Imperial Guard Command Squad

Just a small post to tide things over. I am still working hard to try to finish the whole box of Warlord British infantry in one month, which is my personal goal at the moment. It's still touch and go if I can make it in all honesty.

Anyone, in between Bolt Action and musing over new projects, I have been tidying up unfinished stuff. Part of the many half done minis on the shelves was a Warhammer 40k Imperial Guard Command Squad. Started around two years ago as an attemp to reboot my interest in 40k, it failed, and two of the five minis have stood uncompleted since. The plan was to push my painting skills and also conversion skills - each mini is converted in some way, either poses, or custom torsos or both. They still didn't fire my imagination. 

Over the last week I dusted them down and finished off the officer and vox caster, which were the only two outstanding:

And here is the squad as a whole.

 

Apoloigies for the awful pics!

I am so out of touch with 4k that I am not even sure if the squad compisition is legal, but still, they are done. They will be added to the 6000 odd points of guard I have. I should sell them to generate funds, but I've made the mistake of selling stuff before then getting back into that very game and having to start all over again, so for now I shall keep them. If I ever need more cabinet space, then who knows, they may go, but for now they stay. 

More updates to follow soon. As always, stay tuned via my facebook page, The cardboard fortress

High Elves and Skaven

Despite my main focus being historical stuff at the moment, I still have a massive back log of Games Workshop models. In order to try to keep on top of the painting pile, and to justify buying new stuff, I like to clear some of these in between other things.

So this week I have caught up with a couple of items. First off were another five Skaven. These are from the Island of Blood set and are very quick and easy to do. I only did five as I find that number to be manageable as a side project. They are also a good illustration of how effective washes can be for a table top army. This is before the wash:

And after with the basing done:

I am a big user of washes simply for speed. These Skaven are literally base coats and a wash and done. Up close they look average, but a unit of 20 of them on the other side of the table looks the business.

Next up was High Elves. I had five archers done and added another five to bring them up to this state:

Again,  these are a relatively quick paint job but no washes and a few highlights to make them a bit better than the Skaven. High Elves are my "try harder" army so get a slightly better paint job.

It's another 10 models off the painting pile. I've developed a system recently of having four or five projects on the go at any one time. I like this as it seems to mean I am always close to finishing something, and gives me a steady stream of complete models. The Bolt Action British are the main block of these projects, but there are others overhead block as well that should feature soon.

As always, check out my facebook page: A Cardboard Fortress

Puma and Panzer IV Progress

As any World War 2 war gamer will tell you, you need tanks. Infantry are the back bone of any force, but tanks are where it's at. 

So without that in mind, I have made progress on a bit of armour support for my Bolt Action German force. This required breaking out the airbrush. To say I found this worrying would be an understatement. Having used it once, I had stripped it down and cleaned it down before putting it back together. But would it work was the question? The answer was a resounding yes! For me, this is a great boon as it means I can use it more regularly because I was concerned that I had use it once and then broke it. 

Anyway, on to the pics. I went with the same scheme as the half tracks, here is the Panzer IV:

And here is the Puma:

They've also had the first stage of weathering in these pics, using a sponge I first applied hull red followed by metallics in the most worn areas. 

Still a long way to go with these, but hoping to get stuck into them soon. 

As always, more updates at The Cardboard Fortress

Partizan Show Report and Review

Today was Partizan day! I have never been a massive show goer, but have been to a few recently and I am getting the taste for them. You get to see what's out there, because I imagine quite a lot of people don't have all these companies in their database so it's a nice reminder to see that pretty much what ever you want in the wargaming world someone is likely to be making. The down side of course is that you mentally find yourself starting about a dozen new projects. 

So first off, lets look at the swag:

This guy is the obligatory free mini you seem to get at every show these days. This is apparently some famous local actor as he appeared when he starred as Lawrence of Arabia. He's dressed in some kind of British uniform so I think with a half decent paint job I can use him as a an objective marker for Bolt Action - perhaps an aging British officer trapped behind enenmy lines.

One of the major purchases of the day was this book, for another forthcoming project, 20mm WW2. Should be an interesting read and give me some ideas to pick a force. 

Now these next two I've been considering for some time:

These are Empress Miniatures modern British (i.e Afghanistan) at the top and Taliban at the bottom. These are lovely sculpts, and I have wanted some for an age to try out the Force on Force ruleset I've had a few years. The only downside was nowhere today was selling the rules so I couldn't pick up the Afghan supplement for this game. Soon though. 

And that was it. Aside from a few paints and bases and I didn't get much else. I wanted lots more but managed to resist adding to the painting pile. Special mention to my mate I went with, if he had caved at the Baccus stand I would have too, resulting in me being the owner of several hundred 6mm Napoloenics. I suspect though, that neither of us can resist for too long and this will be another project.

Some pics of some games now:

These are from an excellent Indiana Jones themed game, complete with a giant flying wing:

Next up a rather awesome recreation of the battle of Salamanca in 6mm. I have to say I am not a fan of the hex based terrain (bit boardgamey for me), but 6mm is a big favourite of mine, so I was really impressed by this layout:

I really liked this large scale game as well, using a cold war gone hot theme. There were a lot of tanks on this:

And finally, the battle of Yellow Ford from the "Like a Stone Wall" wargames group. They certainly upped their normal high standards with this board, was really nice to look at. Based around a fight in a bog, the terrain was wonderful. I was offered a chance to play in this game but circumstance conspired against me, however, I managed to drop by and say hello.

So that was Partizan. Another good show. Whilst it's on the smaller side of shows, everyone is very friendly. The only real criticism is the venue, it's a little dark and crowded but I understand they are moving next year. But as a local, twice yearly show, for me, it's perfect. 

As always, my facebook page is here: A Cardboard Fortress

Heaven Is A Half Track Part 3

It has taken far longer than I had originally planned but finally, the three half tracks that I started on a few months ago are done! I could say it was because I tried out new techniques, but the truth is that I was a bit afraid I would wreck them, so kept them at the back of the queue. 

But in any case, on with the pictures.

This was the first one done, you have already seen it in Part 2:

And the next one, with a bit of stowage added from a pack bought off of eBay:

And the third and final one:

And here are the three of them all together:

I think they look quite good together. They have been a great learning curve for some techniques, and if I were to do them again there are some things I would do differently. That all being said, I can now mechanize a whole platoon of infantry - just a shame transports aren't much good in Bolt Action!

Stay tuned for more updates to come, including more armour!

As always, please feel free to drop by my Facebook page, The Cardboard Fortress

The British Are Coming

Had a productive night last night, throwing together the last of my British from the Warlord late war box set. Good little kit, that gave me enough for 25 figures. In the end I went for two 10 man squads with a pretty standard set up of rifles, one LMG and an NCO with a sub-machine gun. Used the last five men for an officer, a sniper team and a mortar team. Not quite sure when these will get to see paint but they are built and ready to go:

Squad 1

Squad 2

Light 2" mortar team

Sniper team

Officer

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