From the Archives: Imperial Mashup

So the lads were talking about the old 40k Tallarn Rough Riders, and I mentioned that I have a test model from a project that was both conceived and abandoned long ago (though not in a galaxy far away). I still have the necessary Cold Ones and Tallarn Riders for a squad of these, but they'll remain stowed away in a dusty box for the forseeable future.

This is a straight up kitbash, basically just the Tallarn horse rider reposed with pliers and pinned to a Dark Elf Cold One. 

The rider doesn't even fit that well on his mount, though these photos hide it well.  I remember being pretty pleased with the paint job on the lizard but now the painting just looks rudimentary to me.

The only custom element are the reins, made out of Green Stuff. I'm amazed they've survived intact after all this time.

So what do you think. Should I continue to include old painted stuff as part of my blog?

Hibernia, Unflagged

This summer, our local gaming group has started to play Sam Mustafa's Seven Years War game Maurice. Despite some issues I have with the rules, I remain charmed by its use of cards to randomize events, and most importantly by the little 6mm dudes we're all using. I've been slowly chopping away at my own pile of wannabe Spaniards and here's my first effort.

The Hibernia Regiment is one of several regiments of Irish mercenary soldiers in Catholic European service. The Marquis of Castille la Vieja has hired these foreigners to stiffen the mass of conscripted recruits that make up the bulk of his infantry.

Each unit is represented by two 6x3cm bases, a holdover from an older rules set which allows for each base to be a little diorama in 6mm.

I've added a mounted Regimental officer to one base, an idea I borrowed shamelessly from one of my clubmates.

As the bases are textured in wood filler, it was easy to press a die into one corner to make a little recess, so I can track the unit's disruptions right on the base.

To be honest I'm not terribly pleased with the results, given the work it's taken so far. But it's my first efforts in this scale in 20 years - hopefully subsequent units will look a little nicer.

Haqqislam WIP

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

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

“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

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

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.