Wednesday 13 October 2010

Manticore (Part 2)

Yes, still alive and kicking, a very quick update, because I'm about to go to bed - and it's not even 10pm yet, just one of those weeks!

Anyway, I need to get some natural light at some point, to take final pictures of the Manticore and also updated pictures of the Infantry with the Sergeants which were finished what a year ago now (oh how time flies!), in the meantime though, here is the finished Manticore, I might be tempted to add another one at some point, but for now that's on hold.


Wednesday 6 October 2010

News from the Front

It's another one of those 'sorry about the lack of hobby content' type post's.

The past month or so has been quite hectic all in all, first off I was rushing around trying to get everything ready for the 40k Team Challenge held by Maelstrom Games, an excellent event and venue I'll be sure to be posting more about in the near future. I've been getting back in the swing of studying as I start my History degree, sculpting whenever I get the chance with projects for Secret Weapon Miniatures and Alternative Armies. AS you've probably noticed I've done a little work on the blog layout and trying to organise all the old posts and pictures into something more, well, organised, working more then a few extra hours and got engaged to finish it all off (so now theres a wedding to plan as well!).

Busy times.

Still I've got a few post's lined up to be written, actual hobby content again, normal service resuming shortly!

Friday 1 October 2010

Hobby Fund (1st October)

Another good month for the hobby fund, a few sales on eBay and my Sisters of Battle army sold privately has made for quite a healthy income, much of it has gone out to help fund my OU course though, and more of it will go out yet to boot.

Though there is the probability I'll be trying to hunt down one specific figure to purchase this month I'm not expecting to make any further hobby purchases until November, while I'll be adding some more bits and pieces over the coming week as well as getting back to work on some new projects for a couple of companies.

  • Starting Balance 1st September = £31.02

  • Sales in September = £219.50

  • Sales Fee's in September = -£9.26

  • Purchases in September = £0.00

  • Misc Income/Outgoings = -£170.00

  • Balance 1st October = £71.26

Sunday 5 September 2010

Praetorian Imperial Guard Links

Regiments of Praetoria
Hobby Blogs and Forum Threads

3rd Praetorian - Crazy Red Praetorian
4th Praetorian - Col.Gravis
4th Praetorian Mechanised - Phil Anderson
5th Praetorian - Cpt.Harris
5th Praetorian - sovietspace
7th Praetorian - Goblin Lee
8th Praetorian - Shaman (Spanish Language)
12th Praetorian - Crosser Modelling
12th Praetorian - 12thpraetorian
13th Praetorian - Buffer
14th Praetorian - mk6marine
16th Praetorian - Student
17th Praetorian - Hewlett
17th Praetorian - Col.Young
18th Praetorian - goroul
20th Praetorian - Lord General Gordon
22nd Praetorian - Col. Thorne
23rd Praetorian - Malkavschilde
24th Praetorian - Kain (Spanish Language)
24th Praetorian - High Marshal Gabriel
24th Praetorian - Ady
32nd Praetorian - Lord Whitlow
35th Praetorian - Railgunner
60th Praetorian - Praetorian60th
64th Praetorian - Captain Steel
72nd Praetorian - Col.Price
77th Praetorian - DarkTraveler777
83rd Praetorian - Snorri
35th Praetorian - Railgunner
93rd Praetorian - Capt. Falke
99th Praetorian - Frans (Dutch Language)
110th Praetorian - Alex
124th Praetorian - Extrac32 Alternative Link
215th Praetorian - Alex
224th Praetorian - EzekielBrodie
Caine's Cannon Fodder - Victoria Lamb
Unknown Praetorian Regiment, 4th Coy - Commissar Dave

Unknown Praetorian Regiment - The Great Lord

24th Britannian - Wolfy
74th Scotia Highlanders - dijit80
Katan IV - Si
Macharian Thunder Guard - Col.Ackland

Hobby Tutorials

Sculpting -

How to Sculpt Mordian Style Caps
How to Sculpt Pith Helmets
How to Sculpt Epualettes
How to Sculpt Valhallan Style Caps

Conversions -

Converting Praetorian Plasma Guns from Meltaguns
Converting a Swapable Basilisk and Medusa Artillery Piece

Terrain -

Quick and Easy Minefields

Wednesday 1 September 2010

Army Gallery

4th Praetorian Foot, 'The Lord Governor's Own'

Regimental HQ
D Company, 1st Battalion


The Life Guards

The Hive Victorium Regiment of Life Guards


The Cavalry Corps

2nd Squadron, 79th Lancers


The Armoured Cavalry

2nd Squadron, 19th Praetorian Armoured Cavalry


The Super Heavy Armoured Cavalry

Vehicles of the Super Heavy Armoured Corps


The Artillery Corps

Lascannon Batteries
Gatling Gun Batteries
Autocannon Batteries
Rocket Batteries


The Siege Artillery Corps

Manticore Battery


The Praetorian Corps of Engineers

214th Engineering Company


Supporting Imperial Forces

The Adeptus Arbites
The Adeptus Pyskana
The Imperial Commissariat
The Imperial Navy


Noteable Personalities of Praetoria

'The Duelist'
Colonel Ackland
Captain Caine, 24th Praetorian Foot

Hobby Fund (1st September)

Well it's been a bit of a busy month for the hobby fund, lots comming in and lots going out! Some free listing days on ebay saw me listing a few extra pieces which all sold and started the fund rolling this past month, but the real nice bit came from the sale of the Pith Helmetted heads to Secret Weapon this month.

A portion of the income from the Pith Heads went straight into a Realm of Battle board from Games Workshop, though purchased through Dark Sphere an excellent online retailer (though they also have a store in london) giving a decent sized discount, I also picked up some Royal Navy figures from my local gaming store (it's two doors down from my house, can't get much more local then that), more on these at a later date.

So where has all the money gone? Well I've decided to do a history degree with the Open University, partly as it's something that interest's me and partly with an eye on future career prospects, it's expensive of course, as are other things happening at the moment so I've ended up deciding to fund half of the degree from the hobby fund - which actually means theres a bit more to go out of it yet, but needs must - it's not like I'm running out of things to paint!

I am downsizing my GW collection further, my Sisters of Battle are going, as are my Warriors of Chaos for Fantasy - I may even offer up some of my bits box, I'm looking at getting into Secrets of the Third Reich however, looking to be getting in my first demo games later this month.

  • Starting Balance 1st August = £53.07

  • Sales in August = £340.57

  • Sales Fee's in August = -£17.12

  • Purchases in August = -£130.50

  • Misc Income/Outgoings = -£215.00

  • Balance 1st September = £31.02

Tuesday 31 August 2010

NEWS - Pith Helmetted Head Available for Pre-Order



The 28mm Pith Helmetted Heads are now available for pre-order from Secret Weapon Miniatures, the set includes five different heads and will be cast in metal at a cost of $5.00 per set with shipping estimated on the 27th of September.

PRE-ORDER HERE

Thursday 19 August 2010

The Race for Mechanisation - Chimera (Part 1)

I fear my terrible secret is out...

Koppenflak said...

If you'll forgive the observation, this blog recently sounds like it's gearing up for a l-e-a-f-b-l-o... Oh Right. Forbidden word!

-Jim


It's true, I'm not ususally one for list optimisation, I prefer to pick out models I like and armies which I find fun to play over being some sort of WAAC loser. However the tournament I'm attending in a few weeks time is a team event, and my team are probably a little bit more competetive then me and I really don't want to let them down (too badly lol), so I'm going with a slightly more competetive list, which bears a certain resemblance to a 'Leaf Blower'. I'll admit I'm not convinced of it's effectiveness, it feels very fragile with only AV12 front armour, even if there are 9 such vehicles in the list (keep in mind it's only 1500pts), but I've been persuaded to try it out all the same.

Next up on the work bench - and yes this is all going on at the same time, christ knows how I'll get all of it done - are four Chimera, the bare minimum I need for the list I'm hoping to field.

Wednesday 18 August 2010

Manticore (Part 1)

I fell in love with the Manticore kit when it came out, though not the Deathstrike, and picked one up with almost indecent haste, and now with a tournament on the horizon which requires rather alot of work for my army it's finally work in progress.



I'm sticking with my standard Grey colour scheme with the upper section and one side of the hull now finished, I'll press on with the other side and the belly over the next few days.

Monday 16 August 2010

Sculpting Pith Helmetted Heads (Part 9)

Following a little minor work to the fifth head here's the finished set, hopefully!

Saturday 14 August 2010

Tutorial - Swapable Basilisk/Medusa Artillery Tank

I decided I needed a Medusa, well two actually, for a tournament thats coming up, the catch being I don't have a Medusa, or the money to splurge on a Forgeworld kit. What I do have is three Basilisk partially assembled so I decided I needed to come up with a way to field them as either a Basilisk or Medusa, given they're essentially largely the same this is fairly easy.

To do this you need:
1 Basilisk kit
1 Baneblade Demolisher Cannon Barrel
Length of 10mm Plastic Tubing (Thin)
Length of 8mm Plastic Tubing (Fat)

I'm sure you can already see where I'm going with this.

Stage one is to take your assembled Earthshaker Gun, this could even be done on a tank thats already been fully assembled allowing you to retro fit the ability to switch between these two vehicles.



Stage two is too saw through the barrel as close as possible to the breach assembly, this needs to be done very neatly and carefully otherwise you'll end up with a bad fit and gaps later on, use a hobby saw.



Now in stage three you need to fit the larger 10mm tube inside the breach assembly, push it in as far as possible, this should be about 50mm, then remove the excess, cutting neatly as with removing the barrel.



Stage four is means cutting two sections of the small 8mm tubing (or whatever else you have, this needs to slot inside the 10mm tubing neatly), this will want to be about 55mm long.



Now you can fix this 8mm tubing inside your Earthshaker barrel (ensuring that it is central and straight, check it, test fit it, because a wonky barrel will look silly! If you've done it right you won't be able to spot the difference between this finished piece and the original before you started your conversion.




You'll need to then do the same for the Demolisher Cannon barrel, once dried your good to go, Basilisk or Medusa on demand!


Tuesday 10 August 2010

Sculpting Pith Helmetted Heads (Part 8)

And there we go, finished heads number four and five, despite a few problems I think these will fill the gaps in the set of 5 so each head is different - over to Secret Weapon now.



Monday 9 August 2010

EBAY - Rare 30th Anniversary Gold White Dwarf - ENDING SOON

One last chance to purchase one of the VERY Limited Edition Gold Plated 30th Anniversary White Dwarf figures which were released as part of the 2007 30th Anniversary of White Dwarf. Just one of these figures was given away from each Games Workshop store with this one hailing from GW Exeter in Devon.



This item finishes just after 16:00BST today, leaving just over 6 hours from the time I'm posting this, it's currently selling at £51.00.

The Auction can be found HERE.

Friday 6 August 2010

Sculpting Pith Helmetted Heads (Part 7)

Well I had thought this concluded, but not quite, I've been requested to sculpt a couple more heads for the Pith Helmet set, so that each pack contains 5 different heads and with a little time on my hands today I've got going on these two.

The first is a snarling face (and I can tell you I've been getting some odd looks from my girlfriend as I've been pulling faces in the mirror to get a good idea of what I'm trying to achieve!), the second is a minor resculpt of the basic closed mouth head with a mustache, which several enquiries about the heads have asked for - so here we go.



Hopefully these will be finished very quickly, over this weekend infact!

Tuesday 3 August 2010

Sculpting Pith Helmetted Heads (Part 6)

Well thats it, pending acceptance by Secret Weapon Miniatures the heads are good to go, there are three variants, Mouth Closed, Mouth Open and Bearded - exactly the same range as a certain set of Pith Helmetted soldiers from the 4ast Millenium, can't imagine who they could be!

Assuming that they are accepted, and the noise has only been good so far, they could be available to purchase in metal from September.




Sunday 1 August 2010

Hobby Fund (1st August)

Not such a great month as it turned out, I never quite got round to updating my sales list, though ebay did bring in a little as did a couple of smaller commissions. I really must update my sales list this month as following purchases the hobby fund is now empty basicly.

I'm still thinking about that gaming table, but for the moment at least it will have to wait, still there are some good things on the horizon which should see a nice bit of income for the fund.

  • Starting Balance 1st July = £0.70

  • Sales in July = £55.50

  • Sales Fee's in July = -£4.98

  • Purchases in July = £0.00

  • Misc Income/Outgoings = £1.85

  • Balance 1st August = £53.07

Monday 26 July 2010

Nurgle Obliterators (Part 4)

Yes it's been a quiet month on the blogging front, though I've a few things that just need posting so hopefully I'll catch up a bit in the next few days.

First on the list is the first finished Plague Obliterator (sounds much better then Nurgle Obliterator don't you think?), despite the nasty mold line I missed on the power fist I'm really quite pleased with him, and with the base also, though this later bit has'nt photographed that well, one down and army to go.


Tuesday 13 July 2010

Sculpting Pith Helmetted Heads (Part 5)

Thanks to TrooperPX I've got a batch of copies of my first sculpted Pith Helmet, I've now started reworking these into a number of different faces, once completed some of these will, all going well, enterproduction with an existing manufacturer, something I'm really excited about.

Trading Post - For Sale 2010 (Version 2)

Updated List HERE.

Saturday 3 July 2010

Venatio Accipiter (Part 4)

It's been a while, too long infact, but I've finally got round to working on my Warhound again. The reason is there will be an Apocolypse game for my local clubs last night at our old venue at GW Exeter this coming week, and I decided I wanted to use something large and new - had to be the Warhound.

While there is a long ong way to go, I've almost finished painting the hull's interior.



Have completed the basic assembly and base coated a good portion of the lower hull and weapons, theres alot of painting to do the externals, much tidying and detailing, but assembled it's given me some serious motivation, my plan is to carry on working on it over the summer and to get it finished at last. I'm going to get on with finishing the painting on the legs next, before adding the extra armour plates and pistons to this area, then I'll get back to working on the torso.

Hobby Fund (1st July)

Not such a great month as it turned out, I never quite got round to updating my sales list, though ebay did bring in a little as did a couple of smaller commissions. I really must update my sales list this month as following purchases the hobby fund is now empty basicly.

I'm still thinking about that gaming table, but for the moment at least it will have to wait, still there are some good things on the horizon which should see a nice bit of income for the fund.

  • Starting Balance 1st June = £38.14

  • Sales in June = £31.00

  • Sales Fee's in June = -£1.48

  • Purchases in June = -£36.96

  • Misc Income/Outgoings = -£30.00

  • Balance 1st July = £0.70

Monday 28 June 2010

Why the UK GT/Throne of Skulls 2010 = Fail

This is a post I never really expected to write, I’ve been attending the UK Grand Tournaments, which more recently became known as the Throne of Skulls, since 2003 and it’s always been an event I, and those at my local gaming club have loved (by way of example back in 2003 two of us went up, last year we took up a team of eleven, not bad for a small club at the far end of the country).
 
Now I know that there is plenty of dislike for the event, typified by Stelek, the hardcore tournament crowed who have a dislike of any sort of soft scores (i.e. Sportsmanship, Painting etc) in the format, as well as the sort of players who often attend including myself it would seem, but for me and I know a good sized crowd of people typified by the Warseer contingent who really like the event as it was, a relaxed Tournament where you will see just about every sort of player you can imagine from the ‘Net List’ players to the fluffy bunnies (no offence intended here, I’m closer to one of those then a Net Lister).
 
Format
 
Then…
The original format I started attending under was two Heats and a Final, those who did best in the Heats then had the option to buy a ticket for the final, tickets were sold top to bottom until they were all gone, subsequent years saw the addition of an extra Heat to keep up with demand and the introduction of a free Final ticket for those who qualified.
 
Each player could attend one Heat per year and potentially the final if they performed well.
 
Now…
The new format as it has been presented removes the Final in favour of another Heat, so you could say they’re now Rounds instead. On the face of it I see no problem with this, indeed I think it could be a good move, the thing is in the past couple of years especially tickets fly – they were all gone in something like 48hours last year – and there are plenty of people who miss out, removing the Final and adding another Round means another hundred odd people get the chance to attend the big event in the UK (and arguably Europes) gaming calendar – this is the obvious and IMHO best solution given that the event’s team are unable to calendar in a forth heat and the final.
 
However theres a fly in the ointment, it would also seem that a player will be able to attend multiple Rounds in a year, this means there will almost certainly infact still be people who are unable to go as I’ve no doubt there will be those, especially those who live in the area who’ll go to two, three or even all four events each year regardless of the cost. As long as those who could’nt get a ticket before get one now that’s alright though.  
 
The Event
 
Then…
Originally each weekends gaming included 6 games over Saturday and Sunday, Lunch on both days was provided and Dinner on Saturday as well as Coffee and Donuts for breakfast (yummy), there was some form of entertainment in Bugmans bar in the evening for those who wanted to attend and back along Seminars were held (though these stopped a little while ago). It was also common practice that many of those who had the option to arrive early would meet up at Warhammer World for a few friendly games, this was always great as it meant you’d get to catch up with friends an acquaintenances who you’d met at previous years event or just through the online community for a few games and a couple of drinks before getting down to the tournament proper.
 
Now…
The food format remains unchanged (though apparently it’s going to be better food – though I’m not sure quite how they’ll pull that off as food is already of an excellent standard), likewise Saturday entertainments will be improved (again it’s always been great so unless they’re adding the Seminars back I’m left scratching my head).
 
Next up we’ll have the introduction of social gaming before the event on the Friday… wait a minute did’nt we already do that? Oh sorry no it’s going to be ‘official’ social gaming now… this is great, but to say it’s something new we’re offering and then use it as a financial justification is not.
 
Finally we’re going to be gaining a whole half hour extra per game which means… oh yeah it’ll now be five games rather then six, so it’s more ‘relaxed’. I’m of two minds about this, on one hand sometimes people do run out of time for games, on the other hand I’m now spending 5 or so hours in the car for less actual games, they’re not even larger games which I know is something which has been asked out plenty before, upping the 40k limit to 1850pts which is fairly reasonable I’d think for an extra half hour?
 
Why?
 
So why are GW implementing these changes? Well for this I’ll turn over to the head of event Andy Joyce in an email correspondence I received from him in reply to an email I sent last week.
 
The reason for removing the heats was twofold. Firstly, the new Throne of Skulls format has been designed to emphasise the fun of playing games in a relaxed, friendly environment, where the only prize up for grabs is the knowledge that you were the best in your race class. As the heats and final system is essentially encouraging people to play for a physical prize, it now doesn’t fit with the ethos of playing for fun for what you can win.

The second reason is to open up the competition to more players; 3 events limits us to a maximum of 468 players, and a final where (if we’re lucky) 120 may turn up. This now opens the competition up for 4 events with a total capacity of 624 different players, allowing greater access to the competition and providing more support for the hobby.

 
The second reason I’ve already commented on, I like it for the most part, the first I have a problem with.
 
I agree that the changes should encourage friendly play, a little; however they seem to be making a mountain out of a mole hill. We’re all familiar with the horror stories that come out of tournaments from time to time, the Rules Lawyers twisting the meaning of RAW above an beyond to scrape a tiny advantage, the weighted dice, the time wasters, the tantrum throwers – and yes they’re all true, but they are a minority of players, a real tiny minority. I’ve met at most one of these people in my years at the GT, and to be honest he just did’nt know the rules very well, it’s a problem I’ve encountered far more at my local club or shop (the worst cheat (read did’nt know the rules) I’ve ever met was a GW Store Manager for heaven’s sake, but that’s another story). The thing is if you actually talk to a GT player about it they’ll have a story, but most of those stories come from a friend, or a friend of a friend, the undesirable opponents are indeed out there but are few and far between and they are not going to go away just because the event is changing it’s reward system.
 
For the most part those that attend the GT are a fantastic crowd, go in relaxed and ready for some fun games and that is exactly what you’ll get – make no mistake some of those games will be hard because you will play against some hard armies and some great players but 95% of the time the people behind them will be wanting to have just the same thing you want, a fun, relaxed and friendly game (oh and being a tournament they’ll want to win, ditto though surely - even if you don’t have your sights set on the top tables).
 
So what are GW really going to achieve with these changes, my theory is very little in terms of improving game play, you have removed a tangible physical prize certainly by removing the free final ticket, that’s not going to stop people from taking the hardest army they can, they may not have a prize still, but they still want to win even when moving the goal post’s with odd changes in how points are awarded, it will be for the most part the same people, playing the same way and those people want to win.
 
10 Minutes to Midnight
 
There is another thing though, and I hate for it to come down to this, I really do, but for me it’s the thing which breaks the horses back, why I won’t be attending the Throne of Skulls. I’m trying to get my head around this still, Heat Tickets have for a few years been priced at £55.00, that included subsidizing the ‘free’ Final, we now have no Final, we now have a game less meaning that in fact the event will end a few hours earlier for the purposes of the vast majority of players (because even with the ‘Friday’ event a good portion will not attend this because they’ll be doing other things or traveling up to Nottingham, it is a work night afterall. Somehow despite losing all these things the ticket price remains the same, it’s not according to Andy ‘a viable option for us’.
 
If the GT’s were making a loss I could maybe understand this – do some number crunching though and you’ll see the sort of gross income they have from these events at a venue which is already there regardless of the event, I don’t believe for a minute they were making a loss.
 
The thing is there are plenty of other great Tournaments out there, a recent highlight for me was Bristol Vanguard, it’s organization was on a par with the GT, the terrain if anything was better, the food was pretty good, the venue was nothing special and the people were great – the price was half of the GT, the fact is the prestiege of the official event is all well and good, but at the end of the day it’s coming to a point where this is the main selling point, GW actually offering less just as other events are offering more does not sound to me like a good move if they want attendance to continue.
 
Farewell
 
I can’t finish on an unhappy note, because I do have to add one little thing, pretty much the same that I ended to Andy Joyce with, the thing is as I started with I have loved the GT and the Throne of Skulls events, that’s down to the people who attend them yes, but even more so that’s down to the Events Team from top to bottom and not forgetting the volunteers who give up there time freely, I don’t think you could ask for a more dedicated group to organize and run the tournaments, they’ve turned out a great event year after year and I have a huge amount of respect for them for doing it. It is with real regret I won’t be attending this year, I know for a fact I’m not alone in feeling this, I have plenty of brilliant memories of the Tournament over the years and no matter what changes now and in the future that won’t change.
 

Thursday 17 June 2010

Commission - FW Commissar Bust Repair

A little while back I put out a request for a couple of FW IG Plasma Pistols and one very nice chap was happy enough to send me them for free - so I said I owed him a favour and here it is.

After some hunting he came across one of the old Commissar Crowe bust's which Forgeworld used to produce, they're fairly hard to get hold of and unfortunately this one was slightly damaged as you can see below.



He had clearly taken a tumble at some point, the chainsword had been broken cleanly but repaired however the handguard and pommel were missing, there was also some damage to one finger and one chainsword tooth was missing, though this was not to be repaired.

I removed the damaged section of the guard and replaced the whole thing with plasticard, and extended the damaged grip with some tube before tidying it with GS and fixing up the finger. The pommel came last with a slightly larger diameter of tube and a GS plug. Job done.

Friday 11 June 2010

Misc Space Marines Pads 2

Another quick post with some freshly finished Space Marine shoulder pad designs that I was commissioned to do, the first one (top) is a lion design, it ended up slightly larger then I'd planned but I'm pretty satisfied with it. The second and third are I assume for a Space Marine Chapter which has been infected by Genestealers no less using a couple of classic Tyranid icons which have then been simplified for this small design.

Monday 7 June 2010

Nurgle Obliterators (Part 3)

Just a little picture update, I had hoped to get more done but work has stalled again for the moment while I'm working on a few bits of sculpting work. So below is the painted body of my first Nurgle Obliterator. I'm pretty happy with the overal effect, though some of the added bits did'nt blend in quite as well as I'd of liked - though I did expect that on this first one, the second should be better, this one will get his arms first though which are mostly basecoated now.

Sunday 6 June 2010

EBAY - New Listings - Rare, Limited Edition, Gold 30th Anniversary White Dwarf

Forgive some blatent advertising, but after a bit of thought I've decided to take advantage of a free listing day on ebay and put up for auction my Gold Plated 30th Anniversary White Dwarf figure and see if theres any interest in it.



Rather then start low with a reserve I've simply opted to start the auction at a high price (yes I know...), though one which is still lower then they went for in the days following the Anniversary when more then one went for over £200. For those not in the know each Games Workshop store had one of these pieces which was given away at in store events for various contest's on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the first publication of White Dwarf magazine. This particular example was the one given away by Games Workshop's Exeter store in the UK.

The auction is HERE.

Thursday 3 June 2010

English Civil War - Edward Montagu's Regiment of Foote (Part 4)

Thats the first block of Pike done, bar the leaders, next up for some Musketeers - though I've few other things to do first! Damnation, still I've stolen a march on those Royalist's!

Wednesday 2 June 2010

English Civil War - Edward Montagu's Regiment of Foote (Part 3)

Time to start painting my English Civil War regiment, that of Edward Montagu.

I'm using for reference 'The English Civil War 1642-1651, An Illustrated Military History' by Philip Haythornwaite and first published by Blandford Press in 1983. Reliable sources for uniforms of the period are a bit sketchy and I'm not too concerned in total realism, so I'm using a colour plate from the book which presents Montagu's regiment as wearing a crimson jacket with various browns and leathers for other gear.

The result is this test model, very simply done with base coats including predominantly Blood Red and Khemri Brown with a Devlan Mud wash - I'm not spending alot of time on each model as they'll be in big units, so lots of them.



So thats Roundheads 1 - Cavaliers 0, come on Tim or your gonna lose the war before it's started!

Tuesday 1 June 2010

Hobby Fund (1st June)

Well that went pretty well, some sales, including a few on ebay saw an income of almsot £120 for the hobby fund, which combined with the chunk left in it at the start of May has let me pay off the Reaver in full now putting it firmly in the black. I also treated myself to a pre-order on one of the new Imperial Guard Manticore kits, but combined with a discount voucher and accumilated 'money back' from Maelstrom it only cost £19.00 - even better!

I'm planning on updating my sales list this month, I've a few more bits and pieces to add, but I'm also going to start hunting down a few new bits as well to help finish my Plague Marine army - that said I'm going to avoid any serious spends until the summer now, when it'll be time to sort myself out a gaming table.

  • Starting Balance 1st May = £98.03

  • Sales in May = £117.00

  • Sales Fee's in May = -£8.04

  • Purchases in May = -£18.85

  • Misc Income/Outgoings = £0.00

  • Reaver Fund Repayment = -£150.00

  • Balance 1st June = £38.14


  • Reaver Fund Outstanding = £0.00

Friday 28 May 2010

Getting on my Soapbox - Competitive & Non-Competitive Play

I think it’s time I got this off my chest as it’s a subject which I keep reading about online, and there are some opinions which really “grind my gears”, they’re entitled to those opinions of course – but I think they’re wrong so it's time to get on my soap box.

Our hobby is a diverse one and plenty of people have different reasons for taking it up, let’s just quickly look at what I’d call the three cornerstone aspects.

Gaming

I think it’s fair to say this is the largest factor for which many of us are in the hobby. Whether you play all out to win in tournament style competitive play or just want to play with some mates and have a laugh with a few drinks and pizza it's why we're here. Though I should highlight the two are not mutually exclusive, please keep that in mind.

Modelling, Painting & Collecting

Given it’s a game of toy soldiers (gasp) the other major aspect is the figures themselves, it’s quite perfectly acceptable to spend as little time as possible on your army (though some of us would say ‘why’ when your prepared to spend hard earned money on it), but it’s also perfectly acceptable to lavish time on it, to convert every single model and to paint them to the best of your ability – I think everyone can appreciate a good looking army on the tabletop even if they don’t wish to spend the time to do it themselves. Though of course alot of people are more in the middle of these two 'extremes'.

Background and Story Telling

This is another important part of the hobby that is often and easily overlooked, and without it you might as well be playing chess! Don’t get me wrong, you don’t have to write a novel to explain everything in your army, 40k has a deliberately large universe which allows us to explain just about anything IF we want (and yet again of course you don’t have too). However for some parts of our community it’s an important aspect, one which can mesh with the collecting, modelling and painting of an army as a player finds a certain theme they like which is to them really cool, it can also mesh with gaming when it comes to special scenario's or campaigns.

So what’s the problem? The fact is that certain parts of the community feel that the game should be played for a single aspect and that anyone who differs should be looked down upon as ‘a poor sportsman’, ‘a scrub’, ‘beardy/cheesey’ or derogatively as a ‘fluffy player’. You may feel one aspect is best, that anything else is stupid, but what right have you got exactly to judge somebody else? None! Play as you wish, but you have no right to criticise someone for the style of play they choose.

Though I would add cheaters, (actual) bad sportsmanship etc is a different matter, and is a group who should be shunned by all.

Competitive Play

Aspects of competitive play are often looked down upon from some quarters, for example, building an army which excels at one particular function at the expense of everything else, the use of particular powerful units or combinations of such units which may or may take particular advantage of the rules (e.g. the often despised Nob Bikers with every model slightly different for wound allocation) and to a certain extent pushing the boundary of the rules as written (RAW) beyond what may be thought of as acceptable as far as possible to squeeze out an advantage.

Now if you can’t stomach that sort of play for one thing you ought to tournaments because they are normally all about this sort of play, if you do go along and dislike the experience keep in mind it was your choice, don’t moan about it.

However the fact is this is a game, and you are playing against an opponent to win. Even if you don't consider yourself a competitive player, YOU ARE, it may just be you just place a greater weighting on the non-competitive aspect as well.

Non-Competitive Play

Now apparently some competitive players can’t understand why someone would not play their ‘A Game’ all the time, or would handicap themselves with what in their terms are poor unit choices or utterly rubbish armies as a whole. It’s certainly true that some people do take ‘poor’ choices mistakenly believing them to be awesome, but there good reasons which are more personal.

The most typical I suppose is my usual reason, simply because I like the models and/or it fits the theme of my army (matching the other two cornerstones of the hobby). I’ll take the example of my FW Malcador Defender, in game terms it’s frankly pretty awful, it fulfils much the same roll as a Demolisher with fractionally increased firepower but it's slower, has weaker armour, is far more expensive and carries the possibility of taking half your army along with it when it blows up (which it will), I got into a debate a few months ago with someone unable to comprehend why I would take it, the answer is simple I think it’s a lovely model. I love concept behind it, it fits in perfectly with the look and feel of my army and lastly I didn’t buy it as an expensive paper weight, it may not add anything to how well the army works, in fact it detracts from it, but it LOOKS GREAT!

That whole concept can certainly be extend to single units, multiple units or whole armies however the owner should beware complaining about them, remember at the end of the day it is your choice to take them and nobody forced you, save that for discussion about how bad the game designers get it sometimes!

Another reason which is fairly typical is simply a player does'nt have the models he or she would need to build a competitive list, forgiveable surely?

A final possibility is that someone is literally challenging themselves, a competitive player who is taking a non-competitive list because using optimised list is kind of like taking candy from a baby. Okay, perhaps not the best comparison but it gives you the idea, after all to win with something which is admittedly terrible takes either a lot of luck or someone who really knows what they’re doing. I’m not one of those people, but I know a few who are.

Myself, I fall in between these groups, I'll always include units I like even if they're not great, but I will also include elements which are more useful - even when they don't fit right in with the army, I don't think in that respect I'm untypial.

In closing, because this has become a bit of a rant, don’t become like THIS. Here if I read this right we have Stelek a clearly Competitive player who has played someone who clearly is'nt for whatever his reasons may be, the result is one playing is moaning about Stelek and Stelek in turn is moaning about him, I doubt either of them would particularly want to repeat the game.

Such unhappy situations are EASILY avoided, use your head and talk to your opponent, make sure you find out exactly what your opponent wants out of the game first, if that doesn’t match what you want out of the game don’t play it whether it's because your opponent is too competitive, because you don't think they're competitive enough or whatever other reason, just find another opponent. This is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby where both players have fun, if your not gonna have fun playing a particular game then you have to ask what’s the point?

P.S - Oh yes, if you don't ask what your letting yourself in for don't moan about it, don't say what if, don't blame the dice, (and especially don't if you did know what you were letting yourself in for), we do all do it from time to time, but without actual good reason that is a very good example of bad sportsmanship. Even if it's true! ;)

Tuesday 25 May 2010

Commission - Praetorian Ogryn Squad (Part 17)

That's it, the Bonehead has his Chainsword and the final Ogryn his hand, though it was sculpted in the end.



And with that the Praetorian Ogryn Squad are complete, it's been a hell of a project, it's taken far longer then I could of imagined but the results are such that I'm really rather pleased with them. I think they're characterful, and fit the theme of a Praetorian unit, but one which is a wee bit on the rough side! I'll actually be quite sad to see them go and it's very tempting to want to get on and create such a unit for my own army - maybe sometime soon, it's not like I hav'nt got enough to get on with already!

Sunday 23 May 2010

And the Winner is... GIVEAWAY - Your Taking the Pith (Part 2)



And the winner of the Ramshakle Games Pith Helmets with Gas Masks is poster number 16...



Skywatcher!

skywatcher said...

Count me in. Great casts.

21 May 2010 17:42


Congratulations!

I've dropped you an email, as soon as I've got an address for you I'll get them in the post!

Friday 21 May 2010

Reminder - GIVEAWAY - Your Taking the Pith (Part 2)

Sorry for the lack of updates, it reflects how much I've got done in the past week or so, work has been... interesting!

Hence just a quick reminder that following on from my review of Ramshackle Games Pith Helmets with Gas Masks, I'm running a giveaway of a sample of 12 if these 28mm resin heads ideal for Praetorians in the grim darkness of the 41st Millenium or perhaps for your steam punk colonial Infantry?

To enter all you need to do is leave a post in the post HERE and be a follower of the blog.

The winner will be drawn TOMMORROW at 18:00 GMT leaving you little over 24 hours as I post this!

Monday 10 May 2010

GIVEAWAY - Your Taking the Pith (Part 2)



Following on from my review of Ramshackle Games Pith Hemlets with Gas Mask's, I'm very pleased to be able to offer up a sample of the Ramshackle Games heads in another giveaway.

In 'Your Taking the Pith (Part 2)!' up for grabs is a set of 12 of these excellent heads as shown below.



If you'd like to get your hands on these you'll need to be a Follower of the blog, using the widgit which can be found towards the bottom of the right hand column and to leave a comment in this post, from those left one will be chosen at random by random.org.

The winner will be picked on Saturday 22nd of May at 18:00 GMT leaving you just under two weeks, but why wait?

Once again, good luck!

Product Review - 28mm Pith Helmets with Gas Masks by Ramshackle Games

Ramshackle Games, based in Nottingham in the UK released a set of Resin 28mm Pith Helmets with Gas Mask's some time ago, I was fortunate enough that I recieved a sample of the heads which is what I'm basing this product review on.

The heads are supplied in random sets of 10, on first inspection they are slightly shiny which indicates as with ALL resin models it's a good idea to give them a clean with a mild detergant to remove any remanent of the release agent.



The heads themselves vary in design with some fairly simple and others more complex, the detail is quite fine, though not I would say on a par with Forgeworld, though at £3.00 a set your certainly not paying Forgeworld prices. They do suffer from some small air bubbles, most of the heads in my sample would require a little filling with your chosen putty, this is easily done however and they are not micro air bubbles so it's not too fidley to do and the overal surface quality is good. Also there is very little if any flash on any of the heads, and I really can't pick out any obvious mold lines, definately can't complain about that!

Enough of my observations and onto using them.

I guess the most obvious place to use them is of course on something like the Cadian plastics, I've made up three models below, one (a Sergeant) uses one of my own resin torso's, another a standard armoured cadian and one a tank torso. Some work is needed to fit them to each of these torso's, obviously they wer'nt designed with such a use specifically in mind and to get the best out of them will require a little sculpting to give you a collar and or fit them to the neck joint properly. It also has to be said that they are closer to true scale 28mm rather then the larger heroic scale that GW currently uses, that boils down to the heads being a little smaller then would be ideal, though not so small that they look silly, this I think thanks to the gas masks bulking them out.





A quick, and I do mean quick, paint job later and you get more of the final effect, which overal I think is good, especially when compaired to a stock GW Praetorian Guardsman.



After all said and done I only have two minor gripes with them.

Firstly is the size as I talked about earlier, they're not an ideal fit for current GW models, I'm left thinking they may infact work better for converting Mordians to Praetorians as the different between these is smaller or even just adding variety to regular Praetorian models. That said I've a suspicion they could also work really well on Forgeworlds Death Korps of Krieg models, it's an expensive thought, but the gas masks would definately work well with the greatcoats for Praetorians fighting over no mans land.

My second gripe is the variation, I quite like my armies uniform when it comes to equipment, and these Gas Mask's don't do that brilliants as there are several different designs, I'd have preferred a single one I think, though it would be quite possible to kit out individual squads with single one I suppose if buying in bulk, that is a personal preference of mine though.

I'd have to conclude overal that I'd definately rate them as a solid, if not excellent, way of raising a 40k Praetorian IG force - or indeed Steampunk 'Colonial' forces. The sculpts & cast's are are good, the price is excellent and the contact I've had personally with Ramshackle has been spot on, can't say I've heard any complaints from anyone regarding this company.

Ramshakles Pith Helmets with Gas Mask's are available from their online store at the below address.

Ramshackle Games

Tuesday 4 May 2010

Objective Markers

We all use objective markers, often little purpose made objective markers from companies including GW, or coins, pieces of paper, spare models and even paint pots, but really theres very little excuse for not (eventually) having some that you've modelled, it might be an ammo dump, a banner, some loot, it could be just about anything really but it adds something extra to games!

Until now I've always dug into my wallet for a few coins but no longer, I've finally got around to painting up a few of the Praetorian Casulaty models and then basing them up on some of the bases which previously held my Heavy Weapons conversion before the models were rebased onto 60mm bases for the latest codex.



Thats better!

Monday 3 May 2010

Commission - Praetorian Ogryn Squad (Part 16)

What will probably be the penultimate post on the Praetorian Ogryn Squad has finally arrived, 8 of the Ogryns are now to all intents and purposes finished as far as I'm going with them, weapons have been added, gaps filled, and only two now remain.



The Boneheads Chainsword needs to be finished and attached, it's built from two Ork Chainswords combined, however before I add a grip I need to pin it into his fist to ensure it stays in place.



The final regular Ogryn meanwhile is in need of a hand, unfortunately I've run out, but I'm hoping to acquire one from a club mate this week which will allow me to finish this model also with a few minor bits of sculpting left to do.

Sunday 2 May 2010

Plague Marines (Part 3)

With a bit of time over this bank holiday weekend I'm at the paints as well as the greenstuff, as a result, and after a bit of an absense the Plague Marines have seen a bit of progress with the final three bodies of the first squad finished. Unfortunately I can't go any further as I don't have my pin vice to hand at the moment to drill out the bolters, so they'll go back to the waiting pile now until later in the week.

Commission - Praetorian Officers & Sergeants (Part 3)

With a little more work I've finished the four Praetorian 'Character' models, top left has gained a Laspistol and a outstretched pointing arm, top right has had his cloak finished and gained a Laspistol in his exposed hand. Bottom left meanwhile has had a little tidying done and the bottom right has recieved a little more detailing including a small aquilla on the Power Fist.

Job's a good un!

Saturday 1 May 2010

And the Winner is... GIVEAWAY - Your Taking the Pith (Part 1)



And the winner of the 28mm Pith Helmet set is poster number 11...



Jason!

Jason said...

I have heard of May Day baskets, but May Day piths?! ;) Keep up the good work as always!
21 April 2010 17:53


Congratulations!

I've dropped you an email, as soon as I've got an address for you I'll get them in the post!

Another Giveaway will follow during this month - with more Pith related goodness up for grabs, keep your eyes open!