Back to the Brushes 310

Still here and still breathing! Always a good thing. 

A quick pic to show the start of the Knights of Gondor for Dragon Rampant and fantasy skirmish in general. 

 

The rider at the back came firmly glued into the saddle!

The above along with three other horses still to be primed saw some virtual action at the weekend. The game was an introductory session to Dragon Rampant for all involve and as host a huge learning curve as well. 

Running a game through zoom on a tablet is challenging but fun all the same. Can see now why people have invested in web cams to help out with this and if lock down returns then might do the same here. 

Might look at sabot style basing for these as well for Hordes of the Things.

Looking forward to getting moving on these, the first real painting done this month! Is it possible to complete 30 figures in 13 days, we'll see. 

Stay safe and cheers for now

30 Days 30 Miniatures Painting Challenge September 2020

 Last months 30 Days 30 Miniatures Painting Challenge was successfully completed as below

Struggled with time to post updates for this challenge over the last few days; so here is a final recap of August's painting: 

• 20 x 20mm D.A.K from SHQ and Battlefield Miniatures (sadly out of production at present)
• 2 x 28mm Citadel Orcs
• 5 x 28mm Gondorian Archers from Gamesworkshop
• 3 x 28mm Late Roman Horse archers from Gripping Beast (Footsore mounts)

Starting another 30 Days 30 Miniatures Painting Challenge tonight, 1st September. 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 - 30th September 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 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

Back to the Brushes 267

A quick update on the 30 Days 30 Miniatures Painting Challenge with the first batch of figures now at the ready stage for this challenge. 

At almost two thirds of the way through its time to up the ante and get figures finished off. Here are the first thirteen figures all from Games Workshops Gondor range. 

These are for the Gondor Rampant retinue that is currently being painted with a view to taking on Mordor, Harad, Khand or Umbar in the future. Thankfully the only figures from the nations mentioned above that are liked from Games Workshop are the Mordor Orcs and there are more than enough of these in the lead mountain. 

There are thirteen here and if you notice there are also a few bent spear shafts here and there. Plastic doesn't suit this weapon type. 

 There will be more completed figures shortly. 

Day 20 - 13 x 28 mm infantry completed. 

Hope that this was of interest to you 

Cheers for now

There is Darkness there that never sleeps 2

The second unit for Gondor Rampant is now finished - the Axemen of Lossarnach led by Forlong the Fat or Forlong the Old

Tolkien describes these men as below:

Leading the line there came walking a big thick-limbed horse, and on it sat a man of wide shoulders and huge girth, but old and grey-bearded, yet mail-clad and black-helmed and bearing a long heavy spear. Behind him marched proudly a dusty line of men, well-armed and bearing great battle-axes; grim-faced they were, and shorter and somewhat swarthier than any men that Pippin had yet seen in Gondor.

'Forlong!' men shouted. 'True heart, true friend! Forlong!' But when the men of Lossarnach had passed they muttered: 'So few! Two hundreds, what are they?

Opted for grays on this unit to tie it into the colour scheme of Gondor but also to set it apart as it is not black. When placed against the Gondor swordsmen that have already been completed these fit in well with their own distinctive identity. 

The inspiration for the floral image on the standard and shield comes from two sources, firstly the Vale of Flowers is another name for Lossarnach and the Wood Lily or Trillium  Both were hand painted in the finishing stages of this unit. 

So far this year, these are the favourite of all that has been painted. Truly great figures and far more fitting for this unit in Dragon Rampant than the GW versions that are still available.

Hope that you found this interesting. 

Cheers for now

Fantasy Hero 21

Another small post with a few pieces that have been lingering around for too long. 

First up is an old figure from Citadel or Marauder Miniatures back in the day. Always liked this figure and painted this one too match some skeletons from a previous AHPC.

Next up are a two pieces of scatter terrain from Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings SBG. These have been painted with an arid climate in mind and as a result only one has some additional scenic material added. 

These will see a fair amount of use when gaming is able to start again in the future and will included games such as Mortal Gods and the Rampant series. 

Both of these started as a base colour of Dheneb Stone and have been washed with Army Painter strong tone and worked up to almost white in places.  

The will be some more versatile items to show shortly. 

Hope that you found this interesting

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 261

As the Axemen of Lossarnach are nearly completed have made a start on the next unit for Gondor Rampant.

This unit will represent the back bone of the warband; spear armed heavy foot. There are another seven that are only primed at this time.

Boromir is included because he is there not because he is a part of the unit. 

Also started are two pieces of scatter terrain. 

The well is generic and will be used for all 28mm skirmish games. This is a 3D printed item that was picked up at Carronade 2019. 

The statue is from Games Workshop and has been gathering dust for as long as the Gondorian infantry. 

Both items have been mounted on 70mm rounds from Warbases and textured with ready mix plaster and sand. Finding this works better for larger bases than sand alone.

Hoping to make good progress with these this weekend when the weather changes. 

Hope you found something of interest. 

Stay safe

Cheers for now

There is Darkness there that never sleeps.

Here is the first of a new series of posts relating solely to the painting of warbands for use in Dragon Rampant set in Middle Earth. The title is from Tolkien and said by Boromir during the Council of Elrond. 

The first post show the first unit of swordsmen for a Gondorian warband that is currently being painted.

The swordsmen were originally purchased not long after the release of the Return of the King film in 2003/4 so they have waited a long time to see the business end of a brush.

Also included are a Captain, Denethor Steward of Gondor, a Standard Bearer and a veteran swordsman just behind the captain 

At this point the sabots have no scenic grass or tufts added however this will change to break up the black edges you can see on the figures as the sabots are not deep enough. (3mm needed not 2mm).

In game terms for Dragon Rampant these will be classed as Heavy Foot with no ability to form a wall of spears. If Denethor was with the unit they would be classed as Elite Heavy Foot.

Have enjoyed painting these figures and there will be more of the same during the coming weeks along with a few other things from here and there.

Stay safe.

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 260

Second unit for Dragon Rampant is starting to take form in the Gallowglas from Antediluvian Miniatures

These will be used to represent the men of Forlong the Fat from Lord of the Rings - Return of the King, Book Five, Chapter 1 Minas Tirith

Forlong has come,' Bergil answered; 'old Forlong the Fat, the Lord of Lossarnach.... Hurrah! Here he is. Good old Forlong!'

"Leading the line there came walking a big thick-limbed horse, and on it sat a man of wide shoulders and huge girth, but old and grey-bearded, yet mail-clad and black-helmed and bearing a long heavy spear. Behind him marched proudly a dusty line of men, well-armed and bearing great battle-axes; grim-faced they were, and shorter and somewhat swarthier than any men that Pippin had yet seen in Gondor.

'Forlong!' men shouted. 'True heart, true friend! Forlong!' But when the men of Lossarnach had passed they muttered: 'So few! Two hundreds, what are they? We hoped for ten times the number. That will be the new tidings of the black fleet. They are sparing only a tithe of their strength.' "

Great figures with a lot of character and they fit the description better than the GW figures of the same name. Will darken Furlong's helm to a near black later on today.

In game terms these will be a unit of Bellicose Foot with the Shiny armour upgrade.

Hope this has been of interest to you

Stay safe

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 259

Something new from something old; Men of Gondor for Dragon Rampant.

The test figure for the first group of swordsmen is nearly completed. With the bulk of the detail lying in the armour have opted to paint this as follows:

• Base coat - Citadel Chainmail
• Wash - Nuln Oil
• First highlight - Citadel Chainmail
• Second highlight - Chainmail and Foundry Spearpoint C Silver mix
• Final highlight - Foundry Spearpoint Silver C. 

The whole group as work in progress including Denethor, a Captain and the standard bearer above.

Cheers for now.