Thanksgiving, from the Native Perspective

Here's a great article on Smithsonian's site about the colonization of New England by the pilgrims from the American Indian perspective. There's a lot here I hadn't heard before: the system and rules of fealty between the various native villages, the harsh rites of passage to enter adulthood, the natural technology that was superior to the classically "advanced" European homes, and more.

This bit makes me want to paint up some eastern woodland natives for some skirmishes:

Armed conflict was frequent but brief and mild by European standards. The catalyst was usually the desire to avenge an insult or gain status, not conquest. Most battles consisted of lightning guerrilla raids in the forest. Attackers slipped away as soon as retribution had been exacted. Losers quickly conceded their loss of status. Women and children were rarely killed, though they were sometimes abducted and forced to join the victors. Captured men were often tortured. Now and then, as a sign of victory, slain foes were scalped, and in especially large clashes, adversaries might meet in the open, as in European battlefields, though the results, Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island Colony, noted, were “farre less bloudy, and devouring then the cruell Warres of Europe.”

Great article, lots of power struggles and political machinations by the various Native leaders, and fodder for painting up and playing out some conflicts between the two societies.

Black Friday and Holiday Wargame Specials

I've been scouting a few wargame deals popping up this year for Black Friday, and many appear to be running through Christmas. Have you seen any other great holiday game or hobby specials I missed?

Wargame and Miniatures Sales and Deals

Tabletop World's Christmas deal.
"Yes dear, I bought these for our
'Christmas Village'.  I'll just hold on
to them with my wargame things
for the rest of the year."

• The WarStore is running a 25% off special for a bunch of Flames of War items. Use their 'BlackFriday' coupon for an extra 5% off. Runs through Dec 2.
• Lone Gunman (15, 28mm fantasy and some modern) is offering 25% with code '5years'
• Crossover (28mm super heroes) is offering 15% with code 'blackfriday'
• Legio Heroica (15 and 20mm Ancients, Medieval and Renaissance) is offering 20% orders over 60 Euros, 25% off orders of 120 Euros.
• Victrix is running a great "buy two boxes, get one free" deal now through Jan. 5.
• CP Models has a "buy 5, get 6" deal on all of their figures (20mm WWII, 28mm historical, sci fi and horror, and more) now through Dec 31.
• Tabletop World is offering some awesome free terrain for large orders (starting at 80 Euros). I love the look of their models, and this looks like a great deal if you are looking to invest in some beautiful terrain. Runs through Dec. 31.
• Architects of War 10% to 30% discounts on many, many miniature lines, free minis with larger orders, free shipping (U.S.A.) on orders over $50 plus more specials popping up every few hours. Ends Dec. 1 
• The WarStore is running a 25% off special for a bunch of Flames of War items. Use their 'BlackFriday' coupon for an extra 5% off. 
• Fantasy Flight Holiday Sale  DEEP discounts on Dust, Wings of War ($5 per plane!), board and card games. 
• Clear Horizon Miniatures  Now through Dec 20, three packs of 15mm sci fi troops for $23USD, a 15% savings.
• Two Hour Wargames 20% off until midnight on Nov 29 with code 'bf20'
• Effigy Miniatures 40% off everything until Dec 1 
• Hydra Miniatures retro sci fi sale starting Friday
• Indus Miniatures "War in India" figures, 20% off through Dec 5. with code 'black20'
• Syr Hobbs Wargames Buy four packs, get the 5th free. Plus free fire and smoke counters on order of $50 or more. 
• Ground Zero Games Free minis with each order, plus a discount voucher for the new year! Offer expires Dec. 20th.
• GHQ 20% off orders of $100 or more. Be sure to read the details of implementing the coupon code on their forum. 1 day only! Ends at 12:01 AM on Nov 29.
• Splintered Light (15, 20, 28mm Fantasy) Black Friday only, 20% off with code SLM13
• Miniature Building Authority  10% off everything, plus some deeper discounts. Black Friday only I believe.
• Miniature Market  Over 800 items on sale Black Friday, many at liquidation prices.

Wargame Gift Guide

Need to find a great gift for that special wargamer in your life? There are quite a few boxed sets and games just waiting to be discovered under a tree.

Bolt Action Pegasus Bridge boxed set. Awesome! A laser cut model of the bridge, 30 figures, support weapons, decals, scenario sheet and more. You'll need the Bolt Action core rules to play though.
Fall of the Reich Just released this fall, Plastic Soldier Company's rules for fighting the desperate defense of Germany.
Ronin - Skirmish Wargaming Want a taste of samurai action without committing to painting up armies for a new period? Osprey's 'Ronin' rules along with figures produced by North Star offer an easy way to get the clash of katanas to your tabletop.
Judge Dredd Starter Set. Boxed sets of the miniatures (like the Cursed Earth Desperadoes and Justice Department Judges ) have been available for a bit, but Warlord has recently released a boxed set containing 18 figures, starter guide and rules.
The Wargaming Compendium Henry Hyde's Tome. A massive collection of wargaming advice from one of the hobby's experts. I've heard it's great for anyone just entering the hobby, or old hands looking for new tricks. Definitely on my list this year.
Mega Hobby Set (Limited Edition)  OMG look at this thing! Paints and tools are usually a "necessary evil" purchase for me (I'd rather get a pack of figures) but this is downright drool-worthy. Paints, brushes, sprays, tools, glues... so much stuff to replenish the hobby table.
Warriors & Warlords: The Art of Angus McBride Angus McBride is my favorite illustrator of military and fantasy subjects. This volume is a collection and history of his work. I know that I've picked up a number of Ospreys just to get access to his color plates, and paging through a volume dedicated to his artistry seems like a lovely way to spend Christmas morning.
Edge of the Empire RPG Just released this year, I know a number of wargamers were indulging in some roleplaying with Fantasy Flight's new Star Wars RPG. I think this would be a great treat for gamers to share an aspect of their hobby with kids who might have a little more familiarity with the Battle of Hoth rather than Pickett's Charge. They also released the Star Wars: The Card Game which looks similar to the Lord of the Rings card game that we enjoyed in our house.

Reaper Goblins in their Fall Collection

I've spent the last few weeks applying my creative skills to my son's Halloween costume rather than figure painting, but I managed to finally polish off these goblins to join my earlier Halloween Reaper Bones figures.

I had some challenges with this group. The milliput I used to extend the flagstone bases didn't dry properly and needed to be replaced, the reposing using the hot water technique failed to set, and the detail and sculpting on these figs was still pretty shallow. Once I got to painting though, things moved rapidly. I have a ton of greenskin goblins in storage, so I opted for a slightly different color scheme for these guys.

In any case, I was happy to get them finished and they turned out well enough for tabletop skirmishes. And with these figures wrapped up I'll likely be going on a brief painting hiatus. Our new home has finally been completed, we have a settlement date, and I expect to be moving out of our temporary residence within the next few weeks. I'm looking forward to unpacking all of the figures, games and terrain currently in storage and getting back to rolling dice soon!

Flesh and Bones. More Halloween Reaper figures

I dug out a few more horror themed figures from the Reaper Bones pile. First up, a Frankenstein-esque flesh golem, cobbled together from a variety of corpses.

Flesh Golem

"C'mere, give us a hug."

Another extremely bizarre pose, and despite the flexible Bones material, I was unable to contort his arms into anything more fitting. Maybe he should be throwing his arm around his best bro' Sasquatch.

I used three different skin tones: a cold gray, a dark chocolate and a grisly tan to suggest the creature was stitched together from at least three different corpses. Seams received a wash of dark Vallejo Game Color Charred Brown, with brighter red highlights. Stitches got a stripe of black to get them to pop, followed by a highlight of tan.

Arrius, Skeletal Warrior

This undead warrior was part of the Grave Danger set from the original Bones Kickstarter. I wanted to do something a bit different with his armor, so opted for a deep green coupled with a coppery brown for his cloak and trim.

This is a nice figure, a decent pose, and while his armor is a bit extravagant, it isn't covered in skulls or spikes. His cricket bat weapon is a touch odd, but I figure you could remove it and replace it with a sword or something.

More Spooky Reaper Bones: Vampire, Rat Swarm and Bat Swarm

I'm having fun picking out more of the Halloween Bones from last year's Kickstarter. Sticking to the theme is also helping me crank out some of the less interesting sculpts, like these swarms of rats and bats.

The mass of bats had some pretty shallow detail, and a confusing collection of wings, heads and bodies. I used some pretty stark gray drybrushing and a combination of brown paint and inks to pick out the furry bodies, but this still a pretty chaotic mini. If I had to do it again I might go for a pure comic book feel and pick out the bats in bright, blood red to give them a little character.

To match the flagstone bases of the giant rats, I sculpted some dungeon floors out of milliput for these rat swarms. It was fun! I started adding flagstone bases to a few other minis, and even picked up some sculpting tools. Hoping to break out the green stuff and do some more extensive sculpting, as even flagstone bases are tricky for me. Practice makes perfect.

For the vampire, I wanted to keep attention on the actual figure, so eschewed using bright colors on his cloak, saving the deep red for his armor (inspired by the design of Dracula's armor in Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula movie from the 90's). Skin was a simple gray three tone with blue ink wash

I was tempted to add a glass of red liquid in that outstretched hand. "I never drink... wine."

I've been checking out the Bones II Kickstarter currently running, and I'm not quite as hot on it as the original. Reaper seems to be loading it up with miniatures that are pretty similar to the ones from Bones I. I might pick up a few of the individual add on figures, but with a stockpile of Bones figures on hand, I think I may pass on the core set.

How Ghastly! Reaper Bones Rats and Ghast

With all of my terrain building materials in storage, I'll need to postpone my celebration of Flocktober until a later date. Instead, to celebrate the Halloween season I've decided to knock out as many spooky Bones from the Kickstarter bundle I received this summer.

Reaper Ghast

This fella has some ropey musculature and a weird pose, but I think overall it's not a bad sculpt. The detail in the face seemed a bit soft, but we'll just chalk that up to decay setting in.

Reaper Rats

Rats don't seem too exciting, but these little guys have quite a lot of personality. I gave them a black undercoat, and hit their undersides and legs with lighter grays. Ears, paws, snout and rail got a base of medium brown. I picked out some ridges on their tales with a few stripes of pink and touched up their ears with the pink as well.

I'm expecting a shipment of the Dwarven Forge terrain and tried out some of Stefan's painting techniques on the flagstone bases of the rats. Black undercoat with a drybrush of dark gray, a few stones picked out in medium brown and then an overall drybrush of greenish tan.

So much kickstarting! Reaper just launched their second Bones kickstarter. I thought I could resist, but already I'm being tempted by the quirky monsters they are offering.

Back With Some Vikings

Sometimes life can really get in the way of painting up tiny little men and throwing dice to see if they kill each other. It's taken a month to get our latest real life crises sorted out, but I finally managed to find some time to get back to the painting table. A raiding party of SAGA vikings after the jump.