Back to the Brushes 402

Turning the other cheek, with these Spartans from Foundry. 

After a long lull in painting Ancient Greeks and some inspiration from Saxon Dog Wargame Projects on Facebook starting to expand on the existing Spartans and their rebasing back in April 2019. 

Going for more variety in the skin tones for the newer figures, however planing on keeping the same shield imagery for each mora of Spartans.

There are a few gaps in the existing bases so will be painting a few additional figures to complete the bases off. 

The thoughts are to double the number of units to give 16 bases at 60 x 40mm. This will allow a reasonable number of Spartiates for a full DBA army and then moving towards Hail Caesar and ADLG. Depending on how the painting goes may add in a new mora as well. 

Cheers for now.

Back to the Brushes 401

Been playing with colour the other night, going back to mixing some tones from the base colour and layering from there. 

The base colour is from Vallejo Games colours Scurvy Green and the subsequent tones are mixed from this blended with Army Painter Skeleton Bone. 

It was refreshing to do this and rewarding to have that control and feel of the colours building up. Still to go back for a final highlight or two on the edges and a few other places, then several coats of Matt varnish to knock the sheen off, which is coming from the base colour.

A couple of casualty markers for the Undead hordes in Kings of War. These have been built from a triple 10mm dice cell, a 60 x 20mm base and some spare parts from the skeleton warriors sprues. The MDF parts are all from Warbases.

Cheers for now.

Back to the Brushes 400

Over the last few weeks have been working on a few different projects. To say that there has been little progress would be an understatement, so, a little change of direction was called for. 

There is a steady stream of chat at work relating to Kings of War and the original plan was to paint Dwarves for this however, the figures that are available are mostly retro Citadel figures from a time when character figures made up the range. These are your friend if you're trying to create a new army for a new game. 

Enter the skeletons...

A stalled project that will enable a quick turn around on several based units; skeleton warriors and archers. Some are already finished, some have been partial painted a couple of years back and some are in the process of being painted now. The figures are from the Oathmark range.

Kings of War offers a basing option that is similar to Impetus in that the figures are multi based to suit. The basic infantry base is a troop sized at 100 x 40mm and this is doubled for a regiment.

In the immortal words of Blue Peter, here's one I made earlier from the previously painted figures. Base from Warbases and there are also movement trays to fit as well. 

More on these shortly. 

Cheers for now.

Back to the Brushes 399

It's February already; how the ... did that happen! 

A couple of updates on two different things passing across the painting table just now.

Rebased 15mm Alternative Armies Undead for use in Hordes of Things. These are now all on 40mm fronted bases and will be textured, dry brushed and finished - again - shortly.

Above are a couple of very different looking Dwarves. On the left a nod to Conan the Barbarian; a beardless dwarf in a loin cloth.  The other dwarf has a much more Gothic look with armour more suited for the 15th century. 

More to follow shortly. 

Back to the Brushes 398

Something new, something old and something different. 

Something new - SAGA: Age of Chivalry Hundred Years War from Perry Miniatures. 

Something old - El Cid skirmishers in 28mm from Gripping Beast. 

Something different - 25mm Dwarves for Kings of War including retro Citadel figures at the rear and Ral Partha in the fore; a glutton for punishment. 

 More to follow on these shortly. 

Cheers for now.

Back to the Brushes 397

Some work in progress pictures for the Romano Brits in two scales. 

Firstly, in 28mm Romano Brits from Gripping Beast to be used in SAGA and potentially Midgard; however that's a long long way away. 

These figures are the start of two points worth of warriors, to join the original hearthguard painted in AHPC X back in 2020; and yes, they are very much a project that have been in limbo for a long time. The shield transfers are from Little Big Men.

The second scale is in 15mm and includes light and medium cavalry for the Romano Brits in ADLG.

The picture includes horses for two stands of light cavalry, three stands of medium cavalry and a command stand. 

Lurking on the keyboard are figures from a newly started project in 28mm but more on them later in the week. 

Cheers for now. 

Back to the Brushes 396

Already two weeks into 2025 and already behind with painting plans. 

Have more partially painted miniatures on the desk than finished miniatures and more primed than partially painted. To be fair though that's not that unusual. 

As it's the start of another year - it's past time for New Year greetings - here is the beginning of something new. 

A base filler for Kings of War Free Dwarves Ambush force with a Troop of Ironclad Warriors at the rear.

Old Citadel figures for the above Ironclad troop and an Iron breaker at the front will give both units a definite retro look. 

More to follow shortly. 

Cheers for now. 

Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XV

Winter has arrived and the prep for this year's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is underway. Having joined the lists again I am needing to find 500 points of 2, 10, 15 and 28mm miniatures to paint between December 21st and March 21st. 

Decisions are not always the easiest of things to make and can often change how the challenge runs. The initial running list includes: 

• 2mm Punic Wars
• 10mm DAK for O Group
• 15mm Romano Brits for ADLG
• 15mm Samurai 
• 28mm Romano Brits for SAGA
• 28mm Dwarves for Kings of War
• 28mm Hundred Years War for SAGA
• 28mm Christian Spanish 

There are more options, however, I'm looking to finalise a set list and point values from the above with a schedule to ensure that there is time to complete sections across the Challenge and to keep things interesting throughout.

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 395

A little update on the Romano British javelin men. 

The front two stands of Psiloi are ready for varnishing and basing and the larger stands to the rear aren't that far behind. 

At this point there are no immediate plans for the shields beyond the yellow ochre already used. This colour fits in well with the muted bieges and greens used for the and unifies the figures in the stand. In reality, there would probably be less unification in the Dark Ages however at this scale it suits purposes well. 

Next up in this project will be the start of the ponies. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 394

A bit more progress on the Thracian cavalry, well the horses to be precise.

The infantry stand will be for the General 4Ax

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 393

The dreaded wire spears have been ordered from A&M Miniatures along with a solitary pack of Thracian Nobles for the Knights element in DBA. 

So to fill the time waiting on the order coming through have started a few other stands of Thracian cavalry:

Including Getic horse archers in fully shiny base metal at the rear; who are fronted by the partially painted horses of the General's cavalry stand for the DBA list.

Have never been a fan of painting horses, but it's something that I have managed ways if dealing with. 

For 15mm figures this involves, blocking base colours for the horse flesh and tack then washing with a suitable dark colour - Army Painter Strong tone. Varying the colour of the horses leads to a visually pleasing finish when several stands are side by side. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 392

Painting restarts and continues on Xyston Thracian peltasts, psiloi and light cavalry.

A versatile range of figures that can be used as an army in their own right or allies for a range of different armies across the Mediterranean. 

Shields and wire spears are taking time to add on and in hindsight wishing had done this prior to priming. Have enough spears to do what's shown here but will need to order more for the next batch which will include the 4Ax bases for DBA. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 391

Wire spears have pros and cons but Jesus they can be jaggy little sods when gluing in place. 

The third horse is in the sidelines, waiting on it's trapping getting painted before joining in. 

When finished this will be the last stand of Spartan cavalry from Xyston Miniatures. A few more spearmen will see them finally finished leaving time for allied troops including auxiliaries and a few more phalanxes. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 390

 Sometimes you paint something because you want to

Frostgrave Cultist Barbarian

And some times because you've too bloody many half painted figures lying about

Xyston Thracians

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 389

 A bit more painting done the other day, this time some Dark Ages skirmishers from Forged in Battle. 

Part of a larger project these Romano Brits will also be of use in several different DBA forces. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 388

A few more stands from Minifigs Ancient Greek and Macedonian ranges.

The front stand are for use as Hypaspists and the rear stand will be Argyraspides and the first of five pike blocks.

Will be adding to these in the near future. 

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 387

First post in a while; 15mm War and Empire Romano-Brits for ADLG and DBA.

Slingers and stick chuckers to follow them spears, hedges of them...

Cheers for now

Back to the Brushes 386

It's been far from quiet here at Bases and Brushes; holidays, birthdays, shows and the daily humdrum of modern life has meant that there just hasn't been a moment to sit in peace and paint a wee man or two. 

Can't comment for others but painting, gaming and the hobby in general is often a release from the constant stream of distractions this digital age offers. Ironic, considering this post is a part of this digital age.

A place to sit for a while, to calm the mind and silence the barking black dogs and insidious whispering voices in your mind. A place to focus and draw on your creativity to summon peace and still your mind and do some colouring in.

Under coat, base coat, under painting, toning, layering, shading, stippling, dry brushing, washes, and glazes are all parts of the process, parts that when brought together make a whole and worthwhile past time.  

Given that space and time it's possible to do this

Gripping Beast Carthaginian Libyan spearmen veterans for SAGA.

A few more hearth guards added in.

Shield transfers from Little Big Men.

The start of a bigger unit of Hannibal's veteran spearmen. Figures again from Gripping Beast.

Base coat on for the flesh colour. 

The next point of hearth guard are on the painting table as well. 

Peace and time well spent. 

Cheers for now.

Back to the Brushes 385

Continuing to paint these tin cans for the Wars of the Roses retinue that may be for ADLG or may be for Never Mind the Billhooks in 28mm. 

At this point the latter is more likely as a game system however the basing will be on 60mm fronts so not to rule out other games such as DBA, Hail Caesar and ADLG.

In terms of painting, these have been primed with Army Painter Platemail, washed in Nuln Oil and then worked back up with Army Painter Platemail and Shining Silver. 

Planning another session in these shortly with a view to getting some,if not all completed for basing. 

The figures are all from Perry Miniatures and the pair on the rectangular base are plastic the rest are from the metal range. 

Cheers for now.

Back to the Brushes 384

It has been a busy month with a variety other commitments interfering with hobby time. Such is life as the old folks say. 

On the subject of old folks, here are a couple of classic Citadel Hobgoblins from circa 1984.

Using Foundry's Oriental Flesh triad for these Hobgoblins after looking at some classic Japanese artwork for Oni and deciding that brownish reds weren't the colour scheme looked for.

Along side the Hobgoblins are the crew for a canon to be used in Wars of the Roses gaming. The figures are from Perry Miniatures and have their usual detail and excellent sculpting. 

At this stage, haven't decided on retinue colors for them and might go more free flow look to depict a mercenary unit. 

More to follow on these and a few other items shortly. 

Have a good one.