2012: Unfinished Projects...Sad Face

As 2012 draws to a close, it's time to look back over the year and figure out what didn't get done. This past year, I finished about 2/3rds of the projects I started. Not bad, but that did leave a lot of models staring back at me with the "What did I do to deserve such shoddy treatment?" look.

Topping the list of unfinished projects was a beautiful BaneLords model I picked up at GenCon during the summer. I put this resin piece on a Secret Weapon 50mm sculpted base and figured I'd have a really nice Middle-earth Troll out of the deal. However, he only got half-way painted before being overtaken by more Cryx madness.

On the Cygnar front, there were a fair number of models I didn't complete. Included...this Hammersmith and Firefly.

I also did not finish Nemo2, Haley1, Murdoch and the Black 13th. I did play with all of these, however.

Back when GW was in the midst of pulling all their metal models from their product line (for the pending release of Fine-mis-cast models), I panicked and purchased as many metal Middle-earth Elves as I could lay my hands on. Here they are in early stages.

Rohirrim! The Hobbit got me started back into more Middle-earth figures. I have a box of Valiant Rohirrim sitting around, so I dug into half the infantry.

My wife is a fan of King Theoden, so she wanted to paint some Rohirrim horses. Here, she has just started into two. I'll be painting the riders. This is a very current project, but won't be done before the end of the year.

North African WWII micro armour. The fetish continues. Here are some British and German vehicles still not done.

And a slew of Italian ones.

In 28mm, to go along with my recently completed Sherman V, I'm "in the process" of painting this Panzer IV H. May be a while before it's done.

My interest in Dust came and went quickly...no one to play. I nearly finished off this light German walker before shelving the project.

Menoth 'jacks for Warmachine. Here are three that are in various stages of completion. Fortunately, these are high-priority models to get done early in 2013.

More flotsam from the Cygnar side show at the end of 2012. Tempest Gun Mages with Officer, another Stormsmith, and eStryker.

OK, this is one I really want to do. Again for Warmachine, this is the Mercenary Alexia, with two Thrall Warriors and 20 Risen. The boxed set only comes with about 10 Risen...I raided several other manufacturers for the other 10 undead models required for the project.

A few more Warmachine personalities that didn't make it off the production line. Aiyana & Holt, along with Ragman.

Iridian Skirmishers. Gawd...this unit doesn't deserve to be completed. If anyone has a viable list that uses them, please let me know. I can't see a good reason to put them on the Warmachine table.

Finally, a platoon of Canadian soldiers in 28mm for Normandy games. Fellows...don't worry...you will see the light of day before long!

Well, there it is. What are you lamenting not getting done this past year?

'Til next time.

More Western Desert '42 Micro Armour

Finished up some more micro armour pieces for the Gazala battles scenarios I'm thinking of running down at the club.

First up are Matilda IIs. In '41 these would have had the sharp three-tone scheme...but in '42 they were simply in desert sand.

Panzer III Js. These would have been called Mark III Specials (because of their long 50mm guns) by the British in '42.

PSW 222s and a 223. German armored cars.

SdKfz 7 prime movers and a few command cars and truck.

'Til next time.

Western Desert '42 Micro Armour: Step-by-Step

Last week my buddy Dave came by. He wanted to sift through my stack of old GHQ Micro Armour packs to put together an Italian '43 scenario. He grabbed about 15 packs, which was nice, since that put a dent in "old inventory"! After he left, I started rooting around in the Micro Armour bin and realized that I had enough '42 Western Desert stuff to put together a game as well.

Just can't resist these lovely GHQ models!

Here's a reminder photo to show old (and new!) hobbyists just how small and beautiful these little gems are.

My interest in Western Desert gaming goes back to when I was a kid and picked up Tobruk. At the time, this was a pretty sophisticated simulation of company scale armored combat. Today, we'd just call it beardy and over-complex...or simply unplayable. But I'll have to admit, when I was in my early teens, I really got off on rolling 40 "to hit" rolls for my Bofors 40mm AA guns. Some years later, Squad Leader came along and did what Tobruk was trying to do much more elegantly. Well, elegant for the late '70s anyway.

Because of Tobruk, I understand that the Gazala battles of May and June 1942 in Libya were the crucible that Rommel forged his reputation on. Taking Tobruk was his greatest victory, and the desert tank battles that led up its capture were truly epic. There were literally hundreds of British, German and Italian tanks conducting running battles through the desert at this time.

These are the battles that Micro Armour is made for...or so it seems to me.

I busted out 56 assorted pieces of Micro Armour. Here's the step-by-step process to get them ready to game.

Assembly is pretty simple...except for Marder IIIs. For some reason, each piece comes in  5 parts. What a headache! I glued the pieces down to 1" square metal bases and applied fine silicate sand for ground cover.

Sprayed everything in white primer.

Then applied a dark wash (standard floor wax, black-brown paint and matt medium).

The British pieces (on the left) got a spray of Air Model Sand. The German pieces (on the right) got Air Model Light Brown.

Everything then got a thin sepia wash. The British pieces were drybrushed in off-white (P3 Menoth White Highlight), while the Germans got two drybrush layers (GW Bleached Bone, then Menoth White).

Bases were then painted in Foundry Sand shade and drybrushed with Sand highlight. I also painted on disruptive dark olive camo for the British Grants and Crusaders.

Final steps were to paint MGs, tracks, bedrolls, tools and any other details. Here are the finished pieces.

The German Panzer IIFs and IIIGs.

Panzer IV F1s and Marder IIIs (mounting captured Russian long 76.2 mm AT guns).

British M3 Honeys.

British M3 Grants and German 88s. On the 88s, I did not detail-paint the crewmen. Concession to project speed.

Finally, British Crusader Is and Valentine IIIs.

I usually put decals on Micro Armour, but this time around I took a pass. When you check photos of German armor at this time, most markings are covered over with dust or have been stripped off by sun and sand. British armor was being thrown into battle so quickly, many units did not have time to apply a full set of markings. Also, bypassing decals got the project off the table quicker!

Hope to get these guys into play at the club soon.

'Til next time.

Star Wars Christmas

If you've been following this blog for a while, you know I don't talk much about my work. This is the exception post that proves that rule...

I've spent the last two years working on the space combat mini-game for the just-released MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic.

SWTOR has been running live for nearly two weeks now, and I'm happy to say that it is being well received and looks like it will be a popular and viable online game for some time to come. I've been playing the game since launch day, and it's really awesome to see all the various game systems, worked on by the project's many teams, come together so well. I quickly worked my character up to level 14, got my space ship, and tried out space combat in the live environment. Everything worked! I was very relieved.

Here's some concept art for the minefield mission.

Someone posted a screenshot of their Bounty Hunter's ship in the ice field mission.

I'm very proud of all the great people I've been working with on SWTOR for the past couple of years.

Now, back to the hobby! This past Tuesday was club night, and I ran a Kursk scenario (Wounded Tiger) from the Conflict of Heroes game system. My opponent was Mark Wall, and we played twice, switching sides for the second game.

I used micro armor for all the game pieces (just laid the bases right over the game counters).

The German rescue column.

The Russian T34s and T70s rushed in to knock out the immobilized Tiger before it could be towed off the board. The Russians wound up winning both playthroughs of this scenario...volume trumps quality again, it seems.

I leave you this week with best wishes for your Christmas season. If you have time off over the holidays, hope you can get some painting in!

'Til next time.

Mixed Bag

It was an active hobby and gaming week...even with a trip to Austin thrown in.

Started off by finishing up Epic Feora, a Menoth caster who I've been interested in playing at 50 points recently.

Her molded base is a carpet of flame which I struggled a little bit to paint, but it turned out in a passable state.

Now, I also finished off two Menoth Temple Flameguard. These two pieces (on the outer edges of this photo) finish off a maximum unit...a unit I actually started painting over five years ago. As you can see from the pieces now all arrayed, the painted styles and colors are a little different between many of the models...that's what you get for doing a unit piecemeal.

Last Tuesday night, the Edmonton Wargame Group moved into its new venue, at the Riverbend community league in the city's southwest. It's a little more homey and suburban than our prior digs over at the Warriors In Time club, but everyone seemed to like the change. We also held our semi-annual auction, which raised several month's rent for the coming year. WhooHoooo.

Finally, I got those T-70s done for the Conflict of Heroes Kursk scenario I want to put together. These are 6mm micro armor pieces mounted on 1" square metal bases.

The weather's turning colder and the hobby room is heating up.

'Til next time.

Microarmor...Blast from the Past

Microarmor. I think a fair number of gamer-hobbiests these days may not know what it is. But before there was Flames of War and the explosion in 15mm WWII miniatures...way before...there was 6mm microarmor.

I started collecting and painting microarmor in the '80s. I used it for a game called Deluxe Advanced Squad Leader, which was the miniaturized version of ASL.


When I moved to Edmonton and joined the historical wargaming group here in 2005, I started back into microarmor, and painted a lot of it.

Down in my basement, there's a tool chest with several shallow drawers.


The drawers are lined with magnetic tape. And sitting on the tape are row after row of magnetized bases...each with a piece of microarmor. My German collection.


My American collection. Anyway, you get the idea.


Now, recently, Dave and I have been playing Conflict of Heroes. This WWII game feels to me like a very well done update to Advanced Squad Leader. Which got me to thinking...maybe it was time to miniaturized that game like the old ASL days.

Sounds like a project.

First up...I need T-34s in summer paint schemes (all of my microarmor T-34s are in winter camo).


For the scenario I want to play, I need 4 T-34s. Well, this should be enough to cover off that requirement.


Hot glue get gets a workout!


I airbrushed on the base color. Started with a new product from Vallejo, which is colored airbrush primer: Russian Green. Then oversprayed Camo Light Green, hit them with Mud Brown and then a dusting of Light Brown, all from Vallejo Model Air's line.


Next, I gave them a wash of Sepia and Umber Shades, from the new Vallejo wash line (these are really nice washes, by the way). Then the decals went on along with a drybrush of Bleached Bone, some Desert Yellow, a little Bubonic Brown and so on from the GW line.

I have an array of different T-34s here. 10x M41s (on the right), 5x M42s (in the middle) and 10x M43s (on the left). 25 models in one day...well, that's the advantage of microarmor!


Bases...this took a little while. 1" metal squares. Glue, sand, paint, flock, etc.


A group of T-34 M42s.


Well, it was kind of neat to go back and do some 6mm after being away from it for 5 years. Now I just need that order of T-70s to arrive, and I can get that Conflict of Heroes game underway.

'Til next time.