We apologise for the interruption to your regularly scheduled programme....

McBeth called it despairing futility but I reckon while you have a mad team mate who's prepared to use coconut shells and make horse noises to get a laugh out of a hall full of people then it might be futile but it's bloody hilarious.

And from that tenuous segue, we launch into the post proper. For once my army was painted for Panzerschreck well in advance. Like, crazily well in advance. As a result, I've struggled to pick up a brush after the painting-fu left me in early June. Since then, I've managed to get this guy done:

Anson Durst, Biscuit of the Faith, Wielder of Menoth's Cocktail Umbrella

which is good. It was nice to get something finished. Anson Durst, Rock of the Faith (affectionately known as the Biscuit) got finished for our club "Reckoning" Warmachine and Hordes release event last weekend (and he's good!) Getting him over the line (no easy task, I admit) at least helped me find some painting-fu again so I've lined up this next lot of projects.

I'm finally starting on my Teutonic Order. These 8 models are the first base of 5/1 FP Long Spear. Note very long spear for future affixation of enormous flaggery.

One of the many uses for old milk bottle tops! 

From here I need to get back to the incredibly painful job of gap filling horses for these guys so I can try my hand at a base of Knights. *cue impending music*

The next project is this little collection is some several-generations-old GW Warhammer Savage Orcs and Forest Goblins. I bought them originally to play Mordheim back in the day but the balance wasn't there with many of the core rulebook warbands so they never really got finished. With the recent release of Frostgrave, these guys look like they might just be able to slot in amongst all the humans that seem to be abounding in among the collections of my fellow magpies.

Some Orcs. There are many more! 

Finally, Pelarel showed off his character, Nevyn the Nyss, for our current IKRPG campaign (and a stunning model it is!) so I thought I'd drop mine into the mix:

I have a man for that. 

The Honourable Okeforde Fitz Paine, 3rd son of the Marquess of Llaedry. All around wastrel, terrible influence and absolute snob. Also a closet Thamarite who scoffs loudly at, well, everything. The party members don't seem to have minded his occasional vampirism....yet....but they are getting sick of hearing that he doesn't do anything to help out because he has a man for that.

It's good to be back.
McZ.

shiny shiny painting projects

OK, I did say we were a group of Magpies but even I'm a little surprised as to how many projects I've started in the last couple of weeks!

First up, I'm going to show you the only thing That I've actually started AND finished in the same period:

loyal followers, meet Nevyn the Nyss my character in our current RPG group. The group of us Regimenteers on the blog play the Iron Kingdoms RPG from Privateer Press. the game system is based on their Warmachine and Hordes tabletop wargames so all of us have a reasonably solid foundation in the mechanics so we can kick back and enjoy the stories. Prinny is currently running a camapiagn for us which sees the group on a smugglers ship on the way to The Protectorate of Menoth to deliver some stolen Military Warjack Cortexes. However, our ship's captain has just made a short stop on the Isle of Cryx and we left the last session as the nasty necromancers sprang their trap!

The skin tone on the Nyss is supposed to have a 'slight' blue tint, unfortunately my first attempt at this left Nevyn looking like a very pissed off Smurf! I do think I've gone too far the other way with this repaint but Nevyn is stuck with the slightly pinky look as I can't be bothered to repaint his skin again!


next up was some more terrain for Infinity. I was inspired by those HDF buildings I reviewed a few weeks ago and started making some similarly styled buildings out of 3mm Styrene sheet. First up, a two storey apartment building

then an 8" square objective room

this one is going to get some pearl blue spray on the interior to give it a lighter, more 'sciencey' feel...

then some walls, about a dozen of the tall ones and 20 small ones

and, what would the future be without a couple of dumpsters and small raised garden

the buildings and walls are all waiting for the airbrush treatment to bring them into line with the other buildings and the dumpsters are still waiting for their basecoats. these I'm picturing and red and yellow to get the functional look. and ,make them stand out on the table.

next up was a little side project to get me painting something different. This is Witch Hazel from Hasslefree. She's not for a game or RPG I just liked the mini :) I have a custom base I made for her out of Fymo, that's been baked hard and is waiting for painting before I fix Hazel levitating above it..

Next up was a project that McBeth and i have had on the back burner for quite a while. We've played a few games of Ambush Valley with some 20mm plastic figs but really wanted to give it a go in 15mm to take advantage of the range of minis available so I'd picked up an NVA infantry box many months ago and finally gotten around to putting them on bases!

With a local Warmachine Tournament coming up in mid September, I've also been bashing around with lists and putting a few minis together...

Three Brute thralls up first - think steam powered zombies with 'roid rage and you're there.

I have restarted these guys since this photo - I think i went way too heavy on the purple in the base for the flesh and they just looked like walking bruises. They're currently back down to a base coat and a much lighter purple wash.

finally my Kraken! this guy is on a 120mm diameter base to give you an idea of scale. the 'mini' has had all of the highlighting and detailing finished but I'm toying with the idea of weathering and chipping to give it that well used look. The base is still a WIP, the concept is a woodland stream with steep banks and a couple of trees. I'm taking a step back at the mo and looking for inspiration - I really want to get this right!

It started out life as this:

And is currently stalled at this stage:

a wee bit of work yet but I need to pick up a decent water effect product and look into some more varieties of flock. I'm also looking a making a tree to go on the right hand side of the base as you see it in the picture.

well, that's me done for now!

churs

Chris

Nay! It's Ney on a neigh-neigh.

2015 is not only the 100th anniversary of the ANZAC campaign in World War One, it is also the 200th anniversary of the great battle of Waterloo. I and my fellow Regimentals are all based in Wellington, New Zealand and as such, we have a special connection to the battle and Lord Wellington, Sir Arthur Wellesley. Some of the local Wellington based Napoleonic wargamers have organised a massive 28m refight of the battle and Lintman, Prinny and I are lucky enough to be involved in the game.

The game is going to be huge. They are planning on using the Blackpowder rules and have based the units at battalion level (4-6 bases with 20-36 figures each). This game wont be as big as the previous large refight of Liepzig that we did back in 2013 (Youtube has the evidence here with part one and part two) but will still look awesome. The place we are holding the game is significant as well - its the '1815 Room' in the Wellesley Club, just off Waterloo Quay, here in Wellington. Nice!

At the Liepzig game I had the fortune to play France's greatest general of the time (well, the Bravest anyway!), Marshal Michel Ney. I enjoyed being the commander of the Northern Flank so much that when asked if I would play in the upcoming Waterloo game, I accepted with two caveats, 1) I would be Ney again and 2) I would not need to paint any figures.

Caveat one was successfully negotiated. Caveat two, well, rules are made to be broken. Organiser Paul Goldstone contacted me a while back to say that there was no Ney figure for my command available and was I ok with using a generic general base. Nay! I said. Not with the lovely Ney command pack from Perry Miniatures available. A quick order later and a week of painting and left me with this excellent model:

Neigh.

   The three riders are beautiful models and so are their mounts. More piccies below.

Nay, Ney, Neigh, hey Jude!

Damn I wish my photography was better!

Along with Ney and his ADC's, I have also been painting a character figure for our Regimental RPG night. We are playing IKRPG, the RPG version of Warmachine. This campaign, run by Prinny, I shall be a Khadoran Paladin/Investigator. Think Indiana Jones meets a Space Marine Librarian.

Tonight Michael, I shall be.... Alexandros Tempesky. Paladin and Tome Keeper of the Order of the Wall. 

Next up, even MORE 15mm Napoleonic Austrians are on the bench. White uniforms = the Devil's arse.