Back To Basics: Wargames Foundry Home Guard

(Warning: a small rant ahead. Pictures of models after the break, if you want to skip ahead.)

So I've sort of hit painter's block... I do paint... but I seem to take ages, not finish stuff other than the occasional odd miniature here and there. I buy stuff, build them, start paint a couple and then... I loose interest. It's just not the Wargamer's Attention Deficit Disorder, otherwise known as the Magpie or "OOh shiny" syndrome. Oh I got that too, but this is something else.

I was thinking back to when I started in the hobby. You bought a thing. Built it. Painted it. Played with it within a week or so. Sometimes you had a big project (like that Tamiya 1:35 Möbelwagen). If you didn't have the correct paint you used another, or mixed a couple of paints to a rough estimate of the box cover art. Things were simpler back then, I thought.

No this isn't a "Things were better before" post.

But no... things weren't simpler, my methods were. Now we have 200 or somewhere abouts paints in the GW range, many of them technical paints, some are dry, some are layer paints, some are washes and some are glazes, some are base paints. Back then you had paints, and inks. You could thin the paints to make washes, use the inks for pin washes or glazes, and you could wipe all of your paint from the brush for drybrushing. You drybrushed or highlighted, washed or pin washed, and that was it.

Don't get me wrong, all the new techniques, all the new kinds of paints are fantastic. You can do some amazing things. But they also lead to overcomplication. Do I need to paint every model like it could belong in the 'Eavy Metal section of White Dwarf? No, but I try to. It's partially because the models have become better and more detailed so they lure you into a complicated paint job. Back then the models often had unadorned armour, maybe the odd spike or symbol somewhere. If you wanted to you could freehand something or put a decal on it. Nowadays the armours are sculpted with lots of details and 3d insignia that beckons to be painted, highlighted, washed, weathered and then some git are doing them in non-metallic metallics. (Don't get me started about that... the Emperor's new paint scheme I call it.) But I'm setting my ambitions too high. It's not that I can't paint that fine, I can. But I don't need to, and it takes too long time.

My stash of Home Guard. Also includes some Crusader and Warlord figures in the top rows.

So I dug up a bunch of Wargames Foundry British Home Guard that I have had in my stash for a while, and decided to go back to the basics with them.

All your base are belong to... swine?

I was not much impressed by the scenic bases GW had released before christmas, but the hero bases recently released piqued my interest. As my FLGS was out of the 40k one I bought the Fantasy version to review.

(Note: the sprues are really the same size, some sort of trickery with the photographs have ensued.)

The first sprue. Some interesting stuff, lots of skulls.

Second sprue. The giant sarcophagus lid on the right was what drew my eye originally.

Fun with magnets!

I'm becoming more and more fond of converting stuff with magnets. It's partly because I can't make my mind up about the various options available, and with magnets you can swap around parts between games.

I do realise this increases the list or army building time since if I just build stuff to a fixed specification I can't change my force between games that much. On the other hand my games are few and far between so I usually don't remember how my figures are kitted out, this way I can do the army list first and then change the figures to suit.

I'm still alive...

...at least I think so.

This will be a short update. Having recently divorced and moved house I have now finally gotten around to installing an internet connection. Which means I can update the blog again! I didn't want to do it through the phone because of the clunky blogger app or from work because hey, it's work and I'm not supposed to be blogging.

Hobbywise the last year has been a bit brutal. I have been living at my mom's extra apartment, separated from most of my miniatures and paints. It didn't keep me from buying more though, but I didn't want to start any big new projects because I would have to pack them up again. I still have to unpack all my other stuff, I wonder if I find something I've forgotten about?

Anyway, I'm back, so expect hobby related stuff and the occassional rant now and then.
Happy gaming!

Battle of Britain on Kickstarter

Hi gang, just a quick one, I'm supposed to be on vacation.

PSC Games is doing a kickstarter campaign for a re-release of Richard Borg's classic Battle of Britain boardgame. With updated rules and new funky plastic planes in 1/300 scale this looks like a winner.

Box mock-up

Spitfire model render

Heinkel 111 render

The campaign is already funded and we are currently hunting a lot of stretch goals. There is also the opportunity of buying extra planes as add-ons to use in Bag the Hun or similar dogfight games.

In case you are not interested in funding the kickstarter but think it's a nice idea, please go to Boardgame Geek and become a fan of the game (by clicking on the little heart icon) -- one of the stretch goals is bound to the number of fans on Boardgame Geek, and we are ever so close now. 

Pretty please with sugar on top?

Some thoughts about Horizon Wars

Horizon Wars by Robey Jenkins is the new set of wargames rules from Osprey publishing. This time it's all about big stompy robots and tanks in a not all too distant future -- albeit in 6mm or 1:285 scale. The game is designed to be generic which means you can use all the 6mm S/F stuff you already have, be it Battletech or Epic40k stuff, or maybe even Hammer's Slammers or other figures. [Edit: as someone pointed out you can use 10 or 15mm troops too!] There's a setting and a background included for those of us who need a little bit of inspiration for our games. It's quite funny actually. There's a Youtube video explaining how to play via a short battle report, I'm sure you can find it if you search on Youtube.

The pre-release blurb from Osprey

Before I go into the my thoughts about the game, lets take a detour shall we.

Life... and lots of things...

Hi gang.

First I'd like to apologize for my absence, it's been a long while since I wrote anything. This is because my personal life is going through some changes, and therefore my hobby time has been quite limited. When I have had some spare time I have used it for hobbying and to a some extent gaming, not writing on the blog.  Here, have a kitten as compensation.

Anyhoo, I'm still buying stuff in hope of better times to come. Here's what I have been up to, in no particular order.

Oooh, shiny!

It's almost Christmas, and I haven't written anything for more than a month. I had a slight burnout during november because of too many things going on at once, and then there was Star Wars. In order to avoid spoilers I didn't keep as much tabs on the online community as usual, instead I was following John Boyega on Instagram and other sites. I tell you right now, John Boyega seems like a very funny guy to be friends with.

But that's not what I wanted to show you today. Instead I have found some other new shinies.

"Mein Gott, was ist das? Essen mein flammenwerfer!"

Yes, it's a Ghar battlesuit from Beyond the Gates of Antares, Rick Priestley's new sci-fi game. "But what of Frostgrave" I hear you cry. Fear not, I'm plodding along with that one as well as all the WW2 and Star Wars stuff I have. It's just that a couple of my work mates go Gates of Antares crazy recently and I bought the Ghar stuff from the starter box off one of them.

Thaw of the Liche Lord unboxing

I got a package from the Dice Bag Lady today which included my Thaw of the Liche Lord loot. It's not as much of an unboxing as it's not a box, it's a book, but it came in a box. You get the idea. More interesting perhaps is that I'm also taking a look at the cultists also released.

Enjoy!

Feeling Frosty

I suppose none of you lot has missed this new game called Frostgrave? Well, if you have it came out about a half a year ago from Northstar Military Figures in collaboration with Osprey.

The cover of the rulebook, (c) Osprey Games 2015

Frostgrave is set in an ancient city which was buried in a magical blizzard hundreds of years ago. The city has begun to thaw and you play a Wizard venturing inside the city in search of magical secrets and treasures. You compose a band of followers to accompany you and your apprentice into the city, where you clash with other wizards and the magical inhabitants and monsters already present in the city.

Basius 2 review

Another Kickstarter pledge that finally arrived. Kickstarter is a bit like getting Christmas or birthday presents -- sometimes it takes so long that you have forgot that you backed the project in the first place. Even if you do remember you are not sure exactly what you plegdged for, how much money did you sink into the project and what options did you finally choose? Exactly like opening Christmas presents, you sort of know what you wished for but not exactly what you are getting. And since it was so long ago that you paid for your pledge, it feels like you are getting the stuff for free...

"BASIUS 2 - Deluxe Miniature Wargame Base Stamp Pad System" is the full name, and as it implies it's a sort of stamp that you can use to imprint a detailed texture onto a base using green stuff. It sounds more complicated than it is, at least in theory. The Stamps themselves are big chunky squares of resin, textured on both sides.

The two pads used to impress the texture. As you can tell by my glasses in the picture they are big.

WarColours paints review. In other words, I got new paints!!!

Hi gang. I'm in the middle of vacation, which involves dragging the family around Sweden to various tourists traps. When we're home I'm hoping for bad weather to get some hobby time in, because otherwise I have to paint the house... yep, 1:1 scale painting.

Speaking of paints I have been trying out a new manufacturer named WarColours, based in Cyprus.

Don't you just love trying out new paints?

This new range of paints are supplied in dropper bottles with child-proof caps. The consistency is smooth and they should be suitable for airbrushing as well -- the website claims that but I haven't tried it myself.

So long and thanks for all the fish - being a rant of epic length.

(Disclaimer: Some of the pictures on this page is (c) Games Workshop and is used without permission for discussion purposes only. No challenge of copyright is intended.)

I guess it hasn't escaped anybody that Games Workshop are doing a new version of Warhammer. Like Microsoft they have dropped the numbering system (except that Microsoft is counting again, just not correctly) and gone for a brand name instead. Sort of like Ikea.

Funny cause it's true.

But instead of Warhammer Bönkfjordnurpur it's called Warhammer Age of Sigmar and is a big change from the previous version. (If you haven't heard about it, go check it out, the link is above.) Now it has divided the internet gaming community in two halfs, each about as rabid as the other. It's hard to say which group is the largest though, and I don't doubt that GW will sell tons of boxes and call AoS a success.

The new Logo.

First, I understand why GW is doing this. I'm not opposed to change, I'm just opposed to stupidness. And change for change's sake. I think GW are grasping after straws. They need to reinvent themselves. The Hobbit license has failed so miserably that GW didn't even put out a boxed game for the third movie and hardly any models. Most of GW's sales are related to either the hobby in general (paints, etc) or Warhammer 40k. So something needed to be done with Warhammer Fantasy.

How to paint vehicles the Viking way

This one's for Anne, who asked how I had painted my little Kübelwagen.

The vehicle in question

Well, unfortunately I didn't take many WIP shots while I was painting it, but I will try and explain using photos of other vehicles I have painted the same way. So, where to begin? First of all, painting vehicles is nothing like painting figures. Although in theory you could employ the same techniques you can't use them the same way.

Doing a headcount.

As I mentioned previously I happened to aquire some Wargames Foundry German infantry -- a friend gave them to me, honestly -- and was thinking about how to use them. I then bought the Warlord Games German engineers to use the engineery bits to convert Perry DAK figures into... yes, engineers.

A good start for a platoon, although there are far too many officers!

So, my plan is to use the left over Warlord figures along with the Foundry figures to build an early war platoon. Not sure what I'm going to use it for, but I do have some early war British infantry and if Thomas buys the Home guard he has promised to, we can play Operation Seelöwe, the (planned but not executed) invasion of Great Britain.

However, I wasn't sure exactly how many figures I needed for an early war platoon, and when reading up on it a bit it varies quite a lot between the invasion of Poland in 1939 ) and Fall Gelb, the invasion of the low countries and France 1940. I don't know what organisation they used during the invasion of Denmark and Norway, but it's bound to be one or the other. In the interest of flexibility and be able to adapt my platoon to various different historical scenarios I plan to paint enough figures to be able to switch between 1939 and 1940 platoons.

The wheels and tracks of the Afrika Korps

I almost called this blogg post "Dune buggies". Anyway here are the Afrika Korps vehicles I did for the convention this easter.

My platoon commander and his second in command.

 If you missed the infantry just go to the previous post or click here.

A captured Bren Gun carrier in gerrman service.

More pictures after the break.

Reinforcements with a Surprise

I got a raise at work, retroactively six months back, so I decided to splurge on some toys from Warlord Games. I originally intended to buy a Sarissa Precision mansion in MDF, but it was out of stock, so I just randomly added stuff to the basket until I felt content. Well, not entirely random, but almost, since my original plan was foiled.

Weeee, lots of goodies!!!!

Let's take a closer look at what I got, shall we?

Blogging is not painting

Ooops, nearly two weeks without an update. Well I've been busy, painting and visiting Stockholm for a work course, among other things.

The great Henry Hyde has some tips about blogging in his Battlegames magazine, which says you should update often and be brief. Well I'm just the opposite, I don't update if I don't feel I have something to say or show. And when I do, I can't keep it short. Anyway, lots of WIP stuff, but nothing finished, or rather, I have no photos of finished stuff, because that involves me getting the camera out, setting up the light booth, etc.

But I have a couple of things to show you. First work is progressing on the kubelwagen and captured carrier I wrote about earlier. They are about 90% done including crew, just small niggling stuff like details, some stowage and weather. No pictures though, except for this one.

Perry 28mm kübelwagen with Tamiya 1/48 scale jerry can.

You see, I decided I needed some extra stowage on my vehicles, and perhaps a couple of fuel drums and what not to make some Jump Off points with. (Jump Off points are sort of deployment markers for Chain of Command, marking points on the board where you can deploy your troops.) So I picked up a Tamiya Jerry Can Set in 1/48 from my local friendly hobby shop.

I went in to buy a Jerry Can set, nothing more. And look what followed me home.

I also, somehow, managed to pick up an armoured car, oh dear. I have no idea how that happened. It seems that the British forces will have a numerical superiority at the convention though, so the armoured car will come in handy.

Mean green grassing machine

Being at home with man-flu (mucus seeping from my skull) gave me a chance to try out my new static grass applicator without endangering any other family members. Since this is a highly advanced electrical device, deadly in the wrong hands and not to be used by or on children and those of frail health, you can understand my worries.

No Beatles were harmed while testing the device.

The design is simple: the static grass is electrically charged by an electric source, one pole connected to the grass container, the other pole connected to surface you want to glue the grass to. In the old days you put the grass in a plastic container and shook it violently before pouring the grass out hoping that it would generate some static electricity. Another way which functioned marginally better was a "puffer bottle"; same thing, you shook the bottle and then pressed on it to blow the grass out. Anyway, the electricity makes the grass fibers stand on end while the glue dries and thus looking more realistic.

The wire inside the container is also connected to the metal mesh, charging the grass as it passes through.

A couple of years ago Noch unleashed their electronic grass applicator on the model railway market for a cost of about a couple of hundred euros or about hundred and fifty pounds. Other companies quickly followed suit, but the more ingenious railway modellers made their own from electric flyswatters. Now the fad has reached the wargames market. There are several different designs, but they all work on the same principle and yes, you can build your own, just google it. Being somewhat lazy I decided to buy a cheap Chinese version on eBay for 25 dollars including shipping.

It even has a "NO" switch. Luckily I'm a highly trained engineer with a specialty in "engrish".

A closer inspection revealed that it was indeed, a rebuilt electric fly swatter. No worries, it's not as if I paid a hundred pounds for it. I even got a small bag of unrealistically green static grass. So did it work? Read on to find out.

Even the sun has its spots

To supplement my Perry plastic Afrika Korps, I decided to buy a couple of their metal packs. At £7 for six figures they are not exactly cheap, and three packs cost as much as a box of their plastic figures. But I decided it was worth it, to get some different poses not possible to build from the box, and also because I really like the Perry twins' sculpts. In my experience metals are always better than plastic if all other things (like sculptor) being equal.

Perry Miniatures. Excellent sculpts, not so good casts.

I was in for a surprise though. The surface of the figures was quite uneven, with pits and even tiny holes were the metal hadn't filled the mold completely. Several rifles and one smg barrel were unformed, there were a lot of flash between legs on some figures, and the equipment on the back of some figures had big lumps of metal underneath. The figures are not unusable, but the quality is definitely not up to scratch. Either the Perry metals are extremely popular and have already worn out their moulds, or their caster is not up to scratch. A shame really.

As I now find that I need a few extra British figures I choose to buy another box of plastic figures instead of metals. Too bad, because Perry's metal British have long trousers instead of shorts and I wanted some variety but I do not dare to order them now.

Hugh Jarce, sculpted by Richard Ansell for TooFatLardies

Speaking of long trousers I recently found the Hugh Jarce figure that Richard Clarke commissioned for those who pre-ordered IABSM 3rd edition. He was buried in my lead pile under a bunch of Bushido miniatures. I originally planned to use him with my early war British, but now he gets to lead my desert forces instead. Armed with a drum magazine Tommy gun he's ready to bag the hun.