Quick Post

Always fun to drive for 2 hours in a freak ice event when you have to deliver a proposal you have been working on for a week.

Had a great weekend. Dinner out Friday night with the family, a wrestling tournament saturday all day, watched football all night with the wife(awesome), and then wtached football and painted on sunday. a good day all around, topped off by my home made chicken and noodles.

anyway, got the unit of halberdiers completed as the armor wash was drying on the men at arms. I will follow up with pics, but I would like to strangle my bro-in-law for painting the lords heraldry the way he did.

See, I bought a unit of his painted Grail Knights. Older GW metals that he had painted just like the box. Beautiful. I am using those five knights as the lords for my individual retinues. So, there's a blue and red one, a red and black one, and of course the green and yellow one. I now have to match the heraldry of the green and yellow one for my retinue. Always nice to have a complicated shield design. Grrrr...

Its not that bad, but It would kill me on a big army. Looks good when done though.

Pics tomorrow. Hopefully, I will get the men at arms done tonight so I can work on Ponies the rest of the week and this weekend.

Medieval - Unit of Archers Complete

Well I finally got a couple of hours last night to paint, so I finished that first unit of archers for the green and gold retinue. I have a unit of Men at Arms to do (simple) and a unit of halberds (Lots of armor) so hopefully I'll be painting ponies this weekend.

Pic of the Medievals

Here's some WIPs pf the Bretonnians I mentioned from yesterday. Didn't get to the painting table last night, we were watching a movie as a family. But did get a chance to go through my bound copy of the 2nd Edition of Mutant Future from lulu. Awesome.

 So here's a really bad photo of the whole group on base and primered. All of the flesh and wash is done. Cav on the left infantry in front and on the right.

Metal bretonnian arcehrs. These will be blue and yellow(gold). Their mounted bowmen companions are behind them.

The ubiquitous Bretonnian arcehrs from the WHFB box set. The beginning of plastics in a modern sense for GW. I have a hundred or so of these guys. Can probably get more. They are nice and simple to paint.

 The mounted longbowmen, and behind them, the mounted knights from the WHFB box set. I have a ton of these guys too. these will be painted black and red. I will repaint the McDonalds standard bearer to be red and black.

Another unit of plastic knights. They will be green and yellow(gold).

And the rest of the infantry. a unit of men at arms (old foundry), and a halberdier unit on left (green and yellow(gold)), and a unit of halberds, spears and archers on the right (black and red).

Once done, I should have about 150 bretonnians painted, certainly enough for a nice scrum. Especially if you add a couple of wizards or druids and some Fey creatures as well. that reminds me, I need to get some beastmen.

It has passed..just barely

It always starts slowly, then builds to a fever pitch, and goes away only after 1000's of brush strokes and months of time. That's right, Nappy Fever!!!!

I am happy to announce that my recent bout with Nappy Fever has passed. Just barely. Jeesh. It was close, but the full distraction of the holidays tempered the fever quite a bit, so I was never really fully in its throes, although it felt like it for a couple of weeks.

And as the fever has passed, it still lurks out there ready to grasp my weakened constitution and wreak havoc with my system.

But in the mean time, MEDIEVALS!!!!!

As the fever passed, I got to put together some warbands for Song of Blades and Heroes. GW Bretonnnians to be exact. Mounted on 1" washers as all my warbands and skirmish units are.

So over the weekend, I built a bunch of small warbandy units from my Bretonnians, to add to what I already had done.

I have 6 units of 6 infantry (mixed spear, halberd, men at arms, archers) 2 units of 5 mtd knights, and 1 unit of mounted bows. Half will be painted in green and yellow livery, and the other in Red and Black. While the Mounted long bows will be blue and yellow, accompanied by a dozen foot bows.

Base painted the first green and yellow archer unit and they look just fine.

Hopefully will finish them and the Men at Arms (armored) tonight.

I would like to find a warband scale medieval ruleset that would accomodate about 30 figs a player, multiple player, about 5-10 figs per unit. But smaller skirmish scale of 1 to 1. Song of Blades can bog a little bit. I guess Pig Wars would work as would a modified GASLIGHT. Looking for something more though.

Step by Step - 28mm - Painting the Brits

Well I thought I would try a new feature on the blog. Step by Step. Its a step by step photolog of the stages I go through on painting a unit or building a terrain piece.

Since I'm starting on the Nappies again, I'll start there.

28mm British Napoleonics

I base all my figs on paint stirring sticks from Home Depot and Walmart. Free and plentiful. I run a bead of Tacky Glue down the middle and glue them on. Blue tac never really holds enough for me. I spray paint them flat black with cheap 99 cent paint from Dollar General and Walmart. Covers great, rarley clouds or gets grainy. Dries quick.

 First step is to paint the flesh. I paint all flesh first. I paint in the english 2 or 3 color layer system, and I paint the the items deepest on the fig first then work up. so details end up being last. I use almost exclusively Vallejo paints, and GW, Vallejo and P3 washes. I paint the flesh a base medium tone. I then wash liberally with Vallejo Flesh Wash (used to be GW flesh but its discontinued).

I then paint the initial layer over the flesh of the same base color as an initial highlight. It evens the wash and I can quit here if I want to on large arnies. I then base paint the pants. 2 layers. Medium and light grey. Leave the black as the third shadow color. Finish pants, base -paint the red jackets with deep red - Vallejo Hull Red. Best red I have found for a base color.

 Blow up. - No eyes painted yet, no highlights on flesh. Pants done, base color for coats.

 Now the Jackets are higlihgted.

 Close Up. As I have painted a bunch of Red Coats, its always striking how little red actually get painted. With the proliferation of belts and straps and packs and lace, theres's really only the shoulders and the sleeves.

 Close up of the command group. that's all for this unit so far. More as I progress. (Hopefully tonight)

Here's a closeup of a painted unit. (Not the one above.)

Final details include the addition of a flag, plus painting and flocking the base.

I usually paint about 6 units at a time when painting like this. Its easy to get into a groove and before you know it, you've got 6 units done. I'm currently doing 2 units. Then I will finish the other 4 I started then the Hussar unit. More pics as I progress.

British Nappies - What is done?

I took some pics of what I had done for 28mm Bits. They are not based yet, but I like to do them all at the same. So I will base when I'm done with Phase II.

Here they are:

 6 infantry units. 3 Line, 2 light, 1 Rifle

 Close up - Line in back, Light and Rifle up front

 Close up - Lights in front, Line in back

 Close Up - Lights in front, Line in back

 Corp Commander

Heavy Dragoons in front, Rifles in front

 Hvy Dragoons

Close Up - Hvy Dragoon Command 

 Horse Artillery

 Royal Foot Artillery

 Division Commanders

 Close Up - Division Commanders

Close Up - Division Commanders

Next, I'm gonna show you the staged progress on my new infantry.

And the long slide down that slippery slippery slope starts....

Napoleonics, Nappies, call it what you will, men dressed in suits, lace, boots, and tall hats, shooting slow moving big balls of hot lead at each other across an idylic valley in europe. Im in! And by in I mean ALL IN!

Its as addictive as anything I know. And at times, I avoid it like the plague. It can be an all consuming force as a wargammer. And I was stricken by it 15 years ago. Thanks Al. I have:

6mm French - I bought these from Bacchus so I could model, in full ground scale, a French Infantry Battalion 1:1. And why not add enough cav for 1:1 regiments of cav.

15mm Everybody - My entry in to the whole mess. I now have full 15mm Armies, based for Age of Eagle/Napoleon's Battlles, for all major countries involved in the conflict. I don't have all of the Confederation or small Allies, but I can do almost any battle I want. French, British, Russian, Prussian, Austrian, Spanish.

28mm British, French, Spanish - And the current obsession, Penninsula, 28mm Foundry, mounted on rectangular bases, 4 figs. Phase I of the Brits are done, Working on Phase II now.

And so it starts. I know that if I start it ususally means at least a month or two working on them. I started on them this weekend. 2 units of Infantry, 1 British Guard Unit, 1 British Light Infantry. I have 4 more Line units ready to go, a unit of Hussars, and a couple of command.

As I read through the rules for Commnads and Colors: Napoleonics, I will be filling in painted units to match the units in the rules.