Valeur et Discipline

Haqqislam WIP

2012-01-27T23:40:00.001-05:00

Normally I don't like to post 'Work In Progress' shots but I offered to assemble a friend's Haqqislam force to help kickstart him into the game, and he agreed. Here they are!

I threw them over bases textured with some gridded plasticard I had kicking around.

As usual, they're pretty nice figures. I love the Muyibs; their helmets remind me of Zhodani from the old GDW Traveller role-playing game. And the Feuerbach dude's armor is really nicely detailed, with lots of overlapping plates and ventilation details. But I like them all, and hope to one day add a few to my own collection.

How To: Impetus Sabot Bases for 25mm Gaming

2012-01-23T14:02:00.000-05:00

This is an Impetus Light Cavalry base made by saboting four 40x60mm DBx LH bases together. Awesome figures aside, it looks kind of regimented, a little stodgy, and is super expensive with 8 figures crowded together.

This is the same LC base using a movement tray. The figures have room to skirmish, and there’s also room to admire the loving attention I lavished on each one. Furthermore, one pack of Perrys equals one base in this standard. Same base: nearly ⅓ the price.

So how did I get from before to after?

Fortunately, back in the last century when I first bought my 25mm Turks, I had the foresight to base them individually, anticipating just such a possibility. Since all my figures are based on the same 20x40mm magnetic bases, it’s easy to create nice looking diorama display bases for them. In this post I’ll show you how.

Materials

I had an idea that I wanted very tidy base holes on my sabot, but couldn’t figure out what to use as a walling material to keep the base texture from spilling over into the holes. I finally hit upon the idea of using spare plastic sprue: I have a ton kicking around, since I never throw anything out, and fortuitously they are the exact same height (3mm) as the saboted bases. I also got my friend Jahan to cut me some 6x12cm steel rectangles for the sabots themselves (thanks Jahan!)

You’ll also need:

-Wood Filler or other base texture
-Carpenter’s Glue
-Tool for spreading filler
-Sprue Cutters

1. Cut ~43mm and ~23mm lengths of sprue to make enough base holes. Precision is not necessary. I want some overlap so that the outside of the hole is also a rectangle. I did a batch while watching a movie with my wife, much to her annoyance.

2. Arrange the figures on the base. Fit the sprue around the figures, moving the figures to ensure that there is enough room for the sprue! If you want more figures on a base you may have to make a double or triple box to ensure there’s enough space for everybody. A close fit isn’t necessary here, and in fact a looser fit is preferable to give yourself a little wiggle room when emplacing and removing the figures.

Glue the sprue onto the sabot using Carpenter’s glue. Taking care not to shift the sprues, remove the figures to make sure you don’t unintentionally glue the figure to the base as well. Leave to dry.

3. Fill the spaces around the sprue rectangles with the texturing material of your choice. I chose to be pretty sloppy on the first pass, and will do detail filling once they are dry.

The finished base, ready for painting and flocking. Too easy! :)

Egg Drop

2011-12-13T06:33:00.001-05:00

“Hey Sarge! What are we doing out here anyway?”

“Keep it down,” Sgt. Rasmussen admonished, without a backwards glance at the greenhorn behind him. He scanned the rubble around him, his gaze lingering on a wall which still, improbably, stood. Satisfied that they were alone, he licked his chapped lips before answering. “Sentries reported a ‘meteor shower’ in this sector last night. The Leftenant thinks that’s how the bugs are being resupplied - ‘orbital weapons cache insertion’, he called it. That’s what we’re doing out here, Ade. And keep it down!” That last in a hushed rasp. The veteran sergeant hoped that his tone didn’t betray his own insecurity. It wasn’t safe to leave the laager at any time, let alone during the light of day. But the El Tee had claimed that they couldn’t wait for the presumed safety of nightfall.

An unusual... something... caught the man’s eye, just beyond the corner of the lone standing wall. An egg, thought the veteran. Must be. “Come over here,” Rasmussen waved to his ward. “Looks like we’ve found something.”

The something was a round cocoon, wedged against the bottom of the wall’s lee side. It glistened even as it collected breeze-borne wind and grime. Well-camouflaged otherwise, the mucous gave it away in the angle of the morning sun.

Rasmussen crouched nearby, barely an arms’ length away. “You see the little beastie growing inside?” He asked, tracing the embryo’s outline in the air with a finger. “By nightfall that little thing will have grown into a seed-soldier, and will be shooting at us in our bunks. But we found it first, didn’t we?” The Sergeant’s grin faded fast as a flicker of movement caught his attention. He reached out and put his palm over the barrel of the younger man’s gun. “Careful, son. No noise, remember?”

Rifle butts and boots made quick, if messy, work of the alien pod. “Remember, we’re looking for a weapons cache. Some kind of drop pod, maybe”. Adewayan nodded absent-mindedly, and wandered off, looking for a way to find something to wipe the goo and grime from his rifle.

“Hey Sarge, look! I found a bigger one!”

A sixth sense, some survival instinct borne of countless patrols and engagements, made the Sargeant whirl, a warning half-caught in his throat. The young recruit had raised the butt of his rifle to smash his new discovery, an alien cocoon wedged in the trunk of a burned-out car. As he brought it down, the front of the egg detonated in an explosive spray of shrapnel, vaporizing the boy from neck to waist.

Rasumussen had time to flinch, as the razor fragments blew into his body armor. More calcified pellets sliced into his unprotected throat and face, felling him instantly as he staggered backwards, gurgling his last breath.

Behind the translucent flesh wall of the cocoon, misted red with the alien blood of its enemies, the Cadmus stirred. It was nearly time to wake.

Rebirth

2011-12-12T05:07:00.001-05:00

She awoke on something hard and cold.

Reaching back behind her with one claw, she felt the nubbed surface, otherwise smooth metal. Industrial, the thought came to her unbidden. maybe a hangar, or an assembly yard. She craned her neck to see beyond the lip of the recess that sheltered her small form, nictating membranes flicking dust wetly from her eyes. The wan, dust-choked air still admitted enough light for her to be able to see the tangled wreckage of machines around her. Yes. Definitely industrial.

Random pictures, words, sentences flooded her mind. Images of a past life, dreamlike in quality. She was a soldier, and she'd died. The men had overrun their position, armored shapes moving swiftly and violently through the half-built, half-destroyed vehicles littering the factory floor. They'd fought to the end, been overwhelmed, and been massacred for their trouble.

The men had not been thorough, though, and the seeds of her people were left to grow, gaining sustenance from the corpses of their mothers. The night after the battle, she was awake again. And angry.

The fight had moved on beyond the industrial park, but flashes in the twilight sky and the constant dim rumble of thunder told her there was a battle raging within walking distance. She gathered herself up and stood, young muscles and ligaments singing with the exultant pain of new effort. She knew, with the certainty of instinct, that others were being born around her, that a cache of weapons was nearby. There was always a cache nearby.

She reached behind her once more, into the moist fragments of the cocoon that birthed her, retrieving a long, wicked bone blade. Blade of my own flesh, she thought. It would taste man before the dawn rose.

The Innsmouth Bloodbowl Club

2011-11-27T08:48:00.001-05:00

They're finally here!

The Innsmouth Blood Bowl Club has finally received their new uniforms, and are ready to take the XTBBF Premier League by storm in 2012!

I'm still undecided about how to identify individual players. I can:

1. Find a place to put tiny uniform numbers on them
2. 'Stencil' their numbers on the faces of the logs they're standing on
3. Find room on the bases for their names and numbers
4. Use rounded-edge plinths.
5. Something else I haven't thought about yet!

I'm open to suggestions. Let me know your opinion in the comments below.

First Time In a Long Time: Greebo Wood Elves

2011-10-31T07:38:00.000-04:00

When I first saw Greebo's Sylvania Elves on Talk Fantasy Football, I knew I had to have 'em. Not only am I not above a little cheesecake in my Blood Bowl collection (cf Murder City Black Wings), but they immediately struck me as one of the most beautifully-conceived fantasy football teams sculpted to date.

Then I saw Micro Art Studios' Forest bases and knew I had not only my next BB team, but a plan. The only trouble was, I'm in Bosnia, with an expensive and unreliable postal service.

Fortunately my buddy Watts came to the rescue, picked up the bases I ordered locally but never arrived, and delivered them to my pal Amila, who dropped 'em off on a visit here. Compared to that the rest is easy peasy!

Here's the first test figure:

It's kind of a sketch so needs lots of touch-ups still. I figured the honking big tree trunk was enough of a hint that I didn't have to paint the team in cliche green and yellow. And while I love my cheesecake, I didn't want a naked team running around, so all that pulchritudinous flesh became white spandex. Still more than sexy enough. The uniform is inspired by Bosnia's national football team uniforms, so I have a reminder of the local flavor when I'm back to Canada.

The rest of the team is fully assembled and primed, and will be ready to take the field in the new year. I can't wait to try them out!

Combined Army: Speculo Killer

2011-04-18T09:04:00.000-04:00

I spent my spare time this weekend daubing paint on my version of the terrifying Speculo Killer! (She's in ur base killin ur mans). The figure is just screaming for some object-source lighting from the monofilament sword, but I'm afraid to screw it up so I'll just put this here instead.

Oddly enough I found the base to be a real chore. I didn't have any sense of what I wanted it to look like, so I just googled pictures of refuse and recycling mounds until I had some ideas. Now I wonder why the girl is standing proudly in the midst of a garbage dump...

Infinity: Simple Conversions

2011-04-13T10:54:00.006-04:00

Converting Infinity Miniatures

Arm swaps are useful for those who wish to play WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get). Simple arm swaps are easier than other conversions, anyway most figures have separate heads; torso and leg conversions may affect the balance of small, dynamically-posed figures.

You will need the following Tools and Supplies:

-Craft knife

-Half round file

-Hobby saw

-Pin vise with 2 bits*

-Superglue

-Brass Wire

-Wood Filler

*The first bit should be as small as possible, to facilitate creating a guide hole for the larger bit. The second bit should be the same size or a little larger than the diameter of the brass wire.

I'm assuming that anyone attempting these conversions is already familiar with basic assembly: cleaning the figure, basing etc.

1. Select the figures for conversion

I will be using the Malignos from the Combined Army starter set and the Shrouded with Combi-Rifle. I'd like more and cheaper infantry but I don't want duplicate figures in my army, so this is one way to add diversity. I’d like to get my hands on a second Malignos, so I can have both ‘canon’ versions and an arm-swap version, but they aren’t available in a separate blister and I can’t really think of an occasion where I will have three Malignos’ in one list anyway. Since I need the knife on the Malignos I do have, he'll have to go under the knife!

Picture: Cleaned Shrouded and Malignos in pieces

2. Plan the conversion

It's a good idea to try to visualize the project from start to finish before you begin altering the figures. (These guys are kind of expensive to experiment on!) My first thought was to swap the weapon arms but after looking carefully at the components, I realized that wasn't going to be possible. The Shrouded and Malignos right arms totally different (the Malignos arm is clothed, and the shoulder armor is different, Furthermore, the Shrouded rifle stock is tucked up under the arm, so it would be very difficult to get the gun clean from the arm.

Instead, I decided to swap the free left arms of both miniatures. Fortunately the Shrouded's left arm is complete (many figures in two-handed weapon poses have the left hand attached to the gun's forestock) so this will be a very simple surgery. Because the right arm of the Shrouded is designed to meet the left arm in front of the torso, I will also cut the right arm just below the shoulder pad so that I can reposition the arm down and away from the body, leaving a little room for the knife that he will be holding. This will affect the figure’s balance point but as it is otherwise vertical it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Also while this shift in arm position will have some anatomical implications, I’m hoping that armor plating and alien physiology will mask any odd-looking musculature. Since this will be my only Combi-Rifle Malignos, I’ll probably just go with the left hand swap and leave it at that.

3. Separate the pieces

I like to work in stages; I'll do all the cutting, then all the pinning, then all the gluing. That way I'm not wasting any time searching for the right tool, or forgetting a step. Doing conversions this way requires a clean work space and a little bit of organization - you don't want to lose a tiny 1/56 scale hand in the carpet!

Note that even with a very thin-bladed hobby saw, you will lose some material on the wrist. The width of this cut is called the kerf, and it's one reason why you will want to pin the pieces on assembly. By leaving a space between the two parts, you can make up for this lost material by filling the gap with putty of some sort (I am lazy and so I use wood filler).

Since the objects to be separated are round, you can carefully cut around 360 degrees with the saw, ensuring a clean separation, as well as a true cut that doesn't obscure any detail. Check after each couple of strokes to see how close the pieces are to separating, to avoid a surprise - these are tiny pieces and easy to lose. I cut over a white paper towel both to catch loose debris and the pieces themselves. Finally, be careful to use short, straight strokes, to avoid warping and potentially breaking your saw blade.

4. Pinning and Assembly

Assemble the pieces according to your plan. Don't worry if things aren't working out exactly as originally intended; this is an art not a science! When I first assembled my Shrouded I discovered that the arms were still too close together, and I had to reposition his right arm farther away from his body to make room for the knife.

Picture: Pinning Left Hand

Even the smallest pieces can be pinned if necessary. Here I am using a pin vise with a .028 bit to start a hole in the Shrouded arm.

5. The finished product

Here are the final results. On the right is the original Shrouded model, modified slightly (with pliers) to have his foot on a box.

Note that even a minor conversion can have a startling effect on the final appearance of the figure! The provenance of the Shrouded model is obvious when placed next to the original, but I don't think anyone will mistake one for the other on the tabletop.

Morat Vanguard WIP

2011-04-12T14:07:00.001-04:00

This Morat test scheme passed muster, so even though I still have some work to do on him I figured I'd share him with the beloved strangers who frequent this blog:

This Morat is from a regiment that's so disdainful of their enemies that they deliberately dye their hair in various shocking colors in order to advertise their arrogant fearlessness. Or maybe that's his natural color. Or maybe he's wearing a piece. Who can tell? They're aliens.

Work In Progress: The In-laws!

2011-04-11T15:20:00.000-04:00

Our group buy from Corvus Belli arrived last week, and we've all been busy assembling our respective forces. So in the spirit of my buddies Al and Anthony, I've included my own Work In Progress family photo of the Morat 'In-laws':

Not pictured are the Malignos from the Combined Army starter set, for whom I have conversion plans, and the Speculo Killer blister, which is a duplicate of a figure I already have (this one will remain NIB as trade-bait).

These guys has a LOT more flash than previous purchases, but nothing I couldn't handle. Assembly was pretty straightforward, with two exceptions: the Caskuda, whose daunting size and complexity almost put me off even attempting to put it together, and the Obsidon, which was totally my fault. The former model came together bit by bit with a lot of patience and plenty of previous pinning experience. The latter, however, proved to be quite the puzzle once I had clipped off the base tab and attempted to put its long coiling tail together freehand.

I had initially planned to do a Shasvastii sectorial, so these Morat figures have taken me by surprise, especially the more specialized troops. The Morat Vanguard aren't particularly inspiring, but I really love the Daturazi Witch and the Rasyat, and can't wait to put paint on them! Most surprising for me though was the Charontid. I'm not certain if it's the angle or the paint scheme, but I was less than enthusiastic about this model until I saw it in person. It's a very cool style, and I hope that my own paint job will do it justice.

Next week: More painted stuff. Promise.

Infinity Family Photo: March

2011-03-30T11:05:00.000-04:00

Since posting to this blog seems to be motivating me to paint and produce more, I figured I'd start putting progress shots as well as finished figures up here. This is the sum total of my collection, less one Medchanoid bot that's still in his blister, awaiting a fancy resin base. But not for long... April will see me swamped with new figures!

I never should have bought those Hellcats - there aren't enough figs in the Nomad range that I really love enough to make a viable team out of, even taking all the Tomcats as well. I'll figure something out though, they're too pretty not to own.

Hellcat Search and Rescue

2011-03-29T20:42:00.000-04:00

Now that I'm bored with my Shasvastii paint job (only 2/3 of the way through, aaargh!) I've started thinking about my Nomad unit. I love everything about the Hellcat figures, from their high-tech armor equipment to the dynamic poses to their airmobile capabilities, but I also really like the Tomcat Emergency and Rescue Special Team. I thought it would be cool to envision a SAR squad that had Hellcat capabilities as well - kind of a Military Search and Rescue team rather than a militarized one.

I won't have time to work on the figs for a while, but I had to get one idea out of my system. Here's the result:

This lettering is at the limit of my vision and steadiness, but I'm still not happy with the way it looks in macro, and will probably redo it when I start the project in earnest. But as a proof of concept I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out - and damn, it's small!

Shasvastii Tuesday Twofer

2011-03-29T14:46:00.000-04:00

Another couple of Seed-Spawn in the can: A Shasvastii Seed-Soldier with a light grenade launcher, and a few more shots of my Shrouded, now that the base is finished. In my haste to finish, I've clearly cut corners, but I like the way they've turned out and the team is starting to come together quite nicely! I should put up a family photo a little later.

A is for Aswang

2011-03-24T23:34:00.000-04:00

That's good enough for me...

It turns out that the Aswang is a nasty little monster, only instead of eating cookies he eats people! And he's got a glue gun to stick people down first, kind of like the Velvet Worm...

This fella is a minor conversion, with a quick arm swap from a Cadmus so I can use him as my Lt, and some green stuff to create the bloody mess trailing behind his current meal.

I ended up getting bored so rushed through some of the stages, and the shortcuts are of course excruciatingly visible in digital close-up. Serves me right though!

Here's the color palette I'm using for my Shasvastii (all colors from Vallejo)

Dorsal Armor - Reflective Green + Prussian Blue/Field blue/Dark Blue Grey/Pale Grey-Blue
Carapace - Khaki Grey/Yellow Ochre/Sand Yellow
Ventral Flesh - Orange Brown/Salmon Rose/+Light Flesh
Weapon - German Fieldgrey/Green-Grey/Pastel Green
Freckles - Chocol. Brown/Orange Brown/Salmon Rose

Shasvastii Chop Shop

2011-03-21T13:33:00.001-04:00

I wasn't able to get a ton of painting done in the past week, but I did manage to do a little converting that I wanted to show off. It turns out that Cadmus and Aswang Shasvastii are similarly equipped and proportioned, so an arm-swap was a simple matter; now my Aswang can be used as a Lt and my Cadmus is even more dangerous close-in! I also wasn't a fan of the straight-on-scream look of the Combi Rifle Cadmus so I filed his neck a little and filled the gap with some Green Stuff. It looks passable I think.

Also included in this update is a nearly-done Shrouded, altered just slightly to be stepping up on a vent while leveling his Combi Rifle at an unseen target. That black gun tube is the last thing many humans will see! I kinda like his guy's no-pants look, and his textured flesh was a lot of fun to paint, contrasting nicely with the smooth curves of his carapace armor.

Meet the Celebrity!

2011-03-10T10:30:00.001-05:00

Oh, you were maybe expecting somebody else? No, Colette is the Host, MC and owner of the Show, but even she realizes who people really come to see - the lovely Cassandra! Cassandra, whose flashing smile is a sharp as a blade, and vice versa.

I'm not as pleased with Cassie as I've been with the Performers I did over the last couple of weeks. I was pushing for something a little more dramatic, as befitting her power and status, but I'm not sure it paid off. The brocade on the dress was a lot of work, and took more than one attempt, but it's still lacking - a little messy, and perhaps too strongly contrasted with the yellow of her dress to achieve the tone-on-tone effect I was going for. Dotting the interstices with a darker ochre color did help pull the design together though. Similarly, the stocking effect, achieved by layers of purple-infused flesh tones, was a little less than I had hoped for.

She's done, though, and that's the most important thing. Overall, I give myself a 'not bad'.

Blast from the Past: First in a Series

2011-03-08T21:06:00.001-05:00

I've been clearing out the basement lately, looking for good stuff to pawn on Bartertown, when I stumbled across my old 40k armies. Some of this stuff is pretty good!

I remember this guy well. He had random powers and a random weapon, that worked perfectly in his case: Sustained Assault and the Executioner. The latter was like a close-combat antitank gun, while the former let him charge a new opponent every time he defeated his current target in close combat, as long as he wasn't himself hurt. One time he killed an entire army in a single turn. He wasn't very well-liked in our gaming group.

The Swooping Hawk wings allowed him to Leap 18" (into close combat if he desired), or 'fly high' out of weapon range in one turn, and land anywhere on the board in a subsequent turn. Talk about Death From Above!

Now who said Eldar were cheesy?

BTW the date on the bottom says October 1, 1991 - almost 20 years ago! Has my painting gotten better, or has it regressed? You be the judge!

Girls and their Dolls

2011-03-07T08:28:00.002-05:00

Here are the Malifaux Performers with their Mannequins, complete with Wyrd 30mm Victorian base inserts.

When painting these ladies I tried to stick to a fairly limited palette, and carry colors through from one figure to the next, so there would be a certain consistency among the Crew without making it look like a uniform. I also paired up colors so that the Mannequins matched their owners.

Next up, the Celebrity herself!

Invasion of the Seed People

2011-03-06T00:10:00.003-05:00

Obsession is a dark and dangerous thing!

Here's my first crack at Corvus Belli's lovely Combined Army figures from their Infinity science-fiction skirmish game. This guy is a Shasvasti Seed-Soldier, an expert in infiltrating target planets ahead of the EI's shock forces and sowing confusion and mayhem. They start the game in a cute little seed pod, oh what is that cute little thing over there! It looks like a pumpkin, aw, is that a puppy hatching? NO IT'S AN ALIEN AND IT'S GOT A KNIFE!

The color scheme is far from the boxed set photos but I wanted to emphasize the alien and crustacean look of the creature, and went for a tasty crab-meat effect on its underbelly. I was tempted to do the armored exoskeleton in German field-greys, but decided to stick to blue-greys as well, as I felt it suited the composition better. What do you think?

Photographing this little devil with my little Canon P&S was quite a challenge, given it's Z-axis depth. As a result I had to resort to post-processing sharpening way more than usual.

The New Thing

2011-03-04T09:56:00.001-05:00

Right next to the Malifaux stuff at the local gaming Mecca are five trays of a sci-fi game called Infinity. My resolve already softened by Malifaux, I was utterly charmed by the strong aesthetics of this Spanish game.

I lasted two weeks.

Pictured is a 200-point Combined Army force of Shasvastii infiltrators, alien troops intent on conquering mankind and incorporating them as an arm of the Evolved Intelligence. I have no idea what any of that stuff means, but it sure sounds cool!

Trixie Complete!

2011-03-02T10:22:00.001-05:00

Yay, one down, five to go!

My FLGS had some 30mm Victorian bases, so I was able to start finishing my Showgirls last night. In the end I decided to go with base inserts rather than a scratch-built theater floor because I want to strike while the iron is hot, and get these figures done before I lose momentum. I also think they look pretty great!

Trixie might need an accessory on her base, but I don't want to pull visual impact away too much from the figure itself. I might add the Cat from the Victorian Accessories pack after I'm done the rest of the crew though.

My Marionette

2011-02-28T10:47:00.003-05:00

Marionette is Suzanne's Mannequin. Ain't she cute?

Deadwood Dedications

2011-02-27T15:47:00.003-05:00

This is Suzanne, one of two obviously-armed Showgirls in the entire crew. Suzanne ended up looking a lot older than I originally intended (not to mention slightly bemused), since I am still having trouble with the smooth blending transitions that signal youth and beauty. Nevertheless I think she's got character.

When I first started to paint this set, my original intention was to use design elements from the superlative, postmodern, and late lamented Western, Deadwood. Set in an 1870's frontier town illegally established in the Black Hills of what was later called South Dakota, Deadwood is a fascinating re-imagining of the American frontier myth, populated by richly-drawn, larger-than-life characters. Much like Malifaux! So with this Performer I made a conscious effort to try to incorporate some of the costuming ideas in the show, including cheap striped stockings, and 'sensible' shoes that don't exactly go with the rest of the outfit.

I haven't decided yet whether to go back and redo her long blue skirt. I like the color, but I'm not certain about the highlighting. A friend has been telling me that 'cool colors recede, warm colors approach', so I think that highlighting with a cool albeit pale blue-grey might be causing the stark transitions I'm getting. On the other hand I'm keen on getting these ladies done, and can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Meet Trixie

2011-02-25T12:17:00.004-05:00

This is Trixie, the newest member of the Showgirls. I decided to try a couple of things out on her, including a pale yellow dress and a little detail along the fabric panels. I'm not 100% satisfied with either, frankly, but she's not bad. I think I'm getting better at facial details though, and have managed to emphasize the annoyed expression on her face.

Ah well, that's two down, four to go!

Malifaux Musings

2011-02-23T14:19:00.004-05:00

This is Mindy.

Mindy isn't a real person. That is to say, she's real all right: she can walk (a little clumsily), understand commands (nothing too complicated), and even communicate a little herself, with posture and hand gestures. But she's not alive.

At least, I don't think so. She's a special kind of automaton that Ramos made for the Show - oh, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that, he likes to stay behind the curtain. She looks insignificant, harmless even, but she's an important part of any performance. We'd be lost without her, and her sisters. Which is why I put up with her silent watchfulness... is it petulance? Resentfulness? I can't quite put my finger on it. I just know that sometimes, in the darkness of the wardrobe room, she seems to be contemplating. studying us. Watching.

Which is ridiculous, of course. How can a mannequin with no eyes watch anything, anyway?

Introducing the Sarcophagus Springs Brightsiders

2011-02-14T18:40:00.001-05:00

Fresh off the presses, this motley crew has sworn to carve a bloody swathe through the XTBBF on its way to the Chaos Cup!

The team was built from Impact! Miniature's Elfball Samhaino team which is seasoned with a healthy dose of Heresy Miniatures, and with a RollJordan Werewolf (or in this case Werebadger) playing a ringer.

They are losing their faces off so far, but hopefully will come around in the coming weeks!

Presenting the Murder City Black Wings

2011-02-11T13:22:00.001-05:00

This is now a general Wargaming blog! :)

While Lasalle has gone on the backburner, Blood Bowl has rekindled my love of painting little figurines. These ladies are my first Blood Bowl team, and though they've been the source of much heartbreak I love 'em nonetheless.

The figures are Shadowforge Wicked Elves, but I'm using them as Blood Bowl Dark Elves. Not only does the Wicked Elf style match that of the corrupt, evil Dark Elves, but the range has just the right number of different positional pieces to fill all the roster slots on the DE team.

The Story So Far

2010-08-14T13:09:00.001-04:00

After a couple months' hiatus, I'm back at the project. There's still a long way to go, but the division is starting to shape up!

1/3e Legere:

1/56e Ligne, the back rank finally done:

A limber for my foot artillery:

And the whole project so far (about 25% done, w00t):

On a whim I also painted up a 40mm Perry Voltigeur I had lying around:

Horse Artillery

2010-02-06T12:50:00.003-05:00

Lasalle's core armies are supported by additional brigades, usually comprised solely of infantry or cavalry. Each supporting brigade typically drags along a few artillery pieces as well.

This is my Horse Artillery battery, trundling alongside the Light Cavalry Division. Small but nimble, I'll use it to break infantry that forms square to defend themselves from the flashing blades of the chevaliers!

8e Hussars

2010-02-06T12:39:00.002-05:00

The 8th Hussars fought as part of Lasalle's Light Division at Essling and Wagram. They were commanded by Col. Jean-Baptiste Laborde, who was killed on July 6, 1809, the same day as General Lasalle.

The 8th is my second Valiant unit, mounted 2 to a base as light cavalry.

13e Chasseurs a Cheval en avant!

2010-02-01T23:20:00.001-05:00

Here's my first cavalry unit, the 13th Chasseurs a cheval.

In Lasalle, the French Empire Light Cavalry Brigade has two Valiant Hussars and two Reliable Chasseurs a cheval. I'm using Lasalle's own Light Division at Aspern-Essling, however, and he only had one Hussar unit at his disposal. For our pickup games, therefore, we're treating the 13th (pictured here) as Valiant.

The tricolor edging is an experiment; I don't know if I like it or not. What do you think?

Edit: added a closeup of the command element.

56e Regiment

2010-01-23T16:26:00.002-05:00

Here's a work in progress pic of my first French infantry.

I've decided to do the front rank of all my units first and then backfill once the cav and arty are done.

Third Battle: A Nameless Wooded Valley

2010-01-21T18:10:00.001-05:00

Believing the threat to his corps over, Massena allowed Boudet's men a brief rest before rejoining the line of attack. Unfortunately for Boudet, this left them directly in the path of the reformed Grenadier division he so recently abused, intact and eager to reclaim their lost honor.

Cursing Lasalle's generous account of his men's pursuit (“un homme toujours fier et parfois suffisant”), Boudet prepared to repel the unanticipated push. With Valory fallen and his men unavailable, Boudet met the new threat with six battalions of infantry and four squadrons of light cavalry between two wooded areas, deploying his infantry and cavalry behind the woods and his artillery in the clearing between them. Fririon, commanding the 56th and 93rd, sent his first battalions into the woods in skirmish order, with the aim of slowing down the attack.

Boudet's battery struggled through the mud, unlimbering in the face of the Russian cannon across the field. In the distance, the Russian grenadiers deployed in thin columns, massing against the strong left flank of the French position. A second battery supported their main line of advance.

Without fanfare or panoply, the Russians came on, grey and grim through the fog and needle-sharp rain. The axis of attack determined, Boudet called on Lasalle to deploy his cavalry to repel the threat, the redoutable 13th in the vanguard and the 8th Hussars to the rear. Lasalle's men and horses made best speed to the left flank, deploying in pairs to the far left and through the woods, between the skirmishing men of the 56th and the roaring cannon of the massed battery.

On the right, the cannon exchanged volleys, but the French got the worst of it, as the Russian cannonfire threw the French crews into disarray time after time. The horse gunners finally took refuge with some skirmishers in the woods. A unit of Chasseurs a cheval, deploying behind the guns, was also badly served by the Russian shot, and spent most of the day sheltering in the woods behind the skirmish screen.

At that point, the situation became “un peu compliqué,” in the words of one line officer of the 56th. On the French left, two Grenadier battalions deployed into attack columns, under fierce musket fire from the 2nd battalion of the 56th, while her sister battalion faced off against a third unit of Russian Grenadiers, a fourth behind it, both of these last moving beyond the front of the 1st of the 56th whose fierce fire from the woods failed to slow the oncoming assault. The renowned 13th Chasseurs a cheval squeezed between the two battalions of the 56th and moved to protect the 2nd battalion's open flank. Meanwhile the 16th Chasseurs a cheval poured out of the woods in wave, demonstrating intensively, prompting the rightmost Russian Grenadiers to form square, and holding up the left side of their advance.

As the Russians committed themselves to attack, the Russian cavalry appeared, their Uhlans racing to support the main line of attack, while a large regiment of Hussars swept round the left flank, supported by a desultory mob of Cossacks.

Lasalle, recognizing the situation as desperate, launched spoiling attacks all along the line. As his horse gunners poured cannister into the Russian square, he personally led the 16th against it, but was repelled, and was wounded for his efforts. Meanwhile the 13th had charged one of the columns on the left, and were also repulsed by an infantry square, but they had at least succeeded in preventing the Grenadiers from bringing their weight of arms upon the exposed flank battalion of the 56th.

The Russians pressed on inexorably, trudging mindlessly through the mud like a wet green mindless thing. The third battalion of the 56th became locked in combat with a unit of grenadiers in the center, falling back in good order but running out of room, as the 13th turned to face the threat of the Russian Uhlans. Meanwhile, alarmed by the onrushing cavalry, the French artillery grappled with their guns to face them, but their best efforts were for naught: first the horse gunners, then the foot artillery, were overrun by elated, shouting cavaliers. Their ranks in disarray, the Hussars circled back toward their lines as the 16th Chasseurs and 8th Hussars deployed to try to box them in. On the right, the skirmishing battalion of the 93rd, cut off from the rest of the army, prepared for a desperate battle in the woods against savage Cossack horsemen.

On the left the situation was desperate. The 13th fell back before the weight of the Russian lancers and, wedged between French infantry to their left and Russian grenadiers to their right and rear, lost cohesion in a panicked stream to safety. Their flight, however, was misinterpreted as a canny charge, and the foremost battalion of Grenadiers, pressed to their front by Frenchmen, also disintegrated. Nevertheless, the loss of the 13th meant that the infantry was badly exposed, and though there were two battalions to their rear, they were in no position to provide immediate succor to the threatened flank.

But the Russians had fought for too long, and extended themselves too far. The attacks on the left petered out, leaving the main force intact and defending the axis of advance. And thus the day ended, with the French wrong-footed and exposed, but saved by some deus-ex-machina they were only too happy to recieve :)

The Battle of Cimer (repost)

2010-01-20T23:45:00.001-05:00

Reposted from Sam Mustafa's Honour forum.

Late in the day, the weather failing and foreboding, scouts of the Light Cavalry Division detected signs of a Russian blocking force astride the line of advance, at the village of Smyrcz, called by the French Cimer. The key crossroads had to be cleared before Massena could continue his advance with the IV Corps, and the task fell to Boudet's 4th Infantry Division, with Lasalle's Hussars and Chasseurs in support.

At dawn, the anemic autumn sun sullenly tinted a dark and low sky. A heavy rain, falling for the third straight day, churned the already-diaphanous soil into a thin gruel. Boudet's men wearily arrayed themselves before the Russian guns, soaked to their vests. Boudet deployed his two line regiments under Valory southward, to the right of the town, along with his artillery, massed in support of the main line of advance. Lasalle's 8th Hussars covered the right flank. Beyond the heavy fog could be felt the baleful presence of the heavy Russian guns, even if their menacing silhouettes could not be seen.

To Fririon and his 3rd Legere fell the task of demonstrating to the left of Cimer with the objective of pinning half the Russian force and preventing it from coming to the aid of the rest. On his left was Lasalle with the rest of his cavalry, including the elite 13th Chasseurs a Cheval.

The sound of the French deploying for battle alerted the Russian gunners, who began firing roundshot into the distant columns of men as they struggled through knee-deep mud towards them. In a rare stroke of good fortune, the narrow road to Cimer was cobbled, and though slick it permitted Valory's two leftmost Battalions (2nd and 3rd of the 56th) rapid progress toward the town, whose buildings sheltered them from the worst of the barrage.

The rest of Valory's battalions were not so fortunate. The rolling shot of the Russians' heavy guns was impeded by the cloying mud, but not enough to protect France's bravest souls from the carnage of hot, heavy iron. Marching grimly in column, desperate to cover as much ground as quickly as possible, the French lines were badly mauled, heads of column smashed, disorder and fear striking the ranks. The desperate enraged orders of sergeants and officers were barely heard above the screams of whole men and broken bodies. Columns halted and were pushed forward as each took its turn to face the Russian scythe and were mowed down like winter wheat.

On the left, the approach was eerily quiet. Fririon's legere advanced past the town. Lasalle's gambit looked like is might be paying off, his three regiments racing to round a low hill overlooking the south road to Cimer. They were just in time to see a Russian battery deploying on the crest, too far away to hear the Czarist men struggling mightily with mud that rose to the spokes of their cannon. With nothing else for it, Lasalle deployed his columns into squadrons, wheeled right, and attached in echelon straight into the mouths of the guns, the rain, mud and rising elevation turning a glorious charge into a slow-motion grotesquerie.

The cannon poured their fire into the front ranks of the cavalry, blunting their slow advance and ensuring that only a few of the most foolhardy squadrons could meet the gunners in a more honorable combat. These few brave men were beaten off by the valiant gunners in a desperate defence. For some of Napoleon's chevaliers, the fight was too much, and they fled in haste, but the rest pressed their attack to the limits of the endurance.

As the grim day wore on, the stalwart Frenchmen continued their advance into the teeth of certain death, their officers pressing them to the limits of their endurance. Finally, and blessedly, the 56eme emerged from Cimer, shaking out into disciplined ranks, bearing the brunt of cannonfire while their brothers advanced behind them. And as so often happens, on the left, Fririon's demonstration became the main line of attack, and his two battalions deployed into attack columns to threaten the center of the Russian line, advancing past the wheels of the Russian cannon on the hill to their left just as the glorious 13e broke the will of the Czarist gunners and rode them down with vengeful saberstrokes.

But Boudet's trials were not to end with the heavy fall of rain and lead upon the heads of his hapless men. Moving by road to support their grenadiers, two columns of heavy cuirassiers marched all morning to meet the French attack, and they arrived in time to deploy against the French left and center, its accompanying artillery unlimbering on the right to respond to the French guns. With nothing for it, too committed to withdraw, Boudet ordered a general advance, sending the 2nd Battalion of the 56th forward to block the surging cuirassiers and driving the 93rd straight down the throats of the thrice-damned cannon.

It was too much, too soon. The cuirassiers, seeing their moment, charged, and cut down the 2nd before it had time to form square. At almost the same instand, the lead battalion of the 93rd disintegrated before the eyes of all, shattered by the combined weight of two batteries firing point-blank cannister into their serried blue ranks. Desperate now, Valory led his men against the foremost grenadier battalion, sending them scattering, but tragically fell, mortally wounded, as the Russians broke and ran.

The Russians sensed the moment in the air. On the left, the grenadiers had been slowly falling back as the 3rd Legere pressed them, drawing them into a trap between the two looming regiments of cuirassiers. On the right, with the Russian guns finally threatened, two more battalions of grenadiers advanced, pressing the beleaguered French.

Fririon, risking the same fate as Valory, rallied his men as the two lines met, his inspiring bravery raising a terrifying cry from the mouths of his patriotic soldiers, who by musketry, bayonet and fierce comportment forced both of the battalions they faced from the field. While on the right, the 56th, in full rage at the loss of their beloved leader, held firm, the grenadier charge breaking like waves against the cold steel weilded by the bravest of the patrimonie.

This sudden reversal of fortune was too much for the stalwart Czarists. Having faced down the indomitable columns of Frenchmen all day, in the cold and freezing rain, they suddenly found themselves without anything to plug the gaping hole in their line, the army gave up to a man, troops streaming to the rear as best they could in the failing light of the day.

Lasalle's sabers, freed from the crimson glory of the battlefield, were turned to a more sinister purpose, his three intact squadrons pursuing the fleeing Czarists through the night and most of the next day, before being recalled. Their bounteous harvest turned an inconclusive, bloody day into a decisive victory for the French.

Boudet breathed a sigh of relief. His command was intact, the enemy forces shattered. Massena could continue his advance.

First Battle (repost)

2010-01-20T23:40:00.001-05:00

Reposted from the Honour forum, just so I can keep all my batreps in one place.

So I had my first game of Lasalle last night. Because we didn't get started until after 7, and had to spend most of our time noodling through the rules, we didn't come to anything like a conclusion, but I think it's safe to say that the game has rekindled my interest in miniature gaming.

SETUP

I played my French infantry division against a Peninsular British force - Jack borrowed John's counters for this occasion. We both chose to defend, which means a dice-off, and Brits get a bonus to that roll, so they ended up defending. The game has an interesting table setup sequence: you roll one die for odds/evens and another for the straight number, and reference the result to a chart of standard battlefields, which are then modified by additional terrain of the players' choosing. First the defender chooses to add a piece of terrain, then the attacker, then the defender again. No piece can be more than about a foot across.

Then the defender decides whether to pick his starting edge and set up, or let the attacker pick the edge and set up first. Jack chose to set up first, so he could use his hill, and deployed his troops in a thin red line, interspersing attack columns with units in line. His one small battery of guns was on the hill, angled towards the center of the board, along with a couple of battalions as flank security. His heavy cavalry was in reserve, waiting for the right time to turn the tide of battle.

Then I deployed - eight battalions of regular infantry, backed up by artillery, with an organic brigade of four units of light cavalry, with their own artillery as well! I don't know whether it's because I had most of my figures (most of us are using counters for now), or the fact that I start with cavalry on-board instead of reserve, but it looked like a TON of guys, and several people commented to that effect.

My plan was to make an emphatic attack left-of center to the left of the objective, while my artillery massed right of center to wear down his pivot units and discourage reinforcements. I sent my small (2-battalion) infantry brigade to demonstrate on the right, to discourage any attempt at my artillery and to hopefully pin down a couple of battalions there. My thinking was to turn an 8 to 6 advantage in infantry into a 6 to 4 advantage at the point of attack. My cavalry units deployed among and alongside the main force, which was arrayed in attack columns three abreast and two deep. This turned out to be a mistake, as there just isn't enough time to cross the board unless you're in march order.

THE BATTLE

As a result, the first few turns were pretty uneventful. My artillery deployed about 1/3 of the way from the center line, in plenty of range to the Brits, and opened fire on his lynchpin unit, a large elite infantry battalion. Over time, my fire began to wear this unit down. His artillery, meanwhile, messed around with counterbattery fire and then tried to shoot up some cavalry, with little effect.

I was just about to deploy my attack on the left when his reinforcements arrived: two large units of heavy cavalry, one behind the other, bearing down on the front of my left flank! Fortunately I had judged my spacing correctly and was able to deploy my center unit in line, while the corner battalion stayed in attack column, ready to form square should they be charged. I retreated with a flanking unit of hussars, circling around near a wooded copse to threaten the flank of the British cavalry, while a second unit of my light cavalry moved up to protect the corner battalion.

Jack's charge nevertheless took me somewhat by surprise, as I had thought that the front unit was masking the rear one. However since movement is sequential by unit, his first unit charged my infantry, opening up room for his second to charge my hapless light cavalry! Because of the turn sequence, charges aren't resolved until the opposing player's turn, giving me an opportunity to react. I formed square with my threatened infantry unit, requiring a discipline (morale) check for proximity to the enemy, then fired with the neighboring unit in line, felling some horsemen but hardly blunting the charge. Further left, my light cavalry didn't have space to shake out into a wide line, so just took it on the chin. My reactions complete, we resolved the combat: cavalry have a hard time attacking infantry in square, so they bounced off, but the heavy cavalry rode right over my chasseurs a cheval, rolling twice as many hits as I did so breaking them instantly. The British dragoons' momentum carried them forward, past the corner infantry battalion and in the face of a second-line unit that I'd thrown out further on the flank the turn before.

Meanwhile on the right, my demonstrating brigade was past the marsh and shaken out into line and into attack position. It looked like my feint was about to become the main line of attack! Having anticipated this, I sent a third cavalry unit round the marsh to threaten a flanking attack: a combined-arms infantry-cavalry charge is Very Bad News for a defending infantry unit (they either halve their dice from being attacked by infantry while they are in square, or by cavalry for not being in square). My artillery was still bisecting the battlefield, and rattling the big unit of elite infantry to their front - while you can recover from disruptions, they only come off at most one per turn, and I'd had a couple of lucky rounds of shooting so they were at 4 DISR by the end of the game. When a unit reaches a DISR number equal to its number of stands, it routs. I was ready to smash into them with yet another light cavalry unit (turns out it's great to have lots of onboard cavalry!), supported by a wodge of infantry.

Unfortunately it was not to be. While we were able to resolve a second charge by the British Dragoons (less successful than the first thanks to a timely countercharge to their rear by my valiant Hussars, who had finally gotten turned around), no further units were lost, and we ran out of time. Things were looking pretty bad for the Brits, with three units wavering and a flank hanging in the breeze, but anything can happen in a dice game so the result remained indecisive.

THE RESULT

I'm pretty confident that we can finish a battle in 3 hours. The small number of turns (usually around 9 for each player with a random ending turn) feels rushed to me, but that just encourages decisive action rather than dinking around. I thought the rules were pretty easy to understand, and the quick reference sheets (4 of them) well laid out. With any luck I'll have my book soon and the few figures I need to finish my army. I can't wait for next week! :)

The Plan

2010-01-19T22:10:00.002-05:00

Like any big project, if it's going to get anywhere I need a plan, and I need to follow it!

My Lasalle army is ripped from the pages of history: the 4th division of Masséna's IV Corps at Essling, 21 and 22 May 1809. This force almost exactly matches the core Empire army from the rules, and is accompanied by a 'support choice' of Lasalle (the general)'s Light Cavalry Division.

I'll have historical notes up on the 4e Division shortly, but for now here's my timetable:

56e Régiment de ligne

1e Battalion: Jan 27

2e Battalion: Feb 3

3e Battalion: Feb 10

93e Régiment de ligne

1e Battalion: Feb 17

2e Battalion: Feb 24

3e Battalion: Mar 3

8e Hussars and 13e Chasseurs à cheval: Mar 10

16e and 23e Chasseurs à cheval: Mar 17

3e Régiment Legère (2 battalions only)

1e Battalion: Mar 24

2e Battalion: Mar 31

Artillery (7 pieces): Apr 7

Officers: (Boudet, Fririon, Valory, Lasalle): Apr 10

So I have *just* enough time to finish if I can complete 32 infantry or 16 cavalry per week.

That sounds doable, right?

The Challenge

2010-01-19T21:54:00.001-05:00

So it's a challenge, is it?

An army for Lasalle - 256 infantry, 32 cavalry, 7 guns, 21 gunners, and four officers, all in 15mm, fully painted - by my birthday, April 10. So says Watts from Watts on Wargames - and he'll do the equivalent in Russians or pay the price!

It's a big job, but it's doable - I think! I haven't painted a Napoleonics fig in a decade, and have barely put brush to metal at all in the last few years. Fortunately all my little dudes are based and primed, so it's just about assembly line work and discipline now.