A quick update

This will be just a quick post to show off something I painted recently that I'm really pleased with. Below are some pictures of a recently completed (um ... completed today) miniature from the Perry Brothers' Agincourt to Orleans range. Before I started on it I decided that I wanted to try and paint it to a higher standard than usual. I was aware of other painters using wet palettes before but had never got round to making one myself and so for this mini I decided to stop being a lazy git and get round to it. I have to say it made a huge to difference to the standard of painting, and also the painting speed. It was very satisfying being able to get a 28mm miniature to a standard I was happy with and if you have never got round to using a wet palette before I definitely recommend it! I haven't decided what I'll use the mini for yet (I have five more in the unit to paint)- possibly the beginnings of an Impetus army? My 15mm projects have taken the back seat for the moment as I've become reacquainted with 28mm.
On a different note I just discovered the Broadsword Adventures ruleset (you can download a demo here). I've been looking for a generic, miniatures-based RPG-style ruleset for a while now and came across this whilst reading about the .45 Adventure pulp rules which Tom has. Both are made by Rattrap Productions and both have excellent reviews and so I may be tempted to pick up a copy at Salute 2010.
Anyway, pictures... The highlights and shading are a bit more pronounced than these pictures would have you believe.



























J

French cavalry, beware

Painting has been as slow as ever round these parts but I thought I would write a post about my progress anyway. Here are the first three archers for the English Hundred Years War army I am working on. Bar one Italian light halberdier (shown in an earlier post) they are the first 15mm miniatures I have ever painted. The miniatures in brown and red still need the odd highlight before they're properly finished and, annoyingly, I need to buy a couple more paints to do this.
I used Medieval European Armies by Terence Wise and The Armies of Crécy and Poitiers by Christopher Rothero (both from Osprey) as reference points and I am going to try and keep the colours I use quite autumnal. If anyone has any pointers with regards painting HYW colour schemes or heraldry then please do leave a comment as they would be very much appreciated!






J

More miniatures

Over the weekend I decided to order the bulk of an English 1330-1415 Hundred Years War army for Basic Impetus and I was surprised to find that it had been delivered on Monday morning. Unfortunately I was not in so this morning I went down to the post office to collect the box. I opened it up as soon as I got it home...










What a beautiful sight! The miniatures are all Corvus Belli and they were ordered from Vexillia Limited. I will continue to flog off the bulk of my Games Workshop stuff on eBay and will focus on this project. Also, in other hobby news, my Blood Bowl team (The Eagle's Claw) is now complete and so I will put up some pics soon.

J

Scaling down

So as the temperatures tumble and the nights draw in you'd think that this time would be perfect for getting some hobby activities underway. Unfortunately life has got in the way for both me and Tom and so things have slowed down a bit over here.
Despite this I have managed to get some painting done, and I also intend to use today to crack on with my current obsession: 15mm. As an incredibly slow painter of 28mm, I am enjoying the novelty of actually starting and finishing a miniature in the same day! I'm also finding that due to the relatively cheap miniatures, it is easy to build up an impressive looking force in a short space of time. Those who've been playing 15mm will know this already but it is a bit of a hobby revelation for me!
I have been asking around for samples to try and decide which period to go for and I think I'm settled on the Hundred Years War- I will use Corvus Belli minis, and the rule set will be Impetus. This decision was mainly inspired by a similar HYW project going on over at the fantastic Geektactica blog- you can view it on our blogroll. I have also collected samples from Venexia, Mirliton, and Peter Pig (whose great WotR range I may collect next) and pictures will hopefully be up at some point this week.
In other gaming news, The Eagle's Claw, my Human Blood Bowl team, recently played Tom's Bolog's Brayn Broozaz again and this time managed a hard-fought draw: 1-1! I was a bit disappointed because I lost the lead in the game but I was pretty pleased because most of my players finished the game in one piece!

J