Sci-Fi Figure Samples

Alongside the vehicles, and obviously as an accompaniment, I painted up some old figures (Fantasy Forge and Denizen). More will follow.



Collectively known as "The Gribblies", these genetic experiments have a clear heritage and a VERY bad attitude!




Every veteran squad needs a clean cut, all-American boy to lead them....Or a scarred, psychotic, drug-addled professional killer at least.



 

 Some more of the mercenaries, hardened characters all, ready to sell themselves dearly for corporate profit or, if all else fails, some vague cause or other. I have painted enough for two evenly-equipped squads.


 

Leader K'Hiff and colleague

 

RPG K'Hiff alongside Sniper K'Hiff





Blooper K'Hiff




Las-rifle K'Hiff

The K'Hiff are a bit like the Smurfs or perhaps the Spice Girls. They do not have names as such (to me at least), but descriptions. I am not sure what dogmen would choose to call each other in truth.......Rowlf? Wufus? Barka?

G

Sci-Fi Vehicle Samples

I have, for several months now since I rediscovered the Stargrunt 2 rules on the GZG website, had a hankering for a small, skirmish level sci-fi campaign. To that end, I dug out a few 28mm miniatures and bits that I bought years ago for just such an eventuality and set to over a quiet couple of weekends. The figures are a mixture, from Fantasy Forge (long since defunct) to GZG and Denizen. To add to these few bits, I have a few more GZG vehicles and props, some Ainsty stuff and I have recently purchased the Wargames Factory Shock Troops and Heavy Weapons boxes. There is loads more out there, such as Pig Iron, Old Crow, etc., that may one day join the ranks, but I am (for once) starting small.

See what you think. I will post pics of the figures and other bits I have painted so far separately.

G



Three shots of my "large truck", a GZG offering which I think is no longer available. Not sure about the glass colour. I see this model as a sort of wheeled SHADO Interceptor (oh, happy childhood, though that is one Corgi model I did not own)





"Large truck's" smaller friend, again 28mm GZG and no longer available (I think). The numbers are painted on, the symbol is a WH40K transfer. I must try harder at painting camouflage, as I am not entirely happy wth the results.





Ainsty Castings crashed shuttle - still available!!! GW transfers again, the numbers from the original Rhino kit of 20-odd years ago.



Arthurian Samples

Greetings once more,

I sometimes paint a few test figures for a project or some special that grabs my attention and these fit that bill nicely. As I have posted before, I have a "complete" Romano-British army, but have yet to get into it other than these samples. Good Englishman that I am, when it does finally arrive on a gaming table near you, it will be more Ambrosius fighting the Germans than Vortigern employing them! It features a veritable mix of West Wind and Gripping Beast figures and I want to do something a bit different with the command figures but not quite sure how to pull it off. For example, I see the Pictish shaman as a bit of an animist, so bought some Vendel deer and hounds to accompany him on a scenic base as a mini-vignette. I don't want to paint duplicate figures, so I just need to work out a way of using the vignette as the single figure he represents without him getting unduly targetted and surrounded by hordes of savages all claiming base contact. I have similar ideas for each of the figures below, using monks to accompany the priest, standard bearers for the warriors, etc.

Ideas and suggestions very welcome!

G



Three shots of a well-armoured  Briton - West Wind figure I think. Let's call him Uriens.




Two shots of another well-armoured Briton, whom we shall call "Galahad" due to his evident youth. This figure also shows why I do not usually paint eyes - they are an irrelevance unless a) you hold the figure really close and b) your camera skills are up to close photography, unlike mine! And that is only if you can avoid the undead stare seen on so many figures with painted in eyes......





Two shots of Bishop Germanus, come to con a few Sarmatians out of their hard-earned citizenship (yes, I watched "King Arthur", and not even for Keira Knightly)





Sandy from Emmerdale (yes, I should get out more!) masquerading as a Pictish Shaman.





Badcath the Druid, otherwise known as "Man O'Magic"





"Free" sample of one of them "German" fellas obtained with the "Shieldwall" WAB supplement I think. I also think he is an Artizan figure, but do not know for sure. All I do know is that he eats sausage, drinks beer out of a mug with a lid and wears leather shorts at weekends..........before anyone complains, I am only joking. He is not even Bavarian!



1690

Hello again,

Project 3 of my "RESOLUTIONS" post stalled in Autumn last year, as daylight became limited, work got busier, pressure to "finish" other projects (30 Years' War for the Wargamer show) grew and I just "did other things". But Derby saw the purchase of some long-awaited cavalry and some of the excellent Warfare Miniatures figures, and more cavalry have been added since with the release of the Wargames Factory plastics.
So, to start this theme off, here are a few pics of the project to date (unvarnished and in need of terrained bases).


Light gun in the setting sun. The figures are converted from the separate legs/torso parts from the Wargames Factory infantry set, with random artillery tools from my spares box




Same gun and crew, better lighting?




The (Dutch) Brandenburg Regiment. Purists will probably tell me the drummer's uniform should be in reversed colours (D'oh!)




Trelawney's - I cannot say I enjoyed trying to paint the little black birds......




Huguenot Regiment "De La Meloniere" - both uniform and flag conjectural, but, I hope, plausible. Details on the 3 Huguenots regiments in the campaign are largely unknown




I can never remember whether this is supposed to be "Cambon" or "Caillemot".




This is the other one, either "Cambon" or "Caillemot". I really should make a positive ID and write it under the base!




Hanmer's, my only English Regiment currently. It will eventually be joined by Kirke's, Brewer's and Beaumont's at the very least. Should I move to the continent for my Williamite action, Churchill's will be a definite also.




Antrim's, the second of the two Jacobite regiments I have done so far. James' Lifeguard, Bellew's, O'Neill's, Clanrickarde's and Eustace's will all follow.




Lord Grand Prior's, the only regiment I have so far done grenadiers for, simply because I had details of their caps. It also gives some variety to a "uniform" project.





The second French regiment I painted, "Forez".

 


The first French regiment I painted, "Tournaisis". After Forez and Tournaisis, I doubt I will do any of the other four sent to Ireland to "assist" the Jacobites, but Zurlauben will be first up if I do - blue coats are different to what I have so far and the flag is a variation on the norm too, especially the Colonel's colour.

 Hope you enjoy. All figures are Wargames Factory plastics, some sporting conversions, except for an old Hinchliffe 6pdr (?) masquerading as a Jacobite light gun. The command elements shown do actually have the rest of the regiment to go with them, but I like flags!

Note to self - take a course on lighting photos to ensure limited shadow, shots in focus, etc.

G

Bitte Grussen Sie eine gnadige Fraulein, Ilse Dampfpanzer

Steampunk...........hmmm. Love Sherlock Holmes. Not interested in Colonials. Hated Dickens and Hardy, but Stevenson, Carroll and Verne lots of fun. Why then, do I desire some Victorian Sci-Fi so???

Simply put, the sheer variety of creative opportunity it affords. As I guy who cannot stand to have too many figures in excatly the same pose and colour scheme (which is why I do irregulars and pre-18th Century mostly, and like to include at least four colours of hair in a "basic" 16-ish figure unit), making stuff myself is always a winner where figures are concerned, so long as I do not have to resort to building everything from scratch. The Games Workshop kits/ Airfix Multipose sets are my idea of figure heaven. I built two Chaos armies in Warhammer 40K and mixed and matched parts to my heart's content, using VERY few standard figures in either army. With Steampunk, I can buy/ kitbash/ scratchbuild tanks, buildings, weird scince, figures, airships, terrain and all manner of other stuff. I can create my own uniforms for my own fictional forces should I wish. I can create my own characters (cue Fritz von Nutzenboltz). I can do what I want to, in short.

Don't get me wrong, however. History is my first love (after wife and bairns), and my gaming life revolves around history for at least 80% of the time. Yet even my fantasy games have to have a necessary realism, which is why I shy away from the gamier army lists/ books/ tournaments/ etc. My Tomb Kings are archers and have few of the choicer items, the blurb being that the glory of the King is hindered by non-humans killing the enemy. Why turn up at all if you can merely let slip the (incredibly large and deadly) dogs of war? My Orcs are based loosely on Irish clan armies up to Elizabeth 1's time, with red hand iconography, etc on shields. And I definitely DO NOT go in for "talkin' funny" or "boyz".

So, mini-rant aside, here is the lovely Lady Ilse Dampfpanzer, latterly of the parish of Krupps of Essen. She will be joined in due course by more of her ilk and various associates, but we all have to start somewhere.

G

THE ARMY THAT NEVER WINS - part deux

Hi All,

Remember "THE ARMY THAT NEVER WINS" from November last????

Well..............................it won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Played a Carthaginian outfit to the Clash Of Empires rules on 28th December and did a "Hey Joe" ("I shot her [down]" - just get your Hendrix albums out if you don't get it....)

If you read this, Mark, thanks again for a great game - your first and my second to these rules????

Lesson 1 - if you have more shooty stuff than he does, stand still and shoot the gubbins out of 'im!
(Caveat - don't rely too much on shooting in these rules - 42 shots, one kill........The Gauls were lots squishier than the Libyans though!)
Lesson 2 - still don't like Persians, cos they are shootier than me.......

G

RESOLUTIONS

I have just been across to the blog created by my nephew and partner in crime (as in the other half of "The Wyrley Retinue"), Beithir no less, and read some rather interesting stuff about plans for the year past and the one we have now entered. I do not tend to plan my hobby activities quite so far in advance, but (and cue comments about being anally retentive and general tutting...) I do give myself quarterly "targets", which I track week by week through the quarter to see how I get on (ahem). I usually fail.............

There was method in my madness, however. Being somewhat slow on the completing figures front, I started the exercise to see exactly what I could do in three months - how many figures, of what scale, complicated jobs (i.e. pretty uniforms) or not (World War 1). This has helped me understand my capabilities and, I maintain, helps motivate me to paint and schedule my life a bit better, as I now have a better idea of what I can expect. Thus, I can now set myself goals without undue pressure, demoralisation, etc., as I know what I can do!!! I HEARTILY RECOMMEND THE EXERCISE.

As we are now in Week 1 of the New Year, it is time for another 13 week plan (Stalin would be proud! Probably just before he had me tortured as an enemy of the state....) The problem lies in what to do this quarter. Ideas revolve around at least some of the following:

1) 30 Years' War cavalry - I have a large-ish collection which did the job at the Wargamer show a month ago, but the Protties are light for cavalry still. This would be a good, wise choice - which is probably why it will not get done.....

2) 30 Years' War infantry - I far prefer painting infantry to cavalry, but see myself as a cuirassier at heart (big bloke on a big horse syndrome?), but do not actually "need" any more just yet. I did get a complete regiment for a paltry £18 last week though, so who knows?

3) Williamite War in Ireland - I started with some Wargames Factory plastics after the West Midlands show last March, and, strict authenticity for this war aside, enjoyed both building and painting these greatly. Love the flags, love the colour, love the poignancy. I have stalled at 10 infantry regiments and a couple of light guns. A definite contender. And I am seriously looking forward to some games of Beneath the Lily Banners (version 2, of course). I bought a load of cavalry to accompany my infantry at Derby and have yet to start them, or get cracking on the WarFact placcies I bought from Stafford Games. Watch this space...

4) Arthurians - I bought a "complete" 5th Century British army probably two years ago and have done a couple of samples, though typically only two out of six samples painted are British, the others being an Irish Druid, a Pictish Shaman, a Saxon Warlord and a priest (who could in fact be British, but is more likely "European"....). Beithir has Saxons. Beithir has not painted his Saxons.....Another reasonably wise choice, and something very different, so probably a non-starter again.

5) Austro-Prussian War - I love the Austrian Empire from 1618 to 1918 - simple as that. Some may argue that this has more to do with ready excuses for losing than the nice, white uniforms, but I hold no truck with such spurious claims. I also have large collections of entirely unpainted Austrian and Prussian forces in 15mm, a couple of decent-looking rulesets and one or two histories. Hmmm.............

6) Vietnam - again, I have the figures (but more Bloopers please!), and the rules with the release of Force on Force and the Ambush Valley supplement, but cannot find Huey's for love or money in 1/72nd.

7) Steampunk - my dining room table is currently garnished by a small Ironclad Miniatures "scout tank", resplendent in a pseudo-World War 1 German camou pattern - yes, I will photograph and post! A most invigorating project, so much so that I picked up some Wargames Factory Zulu War Brits and Zulus and Foundry Mahdists for potential opposition, along with a couple of cheap Victorian machine guns and bits. Fritz von Nutzenboltz is alive and well (and unpainted), ready to threaten Her Majesty's interests in some far-flung malaria-ridden hole that basks in the never-setting sun of the Empire, Huzzah!

8) Orcs/ Orks/ Orx - I bought the Mantic Games "Warpath Marauders" boxed set for 75% of RRP last week and WOW!!!! Warpath is Mantic's challenge to WH40K and worth a punt in my book. I have long sought something against which to match my Chaos armies, and Orcs/ Orks/ Orx were always a contender (I contend Sauron's finest are more misunderstood than evil - OK, they are evil, but hey, who cares?!) A long term project this one..........

So. those are some at least of the choices for Quarter no 1. I will keep you posted.

G