Warhammer: Vampire Counts Vampire and Skeleton Unit Complete

Hey Folks, 

Finally finished the first unit for my Vampire Counts

Figures are Mantic. I've gone with a classic Red and Black with Skull Motif to evoke that old school Undead feel. All the skulls are hand painted. 

Theme wise the Vampires are of the Von Carstien Bloodline (however the males have all suffered "accidents" or gone mad and devolved) so the rich dark red works. 

I have also attempted a verdigris wash for the armour, which dosnt show well but I'm happy with it :)

Speaking of Vampires, fresh from her resurrection after a nasty near staking by a Brettonian Lance! 

I love this model. It's full of intricate detail and it was very fun to paint. My iPhone wouldn't auto-macro close enough but the skin has a grey base with a slight flesh tone, suggesting she has just fed. 

Overall pretty happy and this is a third of the army done points wise. 

Cheers

Jason

Warhammer: Vampire Counts WIP and test Models

Hey Folks, 

I have been more productive than usual and now have 1200points built, based, primed and ready to paint. 

Crappy photo I know, and they are all primed grey, but this is;

39 Skeletons with Spears and full Command led by a Vampire

29 Ghouls led by a Strigoi Ghoul King (lord level vampire mincing machine) 

3 Varghiests

The Uber Varghulf

Painted up a selection of test models, all using a technique with a grey tone mix in each colour stage to get a faded undertone going on. They are also dipped at the post basecoat stage, and then highlighted up. 

Orange is the unifying colour but I'm not sure on it. Basing is GF9's wasteland set with Army Painter tufts. Didn't take too long so should be easy to smash out :)

Cheers

Jason

Bolt Action: 2nd IJA Jungle Fighter Squad

Hi Folks,

After an actual Family Holiday away with the Wife and Kids (something of a first for us as usually I have worked through Christmas) there was not a lot of time left for Hobby stuff.

I did however manage to get in a game of War of the Ring using Xelee's revised Noldor Elven army list which focuses on the forces of Rivendell.  I was facing the revised Men of Angmar which have also had teh revision hammer applied.  Overall the armies were quite balanced with some terrible luck on Jamie's part and some great luck on mine (go go pink dice :) ) resulting in a decisive win to the Elves. I was stoked as well as I also found 8 sweet High Elven Cohort Spearmen prior to the game I had forgotten I had, so now I have enough for four companies (32 models).

Today I finished the second squad for my Bolt Action Japanese army, for which the new PDF list is here: Bolt Action Japanese PDF

Now as BA is mostly same/ same the list has only a few variations, but one of them is that the Japanese can get bigger squads then most forces (7-15 men instead of 5-11)  which while cool means that my two small min sized squads dont work anymore as I lack the extra models for now...so I bumped this squad to 8 men as well.

2nd Squad Up.

These guys are really stealth...

Totally stealth Type 99 LMG Gunner

Two squads down, One BIG squad and supports to go.

I am also about to be reading this:

So will see how it is but looks interesting s far as its form the Japanese perspective.

Looking forward to trying out the BA: Japanese later on this week maybe.

Cheers
Jason

SAGA: LotR Elves of Rivendale

Hi Folks,

This my little project when I had some leave a couple of weeks ago.  We drove down to Invercargill, which was cold, grey and rainy so perfect painting weather!

This is a warband built using Jamie's excellent SAGA adapation and is 6 points in Saga terms.  This is made up of;

• Glorfindal - Lord of the West (Warlord)
• 2 Units of 6 Noldorian Heavy Infantry with Spears and Shields (Hearthgaurd)
• 1 Unit of 4 Noldorian Heavy Archers with Bows (Hearthgaurd)
• 2 Units of 8 visiting Sindarian Archers with Bows and Eleven Cloaks (Warriors)

Some of this was painted by Andy as I picked it up in a trade, so I just finished them off and touched them up and shaded them to match the Wood Elves which are all from scratch. 

High Elven Cohort - the Banner is Free Hand :)

Wood Elven Archers

Green Cohort with Banner

Glorfindal - this was painted by Andy and he did a great job.

The whole 6 point Warband

More Woodelves - led by the a captain who looks alot like the Prince of Mirkwood...

I even managed t get a game in vs Jamie's Urak Hai and assorted Orc and Man scum.  The game was a long drawn out slug fest were I tried to use my superior archery (which isnt at all superior in SAGA) to whittle his units down while he moved a massive flanking force into position.  Refusing to split my forces across a river and then some quick spoiling attacks managed to keep the horde at bay, but only at the cost of some precious elven lives. 

The Mighty  Uruk Hai Beserkers got in to a High Eleven Cohort right at the end game and managed to kill 5 of them while they all died in return but in the end it was still a bloody draw (Jamie did give it to me but it looked too close)

Overall I found that the potential of the Battleboard is great, as its based on the Jomsviking board with its Wrath Mechanic but as Jamie refused to give me ANY wrath (or Fea in this incarnation) untill the point where I couldnt use it I was quite hamstrung.  I also should have gone more combat focused and used my movement enhancing ability to hit an isolated portion of the Uruk Battleline instead of trying to shoot them...

Overall a heap of Fun though and it was good to paint som 28mm for a change, as well as actually complete something!

Cheers

Jason

6mm Modern's: Israeli Armoured Combat Group

Hey Folks,

Long time no post, and very little work on my Man Barbie's as well. Real Life can be a pain like that and I took a job that involved commuting to another city about 5 months ago, and have been busy ever since.

A few lads and I have been getting into 6mm Modern using lovely GHQ miniatures, which while not the cheapest have amazing detail at this scale.  We have based the rules on Games Workshops Epic:40k Armageddon rules with some tweaks and self made army lists and unit stats.  These are continually evolving btu we are up to version 2.8 of the lists and we cover pretty much every Gulf State from Israel to Iran and most of the Western powers too (and Soviet Russia!)

Pooch has been busy: http://warpooch.blogspot.co.nz/search/label/6mm%20Moderns

So has Adam: http://panzerfaustnostalgia.blogspot.co.nz/search/label/6mm

And John too: http://than-aleaiactaest.blogspot.co.nz/search/label/Epic%20Moderns

One of our mates Andy has some awesome Iraqi's, and some awesome terrain too but he isn't the blogger type :)

I originally started with Israelis, and based my force around composite Combat Group from an Armoured Battalion that has been rapidly assembled.  This mixes Regular Army units (initiative 1+) and Reserve Army units (initiative 2+) backed up by some serious IAF Air Support!

So far its at around 2000pts but I have more to add on the painting table. 

The Combat Group so far. Left to Right: Merkava IV Coy, Cobra Gunships, Mech Infantry Company in M113 Zeldas, Chapperal SAM's, M125 Mortars, F-16'sand a Magach (upgraded M60) Company 

Magach 6's and 7's: Upgraded and Up armoured M60A3's

F-16's in IAF colours on Ground Attack Missions

Mechanised Infantry in M113 Zeldas

Chapperal SAM's and M125 Mortar Carrierw

Cobras!  Super cool :)

Merkava IV Company.  These are Bad Ass so I mainly use them as Merkava III's which are a bit more tame, but look very similar.

Close up of Merkava IV

Close up of the Magach types.  Magach 6 is an M60 with ERA while the Mgach 7 has added laminate armour.  I ahev added some stowage and flags etc made out of tin foil. 

Next up I have more Infantry and Azcherzit ("Evil Bitch!) Heavy APC's as well as a few more tanks and some Recon to add to take me to 3000pts.

Played a few games so far, and on the whole they preform pretty well and are heaps of fun. 

Next up: Iranians :)

Cheers,

Jason

Flames of War 2012 Completion Challenge: Ze Germans

Hey Folks,

Pooch and I were discussing how much Flames of War models we have lying around, being all tardy and unpainted and the like.  So far he has been a machine and cracked through some Kiwi Armour of Mid and Late war as well as Early and Late war Germans.

I, truth be told have not done a whole lot, mainly focusing on Dystopian Wars as well as being diverted by SAGA.  Craig's Day of Days event has prompted me to paint up some Germans, and it was while searching through my collection I realised I had a ridiculous (though not as bad as some: I'm looking at you of the broken arm, you know who you are!) amount that needed to be built and painted...so the Challenge this year is to get this done;

 And note this doesn't include all my Transports that I need to strip/ assemble and paint.

 So for the Panzers this is;

• A full 14 Tank Tiger Kompanie (note 6 of the Forged in Battle Tigers are a mates that I will paint for him) Including two Tiger I (Porsche) that will do double duty in my 653. Schwerepanzerjager Kompanie
• Another Elefant (for 3 total) and a Jagdtiger for 653. Schwerepanzerjager
• 4 Brumbarr's, 3 Mobelwagons and 3 Hummels for the Panzer IV Panzer Kompanie (11 Panzer IV's painted so far)
• 5 StuG's to add to my 5 Painted StuG's to make a StuG Batterie
• 9 Panthers, 2 Jagdpanthers and a Bergepanther to make a Panther Kompanie
• 4 PaK 40 RSO's to go with a Speerverband

For the Infantry this is;

• 5 Grenadier Platoons, 3 with Light Mortars.  This combined with my one painted platoon will allow me to field a Grenadier Kompanie or Sperverband as well as have more than enough MG Teams to transition to a Panzergrenadier/ Aufklarungs Kompanie or Sturm Kompanie as well as Rifle Teams to field a Schirungs Kompanie
• 1 Pioneer Platoon with two goliaths. This combined with my painted Pioneer platoon, and pumped out by some Grenadiers will allow me to field a Panzerpioneer Kompanie or a foot Pioneer Kompanie
• 3 More Fallshcirmjager stands, allowing me to field two full strength squads in Fallschirmjager Kompanie
• 6 HMG Teams and 2 8cm  to add to my two painted Mortars and HMG's so I can field two full HMG platoons and a full Mortar platoon.
• A full PaK 40, Pak 36 (7.62cm)r, Pak 38 and Pak 36 Anti-Tank Gun platoons
• 3 NW42 Nebelwerfers
• Objectives

So this is an awful lot to paint, and I STILL want more (I would love a Czech and a Medium Panzerkompanie) but I really need to get all this done first...and then onto fixing/ painting replacements for my damaged Soviets and the start of some Kiwis!

So, better get cracking then!

Cheers

Jason

SAGA Norman Test Figure

Hey Folks,

Here is my first test figure for the SAGA Normans, a plastic converted Sergeant with Spear and Kite Shield.

I used a mica pen for the Cross, and its a bit too black around the edges, plus I might need to add a bit of weathering to the shield.

Otherwise I am pretty happy with this dude, and will work to crack out the remaining seven...but I really do need to get those Aufklarungs started!

Looking forward to seeing him smash some Viking scum tomorrow night. :)

Cheers
Jason

Thunder from Heaven: EotBS Air Support

Hey Folks,


Hope you all had a good Christmas!


Here is my work over the last few days.


I have always though that the Tiny Tokens cast on the resin bases looked pants, so resolved to "set my flyers free".  I also made flight stands out of clear acrylic, GW flight stems and blister pack plastic.  I also converted up tiny torpedo bombers...which was a bit fiddly. 


Finally I painted up the extra DFA-170 bomber and repainted my other two at the same time to match. 


Here is also my first "in character" post...:)

A sight to warm any Naval Captains heart: Ho-O Air Armada units pass overhead 

Kaigun Shosho (Rear Admiral) Hitorio Hanso stood at the rail of the weather bridge on his flagship, the Sokotsu Class Battleship Masaka, and pondered the uncouthness of the baku gai-jin Capitan Sheridan. At the State dinner after the treaty signing in Bangkok the pig had had the gall to describe the Divine Empress Shizuna as a "pretty slip of a girl!"

How dare he talk of our Divine Empress in such a low manner!. His attempt to teach the teach the cur a lesson ended without resolution, or satisfaction.  His Honour demanded that the lesson be delivered, and with suitable emphasis so that it was well learned.  

Shinobi agents within the FSA CINCPAC headquarters had sent work that the Americans planned to contravene the terms of the treaty by deploying Saratoga Class Fleet Carrier's into the Coral Sea to reinforce Sheridan's Battle Group.  This gave him a convenient political reason to exact revenge on the pig, and in doing so restore the Honour debt to its correct balance.  If the payment was in the keels of his enemies fleet, than so much the better. 

The Masaka was only escorted by a small naval detachment consisting of the cruisers of Ryu squadron Nagara, Yura, Natori and Shatori as well as the Ichi frigate squadron Hatsuune, Enoki, Hatsuzakura and Hinoki.

Appearances can be deceptive however...the drone of rotors grows to a thunderous roar as the squadrons of the Ho-O Air Armada arrive to support his punitive expedition.  A gleam enters Hitorio's eye as he watch's the finest precision engineered fighters and bombers in the world stream past followed by the more stately DFA-170 Bombers and the Inari Scout Gyro's.  While he has always preferred the sway and swell of the sea instead of the bucking turbulence of the sky, he truly appreciated the capabilities of the Air Armada's forces. He almost felt sorry for the Americans who will be on the end of the the Air Armada's rockets.

Tonight he shall have his honour debt fulfilled. 

No ship is safe from the wrath of our Torpedo Bombers

Swarms of Blazing Sun Fighters darken the sky.

DFA-170 Bombers are the scourge of enemy shipping, able to stand off and smash them apart with massed rocketry

The FSA will not know what hit them! 

We all live on the Yellow Japanese Boat Train, We all live...

Hey Folks,

As you can probably tell we have been getting in alot of Dystopian Wars games with  Pooch's KoB victorious in its last encounter against the Japanese Boat Trains and also Jamie's FSA paddle steamers giving the poor Japs a good kicking.

I feel that regardless of the shame of defeat, we have more style.  Go Yellow Fleet!

Yellow Fleet moving through a strait in the Coral Sea somewhere.  "Ichi" Frigate Squadron (Hatsuune, Enoki, Hatsuzakura and Hinoki) leads the way  followed by "Roku" Crusier Sqaudron (Nagara, Yura, Natori) and the mighty Sokotsu class Battleship Masaka.  Bring up the rear is the "Ni" Frigate Squadron (Kaede, Kaki, Kaba, Hagi) while two DFA-170 bombers of the Fleet Air Arm pass overhead.

The Masaka

The Yura

Frigates of "Ichi" Squadron

DFA-170 Bombers

The Core of the Fleet

The Natori showing the Kanji symbol for Yellow that is carried by all the vessels in the fleet.

So overall I am quite happy how they came out.  I think the masts and ensigns really help get across the fact they are ships, and not trains!.  Even if I did put most of the flags on upside down...

I have reinforcements inbound but I also picked up another starter box that gave me the BB as well as the extras to do a fourth cruiser for "Roku" Squadron, another 4 frigates to form "San" Squadron and and extra DFA-170 bomber so I can field a full squadron of those too :)

Next up, Prussians...

Cheers
Jason

Para Painting Challenge: Day 6 - Finished!

Hey Folks,

Done!

FJ ready to close Hells Highway...

Big FJ Platoon

HQ Teams

HMG's and Mortars

Now I wont be doing another one of these mad challenges in awhile I think, but I have painted more FOW infantry in these 6 days then I have in the last 6 months!

I also think I have finished first...as I got an email from Pooch saying his last unit was drying in the Hot Water cylinder...tardy Americans :P

Now to see if they can hold of the Guards Armour (or Rifles) of 30 Corps.

Cheers
Jason