28mm Shogunate Japanese Terrain - Cottage and Small Barn

Hey There,

I've been reading an early draft of Sidney's 'Until the Last Sword is Drawn' along with the newly released 'Hamatsu', and so felt a desperate need to do up some Japanese terrain. 

I've had this kit from 4Ground for YEARS. In fact, I picked it up at SALUTE probably a decade ago and it's been 'seasoning' ever since. Anyway, I girded my loins for the coming struggle, but managed to talk Lady Sarah into helping me (using my Jedi Tom Sawyer spiel), so we had a nice weekend afternoon putting these two buildings together.  :) 

I even managed to get through my part of the assembly process without saying any bad words. Now, that's iron discipline. (Okay, I may have muttered a few, but it was under the table when looking for dropped parts, and I don't think anyone heard...)

Love the Boris hair roof, but it's even better after a good coat of water mixed with PVA. Somebody really should tell him. 

Sigh, I miss 4Ground. Their stuff was sooo well designed. 

Nothing much to say about these as they're pretty basic, but still, they were a joy to build. I may give them a wash and highlight, but really they look pretty serviceable as is, and will be a great addition to the Shogunate Japan collection.

Thanks for popping in!

Curt

A Giant Spider, Spider-Riders, Spear Chukkas and Trolls (oh my!) for Warhammer (yes, in 10mm)

Returning back to my nascent Goblin force, I thought I'd add a few more units to beef them up a bit more. Here is a big (okay, eeenormous) spider, some spider-rider heralds, a battery of Night Goblin Spear Chukkas and a mob of River Trolls.

The giant spider was a 10mm 3d print from Wakes Emporium which I scaled-up significantly, being as I wanted a centrepiece for the typically hapless Gobbos. Kudos to the designer for the excellent model as many 3d designs don't translate well when enlarged to this extent. Bravo!

I added a few shaped pieces of blue foam insulation to build-out the rock formation she's clambering over.

I often like to make use of these larger bases to incorporate little vignettes and bit of additional terrain. For the Spider I wanted to accentuate her size, so placed a Squig 'rider' and a Spider Rider along her flanks. 

'Watch out, guys! It's not like she has indicator lights, or anything.' 

Speaking of Spider Riders the 'Big Lass' has a unit of these creepy little fellas to act as her vanguard. These models are also from Wakes Emporium.

I used colourshift chromatic paints from Greenstuff World for the spiders' abdomen and thorax.

Next up is a Night Goblin Spear Chukka battery. These models are from Green Skin Miniatures - another quality 3d designer on Gumroad.

I try to give each of my 10mm fantasy armies a distinct basing theme. Verdant for the Wood Elves, lots of buildings for the Empire, desert ruins for the Tomb Kings, etc.  For the Gobbos, I've decided to do up their bases kind of hardscrabble: dry, rocky and arid. Like this one, I often like to give them a mushroom here and there to make them feel more at home. I my world, everything is better with mushrooms. :) 

Finally, we have a gaggle of River Trolls as allies to the Goblins. These are from Green Skin Miniatures.

Not much to say about these lads, but that they're big and blue. Still, handy fellas to have around in a scrape, assuming they keep their wits about them.

And there you have it, a few more units for the Greenskin cause. I need to get some basic rank-and-file done for them next, but that'll be for another day.

Next up: Mercenaries!

Thanks for dropping in! Have a great day!

- Curt

More 10mm Reinforcements for the Empire

We've been having a good time with our 10mm Warhammer Fantasy campaign. We now have four turns tucked under out belt, with the four contesting powers battling remorselessly for supremacy of the 'Isle of Mist & Flame'. If you're interested in seeing what we're up to, please drop-in to follow the progress of the campaign here.

I find that one of the nice things about putting on a campaign like this is that it provides a great incentive to get stuff done. Peter's Empire forces needed a little more fleshing out, so here are four units that I've added to his Order of Battle: a regiment of Knights, a detachment of Handgunners, a battery of Hellblaster Volley Guns and a Steam Tank.

Of these new additions, the Empire Knights are the only old school metal miniatures from Games Workshop.

While I love many of the new models from talented 3d artists, I have to say I still have a great affection for these old metal models from the 90s - my lizard brain just loves the crispness and heft of them. Wonderful stuff.

I decided to give these guys a rather garish yellow, red and black livery. I was initially a little unsure of the colour scheme, but it's grown on me over time. 

The Handgunners are very nice 3d prints from Mini Rat Studio. Not much to say about these guys other than they're solid line-of-battle troops to bolster the Empire's general muster. 

The Volley Guns are excellent stl prints, again from Min Rat Studio. 

These do a wonderful job of capturing the look of the original 28mm models, and are much more substantial than the rather weedy original Warmaster metal castings.

Finally, the rather odd Steam Tank. 

This is a scaled-down print of a 28mm design from Double Edge Miniatures, which is a rendition of Leonardo da Vinci's famous Renaissance tank concept.

I thought it would be a great addition to the Empire's engineering park, and a fun departure from the original GW steam tank design.  I think it's pretty terrific.

For a bit of fun, I tracked down a nice little model of a Renaissance engineer which looks hauntingly similar to the Great Florentine himself. 

*Kisses popping fingers* Un bell’uomo!!

Thanks for dropping in for a look!

- Curt

First Units for my 10mm Warhammer Goblin Army

The Isle of Mist and Flame is home to numerous indigenous races. Some are fairly benign, while others are openly hostile, throwing spanners into the players' plans for conquest. Of the latter group, there are several tribes of Goblins who, along with their allies, occupy the forests, hills and mountains of the island. In campaign terms, the Goblins are not player-controlled, but rather run by the GM (me!) to sow a bit of mischief and chaos amongst the players.

So here are my first efforts in building a greenskin horde. 

Night Goblins!

I figure that if one is doing-up Goblins you need to have scad and scads of the pesky little blighters. With this in mind, I thought I'd break the duck by creating a big mob of Night Goblins in all their ball-n-chain, pointy-hat, drug-addled splendour. 

For an additional bit of fun, I have them being chivied along by some pals who are riding giant, carnivorous Squigs, as one does in these situations.

Here are the beginnings of a wolf rider force. Ultimately I want four of these units, which shouldn't be too tall of an order as they paint-up really fast. They'll be partnered up with Spider Riders, which should be fun, but more on that later.

I had my buddy Byron cut these slightly thinner, wavy-fronted bases to easily identify 'light' units on the tabletop.

I saw this groovy forest giant on MyMinFactory and thought he would be a nice addition to the force.

I like how stooped and wonderfully dolorous he is. I played around with the trees on his back and the base for a bit of fun.

Finally, I have a Goblin camp with watchtower. To the Strongest asks for each side to have a camp for their force. I found a few different files on MyMiniFactory and bodged this together.

I figured I can swap out the tower and replace it with a temple or shrine if needs be.

I like how rickety the tower is. I figure Goblins aren't big on Operational Health and Safety issues...

So there you have the start of my goblin force for Monsters & Magic. I'm working on several more units as I write this so hopefully I'll have some more progress to show soon.

Thanks for popping in for a look!

- Curt

10mm Warhammer Fantasy Campaign

Hey there!

Our gaming group has been making some use of the 10mm fantasy armies that I've been working on over the past few Painting Challenges, with us playing a small Warhammer campaign. We have four players, plus me serving behind the emerald curtain as organizer and chief bottlewasher. 

The action takes place on a mysterious fog-enshrouded volcanic island ('The Isle of Mist and Flame') which appears every few decades in different seas throughout the Old World. 

The Isle of Mist and Flame

The campaign has each player vying to see who can be the first to claim 10 areas (hexes), allowing them to tip the balance and gain control of the island. I figured that the island idea would keep things contained and would allow me to interject with some fun story hooks and other narrative shenanigans.

For the strategic rules, we are using 'Campaigns of Conquest' an excellent little set of rules initially developed as part of the Mighty Empires supplement for Warhammer Fantasy 8th ed. The rules are only 5 pages long, but do an excellent job in capturing the essentials of running a focused, but fun campaign. 

For the tabletop rules, we're using 'Monsters & Magic' a bolt-on fantasy variant to Simon Miller's excellent 'To the Strongest'. The set is particularly brilliant as it provides ready-made army lists for most of the forces found in classic Warhammer Fantasy. 

I'm using Roll20 as our campaign diary. I believe it is open for anyone to view, so feel free to visit and see what we're up to.

Next up will be some new additions to my 10mm fantasy collection.

Thanks for dropping in!

- Curt