Wild Blog Post Appeared!

The best laid plans of mice and men and all that.  But, I’m still here, I’m still at least thinking about hobby, so that’s a win right? Between a resurgent depression (managed to not follow through plans though so that's something) and *gestures at world* it's all been a struggle.

But anyway, a few bits by way of update since my last (failed) attempt to get back on the blog horse:

Black Ops
I’ve purchased two small forces for games of Black Ops – from CP Models 15mm range.  I’m going a bit imagi-nations with this, making the bad guys a paramilitary wing of the Freemen-on-the-Land movement and the good guys a special task force trying to take them and their utter nonsense down.  I’m planning quite a bit of fun terrain for this one – although I’m trying to stay the right side of post-apocalyptic looking! (whilst Zona Alfa waves frantically in the distance)

Kobolds & Cobblestones
When looking at my available scenery for The Silver Bayonet I decided to see what else I could conceivably use the same buildings and scatter for.  Well, Kobolds & Cobblestones seemed a good fit – and with Ral Partha Europe’s Demonworld range it was easy enough to put together a couple of gangs’ worth of miscreants.  I opted for the Dwarf Loan Shark and the Orc Warlord characters to lead, pretty much simply because I could get the suitable-looking single minis from RPE!

En Garde!
A further spin-off from the scenery contemplating, this is a very small project pitching Landknechts against an evil warlock of some kind.  The miniatures came from Alternative Armies and are as much an excuse to paint some Landsknechts in a less uniform style than my 10mm Empire force as anything else.

Rampanthammer
I’ve added a third army in the form of a Skaven force.  A mixture of Magister Militum’s Ratmen and 3D printed bits and bobs – got a few more bits being printed to finish this army.  As I will have some 10mm jungle and Aztec scenery I’m toying with adding Lizardmen as an opposing force (although of course the four armies can fight each other for reasons) – if I do that will be from Eureka who have all the good stuff I’d want for the scaly chaps.

Malifaux
I've kept adding bits and bobs to the stack of boxes awaiting their time on the hobby table.  Most recently the Explorer's Society and Outcast starter boxes and a few random single minis for OOK purposes.

Outremer
I've decided to shrink the scale of my previous Outremer stuff - so out with the 28mm and in with the 15mm (waiting on an order).  This will allow me to get double-duty out of most  of the scenery I'll need for The Burning Sands and free up some storage.

As for future plans I think I’m aiming to mostly add finishing touches to existing projects so that I can really start to sink my teeth back into the practical side of the hobby rather than the theoretical and acquisition side!  More scenery across the board is a given – 10mm Rampanthammer scatter/detailing, 15mm Modern paramilitary camp, 15mm The Burning Sands stuff and .  Beyond that there’s a few more Malifaux boxes I want, mostly the Malifaux Burns new title master boxes for my favourites – although I do intend to finish off the Umbra keyword too; and Jedza still catches my eye! 

Anyhoo – the best place to keep up to date with me is probably Twitter (I’m in the friendly hobby bit, honestly, it’s a good vibe!) and I'll be ramping back up on The Wargames Website especially for Rampanthammer as that's the best place for 10mm WFB style stuff, but I fully intend to update this blog, particularly with my ham-fisted attempts at writing background fluff and any interesting WIPs, and anything I actually complete painting! (no laughing at the back!!)

Flags of War - Government Cavalry

Along with the Infantry I've posted previously, the Kickstarter by Flags of War, also funded two packs of Government Dragoons for their Jacobite Rising range.

First, the troops pack, which had sculpts shown during the campaign:

Really nice sculpts, great casts - and simple two-piece minis (horse and rider) to put together.

The command pack wasn't sculpted until after the campaign had concluded but I knew I wanted them so took a punt - I hadn't been disappointed with anything form Flags of War before, so they had my trust to do a good job!  The trust was well founded:

Superb stuff, I'm sure you'll agree - my poor quality photos do not do these justice!

Now, the Jacobite campaign included Bonnie Prince Charlie - the Government commander released this time is the Duke of Cumberland:

You can tell he's a perfect mini to represent an officer... he's pointing!

Flags of War - Government Infantry

Flags of War ran a Kickstarter campaign to fund the start of the Government side miniatures for their Jacobite Rising range.  Of course, having a selection of the Jacobites already in the collection it makes sense for me to have a force to pit them against, so I picked up a few packs to start me off.

First up, the Government Infantry Command to lead my unit:

The Ensigns will have their poles and finials added in due course!

Of course, those chaps need some troops to head up - first the Government Infantry - Firing:

To round out the unit, and to maximise variety given the smaller game-size I tend to play, a pack of Government Infantry - Reloading:

The reloading minis in particular have a lot of character.

The campaign also funded a pack of Government Grenadiers in firing pose - I picked up two packs so that I could make a unit of 6 (typically elite-style infantry in the system I'll likely use):

Flags of War miniatures are amongst the best for this setting - I'm looking forward to their artillery release to add to the Government troops!

Flags of War - Royal-Ecossais

To strengthen my existing Jacobite force I decided to add the Royal-Ecossais.  As with the rest of my miniatures for this setting, I got them from Flags of War.

Of course, I got the Command pack to lead the unit:

The two chaps on the outside will get suitable poles and finials - I have the standards from Flags of War ready to use too.

Of course, I needed some troops - I started with a pack of Firing Royal-Ecossais:

And to finish off a pack of Kneeling Firing Royal-Ecossais:

Like my other Flags of War minis these are top-notch - absolutely lovely sculpts and quality casts.  I really recommend checking out Flags of War if you are interested in wargaming the Jacobite Rising in 28mm!

TTCombat Streets of Venice

I picked up a really good deal on a Carnevale starter set (with extras) and while it comes with street/canal tiles and lots of awesome buildings - and even a gondola! - I knew I'd want some additional scatter terrain to add some life to the table.

Well, it's no surprise that TTCombat have a range dedicated to support their re-release of Carnevale, so I picked up some of their resin packs to add to the collection.

First up, a set of 3 Round Wells:

Two are whole and capped off, the third is broken (asking for a little water effect I guess!).  I think I can probably use these in Gangs of Rome and Broken Legions too.

I also picked up a set of Barrels:

Containing 12 barrels of various sizes, this will come in handy for all sorts of games - pretty much anything fantasy (Burrows & Badgers, Dragon Rampant, Mordheim, Frostgrave), historical (En Garde!, Outremer, TPL, Gangs of Rome) or both (Broken Legions) can make use of these versatile little pieces.

I thought it would be good to add to the Gondola that came in the Carnevale pack for some water-based scenery.  I got the Noble Gondola:

As well as an ornate Gondola (including cushions!) the pack includes three gondola poles to add to the canals for games of Carnevale.

I spotted the Floating Detritus pack and couldn't resist:

The pack includes 14 pieces - from small barrels to collections of wooden junk.  They are all sculpted to look as thought they are floating on the canals of Venice (or the waters of Port Royal).

While finalising my order I came across the Wood Scaffolding MDF kit:

These will help provide routes up to building roof tops in Carnevale, but will also work well for Gangs of Rome in particular.

Gobzalo Pizarro's Conquistagobs

I came across the ShortWars range and couldn't resist the brilliant sculpts - the goblins in particular caught my eye! I think they'll work great for an En Garde! force and while I've probably got too many I couldn't choose what to leave out so decided to prep them all!

First up, the leader, Captain Gobzalo Pizarro himself:

He's armed with dual pistols and sports a mean 'tache.

Here we have (L-R) Lorenzo de Aragon, the wealthy patron of the Conquistagobs, and Hernando the Mad, Gobzalo's right hand goblin (and all round psychopath):

Next up are some hired foreign bodyguards, Konrad (with the hammer) and Heinz (with the sword):

Here are (L-R) Father Salvador, Beatriz and Alvaro:

Now on to the rank and file conquistagobs! First the sword and buckler-armed (L-R) Benito, Carlos, Felipe, Esteban, Hernán and Mateo:

And rounding out the warband, the musketgoblins (L-R) Sancho, Jorge, Hector, Garci, Diego and Alonso:

The sculpts (by Kev Adams) are superb; full of character without being over the top on the detail.  I negotiated a special bundle price and received a few bonus items including the minis for Father Salvador and Beatriz. 

Flags of War - Jacobites

A while ago I backed the campaign by Flags of War to get their Jacobite Rising miniautres range off the ground.  This first release included Lowlanders, Royal Ecossais and, of course, Highlanders.  I opted for enough packs to make a couple of units of charging Highlanders - I'm theming them very very loosely on the Atholl Brigade (so chose the Atholl flags as part of my pledge).

First up, here's the Highlander command:

I got two packs of these - one for each of the units - but they are the same so thought no one would want to see two of the same picture!  They are, like all of the minis I received, full of character and detail without being covered in all sorts of random stuff.  I've got the poles (and finials) for the standards but think I want to trim them down a little but they are just too tough for even my heavy duty clippers!

The first unit is charging Highland muskets:

I took a pack each of the jackets and shirts versions to give maximum variety in the unit.  These will look awesome - but all that plaid is a little daunting to paint I must admit!

I also got the charging Highlanders with broadswords - again a pack each of shirts and jackets:

Unlike the rest of the range these melee fighters have seperate arms (in the main) and a few options.  I've given most the classic broadsword and targe combo, but a couple have pistols in place of their shield and one crazy chap has his dirk at the ready.

I also chose the 'charging characters' pack:

These are (L-R) Alexander MacDonell of Keppoch, The Red Fox, John Roy Stuart and the unnamed Highland Officer with Claymore.  These sculpts are particularly characterful (and considering the minis I've got from this range are all absolutely awesome that's saying a lot).

Finally there was the freebie - but what a freebie! - HRH Prince Charles Edward Stuart (yes, Bonnie Prince Charlie):

You can't really see it, but the saddle is finely detailed with a monogram. A superb miniature.

Next up I'll be texture dipping the bases and, eventually, priming them ready for painting.

 Now, I originally figured I'd use En Garde! as the ruleset for these - but I also think that The Pikeman's Lament will work well too, which also means I'll get more use of the minis as it has a higher model count for a game.  I've gone for individual basing (unlike the other TPL stuff I'm working on) so that I can get easy double-duty out of the minis.

I know that the Government troops are next on Flags of War's list - but I'm really hoping they do the Irish Picquets at some point as based on the quality of these Highlanders I have high hopes of adding their Irish allies to the force!

EDIT: Since posting this Rebels and Patriots has been released and is another candidate for games with these minis, so I've added it to the Labels for this post.

Operation Winter is Coming

Last year (before I started the blog) I ran what I called Operation Winter is Coming on my Instagram.  The idea came from talking to my wife about what to do hobby-wise one day - with winter fast approaching (and therefore the cruddiest of cruddy weather here in the UK) we came to the conclusion that it made sense to concentrate on the prep, assembly, basing and priming of miniatures to get them done and ready for the rainy, wet and colder nights and weekends.  Well, this year I'm taking the same approach to ensure I've got plenty of stuff to paint! (even though the backlog is real)

So, I've sourced and sorted bases to make my hobby supplies look a bit more healthy:

Most of the plastic bases are Warlord Games, the MDF are from the superb JB MDF Wargames Products. I've used them on a few occasions now and I'm always very happy with both the service and the product. I'm hoping to also get some of their scenery; their Adobe stuff looks spot on for Outremer!

So, current plans for Operation Winter is Coming is to compile, prep, assemble, base and prime the following projects:

MacSweeney's Company - Irish Confederation/ECW force for The Pikeman's Lament
Forannán's War Host - Irish Dark Ages force for Saga
Gobzalo Pizarro's Conquistagobs - Goblin Conquistador warband for En Garde!
The Atholl Brigade - Highlander Jacobites for En Garde!

Hopefully I'll get all this in place ready to prime when the weather permits!