First two 25mm French "Retreat from Moscow" skirmisher stands finished

Hey all!

Well, I got the first two skirmish stands finished for my "Retreat from Moscow" French army!

I may switch a few guys between them... the one above is very infantry heavy, and the one below very cavalry heavy... I am not sure I want them that distinct.

Overall I am very happy with how they turned out.  I could maybe do a bit deeper snow on there, but I think it is fine.  Love the guy in the center of this one, the Chasseur...  I'll get a few individual shots from different angles soon enough.

Here is the army so far!  I feel like these two skirmish stands really get it to start to look like a wargaming army, you know?

Next up I'll get the next full infantry unit done... then the last skirmish tray, and then done!  Well, sort of done... thinking about doing Napoleon on a sled to really finish it up:)

The Workbench

Hey all!

Well, I've got a few things near completion on the bench at the moment...

First, two stands of skirmishers for my Perry "Retreat from Moscow" army.  Basecoats are done, and washed... now comes the highlights and maybe a few extreme highlights, then based, then done!  Looking forward to it... this addition makes the army really feel like it is coming along in terms of variety of units.  With these two stands, it starts to look like an army.  Next up?  Hm, I suppose I need to do another unit of line infantry.  Then one more skirmisher stand, and I think I am done!  Well... until I do my Napoleon in his sled;)

Next up will be two Blood Bowl guys, both potential Star players, for my Talagaad team.  All they need is grass on their stands and one or two other touches.

Thanks for coming by and taking a look!

Doing a Blood Bowl team for sale!

Hey all!

Well, THIS is new!  I am working on a human Blood Bowl team!  I saw the figures and thought 'Self, I want to paint those.'  I plan to do a few interesting extras and have some ideas.  Above are the first three finished guys, which include a guy you can use as a star player blitzer.

Overall they look pretty cool, so far, I think!

And if anyone is interested in buying them when they are done, lemme know!

The House of War: Shelf #4

Hey all!

Well, I thought I would finally post Shelf #4!

Now, this shelf is entirely dedicated to a single army; my 25mm Napoleonic French.  It is possibly my best large-scale army, and was the first of my revival in toy soldier painting after years of not painting... so it gets a good spot!

Here is the top shelf.  In the back is Napoleon and all of his command.  It is a large tray, obviously, and not really suited for wargaming, but I wanted to do it, soooo... I did!:)  I love all the little stories in it... the irritated General being delayed by Napoleon's Aide de Camp, the General up on the ridge conferring with his adjuncts, the officer just arriving at command, the orders being written... all of it.  Also on the shelf are the two sets of foot officers for the army, and the army commander himself.

Now, the soldier shelves are largely the same.  Here are two trays of skirmishers, backed up by two battalions of Old Guard.  The heavy cavalry (cuirassiers) are backing the whole group up.

In the middle are my two "special" scenes... the surgeon and hospital wagon, and the blacksmith.  I put two stands of skirmishers in here to give them a little protection (and because I didn't have any other room!)

Soldier shelf three has another two trays of skirmishers (defending a stone wall, this time), two battalions of infantry, and some hussars.

Another shelf of soldiers has another two trays of skirmishers, two more battalions of line infantry, and some French Lancers.

Finally, the artillery!  Two pieces of foot artillery, and two pieces of Guard artillery (although I think I got the heads wrong when I did the conversions) with limbers and caissons.

So!  That is the last toy soldier shelf!  They've actually changed up a bit since I originally posted (the Vikings from Shelf #3 are on the table, with more Star Wars Armada figures taking their place...) but at least it is a lot to look at!:)

Thanks for coming by!

Made a Sandcrawler for my son...

Hey all!

Well, as I've mentioned, my son LOVES Micromachine Star Wars figures.  I've made him up a Rebels crew, and a BUNCH of rooms and the like.  Well, I thought I would make his first vehicle!

So, I made it out of balsa.  I did a command "bridge" at a higher level, and then used a short wall to split the back into two possible rooms.

I sort of did the balsa equivalent of greebling, with some random bits and pieces added to the outside.  I did the same with paint, just adding some details, to give it a little variety.  Paint was fairly simple, although again, I tried to make it a bit varied with some streaks of other colors.

It is a fairly strong piece; after make it, I reinforced all the joints with super glue, so it can take a little bit of a beating.  My son is INCREDIBLY careful though, so frankly it didn't need it.

Anyway... more soon, and thanks for stopping by!:)

More shots of the 25mm Viking war-games table

Hey all!  Thought I'd get a few more Viking pictures up here...

Here, you can see the attacking vikings moving in on the small farmstead...

... under the command of this dangerous fellow!

Another shot, from over the shoulders of the attackers.

Among the attackers is this viking, who is bringing his trained war dogs to the fight!

Here some archers, led by their hero, fire at the oncoming attackers.

The commander of the defenders rallies some of his warriors!

The berserkers roar down towards the hamlet, looking for enemies to kill!

The ship is docked.

I am not sure these sheep will survive this attack... they look delicious!:)

Anyone have any extra Wargames Factory Viking heads?

Hey all!

Just wondering... Anyone out there have any extra helmeted Wargames Factory Viking heads they are interested in selling?  I really want to keep the style I am building my Vikings with (namely, that only heroes and special characters have bare heads) but have run out of helmeted heads for my last unit of guys:(

Anyone out there able to help?

Thanks!

My five year old boy has started playing X-Wing!

Hey all!

Well, the son has gotten older... and I've raised a good one!:D

Not only do we watch Star Wars together (mainly Rebels) but he LOVES playing X-Wing!

It is a little crazy that a five year old can play X-Wing, but he totally gets it.  It is really funny to hear a little kid talk about shedding stress and barrel rolling (which he LOVES) but good, too:)

We played a game today (it was a snow day) with him flying the Ghost and Phantom (Hera and Ezra flying) versus several TIE fingers and an Interceptor.  He did eventually win, blowing the TIEs away. He didn't deploy the Phantom until halfway through, but it did some good work once he did.

And here is the proud Rebel commander!

So... let the indoctrination continue!

Room set for an X-Wing evening

Got a buddy coming by at the end of the week... been a while since we've hung out (he recently had a child, and started his own business...) and we used to play a bit of X-Wing.  So, we figured that would be a fun centerpiece for an evening of hangout, as a little throwback!

It sounds funny, but I do love restocking before folks drop by... always gotta make sure you've got a variety of cold drinks on hand, that the chips are nicely diversified, and the candy jar hasn't been completely overtaken by uneaten Snickers!

The squads are picked up with pure fun in mind... Imperials have three Academy TIEs, Tetran Cowell with Push the Limit, and Rexler Brath with a title.  Rebels have two rookie X-Wings with an astromech in each, a Y wing with a blaster turret and an R2 mech, and Tycho with Push the Limit and a Stealth device.

Anyway... put something on in the background (Star Wars?), push around some tiny ships, and have a few drinks.  And fear not, the beer will get consumed before it gets warm:)

Viking table well underway!

Hey all!

Well, I've been working on getting a bit of a viking table together!

Here are a few vikings in front of their thatched-roof hovels.

The vikings move out of their small hamlet.

I made up a runestone... I think that the runes help place it, you know?

A big fire was burning in the center of the hovels.  Made pretty simply, just out of rocks and the like.

A shot of the table.

Another shot.

Overall happy with how it looks!  Working on fences and a fish drying rack now!

A Viking coastline... done!

Hi all!

Well, I want to get a bit more done with my Vikings... and thought that I needed a coastline to really make it work!

So... I did!  I also cobbled together a few houses.  I'll post more photos and info on how I built everything, and some closeups, soon enough.

Thanks for coming by!