Building of the Week Six of the Best

Welcome to another building of the week, I know I know it's been two weeks but I am at last starting to get back in to the swing of things.

Leven Miniatures will be releasing the following buildings in a rather natty pack of six modern garden buildings, great for your modern day wargamer.

A very modern brick built shed with a felted roof wooden trim and double doors. It was a doddle to paint up. I quite often bang on about the texture to Mikes buildings but there is no getting away from it, he simply does this the best out of all the suppliers. You know it's felted as it feels once painted just looks as it should. Same with the brick work, it simply goes together perfectly.

On the other hand if Lee's shed is to be believed Mike has made this one way too small! Only kidding it's an ideal size for sane humans which explains Lee's shed away perfectly.

Again it more or less paints itself as it's obvious what needs to be done to get it looking like an average garden shed.

These sheds are a little smaller and as such I wanted to have a bit of fun with them. I had the idea that they could be little potting sheds or small storage and as such painted them up to be a little more modern, think 30's household, kids still rug rats or with first bikes so painted them up to be a little more trendy ;-)

The larger one lends itself to a potting shed type, my Mother has one with the nice big window for plenty of light. The pink one is perfect for the extra storage type rather than doing something in it. I bet if you open the door it's packed with crap, those pink walls aren't foolin' no one.

Last up is another larger shed and the hardest of all of the buildings to paint, the greenhouse. Why on earth Mike would wish such evil on us is beyond me, seems such a nice bloke as well.

Anyway both buildings are very sound later 20th and early 21st Century structures though the greenhouse would pass for a post war say 1960's garden. Just not sure how best to paint it to get the best out of it. I sent for very pale blue with thinned silver wash over the top. I really like the brick foundation though this does tend to date it a little though you can hide that with reasonable ease if you want it to be fully modern.

Again Mike offers something a little bit different with them being a set and all work together well. When you consider how many buildings he has managed to create in the last few short years it's amazing that he can go so deep into each range. This addition will really help expand what you can do with his modern housing and throw in a few of the factory buildings and you have a very credible setting for some cold war gone hot through to zombie swarms (can even have them erupting out of the cinema!)

Next week should see some new finishes of mine as I finally start working my way through the resin pile of buildings I have allowed to build up.

Baccus 6mm Macedonian Phalanx Influx

Between doing things with Cath on my week off I managed to get these boys started and finished. I have speeded up a few stages which has really shortened the time scale of getting a unit done.

These are as the title states Baccus and I have by this stage had more than a little experience painting these rather excellent phalangites, I combine AMA01 and AMA03 packs to form two blocksfrom two boxes so that's £6.60 per base. Still cheaper than building a block in 15mm but rather pricey compared with my other 6mm units. However the effect is well worth the outlay and as I don't need large amounts of units it can remain quite an economical project.

Not that I stuck to just one unit as it saves time to paint up a couple together. That's 192 figures it total. Not bad for a few hours work (OK a bit more than a few).

The mix of the two packs means you can build a unit that has real depth and having the two front ranks with pikes pointing forwards gives a far more dramatic look than all at advance. Using 60x60 bases means I can do this without the pikes sticking over the base edge by more than a whisker.

Part of the speeding up of the painting means a quick drybrush of the leather cuirass which on close inspection is a bit hit and miss but still looks fine from a reasonably close distance. Given the planned scale of this project that is perfectly OK with me.

I have added dice holders to the new blocks, these will be great for Hail Caesar which is the rules I am planning on using. The only negative is that due to having to have the figures almost flush with the rear of the base I have had to mount the holders at the front of the units. Like the bases themselves, these great little holders are supplied by Warbases and the smallest size costs £1.00 for 15 which are perfect for the tiny dice I am using.

So that's five units painted up so far, I mentioned above how it could be quite economical, well not in this house baby. I am aiming for 20 of these units by the time I have finished building the army. It's quite possible I will look to increase this if we end up putting on a game sometime ;-)

 That would equate to £136 just for the pike alone. However I think the end result would look stunning. I started this project with no clear aim to game with them, just a vanity project but Lee took up the challenge and has started to build a Roman army. Matt may find himself going down the route of 6mm via his club as well, so they should get some game time after all.

All the pikes are cut down sweeping brush bristles, I picked mine up at a show for about £2.50 and have enough for about 50 units. It would be great to run out LOL. Sticking them to the figures is easier than you would think. I did the two units in about one and a half hours including cutting them to size.

Once I have a few more units finished I am thinking about starting the Persian opposition for these guys to give us more gaming options. The Persians give me a chance to be REALLY colourful. Obviously I am not sticking to 100% accurate colours and finishes for this army, I am more aiming for visual effect.

Parthian's At The Gates AAR

Got another Hail Caesar game in with Matt last week, we pushed the points up to 550 so both of us had a few more options this game. I went with two commanders (half) with activations of 8 opposed to the normal 7. Matt went with Camel Resupply for his horse archers, a very nasty ability giving his archers the opportunity to re-roll missed shots!

The large mass is my Persians whilst Matt has the more compact Parthian's. My plan was to storm ahead and try and pin Matt's troops against his table edge. This got off to a good start as I had good moves and stormed ahead.

Then Matt on his turn blundered and was forced to charge his horse archers into two of my Medium Cavalry units. Here we made the mistake of allowing one of his units support which lead him to win the first round of combat on my right though the second round went my way, pity I had become shaken and disordered by this point! The other melee saw me shatter his archers and Matt lost the first unit of the game.

Another angle showing I had gone heavy with the cavalry, four units of mediums on this flamk and five heavy on the other flank.

Matt did his usual flow round my flanks, this being my left flank, however it woke me up to the need to be wider than Matt, very much possible given the extra troops I had. Unfortunately I did not really come to grips with that till late in the game.

Back on the left with the red die showing I am disordered. I was to suffer so many disordered units I started to struggle to move forward.

Same right flank but the situation went from looking like I was going to defeat the flanking light cavalry division and swing into the next division and roll them up, instead due to disorder I was starting to look in trouble.

In the middle I had two units save their casualties but Matt having rolled a six I was disordered and unable to move. Extremely frustrating and shapes of things to come.

My turn to start throwing buckets of dice as my Levy Persian Bow went into action but could I roll a six? Well maybe next turn.

As Matt brought up his Cataphracts I prepared for the big clash. I am better allowing Matt to charge and stay stationary so as to count supports as I would loose my counter charge bonus as he has Contos (Lance) At lest the rear unit of his Cataphracts was taking missile loss and even disorder!

Back on the right flank the only real change was the amount of casualties I had collected, though I was temporary out of disorder.

Disorder stopped some of my Hoplites from charging forward whilst the ones able to move forward failed to even force the Parthian's to evade.

I moved my small units of bow and sling out of the way but another turn of no disorder or casualties, I await their charge and forget to fire them bows as I am charged!

I was able to break up the left flanks attack by forcing one Cataphract to retreat but Matt was confident of getting the other into melee whilst bowing me off the table.

My right flank is starting to crumble, two units of Medium cavalry have been broken and the two remaining are high on casualties and low on results.

I just needed a couple of good rolls and I could have caused an upset but a combination of being under disorder and failing the pre turn removal and my then failing to get the moves meant I could not remove screen and charge into the Cat's as they passed by.

Oh too many disorders to count! My frustration knew no bounds. I think the Parthian's can be one of the hardest armies to fight. However I think I have a possible answer I just did not work it well.

With so many of my units now both disordered and shaken we called it. A few rule mistakes and definite tactical errors made this one very one sided, though we had a good laugh. Our next game will feature Matt's Han Chinese so will be a very different flavour to these Parthian's though I will be seeing the Parthian's again no doubt.

Adler Cuirassier's

I painted these up as a final regiment of Cuirassiers for Project Waterloo. They are Adler Miniatures and have the typical great movement you expect from this supplier. Not that these are the first Adler Cuirassiers I have painted over the last few years nor will they be the last as I continue to expand my painted collection. I have at least one more regiments worth of castings.

I really like how Adler supply the two different poses on a strip, it helps add to the movement of the unit. Having two command figures adds further to this effect. 

Not that I plan to paint up any more French for the time being, the next Napoleonic troops I plan to paint are probably going to be Polish and then more Italian and Neapolitan infantry for both the Peninsular and even further in the future for the Russian campaign.

It looks like we will be keeping cavalry as 8-10 figure units on 60x30 for the foreseeable future which actually probably means we wont change. I am torn between the two, on the one hand they would look great 60x60 but on the other it's a lot of work to change them over. More a case of two late in the day than anything else.

I will leave you with a close up of the figures, you just have to love them don't you?

Friday Quiz 13 Unlucky for Some?

Friday snuck up on me, only got tomorrow off then back to work, so I had better get cracking

1. Who in 535BC lead the invasion by the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire of the Ostroagothic Kingdom originally founded by Theoderic the Great?

2. What is the name of the sloop that James Cook sailed on his second and third voyages in the pacific?

3. Who commanded the British Expeditionary Force at the start of WWI

4. Where and when was the first Tiger I (Panzer VI's) first used in combat?

5. Name the Stealth Bomber built by Northrop Grumman

So a bit later than usual, answers over the weekend or Monday

Answers a little bit early this week

1. Justinian I and yes adding AD would have helped a little but has has been mentioned no Byzantine Empire was around IN BC.

2. HMS Resolution for the second and third whilst the first was in the HMS Endeavour.

3. It was indeed Sir John French who interestingly started his military career as a Midshipman in the Royal Navy.

4. The Tigers were rushed into service weeks earlier than recommended on the 23rd September 1942 near Leningrad in muddy conditions that reduced their use and made the first combat trials disappointing.

5. B-2 Spirit, I thought it was a totally different plane.

It's Secret Santa Time Again. Secret Santa 4

Yes it's September so time to advertise Secret Santa again. Last year again saw an increase in numbers and was again a great success. Cath will again be running this for me, allowing me to join in the fun.

For those who have joined since last year here is a few pointers. Each person joining in the SS are given a name and details of their target (your being selected for someone else to buy for). The spend should be around £15 or equivalent plus postage, Cath tries to pick someone in your own Country as a target but you can always buy via the internet in your targets country to cut down cost.

Below are the rules in a little more detail.

1. To enter you need to either have a blog or be a regular follower of this blog already. This is to give confidence to all involved that everyone will follow through to the end. If you have a blog and don't follow this one it's OK to join in.

2. The present should be around £15 plus postage (best to buy the present actually in the country the receiver lives in so cutting down postage costs)

3. It's OK to have a wish list but it's just as good to buy something you think the person would like. Blog details of your target are given so you can snoop.

4. Whilst it's not essential it really added to Cath's enjoyment when the SS checked in with her to let her know target had incoming.

5. You should promote the Secret Santa on your blog to hopefully increase the numbers joining in.

6. You should sign up by 1st November so to allow time for picking gifts.

7. Gifts should arrive by 20th December if possible. It's fine to get the supplier to send direct and I would be cheeky and ask them to gift wrap  ;-)

8. Item/s should be wargame related though it's OK to throw in something odd if you want to.

Well that's all I can think of at the moment regards rules etc. You have right up to the 1st of November to sign up but I would appreciate some early birds as it makes organising it that much easier. I will need the blog name and an e-mail address for you (plus your real name)

9. You can sign up by sending me an email via the gadget to the right of the posts or details in the comments section.  Those returning only need to let me know they are in again and any change of details as Cath has last years details.

So lets slip the (slay)dogs of war and looking forward to seeing this baby develop.

Arena Rex, Finally Started.

The first Kickstarter I actually backed was Arena Rex by Red Republic Games which is a mythical Gladiator game using very high quality 32mm resin miniatures. It was like many kickstarters delayed a fair bit and by the time it arrived I had lost much of my drive to get these figures started. I also did not want to rush them and so put them to one side as the Analogue Painting Challenge was around the corner (more worries about rushing).

In the end I waited even longer before I finally got started properly. The first figure I choose to paint actually turned up before the kickstarter was funded as a gift for mentioning the project on my blog. I had started it when I received it but was unhappy with my progress so it sat unfinished for about two years!

The figure is Aquila and was the face of Arena Rex in the pre-production days and remains for me the figurehead of the range (pun intended). For $23 you get the multi part figure, base, activation token, stat card and art card. The figure was sculptured by Sebastian Archer and the detail is incredible, and far beyond my skill to truly do it justice.

I copied the shield metal finish from the fine work by Benjamin Williams, the first finished Aquila I saw and probably the first one done professionally. I originally was going for a sand effect finish on the base but changed to a totally black finish as I feel it brings out the colours of the figure better. The white flecking you can see in the images does not show up quite so much when looking at the model but I will be going over the black again as it looks to be the varnish having a bit of fun.

The cloak for me is one of the best painted parts of the model but was the easiest to get done. I went with a wolf pelt look and layered the successive lighter colours via the old and trusted drybrush method.

I also followed Benjamin's lead with the metal rather than leather armour look, it is Fantasy after all. I used five different metal finishes and added washes to various parts to give further variance. One mistake was to cut the end off the swords hilt thinking it was just a run off, shows how important it is to look at lots of images of the model before getting out the scalpel.

Overall I am quite pleased with the finish and it has me fired up to paint up more of these figures. Next Arena Rex model will be Vargr which is again sculptured by Sebastian, I hope to get it started in the next few days and finish it rather quicker than I managed with Aquila. I can see me buying more of these figures when I have the ones in my collection all finished and a few games under my belt.