Yesterday was quite a full on day supporting other parent carers, so when I got home I was rather pooped. To unwind I thought I'd do a bit of an update on what I've been up to of late, aside from the Normandy campaign.
BUA's
A few years ago I made some bespoke bases for a lot of my Leven Miniature buildings, but not all. In the mood for some terrain building of late, I finally got around to making some some more, specifically for my more European buildings. Not all have been completed, but the ones that have are featured below, as I will need them for the Normandy campaign.
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| A 3" x 3" base (or 76.2mm x 76.2mm for metric pedants😉). |
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| The fences are HO/OO ones cut down to size. |
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| I will add some vegetables to the garden at some point. |
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| I try to vary the position and angles of the houses to add variety to the look when they are aligned along a road. |
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| A veg patch to be added. |
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| A 3" x 4" base this time for the churchyard, just to break up the uniformity and the fact that it looked better with more space. |
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| I'm torn between making a few headstones and tombs, but can't make up my mind. Thoughts on a postcard? |
Midgard or Dragon Rampant?
The Midgard rules are certainly the 'jeu de jour' at present, with plenty of virtual ink being spilt on various Blogs etc and I imagine they will feature at many a show next year. I must say they have piqued my interest, but I have not made my mind up with regards to them to be honest. I'm currently watching some Youtube videos to get a flavour for them, but do wonder if I would ever actually play them, given that I have Hail Caesar II and Dragon Rampant already. I have had plenty of ideas for games for the latter rules, but have not really explored them in any meaningful way, so I fear the same might be the case for Midgard.
But whilst I ponder and hover over the 'buy' icon at the same time (well it is Xmas soon), I dug out an old tin containing some of my earliest miniatures for way back in the dark ages known as the late 1970's. As you will see, sculpting has come on leaps and bounds since then I my painting too, but still only at a serviceable journey man level. I have planned on using these in Dragon Rampant, but see they could be used in Midgard too. Purists may complain to their MP at the thought of using 10mm figures with old school 25mm ones, but I think it could be fun and a good way to get these toys back on the table.
So just a few photos of some of my collection in no particular order:
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| This is a Fire Giant I believe, that I repainted nearly 30 years ago now and boy does it show! |
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| A Frost Giant from the same range as the above, but with my terrible attempts at some sculpting using Milliput, to make him look more 'Viking' as he had really skinny legs IIRC. The paint job doesn't bear too close an inspection. |
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| Another Frost Giant I believe, but this time a Ral Partha one, still in his 1970's Humbrol enamel colours. Still a favourite sculpt from that period and even now. |
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| At this time we had a habit of using metallic colours for jewellery, and a thinned coat of red on weapons to look like blood. |
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| I think another Ral Partha figure, a barbarian that inevitably was called 'Conan'. The paint has rubbed off his nose and I didn't take much care on storing him. I'm loathed to repaint him, but I think I may have to... |
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| A real mix of figures and manufacturers, from left to right: A Werewolf, Dragon, Balrog, Thief and Wind Elemental. |
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| I piece of terrain that would fit well with Midgard or Dragon Rampant, but I have used it for Sicily and the Italian Campaign too. I'd forgotten I had it so have moved it to where I can access it easily. |
Normandy
As a little teaser for the next scenario, I set the table up last night and took a quick photo. Normally if I can, I will do this a day or two in advance, so that I can look at it with fresh eyes the following day and tweak things if required. It is amazing at what you 'see' when doing it this way that you missed first time around.
Hopefully you found something of interest or even took a bit of a trip down memory lane. As always comments grealty appreciated!
TTFN.
The bases for your building look lovely Steve - and they’ll doubtless be even better when you’ve finished the gardens. TBH I have problems with my 1:1 scale garden - the grass is rather long, but invariably wet and it doesn’t help as our dogs have little legs.
ReplyDeleteYour old school figures look fine “as is”. I have no problem with changing or even mixing scales. My 6mm Hordes of the Things skeleton army has a 25mm skeleton as a giant - Behemoth in HotT parlance.
Your tabletop/battlefield looks good, but I am rather concerned that the dense (busy?) terrain will favour the Jerries. Time to make sure the British artillery are on standby…
Cheers,
Geoff
Thanks Geoff! Our grass could do with another cut, but it's too wet at the moment. With our realtively mild climate in Bristol, I have cut it in January before, which just seems wrong to me.
DeleteI'm torn between keeping the original paint job and basing or going for a unified look with my other figures etc. First World problems and all that!
The terrain 'issues' will become more evident once the AAR is up. In campaign terms, the Duke of Beaufort's Horse have been able to locate where the Germans broadly are, allowing for some pre-planned artillery strikes, so at least any naval support and the City of Bristol Volunteers know where to lob their shells:).
Really nice bases for the buildings (as I think I have had cause to remark on before!) Must get around to doing some similar thing myself!
ReplyDeleteThanks John. I never used to really bother with bases, but found they worked well with other rules and from a visual point of view too.
DeleteYour BUA bases look great, Steve! Who knew what surprises you had lurking in the bottom of your 1970s box of figures. Your fifty year old paint jobs look good to me.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks Jon! I do enjoy making the BUA bases, both from a practical point of view and from the finished effect it brings to the table. I did have more old figures, but seem to have lost some, which is a real shame, including a rather large earth elemental which was a real favourite. I simply have no idea where they are, unless they accidentally got thrown out:(.
DeleteGrand work on your building bases, they look great. Nice parade of some cracking old miniatures, some real goodies there. The table is set up very nicely for your next scenario, looking good.
ReplyDeleteThanks Donnie! These miniatures do bring back many memories for sure, which is why I've kept hold of them. But as mentioned above, I've misplaced some too, but cannot for the life of me find them.
DeleteA lot of great painted stuff sir!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michal!
DeleteFantastic work on the buildings Steve.
ReplyDeleteRegarding rules, for me if a set works well I stick with it regardless of fashion.
Thanks Richard! The Leven Miniatures building are really easy to paint up as they have just the right amound of detail:). Wise words re: rules, but last night I ordered a physical copy of Midgard, as the rules do look good and frankly I needed some retail therapy!
DeleteReally great looking BAUs and other stuff as well. Regarding Midgard: I picked up the rules and I have HC2 as well. I gotta say that the Midgard rules are a different game. 😀
ReplyDeleteThanks Stew! I've just finished watching the Youtube game run throughs, which are very good. The Midgard rules remind me a lot of Dan Mersey's 'Rampant' series in some of their mechanics, with a bit of DBA or Dux Bellorum thrown in as well. As you say, very different games, with HCII being used for historical games and I think Midgard gor a bit more of a Fantasy slant. Time will tell...
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