Back to the Brushes 374

A couple of test figures for the Christian Spanish re-conquistadors to give the Moors a worthy opponent. 

The figures are from Gripping Beast's El Cid range that will also morph into early Crusaders if the opportunity raises. 

Will be using a range of muted reds, yellows, warm greys and beiges across these figures. Not wanting complete uniformity in the units but will use colour to show better units from their peers.

Back to the Moorish cavalry soon. 

Cheers for now.

Back to the Brushes 373

Sat last night and continued colouring in these two Hearth Guard minis for the Moorish Warband. 

Gripping Beast figures with their older style of horses that don't depict the pride of Andalusian horse flesh that well. 

Have opted for darker shields for the Hearth Guard so the small details jump out in various hues of yellow. 

After that, there is only a few bits of equipment to finish on this pair before moving on to the next two. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 372

Continuing on with the theme of El Cid and with a nod to Dean's superb WAB Corner blog I am picking up on a Moorish Warband for SAGA.

Original started prior to the pandemic, this project stuttered out early in 2020 leaving the Warlord and his Hearth Guard to finish for either a four or six point warband.

Every warband in SAGA has a Warlord and above is a work in progress pic of the Moorish Warlord from Gripping Beast. 

A single piece miniature, well sculpted and cast has been enjoyable to paint. 

Unlike the rest of the warband, I've used brighter colours - yellows to be precise - for the majority of the clothing on this character. A theme that will carry on to the Hearth Guard unit to follow shortly.

Hope that this has been of interest to you. 

Cheers for now.

Back to the Brushes 371

It's been a while since my last post here, almost three months to be fair. Could say this has been because of real life, lack of motivation or just plain couldn't be arsed. A combination of all three would be about right. 

So, in an effort to rid all three malaise I am starting a new project in 28mm: El Cid Spanish and Taifa Kingdoms.

Above, shows the first figure for the medium/heavy spearman. The red in the top left image is base coated with Mechrite red from Games Workshop's old foundation range. Each picture moving clockwise then adds a layer of Foundry Red Shade, Mid tone then the highlight.

The figures will in the main come from Gripping Beasts fantastic El Cid period range with a few here and there from other suppliers such as Artisan Design and Crusader

The four spearmen above will make up the rear rank of the first stand. The yellow, is the Foundry Yellow Ochre triad. The central red is the Foundry Madder Red triad again over Mechrite Red, which is perhaps too strong a base tone for this red. 

More to follow with these and a few older projects shortly. 

Imperium Sine Fine 34

Recently completed as a part of the AHPC XIII these Equite Cataphractii from War and Empire will soon be clumping  their way across tabletops  in ADLG, DBA and Hail Caesar. 

Each stand has a fair wee heft to them with the fourth horse fitting to each stand, even if this did involve a less than linear final appearance to the base.

The figures are good sculpts and slightly smaller than the other cavalry figures in the growing force for Early Imperial Rome in 15mm. One day there may even be a start made on the 28mm figures for the same army. 

Next up there will be other cavalry units for this army. 

Cheers for now.

Dance of Bronze 29

Recently completed and photographed before being matt varnished, these Spartan cavalry from Xyston should provide easy pickings for other Greek cavalry if history and gaming stats are correct. 

The figures were clean sculpts and casts with the minimum of clean up required. The limited palette and equipment on the figures made for quick painting and basing. 

Still to be varnished as they have joined a small queque of figures waiting for the same. Will get round to the them all this week; real life all being well. 

 Cheers for now

Fury of the North 28

It has been a while since I've painted Vikings in any numbers and since rebasing those that have already been painted on to 40mm squares for Hail Caesar there will be a good few coming this way soon. 

First up are the three on the left of the conga starting with the bare chested axeman.

The other figures are all repurposed from a SAGA warband that wasn't getting any use, so rather than paint more figures yet more rebasing happened. The bases are from Warbases, my friendly local gaming store. 

The berserker winding himself up by baring his chest is from Shieldwall Figures available through Gripping Beast. The overly hairy bare chested warrior is from Wargames Foundry with the rest of the motley crue hailing from Gripping Beast. 

Painting figures for the Dark Ages allows a lot of freedom with colour,  poses and general outlook of the figures. Something that you find less of in later periods and some earlier periods as well. This allows more creativity with the painting and posing of finished figures for the final bases. 

There are a dozen or more Vikings on the painting table at present along with a few other projects that are far more regimented so it will be good to break the monotony of production painting in these guys. 

Cheers for now.