All New! Painting Challenge gets its own page! Read all about it!

The Vth annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is getting ready to kick off on December 5th.  As befits this pillar of the game community, Curt has given the Challenge its own blog.

The Painting Challenge page will now be located at its own address.  Curt is working on getting the first four year's content loaded into it as well so it will be the one stop shop for all things Challenge related.

The first post starts off in fine fashion by listing all of the participants (72!) as well as their stated goals and links to their blogs, if they have them.  Curt also provides some demographic data, which I always find interesting.

I love this idea.  It will give the Challenge a permanent space on the web which should really allow it to gain the attention it deserves.

Vth annual Analogue Painting Challenge

Based on my hobby activity over the last few months it would be insane of me to participate this year.  I've only gamed twice.  I haven't painted since the spring.  I haven't assembled a single model since last winter.  Of course I threw my hat in the ring.

Since there's no logical reason for me to think this is a good idea, I wend ahead and upped the bet and raised my goal by 50 points, to 650.  I barely cleared the 600 mark last year so this makes perfect sense.

The Challenge starts on December 5th.  Details can be found on Curt's blog, Analogue Hobbies.  The rules are the same as last year with a few added twists.  Curt is all sorts of clever, which makes my head hurt, but should make this the best challenge yet.

I'm madly assembling and prepping models this weekend.  I have tons of assembled and primed models already, so of course none of them will do.  We are headed into winter here so I need to get things primed while the weather is warm enough.  Once the cold sets in priming involves holding my breath in the basement.

Just the thought of the challenge has breathed new life into my hobby account.  Now I just need to keep it rolling for the next five months.  Should be easy enough.

Gruntz Batrep - Rear guard action

This report is from a game Nick and I played a week ago.  Both of us were a little rusty, but the rules came back pretty quickly.

The Lt didn't like how this briefing was going.  By the look on his face, neither did Capt Al Tharki.  Things had been going great.  They'd fought the United Nebula Space Command (UNSC) peace keepers and pushed them back.  The Federation's own recon units were in other areas so they had been fighting mercenaries of one unit or another and more than holding their own.

The abandoned base.  Only the scouts and snipers are in residence.

Updated Online army builder page

I've not had energy for much of anything gaming the last month.  I've played a couple of games of Gruntz with Rhys as well as a few X-Wing games.  Nothing worth blogging about.  I've also not picked up a paint brush in so long I'm not sure I remember how.

I did update the online army builder page on my Manufacturer links page, however.

I've got a couple of games scheduled in the next week so I will hopefully have something worth posting soon.  Perhaps they'll even get my mojo back.

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.

Star Wars Armada - Coming soon

Fantasy Flight Games has just announced another game off of their Star Wars license.  Star Wars Armada, scheduled for release in early 2015, will bring fleet battles to the table top.

Picture from Fantasy Flight Games.  

Captain Raouf Al-Tharki - 47th Infiltration Company

Captain Raouf Al-Tharki, recently promoted from command of the 47th Infiltration Company's infantry platoon, now commands the 47th Company, 12th Al-Thani Infiltration Battalion.

Rebel Minis Sahadeen officer.

A bit of Star Wars Silliness

I came across this awhile ago and forgot to post.

What's your Star Wars name?

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.

In Her Majesty's Name - Manufacturers updated

I've been studying for a professional certification at work.  The kind where they fire you if you don't get it.  Pretty much all of my free time has been spent on that, oddly, however I did take a couple of minutes to update the links on my Manufacturers page, specifically for the Steam Punk / VSF sellers.

Please check it out, as well as all of the others.  If you have any to add that I have missed I'd be happy to throw them on there.

Bloggers for Charity

For anyone interested in the French and Indian War (FIW) or Queen Anne's war as it was known, this is a chance to pick up some very nice, painted, figures for a reasonable price.  Or, if you are awesome, to pay way too much for said figures as they are for charity.

Please go over to the Bloggers for Charity site and bid on one, (or more) of the lots and make this a success.

Here are some of the pictures on my painting table.

Edit:  Someone has bid 15 quid on my entry.  I'm pleased that they have been that well received.  I wish you well of them.

The XX Legion

I'm currently in the UK for a brief vacation.  We stopped in Bath a couple of days ago and one of the exhibits talked about the XX Legion.  Their symbol was the boar and there is the remains of a carving as well as a re-creation of what it would have looked like when it was created.

An actual boar of the XXth Legion, recovered at Bath.

The Police sketch artist version of the boar.

History - WWI Marine discharge papers

For Christmas my parents got me a discharge certificate for a Marine from WWI.  I just recently got it framed and mounted.

This is hand written, with the personal information added later.  It is signed by the Commandant, Major General George Barnett.

Major General George Barnett

I know nothing about Harry Haffner, other than that he served aboard Parris Island, so did not fight in France.  This is a fascinating piece of history and I'm pleased to have it.  Once the basement gets finished this will hang on one of the walls of the man cave.

Exeter or Bust!

In a week the family and I will be heading back to ol' Blighty for an eight day vacation.  It's hard to believe that we haven't been back in ten years now.  We'll be staying down around Exeter, except for two nights in London on the way home.  If any of my British readers have any "must see's" down in the South West, I'd love to have your recommendations.

Terrain - Country roads

I've been on a roll this weekend, cranking out all kinds of stuff and even finishing some things up.  The big thing is the completion of the first seven dirt road sections.  I started these months ago but finally got back to them.

The Empire's finest walking along a dirt road.

Liebster Award

I'ts been a busy week with more social events than are normal for me.  Spending time with real people meant that I did not spend the usual time with you fine folks.  So imagine my surprise when I went through my blog roll and found that I had been nominated for not just one, but two Liebsters.

Memorial Day

It is Memorial Day in the United States.  It's a three day weekend and Americans traditionally go camping and have BBQs on this day.  It's also the day we honor those who have fought and died for us.  As always today I'll be presenting you with my friend John Maloney.

LotR Battle Report - Harad vs Dol Amroth and Wood Elves

A couple of weeks ago four of us got together to play some Lord of the Rings.  This was not an ordinary gathering.  Keith, who introduced me to the game, and Tim, who used to manage Collectormania were both there.  As well, Steve, a long time denizen of the shop.  This was a special night because Keith has been working out of town for the last two years.  I haven't seen much of Tim or Steve in the same amount of time.  It was great to sit down with three old friends and just play a game.

My battleline with Steve's Mumak on the right.

Romano British Levy

I've completed the first six models for my Romano British force for Dux Brit and Hail Caesar.  These are Gripping Beast models, purchased from Too Fat Lardies.  There were a lot of models in that purchase.

The leader of the six levy.