Alien Plants and Other Cool Stuff...

Real life work seems to be unending at present but there is a light at the end of the tunnel as I've had to take some holiday before the end of the year or lose it, so today I've got the day off and managed to undercoat some miniatures and update Bleaseworld- hurrah!

Yesterday Saul and I went to Reveille for a couple of hours before he had to be at the Cathedral to sing a number of solos at the Advent Sunday service (and very well he did too). In between chatting to people I had a look round but didn't spend too much only buying a copy of the new F/SF magazine The Ancible (reserving judgement on it...) and a pack of Ironclad Miniatures Steam Automatons (what I've just undercoated).

What did catch my eye (but I didn't buy - yet...) were the alien plants from The Scene. I can't find them on their website but they are very nice and I thought they'd make great terrain items for Aquanef or other underwater games as well as alien flora.

They also produce a range of 15mm SF including these nice looking aliens called Karloks (apologies for the crap picture I wasn't taking a pic of them they were just in the background of the plants). Again not listed on the website but drop them an email, they are nice aliens, about 20mm high.

Off to do some more now on the Bristol Fighters and ONESS Germans...

Black Powder

Unfortunately real life is taking its toll at present and I've not managed to pick up a paint brush for weeks, a situation I aim to rectify in the next day or so. In the meantime I've been pondering Warlord Games' Black Powder and whether to buy it.

I've got a pile of Perry's plastic ACW (unpainted at present) and various C19th uncompleted projects and was wondering whether this might provide some stimulus to get on with them (unlike the Lardies' They Couldn't Hit An Elephant!). Having read various comments about them I like the idea they are inspired by Warmaster but am wary how they would handle smaller battles on a 6' x 6' table.

I'm keen to give the ACW a go as Saul is quite interested in it and I don't need much more than we have already bought (just some cannon) unless we really get 'into it' and 'need' to buy some Iron Brigade, Zouaves etc.

Remembrance Sunday

Today is Remembrance Sunday. Saul recorded this version of the hymn O Valiant Hearts earlier this year and I have combined it with a montage of photos from the First World War as a tribute to those who have fought and fallen in the name of freedom.

O valiant hearts who to your glory came
Through dust of conflict and through battle flame;
Tranquil you lie, your knightly virtue proved,
Your memory hallowed in the land you loved.

Proudly you gathered, rank on rank, to war
As who had heard God's message from afar;
All you had hoped for, all you had, you gave,
To save mankind—yourselves you scorned to save.

Splendid you passed, the great surrender made;
Into the light that nevermore shall fade;
Deep your contentment in that blest abode,
Who wait the last clear trumpet call of God.

Ludus Gladiatorius

Sorry for the lack of posts, it's been a bit of 'hit the fan' week at work. Anyway as SWMBO is watching some murder mystery on ITV2 (should I be worried she watches so many?), I thought I'd take a couple of minutes to talk about the wargame we took and played in Tenerife.

Obviously you can't take a 6' x 4' table and hundres of miniatures with you to the Canaries, but we did take em-4's Ludus Gladiatorius which I'd bought Saul at Colours. Cracking little game and we'll probably buy the second one sometime.

The five pre-paints are nicely done and the game is simple but ingeniously challenging with the different gladiators using different attack and defence dice as well as having differing special abilities (which are restricted in what they are and how many times the gladiator can use them).

The game comes with figures, dice, chits and a nice glossy paper arena all in the box. You might want to devise your own travel case as the figures have separate bases and ideally need gluing to them (I used blu-tack) and you need a couple of pencils, plus copies of the gladiator character sheets.

If you're looking for a travel game that even your SWMBO might enjoy and can be played with the kids on holiday etc, then Ludus Gladiatorius is worth checking out.

Hallowe'en Scarecrows

Just back from a week's R&R in hot and sunny Tenerife (brain disengaged, no painting, one wargame - more on that tomorrow and several books read...)

As it's Hallowe'en I dug out these old RAFM Scarecrows I painted up a great many years ago (in enamels!!). Wonderfully sculpted miniatures, I'm note sure if they have any wargaming application but they sure were fun to paint...

The Best of Battle

As I have stated previously I was a big fan of Battle comic when I was a kid (and still am as a big kid!). Having been struggling with a stinking cold this week that has prevented any painting, my disposition was cheered immensely by the postman who delivered the long awaited The Best of Battle Vol 1 from Amazon.

This anthology from Titan Books is great and at £9.99 fantastic value (in fact my copy from Amazon was only £4.99 so even more fantastic). At 288 pages it contains selections from D-Day Dawson, Day Of The Eagle, The Bootneck Boy, Rat Pack, Major Eazy, Fighter From The Sky, Hold Hill 109, Darkie's Mob, Panzer G-Man, Joe Two Beans, Johnny Red, The Sarge, Hellman Of Hammer Force, Crazy Keller, The General Dies At Dawn, Charley's War, Fighting Mann and Death Squad! Roll on volume two...

The really great news is that in adddition to the continuing reprints of the classic Charley's War and forthcoming Johnny Red, Titan also plan to release Darkie's Mob, Rat Pack and Major Eazy - brill!

When Skeletons Attack!!

Came across this on a bit of You Tube browsing and couldn't resist putting it up for inspiration.

Reminds me I must finish that Tomb Kings army I've got made up, all I need to do is spray it and dip...

Fragment

Not a lot of painting is being done at Bleaseworld at the moment for one reason or another (though strangely the postman keeps delivering parcels of stuff needing painting!). However, I have managed to finish Warren Fahy's highly entertaining book Fragment.

Marketed as 'Jurassic Park for the Lost Generation' it must be said Fragment has no link with Lost other than it is set on a Pacific island (indeed one wonders why the 'Lost Generation' can't just watch/read Jurassic Park...). Anyhow, the newly (re)discovered island is a biosphere of fragment of a lost prehistoric continent that has evolved is a totally different way to the rest of the planet. This is explained in typical Michael Crichton pseudo-science babble by a group of scientists that tend to get eaten by various carnivores on the island (I would guess this book has already been optioned by Hollywood and it will make a great summer blockbuster).

Whilst Fragment isn't going to win the Booker Prize (even ignoring the fact it hasn't been nominated) this is a good little "airport novel" (indeed I read over half of it at Paris CDG and on the plane to Bristol), with lots of interesting monsters and some ideas for games. SF gamers looking for inhabitants of a death world (or just some new xenos) will get something out of this.

Richard III's Birthday (& Other Important Anniversaries)

Today is Richard III's 557th birthday (that's a lot of candles) but (to my mind) more importantly my 17th wedding anniversary, so I better stop playing on the computer listening to Radiohead and go pour SWMBO a drink now Eastenders has finished!

A Blast From The Past...

I have started work on my Brigade Models ONESS Germans for Iron Cow and two Bristol Fighters for AirWar: 1918, but they don't look very interesting at the moment, in the meantime here's more from IronCow TV!

I came across a selection of photos David Manley took at Games Day 2001 and 2002 and the opening of Warhammer World 2002 which I've allowed iMovie to play with and adding the obligatory prog soundtrack.

The photos are quite interesting in that not only do they show some fine examples of participation games, but also a wider spread of games including Warmaster and even Battlefleet Gothic.

Hope you enjoy this while I slap various shades of green paint on white metal (I'm so fed up with green I started dreaming of painting up some Swiss Guard with las rifles earlier for a change!)

Games Day UK 2009

I took Saul to Games Day at the NEC on Sunday, taking up the offer of a parent's ticket for just £6. Despite having been to a number of wargames shows I think Saul was a little overwhelmed, it is a very intense and noisy show, with 7,000 gamers determined to fit in as much as they can in a short space of time.

There were a lot of really impressive games, heaven knows how many Stompas and Baneblades were in use in the gaming hall, but it must have been truly frightening. Ironically even these large models were often dwarfed by the scenery and other scratch built models on display.

I took a lot of photos and have compiled them into the traditional Ironcow TV video on You Tube complete with obscure prog soundtrack (this time some Prog Metal to reflect the younger audience!).

Purchases were relatively few. I picked up a couple of Christmas presents for Saul which will need starting soon and he grabbed a bargain of five various LOTR guides and Collectors guides at the end for just a quid! Whilst we had a couple, he decided he'd give them to a school friend who is into LOTR.

Both of us took the opportunity to make up some of the free scenic items and we now have a couple of impressive looking Interceptor Guns and rather a lot of Imperial baricades.

We also had the opportunity at the end of the day for Saul to meet Alex Stewart (nom de plume Sandy Mitchell), author of the Ciaphas Cain books. Saul is really into these and was amazed to find out that in Death or Glory, Alex had inserted a reference to a distant Imperium planet called Blease's World! We also learnt where the next book is set, but Saul has decided it is top secret so I can't tell you (but the anniversary release of a popular limited edition game is apparently purely coincidental!)

"They're Here, Already!" Possibly...

Wargamers are weird people. A bit of cardboard, a piece of polystyrene, a stone in the street and we all get excited about using it as a bit of scenery or whatever... Such a moment occurred to me today when I went in the kitchen to find SWMBO making some more jars of her lovely plum jam (the plum tree in the garden getting a bit over enthusiastic this year). Anyhow after scamming a tester on a piece of toast (and it was lovely...), my eyes alighted on a saucer of discarded plum stones. Now to most people this would be garden waste to go in the compost bin, but to a wargamer, well...

Rather than compost. my first reaction was, "Oh! Don't they look like the pods in Invasion of the Body Snatchers!" Credit to SWMBO, she didn't groan at all and has offered to boil them clean and dry them so they can be tested out. As you can see from the photo with the Victorian gent they are about 5 foot long in 28mm scale, which is great for a curled up body! All I need to do know is find an appropriate lorry (that said I then started pondering on using them in an SF environment and even a VSF one - perhaps mounted on a card base that could be placed on different vehicles..). Anyway, watch this space for interesting uses of discarded plum stones! :-)

"Look, you fools, you're in danger! Can't you see?! They're after you! They're after all of us! Our wives, our children, everyone! THEY'RE HERE, ALREADY! YOU'RE NEXT!"

Pirate Metal

I am sad to say I dropped the ball the other day by not celebrating 'Talk Like A Pirate' day, a heinous oversight as Bleaseworld is based in the home port of no less a piratical celebrity than Blackbeard himself.

By way of amends and in celebration of all things piratical, here is a video of the 'True Scottish Pirate Metal' band Alestorm playing their song 'Keelhauled'.

Alestorm are a lot of fun and have released two albums, Captain Morgan's Revenge and Black Sails At Midnight, that are ideal background music for when you are counting your pieces of eight. Surely any band that writes lyrics such as "With the power of ale, he could not fail!" deserve wider recognition?

Burgundian Pike

At long last I finished the Burgundian pike blocks started over 25 years ago, re-started last month. As previously stated the bulk of the pikemen come from the long OOP Corvus Miniatures range with a couple added from the defunct Grenadier UK fantasy warriors range sculpted by Mark Copplestone and one old Citadel Wars of the Roses men-at-arms converted to carry a pike.

I've based them up for Terry Gore's Medieval Warfare rules (available from Foundry) and have started some work on a couple of bases of (ex-Citadel) mounted archers and (ex-Grenadier UK) handgunners. Also in their recent sale, I availed myself of some of Foundry's Swiss for the opposition.

As the Burgundians will be fighting the Swiss, I was persuaded by SWMBO to use some of GW's Modelling Snow on the bases as all three battles against the Cantons were (unusually) fought in the winter. The final effect is ok, looking more like ice and slush than snow to my mind, that said as it is supposed to be patchy it seems to suit the bases.

Blood Rites

Finished Blood Rites, book six of the Dresden Files, last night. For those of you unfamiliar with the Jim Butcher Dresden Files series, they are centred around the investigations of Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard/private investigator. The books were the subject of a short-lived TV series and whilst I enjoyed the show, the books are vastly superior.

Blood Rites is a return to form for the Dresden series, which had got a little formularic of late (Harry takes case, Harry gets beaten up by Big Bad, Harry recovers, Harry saves world in climatic final battle), and involves two of the three vampire courts attempting to polish off our hero wizard.

What I enjoy about the Dresden series, and this one if no exception, is that the plots lend themselves to small scale wargames and this book alone has some good scenarios including a desperate raid on a homeless shelter to take out a nest of Black Court (Nosferatu-type) vampires and save the hostages and a fun puppy rescue against monkey-demons that throw flaming poo!

If you haven't read any of Jim Butcher's books start at the beginning with Storm Front and enjoy, I need to dust off my half-written horror rules Deliverance and get them finished...

Screaming Eagle Marine Scouts

Saul's birthday today and one of his presents were these Marine Scout units and Land Speeder Storm I painted up for him (this was what I picked up at Devizes).

The Storm is a stretched version of the standard Land Speeder and is a nice, easy model to put together, though the instructions are pants and I did miss sticking on the dashboard so had to cut it in two and stick it in at a later stage. Whilst the rest of Saul's Screaming Eagle Marine vehicles (and Marines) are clean, I weathered this one with some dirt and worn metal areas and added an Ork skull trophy as I wanted impression that the Scouts are often at the sharp end where 'spit and polish' is not the order of the day.

All the crew (except the driver) are pinned in and can be removed when the Scout unit deploys on foot. This was more work than I anticipated as the Speeder crew are not equipped as per the foot squad so I had to convert two to carry spare shotguns from the foot pack. As best as possible each crew member has an identical foot substitute. The only major difference is the heavy bolter Scout whose head mounted targeting display switches from one side of his head to the other upon jumping out of the vehicle!

I must confess I never really liked the Marine Scouts when first introduced into the 40K background sporting knives and bolt pistols but these figures are much more commando like. However they are still too clean looking so I added scrim style camo netting to all, some have cloaks wrapped around, others tabard-like camo.

This was a positive fall out of slicing my finger open as when taking the bandage off I thought "ooh camo netting!" (like wargamers do...). It was soaked with diluted wood glue and I raided the kitchen and stole some majoram from the herb rack (I don't know what majoram is used for but the container looked old and unused and the herbs were a good size for leaves).

I also painted up the sniper unit, adding a bit of scrim to the sniper rifles (as they already had cloaks) and giving the missile trooper a scrim tabard. Whilst I liked the three firing, the fourth sniper was holding his rifle up at a funny angle whilst attaching his scope which just looked silly, so I chopped his arms around to what looks a more sensible carrying position.

Colours 2009

Saul and I went to Colours at Newbury today. This was the first time we've managed to get to the show since it moved from Reading and I must say the venue is much better (and it has free parking and is nearer Bristol!).

As it's his birthday tomorrow Saul had some birthday money from relatives and picked up a bargain of three AT-43 Therian Wraith Gologoths for almost the price of one (albeit without the cargo containers). He also got the Karman army book for half price. I treated him to the em-4 pre-painted Ludus Gladiatorius game in a box as it was being sold for a tenner (not bad for a game with five painted 28mm figures, rules and colour playing arena).

I was quite restrained spending wise (though very tempted) picking up some of GZG's 15mm wheeled weapons 'bots for use in Iron Dog, I think they'll work well in 28mm with the Pig Iron stuff. Having tried Unchartered Seas out with Saul we didn't weaken and buy the game (just) but I did sneak a purchase of the Shroud Mage fleet as I thought they'd work well in Man O'War (whilst supposedly twice the size, the frigates are roughly the same size as the MoW galleys and the big ships do look like battleships).

Having taken far too many photos, in time honoured tradition (well as done once before), I've stuck them together as a video montage with a bit of prog rock for your delight on You Tube.

Saul had a crack at the Achtung! Dice POW escape game (featured in this month's Wargames Illustrated). This uses a simple race game mechanism at its core with random Germans and event cards and is great fun (if you can get to Warfare in November it'll be there). Other games that really caught by eye where a 54mm LRDG raid (by the same guys who did the 54mm El Cid at Devizes) and a stunning Angels v Demons in Hell, something I've always wanted to do and now I've been beaten too it.

Overall an enjoyable day and Colours is back on the "must attend" list again...

Valkyrie with Va Va Voom!

I've been working in Paris most of the week (sounds more exciting than it is) and took the opportunity to pop round to the GW store near Gare St Lazare.

In May I spotted the staff painting up the new Valkyries in a decidedly non-GW scheme (indeed most of the models in the shop sport rather refreshing paint schemes), unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me. This time I did, but the shop was shut!

Fortunately two of the Valkyries were visible through the window and whilst the photos aren't as good as I would have liked I think they show off the rather interesting Gallic approach adopted (I've played with the photos to remove the glare from the glass etc).

Not sure what the "Dark Powers That Be" in Nottingham would think, but I quite like them (certainly better than just painting them Dark Angels Green!)

New Bristol Cathedral Head Chorister

Been a bit of a busy day today as Saul was appointed the latest Head Chorister at Bristol Cathedral (so not much painting done!).

Absolutely knackered so going to sit down with a long drink and watch the new series of Medium which I taped on Friday...

Chaos Dwarf

Following a few emails on Chaos Dwarves on the SFSFW Yahoo Group, I dug out one I converted last year as a test piece for a potential Chaos Dwarf unit in Saul's Chaos army (I don't like the Marauder models or the old Chaos Dwarves with the silly hats).

The model is a mix of bits from the current Dwarf box set with helmet and arms/flail from the Chaos Marauders with a bit of green stuff to fill gaps and give a fur trim to the cloak (which was suitably 'distressed' with a hot knife).

Background wise I was thinking that maybe a small band of survivors from the fallen hold of Karag Dum had been corrupted by Chaos, hence a kind of more northern traditional Chaos/Dwarf look than the more Eastern look of GW's Chaos Dwarves of yore.

Not sure whether I'll do any more though I am quite pleased with the end result.

Nocturnal Warrior of Hrud

Way back in 3rd edition 40K, there was a picture entitled 'Other Dangerous Aliens' which along with the prototype Kroot and Necron included a basic drawing of a 'Nocturnal Warrior of Hrud'.

Over on the SFSFW Yahoo Group a discussion broke out about the nature of the Hrud (my fault as I suggested they might make an interesting adversary in Space Hulk).

Initially GW were going for the Space Skaven approach but have subsequently tried to move away from the fantasy in space idea (bit hard with Orks and Eldar methinks...) and recent mythos has been of a more insect-like race (albeit with similar tendencies to Skaven).

Anyhow the possibilities of the Hrud led me to writing up some rules for introducing them in Space Hulk and I've sent this off to Ragnarok for consideration. The main differences to the Genestealers is that due to the Hrud distortion field blips are not revealed on line of sight but have to be actively scanned at the cost of 1AP by a Terminator. They can also pass through occupied squares. Obviously I need some models and a copy of Space Hulk III to get the rules down pat but I think they'll prove a different challenge to the 'stealers and fun to play.

Dwarf Mining Convoy

In a spurt of enthusiasm resulting from painting up the Dwarf "Tin Man" Mining Machine I grabbed these three mining wagons off the shelf and painted them up over the weekend.

They have been sat around in an undercoated state for a little while as I lacked enthusiasm for any 28mm fantasy after a bit of burn out a year back.

The wagons come with the GW Dwarf Miners set, a great example of GW at their best for all the odds and sods they cram on the sprues (like the captured goblin in the cage). I'm not sure how many wagons come in the box as Saul won the sprues these were on in a draw at the local GW. The model is based on the wagon that comes in the Skull Pass box set, although the wagon itself is open topped and empty and the horse has been slightly remodeled.

For these three I did some further work on the horses, adding bits and pieces, converting the manes so they all looked different and repositioning one leg. With the trucks I dropped in a rectangle of plastic card then built up a mound of filler before covering in sand and painting up as recently minded gold ore off to be smelted (or whaterever gold miners do).

I'm really pleased with the end result and they should allow for some fun ambush/convoy scenarios.

Outlaw

"As good as Bernard Cornwell or your money back..."

I must confess there isn't much that gets my back up as much as stickers like this stuck on the front covers of historical fiction, but I gave Angus Donald's debut novel Outlaw a chance (it may have been the subtitle 'Meet the Godfather of Sherwood Forest' that snagged me), and am glad I did.

As good as Cornwell? Not really, but this retelling of the Robin Hood story in the first person by Alan Dale is pretty good and tries to present the legend in a more historical manner akin to Cornwell's Winter King trilogy which it apes to some extent.

Donald's Robin isn't the straight forward whiter than white character of yore and he is not beyond a bit of torture and murder when the mood takes him. The outlaws are outlaws and behave as such, though any line between them and those trying to catch them is distinctly blurry.

Whilst quite bloody and violent in parts (I can see HBO picking this up for a TV series!), it's an interesting historical take on a well know story and I am looking forward to the sequel Crusader and volumes beyond that (the introduction of Prince John in the final chapter bodes well for the continuing fight in Sherwood Forest). Certainly it had me pondering the possibility of some small scale medieval skirmish games...

Ragnarok 55

As the latest Ragnarok has now been posted out I felt it the opportune moment to comment on it as it is a really good issue.

For those that don't know Ragnarok is the journal of the Fantasy & Science Fiction Wargamers and contains lot of interesting and diverse material for F/SF wargamers. The latest issue is no exception with a good mix of fantasy, zombies, hard SF, Victorian SF and even something based around the 40th Anniversary of the Moon landings. A paper journal is posted out to members of the SFSFW but non-members can buy a PDF version at Wargame Vault.

This issue was especially good with a great article on Daleks in SG2 (but still worth reading for use in the likes of Iron Cow and FWC) and an excellent Aeronef scenario based on a historical incident in the Franco-Prussian War. However, my two favourite articles are Zombie Apocalypse, a set of zombie rules and The Eagle Has Landed, a beer 'n' pretzels moon landing game where random encounters range from H.G.Wells' Selentites to Wallace & Gromit!

All in all a cracking read and chock full of great ideas whatever system you currently play..

Isca Augusta

Family day out today, a trip across the border into darkest Wales and the Roman Fortress at Caerleon. Despite it only being a paltry 32 miles door to door, I hadn't appreciated what was on show in the town, indeed the nearest we'd ever got was driving along the M4 to Cardiff, seeing the sign for Roman Fort at Newport and thinking "must go there someday..." Well today was the day and it was well worth it!

First off we visited the National Roman Legion Museum in the town, a quite small museum, but well laid out with plenty to look at (and activities for the kids). It was free to enter and out the back was a Roman garden (much appreciated by SWMBO) with some re-enactors in residence (much appreciated by Saul as he had a chance to try on the Lorcia Segmenta and helmet). There was also a webcam which gave us the chance to wave at some family members holidaying in Dubai - well they had to find something to do during Ramadan!)

From the museum we went to the excavations of part of a huge baths, including a outdoor natatio and indoor cold frigidarium.

In the photo (to the left) you can see the raised square blocks which were part of the underground heating. By the natatio is a wonderful footprint of a hob-nailed sandal made by some Roman 1900 years ago!

We then visited the ampitheatre which is the most complete in Britain. The photo doesn't do it justice as it is quite large and in its day (built in AD90) it held a crowd of 6,000 in timber grandstand built on the surviving stone ramparts.

Part of the original fortress wall runs alongside the ampitheatre, indeed it was hard to gauge the size of Isca Augusta (so named because the 2nd Legion Augusta was staioned here) until you visited the barracks.

Three lines of barracks are visible and each barracks housed a century. This excavated area is just a small corner of the fortress and it is only when you compare that to the map that you realise the fortress covers the entire town, with the ampitheatre and parade ground (now a rugby pitch) outside. When looked at in this context it is really quite gobsmacking...

The photo shows the only properly excavated line of barracks (the other two are reconstructed on top of remains to protect them and the rest is below ground). The nearest squares are the rooms which house eight legionnaires, the ones adjacent are the rooms for their storage with the fortress rampart just visible behind (a wall was built atop this). SWMBO and I had debated how many would fit in a room and decided on four at a pinch in bunks. We were quite surprised when we checked the (excellent) guidebook and found it was double this (cosy!)

Overall we had a good time, and will definitely visit again (they do a "military spectacular" each July) and would recommend anyone visiting South Wales via the M4 to make the short detour and visit the site.