Canadian Rifle Platoon Complete

Despite a plan to finish off all my armed civilians this month and work on Canadians NEXT month I spent the weekend working on a 7th Reconnaissance Regiment Humber and a handful of Canadian Infantrymen to finish out a full platoon.

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


These chaps are a mix of Warlord Games/Bolt Action Miniatures, West Wind Productions, and, I think, First Corps …

This batch finishes off a full strength/war establishement Rifle Platoon.


The Full Platoon

The platoon is a mix of Warlord Games/Bolt Action Miniatures, West Wind Productions, First Corps, Artizan Designs, and Crusader Miniatures.

Of course putting together a full strength platoon is a bit of an absurdity… even IF they had full strength on their nominal roll – the full platoon would never go into battle together. The British and Canadians had an LOB system (Left out of Battle). I’m not entirely sure how it was administered, but the idea was that some would be left behind/in reserve when the unit went into battle in case the unit was utterly wiped out those left behind would form a cadre around which the unit could be reformed… or something like that…

I seem to recall reading… somewhere… That in North west Europe it was rare for a section (of, in theory, ten) to field more than FIVE riflemen!?

I had originally planned on taking pictures of each of the sections individually, but the “light sprinkle” that was starting when I went out to take pictures this morning quickly turned into “steady rain” and we had to beat a hasty retreat back indoors…

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

The last of the Armed Civilians (well… not including those classified as “Pulp Adventure”…)

After that I’m back on to Canadians – I have psrt of a second platoon to finish up (thought I had a second full strength platoon, but when I was looking last night I realized I only have about 2.5 sections and no officer or sergeant!?), an Armoured Troop (4 Shermans), a few Pioneers, an MG team, a Universal Carrier, and a few other odd and sundry items…

After THAT it will be either the Commandos (one section to finish up, plus a couple extras) or the Paras (a second Platoon to finish up – plus a couple extra support types)… and that should keep me busy for pretty much all of September…

The Humber – Part Six: The Final Chapter

…aaaaaand here’s the final product. The completed Black Tree Design Humber armoured car.

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


Glued texture stuff to base. Painted it brown. Highlight with lighter brown. Even lighter highlight with tan. Glue on some bits of static grass, pebbles, and clump foliage for shrubberies!


Done.

For those that haven't been following along this is a car from the 7th Reconnaissance Regiment (17th Duke of York’s Royal Canadian Hussars). 7th Recce was the reconnaissance regiment for the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division which landed on D-Day at Juno Beach. The 28mm WW2 Canadian infantry I am working on are from the Regina Rifles (7th Brigade, 3rd Division), and other elements are also part of the 3rd Division, or units that were attached or supporting the 3rd Division.

Not sure what I'm going to use this for... What kind of scenarios would one do for a reconnaissance troop? "Okay, here's a table full of terrain... find the hidden germans and report back, and, preferably, don't die..."?

Wow… Hope I can power through the Shermans so quickly!! I’ll probably do them as a bit of a batch-lot. Should I do them as a step-by-step to...?

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Seems there’ll be a few Canadian infantrymen rolling off the workbench before the armed civilians… but they’re coming soon too.

After that I’ll probably get working on my Canadian Armoured Troop (of Shermans)

Darnit… West Wind Productions does have their 40% off sale on again this week…

The Humber – Part Five

Painting…

Posting step-by-step pics of works in progress are tricky, as I tend to jump around from project to project (while waiting for one or the other to dry or whatever). Also I can get an awful lot done in an evening, and don’t necessarily want to stop so I can take a picture…

Luckily I got some work in for about an hour or so this morning while the kidz were occupying themselves…

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


Step One – the main colour. I do a light dry bruch over pretty much everything with the main colour, then go in and… well… not really “highlight”, but make the colours more solid. I paint vehicles pretty much the same way I paint everything else – solid blocks of colour painting up to the edge of every piece leaving a black like in the recesses…

I’m using Deco Art Americana “Plantation Pine” - close enough for me…!


I know. It looks a little dark, but trust me it won’t look half bad when I’m done – and it’s quick!!

Do keep in mind I’m not painting to win any competitions – I paint for the tabletop! I’d rather models be on the tabletop than on my workbench, so my approach might be seen as quick and nasty. That being said I do try to do a decent enough job that they look good on the tabletop!


Step Two – black out non-main colour areas. Anything that got the main colour (green, in this case) on it that I don’t want to be that colour gets a bit of black on it. For this it’s mostly the tires, the small amount of stowage, and the shovel/axe-handle/pry-bar. The commander I managed to not get much green on, but if I had I’d black him out again too…


Step Three – non-main-colour details. Now I paint all the bits, which I’ve just blacked out, with the colours I actually want them to be… including any vehicle recognition markings.


Still looks a little dark-ish and plane Jane-ish… but just wait – once the weathering is done it won’t look so bad.


Step Four: Weathering. I do a light dry brush with two different light earthy tones (the ones I will use for the base, shortly…)


EAsy to go overboard here... and I may have... hard to tell until the base and everything is complete....
That’s it for today. Later I’ll get a coat of finish on this and then get to work on the base.

The Humber – Part Four

…aaaand here we go…

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


Primed and all ready to paint…

Got this ready last night while watching the African Queen - which I've wanted to see for years and finally tracked down a copy! (must resist urge to paint askaris... must resist urge to paint askaris...)

Probably won't get to paintng the Humber (or the armed Civilians I planned on painting) this evening (or even the canadian riflemen I HAVE been working on - instead of said armed civilians..) as I may be going out to a movie...

The Humber – Part Three

Thought I’d take a quick pic of the final assembly in the fading hours of light as it will probably be coated with primer by dawn!

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


Still haven’t filed down that barrel… had some troubles with the wheels. Nothing a little drilling and pinning couldn’t fix.


I didn’t add any more stowage. Call me lazy… ah, well… I gotta get some stuff DONE!!

I have stuck it to a base already. I like basing vehicles. It gives them some added protection in storage. On a model like this – that is very heavy and those wheels are attached with the slightest bit of soft metal - I think gives it a bit more stability. Also it gives me something to hold onto while painting….

Game Plan 2010… The Final Stretch

We’re into the last few months of 2010. I’ve stayed pretty focused through most of the summer, cranking out an incredible number of 28mm WW2 figures. I was only briefly distracted over the last couple weeks with ideas of things fantastical and/or ancient… (and almost distracted by some micro sci-fi!?)

This last week or so I’ve been doing some organizing and “tidying” and taking stock and got refocused on things (relatively) modern. My plan, for the balance of 2010, is to complete the 28mm WW2 era stuff that I currently have.

Taking stock I’ve found that I have 1233 World War Two era figures (in 28mm). Of those 781 are painted, and 452 are not-so-painted. Looking over at the totals on the left there it seems I’ve currently painted 604 28mm foot so far this year and purchased 1041… So if I manage to paint ALL of them by the end of the year I will succeed in my goal to paint more figures than I’ve purchased. Well… at least more of the 28mm foot… mounted, vehicles and big baddies – I’ll have to get caught up on next year.

Breaking down the WW2 era infantry I have (Painted/Not-So-Painted):

Soviets 166/0
German Heer (European Fronts) 79/75
German late War SS 20/20
German Fallshirmjägers 11/36
German DAK 34/23
Italians 0/53
Canadians 49/56
British/Candian Paras 59/32
British Commandos 47/32
British SAS/LRDG 28/0
French Foreign Legion 30/0
Japanese 38/0
Australians 27/3
U.S. Marines PTO 10/0
U.S. Army ETO 15/42
Armed Civilians/Partisans/Resistance 47/22
Pulp Adventure 121/50

(I’ve included all the “Pulp Adventure” skirmish figures as there is a fair bit of cross over – in fact it was hard to determine sometimes which should be classified simply as “Armed Civilians/Partisans/Resistance” and which should be “Pulp Adventure” – of course there was a great many that could be either “Pulp Adventure” or “Victorian SF/Horror” or “Back of Beyond”, etc, etc…. anyway… they’ve been nominally organized into appropriate drawers and those currently in the “Pulp Adventure” are included…)

Of course then there’s tanks and vehicles… I’ll try and get those done as well, but the main focus in the infantry.

For Vehicles we have (again... Painted/Not-So-Painted):

Soviets 6/0*
German Heer (European Fronts) 7**/10
German late War SS (Use Heer stuff above)
German DAK 0/1
Canadians 0/6
U.S. Army ETO 0/1

* I might order myself a few T-34s this weekend… we shall see…
** six of these are pre-painted plastic models that are pretty good… I may repaint them sometime, but for now they are passable and useable.

I’ve even come up with a bit of a schedule:

August (like, this weekend)
Finish up the armed civilians

September - Commonwealth
The Canadians (including the tanks)
Paras
Commandos

October/November – Germans
Heer (including tanks and vehicles)
Late War SS
Fallschirmjägers
DAK

December – The Rest
Americans
Italians
Pulp Adventure
(and Soveit tanks, if I get them…)

I may not get it all done… but it’s good to have something to shoot for!

So, for 2011…? In the new year, after finishing up any WW2 era stuff I haven’t quite finished I thought I might try and finish up the rest of the early twentieth century stuff (Great War Western Front/East Africa/RCW/Back of Beyond forces), and some Victorian SF/Horror skirmishy stuff… and after that I want to get cracking on some DBA and HOTT armies. My plan, for the following three or four years, is to finish up one DBA/HOTT army every month… I have plenty armies with all options ready to be painted:

Elves**
Dwarves**
Goblins
Orcs**
Undead
Narnia
Amazons**
Cetaurs*
Rohan*
Mordor*
Moria
Viking x2
Anglo-Danish** x2
Scots
Irish*
Welsh
Early Imperial Rome x4
Early Germans
Skythians
Thracians
Classic Indians
Lion Clan*
Unicorn Clan
Dragon Clan
Crab Clan
Scorpion Clan
Shadowlands (oni)
SYW Englsih**
SYW French**
SYW other?
Jacobites
ECW Parliament x2
ECW Royalist* x2
ECW Scots Covenanters
ECW Scots Royalists*

*Armies that I have a start on and just need to finish up
**Armies that I have a complete army that can be fielded but need some extra options or that I have a second complete army/command to paint!


Also over the last week of looking through the bins and seeing what I have I’ve come to the realization that I have enough…

Yep, you read that right: I HAVE ENOUGH STUFF

(Well, for some time at least – and with one, small, exception… being the aforementioned T-34s)

I’ve decided that (after this weekend) I am not going to buy any more toys until at least 2012. Oh, there’s a few other things I can think of that I might like (1940 French, SAS mounted Jeep patrol, Italian tanks, more early war Russian and German tanks, etc…) but, seriously… I’ve got to get some stuff DONE before I can be buying any more stuff!!!


Back to assembling the Humber and panting armed civilians…

The HUMBER – Part Two

Well, now that I’ve actually sorted out what sort of Armoured Car it actually is… (Humber, NOT Staghound – DOH!!!)…

These were part of Infantry Division Armoured Car Regiments, and as the infantry I am painting up are Regina Rifles (from the Third Canadian Infantry Division)… that would mean my little Humber is going to be from the 7th Reconnaissance Regiment (17th Duke of York’s Royal Canadian Hussars) (Now the Royal Canadian Hussars (Montreal)).

Some more websites:

Canadian War Museum
Royal Canadian Armoured Corps Association
Juno Beach
DND Website

B squadron apparently landed on D-Day as traffic control, beach exit parties brigade contact detachements.

I found enough pictures on the internet to figure out pretty much where everything is supposed to go, and so we begin…

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


I had to do a fair bit of filling with Miliput between the two main body parts – though a lot of the joint was covered by the slab-like thingies on the back.

I busted out the green stuff and paperclips to model a shovel on the left side – as pretty much every picture I saw had a shovel there – I thought it would be remiss of me to leave off. Of course there’s also a pick-axe head just rear of the shovel in most pics… and I was just too lazy/impatient to add one of those on…


On the right side there were two bar-like things opposite the shovel. I’m not really sure what they are… but they’re there in most pictures… so I added a couple on.

I'm also going to have to drill out that hole for the turret (it's just not big enough...).


The barrel on the turret was horribly bent when I received the model and no amount of bending seemed to be getting it straight – but I noticed it was about the same gauge as the jumbo paper clips I do love to use for modeling (spears and pikes, mostly…). So I nipped off the existing one and replaced it – using a bit of the left over miliput to taper the barrel a bit and add a flared bit on the end. The one that it came with had a slight flare to it – an some of the models I’ve found pics of do… some don’t…? It looks a little big yet – I’ll probably have to file that down a bit more. If I gets to thin and just breaks off I’ll just leave it off…

The turret commander didn’t come with the kit – I got him in an ebay lot of assorted vehicles commanders and drivers.

NEXT: Wheels, and maybe some stowed kit (if I don’t get too lazy). Then on to priming and basing and painting!!

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

More of the Humber… and some Canadian infantrymen… and perhaps some more resistance/partisan/armed civilians…

With the German big cats that arrived yesterday my replacement tracks arrived for the Shermans - so I'm awfully tempted to get to work on those... I think I'll finish up this Humber first. Then maybe the SHermans. Though, it would probably be more sensible to work on the German tanks first... but then when has sensibility ever dictated what I should work on next!?

The Staghound: Part One

So, I picked up a Harlequin/Black Tree Design Staghound off ebay. I knew I had seen it listed… somewhere… as part of the arsenel of items the Canadian Army used in World War Two… it was a good deal… so I bid, and won it. It arrived last week some time.

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


Nice big solid heavy model… Not really sure where all those bits go just yet… and some of the parts look like they don’t quite fit seamlessly together (understatement) and will require a fair bit of modeling experience and expertise to put together. Luckily I have said experience and expertise (what I lack is time!). If I’d pickedup a model like this twenty (or even ten) years ago – it would have looked like crap when it was done. It might still…

I do like that it comes with some stowage. I also have a couple commonwealth turret crew from another ebay purchase which I will be adding.

Maybe I’ll do a bit of a step-by-step assembly and painting series of posts…?

Anyway, looking up the Staghound I found that it was used in Army Corps armoured car regiments. That would be the 1st Armoured Car Regiment (Royal Canadian Dragoons), for the 1st Canadian Army Corps, or the 18th Armoured Car Regiment (12th Manitoba Dragoons) for the 2nd Canadian Army Corps. As all my other stuff is being modeled as elements of the 2nd Canadian Army Corps, I guess that will make this a Staghound from the 12th Manitoba Dragoons (18th Armoured Car Regiment).

Now my first big question is: What the heck did a CORPS level armoured car reconnaissance unit do!? I take they weren’t out on the sharp end trying to determine the location of the enemy…? I figure that would be the Armoured and Infantry Division’s reconnaissance unit’s job… Were they just for scouting out new locations for the Corps HQs? Providing a little defense and security for the Corps HQ? Seriously, anybody out there have any ideas…?

I guess it wouldn’t hurt to google the Dragoons – they’re probably a militia unit now, and often they have their own websites. Some of the better ones have unit histories and stuff…

Well, what do you know…

12th Manitoba Dragoons

Hmmmm… not much about what they actually DID with their Staghounds…


Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Probably WON’T be updates on the Staghound… but you never know…

Tidied up the painting table again last night. Cleared off all the distractions. I did a bit of stock-taking last night and counted up all my WW2 era stuff (including the “pulp adventure” 20s/30s stuff) and found I have about 1240!? (I was a little shocked too!) Of that about three quarters are painted. I have 455 infantry figures to paint. If I managed to paint them all in the next four months I’d achieve the goal of at least painting more 28mm foot than I purchased… Let’s not talk about the tanks…

The first items I’m finishing up are the Armed Civilians and a handful of Canadians to finish up the first platoon. Watch for those in the next couple days.

I might get started on this Staghound. It’s probably not going to be particularly useful… but…

Um... some more tanks arrived today (late war German - 2x PzkwIVH, 2x Panther, 1x Tiger). I heard a rumor that West Wind Productions might be doing the same sale again next week... and I may just have to pick up a couple T-34s...

Back to Painting WW2 Soviets… Mostly…

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


The last batch (I think) of the old Harlequin (now Black Tree Design) Soviets.


A couple figures to use for a renewed Legends of the Five Rings campaign. The Phoenix Clan samurai (on the right) is an actual WOTC/AEG Clan War Figure. The other one came in a Ral Partha Shadowrun pack – I think they were netrunner icons…? Anyway I thought It might be fun to use as some sort of summoned jade samurai servant… or something…


A couple more armed civilians for generic political unrest. The submachineguns would place them a little more firmly in time and space as I doubt there were many stens or MP40s available during, say, the Spanish Civil War (or the “Very British” one…). The woman with the MP40 is from Artizan Designs, the fellow with the sten is from Bolt Action Miniatures/Warlord Games

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I’ve reorganized my workbench and have things laid out for the next couple batches. The next lot should be some WW2 Canadians. Following them should be some 1920s/30s Civilians. After those there are the last of the Phoenix Clan stuff and assorted other fantasy bits – Elves, mostly…

I am still going to try and paint more than I’ve purchased this year… at least the 28mm foot… I just don’t think I’ll be able to catch up with the Vehicles/big nasties and mounted stuff… Of course just to catch up with the foot I’ll have to paint close to 25 figures per week for the next four months. Probably won’t pull it off… but I’m going to TRY! That should finish up all of the WW2 figures I have and get going on some new armies/options for Hordes of the Things and DBA – which I’ve had a hankering to get back into…

HOTT/DBA Double-Header

Taking a break from the Savage Worlds East Front Campaign, I decided to play some Hordes of the Things this evening (in no small part because I finished up the last stands I needed for my Phoenix Clan Army. Because the games are quick we also got in a game of DBA!

Only John showed up this week – which worked out fine as he and I got to have a couple one on one games…

Sorry about the photos - not up to the usual standard. My camera died and I'm trying to figure out Amanda's old one and can't quite figure out a few things... like how to get the dang thing to focus on what I darn well WANT it to focus on... or how to turn OFF the flash. I hate flash photography...

GAME ONE – HOTT

Forces

The Phoenix Clan (tim)
1x Mounted Samurai General (Rider)
3x Shugenja (Magicians)
1x Earth Elementals (Blade)
1x Avalanche Guard (Blade)
2x Void Guard (Blade)
1x Samurai Archers (Shooters)

Burning Sands Orc Tribe
1x Uruk Kreuger and retinue (Hero General)
7x Orc Wolf Riders (Riders)
2x Wolf packs (Beasts)
1x Orc Foot (Warband)
1x Goblin Archers (Shooters)

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


The Orc invaders arrayed for battle!


The Phoenix Clan prepares to defend their homeland!

The Phoenix Clan sports the “Triple-Wizard Combo”. May seem like a gamey-cheesy- one-trick-pony… but it makes sense for me for the Phoenix Clan – they are pacifist mages… Shugenja are at the fore and if they can enscorcel and enemy and disperse his troops without spilling any blood… well… that seems like a perfect fit.

On my first turn the mages advanced. One their next move the orcs had advanced close enough to blast them with magic! Conveniently I rolled a four – just what I needed! All three Shugenja threw all their magical energies the enemy generals way. Magician +4 vs everything, Hero +5 versus everything, +1 for being General, -2 for two aiding magicians… even odds – I roll higher than John, the game is over.

I didn’t.

The next bound the orcs made contact!


CRUNCH!


When the dust settled one stand of shugenja were out of action and one band of Wolf Riders were down…


On my next bound the Samurai archers shot up some Wolf Riders and forced them to retire, momentarily…


Unfotunately the Orc General then rode down another group of Shugenja! I’m down 8AP to the Orcs 2AP!!


The Phoenix Shugenja work best under pressure, I guess, because the next bound they finally ensorcelled the Orc General… Because I’d lost more the game didn’t’ end right there with the loss of the General. Though I was still down 8AP to the orcs 6AP, it was still the beginning of the end for them.


The Wolves charged into the forest and attacked the Samurai Archers!


The Archers stood their ground, however, and drove the wolves back!!


… and back – right off the table!!


The Phoenix General then rode down a group of Wolf Riders and that was about it…

GAME TWO – DBA

Forces
Vikings (tim)
1x Blade General
11x Blade
1x Bow

Normans (John)
1x Knight General
6x Knight
1x Light Horse
2x Spear
2x Bow


John and the defending(!?) Normans. Oh, those aggressive Vikings... What were they thinking. Must have been drunk. Drunk and in charge of a long ship.... Friends don't let friends drink and invade Normandy!


The two lines charge towards each other!


Crunch!


GRAAARRRrrrrr!


The first clash saw two stands of Viking Blade rode down by Norman knights… but three other Knights were thrown back, and a fourth was locked in combat. Better still another stand of Norman Knights was cut down by a withering storm of arrows from the Viking archers, and a band of Norman Archers were routed by the ferocious Vikings.


Round two – my bound, one pip. Drove off the Light Horse and destroyed another band of Norman Archers. But the Hirdsmen locked in combat from the previous turn were overcome and ridden down… pretty much tit-for-tat, so far…


The next bound the Norman knights wheeled back for another charge!


…and that was pretty much it. though antoher band of knights died before the archers, and the Light Horse forced to FLEE, my General and another stand of Blade were ridden down!

Final Tally; Vikings lost five Blade (including a General), Normans lost two Knights and two Bow.

Good fun!!

I think I’ll be adding some more DBA/HOTT elements into the to-be-painted pile on my workbench…

NEXT WEEK

Not sure… could be HOTT/DBA… Could be Contemptible Little Armies… Could be the Savage Worlds East Front Campaign - which I may start reporting on this blog rather than Savage Timmy’s Playhouse (where I have been posting the battle reports…).

More Phoenix Clan HoTT Stuff, etc.

Welcome to the 600th post. Weird, huh?

(I've also, apparently, used up 56% of my picture storage space!)

Success! Well… sort of… I located Amanda’s old camera AND the cords that attach it to the computer… but I haven’t really figured out all it’s functions. It doesn’t indicate what it’s focusing on (like the one that just died did) and has a nasty habit of focusing on… well… NOT what you WANT it to focus on. I tried to take pics of all this stuff on terrain but after two shoots and 40+ pictures I could just not figure out how to get it to focus on the figures and NOT the grass of the terrain board!? URRRRRRR!!! So I tried with a white background and that worked a little bit better – some of the figures were in focus some of the time

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


These are old Citadel/Games Workshop figures; painted, photographed and posted here entirely without their permission. They will be beasts in a sort of generic “Chaos” Hordes of the Things army I’m working on for my friend John. It’ll have these… some beastmen… some ogres… maybe dark elves… Cultists…? We shall see…


These are Phoenix Clan “Void Guard” for my Hordes of the Things Phoenix Clan army. The figures are old AEG/WOTC Clan War figures.

I’m not entirely sure what the “Void Guard” are supposed to be or how they are used tactically. I assume they are summoned servants of the Void and probably bad ass in close combat… Perhaps I’ll class them as “Blade”. If anyone’s got a better idea I’m all ears! The Clan War Phoenix Army book is one of the ones that I DON’T have…


These are Isawa Inquisitors – also for the Phoenix Clan army. I think I’ll classify them as “Clerics” – they are guys that seek out and destroy evil shugenja - users of Maho (blood magic). Of course if I field them I won’t be able to use all three magicians…


These are “Avalanche Guard” magicians who can turn their skin to stone… or at least cover it with stone… I’m not sure… Anyway, I’ll class them as “Blades” as well.

That’s pretty much it for The Phoenix Clan army. I do have four samurai archers I’m going to paint up as an option. Once I get those done (and figure out how to use this camera a bit better!) I'll post a picture of the whole army together. Shortly after this is posted I should also be posting a report of their first action!!


I also painted up one or two of each for skirmishing… There’s also a Phoenix diplomat there that’s from an Old Glory Samurai Villagers pack.

…and some other oddities rolling off the painting table:


These are Mega Miniatures fantasy villagers (or maybe they were “medieval villagers”… I can’t remember…)


…and a dead Russian from Battle Honors.

yeah… just… don’t ask…


And finally a giant spider from Games Workshop figures; CONVERTED, painted, photographed and posted here entirely without their permission….

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Some more of the Phoenix Clan…? Maybe that stand of archers, just to get them done, and a few more individual figures for skirmishing.

There are still Soviets on the painting table…

..and beastmen (which may or may not stay long enough to get painted)…

Dagnabit...

...my camera died...

I went to take pictures of the Void Guard I finished up yesterday and keep getting this "lens error, restart camera" message - no matter how many times I restart it... I guess I'll have to wait until Amanda gets back so I can use hers.

Unless I can find her "old" one...

and figure out how it works...

Hmmmmm....

Phoenix Clan Shugenja!?

...and now for something completely different.

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


These are two nest stands of Phoenix Clan Shugenja (Magicians) for my Hordes of the Things Phoenix Clan army. The figures are old AEG/WOTC Clan War figures.

I have no idea what prompted me to switch gears and paint these up. Maybe a need to do something different…? During all the cleaning and reorganizing I was sifting through the Clan boxes and noticed these and thought I could quickly paint four figures and finish off a THIRD of the entire army!

The Phoenix army I’m planning features the “Triple Wizard Combo”:


Here’s all three – half the army. The “Triple Wizard Combo” is hard to play and not a very “effective” army… but “effective” has never been a deciding factor in building an army for me – what SHOULD be there is!

As far as I can recall the Phoenix are more or less pacifistic and heavily involved in magic. It seems to me that if brought to battle they would field maximum wizards and try to end the battle before it starts by ensorcelling from afar. The bulk of the melee foot troops will be earth elementals and “Void Guard” – summoned creatures – so they don’t have to actually get their kin into close combat. These will be supported by archers and possibly a stand of Shiba Cavalry.

I also have some Avalanche Guard (shugenja that cast a spell to turn their skin to stone and them go mix it up in hand to hand – probably call them “Blades”) and some Inquisitors (Clerics…?). If I did use the clerics as “Clerics” the earth elementals would probably be relegated to “lurkers” to make the army points even again (Clerics being one of those odd 3AP stands). Of course using the clerics means one less mage… and potentially foiling my own mages

I was going to take a pic of what I’ve got so far… but I just need three more stands to finish a full army and two of them I’m just finishing the bases on (the Void Guard), and a couple others (last stand of archera and a couple optional extras) are sitting on my workbench waiting for paint this evening.

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

The forecast for this week is looking HOTT. The Void Guard will be done by tomorrow and a couple other HoTT items have invaded the workbench.

I may even throw down with a couple games on Wednesday… and maybe Friday… or any evening anyone’s available…