"Now Try To Imagine Yourself In The Cretaceous Period."

"You get your first look at this six foot turkey as you enter a clearing."

This 40mm tall plastic figure of a Velociraptor is manufactured by “Mondo Games” and can be found inside the Jurassic Park: Ingen Vs. Raptors board game for "Unmatched". Sculpted to depict the "genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur" in one of their memorable moments from the 1993 American film "Jurassic Park", the model was actually cut from its 25mm stand and glued upon a 40mm circular base instead.

"Significantly smaller" in real life than that depicted on the big screen, the creature was undercoated using "Vallejo" Earth, drenched in "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade and dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Earth. I then 'picked out all the Raptor's claws with "Vallejo" White and later treated them to a wash of "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade too.

"Unmatched" WIPs - The two raptors are slowly having their teeth and claws picked out

As a last step the dinosaur's eyes were 'dotted in' using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre and "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade. However, I wasn't quite finished with the entire ensemble yet, as I wanted to pigment the figure's somewhat iconic sculpted base with something a bit more noticeable than my usual all-over 'muddy brown' colour scheme.

Clearly cast to replicate the Raptor's scene with the ladle in Jurassic Park's kitchen, I applied a layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey to the tiled area around the dinosaur's clawed feet, shaded them "Citadel" Nuln Oil", and lastly dry-brushed them with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey. I also gave the long-handled spoon a coat of "Vallejo" Gunmetal and subsequently gave it a generous splash of "Citadel" Nuln Oil as well.

"Marvel Crisis Protocol" WIPs - Crossbones has been based, primed, and dry-brushed

With the first of my three "Unmatched" Velociraptors completed, I have been slowly working on the remaining figures from this "asymmetrical miniature fighting game" by picking out their claws and numerous teeth. Fortunately, neither of the creatures has such an elaborate base as the other one, so hopefully they should prove a bit more straightforward to paint.

In addition, I have managed to make a little progress on my Crossbones miniature by "Critical Mass Games" for "Marvel Crisis Protocol". The super-villain's palette is a little dark for my liking, so I've decided to break it up somewhat by applying some "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna to some of Brock Rumlow's leg straps, his pistol holster and ammunition pouch...

"How Doubly Glorious Will Be My Triumph..."

"...Now, when the unsuspecting world thinks me dead and gone!!"

This 40mm scale plastic figure of Johann Schmidt is made by “Atomic Mass Games” and can be found inside the Marvel Crisis Protocol Core Box set. Assembled using ten different pieces, not including its circular stand, the model depicts the "protégé of Adolf Hitler" wearing his (Marvel Cinematic Universe) HYDRA uniform and holding aloft the infinitely powerful Cosmic Cube.

Rising "to power during World War Two", the Red Skull was initially primed with two layers of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, and thoroughly dry-brushed using "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal in order to bring out the sculpt's detail. I then applied a coat of "Vallejo" German Grey over the super-villain's trench-coat, washed the leather garment with some "Citadel" Nuln Oil and dry-brushed it using some (more) "Vallejo" German Grey.

"Atomic Mass Games" WIPs - Ultron has had his base painted, and the model layered in "Vallejo" Silver

I picked out a number of the expert tactician's buttons with "Vallejo" Gunmetal and his two HYDRA shoulder badges with Heavy Red. All of these areas were subsequently shaded using "Citadel" Nuln Oil. I also pigmented Schmidt's large belt buckle with a combination of "Vallejo" Gold and "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade. I did attempt to additionally 'catch' the edges of a buckle sat high up on the despot's coat with some "Vallejo" Gunmetal, but couldn't seem to 'hit' the clasp as well as I would like, so gave up after a couple of unsuccessful passes.

I painted Der Rote Schädel's head with a couple of coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and washed it with "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson. I later added a few highlights to the face with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Red. Finally, the fiend's Tesseract was completed courtesy of applying a little "Vallejo" Blue Fluorescent over a White basecoat, and subsequently dry-brushing the cube delicately with more White.

"Mondo Games" WIPs - The three raptors have been dry-brushed and need their details to be picked out

Despite having finished my tenth model for Marvel Crisis Protocol, I still have a handful of "Atomic Mass Games" miniatures on my painting table at various stages of completion. As a result I have decided to spend the rest of the month 'ticking these off the list' too, so have been both busily layering the skirmish game's impressively large model of Ultron and working on the robot's melted slag stand.

In addition, I have squeezed in a bit more progress on the three plastic Raptor models I own by "Mondo Games" for their board-game "Unmatched". Admittedly, some of the sculpting on a few of these Jurassic Park dinosaur's clawed feet is a little troubling, as the gaming pieces have been rather roughly cast to their pre-moulded bases. But I'm hoping some patches of grass flock will help cover up the unsightly joins.

"The Strange Plant-like Being Known Only As Groot...

"...Loves life and fights to protect it."

This 63mm tall plastic figure of the Monarch of Planet X is produced by “Atomic Mass Games” and can be bought as part of  the company's Rocket & Groot expansion set for "Marvel Crisis Protocol". Assembled using thirteen different pieces, not including its circular stand, the model depicts the Flora colossi smashing one of his wooden arms straight down through the concrete upon which he's standing upon.

"Endowed with exceptional strength and the ability to regenerate damage at a prodigious rate", Groot was originally undercoated with two layers of "Vallejo" Charred Brown, drenched in "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and thoroughly dry-brushed using (more) "Vallejo" Charred Brown. I then mixed in a little "Vallejo" White to my palette so as to lighten my this colour, and applied a second dry-brush over the entire model.

"Mondo Games" WIPs - The three dinosaurs have been washed in "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade

As a final 'highlight' I gave the Guardian Of The Galaxy a third dry-brush, this time using "Vallejo" Heavy Brown, and subsequently started sporadically dabbing the model with a torn-piece of blusher pad dipped in "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green. These areas were later better blended in with (yet) another dry-brush of "Vallejo" Heavy Brown. Lastly, I 'picked out' Groot's eyes using a couple of dabs of "Vallejo" Heavy Goldbrown and some "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade.

One of the small issues I experienced pigmenting the "humanoid tree" was how to tackle the three or four slightly luminescent bulbs which have been sculpted onto the alien's chest - presumably to indicate Groot's ability to regenerative and extend his limbs. Personally, I've never liked the look of them, especially as I thought anything yellow was bound to clash with the "Vallejo" Heavy Goldbrown I'd already used for his eyes. Resultantly, I decided to simply apply a little "Vallejo" Heavy Grey and "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green to the areas, and be done with them.

"Warlord Games" WIP - The Confederates are slowly getting their jackets pigmented

With my ninth model for Marvel Crisis Protocol successfully completed, I have found a little spare hobby-time with which to apply a "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade to three plastic Raptor models by "Mondo Games". This trio of gaming pieces are from the Jurassic Park - InGen Verses Raptors expansion for "Unmatched" and have such excellent detail on their sculpts that they should 'highlight' up a treat once dry-brushed in their base colour.

Lastly, I've had an opportunity to get cracking on a second line of 15mm infantry by Warlord Games. These Confederate soldiers will form the back rank of one of my units for "Epic Battles: American Civil War", hence they've been temporarily attacked to a wooden baton for ease of reaching their fiddly details with a brush-tip. I have already managed to finish their shoes and trousers, and am now slowly working my way down the line 'picking out' their jackets...

"The Successful Warrior Is The Average Man, With Laser-like Focus."

"The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering."

This 34mm tall plastic figure of Lee Jun-fan is produced by “Mondo Games” and can be found inside the Bruce Lee Hero Expansion pack for "Unmatched". Sculpted to depict the Hong Kong American martial artist in one of his iconic Fist of Fury poses, the miniature was actually cut from its ill-fitting 25mm stand and glued upon a 40mm circular base instead.

The founder of Jeet Kune Do was primed using a combination of "Citadel" Abaddon Black and "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone, before having his sole visible sock 'picked out' with some White and Pale Grey. As I wanted to emulate his famous costume from Lo Wei's 1972 action film I layered his trousers in "Vallejo" Heavy Blue and darkened them down with plenty of "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

"Mondo Games" WIPs - The three dinosaurs have been re-based and primed

I was planning on subsequently dry-brushing Bruce Lee's bottoms with some more "Vallejo" Heavy Blue. But in the end decided I rather liked the un-highlighted look of the "Citadel" Shade instead. I did though apply quite a heavy wash of "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade to the pop culture icon's bare chest, applied a touch more "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone to his fingers, and later treated his hair to a combination of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal and "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this latest addition to my collection of "Unmatched" miniatures was a rather 'spur of the moment' purchase, so sticking to my plan of only buying new figures after I have already painted two older ones, I have retrospectively slapped three of "Mondo Games" Velociraptors from their Jurassic Park – InGen vs Raptors boxed set to the front of my painting queue. Just like Bruce Lee's figure, these models were re-based onto 40mm stands and have been undercoated in "Vallejo" Heavy Grey, Earth and Sombre Grey.

"Marvel Crisis Protocol" WIPs - Groot and the Savage She-Hulk

In addition, I've been cracking on with my "Marvel Crisis Protocol" super-heroes by "Atomic Mass Games". Having previously finished both the Black Widow and Frank Castle, I 'treated' myself to picking up the table-top hobby miniatures game's latest expansion, She-Hulk. Over 70mm in height, Jennifer Walters has already been assembled, primed, and had some basic layering started on her base using "Vallejo" Bluegrey.

To keep Stan Lee's green-skinned co-creation company, I have also put together and started pigmenting the Guardian Of The Galaxy, Groot. As I actually painted a "Wizkids" sculpt of the Flora colossus from the New Jersey-based company's ever-growing "Heroclix" range just over six years ago I'm hoping to get this somewhat larger incarnation of the Monarch of Planet X completed in a reasonably short space of time...

"As A Boy, Matt Murdock Was Blinded..."

"...In an accident involving radioactive chemicals."

This 40mm scale plastic figure of Matthew Michael Murdock is manufactured by “Atomic Mass Games” and can be bought as part of  the company's Bullseye & Daredevil expansion set for "Marvel Crisis Protocol". Assembled using nine different pieces, not including its circular stand, the model actually took quite a while to put together owing to his billy club's cable being snapped in half prior to its arrival.

As a result I had to snip away part of the cable with a pair of cutters, and then carefully drill a hole deep into one of the batons. I then used some plastic glue to re-attach a delicately sanded down cable end into it, and, fearing that the miniature wouldn't survive much handling on the tabletop with such a delicate hand-weapon, permanently glued the billy club to both Daredevil's shoulder and his lower back area.

"Marvel Crisis Protocol" WIPs - Daredevil was dry-brushed before having his details 'picked out'

"Fuelled by a relentless pursuit of justice", the Man Without Fear was undercoated in two layers of "Vallejo" Heavy Red, drowned in "Citadel " Carroburg Crimson, and enthusiastically dry-brushed using (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Red. So as to slightly 'break-up' all the dark red I then applied some brighter "Vallejo" Dark Vermillion to the billy clubs themselves, and later darkened the hand-held batons down with some additional "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson.

The aforementioned troublesome cable was given a lick of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, before being pigmented using a combination of "Vallejo" Gunmetal and "Citadel" Nuln Oil. I did consider subsequently dry-brushing the length of metallic cord with more "Vallejo" Gunmetal, But in the end thought I'd leave well enough alone with such a seemingly fragile-looking element to the model.

"Mondo Games" WIPs - Bruce Lee is slowly having his trousers layered prior to shading

Having finished my eighth model for Marvel Crisis Protocol, I have been trying to make good on my self-made promise to immediately paint any new arrivals which I happen to purchase throughout the year. This excellently-posed figure of the Hong Kong American martial artist Bruce Lee by "Mondo Games" is just such a miniature, and comes from an expansion for the company's "duelling game" entitled "Unmatched".

I actually own a good half-dozen of the plastic models from this game, so thought I had better get started putting my brush to at least one or two of them following the recent announcement that the likes of Black Panther, Squirrel Girl, Winter Soldier, Luke Cage, Ghost Rider and Moon Knight are scheduled to be added to the game in future months. In addition, I've managed to acquire the Jurassic Park - InGen Verses Raptors expansion too, so am somewhat intrigued to see how "the founder of Jeet Kune Do" fares against a trio of always-hungry Velociraptors...

Top Ten Manufacturers Of 2020 - A "Fantorical" Viewpoint

Despite being a rather disappointing year, productivity wise, 2020 certainly seemed to demonstrate that I was finally starting to move away from such mainstays of my past hobby-time as "Games Workshop" and "Warlord Games", and instead turning towards some of the new companies like "Atomic Mass Games", "Precinct Omega" and "Kitbash Games". Indeed, neither of those aforementioned 'big' Nottingham-based manufacturers even feature in this Top Ten for the first time in half a decade.

In addition, my obsession for all things science-fiction was definitely diluted by a growing fascination with a number of fantasy ranges, most notably those of "Lucid Eye Publications", "Alternative Armies", and rather surprisingly "Wizkids". This disconnect was especially felt in my lack of finishing much to do with my favourite time-travelling television programme "Doctor Who", as well as any "Star Wars" or "Star Trek" miniatures either; all three of which had had very strong showings during the previous year...

No. 10 - "West Wind Productions" - "Secrets Of The Third Reich

I've painted a significant number of models from this range over the past decade, but never with any real intention of actually playing the official "Secrets Of The Third Reich" rule-set. Instead, I've adopted them as my "go t0" miniatures for "Konflikt '47" by "Warlord Games", and as a result ended up painting a handful more during the last twelve months so as to allow me to field both a British and German force of 500 points apiece. Disappointingly, after just a few visits to Weird World Two, I ended up once again boxing away these great figures, quickly ending an aspiration to pigment a 250 point American faction to add to my Allies.

No. 10 - "Kitbash Games" - "Supers Unlimited"

With super-heroes always being one of my most popular genres to paint, it was perhaps no surprise to anyone that I backed "Kitbash Games" highly successful Kickstarter so as to get my greedy paws on some of their excellent resin "Supers Unlimited" miniatures. Indeed, I was so enthused with the likes of Tox, Granite and the Blue Scarab that I even purchased some more of the characterful crime-fighters from the company afterwards. Sadly however, I never did manage to complete as many of the colourful vigilantes as I had originally intended, and rather embarrassingly have a drawer full of them only partially-painted.

No. 9 - "Black Tree Design" - "Doctor Who"

One of the biggest disappointments of the year was just how few "Doctor Who" models I painted from my extensive "Black Tree Design" backlog based upon the BBC science fiction television series. Plans to complete a sizeable force of armoured Sea Devils ("Warriors Of The Deep"), original Autons ("Spearhead From Space") and Swampies from Delta Magna ("The Power Of Kroll") were all sadly side-lined just as soon as I had primed the miniatures in question, and eventually lead to me frustratingly only finishing less than half a dozen Zygons overall.

No. 7 - "Atomic Mass Games" - "Marvel Crisis Protocol"

Despite owning an astonishing amount of "Heroclix" figures by "Wizkids", many of which are already fully painted, there was probably little doubt that I would start down the rabbit hole of "Marvel Crisis Protocol". Luckily however, after something of a slow start, my enthusiasm for this 40mm scale range gained some noticeable traction towards the end of the year, and as a result I not only made some in-roads into the models found within the Core Starter Set. But also managed to finish pigmenting a few of the figures from some of the super-hero skirmish game's already numerous expansion boxes too.

No. 7 - "North Star Military Figures" - "Frostgrave"

The highly-anticipated release of "Frostgrave" Second Edition by Joseph A. McCullough undeniably helped fuel my fire to finally finish off some of my long-languishing inhabitants of Felstad. However, rather than nudge me to complete a second much-needed warband for my Witch and his Apprentice using the hard plastic sculpts from the Nottingham-based manufacturer's Tribals boxed set, I instead ended up predominantly focusing my efforts upon the over-sized vermin scurrying through the underground sewers of the frozen city.

No. 6 - "Alternative Armies" - "Hordes Of The Things"

Painted entirely for the HOTT'ember Challenge with Dick Garrison of "Rantings From Under The Wargames Table" fame, these 15mm scaled models were a real test of both my eye-sight and patience due to many of the miniatures being 'rather old and uninspiring sculpts'. Indeed, I've rarely been as tempted to consign an army to a soon-to-be-forgotten drawer as I was with this mixture of water, earth, wind and fire elementals. Luckily though, I did eventually managed to find the strength to finish all but the force's wizard, and resultantly pigmented a sizeable number of figures.

No. 5 - "Precinct Omega" - "Ballmonsters!"

Purchased on the spur of the moment during the Bournemouth-based wargaming show "Beachhead", these bizarre-looking creatures surprisingly fascinated me from the moment I first laid eyes on them, and somehow repeatedly found their way at the forefront of my painting queue throughout the year. In fact, I actually ended up successfully putting my brush-tip upon every single Ballmonster I bought, even though I still have absolutely no idea what I shall do with them on the tabletop.

No. 4 - "Otherworld Miniatures" - "Dungeon Monsters"

Initially starting as a simple trip to Greg Gillespie's "Barrowmaze" role-playing game setting and its animated stone Barrow Guardians, my collection of high-quality miniatures from this Hertfordshire company took on a life all of its own once I encountered its range of slimes, oozes and jellies. Spurred on by the discovery that I already owned a fair few of their finest moulds, I ended up painting all manner of dungeon denizens, including both a Black and White Pudding. 

No. 3 - "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" - "7TV

Buoyed along throughout the second half of the year by three semi-successful painting projects, and a smattering of skeleton warriors, my obsession with "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" saw a number of Simians, ARC astronauts, alien pets, security guards and FedSec Troopers getting a lick of paint. Disconcertingly though, this was actually only the 'tip of the tentacle' as far as my planned out-put was concerned following Karl Perrotton running some more triumphant Kickstarters during the period which only added to my mountain of unfinished miniatures.

No. 2 - "Lucid Eye Publications" - "Toon Realms"

In many ways the completion of a small-sized Gondor/Fangorn army for "Dragon Rampant" was my most successful project of the year, and certainly saw me churn out a number of cute-looking armoured figures from the "Toon Realms" range. However, I never did manage to actually play a game using the "Osprey Publishing" rule-set, and quite bizarrely totally stopped painting any more knights, Ents or unfriendly ghosts by the end of January.

No. 1 - "Wizkids" - "Heroclix"

Whenever I am in a painting funk I usually find myself turning to my collection of plastic "Heroclix" figures for inspiration, and this pre-painted range's ability to put me back in the mood for hobbying was probably never as important to my productivity as it was during 2020. In fact, not only did the American manufacturer cause me to pigment an impressive number of super-heroes, space-knights and villains. But it also seemingly lead me down the Swords & Sorcery path as well, persuading me to complete golems, Rolling Oil, and the largest miniature I have ever attempted - the 300mm tall Walking Statue of Waterdeep: The Honourable Knight.

First Few Posts Of New Year Posted On Wix Website

The first few postings of 2021 are now up on the new Wix website. These include a Top Ten of my most popular painted figures over the past twelve months by Roger 'Dick Garrison' Webb of "Rantings From Under The Wargames Table" fame, and the first couple of "Atomic Mass Games" 40mm super-hero models I've finished to use for Marvel Crisis Protocol.

In addition, I've posted up the first of a series of "Blake's Seven" Battle Reports featuring my "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" miniatures. This ongoing campaign will depict both Roj Blake and the Federation's battle against a mutating alien virus.

Lastly, I've started porting across the January 2019 postings from this blog over to the new Wix website. Please click the link below to pay me a visit and see all the changes for yourself.

https://www.fantoricalwargaming.com

"Frank Castle Was An Honest Ex-Marine..."

"...Just trying to live a normal life with the family he loved."

This 40mm scale plastic figure of Francis "Frank" Castiglione is made by “Atomic Mass Games” and can be bought as part of  the company's Punisher & Taskmaster expansion set for "Marvel Crisis Protocol". Assembled using eleven different pieces, not including its circular stand, the model depicts the Savage Avenger wearing his iconic skull emblem and carrying an insanely large automatic weapon.

"An expert in close quarters combat", the trained marksman was originally primed with a double-helping of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, mercilessly dry-brushed using "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal, and drenched in "Citadel" Nuln Oil. I then went back over his leg strap, gun holster, belt and waist-pouch with "Vallejo" Charred Brown so as to ensure the leatherwork stood out from the rest of the anti-hero's extremely dark appearance.

"Atomic Mass Games" WIPs - Daredevil has had his base's gravestone and roadside drain finished

Castle's chest symbol was initially layered with a double-coat of "Vallejo" White, shaded in "Citadel" Nuln Oil and then somewhat roughly 'highlighted' with (more) "Vallejo" White. This process really helps me to see all the detail etched onto the sculpt, and hopefully gives the impressive that the skull has been hand-daubed onto the top, rather than be part of the bullet-proof armour's original design.

Frank's enormous firearm was given a 'lick' of "Vallejo" Gunmetal before being treated to two generous helpings of "Citadel" Nuln Oil. Ordinarily, I then dry-brush such weaponry with some additional "Vallejo" Gunmetal, but on this occasion I left the gun alone, as I wanted to to appear particularly dark. Finally, the explosives expert's holdall bag was pigmented using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.

"Warlord Games" WIP - The Confederates have had their faces, hands and belt buckles painted

Having finished my seventh model for Marvel Crisis Protocol, I have started working in earnest on to the miniatures game's figure of Daredevil. This particular costumed crimefighter has already taken some additional work, courtesy of it arriving with an already broken extendable baton. However, following some pinning, plastic glue and much cursing, Matt Murdock has now been assembled, primed and had his rather elaborate base painted.

Lastly, I have been 'picking away' at the buckles, hands and faces of my 15mm "Epic Battles: American Civil War" models by "Warlord Games". This stage in the process was a bit more time-consuming than I first thought, on account of all the soldiers both having such vastly different amounts of facial hair and holding their rifles in a variety of contrasting positions...

"Blake's Seven" 28mm Battle Report: Servalan & Travis Verses The Mutant Menace

THE FEDERATION DISCOVER XK-72 IS OVERRUN WITH MUTANT MONSTERS

This game was played using some homemade rules (M.I.S.S.) so as to allow us to play through a lengthy campaign utilising many of my painted FedSec Trooper miniatures by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio", and took place upon a small layout made up of old "Alien Verses Predator: The Hunt Begins" cardboard tiles.

“The story so far… The Federation medical facility XK-72 has ceased transmitting its daily reports to Star One. Concerned that the space station may have fallen into enemy hands, Supreme Commander Servalan and Space Commander Travis board the orbital installation at the head of a crack squad of Federation Troopers. However, they soon discover that the scientists have been infected by a mutating space plague which has transformed them into hulking nightmares."

THE TABLETOP - FEDERATION MEDICAL FACILITY XK-72

Servalan and Travis would enter the medical facility from its south-western airlock. Whilst Section Leader Klegg and the five-man strong Alpha Squad would begin their investigations from XK-72's south-eastern airlock. Any mutated scientists or installation staff would emerge from an air ventilator shaft located at the southern end of the Lobby.

SERVALAN AND TRAVIS BOARD THE MEDICAL FACILITY XK-72

The scenario selected was "Intelligence Gathering", which meant that the Federation forces had twelve turns in which to acquire eight points worth of intelligence from a maximum of five objective markers located across the facility. These objectives would be valued at either one, two, three, four or five points and would only be revealed once a unit had spent a turn examining them for information. In addition, at least one model must then safely return to an airlock for the mission to be viewed a success.

Seizing the initiative, Supreme Commander Servalan and Travis head north towards Objective Three. On the other side of the installation Section Leader Klegg directed Alpha Squad north towards Objective Four, whilst he cautiously made his way west towards the imposing door separating that part of the space station's corridor complex from the Lobby.

A MUTANT SCIENTIST SUDDENLY APPEARS IN THE INSTALLATION'S LOBBY

Hearing the intruders enter XK-72 a curious mutant scientist appeared in the Lobby and limped his way north. Behind him, a second partially-transformed member of staff emerged from the air shaft and shuffled after lab-coat wearing monstrosity.

Stiffening at the sound of the gurgles emanating from behind the closed door, Klegg returned back to Alpha Squad and ushered them further north, to the point where they were close to reaching Objective Four. Servalan too was eager to reach her goal and hurried on towards Objective Three with Space Commander Travis cautiously following behind her.

THE FEDERATION FORCES BEGIN TO DRAW THE ATTENTION OF THE MUTANT MENACE

No new mutants emerged in the Lobby, but one malformed scientist reached the northernmost end of the facility's central corridor and suddenly jerked west towards Objective Three, Servalan gasped as she rounded the corner and spotted the abomination heading in her direction. She motioned for Travis to collect what information he could whilst she fired her hand-weapon at the unfortunate plague-carrier. Unfortunately, she failed to hit the lurching nightmare approaching her, and Travis discovered that Objective Three was only worth a single measly point.

SUPEREME COMMANDER SERVALAN MISSES HER MUTATED TARGET

Alpha Squad fortunately appeared to have much more luck in their interrogation of Objective Four, as they managed to recover four points of data from its location. Encouraged by this find, Section Leader Klegg returned south to the short corridor containing the doorway to the Lobby, and hearing no sign of movement from behind it, considered releasing the internal air-lock's opening mechanism.

To be continued...

"A Former Top KGB Agent..."

"...Natasha Romanoff has become a force for good in the world of covert intelligence."

This 40mm scale plastic figure of Natalia Alianovna "Natasha" Romanoff is made by “Atomic Mass Games” and can be found inside the Marvel Crisis Protocol Core Box set. Assembled using ten different pieces, not including its circular stand, the model depicts the Avenger in her iconic classic comic book costume. 

"An expert in multiple martial arts", the skilled gymnast was initially primed with a double-helping of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, thoroughly dry-brushed using "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal, and washed in "Citadel" Nuln Oil. I then went back over her leg straps and gun holster with a little "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade in order to ensure the leatherwork stood out from the rest of the spy's very dark uniform.

"Atomic Mass Games" WIPs - The Punisher is slowly having all his detail 'picked out'

The Black Widow's automatic pistol was pigmented using a combination of "Vallejo" Gunmetal and "Citadel" Nuln Oil. Whilst her electroshock wrist weapons, circle-covered belt and ornamental zipper pull tab were originally layered with "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, coated in Gold and later shaded with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.

Lastly, I applied a couple of coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Red to the Champion's famous hair, and washed it with "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. As a final touch I carefully dry-brushed (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Red over the area so as to highlight all the detailed waves and curls on the sculpt.

"Warlord Games" WIPs - The Confederate infantry unit have now had all their jackets and coats layered

Having completed the second incarnation of Natasha Romanoff I own for Marvel Crisis Protocol, I have moved on to the tabletop hobby miniatures game's figure of Frank Castle. Like the female S.H.I.E.L.D. operative, this model's 'official' colour scheme was far too 'black' for my liking, so I have decided to break up the Punisher's palette with some "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and Charred Brown for his ammunition bag and holster respectively. 

In addition, I have been beavering away at the jackets and coats of my 15mm "Epic Battles: American Civil War" models by "Warlord Games". I'm slowly starting to find my feet with these diminutive soldiers and been busy picking out the clothing of my Alabama-raised Confederate ten-man strong front line.

(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Marvel Crisis Protocol" January 2021

"Marvel Crisis Protocol" WIPs - The Black Widow and The Punisher

This month's attempt to reduce my embarrassing backlog of metal, plastic and resin models should be significantly helped by Dave Stone's "Paint What You Got Challenge" over on his excellent "Wargames Terrain Workshop" blog. The event is scheduled to run until the end of February 2021, and will hopefully encourage me to bring to a successful end a number of partially-painted projects I started during the past year or so.

To begin with I'll be settling down to complete the ten-figure strong roster I need in order to play "Marvel Crisis Protocol" by "Atomic Mass Games". This "tabletop hobby miniatures game set in the Marvel Universe" has frankly been relentless in both its past and future release schedules, so I'm going to try to halve my 'plastic mountain' by getting a couple of my current miniatures finished for every new hero/villain I purchase over the coming months.

"Warlord Games" WIP - The ACW soldiers have been based, primed and had their trousers 'picked out'

Fortunately, I've already got something of a head start with my Black Widow model from the game's Starter Set simply needing a couple of washes and some dry-brushing. I'm also making some quick in-roads on the predominantly dark-toned Punisher figure I recently acquired, so plan to get the pair of these street-level vigilantes finished over the next few days...

In addition, I plan to 'soldier on' with "Warlord Games" and their newly-announced 15mm range of "Epic Battles: American Civil War". These figures aren't officially released for a good few weeks yet, but like many intrigued hobbyists I succumbed to picking up a copy of the January 2021 issue of "Wargames Illustrated" in order to get my hands on a single sprue of the hard-plastic miniatures.

"North Star Military Figures" WIPs - Two Archers assembled from the Tribals "Frostgrave" boxed set

I'm actually only spending a little time a day on a couple of strips of the ACW models just to see how they will turn out, so resultantly have just pigmented/shaded the trousers and shoes of my Alabama-born Confederates. My first impressions are quite mixed, as whilst I like the attention to detail on the tiny troopers, I'm not sure I find painting a line of ten men at once a terribly enticing prospect. Indeed, I've little doubt that I'd probably find the sight of just a couple of Johnny Rebs far more doable; albeit I do understand that you need to paint 100 of the miniatures for a single unit...

Lastly, I aim to use the "Paint What You Got Challenge" to get my Witch's warband for "Frostgrave" onto the chilly streets of Felstad and hunting for long-lost, magical plunder. I have two Tribal archers by "North Star Military Figures" 'on the go' currently, and intend to get at least a single member of my eight-man strong party finished per week throughout the event.

Top Ten Miniatures Of 2020 - A "Rantings From Under The Wargames Table" Viewpoint

As we draw to the close of what can only be described as a rather unusual year, at least some things are still familiar - the weather is awful, I’ve eaten too much and Simon and myself are back (after a year away) to writing our annual “What I think you painted best this year” posts. Oh, and no doubt as usual we’ll disagree with what we each picked! We both had gaps in the year where our output dropped quite a bit - well in my case I didn’t even start till March - but luckily for me Simon has completed more than enough figures to fill out this post. In fact whittling it down to just ten has been more of an issue for me!

No. 10 - Zygons by "Black Tree Design" – October 3rd

I’m a big “Classic” Doctor Who fan so I was delighted when these wonderfully pigmented Zygon’s appeared on Simon's blog. Though they have been resurrected into the new series a couple of times, these “Black Tree Design” figures are firmly based upon their original appearance in 1975, alongside the Loch Ness Monster. As always, Simon has lovingly recreated the colour scheme of the shape-changing aliens to perfection. A great little trip down memory lane for us “true Who” fans.

No. 9 - Ballmonster by "Precinct Omega" – March 10th

Though a relatively simple sculpt, and I don’t doubt Simon would say also a reasonably simple paintjob too, this “gas filled” antidote to fantasy sports games, was a real surprise when he first appeared. So much so that I immediately had to go to the company web-site and find out more. Luckily, as I was just venturing back into the hobby after a break away, I was able to restrain myself from parting with some hard earned cash right there and then, However Simon’s wonderful work on this and the other later featured “Bad balls” has tested my resolve on more than one occasion throughout this year.

No. 8 - Mole In A Hole by "Oathsworn Miniatures" – August 7th

I love it when Simon’s posts include one of his lovingly painted “Burrows and Badgers” figures, as they are all wonderful sculpts that show off the attention to detail and character that is evident in everything Simon paints. Indeed, I actually picked one as my number one figure from Simon’s painted fig’s the other year! I think this mole is a perfect example of this, and maybe I’m just a big softy at heart but I just find him so dammed cute! And it’s perhaps a good thing that he is apparently no longer available to buy!

No. 7 - The Squirrel Man Of Sevastopol  by "Hero Forge Custom Miniatures" – October 25th

Well now what does it say about you, when you want to create a figure of yourself? Well in my case it would mean I didn’t have sense enough not to horrify other people. But in Simon’s case it means you want to know if you could survive a Zombie apocalypse with a squirrel on your hand - I still don’t get the squirrel? Built upon a website, 3D printed and sent to his door, this rather “macho” version of our “blogging” hero has been very nicely painted with his usual attention to black - I’m starting to think Simon is a bit of a closet goth! Albeit a squirrel loving one. The bushy beard is a good likeness too apparently.

No. 6 - FedSec Heavy Trooper  by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" – December 14th

Simon has been churning out these FedSec troopers for so long now that I can’t remember a time when he wasn’t! All of them are great examples of his wonderful brushwork and any of them could make this list, But what sets this chap apart from the rest for me is his weapon, I don’t know if this ever appeared in the “Blakes 7” television series, but if it didn’t it should have. As always Simon's treatment of predominantly black clothing is perfection and puts my daubed efforts to shame. Then add to this the “spot-on” colour of his helmet's banding - Heck! It even looks translucent, and you can see why he is here amongst such vaulted company.

No. 5 - Simian Minion by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" – August 26th

Simon has painted quite a few characters from the original “Planet of the Apes” movies this year, and though I knew I wanted to include at least one of them in my list it was a real struggle to pick the one I thought was the best. But after very careful deliberation and a lot of back and forth, I finally decided that his painting of “Kira” - the female chimpanzee, who appeared in a couple of the films, had a slightly lighter touch to her features, and I felt the colour of her costume was a touch closer to the original than some of the others. This is though just personal choice, and the margins between this and his other “Simians” is very small.

No. 4 - Black Widow Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D.  by "Atomic Mass Games" – December 7th

I’ve already mentioned Simon is the master of “black”, and this wonderfully dynamic rendition of Scarlett Johansson’s portrayal of “Natasha Romanoff” is just yet another example of his skill with realistically “noir” clothing. Also worth a mention is the skill and patience needed to assemble the sixteen pieces this figure consisted of! In fact he’s such a fan of Marvel Comics' Russian “Femme Fatale”, that he now owns three versions from this range alone (not to mention his Wizkids ones!). They say practice makes perfect, so perhaps it’s no wonder he did such a good job here.

No. 3 - Sterling The Wandering Knight by "Lucid Eye Publications" – January 20th

We go all the way back to the start of the year for my number three choice. This lovely little (and he is fairly little) figure by "Lucid Eye Publications". As I mentioned before with “Mister Mole” and the “Ballmonsters”, things have a knack of appearing on Simon’s blog that you have never heard of before and yet instantly want! I have been back to Lucid Eye’s website on numerous occasions since they first started “popping up” here. Though of all the figures from said company none impressed me more than Sterling here. At first glance he looks pretty simply painted - Black, and a dry-brush of silver. But there is so much more going on here, and when you really look you can pick out all the detail that really brings this little hero to life! No wonder Simon is using him as a stand in for “Boromir” in his “Lord of the Rings” games. The temptation is still strong!

No. 2 - Zzax by "Wizkids" – February 22nd

It wouldn’t be a “Top ten” of Simon’s output without at least one of his excellent “Heroclix” repaints, and this one is a “doosey!”. The stunning layered effect has been built up from heavy ochre through Carroburg Crimson up to final high lights of white (with many combinations of these and other colours in-between!), Even a professional “make up brush” was used in the production of this top notch paint effect. To my eye this is one of the very best re-paints I’ve seen either here or anywhere on the net.

No. 1 - The Blue Scarab by "Kitbash Games" – July 24th

Well, after a long and difficult bout of deliberation with myself - who am I kidding, I knew this lovely lady in blue was going to be my number one from the moment I set eyes upon her back in July. “No goon with a handgun”, was going to beat her and it seems neither was anyone else in my top ten! I could go through all the great details in her costume, and the excellent way Simon has picked them out, but quite frankly it would be a lot easier to point out what I don’t like about her, frankly nothing. A truly awesome piece of work and one that in my humble opinion is the pinnacle of Simon’s continuous top notch painting efforts for “twenty, twenty”.

So there you go - another year over and another fine body of work displayed on one of my favourite blogs. There have of course been several “just missed out” figures that made the short list but failed to make my final cut, and I have to give an honourable mention to all the various stomach turning, pudding’s, jellies and oozes that appeared with startling regularity in Simon’s posts during the year. But rather than list some of my other favourites here, my advice would be to make yourself a cup of tea and look back through the “Finished Figures” category under the header above and revel in some of the magnificent figures on show - from Rats to Robots, Prime Minister’s to Alien Pets, or even Tommie’s to Tomb Guardians, Simon has tackled everything with his usual enthusiasm and aplomb, if you are short of inspiration for 2021, you’ll find plenty there.

I’ll finish as usual, by thanking Simon for allowing me to run roughshod across his excellent blog, as well as taking on the arduous task of finding ten decent figures over on my own humble blog. Roll on 2021, I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.

Cheers Roger.

N.B. You can visit Roger's excellent wargaming blog and see both his excellent output, as well as my own Top Ten of his 'best in show' here: "Rantings From Under The Wargames Table".