tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-171003702026-08-08T20:28:01.799+01:00Gaming, Software Development, Life and Art.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.comBlogger358125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-74518356870277760272023-01-12T22:16:00.000+00:002023-01-12T22:16:05.564+00:00

Quite a few minis finished in this period, though with 3 months to work in it's not as good as I hoped though I have been learning things with the Speedpaints that I think will help me go through a lot of figures in a short period. First up Orctober painting An Orc and an Elf Lady from Alternative Armies Flintloque range - my first time of painting an Orc in Orctober. Frostgrave Archer,

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-87480899976340783652022-12-15T08:18:00.002+00:002022-12-15T08:18:25.684+00:00

 More useful tips on using Army Painter Speedpaints to get great effects, interesting to think about using them more like oils with blending than conventional acrylics. Thanks to Dana Howl for keeping on with these great tips.

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-17378561719737328502022-11-27T17:11:00.001+00:002022-11-27T17:11:29.688+00:00

 Speedpaints are the Army Painter's response to GW's Contrast paints where the idea is that a single specially formulated paint allows a base coat, shade and highlight effect to be achieved in one application. There has been some controversy about the reactivation effect where overpainting or highlighting causes the speedpaint to bleed in with any water based paint or glaze. This video shows

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-15542864935024514802022-10-09T11:09:00.001+01:002022-10-09T11:09:39.343+01:00

 Some figures that I got finished this month mainly for Five Parsecs from Home and Stargrave, with one marker for Silver Bayonet/ROSD. These were largely painted with The Army Painter Speedpaints, where I've found that that it really is critical to get a smooth finish on the undercoat as otherwise the paint tends to clump around any spots. For the Culwych and Olwen campaign I needed a

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-66160283844176798532022-10-02T16:26:00.002+01:002022-10-02T16:26:13.119+01:00

 Finally finished my first set of the walls and barricades I bought from Alternative Armies in the very good value pack, each type of construction comes with 12 40mm lengths, so suitable for DBA or HotT in 15mm or other miniatures games.  These stone walls could be used easily with either 28mm or 15mm obviously representing a much more formidable barrier in 15mm. The following

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-31755657435596249572022-09-30T13:19:00.003+01:002022-09-30T13:19:29.310+01:00

A picture of my scratch-built terrain finished, made from scrap cardboard, builder's foam, grape stems and scouring pads.Some papercraft buildings and containers from David Graffam Models on Wargames VaultAnd my painting workbench is full of so many things that are close to completion but just not making it over the line in September.All 22 of these should hopefully be complete by the end of the

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-28441926063510466382022-09-23T14:40:00.000+01:002022-09-23T14:40:17.064+01:00

 Some more finished minis. Actually from back in May, with more Alternative Armies, Northstar, Copplestone (Grenadier) and Ral Partha.All a bit overexposed but hopefully some time I'll get to do some photography with better light. Grenadier Future Warriors Scavengers sculpted by the brilliant Mark Copplestone. Now available from EM4 Miniatures.Alternative Armies Giant Spiders, L, 2R and R.

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-21527378738185421122022-09-22T22:32:00.004+01:002022-09-22T22:32:33.332+01:00

 Finally resurrecting an old project that I wanted to do from quite a while ago. Song of Arthur and Merlin is an adaptation of the fantasy skirmish game Song of Blades and Heroes for Arthurian legend and historical post-Roman Britain. The fantasy side of the rules can either be made its primary focus or played down for a gritty game of Dark Age battle.My projectI'm doing it in 28mm

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-84246798181149359732022-09-12T21:52:00.002+01:002022-09-12T21:52:31.573+01:00

I decided to create a new example character to run a solo campaign with using the numerous tables in the back of the Scarlet Heroes rulebook.This one is less randomly generated as I had a rough concept that I wanted to use. This will be a halfling thief with a motivation of 'exploring ruins for profit'. Buckle Lao  Class: Thief             &

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-43363494639177367202022-05-02T16:48:00.005+01:002022-05-02T16:48:40.356+01:00

 A last few figures that I finished but didn't have time to photograph before the end of April.Grenadier Future Warriors dictator and wasteland nomad, Mark Copplestone designs that I enjoy painting. Alternative Armies giant spiders. Useful for both fantasy and SF games. 

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-45496953438106260662022-04-29T12:28:00.002+01:002022-04-29T12:28:57.869+01:00

 First batch of miniatures finished in April 2022 - some old Grenadier Future Wars figures sculpted by Mark Copplestone that will see service in Five Parsecs, my Frostgrave mage and apprentice and a couple of cultists, an Alternative Armies carnivorous plant and a Reaper Troll. These include my first efforts with Army Painter Speedpaints on the cultists and plant.Future Wars Police - the "

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-54780214293649929292022-04-01T20:40:00.001+01:002022-04-01T20:40:05.342+01:00

 A few minis finished off in March 2022. All 28mm figuresReaper Bones mainly, with the bear, rats and worm from that range and a Ral Partha wraith. Mainly painted with Vallejo paintsThese will get used for Frostgrave, Rangers of Shadow Deep and other fantasy games.

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-3492389116549670012022-02-28T20:18:00.000+00:002022-02-28T20:18:28.030+00:00

 For my first Five Parsecs from Home campaign I'm going with the easy mode and an all human starting crew. The CrewUsing the die rolls I've got this set1. Background: Tech Guild +1 savvy, +1d6 credits (1), +1 high tech weapon, Motivation: Revenge +2 xp, 1 rival, Class: Nomad +1 gear2. Background: Mining Colony +1 toughness, Motivation: Survival +1 toughness, Class: Special Agent +1

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-83177290706143143772022-02-27T21:03:00.001+00:002022-02-27T21:03:05.090+00:00

 Setting up my first Five Parsecs campaign gives me some choices such as which scale of miniatures to use as I have some 28mm SF (and lots of historical/fantasy minis that might be useful) and quite a lot of 15mm SF.Figure options 15mm Alternative Armies have several ranges that can work for this, particularly Laserburn and HoF, which have different aliens and a variety of human

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-89815945469506033952022-01-02T21:54:00.000+00:002022-01-02T21:54:39.426+00:00

Reviving an old project that had stalled long ago - 20mm Biblical warfare with the Hebrews and the Philistines. This is based on using mainly a few packs of Caesar Miniatures 20mm figures though to add chariots to the Philistines I'll use some horses from old Atlantic miniatures though the chariot bodies will need to be scratch built and probably the wheels.I used the Hebrew and Philistine packs

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-79559194837137465702021-12-24T12:19:00.001+00:002021-12-24T12:19:47.554+00:00

Looking at Osprey's new Silver Bayonet game I immediately spotted how it would be a good use for my Flintloque miniatures. My Witchlands undead give me vampires and revenants that I can use and I have a range of nations including civilian types that can allow plenty of variations.  I've started planning a section based on my Catalucian Dark Elves as I think I've got a nice range

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-39243268175189177642021-12-02T20:41:00.002+00:002021-12-02T20:41:38.226+00:00

My BelloLugosi Militia section. I like to try and have a theme for my Flintloque sections with giving the figures individual names, so inspired by BellaLugosi, I've gone with classic Hollywood movie stars from the 1930s. I've not been totally rigid in making these fit to the characters as I just really wanted to have some inspiration for the names and to get away from just calling them Luigi,

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-1160251865184638762021-11-27T22:26:00.000+00:002021-11-27T22:26:05.559+00:00

Recently I've dug up my collection of old Metagaming Microgames, which started with Ogre in the early days of my gaming hobby in the end of the 1970s. I've got quite a lot of these games, so I will not try and list everything in this one post and some of the less played games I need to spend time studying and replayging to remember what they were like.Ogre is the most played as it is easy to play

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-25269321677333535462021-10-25T20:33:00.001+01:002021-10-25T20:33:16.850+01:00

 A couple more wargaming books from Bob Cordery.Gridded Naval WargamesOne for me to pursue ACW naval battles with, though I am also really interested in the unusual designs of the pre-dreadnaught era with the casement batteries and particularly the naval actions of the 1879 War of the Pacific. There are 6 sets of rules included in the book including 4 battle reports and a guide to

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-56620717843111885332021-10-13T21:45:00.002+01:002021-10-13T21:45:48.907+01:00

A playtest of my latest version of the Portable Napoleonic Wargame for the American Civil War, Brigade level rules. I used Scenario 25 from Neil Thomas' One Hour Wargames though I adapted it by having both sides with the same size forces rather than the smaller blue army though I adjusted the balance by the Confederate infantry all having smoothbores rather than rifles. The scenario is inspired

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-73586437394041884162021-10-03T20:37:00.001+01:002021-10-03T20:37:16.941+01:00

American Civil War wargaming - a short list of recommended books. This is my personal set of recommendations for gaming in the ACW though there is a vast literature available particularly from university presses in the US. Uniforms: The following two Ospreys cover most of the basic uniforms of the forces involved, though not the more specialised volunteer units like the Zouves, Chasseurs, etc

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-41868182159180354962021-09-21T19:55:00.003+01:002021-09-21T19:55:59.496+01:00

5 Non fiction books that have inspired my wargaming and ideas on the rules to game them. Pegasus Bridge Stephen Ambrose Ambrose has his limitations as a historian, but he is an excellent storyteller and the coup de main at Pegasus Bridge is a remarkable event and an example of careful planning and execution. The actual capture of the bridge would not be a particularly great wargame as the

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-13379686145603604512020-09-22T13:55:00.006+01:002022-09-13T22:02:38.279+01:00

To beleatedly continue with my look at Scarlet Heroes I thought it was time to create a character. Previous postsSystem DescriptionMagic in Scarlet Heroes Lead Foot (yes I do tend toward puns) Str: 13 +1 Int 14 +1 Dex 12 Wis 17 +2 Con 16 +2 Cha 8 -1 Starting GP: 90 Attack Bonus +1 AC:  HP: 8 Fray Die: 1D6 Spells: Level 1 - 1 per day I decided to use the random background tables and

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-58448798928177145392020-05-21T21:28:00.001+01:002020-05-21T21:28:28.932+01:00

Alternative Armies have posted a new scenario for Toads in the Witchlands with Toadoroni vs undead Toadoroni, which I like but I suspect I would adapt for my own use to make it a bit smaller as I only have the Toadoroni line so far and am tempted to buy that undead section too, but in the short term could use my existing Zombie line. Hopefully it won't be too long till I get a chance to do that.

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17100370.post-17185737995988701012020-04-15T17:33:00.002+01:002020-04-15T17:33:52.776+01:00

Some singly based 15mm ACW figures intended for use with Sharp Practice. 2 Confederate officers 9 Confederate infantry and my first Union infantryman for this project The yank and the 2 officers The Sesech infantry. Mixture of Peter Pig and Essex miniatures.

Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com0