Snow Leopard

After the long hiatus that was last year, I have been re-energised by the winter break into getting the paints out.

This was helped along by at least 2 games of Frostgrave over the holidays with my eldest. She

In an attempt to equip ourselves for more varied gameplay at home as opposed to at a store, I picked up a couple of prepainted D&D minis, a panther and a bear, as well as a few odds of scatter scenery (more on that in a future post). Turns out, after googling for some pics of the original to post here, it was actually a limited edition Guenhwyvar miniature. I am not a big D&D fan, so really this means very little to me, other than it works as a big cat!

Photo not mine

The bear doesn't really need any work, but the panther was bought to be used as a Snow Leopard, so needed a little modification and a new coat of paint. I didn't take any WIP shots of the greenstuff job on this mini, but basically, I bulked up its shoulders and added some fur to its head, neck and tail.

So, with that, we have the Snow leopard:

I realise this is far from my best work, but the goal was to finish something, and this was painted in a very short time, is table ready, and the Big'un is pleased with it, so goal achieved. It'll take more than this mini for me to get back up to the standard where I was happy with my work last year, but baby-steps.

The Big'un has a wizard with the Animal Companion spell, and has been trying out the various options in her games, with the Snow Leopard being a favourite, and Ice Toad a close second, so I guess I'll be repainting the toad mini I have next.

2017, a review

This won't take long, I ran through last years post, to pick a few of my favourite minis painted over the year. Here's my top ten.

Ummm, ok. I guess that's it. *looks again* Yup. Those are the grand total of miniatures I finished painting last year. I still haven't even finished the base on the Brainwaster.

2017 was not a year for miniature painting. For one, the closure of my local gaming haunt meant I got out of the habit of getting regular games. I also have been getting my gaming fix by running through the Horror on the Orient Express for Call of Cthulhu.

So is that it for the year in review? Well, I did get a few games of Rogue Stars in over the summer. And I have been playing Widower's Wood and Frostgrave with the Big 'un. Including 2 games over the Christmas break.

For 2018, I'm not entirely sure I have my painting mojo back. Work has also been a factor, and I can't see that changing soon. I would like to try to get my hand back in. I'm close, as I have bought a few WhizKids prepainted minis, to use as beasts and wandering monsters for Frostgrave with the Big 'Un, so I'm hoping that will help.

That and getting back into blogging, as that was one of the reasons for starting this blog in the first place.

Here's to you all. May 2018 bring you all that you wish of it. May you reach all your painting goals, and may your dice roll well!

2016, a review.

So, we're well into 2017 now. I'll hold off on any commentary on how 2016 was in general, but here stick to a review of my painting for the year.


I'm not sure it was a particularly productive year, but there are some pieces I'm happy with. At least I have complete Frostgrave and Rogue Stars warbands.

 

 

 

 

Here's to 2017. May it be productive and full of gaming, modelling and painting.

Frostgrave: Treasure Markers

After posting my tech-treasure markers, I realised that I had never posted any pics of the treasure markers I made to use with Frostgrave. I think the main reason for this is that I didn't really have any great images of them. Anyway, here they are, bad pics and all. All of these were made from scratch from my bits box, and a few other odds and ends. A couple (the scroll and book) were made from scratch from greenstuff.

There are 18 in all, enough for 3 tables of Frostgrave to run simultaneously. I'm particularly proud of the piles of gold. They were really easy, just a pile of sand, painted gold, with some glitter added for a real sparkle. Unfortunately, the glitter has mostly worn off with the rubbing against the sponge of my minis bag..

Early Presents to Myself

Got this package from Amazon earlier in the week. This is my planned gaming for the next few months.

To help me along with this scheme, I started an Osprey Wargames Montreal Group on Facebook, to try to build a local community of like minded gamers. So far it seems to be a success. We already have a growing Frostgrave group who are looking for a new campaign in the New Year, and there is much interest in Rogue Stars. I've also managed to find people interested in Black-Ops, Dragon Rampant and In Her Majesty's Name too.

The whole ethos of playing games with minis I already have appeals not only to my poor stretched wallet, but also allows me to play with so many of the beautiful minis I have that just don't get put down on the gaming table enough, if at all.

Of the three books here, I think finding an opponent for Chosen Men will be the hardest, as the historical gamers are few and far between from what I've seen. Still, I've had one nibble...

Effincool Minis Halflings

Next up for this winter's challenge, Effincool Minis halflings from their last Kickstarter. Done so as to be able to build a halfling warband for Frostgrave with these guys when they arrive.

These guys were a joy to paint. Full of character. The only change I had to make was change the flagpole for a brass rod, but that was super easy to do. I did think about more freehand on the flag, as it's a nice empty space, so if I'm inspired, I'll go back and add something there.

There's also a couple of cavalry figs and ponies that came with the Kickstarter, but they're not even assembled, as they are no use in Frostgrave, and I'm a long way from using these in any larger scale battle games. Unless I find some opponents to try out Dragon Rampant with.

In the new year, as well as starting off with Rogue Stars, I want to get back into Frostgrave too, and these'll be perfect for the bulk of the soldiers, and my captain.

Frostgrave Ranger

It took me a while to find the right Ranger mini for my Frostgrave force. I wanted a mini that suited the look of the North Star wizard and apprentice, the old school GW troopers an the Reaper minis that made up the rest of the band. I also wanted it to be a female model, to try to give the warband more of a gender balance. In the end I settled on the Otherworld Miniatures range, and bought the female Ranger and Thief minis.

Now the full warband is complete. The rest of the gang is listed here: Wizard and Apprentice, Archers, Captain,Treasure Hunter and Rangifer, Knight and Male Treasure Hunter, and of course the Snow Golem.

I plan to organise a new round of games of Fristgrave in the near future, I'm unsure of I'l go with these guys, or start another warband. That's the thing with the lead pile. You finish off one set of minis, and there's another lot sitting ready to go.

This is also the first of the minis from the Cleaning out the Closet list for this winter.

Cleaning out the Closet

Hopefully, this post will be the first in a new series where I 'get stuff finished'. I have a long backlog of half painted minis and mostly done units and armies. The plan is to work through these and get them posted here over the coming winter. The list is as follows:

Frostgrave Ranger

This otherworld ranger mini is the last of my Frostgrave force from the Thaw of the Liche Lord campaign, and is almost finished. There is a bit of paint to splash onto her, and the base to finish, but no more than an hour or two of work. Then I can post the warband as a whole, and more on to the next one (a Chronomancer, but more on him later).

Dystopian Legions French Legionnaires

These are base coated, but have been sitting at the front of my cupboard for the last 2 years. Shouldn't take much to get them up to tabletop quality, then use them in 'The Men who Would be Kings', my new Dystopian Legions surrogate. Once I count up how many units like this I'll need, there may be more Dystopian Legions troops to complete that find their way onto the list.

Urban War Triad Retainers

The next few on the list are all old Urban War minis, that I intend to get ready for the SciFi gaming I plan to get into in the new year. For the retainers, I have 2 units of these, both bought back in 2004/5 one unit was painted back in then, but needs finishing off, and another companion unit that are undercoated. These, along with all the following Urban War minis, were in the large batch of minis I brought over to Canada a couple of years ago, and have been languishing in their storage box since then.

Urban War Viridian Special Forces and Sniper

I painted these back in 2014, all that needs done is the bases painted and them mounted. The minis can be seen here.

Urban War Triad Boss and Kabuki Doll

These are in need of being finished, the Kabuki doll has been picked up and put down at various points over the years and is mostly done, the Boss not so much, but these will finish off the Squad with the retainers and make them a playable force.

Urban War Triad Sumotori

There are two of these guys that fit with the rest of the Triad gangers that can easily be painted up to match this guy.

Urban War Viridian HMG

This too is painted, but the base needs a bit of conversion work and painting to make it fit with the rest of the squad.

Menoth Army

Finally, I pulled my Menoth army out of retirement (a locker at my FLGS). These guys were last used in MKI warmachine (we're now on MKIII) and are in a sad state of repair and variable state of completion. These guys were painted so long ago, there is no real trace of them on this blog. There's a lot to do in this pile, and could easily be a list unto itself. Once I get sown to this army, it will likely become an itemised list. So let's call this Wave Two.

So that's the list. A long post, but we had our first snow this morning here in Montreal, so winter is not so much round the corner as already here. Time to cosy up with Netflix and a paint brush and get on with this!

SciFi gaming, the new frontier...

...at least for me.

I have been looking forward to two games that are on the horizon. Bot of which are Sci-Fi games, which is not my normal wheelhouse.

The first of these, which will also be the first to be released is Rogue Stars by Osprey Publishing.This will be released in December, and like all Osprey games, will be designed so that it can be played with whatever miniatures the players wish. This allows me to find a means to put miniatures on the table from Necromunda, Void, Urban War, Infinity and whatever other futuristic minis I have (like Doctor Who personalities and companions). I know little of this game, other than it seems to be a points based squad construction skirmish game. Less like Frostgrave,and more like In Her Majesty's Name. the important thing about it is that it should generate enough of a buzz to get other players interested, and that's all it takes to get games, which is, after all the important thing. That and telling them they can use their 40K minis withour having to put a weekend aside!

The second game I am eagerly awaiting is Cannibal Sector 1 by Daruma Productions. A new game based in the World of Progress. As a player of SLA industries back in the day, I love this IP, and was convinced to part with cash to help them fund their Kickstarter, which should be fulfilled some time next spring/summer. As SLA was a game I played quite often with friends in Scotland, I'm not sure what interest there will be in my local gaming group to try it, but I was heartened to find second hand copies of the RPG in local stores, so someone was playing SLA here. The worst case scenario here is that I get all the CS-1 miniatures (which do look nice), and use them as a faction in Rogue Stars, and use that as a means of attracting the attention of other gamers. A honey trap if you will.

With both these games in mind, I have been looking through my lead pile to find minis that can be used for either game. I think I have a short list, which I have been prepping and basing, ready to get painting. The first batch of SLA-ops should hit the painting table soon!

So that's what's on the horizon, but what about games for the more recent future? Well, the winter gaming season is just round the corner, and for that, I ordered some things from amazon recently, and am now the owner of Back Ops, The Men Who Would be Kings, and Frostgrave: Into the Breeding Pits, All released from Osprey Publishing.

In terms of Play-ability, I foresee most use for the Breeding Pits expansion for Frostgrave. In terms of what it contains, this is not a campaign, like Thaw of the Liche lord (which went down very well with local players), but is the most in depth expansion of rules and options that has been sp far released for Frostgrave. There are 6 scenarios in the book, along with a host of rules for playing in dungeons, traps, and new magic options. In all it seems quite complicated (for Frostgrave), and I will have to sit down and see the best way to implement what it contains. I think I'll try to string the scenarios together into a campaign, and run that with the locals, but it will take a bit more planning, and introducing the players to what is now available.

I have heard of at least one other player in town who would want to play Black Ops. The cover, and indeed interior artwork seems to suggest it was more in the futuristic Solid Snake style game, which is a way it can be played, but the photographed miniatures in the book are more of a Black Hawk Down style. This may just be the miniatures the author had access to, and the rules seem to be able to be played both ways, so this is going in the Sci Fi bracket for me, and I'm going to put together a scenario where I can run my Urban War Triads as modern Ninjas, versus teched our Viridian Colonial Marines. That seems like it'd be a way to get people interested.

The final of the new book triad is then The Men Who Would Be Kings. This is a game that I see the least use out of in my current gaming circle. Unfortunately. One thing I was pleasantly surprised about, was the use of artwork in this book. Along with the usual photographs of pertinent miniatures, there was also judicious use of artwork from Osprey's other books. This was not something I had noticed in the other Osprey wargaming books I have, indeed, in the first expansion book for In Her Majesty's Name was notorious for having absolutely no artwork, not even photos of minis. There may have been a few reasons for that, but it is a poor show in this modern era of wargame publishing, where we have grown to expect more. I think another reason I have not noticed this use of artwork by Osprey is that the other books I have are more fantasy based, and therefore have required the commissioning of specific art. Either way, this book has 6 full page colour plates, 3 of which by Angus McBride, along with many other half page plates. I call that in itself a win. In terms of game play, it seems to be more on scale with the authors previous works, Lion and Dragon Rampant, so mid-scale, with a few units of up to 16 men for large tribal units, normal units are 12. I must say, I don't own enough historicals to run this one, but I will be trying to use it to field my Dystopian Legions miniatures. I can't see that being too much of a clash with the rules, and certainly remains in the spirit of the game, which is more based on the cinematic than the Historic.

So there we go a rahter Opsrey biased look at my near future wargaing plans. Frostgrave as a means to get people to the table, followed up with scenarios written to get player buy-in to the other games (which they already have minis for) followed by (ideally) an Osprey gaming night, where folks come along to play variations of these games and others. Okay, the last bit is a bit of a stretch, but I'm working on the owner of my FLGS to make it more likely, as he gets to sell the books and minis to support such a venture.

As they say, watch this space!

In Summer....

I always seem to have a dearth of posts in summer, but I had to break the silence to post this. 

My last few posts have been recounting the various WIP stages of a modelling commission by me to Le Zonion. I have a few more WIP shots of the modelling process, which I will share in another post. Le Zonion also has the equipment to be able to cast some small number of miniatures too, so we decided to go down this route, for the very simple fact that both my daughters, and his son, after seeing the mini, wanted their own copies. So he went ahead and cast it. This lead to a delay in getting the arms right, then some experimentation with new mold materials. All in all a very educational process for me, who has never been on the inside of this mind of process before.

Finally the first batch was done. Of a run of 30 minis, 10 were usable, but improvements have already been made for the next attempt.

This does thankfully mean that on Tuesday evening I got my hands on three little metal Snow Golems. One for me, and one for each of the girls. This evening, I speed painted one. And here we have the final results.

 

And here he is with the rest of his family. Don't they all look so happy together!?

I am inordinately pleased with the way he has come out. The only thing that Le Zonion did suggest was that I drill a hole in his head, and insert three strands of wire from the inside of a tie-tag (or another very thin wire) to suggest branch-like hair, but I skipped on this part for this one, so I could get him on the table for my Frostgrave game tomorrow evening!

If there are any of you interested in getting your hands on one of these Snow Golems, perhaps to give him a warm hug, then do get in touch, the second batch should be available soon!

WIP Modelling Commission IV

Ok, the Snow Golem is now completed in terms of the main body, head and face, with only the hair and arms to go, however, he has been paused at this stage, as how these parts progress will depend on whether or not the miniature will stay as a green, for me to paint and use as an unique commissioned piece, or whether he will be cast in metal, so that multiple copies of him can be made.

 

If he is to be cast, then the arms and hair will have to be made thicker. Then a decision has to be made one way or the other, if he is to be cast, then how many copies are to be made.
This is an ongoing discussion, and if it is possible to cast, I'll be sure to post here to see if anyone wants one!


Either way, I am super happy with what Le Zonion has done!

WIP Modelling Commission III

A little something to bring a smile to your Friday afternoon. The latest WIP shot of my miniature Snow Golem.




Happy Friday and warm hugs to you all.

What I'm impressed by is that le Zonion did some of the sculpting for it on the train! I have trouble keeping my hands stable at a desk some times.

Captain, my Captain

In a comparative flurry of activity (comparative to the last few months at least) I have finished off another member of my Frostgrave warband. This time it is my Captain.

Meet Kristof. Yes, familiar name, maybe you've heard it somewhere before, but I assure you, it's a common name up here in the Northern Wastes. 

I tried to take a little more time over this one, and I'm very happy with the face and hair, but I admit, I rushed him at the end, and the trews and boots are just lazily finished.

Finishing this fig leaves me with just one more to do to complete the 10 person warband I run in the Thaw of the Lich Lord campaign at my FLGS. I am one ranger away from the challenge I set myself back in April, that is until I get the commission piece that le Zonion is working on for me, which by all accounts shouldn't be too long now.