A little consolidation.

After all the happiness involved in finishing a block of APCs yesterday, it got me thinking about how near to finishing the Grymn Tunnel Fighter army I really am. After all, there is more to the army than just the basic troop units...and finishing the last of the mechs will finish those off nicely...but what about the rest?

The army currently has 3 specialist units; a drone squad, a medic squad and a K9 squad. At the moment, none of those units have any transport and to be honest, the APCs that I have been using up until now just won't work so I would need to find something more appropriate.

Add to that, the start of another specialist unit that has a pair of OGrymn in it (please ignore the three APC's, it is just the WIP conversion that is of interest):

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I am really unsure where I want to go with this unit. The OGrymn are quite rare (in Grymn society) so I only want to have the two of them in the unit. I will need to add a comms drone and 7 other troops to finish the unit off but I haven't decided how I want them armed...do I have a unit full of heavy weapons or bodyguards or even basic troops? Then I have to consider the size of the OGrymn and how they can be transported.

More questions are raised when I look at the Clanker units:

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At the moment, I have two Clanker units and they each have 3 members. The models that they are converted from (Vulkan Battlesuits from the OOP Warzone game) are very unique and really suit the theme of this army. As a result...I have a further 15 of them in my cupboard. I have decided that I need to keep all these models for the Tunnel Fighters, rather than spreading them piecemeal over a range of projects so that means that I have to find a way of integrating them into the army. I have decided that three units of 7 clankers would be the best option because that would keep the colours down and also make each of the units fearsome opposition. 6 of the Clankers I have in the cupboard have weapons conversions (3 laser cannon and 3 heavy cannon) so it also made sense to build three units to take that into account.

So to sum up...

I need to finish the 4 mechs in order to complete the basic troop units.

I need to finish the OGrymn and 8 other squad members PLUS decide on a transport.

I need to decide on the transport for the 3 specialist units (drone, medic and K9).

I need to build and paint 15 Clankers and add them to those already finished.

THEN the army will be finished...

It is funny how slowing down to think about things really adds to the work-load!

See you from the forge!

Life is full of little mile-stones...

I'm sure that everyone remembers my Grymn Tunnel Fighter army, even though they have been neglected recently. Well, I have completed another little mile-stone because I have finished the last of the APCs for the basic troops. Each of my assault, tactical and command squads now have transport:

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I now have to think about painting the last four of the mechs and then I can start thinking about an army pic and pics of all of the completed units.

I am really quite happy about this :).

See you from the happy bus!

Recommendations

After a quiet day, doing little more than painting, I have a few WIP pix to show off. First, I have the last four of the Grymn Tunnel Fighter APCs:

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I have finished the grey and started to base-coat all of the other bits. They are more or less at a point where, once the metals are washed and the windows filled in, it will be a case of adding the squad colours. The thing with these is that they have been sat on my shelf for a while and it was today that I decided to crack on with them.

Next was the second squad for the Void project:

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As you can see, they are barely started but they are on their way.

So...I mentioned earlier that I was going to make a few suggestions for various sci-fi bits and bobs. I haven't included Games Workshop or Forge World because they always get the press...so here are a few stores that I like to visit:

For 28mm sci-fi miniatures, I would heartily recommend having a look through these links:

Hasslefree Miniatures (they have a December Bonus promotion on from tomorrow)

Heresy Miniatures

Studio McVey

Micropanzer (for vehicles too...when they get there)

Pig Iron Productions (for vehicles too)

Em4

Scotia Grendel (for vehicles too)

Copplestone Castings

Antenociti's Workshop (for vehicles too)

Other sci-fi miniature sizes:

Ground Zero Games (These are 25mm and 15mm and are certainly NOT 28mm)

Critical Mass Games (these are 15mm)

Rebel Miniatures (these are 15mm)

Khurasan Miniatures (these are 15mm and a small amount of 28mm)

Sci-fi vehicles: In addition to Antenociti's Workshop, Scotia Grendel, Pig Iron Productions and Micropanzer:

Daemonscape (these are the old Ground Zero Games vehicles for 25mm)

Old Crow Models (these are a mix of 25mm, 15mm and 6mm vehicles)

Other bits and bobs:

Hobby Link Japan (for everything Japanese from Mecha to vehicles)

Wayland Games (discount shop for all sorts of miniature related things)

Comet Miniatures (all sorts of kits...it's where all my VOTOMs kits came from)

Evil Mushroom Games (all sorts of stuff)

Fenris Games Ebay / Normal store (some awesome miniatures, vehicles and bases)

World of Twilight (a lovely range for an alternative fantasy world)

Ramshackle Games (cheap resin miniatures, vehicles, bases and other bits)

This list isn't exhaustive but there are some gems in there that are well worth a browse. I am also a fan of E-bay but I could never point you in specific directions there...there is too much variety.

Well...that is that. I hope you find something in amongst that lot that opens your eyes to a wider miniature wargaming world.

See you from the foot-plate.

Was it a left...or a right?

As you may well have realised by now, I have real trouble sticking to one project. Only a couple of weeks ago, I was churning out super-Grymn by the dozen...but now, I seem to have been diverted by painting. I must admit that it usually goes like that...either one or the other and never the twain shall meet.

At least I haven't stopped altogether!

With the incentive driven project well under way, I give you the first small bike squad for the Void 1.1 challenge:

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This is the first squad of the first platoon (hence the 11 marking). There are two more squads just like this one, waiting for some paint with the final member being a single officer. I went for a fairly flat look but thought a small amount of camouflage would help add a little pazzaz! At this moment in time, the finished squad has been gloss varnished to keep them protected and that will be covered with a matt varnish to take away the shine.

With a further change of direction, I have been dry-brushing the four remaining APCs for my Grymn Tunnel Fighter army. I think it just dawned on me that I only have a small handful of bits and bobs to finish and the army will be complete! I am of the opinion that I want this army finished by the new year so I need to get my skates on so that I can put it to bed, so to speak.

...mind you...

...I have to varnish the army as well...

...AAAAARGGGHHH!!!!

I have been thinking about the Mantic Space Dwarfs. I haven't decided on a paint scheme yet so I will be undercoating them in a light colour so that I have a broad spectrum of colours that would work from it. I think that I will be taking a 'modern' approach to their paint rather than the 'medieval' style of the miniatures and will likely go for a green or desert scheme. No metals will be present in the finished item.

The Spitfire needs some specially shaped pods to cover the engines. I am on the look out for them and will progress further once I have found them. I have a lot of filling to get done but would rather do it all once I have the pods on because they will have gaps as well.

The BIG terminator is still on the painting table and will be getting further washes. He needs to be a bit more shady...after all...he is a Chaos terminator ;).

The super-Grymn are still on the table. They haven't gone away but are just taking a breather.

Well...that is about it for this post but I am planning a second one later. Christmas is coming and I have a wide range of suggestions for those of you who haven't decided on the lead-pile list for the holidays. Grab a pen and paper and batten down the hatches for a few ideas for Christmas.

See you...later!

Shameless Advertising.

Christmas is coming and in a bit to divert your attention from big, shiny things from big, shiny manufacturers, I thought I'd plug a few things I've seen lately that would help out some of those smaller sellers who put the effort in and deserve a bit more custom.

I'll start with my favourite one; Hasslefree Miniatures. They have to come top of my list because they are the creators and sellers of Grymn (my favourite miniatures of all time). In the run up to Christmas, they have some cool new releases, including THIS, THIS and THIS. They have also started to release Grymn squad packs like THIS, THIS and THIS and also some Alien/adventurer packs like THIS and THIS. They are also the sellers of Twilight, a fantastic little range of miniatures by Mike Thorp. With new releases every month and the highly anticipated Grymn Walker, Hasslefree keeps the interest going.

Heresy Miniatures is another small miniatures manufacturer who has a constant flow of miniatures releases. Recently things have been chaotic with the Heresy Dragon but as that eventually levels out, there will hopefully be a plethora of new releases such as the recent ones like THIS, THIS and THIS as well as the already available Gang Pack. Heresy is where I buy all of my putty too...they also sell sculpting tools and clay shapers. It is a veritable one stop shop.

Old Crow Production make a wide range of resin vehicles and accessories. They sell them in various scales and include a range especially created for the Hammer's Slammers rule set. My favourite vehicles include the Glaive, Gladius and Slingshot. The quality is second to none, especially when compared to other resin producers.

Another company that I buy from fairly regularly is Scotia Grendel. They sell a wide range of products for various games that have been around forever (it seems). Void1.1, Kryomek, Leviathan are just a few of the games covered. I am a fan of THESE for my Grymn vehicles and quite often buy from the Void1.1 range.

If you want a wide range of products at knock down prices, you can do worse than trying Wayland Games. I could link to a huge number of products but I would run out of space. Pop along and have a look...they are also the only reliable UK seller of Heavy Gear stuff so if that floats your boat then this is the place to go.

Do you need plasticard? Evil Mushroom Games sells all sorts of model making accessories and is a very handy place for everything from putty to plasticard. Always quick to deliver, they are definitely one place I visit a lot for my scratch-building needs. They also have a range of scenery and accessories including a wide range of resin bases.

I know this is a fairly short list but I usually frequent these for everything I don't buy on E-bay or at the shops. Every time I have ordered, I have received top service and with Hasslefree and Heresy, you get sweets in with your order too!

In the current economic climate, small producers are suffering so it is worth throwing a few of your hard earned sheckles in their direction to keep the miniatures world vibrant.

Just my opinion.

See you from the mall!

There's a Storm-Rage Coming...

To follow on from yesterday's Mantic review, I have managed to find the time to get to my Stormrage Veterans. Here's the box:

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It is a standard video style box but is a little bit thinner than the one the Steel Warriors came in. Inside we have a pamphlet, two pieces of foam, a sprue of bases (five spare) and the miniatures themselves. When they arrived they weren't floating loose in the box but were packed in a very small plastic bag (possibly too small as I could see there being issues with the contents damaging themselves). The components in the picture have not been snipped from sprues or altered in any way...they were individual pieces:

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Here is a close up of the three different types of miniature:

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The Stormrage Veterans are made of Mantic's 'Plastic Resin'. There was no indication of what glue to use on them so I used Superglue (cyanoacrylate) on one and liquid polystyrene glue on another...both worked well! Cleaning them was slightly more involved than the Steel Warriors because the material is slightly more brittle than standard polystyrene and the small amount of clean-up that was required took slightly longer...but it wasn't an ordeal and there was no mould slip to worry about. The two different gunners are single pose with no variation possible (you can't even swap the weapons between the two different bodies). The leader is single pose with the option of either a pointing hand or one holding a big hammer.

Once they were assembled, there was something that really stood out about them and that can be seen in this comparison picture with a Steel Warrior:

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It was immediately apparent that the Stormrage Veterans are smaller than the Steel Warriors. Stylistically, they fit together perfectly but size wise, they could be a completely different race. For me, mixing the sizes isn't a problem but for the more discerning gamer, I can see this being a deal-breaker...which is a terrible shame.

Conclusion: Easy to clean but it takes slightly longer than a Steel Warrior, simple to assemble once cleaned with no extra trimming required and can be glued together with standard plastic glue. Stylistically, they go well with their basic troopers but they are markedly smaller. There is a lack of variety in pose.

I like these but would have preferred them to have been in the same material as the Steel Warriors. I would also have preferred them to have been the same size as their basic brothers as the difference is quite plain to see. I can see a lot of gamers having real concerns over the size difference especially because the smaller troops have the heavier weapons!

Once I have assembled the leader, I will post pix but I see no reason to expect that assembly will be any different to the ones here.

See you from the top of the pine-pole!

Twice...in one day?

Another welcome is due! Welcome Qalpha! I hope you find something cool in one of the side-streets or alleys of Inso's World...if you don't, it may find you!

So...here is one of the boxes that turned up in the post...a box of ten Steel Warriors:

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Inside the box I found 6 sprues: 5 identical troop sprues and one with ten bases on it. There was also two pieces of foam and an advertising pamphlet...I was expecting a Mantic point but was disappointed:

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Here is a pic of one of the sprues from the front and the back:

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...and here is a pic of the bases and a small squad of assembled Steel Warriors:

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Looking at the assembled troops: from the left, we have two un-poseable troops, Two troops with a poseable head (chosen from a selection of three) and a Sgt/leader with different equipment and poseable head.

Cleaning: Once clipped from the sprues, the cut lines were removed with a scalpel and any mould lines were scraped off in seconds. No issues to speak of.

Assembling: In order to get a tight fit for the torso onto the leg section, a small amount of trimming was required on the top inner corners of the leg piece (just where the rear fits in behind the shoulders). Apart from that, basic assembly is simple. I used polystyrene cement and it worked well. The only issue I have is that there were no instructions in the box so there are a couple of components that I am not sure of (the hose piece for one)...so I may have missed out on a vital component.

Conclusions: The plastic that is used is polystyrene so standard plastic glue is OK. Cleaning was hardly necessary. Assembly required a small amount of fettling but didn't take too long. The troops are fairly static with limited to no poseability. You have enough components to make ten basic troopers or five basic and five Sgt/leader models. The addition of an assembly sheet would make understanding what some of the small components are much easier.

I think that for the price, they are a very cool way to build a sizeable army. They have just enough variety to make them interesting but would probably get a bit samey if you want a HUGE army.

I am now looking forward to getting a pair of Stormrage Veterans assembled so that they can join this squad and I can get some painting done.

My next small review will be on the Stormrage Veterans.

See you from the turret.