Playing with myself.....

 I've been playing puzzle games on my phone via one of those collect points and get rewards apps, got enough for a decent Amazon voucher and sprung for one of these solo wargames books I've been wanting to try.

The book itself is rather flimsy so hoping the gameplay itself warrants the £22 price tag.

This is Waterloo at a Corps level game and on the face of it is quite simple, you pick an attack/action for one of your Corps a turn, the enemy bot actions a random attack or maybe a tactical event, you carry out your action.

Besides the book you need a single d6 and a pencil, and you record everything directly into the book.

Though as mentioned the book is quite flimsy so if you're wanting to replay anything a bit of acetate or tracing paper may be your friend.

24 "games" to play 12 as French and 12 as the Alliance split again into 4 challenging, 4 veteran and 4 tough bots. Each game takes about 30 minutes.

Looking forward to getting a bit of time with this, will definitely travel with me on my upcoming "Aldi project" and I may do a bat rep too.

Just a small maniple of big fighty robots.

 I've completed all the part assembled bits I picked up when buying a second hand starter set for Adeptus Titanicus, there were meant to be 4 Warhounds but a pair of legs were missing for the fourth, expect to see it featured in terrain at some point.
These were all speed painted with contrasts for the main part, armour edging Vallejo Gun Metal Grey, eyes and bases GW Technical paints then finished with W&N Galleria matt varnish.
I might add more to this if I rescue some part assembled pieces but plan for this to be a second force for AT.

Not a lot of typing today but next week expect some Spanish love as I go back to Historicals and Hail Ceaser for a spell.

Small scale ruination.

 So GW recently announced all the terrain they're relaunching for Legions Imperialis, and I must admit it is very pretty, but very likely to cost a pretty packet too. And there are lots of issues with those tiles I'm not going to get into here, but I don't think I'll be buying any of the GW terrain sets, well maybe the industrial set with the cranes etc,,,,,,,

A while back I was looking on eBay and I spotted some modular plastic terrain that I stuck in my watchlist then received a very generous discount as an offer a few days later, so like the sucker I am I bought it. Shortly after a flat white carboard box arrived with a bag full of multiples of the following plastic parts that had been clipped from their sprues. (The window shutter in the doorway comes attached.)

The edges are all bevelled to 45° angles so they can be glued at right angles in either direction, to make straight runs you'll need to use the buttress pieces which fit into the resulting channels.
The floor pieces also help hold the corners square. The panels are 5cm squares.

After a bit of gluing last night and then again tonight I got to this point.

A closer shot so you can see some detail.

And then a shot of all the pieces on a 2' by 4' board so you can what £27 will get you.

The kit, alongside others is available from Trouble Maker Games. (Alongside nuns with guns.)

Is it as pretty as GWs plastic? That's in the eye of the beholder, but realistically, no.
Is it limited? Yes, but so is any modular terrain system, it's plastic so can easily be cut and glued.
Is it cheap? That's always subjective, from my viewpoint it offers good value, was quick to assemble and should be painted quickly enough, my plan is to use some texture paint and washes, so on that note I'm off to B&Q to look at spray cans of Rustoleum project paint. (Well not right away, they're closed.)

Air to Ground

 Finished my Thunderbolts, decaling took as long as painting, with the "wings" having to conform over a bit of moulded on detail. This left the leading edges a bit crooked so have straightened them as best I could with paint. I also had to do different markings for a squadron leader as I didn't have enough black wings...........

I also turned to the bases on my Legio Furean Titans and House Perdaxia Knights that I'm speed painting. I've decided I want a "red planet" type of table so picked up a pot of GWs Martian Ironcrust, this is a coloured crackle effect paint that you trowel on rather than paint on, the thicker the layer the bigger the pieces, the thinner the smaller. With these being towering constructs I didn't want to put the stuff on too heavily and am quite pleased with the results.

Started painting another two Warhounds and completed the assembly of the second Reaver that I got in the bundle of part assembled stuff I had picked up and that will leave me a traitor force for Adeptus Titanicus and I can make a start on the Loyalist FireWasps.

Thunderbolts from above.

 This week I've decided to paint some of my Imperial Navy planes in preparation for Legions Imperialis.
I fancied doing my Thunderbolts in a bare metal like Mustangs from WW2 and discovered Army Painter do metallic speed paints.
So the options where to all out with aluminium Alclad, panel lining etc or try this out.

As you can probably guess by the bottle sitting on my desk I decided to try the speed paints. These come out of the bottle very thin, almost "airbrush ready" consistency and I did wonder how they would cover the pale prime as recommended. So over Grey Seer I slapped a load of paint about.

To be honest I was hoping for more of a contrast for the panel lines, there is a bit, maybe I didn't slap enough paint on to get the effect. But it'll do, going to paint the anti-glare panels on the nose and the vertical stabiliser in something approximating an olive green and see how I feel. Maybe I'll try a black undercoat on a figure as I've 9 lightnings to add and they may also suit the BMF.

Faking it.

 Not much painted this weekend, just two Cerastus Knights from House Perdaxia.
Speed painted with contrasts.

Though the decal sheets that come in the retail boxes don't contain the House Perdaxia coat of arms so I've had to either buy a sheet of House Fureans decals from GW or fake it.

Of course fake it is the correct answer.

Looking at the decals I decided these two might do the job well enough.

First I applied the House Malinax cog.

Then I painted the center red.

Then finally added the House Makabius 4 pointed star.

Looks close enough to my eyes.

Need for speed.

So in between other wee jobs I've been sitting speed painting 2 Titans today, using mostly contrast paints.
About 4 hours all in on this pair, picked up a part assembled, not as well as I would of liked and a bit further on than I would of before painting. So giving these the speed painting treatment, GW Contrast Basilcanum Grey for the structure, Iyanden Yellow for the armour plates. Flame decals from the AI Ork decals sheets, others from the box set decals. Armour edges in Vallejo gun metal, crest in Vallejo Brass with a sepia wash, GW Abbadon black for stripes and base of inferno, which then got a layer of Contrast Blood Angels red. Contrast Aethermatic blue for the plasma weapon.
Quick and not winning awards but they're on the table.
And yes they maybe should be orange but.......

(Basing I'm yet to decide on, I was thinking a red planet type of table but the new urban bases coming soon may sway me.)

Squeee......

 ......Epic is coming back! Well Legions Imperialis, I saterted my wargaming journey with the rules and cut out counters for adding infantry to games of Adeptus Titanicus that appeared in White Dwarf 110.

(Copyright remains with respective owners.)

So all excited I decided to finally get around to assembling and painting my Aeronautica stuff that will be included in the new game, albeit in a more streamlined form.  Which also applies to the war engines from Adeptus Titanicus.

Just completed a test piece Xyphon interceptor. Need tidied up a bit but it was quick and I can see me getting a lot of Astartes painted very quickly. (And yes I'm staying loyal with the VI legion.)

I'm really looking forwards to getting to play the sweeping grand battles that will feel like the kind of affair that Space Marines should be a part of and not the minor squabbles of 40K, and I know what I'm asking for for my Birthday this yaer. (The big five-oh.)

A regular service might resume shortly, or it might not, we'll see......

 So it's been a while since I've posted anything, but I did indeed survive the pandemic.

Interests have diverged a bit and I've been mostly doing 1/48 scale aircraft with a smattering of gaming figures in between, so expect to see a few of those pop up.
I've also expanded my range of paints to include more lacquers for airbrushing, which are a dream.

And I've been bitten by the 40K bug, with 10th edition still being minty fresh I decided to start an Eldar Aeldari army, though I am a bit disturbed by the news that some TOs have banned them already. I have just started painting a combat patrol to get me going and probably already have more than I'll paint.

Still plugging away at my 28mm ACW stuff too, though am not getting to games due to life issues. Also have my Quatre Bras project on the go for Blackpowder. But that's a slow burn.

I plan to do at least a weekly ramble through what I've been upto, maybe more as I have internet in my shed now so that'll make things a bit easier. And I have a couple of tutorials in my head that I must get sorted, who knows they may even be video.......

Send in the clowns.

Got back on track and got 1/2 of my first unit finished for the group ACW project. Zouaves of the 165th Regiment. A mix of contrast and regular paints.
12 seems to be my sweet spot for batch painting so that's how the rest of the project will progress. We've agreed to start with a brigade each of 3 infantry units and a battery of artillery, which we should have completed before lockdown ends.

Hobby distractions.

I'm meant to be painting Zouaves for the clubs ACW project, but in true gamer form I got side-tracked by something else.

I had bought a set of Warlord Games Napoleonic Highlanders, a nice enough box with 24 figures at the charge. However there was a lot of bent and broken muskets and bayonets, now I can't fault Warlord Games customer service, replacements came pretty quickly, but I had already been soured so sold these metal figures and bought 2 boxes of Victrix plastic Highlanders, one centre Coy. and one flank Coy. box.
And it is these that distracted my painting efforts the other night as I assembled a unit of these instead.

The flank Coy. box came moulded in a different colour if you're wondering......

I assembled these as if they would be in a square, with the front rank kneeling and prepared to receive cavalry and the 2nd rank firing, between the 2 boxes you get 8 kneeling bodies so the addition of a piper and Sgt. help flesh out the front rank to 12 figures.

The figures are as nice as any you will find and as far as I'm aware are the only plastic highlanders on offer, you get 60 figures per box, though only 4 standard bearers which limits the number of units you can produce. The flank and centre Coy. boxes differ in the moulded on 'wings' for the elites, which is a nicer touch than having to glue on extras as with Warlord games plastic British, and also sabres rather than claymores in the officers hands.
A big grumble, and one that I would agree with, is that some of the parts are too fine and easily broken, in fact some parts are pre-broken, namely the muskets, bayonets and swords, though I have a broken standard pole out of the box too. (Though these may get replaced with steel rods at some point.)
Also the finials being moulded to the poles will make attaching standards a bit tricky, again these may be replaced.

A nice box though and if you can suffer the fragility of some parts you could make at least 3 units of highlanders for the price of 2 metal units.

Not that civil.

So the group I game with from time to time has agreed to get into Black Powder. Huzzah!

But not Napoleonics…..never mind, it's a start and I reckon Napoleonics will follow.....

(I've also found another group that play historicals, but have only met the virtually due to this coronavirus thing that is happening.)

They didn't chose the AWI either, for which I have a box full of the now defunct Wargames factory sprues sitting in a box in the shed.

They've chosen the American Civil War, in 28mm, inspired by one of our members working on Perry Miniatures "Battle in a Box" starter set with his dad. A conflict I always envisioned, if ever playing, playing in a smaller scale than 28mm. And I say if ever playing as the period doesn't really grab me, despite some great films covering the period, with Glory being high on my list of all time favourite war films.

So as the Perry brothers where in lock down until last weekend Renedra miniature dispatched several "Battle in a Box" sets to various addresses in Northern Ireland, mine being one of them.
And what a box it is....

The princely sum of £95 gets you a flat A3 size box crammed with grey plastic sprues and some green plastic bases, over 170 miniatures are alleged to be in this box, alongside some simple rules penned by Alessio Calvatore, whose name you might recognise.

This is the sight that greets you on opening the box, a load of plastic sprues vying for your attention from behind a painting guide and the small set of rules mentioned earlier. So what do you actually get? I found it difficult to find out so hopefully this will help someone out.

Two Generals, a choice of headgear, arms and some epaulettes to add. Even an extra head should you decide to cut the head of the model. These sprues are unique to this box set. (Running total figure count = 2)

4 Confederate command sprues, each sprue contains an officer and a drummer plus a set of arms to make a standard bearer from the next sprue. (Running total figure count = 10)

13 sprues of Confederate soldiers, in 5 poses with enough arms to make them all either carrying their muskets at the "right shift" or charging, a good choice of head gear. One of the figures has a separate cartridge box and it is this figure intended to be turned into a standard bearer. (Running total figure count = 75)

4 cannon and 3 sprues of crew. This is the only cost cutting in the box, there are no limbers supplied for the artillery and only 4 crew figures per gun, and while this matches the metal packs you would buy from Perry Miniatures it is at odds with the plastic artillery set which supplies the limbers and 6 crew per gun. Some instructions for these would of been useful, even if only to help identify each type of gun supplied. (Running total figure count = 93)

4 sprues of American Civil War Infantry. These are the generic, either side of the conflict, infantry first released by the Perrys. 12 figures per sprue, most in single poses and parts to make a drummer, standard bearer and officer in a frock coat. And again a mix of head gear. Quick to assemble and easy to paint. (Running total figure count = 141)

4 sprues of Zouaves plus 2 sprues of Zouave command, same poses as the Confederate infantry above and I rather suspect one was sculpted from the other. A nice unit to break the monotony of painting greys, browns and blues. (Running total figure count = 165)

And finally 3 sprues of Cavalry, these can be assembled as either side in the conflict. (Running total figure count = 177)

Also in the box is a farm house, over 4' of snake rail fencing and a selection of bases, though the bases are the size needed if using 15mm frontage per infantryman and 20mm for cavalry.

So a jam packed box, which in Black Powder terms will give me 6 standard units of infantry, 1 of cavalry and 4 batteries of artillery, enough to get started though a second box might not go amiss.

Springing into action.

Another thing I have done in the last few months is introduce my 7yo son to the wonderful game that is Blood Bowl. I used to be a big fan of the game and ran a very cheesy Wood Elf team so when I spotted the 2016 starter box at my new FLGS I had to get involved.

The starter box comes with two lovely teams at the newer 32mm scale that everything seems to have crept up to, glad to know it's not just me needing glasses as I get older, one Orc and one Human team of 12 players each. however Khaden being Khaden he decided to pick his own team and after looking through the GW website he picked Goblins. They come in a team box of 12 Goblins, but the best thing about Goblins are the players that have special rules and secret weapons like Chainsaws and Bombs. There are 2two options to get these, buy them from Forgeworld, the resin specialist offshoot of GW, or scratch build them. I opted for the latter and after buying a second team box and some bits from bits resellers I ended up with these.

A ball and chain wielding fanatic, every bit as dangerous to their own team as the opposition.

A chainsaw wielding looney, perfect for breaking Dwarfen "cages".

A doom-diver, traditionally these have crude wings but I added a rocket pack.

A Bomma, what can be more fun than lobbing explosives around?

A pogoer, the most complex of my conversions, a bit of extra mobility.

Just the 'ooligan left to convert out of the Goblins and then a few trolls are needed to round out the team, these will be converted from some AoS figures.

There's a picture of me under procrastinate in the Encyclopedia Brittanica....

...or there should be.

I have been doing wee bits and pieces now and then including starting into Napoleonics, which was sort of inevitable now that I am closer to 90 than being born.

I had a load of 15mm figures from Napoleon at War which was abandoned by its creator for some reason and traded away 1/2 of it for a big box of Warlord Games 28mm stuff. And after sorting through that, and despite preferring the Peninsular era, have decided to do the 100 days campaign and concentrate on the battle at Quatre Bras as my focus for building both sides of that engagement, only having to add Rifles and Highlanders so far.

I even got a Regiment painted, I have decided to play with regiments rather than Battalions for the time being.

I decided that speed rather than display quality painting was my goal here so have used contrast paints, I reckon I could churn a unit out a night if I get the chance to actually sit and paint, but 2 young children and a dog sort of limits me still.

Despite focusing on Quatre Bras (Is Trois Bras a garment worn by Martian prostitutes?) I also started building a farmhouse based on La Haye Saint. Using plans provided by wargames Illustrated to accompany issue 358, which I managed to nab before they went behind a pay wall...

I am planning to do a tutorial on how I make and detail the small barn which principles will apply to the whole set of buildings.

Finally....

Just finished putting some paint on my Bonnedig from my Welsh faction for Saga. Basing will be done once everything else is painted.

Not the prettiest things I've ever painted but they pass the 3' test, and believe it or not it was all done with that single brush.

My new mancave gets erected this weekend so hopefully more hobby time is coming my way, and it'll be nice to have some where to prime figures again. Though it'll be a while before I get the electric sorted.