War World Scenics

Prior to lockdowns all over the place for COVID-19 I was building up a little stock of essential hobby products - for me one of these essentials is tufts!

So, alongside staples like Serious-Play Scenics and Boon Town Metals that I covered recently, I went back to a company I've used from time to time before - War World Scenics.

Their products are really good value - so I took the opportunity to get some versatile pieces.

First up Spring tufts - 2mm:

And Summer version too - again 2mm:

Nice rich greens in the Summer one especially.

Finally for this order I picked up some Summer Alpine 2mm (left) and 4mm (right):

I quite like the additional texture the rocks bring - I don't have a project specifically in mind for these but I'm sure I'll come up with something! (or a new project perhaps!)

The service from War World Scenics was top notch - really smooth and packed in a suitably sized shallow box to protect the tufts in transit.  They are definitely on the go to list for this kind of product for me!

Boon Town Metals - Scenic Selection

Boon Town Metals specialises in 15mm minis - but I chanced across them through their Scenic Selection range when I was looking to bolster my supplies and variety of tufts. I picked up a couple of packs of 2mm Summer Grass tufts - like a lot of their tufts range they are available as dots or natural; this order I opted for natural. As you can see there are a nice variety of dot size ones and larger patches in each pack:

I also took the opportunity to grab some flower tufts - first up Small Summer Flowers (Yellow):

And Small Summer Flowers (White):

They have an absolutely awesome range - including nettles, spikier plants and various colours of grass and flower as well as static grass packs and even pre-painted bases.  Great value too - I'll definitely be going back for more from Boon Town Metals!

Fenris Games - Miniatures and Scenery

I'd long admired the products of Fenris Games but with one thing or another just hadn't made any purchases. Well, a while ago I backed their KS for The Cauldron Warband - a rather foul, nasty and awesome set of plague-themed fantasy miniatures.

Unfortunately funds were tight at the time, so I could only really spring for a single miniature - Septus Caemia, Undead Legionary:

I intend to use them as a Demigod mercenary for Broken Legions.  The sculpt has just the right amount of detail and the pose is fitting for my intended use too.  It's a single piece casting and had minimal flash etc to clean up.  All in all a really nice mini!

When it came time for the pledge manager I had a bit more spare cash so decided to pick up a scenic piece I'd been eyeing for a while - the Celtic Tall Cross.

It's a tall piece, almost 3 2/4" tall.  I think it'll make a perfect objective marker for the various games I have involving Irish forces - especially Saga and Darklands.

The quality of the sculpt and the cast are both top-notch. I'm hoping to pick up more resin scenery from Fenris when funds allow!

Fenris have all sorts of things that would work for games I have - columns for Broken Legions/Mortal Gods, bits for Gaslands, 3D printed pieces that are pefect for Gangs of Rome/Carnevale. So much good stuff; I really recommend you check them out!

Bad Squiddo Games - Amazons and Dwarf

I've been an admirer of the aim of Bad Squiddo Games for a long time - providing gamers, hobbyists and collectors with the largest range of female miniatures out there.

I was able to back the last KS (Amazons and Dwarfs) a little bit to support the continuing development of Bad Squiddo's own miniatures lines.  I was only able to pick up a couple of minis, and there was an awesome range to choose from.

I opted first for Thea, Amazon Champion - I love the classic heroic pose on this one and that helmet is so cool:

I intend to use Thea as a Demigod in Broken Legions.

I also picked up Kythera, Dwarf Barbarian - this is based on Bad Squiddo's owner's friend which is really cool!

This fierce Dwarf will find her way into the Hireling Agency for Mordheim.

After the KS closed I was able to pick up a pack of Amazon Heroines.  First this warrior resplendent in her finely decorated armour:

She also comes with an awesome shield:

My ropey photography doesn't do it justice - it's amazing!

The pack also includes a protégé - a smaller companion and a really characterful sculpt:

I'm calling this pair Kassandra and Phoibe and I'm intending to homebrew some special rules for them in Broken Legions.

The minis were really well cast, minimal clean-up needed to get them ready.  I've already got my eye on quite a few things from Bad Squiddo - the Shieldmaidens in particular are on my wish list in some number!

I recommend checking out Bad Squiddo if you haven't already - maybe I'll see you on the next KS?

Serious-Play Scenics - Tuft-fest!

I love tufts for basing - they are an economical way of adding interest and detail quickly and easily to bases and I find they can really help tie an army/warband together.

Serious-Play is my go to place - and I placed an order recently, this is what I got (and what I'm planning to use them on).

First up, some more Purple flower tufts - I use these on any of my Irish forces so there's always a need for more of these! (Chosen Men, The Pikeman's Lament, Saga... other plans formulating!)

I'd decided on a red/Mars style basing theme for my Gorkamorka mobs but wanted to add a little bit of detail beyond the rocky/dusty landscape - I opted for the smaller tufts (2mm).  I figure that way they won't dominate the bases of any Grots/Snots:

Between my 15mm Dragon Rampant UNORP and the 18mm Sikh Wars for The Men Who Would Be King I figured I'd need a supply of more generic small tufts too:

Finally as I was checking out I was offered a great deal on some blue flower tufts - I'm sure I'll find a use for them on some project or another!

If you haven't tried Serious-Play I really do recommend giving them a whirl - a lot of products they offer on a taster basis (smaller sheets like the Purple Flowers) but even those are plenty for a skirmish sized project.

Threedeepee Gasland mods

I'd been looking for some good value mods suitable for converting up some Hot Wheels/Matchbox vehicles to make them fitting for games of Gaslands (which, unless you've been living under a rock has been the smash hit of the blue book Osprey series).

Well, my search finally paid off when I came across Threedeepee on eBay that offers 3D printed pieces. I picked up their weapons and armour packs - they also do a pack of ram mods too!

The guns pack contains 17 weapons - as per their listing:

2 Autocannons Large
2 Autocannons Medium
2 Missile Launchers
3 Flamethrowers
2 Miniguns
2 Electrical Weapons
2 Machine Guns
2 Generic Cannons

While the armour pack contains 37 pieces of armour of various sizes and designs. Those designed for side panels have small tabs to assist in affixing them to the undercarriage of your Gaslands vehicles. The pack also includes pieces suitable for use as rams if you want, making it a versatile pack for the price.

The pieces definitely have a slightly over the top style to them, which I personally like a lot!

Here are the vehicles I've modded using Threedeepee pieces - of course these will all be painted suitably at some point but hopefully these give you an idea as to what you can do with them.

I really recommend these mods for your Gaslands gaming - they are great value!

Autumn... well, at least in The Bear's Wood

I decided upon an autumnal theme for the basing for our Burrows and Badgers warbands.  Of course, that meant needing to source some suitable scatters and details.

My absolute must was some fallen leaves - nothing says autumn quite like leaf litter.  I looked around and found some suitable options from Javis. I decided upon the Autumn Fine Leaf Scatter, which I found at Hobbies 24/7.  Their service was super smooth - I'll definitely check them out as one of my options for future hobby material needs.

It comes in its own baggie which is helpful and there's plenty in the bag for both warbands and then some.

Of course, you may know that Serious-Play is one of my go-tos for basing stuff so I searched their extensive catalogue for autumn-themed elements and picked out a few.  First up is their Orange Flowers and Bushes Tufts - I already know how great their tufts are so knew I wanted some to give some pops of colour and texture:

This is what they call a taster sheet - which is perfect for skirmish gamers as it has 52 tufts.  You can buy them in greater volumes if you are a large-army kind of gamer.

I also decided to try some of their lichen - of course it had to be their Autumn Mix:

Just look at those colours! These'll look great on the bases of larger models like my wife's Badger or my Fox.

Finally I picked up a bag of their Creeping Undergrowth in dark red:

This will look great to represent roots, brambles and the like. It's a packed bag too - there's loads in it!

Serious-Play never disappoints, the service was great as always - although I had to get these from their eBay shop as they didn't have the Creeping Undergrowth seperately on their own site for some reason.

These will really help our warbands tie thematically together and to our favourite season!

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!

Serious-Play Scenics - winter basing

Probably my favourite supplier for detailing bases is Serious-Play Scenics - so when I got the miniatures for my Frostgrave warband I knew I'd be checking out what winter basing products they had and I wasn't disappointed!

My first area to check was their range of True Tufts.  I've got these in more general colour tones, but wanted something to provide a bit of plant texture for my Frostgrave minis - enter the Icey True Tufts:

I also spotted their Ice Chunks - these clear chunks of ice will add an awesome frozen feel to the bases of my warriors:

I had some basing snow from an old Khador project, but it never seemed to work well.  After browsing what Serious-Play had to offer I spotted their Fine White Sand.  This should work really well for providing a successful snow effect (maybe the Khador will get a revisit with this stuff - maybe WarmaHordes will make an appearance here...):

Serious-Play products are always great quality and really make bases pop - I expect these to be no different!