2018 - What a year it is going to be!

I have left my 2018 post to the last days of January.  Most people usually do this in the early days of 2018, not me!

So first things first it has been a very busy start to 2018 for me both work wise and hobby wise.  I am in the Analogue Hobbies Annual Painting challenge and I am well behind my target of 750 Points.  You can see my progress here.

As previously published my 2017 wrap up is here and it didn't go as planned as I initially thought but 2017 was a huge success as a whole. 

Hobby Goals for 2018 in no order of priority

• Project Waterloo
• 28mm Napoloenics in other Campaigns
• Expanding on all my current WW2 Armies in 28mm
• Expanding my neglected WW2 Project in 20mm
• Painting more boardgame minis
• Reduce my horde of figures
• Terrain terrain terrain! Something I need more of
• paint more minis, paint lots of minis, paint more minis

Now to help me achieve the above, you can probably see a table to the top right of my Blog.  Its simple.  Miniatures received and miniatures painted.  By receive I refer to purchased and freebies as I have been receiving a few of those lately.  Now 2018 is already off to a disastrous start in terms of a received/painted ratio and it is only going to get worse! I have hundreds of 28mm Napoleonics incoming among two kickstarters, Zombicide Green Horde and A Song of Fire and Ice.  I have to get on top of this addiction and this could be the kicker I need.  That little table will be my constant reminder.  I think I am going to cut way back on my purchases now as for the first time I have more figures not painted than painted! 

Pretty much the look on my face when I saw that table

Social Media Goals

• Get more of my stuff featured on other websites
• Expand my twitter presence
• Gain more followers on Blogger
• Get 150 posts up on Blogger

If you don't follow me on twitter you should as I post a lot more stuff there and stuff that doesn't make it to here.  I recently gained 100+ followers, hopefully 200 followers soon! You may have also noticed some minor changes to the layout of LHP.  

Gaming Goals

• Play More Games! Aim for an average of one a week
• More solo play
• Play my awesome neglected boardgames

I have pretty much ceased playing in Tournaments, I much prefer the social side of gaming, not the competitive side.  It has now been a year since my last tournament and no regrets!

Conslusion

Really as hobbyists can we really stick to our goals? Me... not really.  The main thing is having fun and documenting my journey which my first post ever was all about.  Lol what a bizarre and unexciting post!  

Thanks to all of you that follow me and here's to a great 2018!

-Dave.

My Waterloo - Picking the scale and doing it in 28mm

Undoubtedly one of the most popular eras for War Gaming is The Battle of Waterloo.  It was one of the most famous battles of all time and even non gamer types have heard of it.  Even here in Australia we have pubs, streets and even suburbs named after the famous battle... so I'm doing it!

Some Complementary Music if you are so brave...

Scale

Well wasn't this a contention for debate for myself!  It came down to two choices although I did explore more!  18mm by AB Figures and Campaign Game Miniatures or 28mm with a huge choice of figures.  For once I think I can say 28mm is the winner for scale when it comes to Napoleonic gaming (danger zone for saying that, ducks for cover!) and in particular Waterloo thanks to the Perry Miniatures range, Victrix and Warlord Games, obviously there are a lot more however this choice is always up for debate!

18mm AB Figures - Lovely

18mm CGM KGL/British Infantry Retrieved from their Website

Now these chaps look all well and good but... they are so small and I love details in my figures which these chaps have.  I really wanted the mass look and to save space so this really put me at a cross roads as I wanted them however I know some guys in my gaming group that do Waterloo and Napoleonics in general in 28mm! Essentially no one I know has Napoleonics in 18mm/15mm let alone Waterloo.

As previously mentioned there are some great ranges in 28mm and I am a massive fan of Perry and Warlord so the decision was made for me and now I am going to commit to it, 28mm it is.

Luckily Warlord Games sent me an awesome deal for every 50 quid I spent I get a free Black Powder box set.  As I had been eyeing off La Haye Sainte Collectors edition, well this happened!!!

Lots and lots and lots and lots... of figures! Tremendous value!

Wow! That is going to keep me busy.  A whole play set and 6 yes 6 boxes for free! :)  I have heard mixed reviews about Victrix figures however some of the poses and interchangeability with the Perry Plastics was to good to pass up on so I got a horde of them incoming and you can't beat Victrix for value. I do like some variety on the table and I have really warmed to the Warlord Figures too.  After assembling some of the Polish Vistula Legion they go together quickly and are simple to paint and I expect this too with their British Line Infantry.

I want to represent Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte on the table.  I have upgraded the gaming facilities at LHP HQ to an 8 x 6 table with the approval of Mrs LHP.  I will not be playing the entire battle obviously, just lots of the engagements that happened on the day.  I am not too fused about capturing every single little detail etc etc and dont want long dragged out games that take whole days to complete so I figured minor engagements in 28mm is the best way for me to set out what I want to achieve.

Rules

I really want to play Warhammer Historical Waterloo after recently aquiring the book and reading it cover to cover.  My good friend and rival Murray also just picked this up! -  not to mention he also go the La Haye Sainte Collectors set :) 

I will not be limiting myself to this set of rules, I'm keen to try Blackpowder and some Sharp Practice 2.  I wouldn't even mind getting some solo play in at some stage.

Test Figure

As mentioned I want to play out some Hougoumont.  The Coldstream Guards were there and so I thought I would be different and paint one of them up first.  My Perry's will be representing these chaps as the defence of Hougoumont really suits their poses.  Again another decision for 28mm is they just look so damn good.  

28mm British Line Infantry - Perry Miniatures

Coldstream Guards - Battle of Waterloo

This is going to be a project that is going to take years! Yes years! I can do it at my own pace and slowly add to it... and yes I will be painting some French (I thought I would never say that).

Stay tuned...

Arthur would most certainly challenge me to a duel if he saw this

Warlord Games German Winter Pak 40

My Winter German forces are slowly being put together.  This force is mainly themed for the Battle of the Bulge however it can be used in a variety of battlefields across Europe especially on the Eastern Front.

I decided to paint up the Warlord Games Winter Pak 40.  This is a beautiful model.  The gun went together with ease.  The figures that crew the gun are well sculpted and you really get a feeling that the crew is in action against some enemy armour.

I based the gun on some MDF and used a variety of winter weathering products to capture the feeling of winter.  I used the Warlord Games Winter Tufts to provide a bit of color among the snow.  The tufts are nice and have a fine white material coating to them that sets well with a bit of matte varnish and appears quite frosty.

Any questions regarding specific details or techniques, please ask.

Warlord Games German Winter Pak 40

The Winter Tufts from Warlord Games break the white of the snow up

Frostgrave, well and truly overdue!

I first bought Frostgrave when it first came out.  I have read it cover to cover and have been dead keen on getting a game in however like most of my projects they sadly took a while to get some love and attention.

Probably about a year ago or so I painted up a test figure, one of the cultists.  I assembled more of the cultists, primed them then they sat in a draw.  The Analogue Hobbies Painting challenge gave me just the motivation to put some paint on the figures!

28mm Frostgrave Cultists - The purple headed warrior on the left was my test figure way back when

The test figure was painted with bright colours and using Secret Weapon washes.  The other two cultists, middle and right were blocked in, Army Painter Strong Tone Quickshade, left for three days then highlighted and detailed.  The bases are a mix of Wilder Snow, Citadel Valhallan Blizzard and Woodland Scenics Soft Snow Flake.

I really like the facial details on these chaps

The latest two I painted

Stay tuned for more Frosted Goodness!

Adding to the Austrians and The Polish Airborne

My latest 9 offerings are 4 more Austrians for my Napoleonics and 5 more Polish Airborne.  The Austrians are from the Perry Miniatures 28mm Plastic range and the Polish Airborne are from Warlord Games, again in 28mm plastics.

I have been asked a few times now on social media to do a guide for both of these so it is something for me to work on... soon!

Enjoy.

Warlord Games 28mm Polish Airborne

Perry Miniatures 28mm Plastic Austrians

 

Blitzkrieg Miniatures 1/56 Resin JU 87 Stuka

As soon as Blitzkrieg Miniatures released their 1/56 JU 87 B2 Stuka, I had to get it.  I built it straight away for my DAK project however the canopy really turned me off.  Painting was another thing which I put off however the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge gave me the motivation I needed to get it done.

Consider this article a minor review of my thoughts on the kit.  Any specific questions or details you want to know, just ask!

This was my first gripe with the model.  The canopy has lots of separate panels and the panel frames aren't the sharpest and I just didn't have the patience to mask it all off.  I was contemplating putting the Perry Miniatures 28mm Crew inside if I was to mask it off however the canopy isn't that transparent.  Additionally I wanted to use the model as ground terrain or for in game flying and if the crew were permanently in there it would look a little silly if ground terrain.  My solution... paint the canopy!  I'm glad I did this as the canopy isn't the best fit anyway.  A painted canopy gives it more of a "Wargaming Feel".

Blitzkrieg Miniatures 1/56 JU 87 Stuka

The model goes together easily, needs minimal cleanup and is of solid construction.  I used an airbrush to paint it, constructed my own stand and the decals I used are not historically accurate (after market separate purchase) which brings me to my second gripe with this model.  The decals incluided are absolute rubbish! They may be historically accurate however they are the worst decals I have ever worked with.  If they didn't dissolve when preparing them they either tore or shriveled up like a dead spider!  I went for some after market 1/48 and 1/72 decals.

This was my first ever entry into the Analogue Hobbies Annual Painting Challenge.

Perry Miniatures Luftwaffe Crew scrambling to their aircraft

Those two gripes aside, I am happy with the model and I can't wait to unleash it in Bolt Action and Battlegroup.

I would really like to see Blitzkrieg Miniatures release more aircraft in 28mm and the 1/56 scale. 1/72 is too small for ground terrain but looks nice in the air and 1/48 heathen scale is just too big! Canopy and decals aside it is a solid piece of kit and looks amazing!