Treasure!

More Forstgrave goodies, but this time not quite terrain and not figures, but Treasure Tokens. I bought these from Debris-of-War recently. They are resin and half of them came pre-cast with the base included. The others were free-standing treasure items and I found some nice resin bases in my bits box to mount them on. 

They are scaled for 28mm and are perfect for games of frostgrave or in roleplaying games.

As for points...no idea. They are 28mm in scale but half the size of a full figure so maybe 2 points a pop? I'll leave that conundrum up to the unlucky minion of the day!

British Sherman III's in Normandy & some Hedges

(Saturday DRAFT) British Sherman III's in Normandy & some Hedges

So this week I'm departing from 6mm ancients to fast forward in time to WWII and a trio of 15mm tanks. These are M4A2 Sherman tanks by Peter Pig but they could also be used as M4A3's with the larger 76mm Gun. I have painted these in British service where they were known as the Sherman III. I'll be using these to play What a Tanker and will be teaming up with the Sherman VC (the Firefly) that I painted in Challenge Eight in a series of games I have planned for the summer. They will be facing off against a series of increasingly dangerous scenarios, culminating in battle with a King Tiger.

I've painted these lend-lease tanks as belonging to the 8th Armoured Brigade as this unit was issued with Sherman III's and Sherman VC for the Battle of Normandy.

As with my earlier Dingo Scout car I used a Vallejo textured paint to muddy up the tracks and lower hulls of these tanks. This stuff hardens quickly and can then be varnished along with the rest of the model.

I've also completed a small bit of terrain this week. I wasn't planning on doing this as all, but once the itch started I just had to scratch! I bought the hedges to make Boccage but when they arrived they were much too small. So I decided to base them us as was so they can be used as low hedges (each is about 1cm tall so idea for 15mm). I do have some larger bushes that may be turned into boccage later in the challenge if I find the time...of the need to make terrain overcomes me again!

Natal Native Contingent

During this years Painting Challenge I am not focusing on just one army or new project. Instead I decided I would revisit some of my older armies and finally get around to adding to them like I have been saying I would for ages. The first of these additions are four of companies of Natal Native Contingent to support the British Infantry I painted in the Challenge last year.

The NNC were an Auxiliary force of mostly Basuto and Mponso troops who were recruited to fight alongside the colonial regulars. They were generally organised along the same lines as the British troops with companies of about 100 warriors with 6 NCO's and three Officers per company. They were not issued with uniform and were only distinguishable from their Zulu opponents by a red bandanna worn around their heads. Fears about arming native warriors (even allies) meant that only one in ten were issued with a rifle.

Some Imperial officers (such as Colonel Durnford, who died at Isandlwana) believed the NNC should have been used as scouts and light infantry. Less wise heads however decided these troops were only good for menial labour, believing their fighting ability was negligible. Sadly they remained poorly lead and ill used throughout the war against the Zulu's and not surprisingly their performance in battle reflected this. At Isandlwana for instance they fought hard but in the end died alongside their better armed white comrades. 

I may paint some more of these at a later date but these four companies will keep me going for the time being. 

Father Grottmass!

Winter has enfolded the land in its cold embrace and magic hangs thick in the air. Now is the time of year when goblins are abroad so lock your doors, bar your shutters and stoke up the fire. Tramping through the snow Father Grottmass is just as likely to hit you over the head and take your presents than leave some under the tree. I guess that's one way of dealing with the naughty list!

Starting the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge with a fantasy figure is becoming something of a tradition for me so when I found this in my Lead Mountain I knew it had to be my opening entry to Challenge IX. This is a 28mm white metal figure from Midlam Miniatures. It came with a plastic slotta base but I swapped this for a cork 'rock' and cut a slot in it to mount the figure. This setup gave me more surface area to add some groundwork such as snow and frost covered grass. I'm getting quite a collection of Christmas themed models, but I expect I'll have to raise my game for Challenge Ten!

This was a relatively quick and easy figure to paint with plenty of detail in the model to make shading and highlighting easy. I particularly enjoyed the little details like his fake beard and the skull tassel on the tip of his hat. I was able to get most of the painting done Friday morning before heading into work, with a few hours in the evening for varnishing and groundwork. The 'snow' (from Tamiya) takes a couple of hours to set but it is by far the best snow product I have ever used. It is very easy to apply using a small spatula and can be smoothed easily with a wet brush.

So a modest opening entry but at least I have points on the board. I'm already working hard on my next entry for my Anglo Zulu War project but I don't expect that will be ready until after the holidays. So let me take this opportunity to wish all my readers a very Happy Christmas.