Sunday, January 27, 2013

More HOTT stuff

Here we have a few more older models for my undead HOTT army. First is a Grenadier Death Dragon, a very nice model that will likely serve as a Behemoth in my army. Bit of a bugger to put together though, and quite heavy!




I also did another GW Lahmian Vampire, I love this sculpt, she's a beauty. She will be my General, could be a Magician or Hero, or I might pair her up with a dark rider to be a Rider or Knight. Not sure yet.




Wednesday, January 23, 2013

The Black Prince's Chariot of Fear


In between units of Late Romans, I decided to blow the dust off an old 1980s Ral Partha 25mm fantasy model of a dark lord on a chariot which is not only pulled by Balrogs, but even has a Balrog as the chariot chassis. I acquired this at one of our club auctions, and I think it has changed hands a few times- perhaps because the box art looked kind of lame. But the model is actually kind of cool, and it was sculpted by Tom Meier. I intend to use it in my next HOTT army which has an undead theme. It also matches yesterdays bats.


The chassis Balrog sits under the plaform and holds the axle in his hands and feet- his yellow claws seen here from the rear:


The chassis Balrog also holds the chains which tether the pulling Balrogs in his mouth:


The giant goat skull hood-ornament is my favourite feature of the model:



The crew are a bit lame, the Black Prince is a bit on the wee side, even though he holds an elf head by the hair in his left hand, his two squires are gobbos- they are not bad actually.


But I would have preferred something more striking on the platform, such one of my favourite GW models, the Lahmian Vampire


Now, the big questions is what should the Black Prince be in HOTT terms?


Paladin (of the dark persuasion)? He has that petulant bully-loner look about him. Not sure I want one.
Hero or Hero General. Not a big fan of hero-generals since mine get killed or ensorcelled too easily
Behemoth (3 Balrogs after all, and the model is big) or Behemoth General - my current favourite plan.
Knight or Knight General? Ho hum. And they pursue and get themselves killed all too often.

Thoughts?

Monday, January 21, 2013

Auxilia palatina and friends

I completed six bases of late Roman auxilia troops by Foundry. I have decided to do the Battle of Adrianople using BBDBA to focus my painting, so these will be the 2 bases of auxilia required for each of the 3 Eastern Late Roman armies that I will need to put together. I also experimented with the Army Painter "jungle tufts" on the bases, which I think worked quite well. I think they are a better product than the GW tufts.



I also did a couple of giant bats by GW, I may use these as flyers in my undead themed HOTT army for the next EDBAG campaign. The tufts on these bases are Army Painter "highland tuft" product. Very dead looking...




Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Is it easy being green?


I can't decide whether green tunics are too much for my next unit of late Roman infantry, along with green shields. Or should I stick with a simple sandstone tunic with red trim. What do you think?

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Late Romans


First project of 2013 is a Late Roman army in 28mm starting with heavy infantray. These are Foundry, very nice sculpt by the Perrys, who are my favourite. Beautiful figs, just a joy to paint. I have another 2 units of unarmoured foot, and will likely order some archers and cavalry for my birthday later this month to round them out.


 I also experimented with some different basing materials, I used Woodland scenics ballast for the ground, cork for the rocks, and GW tufts for the grass bunches. I also based everything on 60mm frontages since they will be used for either WAC/WAB using casualty markers or element based games such as Dux Bellorum or DBA.






Friday, January 4, 2013

First off the line in 2013

Nothing much painted over this break, seem to have finished a number of big projects and have been contemplating what to do next. I knocked off a couple of Hat 1/72 Theban cavalry to fill out an orbat for an upcoming BBDBA game that I am hosting. Not much pose variety but accurate figs:


I also played around with the new camera a bit more on close-ups. Look - the cat has eyebrows!


(I think he is actually a Lorax).

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

New Year


As 2012 closes, and the world didn't end, it's time to take a bit of stock of projects completed and ongoing. I painted just over 1200 figures and models this year, about half of which were 1/72 scale. In this scale I completed a Swedish army for Maurice, Greeks and Persians for Impetus, Napoleonics for Lasalle and CCN, and various WW2 for small unit games. Next abundant were 28s which are Ancients, Medievals and ECW. Completed projects included Reconquista Christians and Moors, Celts and Romans, and Scots and Parliament for ECW. A couple of DBA armies and WW2 micro/pico scale stands. 

2012 output:
pico - 25 stands
6mm - 35 vehicles, 100 infantry
15mm - 65 foot, 12 mounted
20mm - 534 foot, 104 mounted, 16 vehicles
28mm - 261 foot, 106 mounted, 1 giant
54mm - 16 foot
Total - 986 foot, 222 mounted, 51 vehicles, 25 stands of picoarmor & a giant

In 2013 I have plans to continue WW2 in all three scales (go figure.....must be nuts), 28mm Late Romans and enemies, more 1/72 Napoleonics, and I am hoping to do some Fantasy stuff for D&D with the kids when my Reaper Bones stuff arrives in the spring.

Gaming-wise, I played less DBA than in previous years partly because one of my best gaming chums moved away (boo!). Command and Colors will continue to be a favourite next year, and I have high hopes for War and Conquest to take the place of WAB. I also look forward to figuring out Maurice and perhaps some more Lasalle.

Later folks- best wishes and good luck for 2013