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 to' 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.

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".

"Yich! What Strange Creatures!!!"

"All the ballmonsters love the microballs." 

These five 28mm scale resin models of some Microballs are produced by "Precinct Omega", and can be bought as Code BM052 from their Ballmonsters! range. Designed to be used for a "mad-cap gaming experience that mixes board-game, wargame and bar billiards for an experience unlike anything you've ever played before", the blister contains Scar, Nosey, Flathead, Toothless and Pointy.

"They probably couldn't eat more than three at once, though."

The pack also came with some clear plastic flying stands. However, as I wanted my "giant, carnivorous, helium-filled, bad-tempered beachballs" to bounce across the ground rather than simply fly through the air, I super-glued each 'head' onto a 25mm circular base instead. All of the miniatures were then primed with "Vallejo" Heavy Brown, before being drowned in Strong Tone Quickshade by "The Army Painter" and dry-brushed using (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Brown.

With the basics now finished, I slowly worked my way through all the Ballmonsters' teeth using "Vallejo" White, and their numerous spikes with a little Iraqi Sand. All of these areas were later washed using "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. Finally, I spotted the various eyes with either a splodge or two of "Vallejo" White or Heavy Red, and suitably shaded them with a dash of "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson.

"West Wind Productions" WIPs - Three Commandos, two carrying Carbines and an NCO with a SMG

Having completed the last of the "Precinct Omega" miniatures I purchased at "Beachhead" 2020, I have managed to find a little hobby time to progress the three British Commandos by "West Wind Productions" I need to make battle-ready so as to play some 500-point games of "Konflikt '47" by "Warlord Games". Luckily one of the carbine-carrying soldiers was already partially-painted, so most of my attention has been focused upon the other two necessary figures; especially the NCO armed with an SMG who had to first be assembled from straight out of the box.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - Two Apes armed with baton and an ARC Astronaut

In addition, I have concluded the sixth of my twelve dedicated painting sessions for my twenty-four hour 'Paint An Entire Project" Challenge using "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" models. I'm nowhere near where I had hoped to be at the halfway stage. But am confident that the second of my Albion Rocket Corporation Astronauts should soon be completed, as well as the first of my many planned Apes armed with baton.

Indeed, I've already started on a second Simian Minion in the hope of quickly devising a knack/system with which to pigment the eight-gorilla strong party. The soldiers' predominantly black leather uniform is certainly helping matters, and I've even gone so far as to utilise a Leader Simian head for one of the figures so as to mark him out as a sergeant or officer...

"Eye-Eye! What A Gorgeous Face!"

"Then let's remove his head!"

This 28mm scale resin model of a Ballmonster is produced by "Precinct Omega", and was bought as a pair of show specials whilst I visited "Beachhead" 2020. Designed to be played with the company's "wild and hilarious game of luck and judgement in which players pit teams of giant, carnivorous, helium-filled bad-tempered beachballs against one another", the miniature also came supplied with a clear plastic flying stand.

However, having decided that I'd rather "my antidote to fantasy sports games" bounce across the ground towards his opponents like a Seventies Space Hopper than simply fly through the air, I super-glued the 'head' onto a 25mm circular base, and primed him "Vallejo" Heavy Brown. I then drenched the bizarre-looking figure in Strong Tone Quickshade by "The Army Painter", before dry-brushing him with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Brown.

"Supers Unlimited" WIPs - Tox and Granite are being shaded and dry-brushed

With the most straightforward phase completed, I slowly worked my way through all the gas-filled sphere's teeth using "Vallejo" White and all of the Ballmonster's numerous spikes with some Iraqi Sand. All of these areas were later washed in "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. Finally, I dotted his eyes with a splodge or two of "Vallejo" Dark Vermillion and shade them with a splash of "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson, as well as used a combination of Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil on his nose spikes.

Moving my attention over to my recently acquired collection of "Supers Unlimited" by "Kitbash Games" I have made some enjoyable inroads working on the company's resin sculpts of Tox and Granite. These powerhouses are tremendously well detailed, so seemingly respond really well to a few washes and a little patient dry-brushing.

"Heroclix" WIPS - Terminator and Starshine

In addition, I have made some progress on the last two of my Spaceknight pre-painted miniatures from "Wizkids". I don't really like either Starshine or Terminator "Heroclix" models on account of them both having 'effects' sculpted onto the figures. Indeed, I've actually cut away Balin's black light eye-beams on a previous purchase, only to find its removal left a huge crater in the Galadorian's helmet which I simply couldn't salvage - hence my having to buy a second (rather expensive) copy.

My experiment on Terminator using Amethyst Alchemy from the Metal n' Alchemy Steel Series boxed set by "Scalecolor" hasn't worked out to my liking either, appearing far too pink for a Spaceknight who is actually dark blue in colour in the comic books. Still, as trials go, I am rather pleased with the paint's coverage, and how it appears once drenched in "Citadel" Druchii Violet...

"Now That I've Created The Badballs..."

"The world is ours, Snivelitch!"

These five 28mm scale resin models of some Microclopia are produced by "Precinct Omega", and can be bought as Code BM051 from their Ballmonsters! range. Designed to be used for a "mad-cap gaming experience that mixes board-game, wargame and bar billiards for an experience unlike anything you've ever played before", the miniatures also each came supplied with a clear plastic flying stand.

"Not if the Madballs can help it, Doktor!"

Having decided that my team of Ballmonsters would simply bounce towards their opponents along the ground rather than fly through the air (on easily breakable stands), I super-glued each helium-filled beachball onto a 25mm circular base, and primed them all "Vallejo" Heavy Red. I then drenched the cyclopean bonces in "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, before dry-brushing the lot with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Red.

"Black Tree Design" WIPs - Three Autons have been based, primed and 'boxed off'

Next I 'picked out' all the carnivorous balls' teeth using a combination of "Vallejo" White and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, and the majority of their eyes with "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre and a smidgen of "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade. Finally, I applied a dot of "Citadel" Abaddon Black over a layer of pure "Vallejo" White to one of the Ballmonster's pupils so as to make it appear more like a normal eye.

With my first "Ballmonsters!" team completed, I've once again turned to "Black Tree Miniatures" and their extensive range of "Doctor Who" figures for a science fiction fix. I've a number of their sculpts on the painting table currently, including some Quarks and Sea Devil Warriors, but its a handful of classic factory floor Autons which has particularly caught my imagination; doubtless aided by repeated listenings to "Spearhead From Space".

"Otherworld Miniatures" WIPs - Two Barrow Guardians and a ('propped up') Death Worm

In addition, I am continuing to plough through my collection of "Dungeon & Dragon" models by "Otherworld Miniatures". The Hertfordshire-based manufacturer has very generously gifted me with two more of their excellent Barrow Guardians. So perhaps unsurprisingly the pair of stone custodians have gone straight to the top of my queue, and have already been assembled, pinned, based and primed.

I've also tried my hand with one of their Death Worms, but found the necrophidius to be an absolute swine to pigment. Not however, because the crisp detail is hard to reach with a brush-tip, but because the very nature of its pose seems to make it incredibly inclined to break wherever one vertebrae meets another. Having pinned the 'blessed beast' back together after one misfortune, and then had it snap to pieces again, I've super-glued it to an old plastic tombstone by "Renedra Limited".

"Egad, Snivelitch! These Madballs Even Gross Me Out!"

"He hasn't seen nothing yet!"

This 28mm scale resin model of a Ballmonster is produced by "Precinct Omega", and was bought as a pair of show specials whilst at "Beachhead" 2020. Designed to be played with the company's "wild and hilarious game of luck and judgement in which players pit teams of giant, carnivorous, helium-filled bad-tempered beachballs against one another", the miniature also came supplied with a clear plastic flying stand.

Having decided against having "my antidote to fantasy sports games" fly through the air in preference of him bouncing towards his opponents across the ground, I super-glued the 'head' onto a 25mm circular base, and primed him "Vallejo" Heavy Red. I then drowned the freakish figure in "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, before dry-brushing him with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Red.

"Otherworld Miniatures" WIPs - A second (weathered) Barrow Guardian and a Fighter in plate mail

With the basics done, I 'picked out' the gas-filled sphere's teeth using a combination of "Vallejo" White and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, and his puss-filled 'blind' eye with "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre and "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade. Finally, I dotted in his right 'good' eye with a little "Citadel" Abaddon Black over a layer of pure "Vallejo" White.

In addition to my Ballmonster test piece, I've been plugging away at my collection of "Dungeons & Dragons" figures produced by "Otherworld Miniatures". Disconcertingly, one of the elements missing for my "Fighting Fantasy" themed campaign is a distinct lack of any adventurers, so I have been slowly plugging away at all the metallic areas of a Fighter in plate mail, and dirtying him up a little "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade".

"Wizkids" WIP - The Walking Statue of Waterdeep: The Honorable Knight has been shaded

Alongside this model, I've also managed to finish the 'weathering' on both of my (Greater) Barrow Guardians, and started tidying up their bases ready for my usual application of "Citdel" Doombull Brown, Rakarth Flesh and Agrax Earthshade. I'm actually hoping to get my hands on a third of these excellent Andrew May sculpted stone custodians from the Hertfordshire-based manufacturer's official "Barrowmaze" range soon...

Lastly, after a couple of sessions with a 24ml pot of "Citadel" Nuln Oil and a big paintbrush, I have completed shading my Walking Statue of Waterdeep: The Honorable Knight by "Wizkids", including both the custodian's enormous shield and sword. Now I just need to start applying a dry-brush of "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey over the entire miniature using my recently purchased makeup foundation brush from the "Abody" Professional Cosmetic Kit.

"This Won't Hurt A Bit, You Freak."

"Waste recycle on."

These four 28mm U-Men models are produced by “Wizkids” and can (still) be bought as miniature number 002 from their “Heroclix” Marvel Mutant Mayhem range. Dedicated to "using mutant body parts to augment their human bodies, as well as to grant themselves superhuman powers" this "cult of geeks" first appeared in the 2001 "New X-Men" Annual and were created by Grant Morrison and Leinil Francis Yu.

Having previously painted a fair few of this particular model in the past, I thought I'd spend a little time beforehand converting three of the U-Men so they carried some of the more 'specialist weapons' used by Dr. John Sublime's acolytes to harvest mutants. As I result I simply snipped off the barrels to their propulsion guns and attached some spare "Gale Force Nine" bitz I had left over from assembling the vehicles from the "Tanks" World War II skirmish game.

"Precinct Omega" WIPs - Three of the "Ballmonsters!" have been primed, shaded and dry-brushed

I wanted to make these deadly devices as 'weird' as possible, so ended up drilling/pinning all sorts of odds and ends, including the entire barrel of a 15mm armoured fighting vehicle, a combination of a tank's open turret hatch and spare wheel, and some bizarre piece of plastic I really haven't a clue about. In my mind, these choices ultimately gave my U-Men a 'long range' explosive option to force out hidden muties, some sort of wind turbine option to knock over targets or extinguish flaming super powers, and a hand-weapon which looked as if it might fire a debilitating net...

Once assembled, the quartet's environmental suits were initially primed using a couple of coats of “Citadel” Abaddon Black and had all their breathing pipes, apparatus and weapons picked out using a combination of Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil. As I haven't yet ever created an actual leading U-Man figure, I did momentarily consider painting one of them with the garish blue face mask found on the "Wizkids" pre-paints. But as I really don't like that look much, I decided to stick with my 'tried and tested' second splash of "Citadel" Nuln Oil instead, and have them lead by either the Black Manta or my recently completed Major Maxim.

"Wizards Of The Coast" WIPs - A Lizardman Warrior, Gnome Infiltrator and Human Monk

As something of a colourful distraction from all the U-Men's "Citadel" Abaddon Black and Ironbreaker I have been slowly pigmenting most of the "Ballmonsters!" models I bought from "Precinct Omega" at "Beachhead" 2020. These characterful 'heads' have loads of detail on them, and whilst the fantasy sports rule-set they've been designed for isn't out yet, I have a few ideas in mind to get them onto my tabletop quite soon...

In addition, I have re-primed a number of old "Dungeons & Dragons" adventurers which have been gathering dust in one of my drawers for a good couple of years. Apparently produced by "Wizards Of The Coast" way back in 1999, I've gone for an odd-looking party of adventurers, starting with a Gnome Infiltrator (with repeating crossbow), a Human Monk, and a Lizardman Warrior...

"Beachhead" Loot 2020

"Warpainter Scenics" - A flower patch, vegetable patch and collection of resin cobblestone pavements

This weekend I decided to make my second trip to the Bournemouth International Centre, Dorset, so as to visit the tabletop games show “Beachhead”. The team behind this event, now in its fifth year, are clearly becoming increasingly ambitious and it was clear from the larger trader hall and surrounding tournament areas just why they're "really pleased that it is rapidly becoming the go-to show on the South Coast.

Hoping to start slowly by circling clockwise around the venue's outer stalls first, I quickly stumbled across "Warpainter Scenics" and their collection of pre-painted garden scenery. Of particular interest was a fantastic looking collection of cabbages, beetroots, lettuces and cauliflowers all penned together in resin, as well as a large packed box full of some clearance items.

"I-Kore" WIP - A long out of production Koralon Hydra

These 'end of the line' pieces were incredibly priced, and suddenly enthused with the notion of the Third Reich being bravely battled across a quaint British village green I dived in with great gusto. Ultimately, I desperately tried to be restrained, but still ended up carting away four marvellously colourful flower displays, and a load of resin pavements to encircle the numerous pre-painted cottages I already own...

Similarly as tempting were the pre-printed wargame terrain produced by "XLC Wargame Terrain", whose "Desecration City" range of heavily fortified concrete positions, seemed particularly suited to either "Warhammer 40k" or Weird War Two. Fortunately, despite being strongly tempted by some of their barracks, cell blocks and towers, I ultimately walked away with just one of their Dice Tower: Police Box kits in my hand. I'm a big advocate of populating a tabletop with just a single manufacturers' scenic items, as I think a mix of resin, plastic, and wood from different sources tends to shatter the environment's illusion, and therefore thought the dice tower would prove simple test product to try out.

"Precinct Omega" WIPs - Two large "Beachhead" show specials and a pair of smaller Microclopi

Most of the show was unsurprisingly populated with the usual suspects like "Great Escape Games", "4Ground", "TTCombat", "Warlord Games" and "Plastic Soldier Company". These companies are great if you're after their very latest release or they're doing a special show deal, but it wasn't until I spied a battered box beneath the "Scotia Grendel" table that my I spied my prize pick of "Beachhead"; a load of old "Void" boxed miniatures from "I-Kore". These resin/metal marvels immediately took me back to a distant past when I was absolutely infatuated with the sci-fi skirmish rule-set, and for just a fiver each I simply couldn't stop myself picking up the lot, including a mighty Koralon Hydra.

Besides a quick visit to my regular e-store "Element Games" in order to snag their sole "Warhammer 40,000" Start Collecting! Necrons box for use with the "Space Marine Adventures" boardgame by "Games Workshop", the last dealer to catch my eye was "Precinct Omega" and their utterly bizarre range of "Ballmonsters!" Sculpted to work with the manufacturer's partially-written fantasy sports miniatures game, I thought these tiny heads were splendidly different, and despite deciding to superglue mine onto normal 25mm circular bases, as opposed to the clear plastic flight stands they come with, they should hopefully prove an interesting project to paint.