Monthly Goal Update

Greetings, Ladies and Gents...

Felt like I ought to update my progress for the month. So first, the stuff that is being painted:

• 40x 15mm Zulus [Stone Mountain]: Mailed to painter. I realized I want the troops, but I don't want to paint them. New painter this time; I'll review the work when I receive the minis.
• 20x 15mm Luftschiffetruppen [Old Glory]: 80% done. Touchup, basing, and clear coat.
• 10x 25mm Feral Martians [RAFM]: 40% done.
• Aeronef Papal Fleet [Brigade Models]: Total of six ships. About 60% done. I made some alterations to the fleet paint scheme that need to be redone on several ships.

Regarding new purchases, I have been a busy boy, on TMP, eBay and company websites. Also, I have discovered the joy of Bartertown (http://www.bartertown.com), and that has been time consuming. The 'take' so far:

• GW Mordian Lascannon and crew. No gunshield. Repaint and fit with 19th C. field gun wheels.
• Parroom Station Clockwork Soldier (NIB). New 'recruit' for Maton.
• Armorcast Gothic Laboratory Power Generator. Power for the Lascannon.
• 20x Copplestone Castings German Colonial Marines. Destined to be Luftschiffetruppen.
• Wyrd Miniatures's Malifaux Brass Arachnid. Nice and big, suitably menacing for Dr. Maton.
• 16x 25mm Japanese cavalry (Russo-Japanese), painted
• 17x 25mm Japanese infantry (Russo-Japanese), painted
• 2x 25mm Japanese artillery, w/ 4 crew (RJW), painted
• GW WFB Lizardmen Stegadon (5 ed.) - only $10! Gex in the howdah... a fearsome weapon on Venus!

And there are still some things I am trying to find at a reasonable price or trade.

• 3x GW Imperial Guard Praetorians with lasguns. Most poses would be okay.
• 1x GW Imperial Guard Praetorian Sergeant, with the powersword.
• 2x GW Imperial Guard Praetorian missile loaders
• GW Imperial Guard Praetorian heavy weapons (especially heavy bolter and autocannon)
• Wargames Foundry Victorian Special "Dr. Jekyll". I will probably order today from Foundry, but at $10.50 for one figure, it hurts!
• A boat to convert to a Martian 'kite'
• And more... always more... *sigh*

So... plenty to keep me busy for the next nine or ten years, at any rate...

2009 Pledge Wrapup

So, as far as the Pledge goes... I blew it.

I was doing really well at first. Then I got hit with a serious double whammy: Historicon and peewee football.

Bought a lot of stuff at Historicon. A lot.

My youngest son (Dane) started his second season of peewee football a few days after we got back from Historicon. Practice three days a week and games on Saturday. Add in church obligations on Wednesday and Sunday, and... no time spent painting, essentially. The football lasted until December 5 - the Superbowl (we won!).

So, should I take the Pledge again this year? I don't think so. Two years in a row I have failed it. This year, I think monthly goals may be better. And so, the monthly goals for the first month of 2010:

• Finish the aeronef fleet for the Papal States
• Paint ten 25mm feral Martians (RAFM High Martians)
• Paint forty 15mm Zulus
• Finish twenty 15mm German Luftschiffetruppen

I think I can get those done, and maybe more. I hope to have some help on the Zulus from a friend.

Wish me luck!

End of Month Update.

Nada.

Is that too specific for you? I finished absolutely nothing in August. Its been two weeks since my last posting here and I haven't done a thing. Facebook is evil.

That and the start of a new school year.

But I hope that September will be better. I pledge to finish at least twenty minis by the end of September. Considering how busy September is already shaping up to be, that may be ambitious. But I will try to get something done so that I can make interesting posts about it rather than this dull dreck which is probably costing me many followers.

Would it help if I mentioned midget soldiers as the troop of choice for my students as they go exploring the New World? They take up less space on the ship and need less supplies, you see. At least that's what one of my student groups is trying to convince me.

July Monthly Wrapup

Sort of a busy month, July.

The biggest event was attending Historicon, obviously. Purchased a LOT of lead there. And I have started a bit on painting some of it. Call it 14 or so minis about 90% done except for bases (which I need to order more of - they rean out of the size I needed at Historicon!).

Got to play some games at Historicon, too, and that was fun. The game that I ran went pretty well, so no complaints on that score. Do wish I had been able to get another game on Saturday, but those are the breaks at the busiest con on the busiest day, I suppose.

Other game related progress was low. I did finish up 20 15mm Masked Minions in time for the game. No progress on the Aphid-class clone. A bit of terrain finished up, again for the game. Have been working on finishing the bases for about twenty minis painted by White Ape Studios for me, and almost done with those. Then they just need some dullcote and they're ready for the display cabinet and the battlefields of Venus.


So, projects for August:

• Order more bases, plus some Reaper master Series paints for my son's frogs.
• Finish lizard dogs, pigs and werewolves.
• Finish bases for explorer, and lizardmen.
• Prime, paint, and base High Martian box set (20 figures)
• Finish at least 20 15mm Aetherbattallion troops and officers
• Finish Martian masked leader.
• Finish 10 Martian sepoys (25mm)
• Prime paint and base prototype Gashant rider.

It's a tall order. Wish me luck!

Regarding Historicon Poll vs. Purchases

The results of the Historicon poll were very close. 25mm Martians came in first, followed by Masked Minions and then Germans. All the rest lagged behind a bit.


So, let's compare that to what I bought at Historicon.


As far as Martians go, all I purchased was a box of High Martians (the flying guys) [RAFM]. My son also bought some Mage Knight cannons that will probably be pressed into Martian service, as they are sort of primitive looking and bulky and just look 'right.'


For the Masked Minions, I purchased a 4 figure gun crew [Parroom Station]. I also bought a Smoke Launcher [Parroom Station] for them to crew. The gun may be used by others, of course. And it may not always be a Smoke launcher. Suppose I need rules for the poisonous cloud that it fires off. Maybe a blast template that wanders with the wind? Green-sprayed battening on an old CD base? Bears thinking about.


For our third place contestant, the Germans, I bought infantry and a massive artillery piece. Again, the artillery piece could be used by anyone, really. It is the Steampunk Cannon [JR Miniatures]. Having a stubby, mortar-like appearance, I also want to make a barrel extension for it (removable, of course) so that it can be made to look like a big fortress piece. Shouldn't be too difficult, as the barrel of the original mortar is tapped quite deeply. I'll explain my idea for it when I get around to doing it. The infantry I chose were the Prussian infantry of Parroom Station.

So, that's it for now. I have gotten a few minis primed and hope to get something painted up today or tomorrow so that I can work on those Pledge numbers I can already see I will be needing more bases. But that's going to wait at least a month for my bank account to recover from our show purchases and travel expenses.

Home Again, Home Again

We arrived safely back home last night, but I was too tired from travelling to do much of anything, so I put all of this off until today.

The Haul

15 mm

4 x Scif Fi plants [QRF, SF-10]

1 x Zulu War British Supply Wagon w/ Driver and Oxen (painted) [Flea Market, but I think Old Glory]

6 x Horkuns [Splintered Light Minis]

4 x Lizard dogs [Splintered Light Minis, from the Lizardman Army deal]

8 x Pigs [East Riding Miniatures]

6 x Werewolves [ATH (?) - at Syr Hobbs booth]

25/28mm

1 x Wraith Golgoth [AT-43 Damocles set]

1 x Fire Toad [AT-43]

9 x UNA Steel Troopers [AT-43]

8 x Therian Storm Golems [AT_43]

5 x X-Squad with Jetpacks [Jeff Valent Studios, Great Rail Wars]

10 x Prussian Infantry [Parroom Station]

4 x Masked Minion Crew [Parroom Station]

1 x Smoke Launcher [Parroom Station]

7 x Russo-Turkish War Turks [Outpost Wargames Service]

11 x Colonial Japanese Infantry [Falcon Miniatures]

4 x Colonial Japanese Cavalry [Falcon Miniatures]

20 x Zulu War British (including officers) [Empress Miniatures]

2 x Zulu War British Rocket battery crew (including rocket launcher) [Empress Miniatures]

20 x ECW Pikemen, including command [Foundry]

2 x Owlbears [flea market]

1 x War Ape [Chainmail]

2 x Skeletal Dogs [Chainmail]

5 x Sailors [Paint N Take]

20 x High Martians [RAFM, for GDW Space 1889]

4 x Plastic Romans [Warlord giveaway]

2 x Plastic Napoleonic British Riflemen [Warlord Giveaway]

1 x Plastic ECW Firleock [Warlord giveaway]

1 x Dwarf Gyrocopter

3 x Space Marine [GW]

1 x Chaos Marine

1 x Skink

1 x Dead Sun gladiator

1 x Kzhag Ork

1 x Space pirate [?]

1 x Nepharite

1 x swordsman [Paint N take]

1 x Ork pirate

10 x Turtles (5 2-turtle sniper teams) [Eureka Miniatures]

20 x Frog Infantry, various sorts [Eureka Miniatures]

3 x Frog Cavalry [Eureka Miniatures]

1 x Frog Cannon (with 6 crew) [Eureka Miniatures]

1 x Mage Knight Mortar

1 x Mage knight Cannon

1 x Mage Knight Catapult

Plus a bunch of miscellaneous stuff that I won't detail here, but including terrain, some Napoleonic ships, dice, card games, etc., etc.

By my count, that's about 227 miniatures of various scales, if you include artillery pieces as seperate, but not mounts or vehicles. About 20 are already painted and ready for the table. The rest vary from bare lead/plastic to partially finished. And at least 7 (the Warlord giveaways) are probably not counting against the Pledge, as they were not bought and not planned. So only about 200 minis to add to the Pledge! Plus 60 or so more Old Glory 15mm colonials that arrived in the mail while I was out, a gift from a friend (THANKS DAN! YOU ROCK!). Oh, and all the frogs and turtles are my sons's, as are the Space Marines and some other things. So take another 40 away there, I suppose.

I better get painting...

Hauptman zu Fliegerjaeger Finished!

I finally finished the first of die fliegerjaeger, Hauptman Johann Grossemund. And the three remaining Seraphim-class aeronefs for the full squadron of five. I'll try to get some photos taken soon.

And I upgraded the Pledge count a few days ago.

I have fallen off the everyday wagon this week, though. I've been very busy with a teacher's workshop that I am attending at Rice University here in Houston, and between getting up early and dealing with traffic, then coming home and doing family stuff, I just haven't had the patience to sit and work on anything this week.

So that's how my progress has been this last week or so. I need to look at projects again and start making some priorities to finish. I have just about got everything ready for Historicon, so I can look at other things now.

[Editor's Note, 06.29.09: German fixed, thanks to Klaus. Thanks Klaus!]

Reinforcements in the Mail

I know I swore I wasn't going to buy any more toys until Historicon.

I really meant to hold to that promise, too.

But... I found about a great deal on some minis via TMP. And for only 27.50 GBP (about $46 USD), including shipping from the UK to Texas, I just couldn't pass it up. Got home today from a trip to Dallas, and this is what was on my doorstep:

• 30 Old Glory 25mm Boer War Brits, of which 20 are very nicely painted.
• 19 Foundry Northwest Frontier Sikhs, 2 painted.
• 2 Indian elephants
• 2 lions
• 5 Bactrian camels
• 1 dromedary
• Col Marbles (Frother's)
• 4 harem girls dancing
• 5 women in burqas
• 7 Foundry DA British officers and adventurers, 4 painted
• 1 'native' cannon

The miniatures of indeterminate origin are believed to be Irregular Miniatures.

Time to revise the Pledge, I guess. Man, this year is going to be very bad, what with Historicon coming up and all...

End of May Round-up

So, its the end of another month. I got in two games this month, so not bad. One was a playtest for Historicon that was run this afternoon. I may not have scheduled enough time for the game. Painting-wise, I got a bit of work accomplished this month. Anyway...

• Poll: Most of you think we should keep the Venusian Tales right here. The people have spoken; their will be done (now if only all our politicians would listen so well!).
• Playtest: Automatons need tweaking. Very nasty in a fight, but too prone to breakdown. Honestly, I need more, but that isn't likely prior to Historicon.
• 2mm: 3 Aeronefs pretty well done (need flags), another 4 about 75%
• 15mm: Began painting six pack mules. I hate painting mules and horses. Just need to finish packs and shade, and they're ready for Historicon. Added the boiler section to the scratch-build Aphid wannabe.
• 25mm: Began working on more Scientists and Plantmen, plus the Fliegerjaegerren are shaping up.
• Terrain: Lots of Martian hills and rocks done, again for Historicon. Work progresses on the insulae.

Not a bad month, all things considered. I'll work up a battle report today or tomorrow and post it. Also, will do more playtesting tomorrow evening for an hour or so, once I make some tweaks to the Automatons.

[OOC] Pledge Updated, New Scale added

Okay, I finally updated the 2009 Pledge. Doing pretty well, for so early in the year, but Historicon is coming, and I am planning on replacing all of my current 25mm British colonial regulars with the absolutely beautiful ones produced by Empress Miniatures at Historicon. So, that's a good 30 or so more to do.

Almost done with several of the Imperial German Secret Weapons guys. That'll help the 25mm count as well.

Only have to glue the bombardment rockets on the second Sentinel to be finished with that project, finally!

Inspired by a trip to Austin's Great Hall Games, where I found a good deal of Brigade Model's Aeronefs on sale, I have bought into them. 34 2mm scale Aeronefs now await painting, and have been added to the Pledge as a scale category. 7 have been primed and will be painted as the Aeronavy of the Holy See of Saint Peter. These are a mix of Austrian and Japanese (!), and I will also be adding an Italian Carlo Alberto-class dig to the Papal fleet. I also have a decent number of German 'nefs. Plans for future include British, French, and some fixed wing aircraft. Only rules I have right now is a copy of "When Dreadnoughts Ruled The Skies" given to me at a game at Little Wars almost two years ago now. Am considering purchasing the Aeronef rules from Wessex, and integrating with Land Ironclads at a later date. The tiny scale means they should paint up pretty quick.

In 15mm news, I have finished another 5 deathrays. No photos yet, because I am re-working the bases to magnetize them. Be a couple of days until that sub-project is completed. I discovered I don't have enough rays to finish, either! So, I have to hit eBay and get two more. I also finished a mounted officer on octosaur for the Martians.

All for now. Maybe more news later this weekend, and hopefully a few photos.

End of Month Progress Report [ooc]

So, here's the progress on projects this month.

Deathray cavalry: Have received all figures. Three additional lancers, a musician and the unit leader are painted and assembled, just waiting to be mounted on the rays. After these, I have five more to finish, and the units will be done. I say units because I have two. One is the Prince himself, with standard, musician and four guards. I am considering adding three more gun-armed men to this unit to round it out to a full ten. The other unit consists of a captain, musician and eight lancers.

Martian Personalities: I have painted the Incomparable Dejah Thoris, John Carter, a Martian priest, and a Martian king/hero. The butler/assassin is primed, but hardly painted.

Martian swordsmen: Little progress.

Bombardment Sentinel: Purchased Whirlwind for conversion of rockets to Sentinel. Awaiting arrival.

Gunship, 28mm: Received guns, assembled and primed. Currently on painting table. Trying to decide on magnetic attachment option or permanent fixture.

Gunship, 15mm: Main deck cut out. Primary lower hull section built. Mast section assembled but not cut to final length yet. Re-working cabin section design. Forward lower hull needs final desing and assembly. Guns not ordered; considering ERM fittings. Help with 15mm guns would be appreciated.

Parrotman Huts: Prototype finished. Adjustments still to be made for remaining three huts. Back-burner project.

15mm Papal Troops: Two 90% painted as prototypes.

Mordian/German Special Weapons: About 70% painted on lieutenant, sergeant, grenadier, and three riflemen, plus two mortarmen and melta-gunner.

Gex/Gaters: Decided to send to be painted, as I am never going to get around to them. Looking for painting service in US.

That's pretty much everything that's even remotely active for right now. I am hoping to get some projects finished in March, letting me get back to some older projects that have been on hold for a while.

The Kaiser's Secret Weapons!

More German Troops Arriving on Mars!

Word has reached the Journal that additional troops bearing secret weapons from the Kaiserlich Forshcungsanstalt fur Geheimewaffen (KFG), or Imperial Research Institute for Secret Weapons, have arrived on the Red Planet!

Reliable sources from Neu Berlin have informed me that almost two platoons worth of these troops arrived very recently. Fortunately, they are not yet ready for deployment in the field, and word is that it may be weeks before they are prepared.

Rest assured, good readers, this Journal shall keep you informed of any change in the condition of these troops and their diabolical devices of dastardly devastation.

[Editor's note: I just got in the mail 17 Mordian Iron Guardsmen, from Games Workshop. Well, not directly from GW. I got them from someone on TMP. Fast shipping too - thanks! Anyway, I have to get bases for them, and then get to painting, and so on, so it will be a bit before they are ready to go. I did get an officer and a sergeant, plus... well, you'll ahve to check back later to see what else!]

[OOC] New Year! Let's Review, shall we?

First: Happy New Year!

Now that is out of the way... man, I did okay on the Pledge, but not near as well as I started off. I can tell where I got behind, and it was where I thought I would really get ahead. Last summer. So, it looks like I just about broke even on 15mm, but I was way off on 25mm stuff. Well, hopefully I'll do better this year... look for the new Pledge '09 soon. Think I should include the stuff I got for Christmas?

The poll results are in for December. Not a widely supported poll, I grant you, with only 14 votes. But I made up my mind somewhere near the halfway point that I was going to use the lance armed fellows as the 'regular' deathray cavalry, with a few carbine armed guards. The lancers also carry pistols. And I think their lances will have the 'spar torpedo' option for anti-airship operations.

We've got a good series of articles in the last two or so months from Jim, about the beginnings of Texican settlement on Venus. I wonder how much longer before Texican civilians will begin to appear to develop the colony? I need to get to editing and cleaning up his latest posts, though.

All in all, I am fairly happy with the last year, but look forward to more gaming hopefully this year. A trip to Historicon may be in the works as well, and I am looking into New Orleans area conventions as well. If I get enough work done, I may even run a couple of small games at either OwlCon, AggieCon, or MilleniumCon XII this year. Only time will tell...

Thanks for reading the blog. I hope we keep you guys and gals entertained for another year.

2 More Deathrays Done, Plus Other Items [OOC]

Friends and Followers,

I have finished two more rays, the standard bearer and one of the carbine-armed riders. Here's a couple of pictures (sorry about the background - its my official paint desk):

Also, I received many small bits of lead from overseas this week! Yay! The folks at Black Cat bases were kind enough to pick up a couple of miniatures for me from Donnington Miniatures at Warfare in Reading (that's in the UK, for all us Yanks), and shipped them to me. One I won't be able to use for this project, but the others shall probably work. What are they, you ask? Priests! I now have a trio of priests (one mounted!) to provide spiritual comfort and guidance to the Papal forces on Mars.

I also got in a batch of Papal infantry and Zouaves from Freikorps, direct. I had to go to them, because it was faster than ordering from Little Wars, even though Little Wars (the US distributor for Freikorps) is just across town from me! Haven't started on them yet, but look forward to getting after it soon.

I did start painting the French Foot artillery I bought for the pontifical forces. I'll only have one gun crew and a breechloading field gun, plus a wrecked gun objective I am planning. But that's plenty, I think. I can see a race to retrieve the gun or destroy it before the natives can get their hands on a modern European field piece.

Also, I made a little progress on the rivers, which I will post about tomorrow on the gaming terrain blog.

That's all for tonight/this morning. Got to go get some sleep so I can make 8:00 Mass!

The Pledge, as of October

Well, gentlemen, I find myself in trouble in regards to the Pledge. If you recall, I Pledged I would paint mroe than I bought this year, and that solemn oath is in serious danger of being broken.

Some would say, "Oh, but surely your illness this summer justifies your failure to whittle away at your immense stores of unpainted miniatures." To them I say, poppycock. A few days in hospital here or there certainly doesn't eliminate one's word of honour!

Others might remind me that the storm certainly disrupted what seemed a promising period of accomplishment in the reduction of the lead mountain. Coupled with the additional inhabitants of the domicile since the storm and pursuant lack of space and freedom from distraction, it makes a good excuse for limited progress. Again, I say twaddle! A few days without civilised comforts and a few weeks with four extra houseguests cuts no hay with me, sirrah!

Then, to add to the problem, I use the newly restored telephonic differencing engine weave to place order for several additional figures. If the lack of progress in reducing the previously accumulated stockpile was possibly forgiveable, the lack of discipline in not purchasing additional figurines is most certainly not.

Gentlemen, I need to get back to work, and that is an end to it! Enough fiddling with terrain bits - they cut nothing off the Pledge numbers. Wish me luck, as in the next two months I foresee a difficult time setting aside the necessary hours. But I shall endeavour to keep my sacred bond.

[OOC] Other Projects in the Works/Planned

There has been a sort of request to mention all of the plans I have for VSF gaming, as I listed all the aerial stuff previously. So, here's the ground and riverine stuff. Note that this does not include all the stuff already completed (which is as nothing compared to the nefarious grand plan)...

15/18mm:

• Pontifical forces: Zouaves, Infantry, and Artillery [Freikorps]. Purchased via Little Wars on Saturday, awaiting shipment of the order. Call it 45 minis.
• Texicans: Already have the minis [Freikorps Span-Am War Americans], just need to paint.
• British: Lancers, already have Old Glory minis, just need to get to painting them. Need to finish repaints on purchased naval brigade troops.
• Sidewheeler gunboat: Purchased. I have been adding wooden decking to it, and some cladding. Totally unpainted and still in need of lots of work. Will have interchangeable flagpole.
• French. Need some kind of cavalry and artillery. They only have infantry [Stone Mountain FFL] and one walker, though I have parts for more. Want at least one more officer figure for use with native troops if I give them over to the French for a scenario. I need pilot figures, though. Hmm...
• Steam launches. Technically, could be used as small boats for 25/28mm as well. Assembled, working on paint. Three of these, one pretty much done, except I need to rig up the sails, and come up with some kind of boiler. I am trying to make it where I can rig it either way - sail or steam. In addition, you can change out the flags to change nationality. Otherwise they are pretty non-specific.
• German Armored Suit. A "paint, flag and coal bunker" conversion from a MechWarrior: Dark Ages figure. Flamer and big slashing blade harvester thingy. About 2/3 finished.
• Martians. Black Hat, via Scale Creep. Just ordered some Ghost Archers to try out. Also, some Imperial Martians with guns and more with swords. I probably ought to do some more Imperial Guards, too. Two guns is enough, though.
• Dinosaur Howdahs. Have 9 Schleich Triceratops, which I want to mount platforms upon two or three. Rest are wild. Will be used with 25/28mm as well.
• Dinosaurs. Need at least three more Schleich Velociraptors. No, they are not to scale. So what? Will be used with 25/28mm as well.
• Germans. I have one German officer. That's it so far. Need at least one more officer and some troops, probably 20 or so, plus a gun.
• Prof. Maton: Have a mini, started painting. Assistant? Minions? Still need those. I do have a generic Oriental woman, maybe she's a mysterious Eastern assistant/spy for Fu Manchu? You can never trust your fellow evil geniuses...
• Personalities: Her Majesty, God Bless Her. Theodore Roosevelt. More mad scientist types (Tesla, etc.)
• Zombies. Yeah, I gotta have some of them, too. Raised from the dead by a fiendish device of some mad scientist, or the ancient technology of the Martians (Black Hat's Martian Thought Projector? Hmm...)

25/28mm:

• Sentinels conversion. One essentially done, only needs dullcote and pennant. Other completely untouched, although I have started to try to sculpt the big bombardment rocket launchers for it.
• AT-ST: Convert Star Wars Miniatures AT-ST to German walker. On hold.
• Steam-powered cavalry. Lots of different MageKnight toys being used here. Horses and rams (US or Texican, not sure yet), and cats (French). Need cavalry figures to mount on them, bases, paint touch-up, and so on. Essentially, nothing done but getting the mounts themselves.
• Martian Askaris/Sepoys: RAFM Colonial Martians. Ten down, nine to go (I think). Painted in neutral khaki, can be used for any native troops, be it German askaris, British sepoys, or even French tirailleurs martienne.
• Masked Minions: Purchased, but not even undercoated yet. These are the human minions of Professor Otto Maton. Need a special weapons figure or two.
• Clockwork Men: One down. Have one more, need to get a few more from London War Room. Maybe three or four more. Also used with 15/18mm.
• Hoverbots. Technically aerial, I guess, but not mentioned previously. Hydra Miniatures, IIRC makes a great hoverbot that I want to get for these - ten of them. I am going to add some details (maybe a clockwork key) and they will be Maton's flying minions. Also will be used with 15/18mm.
• Steam Spiders. Wyrd Miniatures. Nine of ten done. Also used with 15/18mm.
• Prof. Maton, Himself. Almost finished. Basework, a highlight on his massive wrench, and dullcote, he's done. But he needs an assistant or two. Need to find one (or two).
• Venusian Lizardmen. Two types, gex [GW old skinks] and gaters [GW old saurus]. Probably have about all the gex I need, but have a lot to paint still (about 40 or so left.) Way short on my gaters. Need to get enough to finish second unit of regular gaters and then I need Temple Guard for elite gaters. Also used with 15/18mm.
• Pappegaivolk: Have the parts for ten [GW Kroot]. Have begun on the project, but... slow progress. Eventually want 20 total. Could be used with 15/18mm, but are really too darned big for that.
• Germans. Mordians for VSF weapons, need more of them. Want grenade launcher, a few riflemen, sergeant and officer, have several mortars and flamethrower. Also, just need some good Seebattalion or Schutztruppen. About 20 or so of them would be good. Do have a good commanding officer in dress uniform, Herr Oberst Hans Klarkopf.
• British. Just about done. Have to finish up a few Praetorians that I (and everyone else) will use for VSF weapons (the voltaic rifle, the flame projector, the Portable Shoulder Mount Miniature Congreve Launcher, the Caloric Ray Emitter, etc.)
• German Landship. Got to either scratchbuild or purchase one of these. Leaning towards building.
• British Landship. Backburner, but definitely want to do one eventually.
• Martians. Parroom Station Martians. I want to get some Sverdvolk or whatever they call them, and Royal Infantry (maybe 40 or so of them). Also, I have a few of their characters, and want more civilian types. RAFM as well. Real mixed bag on the Martians.
• Turks. Over the Wire figures wanted.
• Texicans. Searching for suitable figures. Leaning towards Boxer Rebellion US Marines or Span-Am American infantry.
• French. Foreign Legion (Legion Extraterrestriale), Spahis or some sort of cavalry to mount on steam cats. Probably one gun. Leaning towards Askari Figures.
• Pontifical. At least some Zouaves. Need to find figures.
• Plantmen. Hydra Miniatures has some really cool looking plantmen, the Vardu, that I am dying to use as well. I may just get the smaller ones and use them with 15/18mm though, as I already have two major races in this scale for Venus.
• Personalities: Her Majesty, God Bless Her. Theodore Roosevelt.

Sadly, there are probably at least a half dozen more ideas and projects currently on the boil. Plus terrain. Add in the dabbling in 15mm Napoleonics (check that out on my other blog www.leadwellington.blogspot.com), and the straight Colonials (also in two scales!) and... no progress, it seems. I also want to get in some Aeronef stuff, eventually. Maybe in 2009.

I hope this list helps to spur up some creative juices for all of you guys and gals. Goodnight, Irene.

[OOC] Aerial plans

Previously, I mentioned that...

"I have a variety of other flying devices and mounts and plans and such for 25/28mm, including High Martians, airships, etc. Nothing else currently on tap for 15/18mm, though I would like to get on to scratchbuilding some kites and airships for them as well."

Actually, that statement was not entirely true. It omitted somethings that were already in the works, and all of my nefarious future and past aerial plans. So, I thought I would, in the interst of full disclosure, describe my existing plans for aerial combatants in VSF games over Mars, Earth, and Venus.

In 15/18mm scale:

• I have an airship already purchased, the Lee Scoresby airship from the moving picture The Golden Compass. It requires modification. Quite possibly Texican.
• Figures called 'ornithopters' for a game called "Crucible". I won them in an auction. These have yet to be removed from packaging, and the package photo is less than stunning, so I am unsure of how they will be used. Perhaps French, or American.
• Martian deathrays, mounted on golden whorled rays
• Martian flying boat, with 3-D sail plan.
• A German zeppelin. C'mon, you pretty well ahve to have one of these.

For 25/28mm, I have:

• A purchased scratch-built aerial gunship, essentially an Aphid-class - purchased and on its way.
• High Martians from RAFM in my plans
• Mage Knight mechanical dragonflies for dragonfly lancers (need lancers, though)
• Rocket pack Americans (from Great Rail Wars)
• Idea of helicopter packs for German troops (whirlytotenfliegers)
• Martian deathray riders - yeah, I decided to do it in both scales and just need to suck it up and buy more minis and rays.
• Martian flying boat, with 3-D sail plan. Probably use the flying skiff sold by London War Room along with their Parroom Station line as the basis, then add sails.

Other goings on...

Work continues apace on the recruitment dirve for Martian askaris [RAFM Space 1889 miniatures]. An additional five recruits are nearly through their training.

We have located another tribe of gex warriors, red of hue and fierce of heart. Ten of these fierce tribesmen are nearly ready to threaten the peace of Venusstadt.

General Sir Edmund Blackadder [Minifigs 25mm mounted British Officer] has recently arrived in the Royal Martian Colony as well. As soon as his baggage is sorted, I shall provide a photostat of his arrival, mounted upon his favorite steed, Baldrick.

Three small but stout-hearted reinforcements have arrived to complete a platoon of British regulars in the colony [Stone Mountain 15mm].

Once basing is complete on these figures, the Pledge shall be updated to reflect this progress, the first in weeks.

Reporting In

Good friends, i am sure you all thought that I was off on safari in the wild highlands of Venus, or perhaps the sleazy dives of Bongolesia.

No, far from those sites of grand adventure, I have been inundated with the everyday and recovery operations in the wake of the Republic's recent hurricane. Even now, I am forced to borrow access to a difference engine connected to the Webley-Errington-Bynes System of Interlocking Telephonic Engines (WEBSITE) rather than conducting my journaling from the comfort of my homestead.

Alas, if you have been following the progress of my Pledge Counter in the left hand margin, I am not making progress on my pile of lead. In fact, I haven't picked up a brush in three weeks. Virtually the only work that has been accomplished was the assembly and priming of two small vacu-form plastic terrain pieces (rivers, in this case) that were purchased last summer (2007) at Historicon. I would like to say some paint will be applied this weekend, but I seriously doubt it.

Perhaps - perhaps! - I will be inspired to work further on my Papal papers this weekend. That is more likely, as I have many distracting guests in the house currently, and I need more concentration for painting than for writing, plus the painting station is setup in a more public area of the house, whereas my writing engine is in my bedchambers, the last refuge of privacy remaining to me.

I am assured by the service people from the telephonic connection agency I subscribe to that my lines should be repaired as soon as Monday next. We shall see. I, for one, remain skeptical of their promises.

That is all for now, gentlemen. Please do keep checking in to see if any progress is made. I have come across many interesting projects that were set aside previously and would dearly love to return to at this time. It might just be the next entry in this journal.

Quick Pledge Update

Just a quick Pledge '08 Update. I have recently acquired many items which need no work, and so they don't fall under the Pledge rules (some dinosaurs and a lot of terrain). But, I have alos purchased a swarm of snakes and some additional lizardmen which have arrived and so are added to the Pledge. Technically, they are 25/28mm, so that is where I placed them.

However, I am almost ready to post a step by step on how I painted my Space: 1889 Martian Native Troops (RAFM). I hope to be ready to post the workshop, complete with photos, by tomorrow evening.

Have a good night!