Colore ton Monde: August, Damned Bugs!

For this month, I decided to take a pretty straight-forward translation of the challenge, and paint some actual bugs.

After adding the insta-mold bugs, I went back and added some green-stuff cuffs to the man on the floor, thereby making him fit in better with my Britannian force, who will likely be facing off against these little mites, if only under another game system than Dystopian Legions.

The base colours were added, but I felt the beetles didn't really stand out against the blue of the trousers.

To which end, I decided to take them one step further, and make them proper Ancient Egyptian Scarabs, with a little gold plate. That way they will function perfectly as part of my Egyptian force for In Her Majesty's name. Which will of course face off against my Kingdom of Britannia riflemen, under a different name.

Job done!

Stewart Museum

There's a fort, just across the water from my house, that I have been meaning to go to for a long time. In fact, it has been a threatened Father's Day trip for the past 3 years. However, as the kids are a little too young, and would likely be really bored by it, it hasn't happened.

A few weeks ago, they did have free tickets for families, so we finally went along to see the place. There's not too much there, but I do plan to sneak over by myself one afternoon and really get a look around. There's plenty of inspiration for the historical wargamer and amateur historian to be picked up there.

Meanwhile, here's some pics of the trip to the Stewart Museum.

Map of the fort.

Some better pics can be found here.

RLS and Wargaming

Everyone and their dog who knows anything about wargaming these days knows that one of the fathers of the hobby, was H. G. Wells. His publication Little Wars is of course can still be picked up on Amazon in eBook format, for all to share and enjoy.

What I did not know, and I think I am not alone in this, but that I recently found out, was that famous author and Scotsman Robert Louis Stevenson, he of Treasure Island fame, was also a wargamer. True Story! As is evidenced by this article from Scribner's Magazine, published in December of 1898. True Victorian Wargaming.

I have yet to read the whole article, but I plan to do so this evening. I will however, leave you with this ode to our little men, as was printed at the end of the article. Yes, that's right, a poem by RLS about wargaming. What's more, it seems very little has changed since RLS's day, and he himself suffered from Shinybloodyitis!

A Martial Eligy for Some Lead Soldiers.

For certain soldiers lately dead,
Our reverent dirge shall here be said.
Them, when their martial leader called,
No dread preparative appalled;
But leaden-hearted, leaden-heeled,
I marked them steadfast in the field.
Death grimly sided with the foe,
And smote each leaden hero low.
Proudly they perished, one by one:
The dreaded pea-cannon's work was done!
O not for them the tears we shed,
Consigned to their congenial lead;
But while unmoved their sleep they take,
We mourn for their dear Captain's sake,
For their dear Captain, who shall smart,
Both in his pocket, and his heart,
Who saw his heros shed their gore,
And lacked a shilling to buy more!

 Cheers to Morgue for the link

Colore ton Monde, Aout: Damned Bugs!

The results are in for the July challenge. They can be found here. Some nice minis on display. I especially like the Iron Man paint job on Pulp City's Iron Train.  My entry can be found here.

This month's challenge is:

Satanées bébittes

Pour le mois d'août, nous vous invitons à peindre un truc nuisible, comme on en retrouve temps dans nos campagnes à ce temps-ci de l'année. Insectes, xénos, damnés: le thème est large et vôtre à interpréter.

Damned Bugs!

For the month of August, we invite you to paint a nuisance. Like we sometimes find in the countryside at this time of year. Insects, Xenos, damned: the theme is large and yours to interpret.

For this challenge I'm taking a very literal translation. I took this guy, from Reaper miniatures. I figured it would work for a swarm of scarab beetles. Why would I want a swarm of scarabs? Well, that's a question for another post (although one of the labels of this post may give a hint). However, by itself, it wasn't very swarm like. To which end, I sculpted a discarded pith helmet (another clue), and a few more beetles to add to the swarm. I was thankful the victim seems to be in rather modern clothes rather than fantasy gear, as that suits my purposes very well.

Horray for Instant Mold! 

Also, for those of you who are not yet followers of the blog Trouble At T'Mill, Mike's doing a prizedraw for his 50th birthday. Head on over and enter!

Kingdom of Britannia: 91st Highlanders

Or, to give them their full title,  91st (Princess Louise's Argyllshire Highlanders) Regiment of Foot. A little bit of touching up of the boots, and basing done last night, and these guys are as done as they're going to be.

Hopefully their musician, will arrive soon as 6 guys alone on the table doesn't do much in Dystopian Legions.

WIP 91st Highlanders

An update on the nearly finished 91st Highland Regiment of foot. Two nights of painting in a row, and I have all but finished these guys. Not my first time attempting tartan, that was a long time back, but the first time I've finished a unit, never mind a model, with all the tartan done. It looks fine on the table, but messy as hell in the close-ups.

Before the tartan:

After the tartan:

Only the hair and a bit of tidying up to do, then they'll be based and finished. I'm still waiting for the piper to arrive, and maybe with a little conversion one of the other minis in the Perry command pack I ordered can do as a Sergeant, or another Lieutenant for my Dystopian Legions forces.

Then it's on to the table with them.

Sir Guy, the Red

The perfect mini for the "Paint it red" challenge is obviously this guy (pun intended). Anyway, he was mostly finished last week, but a painting session last night let me get him based (in a very simple manner, there's not much space to play with on a 20mm base) ready for use in a Bretonnian army (at some point).

I'm way ahead of schedule for this month's challenge, but I hope to get a couple of better pics before I sent off my entry.

I also all but finished off the section of 91st Highlanders, with only the tartan to do (what a surprise), so I hope to post them soon. They're good practice for the coming Black Watch section.