Trench Crusade

 o/

I put the playtest rules on a flashdrive and took it to my local UPS store and had a book made. Not having a tablet, it is much easier to use than being just one more thing to read online. 

So this is building up considerable steam here locally. When I first heard of the game in Tennessee, I read some of the fluff, the grimmer & darker than 40K hype, then read that the Black Grail is essentially Nurgle and was like WTF? With no future in it  for the foreseeable future up there that I could see, I just ignored it. 

My test paint job for a Yeoman with semi-automatic rifle. Grimmer & darker than my painted Iggy PHIGs. 

Heraldic lion emblem on the shoulder pauldron & the 'CI' (Christian Infantry) badge on the pack, c/o the DKK decal sheet of all things. 

That cross barely fit so will have to find something else. The 19th decal probably denotes a squad or platoon designation. After 300+ years or trench warfare against literal Hell, I doubt there is a 19th anything left above that unit level that can claim the number 19. 

The FLGS has the STLs and is selling minis. I like the New Antioch faction but will likely only need to buy some of the Mechanized Heavy Infantry models (which look awesome). As you have already guessed for the bulk of my warband, I've been siphoning off models from my currently unused and largely unpainted PHIGs army. 

Weapon & equipment swap with an old (and now discarded) Warzone/Prodos miniature that had been knocking around in my minis cases for years. 

With the ornate trench shield and rare SMG, I am thinking that this guy will be my Lieutenant.

Indeed, those models are being marketed on Etsy more for Trench Crusade than they are for 40k now. I took a painted PHIG model to the FLGS to compare its size to an official STL printed mini, and was told by several folks that they would be just fine with me using my PHIGs. I have some 40k bits coming of imperial agent hand axes, truncheons and a few DKK shovels to add for close combat weapons. 

Yeomen with grenade launcher & shotgun. 

Is this the Ardennes? Or the Low Country?

 o/

Well, like everywhere else in the American Southeast, we got a snow yesterday! From what I've been told, it has been 7 years since the last time it has snowed in Charleston. While the city itself is all but shut down, I work remotely and thus it was just another Wednesday. 

Still looks like paradise, just a cold one.

Nonetheless, I joined all of the other local geeks in taking pics of their toys out in the snow because why not? I mean, its not like I've never done the same in Tennessee right? So here ya go:

Patrolling the mulch bed next to my house. 

Followed by a sweep and clear of the neighbor's frigid flower beds.

There were some tight spots so had to call in the troops.

BAR gunner in the brush!

Even with the brown coats they blend decently. 

Looks like we're in the clear boys, that's a Victory for Uncle Sam!

Grim Harvest

 o/ 

Wow!

While playing Battletech at the FLGS there other day, there was another game in progress that I could not  resist taking pics of. One of the guys there is a 'professional pirate' he even has business cards!

 Seriously, he travels up and down the eastern seaboard visiting historic sites, museums and schools giving talks on the life of a pirate in full costume. He told us that he will even appear in a forthcoming episode of Expedition Unknown later this spring on the Discovery channel!

Adam Marrow, the game's creator himself. Note, all of the unit cards, instruction booklets, were full color and high quality prints. 

Anyway, Adam is developing his own miniature game called Grim Harvest and the game these photos came from was 'playtest #22'. All of the minis & terrain were 3D printed at the FLGS, and painted in the 'past month or two' (seriously, wtf?). Jake (who co-owns the FLGS) said their first playtest game about a month ago used boxes and a 'janky looking house print' for terrain. In that short span of time  Adam's creation has progressed to this! 

Jake at the shop said (quote) I can't believe I printed that, it certainly didn't look like that when he  picked it up from me!

The game itself is a fantasy, cooperative survival game of some sort. I don't know anything beyond that other than to say that visually it looks amazing!!!

No Ewoks, I checked.

I thought the castle was from Tabletop World, but it was also 3D printed.

Mordheim anyone?

I really wanted to take this home, not that I have a place for it.

No idea who was NPC and who was a player character (if any).

Another badass looking mini.

 I believe he is aiming for Kickstarter, so I will be sure to post about it when it goes live. May try to get in a playtest game or two as well!

Flower Pot-Bot

 o/

My niece Erin turns 7 today and this is what I sent her as a gift.  

Iden Versio & Imperial Comms Officer

 o/

Happy New Year folks! 

Damned near solid black minis photograph so well...

To kick things off for 2025, I have a few minis that were painted during the tail end of 2024. First up, Iden Versio of Inferno squad and her...uh...miniature Imperial Probe Droid? I'm not familiar with her backstory to be honest, but she's a decent Imperial command model from what I can gather.

Seriously, these were some of the quickest & easiest minis to paint.

I was tempted to have her without a helmet (which would then decorate some Rebel's base), but as you can see I opted to go with the TIE fighter pilot bobblehead look. The addition of Iden will now give my Empire forces a complete hand of command cards without having to have Din Djarin side with the Empire (because we all know he is a good guy). 

The front of his helm doubles as a cheese grater. 

I may need to go back and add a few lights to that comms-pack. 

I also picked up the Imperial Comms officer in an eBay lot of Legion dice & movement/measurement tools. He is painted similar to my Mud Troopers, though clearly he has not been out wallowing in the mud quite as much as they have. 

The token group photo. 

Looking forward to New Years going out with a...bazooka?

 o/

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas holiday (or at least those of you who celebrate it). We don't get Frankie back from his Dad until Saturday which is when we will be celebrating our Christmas. As such, yesterday and the day before were just odd, mid week days off for me. Nevertheless, I am sure that Neverness, as well as all of the other US Postal, Amazon, FEDEX, UPS & retail workers are thrilled to know that the hell of the holiday season has largely subsided for another year and will substantially be winding down in the next week or so.   

All that's left at this point is New Year's Eve which for us means that after drinking a bottle of my wife's favorite Veuve Clicquot champagne we'll be making 12:30-1am-ish, breakfast sandwiches while we're heavily buzzed. Frankie has never experienced this before so that ought to be a hoot. 

Finally! That Bazooka team that you came here looking for...

On the gaming front...

Originally, I would have already played a game of Bolt Action 3.0 by this point, but scheduling conflicts, and then the holidays, has meant that my first game of 3.0 won't happen till sometime in January. My opponent's army is fully painted, whereas mine will be only at least a third painted. But it is (slowly) getting there...

That's it, we're outta here!

2024 has been a roller coaster for us but we're hoping for a better 2025. Hopefully it will be for all of you as well!

My first batch of Dark Eagle Space Marines

 o/

They're already almost halfway as far as the Black Dragons made it.

As mentioned in my last post, I have a new space marine army that I am working on. Well, new isn't entirely correct, none of these models are new, just their color scheme is. The Dark Eagles are a canon chapter about which very little is known, see?

A lieutenant, the must have for every new army!

After watching Secret Level, I am sure everyone will be naming their Lieutenants Titus. This guy however shall remain nameless for the time being.

Another 5th company army? Soon it will be revealed as to why I went this route again. 

Left to my own devices, with little to no precedent to follow, I've gone for a dark (appropriate given their name), gritty, battle worn appearance. I tried some painted on battle damage which is a bit of an experiment for me. I'm liking it so far. Olive drab painted marines have a reputation for being sneaky marines, especially if they are of Raven Guard heritage.

This guy's base is covered in dead vegetation...or is it?

I wanted to buck that trend however, so instead these marines are cleansing the Deathworld of Prism, which is even more colorful than Sesame Street! Indeed, their armor is just as out of place on these bases as most any other Chapter's would be. Likewise I wanted a fair bit of shiny gold ornamentation on the Lt., as you can see above. I like the golden faceplate in particular, I may do that on the Sternguard. 

Hellblasters, the backbone of my marine armies. The glowy green plasma coils don't stand out quite as much as they did on my Smurfs. Of course these guys aren't pushing their weapons into the cautionary color range either...

Again, I think the scraped and scarred tactical markings add a bit of realism. 

As I did on my Smurfs previously (who are only about a dozen models shy of being fully painted), I've opted to do my batch painting with a smattering of marines from different units. As opposed to five of the same type at once. It mixes things up a little, and keeps from have one painted squad to stand out amongst the primed and/or bare plastic hordes. 

This week (or two's) batch o' marines. The Intercessor in the first pic was done previously.