Steampunk Silliness

I found this over on John's Toy Soldiers Blog.  It's a silly, but fun, little name generator.

What will my name be?  Let's see, after the jump.

Painting Challenge XIII - Favorite Character Bonus Round

I pondered for a few weeks trying to figure out what to paint for this round.  In the end I plumped for Aragorn.  As a teenager, reading the Lord of the Rings, Aragorn was a true heroic character.  His selflessness, courage, compassion and skill were all features that I found worthy of emulation, and in fact, influenced my development into the man I am today.  To this day, Aragorn is still one of my favorites.  Uncomplicated by any of the current fad for anti-heroes, he’s just a well developed character with widely admirable traits.  It seems fitting that Aragorn will take me above my challenge goal. 

Old Stuff Day

Today, March 2nd is Old Stuff Day.  In the blogging arena that means pulling out some of your old classics to share with a new audience, or share again with long time readers.

Paint Table Saturday 2

Here's my second entry for Sofie's Paint Table Saturday.  It's been a few weeks since my last one, so at least I've made some progress since last time.

Painting Challenge XII

Here’s my last WWII entry for the challenge.  This round consists of five more 28mm WWII GIs from Warlord.

All 25 GIs, ready to roll.

Next Project

Tonight's just a teaser.  I don't normally show WiP pictures but it's been awhile since I had anything to show and my next entry in the painting challenge hasn't been posted yet.

What are they?

These were a quick bit of work tonight.  They'll get wrapped up in the next couple of days, then back to painting models for the challenge.

Colors of War - US GIs

I was asked what the colors were for my WWII GIs.  Rather than bury them in a comment I figured I would put them up in a post.

Lots of different paints here, even if it is hard to tell.

Painting Challenge XI

Another entry done for the Analog Painting Challenge.  They are ticking off like clockwork.  As long as your clock is broken and only works when you remember to wind it.

Another squad of brave GIs ready to take on the Hun.

Colorful Colorado - Western Terrain

I'm not into Western gaming myself, but it seems very popular in some of the blogs I follow.  Since I live in the West I thought I'd post up some pics for those of you who want to work on terrain for those games.

The Western Slope of Colorado, near Grand Junction.

Painting Table Saturday - 8 Feb 2014

Jumping on the bandwagon a little late; but I do love a good bandwagon.  Here's the state of my painting table this Saturday.  It's a tale of woe and shame, but a good catharsis is called for under the circumstances.

So much shame in one square foot area.

Painting Challenge X

I finally got another entry done for the challenge.  I knew that my output would slow down once the holiday break was over and I had to return to work.  I was hoping to maintain a better pace than I have though.

One squad of GIs.  Ready for Bolt Action or Chain of Command.

Loki's Blog giveaway

Loki, of Loki's Great Hall, is having a very nice little giveaway to celebrate his blog hitting 100,000 hits.  Loki is a prolific painter and all round good guy, being one of the founders of Bloggers for Charity (click on the banner to the right for more info).

Give away or not, his blog is well worth your time to peruse.

Painting Challenge IX - Nazgul

The second bonus round of the annual Analogue Painting Challenge was for villains.  I painted up the Betrayer, from GW.  The two models have been sitting on my desk, primed, for over a year, so it seemed like it was time to get them done.

The Betrayer, foot and mounted.

Painting Challenge VIII - Roger's Rangers

I've hit a double on this one.  I finished eight more models for the Analogue Painting Challenge and they are also my contribution to Bloggers for Charity.  These eight models were French and Indian War Rangers, which I painted as Roger's Rangers.

Eight Roger's Rangers.

1st Game of 2014

Rhys and I played our first game of 2014 on the 1st, which bodes well for the year if you believe in such things.  One of the presents that Santa brought was a copy of Battles of Westeros by Fantasy Flight games.

Image from Fantasy Flight games.

Painting Challenge VII - Roman auxiliary cavalry - Finished

I've finished up the last of my Romans for the challenge.  These six models complete the medium cavalry as well as the army as a whole, barring the command stands which were started pre-challenge.

All six of the final models.

2013 in Review and 2014 Plans

This is one of my favorite times of they year for reading blogs.  I love the year end wrap ups and predictions for the new year.  It's great fun to see not only what everyone has accomplished but what they didn't get done.  I also look forward to the preview of the year to come, even if it sometimes (often?) doesn't unfold as predicted.

This is also when I sit back and take stock of my hobby year, another self indulgent exercise.  This blog is all about chronicling my hobby interests, so it is a good thing to examine those, in depth, from time to time.

Hail Caesar game.  EIR vs Carthage.

Painting Challenge VI - EIR medium auxiliary cavalry

Another batch of models sent off to Curt, and displayed for the requisite time.  These are the first of my medium cavalry for the EIR.  This Auxiliary, the Alae I Thracum, will support the Legio II Augusta along with the Numidian light horse I finished earlier this year.

Alae I Thracum.  Half of them at any rate.

Painting Challenge V - The last of the auxiliary infantry

Yet another entry into the painting challenge.  I grouped two batches together to the burden on Curt.  These are the Cohors V Gallorum, one of the many Auxiliary Cohorts in Britannia.  These guys are pretty much the same as the last two cohorts except that they have green shields instead of yellow or white.  Very creative.

V Gallorum, ready for battle.

Painting Challenge IV - Roman Auxiliaries

Entry number two has gone in to Curt and been up on his blog for more than the obligatory 24 hours.  I can now share it here, in all its glory.

All eight of the latest reinforcements.