So, I accidently painted an army

This lockdown is starting to feel like being under house arrest, but without a known end date. It all seems a bit in the UK, some things are starting be less restricted yes, but we definitely aren't out of the woods yet. So I continue to stay at home working at my dining table during the day, moving my keyboard to one side in the evening and painting models at the same spot. I count my blessings that my friends and family stay well and I have a job. 

I made a comment recently on facebook about Eldar in Warhammer 40K being a cheesy army. Now although my comment was definitely made in jest with tongue firmly in cheek and was taken in that context I was called up on it by a friend and rightly so. The reason being it has been a long time since I've actually played any Warhammer 40,000, so I'm probably not actually in a position to comment on the current balance of the system. I was wrong to make the comment and so should have been corrected. Thinking about it, the period of time since I last played either Warhammer is probably actually longer than the time I spent playing them.

I still pop in the store and read the odd book and sometimes maybe buy the odd model as you may know if you are a regular reader. I just haven't kept up with the rules. I started playing so infrequently it didn't make sense to keep buying the latest books as they came out for them to just collect dust on the shelf. When you you have multiple Space Marine Codexes (Codices?) slowly taking up more and more valuable bookshelf space it does make you feel old too.

I mention this because it reminded me of a podcast I listened to recently which I thought I would share. The Cast Dice Podcast, Episode 91 was an interview with Rick Priestley talking about the creation of Rogue Trader. ( Link here) He himself in the Podcast states that the current 40K is something that he doesn't keep up or recognise. It was fascinating listening to him talking about how he created this thrown together lore with ideas from all over the place that has now become this huge lumbering beast of a game. (I myself came in at second edition so I learnt even more than some Longbeards may.)

Another reason I haven't picked up a Warhammer book in a while is the excellent range of alternative non specific model rulebooks from Osprey. One of these titles, Dragon Rampant, makes an excellent alternative to Warhammer Fantasy. The rules are specifically written so that you can create your army to match whatever models you have, whether they be a GW army or just some random things you've picked up at trade shows and like the look of.

Now I did only have one fantasy army, (painted that is, countless other ones sit waiting to be painted up of course!) an old GW Chaos army made up of Marauders, Knights and Warriors. I love the models and would like to play with them again, but I didn't have another army for them to fight against. So, one evening armed with the book and some unbuilt plastic sets I built an army.

A box of Frostgrave Wizards, Frostgrave Female Warriors and Perry Men at Arm's that the Father in Law had presented me with for my birthday were all built with a few head swaps, tweaks and the addition of a single bushy bearded head from a Landschneck sprue that had come free with Wargames Illustrated. 

First set of Wizards

Second set of Wizards

Final set of Wizards, all twelve make up one unit

Light Cavalry

Light infantry

Heavy Cavalry with Leader on distinctive base

I've tried to give the army a vague sense of uniformity with a pale blue colour cloth among their clothes, but then the wizards turn up wearing whatever they feel like. I'm already thinking about extra units to add. Possibly some hounds, or maybe something a bit more fantastical, maybe something more draconic?
The fantasy has been a nice change from historical painting, not having to get exact colours right with research is a lot easier. On the historical side I have painted up another unit of Prussian infantry but they look exactly the same as the last lot, so if you want to know what they look like, I refer you to my last blog post.

Oh and finally, I hope the photo's look good. Thanks to top tips from Wargames Illustrated editor Dan I tried something new and I think they look really good if I may say so myself! (Although the paint job could probably still do with improving!)

A quiet month on the hobby table

It's been a quiet month hobby wise folks. In fact, nothing much to report I'm afraid. One of the reasons for this is due to the return of my chronic migraines. With a job that involves staring at a computer screen all day, when a migraine hits, it's difficult to then squint at a tiny toy soldier or look at another computer screen whilst writing about them.

Avoiding screens has meant an opportunity to catch up some reading (bear with me this is going somewhere). I've recently completed my second hand collection of these graphic novels.

Which reminded me of these conversions I did back in my youth for for my Warhammer Chaos army. The contents of my glass cabinets are currently being dusted and packed away for a move and so I took the opportunity to photograph these for the blog.

When I think about it, these models are around 22 years old. I have come to the conclusion in those 22 years my painting quality has actually got worse. I'm sure I'm not the only person that suffers from what I call the "painters shakes" a non recognised condition where older crafters can't hold a model to paint it without getting involuntary shakes. I would never try sculpting green stuff on a helmet like that these days. I always thought with time would come better skill, but sadly it hasn't. I think partly I have learnt shortcuts when painting squads and regiments, so my models look good "en masse" but the individuals now don't look as good. Maybe I should slow down a bit for my characters and take some inspiration from some of my older paint jobs. Us wargamers are always talking about getting through our lead mountains and painting our models. Maybe sometimes I should just slow down a bit and just enjoy painting like I did in my youth.

I have also finished a few other random items off my painting table. Firstly a Reaper half Orc I bought for my Youngest to use in Heroquest:

My son especially loves the fact that he is already carrying a chest on his back for putting treasure in. (It's all about the gold.)

I've started painting up some of the Grenadier models I spoke about in a previous post. These two chaps were a joy to paint, they may be older sculpts but they hold up to modern standards.

Finally, this hefty lump of lead of a chap. I tried something on the bases which I'm not sure of, I might repaint. The rest, I'm happy with.

I posted a pic of this on Facebook, but for those of you that didn't see it, I painted one of the free Black Seas sprues of a Frigate from Wargames Illustrated. 

I haven't done the rigging, because to be honest, I'm not stealing thread from Mrs B. I'm sure she would probably help me out if I asked, but I'm pleased with it as it is and I bet if I started messing with thread and superglue there is a chance I could make a mess of it. There is always a risk with paper and superglue as I have often found out when dealing with printing flags. It is all too easy to glue the paper to your fingers and remove the print and have to start again with a fresh sheet. I've been enjoying the WI sprues each month, looking forward to the surprise of a sprue of something that I might not necessarily choose to buy but having a go anyway. I'm disappointed next year they are dropping to bi-monthly and especially disappointed with this month's Judge Dress graffiti transfers. I'm sure back in January we were promised a year's worth of sprues, although that might be me misremembering. If we were however, bad form WI, bad form.

What else have I been up to? Well, being a busy grown up it's not all painting models and playing games, sadly sometimes one has to do the washing up or commute to work as well. But I have the solution for the geek who can't help but want to fill their day with gaming, podcasts! Use whatever podcast downloader of choice and then listen to these. For the old school Longbeards may I recommend "Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy"  from the History Network. They even did Episode 33 live via YouTube and yours truly got involved with a few questions. (Yes I did instigate the James May discussion, sorry.)

For a more light hearted listen I have two D&D podcasts I am currently listening to. I find most D&D play podcasts far too serious and not really inclusive enough but are hilarious and yet also inspiring to my own gaming. (ie not just a bunch of fart jokes)

First is Not another D&D Podcast. Three American players, one of whom has never played before but is leaping in feet first with his Barbarian, Hard One, a Mushroom lady druid and a halfling Paladin working towards getting his scout merit badges.

The other is The Dragon Friends. Three Australian comedians take part in a live monthly stage show D&D session. They release each half of the evenings show in a separate episode. This is hands down my favourite podcast I have found so far. My only bugbear is I am caught up and have to wait two weeks between episodes!

And finally. For my fellow bloggers out there. You may not yet know that Google have finally updated the Blogger Android app! It's about time, it's actually been years since the previous update. So this blog update has been done from my phone, photos and all! No more excuses!

Post, Post Apocalyptic show post

Another Salute has been and gone.

This dude just kept popping up everywhere.

I did as promised, I did some live posting on Facebook of the day, although not loads as I was too busy enjoying myself. The journey wasn't terrible after all. All the panic about DLR stations being closed and finding alternative routes didn't phase the brother in law and I in the end. We made good time and in fact arrived in the queuing hall before 9am, a record even! Brother in law even had time to grab a coffee at Canning Town.


As I posted yesterday, it was a pleasant surprise to receive two models in the grab bag as we went in this year:

The model on the left is from Archon Studio. I've not heard from them before and the freebie did its job as I was intrigued and paid them a visit. They seemed to have a couple of prototypes of models and a generic dungeon terrain piece for D&D etc. A couple of things that did seem weird about the dungeon prototype was that they were stating it held together with magnets (not included) and their initial designs showed gridding on the floor but the model did not. Not really helpful for roleplaying on I suggested, this was received with a shrug. I wonder if this is a company to watch or are they going too big too soon. The sprue for the freebie model looks interesting though, I shall see how it goes together.

I was determined this year to not just shop and so one activity I wanted to do join in on was the speed painting competition. Twenty minutes to paint a Walking Dead zombie. Not really my kind of model, but I was determined to give it a go. There was a really fun vibe at the table with some great friendly banter. I didn't win the round, but that didn't bother me at all, it was the most twenty minutes fun painting I have had in a long time. I am definitely doing it again next year.

Brains...

So, shopping wise, what did I get? Well, I didn't get everything I wanted. I forgot that Perry don't bring metal, so no BEF, but that can wait. I did get my Frostgrave wizards that were launched yesterday and I also picked up some Frostgrave Female warriors, so some mix and matching and I shall make a couple of Female wizards too.

I made a visit to Bad Squiddo and had a quick chat with Sophie from Needy Cat Games who was helping out. We discussed our shared love of the need to populate a tabletop dungeon with physical items and so of course I picked up some of the new pieces, I shall be using them for Advanced Heroquest.

This is two sets mixed together. The sculpts are awesome.

I grabbed a years subscription to Wargames Illustrated so with my £20 voucher for Warlord I picked up a new villain for my WW2 game. Captain America will have to come out of the deep freeze again!

 I picked up Halvdan from Hasslfree miniatures and a rather dramatic looking Custer from Black Scorpion.

I managed to meet up with the Illustrious Wargaming Opponent for a grand total of around five minutes, but as he is the wargamer I spend most time chucking dice with, we both didn't mind I'm sure. We both compared notes later and I'm sure will do so more later. I did manage however to meet up with some complete strangers at a Bloggers meetup. As I get older and grumpier I convince myself that I don't have the energy to meet new people but in reality I guess I can still have a slight attack of the shyness, so I gave myself a kick and followed through on the promise to meet up with some fellow online scribes. A brief meet, but I did get a few tips and it is nice to know I am not alone out there in the blogsphere.
Finally, I need to make an apology. In my last blog I suggested avoiding Forgeworld at Salute this year and I would like to apologise for this. Not for the suggestion to avoid them, but for suggesting that they would be there. After all my talk of researching my visit I just assumed GW would be at Salute and they weren't.

Salute 2019 - After the Apocalypse

That time of year is almost upon us once more. Yep, it's the big one, Salute. The theme this year is "After the Apocalypse"

 Image copyright South London Warlords. Obvs.

We all descend on the Excel Convention centre in London. Backpacks empty, shopping lists in our sweaty hands, cameras and smartphones in macro mode ready to snap away.
My Facebook feed already no longer shows anything my friends are doing, just all the various Wargaming companies reminding us they will be there for that one day in April where the Longbeards of dice rolling gather in the Great steel hall of trade.

We start the day with the long train ride, what is the best way to get across London, what stations are closed? Why didn't my Brother in Law bring himself a coffee like the rest of us always do and now he is in a caffeine grump. As we get on to the DLR we normally play the traditional game of "wargamer or marathon runner" as we normally share the Excel with all the healthy bods signing up for the London marathon the following day. Although this year Salute is early, so we shall miss those Lucozade swigging health nuts. (I'm not sure how many wargamers out there run marathons too. Although if they do they won't save on train fair this year.) One year we were totally thrown when two young ladies on the DLR didn't look particularly athletic (not dressed head to toe in Lycra) but also didn't seem the wargamer type. It turned out that year the same day at Excel there was a "Sherlocked" convention for fans of Benedict Cumberbatch's recent portrayal of the Baker Street detective. Totally threw us. Anyway, I digress.

So, a quick run down on my own personal list of things to look out for at Salute. Quick editorial disclaimer first, if I state a miniature company is new, it's new to me, or feels new as the many years of dice rolling fly by so quick, apologies if they have been going for years, blood, sweat, lead and tears, trying to sell their wares, I just haven't noticed them until now.

So, before Salute it is advisable to research who will be there, I have said this before and on a previous blog post I have hyperlinked all the companies attending a show. (Colours in September) luckily, South London Warlords have done the hard word for me here.

So, let's start with the old familiars. First visit is definitely always Hasslefree Miniatures. I've said it before, lovely company. I cannot stress how good the models are from this company, follow Kevs page on Facebook, Hasslefriesian, to see work in progress photos just to see how much effort goes into these toy soldiers. He is always open to discussion too, no matter how much he pretends to be grumpy. Although don't start suggesting he "does that character from that film I like" because he will shout at you for being a moron. (rightly so.)

I am loving the renaissance(?) in laser cut MDF terrain at the moment. Until this came along your choices for buildings on the table were expensive resin (which got dropped and chipped just five minutes after purchase) or build your own. Now not all of us are Anthea Turner or Diane Sutherland (How does she do all that crafting and keep such a wonderful manicure? See her book here.) So MDF came along as a relatively cheap option that looks so good on the table, especially for periods in history that involve a lot of wood, like the Old West. My personal favourite company are Sarissa Precision, mainly because they come unpainted, which keeps the price down and also they were the first I had. I won't lie, my amazing wife discovered them when looking for birthday presents for me back when they had a very small range of just Old West town buildings, now they have a huge range, I might even be tempted to buy their steamer boat this year.

Anvil are a reasonably new company that started out with just a few heroic scale compatible sci fi heads, arms, weapons etc. that could make your Spam army that bit different from the four billion other ones out there. They have since expanded and have their own proper range that you can still buy in mix and match.

Leslie's bits box, I've no idea where they manage to get their stock from but if you want old school Necromunda, Mordheim, Epic, Warhammer, go visit them. They also have a good range of new boxed stuff too.
Bad Squiddo, obviously, need I say any more than I have before. Annie is reducing her buying in of other manufacturers and starting to expand her own range. A bold move, but definitely the right one I think, starting at Salute with a range of scatter terrain that I shall be looking to grab for my Heroquest table.
Obviously Warlord games. I shall be visiting Wargames Illustrated to sort out my subscription for the year to ensure I don't miss out on any of the rest of the free sprues in 2019 and getting a voucher to spend at Warlord.

Perry Miniatures is a must. I shall be picking up some British Intervention Force as I am going to try a Pig War gone hot scenario. Already having some period American civilians, I just need to add some plastic American Infantry and find the pigs I bought at Colours last year. There are some handy scenario notes in Ospreys Men Who Would be Kings book that will mean the Illustrious Opponent and I will be exchanging polite warning shots across the backs of the greedy livestock!

Avoid Forgeworld like the plague unless you like contact sports and know in advance what you want to purchase from them. They don't have anything on display and previous years it's been a struggle to get a clear look at a catalogue. I guess GW assume their customers have a photographic memory for their range. I'm not doubting they have some nice stuff, as is obvious by how busy they are, but I haven't the energy any more for trying to get served like it is five to closing time in the bar on a Saturday night.

Looking at new people to visit. Firstly I am interested in a company called Blotz. I believe they have been going just a couple of years and have an interesting MDF range including a 28mm scale submarine that you can buy in sections so you can build any size sub you like and an interesting looking dungeon terrain system.
Atlantis Miniatures are getting bigger, they started with some lovely sculpts of very hairy dwarfs a couple of years ago and now the range includes trolls, orcs and bears, oh my! Seriously though, these are really nice "beefy" resin 28mm models, although that is reflected a little in the price. The orcs remind me of the orcs in the Warcraft movie. (Terrible movie but lovely design.) Finally of intrigue is Modblokz. A new looking terrain system, that consists of plastic modular sections that are held together by magnets. The professional looking videos make it look effortless to build and I am guessing it is designed for the wargamer with limited storage space in my mind. My wife would approve.

There are lots more obviously that I could go on about but this blog post is becoming an essay. I am possibly going to try some live Facebook posting on the day so be sure to like my Facebook page @playwithlead to see photos of the day as I enjoy my day pass and try to resist buying a new game system that takes up too much room and annoys my very understanding wife.

Free sprues from Wargames illustrated!

It would be hard for a wargamer to not have read a copy of  Wargames Illustrated unless they are a member of the hardcore fans of GW that refuse to accept any other toy soldiers exist. I do admit that it doesn't always pique my interest with all its articles, I do dip in and out. Not being made of money, I do try to keep my magazine purchases to one a month and so sometimes I do swap across to one of the other periodicals depending on the articles.

I have however recently been quite happy to purchase the magazine due to their announcement that every month for a year will include a free sprue from Warlord games. The first two are from their new boxed game, Cruel Seas. I have yet to try this game but I certainly shall be looking to see if a demo game is running at the next show I attend.
 This months free sprue is from Bolt Action. My particular copy had German Africa Korps attached. I don't play Bolt action but I do play WW2 in 28mm using my own conversion rules using the Warhammer historical Old West rules.

 I hear you ask why go to the effort when there are already lots of WW2 rulesets out there. I wanted something that felt more like a Hollywood war movie. I didnt want platoon level rules, I wanted something more like The Dirty Dozen or Bridge over the River Kwai. What better than a set of rules that were designed to simulate Hollywood cowboy films.

Finally this month on my bedside table I have been reading the following:

Inspired by the articles in Decembers WI on this indestructible chap, I felt the need to do some further reading, and I can say that it is a thoroughly enjoyable read. A modest soldier that fought in both World Wars, he was more put out at the loss of his favourite shooting guns when Hitler invaded Europe than the fact that he would have to risk life and limb once more.

Finally, it should be worth mentioning that the Monster that is Salute is already looming. South London Warlords have already announced the list of Traders. Luckily their page has links to the websites of all the companies so that makes researching easier. It's a little early this year on April 6th, so less than two months to go!