Imperial Navy Landing Party Plans

A while back I was contemplating a series of 40k scenarios beginning with a crashed lander incident, a rescue attempt and then ramping up to a larger engagement. Nothing too large. I have been encouraged by the general response to the new edition of 40k and its narrative bent. To that end I have been painting up some old Mordian Iron Guard I had spare as an Imperial Navy landing party, think Royal Marines in the age of sail.

The two front figures are complete (except for bases), the rest almost done.

In total I have nine bods, two sergeant types, three assault weapons and a heavy weapons team. The heavy weapons team, which you can see lurking behind the two tester models above, are for a mortar. However, I don't have the mortar, and I rather want to equip these chaps with a little field piece instead. I had this in mind from Forgeworld:

Imperial Heavy Mortar. Copyright Forgeworld

Although not a field gun, at least the large shell in my gunner's arms will look appropriate. I might try and position the barrel at a shallower angle. At only £20 for the model it doesn't cost a fortune, and is quite a versatile piece. I will also need a head honcho for my guys to rescue and protect, and I thought the fellow in the middle looks suitably important.

Imperial Guard Regimental Advisors. Copyright Games Workshop.

And finally, a crashed lander is in order for the original scenario and again, another useful addition to the terrain collection can be made. I think things which are reusable, putting this down on any 40k battlefield, or even a Necromunda board, makes for something a little more interesting.

Crash Imperial Aquila Lander. Copyright Games Workshop.

These are all small purchases that I can make over the next few months without breaking the bank. I will of course be keeping you all updated with progress, such as it is.

Carry on.

Lack of Impetus and sources of Inspiration

Those more observant readers will have noticed that I haven't posted for a while now. I could quote my jobs as being the cause of this absence, but the reality is simply that I have been incredibly busy "living". In the few months whilst grinding away at my two jobs, I have also been nurturing a busy social life, meaning that I seldom have a night off, and when I do, it is usually spent ironing or washing dishes or performing other mundane tasks more suited to robots.

In any event, I have been keeping my ears open as I am elbow deep in suds scrubbing the dishes and the recently my favourite company in my labours has been the Independent Characters podcast. The last three episodes, 65-67, have been particular favourites, and I find that the more I listen to the chaps chatting away, the more I come to like them. I suppose it stems from the fact we share a love of a cinematic style of wargaming, dominated by a strong narrative. Episode 61 on The Mestre Incursion really brought this home to me, and I applaud their efforts to create what in my mind is the ultimate style of campaign.

If you haven't listened to the podcast, please do. I know some British listeners might find the American accents of the hosts grating, but I assure you, the ear adjusts very quickly, and this really is a podcast worth listening to.

That's all for now, carry on.

Review: 4Ground Anglo-Danish Hovel

The other day a few things came in the post from Gripping Beast. Amongst the Saga dice and Northern Fury was a little something I thought to purchase as a test case, an Anglo-Danish Hovel produced by 4Ground. For the price of £9.50 I got a little kit to assemble, which requires no painting at all. For many gamers terrain is often the weakest part of their collection. Considering our Sisyphean lead piles, we seldom devote much time to trees and buildings to make our bare green tabletops look pretty. And even when per-made terrain is available, it usually requires painting, and again, the queue is already there so many a table is graced with grey building and tress. There are some places where one can buy pre-painted terrain, but it tends to be rather expensive, or just utter rubbish. The gold standard appears to be GrandManner, but it is hardly for the budget conscious, especially the pre-painted options.

This 4Ground hovel is a happy medium, for about £10 I got a piece of terrain that requires almost no assembly to look really good, it's not going to win an contests, but certainly the tabletop will be neatly complemented by its presence. I have taken some pictures to document the construction which I hope will give a sense of the easy of assembly.

The instruction sheet was clear and easy to follow. 

The bits of building.

Everything neatly slots together.

Having assembled and glued the outer walls, I did the interior walls. Here it is drying.

There are many little details, even interior details, that make this kit good for skirmish gaming.

Here the door, fir pit and roof are drying, no issues at all.

The thatching, probably my favourite part of the kit.

Here it is after a combing through with thinned PVA glue as per instructions.

Fin!

I built this kit over a three day period, allowing for glue to dry mainly. However, I would say that the actual labour involved only really amounted to half-an-hour, and I am very satisfied with the results. I have subsequently had a look at the 4Ground website, and am already tempted by some of their other kits, like the Roman Limes tower. Although I wonder how the kits hold up in larger form. One major bonus is the fact that these kits aren't as heavy as their resin counterparts, and also less liable to fracturing. I can't wait to take this little hovel for a spin!

Summary:

The good: Lightweight, cheap and easy to assemble. The instructions are also good and help the construction process. It also looks good with little effort.

The bad: I don't really have gripes, but if I had to find something I would say that some of the smaller parts can be a little flimsy, but that is simply the nature of thinly cut MDF.

Verdict: I would highly recommend this type of terrain as a time and money efficient means of starting a terrain collection. I plan to get more of it.

French Old Guard Grenadiers

So I managed to base up the last two stands of Napoleons brave fighting boys. And here they are:

The battalion looks good from a distance, though I am not entirely satisfied with the Pioneer, who didn't hold up well with the dip method. Other than that though, quite pleased, and it didn't take forever. I suppose the fact that these chaps are wearing greatcoats helps greatly.

The standard is from the Victrix boxed set, and finished quite nicely, I didn't really see the need to splash out on a fancy flag just yet. Once the Napoleonic project gains grows I might redo the standards, but for now it is good enough. Good enough truly is the operative phrase here, I am not looking to do perfect Dallimore-esque units, but rather units that will look good on the table top at low cost in both time and treasure. 

The next concerted effort will be to get a cannon done for the Dwarfs and finish the Thane to lead them into battle. Perhaps the Slayer as well. I am super keen to get the Dwarfs done soon so that I can have a play, having bought the Island of Blood box and had a flick through the rulebook I think I might actually like this edition of Warhammer. 

Dwarf Miners, Celtic Test Models and a Ploughed Field

As the twitter feed shows, the first battalion of the French Old Guard Grenadiers are now almost complete, the Colonel just needs to be done, and he shouldn't take too long given the painting method I am using. However, in the meantime, here is a completed unit of Dwarf Miners. I don't think the unit is legal, but frankly at this point it doesn't really matter too much. Even the smallest detachment of little men needs a big man to lead them into battle, so the next chap to grace the painting table is a Thane to lead the Karak Azul Militia into battle, at the same time I am going to get their trusty cannon done for a little added firepower. Hopefully, once these are done I can goad friend Taff into doing battle with his Khorne army. 

Without further ado, here are some pictures:

I'll be honest, I am not the biggest fan of these figures, but they do a credible job, and being single piece figures they paint up pretty swiftly. I still don't have the Dwarf army book, but I did take the plunge yesterday and bought the Island of Blood starter box, for the rulebook. I am not sure if I will do much with the figures, especially the Elves, but the Skaven Rat Ogres and characters will be good for Mordheim at least. I am looking to perhaps start a small Mordheim campaign as a means of getting some gaming done with an irregular schedule. 

In addition to the Dwarfs and French, I have been doing other bits and pieces, such as Battlefleet Gothic Imperial cruisers, which are so simple to slot in between waiting for paint to dry they don't detract too much from the main effort. Again, Gothic is a game I really enjoy far more than Warhamer or 40k, and requires far less on the table to have an enjoyable game. These bits and pieces appear on the twitter feed as they do not warrant a blog post, yet. I have also been painting some Foundry Celts for the Northern Frontiers project, at this stage I am still toying with painting techniques. 

Here are two elements of Celts. I stuck to relatively simple clothing patterns as barbarian filler isn't worth the effort of painting checks, something which I don't feel comfortable doing anyway. The element on the left has been painted using a three stage shade, base, highlight method; the element on the right the dip method. Honestly, I think that the dipped figures are good enough, as well as being swifter. That said, the paint jobs are compatible, so there is no harm in perhaps lavishing more time on the nobles and dipping the rank-and-file. Thoughts?

Here is also a picture of the lot together, including the ploughed field I made:

More to come. Be sure to follow the blog on Twitter at twitter.com/ZenMiniPainting for little updates and random pictures.

Viking Hirdmen

I have been hosting a friend from New Zealand for the past week, and as a result haven't got much painting done. However, I did manage to finish these brave Norse Hirdmen to rally around their Jarl's banner. Again, these are Foundry figures, so quite "heroic" and on the large side. These fellows are individually based and will be used for both Saga and unit based games.

Apologies for the grotty looking movement tray, it has taken a battering over the years. I am hoping to finish my first battalion of Old Guard Grenadiers this weekend, and some more Vikings. However, if the weather is fine I might actually go outside instead...

Vikings and Grenadiers, better pictures

I woke up to glorious sunshine this morning, so I took the opportunity to take pictures of the completed figures again. Here they are in natural light, which I think does them far more justice.