Critters

I finished some 28mm critters over the last few days. They're all Reaper Bones models. Fun cheap models to add to the collection.

The 'Bot was of course intended to go into a Stargrave game. I thought it would be larger but I LOVE the small size and plentiful guns. Cannot wait to add him to a crew. The other beasties will be fine Frostgrave or Stargrave creepy crawlies.

Islands in the Stream

After the last game of Armada, I began making some better looking islands for my sea-themed games. A trip to Michaels craft store also provided a bit of inspiration.

 Step 1... some DAS modeling clay on cheap wooden oval plates. 

BRAAAIIINNNNNNSSSS

Step 2.... Liquidex modeling compound waves. By far the worst part.

Step 3.... some ultra fine sand carpenter's glued to parts of the islands. The best sand I've found is at the pet store and is intended for sand-loving lizards.

Step 4... slop and go el cheapo paints after a black primer coat.

Step 5...two layers of highlights on the waves, light blue then white. Some drybrushing on the islands as well.

Step 6... finished drybrushing. Added some OD flock here and there for a bit more visual interest.

Step 7... Gloss up the waves and try to ease up the gloss level on the islands proper. Job's done!

With a couple of DW ships and an Armada ship.

They're not massive but they're a very pretty upgrade from my other islands. I might do at least one more much larger one. It can't be any more difficult than these four. Be well!

Cheap Scenery + Vacationing

Back from vacation!

I ended up with three identical small coffee cans recently and managed to hang on to them. As we all know, having many identical things is a real boon in the miniatures wargaming world. I did what everyone does with this sort of of kitchen leftover - chemical tanks! Some quick and easy painting, graffiti decals and Plastruct ladders and job's done!

With a couple 28mm guys for a sense of scale

 Useful and easy. I've got a fourth in the works now, a bit shorter but similar diameter. I think Z and I may play X-Wing later. We were going to game with Wayne but he's fighting through the Indian / Delta-variant right now. He's doing OK and tends to be a healthy guy so we expect a full recovery.

In case you're curious, I took the family up to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge in Tennessee during the week. We had a good time whitewater rafting, zip lining, escape rooming, and otherwise having a grand time. A few vacay pics just because...

On the Pigeon River. Family + my sister and our guide in the back there.

The always welcome vacation pre-10:00am beer!

Geared up for the zipline. My spawn strike their most excited poses.

Another Outing for the Boats

 Plans shifted on Saturday and whereas I thought I wouldn't be playing any games this weekend, I was able to get in a battle with Ziggy. We pulled the Armada fleets out of drydock and gave it another go. We used nearly all the ships we had and played the "Capture the Kraken" scenario which is a shoot-em-up with the added entertainment of a Kraken roaming the waters. The Kraken will absolutely wreck any ships he gets very close to but one can score victory points by damaging it with gunfire. Victory points could also be scored by sinking enemy ships.

My Goblins sail out.I've spread out a bit since ships need a wide berth to turn. The Dwarves are grouped up in the center.

Glamour shot.

The Dwarves veer west. My faster ships have gotten to the center but the monster has slipped past my ships northward "Nevermind that Kraken, dems is stunties over there!"

Maneuvering is going to be a problem soon I think.

One of my Hammerfist battleships pulled abreast the nearest ironclad, grappled it and in no time hordes of crazed goblins were swarming over the Dwarf vessel. As it turns out, the was The Orcsbane, the Dwarf flagship and overflowing with boarding specialists! This would turn into an unmitigated disaster for me, but it was a great gaming moment as I was completely taken by surprise.

 

Not to be outdone, the other Hammerfist and one of my massive Smasher battleships also got stuck in with the stunties. The Smasher was able to ram its target, causing terrific damage with its reinforced prow. The Goblins performed much better in these combats.

 

 

The Orcsbane finished off my Hammerfist in short order. My Smasher battleship towards the upper center of the image is obscuring an ironclad that it would force to surrender pretty quickly. In the lower right another Dwarf ship is crippled and slinks off to repair.

The Kraken finally catches up with a victim and wallops a small Dwarf ship. The vessel is sunk in short order.

The larger part of my fleet has a long turn-around ahead of it. The Dwarves close in on the Kraken and my poor little Bomboat which is the only ship I have in the neighborhood.

The Bomboat wouldn't last for long though as the accursed Orcsbane set upon it and sank it with very little trouble.

We'd played eight turns and had a heck of a battle. In the end, Ziggy won, 4-2. We each only scored one point each off fighting one another (small ships do not grant victory points when they die). Ziggy managed to bleed the Kraken for 3 bonus VPs and that was the difference. Things worked out well for him since the Kraken wandered off the direction his ships were going so once they were past my fleet, the Dwarves were able to get a few cheap volleys at the monster. Well played!

Dragon Dragon Rampant Rampant

 Mark came by last weekend for a bit of Dragon Rampant. He was going to bring some minis of his but since we didn't have an army list together for them we reverted to my collection. The first game saw the Dwarves (me) against the Time Travelers. It was a straightforward brawl, a tune up game if you will so we could get back into the DR mindset.

The wickedness and evil of Mark on full display.

Dwarf Slayers mix it up with Roman Cavalry. The Slayers would be victorious!

To their left a unit of Dwarf Warriors continues their advance on a unit of Musketeers. Their long walk into battle against a stationary foe was enough for one entry in the Book of Grudges; the rather accurate gunfire earned the Musketeers an entry of their own.

And to the left of the Warriors, the Queen's Retinue also advanced. They also took some casualties from gunfire. You can see the Chronomage at the corner of the green building and a unit of Amazon Warriors past him in the distance.

My Slayers Wild-Charge into the Musketeers. The Chronomage had used his sorcery to improve the fighting quality of the gunners and they proved to be a shockingly dangerous opponent in close combat.

And then photography was forgotten about for a bit. The melee troops bashed the hell out of each other and they were all wiped out or fleeing. All that remained were my Rangers and the Musketeers and our spellcasters.

I gained the upper hand after Mark flubbed two activation rolls back to back and we called the game. 

For the next game we switched armies. Mark chose Undead and I selected the High Fantasy "Good Guys." No Spellcasters for either of us this time, just old fashioned might and low cunning. We played the Death Chase scenario. I was to ambush Mark's skeleton horde.

The Undead have to leg it across the table and exit units. I simply had to stop all that I could.

Woof Woof! HOTT Narnians re-purposed for DR.

Have at thee! My fondness for Orange on full display.

The hounds speed and Wild Charge got them stuck in quickly. Although they dished out a good bit of damage, they fell quickly. The rest of my force tightens it's grip. The chariots try to get by me!

A bit later, the humans are in deep kimchi. The eagles are fleeing, the cavalry is done, the warriors are nearly depleted.

But as Mark's last unit, his Archers, rush for the table edge, Warrior Elvis rallies and charges into the unnaturals. His life is spent but with great valor!

My archers chased Mark's archers until at long last I was able to wipe out the last of them. The final score of this game was 4-3, a very close affair that really came down to the wire. It was wonderfully tense affair. Now that's a great way to spend an afternoon.

Correction and a New Thing

 1. Tropical Storm Elsa is in full force here at this very moment.

That's a screen snip from moments ago. Thunder, rain, wind. You've heard of the "Wintry mix," well that's a Tropical Storm mix. Poor dog is a bundle of nerves right now.

2. I finished up (as much as I'm going to finish anyway) an addition to the urban sci-fi scenery collection. I also corrected the basing issue with the Stargrave crew.

They're from TT Combat and were easy to assemble. I left the roof of the building loose so it can be re-positioned so that the edge without a rail can face whatever direction is most appropriate. Be well!

Well this is embarassing

 Good afternoon! I knocked out the well-traveled Stargrave crew over the long weekend. Or so I thought. Here are the six new additions.

Not a bad looking group for a motley crew. Models are from Mantic, Bombshell and Reaper.

And a group shot with the four I previously picked up. See if you can spot the embarrassing detail I completely whiffed on.

Pro tip: No matter how recently you finished painting some minis, spend 20 seconds looking at them to ensure you base the new ones the same way. It should be an easy fix.

Basing be damned, I'm ready for a game! I'm sure they'll all die in the first encounter.