Medium Infantry Transport

 

A pair of mechs from the Firehawks Legion provide ground security for a medium infantry transport.

The mechs I have shown before. The aircraft is an Aeronautica Imperials model. I have little interest in the game, but the models are fantastic and, while they are technically (8-10mm) they scale pretty well with my 6mm Battletech. I gave this one a generic 'military' paint job so that I could use it with any force. (And also so I could paint it quickly!) I suspect it'll mainly be an objective, but I suppose I could also use it for infantry assaults. Three more came in the box!

Tom Bombadil and Goldberry

 

"Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow; bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow!"

I had a fun painting weekend, working on the two figures seen above. Normally, I only paint one figure at time, but these two are so closely-linked, that I thought it appropriate. 

Tom Bombadil is an official figure from Mithril Miniatures (it is easy to forget that there is a company besides GW that produces official Middle-earth figures!). This one comes from a little diorama that also includes a pair of badgers. I haven't painted them yet. Unfortunately, I believe this set is out of print, and I got him on Ebay. Mithril does currently sell a version of Tom riding Fatty Lumpkin! Long ago, I painted an even earlier version of the character from Mithril, but I gave it as a gift to someone. I have also painted a couple of the version made by Games Workshop. I think though, of them all, this is my favourite. There is just something really lovely about the pose, with his hands clasped behind his back. 

Goldberry is from Reaper Miniatures. Officially, the figure is the 'Spirit of Spring'. I think Goldberry could probably serve as the spirit for all of the seasons in turn, so it seem appropriate to me. Anyway, she's a figure that needs a lot of flowers! In fact, I'm pretty sure I have never painted that many flowers on a miniature before!

Painting these figures was a lovely departure from the more combat oriented figures that dominate my painting table. 

Osgiliath Veteran Conversion

 

The Osgiliath Veterans are some of my favourite of the official GW The Lord of the Rings miniatures. I just love their battered, old campaigner look. Plus, they are some of the few Gondorian soldiers that were ever produced in metal. The downside is that there are only three - one with a bow, one with a spear, and one with sword and shield. So, after you've painted a couple of packs, they start to get a bit samey. 

My conversion skills are pretty limited, but to avoid painting the same figure again, I decided to give it a go. I cut the head off the spearman and replaced it with a hooded head from the Frostgrave Knights sprue. Size-wise they are a pretty good match. It worked especially well on this figure as he already had the torn cloak, and by painting both the same colour they integrated nicely. 

Anyway, here he is. A Gondorian soldier who has been on the front lines perhaps a little too long.

Stargrave - Shortlisted for TTG Awards

I've just been informed that Stargrave has been short listed for 'Best Miniatures Game' by the Tabletop Gaming awards. I believe this is a new set of awards, though the magazine presenting them has been around for a number of years now (and even contained the occasional piece from yours truly!). 

You can see the short lists for each category and vote for winners here. I must admit, they've got a couple of unusual categories, such as 'Best Way to Die in an RPG'! 

While I will continue to try and not define my self-worth, or the worth of my games, by awards received - it's always nice to hear that people think you are doing a good job! 

The Grey and the White

 

White is my least favourite colour to paint. Heck, it doesn't even photograph as well as other colours on miniatures. Still, if you want to paint a Saruman, you pretty much have to use it.

Both of the figures above are sculpted by Bobby Jackson and come from Reaper miniatures. Both are part of my slow, on-again off-again, attempt to 'heroic scale' a lot of my The Lord of the Rings miniatures collection. The Gandalf I painted sometime ago, the Saruman just recently.

I love that both figures come from the same sculptor as it gives them a similarity that befits Gandalf and Saruman. Okay, Saruman is never mentioned to have an owl... but it never says he doesn't have an owl, and besides, he is 'the Wise'. 

So anyway, it wasn't the most fun figure to paint because of the white, which I layered up from a cream, but I still enjoyed it, and I'm pretty happy with the results.

Now if Bobby would just sculpted a third one who looked a bit more... I dunno, Brown?

The Sawhole Scourge!

 

Back in my university days, I played a lot of Blood Bowl. While I still consider it one of the best games that Games Workshop has ever produced, these days, I am generally looking for quicker games - both in terms of turn turnover and in play length. So, I was really intrigued when I heard that GW had produced a game called Blitz Bowl, which basically sounded like a smaller, faster version of Blood Bowl. Unfortunately, the game was made available exclusively to Barnes and Noble in the USA. 

Well, being an immigrant does have some advantages, and I was able to get my father to send me over a copy. It arrived just before lockdown happened. And so, after reading the rules, and looking at it all wistfully, I put it on the shelf.

Britain is opening up again - at least for the present, and I've convinced a couple of chums to try out the game in a little round-robin tournament coming up.  While my version of the game came with humans and orcs, I've always been a skaven player at heart. Thankfully, the box comes with rules for the skaven, so I was able to buy a skaven Blood Bowl team and paint up half of them.

So here they are - The Sawhole Scourge! I figure Sawhole is some minor skaven holding, and playing Blitz Bowl is seen as one of the few ways to escape the place.

Painting these figures took a lot longer than I expected. It's been awhile since I've painted modern GW plastics, and I must admit the level of detail is impressive. In truth, it might be a bit more than I want to paint most of the time. That said, it think the little team looks great, and I'm looking forward to getting them on the pitch! 

I'll hopefully report back in a week or two with the results of the tournament and any further thoughts on the game!

The Hunt for Gollum

If you are going to collect The Lord of the Rings miniatures, sooner or later you are going to need a Gollum. Actually, I already have one from the current Games Workshop line, but I found it just too small for my tastes. I wanted something in a more 'heroic' scale. By this I mean figures that have more exaggerated features - bigger hands, heads, shoulders. I generally find such figures much easier and more satisfactory to paint.

The problem being - Gollum has such a specific appearance that I struggled to find anything among the generic fantasy miniatures that were available. I finally resorted to asking for help on the Wargaming in Middle-earth FaceBook page. One member suggested I look at the Gollum sculpted for the official LOTR Citadel range of the 1980s (Thanks Rob!). Most of that range is a bit too cartoony for me, but Gollum is supposed to be a bit cartoony. Anyway, I found a photo, loved the figure, and found one on Ebay that didn't cost too much. 

Painting was a pretty simple process, since he's mostly pale skin. I decided to over-emphasis the eyes (remember those eyes are really only about a couple of mm wide) as these are Gollum's most defining feature. I also love that he's clutching a fish.

Unfortunately for Gollum, after a long chase, my Aragorn has finally run him down!