Two units of 28mm Roman cavalry for my 'tan shield' allied legion. Old glory figures based up for Hanibal at the Gates rules.
These were painted on my Twitch.tv stream over the better part of three streams. I'm counting this as twelve figures in my annual painting totals: six riders and six horses. Next up on the painting table are some command figures to finish up this legion and start the 4th and final legion.
Trying out my new photography turntable. Probably a silly gimmick, but what the heck right?
Final photos of the X-Wing Miniatures Fireball expansion ship that I've custom painted as a prize for the Gold Squadron Podcast. I've been blessed to have won not one, but two of the painted ship giveaways on GSP streams this year. I thought it was appropriate to give back a little.
The Fireball is one of the ships in the most recent release wave. It's name is appropriate. This clone wars ship can choose to do a slam maneuver at the cost of revealing one of its damage cards as a critical hit. The stock paint job is quite nice, but I chose to go a different direction opting for a 'keep it cool' blue fading to white theme. Engine glow is green with a nice red cockpit interior color showing through the glass. Hopefully the lucky winner who receives it will enjoy it as much as I'm enjoying the ships I've received as prizes from GSP.
This ship was painted on my Twitch.tv stream over a couple of Thursday night streams. I cast prior to GSP painter Luke Carrington's paintcast stream on Thursday nights. Stop by the GSP Twitch channel on Thursday nights to watch Luke do some amazing X-wing re-paints.
Returned to it's original packaging, and on it's way to Dion Morales to add to the GSP prize pool. I wish everyone luck in winning it!
Thanks again to Dion, Luke and the whole GSP crew for making some great Twitch and YouTube content.
Saturday the Northern Conspiracy got together for a HUGE ACW game of the Union approach to capture Richmond after taking Fort Monroe. I was the Confederate commanding general and fellow Blogger Ed M. was the Union Commander. Ed did a great job of preparing the Union troops with a concise battle plan and thorough supporting documentation. Having some life issues getting in the way, I relied on a council of war and solid support from my Admiral George, and wing commanders Byron and Rob. The rules used were 'Steady Boys!' a home brew set created by Ralph of the Northern Conspiracy.
The table for this game was an epic representation of the entire peninsula including Ralph's scratch built 28mm ACW ironclads and paddle wheel transports. Naval rules were simple, but allowed for the union to attempt to land a marine force behind the Confederate lines. Good fun.
The day started out with Charlie giving the general objectives of the battle, with additional information about the naval rules and special scenario rules that aren't part of the base Steady Boys! rule set.
Ralph followed up with a quick overview of Steady Boys! including going over the QRS.
Initial deployments are set. my Jonny Rebs deployed in a thin line with successive reinforcements ready to take up secondary and tertiary positions as the battle progressed.
The Union plan - rolling thunder. Their divisions in columns with artillery leading the way hub to hub across the battle line their attack advancing at the speed of the artillery.
Shameless selfie as the initial turns are started. The Union plan, cohesive and well executed worked to obliterate our first line. Our 'forlorn hope' line did well taking up a good part of the day and eliminating a large amount of the Union artillery, being given little else to target. Concentrated fire also took out 25% of the Union siege artillery train which was pushed aggressively too close to the front.
As the first line has its last attacks and defenses, the Confederate's second line of defense is brought up to prevent the Union from using the train station. The Union's left flank, backed with a full untouched cavalry division looked strong. Their right flank while solid, was not as thick, but dust clouds filled the road behind the union lines.
On the river things finally heated up after a long stalemate. Ross rammed the Confederate with a Union side-wheeler that was supposed to carry troops. This eventually ended up as a major contributing factor to both being sunk. The Confederate navy moved in to land their marines....
Lunch break. Neither army can fight on an empty stomach.
The marines land under the guns of the Union ironclads. The Confederates counter this with a division of infantry and a division of cavalry. The latter awaits atop a larg hill outside gun range from the Union gunboats.
Unable to secure a dock and with one of their troop transports under water, the marine attack is a 'rail station too far'.
At the main battle line, the Union artillery is thinning out, but so are the field pieces for the Confederates. The photo to the left is the 'high tide of the Confederacy' for this battle. Kevin's confederates clear a path to the Union siege train, only to have local reinforcements pulled in front of it just in time. At the rear a fresh Union division arrives. Unable to use the train station, they instead marched to the front double-time on foot.
As the battle wound down, casualties on the Confederate side and the Union's disposition brought this to a Union victory. Costly in terms of artillery lost, their manpower losses were otherwise slight in comparison to the Confederates.
Fun day. Thanks to Charlie, Bob and Ralph for hosting a great event. Club participation for this was exceptional as well.
These are two Morris Quad Artillery Tractors to pull my British 17 pounder AT gun and a 25 pounder artillery piece I've yet to paint. The one with Stowage is a Warlord Games resin model the other is from another manufacturer that I've forgotten the name of. The stowage on the Warlord model is quite nice, but the other model has great texture on the surfaces and a commander's hatch that opens. The commander is a loose Berlin or Bust communications figure I converted and pressed into service.
This adds the first 28mm vehicles to this years totals. This project was a request from a viewer on my Twitch stream. Thanks to 'Dragoonity' for the project pick. I'm always taken back by how much the rear of these look like modern Humvees.
Last week I made more progress on the 'tan' legion for my Roman army. These are the Hastati which were based up yesterday and final touches on the base decorations were added today. They still need another coat or two of matte varnish, but besides that they're ready to see some use on the tabletop.
These are Old Glory figures and add twelve more 28mm figures to this year's painting totals. Next up for this army are some foot officers for this and the fourth legion and two units of cavalry to complete the third legion.
I have a feature on my Twitch stream, where after viewing for a certain period of time, viewers can use their view time points (which are free FYI) to select my next project to paint on stream from a list I keep. A viewer selected some British WWII vehicles. I'm painting the two Morris Quad tractors shown to the left to fulfill this request. They've been base coated and are ready for decals, chipping and weathering.
I've been playing Fantasy of Flight Games X-Wing 2.0 game for a while now with several members of my club. When 2.0 came out additional factions were added. Based on my collection at the time I decided to fly the Galactic Empire, Rebel Alliance and Scum & Villainy factions, giving the other up as 'too much of a good thing'.
In truth, the Scum & Villainy faction saw most of my play time. Something about the eclectic collection of ships is a puzzle I really enjoy trying to solve. Tractor beams are a particular favorite.
As a fan of the game I'm also a huge fan of the Gold Squadron Podcast. Their name is a bit of a misnomer as they also make copious amounts of YouTube content and broadcast major X-wing tournaments around the world (literally) on their Twitch.tv channel. During their broadcasts they do many giveaways including alternate art pilot cards, acrylic tokens, 3-D printed X-wing play aids, and other goodies. The most fantastic prizes are custom painted ships, usually painted by their on-stream painter Luke Carrington of the Gold Squadron Paintcast. As a X-wing ship re-painter myself I can tell you Luke's stuff is amazing...truly top notch.
A few months ago I was very fortunate and won the grand price a their broadcast of the Nova System Open. The prize was two custom painted Delta-7 Aethersprites and a Naboo starfighter. At the time one of the top tournament lists was this exact ship composition with Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in the Delta-7s and Rick Ole in the Naboo. The prize was a painted ready-to play Galactic Republic force for X-wing. While waiting for these beautiful ships to arrive I also picked up an extra Naboo and the Guardians of the Republic box set with two V-19 torrents and a third Jedi starfighter. I'm now a four-faction X-wing player. Well I WILL be once I actually fly the new ships in a game.
Thanks to Luke for doing a great job on the paint jobs and to the whole Gold Squadron Podcast team for providing such great tournament coverage with such excellent prize support. A close up of Luke's paint jobs can be seen in the photo below.
These have found a new home on the X-Wing shelf in my figure cabinets.
My friend Mike C. has been running a Levantine Crusades Saga campaign. The games have been quite varied. Mike has been creating his own custom Saga scenarios for some of the games. This game was a six-player scenario Mike calls 'The Ambush'. It pits three attacking players, each with four points of troops, against three defending players, each with three points of troops. The defenders get to put one unit each in a hidden position at the start of the game allowing them to spring an ambush on the enemy.
Mongols John, Paul and Rob. Paul and John each put two hearthguard units together to make one eight-man unit. John brought a mounted warrior unit and a levy archer unit to round out his force. Paul brought two mounted warrior units to complete his force. Rob made two six-figure hearthguard units from 3 points of troops and rounded his force out with a mounted warrior unit.
Fellow Crusader Greg, and 'unlikely ally' Michael who pushed a Muslim Mutatawwi'a warband. Greg used his three points to bring two six-figure hearthguard units. I brought two mounted warrior units and a four-figure hearthguard unit. Michael brought two eight-figure warrior archer units and a four-figure hearthguard unit mounted on camels.
John brought his forces up cautiously approaching the two rocky outcroppings. Michael revealed his archers and took some pot shots at John's mounted warriors killing two figures. I launched an all-out attack on John's levy archers using all my saga dice for the one attack. I was able to kill nine of the archers, losing one warrior.
On the far flank the Mongols advanced en masse while Greg prepared to hold the flank with one of Michael's archer units taking up a position in the woods.
Paul brought his two mounted warrior units up. One harassed the center while the other waited to in on the attack against Greg's hearthguards. My warlord and hearthguard took the long way around some woods but prepared to support Greg in case his flank faltered.
There's a big gap in the photos here as the action got fast and furious and I forgot to pick up the camera for a couple of turns. Greg prepared his warband to receive the Mongol charge, loading up ever available die on his Saga battle board for defense. These resources were enough to weather Rob's initial attacks to good effect, eliminating one complete unit and reducing the other to half while receiving minimal casualties in return. Depleted of recourses, Greg had to weather Paul's final warrior attack with just guile and determination (and some good dice) but held firm. I followed up in the following turn with some clean-up attacks from my warlord, who eliminated the remnants of Paul's mounted warriors, but I failed to finish off Rob's warlord and Greg stole that prize. Greg was not to be denied and slaughtered enemies from the start of engagement until the end.
Fun game and I'm very surprised that the underdogs could overcome the 25% army size deficit. I thought both sides played, particularly Paul who used his warrior bowmen to great effect, successfully completing several turns of 'shoot and scoot' fire safely.
Lola the wargaming dog seemed to prefer the Mongol force in this one making friends with Paul. Bribery can get you everywhere with Lola!
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Shameless selfie as the initial turns are started. The Union plan, cohesive and well executed worked to obliterate our first line. Our 'forlorn hope' line did well taking up a good part of the day and eliminating a large amount of the Union artillery, being given little else to target. Concentrated fire also took out 25% of the Union siege artillery train which was pushed aggressively too close to the front. 
The marines land under the guns of the Union ironclads. The Confederates counter this with a division of infantry and a division of cavalry. The latter awaits atop a larg hill outside gun range from the Union gunboats.
At the main battle line, the Union artillery is thinning out, but so are the field pieces for the Confederates. The photo to the left is the 'high tide of the Confederacy' for this battle. Kevin's confederates clear a path to the Union siege train, only to have local reinforcements pulled in front of it just in time. At the rear a fresh Union division arrives. Unable to use the train station, they instead marched to the front double-time on foot.
As the battle wound down, casualties on the Confederate side and the Union's disposition brought this to a Union victory. Costly in terms of artillery lost, their manpower losses were otherwise slight in comparison to the Confederates.
Mongols John, Paul and Rob. Paul and John each put two hearthguard units together to make one eight-man unit. John brought a mounted warrior unit and a levy archer unit to round out his force. Paul brought two mounted warrior units to complete his force. Rob made two six-figure hearthguard units from 3 points of troops and rounded his force out with a mounted warrior unit.
Fun game and I'm very surprised that the underdogs could overcome the 25% army size deficit. I thought both sides played, particularly Paul who used his warrior bowmen to great effect, successfully completing several turns of 'shoot and scoot' fire safely.
