Napoleonic Group Project - Battle of Waterloo (The Beginning)

A very exciting project that I will be undertaking this year is the beginning of a rather massive Napoleonic painting project with some friends and fellow painting enthusiasts.

Ever since I was a kid I have been fascinated with how great a fully painted and assembled Napoleonic army looks on the table top. I was first introduced to miniatures with 15 mm Napoleonic figures back when I was 12, so they will always hold a special spot in my hobby roots.

Along with Rob Chandler over at Fat Guy and a Paint Brush (http://fatguyandapaintbrush.blogspot.com/) and Brien Dulaney over at Dulanis Miniatures (http://dulanisminis.blogspot.com/) we will be re-creating the Battle of Waterloo in 28 mm with a wide variety of miniatures from different companies. This project will not have a "deadline" as we will all be adding to our respective forces even after we play through the battle itself.

Currently as it stand we will be using the Black Powder rules set that is produced by Warlord Games. They also make a supplement specifically for the time period covering the Battle of Waterloo, Albion Triumphant - Volume II.

Currently we have myself and Brien painting/playing the French and Rob painting the British and their allies.

I just received my first miniatures in from Warlord, French Starter Army (Waterloo):

I had recently did a test model so that I could map out the color scheme and feel for the army:

However with the miniatures in the army set they are all wearing great coats and so I will be spared a lot of the details that were in the test miniature above. This will be nice considering that I will be painting 6 or so units of 36 models initially to get the project started.

That's all for now, please go check out Rob and Brien's blogs, they really do some great work and will be a pleasure to do this project with.

Until next time,

Happy Painting - Joe

Kings of War Update #4 - Clash of Kings Army Complete!!!

Well I did it, under 3 weeks to fully assemble, prime and paint my Kings of War army for the Clash of Kings at Adepticon next Thursday.

It was a great challenge for me, I don't recommend this as a usual thing, but I think everyone should experience something like this. Its great for discovering new short cuts to getting units done, and you are also more in touch with how the piece will look as a whole. I know my next army I do I will be more knowledgeable about color selection, basing and overall feel.

Not the greatest picture, I will have a nice session of pictures when we arrive at Adepticon. But for now this is what we have.

While these are far from my best work, I think the color selection and basing really helps the golems stand out. 

Now its time to relax with my wife and son until I leave for the 11-12 hour journey in the Penske truck on Tuesday. Hope to see some new faces this year and really looking forward to the Clash of Kings.

Until Next Time,

Happy Painting - Joe

Kings of War Update #3 - Almost there!

Sorry for the lack of updates, painting this army in three weeks has been a challenge and I still have some more work to do.

I also had a pretty important exam for school, thankfully I passed and I am not Project+ Certified! Well that's pretty boring but it was nice to pass.

So to track what I have completed so far:

4x Angkor Heavy Mortarts

3x Gargoyle Units

2x Zombies Units

1x Golem Unit

Left to do:

3x Golem Units (90% complete)

2x Necromancers (10% complete)

I should have it all wrapped up tonight or the latest Friday afternoon.

Here are some pictures:

On thing you will notice is that I used scenic display bases for all my units. This is a fantastic feature of Kings of War, you get to play with the whole unit of painted figures until they are routed from the battlefield! This also meant that I could paint less figures for this quick job as the base size is what matters. 

Key point with this is the placement of a "leader" figure. In the game a lot of measurements and line of sight comes from the units leader. So for each unit you will notice a figure placed roughly at the center of the formation. This will allow me to easily verify my measurements and angles of sight with my opponents. 

Well off to finish the last of the Golems!

Until Next Time,

Happy Painting - Joe

Kings of War Update #2 - Golems!!!

So I have my first unit of Golems based and to a "playable" standard in terms of painting. Snow will be added to all the models once the army is done.

To paint these I did the following:

Stone Body

- Primed w/ Vallejo Black Primer
- Basecoat w/ VMA German Grey (Airbrush)
- Zenthial Highlight of VMA Base Grey (Airbrush)
- Drybrush w/ VMC Stonewall Grey

Gold

- Bascoat w/ VMA Rust
- Wash w/ Serphim Sepia (GW)
- Drybrush w/ Gehenna's Gold (GW)

This will get them to a point where I am not embarrassed to play with them on the table. Once the army is done if I have time, I can go back and do some details.

Next up we have a unit of Gargoyles that are awaiting their paint this evening.

That's it for this installment. Hopefully we will have this unit of Gargoyles and a Mortar painted before the end of the weekend.

Until Next Time,

Happy Painting - Joe

Kings of War - Clash of Kings Army Update #1

Today my bases came in from Alex over at Iron Heart Artisans and now we have all the pieces to get this army finished.

Here is the overview of all the units that will be in the army.

Whenever I start a new army I like to lay out the units so that I get an idea of how it will look on the table top. This lets me see how large the units foot print is for deployment, movement and overall look.

Just a quick update today, hopefully we will have some models to show off soon!

Until Next Time,

Happy Painting - Joe

Kings of War Project - Clash of Kings Adepticon 2015

So as I am known to do, I changed my army idea for the Kings of War, Clash of Kings tournament at Adepticon next month.

Initially I was going to paint an army that was focused around the Elohi from the Basilean Range, models can be seen below.

After thinking about what I thought the meta game would be like at the event, I felt that most people would be prepared for the type of list that I was bringing. It was fast and hit like a truck, but with some key rounds of shooting or a savy opponent who would block or manage my charge lanes I would be in some serious trouble. 

Now I have three weeks to get my army together, painted, and hopefully get at least one practice game in to see my plan in action. 

Here is the list I will be running for the event:

1500pt Abyssal Dwarf w/ Undead Allies

6x Lesser Obsidian Golems 175

Brew of Haste

6x Lesser Obsidian Golems 165

Fire-oil

3x Lesser Obsidian Golems 90

3x Lesser Obsidian Golems 90

10x Gargoyles 90

10x Gargoyles 90

10x Gargoyles 90

Angkor Heavy Mortar 90

Angkor Heavy Mortar 90

Angkor Heavy Mortar 90

Angkor Heavy Mortar 90

---Allies--- (no more than 25% of army total)

20x Zombies 65

20x Zombies 65

Necromancer 110

Necromancer 110

Total: 1500

This army is similar to one that I played about a year ago in a local league. So I think it should do okay. 

This week I will be assembling the models needed to get this army on the table. One cool thing about Kings of War is that models are not removed on an individual bases when wounded or killed. This allows you to base your units on scenic large bases and makes it really easy to move around the table. This is also great because when playing a massed battle wargame like Kings of War nothing is more depressing than watching a whole unit that you labored over to get blown apart turn 1 and have only a handful go figures left. 

Please check out a good friend of mine, Alex Landing, and his company Iron Heart Artisans. They will be making all of the bases for me out of MDF and they make fantastic products and are extremely affordable.

http://ironheartartisans.com/

I will be posting up the updates on this project as I go and we will see if I can get it finished in time!

Until Next Time,

Happy Painting - Joe

Sometimes.....there is just no time!

Crazy past week or so for me. Real life took over and I haven't been able to spend much time at all painting or doing anything hobby related.

Over the next couple of weeks my production will be slow with an upcoming exam for school. So we will see what the future holds for what I need to have done.

Meantime, here is an Ironclad Dreadnought that I painted up a few years back, really fun to paint, but that was before I knew the glories of airbrushing. That green would have been much easier to paint!

The only update I have for the moment is for the Mars Attacks Robot. I used Mechanic Joe for this one as at Adepticon we will have 2 others piloted by Martians, so Earth needed its own!

Until next time!

Happy Painting - Joe

SAGA Update - Norman General Complete

Busy weekend full of painting, and one of the things that I have completed is the Norman General for my SAGA force.

This is not a miniature that I was super fond of, but I needed a General and this is what was available.

All in all I like the way he turned out, and I look forward to painting up some Mounted Hearthgaurd to go along with him.

SAGA Normans Update #1: Norman Leader

I have far too many projects going on right now and it has been hard for me to get into my SAGA force since I started this blog. But I wont give up!

Here are a few WIP shots of the Norman Leader for my all mounted force.

Some simple colors really. I wont use this color combination on any of the Hearth-guard that will make up the rest of my force initially. The gold was also be used only on the weapon hilts where I feel its appropriate. He is about 90% done with only the straps to highlight, eyes painted, and painting some wood grain on the back of the shield.

The horse he came with has to be re-based. After talking with a friend of mine who plays SAGA he suggested that I mount the general on a larger base. The model came with a 25mm cavalry base, but I will be putting him on a 50mm with some display elements included.

Mars Attacks Update: Sidney Rose on Henry and Martian Mutant Ant

Some more progress on the Mars Attacks miniatures that I have been painting. These models have so much character and really do get the painting juices flowing!

The Mutant Ant was particularly fun and challenging to paint and make look right. With the whole figure being red you really have to play on the highlights of the armor plates of the body.

As for Sidney Rose and his huge pet flea Henry, this was the most unusual model that I have painted. For being a single piece PVC model, it was easy to clean and a blast to paint. Again I cant stress the character of these models enough and lend themselves to quick or detailed painting.

Forgot to paint the eyes.....

Well that's it for now, hopefully you have been enjoying these miniatures and my blog in general.

Until next time,

Happy Painting - Joe

Enforcer Peacekeeper Finished!

So I got the Enforcer Peacekeeper finished and all based up. These model was a blast to work on and I might do a couple more but in some different color schemes.

Great models and could represent a ton of models in other games.

Martian Spider & Handler Completed

Small update today, I finished up the Martian handler to go along with the Mutant Spider that I posted the other day.

The clear plastic bubble helmets, while awesome, are a pain to get to go on properly. You cant use super glue as it will possibly fog upon drying and ruin the clear effect.

Anyway here are some photos:

Mars Attacks.....Bugs can get HUGE!!

Mars Attacks is a great out of the box board/miniatures game. The most fun part about the line and game is the imagery that is pulled from the old Topps comic and trading cards.

We have all seen the fun yet horrible Mars Attacks movie with Jack Nicholson, but there is far more going on than just that.

Here is one of my favorite models from Mars Attacks: The Miniatures Games.

And these huge creepy crawlers are not left to their own devices in the game. They are guided by privileged, at least they think so, handlers. Here is the WIP of one of those handlers.

Until next time,

Happy Painting- Joe

Circle Orboros Commission Complete

Its done!

Finally finished up the unit of Warpborn Skin Walkers for the Circle Orbors Commission that I started at the end of last year.

Client seems to be very happy with the results and that is the most important thing.

Here is the finished unit:

The armor on the Circle Orboros models is pretty much the worst thing I have ever painted. It may not seem like much, but the intricate trim on these armor plates is ridiculous. They look cool when done, but I don't know if I could do army for myself with that type of armor.

Until next time,

Happy Painting - Joe

DreadBall Xtreme Convict Team - Adepticon Demos

So Adepticon is right around the corner, if you don't know what or where Adepticon is check it out here:

Adepticon 2015

This is a great show for any miniatures gamer, tons of events that go all through the night, as well as a large painting competition called the Crystal Brush.

As I will be running the Mantic Games booth at Adepticon we needed to make sure we had a demo set of the new DreadBall Xtreme game. This product will release at Adepticon and is a blast to play. 

Here are some photos of the Convicts team from the starter set:

There are a couple of knocked down models to do as well, but this will be the team that is used for one side of the game. 

If you haven't tried DreadBall you really should. It's a fantastic game that plays quickly and was developed for league play so that your not just playing what seems like the same game over and over again. 

Until next time,

Happy Painting - Joe