Small but mighty!

Events overtook me and I was not able to post as scheduled on Thursday. Which means Yes you guessed it I was looking after my nephew. But despite that and while he played on the computer or watched "Aliens" on DVD I did manage to get some 10mm Kallistra Dwarves painted and based. The first few people who followed this blog or just casually glanced at it will no doubt vaguely remember I started a 10mm fantasy army. Well I still had and have some Dwarfs to paint for this so I thought to do something small and easy to finish between 40k matches (most of which I lost!).

So here we have 4 stands of dwarves. Each stand has 10 figures on it for that nice crowded look which so suits smaller figures. As with the other units in the army I have gone for a bold blue and white colour scheme.  I find bold colours on smaller figures very effective in a fantasy setting as I want them to be clear on the table.


I make no excuses for having painted these figures  in a wargaming manner. They are designed to be see from a couple of feet away and don't need the detail the shading or the highlighting of 28mm figures. Therefore I put a heavy black wash over them and a simple highlight after there base colours were done. Simple and yet effective enough from a couple of feet away.

 I do have more of these little blighters to do so don't be too surprised if they start turning up between now and Christmas. I am even thinking of getting more at SELWG at the end of September. I won't go overboard on purchases, but I do like the look of this army and think it does deserve to be increased to a usable size.

Eventually I will need an opposing army for them and am at present open to suggestions. I am very fussy about fantasy armies though which means I would want something that would fit in and be a worthy adversary for these figures. One guy (Kevin) at the club has some Undead so I would not want to tread on his toes and get them as well. Anyway have a think and let me know.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading and I should post again on Monday. All the best Clint

TAR7AN Board update 5

 Ok not making any excuses, but it's "Summer Holiday" time so having to look after my nephew means I don't get as much hobby time as usual. Because of that I have not got any figures painted. So here's where I am on the board.

As you can see the stepping stones are now in place. Some tidying up to do but overall not too bad.

I have STARTED to paint the river. Only started mind so not the finished shades, but It should I hope, give a rough indication of where it is heading. at least 2 more shades of different blue and another green before I look towards the Varnish.

I have finished dry brushing the cliff. This takes it from a very plastic kids toy feel into a slightly more credible look. Once stains and some foliage is added it should start looking more realistic. At least that is the hope. I don't mind it looking a little cartoony but I don't want bit to look too ropey!

The temple entrance was treated as roughly as the cliff and yet still gives a passable result. I have yet to black in the doorway but even so you can see that it should work.


I would like to say I have more to share, but James (the nephew) has taken and will continue to take up time and effort to entertain. Which is not in any way a complaint, but is perhaps some part of an explanation.

I shall try to get some figures finished for Thursday. Basing and a lot of touching up to do on this next batch..... and due to my self imposed "Figure Fast" you will see they are not from current front runner projects but from something started a couple of years back!

That's it hurried out for today. Hope to see you Thursday. So until then take care have fun and enjoy the sun. All the best Clint.

Paint it BROWN!!!!!

Yes I am aware that I have over painted the whole board with a brown paint. It was a deliberate act as some cement was accidently sprinkled (not by me but what can you do) on it and was refusing to shift easily. I like to think of it as a positive step though and not a negative. Now that it is all painted with brown acrylic paint (the type you can get at "The Works" 2 for £5) the board is sealed and should any further mishaps take place should be easier to deal with.  Although it is patchy on the grass, this will get a coat or two of green so not to worry at this stage.

So having gotten past the fact that I am re-painting what has changed. Well in the second picture you can clearly see the stepping stones which cross the water edge and link the board to the river. Each one is large enough to carry a 28mm figure.These were simple pieces of slate that some people use in there gardens between flowers to discourage weeds. I managed to pick them up from the gutter following that big storm we had last week having been washed out of their respective front gardens. Waste not want not! I looked high and low but could not find any Araldite so have settled for Evostick Impact adhesive to fix them in place. Let's be blunt once the varnish is around them they should not move, not even a smidgen!.

It is a shame that the layers of paint have started to texture the bottom of the river bed, but I feel confident that pouring the varnish and not brushing it will hide those very nicely. As pouring the Varnish was always the plan this is of little real consequence. In other words I'll BODGE it!

The last two pictures show the subterranean temple entrance. I have kept it crude and unsophisticated simply to reflect the primitive nature that I wish this pulp set of villains to portray. It is not meant in any way to reflect the craftsmanship of other cultures around the world, but merely a piece of set dressing. Some of the plaster I was using has gotten onto the face of the temple, but I can live with that. and I don't think it detracts too much from the idea. Or maybe they need a few work slaves to chisel this off and get a better temple. the last slaves having died and been eaten. Who know!

So at this stage I feel that all the major construction has been completed. Which means that I should be able to start painting it up to a finished level hopefully by the end of the week. I will change the doorways to the huts, but not the roofs again that is something I will try to get done this week as well. So by Next Saturday I can show how the board has progressed.

I hope to do my next blog post on Tuesday. So until then take care and enjoy what's left of the weekend. Best wishes Clint.

Stupid man!

Actually that's not aimed at you. It is aimed at me! Why is it when something is staring me straight in the face, leaping up and down and waving it's arms in the air I still fail to see it? The answer of course is in the title! Yes I am a dumb ass at times! (Only times not constantly no matter what you or others may say!)

I have to work in full circles to arrive back at the beginning and waste a load of time, money and effort to no effect!

Should I explain now? Or continue the verbal self flagellation.

After a further 10 minutes of yelling at my self! (I knew you would pick the latter option). I now will explain, go and get a cup of tea and a biscuit and settle back down.

Ahh your back now, good. Comfy then I'll begin.

You may remember back in the new year I said I wanted to do some cold war wargaming. You may also remember that I have been thinking about making some scenery/battle boards for it. Additionally I have been thinking of Arab Israeli wars either 1967 or 1973. yes I know this is cold war era and had considered it as already part of the project. Well the Eureka, break-through, slap forehead, epiphany moment arrived this morning. (About time too!)

Can you guess what it is yet? (Imagine Rolf Harris saying it!)

I already have a 1/300 scale desert hex based modular scenery. Now I grant you my two existing forces are not very Middle eastern........ but what a fantastic starting place. I can no doubt use some bits and bobs with a bit of a repaint!

I even have some spare foam board to make some more desert  hexes. And the rest can be tidied up! I may set up a board later in the week and offer some pics!

So I have the scenery already done, the scale all sorted and I am about ready to start! I think I even have the rules (found free on this inter web thingie). And the fly in the ointment is that I am now on a "figure fast!" so I can't buy the extra bits I need.

And this is how my life goes.......

The only question now is 1967 (October war) or 1973 (Yom Kippur War)? I am edging towards 1973 Yom Kippur as it starts with the Israelis on the back foot.

Thanks for reading I just had to bombard some poor unfortunate with it!

TAR7AN board update tomorrow I am still going to work through that before going off on a complete tangent!. This is just me venting as I realise the blindingly obvious! Which I am sure you saw 8 months ago and were too kind to point out! And for not pointing it out I thank you!

Hope to see you again tomorrow, so until then, eat some ice-cream and stay in the shade!
All the best Clint

By Crom!

 Only 1 figure, but a book and TV classic. This figure called "Brom" by Reaper miniatures is fooling no one. We all know it's really "Harry Potter!" Ok maybe not a certain teenage wizard but before JK Rowling started writing probably one of the most famous fantasy characters of all time. There are many other famous fantasy characters of course, Elric, Frodo, Red Sonja and many many more. However Conan is so synonymous with pulp fantasy that just about everyone knows of him.

I read Conan  novels in my early teenage years and in many ways they along with the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings were what pushed me into playing D + D. Although I actually prefer to play clerics as a class, as they have all the power. This is debateable of course and all character classes have their uses, but if you ever have a character die you'll need a high level cleric to "Res" the poor unfortunate and if that is not power in D and D what is. SO for me Clerics were the ultimate class.

But I digress. When I first started sorting out the TAR7AN game it actually could easily have become a Conan game. That being the case I hunted round for some figures and settled on this one from Reaper to be the main protagonist. I was still going to set it in the jungles of Kush or perhaps the deserts of Stygia and maybe it will get another lease of life when Tarzan has had an outing. Don't think I won't re use the same board with different figures because I surely will. Most if not all of the evil cast can be used which means just swapping the Heroic cast and maybe adding something which can be summoned. With lots of old Call of C'thulhu  miniatures finding a suitable demon will not be hard. SO after the Tarzan game expect another AAR with sword wielding barbarians!

I think this is one of the few sculpts that has hairy armpits! So thank goodness he has some kind of animal skin around his waist! He was actually a pleasure to paint, very pronounced muscles and a generally nice sculpt. There are always a few things one would do differently of course but other than his face I am very happy with how he came out. Nothing all that wrong with his face just a little lop sided and with a moulding line which needed a bit of cleaning up which has left it with a wonky eye. It is only me that will worry about that. Not complaining though overall a very nice figure with much to commend it.

I should be able to do a TAR7AN board post on Sunday. so with a bit of luck I shall see you then. Take care and catch you later. Clint

Figure Fast.

Continuing to paint up old figures in 20mm for late war Germans, circa 44-45. This is a 75mm IG 18 infantry gun used on both the Easter and Western front by the Germans. I tackled this one to help bulk out my WW2 Germans ready for the up coming rules by "Too Fat Lardies!" The Gun itself is by SHQ while the crew are from another source, perhaps "Britannia" although I am not sure. I know they can into my possession about 20 years ago and have finally reached the pinnacle of the lead mountain.

And that's kind of what I am going to waffle on about today. No not nostalgia and how we all miss some of the older models. Not even how long it can take me to finally get round to painting things. They are related though. What I have decided is that my lead piles are growing and not getting any smaller. Therefore I have decided to go on a "Figure Fast". For the whole month of August I vow not to purchase any wargames figures or kits. I will only paint old lead.

By old lead I mean things that have been hanging around for 3 months or preferably longer. The hope is that I get a few more things finished and less things started. Tim at the club has suggested I will crumble and not last the month, and truth to tell he may well be right. I do not know if I have the commitment but at least I will try, and after all 1 month is not so very long.

I will allow myself to buy paints, bases and basing materials such as "tufts" but no rules, kits or figures. No Lead no resin no plastic.

How will this effect the blog, truth to admit I don't think it will. I shall continue to work on the TAR7AN board and other things I have started. It will allow me to get some figures done that I have been meaning to but just have kept going off at tangents and getting side tracked. So in the next month you can expect to see some old work re-emerge as I attempt to reduce the unpainted piles of metal.

So for the next month, until 1st September 2013, I will be on a wargames diet. Or as I l;ike to think of it a "Figure Fast".

Thanks for reading more again in two days time. All the best Clint.

BBIB Club Game.

 Just a sheet for terrain, add an island and of we go. Yep it's that simple. Tim and Myself had a 4 ship Spanish fleet and Graham a 4 Ship English fleet. WE started several turn apart to give us time to remember the rules. The fleets were roughly equal but not exactly the same and the fleets fought with equal ferocity. I let Tim take the lead and followed in line behind him and Graham snaked his fleet the other side of the island to me and I had a whole day of sitting the furthest away from the game action as was physically possible.

The opening shots saw The British fleet score the first blood. The return fire from Tim's two ships was far more accurate and made the British broadsides look really weak (Tim rolled well on the dice and did so most of the day).

And then the chaos started. Each ship going it's own way and no real formations. It was all a bit hectic and uncontrolled. So I can't tell exactly what happened and to whom and why. What follows is a few of the highlights in no particular order. It is worth saying that fires and crew losses were the significant ways that ships were lost. Graham's flagship suffered command and steering hits and was forced to sail in a straight line for several turn.

Another of Grahams ships was turned into a blazing inferno with some black joker damage card being drawn. Tim then boarded it to seize it as a prise but the plucky British crew fought them of (eventually). Seeing that He was going to loose a ship as a prize Graham fired into the boarding action with one of his other vessels. This killed all the British but so many of the Spanish that they did not have enough for a prize crew so had to abandon the attempt. The action cards came up for Graham to fire again and he managed to kill the few remaining Spanish sailors on Tim's ship. So he manoeuvred and boarded the two ships, one firmly ablaze, the other severely damaged, but with no crew at all, as they had already struck their colours.

As I had been chasing down this ship with my as yet undamaged 80 gunner. I let rip managed a bow rake rolled well on the dice and drew a total of 15 damage cards. The result was that my broadside both killed all the crew on Grahams ship but also set it on fire in 4 areas. So with no crew it was left to burn.

The last piece of action of the day as we were running out of both time and energy was my 74 gunner chasing Grahams flagship. This is where the cards and the dice (ok and my judgement) deserted me and Graham repaired his 100 gunner and could now both steer and had restored it's chain of command. Graham also had a 54 gunner, the weakest ship of the line which had sailed out of shot for all of the game. If my manoeuvre card had been turned over first I was in a position to bow rake the 100 gunner at less than 1/2 inch range. Alas for me, it was not meant to be and Graham was able to move the 54 gunner to bow rake me and the 100 gunner slipped away out of my arc of fire. The next card flipped was Grahams firing phase and my mostly intact s74 gun ship was punished severely.

We ended the game there due to lack of time. If we had carried on it really could have gone either way. Graham had a very badly damaged 100 gunner and a 54 third rate. I had a badly damaged 74 Gunner and an untouched 2nd rate.. Tim had lost both ships but had inflicted so much damage on the 100 gunner of Grahams fleet that it would have struggled to stay in the game for much longer and probably would have withdrawn. Or knowing Graham would have just dropped anchor and tried to keep guns towards any of my ships by using some clever rudder and wind manipulation.

Over all a very enjoyable game and a Sunday full of fun. That's it for today. Thanks for reading I hope to have something painted my Wednesday so I hope to see you then. All the best Clint.

TAR7An Board update 3.

 Slowly slowly catchy money! It may only be that thinks it has been slow progress the last couple of days, but here is what I have done.

The fist thing that stands out is that I have started to colour the board up. (Yes I still have to build the temple entrance and remake the huts.) The river now has a series of blues and greens which give it some depth and I am just about ready to think about the waterfall being coloured and textured and given several coat of varnish. I have sourced the stepping stones and when I find some araldite they will be painted and added. at that stage I will add a lighter blue green section so it appears shallow around the stones. I hope to be at that stage when I do my next board update.

I know I keep saying it's going slow, most of that is an apathy attack and me not being willing to do much in the heat. Yes I am a wimp!

Elsewhere on the board I have added sand, plaster PVA and paint  to give the main area a firm and solid texture, which will get painted as grass and dirt to match the figures bases and the bases on the huts. Still a lot to tidy up but it is now starting, very slowly, to take form and give some idea of what it will look like when finished.

That is today's very quick update club day tomorrow so expect an AAR on Monday. So until then take care don't stay too long in the sun and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Best wishes Clint

Villianous Cast.

 Well apart from the Big game hunter and the Lioness, which was the post before last, this is my villainous cast of cannibals. Apart from the Priestess they are all from Foundry. 7 male figures all wearing masks and armed with either bows or with shields and spears. These were an EBay purchase some years ago but I have freshened up the paint job and re-based them to match in with the Tarzan figures. While the shields do match, all the spears are different, simply because when I bought them none were provided. Thus they have a very mix and match expression.

 I have matched the mask on the Priestesses staff to the warriors to create a feeling that they all belong together. I'm quite happy with the effect both theatrical and in keeping with a pulp TAR7AN setting.

 The shields are not decorated, being simple browns with a black/brown wash over the top. I did not want the shields to clash with the masks which should be the most menacing part of the figure.

One figure does not have a shield (I ran out) so instead carries a severed head. Needles s to say this figure is the tribal Headman. In game terms he will be a normal film extra but with the bonus of a leadership skill. The skill will allow him to activate an extra figure who is lose by. In other words he can issue an order to the other warriors. The two archers have no quivers so we shall have to assume they carry them in their hands.

The same Archers with the priestess.

 And this cake was made yesterday for work. Coffee and Walnut. Not drinking coffee I have not tasted it, but when I cut it in half to add the fresh cream it was a very nice texture and I could see the walnuts have were scattered evenly throughout.








So that's it for today. Thanks for reading, hope you found something of interest even if it was just to think "Oh Cake!"

All the best and I hope to post again in 2 days time.

All the best Clint.

Board Update 2.

 Opposite is the area I will build the temple entrance. Having made a few sketches I am now ready to start on it. I shall say no more about it at present except to confirm that it will have a dark doorway into the rock face. All the work should be in 3mm Grey board and Mounting board and will be attached to the cliff and base section of the board.

 Here we can see the overhang for the waterfall from the right hand side. It has taken 3 coats of plaster and some polystyrene blocks  to get it to jut that far out.

 Also from the left and side. The dark green gully is where the waterfall will flow. (I expect you had already figured that out. ) I think I will need one more skim coat of plaster to go on when the actual waterfall is in place. But for now I think the cliff is finished in construction. I say in construction as I still need to give it a coat of watered down PVA to seal it. And then to painty the whole thing to get a better look to the terrain board.







The last picture today shows the waterfall in position. The Perspex is covered in cling film for protection and is in no way finished. You can also just make out the small crocodile cave at the waterfall base has changed shape and is now slightly less regular in appearance. My next steps will be to acquire some stepping stones and also to  coat the main area with a mixture of PVA, Plaster Paint and Sand in order to give the whole thing some texture.

The heat and general stickiness is restricting my ability to finish to much as I am dripping even when I stand still. (Which is not pleasant for me or anyone else who's close by!)

The Thunder and lightning (Fork Lightning by the way) has done very little to reduce humidity, but was quite the loudest thunderstorm I have ever heard last night and has kept me awake since 4am.....

Next time however I hope to have my "Cannibals" done. So more painting joy on the way. Thanks for reading. Take care and hope to see you on Thursday. All the best Clint

My old Orc Village. Suitable for TAR7AN?

 I raked out my old 25+ years old Orc Village to see if it would fit with the TAR7AN Board. There is one more, but that made it look far too crowded and this or fewer looked right to me.

I don't have to do very much work on them to re vitalise them. A couple of roves to reattach for example and a few chips to paint over. I will not get overly picky and point out they all have wooden doors which is totally unauthentic although I may change them in the near future. Not sure yet.



 They are about the right size scale and shape so I don't think it worth the time expense and effort to buy or make more. Even as I type this I am thinking of changing the doors and a quick repaint. So nothing is off the table. It was just a thought that I desired to explore, by getting these relics out again.


So as they came out of the storage locker I thought it worthwhile to take a couple of shots of them on the board to highlight what I am thinking.



So a little extra blog post today, thanks for reading. I hope all is well with you and a normal post schedule resumes tomorrow.

All the best Clint.

African Evil Priestess, Croc and Lioness walk into a bar,

 The title just sounded like the start of a joke so I added "walked into a bar". There was no drink involved, honest. A little last night, but nothing this morning!

Firstly let me say I will post some better snaps when the whole villainous cast is assembled so please be patient. These should however give you a pretty good idea, even if some of the detail is a little blurry on the Evil African Priestess. What the photos will do is show colour and scale, so plenty to think about.

Starting with the priestess. She is a Reaper Casting and need not be African, she could quite easily be Polynesian or Indian. I however took heed of the mask on the staff and decided that a dark skin tone would suit best especially for TAR7AN.  Again as with the Jane figure I did look at doing her clothing as a leopard skin but decided not to give myself a migraine and wimped out! Yeah I know I should have tried to push myself but some days you just don't feel like it. She has a mixture of Gold and Silver Jewellery both on her person and on the staff which shows up nicely against the dark skin. I decided on Pink (not Magenta) adornments to her legs and the staff only because they just looked right and for no other reason. I will admit I did try orange first but it left me feeling "Mheh!" Where as I like the pink, personal choice and nothing more. The mask on the staff was always going to be red and white as it fits in with some of my masked natives, More of them in a later post.
The Crocodile is from Michael at 28mmvictorianwarfare and was a very straight forward figure to paint. Mostly just a base coat and a few dry brushed highlights. I do not see this as being part of the villainous cast, more a natural hazard come terrain feature. When they arrived they were somewhat larger than I anticipated which is to say they are in scale and I was thinking that they should be smaller. At least with them (only one painted as yet) I suspect the players will stick to the water crossing points and not try to swim anywhere!

And finally if TAR7AN can have gorillas it makes it only fair to include a lioness (from Foundry Gladiators range!) as a pet of the Evil Priestess. Mind you if the Priestess likes animals she's probably not all that evil! It was one of those figures that has been knocking about for a while so I am glad to get it done. I think I have a few more, but I have no idea where. The face came out a little bit Disney-esqe but having looked at Lions faces for about 15 minutes this morning I am happy with the result. I have grown to love the cartoon aspect of the lioness despite my earlier misgivings.

That's it for today. Probably a board update on Tuesday as the overhang for the waterfall is now taking shape. I have also sketched out some ideas for a jungle ruin (It's not my excuse for playing Farscape 3 honest) which will go on the other side of the board to the waterfall. I will keep it simple with an entrance going into the cliff face.

SO until Tuesday. Thanks for looking, enjoy the rest of the weekend and take care you!