Sunday 28 February 2021
Roadmap to the Return of Wargaming
Friday 26 February 2021
Rorke's Drift Part 2
The first Zulu's to arrive approach the Hospital |
The battle for the Hospital turns into bitter hand to hand fighting. |
The Zulu's begin to lap around the site looking for a weak point. |
British casualties are light, but with every man down their ability to defend the barricades is diminished. |
More Zulu Regiments move around towards the front of the Mission Station. |
Wednesday 24 February 2021
AHPC XI - Week Nine - Printed PAK's to a Mouse that Roared
3D printed 8.8cm Pak 43/41
Kights Solar - Paladin with Elemental Sword
The Mouse that Roared - Panzer VIII 'Maus'
Nearly There
Sunday 21 February 2021
Solo Wargaming
Friday 19 February 2021
Battle Report Rorke's Drift in 6mm - Part 1
Wednesday 17 February 2021
AHPC XI - Week Eight - Last Survivour
Time is speeding by in that slow-motion rapid blur timewarp that is the UK's covid Lockdown, and before I know it we are two-thirds of the way through the painting challenge. I'm still plugging away at the Chambers of Challenge bonus rounds, working through a pile of old lead miniatures and revisiting my youth with some old school fantasy figures. I have some historical stuff to work on this week but for the time being here are my entries for week eight of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.
The Oubliette - Undead Standard Bearer
This old figure is the last survivor of a lost army. The first wargame I played was Warhammer Fantasy Battle, back in the early '90s. It was a logical choice for my group of friends because we were all committed D&D players so trying out a Fantasy wargame wasn't as big a step as it would seem. The first (and only) army I build for this rule system was an Undead Hord which included masses of zombies, skeleton warriors in rusted armour, undead horsemen ready to sweep across the battlefield and even a Zombie Dragon that set me back a lot of money. The thing that made my army stand out was that of my group of 8 friends, I was the only one who fielded a fully painted army. Indeed most of the time I played against entire forces of grey unpainted miniatures (the horror!).
As a group, we only played this system for a couple of years and eventually, we moved on to other games and one by one we sold off our armies, mine included. I regret not keeping a few pieces of this army even if, looking back, the panting was shockingly poor. Then I recently found this model and realised he had somehow missed the cull, and survived in my collection long after his comrades had gone to another home. When I saw the Chamber of Challenge entitled Oubliette, I knew instantly what I was going to paint.
I actually had four of the same model (no idea why I bought four) so this Grenadier figure from 1991 will go on display with his unpainted companions. Because he's the last survivor, and a reminder of my earliest days of wargaming, I also made a small terrain base for it using some spare resin scenery I bought and didn't use in the last challenge.
The Tomb - Gothic Vault and a Restless Resident
I can imagine the conversation had by the family of the occupant... "If we build him a really outlandish gothic tomb maybe he'll stay dead this time".
I bought this excellent resin crypt from Debris of War before the last Challenge but didn't have time to finish it. It is such a nice model that it couldn't stay unpainted any longer. I really like the resin terrain by this company as it flawless and paints up really well. The model is pretty small at 3.5"x3"x4" so it is barely a 5th of a terrain cube...but it looks marvellous so it had to be my entry for this round.
The figure is a 1984 Grenadier Zombie which I bought on eBay a few months ago. I couldn't let the poor fella go unpainted any more, and while his torn shirt may once have been expensive and fancy, his tattered appearance now made me feel sorry for him.
Sunday 14 February 2021
A Healthy Hobby and a Healthy Mind
Wednesday 10 February 2021
AHPC XI - Week Seven - Trenches
I didn't get a lot finished last week and only submitted one entry to the Painting Challenge. This is partly because I am ahead of my target for this point, but also because I allowed myself to get sidetracked planning a big Solo Game. The game took place the weekend just gone and I have started to edit several hours worth of film! Cutting it down to a reasonable length (in maybe two or three videos) will take a bit of time but I hope to have them available to view in a couple of weeks.
Trenches
I have a growing collection of terrain suitable for 15mm WWII, which now has a sizable gap filled. Painting these Trenches by Ironclad Miniatures has taken a lot longer than expected. They are such good models, with so much detail, they deserved my time and attention to make them look as good as I could get them.
A with all my terrain and miniatures I gave them several coats of varnish (4 in fact) to ensure they will survive rough handling and keep looking good for years to come.
I also have a couple of German PAK anti-Tank guns on order to use with this terrain, but I'm still waiting for these to arrive so they will have to be entered to the painting challenge at a later date.