Almost ready for take off

The Blues - five Hueys ready to drop off a platoon of infantry.

I've been a little slack on the painting and blog front over the past few weeks as I have managed to spend the last six weeks feeling less than 100%.... However I did manage to get a little painting done and whilst I really should be painting some Warjacks for a tournament in two weeks, the lure of the Flames Of War choppers has been too strong. I still have a way to go (painting the rotors, crew, decals and final weathering) but I have 16 or so choppers nearly finished!

The one thing I am not too sure about is the way I have painted the glass - I think I am the only person that likes the blue... of course it is an easy thing to change if I get to the end of the process and decide that it is a little too much..

As for the rest of the paint scheme, it has been surprisingly easy. Quick airbrush of US armour, give the model a wash using the MiG Brown Filter for Dark Green, then pinwash the details with with MiG Dark Wash. They will need a little dusting and maybe some targeted washed later, but they were good enough to get the customary "these look like someone who could paint has been working on these, those washes must be good" from one of my friends - high praise indeed  :)

Next up are a few of the new plastic Loaches, then the crews and infantry.

Huey Hog - two choppers armed with rockets and canons ready for some close support.

Heavy Hogs/Frogs - another pair of Hueys, this time armed with a pile of rockets.

Cobra - nice mix of rockets and a chin mounted grenade launcher / minigun

Gatling Cobra - the next step forward, less rockets, but more chaingun!

Heavy Cobra - lots of rockets!

Medivac - looks like I need to fid the tail for this if I want it to fly

Battlefront and Dust!

Earlier today it was publicly announced that Battlefront would be taking over the distribution of the Dust Tactics and Dust Warfare games from Fantasy Flight. For those of you who do not know much about Dust, the game is set in 1947 and World War Two is still very much a current affair. Thanks to a mysterious substance called Vk ore the three main factions Axis (German, Italy and Japan), the Allies (USA, Britain and the Commonwealth, and France) and the SSU (Soviets and Chinese) have pushed forward techology to build wonderous walkers and flying machines. Yep, it is WW2 on steroids (and in 28mm) and I cannot wait to get a copy of the Dust Warfare rulebook to read up on the "history" and rules of the game.

It is pretty easy to tell from my blog that I am a sucker for cool models and these guys take the cake for coming up with some really cool things to put on your table. I am very excited to have the opportunity to pick up a few (nobody tell my wife) and play some games over the coming months - of course the hard part is choosing a faction. The models themselves come with a basecoat applied, as well as some decals so you can put them on the tabletop immediately, but I feel that some of the fun will definitely come from putting a little paint on. Luckily I have been sharpening up my airbrushing skills on those Vietnam choppers because these models look like they will really pop on the tabletop with a few minutes with an airbrush, some filters and a wash or two.

Stay tuned for more info!

The Third Tour...

Over the past few years Battlefront has conducted three tours of Vietnam, each time getting a little deeper into the jungles so to speak and covering more and more of this conflict. Like the other guys in the office I was quite excited but as with any project I had to temper my enthusiasm with the cold hard reality that it was difficult to fit it into my painting schedule.

Like most people I also wanted to make sure it was not a one off project before diving in. The second tour (Tropic Lightning) introduced US tanks and infantry to the game, rekindling my enthusiasm (of course mine ended up painted in desert colours for 1967/1973 Arab-Israeli wars) and I even picked up a couple of choppers.

Once again though, timings and other projects took priority and they remained unpainted. When work started on Tour Of Duty I decided that I would try to move my painting schedules around to fit something in, if for no other reason than it would be a nice change of pace.

I decided to keep heading down the path of the Air Cav (something about all of those helicopters I guess), but instead of painting them as the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) I picked the Air Troop of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment – the Blackhorse Cav. The reasons for this were simple, I could paint up lots of choppers, I could paint up a supporting ACAV platoon with M113s and Sheridans, and finally the Blackhorse Cav were on the front lines in the 1980s holding the Fulda Gap. If something had happened during the days of Reagan, Thatcher, Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko these guys would have been up to their ears in Soviets, and as it happened fighting out these theoretical battles was how I cut my teeth with wargaming (along with Napoleonics and WW2).

In terms of what I wanted to paint I kept it simple going for a little bit of everything, that way I can field whatever I feel like within reason. So on the painting table is:

• Aeroscout Platoon (4 Loaches)
• Aerorifle Platoon (5 Slicks and 9 MG teams)
• Aeroweapons Platoon (2 Hogs, 2 Cobras and 2 Gatling Cobras)
• Aerial Rocket Artillery Battery (2 Heavy Hogs/Frogs and 2 Heavy Cobras)
• C&C Helicopter (1 Slick)
• Medevac Dustoff (1 Slick)

I am also using theses models as a test for some new techniques. A couple of months ago Evan was up in Auckland and showed me a few tricks using my airbrush, and the MiG range of oils and filters. I am definitely a novice with them but am pretty happy with how they are working so far.

Next week I’ll have some better WIP photos of the choppers. I don’t think I’ll finish them in time before I have to switch to painting some Warmachine figures for a coming tournament but I expect to get them dangerously close to being finished.

WWPD4Vets Gaming Day (at BF HQ)

Over the weekend we rounded up a few people to spend the day playing games all in the aid of charity. It's a hard life.....! Wayne and Mike organised a large "Return to Budapest" game with 4 generals per side and 1000 points each. I thought this could be a good chance to roll out my T-34s that I had just finished painting. 

I also dug out some old LOTR Rohan figures that I picked up for a long forgotten project and turned them in to a force for Saga (I am calling them the Ro-Normans or Ro-Bretons) for an intro game with Wayne. Finally I managed to play a couple of games with Warma-Hordes verses Casey and long time Warhammer opponent Reid.

It was great to spend a day gaming, but even more importantly it was nice to help the WWPD guys raise some money for a very worthy charity.

Wayne and Mike set up for the big game

Mike's Strelkovy move up through the factory

The Sturmtigers hold the plaza

My T-34/85s support the advancing IS-2s - The T-34s would be routed from the field but no until we had a commanding lead on Victory Points

The Ro-Normans take the field (and get smashed - probably the lack of paint)

Kara's gun line vs Casey's Legion. Too much shooting for Casey to get his head around

Reid and Gordon have a game (converting them both from Warhammer)

Kara vs Reid, seconds after her Feat and a lot of shooting remove Molik Karn

Kara Sloan Artwork

Sean came across a forum post on the PP site earlier in the week where a Hungarian group used some of the images from my blog to make a piece if artwork to promote a tournament. The piece of artwork is outstanding and I am pretty flattered that they used my stuff to create something so cool! I just need to paint up my Squire so that I can field this force.

Original Privateer Press Forum Post

 

Thunderhead!

Took a few photos of the Thunderhead and Journeyman Warcaster that I painted up for Ides of March. I decided to paint the Thunderhead in a bit of a reverse scheme (white with blue accents) to try and make it stand out as something different. When I paint up my Squire I might do the same thing. As for the Journeyman I tried to make her look as much like Kara Sloan as possible - maybe she is a young Kara?

Journeyman Warcaster and Thunderhead

Photography 101

I have been working at Battlefront for almost five years and despite the fact that we have a bunch of talented graphic designers all of whom know how to take great photos, as well Wayne and Pete who are also pretty handy with the camera (Pete did a lot of the early book photography way back in the day), I know very little about using the DSLRs at work. When I first started Casey gave me the Dummies Guide to White Table Photography lesson, but since the cameras are already set up it is pretty easy to take decent photos (except when you forget to turn on a side light!). 

Last year I picked up a Canon 650D DSLR so that I could take some nice shots of my son instead of relying on my the camera in my phone or a point and click digital. I also wanted to be able to get some nice "first" videos (another reason to get the DSLR). Playing around with the camera at a few gaming events and at home I realised very quickly that going from a point and click to a DSLR is a reasonably big step, and then moving up from using the preset functions to manual mode is a huge step, so I decided to head out for half a day and take a practical "Photography Basics" course aimed at people who had just bought their first DSLR and wanted to get more out of it.

The course took a look at the three basic functions you need to get to grips with if you want to use your camera in manual mode where you control how you take photos, rather than letting the camera decide.
1. ISO - basically the sensitivity to light (one of my photography memories as a child back in the '80s is going to the pharmacy and watching my mum or dad buying film, deciding on the ISO rating they should chose - my dad was a very keen photographer).
2. Aperture (or F Stop) - this determines the depth of field, small number means that only the thing you are focused on is in focus, big number means that more things are in focus, so for table shots at a gaming convention you need to use the larger aperture.
3. Shutter Speed - faster means less blurring (so if you want to take a photo of a moving baby or water flying through the air) whereas slower can give you a nice blurring effect but you should invest in a tripod. Great for fireworks or Christmas lights.

The other thing you need to take into account is that as you change these three settings you change the amount of light coming in, so you need to balance the three depending on what effect you want, and what the light conditions are - this was something I had real issues with during the day.

The class was fantastic, I managed to get my head around a few basic concepts that I was struggling with (despite the camera coming with an outstanding manual) as well as getting a better understanding to help me dive into a few of the photography websites out there and not feel completely out of my depth. The next trick is to go out and actually take a few photos and try to bed down this new info before my internal reset button kicks in and I forget everything (normally this happens somewhere between Saturday morning and Sunday night). The other benefit was that I managed to take a few nice photos, none of which were of little toy soldiers for once!

Flowers and plants in Albert Park

Some more flowers...

And this time plants.

Did anyone tell the juggler?

Park bench - nice drybrushing!

Moss growing...

No moss growing on these trees

Fountain/skylight in the Britomart Train Station...

that I walk under most days on the way to work...

And have always wanted to stop under and stare through.

Class photo.

T-34 Battalion

Over February much of my painting time was taken up by a project for work. I volunteered to paint up a T-34 Battalion over the course of a month - sounds easy doesn't it....

Turns out I bit off a little more than I could chew as I had a number of competing painting projects all due around the same time. Luckily for me I have a very supportive wife (I had to say that as she occasionally reads this blog) who let me duck out for a few extra painting sessions with the boys from work. 

I was actually really happy with how the army came together in the end and whilst I am definitely biased I think the new plastic accessory sprue is great. I don't think it saved me much time with assembly, however the pieces look better and the new tracks are fantastic. I'll be getting some more sprues when I start painting up some SU-100s and SU-85s for the list!

You can follow my progress on the army here:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five

Not sure when I will get around to adding to the army, as you can tell I am a deadline painter so I will need to find a tournament that will force me to focus on one project for a few weeks and get some more support platoons painted up.

Ides of March 2013

After much slacking around on my part, I have finally organised a write up for Ides of March 2013...

Ides was one of the biggest events on the Warmachine calender this year, with around 36 attendees coming from all over NZ. It took me until a week before the event to finally work out what I would be taking as my painting time was jam packed thanks to a T-34 battalion that I was painting for a series of articles for work. Taking the easy route I dusted of Kara Sloan and her Hunters, adding in a Thunderhead and Journeyman Warcaster. Rather than a pile of words about the event, here is a pile of photos!

We were split across three gaming rooms - "The Freezer"

"The Frying Pan" (was waiting for Mr Schuster to appear all weekend!)

"The Fire"

Round 1 vs Reid (Makeda) - an old mate of mine who is converting from Warhammer

Pop Feat, blow away the army, leave a gap for Molik... game over!

Round 2 vs Scott (Fiona the Black) - hmmm what is one of the best players in NZ doing playing me....?

Kara almost Kill Boxes herself... whilst Fiona takes the objective and wins.

Round 3 vs Peter (Morvahna) - Blood Trackers + Regrowth! Hate it when you leave one model in the unit! I played badly, Peter definitely played better... no guessing who won!

Round 4 vs Damien (eButcher) - Damien is another old mate of mine. This was one of those games where you pop Feat, shoot everyone, and it actually works!

Painting Competition!

Saturday evening fun at Chris B's place

Men need sausages not salad!

Thunderdome - the highlight of the evening was a match up from round 4 with about 20 of us watching

Can you tell which one is the master and which one is the apprentice?

Under pressure.....

There is always time for a quick game of X-Wing!

Round 5 vs Graeme (eCaine) - Pop feat, shoot everything, move up Thunderhead, pulse and then shoot Caine some more!

Round 6 vs Mike (Vindictus) - Rinse and repeat... although this time the Thunderhead had to weather a lot of free strikes as he walked out of combat to pulse.

Round 7 vs Matt (eSorsha) - Pop feat, kill Conquest in one turn, watch eSorsha pop her feat and a WG Mortar rolls double 6's to land on Sloan's head! Couple of bullets from the WG Rifle Corps and game over...!

The trophies

One of these two people is Victor, can you tell which one?

Overall, a great weekend, plenty of fun. 7 good games, I even played well in a couple of them... that balances a couple where I played really badly right? Looking forward to next years event - maybe I should start painting now?