Painting Update - Misc + Team Yankee + Stargrave

Hello everyone,

I hope your July has been going well. Trying to capitalize on this months posting momentum, I thought I would post some painting progress. It’s a little bit across a few genres, but has been where my brain has been at over the past month or so. I definitely got some inspiration from getting some games in at Cangames, but also from where Duncan and Mike are focusing their painting at as well.

Trying something different, and because my painting was all over the place, I’ll drop some notes and commentary with the pics themselves this time.

Have a great rest of your month.

I honestly can’t remember when or where I got this pilot from…I want to say I got him as a freebie for a subscription or a miniatures order. I want to say it is either a limited Artizan or Pulp Figures model. It’s great WW1 or inter-wars period model. My main inspiration for this one came from some pics of WW1 and post-war Canadian Arctic pilots…I’m liking how the coat came out, different leather tone than what I normally do.

These Canadian Iltis jeeps were part of my buildup for Cangames as I needed a couple more TOW vehicles for the fun. Great vehicles that painted up really quickly. They’ll do well with any TeamYankee Canadian Airborne Regiment formation that I try running in the future.

Not that long ago, Duncan graciously gave me another 3 GAZ trucks that he had printed up to go along with the other 4 that he has given me. These remain a lot of fun to paint up, and google search gives you so many different options for paint schemes. These will do well in Cold War and Imagi-nations settings.

I broke out another pack of Northstar Figures Stargrave minis…this time it was the Marksmen pack with a humanoid and alien looking sniper dudes. I ended up going with the same scheme that Northstar used for the humanoid…but for the alien…I ended up changing my original colours and going with a light bright-ish green and tan brown complimentary tone. This was a real blast to work out and refine. I’m really happy with how it turned out. I ended up basing the figures like my last Stargrave figs…space station deck with trash and debris,

2026's Trek up Mt. Shame

Painted

15mm         59, +15 (Iltis and Gaz)

28mm+       22, +3 (pilot and marksmen)

Terrain      +38

  

Bought       103

Progress    +16    

Painting Update - Russian BMP/BRM 1's

Hello everyone,

I hope the day is finding you all well...the freezing rain that was supposed to hit us seems to have stayed south and/or just avoided our area all together. 

 

This is another post showing off some more 3D printed items from my buddy Duncan. He gave me a few printed BMP's to try out and throw some paint on. Admittedly, I've had them a while, but working through the palette cleanser, they made it to the painting table. I had to do a little work with the turrets as they were a little tight...I ended up filing/cutting down the turret ring on the hull of the vehicles and bringing the turret themselves down a little. It didn't take too much work, and they are now fairly free.

 

The BMP's themselves are the reconnaissance variant, the BRM and in this case the BRM 1. I'm not too overly worried on complete accuracy for how I'm going to employ them on the field, but from an OCD perspective they have a variety of subtle differences between the BMP and BRM. In terms of where these models will go, I think they will more than likely fit in the Imagi-nation world and probably find a home in Afropia as one of a number of potential belligerents for the Petoriastan Defence Force (PDF).

 

Anywho, they painted up fairly quickly and the 3D resin took the paint really well. I ended up having to snag a couple of Soviet crewmembers from my Team Yankee pile and cut them down as 2 of the BMP/BRM's had the drivers hatch open...so in went a crewmember.

 

Overall, the prints weren't too bad. I ended up snapping part of the tracks off and then gluing and refusing them to the hull...it worked well and looks like they should have the strength to stand up to the 'war'.  

 

Enjoy the pics. 

2026's Trek up Mt. Shame

Painted

15mm           9, +5    

28mm+       16

Terrain        0

  

Bought        0

Progress   +25

 

 

Painting Update - Soviet Gaz 66 Utility Trucks

Hello Everyone,

I hope that all is going well on your respective side of the internet. We are in a fairly slow weather transition here between winter-spring-winter-almost spring-more winter; we have had some fairly warm temps and some fairly not so warm temps with about a 30-40 degree swing and maybe a bit more if you count windchill.

Regardless, the paint has been rolling on. I wanted to share this quick post with you to highlight some 3d printed models that I received from Duncan some time ago. I had actually painted one of them up really quickly to see how they would handle the paint - and then I promptly forgot about the other three. So, I totally rectified that last week and finished them up.

I like the mix of models that I received. Each truck is sporting a different load with only one of them having the full canvased back for troop hauling or other somesuch. The others are much more about the cargo, and one of them has nothing in the back so I can make up some random cargo loads...or technical gun mounts, should I choose. I did paint them up in a mix of civilian and military paint scheme and I think they will suit very well for Cold War and/or imagi-nations.

Enjoy the pics.

2026's Trek up Mt. Shame

Painted

15mm           4, +4    

28mm+       16

Terrain        0

  

Bought        0

Progress   +20

Afropian Thoughts

Hello everyone,

As some may recall, I had the idea of starting up an imagi-nation a while back, and have since been rather stuck on finer details and OCD-isms. My main intent was to give some additional motivation to help me paint through my pile of miniature shame. While I had some great initial planning and outline, I nonetheless got stuck on setting details and some gaming processes.

At the same time, I have actually been slowly progressing through portions of the pile, so that is at least a partial win. I really like the background and setting creation, so I have had fun with that part, but again I got stuck on various facets and how to represent them in a campaign. While I have had the game on pause for the past year, I do have some initial movements and engagements plotted out, but nonetheless I needed  some further inspiration. Luckily I stumbled upon the Lead Adventurer Forum and a thread dedicated to post-WW2 imaginations. Now, I admit I am late to the thread and some of the blogs referenced are no longer current or accessible, but I did find some excellent imagination elements to help me move along.

I had been stuck on physical setting and actually struggling with how to place Afropia within the physical world…my initial take was to be loose with it and just let it happen, but along the way I started to fret that small detail. I saw some excellent inspiration from the movies, Moody’s Adventures imagi-nation is incorporating the Republic of  Zubrowka from the Hotel Grand Budapest). From his work, I actually found an excellent reference and partial solution to some of my hurdles.

Thanks to Moody, I discovered a great imagi-nation generating-system by Ivan Sorensen titled Not Just a Brush War. I gotta say, I think it will help with some of the campaign mechanics…and now I just need to make a damned map…and get more painting done…and not fret the physical and imagined worlds. Just an item or two.

With that update, have a great weekend folk. Happy Spring.

Yup, Afropia is still alive!!

Hey folks,

Just thought I’d drop a quick post…it’s been a pretty distracting and busy past month or so. While I’ve been able to keep getting some painting done, I just haven’t been able to get any posts in. In between those two, I’ve continued to put thought on how my Imagi-nation will shape up. I have a few ideas on back story, mostly focusing on Petoriastan, but am working out how I can randomize the evolutions of the country.

One of the key things I’ve had on my to-do list was a usable map…I do have a regional map of the countries, but would really like to break each nation down to the national level and give some representation to countryscape. 

At least Petoriastan has a flag. Long live...

Take care…

Things that make you go hmmm...

Hey Everyone,

So yeah, winter has been here my friends...yesterday afternoon it was -27C and with the wind it was a summery -42...good times were had, and I sincerely hope everyone was able to stay warm and find shelter. As of the moment, the extreme cold weather warning we've had for past couple of days has ended, and I think it will be near or above freezing tomorrow. Not that I don't mind cold weather, I do enjoy it.

Anywho, beyond that random thought, I have been on a bit of a purchase kick lately. Admittedly while I have tried to support the hobby - brick n mortar and online artists, I have not approached the same level of purchase rush as I have in my earlier years in the hobby. My pile of shame/lead mountain/plastic peaks are somewhat impressive (at least by my standards) and I've been trying to get through portions of them over the years.

Regardless, as I mentioned in my first post of the year, I had to good fortune to stumble on a discount at one of my local stores. I was kinda surprised that they had very little Battlefront stock...no Team Yankee that I can think of and very little Flames of War. Having given some deep thoughts to my Imagi-nations, I thought I'd take a look and see what I could supplement my current stocks with (I've got a good mix, but needed some vehicles to fit into the broader picture of the region). Well, I did end up picking up a couple of boxes of mid-war FoW plastics and to my surprise they were discounted 50%. Chalking this up to right place right time, I gladly paid and made my out of the store, ala IKEAs infamous 'Start the Car' commercial.

Not too long afterwards, I happened to discover another LGS in the city’s west end that I had heard about but had just never had an opportunity to get to. Well, I happened to look at their website and noticed that their TY and FoW stock was also on clearance. So, roadtrip and I ended up buying a few packs and boxes that could fit into Team Yankee, Imagi-Nations, and really any other Cold War or modern scenario that I could think of.

I asked the clerk on the way out if they were getting out of the Battlefront game and he mentioned that while they were glad to stock it, it was proving increasingly harder for them to keep that market going and to sustain the volume of stock needed to be in that part of the game. 

To be honest, I was not very surprised by this...I have seen more than a few hobby shops step into the market, buy big up front and then be unable to sustain the customer base, over price the product (one store had about a 30% markup higher than anyone one else in the city or province), or lose interest once they got past the first few buying cycles.

A bit of a score for me, but also a little disappointing to not see the local shops able to sustain the stocklists. Anywho, here's to a varied purchase plan and scheme: 

1 x TY Israeli Magach 6 box

1 x TY Israeli Mech Inf platoon

1 x TY Israeli Skyhawks

1 x TY Iran Basij Company

Painted

15mm            10

28mm+          9, 

Bought         120, +96 (as above)

Progress      -101 

2022...Oh What a Year

 Howdy folks,

I hope the new year has found you healthy, happy, and perhaps a little wise(r)...I could definitely use some of that...wise(r) or Wiser's, either would work. I have to say it is always a little surprising when the calendar rolls over, it comes too soon and at times has certainly taken too long to get here. 

In terms of painting and gaming, it was a journey...some models seemed to paint themselves and others took a disproportionate amount of time which in itself can be quite frustrating as it slowed progress. However, out of that I can say that I am very happy with the results of the painting, even if I had hoped for higher volumes, I am happy with the quality of the paintjob.

Compared to my thoughts just over 12 months ago, last post of 2021, I am happy to say that I chipped away at a portion of lead mountain and some of its plastic shrubbery. I didn't make any records in terms of outputs, but I am happy to see I had some consistency over the past couple of years which was an overall increase compared to a low-point I had prior to the pandemic (2019 was not a stellar year for output or gaming).

I think the biggest difference between past years was the dramatic increase in the record-keeping of my painting and blog posting - at 36 posts for this year, it is my most productive in about the last 5-6, so huge success. I don't think I was able to get more games in, but I had roughly the same output with more posts...so you got to see some of my more random thoughts and more pics...so happy about that. I didn't get as much done, so I need to get better with my main objectives, however I did get a considerable amount of 28mm and 28mm+ done.

Whats on tap for next year? 

Definitely more gaming...I'd like to see some Fallout, Legion, and give Marvel Crisis Protocol a try. 

In terms of painting...I'd like to get more output, obviously; but I'd like to chip away through more of my 15mm lead mountain AND through my collection of starter and expansion boxes for Team Yankee, The Walking Dead, and some of the bigger models for MCP.

In terms of projects...RED f'ing DAWN baby...this book has brought me back to Team Yankee and I'd like to get some of that accomplished and maybe see how I can work towards an extended campaign or psuedo-Firestorm. I’ve got the weather data, so you know, let’s see what that could give us. As well, I'd like to get the Nam Infantry Aces off the deck, and of course I'd really like to get some actual movement on my Afropia imagi-nations (this will compliment my 15mm painting objective nicely).

All that to say, Happy New Year to all...all the best in 2023!

Take care folks!!

A few notables from the year…

The Green Goblin, Marvel Crisis Protocol

Cable and Domino, Marvel Crisis Protocol

A couple of operatives, Spectre Miniatures

The Mysterious Stranger, Modiphius - Fallout Wasteland Warfare

Afropia...Wasn't That a Thing?

Hey Folks,

So yeah...Afropia...looking for some posting love...kinda feeling like this right now:

So yeah, I was getting pretty pumped and excited with this fictional region, and while it certainly hasn't died, I have to be honest and admit it has at best stalled. I have a lot of great ideas swirling in the brainpan and for Petoriastan I actually have about 100+ years of history loosely mapped out but with enough flex to be able to do some free-gaming throughout their history. But I haven’t gotten past that brainstorm setting.

Being honest, I think it is as a fairly small snag that just sapped my momentum and kept me from moving forward. It sounds super silly, but collided hard with the OCD...and I think it comes down to not having the ability to create a digital map to suit my vision. I have a map of the region in mind, and from that I started a narrative description of Petoriastan, and from there I wanted to translate that into a functional map.

So really, the next step that I need to commit to is getting a map out...whether it is a hand-draulically created one or I find an app (this hasn't worked yet, sigh/lol) or I jury-rig powerpoint or something like that. And maybe most importantly, K-I-S-S…keeping it simple.

All of this to say, I have some great ideas for Petoriastan, their rocky relationship with Aponwana and Alarus...so yes, Bueller is present, thank you for asking Ben Stein. Did I mention, I have a flag?!?

Have a great new year folks...stay safe, and all the best.

 

Hikers Guide to the Afropian Verse: Petoriastan

-- Hitchhiker astronaut with travel suitcase, by Dreamstime --

 

Welcome travelers!

 

From north to south, Petoriastan is a country that some have said that it simply has it all. The truth of that can certainly be debated, but there is no denying the beauty and variance in the country's topography. Comprising three provinces, the country has picturesque mountain peaks in the north, rolling foothills and grasslands in its midlands, and the south is punctuated by plains and shrub-lands. All in all, a little bit of something for any nature lover.

 

The Province of Stanistan

 

The northern province of Stanistan featuring the Crag Bluff mountain range is often considered to be the ancestral birthplace of Petoriastan and until the early 1920's was home to the nations capital. The rugged mountains of the Crag, part of the Afropian Highlands that stretch throughout the region, are a point of pride for the province and for many in the country. Rich in deposits, natural resources, and majestic mountain springs and streams, the province is an interesting compromise and at times competing mix of industrialization desires and ecological stewardship. The province's architecture certainly reflects its history; its landscape dotted with the traditional family and clan compounds, familiar throughout Petoriastan, however with greater representation in Stanistan. That is not to say that the province is void of contemporary or more modern architecture, the larger cities of the province as well as new infrastructure are reflective of international influences and tastes that have made their way to the country and this northern province.

 

The countries capital until the 1920's, the city of Natsoytic serves as the provincial capital and has since boasted a fairly robust tourism trade focused around the Crag and also as a showcase to the country's historical roots - architecture, markets, and a piece to Petoriastan's tribal and clan past, being home to Chieftain's Palace - often referred to as the 'Palace' or 'Castle'.

The Province of Middlepet

Defined by the Oria River, the province of Middlepet has hints of the Crag Bluff range on its western edge, but it is largely known for the foothills and grasslands that roll out from the range north of the Oria. The lands to the east roll towards the border with Mikaroon and neighbors the region often referred to as the French Basin. The rolling foothills continue south and transform into grasslands and wide open spaces. While the province of Stanistan is also known for its traditional family livestock farms and ranches, Middlepet is home to more modern and larger farming operations that include both livestock and crop-based ventures, not to mention its fishing communities along the nations coastline. Home to such diversity within the country, the farming tradition with the industrialist spirit along with the fisherman's love of the sea, the province seemingly is a land of many faces and identities.

Home to the nation's capital, the city of Constanara can trace its birth to the movement of the countries government centre to the province. Still met with disdain in some parts of the country, the movement of capital cities sparked a wider period of development for the province of Middlepet and is really the catalyst for Constanara's modern development and embrace with the modern world.

The Province of Salzland

Picking up where Middlepet's grasslands leave off, the province of Salzland features these same grasslands boasting rich farmland and transitions to plains and shrublands highlighted by low valleys and basin with regions that are a mix of wet and dry throughout the year. Noted for its water-work and irrigation projects, the province is perhaps the least populated and developed of the three. Although a look at the coastline communities and you might forget the harshness of Salzland's shrubland climate.

 

Come to Petoriastan - experience it for yourself - tell a friend

 

Some Soviet Heavy Metal

Howdy folks,

As always I’m hoping all is well in your respective worlds and the challenges of the past long weekend are becoming a memory. 

Given the events in the Ukraine I have been focusing primarily on painting up Marvel Crisis Protocol figures, they have been a lot of fun to paint, and have certainly challenged my technique. However, I thought I would start to work towards my modern mojo, and I recently tackled some T72’s.

Admittedly they were quite quick to paint up and I kept their colours and markings very generic…if nothing, they will find home in the struggles of the 1980s Cold War or the imagi-nations of the coming conflicts in the Afropian region. Having painted up 10 or so T72s to date, I thought I would go with a bit more of a bright tone to this latest addition. I liked how they turned out and they are definitely in line with some of my previous Soviet additions, but also very much in line with the variance in tone and shade that I had seen with some of online references.

Enjoy the pics!

2022 Lead Mountain Climb

Painted

15mm               30, +6

28mm+             23

 

Bought             10

Progress          +43

A few more Afropia thoughts...

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all doing well and as the weather starts to turn to shades of Spring and Summer...I hope you get some time and relaxation outside.

As soon as I finalized my last post on Afropia thoughts, I had a few more come to mind over the next day or so...as well, I had the chance to see an older post from Rabbits In My Basement on his imagi-nation experience and that got me further thinking on my initial 'hot takes' on my Afropian nations. You can check out his post via the link, but with post-colonial elements in my country overview, I wanted to be sure that I am not just re-hashing what has already been or worse minimizing significant histories for countries that have lived the worst of best and wrong intentions. There's alot of these histories that are horrendously depressing, and in the end I want to make sure that I'm focusing on the gaming aspect and not being locked into specific historic lines.

Not to mention, my main objective is to get miniatures on the table and not necessarily focusing on strict historical accuracy. So I guess I'll maintain the idea of 'post-colonial' in terms of working towards a model for size of the countries (i.e. populace and military forces). And like the name I've chosen, there will be elements from each of these continents.

 

I think my next steps that I identified earlier still stand...all I need to do is refine, and I will probably stick to 1-2 country profiles per post.

All in all, just a tracking of my random thoughts

What kind of place is this Afropia?

Howdy folks,

I hope you are all well and good…a quick thought popped into my mind after my last post; I have mentioned Afropia in a few posts now and I guess at some point I have to give a little more thought and definition to this Imagi-nation. Initially my thought was to have only a single country as the primary setting, but quickly I realized this needed to expand to include at least one potential rival/belligerent…and then this quickly expanded to considering some additional options.

So, I now have the Afropian region to ponder.

At this point I have an idea on countries, some initial concepts on their political leanings, sponsor state in a case or two, and general geography. In total, the region is composed of 6 countries…1 country in the ‘centre’ with 4 others surrounding it with some degree of shared border + one island nation (blame Farcry 6 for this latest addition).

Petoriastan - thank you Family Guy, lol…although I don’t think it is a dictator state. Mountains to the north, plains/prairie-like region in the centre, plains and grasslands to the south. No solid thoughts on sponsor, but some colonial history…maybe British…

Mikaroon - to the north and east of Petoriastan…hills in the northern and western region, plains in the central and eastern, with coastline as its south border. My initial thoughts are former French/European colonial…

Federation of Alarus - shares the northwester border of Petoriastan. Federation had a nice sound to it, Marxist-Leninist for its politics; as such seems a classic Soviet satellite inspired state. Mountains and hills in its east and south-east region…hills pretty much everywhere else.

West Chartoria - again thank you Family Guy and my wife (who is worthy of her own nation-state) for the name inspiration. It falls on the western border of Petoriastan and that border also extends to share the western border of Aponwana. Hills in the north, mountains/hills in the west, shared savannah in the south east with both Petoriastan and Aponwana. Right now I’m thinking a more modern day take on South Africa, perhaps some former British colonialism history as well.

Aponwana - fully along the southern border of Petoriastan with their western border shared with West Chartoria. Savannah and grasslands throughout, I am picturing this as being more in line with a classic failed state vibe…former Soviet protectorate or something to that effect.

And finally, Yara or Tropico or something…not sure on the name yet, but heavily inspired by Caribbean or Latin America setting. Regardless, it is an island nation, to the east of Petoriastan or Aponwana.

That is where things stand at the moment. Next steps will be to review/focus the geopolitics of the countries…get them a flag, something to identify with.

Take care. Until next time…

Afropia, Imagi-nations and what gaming dreams are...

...made of, I guess, or some sh%t like that...basically just trying to keep an idea going that started out as inspiration and getting minis on the table that now encompasses trying to get my historical themed gaming/painting mojo back in action...

 

Howdy folks, I hope all is well on your side, I suspect that the tides of fortune and highs vs. lows certainly is keeping many of us/you on our collective toes. I have to admit, since the first reports of the balloon going up, sh%t getting real, and Ukraine-Russia going hot I have had read a few blog posts on how this is challenging the historical and modern gaming hobby. And I gotta say, I feel some of that challenge...now, before anyone gets heavy or torqued in any reaction, I gotta say, I think I've been here before.

There was a time when I had zero interest in gaming current, modern, or even 'relatively' recent conflicts in any theatre and geographical location. Be it Africa, Middle East, or Europe, my flavour of historical gaming was fairly restrictive to the [not so] Great War and WW2. Given some of my experiences in the green..or blue suit, I guess...I wasn't too keen on modern and Africa was waaaaayyyyy out of the question. Having experienced 2nd hand some of the impacts/effects of the 90's conflicts, I couldn't see how I could approach these various battlespaces with less than solemn reverence. It took the effort of dealing with some of my inner demons, recognize my PTSD symptoms, and just try gaming with good folks...also having folks to game with that had gone through similar avoidance was beneficial. I have to recognize and acknowledge that it was Peter Pig and their AK-47 ruleset that helped me break that wall...and if you read my last Afropia post, I didn't even get to game it, but I did read the ruleset and that helped to reframe my reality with the gaming environment and still respect the non-fictional context around the various conflicts and regions.

 

And to be honest, I'm still not overly cool with current events, it really does depend on the ruleset, context, and treatment around the conflict

So I guess what I'm saying with the current conflict/war...I've been here before, and I can move forward again...it just takes some time and some good folks to game with. I have had Afropia on my mind quite a bit this past week and I do enjoy creating scenarios. So I will have to revisit some of my original thoughts from January and try to get moving on settings and scenario creation. We'll see how the progress goes.

If you're in a position to help out those affected by this war, good on you and good luck; if you're affected by this war, all the best to you and yours.

Cheers.

Rules for Imagi-Nations - Afropia?

 Hello folks,

One of my random thoughts on my end year 2021 post was the idea of moving forward with an 'imagi-nation' type setting to bring together some ideas I had on scenario creation, maximizing playibility, fielding more figures, and really just getting more games in. I know that with Duncan and Mike we have some ideas on SW Legion and the Nam...but I also wanted something that I could have where I could take as little as a dozen or so figures or as many as a couple of companies and have some enjoyable games.

As this is a longer term project and idea, I thought I would invest in some scoping activities and rulesets that could be feasible within these arcs of dice throwing. Now, I have to say I have always been entertained by some great blogs over the years and some have provided some great inspiration for getting to this point. As well, seeing some battle reports of various games and rulesets has also helped guide the research side of this as well. 

 

Most recently I re-opened my copy of "7 Days to the Rhine" and this looks promising to have some cold-war era kit with a more limited size of force. I think it holds the same promise as Force on Force Cold War and am really curious to try it out. In the scope that I'm looking at, I see it fitting in a scenario with standing armies going toe-to-toe who have the joy of being Superpower benefactors...or some variance there of...more to follow.

 

I have always been a big fan of Force on Force, and if you look through some of my posts from years back you will see some very enjoyable battle reports. This ruleset would allow me the minimalist approach to force size and there are some excellent companion books that can help scale everything from standing army modern fights to counter insurgency to peacemaking/keeping/building operations. So again, a very good ruleset to have as a reference point.

 

In similar vein to Force on Force (and Skirmish Sangin below), Contact Front is a modern ruleset focused on the Afghanistan experience and professional army vs. insurgent warfare. It does look pretty interesting, it is a little more manageable as the book is on the lighter side of pages, and looks like it is fairly open to scenario and force improvisation.

 

Skirmish Sangin from Dish Dash is one that I am not overly familiar with. I did have a chance about 3 years ago to get a game in and was pretty happy with the mechanics and gameplay. This set is focused primarily on Afghanistan and ISAF, however much to my delight they have also developed Skirmish AFRIKA with a reimagining of the African continent with enough similarity to be familiar, and enough reimagining for this to accommodate a variety of nation state models and histories. It does look fairly promising so I will be curious to see how I can adapt this.

In the African vein, Peter Pig are certainly no stranger to gaming. I recently picked up both old and 'new' version of their AK47 ruleset. I have to be honest, this is the ruleset that allowed me the headspace and comfort to start modern gaming and definitely the idea of gaming in Africa. Having served there back in the day, I had some misgivings about modern gaming. Now, while I had bought this set years ago, and enjoyed reading it immensely, I unfortunately never got around to gaming it. So looking at it again was critical to approaching my Imagi-Nation. In terms of scale, this does represent a bit of a miniatures 'investment' as it allows warlord and state actor armies, it has a base level of 5 units...so some investment in terms of grunts, etc. Although, I may have to see how I can adapt as I have read so many great battle reports that it is really enticing.

At this point, I'm pretty confident that my battlespace and geographical reference will be rather Afropia (Africa-Europe-Asia) focused...this lets me use the full range of terrain and figures that I have but I will have to scope and define this further.

I guess that's all I'm going to say about that...for now. 

Take care.

Painting Update

Hello Everyone,

 

I trust all is well in your areas of influence. Just a quick post today with a truly random collection of figures that I've painted up over the past little bit. These wasn't a particular focus in mind when I went through each of these, and you'll see by the pictures there really is not a cohesive connection between them. Simply put, they were on the table, and they needed painting.

 

Take care. Here are a few pics...

A remnant from the assembly of my Royal Canadian Dragoons force for Team Yankee, I had an extra Leopard 1 tank kicking around assembled and in need of a paintjob. As I'm starting to put some thought to an Imagi-Nations setting I am anticipating that there will be a need for some sturdy peacekeepers to hold the line somewhere in the region. As such, my blue helmets will have some white metal to bring to the conflict resolution table.

 

If I recall correctly, these glowy ghouls were originally from a convention special and then they went on the Modiphius's shopsite in the early days of lockdown. Given that they didn't require any painting for the figures, the bases were the only thing that needed some love. They're straight out of Fallout and will be perfect for any post-apoc and radioactive setting ala Zona Alfa.

A few-ish years back, I picked up a superheroes blister from Knight Models that was on sale at FDB Boutique. Now, I am a bigfan of the sculpts for Marvel Crisis Protocol, but regardless I still have some heroes to paint up. Originally, I was going to use a similar technique as what I had painted up my MCP Ironman previous, however after visiting Red Dragon over the past summer I picked up Turbodork's Redrum...which as Dan told me was "Ironman in a bottle"...to say the least, he was right. I brought the paint home, put a fresh black base coat on 'little' Ironman and hit him with some Redrum. I gotta say, Dan was spot on!! For the silver metallic, I used vj gunmetal and nuln oil overtop. For the bronzey-gold elements I used the same technique that I did on MCP Ironman.

Finally, I picked up some figs in 2020 from Monster Fight Club, amongst them was an IT inspired Pennywise...I actually picked up 2. I painted one already, here which I painted up ala Pennywise. For the second, I was going to go with the clown from American Horror Story, but was instead struck by inspiration and instead painted this one up ala Homey the Clown from In Living Colour. The figure was a lot of fun, especially trying to capture the Homey look...and the balloons were a great test of my wet blending different shades. All in all, good fun.

Anywho...I hope you enjoyed the pics.

2022 Lead Mountain Climb

Painted

15mm               8, +1 (Leopard tank)

28mm+             4, +4 (homey the clown, 2 x ghouls, ironman)

 

Bought              0

 

Progress          +12