Horse Archers and Crossbowmen

A few more things rolling off the workbench this week…

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

Turcoman Horse Archers from Gripping Beast.

These will be a unit of “Mounted Yeomen”/Light Riders for my medieval Muslim Lion Rampant/Dragon Rampant Retinue/Warband.

Here they are with other members of the Retinue/Warband so far…  (The foot are actually part of Frostgrave Warbands – but I figure I could press these ones into service as a unit of Fierce/Belicose Foot and Bidowers/Scouts…).

Some Armoured Crossbowmen from Perry Miniatures. I was picking up some other stuff from Perry Miniatures so I thought I’d grab these to use as Marksmen in Frostgrave - as they have Mail, Crossbow, and Sword – the equipment of marksmen… unfortunately these are earlier crusaders and the helmets on the rest of my soldiers are later medieval… ah well…

If you look close, two have been painted with yellowish tunics for the Gold Wizards warband and two have green for the Jade Wizards. The other two in could be for anyone. I haven’t ever taken any Marksmen – I’m not a fan of the slow-loading crossbows – I’d rather have a Ranger that can get twice as many shots down range… but I thought I should get some Marksmen to try out at some point…

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I’m pretty excited about the Medieval Muslims at the moment, I may try to push to finish up the remaining two or three units of cavalry so I could have a fieldable force – and then work on the additional infantry options when I get to them. Of course there are a lot other things on my workbench, so who knows…?! 

Wings of Glory and Another Odd Assortment of Miniatures: Medieval, Fantasy, Indian Muntiy!?

The kids have been learning about the Great War this week and a number of movies and documentaries have been watched and I’ve tried to sneak in a game or two.

On Friday we watched Blue Max. I still love that movie - incredible stuff - all pre-CGI. 

Then busted out Wings of Glory (which I actually won in a contest on BoardGameGeek!)

The Boy took a Fokker DR.1 and The Girl the Albatros D.VA. I took the Sopwith Camel and a SPAD.

MRRRRRrrrooooowwwwww-dakka-dakka-dakka-dakka! That’s my Camel finishing off The Boy’s Fokker.

(Yes, sound effects were required. I’m pretty sure it’s somewhere in the rules!)

Here are a few other items I’ve been working away at over the last week or so, concurrent with the Mike Bravo Miniatures

Casualty marker for my Medieval Muslims from Perry Miniatures

Another OLD Citadel Miniature recently stripped and repainted. I think the figure was actually an assassin figure for Talisman, but I’m planning to use it as a Thief or Treasure Hunter for my Gold Wizards (since I recently did a Treasure Hunter for the Jade Wizards

Since I’ve put together a Summoner warband, I thought I should have some more figures I could use as Imps. So I dug out these “Bushwoolies” from Thunderbolt Mountain. I don’t recall actually ordering these… I think they may have been sent along as free samples when I ordered some other things from them…?

Three dwarves to finish up a unit of Elite Foot for Dragon Rampant. The one in the middle is from Reaper Miniatures and the two flanking him are from Games Workshop.

Here’s the whole unit. The leader is so badass – he’s worth TWO of the six Strength Points!

Now to get the rest of the Dwarves finished!

(Actually I have my Dwarf DBA army that could easily be pressed into service for Dragon Rampant… but I also happen to have enough individually based Dwarves to field a Dragon Rampant warband! They just need some painting... well some of them… about half).

This is Suliman Le Saracen an old warhammer figure from Games Workshop I picked up in trade from my pal Cory when he was here for the Wargaming Birthday Bash/Winter Wargame Campaign Weekend. I had hoped that I might be able to slip him into one of my Lion Rampant units of Medieval Muslim Cavalry…

But as he towers over the others I think he’ll have to be some sort of Heroic Prince in Dragon Rampant and be fielded as a Single Model Unit of Elite Cavalry!

These are some Highlanders for the Indian Mutiny from AW Miniatures. Terry had a sample pack of them and gifted them to me for my birthday and I painted them up because… well… um… No, I don’t have enough for a full unit… er… No, I don’t have any other British troops from the era… I don’t even have anything I could pass off as mutinous Indians to have these guys fight a last stand defensive sort of game against… Really I’m not sure why I did these… It just seemed like a good idea at the time.

I’m pretty happy with how their kilts turned out.

Finally some crusader Religious rabble. A couple of these guys are partial repaints… I can’t remember which now… I thin they’re all from Old Glory…?

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I have no idea. I feel like I’m all over the place. I feel more like cleaning and organizing the basement before doing any more gaming or painitng…

We shall see… 

Mike Bravo Miniatures (Part Two)

As promised, here are the remaining figures that arrived last week from Mike Bravo Miniatures.

See previous post here:

Mike Bravo Miniatures (Part One)

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

Also part of the 28mm State of Emergency line - 1979 Paramilitaries in Balaclavas. These figures are nice and beefy miniatures and should stand up to the abuse I give miniature figurines – solid weapons, easy to paint details.

Their backsides.

I thought they’d go well with the thugs in balaclavas from Killer B Games that I picked up to do double duty as either criminal thugs or Provos.

Here they are in a long line up of some of the other modern-ish thugs with firearms I have… (From left to right); Hasslefree Miniatures, The Assault Group, Copplestone Castings (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Mike Bravo Miniatures, Copplestone Castings (Future Wars), Mike Bravo Miniatures, Hasslefree Miniatures, Mike Bravo Miniatures, Victory Force Miniatures, Mike Bravo Miniatures, The Assault Group.

I also picked up a pack of War Correspondents from their “Modern Miscellany” line.

Their backs.

Here is a comparison shot with a couple other TV reporters. The two on the left of the picture are from SuperFigs and the reporter without a camera operator on the right is from The Assault Group.

Another comparison shot of photo journalists (From left to right); Superfigs, Mike Bravo Miniatures, RAFM, Mike Bravo Miniatures, Black Cat Bases.

The war correspondents seem to be done by a different sculptor, they are stylistically quite different and considerably slighter than the State of Emergency figures.

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Probably back to some Fantasy and Medieval stuff, considering what’s on my workbench at the moment… 

Mike Bravo Miniatures (Part One)

…and now for something completely different…

Last week a package arrived from Mike Bravo Miniatures. Mike Bravo Miniatures is a new-ish company out of the UK that produces modern figures. I can’t even recall how I came across them… probably Wargame News and Terrain Blog...? At the time I placed my order they had only three packs available for pre-order so I ordered all three; British Infantry in Flak Vests and Paramilitaries in Balaclavas from their “State of Emergency” line and War Correspondents from their “Modern Miscellany” line.

From their blog and news page it looks like they’re planning some Cold War Americans, Modern Africans and IDF, and more 1979 State of Emergency figures.

Currently they are running their own crowd-funding campaign to get some more packs made for the State of Emergency line. I am seriously tempted to order a bunch more... 

I had hoped to have them all painted up quickly, but I got busy with other things this last week, so here’s what I’ve painted so far.

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

1979 British Infantry in Flak Vest.

I like these figures, they’re nice, beefy miniatures with fairly solid weapons, easy to paint details. (That being said, despite the very good packaging, on of the FN barrels did break off in transit… as the forestock was too slight for my wee drill to drill into I had to carv off the lower half of the forestock to the hand and drill into the hand to insert some wire for a new barrel and then rebuild the forestock with green stuff… It happens – seems to be the bane of all British modern troops of all manufacturers – whether armed with FNs or SA-80s - the barrels are prone to breaking off… can you tell which one it was?)

Back Side

Below are a few comparison shots of other modern British (and others armed with FNs)...

Here is the standing firing chap with a few standing firing squaddies from other manufacturers. From left to right - The Assault Group, Mongrel Miniatures, The Assault Group, Mike Bravo Miniatures, Mongrel Miniatures, Gripping Beast.

(Mongrel Miniatures are more or less out of print – they are, in theory, available from New Line Designs but they haven’t been in stock for years and most codes have been dropped from their catalogue - but people have them so I included a few)

Here is on of the partolling troopers with similar sorts from other manufacturers. From left to right - The Assault Group, Gripping Beast, Mike Bravo Miniatures, Mongrel Miniatures , The Assault Group.

Here is the kneeling/crouching Corporal with a few similar figures from other manufacturers. From left to right - The Assault Group, Mongrel Miniatures, Mike Bravo Miniatures, Gripping Beast, The Assault Group

Here is the standing rifle up with the only other modern british soldier I could find with a rifle up – from the out-of-print Devil Dog Designs. DDD kindo f dwarfed all other moderns (except, perhaps, Victory Force Miniatures)



While the Mike Bravo Miniatures tend to be on the slightly beefier side, I don't think it's nearly enough to be concerned about. but I've never been that fussy about miniatures - once they're all on the table no one will notice the differences that are more apparent when you line them all up next to each other. I think differences in paint jobs an dbasing stand out far more than slight variations in scale... 

On last pic – a  sneak peak at one of the figures from the 1979 Paramilitaries in Balaclavas pack – I should have the rest of these finished up in the next day or so… 

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

The rest of the figures from Mike Bravo Miniatures. Then…? There are Dwarves and Seljuks, and Wizards and Hobbits and all manner of other figures crowding my painting table at the moment… perhaps it’s time for a clear off again… 

Seljuk Heavy Cavalry

In January I picked up three units of Medieval Muslim foot from Black Tree Design to start a retinue for Lion Rampant (or a warband for Dragon Rampant…) when they had their crazy 50% off sale going on. I managed to get a half dozen camel riders from their fantasy Saracen range and replaced their goofy looking shields to make them look slightly more historical… But I knew I’d need more cavalry so I began looking around for options – thinking I’d pick some up once I got what I had painted… then I found a few packs listed on the Sentry Box’s online catalogue – some Gripping Beast Seljuk cavalry that were clearly old stock that had been sourced when the US dollar and UK pound were in the tank – So instead of waiting I decided to just order them, lest they be snapped up by someone else…

While I’ve been painting a few individual medieval Middle Eastern figures for use with Frostgrave Warbands, I thought I’d try paint up a few of the units for the Lion Rampant Retinue and ultimately decided that I should start with this newly acquired cavalry… (last in, first out, I guess…).

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

As I mentioned these figures are from Gripping Beast.

These will be classed as Mounted Sergeants (@ 4 points) with the Bow upgrade (+1 point = 5 points) in Lion Rampant.

(in Dragon Rampant they’d be “Heavy Riders” with the “Mounted Missiles” upgrade – also 5 points – same stats, different names)

I reallyhad fun painting them – they’re quite colourful! I figured the elite cavalry would be a bit more well off than the common foot soldier and would like to show off their “bling”. I’m really happy with how the shields turned out.

The guy with the upright spear probably could have had a banner… but I got lazy. Perhaps I’ll add one later – when I have other units – to distinguish them from one another and indicate where the leader of the retinue is…

I also just finished up some Treasure Tokens for Frostgrave (but they went in a separate post just before this one)

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I have a few more European foot Men-at-Arms on the work bench that I might paint up next… but they could easily be swept off and replaced with… who-knows-what!?

Frostgrave Treasure Tokens

I had a few swords and bows and quivers left over from assembling my Seljuk Cavalry (more on that is just a few minutes!), so I thought I'd make a few more treasure tokens for Frostgrave.



I have to admit I got the idea of using glitter from some fabulous treasure tokens made by another local Frostgrave player - his looked way better though - I think it maybe partly due to the fact that he probably used better quality glitter - I used some cheap junk from the dollar store and the "gold" has a bit of a greenish hue to it...



Overall I'd say the experiment was successful. I think I'll try and source some better quality glitter and try making a few more.

Up Next:

Seljuk Cavalry for Lion Rampant!

More Medieval Stuff and Blathering About What to DO Next?!

The dust has begun to settle from last weekend’s Frostgrave Campaign Weekend and I’m easing myself back into painting…

Including a few painting sessions with the kids! Actually we started listening to A Game of Thrones audiobook this week – so they’ve been quite keen to sit down and paint. Actually The Girl never needs convincing – she LOVES painting. The Boy could take it our leave it… but since the only time we listen to audiobooks is when we’re paiting – and he does like listening to audiobooks (especially fantasy ones!) he’ll dig stuff out and get some work done.

I’ve more or less carrying on with what I’ve been working on the last month or so… more on that later, but for now – here’s what I’ve finished up this week:

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

Six foot Men-at-Arms from Black Tree Design for my green and yellow Lion Rampant retinue.

A couple more religious types to help spread the good word… I thought I might try and get 12 of these – or at least a few more and mix them with civilians to use as a bunch of pilgrims heading to the holy land (I’d call them a unit of “Peasants” in Lion Rampant). The figures are from Old Glory (I think…).

New Treasure Hunter for the Jade Wizard’s Warband. This is an old Citadel Miniatures/Games Workshop figure that I’ve had for over 30 years and recently stripped to repaint (I posted a picture a couple weeks back just before he went into the paint-stripping-bath).

Finally another Archer for the Middle Eastern flavoured warband. I’m not sure of the manufacturer; I got him in a trade.

Well... What next…?

I’ve been so wrapped up in making terrain (and making more terrain), and painting warbands (and more warbands and other stuff), and playing Frostgrave (and again, and again…) all in preparation for the 12^th Annual Wargaming Birthday Bash/Winter Wargaming Campaign Weekend: Quest for the Skull Sword …. I kind of haven’t given much thought to what I’m going to do for… well…  the rest of the year – and beyond!?

Sure, I worked out a bit of a plan in January and I’ve been thinking about En Garde! and painting up swashbucklers for it (like these ones and these ones and  these ones) and then there’s Lion Rampant/Dragon Rampant which I’ve been thinking about a lot and painting stuff for (like these Elf Archers, and these Elite Elf Foot, and these Halflings, or these peasants and such) – we even got in a game of Dragon Rampant in early January… but they’ve been distractions that I quickly pushed aside to stay focused on the task at hand… so now what…?

I feel pulled in so many directions at once…

Part of me wants to just drop Frostgrave and move on to other things. But another part of me, now that I’ve got all this stuff done, wants to get a regular campaign going – even if it’s just with the family – and play through all the scenarios in the core book and then the Hunt for the Golem campaign and then Thaw of the Lich Lord campaign…

Part of me wants to just jump into high production for Lion Rampant/Dragon Rampant.

I have a feeling that’s just not going to work out for the next month or so….You see for the next month the kids and I are studying the early 20^th Century – so that means the Great War, the Russian Revolution, Spanish Civil War, and World War Two – all of which I have both board and miniature games for – so I have a feeling that we’ll spend a lot of our game time doing those sorts of things. I might set aside Saturday evening for Frostgrave… but the rest of the game time through the week will be devoted to more modern subjects.

Part of me hopes that this might jumpstart a renewed interest in the Vimy Project… it’s just over a year to go until the 100^th anniversary of the battle and I have NOT been keeping up with the schedule laid out in that last post… but if I jumped right in and stayed focused I could probably pull it off… Of course WHERE would I put it on…!? Who the heck would even want to play in it!? the Legion Hall a block from my place would be a perfect location – but would there be enough interest in Saskatoon to run it here – or would it be a big enough draw that people would be willing to travel to Saskatoon in April of next year to participate…? I don’t know…. I guess I’ll see how the next month goes.

I guess that’s most of my plan worked out for the next month – Frostgrave on Saturday nights… Early 20^th century during the rest of the week for the month of March (and in April we’ll be covering even more modern subjects – I’ve got all sorts of Vietnam and Cold War miniatures and board games we could make use of…) and we’ll see where my interests lie at the end of that.

I DO want to get to try out En Garde!, and play a lot more Lion Rampant and Dragon Rampant. Also I have a complete Medival Muslim retinue and a third complete European retinue to paint up for Lion Rampant – and a bunch more halflings and others I’d like to paint up to finish Warbands for Dragon Rampant. I'll probably continue to paint a bit of this while playing other games for the next month of so. But serious work on these projects (and playing these games) may have to wait until later in the spring… or summer… or 2017 if I get going on the Vimy Project again!!

Of course then there's Men Who Would Be Kings... which I'm also pretty excited about and have been gazing over my British colonials and Zulus (and Boers... and Martians!?) and pondering which of those I should get working on... 

Then there's the Imperial Guard Jungle Fighters I'm so close to getting finished... which, seriously, a week or two of serious work and I'd be DONE ALL OF THEM and they'd be sitting ready for whenever the kids or my friend and his kids finish any of their units and want to play...

I could go on...

Too much stuff to do, too little time...

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I have some Seljuk Cavalry on the workbench that I'll probably be finishing up next.

Probably not getting in a game of Frostgrave this weekend, but perhaps next weekend...