Kickstarter Roundup: Dungeons and Hussars

There a pair of Kickstarters I'm following, one just wrapping up and one just getting started: Dwarven Forge's "Game Tiles" and Wargamer's "By Fire and Sword".  More details after the jump.

Converting and Painting Reaper Bones

Although mine haven't arrived yet, the Reaper Bones Kickstarter shipments are wending their way across the world into eager hands, some of which have never picked up a paintbrush before. I had another Bones figure on hand to do some converting tests upon, and figured it might be helpful to go through my painting process to offer advice to folks who now have several hundred figures to paint up. Don't worry  new painters! It's not all that hard, it just takes some patience and practice. My tips after the jump.

Incredible terrain set ups for fantasy campaign

I saw this link pop up on reddit and finally got around to watching it. This guy has filled his basement with elaborate terrain set ups for his groups rpg games. Even if you don't play role playing games you should check out these diorama terrain set ups. Awesome stuff!

Lousy Roman Cavalry

Checking my lead pile I found a baggie of loose Roman cavalry I picked up off of eBay or TMP a few years ago.  My Romans are starting to get outnumbered by Carthaginians and Gauls so I figured it was high time to give the legions s a few reinforcements.

I spent last evening prepping and cleaning them, looking forward to getting to the actual painting over the coming week. I tackled the horses first and was surprised at the amount of flash they had, and some of the poor sculpting on them.

Horses

First take a look at these horses. I know horses are difficult to sculpt, but these are really quite terrible.

These look more like mules to me rather than powerful steeds.

And look how narrow! 

The horse bases were also warped and took a lot of bending just to make them stand up at all. The riders were just as bad. Check them out after the jump.

Hail Caesar Skirmish #9: Won By the Razor's Edge

With my Carthaginians, Spanish and new leaders painted up it was time to get them on the table and see how they'd do. With Historicon fast approaching and another friend of mine joining us at the convention this year, I wanted to give him an intro to the rules in case we were able to get into a game together. A long time 40K and fantasy player, this would be one of his first exposures to historical wargaming. All the bloody details on a very close game after the jump.

Crusader Miniatures 28mm Republican Roman General

I finished up a Republican Roman general and thought I'd share. I thought the horse sculpt was better than average, I really like the officer on foot, but the general himself has some pretty wonky eyes. Still, I'm pretty happy with the actual figures. The painting could be better, as I really struggle with horses. I've got quite a herd of cavalry in my lead pile though, so I'm sure I'll get some practice soon enough.

My Review of Roman Velites by Agema Miniatures

Finally! Many years ago when I decided to tackle ancients I settled on the Punic wars as the period I wanted to concentrate on. Hannibal's motley assortment of mercenaries from a dozen cultures up against a young, scrappy Roman republic fired my imagination. I've been delaying committing to a manufacturer because I've been waiting for the plastic revolution to produce a line of Romans from the early Republic. I was excited by rumors of Warlord and Victrix getting into the period with new plastics, but was surprised when new manufacturer Agema Miniatures was first to market with a set of Roman Velites (light skirmishers) in plastic. Follow me for a review and pics after the jump...

Warlord Games Celt Leaders

Getting back into the swing of things, I polished off a few barbarian leaders that had been stuck in my lead pile for far too long. The Celtic Chieftains from Warlord Games comes with three fearsome warriors. I used one for a more "germanic" command stand that I painted up last year, but chose to keep these remaining two as definitely Gallic.

The horned chieftain was quick to paint up. His broad cloak took a plaid pattern easily.

I wanted to include a second figure for the bald leader, but needed to create a height difference between the chieftain and his companion for their positioning to look correct.

I used some wood chips to represent bare, exposed stone, and filled in the gaps with bits and pieces of pink insulation foam.

A thick coating of white glue and flock filled in any other gaps, and the addition of a naked buddy and baldy is ready to go.