29 September 2008

Marching to Kettering

Captain General of Marienburg. Or something like that.



Also a standard bearer for the unit of swordsmen I'm trying to finish in time for Marauders.

I made the standard with plasticard & plastic tube, like on Imperial Forge's page (Is it down? I was going to post a link!)



Ideally I'd like to add something else, either a lion or some nautical blazon, or possibly just s simple cross of St. Andrew (like on landsknecht banners) But since I'm on a tight schedule to finish in time for the GT, I'm OK with this for now.


I've got less than 10 days left an still have 8 swordsmen half finished, and 10 more swordsmen about 20% finished. Doesn't seem like alot, but I've been moving slow lately, so I'm worried. And I also have a display board to build!

http://marauders-inc.com/

16 September 2008

Progress!

I've got a little bit of painting done. Not much, but I feel accomplished.

I've added two more pistoliers to the five I already had in my Marienburg army. The five get shot up so quickly, I thought I'd try more. Not sure if it's worth it, but I'll give it a few games.




More importantly, I finished those pikemen I've been working on for ages. Well, almost finished. I still want to hand-paint a standard. In the mean time, I can continue sliding on a temporary (and fairly nice!) printed banner.






I have decided to paint up some more archers for the next Burgundian project. I've only used a single unit of handgun skirmishers so far and I've got a mixed opinion. I think some longbow skirmishers might be a good idea.

More to come... (of course)

15 September 2008

Two-Day WFB Tournament

I'll get some more detailed information on this ASAP: There will be a WFB tournament at Recess Games in the Cleveland area (North Olmstead) the weekend of Nov. 7, 8, 9.

Friday Nov. 7 will be open gaming & registration.
Saturday Nov. 8 will be registration and games 1-3.
Sunday Nov. 9 will be games 4-5 and awards.




Also, just thought I'd mention that there's some pretty cool photos of Warhammer Historical stuff at UK Games Day at their blog: http://warhammerhistoricalwargames.blogspot.com/

12 September 2008

Random Thoughts

This week I picked up two of the new GW washes, Black and Delvan Mud. I've heard a lot about them and thought I'd see for myself. I actually quite like them, though they're very thin. I will still use some stronger black washes of regular paint in some cases. I will most likely pick up a few more colors next week. I'm hoping to find a replacement for the now discontinued Flesh Wash. I may go back to using Coat d'Arms' Flesh Wash, which I preferred anyway. (The reason I quit using it was just lack of a local source.)


I'm currently reading Richard Vaughan's "John the Fearless," the second book in his series on the dukes of Burgundy. John's one of the reasons I'm considering the previously mentioned HYW era Burgundian WAB army. I like John. He's a ruthless S.O.B.


The Marauders tournament is fast approaching and I've barely started the figures I want to have done for it. Two half painted horses. That's it. I still need the riders and 25 swordsmen to assemble and paint. I'm just not motivated. But the weather seems like it will be crappy all weekend, so perhaps I will get something done.

08 September 2008

Follow-ups

Next Project

On second thought, as nice as the new plastic multi-piece Celts are, I'm not so sure I want to assemble hundreds of them. I'm exhausted from assembling just two GW Empire pistoleers. ;)


Historicon


New pics posted at the NEWS web site, including a bunch of the AoC division.

In this one, you can see the calm before the storm in my second game. I'm the one relaxing on the left, thinking this will be a pleasant game. About ten minutes after the photo, the entire center of my army (that large bit directly in front of me) ran off the table.

05 September 2008

Next Project?

I've been taking it easy and not painting much in the past month. I've worked on a little terrain and a few odds and ends, but that's about it. I am contemplating my next moves.

First, I would like to finish 25 more WFB Empire swordsmen in time for the Marauders Mayhem tournament in early October. They'll need to match the swordsmen I've already done. I also need to add two more pistoliers to match the existing five I've been using. I'm also working on painting a few things for a friend to pay off my Historicon room & board debt, and should be done shortly. (That's actually a bit of an unintended joke - they're WFB dwarves.)

After that, I have several options for projects...

  1. Burgundians. I've got some more archers and cavalry, as well as a unit halberdiers. This would wrap up the army at 2250 points +/- and start pushing towards 2500 and beyond. I've also go some pike... see item 2...
  2. Low Countries. I've picked up some Low Countries pikemen to use in the Burgundian army. This has led me to consider a complete Low Countries army as well. So I could begin working on this, which would both compliment and oppose the Burgundians. I could also use them for a slightly earlier period, which could also lead to the dark horse, item 3...
  3. More Burgundians. I've been contemplating some earlier Burdungian - early 15th century, Hundred Years War era. Not certain on this, it may sit on the back burner for a while, since I already have figures for most of the other possible projects in this list.
  4. Ancients. I'm considering a classical army, probably some sort of barbaric horde. I'd really like early Germans, but the new plastic Celts have made Gauls look a whole lore more affordable. This might also give me a wider historical range in order to hopefully find opponents for WAB or other ancient/medieval games.
  5. WFB. I've got Empire & Skaven to respectable (though by no means "complete") levels. But lately I've been itching to screw around with something that doesn't involve hundreds of figures on the table. Partly it's just me looking for a little variety, partly it's cynicism about the direction the rules have recently taken. Most likely candidate is Wood Elves, largely because I've already got 95% of the figures I'd need. I also have a theme concept in mind. WFB also has the bonus of being the only game for which I have regular opponents.
  6. Warmachine. I really like some of the figures and the concept behind the game. I've also enjoyed the games I've played. So I could always finish up the Cryx force I've started and/or the starter Khador force I recently aquired. I could probably even dig up an opponent or two, with a little effort. My fear is that once I get into some more hardcore games, I won't dig the rock-paper-scissors nature of the game so much. But at least the figures are still great.

Honestly, WFB is easiest (practically only) game I can find opponents for, but the historicals (especially medievals) are the ones I'm most interested in.

But I haven't decided what I'd like to do.