Wot's that then!

        You know the feeling, a little whisper in the back of your head. A nagging idea that you've forgotten or misplaced something. That sneaking suspicion that, even though you can see that you have finished the job, something isn't right. Yeah. Ever since I finished my Middle Ages figures a few weeks ago I had that feeling. A shadow at the edge of my vision. Just yesterday I found out why.

        As I was sorting things to bring to Pro or Con to give away  I began moving boxes in the depths of The Vault, particularly in the Heap of Embarrassment when I found an oddly light box. "What would have possessed me to put an empty crate this far back into the corner?" was the thought that passed my mind as I opened it up and found these guys lurking inside.

 

thirty-six more figures, mounted no less, sigh 

I reviewed them ages ago and had it in my mind that I had given them away

       Now I have to track down The Muse and chain her to my workbench so that I will these done before the end of the year....

"To the moon, Alice. To the moon!"

        If you are old enough to recognize that quote I hope your arthritis is doing better than mine. A friend, Zhodani Commando, called recently asking if he could get me to handle a rush-job terrain feature. He is planning on running a campaign game at Pro or Con on the 27th of September. Normally I prefer more than two weeks notice but the job seemed simple enough; he needed a bit of moonscape, steep hills to block line of sight and provide safe areas to maneuver. I agreed and drew up some sketches of the hills that would meet his needs (see below), he gave it the "thumbs-up" and I was off to the workshop.

 

I try to make terrain in a way that allows it to be used in more way than one

 

quatering the hill allows for two hills at the edge of the table 

or one larger one on the playing surface 

Just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you

        This one is for my buddy Housemartin.

 

"The Lady of The Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by Divine Providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. 

That is why I am your King!"

Upcoming Wargaming Conventions, Pro-or-Con 2025 September 27th

        One of the sure signs that Autumn is here and the local "convention season" has begun is the annual Pro or Con wargaming convention. This event has been running for simply ages and is always a fun and friendly convention. Three sessions of games, an expansive Flea Market, on site food and drink (adult beverages as well after 1500hrs), a raffle and a low entry fee combine to make this a superb way to spend a Saturday. Mark your calendar now and be sure to get there early so you can look through the Flea Market before play starts.Several local Brick & Mortar stores will be in attendance to expand the ways you can spend your hobby dollars.

       You can look at the scheduled games and pre-register at Tabletop Events. 

       This event will run from 8am to 11pm at the Elks Lodge at 31117 Plymouth Road Livonia MI.

And "POOF" it's gone

        I have been on a painting bender for the last three months (as much as I hate painting, I absolutely refuse to play with un/semi-painted minis) grinding out forty mounted figures and 153 foot minis. I do try to answer The Muse on the rare occasions that she calls to me and I get the urge to paint. Largely in an effort to get through as many of my unpainted minis as I can before I die (an impossible task, to be certain). But, today, the fickle nymph that she is, she has moved on. I sat and looked at a tray full of primed Gauls, paintbrush in hand, paints arrayed all around me, and .....nothing. Not even a hint of any energy to apply paint. I guess that the Gauls will have to wait; the poor things have been waiting for literally years! 

       On the other hand the itch to make some terrain has fortuitously matched with a request from a buddy for some "moonscape",  bleak hills and craters and such. I guess it is just time to shift gears.

Better Markers for Midgard, Part II

        Pleased as I was with my markers for Heroic Actions in 15mm I decided to further explore markers for other aspects of the game in a less scale-specific manner. I recently built several boxes worth of Middle Ages Knights and foot soldiers and one of the hidden bonuses of plastic minis are the "spare bits", these would provide basic components of my markers. Stamina Hits and Shot Markers are two of the most common ones that will be used on the table (I made some shot markers using spare arrows but they are proving fragile during use). I gathered up spare shields and quivers for this little exercise then cut a bunch of 20mm squares out of matte board and got to work.

 

I went with square markers to distinguish them from the Heroic Action markers

there are loads more shields, I used small ones starting out

small blobs of Liquid Nails form the base of the build

 

I smoothed the glue with a wet fingertip (no licking! I'm watching you!)

once a skin had formed on the glue I stuck the shields down on the base

 

quivers were stuck down in a drop of TiteBond,

I decided to give an upraised sword a try as a Charging/Following-Up marker

 

once it all had a chance to dry a quick visit to the paint shop and they were ready

the arm rising out of the ground holding the sword seems a bit out of Monty Python

I may have to re-think that

        This is an experiment, we are currently using casualty caps (very unsightly) to mark Stamina Hits and small cubes in red and green for Shot and Charging markers. It remains to be seen if we are organized enough to keep the markers with their relevant units during play. Small loss if they don't work out, but as they are essentially free, a great bonus if they do.

A wee bit of painting, 25mm Hinchliffe Middle Ages spearmen

        I had a few hours to kill and was trying to avoid any big projects but the Muse wouldn't leave me alone. Forced as I was to find something to paint I dug these elderly warriors out of the Mountain of Shame and gave them an Old-School style paintjob to match the figures that I painted thirty years ago. Then I based them up for Midgard and sent them to their barracks.

 

simple figures from a more simple time

 

the dark faces are an artifact of the lighting, not an overly energetic application of wash

 

I will have to scrounge up a flag or two for them

Taking The Whip Into the Shop For Some Work, or, Middle Eastern Re-Armament

        The Housemartin is a fearless buyer of things via the internet and his eagle-eye had spotted many a deal over the years (especially painted figures, he likes painting no more than I). On occasion this can backfire as things are mislabeled or dishonestly presented, but on the whole he has done very well. The biggest risk is when the minis are turned over to the attentions of the USPS or UPS for shipping; any sort of misadventure can befall even the most carefully packaged goods. Recently he came to me with an Assyrian heavy chariot that was much worse the wear from its travels to see if there was something that I could do to bring it back into service. And so, I says to the lad, we'll take a look.

 

honestly, I've seen worse

Making the markers more attractive

        One of the aspects of Midgard that some people object to is the use of markers to indicate Heroic Actions and types of status. We have been using small colored cubes to represent such things on our gaming table. It occurred to me that using markers more in tune with the rest of the painted minis on the table would be less jarring and add to the enjoyment. As I was once again rebasing minis onto Midgard bases (out of the Jon Williams Memorial Collection, R.I.P.Little Jon!) I had some spare minis. I decided to base individual minis on pennies to use as markers for Heroic Actions (instead of the blue cubes that we have been using up until now).  I think That you will agree that this is an improvement.

 

notice the blue cubes near the Command Stands, how unsightly!

 

 

now, instead of blue cubes, there are actual attendants!

SO much more attractive

 

       I like this development and am now trying to come up with similar markers to use instead of the ones currently employed. Little piles of skulls for Stamina hits?  Bloody swords for Charging/Following Up? Empty quivers for Shot markers may be to hard to model......

Artaxerxes Triumphant, Midgard in the Ancient World

 

 

in a fabulous display of cunning cunningness Artaxerxes directs his troops to victory

         Having presented The Housemartin with his new commander we decided to put him to use directly. Basing our armies on the venerable WRG army lists we both drew up forces to reflect our understanding of the historical armies. Housemartin chose Later Imperial Persian while I went with Later Hoplite Greek. A die roll decided that the Greeks would be the aggressors so the Persians deployed first. Below you will find a photo of the armies deployment.

 

you will notice a tiny hillock under the Persian Emperor,

 this has no tactical value but is there simply to grant him the proper level of grandeur

Wargames Atlantic Medieval Shield Decals

       I just picked these up (sad to say a few weeks too late to go on MY figures) and they look great! brilliant colors, crisp lines and specifically designed to fit on the shields of Wargames Atlantic minis (they would most likely work on a lot of other companies products). If your painting skills are anything like mine you will rejoice in the idea of not having to try to paint heraldry on a shield less than a half-inch square. Another big plus is that these are water-slide decals so there won't be any fussing about with those bothersome dry-transfer decals! Just remember to paint your shields white and put a coat of gloss on the shield before you apply the decal and you will be good to go.

       My only complaint is the set of "battle-damaged" decals.  Knights would avoid being seen with such under any circumstances aside from mid-battle. Shields were inexpensive and knights kept back-ups, particularly if jousting. Additionally, if I felt the desire to have "battle-damaged" shield on my minis I could easily enough create the effect on my own with a razor-knife and a dash of paint.

UPDATED: Cool old minis Xerxesbates the distractions!

 

       I would love to blame some medical condition for my gnat-like attention span but I must admit it is the product of a near total lack of discipline. Having dug out some minis from the Mountain of Shame I foolishly decided to catalog them. Seemed like a nice, orderly sort of thing to do as long as I had them all out. What a mistake that proved to be! Half-remembered projects from years (decades!) gone by left me nostalgic for the days when Hinchliffe was the King of Minis and hordes of new releases were announced monthly in the British wargaming magazines. 

          Then I stumbled across this pack (actually there are TWO of these, The Lord alone knows why I thought I needed two, I no longer recall). All bets were off and the cataloging project fell away like leaves in the Autumn. I NEEDED to paint this set-piece for my buddy The Housemartin (he being in possession of a Persian army).

 

unlike the freak depicted in The 300, 

Xerxes was actually a pretty chill dude who liked to dress in the latest fashions