Back to the Brushes 329

Prepped a few figures this evening as my eyes were tired. It's always good to have prepped figures sitting just before the Analogue Painting Hobbies Challenge XII starts next month.

All Romans in 25/28mm with EIR from Imago Militium - now out of production and Caesarian Romans from Foundry. 

Will add a few more to these before undercoating along with some 15mm Roman Cataphracts from War and Empire.

Cheers for now and stay safe. 

 

 

Imperium Fine Sine 29

Here you have a Scorpion from Warlord Games and this will be a part of a Marian/Caesarian Roman army that has been getting painting over that last year or so. The figures in the background are a part of this army and have just been shown in a previous post.

This has been completed as a part of this year's AHPC XI

The Scorpion and supporting infantry have all been painted using a block, wash and highlight method of painting. This is my version of speed painting and gives a rewarding finish for the table top. 

The highlight is normally the same colour as the base allowing the toning wash to do its work. 

Hope that you found this of interest. 

Stay safe and cheers for now

Imperium Sine Fine 28

 These two stands have been finished for some time now with just the basing to do. Well now that's done too. 

The figures are all from Foundry's Caesarian Romans except for the horn blower on the right unit; an old Gripping Beast figure from a range that sadly is currently out of production. The other half of this army are all from the Gripping Beast range. 

The shield transfers are from Little Big Men, although there is a fair amount of over painting on these as well. 

Painted using the block, wash and high light method that has been used to for this army and allies and mercenaries from this period. The end result is both rewarding and achievable making this army a realistic target for completion this year. 

Hope that you found this interesting and stay safe. 

Cheers for now 

Back to the Brushes 299

In the need to get some points on the board for the AHPC XI, sometime is needing to be spent on this ramshackle collection of partially painted miniatures. 

With Spartans from Xyston, Macedonians from Foundry, Caesarian Romans from Warlord and Crusaders from Gripping Beast there is a good range of choices of things to be getting on with. 

Hoping to finish working on a fair number of these this week. 

Stay safe and keep painting

Cheers for now

Hobby Plans 2021

With the passing of 2020 hopefully soon to be forgotten by all its time to look ahead to 2021. 

A year of endless possibilities, change and new challenges? Probably all and many other things.

In terms of hobby plans for this year here is a brief outline:

• Successfully complete the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XI
• Finish painting the following:

• 18mm Bavarians for the Seven Years War
• 28mm Prussian Landwehr
• 28mm Hoplites
• 28mm Caesarian Romans
• 28mm Phalangites
• 20mm D.A.K.
• 15mm DBA matched pair for the 2nd Punic War

• Try to game as often as possible virtually or once the vaccines are in place safely in person
• Develop painting skills further and possibly look into a basic airbrush set

That should keep things busy for the year without adding in any new shiney that might catch a magpie's eye. 

Stay safe and thanks for visiting

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 293

And so it begins again: Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XI. This my tenth year in the AHPC and hoping to more this year than previous years. Pictured below are a selection of the figures ready for painting over the next three months. 

These include in no relation at all to the pictures order:

• 15mm Spartans from Xyston - grey undercoat top pic
• 28mm Fallschirmjager from Warlord Games - bone undercoat - windowsill
• 18mm Seven Year War Austrians painted as Bavarians from Eureka - white undercoat windowsill
• 28mm Caesarian Romans from Foundry - grey undercoat windowsill
• 28mm Norman crossbowman from Gripping Beast - 1 figure top pic
• 28mm Macedonian phalangites from Foundry - on cutting mat
• 15mm EIR skirmishers from Forged in Battle - windowsill pic
• 28mm Germanic Tribes from Footsore and Gripping Beast - last on right on windowsill
• 28mm Prodromoi from A & & Miniatures - painted horses in top pic

Not shown in the pics but ready to be painted depending on how things progress are 28mm pirates, Prussians, ECW, Gondorians and Iberians, 15mm Wars of the Roses, Arabs, Mongols and ACW. More than enough to keep busy with for the rest of the year and beyond. 

Below are the first figures from Wee Eck and the Macs DBA - Prodromoi from A & A Miniatures. Whilst there are 12 figures for this troop type in the cabinets of shame only 4 will be required for ADGL; the others will be up for sale in the near future.

The horses have partially painted for a good few years now. No so much, the riders, however, that's about to change. 

Dotted here and there are suitable figures for the Bonus themes as well. Mostly retro figures being dusted off for the digital age. 

Cheers to those in the AHPC and hope that this has been on interest to you

Stay safe
 

Imperium Sine Fine 25

Painted earlier in the year this command stand for a 28mm Caesarian Roman army is now based, flocked and ready to join the other completed stands for this army.

The figures are from Warlord Games and are on the large scale of 28mm figures. Well sculpted and fit the role of commanders perfectly; they should really considering that they are. 

Have another twenty four Caesarian Romans from Foundry prepped and waiting on undercoating as a part of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XI along with a wide range of other figures that have been getting prepped recently. 

Hope that you found this interesting. 

Cheers for now

 

30 Days 30 Miniatures November 2020

In the end it turned out to be a very productive 30 Days Challenge as shown below

 Complete in this challenge included the following

• 13 x 18mm SYW Infantry - Eureka Miniatures
• 16 x 15mm Spartan Infantry - Xyston
• 11 x 15mm Early Imperial Roman Infantry - Plastic Soldier Company
• 8 x 28mm Caesarian Romans Infantry - Wargames Foundry

The total for the 30 Days is 48 figures

This month's challenge will be announced tomorrow and will be a little different. 

Hope that you found this interesting

Cheers for now

30 Days 30 Miniatures October 2020

A bit late considering that almost a third of November has already gone, however here is the round up picture for last month's 30 days painting challenge. 

Managed to complete the following figures last month:

3 x 20mm WW2 terrain pieces

2 x 28mm Norman Crossbowmen

8 x 28mm Prussian Landwehr

11 x 18mm Bavarian Grenadiers

8 x 28mm Caesarian Romans

Just for the fun of it I started another 30 Days 30 Miniatures Painting Challenge the other night, 2nd November. As with last month there will be no theme to this, just to paint and complete 30 miniatures regardless of their starting condition. 

The outline of the challenge is detailed below, however the main point being to have fun with your hobby.

• To paint 30 figures of all shapes and sizes in 30 days
• The figures can be partly painted at the start as the main point is to complete figures that have been forgotten
• Basing is not necessary to count as completed
• Any scale is good
• Too have fun
• The end date is set by your start date - 2nd December will be the end date of this challenge
• To post updates as often as possible
• Lastly to show a round up post with a group picture of everything.

Hope that you will find this interesting.

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 288

 Last night was a good session at the painting table and the results are below: 

These figures are from Foundry and are the sixth of nine such stands for the Marian/Caesarian army for DBA and ADLG that has slowly been progressing here. Based on 60mm fronts two stands together will be a standard sized unit in Hail Caesar as well so there is a bit of variety in alternative systems they will be usable for. 

The shields were a pain and although they started with a Little Big Man transfers, the green Laurels above and below the boss just didn't show well enough. After playing about a bit with different positions and light decided that the best thing to do was over paint the shields to match the dark grey base. The results you see in front of you. To be honest, for the remaining figures it's looking very much like water slide transfers from VVV instead of the Little Big Men transfers. 

One other thing that has been causing issues lately is using the camera in the phone. Next month going to go back to the digital camera so can do more with settings at taking the picture instead of editing afterwards. It's swings and roundabouts however it will be interesting to see what the end results will be. 

So in terms of the 30 Day 30 Miniatures Painting Challenge these take the month's tally to:

3 x 20mm WW2 terrain pieces

2 x 28mm Norman Crossbowmen

8 x 28mm Prussian Landwehr

11 x 18mm Bavarian Grenadiers

8 x 28mm Caesarian Romans

For a running total of 32 with tonight still to paint for. 

Hope that you found this interesting.

Cheers for now.

Back to the Brushes 281

 A few work in progress pics of what is currently getting some painting time. 

The first pic is of Foundry Caesarian Romans and a Gripping Beast  Cornicen from their currently out of production Caesarian range. 

More from Gripping Beast this time with Norman or Christian Spanish Crossbowmen for El Cid. The figure at the far left as viewed on screen is now complete. 

Lastly there are the first of the Compagnie Franches de la Marine from the moulds of AW Miniatures and lurking at the very back are Warlord Games Prussian Landwehr. Three of the Landwehr are now finished. 

 The blues on the Marines have been done in two very different ways. 

 

On the left, the blue has been painted with Citadel Contrast Ultramarines Blue and highlighted with Calgar blue and on the right with Foundry Napoleonic French blue triad in layers. The jury is still out on both colours and methods of painting and will trial the Contrast paint again on another two figures with a the wraith-bone under coat. 

Hope that this has been of interest.

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 280

A quick post on the progress of Warlord Games Prussian Landwehr. Good progress so far although finding the blue harder than thought. And to think it used to be red that that was the devil colour. 

The base colour is Foundry Prussian Blue A which may be just too dark for the tone of Vallejo Dark Prussian Blue. Currently mixing these to create an intermediate tone. Whilst it is helping its also creating another layer that wasn't counted on. 

The command figures are all metal and are good sculpts although the plastic troopers are offering better surfaces to paint. Who would have thought a stuck in the mud on metal figures would be saying that 😂

More to follow on these and some Caesarian Romans soon along with a murky figure or two...

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 270

With only one painting session to go until the end of this 30 Days and 30 Miniatures Painting Challenge to go; how close to the finish line are things looking?

Close, very close...

First up is a command stand from Warlord Games Caesarian Roman range. This is the final command stand for this army in ADLG if played at 200 points; not so sure that will happen in 28mm however, never say never.

Next is another command stand from another Roman army; The Late Roman army this time. The standard bearer and the poor bloody infantry man have been painted for this stand, the commander was painted about 18 years ago.

Keeping with the theme of command stands here is another one finished in this challenge; this time for the Wars of the Roses in 15mm.



Whilst on the subject of wars on this fair land, here are two Norman from Wargames Foundry. After over 35 years in production these are still great figures for the Dark Ages in general. There will be more from this range later in the year.



The Anglo Saxons were a Dark Age culture that lived in Middengeard (Old English) which translates to Midgard (Old Norse) and Tolkien adapted this to Middle Earth. Tall and proud in Middle Earth are the Men of Gondor, descendants of the Numenoreans who fought in the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Now as their strength fades the Men of Gondor fight for survival and here is one of their veterans ready to defend his homeland.



Normally, these pics would be centred on the page however Blogger is having one of its little moods and obviously knows what is required better than I do. Such is life. 

This means that the current total now sits at 22 figures completed in this challenge detailed as below

28mm Infantry: 19 figures
28mm Cavalry: 1 figure
15mm Cavalry: 2 figures

All to paint for now.

Hope that you found this interesting.

Cheers for now

Hannibal antes portas 2

These have been lurking at the edges of the painting table for some time now so decided to finish them off during this challenge.

Yes, all the pictures were taken at the same time in the same light and yet the one above would appear to be on a grey base sheet rather than white, who knew. 

All of the light cavalry figures here are from Gripping Beast's Punic Wars range and are very versatile as they can be used in both sides and several others of the period including the Caesarian Romans. 

Might get a few more of these in the future although annoyingly they come in packs of three, meaning will need two packs for three stands. 

Think it is about time to go back to using the camera rather than the phone as these pics are washed out and fuzzy at time. 

The skirmishers are also from Gripping Beast and could do with some support from javelin armed troops in ADLG. 

Both the cavalry and infantry are based on 60mm fronts although the cavalry are on 80mm deep bases. Prefer the deeper bases as this allows more staggering of the horses giving more movement. Also allows more figures to be on a base to differentiate between light, medium and heavy cavalry more easily. 

The 60mm fronts will also enable these to be used in other systems such as Hail Caesar and DBA.

More to follow shortly.

Hope that you found this interesting. 

Stay safe and cheers for now.

Hannibal antes portas

Another new theme here and this time it is the start of a range of figures that are multi-purpose in Ancient Mediterranean warfare, Ancient Spanish and Iberians. 

The first stands for these versatile troops are two bases of Caetrati which will be used in both Carthaginian and Caesarean Roman armies for both ADLG and DBA. The figures are from Gripping Beast's Punic Wars range and have gathered dust for far too long in the lead mountain. 

Ultimately these will be a part of the Carthaginian army that will be started later on this summer. however do like to do a test stand or two before starting the bigger units. 

Painted using block, shade wash and then highlighting with the base tone which is quicker than layering with three tones although not as effective. When using the Rule of Three Feet they look very good and mean that two armies will be useable for gaming much sooner than thought. 

To follow these will be more infantry and then on to both light and medium cavalry.

Probably should swap the shields on the front base over so the colours are in a different order than that of the second base, however that is a task for another day. 

Hope you found this interesting.

Stay safe and cheers for now. 

Dance of Bronze 20

Recently completed and based these Greek slingers are from Foundry's original range of Ancient Greeks. 

As a result they are slightly shorter and thinner build than the World of the Greeks range however this does not stop them being used in the same armies. 

As these were the last two left to paint there was no option to vary the poses on this stand; it was advancing with sling as shown or nothing.  

As they are broadly generic figures they can be used for most armies in this period so will likely be a part of the Spartans and future Caesarian and Carthaginian armies for DBA and ADLG

Hope that you found this interesting. 

Stay safe and cheers for now.

Imperium Sine Fine 23

Second post for the Caesarian Romans and this time it is the command stands. 

Unlike the first post for this army, these figures are from Warlord Games and are truly huge in comparison to the Gripping Beast figures. Would say that these are heroic scale 28mm figures and whilst well sculpted they are too big to mix in with the others.

The image on the shield is hand painted and would only do this for a single figure. Whilst not impossible to do for a few wouldn't want to do this for a unit or group of units.

Things aren't going to well for this command stand with one down and the other nearly out. The vexillum is an addition to the figure to show the command status.

The shield and the "casualty" figures were painted in the AHPC X the other two earlier in 2019.

There will be more from this army in the coming weeks of lockdown; hope you found this interesting.

Cheers for now