I am pretty tired of painting leapers at the moment and have this and two more to go. I am going to try and finish them over the next few days so I can move on to something else.
These ones are the new Mantic version but IMHO are not as good as the original ones.
The old version for comparison. I think they are more animated
Tomorrow a change for a few days.
A play on words of the Lee Kernaghan’s quintessential Australian bush ballad, but be warned this post is very, very, very, politically incorrect.
These figures are from Brother Vinni’s “action” girls, “game” girls, and “Female Brigade” ranges. As the names suggest, if you are unaware of Brother Vinni‘s range, they are very “bohemian” to say the least!
These four figures are the start of a female jungle fighters team for F28 and Kill Team.
As the figures are quite detailed and I cannot be sure what age of people is viewing these posts I have censored all of the naughty “bits” so those over the age of sixty do not have heart attacks!
Army Medic
Missile “handler”
Don’t you like the way she handles her “missile”.
Flamer – could have been dangerous if she was dressed as the others!
Don’t ya just hate risk managers!
Missile “launcher”
I will post more of these when I have another four finished. It will take some time because, and I have to be careful how I say this, I can only fit one on the end of my painting stick at a time!
Another update for me to keep a track on myself and to just give you an idea of what I am doing at the moment.
Preparation and “staging” side.
Painting and waiting to be painted side.
These have not been progressed for over a month and perhaps should go back in their relevant boxes to make more space.
The mammoth has had a few more colours added.
Only the skin colour has been added to these “old hammer” sentinels.
More “Plague” figures that I have been concentrating on more recently.
2 Units of WW2 scouts ready to be started.
Two more U.N.I.T. sections half done.
Children with snowballs that are so closed to being finished all I need is motivation to do so!
4th Squad of the Australian Jungle Division not progressed very far, if at all, from last month.
2nd Doctor Who and Companions ready to start painting.
20mm Airfix Australians with a few more colours added.
LVT 4 “Buffalos” ready for weathering. My Grandfather, who had many a ride in these said the only thing that was not covered in rust on them was the allied star as they were kept clean to prevent them from being mistaken for the Japanese Type 2 Ka Mi which looked more like a DUKW than an LVT4 but that was the story anyway.
A “between the wars” (?) vehicle given to me by a friend in anticipation of my 70th birthday in May this year.
Pack horses with no further progress.
Deadzone “Enforcers” put together for F28 halfway through painting.
Midlam Miniatures Tavern Kickstarter. I thought they might look good on some wooden floor resin bases I had, but they don’t. I will re-base them before painting.
Badger and rabbit with some more colours on them. The badger had a fight with a kitten and came off second best. I am still trying to find the feathers broken off his hat!
The offender “Muggles” – how can you stay mad at her!
Brother Vinni’s jungle fighters – post on the first lot appearing tomorrow.
WW2 US Army section to be used as Merrill’s Marauders.
Warlord’s special “Cappy and Devil Dog” figure that comes with the “Marianas & Palau Islands” Campaign book.
5th Jungle Division section just undercoated.
Draconian Dr Who figures prepared for undercoating.
Dr Who Yetis, Lt Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart, and Professor Travers from the “Web of Fear” box set, ready for undercoating
Assorted MacGuffins and objectives ready for undercoating.
A lot of progress on some new “stuff” like the Plague figures and some that have sadly stalled. Such is the life of Guru!
I found these 1/43 jeeps in a bargain shop which is close enough to 28mm scale, especially when all you are going to do with them is hit them with a hammer!
At $2.95 they were great value.
Destroyed Jeep 1
Destroyed Jeep 2
Destroyed Jeep 3
I will use these for damaged vehicles for LRDG and SAS games.
Bigger than a Plague Lord and more powerful than an Aberration, the hulking creature known as a Corruption is a rare and terrifying sight.
Four, thick arms ripple with muscle under shifting flesh, each ending in a boulder-like fist. Its lower jaw can dislocate and split into two – allowing it to swallow most victims whole.
Along its back, a hard carapace is topped with wicked-looking spikes of bone. And like a Plague Lord, it has the intelligence to command.
There is no official interaction. UNIT stands for the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. While they are dominated by Britain because, let’s be honest, Doctor Who is a BBC show, they’re not a British organization.
Torchwood IS a British organization, set up and paid by the British crown (not even the government). They’re also highly classified, so for the most part, UNIT doesn’t even know about them. The higher ups in UNIT have probably been informed of or discovered Torchwood’s existence, and might call them in when they have no other options; but in general, they are competing, not collaborating, agencies.
As far as differences in focus, UNIT is more of a police organization; their main mission is to serve as the contact point for responding to alien communications and to contain alien incursions.
Torchwood’s focus is more on obtaining alien technology, studying it, and using it for the betterment and defense of the British Empire.
In the second doctor episode that the Organisation was still called UNIT but the acronym meant United Nations Intelligence Taskforce now it means UNified Intelligence Taskforce. What is the reason for this. basically real life interacting with fiction. The real reason was that the real life (? – they still seem to live in a rarified bubble thinging they are more important than what they actually are!) UNited Nations didn’t want to be associated with an alien police force! Hmm, lot’s of lines that i will leave alone in case I join the queue that have offended António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres!
With us both being too busy today to celebrate the feast of Lupercalia, we decided to go on Sunday to The Blue Lotus Water Gardens instead.
Besides I couldn’t find a goat and a dog to sacrifice, and I am pretty sure that SWMBO would not allow me to whip her with their skinned hides either.
The mountains to the east of Melbourne were the place in Victorian times to holiday in summer to escape the heat, take the “waters” and breathe the “airs”.
Now very much on the fringe of the city rather than in the countryside the area still has many gems for day trips. The Blue Lotus Water Gardens is one of them.
Situated in Yarra Junction, so named for the junction of the Yarra River that flows through Melbourne to the sea, and the “Little Yarra” river, the gardens are fourteen acres of pure delight.
The cool mountain air means that the lakes are only a few feet deep so that the sun can keep the lotus flowers warm and able to bloom. The garden is closed during winter because of this.
Giant Amazonian lotus plants, some over three feet in diameter.
The rose and the lotus?
Queen of the Dragons (shhh – don’t tell her!). Emilia Clarke eat your heart out!
The Lotus fairies. I think the young ones have had enough of photos!
Monet has nothing on this!
We gorged ourselves on a sumptuous feast cooked lovingly by SWMBO, and despite the on and off rain we had a great day.
The only downside was missing Emilia in the dragon garden!
Another three Plague leapers spreading “the word”.
I have just found two more packs of these leapers and one more pack of the new version so there will be another nine of these in the next dew days.
Firstly another offering by Chris McDowall – The Doomed
This one is available for pre-order from Osprey and looks like a worthwhile investment for those interested in the Post Apocalyptic Sci-Fi genre. There is not much available on this one and i have copied and pasted from the Osprey site all that is available at the moment.
A quick-playing, rules-light skirmish wargame of Horror hunting set in a bleak sci-fi world on the brink of impending doom.
Hunger, Hatred, Domination, Oblivion, and Ruin. The world is dying, poised on the brink of falling to one of these great dooms. Factions pursue their own interests, as likely to be the heralds of the world’s destruction as they are its saviours. Horrors – monstrous abominations that defy logic, science, and nature – roam the land. Bands of hunters follow bold leaders, seeking out and destroying Horrors, gaining fame as word of their deeds spreads amongst the desperate survivors. Rival bands compete for prestige, clash over ideology, and pose as much of a threat to each other as the Horrors they hunt.
The Doomed is a quick-playing, rules-light skirmish wargame in which small warbands of hunters compete to hunt unique Horrors in a bleak sci-fi world. Scenarios are defined by the Horror being hunted and by the Conflict in which the hunt takes place. Each Horror has its own strengths, weaknesses, and tactics, often breaking the rules in unique ways, and must be approached carefully – stealth, cunning, and brute force will all have a role to play. Each Conflict, meanwhile, provides a distinct set-up for the scenario and a secondary objective that pits the warbands against each other as well as against the Horror. Campaigns build towards a climax, with hunters gaining prestige and renown, offering access to new, unique options for their warband. In the background, the five dooms also grow in power, threatening to deliver their own climax to the campaign if the hunters are not successful enough.
The next is from the prolific pen of Joseph A. McCullough. The Carpathians is a new supplement for Silver bayonet, and also on pre-order from Osprey.
Recruit new soldiers, face new foes, and explore the mysteries of the Carpathian Mountains in two new campaigns, one competitive and one for solo or cooperative play.
High in the Carpathian Mountains stands the crumbling Castle Fier. Once home to a powerful warlord, the castle cast a dark shadow across the nearby villages, until crusaders attacked with sword and flame to put an end to its menace. Though history passed into folklore, the ruins of Castle Fier remained shunned by all as a cursed site. Now, horrors have been seen moving at night. An army gathers. Something has awoken in the ruins. With the political situation in the surrounding region becoming increasingly unstable, France, Prussia, Britain, and the other powers have dispatched their best agents to investigate the ruins, eliminate any threats, and acquire any treasures that could prove useful in the ongoing fight against the harvestmen… and each other.
The Carpathians: Castle Fier is a supplement for The Silver Bayonet: A Wargame of Napoleonic Gothic Horror, in which the special units must fight their way through the ruins of a menacing haunted castle. It features two campaigns – one competitive and one for solo or cooperative play – as well as new monsters to fight, soldiers to recruit, and treasure to unearth.
Another one available for pre-order is from Helion. The Helion Wargaming series is less about the how to and more about giving gamers the tools and knowledge to play the period. I have always liked the history of the Monmouth Rebellion and their title on this one is excellent. I also have their Three Ages of Riome series which is also very good. I have no reason to think that this one would be any different.
The Spanish Civil War is often seen as a socialist against fascist war, but this is not always the case. The people living in Spain during the 1930’s had more to them than either being left, or right wing and it is a misconception to put them in “boxes” for ease of simplicity. Spain was not only a hotbed of political ideals during the period but also a place of religion and the old way of Spanish life. When the Republican Government got into power all these conceptions were thrown into the melting pot and what came out was a modern war, the like of which had never been seen.
This war was seen as a testing ground for some of the major powers at the time and their influence would be revisited during World War Two. Saturated bombing, tank tactics and new weaponry were used to an extent never seen before in Europe and would dictate the future. It was the scene of some horrendous atrocities which would only be overshadowed by the next major conflict. Many lessons were learned, including the large movement of troops in a short period of time (the Army of Africa to Spain by the Condor Legion and the Italian Air Force) or how to defend areas against modern weapons (the Republican Army around the University in Madrid). There were also tactics used from the previous World War including trenches which were employed to hold up the advancement of troops and still showed they were necessary even against more modern armies.
As in any civil war the uniforms, other than those of the international participants, were similar on either side at the beginning of the conflict but as time went on there became differences following the aid from “sponsor” countries. Together with these changes the appearance of other armies in Spain led to a myriad of varied uniforms and weapons which are included in the book.
The war lasted for just under three years with numerous large battles taking place, some of which are regularly written about, but in addition there are even more smaller fights which took place. Most of the smaller actions lend themselves to time limited wargames which are playable in one session each, giving the players an achievable objective.
The last one has been around for a few years but I have only just come across it.
I have really enjoyed Ash Barkers “Last Days of the Zombie Apocalypse” and will pick this one up based on this. He has some excellent ideas and mechanics and any of his rules are well worth a look. This one is available from Book Depository for AU $40.52.
In the blasted, radiation-scorched, wastelands of the Earth’s surface, towering mecha do battle, defending the interests of one of the few remaining arcology governments, providing security for wilderness outposts, or seeking out loot and supplies as a mercenary company. With detailed rules for designing and customizing your mecha, from size and propulsion type to payload and pilot skills, and a campaign system that allows pilots to gain experience and skills as they patrol the shattered Earth, Gamma Wolves is a fast-playing game of post-apocalyptic mecha warfare.
I look forward to picking up a couple of these.
My mother use to say when referring to pieces of cake “Why have one when you can have two”.
I think the same applies to Plague Lords even if you can only have one in your army!
