M&T Terrain IV

         Work has been killing me. Long days and weekends have been the norm for the last two weeks. We had to cancel game night. I gotten zero movement on 20mm and have been at a snail's pace to finish up the M&T woods.
         I have contracted out to get a river and stream system from foofighterubu. I have zero time now and this was the best way to get one finished and done before the year end. It will be crazy mad dope. Foo is going to match the river banks to my ADK/Wilderness fall theme with streams and a rubbling water fall. I can't wait. The WIP is amazing.

         What I have been chipping away Architechs of War ruined wall sections. They were sprayed a base coat of brown. I used 3 different shades of grey for the rocks. A couple of them were picked out in an off white and red. The trees will be modified for the ADK fall look.
          I will need to touch up my half melted snow effects, but over all petty happy with the turn out.

         One more of the 6 GW forest bases completed.Forest base number 2.

 Forest base 3 WIP. Hopefully I can knock it out tonight.

M&T Conquest Indians

Muskets & Tomahawks a new addiction. 

         That is until this Xmas. Dad got me a copy of Muskets and Tomahawks. A thin little thing. I read that bad boy that very morning while cooking dinner, throwing darts, and drinking. Yeah, yeah it looks like I put forth so much effort, but in reality the oven does 90% of the work. I just hide in the kitchen. Outstanding excuse to get away from the family and to NOT have to be washing up after the meal.
          Dreaming of battles to come. I started thinking about what scale and the miniatures I would need. I thinking hard about 20mm or 15mm and trying to make them fit the ideas in my head. Mainly because the minis are cheap and paint up fast. But I miss the detail in 28mm, and F&IW is such a colorful period. Then me brain dried out, I remember those Indian collecting dust.
          I got these dudes about 3 years ago at Fall In. I had no idea what I was going to do with them. They looked cool and I grew up in Iroquois territory. I think it was the owner there selling them. He was cool and chatty, very likable. It was not a hard sell. Old boy had to know when I stopped to look, that I had to have them. 5 packs/blisters went in my bag. I returned home and into the mountain they went.

Side note; F-ing Warlord! They came 10 to a pack for about a dollars a dude. I should have grabbed some more as Warlord Games wants 16 for 6.  Bastards!

          I tore into two blister/packs, inspecting each one. Lots of repeats, boo. Each one pretty cool, good details, and a tight cast. I cleaned up the first set of six to be painted. I thought about sticking them to corks right away. A.D.D. kicked in and I started looking at basing options. 20 or 25mm squares didn't cut it.30mm rounds seemed cool but there would be a lot of time pissed away with basing. They ended up on 25mm GW rounds.

           My wood is stored in the garage with a dehumidifier. Makes for very dry wood and a excellent place to prime in the winter. I coated them very lightly in P3 white from over 12 inches away. I did this twice, one high and one low angle. Next step was to cover them in Army Painter's dark tone ink. I do this to black line them and it helps to identify all the very small details.

I am painting with 99% foundry colors. I used the Native American 3 paint skin tones. The first layer and cloths blocked in.

          Both "B" and "C" skin tones layered on in this picture. Using the P3 wet palette has made life so much easier. During the process I found the "C" tone to be way too light. It gave them a look of almost 1980s childhood skin tone. The C highlight had to be watered down a lot. Also a P3 skin tone wash was applied.
         Dad was called, maybe too late. Indians in art and the movie are all painted up. After I finally got him to hear my question, the answer was a huge relief. According to the all knowing expert the Indians would do whatever they liked whenever. On some party parties one individual would paint himself and the next time he would not. Dad also said they painted themselves so the great spirit would not recognize them performing such acts.
         In the end I'm good. The next set will get war paint.

 

          The last group shot. I had to put them on corks. My handling of them was causing rework. Both of these dudes have their skin completed. The leggings and shirts have been layered and highlighted. No ink washes.

Ancient Warfare or Karwansaray Publishers

          Outstanding customer service! My order arrived destroyed. The box was riped and holes were punched in it. I emailed Jasper Oorthuys at Karwansaray's customer service. Within days I had new fancy replacements. I even got to keep the smashed items. Jasper kicks ass, see him for all your problems.

Gaming night canceled

Bad week to have a job.

Tuesday Night Gaming FoF

Force on Force

          Every one was by last night. We had a record 6 people, 48 beers, 5 pounds of wings, and one bottle of scotch. There was so much unprepared wings after the game was over, it was an easy way to unload them.      
          Only Jimmy and myself played FoF. We picked the contractor mission straight form the main rule book. Mainly because it took up only a 2 by 2 chunk of the table, it would fast, and we could cycle the other thru. It didn't work out that way. Everyone else was throwing darts and pounding beers. The boys were ball breaking over 501.
          We ran played each side once. I took the Marines the first time. My plan was to bump and run straight up the center on the double. Then send the smaller team to grab the contractors.
           Fire team one with the Platoon leader attached made a rapid move up the left side of the street. Fire team 2 made a tactical move and engaged the skinny on hot spot 5. He failed to react and got knocked over.    
           Jim's plan was to set up a cross fire on the main approach to the contractors. He hope to pile on KIAs and wounds. No one unit reacted. They all doubled into position. The kill zone was sent.
           Jim's plan worked with piss poor re enforcement rolls. I was able to get to the contractors but never got out.

           Jim's turn with the USMC. He doubled down his right flank. I wheeled my forces to follow his line of movement and seal off his exit. I rolled all 3s and 2s for the first 3 turns. It was a bad day for me. Jimmy was within a tactical of getting off the table. Then I went shit hot and wounding every member in his fire teams. He fail his movement rolls.

FoF DCUs

          I finally got a chance to try a chocolate chip pattern DCUs. One standard fire team. I mixed their gear with the black off the shelf, old ass green, and the newer coyote tan. I wanted them to represent the bastard way in which reserve units buy, shit or steal their gear.

     
         The white spots are maybe too big. The brown is also a shade too light.
          I was never issued a set, we got the coffee stains DCUs. We were sent over with green and black gear. The coyote we purchased out of pocket.   
         I will have to look for an example article of chocolate chip pattern gear at the next gun show.

M&T terrain III

Busy week. Work sucked balls and I had to take the wife to Boston and back in a day. I have been get a butt ton of reading done. Almost 4 books in just over a week.

         Only yesterday was I able to get some painting time. I got two sets of Hasty Works from Architechs of War. I knocked out 6 of the 8 wall sections. I repainted them like three times. I could not get the stones right. The first time the grey was wrong. Then I had way too many different color stones. I think in the end they are a little too dark over all.

         This time I went with a snow that had melted and been around for a while. I sat there looking at my firewood for a log time. The color of dried split wood is not so easy to match.

          Also the leaves are different. Originally the orange leaves came from GF9. They are not available any more. So I ordered some off of Coolminiornot and from Hudson and Allen studios. I ended up using the tan leaves from H&A.
          The http://www.hudsonandallen.com leaves are the best. They have the orange and 3 other fall colors. No more messing around their stuff is cheaper, bigger package, and quality. Very cool site, lots of goodies. I will be ordering much more from them.