Italian Guard Conscripts by Adler

I finish off the Italian Guard Infantry with the Guard Conscripts, the only guard battalions that wear shako. These are Adler Young Guard figures that work well for the Italians.

Like the other guard infantry I need two battalions for Project Russia 1812 and now only need to paint up a few guns and a small unit of cavalry. Then I will need to start on the Poles.

Being Adler they have loads of detail that stands out quite well making painting the detail that much easier. These actually painted up quicker than I expected.

A trick to speed up painting is to paint the shako cords before the shako and then paint the shako up to the cords. You still need to touch up a few of the cords but on the whole they are done.

I just inked the faces as my Nut Brown Ink was running low and had gone really think. I have restocked now so will be back to normal for the next lot of 6mm I do.

Greek Hoplites By Baccus

Originally these figures were bought for use with my Macedonian army but are more likely to be used with my Persian army. Same goes for the original block I painted up about a year ago.

These are based on the standard 60x30 base in ranks of twelve and four deep. This packs out the base so gives the impression of mass. Will it will do until it meats a pike block!

Baccus provide these figures in files making them very dynamic. The only snag with this is painting the rear ranks shields, a major factor in how I have painted them. I will have to get some of the Baccus shield transfers when I next buy more of these and see if I can do better.

I still have enough figures to do another two blocks but these are a different code and are the usual strips so a lot easier to paint the shields. I am happy to have both types within my army, after all I do need a few more.

I went with a leather rather than linen armour on these, will be doing most in linen as it shows up a lot better. I have the first of the levy infantry on my desk awaiting the nod so hopefully in the next week or two you should see some more units.

6mm Baccus British Napoleonic Infantry

I continue to work away at my sons Napoleonic British, another three battalions that brings him up to a staggering five battalions. However Lee gave him three battalions of painted Adler line and one more rifle battalion so once I have these painted up he will be close to a respectable starting force. This means I will need to get a few more cavalry units done as well as his command.

The Baccus British Infantry are very tidy castings and the detail is very clear. Both these factors really helps get them painted up quickly.

Here is the 1st Battalion of the 9th East Norfolk Regiment, yellow facings and regimental colour. I have started painting from the low regimental numbers but in future will have to try and mix it up a bit or he will just have regiments in a strict number sequence. I will have to do the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire regiments though.

The 10th North Lincolnshire's 1st Battalion is almost a carbon copy also with the yellow for facings and standard. I have the skirmish screen set up a little different and the flags being blown behind so at least they have a few points of difference.

Last up is you guessed it the 11th North Devonshire Regiments 1st Battalion with it's rather snazzy green colours and facings.

Not that I think The Boy will be buying any more 6mm at Triples as he has a good stock of figures for me to paint up but he will be buying into a new period and scale, more on that in a future post.

Building of the Quarter - Baccus Star Fort

Yes it REALLY has been that long! I always dip out a bit during the Analogue Painting Challenge but I had done precious few prior to the challenge ion the last couple of months. By the end of March I am hoping to get back to a building or two a week. I still have a box half full of building so I am in no danger of running out.

Today I have thrown together another four buildings ready for a game tomorrow (if we get time) not actually painted them yet though.

I did paint this up though, it would still be waiting for the first lick of paint if not for the Defensive Terrain bonus round. Baccus way back used to supply resin terrain, before they even supplied figures. The rights and moulds for all their buildings have been sold on but the owner has never actually put them back in manufacture making this a rather special and hard to get piece.

Matt gave me this set about a year ago, he does not like the height of the parapet as the bases are of similar height and it spoils the illusion for him. I just wanted it from the moment I looked at it! Some great detail such as the gateways (two supplied).

The set comes with 6 battlements, 6 wall sections, 6 crenelations (?) and one breached wall and battlement allowing us to have storming scenarios.

It was a joy to work on, lots of drybrushing and picking out the odd stone slab to add a bit more interest. Time wise it took about four or five sessions so well worth the effort.

This will mostly get used in Napoleonic games as I don't own any 18C figures and do not see me going down that route. Of course that will only be the case until Lee or Matt somehow convinces me I really do have to get something because xyz.

The last picture is mostly for the none 6mm gamers to give an idea of scale, it fits into two A4 boxes. I just used a few of my Leven Iberian buildings to fill the middle up a little. 

SAGA Gripping Beast Vikings

I have painted up another point of Viking warriors armed with spears. This will allow me to field a few spear armed units which I think should give my force a more realistic look. Indeed I now have enough Viking figures to look beyond Saga if I wish.

I went with quite basic colours and no high or low lighting leaving it to the ink wash to make these look a bit more appealing. I have also swapped out the Griping Beast shields for Black Tree shields where possible.

I really like the poses and amount of detail on these figures, just enough to break up each figure but not so much that it's a bit of a drag painting them.

I mixed the colours so that no two figures have the same tunics though two from above look the same in the photo. I still have quite a few of these left so may do a few more during the challenge, I will have to see.

I also mixed up the tufts across the eight models to keep them looking nice and varied. For Saga I am thinking a few units like these, a bow armed axe fodder and some elite troops. I have some more berserker types as well.

Here they are all together, now I just need to get myself organised and get a few more games in. The Boy has his Anglo Danes and I know Lee has done a bit more work on his faction. Before that though we have a games day of 6mm Naps with a side of Dead Mans Hand, I have some buildings to get done.

Italian Guard Infantry 6mm Baccus

Nearly finished with the Italian Guards for our Project Russia 1812 with just two more Battalions after these four. These are Baccus French three old castings and one new.

All four wear bearskins, first up is the Velites with a mainly white uniform. I find white somewhat tricky to paint as a base colour. I even used a different white to go over the crossbelts that is only noticeable if you pick up the figures for a close look. I probably won't bother again.

Italian guard units tended to have the sons of wealthy Italians within the ranks which suited Napoleon as it tied these families to his cause and the fathers of these men as the units were not usually involved in fighting. All this changed when Napoleon went east.

Wearing French uniforms also meant I had those tricky straps to paint on the backpacks. As usual I just painted the two straps, that third always looks wrong. 

Next up simply termed Guard Infantry and a different uniform in that these guys were a dark green jacket. I added a Leven tree to the base just for kicks. 

As you can see the Leven trees look really good, I still need to plant a load of these trees in multiples for larger area forests and woods.

I don't see any of the Italian Guard units getting much use as they really did not get that involved in battles, but they will get to fight at least once. I have the Guard Conscripts on order so these should get painted up within the next six weeks leaving me with very little left to do for the Italians for this project. I probably will be painting up a few more standard units for the Peninsular and any other battles or campaigns to come.

Curtgeld Otto Schindler.

The theme for this years Analogue Painting Challenge is risk takers and after a few ideas that were bouncing around as possible Cath came up with Otto Schindler. Immediately I was thinking of the film and it did not take long to come up with a firm idea of what I wanted to do. Whilst Schindler never came into contact with the girl in the red coat it struck me that it would make for a iconic piece, Doing it in greyscale both fitted the piece and Curt's own interest. 

All I needed was the figures, after both Cath and myself had trolled the net it was apparent that I would have to do a bit of work as no supplier seemed to do perfect figures but with little work I could have the girl. Schindler would take a bit more effort.

I finally found a figure in Dixon's gangster range that was mostly what I wanted. I had to remove the pistol from his hand and drill out the hand as well as lower the arm so he would look like he is reaching out to the girl.

The last thing was to cut off the cloth cap and replace with a hat similar to one that Schindler is seen wearing in the film. Originally I was going to have her running away from Schindler but in the end I wanted to try and give the imprecision that they were reaching over a impossible gulf.

Next up it was working out which greys to use for which part. I bought a further four greys for the project though I think I just used the three on this model. The girl had to have the red coat but all the rest would be greyscale and after looking at a lot of images from the film I finally set myself the look I wanted. In fact the final piece actually comes from a mix of several different images so I don't owe the finished figure to any one image.

Not that the building did not have it's issues, cutting off the cloth cap cost me the back of his head. Fortunately I was able rebuild the hair with some modelling putty. I also had doubts about the hat, originally it looked too small but once painted looked OK.

The girl was really simple as she has a lot less shades to work with. The red in reality is a little less intense than on these images.

I was going to add snow to the girls side of the base but in the end went for barren ground with no grass whilst adding the splash of colour on Schindlers side of the base. Again this was to try and project the idea of being worlds apart and I am really happy with how it came out.

Imps and Rats

I picked up these figures from next to the bring and buy at Castle Donnington last year for use in roleplaying with the kids. I just never got round to getting these quick paints sorted.

I have no idea who made these but they are very nicely sculptured minis. I based the winged imp on a Leven Miniatures statue base which suited it rather well.

I am most impressed with the red of the winged imp as it came out how I imagined it. Rather quick to do but looks like more time was spent on it. I now just need to come up with a use for them.

Again these were bought from the same second hand trader, three are not really enough so I will be picking up more as I come across them. I used three different browns for the base colour before drybrushing other shades over the top as I want them to look a little different but not hugely so. I used black ink on the pink tails whilst still wet which produced a nice varied pink effect that I feel looks more like a rats tail than I otherwise would have achieved.

One of the imps and these rats bases have old GW dungeon plan tiles on their wooden bases. This will help them fit in when I use them with the tiles in dungeon bashes.

Via Ludibunda Fantasy and Medieval 28mm 3D Printed Scenery

I received a email from Drunken Dwarf Design asking me if I would take a look at their Kickstarter and post something about it if I liked it. I do get the odd one of these and often take a look but if it's not something I would like or feel looks a bit off kilter then I simply leave it be. I don't like to go out of my way to be negative most of the time.

So obviously this kickstarter has to have something going for it, first up it's not quite the usual one in that you are not buying a finished product.

What is on offer is STL format files that you can then get printed on a 3D printer. The backers are basicly giving the designers the cash to be able to extend their designs and build up a greater library of designs. These being skins of buildings and the extra detail that makes them individual. The image above is showing how you can build the building so that it can be opened up for moving miniatures about. It's more aimed at the fantasy gamer than the historical though I think the latter can find quite a bit of use for these. Interior detail is included, again ticking the roleplayers boxes the most. Will we see them branching out to other periods such as Wild West? I think its quite possible if this proves to be a success.

The parts as you can see can be to some extent swapped about for more versatility and keep the town you build from looking like a series of clones. The files are even open for you to modify in a CAD program.

Whilst aimed at the 28/32 gamer you can re-size the files so that you can produce 15mm or even 6mm sized buildings. The cost of the files remain the same but your further outlay on getting them printed would obviously be lower as it would use less material.

Talking cost I have lifted the statement directly from the blurb, how much it would cost to get the building printed from a commercial 3D printer I have no idea but given the 30-60g I guess you could get a few quotes before pledging.

Our models are inexpensive to make, each part of a building will use between 30 and 60g of PLA or ABS, at the current prices that's between 0,70€ and 2€ (£0.5 to £1.50/US$0.75 to US$2.20), and you can print them as much as you like, so if you need 10 houses then you just have to print one 10 times and it will cost you the price of 1 pre-made plastic or resin house !

Some of the buildings are open plan, this allows for market traders and such like, how about a scenario based around a market? That never gets old, well for us gamemasters.

As you can see you get a lot of detail. The fact you can use sections again and again as once you own the file you can get it printed as often as you wish.

For 60 Euro's you will get the whole set of files from basic buildings through to all the castle parts and all unlocked stretch goals. Other optional add on buildings like the graveyard can be bought on top of the 60 Euro. For 15 Euro you would get at least three building designs so the initial outlay is quite low.

They are expecting to have it ready to ship (files) by April 2016 so if this is a realistic date then I would say the kickstarter is more a way of marketing come gaining sales rather than needing the cash to make the project. Obviously backing gets you the stretch goals so good incentives to get in on the kickstarter.

They are also offering the opportunity to buy produce to sell licencees for anyone wanting to trade in these buildings. My only concern with this is how they control the private licence peeps selling via e-bay etc.

So if it interests you, pop over via the link at the top or click here. 

15mm Ancients Turn

I mentioned I would be painting up a more varied range of figures through the painting challenge, well in keeping with this I again swap scales though I seem a little stuck in Ancient times.

Two units of Persian medium cavalry for my rather old Persian army. I have a lot of these guys in my army, though these are a tad different to the majority as they have bow cases on their backs.

These are actually old Chariot Miniatures castings bought via Facebook on a trading page. A great sense of Nostalgia seeing the old yellow packing slips from days gone by. Magister Militum now provide the figures and I will be calling on them at Triples to pick up one more pack so I can paint up another unit as I have eight of the twelve figures I need.

Whilst I used lots of different colours I was still able to do some batch painting with twenty four figures in play. The same goes for the horse colours.

I have yet to use these guys but they will see some service next week as I face Matt's Han Chinese for the second time (write up of game one to follow).

The bow cases received some rudimentary art work, nothing to write home about but again adds another splash of colour. When I first painted up units for this army they were all uniform colours. On rebasing I took the opportunity to split up the blocks of colour which I think works better with the Persians.

As I can't resist a bit of fun in my games I added a little bird on one of the bow cases. Is it historical? of course not but that's not the point ;-) 

Next up is a unit of Agema for my other Ancient armies. I am a little on the short side on Macedonian and Successor cavalry so wanted to increase my options. I still need more of the basic companion types which will be further addressed at Triples.

Unlike the Persians these guys are all painted the same. I have had to play around with one of the figures as his Kontos had broken off so a cutting off of the pole under the arm and repositioning of the arm and he becomes the commander.

I now have two rather large armies that won't need much more in the way of troops, though the Macedonian/Successor/Seleucid army will have a few more options I can paint up and play about with. Once this is done I really don't see me doing another 15mm Ancients army as I really don't feel the need to dive into another as things stand. That of course till I see the next must have.