Painting Challenge: Week Twelve - (More) 10mm Pendraken Miniatures

Following on from the subject of my previous Painting Challenge, this week sees me needing to paint some more 10mm models from "Pendraken Miniatures"; albeit this time I'll be concentrating on some tanks from the Second World War rather than some heavy cavalry from the English Civil War. As a result I'll be concentrating on three T70b Russian Light Tanks models from the Middlesbrough based manufacturer's Code SV16.

 

I'm also close to finishing painting the Judge Giant 28mm model I received as part of my "Judge Dredd Miniatures Game" Kickstarter pledge. As with so many of the "Mongoose Publishing" figures I've painted from this Justice Department range, this street judge has proved a frustrating subject to complete. But at last I just need to ink and clean up the red lining on the Judge's helmet, and then paint on the badge above his visor.

 In addition I've managed to apply a double undercoat of "Vallejo" Heavy Blue to the first of three models I've taken from the "Empire Of The Dead" boxed set EOTD-07 London Bobbies by "West Wind Productions".

'The Finest Rookie Judge Dredd Ever Assessed'

This 28mm metal model of Judge Dekker can be purchased as part of the "Judge Dredd Miniatures Game" range as either code MGP10197 from "Mongoose Publishing" or as code JD20006 from "Warlord Games".

The best rookie Judge Dredd ever had, this figure appears to represent the more street experienced version of Dekker that would one day die during the unholy events of the 1992 "2000AD" comic book serial "Judgement Day". As sculpting goes this is certainly one of the better models from the line that I've encountered. Though once again some of the poor detail separating the (green) elbow pads and (gold) shoulder pads from the model's (black) leather one-piece suit had me grinding my teeth in frustration as I tried to establish where one area finished and another started.

 

Moving on from 28mm painting, I'm also progressing on this Lieutenant for my 'Rogue Trader era' 15mm Imperial Guard force using Prydian Muster models from "The Ion Age".

 

In addition I've based up a handful of 28mm miniatures from the "West Wind Productions" "Empire Of The Dead" Kickstarter I pledged on some time ago. I'm not actually planning on using the figures to play Andy Cooper's tabletop skirmish game, but rather to represent two teams hoping to compete in a simple Victorian Steampunk sport I've written some homemade rules for. 

Retained Knights - Part Three

These three 15mm "The Ion Age" miniatures from selection IAF008 Retained Knight Post Charlie actually caused me more work than I planned. For whilst painting their red hands I realised I'd actually failed to 'pick out' the grips to their Angis Rifles on the previous Prydian Army models I've painted. As a result I ended up repainting three of my previously finished Retained Knights.

The models were initially undercoated with "Vallejo" Heavy Blue before being washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil. Their hands were then picked out with "Vallejo" Heavy Red, before these areas were treated to a glaze of "Citadel" Bloodletter. Finally the models' weapons were simply painted using the "Citadel" combination of Boltgun Metal with Nuln Oil.

 In order to give my 'Rogue Trader Era' Crimson Fist Space Marine force some additional heavy weapon firepower, I've now started painting a Retained Knight armed with an Anvil 888 launcher from the same selection, and plan to base him on a small "Battlefront Miniatures" stand alongside an Anvil loading model from code IAF001 Retained Knight Post Alpha.  

 

Finally I am close to completing my 28mm Judge Dekker model from the "Judge Dredd Miniatures Game". Having finally completed the eyes and face of this "Mongoose Publishing" miniature, I've simply got to finish washing the judge's lawgiver and 'tidy her up' with some more "Citadel" Abaddon Black before treating the model to a layer of Gloss Varnish. I've even made some headway on completing her base in order to 'get the figure on the tabletop' sooner.

Painting Challenge: Week Eleven - 10mm Pendraken Miniatures

Approximately eighteen months ago I started to paint a Royalist English Civil War Army to use with the "Pike & Shotte" rulebook by "Warlord Games". In an effort to make the army affordable and playable on a small table I turned to my favourite 10mm manufacturer "Pendraken Miniatures" and set about work on the Royalist Regiment, The King's Lifeguard.

 

Unfortunately my enthusiasm for the project stalled upon my discovery that the North Yorkshire based company were about to imminently replace their English Civil War range with all new models. This deflating news, coupled with the sheer monotony I was experiencing at the time by repeatedly painting the same Cuirassier model in order to populate a small battalia of Horse, brought the project to a grinding halt.

As a result, upon determining that this week's Painting Challenge subject was to be any single base of 10mm models, I thought I'd try and breathe some new life into my substantial English Civil War collection.

In addition to completing the Cuirassiers, I am also hoping to turn my attention towards dusting down and finishing a couple of command bases I assembled as part of my Second World War Russian army. These two trucks will be accompanied by a number of officers and will be based upon a snowy landscape in order to fit in with rest of my Soviet 'winter' forces.

Modern Middle Eastern Alliance Fedayeen - Part One

These six bases of 6mm "GHQ" miniatures are the start of a large Fedayeen Squad I'm currently painting as a Frontline Asset for my Middle Eastern Alliance (MEA) army. The force currently consists of a unit leader, accompanied by five stands of soldiers armed with assault rifles and utilises models taken from the "Micro Armour" stock codes TW1 Mujahadin Individual Infantrymen and TW2 Mujahadin Individual Heavy Weapons.

 

As I've previously mentioned when compiling the Revered Leader stand for my MEA force I've found it rather difficult at this tiny scale to identify the leader bases from amidst the rest of the infantry. So in order to more easily recognize the Fedayeen unit leader I placed a donkey (doubtless heavily laden with ammunition and additional supplies) besides the kneeling/pointing figure.

The models were initially undercoated with "Vallejo" White, washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil and dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" White in order to bring out their detail. I then 'picked out' the soldier's footwear, weapons, hands and faces with "Citadel" Abaddon Black. The areas of skin were painted using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone and "Citadel" Ogryn Flesh wash. Many of the models were additionally adorned with one or two ammunition belts, which I painted using a second hand pot of "Vallejo" Brass followed by a wash of "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. 

 

In a complete change of scale I've also continued to labour on with these 28mm models from the "Judge Dredd Miniatures Game" by "Mongoose Publishing". I've now finished painting all of the gold areas on Judge Dekker and Judge Giant, and sealed these areas with a wash of "Citadel" Devlan Mud. In addition I've started to complete their elbow pads and gloves using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Green with "Citadel" Thrakka Green.

Muster First Patrol - Part Three

These three 15mm miniatures come from the "The Ion Age" code IAF022 Muster First Patrol, and have already seen action against my combined painted horde of "Ground Zero Games" Xenomorphs and "Pendraken Miniatures" Face Huggers.

I plan to paint up a good number more of these Guardsmen, at least another six stands, in order to be able to field a force substantial enough to capture the spirit of a 'volley of a thousand lasguns'. But for now I'm going to turn my attention to a small base representing a Lieutenant, and another to use as an Orderly; both with similar colour schemes to those used in the Rogue Trader days when Mark Copplestone was sculpting the Imperial Guard.

 

Currently I've only got as far as undercoating the models with two coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey and 'blocking in' some of their non-uniform areas, such as their boots and weapons, with "Citadel" Abaddon Black. Unlike the Guardsmen, these two 15mm miniatures will require an undercoat of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna on their body armour and shoulder pads in readiness for an application of gold.

 

I have however managed to paint on the initial layer of "Vallejo" Gold onto my two remaining models from the "Judge Dredd Miniatures Game" by "Mongoose Publishing". I still need to paint a second neater layer over this first coat in order to stop any Heavy Sienna from showing through, but once this phase of the painting is complete then Judge Dekker and Judge Giant will both be well on their way to being (finally) finished. 

Painting Challenge: Week Ten - 28mm Judge Dredd Miniatures

I tried to finish painting these two 28mm "Mongoose Publishing" models as part of an earlier (fourth week) Painting Challenge, but ultimately found they were taking me too long. As a result I abandoned them in favour of some easier to paint "Heroclix" plastic miniatures by "Wizkids". Over a month later I hope to finally complete them as my subject figures for Week Ten.

 I am also slowly starting to base the nine stands of 6mm "Micro Armour" I've been painting over the past fortnight, having started work on the beginnings of a "GHQ" Middle Eastern Alliance force.

 In addition, having squeezed in three games of 'Aliens verses Imperial Guard' using "Ground Zero Games" and "The Ion Age" miniatures over the past few days, I am steadily progressing painting three more 15mm Retained Knights.

Baccus 6mm North African Buildings - Part Two

Continuing on with my current Middle Eastern 6mm themed project, I've painted up three more North African buildings from my old packet of "Baccus 6mm" resin Eastern Mediterranean buildings.

Having previously shied away from the 'almost bleach white' colour scheme found on the "Baccus 6mm" website, I undercoated all of the models with a double layer of "Vallejo" Iraqui Sand and then washed them with "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. Each building was then dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Iraqui Sand before I applied a final highlight of White. The windows were 'picked out' using "Citadel" Abaddon Black, whilst the doors painted using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna" and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.

 

Disappointingly I did attempt to replicate 'picking out' the dark roof posts which protrude from the front and back facings of two of the (smaller) buildings, as per the painted examples on the company's website. However I did not have the skill to be so meticulously precise with my brush tip and ended up simply splodging black paint all over the place. As a result I decided a painting retreat was the better part of valour on this occasion and settled for simply washing around the posts in order to provide the features with some shadow.

 Finally I've finished undercoating another three of the 28mm Bakemono demons that come as part of the  "Bushido" Savage Wave Starter Set by "GCT Studios".

Painting Challenge: Week Nine - (Even More) 6mm Micro Armour

Amazingly my latest Painting Challenge target means I need to paint some 6mm "GHQ" "Micro Armour" miniatures for the third consecutive week. As a result I plan to expand the Fedayeen Squad I painted last week with three bases of SVU sniper rifles and AT-13 Sexhorn-2 anti-tank missile systems.

 

I have also completed two more of the laser cut scenery tiles I recently bought from "Hurlbat Games". These 3mm thick MDF pieces will portray the occasional Built Up Area (BUA) on my battlefield, and allow me to more picturesquely position a Rifleman Section around an occupied settlement, rather than simply place a base of 6mm infantry on top of a building.

 

I am also painting up some additional 15mm models by "The Ion Age" to use as 'Rogue Trader era' Imperial Guard and Space Marine reinforcements. 

15mm Battle Report: Aliens Verses Imperial Guard

Many wargaming blogs these days seem to have a regular Saturday Painting Table post, and excellent reading and motivation they make too. However I wanted to try something a little different, and having finally painted up enough miniatures, thought I'd try and schedule in a weekly wargame on a Saturday, and then post up a battle report on the Sunday.

This is the first, featuring my recently painted Xenomorphs and Face Huggers (by "Ground Zero Games" and "Pendraken Miniatures" respectively) verses some 'Rogue Trader-era' Imperial Guard and Space Marines (by "The Ion Age"); all in 15mm and using some simple home-made rules.

"The story so far... A number of colonist workers have gone missing whilst employed constructing a surface opening for the Administration's air duct system. Surveillance systems continue to observe movement in the area but nothing identifiable has been seen. As a result part of the local garrison of Imperial Guard has been ordered to discover what is going on. Despite being accompanied by a Plasma Gun heavy weapons team, the troopers will  field some additional firepower in the guise of a small team of Crimson Fist Space Marines."

 

The Imperial Guard won the initiative and slowly deployed forwards, creating a kill-zone for their lasguns between two areas of woodland. In addition they hardened their right flank by siding up to some rocky formations. The Aliens simply sent their Face Huggers racing through the woodlands, and took full advantage of their "Eight long finger-like legs" ability which allows them to ignore any movement penalties difficult ground such as the woodland would normally incur.

The second turn therefore saw the Imperial Guard facing two distinct swarms of Face Huggers, who were sheltering on the edge of the two areas of woodland. As a result the squad's sergeant issued the order for them to start firing their lasguns, and employ their "Volley of a thousand lasguns" special rule, which increased the number of dice thrown for Shooting. Unfortunately, the Aliens utilised one of their special tactics, ""Let's just bug out and call it even, man!" and forced one of the Imperial Guard stands to retreat back to the table edge.

 One over anxious stand of Face Huggers then charged for the Sergeant but just failed to reach their intended target. As a result they were promptly dispatched in a hail of fire by the Imperial Guard's Plasma Gun team.

Turn three saw the Imperial Guard start to rain fire into the woodland, and slowly start to wear down the Face Huggers. But in the mean time a couple of Alien Warriors started to emerge from the air duct and quickly race forwards. All at once the Face Huggers then sprang into action, and if not for his "Victory no matter the cost" ability, would have overrun the Sergeant and impregnated him (potentially creating additional Alien Warriors in future turns).

Unfortunately the Emperor was not to be with the Sergeant during the fourth turn and he finally fell to the parasitoids. However, rather than letting him become impregnated, the Imperial Guard utilised "They killed him taking it off" and removed him from the table. He was however avenged as the Space Marines made their presence known with a rattle of bolters and took down one stand of Face Huggers.

 The penultimate turn saw the arrival of some Alien Warriors to the battle line and they immediately charged into the Space Marines, partially rending their power armour to pieces following some failed saving throws. Another (smaller) stand of Alien Warriors similarly charged the Plasma Gun team, who were already encumbered battling a number of Face Huggers. As a result, they only survived by once again utilising "Victory no matter the cost", and ignoring all fatal wounds.

Finally however, the heavy weapons team fell beneath the onslaught of so many Face Huggers. Whilst the troopers to their immediate right ran for their lives as the Aliens used "Let's just bug out and call it even, man" once more. As the game ended the Alien Warriors continued to tear into the surviving Space Marines, having been joined by an additional Alien Warrior and more Face Huggers... beware the xenos.!

After an hour's play, our initial thoughts were that the Face Huggers are simply terrifying, and whilst they themselves don't have the greatest of chances to bring a unit down, should it survive their initial charge, they can easily encumber the unit (and stop if from Shooting) long enough for an Alien Warrior to attack, and they (as even the Space Marines discovered) are lethal in close combat.

As a result, and if my current 6mm Painting Challenge target allows, I plan to paint up some additional Imperial Guard and Space Marine units for next week's game, and give the Imperium some much needed additional firepower.