More monkeying around with video

       More playing with Picverse. I have no urge to paint right now so I waste time doing this.  

 

sometimes it works fairly well

 

 

and then, there are times when it's surprisingly good 

 

and then, other times when it doesn't want to follow instructions

28mm Wargames Atlantic Civilians & Survivors (2) Women

       We have the women who have been "lucky" enough to have survived the Fall of Civilization (via the cause of your choice; zombies, viruses, robot revolution, politics etc. etc.).  Armed to the teeth and wearing comfortable shoes these ladies are ready to tackle the toughest situations. There is none of the fantasy/scifi archetypes here; everyone is normally proportioned and decently dressed.The figures are normally and naturally proportioned and are of slighter build than the male survivors. The six figures are all standing and want heads and arms for completion. 

 

Taking a break from moving the library

 

 

       I found this silly video animation software and decided to give it a try animating my avatar. It will animate still photos or create pictures from text descriptions. It is a bit clunky and only provides a few seconds worth of video (unless you want to pay for the extended suite of products). I momentarily thought of using it for wargame battle reports but found it to be a bit tedious for my impatient temperament.

 

Battlefields 2026 21MARCH26

 

a game I ran a while back 

      One of the surest signs of Spring is the appearance on my calendar of the Battlefields Warming Convention. This year it will be hosted by the Pro-Or-Con guys on 21MAR26 at a new location. This is always a great convention with an impressive Flea Market and a friendly relaxed atmosphere. Sessions run from 9am-1pm, 2pm-6pm and 7pm-11pm and games run from skirmish-level actions to battalion sized games. Admission is a paltry $15.00, there is an on-site bar and a food truck will be in attendance with plenty of nearby restaurants. 

        You can find the full information and register on the Tabletop Events website. Better yet sign up to run a game. I will be running a Midgard game, I hope to see you there.

28mm Wargames Atlantic Civilians and Survivors (1) Men

        So the (Zombie, Plague, Economic Collapse, et al)  Apocalypse has come and gone and you are one of the "lucky" survivors. You have to head out into the Brave New World and do that whole survival thing. Well, Wargames Atlantic has just released a set of 24 male survivors so you can play out your mission before heading out into the madness. This set provides six different poses, all standing and moving with varying degrees of alacrity. The heads (as usual, lots of them) and arms are all cast as individual items to provide maximum flexibility. You can send your guys out bare-knuckled or armed with a good variety of modern assault rifles, and just about anything in between (I am certain this  set will be popular with converters such as I who will revel in the endless opportunities with all the spare arms and armaments). 

       On the technical side there are four sprues with the minis in them and three sprues of extra arms and firepower. All of these are molded in the medium gray plastic that is standard with Wargames Atlantic products without a trace of flash and only the slightest of mold-lines. These will also mix nicely with the other sets from Wargames Atlantic, so I can look forward to grafting arms and heads back and forth between the existing ranges. You can model anything from "peaceful protestors" to the street gangs of a Third-World favela. 

 

 

28mm Wargames Atlantic Agents

 

       Wargames Atlantic brings us this new set of Agents, 28mm heroes and heroines that can act as executive bodyguards, Secret Service or FBI agents, spies, MI-5/6 agents, SVR/GRU/FSB goons,  high-end bank robbers (Oceans 11+) or even the notorious Men in Black. The potential for scenarios using these is virtually limitless. Creating a Scully and Mulder team to investigate GW Chaos types would be the basis for an interesting RPG campaign.

       Inside you will find four sprues in the usual gray plastic, carefully cast with no trace of flash and only the finest of mold-lines. Each sprue has six minis on it, four male and two female, mostly dressed in suit and ties (one of the females is in a shirt and plate carrier) all standing as if walking or poised to react. There is the usual superabundance of heads, most of them wearing the inevitable Ray-Bans! Weapons span from semi-auto pistols to full-auto bullpups, with shotguns, rifles and SMGs along the way. All are crisply cast and nicely detailed.

       The minis themselves are well proportioned and realistically posed. The clothing drapes over the figure well with sharply sculpted edges that will greatly ease painting. All proportions are normal, no huge heads and hands so often found from other mini manufacturers. The separate arms and heads gives a huge array of options during assembly, from almost casual to "Code Red".

 

Wargames Atlantic Trench Crusade Prussian Stosstruppen Warband

  

        My son had subscribed to the Trench Crusade Kickstarter which rather left me out of things (he is an all-or-nothing lad and bought all of the warbands) so I was excited to see that the Prussian Stosstruppen were being released by Wargames Atlantic as an individual item. I also found the aesthetic very much to my liking so buying a set was a no-brainer. In fact, as cool as this minis are, I might have just purchased them to assemble and paint even if the price-tag is a bit stiff.

       Inside the box you will find the usual Wargames Atlantic fare; medium gray plastic, precisely molded without a hint of flash and very fine mold-lines. This set breaks with tradition in that there aren't twenty to forty minis, just eight figures on two sprues. There are the usual abundance of optional arms/hands/heads/weapons that we have come to expect so you are free to customize your squad to your tastes.  The breakdown of the minis is highly reminiscent of Games Workshops current offerings with legs being cast as individual items, torsos split between front and back and a horde of separate items such as grenades to add to the minis. This does allow MUCH finer detail of the model but will complicate assembly (and there are no assembly instructions included). On the other hand you aren't building forty minis, just eight, so the task should not be too overwhelming.

Spartacon Photo Gallery

Everyone else cowered before the might of Mother Nature and stayed home, but your faithful servant, the Housemartin, braved the elements went to the event.  That and to see my kid who lives on the other side of our state.  These pictures are taken in a counter clockwise pattern from the hall entry.  

Flintcon 2026 coming soon too! February 7th

 

       Another great gaming opportunity is Flintcon 2026 held this year on February 7th at the St. Paul Lutheran Church and School located at 402 South Ballenger Highway in Flint Michigan 48532. They always have a good variety of games and one of the best Flea Markets of any con.  They have a Facebook page and a Website

Just two weeks to SpartaCon 2026

 

        Always a fun event! More information available on their Facebook page

10mm Wargames Atlantic Skeletons

 

 

 

       Ages ago I gave up painting minis below 15mm, the metal models were expensive, fragile and poorly detailed. Recently Wargames Atlantic (and Warlord, to be fair) have brought the magic of high-tech injection molding to the world of tiny wargames minis.  The results are quite impressive. I had to use a magnifier to fully appreciate the detail on these tiny figures, they are as good as minis several times their size. They are cleanly cast in a firm gray plastic that reflects the finest of detail without a trace of flash and only the faintest hint of mold-lines. 

       The set come complete with bases and has a vast horde of variously-armed skeletal warriors including command, musicians (I was going to ask how a skeleton uses a trumpet, but we have accepted that skeletons can walk and fight so I will just be quiet), casualties (the re-dead un-dead?) and a smattering of highly detailed tiny skulls. 

28mm Wargames Atlantic American Revolutionary War British Grenadiers

         As a companion piece to the Minutemen Wargames Atlantic brings us the grenadier company of the 5th Regiment of Foot. This regiment served against the colonies for the first two years of the war before shipping out to the West Indies. It took part in various battles, including Lexington and Bunker Hill (both 1775), Long Island (1776) and Brandywine Creek (1777). These figures could also serve as the Grenadier company of other regiments as the differences in uniform were nominal. 

       The minis are molded in a firm gray plastic that shows detail very well, there is no flash and only traces of mold-lines. The sculpting is first-rate, details are well defined and cleanly cast, the abundant creases and wrinkles clearly reflect the tight-fitting uniforms of the period. There is a limited selection of heads (the troops not being allowed a choice of headgear). I do very much like that the backpack, cartridge box and sabre are cast as a separate piece that can be attached after the belts and straps have been painted, it greatly eases the chore of painting. The figures are normally proportioned and posed, no giant hands or strange huge heads so often seen on metal minis. The muskets and bayonets are a tad on the thick side but not so sturdy as to look odd.

 

the front of the box,

some very nicely painted minis