a bit fiddly to glue into place. This will require more practice.


Sunday 23 October 2016

Pacificon 2016

Ok, I've been a bit sluggish with posting lately, but that doesn't mean I've been idle on the gaming front!

Last month I visited Pacificon, a modest sized gaming convention for roleplayers, board gamers and miniature gamers. I was mostly interested in the latter, and on Saturday there was definitely a lot of eye candy to go around. I took part in an Alamo game (it was the 180th anniversary) and tried a Wild West skirmish game. I also made some purchases, but unfortunately I was quite disappointed with the merchandise available - there were very few miniature related products and a whole lot of roleplaying stuff and board games (especially non-historical games). Nonetheless, it was a fun event.

Knuckleduster miniatures (Wild West)

Forrest Harris was demonstrating the 3D sculpting process used at Knuckleduster, together with his splendid range of 28mm Wild West miniatures. The miniatures were amazing, and I naturally bought a few. The demo game of Desperados was also fun and quite cinematic, though the game seems like it might bog down if more than a handful of characters are used.




Scifi



Battle of San Lorenzo 1867


Zombies!



"Naval" games



 

Ancients







Black Powder era

I think this game was from the War of 1812, but can't remember. It looked great!






Napoleonic warfare (Command and Colours rules)





Napoleonic Peninsular War (Sharp Practice rules)








Iraq 2003







World War 2





The Alamo

I took part in an Alamo game, which was fun. The exact replica of the Alamo and the models were truly stunning. The rules, designed by Texans, were perhaps a bit too partisan, but that didn't stop the Mexicans from storming the fort (after horrendous casualties).















18th century

I love these 60mm woodblock miniatures. They were made by gluing three laser-cut MDF layers on top of each other and then painted. Very old school toy feeling, and definitely durable. The game used Black Powder rules and the guy running it owned a company that makes these.










Racing game




US Civil War (Regimental Fire & Fury)





The loot (aka my purchases)

Besides the three Knuckleduster miniatures, I managed to pick a large lot of scifi minis quite cheaply at the flea market. I love the old GW Necormunda "ratskin scouts". There were a lot of other models also, though I don't know whether I'm going to ever use them. I also picked up two games and a puzzle made by a local family owned gaming company, Lumenaris. The puzzle and 19th century matchmaking game "Suitors and Suitability" are Christmas presents (man am I early this year!).