More purchases, a request and a tip.

This arrived from everyone's favourite tax-dodging online retailer this morning:

I'm intending to start up a small wargames club at work - simply in honour of the fact that it was a long ago history teacher who got me started and now I'm back to teaching history full time I feel like I owe the man to pass it on - and so I've picked these as the rules to use. 

The fact that it gives me an excuse to paint a couple of Wars of the Roses retinues is a pure coincidence, of course. 

I should hopefully have some of the Ramblers of Rohan completed tomorrow or the day after so expect some shinies then. 

I do have a request - does anyone know of a 28mm Victorian photographer mini from any manufacturer? I need one for a vignette idea I've had. 

In return I offer this tip - In Her Majesty's Name - a rather spiffing set of steampunk skin rush rules - are currently 99p on kindle as is the expansion. At that price you'd be rude not to get it. 

The Next Generation

I thought I'd share what Santa brought for the Elder Child (currently aged 2); operating on the assumption that I need to groom him for gaming duties before he's too much older he got two fisher price castles - one for goodies and one for the baddies.

But more importantly he got this - his first Orc. 

I am so proud. 

The castle even comes with a little catapult and ladder so I can teach him the rudiments of siege warfare. 

Adventurers - Midlam and Oathsworn

So my main present from She Who Must Be Obeyed was a complete set of Vallejo Model Colour paints which she found, unused, second hand.

Either that or she mugged someone for it.

I've been using mainly Vallejo Game Colour paints for years, but the Model range gives a much more natural palette which will - I think - work better with where my style is at now. After packing the Young Ones off to bed and watching Doctor Who (which was wonderful) I cracked open the new paints and painted the Dwarf character played by She Who Must Be Obeyed in my Mid-Life Crisis D&D game. I also finished off the wizard for another of our players.

Oathsworn dwarf - Thor Lowkey





Midlam Miniatures Wizard




I was able to practise a few techniques I needed to brush up on - excuse the pun. Both cloaks were done with glazes and the stunty chap's armour was gone with a mixture of inks and washes. Skin was layering as per usual. The mud was a mixture of drybrushing and my Tamiya mud stick. Having got shots of them painted, I'm going to try to the Vallejo brush on varnish so that if they get wrecked at least I've got good shots.

All that's left for them is basing; I'm undecided between a wilderness or dungeon base. Any bright ideas, please drop 'em in the comments.

My big takeaway from this is that I need practise with eyes for display models. I will therefore use the Ramblers of Rohan as test pieces for a) a more muted colour scheme and b) eyes.

An Early Christmas Present (from me, to me)

Watching Games Workshop start to wind down their Lord of the Rings range has sent me into a panic buying splurge on eBay to pick up the miniatures I kept promising myself. Added to this is that LOTR is probably my favourite fantasy skirmish rules set as it's one of the most elegant designs I've ever seen and I've never had a game that wasn't fun; I therefore want to lay in enough minis so that I can play it with my kids when they're a bit older. 

So today the postie dropped off a little packet for me: 

Yes, some riders of Rohan. Sans horses. 

Lovely figures - and with the added advantage that they'll double as Anglo-Saxons for general Dark Ages gaming as well. 

Now I just have to paint them...

Merry Christmas from Middle Earth!

Hope everyone and their families have a wonderful time and I hope Santa brings everyone lots of gaming goodness!

Doing it right

As a lifelong fan of Hammer movies it's always been a joy of mine that Van Helsing himself - not to mention Grand Moff Tarkin - Peter Cushing played with toy soldiers. So, as a little Christmas treat to those who read the blog, I hereby present to you Peter Cushing - playing with Toy Soldiers and doing it right.

May your Christmas be fruitful and may your hobby space be as civilised as his - and I hope Tamsin from wargaming girl doesn't take offence at HG Wells' paternalistic comments as so enthusiastically quoted by the British Pathe VoiceOver wallah. I'm not a girl and it caught me off guard - it never ceases to amaze me when I raid the BP archives for work the very casual sexism that permeates every single report in so way, shape or form.

They rose from the dead...

Having finally wrestled the Term That Would Not End to the ground with a manly grunt, I have returned to my hobby desk. Last night I sat in front of Lord of the Rings with She Who Must Be Obeyed and finished off the test batch of the Undead from Dwarf King's Hold.



I think the effect is quite striking when en-masse so I'll start on the rest of them this week.




Gaming wise there'll be no RPGs or board games until the other side of Christmas, but I am hopeful that I might get a game of X-Wing in.

Expect some more painting updates soon(ish).

PS - well done to everyone on the painting challenge. I am in awe of your productivity!