Making the August Deadline

Over a month since the last blog post! Not that nothing has been happening. NZ went into Level 2 (Level 3 in Auckland) and shit just all got very weird again. Honestly, I can imagine that the see-sawing of alert levels is playing serious games with everyone's mental health, not just mine, but I found I went into survival mode where I've worked my arse off and then crashed. Having been feeling very on top of things I'm now struggling for the energy to concentrate. Surprisingly, in the last week I seem to have regained my painting mojo while my energy levels sagged, and I think it is because painting is my zen release. Now I have prelim exams to mark and that is seriously impinging on my desire to paint. Therefore, in a way to avoid the guilt of painting when I should be marking, I've decided to do neither and write a long overdue blogpost.

So here is the painting I haven't displayed so far, starting with my work for Infamy Infamy.

4 groups of British warriors for Infamy Infamy. Nobles to the fore.

Skirmishers, painted using the magic of contrast paint, and my Barbarian leader and a musician.

The British army so far. I have another couple of infantry groups, another skirmishers, cavalry, chariots and naked crazies to go.

The Romans so far. Three groups of legionaries, Centurion, Optio and musician, as well as a scorpio. Numidians, slingers and Caetrati still to come.

Alongside my Infamy Infamy I have been steadily painting for Craig as well. Here are Taun Tauns and Rebel Veterans:

Close up of these guys.

And Craig's Wookies, painted the same way as my own using Sorastro's wet-blending advice

My birthday came and went, and with it some inevitable toy soldier acquisitions. There has been a small amount of painting on these new additions to the collection. 

The first of 5 French squads for Trench Hammer in my 54mm WWI project:

A VB rifle grenade team.

The other present was my long overdue descent into the world of Marvel Crisis Protocol. 

Iron Man 

Spiderman

The bases will all be painted when I've finished everyone so that they all match perfectly. I also plan to make sure that my city terrain matches as well. 

The aim for the near future is to get all of the Infamy Infamy figures painted and to get a few games under my belt. Simultaneously I want to finish Craig's Star Wars which is a single unit of rebel pathfinders before moving o nto painting his Wild West Exodus figures. By next weekend hopefully I'll have a some breathing room to play a game of something.

Nate

Terrain and stuff

It's over a month since my last post, and a busy month it has been. The family took advantage of cheap camper vans and we went to Northland for the school holidays. More on that later.

Wargaming wise, I've done a little bit of painting, but not as much as I would have liked. I've done quite a bit of terrain stuff though, so here comes the catch up.

 Terrain:

I bought Infamy Infamy for the Gallic Wars, and although the figures aren't painted, I've prioritised terrain. So you can see below my hayfields, roads, marshes and Gallic homesteads. Also, half of the river - I've run out of Woodland Scenics 'realistic' water for the second half at the moment.

The new terrain collected together

Closer look at the Gallic homesteads with Renedra wattle fencing and resin buildings from Caliver Books' battlefield buildings range.

Change of period - we'll put a stone bridge over the river and march some Marlburians over it. 

The view from this direction gives a better of the effect of the realistic water. I feel it could do with being deeper...

Figures:

C3P-0 and R2-D2

Death Troopers. An experiment of putting black contrast paint over a blue undercoat. It needed two coats, but pretty much worked.

General Veers

Taun Tauns for Craig.

I also painted a platoon of Goums for Chris and some villains and gangs for the Superheroes, but haven't taken any photos of them.

Travels

Northland is one of the more historic places one could choose to go in New Zealand, and our trip started with a detour to Ruapekapeka pa, the last battle of the Northern War in 1845-6. The rangatira Kawiti and 4-500 Nga Puhi warriors faced off against about 1300 British troops in a fortified position. It would have to be one of the best preserved of the battle pa left in New Zealand, which isn't saying much unfortunately. The gun pits and bunkers are still in place, although weather has taken its toll. I took photos of my daughter next to the 'holes in the ground' as a reference for how impressive the earthworks are.

Information board at the entrance  next to the car park.

Campaign map information board

Plan of attack information board

Looking toward the pa from the forward British position. It is the flat green area just behind the treeline.

The family at the gate after going down and then up a hill

At the pa - a carronade.

Number 1 daughter next to a bunker

Standing next to some of the entrenchments

Hopefully this gives an idea of their depth.

The Pou Whenua at the pa. A modern construction.

Walking back down the hill of the pa you can see the British forward and main positions in the centre of the photo.

Ruapekapeka is about 5 minutes off the main road between Whangarei and Paihia, and well worth a visit.

Flagstaff hill

The above is the flag pole that Hone Heke cut down multiple times - thus starting the Northern War (OK, there may be a bit more to it than that, and this is the replacement, not the original, but you get the idea).

We went to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but my phone was out of battery, so no photos sorry. I highly recommend a visit though.

Hongi Hika's pa in modern Keri Keri

If you don't know anything about Hongi Hika, let's just say he made a name for himself throughout the North Island, becoming famous or infamous depending on where you live. Here is Rotorua I have seen him compared to Hitler (then again, what is an article without a sensational headline)! 

The Keri Keri Mission station and then general store - the oldest stone building in New Zealand. They had some Regal Enterprises 54mm New Zealand Wars toy soldiers for sale. I didn't buy any. Very restrained.

The lighthouse at Cape Reinga. The top of the North Island. 

Cape Reinga is quite a spiritual place (and that doesn't mean I'm about to open an aromatherapy shop). The legends say that the spirits of deceased Maori dive off the cliff here before heading to Hawaikii. But even without that, there is something about standing at the tip of your country that makes the hairs stand on end just a little bit.

Tane Mahuta - a 2000 year old monstrous Kauri tree.

So there we have the whirlwind sightseeing tour. One of the things about Covid 19 stopping international tourism is that Kiwis were out seeing their country in droves. It was fantastic, and we hope to use the next two sets of holidays to explore more with the kids. The only part of the country I haven't been to are the Wairarapa, Otago and Fiordland, so they are on the target list.

As to inspiration, the trip may have seen me commit to purchasing some Empress Miniatures figures, but more on that later.

Plans:

I have some Star Wars Legion Wookies and rebel Pathfinders to paint for Craig. Then I aim to paint my armies for Infamy Infamy. Then Wild West Exodus figures for Craig. After that... well, there are plenty of options.

Nate

Dewback and Scouts

The latest figures to be finished are a Dewback and a unit of Imperial Scouts.

Great character in these models.

 I chose the rider with the modified Lewis gun in homage to my World War One obsession.

Once again I followed Sorastro's advice - wet blending followed by a wash.

The shading on the scouts is a bit too subtle in places. Some just look white.

The black is all Citadel Contrast Black Templar.

It took two evenings to get these guys painted, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Techniques like wet blending and using contrast paints are great fun.

Nate

Part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor

Leia arrived Thursday morning and was finished by Thursday night. A great figure to paint.

I just have some rebel specialists on their way now, and then I'll have the whole the whole rebel force to do a review of.
Meanwhile the painting of the Great War 54mm is proceeding well. The British are all done and the Germans are underway. The garage is packed with stuff from the old playroom at the moment, as it is being converted into a bedroom for my oldest daughter, so I don't have a gaming table. But I plan to have a Trench Hammer game as soon as I can.

Nate

Han Solo and Director Krennic(s)

So the last of the Rebels in my possession received his coat of paint, and I was going to celebrate with an army review, but then I went and ordered Leia, so I'll wait until she is finished before doing that.
Anyway, here is Han Solo:

Dressed in a duster coat as he was on Endor.

Han was always my favourite character, which is why I left him until last.

I followed Sorastro's idea of using washes to create the camouflage pattern

Try as I might, I just can't replicate Sorastro's way of highlighting shiny black, so the boots just got the standard German Grey with a black wash.

At the same time as Han I painted my Director Krennic, and Craig's version of the same.

Double the Krennic

Mine is on the left. The only real difference is the basing.

I still have a squad of Death troopers on the painting tray, but I'm going to leave them for a bit and try and paint all of my 54mm Great War figures. As I said last post, there are only 24 of them (plus two machine guns), and then back into the Imperials.

Nate

Luke and the Wookies

It is somewhat exciting that I am only one figure away from completing my rebel force for Star Wars Legion. It has been a highly productive few weeks in that regards, and the small batches that I've painted in - usually 6-7 figures has made it feel like I'm continuously turning out painted figures.

Wookie Warriors completed

 

A close up of the leader

And the bow-caster

Luke Skywalker in fatigues, with my attempt at the blue glow from the lightsaber

Front on showing the lightsaber blade glow

View of the back

And a gamer's perspective. I feel like I may have overdone the blue light reflection, but the photos look OK.

Once again, Sorastro's painting tutorials were my guide. While I am not as patient as he is in building up layers etc, his overall directions, especially in terms of colour choice, have been very helpful.

With only Han Solo left to paint, I've decided to order Leia as well, just to have the main four characters of the original trilogy.

Once the rebels are complete I plan to finish off my 54mm Great War figures. There are 28 to paint all up, which isn't too many, and then into the Imperials (and Craig's Wookies). Once Star Wars Legion is finished it will be into the Ancients for my Roman and Gallic Rule Britannia armies, and to finish Craig's Seleucids. Then, if I have any time left at the end of the year, I plan to get stuck into the Marlburians.

Nate