28mm... kind of! - Bloodbowl - Imperial Nobility

 This is something new for me!  Were you expecting this? I'm not sure I was either! 

So having been impressed by reading blogs and articles about the Games Workshop 'Bloodbowl' game, in 2022 I decided to buy it for Christmas.  I like games with great mechanics and are fun, and as this is the one game that has been in continuous production by Games Workshop, it sounded like it could be rather good!

Well, I have had several games now and actually it really is great fun. For those who don't know, it seems to combine the simpler elements of American football with Rollerball/gladiatorial combat/Ancient Mayan ball games, in that playing the man (or creature) is possibly more effective than playing the ball!

The star player Griff Oberwald with pet bird, who I shall call 'Dave' (and yes, it was a real sod getting that bird to sit there - had to use a blob of Miliput to assist in the end!)

There are two teams in the latest edition box, an Orc team and these Imperial Nobility (who are mostly human).  I understand that they are very wealthy thrill-seekers who play the game for the glory and fame rather than any particular need to make more money.  I painted these as the 'Bogenhafen Barons' team.

Ogre - Big scary fellow!

Now other than some Star Wars figures, I have never painted anything non-historical.   Painting these was way out of my comfort zone!   This team come moulded in bright red plastic and the Orcs in green which give two simple straight out of the box playable teams with no painting required - a really good thing for GW to have done.  The sports gear on these fine fellows is rather reminiscent of the Renaissance period, so I felt that starting the painting project with these would be slightly easier for me!

However, I really didn't know how to start!  This may sound odd as I do paint a wide variety of different figure types, but these, well...these are fantasy figures. I couldn't really see the figures for the spikes and quirkiness! 

To make a start I decided to watch a few simple 'How to' videos on You Tube.  I decided to follow their methods originally, as they seemed to fly through the painting. I did just 4 figures to start with, and I have to say that the videos were really useful.  By the end of a fairly short period of time, I had 4 quite nicely painted figures done.  My confidence was raised and I now had an idea of what I should be doing.

I did more familiar historical projects for a few weeks and then I thought I would paint 4 more of these Bloodbowl figures.  I deviated from the You Tube technique a bit and went back to my own methods, the use of more washes and also black lining in, which I didn't do on the first four models.    I was even happier with these 4 so I went back and black lined in the first 4 that I had done.   I do find that black lining in figures makes such a difference to giving definition and depth to my eyes anyway. It's a technique that I really like.

Number decals are already included in the box, which was a helpful nice touch.  Some of the players have areas on their cuirasses where their Germanic names can be written (if they are short enough).  As there were no decals for this I decided not to attempt to paint Gothic Script.  If I should find decals at a later date then I shall use those, though I rather like to use very long comedy names for these players on the play sheet for some reason!  

I love the ale tankard on the hip of the female figure above!  

There are 14 players on each side in the starter box plus 2 referees. This is in addition to the fold out 2-sided pitch and very attractive hard back rule sets and a host of other bits and pieces.  This makes the starter set very good value indeed! You literally can buy the set and just get playing...perfect!

All of the figures except for the star player with his eagle, and the ogre, are duplicated. So there are two of each.  I decided to make subtle differences between duplicates, hence some with black feathers and others with purple feathers. There are other minor differences painted in too. Combined with the numbered decals this should all help with identifying players during the game.

I have gone for piercing blue eyes and shades of blonde hair to assist the Germanic Nobility aura of this team.

I love the pipe being smoked by the figure below.  It gives an air of nonchalance about these players, who are not playing for money but for the glory of being there - they have bravado and showmanship oozing out of them!

I used mostly Vallejo, Miniature Paints and Foundry paints on these. I use surprisingly few GW paints anymore (mainly because I got confused when they kept changing colours a few years back) and I just prefer the other paints more. The washes are the very effective Army Painter washes.

Below we have them on the pitch!  I really am looking forward to playing these now. Painted figures are so much more fun (but will probably get a thrashing every time).  Does this mean that I have to paint the opposing Orcs now? 

As much as I really enjoyed painting these and succeeding in the real challenge of moving out of my comfort zone, I am looking forward to getting back to some 'proper history' again. I have a few options on my desk so we will see what takes my interest next...

...or shall I buy a team of Goblins....hmmmmm....!

Wargaming Show - Attack 2024 - Devizes, England

 

Now, if I had given this some thought beforehand, I would have taken lots of photos of the show and the town and published them all on here.

Unfortunately I was so focussed on my shopping list and getting the essentials for projects I'm working on that I didn't think of photos until afterwards. It was only as I was thinking that I ought to make a record of what I bought today and who I bought it from for future record that the thought occurred to me that I could have given you a lot more!

What I will say is that Devizes is one of those shows that is held in about 3 halls at a secondary education school in Devizes Wiltshire.

I have been attending for over well over 30 years and missed only a few.  I understand from the programme that the show is in it's 43rd year.

There were something like over 30 traders, from the large to the small and probably in excess of 10 games in progress.

It is a very friendly show as it is not overcrowded. There is time to chat and indeed, going on the Sunday (it is a two day show), I was able to walk around with ease with a mug of coffee in my hand. Try this at some shows when you are assailed by tartan trolleys, walking sticks, daysacks and beer bellies (thinking of Colours at the  Hexagon in Reading in the early 90's!).

It not being overcrowded is great. I was able to chat with traders and learned a lot about new developments in the hobby (e.g. upgraded Vallejo Model Color paints) and examine lots of things I had seen on blogs and in the wargaming press but had not physically seen before.  I should mention the 'Kingmaker' boardgame re-released last year.  This really is quite sumptuous!  I can see myself purchasing that!

I was also able to take a good look at terrain - something that is often hard to examine at a busy show and even harder to carry out!  As a result I was able to buy a very nice pack of Jungle terrain at discounted price.  This will go a long way towards my Burma WW2 project.  I also spent time looking at grass tufts and finding alternatives to the very expensive German tufts that I have been buying in recent years (and frequently are unobtainable).

I was able to find Average dice, a new larger brush and some of the new Army Painter Fanatic paints for a new project. I also bought a Japanese tank from Early War Miniatures.

I really didn't think I would spend much today at the show, but I came away £150 or so lighter but very pleased with today's purchases.  Ian, who also kindly drove there, was of the same opinion - there was an awful lot of really nice thing to buy and it was great to have the space to examine things properly.

Food and drink (a topic close to most wargamer's hearts and not in a good way), is very well priced. Very little seemed to cost more than a pound.  We opted to walk the short journey into the centre of town for lunch.

The town of Devizes is quirky and with so much character. Many of the buildings are 18th Century and of red brick. The countryside around it is spectacular with the Wessex Downs nearby. Civil War history is in abundance. The town being besieged by Waller and the battlefield of Roundway Down is just above the town on the A361 towards Avebury. The road goes into a valley with Long Barrows on either side - a very mystical landscape. 

Visitors coming from a distance would be well advised to make a whole long weekend of it and explore the history of the area and the scenery and then go to the show on the Sunday to fill your car for the journey back!

All in all, a great wargaming show. I will take photos next time!

20mm - WW2 British 14th Army - Burma - AB Figures

 

A jump forward in time since posting my Spartans last time!  I have long had an interest in the war in Burma and the increase of books in my book case for this period has probably seen the largest growth on any shelf in recent years.  I think George Macdonald Fraser's book 'Quartered Safe Out Here' was the one greatest inspiration to wanting to learn a lot more.  

The publication of the 'Far East Handbook' by the Too Fat Lardies, was the final inspiration to really get this project underway. I had been holding on for it.  I like 'Chain of Command' a lot as a rule set.

Of course this leads to which figures to purchase for the project (unless one buys the figures first and then gets the books to find out more!).  

I think for me it was always going to be a skirmish game for this period. It just fits better with the short range actions which seem to be a frequent occurrence in the memoirs.  A platoon sized action or a company at maximum.  

I was looking to use 28mm figures at first but found few ranges which really interested me. I bought a section of Warlord Games Chindits, but found I needed to do work to make them look half decent. I might have been unlucky, but there were damaged guns, flashing issues, an absence of slings on rifles and LMG's etc.   I thought the figure range limited too.

Having operated in a jungle environment for 7 months on a deployment, I learned 3 things.  Moving through jungle is HARD.  You need both hands at times just to move - rifle slings are a must.  The other two things are: - jungle is frequently uphill or downhill (usually up!), and the other is the mud - it's everywhere, slippery, clingy, sticky mud.  I guess I could add other things, being constantly wet and exposed skin will be bitten, cut and bitten some more!

So I wanted to have figures who had a 'look' about them. Like they actually had been in that environment.  I saw these figures by AB Figures and realised they were the ones (they have slings too - the small details make me happy!).

I hadn't planned on going to 20mm. It's almost like it's the scale that wargamer grow out of when we move on from Airfix. Yet, as I am discovering, the scale has so much going for it.  Not least the perception of a lot more table space as the 20mm figures appear so much smaller than 28mm.   I can also use plastic kits for vehicles etc.

The AB Figures are fabulous.  I just wish the range was larger even though they really have a lot covered. The support weapons and choice between helmets and bush hats should really be sufficient for me.  There are no Japanese troops that I can see, but Eureka who stock the range in the UK have their own figures which are also very nice indeed.

One thing I really like about this scale is that washes can do a lot of the work. This is good as I am more 'time poor' these days than probably ever before  (I really must retire early!).  The sculpting really helps as it is well defined.  I was determined not to over-do work on these and ignore anything that did not need painting.  Washes and dry brushing did pretty well everything.  

I applied Vallejo Green Grey 70.886 as the basic colour for the uniform and webbing.  I later searched online (after painting the troops!) to see what other's use for the uniform and was pleased to see the same shade was chosen by others too.  I was keen to leave quite a lot of dark wash in the folds. Sweat will leave the shirts almost black green anyway. Webbing will lose colour and blend with wet and sweat. Dry brushing picked it out well enough.

I didn't darken the skin too much other than to apply a flesh wash over the basic Foundry Flesh 5 B.  I found in my own experience again, that troops go very tanned in rear echelon locations, but those who have been in the jungle for a while come out looking very pale indeed. Probably an effect of constantly wet skin too as well as lack of sunlight.  I read of the centre of Burma being largely open, with dusty plains too. It's easy to over think this stuff when putting paint on figures and picking the right shades!

I really like the support options.  The mortars and Vickers MG's have ammunition boxes etc on the bases or added to include.  This really adds interest and realism to it for me.

Below we have a 2" mortar team, A Bren team and a PIAT.

So when will I get these on the table? Well I will almost certainly be using Chain of Command so I won't need too many troops. I have followed my usual method of painting leaders with different coloured base edges for quicker identification during the game.  I have yet to formally organise these troops into sections yet but I will do. I just painted them up by the bag as I opened them!

I should start on the Japanese I purchased, though as the typical wargamer, now I have painted greens and bland colours, I really feel the need to paint redcoats and lace and all those good things!