A thank you.

Just the briefest of posts to publicly thank 'Wargames Soldiers & Strategy' for their generosity as earlier this week* the doormat of 'Awdry Towers' was graced with issue 84, the first of my twelve month subscription.  

This wonderful prize was as a result of being runner up in 'Choice of the Challenge' in the 'VI Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge' and I really am thrilled to be, once again, on the the company's mailing list.  I thoroughly enjoy this publication as it has a wonderful balance of articles, reviews and tutorials without, seemingly, being swamped with advertisements.    

A huge thank you to all that voted for my work and once again thank you, 'Wargames Soldiers & Strategy'.

*It might have been last week, busy at work so losing track a little! 

"Usuthu! Usuthu!"

Regular readers of this most humble weblogs may recall that as part of the ‘VI Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge’, I foolishly threw down a gauntlet to Martin Cooke, of ‘28mm Heroes’ fame to paint as many Zulus as possible over the winter months.  I detailed the preparation in an earlier post, 'Cetshwayo Challenge’, along with the first of my brave warriors, but sadly I just couldn’t catch Martin.  

Thanks to the very charitable handicap system we had employed I managed to make it interesting, but ultimately I fell short by five miniatures.  Martin has now received his painted Induna and I have gone away and licked my virtual wounds, but the project didn’t end there.  

Having based the miniatures individually* I needed to paint up some movement trays for ease in getting them around the battlefield.  With another quality product from ‘Warbases’ in hand, I set to work with my trusty Dremel and just smoothed the leading edge of each tray to make it appear less like a step.  The application of some Vallejo Red Oxide texture paste and a couple of stone and the effect was complete.

*Mostly due to not having a clue as to what rules I am going to use with them.

 Having painted the movement trays to match the miniatures, I am now in a position to show off the fruits of my labours.  I had hoped to add some battlefield clutter to the bases and had identified all manner of extras including shields, assegai even a discarded British infantryman’s helmet, but when it came to applying them, there just wasn’t as much space as I had thought so I will need to rethink that idea for another time.

 So although a runner up on this occasion just being part of the 'Cetshwayo Challenge’ gave me the much needed impetus to complete the original box of thirty two miniatures painted to represent the Indluyengwe (Leopard’s Den) Regiment that fought at Rorke’s Drift.**  So once again, thank you to Martin for being such a good sport throughout the challenge and hearty congratulations on being such a well deserved winner.

** Black shields and a white spot in the lower half.

What a Lovely Day!

Another post left over from the ‘VI Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge’, this time part of my entry to the ‘Gambler/Risk-Taker’ bonus round that saw me start to formulate a somewhat convoluted plan in order to use the splendid 'Westfalia Miniatures' Wasteland Survivors that I had backed as a Kickstarter. In essence this was going to be an homage to the Road Warrior himself, after all surely he could be regarded as a Gambler or Risk-Taker?

Just as I was about to hit the nitrous oxide button on the idea, I realised that I didn’t actually have a ‘not Max’ miniature and not wanting to see the idea go to waste, I did want any self respecting hobbyist would do in this situation and ordered more miniatures! Having just seen the latest instalment, Fury Road, I plumped for 'Hasslefree Miniatures' Oscar and Foxtrot.  As usual they were exquisitely sculpted miniatures, but I am afraid that I rather bottled the Foxtrot miniature, I just couldn’t face pinning the hand holding the rifle to the slender wrist and instead ordered up another variant, this time from 'Crooked Dice Game Design Studio' – what a lovely day!

My choice of Imperator Furiosa decided, it was just the small matter of painting her and this is where the delay in presenting this post has originated.  Furiosa sports a buzz cut with her forehead often smeared with axle grease perhaps as an indication of her rank of Imperator.  In essence this was all fairly easy to achieve as I just left the top of her head black, but then I went and messed about with the eyes!  Having photographed the miniatures for the challenge, I was never truly happy with the result and took the opportunity of tinkering with her a little before posting here.*

*The original version can be seen in the group shot at the bottom.

As for Mad Max Rockatansky, I simply drew inspiration from the film an opted for a series of dusty browns, blacks and greens to represent the battered and broken Road Warrior.  The detailing on this particular 'Hasslefree' sculpt is just amazing and I kept discovering elements that I had't originally noticed.  Kev White has also sculpted several options with regards to weapons and accessories, but the huge monkey wrench was just too hard to resist.  Finally then a group shot of my Post-Apocalyptic survivors, a painful reminder that I have yet to touch my 'Across the Dead Earth' miniatures and rules and have also gone and backed the recent 'This is Not a Test' hardback rules from 'Worlds End Publishing'- there simply ins't enough time! 

Salute 2016

So having safely returned from the show and stashed the swag, whilst the 'Saintly Mrs. Awdry' was out*, it is time to reflect on the biggest independent one-day wargaming show in the country.** Salute 2016 was very nearly a non event for me this year.  I was scheduled to have some rather expensive, not to mention traumatic, dental work done yesterday and this coupled with the travel disruption that was widely broadcast rather took the appeal out of the day.  That said, other than feeling a bit bruised and battered the Dentist wasn't as bad as I had feared and a revised treatment plan that left me with considerably more pocket money at my disposal than I had planned.  Still not convinced that I was up to battling with rail replacement buses and with my wingman, the Provost Marshal otherwise disposed, I decided to sleep on it and see how I felt in the morning.

*That was quite a result! 

**Their words not mine, Salute guide 2016

Now I want to game the Vietnam War!

A new day brought with it a renewed determination and having hastily gathered up camera and swag bag we decided to give it a go.  As it happens the travel wasn't as bad as I had feared and with a combination of a little forward planning and the absence of the London Marathon competitors all heading in the same direction to register, I found myself at the venue just before eleven o'clock.  Shunning the idea of a restorative coffee I joined the tail end of the queue that was just filing into the venue, with the marshals collapsing the queuing system around us - perfect timing, I thought.

Frostgrave at its best - lots of LEDs this year too.

So there I was, party bag in hand and suddenly aware that I hadn't a clue what I had come for, but this didn't seem to matter as a broad grin swept across my face.  I popped across to see Michael 'Dalauppror' and their wonderful Battle at Foteviken 1134 game, which was a delight to see as I had been watching the progress on it over several blogs.  Just as I walked away, I realised that I had't taken any photographs and really needed to have a better plan!

Battle of Agincourt

With no real shopping list to speak of, I was happy just to pootle from table to stand depending on what caught my eye.  Whilst seemingly a less stressful approach to the day it does prove an expensive one as I found myself looking at all manner of wonderful shiny things.  Rather than be lured in by recognised brands I was interested in the smaller stands and let's be honest they were easier to get to, not besieged by a throng of day-sack wielding consumers with a veritable blood lust to get to their 'precious' goal. 

My favourite game on the day- The siege of Brostol

There were a couple of 'must haves' that included a box of the new Perry Miniatures plastic North West Frontier/Sudan British Infantry, although I couldn't, with my output, justify the three boxes required to claim the metal Ensign, and I picked up Colonel Snook's new book having had the man scribble in the front of it.  I know I missed a huge amount and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's photographs in due course, but I did enjoy chatting to a few more of the traders including the chaps over at 'Battle Systems' who were able to show me samples of the Urban Apocalypse range that I had backed as a Kickstarter.  

I also had a lovely chat with a gentlemen manning the 'Eureka' participation game using a skirmish ruleset called 'Tribal', which might be worth investigating a little more.  On the subject of participation games, was it my imagination, but were there more smaller games backed by miniature companies than Club games?  There were some of the usual stunning set ups and I think this is another reason for me to keep going back to Salute, just to see what an actual proper wargame looks like, although once again, I have not done them justice as taking photographs soon gave way to purchasing goodies!

The highlight for me, and indeed perhaps the reason for me changing my mind and attending this year, was the the now legendary Bloggers meet up at one o'clock.  It is always good to put a face to the avatar and this year I managed a couple of new ones, Roger and Jez it was lovely to meet you both.  That said, I don't do this part of the day justice as my crippling shyness saw me hiding at one end of the meet, but I am getting a little braver every year.  

Tribal - Honour is everything!

I decided to leave shortly after the meet up as I was in danger of spending a lot of money that I didn't need to on the likes of '4Ground's' new Gothic City range.  So another year gone and as I started the journey home, tired but ultimately glad that I had made the effort, I felt that there were still enough positives in the day that would see coming back time and again - I had better start saving now!   

The Swag.

Thank you Tamsin, for the photograph.

Paint Table Saturday#127

It has been a while since I have posted anything for 'Paint Table Saturday', so as the Easter holiday comes to an end it felt like a good time just to have a look around and see what's what and lo and behold - there was very little!  I understand that this is a shared phenomena amongst those fool hardy souls that took part in the  'VI Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge’, a sort of down time to reflect on the winter months' progress.  My first instinct, as the Challenge ended, was to clear up the painting area and put everything away, but having been gifted a couple of weeks holiday it seemed wrong to leave it gathering dust for too long.

Post Challenge tidy!

Whilst completely unstructured it has been a rather joyous fortnight, hobby wise.  I have tinkered with a few bits and pieces that did't get finished before the deadline and painted up a couple of miniatures as forfeits for my side duels, one of which has already safely reached its intended target, which you can read about here.  There has been a spot of rebasing and some preparation work done on miniatures that I hope will appear later in the year.  

Current state of affairs

Perhaps more importantly, I have managed to catch up with friends, old and new to have a day's gaming Zombicide, Black Plague hosted by the always welcoming 'Dark Templar'.  A couple of chance comments got me thinking about my own gaming interests and as a result I sat down to play through the opening encounter of 'Witchfinder General', if I can decipher my notes I'll try and post a Battle Report in due course.  

In other news, I have noticed that the Pageview counter has quietly sailed past 700,000, which in itself is quite staggering especially given the inane drivel that seems to spout forth from these pages.  That said I can't thank those who stop by, especially those that leave comments, enough - your continued support is most definitely appreciated.  Finally then, don't forget to visit the rest of the Paint Table Saturday community here.

Deep Sea Divers

Just a quick post challenge post as I have realised that I hadn't logged an additional two deep sea divers on the tally counter. Two have already made an appearance on this most humble of web logs as part of my entry to the Nautical bonus round of the 'VI Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge’ - Unleash the Clocktopus!

These then complete the pack of 'Wargames Foundry' Deep Sea Divers (VC021) and really were a joy to paint.  I had hoped to use the pair as part of a much larger entry, but sadly I ran out of time.  The chap with the pipe and sporting a rather splendid beard was originally intended to be turning a flywheel that serves those submerged with the requisite amount of oxygen to sustain them.  My plan was to have him peering over the rail of the boat and some suspicious bubbles, but maybe another day.

28mm Shipwreck in a bottle.

Once again I have rather succumbed to the wares of those talented chaps over at 'Mysterious Minis'; the purveyors of the perplexing and enigmatic have done it again and released another 'must have' hard plastic kit. 

Sculpted by the mischievous Ffwl Ebrill, this set really is a delight to behold with the box containing all you need to recreate a devastating catastrophe at sea.  Perhaps more interesting, and certainly a departure for me, was the option to use the kit to reproduce the lost art of placing a ship in the bottle - albeit it in tiny bits!  

The clear instructions guide even the most novice of modellers through the careful application of plasticine to create the destructive waves, umask the complexities of whipping the end of the bottle closed and even show you how to send a distress signal using morse code.  It really is a wonderful kit and I am delighted to share it with you on this the first day of April!