I've been painting, not posting

And even less gaming - nothing since the Pikeman's Lament game. It has been rather hectic this end of the second term, as it usually is. Nevertheless, painting has happened. All of the Great War Germans are now complete, and residing in Hastings with Craig.  Not the original plan, but I've made the decision that there will be no more 15mm for me. Figures will be 28mm or larger, and I will focus mostly on lower level games using, for the most part, the various iterations of the Lion Rampant system. With that in mind, here are the first figures for the Peninsular War using rebels and Patriots:

Voltigeurs - the only completed French unit at the moment.

60th Rifles - a bunch of Germans in the Royal North American Regiment of the British Army - what's not to love?

Light Infantry unit of the 88th Connaught Rangers. I probably had some relations in there somewhere.

When I play Rampant I don't for a second think of these forces as one figure represents one man. In my mind the scale is about 1:10, and these units represent a company (or for the French, half a company). This means that my planned armies are several companies of the 88th foot supported by a company of the 60th and a squadron of the 1st King's German Legion Hussars. Facing them will be several companies of the 18th Ligne supported by Dragoons - not too sure which regiment yet.

I've also put together the first few figures of Aussie Bushrangers. This is using the Legends of the Old West rules in an Aussie setting. For some reason I've always had a thing for this period - Ned Kelly has a lot to answer for.

The Bushrangers Osprey arrived the same day as the Rebels and Patriots rules. instant inspiration.

The unarmoured bush rangers

The Ryan brothers in their home-made armour

Close ups of the rest of the gang

All painted with base, wash and a few highlights here and there

Let's not forget that the second edition of Test of Honour is coming. I haven't even played the first edition yet, but I'm readying my forces, including this 4ground scenery which I bought on sale from Mighty Ape.

The whole farmstead

The forces of Yumisushi wonder whether the beef or the chicken would make a better dinner.

While these Tomuchisake warriors just want to go home for a drink.

The cavalry is painted (although the bases haven't been done), and came that way second hand. I just need to paint the infantry now. Some cherry blossom tress are now in order I feel.

Mortal Gods just released some Persian cards to celebrate 3000+ members of their facebook group, so I ordered some Crusader and Warlord Persians, which I'm keen to paint up as soon as they hit these shores.

I'm planning on continuing Grimgob's saga in the school holidays. That's only a week away, so this is enough of a post until then. I'm hoping that the rest of the figures for the bushrangers project will be complete by then.

Nate

Building up some built up areas

I paint figures at night, but if I have a bit of spare time during the day, I'll use this time to prep figures or make scenery. The latest scenery items are for DBA.
First up, a Samurai castle:

 This is a 1/300 plastic Fujimi model that works out at about 3 x 3 base widths. A perfect fort for the DBA Samurai to besiege and relieve. Yumisushi Nate sits alongside for scale.

 Next up is a generic Middle Eastern built up area, exactly 3 x 3 base widths in size. The idea is that it can be used for Biblical games, Eastern Roman Empire or Crusades, so I haven't made any period specific additions. I need to add some windows to the rear of it, but I can't imagine it would be the airiest of homes. Probably why the Philistines are sunbathing on the battlements.

 Lastly, a couple of camp elements for the two Samurai armies (which aren't actually painted yet). Above is the camp of Yumisushi Nate, where a lone Ashigaru leads forward a pack horse while a stealthy ninja lies in wait. Below, the camp of Tomuchisake Dan has no such fears, just a pleasant stroll under the cherry blossom trees.

Now that these are finished I really want to get the rest of my Samurai painted, so when I've finished Craig's figures, they will be the next job. Then Geoff's long awaited Huguenot cavalry. I can't say I don't have anything to do at least...

Nate

Samurais and Supers

I finished off another ten figures for Geoff today - some North Star Ronin figures. This was a mix of figures from the Bandit Buntai and Koryu Buntai sets. They are really very nice figures to paint.

Four Koryu Buntai figures

And from the back where the patterning is a bit more obvious. Not sure if the holes in their butt-cheeks are meant to be for sword scabbards?

Some bandits runing amok

The other three bandits from the group

I think I have my recipe for Japanese flesh down pat now. Base coat of Chocolate brown, mid coat of US tan earth, followed by a mix of tanned earth and flat flesh. Then a wash with a fleshtone wash. What do you think?

I also finished off the Protectorate - my second Superhero team.

The gang all together - Aura, Nuclein, Hoplite and Stormchild

Here's the three members who haven't been featured yet, along with their super powers.

Hoplite. He needs a shield design, but not too sure what it will be yet. Power armour.

Aura. She is a conversion of the DC Ice Heroclix figure. Force fields.

Stormchild. A straight-forward repaint of Mary Marvel. Lightning and stuff.

I haven't really thought much about their origin etc. They must be a fairly tight-knit group to go in for the whole uniform colour look. I've toyed with the idea of them being employed by the European Union - would explain the colours and uniform - and having them be from France, Austria, Greece and Germany (a blond with blitz powers - why not make her German?). This would leave the door open for expansion to include some other nationalities. I'm not even sure who the leader is. Maybe Stormchild - it would be nice to have a woman in charge. Powers are also ill-defined at the moment. I'll come up with something for Clobberin' Time, run them against some villains and see where we go from there.

The next Super gang will definitely have to be some bad guys and gals!

I have a ton of marking to do this weekend and it looks like it will run into next week (why do Year 13s feel the need to use every page in their exam booklets... sigh), but I'm determined to finish the last dozen figures for Geoff this week. They should be complete by next weekend.

Nate

Plast Craft Feudal Dwelling review

I ordered one of these Plast Craft feudal dwelling sets last week in order to beef up my 28mm Samurai terrain for Ronin. Part of a range of scenery for the Kensei game, it features two buildings made from PVC plastic and corrugated card. It comes in a slim cardboard box with an attractive sleeve featuring photos of the completed buildings.

My first reaction on opening it was surprise - no instructions. On the sleeve it says to download them from the website, which I did on my ipad, but I thought it odd that something as simple as a sheet of paper with printed instructions was not included.
I laid out all of the pieces to mimic the first illustration on the instruction sheet which referred to the pieces by number. This was useful, because some of the windows etc that you pop out of the buildings are actually used later on.

I began with the larger building and made the mistake of putting it together with PVA. Having earlier assembled one of the temples. I should have remembered that superglue is actually the best adhesive to use. As such, having completed the basic framework, I left it to dry overnight. The pieces fit together very well, and the assembly is very straight forward.

The next night I finished the assembly, with superglue this time, and it went very quickly. The instructions were clear and the pieces to use were obvious. Once completed though, the tabs on each corner and the window frames etc. were bright white and very obvious. Some people would probably be happy to leave the building like that, but for me it stood out glaringly. So the next day I attacked it with the paint brush, using Vallejo Stone Grey mixed with varying degrees of white (for the upper walls) and black (for the stone work). The results can be seen below:

Both buildings side by side with some Perry Samurai for scale

A close up so that you can see the corners where I've done the touch ups.

Aside from having to download the instructions, I really had no issues with constructing this kit. If I did it again I would use Superglue for the whole construction, but PVA still works - it is just a bit slower in drying. The final result is really nice, as you can see above. Touching up the corner tabs with  a bit of paint is not essential, but I would recommend it, as it completes the model.

From the website, here is the photo of the assembled kit. You will notice the tabs which I painted over.

Relatively cheap, pretty and easy - that is my kind of terrain. Recommended.

I now need to finish painting my other Samurai Buntai and start playing!

Nate

Ronin

While I await the figures I've ordered for 1588 I thought I'd get another skirmish project underway. This is the first buntai for Ronin and represents men from the clan of Tomuchisake Dan.

The Buntai assembles under a Torii gate.

The Samurai leader.

The companion Samurai.

Ashigaru with yari.

Asigaru with Yumi

Ashigaru with teppo

Note that they all bear the mon of the Tomuchisake clan - a stylised half empty sake bottle.
All figures are from the Perry Samurai range. Although I've now painted plenty of this range for Geoff, this is my first time dealing with Japanese armour with all of its laces. I've learned a few things that I'll keep in mind for when I paint up the opposition to this group, the buntai for Yumisushi Nate. First and foremost is the top of the do (cuirass) and how it connects at the shoulders. Second, it would be a good idea to leave the area under the laces that connect the kusazuri (tassets) black in order for the laces to stand out more. This clan has gone to the expense of lacquering all of the armour red, but the next one will be in metallic black, so the laces and clothing will provide all of the colour.
In the meantime, I have some fallshirmjager to paint for Craig, so I'll get cracking on a few of them next.

Nate

Samurai commissions

The last lot of figures in Geoff's pre-Christmas commission were completed this morning.

Group photo! How can I get the phone to focus on the group in front rather than the distant detail?

Two Samurai and a geisha - armed and dangerous!

From the rear.

The other two Samurai.

I think the dragonfly pattern on the guy on the right came out really well.

I don't know if it is my best painting, but I'm really happy with the patterns on their clothing.

Nate

Commands and Colours board

I've had the Zvezda Samurai Battles box with the Commands and Colours rules and Napoleonic Commands and Colours sitting around for a few months now. A couple of nights ago I finally got around to reading the rules properly, and I am impressed, even without having played a game. I wasn't too impressed with the Zvezda Samurai figures - I found them brittle and painful to assemble, so I had always planed to use 15mm figures. In order to track casualties, rather than removing individual figures I decided that I would use mini-dice like I do with my One Hour Wargames rules. Finally, I decided that I'd put together my own board to play on. I used the mountain tiles from the Samurai set to trace around and drew up hexes on an old grass mat that isn't really used any more. The result was better than I thought it would be.

The board set up for the Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima.

A closer look. Ignore the two bare MDF bases on the top left  - I was measuring what would fit well in the hexes.

I had considered basing all of the figures individually on 15mm squares, but dismissed it as a bit fiddly. It would also mean rebasing all of these figures, which was not a pleasant prospect.I'd also have to order a few more archers and arquebuses. I plan on painting the back edge of the bases with the dice colour that matches them.

Nate

Korean commissions

'I'm sending you some Koreans to paint', says Geoff. 'Cool', says I. 'What do they look like?' A Quick look at the Perry site says that they are pretty much all black and white. Oh this will be easy I think to myself. Famous last words...
Nevertheless, they are now complete and presented here for viewing edification.

Some militia to start with.

And some more militia - do they look too white?

Korean soldiers with pole arms. Stylish in black and white.

More soldiers on the charge.

Archers to make up numbers

I still have two officers to paint, but these will be done alongside the 17th Century artillery crew, Huguenots and civilians in my next batch of painting. I'm looking forward to not painting so much white!

Nate