Khador Painting II

Not much doing since Friday was the start of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Along with gaming, soccer is a real obsession in my life (as well as my lovely girlfriend and daughter.) So, I don't expect to get much done in the next couple of weeks when it comes to painting. Hopefully I will be able to get some gaming in as I would like to finally see Malifaux on the table as well as some more WARMACHINE.

I did finally base Vlad and give him a shot of sealant. I am not very happy with the stuff I picked up this time. It seems to give the model a sheen. I bought Valsar Krystal Flat. It comes out in a serious blast and the mist is rather coarse. I felt that it made the coat blotchy and uneven. Might give it another try on a less humid day. Below is a picture of the finished Vlad and a Destroyer that I hope to finish before the Cup is over. I am really getting dialed into WARMACHINE especially since Paul is once again catching the fever. Per our agreement of having only painted models make an appearance in MKII I need to paint this Destroyer, Yuri the Axe and the mercenary Rheinholt so I can switch up my lists while I paint the larger units that I crave.

Combat Commander Match

Played a game of Combat Commander tonight from the new Normandy Battlepack. The Battlepack comes with maps, counters, scenarios and special Normandy rules. We played the first scenario in the pack and it used new rules such as starshells and night modifiers. Some of the other rules in the pack that we didn't play with were dealing with things such as armor support, rural roads and swimming. There were around nine or ten new rules that were pertinent to Normandy. The new maps look fantastic like other Combat Commander maps and the chits were also standard fare including new commanders.

We played the Pegasus Bridge scenario, Germans v. British. The Germans were tasked with holding a bridge head surrounded by trenches and wire. There was an artillery gun and a pillbox to complete the defenses. The Germans had poor troops (conscript squads and green teams) and one leader. Reinforcements would arrive on the three or four time box. These were volksgrenediers and rifle squads as well as another commander. Would the weak troops survive in time for help to arrive? Could they hold the bridge?

The British enter the map from a glider so they must be in or adjacent to two specific hexes at set up. The Limeys, mainly paratroopers and elite teams, set up in two groups. One occupied some woods near the map edge and the other started rather forward in the open. Allies had to capture the bridge for victory points. The first couple of turns were the perfect storm for the British. They steadily advanced into and over some wire and stumbled into the front trenches after approaching under the cover of smoke. The most the Germans could do was minimal harassing fire and a little shuffling around of troops. The British machine kept rolling as they continued to assault and capture the infantry gun and pillbox as the Germans made a strategic retreat to the other side of the bridge and into some trenches. At this time it kind of turned into a stalemate with victory points shifting back and forth and the frontlines holding. Time passed and we forgot to do the night sniper at every time event for the entire game! Reinforcements arrived for both sides but the Germans were the only ones that got their reserves into the fight (although, it was mainly to die.) The momentum died around the seventh time box and ended on a sudden death on time marker nine. I could be slightly off about the end, hopefully Paul will correct me in the comments! British won with two victory points. It was a hard fought battle that stayed tight through most of the game. The British big push at the beginning was the keystone to cementing their victory because without that there was no way they could have made it to the trenches as the Germans were throwing out lots of illumination and had a steady hand of fire cards after the push. It is much easier to break those paratroopers when they are moving in the open under illumination.

Overall it was a very fun game that had just the right mix of back and forth to make it feel like you were always in the game. Being able to use Artillery cards was huge as it made cards that are a lot of the time useless have some worth. I am looking forward to see how the remainder of the new rules change the game play experience. I give Normandy Battlepack a 4 (out of 5) finger salute!

Khador Painting

I have been working on this Vlad the Dark Prince model for sometime now. I really wanted to concentrate on my shading skills for this model and I think that I have exceeded my expections (which at times are really low!) I did four series of highlights for the red and blue along with 10 or 15 layers of ink glazing. I still think that I could work on easing the visual transition between layers but from distance it looks good. Just have to finish the face, metals and touch-up with black.

How should I base him? Snow or forest?

Soviet SMG and Command

Got my workspace all spruced up this morning in anticipation of painting up some 15mm Soviet SMG troops by Command Decision. Also have a couple random commander types in there that are holding binoculars or holding a pistol. I prepped these models for painting a couple of months ago but just ran out of steam when I finally got down to actually painting. I was in a frenzy during the late fall/early winter where I was painting almost a squad a day of Soviet infantry. These dudes were left over after I already filled out a platoon of infantry and support. These models are considered extra and would beef my forces if I wanted to play some bigger games. In finishing these models I am completing one box of infantry in this scale. Next up: More armour.

Here is a photo of the SMG troops primed and ready for paint. I use small 1/4" washers for the bases.

The command group primed. I like to use Army Painter Desert Yellow for the Soviet fatigues.

Getting some paint on now. I mainly use GW paints but also like P3 and Vallejo.

Didn't use a whole lot of colors. Fortress Gray, Boltgun Metal, Snakebite Leather, Elf Flesh, Chaos Black and Soviet Green (Vallejo)

All finished except for the basing and a quick coat of anti-shine varnish. I use the "dip method" on ordinary troops. Although it is not really a dip method as I put it on with a brush. I find that I can get more painted figs to the table when I use this production method.

I felt as though I had a productive day. These models have been lingering around and staring at me with a mocking countenance for months now. Finally put them in their place!

I have spent a lot of time over the past couple of weeks concentrating on painting WARMACHINE miniatures at the 28mm scale. It took me some time to adjust to this smaller scale and the way that I paint when I know that I am going to finish them by "dipping." A lot of the times it was just a swipe or two of paint on a figure and then move on to the next.

Next: Still a couple of things staring at me from the desk: Vlad, The Butcher, Warjacks (Kodiak, Spriggan and Destroyer) as well as a couple of Uncharted Seas fleets. The fleets are a real albatross around my neck. See a future blog post about my travails with Spartan Games.

Reinforcements II

Just opened up the mailbox to a package containing

tanks and troops produced by Battle Honors. U.S. .30 Caliber MGs (6102),Mortars (6103), Infantry Command (6104) and Bazooka (6109) for the troop portion. In terms of armor, I received M4A3 Sherman 75mm (6067) and T34/85 Tank (3006). Thanks to evwargamer from bartertown.com, great price and lightning fast shipping.

One of my best friends says, "The price is so good, how could you afford not buy it?" This was such a case. These packs will join the others on the shelf which means they are later in the queue rather than earlier. I think I should be seeing them in a year or so!

Although they might jump ahead of the 15mm Germans as I have already painted up a lot of Command Decision models and I am anxious to gauge the difference between them and Battle Honors. Just on visual inspection Battle Honors seems to have a lot less flash.

Workshop

Just a quick picture of my work space. I like to think that I can keep things neat and tidy but that only happens for a small time right before I start a new project or revive an old. I like to clean and organize the desk before I start in on a new endeavor.

Should be clean again soon as I am getting ready to grind out some work on an existing project. I feel like I should get to going on finishing up 28mm Vietnam range from The Assault Group or get those blasted Uncharted Seas Imperial fleet finished. Both have been lingering for some time I just can't seem to get the gumption to jump back into it, stalled out you might say.

Warmachine Match

The big red machine does it again.




Just got done with a 25 pt. WARMACHINE match. It was a lot of fun because Paul and I have agreed to only put painted models on the table. It was even more fun because we have not played much WARMACHINE since the MKII announcement. Before that time we played every week. It took us a little while to get back into the swing of the game but once we found our confidence I feel like it was a smooth play. I still tend to forget little things, like allocating focus. I get to looking ahead at the fantastic chain of events that I have lined up and start moving models around. The next thing you know I am looking to the 'jack for it's part in the drama and lo! and behold! the damn thing is out of coal and water, just kind of limping around taking weak swings at infantry instead of laying it's steel mitts around another 'jack's neck while burying an ice axe in it's face. Other than that it was fun to dust off some old models and show off the newer stuff I have been painting in my anticipation of more WARMACHINE games. Feels great to have a painted army on the table, seems as though they move in greater harmony under my commanding hand! HAHAHAH!
It was a knock-down, drag out, in the dirt, down to the last man, type of game. That kind of fight is why I fight with WARMACHINEs.
For the Motherland!

Near the end for ole' Stryker










The image quality of the photos is really poor on my cellphone. Maybe I will be smart enough to pack the real camera next time.