Rebel Vipers - Product Review

Product Description:  Rebel Minis recently released their small class of Mech in resin.  The VIPER comes in three different variants with two versions of each, one standing still and one advancing.  Each kit comes with the legs, the body and a sprue of the appropriate weapons options.  They stand approximately twice the height of a 15mm figure.  These are definitely light mechs.

Vipers, ready for action.

15mm Sahadeen

The Sahadeen have arrived.  They will form part of the second faction for my 15mm sci/fi universe, which is slowly taking form.

"Don't go anywhere".

Painted Romans

I have painted my first box of Romans.  I still need to put the decals on the shields and attach them, but I'm counting these as painted for April.

Command

Completed 15mm Sci/Fi

I have completed my first batch of 15mm figures.  These were a nice change of pace from 28mm.  Much faster to get done but still with nice detail.

Bike, Grav Scout and two of the infantry.

I have, deliberately, gone with a darker color scheme on these models.  We'll see how it looks on the table, but most of my armies are pretty light.  This is a departure for me.

15mm Sci/Fi III

I was so taken with the CMG models that I just had to get some paint on them and see how they looked.  I am going to be basing the infantry on washers.  That will allow me to transport them with magnets.  I don't have any washers of the appropriate size so I was not able to get them based and, therefore, basecoated.  The grav scout and the bike, on the other hand, were ready to go.

The CMG Grav Scout.

I'm very pleased with how this came out.

Painting Status III

I've been wrapping up my Haradrim army this month.  I don't think I'm going to make my goal of twenty painted models for March, but I'm really quite pleased with how these came out.  It's another twelve models.  Six Warriors with spears and then all of the heroes and specials.  I'll get my Betrayer painted up, to use instead of the generic Nazgul model I have been using, but that should be it on this army.  It's going to be used by the Traveller, while he decides if he is going to invest in the game or not.  I lent him the Fallen Realms army book so he can start making his own lists, instead of using mine.  If he chooses models that I don't have painted then I'll be re-visiting this army.  I suspect that Suladan may get painted in the next couple of weeks, for example.

Without further ado, here's the new additions.

All twelve models.  There is a ton of light on these guys, I don't know why they come out so dark.

Nuradan - front...

and rear.

Aladhi - front...

and rear.

Banner bearer front.  He is not part of the current list, but such a beautiful model...

From the rear.

The Master - front...

and back.  Every time I look at these pictures I find something I missed.

Hornblower - front...

and back.

Mumak Chieftan - front...

and back.

Six spearmen.

I'll do an army shot later today with all of the lads in one place.  It's in the seventies today so, as long as the wind doesn't kick up, I'll be varnishing this army later in the afternoon.  I had hoped to get it done by the first part of March.  That didn't work out but I'm still pleased with my progress.  Now I just need to step up the pace so I can get these 39 Elves and 104 Romans and 43 Celts done in a timely manner. 

Wet Pallet

I've read and heard about wet pallets for a couple of years now.  I did not really feel the need to try one out.  My painting was not very good and the tile I've been using as a pallet worked just fine.

Except that it didn't and I was dissatisfied every time I used it.  We generally run 25% humidity around here.  Add in the hot lights I paint under and my paint was drying out pretty quickly.  I have always hated to have paint dry out and be wasted.

I finally decided to try out a wet pallet.  I went down to Hobby Lobby and bought this:

Painting Status II

I have completed the rank and file of my army.  All I have left is to get them based and to finish up the hornblower and three heroes.  That will be my current list finished.  I'll do two more heroes, a chieftan and Suladan as well as finishing up the extra spears I have and knocking out more archers, but that's for next month.

Twelve new archers  for the force.

Painting Progress

With all of those Romans on the way I need to get cracking on finishing up my Haradrim.  I finished six more today, the Abrakhan Merchant's Guards.  That leaves me with twelve archers, the hornblower and the heroes.  These guys need some touch ups, and the whole army will get highlights and such once they are all done.  I'm trying to get these to table top standard so that I don't have to feel ashamed to throw down at the shop.

I've been nervous about these guys because I'm still not sure how I'm going to do their flesh.  They are going to be dark skinned, but I have to play with it and figure out the recipe.  Since these guys have so much flesh on them, they will show any mistakes the most.  For now I got around that by just leaving them the basecoat color.

Group shot, I need more lights for photography.

Painting and bases

I have completed another eight Haradrim.  Sadly I had eight more spears mostly done, which I won't need in my current list under Warbands.  This group is six archers and the final two spears.  I believe that puts me at eight models for February, which means I need to step it up if I'm going to get twenty done this month.

I'm painting all of these to basic table top standard.  I'll go back later and clean them up, fixing the capes, working on the faces and adding a few simple hightlights (all my skills will allow, simple).

The latest recruits to the army.  I have to figure out how to take better pictures.

Four Month Plan II

My original plan, found here, is going to have to change a little bit.  The new source books change things a lot.  I'm going to have to react to that, so...

Goal 1:  Have my entire Harad army painted.  This is not going to be done by the end of the league as I have to figure out what my new army is likely to look like.  I'm not going to paint figures that will not be making it into the list, long term.  I'll keep working on spears and bows and Abrakhan Merchant's Guards, since I know they will be in the list.  The rest will have to wait.

Painting Status I

This is my army list, to be painted by the end of the league, which I think is the end of February.  So it will be the end of the league or the end of the month, whichever comes last.

Haradrim King
Haradrim Taskmaster
Haradrim Chieftan w/ spear
Nazgul
6 x Abrakhan Merchant's Guards
1 x Haradrim Raider with Horn
1 x Haradrim Raider with banner
26 x Haradrim Raider with spear
14 x Haradrim Raider with bow

52 Models.

I have now painted 11 Haradrim Raiders with spears and 1 Nazgul.  They all still need to be based.

Test models - Harad

I have two test models done for my Harad army, as well as the Nazgul.  I use almost all Vallejo Game Color paints with GW washes and some metalics.  I also have some Army Painter Dark Tone dip as well as a can of Antique Walnut MINWAX.  Unless stated otherwise all colors are Vallejo.

League Night

Today is league night at Collectormania.  Last week I had to change my list and drop my Far Harad in order to comply with the league rule that you can only have one ally.  This rule was a holdover from the first round of the league when there were a whole bunch of new players and they wanted to keep it simpler for them.

After some discussion we have decided to open it up to the normal army building, Legions of Middle Earth, rules.  This will help people prepare for the Mayhem in the Mountains tournament in September.  They will get to build tournament legal armies and play against them as well.

After all of that, I have decided to keep my list the same for the rest of the league.  I'll be sticking to a list of Harad with a Nazgul allied in.  This will force me to learn to play the less great aspects of my army without the Far Harad crutch.  It will also simplify my painting and give me something to work on for the next round of the league.

I'm actually pretty sure I'll be able to stick to this decision, though a total shellacking tonight could test my resolution.

P.S.  I'm totally going to try to remember my camera tonight.

Four month plan

I re-read this blog last night, just to see where I've been.  That's the main reason I'm keeping it, to help myself track this hobby.  Here's some themes I took out of it.

1.  I need a deadline in order to paint.
2.  A goal of 20 models a month - painted is reasonable.
3.  I love terrain.
4.  I need more pictures.
5.  If you want to do something someone has to organize it.

Based on these five things here's what I am going to aim for.

1.  I am currently in a six week league at Collectormania.  I am going to aim to have my Haradrim list painted by the end.  This is a stretch goal, to say the least.  It will put me way above the 20 a month, but what the heck.
2.  I am going to paint more than 20 models in January.  I only have a week and a half left so I'd best get cracking.  February is going to be the same story.
3.  I am going to make some Harad specific terrain.  This will be done after the current league round.
4.  I will take my camera to the shop tomorrow night (Thursday) and I will take pictures of my games.
5.  I want to play in a campaign.  I have been planning to build a 3-D campaign map for the last couple of years.  My goal will be to complete that by the end of April.  That way we can play a campaign out in the league, two rounds from now.

So, nothing to grandiose but definitely some stretch goals there.

Painting Countdown VIII

Progress had continued despite my silence in recent days.  I have had to change my list, which means that I have one more model to paint, which I don't own yet.  Bummer.

On the plus side the rest of the army is done.  Everything is painted.  Everything is dipped/washed.  I have to do bases for everything but the rangers and Knights, but that will not take all that long.  I will hope to be able to get the WoMT this week.  If not then I will have to chop the spear off a WoMT and the sword off of a warrior of Rohan and call it good.  I'd prefer not to do that but, there you go, I need to have a back up plan.

Army II

I made a discouraging discovery last night.  My army is not legal.  I had forgotten that it is actually two armies that are allied together.  Per the Legions of Middle Earth (LoME) rules each one has to meet the bow limits of 33%.

Most of my army is from the Rangers of Ithilien list.  I allied in the Tower of Ecthelion in order to get Faramir with heavy armor and the knights.  What this means is that I had too many bows in the Ithilien contingent. 

After some tinkering in Army Builder I came up with the following:

(Tower of Ecthelion)
Faramir, heavy armor, shield
3 x Knights of Minas Tirith w/ shields

(Rangers of Ithilien)
Cirion
Warrior of Minas Tirith, shield, horn
6 x Rangers of Gondor w/ spear
10 x Rangers of Gondor
13 x Warrior of Minas Tirith w/ spear and shield
18 x Warrior of Minas Tirith w/ shield

Heroes:  2
Might:    6
Models:  53
Break Point : 27

This gives me 17 shoot 3, strength 2 shots a turn.  I still have three Knights for acting as reserves, grabbing objectives and moving bilbo's treasure and such around the board quickly.

If you have a passing familiarity with numbers you will see that 18 is more than 16. Sixteen is the number of WoMT with sword and shield in two boxes of WoMT.  That leaves me short.  Now I need to buy another box.  This is disapointing as I am finished with everything else.  All painting is done.  I need to finish basing and dull coat them, but other than that, I am done.

It also means that  I painted a bunch of models that I did not need to:
3 x Knights of Minas Tirith
2 x Rangers of Gondor
3 x Warriors of Minas Tirith w/ spear and shield

Army Painter

Army Painter is a new line of paints from the Netherlands.  They are colored primers and Quickshade dips.  I love these products.  Colored primers save a huge amount of time.  I used to use gallons of the Games Workshop bleached bone primer.

I have, so far, used the desert yellow, green and plate armor primers.  The desert yellow has worked flawlessly.  The Green has had some issues with pooling.  I have not used the quickshade dip yet, though I bought a can and I am retiring my Minwax. 

The coverage on the nozzels is perfect.  I only need a single pass to coat the model.  There is no loss of detail at all, unless you put too much on, which is true of any paint.  The nozzle doesn't clog up and the quality is consistent across all of the cans I have bought.  I have had issues with Privateer Press's primer being inconsistent between batches, and sometimes from the same can over time.

These primers save a lot of time, whether you use the dip or not.  They do not allow some of the shading techniques that are favored by expert painters who use black base coat, but they are fantastic for getting an army painted quickly. 

Dipping is a technique that some love and other hate, much like raw oysters.  If you use dipping then these primers are really a no brainer.  At $15 they run about the same as GW primer.

Current painting

I am currently working on five Rohirrim. One captain, on horse and four riders. Two with bows and two with shields. I am just about done with these five, to table top quality. After that I will paint a whole bunch of horses. I already have quite a few riders done so I need to get the horses caught up.

I am painting these to a very basic level, first go around. My goal is to get them "painted" and on the table. I do play with unpainted models, but it looks SOOOOO much better with painted that it is worth the effort. I especially feel bad putting gray or primer black models on the table when my opponent has painted their army.

Once I have my army painted I will go back and do some more work on them. I am going to go over the browns and greens with a painted on furniture stain. The lighter colors will get a brown wash, as will the armor and weapons. The metal will all get a hightlight. Mithril silver for weapons and armor. Gold of some sort for the bronze.

I will also base the models once they are all painted. I am going to go with a bestial brown base. The top will have sand/gravel PVA'd (elmers) down, then painted bestial, highlighted up to khaki. Stones gray with white highlights. Two colors of static grass will go on, as well as some longer grass if I can find something I like. I always pictured Rohan as endless fields of green grass, not like the New Zealand countryside from the movies.

After that I think this army will be good to go.

Of course I may need to expand it for War of the Ring.

Current project

My current project is Rohirrim for Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game (LOTR, SBG). I have had some of the models for years, I picked up the Two Towers starter set from a friend and it was full of Rohan and Isengard.

Recently a fellow moved here from St. Louis. He is a huge fan of LOTR. He has been working with the local store, Collectormania (CM), and its owner Tim, to get a LOTR group going. Getting a gaming group started, and keeping it alive, are tough work. First you have to get people in to play the game, providing models and such. Then you have to organize enough events that you can keep people interested. Open gaming is fun, but from time to time you have to have tournaments or campaigns.

I have collected a few more models and played a few games. I even played in my first tournament ever, GengisCon. The Warhammer Fantasy was packed, and looked like a lot of fun, but I played LOTR, and had a great time. I have now played seven games. Three against Keith while I was learning, three at the tournament and one at an open gaming day at CM.

I like that the game is a skirmish game. Very different from my beloved Warhammer. I like that it is cheap to start an army and that the rules are both elegant and simple. I love the millieu, Tolkien being the catalyst for my love of fantasy. I love that I can actually find someone to play against from time to time. I hate painting.

I have made a deal with myself. I will paint ten models from the army I played for every game I play. Once the army is done, I can paint whatever I want. I have tried many of these deals over the years. Trying to find the perfect formula to get myself to paint. Nothing has worked up to now. This is actually going all right for me at the moment though, so I am still hopeful.