More pics and Salute....

Good morning All...

Thought I'd whack a few pics up this morning, seeing as how I've completed the new Romano-british army standard bearer to go with the Ambrosius model I posted earlier. I've also popped in a couple of shots of the two characters in with their unit.

It's quite amazing how much difference a few different models in a unit can make. The unit below is basically my British Kingdoms Teulu, but with two different characters and a different leader (the chap with the cataphract armour and face-covering parade helmet), a different standard bearer (with the Draco,) and a chap in the back rank with an oval shield who doesn't normally get used in the Brit kingdoms force. The whole unit now just looks much more 'late Roman' which is, of course what I was after...



Salute was ok. No pics, I'm afraid, as the missus had taken the camera with her to her friend's birthday party...I only just managed to sneak in with the above shots before she whisked it into her handbag...

Trouble with Salute is that it's just so bloody enormous. You kinda forget what you've seen after a while and it all blurs into one..

However, I must say that from an Age of Arthur standpoint, Newark Irregulars did not disappoint with the battle of Hatfield!!! Marvellous armies, stunning conversions and the biggest 28mm Dark Age village I've ever seen!! Great to catch up with James and Steve again... Oh, and apparently the Welsh won!! Yaaaayyy!!!!! (Well, apparently the victory was rather more due to the alliance with Penda's Saxons, but hey ho...)
Nice to see Mike Evans again too, whose son Tom was heroically rolling dice for the Welsh contingent! Also ran into Guy Halsall, unsurprisingly, not far from the Hatfield game!!

Other things of note: Fantastic Medieval 'Siege of Orleans' game that looked really reallly good. Must resist...must NOT buy medieval knights!!!! The Warlords' 90mm LOTR game was even better than last year's...loads of 90mm Uruk Hai and Rohirrim slugging it out over MEGA terrain... Bloody fantastic!!
A fewe other nice looking games, but like I say, it kinda blurred after being there all day!!!

The Andy Hawes award for 'spoiling what should have been a great display game' goes to the chaps doing 28mm Waterloo. Great terrain, marvellous models...but just so many of the buggers that it looked rather more like a rugby scrum! With a table half as long again, it'd have worked a treat....as it was, not so great, which was a shame...

Perry's plastic ACW went down a storm and so it should. I bought an infantry box set and for £12 it's a minor miracle!! Great quality models and the plastic cavalry are even better! I'm going to paint a dozen or so as 'Plains war' infantry for LOTOW then convert the rest to Indian Mutiny Brits for skirmish gaming. The painting will be 'basic', i.e. base colours then use that dipping stuff....should look great, as I've already run a couple of tests from some of my unpainted figure horde!!! Pics will be posted, rest assured...

Warlord games were promoting their new plastic 28mm Romans and they are stunning too! I now have 4 of the free samples through various means. If I can be arsed, I'll paint them. They are brilliant models and will sit beautifully alongside Foundry's stuff...

Oh, lastly, an honourable mention must go to the chaps with the radio controlled Action man size WW2 tanks, which looked (and sounded!) bloody GREAT!! They spent the day manoeuvering round the hall and the look on some folks' faces was priceless!!! There was one chap (about 45 years old) - typical 'stereotype wargamer' look with straggly, thinning, unkempt hair and a wild, similarly unkempt beard reaching to his chest, who literally danced when he first saw them! He reminded me of a strange 'Merlin-like figure'!! Priceless!!! But, joking aside, it does actually say a lot about the sheer quality of those tanks...even the 'action men -style' tank commanders were radio controlled, with their hands lifting binoculars, etc...the turrets turned round..the exhausts even 'smoked'. Stunning!! My faves were the Russian T34 with it's infantrymen passengers and the SS Tiger, which just looked rock hard!!!!

Anyway...must dash. The wife is due home in a couple of hours and I have to sort the house out prior to her arrival!!

See ya...

Shock!! Horror!! New painting!!!!

Here are those new painted figures I promised you on 1st April (so, no Dave, not an April Fool!!) Apologies for a few blurred pics. I'm having an issue with 'depth of field' at the mo and can't find the sodding camera manual!!!!

Anyway, the figures: First off, we have Ambrosius Aurelianus, Romano-British Dux for Age of Arthur. West Wind Arthur figure with a Foundry shield on Crusader Miniatures El Cid horse. Little conversion (just the helmet plume) but a BUGGER of a shield design! I'm actually halfway through a foot version, but can't face painting the shield again!!

Next, two Welsh lords for a 7th Century Age of Arthur warband (and maybe even Shieldwall Welsh at some point...) Both converted. These are heavily influenced by James Morris (the 'heroic' basing and the Celtic spirally shield designs) although I've decided against too much white, opting for madder red and ochre as counters to the usual black and white colours...

The first one is a West wind Mordred figure with his axe removed and with a Green Stuff belt pouch to cover up the mayhem where the axe handle attached to his belt! The shield was another first rate sod to paint, but I like the result! Same with the tartan tunic...ouch... Oh, BTW, the head is a West wind Saxon head. It came with a beard: I 'shaved' it off with a fine craft knife. I am sad...very sad...let's move on, shall we??!!

The next chap is a right old mish-mash of parts! Including the shield, there are 4 separate parts to this little conversion...Can anybody spot them? This was another b*stard of a shield design, but, again, it looks well cool!

Last, some new combrogi. These are GB figs (apart from one Foundry and the muso who is a West Wind Pict - great model!) and I've gone with very plain shields (some wil have simple spirals eventually) and simple tartans on some clothing. I want a totally 'non Roman' look to these little beauties...

So, that's what I've been painting... Next up, some Teulu conversions and then some Saxons (At last, eh Tony??!)

See ya.....

Back from hols.....

Hi All
Just got back last night from a week's hols in Gran Canaria. Last hols before the 'Hawesling' arrives!! And jolly nice it was too...

Anyway, now I'm back, you can expect a pic or two, as I'm off work all week and intend to do some painting. I have just completed a Welsh Lord conversion (a bloody good one though I say so myself!!) that I started before going on hols so as soon as I've stuck the static grass and whatnot on his base, I'll drag the camera out. Am going to tackle the other two lords (including a new army standard) along with some of Tony's Saxons and some Teulu conversions over the next couple of weeks. I also have a Saxon Lord that I want to paint...it's the GB one with the axe and the head in his hand... I've added a casualty model to his base...sans head, of course and I think he'll be fun to paint!!

The basic idea is to do some additional figures to create a less 'Roman' looking Welsh army to use for late 6th-7th Century scenarios, so these guys wil replace the more Romnao-Brit looking guys in my current army. I have some more combrogi to do that with as well. In fact I've finished the first 5 and they look good with their 'Celtic' clothing. I'll take pics of those when I get a moment too.

I'm also looking at the possibility of doing some sort of Arthurian mini campaign at the local wargames club early next year (involving the 'character-heavy warbands' idea that appeared in Wargames Illustrated or on the net somewhere late last year) and some extra Welshies will give me the ability to field three different warbands for use by those players at the club with none. I'm thinking of about 500pts of troops and about 250-300pts of characters (no Rex, Dux, Cynings, etc...just the 'middle level' heroes and below) doing skirmish scenarios (using the skirmish rule adaptations from Age of Arthur). Then there's that Tristram and Iseult scenario that I'm working on as well...

By next January, there'll be at least 4 players at the club with Arthurian armies, two of us with 5 potential warbands between us... Anyway, that's why I'm painting extra Welshies and why I'll be doing some Saxons and hence why the El Cid got put on the back burner once I realised I'd never get 'em done for WHW in May this year... Nobody at my club does El Cid so there's no point painting them yet if I can't play with them!!!!

Right... Off to the painting table...

See ya...