3ITC - Bultha's Farm - Planning

The 3ITC isn't going well.  Real life has interfered, in both positive and negative ways.  But I am determined to make a start, and I've gone for the ruined farmstead from The Battle At The Farm from the original Rogue Trader Warhammer 40 000 rulebook.

The (horribly unbalanced) scenario has fifteen marines plus the chapter master holed up in a ruined farmstead.  The map names a nearby hill as 'Bultha's Rise', so I'm calling the farmstead Bultha's Farm.

There's not a lot to go on in the book, in fact, in the spirit of keeping it accessible, the photos use the ruin from Bloodbath at Orc's Drift.  I'd like my version to look a little more Sci Fi though.

The map of the battle site

A suggested table layout

The text reads "The farm lies in ruins following the initial assault some days earlier. The main building has survived only as a shell of broken walls about 1.5 metres high, it is built of stone. Outhouses and cattle pens exist only as low stone walls."

Not much to go on, but that gives me plenty of room for my own interpretation.  There's no real guide to the size of the building.  The very nicely detailed map lacks a scale, the text suggests the table is 6ft x 4ft, but that makes the scenario even more difficult for the Orks, marching across a lot of open terrain towards 16 Space Marines in cover.  The photograph suggests that the table size is smaller, that ruin is no more than about 4 inches on its longest side, making the whole compound somewhere close to 12 inches across.  so I'm going to have to interpret (make it up as I go along).

I'll stick to a rectangular shape, but as a nod to the Orc's Drift ruin I'll have a small section of roof remaining, possibly even with sufficient of the first floor to provide a firing platform. Most of the walls will be lower, around 30mm, with a couple of doorways and maybe sills where there were once windows.

I wanted a different roof to the sort I usually build, and decided that a curved section might look good, rather like the 20mm Tatooine building I did here.  I wanted to use some of the plastic trunking you see on building sites, the ribbed section looks great.  However, I couldn't source any, so I'm using a drinking chocolate container for the roof.  Although I'll be hacking it up to make the ruined roof, I'll be keeping the footprint of the building the same as the tin.  I may someday make a non ruined version.

The walls will be XPS pink foam, textured to represent the stone walls.  I'll pile some rubble around the walls, but not too much, I want to be able to place minis in it.

If time permits I'll also make some matching walls.  I have some old 'Platformer' terrain with some nice looking bits that I think would look good on the top of stone walls, though most of the walls will be partially ruined.

So those are my plans, and I've just got a post in about them before the May deadline.  Next month I'd better start building, beginning with a card mock-up.

Kings of War - Kingdoms of Men Speedpainting Oathmark Humans 2

Following the test model for the first unit of my new Kingdoms of Men army (here), I got on with painting the rest.

Stoic Defenders

I didn't really change much from the test model; the hair and beards/moustaches were Pallid Bone to which I added varying amounts of other paints, such as Zealot Yellow, Gravelord Grey, Hardened Leather or Fire Giant Orange.  Four of the minis are wearing cloaks.  I chose one of these as the leader, and gave him the full helmed head, and the waving sword arm.  His cloak is a bright red, but the other three cloaks were various colours, I was aiming for a more muted, natural dyed look. I also put a coat of APS Zealot Yellow over some of the leader's metalwork to give it a golden look.

The shields were all painted on the sprue.  Airbrushing the primer (with added varnish) certainly gave a much smoother surface.  The standard was made from wine bottle foil, and hand primed on the mini.  this was less successful, and I don't think the Speedpaints work too well on large flattish surfaces (I subsequently repainted the flag with conventional paints).  In fact the photos make the flag look better than it actually is.  A rare thing, a blog writer claiming that its worse in real life.

The darker spearshaft is on the test model, it's partly the angle it's photographed at

The base was 4mm MDF that I cut to shape.  I gave it a good coat of MDF Sealer (readily obtainable from DIY and homeware shops).  This stops the MDF absorbing moisture so reduced the risk of bending.  For the basing texture I used a mix of DIY filler (or spackle) with added sand, PVA glue and Burnt Umber craft paint.  This is always a fiddly job, as I know well from my various 15mm units.   To make things a bit easier I placed all the minis on the base to work out what looked best where.  Then I glued the back rank in place and textured round them.  Then I glued the middle two minis on the next rank and textured round them.  Then the outside minis for the third rank and repeat for the rest of the regiment.  As the texture was drying I scattered a little more sand and a few very small stones over everything to add a bit more texture.  It's still fiddly, but better than trying to texture a full regiment once everything is glued in place*. 

Sixteen minis look fine for a regiment

Now that this regiment is finished, a few words about both the models and the Speedpaints.

I really like the models, they cover a variety of options.  I don't know Oathmark, but for Kings of War Kingdoms of Men they cover three options easily (Shield Wall, Spear Phalanx and Bowmen), and I can use bits from other kits, such as the Frostgrave soldiers' crossbows and pole arms for other options.  The Cavalry set also covers Mounted Scouts and Mounted Sergeants; again, a little kitbashing could provide more options.  The distinctive rectangular shield (which I must admit, I didn't like at first - it's grown on me) can also be used on other models to tie them in to this army.  

The Speedpaints were a success too.  I've tried Contrast paints before, and had variable results.  T'Internet raved about the Speedpaints when they were released, with many pundits claiming they were far superior.  I suspect some of the hype was simply a touch of GW hatred, but I was happy to give them a go.  
The test model proved that I could get a decent result, certainly worth doing for a quick unit.  The paints flow onto the model nicely.  I should say that these are not my first try with Speedpaints.  I tried them first on an Asterian strike force for Deadzone, but I primed those by hand, and I think they benefit from the smoother surface of airbrushed primer.  Adding some gloss varnish to the primer helps too.
The paints mix very well, and this enabled me to get a much wider range of colours than the ten I got in the starter set.  I'll add to my collection soon, once they are available separately, but I might not go for the whole range.

But were they speedy?  Well, I logged the time taken with the Speedpaints on the whole regiment.  The fifteen minis averaged out at sixteen minutes each.  This doesn't include priming or the metal; nor the shields, varnish, basing etc, which were steps I'd take anyway regardless of the paint used.  Pretty fast eh?

Now, the elephant in the room.  If you've done any reading or viewing about Speedpaints you may have heard about REACTIVATION.  Briefly, the paints dry, but become liquid again when (depending on your source) another coat of Speedpaint is applied on top or any paint is applied on top.  Speedpaint on Speedpaint does tend to reactivate.  I have found that the longer the first coat has to dry, the harder it is to get it to reactivate.  

I've experienced some reactivation, but used it to my advantage.  There were several instances where I got paint in the wrong place, spearshafts seem especially prone to getting patches of other colours (usually blue) on them.  Reactivating these patches when I painted the shafts allowed me to 'push' the resultant darker shade up against the hand, giving a shadow effect.  Definitely a happy accident.

In conclusion, I'm really impressed with both the new paints and the models.  I'll be doing more with both.

Finally, the colour scheme.  I generally avoid politics here, but I felt I couldn't ignore what's going on in Europe at the moment.  I am building and painting a 500 point army like this (another spear regiment, a bow regiment and a mounted scout troop plus hero).  Once I've had a game with them (to get rid of the curse of the newly painted mini) I'll be selling them and donating the money to the appropriate charity.  (link up once its sorted).  Another reason why I wanted this to be a quick project.

* I must put this into practice again and finish the Orcs I painted ages ago.

Another Milestone

The Periodic painting Table recently passed 30 000 views and has been running over seven years.  I'm amazed that my ramblings about my hobby have attracted so much interest.  Thanks everyone!!

I'm especially pleased that its only just over a year that I hit 20 000.  I'm sure that part of this is because I've linked more often from Facebook and similar. I've even got more followers, thanks again folks.

The most popular article is still my review of the Magic the Gathering game.  I wonder if people bookmark this to find the blog?  I suppose I should get some paint on some of those minis soon.

From this end, the blog provides me with a way of organising and focusing my hobby.  It helped a huge amount during lockdown, and currently it is helping during a family bereavement.

So, if you're a regular reader, please keep reading.  Comment too please.  If anyone wants to ask anything, there's a contact form at the bottom of every page (and had you noticed that I've tidied up the page layout recently?).  

THANK YOU!

Reaper Miniatures 02831 - Olivia

I've just finished a character mini for one of my daughter's players.  The player in question lives in the U.S. but is over here soon, hence the mini.

I chose Olivia as the best mini to represent Mary Idlewood, an aging halfling wizard who specialises in necromancy (I'm sure there's a great story behind that). I went with dark clothes; greys, purple and black.  Olivia's staff is clearly meant to be something nature related; it has leaves and vines wound round it.  Not quite right for a necromancer, so I painted the staff dark (Vallejo Game Color Scorched Brown washed in VGC Black Wash), and where the leaves were obvious I tried to make them look like dead leaves. The crystal on the end is a sickly green.

Mary Idlewood - Halfling Necromancer

The mini was a joy to paint, there are lots of nice details, such the loaf of bread in the backpack, but not so many that I was overwhelmed with them. I'm pleased with the result, I hope the player will be too.

10mm 3D Printed Ruined House

I've finished another of the excellent ruined 'Arkenfell' buildings printed by telford3dprinting.  I chose this particular building as it comes in several parts which I thought could easily be used as smaller, separate ruins.

The whole ruin as one building

And another view

From above

One part, the half round section, is meant to be separate in any case.  The other towers and buildings look fine on their own.  Only the base is a bit odd without the upper levels, but this, I think, is due to the flat tops of the walls.  It would be easy to cut these so they looked properly ruined, though this would mean the upper sections would no longer fit.  It's good enough though, and certainly gives a good bit of table coverage.

The three sections as separate ruins

and another view of the sections

The base section, a little level where the upper sections rest

but good enough.

The painting was pretty much the same as the Ruined Tower here. Colour wise there's a bit more interest on this model from the wooden floors and the roof tiles.  

I have some small neodymium magnets which I will use to give the sections a bit more strength when used as a single ruin.

I really like this piece.  It goes in to my slowly growing 10mm LotR terrain collection.  I'll definitely get some more of these pieces, perhaps an in tact tower next?

Kings of War: Kingdoms of Men. Speedpainting Oathmark Humans - 1

For some time now I've been wanting to build some of the Oathmark Humans from North Star. I know I already have a sizeable force of old GW Empire troops for this, but with the availability of plastic Halflings I'm tempted to turn them into a League of Rhordia army. Besides, if I need an excuse, the Oathmark humans are too nice not to paint.  I have a decent 500 point list (you can see an extended version of it here, in glorious defeat), and now North Star have released cavalry, I can do the whole list.

But if I'm going to do this, it will have to be a quick project. I was set to use Contrast paints, but then Army Painter released their Speedpaints and I decided to try them instead.

This is my first mini from a unit of spearmen. This is a test mini to see how well the Speedpaints work, and if I like the colour scheme.

The mini was primed with Vallejo Gray Primer with a touch of black added using my airbrush. I then gave it a zenithal highlight with Vallejo Air White with a drop of Vallejo Gloss Varnish added to give a smoother finish.  I think the grey needs to be darker.  I primed the whole unit at once, future units may have a darker grey prime.

The longest stage by far is doing the metal.  I painted the helmet, spearshaft, belt buckle, knife and armour studs with Vallejo Game Color Chainmail Silver.  Once the jerkin gets painted, it will stain the silver to give a brass look.  The pictures shows the metal, plus coats of Army Painter Speedpaint Zealot Yellow on the hose and APS Crusader Skin on the flesh.

I only got the ten colour starter set, so I had to do some mixing.  Fortunately, the Speedpaints mix well.  The tunic and vambraces are a mix of 1 part APS Hardened Leather and 2 parts Pallid Bone.  The tunic is APS Highlord Blue, the shoes APS Gravelord Grey, the belt and pouch is straight Hardened Leather, and the hair is Pallid Bone (I'll have to come up with some variants when I do the whole unit).  I mixed 1 part Zealot Yellow with 2 parts Pallid Bone for the spearshaft.

I used Gravelord Grey to wash the helmet, spearhead, buckle and knife blade.  It works well as a wash for metal, and rather remind me of the old Citadel Armour Wash.

I'm very impressed with the Speedpaints, and the Oathmark minis are nice too.  I must take a bit more care when prepping the minis though, those mould lines really stand out.  Like Citadel's Contrast paint, the result is a little 'pastel'.  I'm fine with this if the look is carried across the whole army.  It might look odd if it were mixed with my more traditional painting style.  Ultimately, I feel the result is well worth it for the time taken.  So on to the rest of the regiment next.

Birthday Gaming

Last month I had a 'significant' birthday. As part of the celebrations I got in a game of Kings of War with my son.

For the battle, he used his growing Undead army (1 regiment of Skeleton Spears, 1 regiment of Ghouls and 1 regiment of Mummies, led by 2 Necromancers, one with the Boomstick), and I matched them with Kingdoms of Men.  

I have been experimenting with 500 point forces for Kings of War, and this was my 500 point Kingdoms of Men army (2 regiments of Spearmen, 1 regiment of Bowmen and a troop of Mounted Scouts, led by a Hero with the Inspiring Talisman), with a couple of characters added (Army Standard Bearer and Wizard) to bring the points up to 600.

The game was great fun, although I lost comprehensively.  I really messed up using the mounted scouts, trying for a flanking manoeuvre, but failing utterly against the skeletal spearmen.  

 

The scouts try to stop the skeletons...

Needing a 5+

The Ghouls and Mummies took on both regiments of Spearmen.  The living held them off for a while, doing better than expected against the Mummies, and worse against the Ghouls, but eventually the Undead prevailed and turned to face the Bowmen, who had been unable to find a target for most of the battle, as all the undead regiments were in melee.

The main clash, Living vs The Dead

The victorious Mummies chase the Bowmen

Meanwhile, my characters were busy, the Hero taking on and destroying one Necromancer, while the Wizard had a magical duel with the Necromancer with Boomstick

My hero prior to slaying one of the foul necromancers (a very nice Tortle wizard)

Fresh from wiping out the scouts, the skeletons take on the hero, Necromancer with Boomstick nearby.

Great fun to be playing, and it's got us both thinking about expansions for our armies.  I definitely need something tough to tackle the likes of Mummies; perhaps more cavalry?

I also played a couple of games of Cosmic Encounter with the Monday evening gamers (who are apparently called the MEGAforce Gamers, according to T'Other One). 

This is a game I first played back in the late 1970s, and I've tried every edition since.  The current version, by Fantasy Flight Games is the best so far.  They've tightened up a lot of the rules, and structured the turn a lot better, so that there is less confusion when powers work.  I highly recommend it it you are looking for a bit of light-hearted fun.

Kickstarter and 3ITC News

Well, it was inevitable, Reaper have launched another Bones Kickstarter, Bones 6 - Tales From the Green Griffin. The stuff looks promising, and it's bound to get better value as the campaign continues.  The core set, as always, has an interesting selection of character and monster minis, and the various expansions look promising.  There's an inn (the Green Griffin), though I have a lot of tavern stuff from Terrainscape, an undead/cemetery themes set, and they've just announced a Fey set.

A few weeks ago I announced the next (third) International Townscape Challenge.  The aim was to have a planning post up by the end of March, and it seems like none of us have managed this.  

We've discussed this, and its a case of real life getting in the way for all of us (I have my daughter's wedding coming up, the others are equally busy with important stuff).  We've extended the deadline by a month.  At least I have decided on my build, the ruined farm from the scenario in the original Warhammer 40 000 Rogue Trader rulebook.  Something a bit different and it should be fun.