The ADHS Diaries - part 11

 

Well with one thing or another *cough*brain gremlins*cough* it has been a while since I posted a diary here - but nevermind, let's run through where I am with various things that have been done since the last post!

Bolt Action
The antifascists' tractor came and is prepped.  As is the North Korean and American forces for some Korean War gaming.  I think that'll be it for Bolt Action, unless a) I get massively inspired by some relatively obscure battle and b) Pendraken have the options for me to do it.  Not like I haven't got plenty of forces to be cracking on with painting!!

Burrows and Badgers
I have the TTCombat Ancient Beacon from their Savage Domain range to build - looks a bit fiddly though so it has sat in cellophane for a while now.  I aim to get the new giant Bear from Oathsworn soon, but otherwise this collection is complete... until something else is released that'll fit in The Bear's Wood setting we have!

Carnevale
The models I mentioned last time arrived and have been prepped.  There's still a few I'd like to pick up at some point, but as it would require more cobblestone bases as well they aren't a priority. Still, got lots to be getting painted now!

Gorkamorka
I built the TTCombat Orc Lookout - and added a couple more hired gun type dudes using the new (by my standards) Necromunda minis; a krump-mad Digga (Goliath with a couple of Orky glyph bitz) and a sneaky Mutie on his bug-like steed (Dustback Helamite). That should be it for now; but maybe some more scenery if anything crops up!

Hardwired/Reality's Edge
The printed minis I'd ordered have all come - including cool versions of John Wick and Tybalt (Baz Luhrmann movie style).  Still need to decipher from Reality's Edge what else we might need in terms of NPCs/random encounters/programs but think the character-side is mostly there now unless Papsikels or UNIT9 release more cool minis 😅

Malifaux
As things stand the only things left to prep are Plague/Vermin, Amalgam, Tri-Chi, Swampfiend, DUA/Umbra, Syndicate, Wastrel and Frontier keywords.  I've got to get more bases to finish the Resser versatiles and there's a few Big Hat and Kin minis also to prep.

Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game
Everything is prepped, primed and actually sorted.  I've also prepped and primed the Gondor ruins from the starter box and the Gondor Tower I picked up.  I've got the four hobbits coming - only need a Boromir and Gandalf the Grey and I've somehow ended up with a Fellowship (OK, well not got Bill the Pony either).

Moonstone
Regular readers will know that when I don't have a good plan come a new hobby fund period that I get a bit impulsive... well that happened in April.  Thanks to a show special that Goblin King Games kindly made available on their website as well I picked up the starter set, rule book and expansion book.  To each of the forces (Commonwealth and Dominion) I added an airship and a big dude (giant/troll).  I'm planning on just using pretty much the same scenery as for Burrows and Badgers so don't anticipate needing to go too wild with this one.  Just couldn't resist the Labyrinth vibes!

Of Gods and Mortals
I'd got two gods/goddesses for the Greek force already (Ares and Athena) so figured it only fair to add second options to all the other forces we have.  They are all here (mostly via 3d printers on Etsy) - Wadjet for the Egyptians, Tyr for the Norse, Vishnu for the Indians, The Morrigan for the Celts and Perun for the Slavs.  The scales are a little mixed across the various gods and goddesses, but they are all significantly taller than the 15mm stuff I've used for troops so I'm happy enough!

Punkapocalyptic
So... what happened in April (see Moonstone above) happened again in May - I got the Punkapocalyptic starter set (Gangers and Mutards) as well as the Ganger and Mutard boxes.  I also got the Children of the Black Blood box, Momma Nutritora and a couple more Children.  I also got a couple of 3d printed Warboys - although they are a little taller than the official models they'll do to pad out the gang.  I do need some suitable post-apocalyptic terrain now though!

Rampanthammer
Everything is prepped and primed for the Empire, Nurgle and Skaven forces.  Just a matter of painting now!

Sengoku Monster Hunter
I've prepped a few more monsters from Alternative Armies that I hadn't gotten round to picking up.  Also got a gnarly 'final boss' style mini from an Etsy 3d printer - it's called 'Shrine Keeper' and looks like something out of a Sengoku JRPG.  Pretty much a must get then eh?

The Silver Bayonet
I got the Carpathians expansion - managed to find a suitable Forest Witch mini (via the Joan of Arc boardgame and a boxsplitter in France no less!).  Now to find some of the other options in 15-18mm...

Star Wars Legion
Got everything for this that I fancy - bases all sorted now too.  Only stalled because I can't face the LAAT/le build and I wanted to get it all done at the same time 😕


And everything else...
Other than the Infinity collection, everything else is all prepped and primed waiting for painting.  Infinity needs a massive amount of spoons to face assembling so unfortunately will likely sit sorted in their baggies with the resin bases.  As the resin bases are no longer available due to Antenociti's Workshop disappearing I can't really add anything more to Infinity so there's that at least in its favour!


Looking ahead...
Another hobby fund period looms and I'm trying to decide what to go for.  I know I have to finalise my Gangs of Rome KS but I'm not massively inspired by that now so will probably stick with just the rulebook.  Otherwise, the Giant Bear for Burrows and Badgers is an option to cross off the wishlist and I need to buy some resin bases to finish my Ressers... and I have spotted a couple of well-timed summer sales coming up that might mean a project or two I've been contemplating for a while become possible... all subject to change of course!! There's also the new Pendraken Russo-Japanese range that is ripe for a small project if I work out a couple of lists... decisions, decisions!  For a future hobby fund will be the final two Malifaux faction starters (Guild and Ressers) when they eventually drop at least.

It feels like the acquisition phase of my hobbying is greatly slowing down - barring 10mm Sikh Wars and Three Kindgoms China appearing somewhere that is!! 

Which means I may actually get painting and then gaming one day! 😲

The ADHS Diaries - part 10

Time for a catch up diary post... with added run down of current hobby fund purchases!

Bolt Action
I decided to get a different tractor for the antifascists (seeing as I seem to have lost part of the original one I did get...).  That'll hopefully encourage me to finish prepping this project as the vile fascists have been prepped for some time.  Then it's just the two forces for the Korean War and that's everything prepped.

Burrows & Badgers
I've got a few scenery bits and pieces coming for this from a range of sources; Alternative Armies, TTCombat, Spellcrow and a random 3D printer.

Carnevale
Well seeing as TTCombat finally added some things I'd been waiting for (ie. the Paladin of St Lazarus) to the single miniatures on their website I've got stuff coming to use up all the current cobblestone resin bases - a Barber and Butcher for the Guild, a Nurse for the Doctors, a Cat Burglar for the Patricians and the Paladin and the Angel of the Blooded Rose for the Vatican.

Gorkamorka

I finally got round to adding the Orc Lookout MDF kit from TTCombat to an order - this should go quite nicely with the Speed Freeks scenery I got recently.

Hardwired/Reality's Edge
A 3D printer I've used on Etsy had a sale on so I've ordered a selection of cyberpunk minis that I've had my eyes on for a while now.  Still need to get some minis as Avatars for Reality's Edge, but pretty well set for Hardwired once they are all prepped.

Malifaux
I've pre-ordered the Arcanist and Ten Thunders Starters.  Ties back to Mei Feng being my first purchase!  I've also got some Charm Warders coming to add to my Shenlong crew - eventually I'll get the Devoted Students box, but for now the hobby fund doesn't allow for them unfortunately.

Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game
Some actual hobby to report on this one - I've painted all the Dead of Dunharrow force! They are awaiting vegetation on bases - but still deciding what to do as I intend all the MESBG stuff we have to be based the same.  I've also prepped some stuff for the Mordor and Harad forces - got a couple more minis on order too.  I also realised I did a really shoddy job removing mould lines from a bunch of Rohan and Harad troops - luckly I spotted before priming, so I need to go back and fix that before they get their undercoat.

Rampanthammer
On a whim I've decided to add another unit each to our Empire, Chaos and Skaven armies - Dogs of War Birdmen for the Empire, an ancient Dragon Ogre for the forces of Chaos and a Plague Catapult to add to the ratmen.  Think that'll do now unless one of the 3D sculptors out there does something I can't resist.

The Silver Bayonet
I've finally ordered the Bone Cart from Alternative Armies - and seeing as their Spring Mega Event is on I took advantage and have added Jack Frost to the collection.

Star Wars Legion
I've ordered some bases that, hopefully, will match the official ones a bit better in size.  I've also ordered an Imperial Officer to add to the Empire side, mostly cause I wanted a mini with a little holoprojector communicator in their hand cause I thought it'd be cool to paint!

Operation Winter Is Coming 2022

Long-time readers may recall previous years O:WiC where I try to prep as much as possible (ie. clean up, assemble, sand dip and prime) before the winter really hits here.  I've been beavering away and while I don't have any pictures (out of the habit a bit!) I wanted to note here, for myself if nothing else, where I'm at right now.

Malifaux
I've got my Sonnia crew box and the Witching Hour box all prepped and primed now - not sure I'm going to add anything to the Witch Hunter keyword, so that's that one done I think.  I've also prepped 2/7s of the Crossroads Seven - namely Gluttony for the Bayou and Sloth for the Ressers.  Not entirely sure why I decided to do those two, it was pretty much on a whim one day!

I've asked for this year's Rotten Harvest boxes for my forthcoming birthday, so that'll net me another Guild posse in the form of a Day of the Dead themed Lady Justice. Watch this space for that one - and yes, it'll mean I have a second Santa Muerte in the collection!

The Men Who Would Be Kings
I got the Pendraken Zulu War pack which includes British and Zulu forces and have got those prepped too.  I need to get a few more bases to finish the Zulu side (I opted for oval bases and ran out after four units!).

I note that Pendraken have previewed their Russo-Japanese war range refresh, which is likely to lead to another TMWWBK project at some point - although not necessarily this side of Winter!

When Bad Meets Evil
I noticed that with the British side above, if I picked up some Boers from Pendraken I could also play some Anglo-Boer war games.  I plan to get these, with a blockhouse, come pay day later this week.

Dracula's America
I already have all the posses I'd want for this, but there were a few summons and unwanted guests that I didn't have.  I got the Crucible Crush Fearsome Flying Head for one of these, the rest I found suitable minis for in the Rocket Pig Games range which I had printed by Fully Cycled.

The Silver Bayonet
I've added a small number of extra members of l'Ordre - an Imam, a Vivandiere and a Nun.  I've also got a Rabbi on order (come on Xyston, pull your finger out!) and he'll have a Golem (Rocket Pig again).  I've also added a mascot for my band in the form of a Pyrenean Mountain Dog.  I've acquired a couple more monsters too - bigger, more gnarly things than the rulebook contains...

The Burning Sands
Only a Sand Worm (Rocket Pig) and a boulder-lobbing Giant (Alternative Armies) for this - although I intend to add a few more bits and bobs before Winter arrives!

Proxima Centauri
I've added a few more character miniatures, as well as a group of mercenaries - all from Alternative Armies various 15mm sci-fi ranges.

Scenery
I've got a few random scenery bits and pieces - 15mm sheep pen and chicken coop (primarily for The Silver Bayonet, but good for En Garde and even Kobolds and Cobblestones perhaps), some 15mm wattle fences and, a rather hefty Causeway for 10mm (total impulse purchase cause it was really cheap!).

Of Gods and Mortals
I've got a Norse force prepped and primed now - Freyja from Bad Squiddo (via a competition I won from MiniMentions on Twitter), other stuff from Copplestone, Magister Militum and Bandua.  I keep toying with ideas around a few other mythologies - Celtic and Japanese but Slavic never totally disappears from my mind!

Bolt Action

I'm aiming to add some Korean War to the 10mm Bolt Action collection - going for American and North Korean.  I'm aiming for the 65th Infantry - The Borinqueneers - but I might add a unit of Fighting Fillipinos.  

Not too bad... now to plot and plan for payday!

Battlescale - an unashamedly enthusiastic overview

I've made no bones about the fact that if there's one part of the wargaming hobby that I do not enjoy it is scenery and terrain. 

I freely admit that I lack the skills to scratch build my own pieces - and indeed I have no inclination or desire to learn these skills - so what is a wargamer like me to do?

Of course, for 28mm there are plenty of MDF options that provide a cost effective solution for the sceneryphobe... but what about scenery to go with smaller metal peeps? 

My favoured size for non-skirmish gaming is 10mm thanks to the large and varied ranges at places like Pendraken coupled with the ease of storage for forces.  But unless we want to wage war on Planet Bowling Ball we still have that scenery problem don't we?

Well, no... thanks to Battlescale there is a superlative option for 10mm (and 6mm, and 3mm etc.) buildings and scenics.  I first found them when I was looking for some suitable buildings for my Tyrone's Rebellion project (see my previous post for more pics)

I'm sure you'll agree that even with my ham-fisted painting the detail and texture in these pieces makes them really look the part!

I was hooked.  I have since added Timber-Framed and Clapboard buildings for various projects - as well as some Adobe buildings for my Operation Compass games and various pieces for general WW2 games set across North and East Europe.

Battlescale are the first, and so far only, company where I have seen some scenery and then looked to find a project to suit! Let that sink in...as a sceneryphobe I'm not sure I can give higher praise than that! (It's an imagi-nations project making use of the Battlescale Mediterranean buildings by the way).

The buildings, hedges, walls and more that I have from Battlescale - regardless of what era or theatre they are for - are all wonderfully detailed and made with care (honestly, no resin product from anyone in any scale comes anywhere near - and I've had a fair few in my years of wargaming!). 

If you have a need for some scenery at smaller sizes please do consider Battlescale -  I strongly feel that as wargamers and hobbyists we need to offer our support and custom to those smaller companies putting out top-quality products for our wonderful shared hobby, and I can think of no higher quality than Battlescale.

NB I'm not on the payroll of Battlescale - I'm just a very very happy customer that felt like waxing lyrical and putting some positivity out there!

Finns

Next up in the 10mm WW2 project line is the Finns.  All minis are from Pendraken.

Starting with the HQ and their ride:

I've got three infantry squads - all very similar so I've only photographed one.  In my list one will be a Sissi squad (partially for cool, partially for point bump):

You might spot that the LMG chap doesn't quite fit... well Pendraken don't have a suitable Finnish LMG for this project, so having seen some Finns in the range with Ushanka I thought I'd use a couple of spare Soviets.  I think that once suitably painted they should look OK.

I also included an AT Rifle team to help balance them against my intended Soviet list:

Finally one of the inspirations for this particular force was the Sturmi, more commonly known as the StuG - so naturally I had to include one!

I've got some Winter Soviets to pit against the Finns - so look out for those here in the future

Soviet Tank Hunters

A little while ago I posted my Romanian What If force - well their opponents are here in the form of some Soviet Tank Hunters!

All the minis are from Pendraken of course!

First, of course, the HQ:

And the obligatory Infantry squads (pretty much identical so only one photographed at this stage!):

Of course there's the free squad too - that doesn't have an LMG of course!

I'm pretty sure some Tank Hunters need some tank killing capability though... enter a Dog Mine Team and a pair of AT Rifles:

I can't help but tie Soviets and Snipers together so took a Sniper Detachment too:

On to the vehicles now - starting with the humble Gaz 'Jeep' (probably for HQ ferrying):

And, if you have been following my 10mm WW2 posts you'll know I love an Armoured Car - so here's a BA-10:

Finishing off the force in some style is the SU-85:

To be honest, I don't much fancy the chances of the Romanians...

Romanians

And the next force in my 10mm WW2 project is Romanians - you might remember from previous posts this is to provide an Eastern Front gaming opportunity and also it's a bit of a 'what if' (more on that later).  Everything is from Pendraken's range - it was seeing just how many options they had for the Romanians that convinced me to take the plunge on this particular force.

Anyway, like almost always, we start with a Lieutenant and his buddies:

And, equally as almost always, an infantry squad (two of these, but as they are the same composition I've only photographed one):

I also included a mortar - with spotter:

And a couple of pieces of artillery to make use of one of the Romanian special rules:

Of course, these meant I'd need some tows - I ended up going for a couple of Artillery Tractors.  These are Komsomolets, which is fudging it a bit, but I really didn't fancy any more Blitzes or other trucks cause I've got plenty of those in other forces!

Finally, and this is the prime 'what if' - a Panther Ausf.G.  From everything I have been able to find out the Romanians didn't get any of these until after the war - but that's no barrier to me!  

Now if Pendraken do one of the TACAMs then I'd certainly be inspired to add that as an option to make it a little less of a 'what if' force!

But that Panther won't have gone unnoticed in my 'what if' world... I'm sure those Soviets will have something up their sleeve to counter it...

Target Practice

You may remember me posting Black's Division previously - well of course I needed some Nazis to kill with them (which I called Target Practice when I was writing the list and planning purchases).  These are all from Pendraken's Winter Germans.

Of course any standard BA force starts with an Officer to lead it (usually with a bodyguard or two):

And then a couple of units of infantry of course - as they are the same equipment I've only photographed one:

For support I took an MMG team:

And for thematic purposes a Truck (which I imagine being used to carry the Nazi's prisoners):

And finally an SdKfz 222 Armoured Car - used as a show of strength to cow the local populace no doubt... if only Black's Division had something to blow it up... 😉

I think it'll be interesting coming up with some special scenarios for this force against Black's Division!

Black's Division

A project I've been wanting to do for a while is a tribute to Josef Serinek the Romani hero.  A First World War soldier, a prisoner in a concentration camp and then a partisan commander (a useful primer for anyone interested can be found at romea.cz).  His partisan brigade was known commonly as Černý ('Black') a reference to Serinek's skin.  I wanted to make a 'what if' force to represent Serinek and his partisans taking the fight right to the Nazis - so took a few artistic wargaming liberties with the force list.

I got Pendraken minis from a variety of their ranges - including Partizans from the French range, various options from the International Brigade part of the Spanish Civil War range and a few Soviets left over from another project to reflect that Black's Division included escaped Soviet prisoners of war (admittedly in a rather on the nose way, but the variety doesn't hurt for a Partisan force I feel).

Anyway, on to the minis - first up Serinek himsel and a couple of his trusted men:

I've got a couple of units of partisans - from pretty much the same pool of miniatures so I've taken a pic of one such unit to give an idea:

So far so normal really - rifles, a few home-made anti-tank grenades and a couple of SMGs.  For the 'what if' I tooled them up a bit - a couple of support teams; MMG and Mortar:

And as those vile Nazis are rumoured to be flexing with an armoured car to opress the locals Serinek must have come up with a special plan and acquired an old, but still serviceable field gun - must have been hidden in an old barn covered with a tarp or something!:

Of course to lug the gun around and the like the Partisans needed some transport - thankfully the French and Spanish Civil War ranges from Pendraken had some good civilian vehicle options:

I'm inspired by the line from the romea.cz article "Josef reportedly never took prisoners and always remembered the atrocities and crimes committed against the defenseless prisoners of the Lety camp." - I hope my version of Black's Division is able to reflect that against the Nazis on the tabletop.

Operation Compass British

You might have seen my Operation Compass Italians recently - well of course we needed someone to blow up the fascists, so here's the British Armoured Brigade!

Starting with an A13 and a pair of A10s:

And rounding out the tanks a pair of A9s - I love the two MMG turrets on this tank!

For an armoured car option I took the Morris CS9:

And forming the motor pool - a couple of different weights of truck and a Bren Carrier:

Of course the motor pool needs some footsloggers to ferry about - starting with the ubiquitous Artillery Observer and a 2 pounder:

Finally an infantry squad with LMG:

All the minis came from Pendraken - top quality, value and service as always.

Operation Compass Italian

Today I'm sharing my Italian Armoured Brigade inspired by Operation Compass.  The miniatures are all from Pendraken.

As it's an armoured brigade the bulk of this particular force is tanks - first up a trio of M11/39s:

A duo of M13/40s finishes off the tank element of the force:

You might have seen me mention that I rather like armoured cars - so for this force I opted for an Autoblinda 41 (OK, so slightly out of date but all this is a 'what if' anyway - maybe it was an early converted turret! 😜):

To provide the footsloggers with some transport I got a truck and a Fiat:

And the aforementioned foot sloggers - an MMG team:

And an infantry squad - with LMG:

As with everything else I've ever had from Pendraken the casts are clean with minimal clean up required.  The detail is what I think of as 'right' for the scale - enough to pick out bits of equipment and webbing and the like but not enough to be daunting at 10mm.