Wargames Illustrated jan 12

I havnt bought any wargames mags for quite a while as there is now so much rich information on the tin ternet that the expense just seems a waste. Today i decided to pick up the latest WI whilst waiting for my little one to choose which magazine to buy out of moshi monsters or cbeebies. In the end she went for Barbie..
 I have not read through it all yet but first looks is that it is chock full of great stuff this month including a nice looking Napoleonic game and a great article from a fellow blogger Paul of the mancave.  On a personal note it was nice surprise to turn to the back page and see some figures I painted for grippingbeast a few back. The teutonic grandmaster and his standard bearer, seen on the left of the above picture. 

Happy new year to everyone out there, I hope to put a few old pics on over the rest of the holidays as my lovely wife has bought me a new computer and as I go through all the pictures I have on file on the old one I will upload some of my faves .

Victrix Heavy Dragoons WIP

I have just finished painting these beauties!  victrix heavy dragoons.They are a real pleasure to paint, with great detail and I absolutely love the horses. These represent the Inniskillings during the Peninsular campaign. More pics to follow once Steve has based them up. 

More Campanian Hoplites

Heres the latest unit of Campanians. Again they are Crusader miniatures, with the help of LBMS transfers.

 Whilst I had the camera set up I thought I would take a few pictures, I am really pleased with the results but i am sure they will only get better with time. I would just like to thank Joe Dever for his advice on the camera set up. Photography has never been my strong point and I really need to put some time aside to become proficient. But first some more commissions to finish!

  

I love the way the lad in the second rank looks like he is looking at the camera



new camera!!

Well I finally bought the new camera I have been promising myself for the last couple of years... Its a Sony A350 and I had a little play with it this afternoon and I think once I get to know my way around it a bit better it will be a great camera for my needs.
Above are a few pics shot today, sadly there is nothing new. Next week I have lots to paint so stay tuned

Roman and Greek rural houses

If you like the building in the background of my latest couple of photos, Paul has a few more for sale.
Check them out on his website battlesinminiature.blogspot.com. I highly recommend them as great pieces to add atmosphere to your ancient gaming.

Command stand finished!

Here it is a finished at last! My General for my all to slowly growing Republican Roman army escorted by an Aquilifer, Vexillarius and to show he is the boss two Lictors. Lictors were members of a special class of civil servant, with special tasks of attending and guarding magistrates who held the right and power to command. essentially a bodyguard. The origin of the tradition goes back to the time when Rome was a kingdom, possibly acquired from the Etruscans. They carried axes which that symbolised the power to execute.
I really enjoyed painting these and think it shows in the vignette.
Thanks to Keith of Aventine miniatures for the following extra info on Lictors;

The degree of magistrate's imperium was symbolised by the number of lictors escorting him:

• Dictator: 24 lictors outside the pomerium, 12 inside. The latter rule was ignored starting from the dictatorship of Sulla
• Emperor: originally 12 lictors, after Domitian 24 lictors
• Rex and Consul: 12 lictors
• Proconsul: 11 lictors
• Magister equitum: 6 lictors
• Praetor: 6 lictors, 2 within Pomerium
• Propraetor: 5 lictors
• Curule aediles: 2 lictors

Sometimes, lictors were ascribed to private citizens in special occasions, like funerals or political reunions, as a show of respect by the city.

Vexillarius

I managed to finish the vexillarius last night, you can probably tell by the not so great design on the banner that it was getting a bit late...
I may repaint it at some point or maybe buy LBMs transfer sheet for it. For now i just want to get them based up and finished, which will hopefully tonight.

Campanian Hoplites

   You will have to excuse the dodgy pictures as I have no camera at the moment and I am relegated to using my Iphone, but I just had to take a few shots of these Campanians before they head south. The figures are by Crusader miniatures and I have to say they are a joy to paint. I have to thank Steve from little big men studios for his advice on the shield transfers. They are ancient Italian designs for Gripping Beast shields and they fit well on the Crusader hoplons and really make the unit striking.
   The building in the background was made for me by Paul Darnell and you can see more of his work here
I am now going to finish my extra standard bearer for the command stand before starting on the next unit of Campanians. I hope to get him finished tonight (thats if the Mrs will let me..)

Republic Roman CnC update

Just a quick update on the command, here are the finished figures but I have since decided to lose the armed slave and replace it with a vexillarius as I think this will look more fitting on the CnCs command base. If there is enough room on the base I may still add the slave. But before I can finish it off I first need to crack on with the Campanian Hoplites you can see in the background. I have 10 finished just another 30 to do...

WIP Aventine Republican Romans CnC

We moved house back in September and once everything was sorted i was able to start on my hobby room.
The hobby room is not yet totally how I want it but the good news is I have my desk and lighting good to go. Above you will find a WIP picture of the first figures I have painted since the move. These are now finished apart from the basing. They will be based on a large round base, i just can't decide whether to include the armed slave or swap it out for another standard bearer? 
Now the room is functional expect a lot more productivity. On the desk at the mo are Punic cavalry and a large phalanx of Campanian spearmen.

Space Wolf Rune Priest

I have finally finished my Rune Priest and he is ready to lead my growing wolf pack.
I have enjoyed painting these 40k models, as it has made a nice change from all the historical stuff I have been doing lately.
I have been messing about with some wolf guard terminators including my version of the Iron Wolf himself.
First I must clear my desk of Punic war goodies. Photos soon :o)

Bunch of Yanks

I have a few Yanks finished now for Big Mike, this is the beginning of his WW2 collection. These Artizan designs figures are a real joy to paint. Trouble is as ever, when I start painting something I like I tend to drift off in that direction. I have to be disciplined, as I have way to much on my desk at the moment.
 Once I have enough Space Wolves painted to game with I am heading back to crack on with my huge collection of Republican Romans.
I cant wait!!

on the workbench

Just a couple of pics to show what I am working on at the moment.

 First up is an American infantry platoon from Artizan designs for big Mike. This is designed to go with the excellent "rules of engagement" rules from Great escape games. First 8 are finished bar the varnish and basing. Just another 26 to go!

Secondly is my converted Rune priest based on the Torquemada Coteaz figure. I bought this years ago when he first appeared as I loved the pose. I never got round to using him until now. He has had a lot of inquisitor detail filed off and replaced by space wolf iconography. He also has a big axe instead of his daemon hammer. Looking forward to finishing this one. But it will have to wait until I finish the above.

Grey hunters pack

Well I guess you may be getting a little bored of these by now but i couldn't resist showing a few group shots.
I am pleased with the end result, the only drawback is they did take a hell of a long time to paint. 37 hours in fact.
The only figs I can remember taking that long have been my Samurai shown below, and that doesnt include the many hours trawling through books finding reference material, which really is all part of the fun.

Again these were a real joy to paint and a huge investment in time, I must get on with finishing the rest of the force at some point.
But for now on my work bench I am converting a rune priest to lead  the wolves. For all you more interested in the historical side of things I also have a WW2 American infantry platoon and some more Punic wars goodies waiting patiently for the paint brush.
Well I have booked tonight off work and the Mrs is out with friends. I plan to take the kids swimming to ware them out and if all goes well they will be in bed for 7, Which will give me a good few hours at the desk.
If all goes well I will bring you an update in the morning.