Painting - Rhys - Oathmark elves and fantasy Bones

  This week I painted more elves. And some more fantasy Bones. These are Oathmark elves and I like them a lot better than the GW ones.

These are Oathmark from Northstar. I bought them and put them together all by myself.

Painting - Rhys - Challenge XIV entry

 This week is a mix of Sci-fi (Star Wars Legion) and Sci-Fi. First off I'm finally done with the elves. This is the wizard for them. She was really hard to paint. 

There is so much detail on this model. I tried really hard to make her look right but she was very hard. Dad showed me a sculpture where it looks like she is wearing something over her face and this model has the same thing. (edit: the Veiled Virgin by Giovanni Strazza)

She has parts of the model going in all different directions.

Painting - Rhys Challenge XIV Rebel Troopers

  This week's entry is Star Wars Legion Rebels from Atomic Mass Games. I recently started playing Rebels, like my dad. I was playing clones but they didn't really fit my play style. The rebels seem to be better.

24 Rebel Troopers. Ready to die gloriously and loudly for the Rebellion.

Painting - Rhys for Challenge XIV

  I completed some more models after my last entry was ready to go. First off is two more of these elves. I'm really close to being done with them. 

Two more leaders. One for spears and one for bows.

Painting - Rhys - Space Marines and Fantasy

  I'm getting close to being done with my Space Marines (which I like painting) and my elves, which I really don't like painting. I also have some other models for this week.

Painting - Rhys' second entry

 This is Rhys' second entry to the Challenge. He painted four different things this time. Some fantasy and some sci/fi.

First up is the commander for his High Elves.

Very fancy model. Rhys wanted him to stand out with gold.

Painting - AHPC XIV

 My name is Rhys and I'm 19 and special needs. This year I really got into painting, I love it so much. I'm super excited to be part of the Challenge this year.

My first entry is three Space Marine snipers from Games Workshop. My dad tells me these count as 28mm even though they are bigger than they used to be.

Space Marine snipers.

Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge - XIV

 For the first time in several years (six if I count correctly) I will be participating in the AHPC painting challenge. As a twist, this year Rhys will be participating with me. 

Three months of prolific output and great looking models.

Painting - Abyssal Dwarves from Mantic

Here are three more models from Rhys' Abyssal Dwarf force for Kings of War. He got the starter army for his birthday, in December. I was able to get the unit of slave orcs painted before his birthday, but the task master and his "dog" had to stay hidden since he would have known what they were.

Gaming - Rangers of Shadow Deep - The first scenario

Last weekend the boys and I played our second game of Rangers of Shadow Deep, though we just played the first scenario a second time. We each had a ranger and two companions. There were a couple of times things got tense, but nine of us seemed to make short work of the zombies, rat swarms and giant bugs that had infested the village.

Starting positions

Painting Progress

This group of models is the last of 2019. They are the Abyssal Dwarf Slave Orcs from Mantic that I painted for my son's birthday. I still need to do the slave master and his ugly dog to finish the unit off, but his was eighteen orcs completed. The keen eyed among you will notice that there are not 18 orcs on the base. I saved off four to make the next unit that much faster.

14 Orcs, ready for the battlefield

Kings and Things

I was digging through more boxes from my parent's house and found this old gem in one of them. My sister, cousins and I played endless hours of this game as children. I bought it 1983 - I think.

The gaming effect.

I'm sitting here after a long day at work. I'm an introvert who doesn't get enough time to recover between days. I've fed the boys, cold cereal tonight; sometimes it's all I can manage. Rhys is at his desk next to me. He's got his head phones on as he watches a minecraft play video. That means he can't really hear himself as he plays.

His desk is covered with Lord of the Rings models and Star Wars models and 15mm Sci Fi. He has a drawer full of d6. He's playing a mixture of miniatures and role playing with rules of his own design. I'm not at all clear on how it works but he's describing each model's actions, "He uses his shield" "He swings his sword". The dice rolls have some hidden significance that escapes me.

 An hour of this is worth ten hours of introverted recovery.

X-Wing with the boys

The boys and I have gotten some more gaming in. This time around they both wanted to play some X-Wing. All things Star Wars are popular in my house right now.

The boys plotting their nefarious schemes.

Gaming with the boys

I've been playing a few games during the last few months. My main opponent for X-Wing moved to New Zealand. I haven't had a lot of time to get down to the shop. My main opponent has been Rhys.

Rhys, prior to deployment. He set up the terrain.

Entry 8 - Vth Analogue Painting Challenge - 1 15mm Sci/Fi Vehicle

This next entry is for my son Rhys.  He's been getting 15mm Sci/Fi models as rewards for doing well at school.  He and I play Gruntz together.  Part of the deal is that I'll paint them for him, though he likes painting his models as well.

Light tank for Gruntz.

28mm Barbarians

These are two 28mm Celtos barbarians that were given to Rhys years ago.  There were three in the package.  He asked me to paint two of them while he did the third.

Two barbarians, ready for action.

Gruntz Batrep - Patrol action on Malvee

Rhys played his first game of Gruntz the other day.  He has been collecting his army slowly over the last couple of months and I've been painting them for him.  He gets units or vehicles as rewards for being good at school.  As I've mentioned before, Rhys is special needs and having that goal helps.  I print out a picture of the model he's aiming for that week and put it in his folder so the teacher can remind him of his goal when necessary.

The buildings are from the Ion Age line.  I need to take a moment to gush here.  I've seen them online, and they look good, but I was not prepared for the quality of what I got.  These are on a par with the best in the business.  Sharp, clean and clever.  Buy some.  You will not regret it.  the turrets that come with these fit on their vehicles as well, giving you a huge number of options for both vics and buildings.

The following battle report is a squad level game between Rhys' Raiders and the 47th Infiltration Company.  We played on a single 2ft x 2ft table tile.

15mm Sci/Fi - Rhys' Raiders Bug APC

The Raiders are well known on the battlefields of the Fury March.  They are masters at combined arms, using tanks, infantry and mechs in close cooperation.  They use a common hull for both tanks and APCs, simplifying their logistics and maintenance.

The Bug APC is the standard model APC for the Raiders.  Able to carry ten fully equipped infantry/scouts it is fast and nimble.  

Bug APC of Rhys' Raiders.

Gruntz 15mm - Earth Force APC

I buy a lot of stuff from Rebel Minis.  They are located in the US, so no extortion from the Royal Mail.  They have great service and good sculpts, including my favorites, the Viper mechs.  I've built quite a bit of my 15mm collection out of their models.  They boys both want their own models and due to all of the above factors I ordered theirs from Rebel.

Rhys got his first, which is what drove Owyn's "need" for models of his own.  They both earned infantry right off the bat.  They had to be good at school to get their rewards, and one bad day cancelled the whole week.  Rhys' infantry can be found in this post.  He wanted them to look like clones.

To sweeten the deal I also bought them each a couple of vics.  Just like the infantry I queued up all of the various vehicles on the web site and let them choose what they wanted.  Rhys chose the Earth Force APC.

Turtle Mk 1 tank.