An Epic Double Header

No games of Epic Armageddon in ooh, three years, and then two within a fortnight.  What a rarity.

I was gifted a pile of Epic models well over a decade ago, and in the last two editions of the rules I've found it to be a rare treat to play a game, as it happens, arranging one led to an opportunity to bag another, though with mixed consequences...

Anyway.  First up was a game against Gav, using my Orks and Imperial Guard; Gav fancied learning the game and I took him through a basic scenario with small, friendly forces.

Ah, how I love my Orkses, sweeping across the battlefield in mass formations.  I would attest that only in Epic (and then only in the very largest games) can you evoke the grandeur of battle that Games Workshop's art so often represents.  Otherwise as a game, it makes a good fist of large scale armoured combat, in a simple but plausible form. 

I attempted to wipe out Gav's infantry forces first, sweeping around his flanks, His left recoiled, but the Right was well supported and hunkered down.

I tried to put on more pressure, but my Gargant failed to take any action on two out of four turns allowing Gav to gradually dominate the right.  However, behind this, the remnants of my Blitz Boys and a mob of infantry were turning on his rear echelon.

In the end the game was a dignified draw, with neither side gathering any outright objectives.

The same could not be said of my second encounter a week or so later with Mark.  To be fair it was a game carried out in excellent spirits, but it soon transpired I'd brought a Space Marine knife, to a gunfight.

A slightly larger game at 3,000 points, I rolled out my Space Marines for possibly only the second time (Orks are my first choice normally) to see what they could do.  Mark on the other hand had the Tau, a force I used to face a lot in 40k, but have never played against in Epic.

To be honest, it was pitiful.

I lacked a coordinated plan, whilst Mark knew his force well, and how to get the best out of it.  No disrespect to Mark either, but there was a sense of that old GW classic, 'List Creep' in his force; being the phenomena whereby the latest army list in any Games Workshop game is always better than all the others before it! 

Now, you may call that bias, but I would say as a result I was getting pasted everywhere.  Not helped when I found the supposed big hitter in my force, the Revenant Titan, was completely rubbish (every other Titan has a Macroweapon of some sort, it seems, except this grandiose statue to pointlessness!)

Still it was a pleasure to look at the beautiful Forgeworld resin models, as they stomped all over me.  My they must've cost a pretty penny.  Especially this monster...

I mean, my Titan, could've easily walked around on it's back.

By the end of the battle, only my Titan, dubbed 'Norbert', and my Terminators and Landraiders were still active.

To be fair, Space Marines really take a lot more damage than I realised, and were far more effective in the assault than holding back at range.  My tactics, such as they were, played into Marks hands.

Well, back to the Orks then, and hopefully in less than three more years...

April Painting Catchup...

I'll write this big bumper edition of Pledge news whilst watching the Formula One (a good race is somehow not really engaging me today).  Obviously with virtually no photo updates in April there was a lot of work that has so far gone unrecorded, but here it is in all its variety and glory.

First up I had plenty of time and motivation to finish two more Anima Tactics models, as the blurry sneak preview shot will have shown a couple of weeks back.  Here is Clover, the leader for my little force:

A charismatic, and nicely understated model; GW would never allow this through their rigorous 'skull application' stage of design work!  Such a simple model demands just as much attention in painting though if the result is not to look flat and lifeless.  I made extensive use of GW washes (which I use alongside glazes of Vallejo, as a thinner alternative) on this model followed by several layers of increasing highlights.  These were then smoothed out with another layer of wash.

 I was really satisfied with Clover, and at the same time was able to do a better job of my second Type 005.

The first model (see February) came out too vibrant a purple, and had troubling highlights on the metal armour.  This version - the alternate pose available as a blister pack, differs from the starter pack pose - came out with a paler shade that met my expectations.  The sweeping folds of the cloth, give this model a great sense of movement, that again was well served by washes.

I started the month with a mass of Goblins, jostling table space with the Germans covered last week.  These didn't get much attention until the latter were out the way; but then I was able to knock them out in short order.

These were after all, a simple job, done with the most basic of techniques.  A varnish glaze mix providing all the shading.  I like to generate a lot of variety in the skin tones and clothing of the troops, which hopefully you can see in the image.  A full tutorial can be found back in the November 2006 archive.

Along similar lines were these two Undead catapults, painted exclusively for use in Kings of War (they serve no purpose in a Vampire Counts army).  The same basic technique as the goblins, and to be fair the models below was used.

 Tiresome models to paint if I'm honest.  Too many hard to reach parts.

Once they were done, I moved on to another job for sale on eBay.  This time Russians.

 

I've said plenty about the paint method used on the infantry and guns here before.  So I will talk primarily about the Plastic Soldier Russians.

I find them an odd mix, some of the models are fantastic, the firing LMG team and the chap running whilst holding his helmet being highlights, but others are weak models aesthetically.  Not least there is a problem with anatomical proportions, that give an impression the models were sculpted by people with more attention on historical accuracy than biology. 

In particular there are many models with arms that are too short, especially the grenade throwing model, where it is laughably obvious on what is the worst pose in the set.  Still for the money, they represent reasonable value, and with PS's rapid expansion and servicing of three classic wargaming scales one can only applaud their initiative, and hope standards improve over time with experience.

Back to the painting, and I had fun with the easy job of producing this KV1; some mobile-phone browsing (the joys of technology) allowed me to research an appropriate slogan for the side of the tank.

The totals for the month were, as a result of minimal distractions, such as blogging! excellent.

36 Goblin Spears
Sophia Ilmora
Russian Platoon with 76.2mm Zis 3 and KV1-S (60pts)
Skeleton Catapults and crew (10pts)
Clover
Type 005

A final figure of 104 points, over triple expectations and including three quality paint jobs, alongside the usual rubbish, ahem.

With a return of the Internet at home, less bank holidays/leave and more social life going on, I imagine that will be a high water mark for some months.



How To: Mount Metal Figures on Resin Bases

Joining metal to metal on wargames miniatures has usually involved superglue and pinning vulnerable parts, but where attaching them to a base is concerned, this mainly fell into two categories; gluing the integral base to the surface of your choice or gluing the metal tag into some form of slottabase.

When working on a scenic base though, usually of resin, it is necessary to cut the model free of its pedestrian shackles!  This normally means pinning the model, but this can generate a weak join.  Drilling out the base of a model's foot, into the ankle join, can be risky indeed.  My Anima tactics models are blessed with just such joints, but I have developed a solution that minimises the damage.

Rather than cut the tag off entirely, I keep the part connected to the foot as the pin.  The way to do this is as follows...

First with a sharp craft knife score then cut through the centre of the tag.  Then score and cut the spare tag away, leaving a squarish sectioned peg underneath the foot.  The advantage of these is that they are part of the model, and so the strongest bond you are likely to get.

Next you can begin to prepare you resin base for fitting to the model.

To line up the pegs I have a simple trick, I dab the base of the pegs in paint and then (once I've decided approximately where the model is to stand) place them in the position on the base I want the model to stand.  You should find two paint marks there to guide your drill.

Use a miniature pin vice to do the actual drilling.  I use a bit of around 2mm to make the initial hole.

These holes are enlarged with a needle file, which saves using lots of sizes of drill bit.  From this stage you need to be dry fitting the base to the model.  As well as expanding the holes in the base, the pegs can be filed to shape.  You are aiming for a snug, not to say tight fit, as the less glue used to join the two media, the stronger the join will be, due to it containing more of a surface to surface join.

Once you are satisfied with the fit, apply a little superglue to the holes and slot the model in.

And that's it done.  No wonky bits of wire, no weak, drilled out joints.  A minimum of mess and faff.

Now you can get the paint brushes out!

Back in Battle

Let's keep the ball rolling with a somewhat abbreviated battle report.  My most recent game of Warhammer nonetheless.  My Vampire Counts took to the field against 2000 points of Dwarves.  Their commander, tom, fielded a large unit of Warriors, a unit of Hammerers, Trollslayers, Thunderers a Cannon and an Organ Gun.  Deploying mostly to open ground either side of a ruined Oathstone.

By comparison I fielded exactly the same list I had in my previous game with the VC, a Deathstar of 38 Grave Guard protected their Vampire master and Battle Standard.  Ghouls, Wraiths and token forces of Skeletons and Dire Wolves made up the rest of the army.

My tactics were simple, to rush headlong at the enemy; hopefully the Dire wolves would outflank the Thunderers; and indeed managed to largely do so.  They were shot down during turn two, but had sidelined the unit enough that it made no contribution to the game.

Meanwhile the combined thrust of the Wraiths and Ghouls was smashing the Trollslayers.  It's fair to say that Tom's gambit that I would not use much magic if facing Dwarves had not paid off.  He had took no Runesmiths or lords on the grounds he expected little magic; but as a Vampire lord led my army, it was essential to my plans and so I dominated the magic phase, creating roadblock units of Zombies and disrupting his plans with impunity.

Latterly, Tom had Miners arrive, but as the battle had advanced fast from my lines, and I had no rear echelon troops for them to threaten.  They arrived for Tom as a lacklustre reserve.

Instead his Hammerers charged and eventually destroyed the small unit of Skeletons, whilst my Ghouls moved on to attack the Dwarven Warriors, supported by Wraiths and some Zombies.  Once their initial foe was destroyed the Hammerers found themselves in great peril; but faced it with courage and turned to charge the Grave Guard.

This of course was the point at which my massive unit, well led by two mighty heroes, was able to undo his last desperate throw of the dice.  Tom issued a personal challenge to my Vampire, and did wound her; but in the second round of combat he was cut down and losing the ensuing melee by 17 points! was cut down in a brutal pursuit.

There the game concluded.  The scenario was run by Fortitude points and with the loss of his General, Battle Standard and key unit, Tom was beaten.

A brutally simple plan was effectively executed by my Vampire lord, the Dwarven general will rue the day he let the Runelords guard the hearths and brought Miners instead of more Thunderers.

We're Back Baby!

Oh yes!  It's been a while, that's for sure.  There are a whole load of items to report as a consequence, just to get the ball rolling I'll catch you up with a report on some of the March painting achieved.

Part of this was a trip down memory lane, building an Airfix kit from a selection my Brother got me for Xmas several years ago.

Ah, Airfix! where so many of us began, and yet as is often observed far from the best introduction to the hobby.

Spending ages attempting to figure out vague instructions and a curious mix of some sharply engineered parts and how they go with other much more arbitrary articles.  I was assembling the SDKFZ 234/4 with Pak40.  Of course that's not what Airfix called it, and the model is inaccurate in several respects.  Still for the most part it went together fairly well.

 Painted up as a model for Tunisia or Italy the final model was pleasing enough.

I ignored the poor quality transfers and painted the Balkan Crosses myself.  In the end the model conveys a German armoured car more than it accurately represents one.  Still a trip down memory lane that benefited from an additional couple of decades of practice!

Otherwise, some money-earning jobs were in mind and so in March I also produced a Battlefield Evolution Panzer Grenadier Platoon:

 Infantry light thanks to that massive tank at the back.

These of course show how time has moved on since the heyday of Airfix (though, credit where it's due, their new models are much improved).  High quality, and historically accurate hard and soft plastic models combined to form this force.  Including mostly Valiant infantry, some Italieri troops with a Pak40 and a Dragon Industries Kingtiger tank.

Necessity required I do a little conversion work.  Having run out of heavy machine guns in the static mode, I instead converted up a group to advance as such a party.

The Koenigstiger is the Porsche model used mainly in the West and so this force is particularly suited to the fighting in Normandy and Holland.  This was also the first model I used Mig weathering powders on.  Having had them for some FOUR years, I really felt it was time I gave them a try.  I mixed them with a little varnish, as suggested to make a a paste suitable to make mud.  This results in basically a gritty paint, that leaves a better texture than just paint.  I have a lot to learn, but they are promising materials.

I hope to get them on eBay soon.

Anyway the total for march was good, in total:

Dogs of War characters: 2
Terminator characters:3
1Bn Garde Imperiale: 24
Goblin Boss: 1
Uri Canton Crossbowmen: 12
Koenigstiger and SDKfz 234/4: 10
German Panzergrenadiers and artillery: 37

So that's 89 points or twice as many as February!  building up nicely indeed, and three times what I set as a minimum.

They Think it's all Clover...

Time and ingenuity will allow me to circumvent any problem, even if it is rather laborious. Consider the following a teaser for better things to come; but folks, we have images!

Well one, and it's a little blurry, but it is from my mobile phone!

Obviously there has been a lot of time for painting in the last month, what with not being able to spend time on the internet of an evening pursuing all the time consuming junk the web generously provides. Some of that time has been spent on completing my Anima Tactics models. I now have a respectable team of 250 levels assembled.

Sophia Ilmora was already part finished for my game a few weeks back , but I completed her after the game. Added to that I managed to pick up another Type 005 and the Black Sun leader, Clover. Both of these have just been completed.

Clover in particular was a challenge, trying to get smooth highlights (which I know you can't see yet; better photos will follow in time) on the clothes and working on the fine details. The sculptors make no concession to painters, the work here is in scale and dazzlingly fine. sadly I did cock up the coat in one fairly obvious spot. On quality photo's it seems really obvious so I may go back and try to touch it up.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with these, and have a game lined up to try them in too.

Quick updates - A trip to the Shops

Well, I'd like to be able to say more but it is just a post to keep things ticking over really.

a few quick notes from the last few weeks.

Laptop obviously is still in't shop under repair. So no photo's, this has meant a lot of time for painting, so much so that last night I actually sacked the painting off as I was bored of it - that's a rarity. I've managed to get my old car running (not unlike a Lancaster bomber on three engines, perennially limping home) and so at least have made it out for a couple of games, which has helped with the sanity.

I got over to Halifax Modeller's World at the weekend, and saw several items of interest. Firstly the latest Zvezda 'Art of Tactic' WW2 kits; I picked a couple of 1/72 scale items, and must say for the price they are amazingly good.  But the real winners will doubtless be the 1/100 scale tanks and 1/144 scale aircraft; perfect for Flames of War. A quick bit of research shows that Art of Tactic was originally released last year as one of those installment style magazines in Russia, so all the models promised for the range are actually ready to go. Look them up, it's good stuff.

I also found an item in the Vallejo paint range that I'm itching to try, Liquid Putty, a paint on filler for seams and cracks in models that can be worked like epoxy putties. Useful.

Less impressive was the Wargames Factory output, Orcs, Amazons and Persians were in stock, but in ugly as sin boxes and with inflated prices. Not impressed, I think the company is really in trouble, the new product looks second class compared to the other manufacturers out there.

Well, that's all for now folks; bear with, normal service will be resumed soon I hope...

Games Workshop to shelve metal Miniatures?

Rumours are rife on the forums of late about Games Workshop discontinuing the manufacture of metal miniatures entirely. The essence of the argument seems to be this, pewter alloy is simply too expensive nowadays for GW to support it, and less certainly that some new wonder material is about to be revealed as the solution to model making.


Certainly it would not be the first time that GW have stated their aim to move towards all plastic manufacture of models, but as experiments like the plastic Empire generals and Orc warbosses showed, there was not enough retail appetite for this route to make it viable. Showpiece monsters, war engines and the like have benefited hugely from computer aided tooling and injection mould creation, it's hard to imagine something like the latest Skaven and forest Goblin monsters coming out in metal at an affordable price, but for single models it is still it seems an economic dead end.

Of course the other familiar material for moulding is resin, typically (and I'm no chemist) a two part epoxy, which is normally drop cast. Forgeworld use this, as do many specialist fantasy retailers, not to mention innumerable historical companies and scenery makers. Unfortunately, it is brittle, prone to imperfections, comparatively expensive, and crucially cannot really be spin cast or injection moulded. So that is out.

New polymers are out there though; Mantic and others have found a material, termed variously a plastic or resin, which can be spin cast and is somewhat more resistant to damage than traditional resin; I've yet to try these models myself, but have only heard generally positive reviews.

So what might GW opt for and what would it mean for the hobby? Well Games Workshop certainly remain the largest player in the industry, and so can afford to invest in new technology and future solutions, so I can believe they may have put research funds into a replacement for metal, but lets be honest, whilst metal is expensive, plastic is a by-product of oil, so it's hard to imagine that getting much cheaper either. Still there could well be options out there. Talk has been open on the forums in speculating on new polymers or new uses of old ones; the key of course is for them to hold the level of detail that metal does, and ideally allow the use of established moulding equipment. If GW is successful, I'm sure other manufacturers will follow in time.

Metal won’t go away however, GW may wish to eliminate it from their business model, but virtually every other manufacturer will carry on with it. The costs are lower and certainly have some way to go to reach a similar tipping point; for comparatively low volume work it is hard for me to imagine the comparatively low production overheads of pewter casting not remaining a strong argument to most historical figure companies, and many smaller fantasy companies. They are not selling toys, and can tolerate a small premium for their preferred material.

Never mind not having the backing or infrastructure to invest millions in new technology.

But for GW this 'could' be the biggest gamble since the late 80's, when they sold off masses of metal stock in an effort to fund their investment in plastic tooling. That gamble paid off, and as a result there hasn’t been a sale since. Who knows if an end to metal production entirely will work for them this time?

The rumours still need to become facts of course...

Yet again, an unavoidable silence

Too Much Lead is in the wars, figuratively anyway.

This weeks minor crisis as been some filthy virus infecting my home PC and making all use of the Internet impossible since Tuesday.  This has curtailed all efforts to maintain normal operations, and yet there is so much to record!  Aside from gaming and painting projects, I have news on two new club moves and some other new projects to report.

But I can't, until my poor sick PC is saved!

Normal service, will I assure you be resumed soon.  A deluge of posts shall be forthcoming once everything is back on line.

Stay tuned!

(Update: My IT expert informs me the damage is terminal.  The hard drive is to be reformatted and life can move on!)

Perry Prussians sighted

It seems that the Prussians will soon be as well catered for as the British and French in 28mm Napoleonic plastics, with the Perry miniatures that are now on pre-order being the third set available; Warlord and Hat Industries having already entered the fray.

Of course the quality of the Perries is bound to be excellent and the set features an amazing 46 models for your £18

Such information as I have came from their website: HERE.