WAB - Germanic Warriors (Nick)

Its been a while for me but other things have been taking priority recently, however good to see Carl filling in.

On the plus side though, I've managed to keep up 'paint on brush' every day in the meantime even if a lot of those days have just been some of these shield rims and bosses as easy wins - 200 days in a row now since that first week in December last year.

This time we have a couple of test pieces for another long lost project, two warriors for my Ancient Germanic Tribesmen army in Warhammer Ancient Battles (WAB) by Games Workshop Historical - these have been sat for months just waiting for varnish and basing materials so glad to finally move them onto the 'done' pile!

These are OOP plastic figures from what was Wargames Factory, not the best figures but an absolute bargain through eBay and the only such plastic figures available at a time when I couldn't justify 150+ metal figures.
In fact I think I have since spent more on the shields than I did the figures themselves, however having painted the Wargames Factory (now Warlord Games) Viking figures before as my SAGA warband I know they take ink washes (and now Contrast Paints) well and again the LBMS shield designs should make them pop en masse.

I say these are for WAB but that ruleset has been out of production for quite a number of years now, although a lot of folks still play and it is seeing something of a renaissance as COVID lockdown eases - they were always intended for this purpose and as the nemesis for Carl's Romans, and hopefully one day they will fulfil that destiny as well as other mass battle games such as Swordpoint by Gripping Beast, To the Strongest! by Simon Miller/Big Red Bat, or Hail Caesar by Warlord Games.

In the interim I'm hoping they will build up to that with smaller 'ambush' games of WAB using the old Siege & Conquest supplement written by Guy Bowers of Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy magazine's editorial fame, Infamy, Infamy by Too Fat Lardies and maybe Soldiers of Rome by Warwick Kinrade/Artorus Games.

Plenty more of these to come hopefully, and many other things sat in that 'almost' done pile.

Blood Bowl Goblin Bomma (Carl)

The slow progression of my Goblin Blood Bowl team continues with the addition of the Goblin Bomma.

3rd edition model from the 90s. Really enjoying putting this team together even with it taking an age to complete.

Blood Bowl Goblin Pogoer (Carl)

A month after the last completed miniature.. Good grief. What a slow pace. But it's here!

Another addition to my Blood Bowl Goblin team, in this case a Pogoer. I foresee his job will be primary ball carrier from kickoffs.

A repaint/paint over of Scrappa Sorehead from my old Deff Skwadd Orc team into his new team colours as Orcs no longer get the weapons and madcap gobbo stuff on their team.

Blood Bowl Troll and Goblin (Carl)

I've managed to get another couple of models finished towards my Goblin Blood Bowl team.

A second Troll and a Goblin.

The Troll was a rebase and repaint from my old Deff Skwadd Orc team. I messed up on the number, brush control went awry so I'll probably come back and repaint that shoulder pad after the rest of the team is finished. This Troll is the 'off the shelf' pose (the previous Troll I've painted recently has a repositioning of the left arm).

The Goblin was primed white with goblin green on the skin areas but very chipped from languishing in the box of Blood Bowl. Have to admit to really loving the old goblins, it's a static pose but loads of character nonetheless.

The photos have a bit of a dark shadow coming off the Troll due to the incredibly bright sunlight beaming in through the window.

Next up for the team are a Goblin pogoer and Goblin bomber.

Warlords of Erehwon - Troll (Nick)

Another change of tack from me, all part of the joys of 'paint on brush' every day - this time a fantasy troll from Macrocosm and pure coincidence that it follows on immediately after Carl's Blood Bowl troll!
This chap was part of a bargain bag job lot I picked up at the last Salute to take place almost 2 years ago now, before the COVID pandemic intervened.

Mainly Citadel Contrast Paints again, with additional acrylics and inks for the details... in fact the skin colour is just Gryph-Charger Grey over white primer so quite quick overall which isn't a bad thing when I've another fourteen of them to do!

Originally heading for a goblin warband full of gribblies in Warlords of Erehwon from Warlord Games that I helped to playtest with the author Rick Priestly, but could easily see service in SAGA: Age of Magic from Studio Tomahawk, Dragon Rampant (a fantasy version of Lion Rampant) by Osprey Publishing, maybe even some large battle games like Oathmark, again by Osprey Publishing or Kings of War by Mantic Games.

Blood Bowl - Troll (Carl)

Finished another old Blood Bowl model this week. A second edition Troll, with a slight repositioning of the left arm. The model has lain primed but chipped and battered in the WiP box for literally years.

So a quick rebase to a 32mm round, along with repriming with GW's Corax White and I've finally given the model a paint job.

The basing is done with GW's Technical Paint Stirland Battlemire which I can only surmise is made up of sand, PVA and paint. It's a quick way to texture a base but I think I prefer my usual approach of wall filler applied with a sculpting tool. I'll use up the technical paint on my Blood Bowl bases but don't think I'll be in a hurry to buy any more. It's good if you're in a hurry (I can imagine this approach being fantastic for last minute tournament preparation) but I'm generally fairly laid back with regards getting stuff painted so see no need for that particular time saver.

The glossy areas on the base are Green Stuff World's UV Resin (I got mine in the UK from Eureka Miniatures UK). It produces a very good water effect.

I've noticed with my last few posts that my phone camera really does kill the graduations between colours on models. Might have to try the 'proper' camera next time.

Chosen Men - 95th Rifleman (Nick)

Finally my first British rifleman of the the infamous 95th Rifles, as featured in the Sharpe novels and TV series as well as the cover of the Chosen Men rules by Osprey Publishing - figure is again from Warlord Games, a metal sample this time from the 95th Rifles - Chosen Men box set.

Unlike the bright colours of the previous redcoat, I chose to paint over a black primer this time as nearly everything is black or black/green (at the time of starting some time ago I also wanted a more traditional style of painting as I was struggling to get satisfactory results using the Contrast paints).

In the end it is a brighter green than is 'realistic' but very dark green just looks black at a distance on the tabletop and I really wanted to be able to distinguish those green jackets - the same would apply to the dark blue of any French Voltigeurs (much like the WFR light infantry officer I painted last year)

Hopefully now I've got the first test figures done for both light infantry and rifles it should be much quicker painting the rest of each unit ready for some small games of either Chosen Men or Sharp Practice - possibly even the forthcoming Shakos and Bayonets supplement for Muskets & Tomahawks by Studio Tomahawk.