Herdstone

 

This terrain piece was a gift from a friend that sat in my painting queue for over a year. In truth, I was a little intimidated by it. It's got loads of detail. Actually, though, it painted up really easy, and I think it looks awesome. It's a 'Herdstone' from Games Workshop's Age of Sigmar line, which has produced some fantastic terrain. I'm sure I'll find some uses for it in my own games. I'm already thinking it would make a pretty good objective in my Rangers of Shadow Deep: Ghost Stone campaign! 

I included the latest recruit to my Dol Amroth army for scale purposes. 

Building with Bits

Finished up my third building for my Dropship Down project. I got a little fancier with this one, in that I glued some 'bits' onto it, just to add a little visual interest and make it look more sci-fi. The bits are all vehicle parts from either Games Workshop or North Star's Gaslands plastics. I honestly think a little goes a long way with this. I'm still a long way away from a full table, but slow and steady will get me there eventually!

Squad Support and Construction Equipment

 

Work slowly continues on my Dropship Down project. First up, I added a couple of troopers with 'squad support weapons' as theses were lacking in my platoon. I'm trying to assemble 4 man fireteams, each with a support weapon. These guys are straight Stargrave builds. Most of it comes from the Mercenaries set, though there might be some Troopers pieces in there as well.

I also finished painting a construction tractor of some sort. This is part of the Games Workshop Galvanic Servohaulers set. I wish it didn't have the big mechanicum skulls on it, but otherwise, it's a lovely piece, and a perfect bit of scatter terrain. I admit, I didn't want to spend a large amount of time painting it, so it's is primarily two colours. That said, I did take the opportunity to test out some 'Weathering Pencils' that I bought in Copenhagen. These are pretty neat as you just draw directly onto the model, and then apply a bit of water. (These come from AK Interactive). I really didn't spend long on it, but I think it did a great job of giving the vehicle an old, rusty, weather-beaten look. With a bit more time and practice, I can see these being great tools.

What's next? Well, I definitely need to build a lot more terrain. I'd also like to assemble a rocket-launcher team, to give the platoon a bit of heavy firepower in case of enemy vehicles. Then, I think it will be time for another vehicle. We'll see.

Faraos Cigarer – Copenhagen

Recently, I had the good fortune to spend a day in Copenhagen with my family. It was the first trip to this intriguing city for any of us. In the morning, we took the kids to the Aquarium, and they were entranced by the hammerhead sharks (among other things). After lunch, my wife wanted to take the canal tour, so we spent a relaxing hour floating along, going under bridges, and seeing lots of interesting sites. After that, it was my turn. I wanted to visit the local gaming store. While we managed to turn a 15-minute walk into a half-hour walk, not including the drink break, we eventually found it… our should I say ‘them’.

Upon walking into Faraos Cigarer, I knew I was walking into a special store. It was big, and positively crammed with games. My first stop was the role-playing wall. And I do mean ‘wall’. A giant shelf, fifteen-or-more feet high, and nearly the width of the shop, it had everything. The only downside is that I could only reach about 40% of the books on the wall! (In fairness, even their tallest customers are going to need a ladder for some items).

On the other side of the shop they had a section of discount games and used/collectable games, including more than a few rarities (priced appropriately). I took advantage of some of the cheaper options, picking up a couple of the out-of-print Fantasy Flight, Warhammer 40,000 RPG Books. I also found a 3^rd Ed GURPS book that I have wanted for a while, in near-mint condition!

With my wife entertaining the kids, I knew I was on limited time, so I ran around the shop a bit like a headless chicken. I only skimmed the board games, knowing I didn't have space to carry any of them back, but soon I realized something was missing – miniature games! When I made my purchases, I asked the guy at the counter if they carried any mini games and he said – they were in their other shop, just around the corner!

Checking in with my wife, she insisted that I take a look at this new store, even though the kids were getting hungry and tired. I’m so glad she did. Although the second store wasn’t quite as big, it was just as crammed with goodies. One wing of the store was devoted to collectable card games, the other to miniature games. As expected, this was dominated by Games Workshop, but had a good selection of other stuff as well. They even had a chunk of my own games! I’m hoping that means they are popular and not that they bought in a bunch they couldn’t sell!

The store also had a downstairs gaming area reached by a spiral staircase in the middle of the shop. I picked up a few items from this shop as well, which I’ll talk about in later posts, and had a quick chat with the guy at the counter. It was Magic night, and he was a Magic guy, so he didn’t know much about mini-games played in the store, other than they happened sometime.

Amazingly, they also have a comic store in close proximity, but I didn’t have time to check out it.

Honestly, if you put those two shops I did see together, it might just be the best gaming store I have ever seen. I feel like I have a little unfinished business exploring them, and I know what I’ll be concentrating on next time I’m in Copenhagen (I do also want to check out the National Museum).

** Curiously, if you took a guess at the translation of the store name, you would probably be close. It apparently means 'Pharaoh's Cigars'. There must be a story behind that name.

Newest Recruits

 

I painted up a couple of new recruits for my colonial marines this weekend. These both come from the Stargrave Mercenaries box (with possible arms from the Troopers box). I am taking a 'Star Wars Approach' to this force, by which I mean that most of the soldiers are human with a smattering of aliens mixed in. Not only does this give the force some nice variety, but it means I can occasionally use those purple and magenta paints that don't get a lot of use!

Army of Dol Amroth

 (Click on photo for a bigger shot)

The other project I have been working on is my Army of Dol Amroth. This photo shows off most of my progress so far.  I've got 5 swordsmen with their swan/star shields. I've got three archers, and I have just finished the first of my spearmen, with a new version of the swan symbol on his shield. All of those figures are Fireforge plastics. In the middle is a mounted Games Workshop knight and another on foot. I've actually got 5 more foot knights, I just haven't dug them out of the box yet. My main goal here is to get the swordsmen, spearmen, and archers up to 6 man units. (Then 8, then 12!).  I'd like to add some more mounted knights, but I really like the metal ones, and they are rather expensive these days, being out-of-print. I will probably add one every so often.

Colonial Marines

(Click on the photo to embiggen)

I haven't been blogging as much lately, no major reason for this. It's just been nice weather, and I have been doing other things. But I'm still doing a bit of painting on several different projects. Today, I just wanted to show off my slowly advancing 'Dropship Down' project. These are my colonial marine forces, and my junk-made terrain. Basically, from this point, I just want to add a bit more of everything. More terrain, more troops, more vehicles. There is something refreshingly simple about the project. I enjoy the way I haven't tied it to any ruleset or even specifically to any line of miniatures - though I admit I really am enjoying the Stargrave plastics, especially the Mercenaries box!