“As Linemen Go…”

“…Dwarfs have some of the most expensive ones in the game.”

"Felicitations Blood Bowl fans, and welcome to a special edition of Tuesday Night Football. I'm Jim Maddenberg and along with Elven Hall of Famer Thom Grassyglade, I’ll be bringing you the very latest news concerning our favourite Fantasy Football game.”

"First up is the successful signing of Bodum Blackbeard by the amateur Sevens club, the Rusty Buckets. The second edition Dwarf Blocker Lineman has been bought out of retirement for an astonishing 70,000 copper pieces, and has already been pictured showing off his team’s colours for the local press.”

"Blood Bowl" WIPs - The Dwarf was primed, dry-brushed and shaded before having his details picked out

“Well Jim, this 28mm scale second-hand metal miniature was (re)primed with a coat of “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna, so as to obscure the sculpt’s previous paint-job. The entire figure was then dry-brushed with “Vallejo” Gunmetal, before being treated to a mixture of “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.”

“Next the Lineman had his boots, belt and beard ‘picked out’ with “Citadel” Abaddon Black. Whilst his trousers and tunic received a layer of “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna and (more) “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade. The Dwarf’s gloves were initially coated with “Vallejo” Heavy Brown, before they too were shaded in “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade.”

"Blood Bowl" WIPs - A Human Catcher, Blitzer and Thrower

“I understand some additional touches of "Mig Productions" Extreme Rust Wash were also used on the player’s spiked knee-caps, elbow-pads, shoulder-pads and helmet, Thom..? These areas were later given a delicate dry-brush of “Vallejo” Gunmetal to add some additional highlights to the aged metal.”

“Quite right, Jim. Of course, the Rusty Buckets are still currently busy working on signing another seven Dwarfs to the team, and that’s not forget that the Human side, the Marauders, are also out there currently recruiting. Indeed, word has it that the plastic players are busy working on hiring a Catcher, Blitzer and Thrower as we speak.”

"Thanks Thom. That just about wraps up this Blood Bowl Sevens special. But please do join us again next time when we'll be taking a closer look at some of this sport's other players..."

“Warfare" Loot 2021

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - A Raging Brute, Divine Mortal and Kobold

This past Saturday I decided to make a trip to the Ascot Race Course, Berkshire, in order to attend the Wargames Association of Reading’s annual show “Warfare”. This two-day event is one of my favourite shows of the year, and was doubly exciting as for the first time in my memory it wasn’t being held at its usual home of the Rivermead leisure centre in Reading.

So major change of venue certainly seemed to help the numerous traders have a bit more elbow room than normally, and whilst the Bring and Buy sale location was somewhat difficult to reach – at least without some guidance from the show’s staff – it was definitely easier to reach the main tables so as to see all the second-hand miniatures being sold. Sadly, I didn’t feel the same could be said for the parking though, which was strangely off-site in a muddy, cordoned off area, which also resulted in punters having to cross a well-used main road during a nasty downpour.

"Tangent Miniatures" WIPs - Two of eleven Enemy models and NY Serpent

Purchase wise, I got off to be a bit of a flyer with “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio”, who had a lovely display of all their goodies spread across quite a sizeable area. A couple of their more recent figures quickly caught my eye, such as a resin Raging Brute and a metal Divine Mortal. Both of these models have already been pinned together and primed in preparation for the upcoming Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (AHPC); albeit the resin ponytail on not-Goro snapped off surprisingly easily whilst I was simply dusting the multi-limbed ensemble down in my grit tray.

In addition, I couldn’t resist picking up the company’s eight-figure strong 28mm Kobold Tribe. These “craven reptilian humanoids” are one of my favourite dungeon dwellers, and as smooth-looking, single-cast sculpts look set to be a lot of fun to paint in the near future. The horde come armed with a mixture of swords, spears and shields, so have already been efficiently based and undercoated ready for the AHPC.

Three buildings from the now discontinued 10mm range by "Escenografia Epsilon" 

One of my other favourite visits was to “Tangent Miniatures”, where I delighted to be able to swap nine Enemy Commander figures I inadvertently received from them a year ago, for some Enemy miniatures instead. This was superb service, in my humble opinion, as I should have double-checked the order twelve months ago when I first received it. But luckily, the manufacturer were an absolute pleasure to arrange the exchange with. Indeed, I was so impressed, that I ended up buying the remaining Enemy models they had, as well as NY Serpent from their Escape Artists range.

Finally, my biggest buy came from “Pendraken Miniatures”. I already own several of their pre-painted 10mm scenic kits by “Escenografia Epsilon”, so ended up coming away with several more bags when I discovered that the terrain was being discontinued. Despite being a little larger in size than my 1:285 scale plastic “Battletech” models by “Catalyst Game Labs” I figured the different resin pieces would easily allow me to populate a suitably varied 3’ x 3’ battlefield for my upcoming Weird War Two campaign…

“Hello, I’m The Angel Of Mercy.”

“I’ve come to give you both a lethal injection.”

This 28mm scale metal miniature of Oola Blint was produced by “Mongoose Publishing” and formed part of my rewards from the company’s 2012 “Judge Dredd Miniatures Game: Block War” Kickstarter. The now long out of production (OOP) figure was sculpted by Gary Morley and later made available by “Warlord Games” as blister Code JD20169.

“A strikingly beautiful woman” who visited “the lonely, the desperate, and the dejected to grant them the sweet release of a dignified death – whether they wanted it or not”, the serial killer was undercoated using two layers of “Abaddon Black”. She was then dry-brushed with “Vallejo” Heavy Charcoal and enthusiastically shaded with “Citadel” Abaddon Black.

"The Dark Ones guard it by night and by day they call out the Slayers."

To be honest, I was actually pretty happy to leave the mass murderer’s attire at that, and simply focus upon her deadly syringe containing the lethal drug zilocaine. However, having seen the ‘official’ paintjob I became more inclined to make Blint’s cuffs and collar stand-out a little bit from her dark dress; albeit not to the point of pigmenting them white, as this seemed to be at odds with the predominantly black clothing she wore within the comic book pages of “2000 A.D.”

As a result, I used a combination of “Vallejo” Dark Grey and “Citadel” Nuln Oil on her cuffs, collar and hat-feathers, before turning to some “Vallejo” Escorpena Green and “Citadel” Biel-Tan Green for Oola’s aforementioned hand-weapon. Lastly, I decided to step somewhat aware from the cold-hearted character’s usual palette by ‘picking out’ her hair with “Vallejo” Steel Grey. This area was subsequently darkened with a double-dose of “Citadel” Nuln Oil, but still turned out somewhat bluer than it appears on the printed page so as to better ‘break up’ the figure’s largely black colour scheme.

"Gasosaurus is a genus of tetanuran theropod that lived... during the middle of the Jurassic Period."

Alongside my latest “Judge Dredd” related miniature, I have managed to finish another three 28mm Sorcerous Sentinels by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio”. These “otherworldly watchers” can be purchased from the company’s ever-expanding fantasy range as SKU: DEAL 304 and are clearly inspired by the “race of aliens that serve The Beast” in Peter Yates’ 1983 film “Krull”.

In addition, I have successfully re-based an old DIN109 Gasosaurus model I bought and painted from “Magister Militum” approximately a decade ago. The dinosaur was slightly damaged during its transition, but luckily a little “Vallejo” USA Olive Drab and “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade seemed to fix the problem without any noticeable difference to the figure’s original paint-job.

“Velociraptors Were Actually Feathered Animals.”

“They grew up to 100 pounds, about the size of a wolf.”

These 10mm scale metal miniatures of three Velociraptors are produced by “Magister Militum” as code DIN43 from their Pre Historic Dinosaurs, Animals & Marine Reptiles range, and come in packs of five models. The late Cretaceous creatures are all “sculpted with feathers” and have been sat languishing upon the ends of some wooden painting sticks in a cup, since I first purchased them a few years ago at the Newbury & Reading Wargames Society’s show “Colours”.

Each animal was initially primed with two coats of “Vallejo” Heavy Brown, before being washed in a combination of "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade. They were then dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Heavy Brown, and had their feathered necks ‘picked out’ using a combination of Heavy Red and “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - These Ape Minions have required some gap-filling with Green-stuff

I wasn’t all that happy with this particular colour scheme, despite some time researching all the different palette possibilities Palaeontologists proposed a feathered Velociraptor could be, so tried blending the neck in with the rest of the dinosaur’s body by giving it a light dry-brush of (even more) “Vallejo” Heavy Brown. However, this didn’t seem to work either, so in the end I simply settled upon shading these ‘highlights’ with a little additional “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson.

As a final touch I attempted to dab a little “Vallejo” White on to the claws and teeth of each miniature, and later splashed them with “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade. The three figures were subsequently super-glued to a 30mm x 40mm plastic rectangular base, so as to match my preferred basing style for all my other 10mm miniatures.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - Five Sorcerous Sentinels are currently on the painting table

I was originally planning only a couple of these Velociraptors as part of one of my self-imposed weekly challenges. Happily however, the following week’s subject matter, randomly chosen by the turning of a playing card, revealed I needed to pigment another single 10mm model, so I quickly made up my mind to simply populate a single stand with a trio of deadly killers in order to kill two birds with one stone.

Rather frustratingly though, I have realised that I only seem to own two more of the figures, so I’ll need to pick up an extra bag or three of the dinosaurs if I want to make any more bases. This is a tad annoying as I was only stood looking at the entire range in the flesh a little over a week ago, when I visited “Magister Militum” whilst attending “Salute” 2021. Although I have dug out a load of previously painted figures from the range that I am currently in the process of re-basing/touching up…

“Blood Bowl Sevens Teams Are Drafted..."

A Dwarf Blitzer (09), Linesman (05) and bareheaded Blitzer (14)

"Greetings eager sports fans, and welcome to the latest edition of Sunday Night Football. I'm Jim Maddenberg and along with my comrade-in-arms Thom Grassyglade, I’ll be bringing you all news concerning the latest developments for Blood Bowl Sevens.”

"The big news today is that the amateur game appears to have attracted the attention of an aspiring Dwarf team called the Rusty Buckets. Thom, those are some seriously old long-beards at no mistake. Do they really go as far back as the game’s classic second edition..?”

A Dwarf Kicker (01), Blitzer (10) and portly Blocker (15)

“That’s right, Jim. Remember the days of the World’s Edge Wanderers, Zhufbar Marktag, Durums Destroyers and the Dwarf Anvils..? Well, all eight of the players on this latest team’s roster stem from those heady days of single cast metal sculpts, courtesy of a much-appreciated gift from Iain White of “caveadsum1471” fame.”

“Why the club will even be re-employing an old Kicker model from the Dwarf Giants to use as a Runner for the modern-day rules. Sadly, there’s no sign of a glamorous Cheerleader or two, though Jim. But, to be honest, I doubt the Rusty Buckets would currently have the copper pieces to hire any.”

A Dwarf Blitzer (09), Linesman (07) and Linesman (05)

“So what’s the plan for these old, second-hand players then, Thom? Is their colourful yellow and blue attire going to survive the transition to the amateur leagues, or can we expect a completely new kit for these grizzled thirty-year plus veterans..?”

“Well time certainly isn’t going to be these guys’ friend, Jim, as they’re all due to be re-primed and given some particularly rusty-looking sportswear which better suits their club name. In addition, a further eight Dwarf players are impatiently ‘waiting in the wings’ to form either a second Old World Sevens side, or help bolster the Rusty Buckets’ roster to becoming a full-blown professional Blood Bowl team in the near future.”

"Thanks Thom. That just about concludes this particular Blood Bowl Sevens show. But please do join us again next time when we'll be taking a closer look at this club’s change in attire…”

"Salute" Loot 2021

"South London Warlords" WIPs - Paul Hicks' sculpt, the Boy With Spitfire, is slowly being painted

After almost a two-year absence, I was finally able to once again make the pilgrimage to the ExCeL convention centre in Custom House, East London earlier this month, so as to add a few more bags of lead and plastic to my ever-swelling ‘incline of inspiration’. I must confess I didn’t really know what to expect from the much delayed show, especially as a number of companies decided to announce their non-attendance at short notice, such as “Mierce Miniatures” - who appeared to have posted up their no-show decision on social media the evening before it actually started.

Happily however, considering just how many manufacturers ultimately decided not to appear without any warning whatsoever, I wasn’t just travelling up to “the Big Smoke” to purchase goodies, but to also meet up with some of my fellow bloggers like Dave Docherty (“One Man And His Brushes”), Tamsin Piper (“Wargaming Girl”) and Ray Rousell (“Don’t Throw A One”). This impromptu get together late in the morning was easily the highlight of the day, and also allowed me to obtain a little heads up as to what these prodigious painters would be potentially pigmenting for the upcoming Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (AHPC).

"Reaper Miniatures" WIPs - A Werecrocodile and Werearmadillo

Loot-wise, things were looking rather sparse for a considerably long time, despite it taking me a good hour or so to slowly make my way around all the stalls sat up against the edges of the grand hall. This year’s “lovely little commemorative figure of the Battle Of Britain” immediately caught my eye when I spied it in my goodie bag, and I also managed to pick up a “Reaper Miniatures” Werecrocodile and Werearmadillo from an early seller who seemingly had every Bones figure imaginable for sale. Yet surprisingly, that was it for quite a while as I walked past a disconcertingly high number of empty tables.

Perhaps the show’s biggest deal was from a large stand (whose name escapes me) whose numerous staff were selling both old and new packets of “Flames Of War” models by “Battlefront Miniatures” at half the recommended retail price (RRP). One of my reasons for signing up to the AHPC this year is to ‘push through’ my Late War Germans, so I thought this would be an ideal opportunity to bulk up on some reinforcements. As a result I picked up a 15cm Infantry Gun Platoon, a 7.5cm Infantry Gun Platoon, a Fallschirmjager Rifle Platoon, and a D-Day Mission Token Set. To be honest I could have bought more, but as the sellers kept having to use their phones to web-search the RRP for each blister I selected before giving me a price, my (im)patience dictated that I settled upon just the bare essentials.

"Red Eagle Miniatures" WIPs - These French Line skirmishing figures have been primed

Disappointingly, the centre of the hall was probably where the ‘no-shows’ made their biggest impact as there were some considerable holes in the line-up, and despite looking I never managed to find the likes of “Gripping Beast”, “Hasslefree” or “Troll Trader” – the last of which usually sees me fork out an inordinate amount of dosh on genres/ranges I never ever anticipated buying. To be honest, this soon caused me to return to the edge stalls for a second perusal, and thus caused me to miss Dave Stone’s “Wargames Terrain Workshop” stand completely. Though I did get to spend five minutes chatting to Duncan Rhodes about his new “Two Thin Coats Paints” range.

This subsequent, albeit whirlwind, tour of the outer tables ultimately landed me with my most expensive purchase of the day, as I returned to “Red Eagle Miniatures” and their 10mm range of Franco-Prussian models. This has always been a period which has fascinated me, but I have never properly ventured into it before now. In addition, I tend to predominantly stick with “Pendraken Miniatures” for my 10mm fix, so I actually felt a little guilty buying a range I knew they produced from someone else. However, in the end I decided to pick up a packet each from most of the e-commerce company’s infantry range to trial during the AHPC, along with a couple of cavalry units too…

“Simmer Down!”

“You especially.”

This 28mm scale white metal model of Simian Minion D: Man-catcher is produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and can be bought either separately or as part of their Simian Minions four-figure collection. The figure is designed to be used with the company's "7TV" United Radionics Programme Guide, but I intend to field it as one of several gorilla soldiers for my ongoing project based upon Franklin J. Schaffner's 1968 science fiction film "Planet Of The Apes".

Having super-glued a Simian head onto the torso, the miniature was initially primed with two coats of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, before being enthusiastically dry-brushed in Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal. It was then drenched in "Citadel" Nuln Oil, before having its trousers and sleeves pigmented using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Violet and "Citadel" Druchii Violet.

A selection of my old English Civil War collection by "Front Rank Figurines"

Next I applied a layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna to the ape’s “wielding a sinister man-catcher” and ammunition belt, whilst the rope on its hand-weapon was painted using some Heavy Brown. All three of these areas were later shaded using "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. Finally, I 'picked out' the gorilla’s very visible teeth using a combination of “Vallejo” White and “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade.

Alongside pigmenting my latest MoVember miniature I have been following Iain White’s simply splendid rebasing of a load of 28mm English Civil War miniatures I was able to personally give him during the summer. I actually bought these old “Front Rank Figurines” second-hand myself over twenty years ago, and had planned to use them as the basis for some Pike and shot wargaming. However, having started to base them individually (on two-pence pieces) I soon lost the will to live, especially when I later discovered that the sculpts were no longer produced so I couldn’t paint any more to match their previous owner’s rather unique, colourful style.

Prince Rupert, Boy and some Royalist cavalry rebased by Iain

Fortunately, Iain has really put the effort it to rank them up appropriately, and the cavalry look especially impressive en masse. I purchased the collection in several batches, including some Scottish forces, cannons and even Prince Rupert’s pet hunting poodle Boy, and resultantly was always a bit disconcerted by the inconsistency in some the paint-jobs – almost as if some units were rather rushed in an effort to get them on the battlefield. Happily though, Iain’s basing process appears to blend them all together rather well, and I would urge you to visit his excellent blog “Caveadsum1471” for more pictures.

In addition, I walked away from our meeting with some more lead to add to my own burgeoning collection, most notably the 1988 edition of “Blood Bowl” by “Games Workshop”, complete with a full metal Dwarf team. Iain was also super generous enough to gift me his copy of the Spacefarers Guide To Alien Races by “Phoenix Games” and the excellent Starships & Spacecraft playing aid “approved for the use with Traveller” as penned by Dave Sering. Two books which have really got my imagination rocking with ideas for future space battles…