Spider 'Mech!

Does whatever a Spider-'Mech does

You know how it goes, no blog updates come for ages and the next update is three times the usual length. So many 'Mechs to post here, so many new rules to gush about, so little time.

Back to the 1,200 Point Challenge

Yet again Mantic have dangled the possibility of a big global participation campaign in front of me, so I decided to count up my Normans to see if I had enough. After 30 minutes ranking everyone up in the movement trays (I probably should have provided a picture...) I discovered I was 4 crossbowmen and a few licks of paint shy of 1,500 points!

Impulse buys from my local gaming shop/cafe. Lovely figures though.

Honour the Dragon

Well, the models that I posted as works-in-progress have now been finished, based and varnished. Here they are for your dubious pleasure.

A 'Lance' (squad) of House Kurita Battle'Mechs

A Night on Bare-Metal Mountain

This week I moved to a different provincial city because of work, and must suffer much reduced painting space and time for the next four years. I therefore present a sample of my work from the last few months, which you will note contains only four finished figures (and their bases aren't quite done yet either.)

Left: two peasants from Gripping Beast's civilians range. Right, two Games Workshop marauders from the 90's
Notice how I post the nice 'finished' pic first...

The Saga of Brynhild Wolf-Daughter

Had a game of Warhammer Fantasy with a friend, Yung Payne, last month and I've finally got round to writing up the report! The title comes from my (Wo)man of the Match, who performed far better than my actual General...

The armies line up for Battle as Yung Payne makes some last minute adjustments to his list.

Now (partly) Finished

Well, after a long time I've at last finished the basing on the latest batch of Anglo-Normans, plus made progress on the 'Mechs. I leave work for two months tomorrow, so hopefully updates will become more frequent (some hope).

Archers in a variety of postures, featuring the last of the Wargames Factory torsos.

Not Finished Yet

Again I've had a less productive week, so I have to present only half-finished models this update. Hope you enjoy!

Phoenix Hawk (left) and Stinger (right), both of which seem more or less finished.

Big Stompy Battle Reports

My housemate Merlin recently rekindled my interest in BattleTech: big stompy battle robots from the 31st Century. After a few practice games (I won two out of three!) I suggested a full-blown fight between two Lances (4-strong 'Mech units) worth 4,000 points (called 'Battle Value') each. I'm afraid this report might be a bit heavy on the Jargon, for which I apologise in advance.

Team George: (L to R) Hermes-II, Phoenix Hawk, Warhammer (with hastily repaired right arm) and Cicada standing in for a Jenner.

Merry War (Christmas is over)

In a herculean feat of modelling endurance, I have managed to paint the 27 models I received for Christmas in only 4 months!. To celebrate this enormous achievement, I present to you a group shot for your viewing pleasure. 

Models more or less grouped by manufacturer, Perry knights, spearmen and command, Gripping Beast crossbowmen, and crusader spearmen make up the centre.

I Ate'nt Dead

Seeing as I haven't updated in a while (work, socialising, all that stuff) I thought it might be worth showing you a size comparison pic of the Bear Mystic from DGS games via Dice Bag Lady. She's a bit big, 32mm rather than 28mm, but one assumes that a shamanistic bear-hugger would be pretty well built. That's my excuse anyway...

Left to right: Crusader, DGS, Perry, and Conquest. Sorry about the lighting. 

Lax State of Affairs part II: Map and Rules

It's been a while since I posted about Lax State of affairs, but I've finally fleshed out some rules and present them for your viewing pleasure. I've not play tested these at all, so if you have a spin with them, please let me know how it went and how I could improve.

England, circa 1135

Mission Creep

I know that I do *technically* have enough models, painted and unpainted, for a reasonably sized Anglo-Norman army. Unfortunately the lure of Reasonable Female Miniatures (buy some!) plus the Dice Bag Lady's new selection of heads, with more medieval-friendly hairdos, has led me to spend worrying sums on new stuff. What makes things worse is that at some point I'm going to want a camp element, which will no doubt involve expenditure on tents, camp followers (ooh Matron!) etc.

 

So, the following post, as well as containing the latest finished efforts, will showcase some of my most adventurous conversions yet, using actual modelling putty.

All but the one on the left are finished, she needs a sling in her hand.

Fun with Flags

Thanks to some very generous family members, I was able to bulk-buy some foot knights from the Perry's (command and spearmen advancing) and Crusader miniatures' Norman spearmen in chainmail 2 (spearmen in chainmail 1 looks a bit naff on their website if you ask me)

Crusader spearmen with Perry command figure

The First of Many Hastings Battle Reports

As some of you may have noticed, this year it's the 950th anniversary of the Most Memorable Date In English History. Aside from a thread or two on Lead Adventure posting progress for mega-games at shows, I haven't really seen as many refights as I would have expected. So, needing an excuse to try out Basic Impetvs, I asked Derek to rustle up his Early Medieval legions and we gave it a go...

Harold's troops line Senlac Ridge, Huscarls (household troops) in the centre, Great Fyrd (Home Guard) covering the flanks and his main force of Fyrd (Territorial Army).

Duke William drew his practiced eye over Senlac ridge, where the usurper King Harold's troops stood between him and his rightful crown. Harold himself was in the centre, surrounded by his Huscarls, with weaker troops on the wings. The germ of a plan grew in William's mind: if he could overwhelm one flank, his knights stood an excellent chance of rolling up the Saxon battle line. He gave himself a quiet nod  before turning to bark orders to his men.

The Battle of Anachronism Bridge

As habitual readers may be aware, I often like to come up with little stories to explain why my toy soldiers have come to blows. In this  particular report, however, I cannot think of any reason why Edward Longshanks and William Marshall should be ganging up to fight Bishop Odo.

Derek sets out the forces of Edward Longshanks in cover of the trees

Operation Trashpoint: A Cold War Blunder

For the first time in my life, I've spent more on a rulebook than on an army. Two armies in fact: the joy of using 2mm scale figures is that they cost 30p for 16 infantry or two tanks. The only downside is that they are so small that "You may as well use cardboard counters" as Derek pointed out.

Anyway, here are some pics and you can judge for yourselves. The 5p coin is for scale.

A 1000 pt. British battlegroup, the black lines indicate unit facing (they're at the back) and nationality.

Announcement and picture

Just a short post tonight, I have been advised by a friend of Derek's to add a 'follow' gadget to the blog. I've never followed anyone else's work on blogger before, but am always keen to match supply to demand.

I try not to let a post pass by without some sort of model-related content, so I will relate to you the participation game Derek and I took part in at a show that I've forgotten the name of (Help!).

The game was a skirmish from the Trojan War, featuring two heroes and a few random goons on each side, run with the Song of Blades and Heroes rules. A good set of rules, producing a quick, elegant and brutal game. Unfortunately, it also requires a bit of getting used to and good dice rolling skills, which is what I chose to blame for the end result of Hector and Paris dead (Hector on turn two...).

There's only one photo because I wasn't doing very well, but it displays the only combat where I won a round, as well as some very well painted models too.

Two nameless spearmen who held of one of the Achean heroes (Nestor?) for a majority of the game.