Bikou and another Wargaming Show

So I'm still working on the mission to clear my painting desk, which is just as well as I'm now starting to paint presents for Christmas, as well as getting started on the next article for the Ancible.  My latest finished piece is Bikou from Bushido.

She's painted in the same colour scheme as the Prefecture of Ryu warband I painted for the Ancible Issue 11.  The black was done slightly differently though:

• Base coat:  Chaos Black
• First highlight: Vallejo Model Colour German Grey (big thanks to Pirate Viking Painting for recommending this one)
• Second highlight:  Adeptus Battlegrey
• Final highlight:  Codex Grey
• Glaze:  Very diluted Chaos Black was painted thinly over the black to tone down the highlights

I know the red and yellow aren't exactly "Ninja colours" but I wanted her to tie in with the rest of the Prefecture guys.  This is also why I used the ubiquitous GW grass - if I could do it again, I'd get rid of the GW stuff and use some more realistic stuff for all of them, but hey, it's done now and it doesn't look bad.  In the next week or so I'll post up some pictures of the whole group

The skin tones are different to my normal method:

• Base coat:  P3 Beast Hide
• Shade:  1:1 mix of Gryphonne Sepia and Leviathan Purple
• First highlight:  Beast Hide
• Second highlight:  Beast Hide and Ryn Flesh
• Final highlight:  Ryn Flesh

As I've mentioned before, the base is from Dark Templar's rather splendid Malcontent range of resin bases - the bamboo set fit the Bushido game perfectly.  I haven't seen many other Japanese themed resin bases about, so if you're thinking of giving Bushido a try, get some quality funky bases to match!  Here's another picture to show how my first attempt at green stuff worked with the base and the tree trunk of the model:

Bikou was a blast to paint, really simple and fun, and it was nice to add something to the original Starter set. I'm going to get my hands on Mikio (crikey, not sure whether I can do something that looks THAT good), and the yet to be released Shujenga who I think is going to rock in the colour scheme I have.

Last weekend I attended Warfare in Reading.  It was very much in the mould of Colours, but maybe a little smaller.  It was mostly Historical wargaming (particularly the traders stands), but I managed to find some really good stuff:

• The Deadly Gamesman from Black Scorpion - a fantastic miniature, absolutely oozing character
• Mad Jim Jones again from Black Scorpion - I know I was going to get Elven Pirates, and I still might one day, but this chap was far too good to pass up.  To be honest I could have spent SO much money at Black Scorpion, but I have enough to paint already and I may have had an unhappy wife if I'd come back with too much!
• For a long time I've hankered after a Freebooter's Fate miniature, so I got myself Apagado - not the most colourful miniature by any means, but one that I think suits my painting style pretty well.
• 30mm Dockside Bases from Kerr and King - these are pretty fantastic and I bought them specifically for the Black Scorpion pirates (of which I only have one so far...)

So not the biggest haul, but I got to meet some interesting people, and see some really interesting stuff, and come away with some good ideas.  The range of scenery you can buy at these shows is astounding - well worth a visit just for that.  I can thoroughly recommend Oshiro they are really high quality and fantastic looking.

I really hope I can make it to Salute next year...

I'm currently painting the Fellowship of the Ring (a present for someone), then I'm going to do a little more to my Eldar army, and get started on my Malifaux crew.

As always, comments and criticism welcome!

Corinium - Planet under attack

This is something a little different to my other projects.  I've had this idea for a themed Imperial Guard army knocking around in my head for a few years now, and I thought I'd have it going as a side project to all the other stuff I'm doing.

The Basic Premise

The planet of Corinium (the Roman name for the English town of Cirencester in case anyone was wondering) has been hit hard by enemy attack and the Imperial forces are in disarray.  The incompetent planetary military commander, Nero, has been deposed by his second-in-command and the Comissarriat.  The general staff are trying desperately to rally the forces into some semblance of order, and a hastily arranged defence managed to drive the enemy back from the main hives, but both communications and command structure have broken down.

Strong-point B, Industrial Quarter, Capital Hive 

Strong point B is under the command of Captain Augustus and a small group of veterans, which has become the rallying point for the remaining forces dispersed by the blitz attack of the enemy in that area.  Commanding an ad-hoc force of troops and armour from several different regiments, Augustus is ordered to hold Strong-point B at all costs.

With that little bit of background in mind, a few examples of the troops involved:

Veterans:  The Corinium V Regiment, "The Green-coats"

These chaps form the core of Augustus' force, battle hardened and arrogant, they make up part of the Governors household guard.  They're originally blue-blooded aristocrats (there's a large upper class on Corinium), but exemplary soldiers from other regiments join their ranks as a "reward".  These non-aristos continually have to prove themselves to their aristocratic comrades.  

I love the Vostroyan models and I think they make great veterans, and by calling them the 5th Regiment, I can keep the "V" on their uniforms.  Another example of my "base everything in Charadon Granite and wash with Badab Black".  The green was Orkhide Shade highlighted with Goblin Green (I think) and then Rotting Flesh.  The ornamented armour and antique looking guns fits in well with the idea of household guard.

Citizen Soldiers: Planetary Defence Force, 38th Regiment

When the attack came, these men left their places of work, grabbed their uniform and lasgun and headed for their assembly point.  I grabbed the small box of two-piece guardsmen to see what they were like to paint.  I want them to look like part time soldiers, with older equipment and mismatched uniforms.

More of the Charadon Granite/Badab Black based colour scheme.  When I get the rest of the unit, there will be some with grey jackets and khaki trousers.  The idea is that they look like the first British troops that went to Afghanistan with their mismatched camo.  The green here isn't the same as for the Corinium V, I highlighted Orkhide Shade with added Codex Grey.

The poses on these soldiers aren't great, but they were quick to paint and look effective.  In the narrative they will arrive at Strong-point B in a dilapidated Chimera, called "Nero's Chariot" - I have a second hand Chimera with no frills, which will fit the role perfectly.  This will be stripped down, detailed and repainted.

Off-Worlders:  Glevum 4th Recon

When news of the impending attack of Corinium reached Glevum (the Roman name for Gloucester - anyone spot a theme?), they sent two regiments to Corinium.  The 72nd Armoured Regiment was destroyed in space by an enemy ambush, but the 4th Recon made planetfall hours before the enemy assault on the planet.  The 4th are very mobile scouting troops, used to fighting in the industrial landscape of Glevum, and did as much to stem the enemy tide as any regiment in defence of the main hives.  Quiet and ruthless, the 4th excel at ambushing overconfident invaders in the narrow streets of Corinium's urban centres

I inherited these old metal Catachans from a friend who had given up the hobby a long time ago.  The lasguns are a little chunkier than the newer plastic examples, but they still look good.  In the 10 man squad I have a chap with a Meltagun and a Missile Launcher team, which will need to be re-based (I don't like the WFB Cavalry bases in WH40K).

The group shot shows them all together - I'm hoping they don't look too diverse and can work as a cohesive(ish) army?  There's still plenty of background for me to come up with, plus I have some other stuff to work in:

• 5 Attilan Rough Riders - after trying my arm with green stuff, I'm going to have a go at converting these into the Corinium Horseguards, a la John from Santa Cruz Warhammer.  They'll have been rushed to the front to help anyway they can, even though Cavalry will be difficult to use in an urban environment
• 1 very old Commissar model - I can imagine the general staff dispatching Commissars to the front ASAP to get morale back in order
• 1 Sentinel (I'll probably get another one too) - I'm going to make this fit in with the dilapidated Chimera, so it looks like they've sent out all the mothballed armour and weapons they can find.  I won this one in a painting competition at the Swindon GW store and haven't done anything with it yet...

I think that's about all I have for now, please let me know what you think.  I doubt I'll do much more than 500-750 points worth as it's a narrative/modelling project that I'd like to field at the GW store occasionally, but you never know.  As the narrative grows I might want to build more into it - I've just started playing World Of Tanks, so that might have an effect...

As always comments and criticism welcome!

The Ancible Issue 12

Today Issue 12 of the Ancible has been released!

Download Link

Articles:

• Incursion SNAFU
• Watching Paint Dry:  For this issue I've painted some Doctor Who stuff
• Twilight:  The fantasy miniatures game, NOT the teen Vampire stuff
• Discworld:  A great board game, the Walker household are big fans
• Wargods
• Confrontation

With the latest article done and dusted, I should be able to catch up on some of my own painting for a bit - there are a few things still left to finish on the painting table, then it's on to some cool new stuff.

(So that one post a week plan went well then...)

As always, comments and criticism welcome!