16 out of 24…

o/

That's all I was able to assemble/salvage out of my Panzerfauste Gnomes. Having sustained a 33% casualty rate during just the assembly process (due to irreparable air bubbles and mis-molds) is thoroughly disheartening. Yes they are cool minis, and yes the company itself has first rate customer service! However…

Following this experience I find myself loathe to purchase anything more out of their Gnome miniature line not that anything other than what I already have is available aside from terrain (that said, their Orc Matilda is very tempting for 40k...). Their other miniature races/lines for Panzerfauste would probably be a safer bet to purchase as they're larger and presumably, better cast-especially the arms and weapons.

Indeed the only reason I'm not nerd-raging now is I'm only in for the cost of the replacement pewter arms, which came to roughly $10 (previously Hysterical games had refunded the cost of the resin bodies). I've spent more than three times that amount on Vallejo paints for these guys!

As for my little force, below is what I was able to muster. I initially had intended to use as these as the beginnings of a French army for Bolt Action, but instead they barely amount to a platoon now.

First up:  My Lt. who's armed with a SMG. I had a 2nd SMG gunner who went together fairly well, but on later inspection the gun was seriously fucked up and I tossed him into the discard pile as well. He'll at least serve as a test mini for painting.

Its hard to get a good photo of these little fuckers in their current state. Using the blue backdrop oddly washed them out even more. Hopefully some paint will alleviate the problem.

Second, a medic. This poor bastard looks like he's running for his life! Ducking behind a chunk of wall, this mini's pose is terribly stooped over and this was the best I could manage to make him look better, at the expense of being more difficult to paint.

Such a ridiculous forward lean/pose. Several minis seem to have this issue, and
bending their legs to adjust would if anything make em look worse I think. The 2nd mini I have in this pose came out a little better at least...

Next up, my Forward Artillery Officer and his runner. I say runner as these two lack a radio. That poor bastard's gonna die tired...

The Gnome who's pointing will serve as the FO.

The 'bulk' of my platoon (if I could really call them such a thing) is made up of the remaining 12 minis. Those being two regular quality, 6-strong infantry squads. Each has an LMG team. The LMG is probably better suited as a BAR, but I'd have to run them as Belgians to get access to those. Table-top-wise, I guess it would make little difference I suppose.

Each LMG loader can be picked out of the crowd by the extra clip they are holding.

The Squad sergeants are the one's pointing at...something.

Rounding 'em out to the 500 point mark is my old Quar tank which stands in as an H39. Next to these little guys its liable to look huge as well! Personally I'd rather have some more historically accurate vehicles (a laughable notion considering the infantry!), but for now it'll have to do. A pair of FT-17s 'upgraded' (hilarity ensues) with low-velocity light anti-tank guns would equal the H39's point cost. However whilst I'm fond of the Trenchworx model, that would cost approximately $66.00. And...well, to be honest, at this point I'm not sure that the expenditure would even be worth it. 

Given my already general malaise in regards to Bolt Action, its sudden death locally (partially due to Screech's army committing mass suicide), and my aforementioned apprehension towards purchasing more Gnome Infantry to expand the force (no free point-costed AT gun team for these guys I guess...). Instead I may just paint these up and then put em up for auction, washing my hands of Bolt Action entirely.

Dunno to be honest, will have to see…

Arming the troops, TAKE: 2

o/

Notta lot of hobby time available this week given that its almost Christmas. However the metal replacement arms for my Hysterical Games Gnomes that I had hoped to use for Bolt Action arrived this week, and I scraped up a bit of time to see how they'll work out.

So far: its kindova wash.

The few resin arms that I managed to attach the last go round popped off easily, and I set about replacing them. The BAR gunner's arm seemed to fit well enough, but in hindsight I didn't get it properly positioned leaving a gap. But that's my fault not the mini's. Its Gorilla glued on meaning I'll likely break it if I try to fix it, so it'll stay as is. Next up I still couldn't get the infernal VB launcher and attached arms to fit to either mini and just put those two aside before I started nerd-raging again!

However after switching to the riflemen, I gave a few of those a try and they went together nice and smoothly! The SMG gunner was a bit fiddly, as the inserts into the arms are misshapen due the sprue gates (they all suffer from this actually). The SMG's gun barrel is still super tiny and bends at the slightest touch, but...unlike it's previously resin counterpart, it ought to survive use at least.

Yes, I know its a pretty crappy pic, but it'll have to do...

I'm hoping to get at least 20 functional models out of the original 24. Expecting 'em all to work out eventually seems a bit over-optimistic at this point, but I suppose it is a possibility...

Also I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Blessed Yule! Happy Hanukkah! Or whatever else there is that I missed but will also be celebrated this coming weekend.

Panzerfauste: My first battle

SPOILER ALERT: Gnomes: 1, Da Masta Cheef: 0

This originally was going to be a nerd rage fueled, vitriolic rant post! However the fine folks at Hysterical Games, and co-owner (I think) Rob specifically, corrected that notion before I even had the chance to type up that kindova post. 

Good print quality!

As everyone knows, I prefer Weird War II rather than purely historical minis for Bolt Action (but not Konflict '47 because its full of stupid zombies). My intent was to give BA's 2nd ed. a try in hopes that I'll like it a bit more, and to get things going with a new army, using the Gnomes from Panzerfauste. Thus I bought a starter set, with the minis swapped out to be all gnomes. It also came with some dice and a Quick-Start rulebook.  

The artwork is reminiscent of GW's old B&W art, albeit with a WWII flare! 

Not sure how these will roll without divots on the one side...

Being roughly the same height as the now out-of-production Kindred minis produced by Hasselfree Miniatures, my aim was more or less to have the Eleventy-First 'hop the channel' and fight in France (or Belgium, as they're equipped more or less identically). Waiting with eager anticipation for the slow sail across the pond from the UK to Tennessee, I was pleased to find a box on my front porch this past Monday. 

The Gnome CAD renders from their website.

Actually, I was kinda horrified, as the box looked as though it had had the living shit kicked out of it! Knowing it was filled with little resin minis, gave me an immediately bleak outlook on the contents. Luckily the minis were swaddled in what seems like half a roll of bubble wrap, and they arrived with only 3 breakages. One of which was due probably more to an air bubble which would have doomed it anyways, a 2nd was of the exact same mini (I ordered 2 identical squads as the Gnome options are quite limited currently), in the same spot but was a clean break, so it ought not be any trouble to glue back together. The last was a VB launcher snapped from a rifle end. 

The air bubble victim has already been 'bagged and tagged'.

Note, these are laying on a 1 inch grid and yeah, those teeny tiny weapons and arms!

Casts of the bodies look pretty clean, with only one showing a noticeable mold line, though given the small stature, it'll probably be lost when painted. However the weapons…seriously, WTF?!?!

I've heard many a complaint form Neverness, Kushial and Screech about the tiny, fiddly guns and bits for their bolt action kits. However by comparison to these, those BA rifles are like space marine bolters in terms of thickness! Yes, seriously! The SMG barrel is probably a millimeter at most? I have no idea how they survived shipment. Likewise I have no idea how you'd be expected to straighten it out without breaking it, or how they would expect it to survive normal use and storage. In fact ALL of the weapons fall into this same category, the the SMG is the most egregious example!

My first attempt at assembling a mini met with disaster, as an air bubble in the minuscule rifle caused it to snap in half at the slightest touch, and there was no fixing it! Zap-a-gap was proving futile (odd, as that's what Hysterical Games uses), and after about 30 minutes I was in a state of nerd-raging fury!

Kind of an ugly mold line, but when viewed at 'actual size' its hardly noticable.

Like any irrationally minded gamer, I blasted out a rage-filled 'WTF?' IM to Hysterical Games via Facebook. Of course they're 5 hours ahead of us, so no immediate reply was expected. Forcing myself to calm down, I put the broken mini aside and over the next hour or so, managed to assemble the 2 VB troopers (minus both of their VBS), and a single BAR trooper. 

VBs broke or mis-molded and removed. Their Bolt Action stats suck anyways. 

They're nice sculpts but seriously, I don't expect their weapons to last at all! Possibly not even the painting process which is anything but violent. The next day I got an apology for my disappointment in the minis from Rob @ Hysterical games, and in our working it out back-and-forth, he offered a full refund along with telling me to keep what I have! Wow, was figuring on shipping em back!

The thin weapon issue doesn't apparently affect their Orc Minis, and only a very few of their Dwarves. However they just recently decided to redo all of the gnome arms and weapons in metal to hopefully alleviate the fragility problem. Indeed Rob told me to give them a shout (seems they already know me well…) in a few weeks and for a 'token fee' they'll ship me some new metal arms and guns for my 2 dozen Gnomes, huzzah!

A good size comparison.
'Surrender you scrawny little Mon'keigh!'

Not quite, but it'll probably feel like it!

Content with that idea, in the cabinet they wait. Not much of a concern as my beloved Wolfy will be getting her 2nd bionic upgrade this coming Monday, and as such we won't be out and about (well, not to the FLGS for game night anyways), for at least a month or so whilst she recovers. So in the interim, its back to working on the Alpha Legion I suppose.