Pin Markers (Nick)

Do these count as completed miniatures? ...I don't know to be honest, but I'm going to count them anyway just don't tell Carl shhhh!

I first made these as bespoke Pin Markers while playtesting Rick Priestley's 'Warlords of Erehwon' fantasy rules, released just a few weeks ago by Warlord Games!
Originally developed under a different working title, these are an adaptation of the 'Beyond the Gates of Antares' sci-fi rules and affectionately referred to as 'Fantares' during the early stages.

Pin markers are a way of showing a unit's level of attrition and combat efficiency during the game and was first introduced by Warlord in their best selling Bolt Action WWII game.  Whilst very appropriate in the games where firepower and artillery bombardment are prominent and often represented with small explosion tokens like the red plastic ones Warlord Games sell it didn't sit quite right with me.  I wanted something that seemed more in keeping with the fantasy/medieval setting we were gaming, and they could easily be used as more traditional wound markers or even a turn counter.

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These are the first two prototypes I designed from scratch in Tinkercad as files for 3D printing on my Wanhao i3 plus filament printer, and thought it was about time I painted them up ready for battle.  There have been several changes in design to tweak certain elements as well as trying both PET-G and PLA filaments, however they all functional for my own games until I settle on the final design which I may put into production.

The first design spins on two 3mm neodymium magnets to show numbers from 1-10...

...whereas the other has a 3mm peg as part of the design instead:

Not sure which ideas will win out, but I may just paint them all up as easy wins and tabletop eye candy... oh and I might just have to paint some more minis too!

Bolt Action - US Airborne (Nick)

So just 6 days into the New Year and I'm one down already, and while that's not a miniature-a-day it is two months sooner than I was able to show anything in 2018 so definitely a step in the right direction!

This is another one of those minis that's been 95% finished for over 2 years - just waiting for insignia, matt varnish and basing in this instance ...this one's been 'screaming' at me for ages, so really glad to finally see him complete :)

This is a test piece for my US Airborne force in Normandy, especially St. Mere Eglise and Carentan as a project some time in the future so is wearing the m1942 uniform and is one of the excellent metal range from Warlord Games - these are fantastic sculpts and the detail almost paints itself.

The base uniform colour is often the subject of much conjecture, probably not helped by the quality of the material and abusive battlefield conditions it was subjected to.  For my own taste, based on the information I could find I knew I wanted a green tinted, sandy colour and finding a base colour I was happy with proved elusive until I found the Russian Uniform spray from Plastic Soldier Company which proved just the ticket.

One of the reasons this particular miniature has been on hold for so long is my indecision between 101st 'Screaming Eagles' or 82nd 'All American' divisions and therefore the shoulder patch I would apply (I was also planning the Stars and Stripes patch for the right shoulder but recently discovered this almost certainly wasn't worn by the 101st in Normandy).

Both have their merits with the 82nd badges being more colourful against the green/grey and 'All American', but as I really wanted to use the characterful 'Mohawk' pathfinder models associated with the 101st and also have models for Dick Winters and Lt. Spiers not to mention the aforementioned battles of St. Mere Eglise and Carentan it really did sway the eventual choice of 101st Screaming Eagles even though the 82nd featured heavily at St. Mere Eglise (maybe I'll add some units of those too when it comes to recreating that particular battle?).

Overall I'm really happy with the result and can't wait for a chance to paint up some more... maybe for Warlord's own D-day 75th Anniversary campaign day in June?  Although I do have to question my own sanity for adding shading to the Screaming Eagle decal before sealing with matt varnish, but it just popped too much against the drab uniform and just didn't look part of it... much happier with it now, and maybe just a 'little' OCD?

Now onto the next minis to grab my attention... need to keep the momentum going, but also not loose sight of the new project I started putting together in November with the intention of gaming and expanding it throughout 2019.

2018 - a year in review (Nick)

Well 2018 didn't quite go as planned and the miniature-a-day ended up as a total of 50 finished rather than 365 for me.  A sudden change in my work pattern meant the second half of the year was more overtime and/or sleep rather than hobby time, but now things have settled down again I'm determined to have a more focused start to the New Year.

However I did say I wouldn't worry about the final total too much and it's still progress, even if I only got to keep 16 of those minis for myself... and some of those projects that didn't get finished last year could become easy wins this time round as I tentatively look again at that goal of finishing a mini per day.

I know Carl's probably done better than me, but how much we'll have to wait and see as I know some haven't made it here yet even though they are finished - the opponents to my Age of Sigmar Stormcast in our Skirmish campaign for a start.

Anyway onwards and upwards, let's see what 2019 brings?

Warhammer Age of Sigmar - Knight-Incantor (Nick)

Something completely different from my painting station this time! ...something Games Workshop ...something Warhammer!!

Yes, I succumbed to the new version of Warhammer Age of Sigmar and although I was headed down the brand new Nighthaunt (ghosts and gheists) route as is my won't with all things undead in fantasy gaming my first finished mini is actually a Stormcast Eternal from the newly unveiled Sacrosanct Chamber (wizards and other magically attuned sorts).

This chap comes free with the £5 'Getting Started with Warhammer Age of Sigmar' magazine which is a really good deal tbh - or should that be you get a free magazine with a £5 miniature? either way it's a fantastic looking miniature and would normally be £15-20 on his own!

Painting wise the main feature was an experiment using my airbrush for the armour, starting from black primer I used Vallejo Air Gunmetal, Steel and Chrome for zenithal highlights before over spraying with Badger's Ghost Tint Brown.  To be fair I was originally thinking of  much darker, bronze colour but I'm happy enough with the final red copper effect and just need to try for more definition next time.

Amazingly this is also a push-fit miniature, and I defy anyone to tell where the joins are as the engineering is truly remarkable (although I have glued mine as I would for any model).

I always said I would never even consider using Stormcast, being as they first seemed, 40k Terminators dumped in the fantasy world of Warhammer just to sell more of that genre by making it a mirror of the 40k universe.

But things have come along way in the last 3 years though, and this sculpt really captivated my imagination plus I much prefer it to the female one in the Soul Wars starter set - this is looking like the start of a very slippery slope and a return to all things GW!!

It's a long time since I painted anything like this and I had to relearn a style I used to be very familiar with but much less so in recent years.  I certainly don't find it as easy as I did in my youth, but I definitely enjoyed it and it made for a complete change - even if my patience for a finished result isn't quite the saint like quality I used to have!

Beyond the Gates of Antares - NuHu (Nick)

Another small update from me, this time back to Antares again and a NuHu leader and her Nano drone for my C3 Concord army as seen previously.

Seeing as these have been 80% finished for over 2 years now, I though it was about time I filled in the details and finished them off!

Quite a simple scheme to match my C3 'Tango Division', but with a little more attention as befits her status without going too mad.

The Nuhu herself, directing proceedings:

    

...and her attendant Nano drone:

                                    

Also on the bench is my C3M4 Combat drone for the Concord, yet another model that has been 'nearly finished for over 2 years... hopefully that will be along soon, but in the meantime this brings the year's tally crawling up to 49 minis complete and off the 'lead mountain' even though only 15 of them are mine to keep!

Bolt Action - US winter (Nick)

Just a quick update for my Bolt Action US winter army, this time a 'spotter' to go with the M2A1 105mm Howitzer I did last year.

This guy is actually a crewman from the M1 57mm anti-tank gun by Warlord Games which I have yet to build, but as I have two of them for the AT Platoon I'm doing it will be good to mix them up a bit and so I 'borrowed' this one as he's just what I needed!

He has been sat prepped and primed on my workbench (along with half a veteran squad) since I finished the howitzer so it really is time I got some paint slapped on, hopefully the veterans might follow shortly but there are several other 'oddments' on the go as well.

Lion Rampant - bidowers (Nick)

Ah, so the Dark Ages miniatures mentioned at the close of my last post slipped by the wayside for one reason or another and Plan B was put into action for the games at Salute - thanks to Carl for some last minute beg & borrow on that one! (don't worry they are on their way, just not finished... yet!)

Instead I finally finished my first proper unit for Lion Rampant, well two units really as they will mostly be used as bidowers which are taken in units of six.

These guys have been waiting something ridiculous like two years for the bases to get done, and although I desperately want to go back and add highlights and more detail in the faces, I guess it's better to finish some more units to this standard first!

The miniatures are all medieval slingers from Curteys Miniatures, primed with various green and brown sprays from Army Painter, Plastic Soldier Company and even and old can of Russian Green from Miniature Paints for the main tunic colours.  Then matching colours and a few alternative 'spot' colours were used throughout to hopefully create a muted, rag-tag but cohesive appearance.

If you look carefully you might notice the odd instance of a brighter green and yellow, these are my chosen livery colours which you should seen popping up in every unit.

After picking out the hands and faces with Dwarf Flesh, a liberal wash of Vallejo's Sepia Shade 'Dipping Formula' was applied and that was it apart from the long awaited basing.

The bases themselves are deliberately fussy to convey the impression of scrub and undergrowth were these skirmishing troops are most likely to be found, taking advantage of whatever cover and broken ground they can find.

Even though I only had to finish the bases on these 12 (and I may come back to them later), I'm calling them done for now which bumps my yearly total up to 46 completed so far... not that many as we are now into May, but at least I get to keep these ones and it all counts as off the lead mountain!