"From The Ashen Wastes Of Aera..."

"...The Zeek Scuttlers creep endlessly, seizing all they can."

This 32mm scale Zeek Burrower is produced by "Artisan Guild", and was created using "Elegoo" Water Washable Resin on a Mars 5 3D Printer. The STL (Standard Triangle Language) file for the figure comes as part of the company's October "Guildhall" subscription release, and represents "the larval stage of the Scuttler."

In the official lore these creatures are insectoid-shaped thieves who steal "old tomes, precious metals, equipment and supplies" from whatever hapless races they encounter. However, I plan to use them to represent the Trident Realm Of Neritica for "Kings Of War" by "Mantic Games", and intend to pigment a trio of these younglings to represent a Tidal Swarm.

"Black Site Studios" WIPs - These four Soviet Cosmonauts have been primed and shaded

Resultantly, the model was super-glued onto a 40mm circular base and primed with plenty of "Vallejo" Heavy Brown. It was then utterly sploshed in "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Heavy Brown, and sporadically dabbed with a little "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green so as to create the illusion of algae sticking to the crab-like creature's limbs and lower carapace. These areas was later blended in with a second dry-brush of "Vallejo" Heavy Brown.

For the Burrower's top-most carapace I simply applied a couple of coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, shaded the chitinous armour in "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, and dry-brushed it with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna. The Zeek's eyes were subsequently picked out with a little Skulker Yellow by "Two Thin Coats" and washed with a small amount of "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade. Finally, the entire model was treated to a heavily watered-down layer of "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade to help smooth down all of the dry-brushing.

"Wargames Foundry" WIPs - These Frenchmen have had their muskets repainted

Perhaps somewhat impulsively, I've also begun work on four more 32mm Soviet Cosmonauts by "Black Site Studios". I'm still rather enthused for the American company's "Lunar" range, and want to build up a sizeable Russian contingent which I can then use as random encounters for some homebrew battles based upon "The Silver Bayonet" by "Osprey Games". I aim to use several of this particular sculpt as basic (Moon) Bandits, so want a good half dozen or so tabletop ready just in case during a scenario someone rolls for an ambush.

In addition, I'm still slowly plugging away at the four Napoleonic Infantrymen by "Wargames Foundry" I had hoped to have finished by the end of last month. Unfortunately, I recently realised that I'd stupidly mis-painted their muskets (pigmenting the barrels in "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and the wooden parts with Gunmetal), so have had to rework all of their firearms before moving on to their epaulettes...

"Spurred On By A Feeling Of Manifest Destiny..."

 "...The United States was able to rally its people behind a new desire for space heroes rooted in a nation's pride."

This 32mm NASA Astronaut is produced by "Black Site Studios" for their "Lunar" skirmish game, and was created using "Elegoo" Water Washable Resin on a Mars 3 Pro 3D Printer. The STL (Standard Triangle Language) file comes as part of the company's Two-Player Digital Starter Set, but has been both 'mirrored' and quite heavily converted in order to represent an experienced fighter on the Moon's surface.

Indeed, as I plan to use this range of miniatures for "The Silver Bayonet" by "Osprey Games" - with some lunar surface homebrew amendments - I thought this model would make an excellent Veteran Hunter for my American faction, so subsequently kitted him out with some extra shoulder pads, a Markam S11 pistol and some spare oxygen tanks. All of these additional 'bitz' were taken from the remaining cast resin pieces I had left over from the aforementioned Starter Box.

"Artisan Guild" WIPs - These Zeek Scuttlers have been primed, shaded and dry-brushed

Once assembled the astronaut was super-glued onto a "Citadel" 30mm circular stand, undercoated with "Two Thin Coats" Celestial Blue, positively drowned in "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade, and dry-brushed with (more) "Two Thin Coats" Celestial Blue. I then applied a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Blue and "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade to the piece of insulation material running along the edge of the astronaut's backpack in order to slightly break up the monotony of the spaceman's palette a little bit.

Of course at this point I realised that in 'mirroring' the STL on Chitubox I had inadvertently moved the tubing to the American's left side. However, I don't think it's terribly noticeable or distracting from the figure himself - and perhaps could be seen to denote the chap is simply left-handed..? The miniature's hand-weapons were quickly treated to a lick of Citadel "Abaddon Black", layered in "Vallejo" Gunmetal and later shaded with "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

"Wizkids" WIPs - This old "Heroclix" figure has been dusted down so its details can be 'picked out'

In addition to finishing my veteran NASA Astronaut, I have also been busy pigmenting a quartet of Zeek Scuttlers I aim to use for "Kings Of War" by "Mantic Games". These insectoids will hopefully make good proxies for the Trident Realm Of Neritica, and should prove pretty straightforward to get tabletop ready on account of their predominantly brown (with a little bit of green to represent sea algae).

I'm also very much aware that my annual Partially-Painted/Printed Pledge (PPPP) challenge is aimed at getting many of my long-forgotten, half-started projects tabletop ready, so with that in mind I've picked up an old plastic "Heroclix" Bat Sentry miniature I began working on way back in February 2020. This  75mm tall model comes from "Wizkids" DC HeroClix Unleashed expansion, and is one of the random encounters I have planned for a campaign based around Batman's main villains fighting for territory against one another in Gotham City.

(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Partially-Painted/Printed Pledge" [I/IV] December 2025

Painting output for November 2025

Having had a rather lack-lustre November where I was much more focused upon 3D printing more miniatures than actually getting any paint on them, I thought I had better knuckle down for the following month and begin my annual Partially-Painted/Printed Pledge (PPPP) -  a seventeen week long persona; challenge to pigment as much of my unfinished backlog as I can. Last year I only managed to whittle away at half of the models I had planned to pigment - attaining a total of just 246 points using my tried and tested productivity scoring system. So this time round I have a target to beat. 

First in the firing line are a number of 32mm Soviet Cosmonauts (and a couple of NASA Astronauts) by "Black Site Studios" which I produced on my "Elegoo" Mars 5 3D printer for their "Lunar" skirmish game. Rather embarrassingly, all of these figures should have finished by now, so I aim to get the vast majority of them tabletop ready toot sweet. In addition, I aim to play a few games featuring the models in order to test out my homebrew Moonscape rules based upon "The Silver Bayonet" by "Osprey Publishing". This always helps refuel my enthusiasm for a project, so I'm hoping it will help re-energise this one too.

"Artisan Guild" WIPs - These Zeek Scuttlers have all been primed using "Vallejo" Heavy Brown

In addition, I really want to get cracking on a number of Zeek Scuttlers I recently printed to use for "Kings Of War" by "Mantic Games". I'll be adapting this race of insectoid thieves into some crab-like denizens so as to represent the Trident Realm Of Neritica, and am close to completing my predominantly brown-green colour scheme's test piece. A good percentage of my starting force - consisting of a leader with three infantry regiments and a swarm are already based ready for my paint-brush, so with any luck a number of these wonderfully-detailed STL (Standard Triangle Language) files will be fully varnished and flocked before the PPPP concludes.

Sticking with "Mantic Games" and 3D printing, I'm also hoping to knuckle down and get a fair few of the Nottingham-based manufacturer's Epic Warpath miniatures done. Perhaps unsurprisingly given how many of the 10mm models I can squeeze onto my Mars 5's build plate, I already face an almost overwhelming sea of grey resin soldiers, infected monsters and space dwarves. So I really need to get a fair few finished before I'm completely overwhelmed by them.

November 2025 - No change whatsoever with my favourite manufacturers of the year

Lastly, I still own an embarrassing number of unfinished Napoleonic Infantrymen by "Wargames Foundry" - many of which I first worked on over a year ago. This particular Black Powder project has fallen way behind schedule, and I now doubt I'll ever catch-up to where I wanted to be with it. However, next year I fully intend to get some cavalry units completed, and maybe the odd cannon crew too - both of which are needed to play Mike Lambo's "Battles of Napoleonic Europe: A Solitaire Wargame" properly.

My fingers are most definitely crossed that all these plans will help bolster my wargaming fruitfulness after the worst November I've experienced since I first began keeping a record of my hobby productivity over a decade ago. Of course, I wouldn't have minded too much if it was due to me being more busy playing than painting. But sadly that simply hasn't been the case...

The Plague Is A Highly Virulent Form Of Alien Bio-Weapon."

"Once the Plague starts to spread on a colony or planet, the only way to stop it is via blockades, Deadzones and planetary isolation."

This pair of 10mm scale Plague Lords are manufactured by "Mantic Games" for their "Epic Warpath" wargame, and were produced using "Elegoo" Water Washable Resin on a Mars 5 3D Printer. The STL (Standard Triangle Language) file for the figure comes as part of the company's Epic Warpath Plague Army. But I actually picked mine up as a freebie from the Nottingham-based company's current Epic Warpath - The Battle for Phrovox campaign on "My Mini Factory", and simply mirrored the pose so as to create a little variety on the battlefield.

Due to the the massive mutants actually being 25mm in height, the heavily infected duo were super-glued onto a couple of plastic 25mm circular bases, undercoated in "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand, drowned in "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, and dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand. I then carefully applied a delicate dry-brush of "Two Thin Coats" White Star across the topmost ridges each miniature, before 'picking out' parts of their chitinous armour with "Vallejo" Heavy Blue.

"Artisan Guild" WIPs - This Zeek Burrower has been primed, shaded and dry-brushed

These plates were later washed with "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade and dry-brushed them with a bit more "Vallejo" Heavy Blue, before I added a smidgeon of "Two Thin Coats" White Star onto the Plague Lords' teeth, layered their tongues with "Vallejo" Heavy Red over its tongue, and finally washed these areas with a splash of "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. I was momentarily tempted to use some of the 2mm tall Chilli Red flock I currently use for my "Lunar" models to half-heartedly suggest the astronauts are on the planet Mars. But as I had already unconsciously coloured their bases brown, as opposed to the grey palette I use with my Martian landscape, I decided to stick with my usual green grass instead.

Alongside this foray into "Mantic Games" own miniatures, I have also been rather busy 3D printing some models with which to play the Nottingham-based company's "Kings Of War". However, rather than use their 'official' range of figures, I thought I'd make use of many of the STLs I own by "Artisan Guild". For openers I'm planning on simply fielding a small force representing the Trident Realm Of Neritica, and felt a few of the crab-like Zeek Scuttler sculpts would be nicely appropriate.

"Wargames Foundry" WIPs - These French soldiers have had all their metallic areas 'picked out'

For openers I've gone with a trio of Burrowers to represent a (Tidal) Swarm as the models really remind me of the Horseshoe Crab. This project really is in its infancy, yet as usual I've allowed my enthusiasm for it to get the better of me and have already got some Scuttlers (Heavy Infantry), Skirra (Siren Hero) and Scuttler Knights sat waiting for some attention on my hobby table.

Lastly, I am still managing to make some progress on a handful of Napoleonic Infantrymen by "Wargames Foundry" I actually started a considerable time ago. All of the identical soldiers come from an old FN054 - Light Infantry Chasseurs Advancing blister I found in my backlog, and I have been doggedly trying to apply my brush-tip to one area on each of them during every hobby session. Currently, I'm working on their muskets - though I have also taken the opportunity to base layer their blankets, and get their gold sabre handles and scabbard tips completed too...

"This Weapon Fires Sticky Goo In A One Inch Wide Line."

"Any units in that line are entangled."

This 32mm Soviet Cosmonaut is sold by "Black Site Studios" for their "Lunar" skirmish game, and was created using "Elegoo" Water Washable Resin on a Mars 5 3D Printer. The STL (Standard Triangle Language) file comes as part of the company's Two-Player Digital Starter Set and were actually upscaled by a smidgeon due to the sculpt appearing somewhat less bulky than the cast resin Russian astronauts I already own. 

Furthermore, the original arms holding a shotgun were carefully clipped off at different points in order to allow me to superglue an Adhesive Rifle and empty hand onto the figure. This conversion used a couple of pieces left over from my aforementioned starter box - which I'm always pleased to utilise, and provided me with a bit more variety to my Eastern Bloc force. 

"Mantic Games" WIPs - These Spectra Blademasters have been primed, shaded and dry-brushed

The Cosmonaut was placed upon a "Citadel" 30mm circular stand and primed with plenty of "Two Thin Coats" Sanguine Scarlet. It was then drenched in "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson, dry-brushed with (more) "Two Thin Coats" Sanguine Scarlet and had its face-plate/firearm layered in "Citadel" Abaddon Black.  The Soviet's helmet visor was also subsequently treated to a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, Gold and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade.

Lastly, I gave the Adhesive Rifle a lick of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, "Vallejo" Gunmetal and "Citadel" Nuln Oil, before picking out its quilted carry-case in White Star by "Two Thin Coats". This area was later shaded using some heavily-watered down "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, and hopefully gives the impression that the tool-turned-trap can get incredibly hot whenever its in use - even on the Moon's surface.

"Wargames Foundry" WIPs - These Frenchmen have been base-coated with "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna.

Moving over to a smaller size of 3D printing, I have begun work on a trio of 10mm scale Spectra Blademasters by "Mantic Games". Having recently fully committed to the Nottingham-based manufacturer's Epic Warpath - The Battle for Phrovox campaign on "My Mini Factory", I'm really keen to use these Asterian mechs as test pieces for the race's colour scheme, as well as trialling an attempted to pigment their force-field shields.

Finally, I'm still quite merrily picking away at four Napoleonic Infantrymen by "Wargames Foundry". My plan is to simply finish an area on the quartet each day until they are done, and am currently making progress on their muskets. Taken from blister FN054 - Light Infantry Chasseurs Advancing I may well use this approach for my future Black Powder projects, as this technique isn't too time-consuming, and also doesn't seem to make all the Frenchmen's details quite so intimidating - at least in my mind...

"Hulking Beasts With No Vestige Of Their Humanity Left."

 "These monsters charge from the front, hitting their victims with unstoppable force."

This 10mm scale Plague Lord is produced by "Mantic Games" for their "Epic Warpath" wargame, and was created using "Elegoo" Water Washable Resin on a Mars 5 3D Printer. The STL (Standard Triangle Language) file comes as part of the company's Epic Warpath Plague Army. But I actually picked mine up as a freebie from the Nottingham-based company's current Epic Warpath - The Battle for Phrovox campaign on "My Mini Factory".

The malformed monstrosity is surprisingly 25mm tall so was super-glued onto a plastic 25mm circular base, undercoated in "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand, drowned in "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, and dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand. I then carefully applied a delicate dry-brush of "Two Thin Coats" White Star across the topmost ridges of the figure, before 'picking out' some of its chitinous armour with "Vallejo" Heavy Blue.

"Ammo is a precious resource on the Moon."

To be honest I wasn't exactly sold on this 'official' colour scheme. But having subsequently shaded the plates with "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade and dry-brushed them with a bit more "Vallejo" Heavy Blue I thought the contrast looked really good. Lastly, I dabbed a little White Star by "Two Thin Coats" across the Plague Lord's teeth, a lick of "Vallejo" Heavy Red over its tongue, and washed both areas with a smidgeon of "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade.

Sticking with 3D printing, I've also completed another 32mm Soviet Cosmonaut by "Black Site Studios". The STL (Standard Triangle Language) file is from the company's Two-Player Digital Starter Set and was slightly upscaled by 1% due to the sculpt appearing to be a bit more slender in its proportions than the cast resin Eastern Bloc astronauts I already own.

"Wargames Foundry" WIPs - Three of four Napoleonic Frenchmen currently being worked on

As with all my Russian spacemen, the miniature was primed with plenty of "Two Thin Coats" Sanguine Scarlet, drenched in "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson, and dry-brushed with (more) "Two Thin Coats" Sanguine Scarlet. The Communist's helmet visor was later treated to a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, Gold and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. Whilst his firearm was 'picked out' with "Citadel" Abaddon Black, "Vallejo" Gunmetal and "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

Lastly, I have finally started making some in-roads on four Napoleonic Infantrymen by "Wargames Foundry". I was originally planning on simply bolstering my Austrian contingent this month. But time is already somewhat short, and this quartet taken from the manufacturer's FN054 - Light Infantry Chasseurs Advancing blister were already started just over a year ago - so shouldn't take that long to finish as I dab away at them piece by piece...

“Warfare" Showcase 2025

"Warfare is one of the largest [annual wargames show] in the country."

Having regretfully missed "Colours" a couple of months ago due to an unforgivable double-booking in my social calendar, I was thoroughly looking forward to visiting this year's annual "Warfare" wargaming show at the Farnborough International Exhibition Centre, and - apart from my SatNav inexplicably deciding to divert me off of the motorway and through central Basingstoke only to put me straight back onto the motorway I had just left (!?!) - I got to the venue with plenty of time before the event actually opened.

Indeed, the directions supplied on the Wargames Association of Reading (WAR) website were absolutely spot on, and I was quickly able to park, purchase a coffee and sit down in the warm without any stress of queuing. One thing which did irk me though was the incredibly short wrist band I was told I had to wear at all times. The damn thing barely fitted, and I noticed a few more corpulent comrades-in-arms having to have it stuck to their coats like a lengthy medal ribbon. Perhaps unsurprisingly mine soon started falling off my hand too, so eventually I just plonked it in my jacket's top pocket for safekeeping.

Some of the tempting figures and vehicles on display by "Spectre Miniatures" 

This year my plan was to most definitely have a thorough walk around before making any impulse buys, so after exchanging some pleasantries with Karl ("Crooked Dice Game Design Studio") and Leon ("Pendraken Miniatures"), I began making my way along the Main Hall. These days I always try to ensure I visit everyone by double-checking with the floorplan that you get upon entry. However, for some reason WAR weren't handing out these terribly useful pamphlets this year, so I simply kept walking around and around until I was absolutely certain I had seen everything - as well as double-checking the extremely colourful layout on their website.

One of the first traders to really catch my attention was "Spectre Miniatures", who had a couple of marvellous displays at their booth. I had been hoping that they had brought some "Lunar" blisters by "Black Site Studios" with them, as they're the U.K. stockist for the American company. But sadly they hadn't, so instead I ended up chatting to them about how many of the metal figures from their first "Kickstarter" in May 2014 were now highly sought after as the moulds had long gone - time for me to dig out my untouched sets from somewhere in the loft methinks.!!

The fantastic looking Dungeon Builder by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio"

I also spent some time contemplating the "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" Dungeon Builder - which frankly looked absolutely superb on their display stand. The big conundrum for me was whether to pick up some of the actual physical sets, or buy the STL (Standard Triangle Language) files from "My Mini Factory" for my 3D printer. In the end I plumbed for the second option as the ever prodigious Mister Perrotton explained he'd used both resin and PLA (Polylactic Acid) to produce the well-painted pieces before me.

Having promised myself no sudden purchases, I did wilt when it came to "The Dice Miners" who were selling an incredibly useful set of dice for "Magic The Gathering". Now admittedly, these aren't really dice you roll during the game. However, they are designed to remind players as to status changes to their Creatures attack/defence statistics when affected by an Enchantment or Instant cards, and seemed a little more eye-catching than the tiny cardboard tokens I ordinarily use.

"Tribal Conquest" by "Nervosa Games", and some MTG dice by "The Dice Miners"

One of the trends which was definitely noticeable was the number of 3D printers selling their wares across the two vendor halls. Whether it be an absolute ton of different Daleks from "Doctor Who", a plethora of prehistoric monsters or numerous armoured vehicles at all different scales, this production method is clearly fast becoming the 'in-thing' for many a wargamer. In fact, one of the hottest products I saw others carrying around were various bits of post-apocalyptic terrain for "Trench Crusade".

The biggest highlight of the show though, for me at least, was getting a quick game in of "Tribal Conquest" by "Nervosa Games" just before I departed. Now I really don't need to start learning a new skirmish game, or begin painting an entire fresh range of miniatures, so I was sort of hoping I wouldn't get too sucked into the fight. Unfortunately, that simply was not the case, as I quickly fell for the quirky mechanics employed during my fast-paced clash of Stone Age tribes, and delighted in whittling down my opponents with a flaming coconut or lightning bolt...