Dark Age Swap Shop

Just after Christmas I was seduced by the North Star sale and ended up with two of their 'grab bags' of minis at a hefty discount. I did quite well from the Artizan Pulp grab bag: while I got a handful of duplicates, I was expecting to and got some great figures. I will split the spoils with Gharak, pretty much all of them are useful for Pulp or WWII games.

I also got a Dark Ages one as I've half fancied a second unit of Bondi to round out Saga force. Needing just 8 minis, a plastic box isn't cost-effective and with the grab bag offering 20 minis for £12, its the same price as an 8-man pack from Gripping Beast. Surely chances are I'd get 8 suitable ones?

Well, no actually. My Bondi are all unarmoured, but I only got the six unarmoured miniatures on the left, as well as some with bows. The rest are armoured. Drat.


Unarmoured on the left, armoured and bows on the right. 

I really would like to get hold of two more unarmoured Viking/Dark Age miniatures. Perhaps one of my readers might have a couple of spares in their bits box? Anyone want to do a swap for a couple of the chaps on the right?

Regardless, the remaining armoured minis are a useful start towards a second Saga force, perhaps Anglo-Danes. But thats a project for another month, for now they will be set aside to concentrate on my other projects.

A swift project switch later...

I seem to have a very short hobby attention san at the moment. I'm hopping around eras like crazy, but doing a good job of clearing things off the painting table. To make space for more minis, of course!

I bought these Flemish Mercenaries from Gripping Beast to join my Saga Vikings, but only half-painted them before moving on to another project. I couldn't resist because they are awesome minis in their mail coats and kite shields (should have collected Normans, really). The chance to play some more Saga at CLWC was a good excuse to dig them out and finish them off.

They also give an interesting tactical option for my Vikings. In Saga, Vikings are play almost entirely aggressively, with very few defensive options on their Battleboard. Which means they hit hard, but take a lot of punishment themselves too. These chaps are very different - tough as old boots but can't load up on abilities. They strike me as useful as a screen or for taking and holding objectives. I'm looking forward to giving them a whirl, especially against those pesky Normans and their crossbows!

And in close order

Shield transfers are LBMS once again, though I paint over them to take the sheen off and bring some of the colours into line. They just need a burst of Dullcote (weather *sigh*) and a few Mininatur tufts to finish them off.

I don't know what's next to paint, but doubtless I'll be back on it soon.

The Projects

It's time for a list. After considering my Salute purchases (as well as the pre-Salute purchases and post-Salute purchases), I thought it fitting to document my current hobby projects and predict where they're going this year.

I'll start with a Pie chart. Unfortunately it doesn't illustrate anything except that I'm balancing limited hobby time across a number of projects. But I do like pie charts (and it adds a splash of colour to what could have been a long rambling post).

1). 28mm Napoleonics
Definitely in a consolidation phase. After two years I've a fair amount painted up and while I do have plenty more minis and terrain to paint up I intend to take a break from the most of it. I will get the Colours sorted on all of my painted units before setting it aside completely. I think next year Gharak and I will come back to gaming Napoleonics and I'll be enthused to pick up the brushes again.

2). 28mm Vikings for Saga
Six point force painted, one point left to finish. In an ideal world I'd buy one more unit of Bondi as an eighth point for maximum flexibility. But I can always add that later, for now I'm content that it is mostly finished and is something I might actually get a game of every now and then with people who aren't Gharak.

3). 28mm Pulp
This will rumble on (especially as Gharak and I are mid-adventure). After my early 2012 drive we've plenty of encounters to play with perhaps just the odd extra miniature required. As a varied project means it is great to drop Pulp figures into a separate painting project to mix things up a little. It also doesn't need much buying for it at the moment. Happily it will get gamed again this year: we need at least one more session this summer to get our heroes out of their current pickle!

4). 10mm WWII British
Was finished (!) as a platoon plus support, then I picked up a few more bits at Salute but they should be quick to paint up. I'm in a bit of a quandary with rules, but those purchases should give me a small Blitzkrieg Commander-sized force. At some point I'll buy BKC and twist Gharak's arm into a game or two or grab a game in my local area.

5). New project 1: 28mm Greek Mythology
Gharak is in the driving seat for this one, creating a complete skirmish game with fluff, rules and sometime down the road it's own miniature range. Ambitious as always, my brother. The game will be a skirmish scale with suitably heroic combat, set in an alternate world taking its inspiration from Greek Mythology. And my role? A mix of advisor, rules collaborator, playtester, painter and who knows what else! We're working on test forces for each faction, so I've the start of a Minoan force on my paint table, Minotaur and all.

6). New project 2: 15mm SciFi
While I didn't really need a new scale (or a new project right now!), I've been tempted to dabble in 15mm SciFi by Samulus. I've an order in with Ground Zero Games for a platoon of infantry and I'll grab my pick of cool vehicles and air support to face his Autosentia. Ive set on a colour scheme and written some fluff for my faction, which was a fun way to spend an hour. Again, not set on any rules as yet, but 15mm seems popular for SciFi, so I've no doubt we'll find something fun.

7). Resurrected project: 28mm Wild West
One on the horizon, after backing Blackwater Gulch with 20 of my hard-earned pounds. Resurrected because a few years back Gharak and I bought a bunch of cowboys and Legends of the Old West. Gharak built some terrain and I got some erm...half-built. We played a few games and set it aside. Once BG is released in the autumn I'll paint some cowboys and finish my terrain.

In summary, seven projects, four of them current. Eep, plenty to be getting on with...

First Salute purchases complete

My hobby time has been patchy this past week, a long week at work has sapped my enthusiasm. Here's hoping I'll get back on course over the bank holiday here in the UK. But I did find time to finish these movement trays last night.

Ok, so these aren't exactly the interesting bits, they should come in useful for Saga and were a bargain price from Warbases.

I've not tufted them as I thought they would be easier to transport and more durable that way. The miniature bases have plenty of tufts anyway.

And how they'll look on the table, filled with angry-looking Vikings ready for some pillaging:

Saga Campaign Day

As promised, a few of the photos I took on Saturday playing Saga in north London. All in all a great day, many thanks to Rich for organising and running it. 

First up, myself with Vikings (left) against organiser Rich's Anglo-Danes. The scenario was homemade and called 'Grab'. Very much a raiding scenario, with the challenge to collect the red counters. The scenario worked really well, in fact I thing Saga works much better with scenario play. After mymembarrasingnfirst round, I've quite a dislike of 'Clash of Warlords', with its focus on warlord-killing. This game was a much closer match, with me narrowly losing from a last-minute smash and grab. 

Game three was Sacred Ground, this hill being one of three objectives to take and hold. The central hill ended up as something of a charnel-house, especially once those ranks of warriors reached my depleted Hearthguard! Learning his lesson from game one, my Warlord made a strategic withdrawal, surrendering the hill. My opponent here was Darren, who fielded a beautifully painted Anglo-Danes force, but was similarly inexperienced at playing Saga. I managed a comfortable victory after taking an early lead and killing his Warlord. 

More Saga

Another snap from Sacred ground - this very crowded wood was the second objective. It was also not crowded for long - Viking Berzerkers charging Hearthguard is a very, very messy business I tell you! Actually, it was a suicidal move and the lack of protective options on the Viking battle board means Berzerkers truly are a glass cannon, to be used carefully. Apologies for my part-painted warriors there too, ran out of time in the week.

Finally, the conclusion of game four and back to Clash of Warlords. A close-fought game between two similar Viking forces. After We'd put each other's retinues to the sword it all came down to single combat between our warlords. With the final turn going to my opponent, he loaded up on the battle board and Aelfgir Eiriksson fell once more. A major defeat, but a very close game, especially after my Bondi routed not only a beefy unit of Hearthguard, but also a full strength unit of Bondi. 8 vs 18 and I came out well on top. Such is the way of Saga!So, two defeats, one minor defeat and one victory. Not the best showing but a good few games under the belt. I learned that facing Normans not only looks scary because of the number of cavalry, but are in my opinion a teensy bit overpowered - the speed of their fight troops means less fatigue and those crossbows are nasty too. They won the day quite comfortably and were crowned as Kings of all England. Curse those the French invaders!
Still, a very enjoyable day out and some great gaming.

Saga day in Enfield, London

All well I've been frantically finishing another couple of points for my Saga Warband. No rest for the wicked, eh?

Reason being is I'm going to play some games of Saga at a campaign day tomorrow in Enfield, North London. Details here. It sounds like a good day actually, plenty going on including demos and Gripping Beast guys there showing off Northern Fury. I'll post some photos of my war band in action.

Happily I finished my fifth and sixth points of Vikings. Distressingly though, I spray varnished them with GW purity seal and they misted up a little. Not as badly as last time, but definitely a duff can. I'll have to put a little work into fxing them up again, pretty annoying But not before I've taken the can back!

As a result, I've resolved to move away from GW products. They are very convenient to get hold of but this is the third or four can of spray I've had problems of various sorts with. And with the paint overhaul, im thinking it is time to bite the bullet and start buying vallejo.

Gateful if anyone can recommend a brand of spray undercoats and matt varnish? I hear dullcote is good for the latter...

Challenge: Wrap up

I took this snap of everything I painted during the Analogue Hobbies Winter painting challenge. So this is my total painting output between 20 December and 20 March. Definitely good going for me, it feels like a long time since I have put out so much.
I hit the heady heights of 519 points, nearly 5% over my target. Scoring was 5 points for a 28mm miniature, 10 for cavalry and I worked through 80-something miniatures. My 500 wasn't even close to the leaders, who reached nearly 5000 points!
Looking over my entries and harking back to what I had on my painting table at the start, there is quite a difference. I started with a lot of Napoleonics to do, in particular 20- something cavalry. But have worked on my Naps for a couple of years, I'm feeling a bit burned out so my output was less, and primarily focused on finishing units off rather than starting new ones. With these done I'm thinking a break and some new projects is in order.
I did an unexpected amount of 1930s (ish) Pulp miniatures, which are always fun but were mostly bought once we'd begun. The driver for this comes from my brother's renewed interest in Pulp gaming. In fact, quite a few of these (and others I have prepped) are a gift for his birthday next month. This fashionable lady was the last of these, a shameless bid for Sarah's Choice and a delight to paint.

Manufacturers-wise, plenty of Perry and a bit for Victrix, Gripping Beast, Artizan, Pulp Figures. All excellent models and some of my favourite manufacturers. What else did I learn? Well plenty about the friendliness of our hobby, with a lot of camaraderie and encouragement from challengers and visitors alike. I learned about all facets of the hobby: modelling techniques, manufacturers, photography so forth. i saw some fantastic miniatures come off our collective painting tables, in all scales. I was impressed in particular with a lot of the 15mm work, a scale I've always avoided. Choosing my entry for the Challenger's Choice winner was tough, I can tell you.
So, many thanks to Curt for running it, it looked like a lot of work but I think we all appreciated it a lot. Thanks to everyone who entered, visited, commented and blogged about it, you are all true gentlemen and I found real sense of community in it. So, until next year: Curt has challenged me to 1000 points. Could I do it?

Two quick questions

After a few days off I'm ploughing back into the painting to keep that Challenge momentum up. Expect more updates.

But in the meantime I was wondering if any of my readers has:

-any spare round plastic shields for Vikings. Wargames Factory ones would be great (anyone assemble theirs with double-handed axes or bows?) Gripping Beast plastics would probably also suit. I need just four or six if anyone has any sitting around in their bits box. I can trade other plastic bits if you need anything.

-an unwanted copy of Blitzkrieg Commander V2 they would like to sell to me? I fancy trying it out with 10mm WWII but am feeling a bit cheap to fork out £20 for a new copy just before Salute. Not helped that WWII probably won't get played often at the moment so I'd prefer not to lay out a lot on rules. I reckon someone has an unwanted copy gathering dust somewhere.


In other news, I dipped my toe into Kickstarter yesterday with a pledge to Blackwater Gulch. Seems like a great project and cowboys are cool, right? Kickstarter seems to be a developing into quite a thing for both the wargaming and board gaming communities. Hopefully it will continue the diversification of both, without putting too many poor products out there. We shall see! I don't intend to get too into Kickstarter though - it could end up using a lot of my hobby budget.

Challenge entries: summary

Before I start, I realise I've not written much other than about the Analogue Hobbies painting challenge for months. So apologies if you aren't interested in that at all (or follow Curt's blog yourself). Well, the Challenge closes on Tuesday, so there won't be much more to say about it. I would say normal service will resume, but As I go in fits and starts of Blogging I'm not sure what normal service looks like. 

Anyway, here is a summary of my latest Challenge entries, with just a few bits left to finish off before Tuesday. 

First, some converted 28mm Napoleonic Spanish Guerillas. A bit of a random project but they will feature in scenarios for Sharpe Practice. They are based on Perry plastic ACW cavalry, but use plastic bits from a plethora of the recent plastic sets from Perry and Victrix. They came out pretty well and each of them is a little bit individual.

Next up, some Viking Levy for Saga. These follow the paint scheme for my warband (http://infrequentwargamer.blogspot.com/2011/12/saga-viking-warband-in-all-its-glory.html) where the hearthguard are quite standard in colours of red/beige/black, Bondi tend to have more browns and greens and these, the Levy are more bland again - exclusively green, grey, brown and beige. They are Gripping Bast castings. 

Finally a few British Napoleonic infantry to bulk out my current units. A mixture of Perry and Victrix. Now these are done, I'm taking a well overdue break from Napoleonics! 

Have a good weekend all. 

Phil

Hobby time by candlelight

I was hoping to finish off some Vikings tonight, but a power cut plunged my place into darkness literally a few minutes before I sat down.
Did I let that stop me? Did I hell! Can you tell why my final job was?
Now, if the power came back I could get on with some more substantial work...

Challenge entries: bumper edition and Cavalier

All,
Many apologies for not posting recently, been a bit busy with work, socialising and even some frantic painting!
Here are my last few entries to the Analogue Hobbies painting challenge. Some Pulp nazis, one Anglo-Dane Warlord for Saga (a gift for my brother), a van for Pulp and some Indian peasants, also for pulp.
I also made it to Cavalier 2012 in Tonbridge the other week. A small show but was good to get on the show circuit before Salute in April, mostly to scout out what I might fancy buying at Salute. I only grabbed a Crooked Dice scary angel (I like Doctor Who, and fancied it as a little jokey piece of terrain) and some bargain bucket half price Copplestone gangster-era civilians which I think will be useful for Pulp gaming.

The preparations are complete (ish)

So, for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge I've been clipping, trimming, filing, filling, gluing, basing and finally spraying any miniature to hand. And here are the results.

From top to bottom we have:
-A flock of Napoleonic redcoats (I'm thinking 'the Buffs')
-A gaggle of Spanish Guerillas (yes, those are scratch-built mounted guerillas, honest guv'nor)
-Quick era switch to a shoal of Viking levy for Saga
-Back to Napoleonics, this time a herd of Spanish infantry
-Later, a (small) horde of Perry plastic Ansar
-And finally a pack of British Napoleonic Hussars (yes, these are just horses. Riders are tonight's job, if I get a moment).

After what seems like so much work, I don't feel the above is that impressive, actually! Still, it should score me a tidy sum of points, especially with a bunch of cavalry.

Other than the above, in various stages of preparation I've some Perry metal household cavalry, umpteen more Redcoats, more plastic Ansar, some pulp bits and bobs and that blister-pack shaped Christmas present which rattles when I shake it. And if that runs out, I've no doubt I will make a few purchases between now and March...

And with that thought, I will close by wishing all of the other entrants the best of luck!

Saga in action

As I mentioned before, the other weekend I got a gaming weekend with my brother, when we busted out SAGA. We got two games in, both of which were very fun, even though we were both still learning the nuances of the ruleset. I was smug that my warband was pretty much finished, but sadly my brother (who has more hobbies than days in the week), hadn't really got around to applying paint to his Anglo-Danes. This is a new phenomenon - usually it would be the other way around!

I won't do a full battle report - pictures say a thousand words and all that


The Vikings deploy:

Battlelines are prepared:

The Aftermath:

Yes, that's one solitary Viking Hirdman, carrying three Fatigue, facing the opposing Warlord, the remnants of his bodyguard and some Levy in the distance. Not a fine day for my Vikings!

SAGA - Viking Warband in all its Glory

So, the other week I finished these bad-boys off and I thoguht I'd share. Look pretty mean, don't they? A completed four-point starter warband, including a choice of two warlords (a father-son combo, perhaps?), 8 armoured Hirdmen across the front and at the back 4 Berzerkers (left)) and 8 Bondi (right)

A Challenge...

All,
Curt at his excellent Analogue Hobbies Blog is running another painting challenge, in which he helpfully awards points to inspire us to work through our lead piles.
Having been inspired to paint more last year even without participating, I leapt at the chance this time and am already thinking of what minis I can prep to start on.
If a light-hearted challenge appeals, get in touch with Curt through http://analogue-hobbies.blogspot.com/
Finally, an appeal - does anyone have any spare plastic round shields suitable for Vikings? Flat ones from the Wargames Factory set would be preferred, but any will be gratefully accepted. I need just four!

Second Saga unit

Just finished these off and am pleased with them - four colourful 'Berserkir' for my Viking warband.
The one with the white shield needs an LBMS shield transfer applying.

Testing LBM transfers

So, I wussed out of dipping my Saga Vikings. But they are still substantially quicker to paint than anything Napoleonic.
These are the first few Bondi, finished with Little Big Man shield transfers. A doddle to apply and came out well, even from just a phone pic.
I'm impressed, though the Saga-specific transfer sets are a bit of a jip - by my maths you get better value from the normal ones buried in the LBM section of Gripping Beast's store.

PhilH