Saturday 18 April 2015

Taking the Scenic Route...

Hello.
Recently I've been making a bit of scenery.
At the toyfair mentioned in my previous post  picked up a few plastic plant bits. I supplemented them with some bits of aquarium plants and made these:


I'm rather pleased with them and they were simple to make; plasticard base, bed the plants down in milliput, add filler, paint and flock the base. oh and add a couple or small stones from the garden. But 4 little bases an Alien Jungle world do not make.

Then I found some cheaper Aquarium plants on ebay so I ordered a pack getting 10 for £4.  So I made these...Still WIP but they should do nicely:



Also I found some GW 40K ruins in the loft. So I built this out of it.
 Used all sorts of bits of plastic and pebbles etc to make areas of fallen rubble and then sprayed the whole lot gray , and then add white spray from directly above. Some barrels and barriers came in a toy pack of tanks and armoured cars Id bought for 15mm scale gaming- they too big to go with the vehicles but look fine with 28mm! They were rusted up and scattered around the street between the buildings.


Then plenty of flock was added to make it look overgrown. So thats a scifi battle field sorted then.

Commander Peribon Krate and the Trevuntular Grenadiers were back in action this week, again in the 41st millenium and this time taking on the forces of Khorne; 16 Berserkers lined up behind their lord and a champion in order to absorb the Grenadiers fire whilst they rushed headlong into melee. This they duly did, most of the Berserkers being cut down as they advanced, but in melee the remainder sent No.1 Squad packing, and Peribon Krate himself came a poor second to a Khornate Lord in single combat. Fortunately the heavy weapon specialists of No's.2 and 3 Squads were on hand to save the day and brought the Lord and the Champion down simultaneously, taking Krate one step further along on the quest laid upon him...There will be a short period of rest and recuperation for Krate while the company medic, Doctor Enfastable, regrows his limbs in a vat...

Thank you for reading.

Sunday 12 April 2015

Aliens and other toys.

More toys trundled off the painting table today so here's some pics.


 Firstly we have some Renaissance Poles who are awaiting a flag. Not the greatest miniatures ever, being rather chunky and awkwardly posed but they were cheap...

Along side are some Giant Ant Swams. Being from a pound store these are a cheap addition to my fantasy armies!

At the back you can see these guys:

These are Black Tree Designs Alven (originally Harlequin). I'm intending to put together a small force suitable for  GOA and 40k 2nd ed (which has seen a bit of interest in these parts), and bought these to try out. The range only has 9 figures and I wanted to see how convertible they were- I reckon I can get a bit of variety in a platoon sized formation. The guys at the back with coats come with strange array of weapons, looks like they mugged a Necromunda gang! Ive done some conversion work to try and unify them a bit, and started work on a heavy weapon drone/support platform thing..which like all my conversions these days is built out of a Sherman Tank turret...because my bits box is full of them!


There was a toy fair in Frodsham last weekend so I dragged the wife along...had to buy her a cake to make up for it. It was the usual collection of model railway stuff and dinky toys, all priced in the bracket known as "more than I'd be willing to pay", but thats not why I go. I spent my time rummaging under tables in toy boxes full of junk in search of bargains, and found this little lot.


Actually there's some more stuff not shown awaiting work, but so far we have a Mighty Antar tank transporter, a Warrior tanker, a pair of general service lorries and an Austin Radio Truck. They're made by  Lesney, the company which apparently became matchbox, and are around 1/100- more or less to within half a centimeter or so, though often approaching it from different directions! they look ok along side the staff team added as a comparison. The Antar, tanker and radio truck are actually early 1950's prototypes but are similar enough in my eyes to pass muster for ww2- indeed I took them down to the club the other day to use as objectives and the resident rivet counters only complaint was that the Radio Truck was perhaps a little on the big side...Not bad for what worked out at about £1 each, eh?

Behind you can see some buildings I've knocked together for FOW, still WIP.  Also in shot is a Daimler Dingo- this is a Corgi Junior model I picked up on a market stall in bradford for £2. Its 1/52nd scale-ish, so will support my desert rats in Bolt Action!

Only played one game recently and forgot to take pics- my 7th Hussars took on the local Napoleon's Italians in FOW, early war. My opponent, Dennis, is known to be nearly invincible at the Deeside Defenders, and it doesn't help that he has an actual Harbinger in the form of Phil who gleefully tells you, at great length, all the ways in which Dennis is about to utterly destroy you. So it was nice that the hard fought game resulted a win for the rats! Dennis, with 17 m13 tanks and 8 field guns on his back line somewhat out numbered and out gunned my 10 A15 and A13 Cruisers (backed with a little infantry, carriers and Bofors AA) - he massed the bulk on one flank as a "feint" and 1 platoon with a pair of AA lorries on the other to sneak around the other flank. I felt compelled to mass my tanks against his "feint" and managed to reduce it his CO and 1 other tank, though at the loss of 6 tanks of my own, 3 of those due to straying within range of his field guns by mistake! As the remains of the Feint pulled back behind their supporting artillery my last 4 tanks rushed to save the other flank where Dennis had managed to eliminate the Bofors for the loss of just one tank, and only the carriers were between him and the objective. With my 4 Crusaders in the middle of the field Dennis made his first and only mistake- he saw an opportunity to destroy my remaining fighting power and moved all 5 of his remaining tanks to achieve it- the artillery barrages did nothing, but with 3 tanks in front already he brought his Co and its friend up behind, and must have thought the odds were favourable. Between them achieved nothing, all the firing being at long range and/or on the move. But Dennis was only one platoon away from his break point, and one of  those platoons was down to one tank, which he had suddenly exposed, and positioned where it could be attacked without his artillery being able to retaliate! The Crusaders turned and fired, shredding the m13. The Italian CO took his command check against his Reluctant rating, needing a 5+ but not getting it, and duly handing the field, 19 burning tanks, and victory to the Hussars!

thanks for reading, see you next time!