Road to Fall In "Objectives" part III

MIG weathering pigments and flock.

Little trees standing and damaged will be added once state side.

Sudan project "Highlanders" part VI

 Highlander group shot. Leaders, wounded, rally markers needed.

Yearly goal 700 painted for the Sudan project. 380 done. 23 more down. Another 320 required to reach the goal. The project goes on hold until I return from the states in November!

World Cup Volleyball

Well its over. The girls last game was against Argentina. Argentina took them 2-1. The last set was 33-31. I think they placed 8 over all with Italy taking the Cup.

       Sad to see everyone go. We were far too lucky to meet and host the families. Great people! The number of beers smacked down and asado eaten made more than one place's month.

After the last game we had one last meal with the families and players. Ice cream with the girls. 

Sudan project "Highlanders" part V

Finally something happening. They still need a final highlight & touch up, and flocking. These dudes were not my favorite to paint. It was a battle just to pick up a brush.

The road to Fall In part II "Objectives"

          The Imperial Fists are one of my favorite armies. Not because of fluff or the list. Not because they are great or have a detachment that gets me hard.
         The little yellow bastards were the GW army for a period. Of course as a kid I wanted, what GW used in the books.
         The striking yellow, is what sucks me in today. I play more historical games. Their candy color makes the whole event a beer drinking, crap talking fest.



Maybe one day FW will give them the love we see today in the HH books.

Until then I will continue to love them for their little yellow selves. Then onward with the "Objectives."

Everything is blocked in and washed.

A long way to go. Highlights, details, weathering, flock.

Volleyball World Cup

I had always dreamed of following a world cup team through the tournament. Soccer of course. Never thought it would be Volleyball.

The opening ceremony and first game Argentina Vs Germany. Packed with students. Every time Argentina plays there is no charge to get in.

This week the US girl 18U team is playing in the Volleyball World Cup. And for some unknown reason, most likely corruption, round one is in Santa Fe.

The US Girls advance to the second round. The next round is in Rosario. We are off to Rosario.

Last night my family hosted the players family's. At club Blanco they finally got a traditional Argentine Asado. 90% of which is bullshitting, beer/wine drinking, and cigar smoking until the meat is cooked.

Warmaster Ancients "Time period"

What time period? 

How to get the most variation from a core group of miniatures? 

          For example; lets say I was to select Ancient Greece. I would have greek on greek or Greece on Persia. Great battles, interesting characters, ton of material available. Even if you included the colonial wars, Greece vs her colonies, your are limited in the strategies used. It is all Hoplite warfare. After a few games, my games, every game would become chess. A set number of opening moves with the out come not determined by one's ability to general the forces, but the randomness of the dice.

         I was raised in Syracuse. I would love nothing more than to play out the Hoplite action around Syracuse on Sicily. Yet the time invest in painting all those hoplites for two opposing armies doesn't appear to have that return on investment. Once I am completely bored with the Syracusian affairs, what can I double down on? Persians? Athenians? Spartans? It is all Hoplite on Hoplite action.

         The argument is for more variation. A high cross over usage. Rome has multiple enemy states with a large variation in fighting style/capabilities.  If I am going to paint 2000 10mm dudes just for one roman army, they need to get some serious mileage. 

         But what roman army do you choose? A lot is about personal interest. If you are not interested in the time period, don't expect the project to last. I am very interested in the early Roman days.  

        Why early Republican Rome vs declining Republic vs Imperial vs death of Empire? 

           Death of the Empire; is out for me. I have zero interest in the declining Rome/Eastern Empire history. I don't care about the period it leads into. Arthurian Britain, Vikings, or the tidal wave of eastern barbarians. 

          Imperial Rome's; first 10 Emperors has great characters, large battles, and waves of barbarians. Afterwards I could give a shit less. In this period I feel, I would be painting individual army after army with little cross over in-between. Yeah the Cavalry could double across each horde. The meat rests in the Infantry. The largest block of dudes to be painted. Your looking at the Germanic tribes, Britain, Judea, Dacia, Parthian. Now how many of those infantry dudes look the same? Zero!

          Declining Republic; I say starts around Gaius Gracchua and Marius/Sulla in the Jugurthian War. Why because mostly that is where the Roman army changes? The Marian reforms happened after, but lets say the change was in the works moving up to that date. After which point, most is roman on roman action. Maruis vs Sulla, Pompey vs Caesar. There is some Germanic, a lot of Pontus action, a lot of Gauls. Those last three enemies are very different, totally different with zero cross over.

   

   Republican Rome; I purpose that same Roman army can be used from 300ish BC and the Samnite Wars to the death of Scipio Africanus (the younger) in 129 BC. During that time Rome was no less active, nor did Rome see fewer enemies. 

        ( Is covering 180 plus years cheating the other periods compared to? I have divided the periods by changes in the structure/equipment of the army. The equipment used by the multiple enemies was about the same. The Roman army maintained the look until Marius started changing it. )

           

       Rome was involved in Samnite wars, Prryhic Wars, Punic wars, Syracuse, Illyrian wars, Gallic wars, Macedonian Wars, Numantine war, Achaean war, Servile war. During that time the Roman army remained pretty much the same. The key is everyone they fought was pretty much armed the same. 

        If I were to paint this core block, Phalanx, Citizen spearmen, (everyone used) Gallic and Spanish mercs, Nubian Inf and Cav, Spanish Cav, and skirmishers. Those named would form the bulk of just about army in the listed wars. Then special 4 units to define the different personalities for each enemy.

        Yet each opponent's composition was different. Prryhric Wars and the Macedonian Wars. Almost exactly the same core troops and warfare style, strategy and support elements were different. The war in Spain and the Punic war.  The bulk of the fighters remained the same. Only the allied contingent changed. These small changes will prevent every battle from turning into a game of chess. 

       Add in unbalanced forces, historical fights, a non flat table and the challenge is ON! (it is a GW system but you are not forced to fight the GW way......matched point value, zero terrain feature, limited tourney scenario bullshit)

The road to Fall In part I

Yeah yeah it is far, far away. And I am in Argentina. Lucky me we are returning, and with the shit school system here in Argentina, no cares how long my daughter is out of school. So we will be staying just long enough for Fall In.

         Wheels up is in 29 days. I need to plan for an Epic army. I can easily bring the Tau back. The Tau are complete and waiting to go. I would love to field the Fists again.
          The biggest problem is 99% of my stuff sits in storage. But on this trip, storage is being moved to a staging area. The move will go down long before HMGS' Fall In. During the move I plan to get my hot little hands on all that is Epic.

With that hope, I can get my Imperial Fists out. Also supply the TO with enough terrain to cover 5ish tables. (Plus pull out the 30K World Eaters that are stashed in a box somewhere)

         On with the Fists. Some china forge goodies made it down here with me. Plus two characters that have been WIP for 4 plus years.

objectives

Sudan project "Highlanders" part IV

         More HAT Highlanders. I had hoped to finish these dudes quickly after the first group. Each day I found or had something else to do. Just a lot of little details. Maybe I am painting too many at once? Which is sucking the life out of my painting.

WIP          About 9 days later the dudes are off the blocks. I have the socks to do and some highlights. I hate doing the socks. It takes forever is is not so much fun.

HMGS' Fall In Welcomes back the NetEA tourney

We are a GO for NetEA tourney on Saturday at Fall In in Lancaster, PA.

NetEpic Armageddon is back for HMGS' Fall In!

These are your links to everything;

Fall In registration opens Sept 04 2017

Net EA tourney pack and army lists

List builder




          You will want to pre-registrate, 9/4/2017. I think this will be the only way the score a spot for the tourney. It was this way for Cold Wars. Currently HMGS has given us 5 tables. Make sure you get a spot!
          Saturday is the busiest day. In the past tables have been empty near the tourney. I would not count on it this year, but who knows.

HMGS, Inc. Presents:

FALL IN!^®  2017Nov. 3 - 5, 2017

Fall In! . . . The Yanks are coming!

Lancaster Host Resort & Conference Center

Lancaster, PA