Huaxtec, part 8 - Outpost

I am slowly going through the bags of new figures that I received from Outpost, and first up are the suit wearers (tlahuiztli):

This batch includes a Huaxtec nobleman, first figure from the left, who is destined to be my force's main leader.  Most, but not all, of these fellows are fitted with back braces to wear banners, but I do not want to have all of my tlahuiztli wearing them.  Some will be modified to remove the braces, which is going to be difficult to hide after the fact.  Hopefully some judicious application of paint will help!  The banners shown are from Outpost's Mayan range, which are commonly supplied for the Huaxtec, and makes sense as the Huaxtec are more closely related to the Late Mayans and not the Mexica invaders from the north.

This pic is of the other tlahuiztli in the Outpost range:

Most figures from Outpost are supplied open-handed, so a variety of weapons can be fitted.

Overall, I like the Outpost figures.  They are well-cast and have a variety of poses, and the variety of weapons is a nice touch.  But, there is one problem:

Outpost, Eureka, Lucid Eye, Outpost

In this pic, one can see the effect of differing decades of figure sculpting - both the Eureka and Lucid Eye miniatures are much taller than their older Outpost companions.  The thick bases of the Outpost figures do not make up for it, although the banners will help divert attention away from the short Outpost figures.  And the two Outpost figures in the above pic are the ones standing up straight; others are in short appearing positions that will only exacerbate the effect.  The shields are very similar in size, thankfully.

I am going to stay with the Outpost figures, for both my Huaxtec and Tlaxcala forces.


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Tékumel progress

Although it has been a long time since I posted something specific on my Tékumel miniatures project, I have not been idle!  Here is a quick pic:

On the right, the first element of Shén heavy infantry - the Legion of the City of Chrí - nears completion.  On the left, I have brought out the first element of medium troops representing the Aridáni Legion of Lady Mríssa from storage, and in the middle of the pic are the freshly-primered ladies of the Legion of the Sapphire Kirtle - slingers for my Tsolyáni force.


Slowly, but surely...


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Ships from Valiant

Yet another new arrival:

These miniatures are from the Ramming Speed line from Valiant Enterprises.  At 1/900 scale, they are right between the almost too small (for me!) 1/1200 ships and the oddly shaped 1/600 line from Xyston.  I just can not put my finger on why the Xyston ships look off to me, but I am finding that I really do not want to work on them.



The variety of ships above were selected in order to flesh out my idea of what types of miniatures from Valiant could fill out the roles for Tékumel naval gaming.  Since the Valiant selection is limited, I am being careful about filling those roles in a fashion that is easily identifiable on the table top.  The information on the Valiant website has the triremes at the same length as the quinqueremes, so I am hoping that the wider beam of the quinquereme will make up for that.





Here is a comparison pic:

Each square is ¼".

Lots of good news in this pic.  The triremes are slightly shorter than the quinquereme, which is good.  Also, the triremes have a noticeable difference in beam from the quinquereme, and this will alter even more once the oar banks are attached.



 In my mind, the ships types will correspond in the following fashion:



     The pentekonter from Valiant (not shown above) will represent the Tékumeli séscha;



     Triremes will be the srügánta;



     Quinqueremes will represent the qél;



     Heptares and dekares (not pictured above) will be the Tékumeli zírunel.



The Valiant ships are plain enough that modifications will be easier than on the Xyston models - I intend to try to make some ships that look something akin to the ships illustrated in this wonderful post about Tékumel naval actions.







Although it seems simple, that bit of organization posted above is a weight off my shoulders!

New arrivals

Believe it or not, things are happening here but I do not have much for pics, so here are a few:

Reinforcements for the Huaxtec, courtesy of Outpost.  Lots of warriors and archers; I'll have more pics later.


And, I received these from a give-away:

Arjun over at the blog   Cor blog me!   had a give-away for these 1/72 figures and I was the lucky recipient.  Although they are for WW2, I intend to swap out the heads for some of a more SCW style from Minairons. 

As I am not in a position to have my own give-away to pass the thought along, I made a small donation to a local group called Seal Sitters.  And they gave me this in return:

A nice new button for the show hat!


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Table, March 2016 edition

Just a quick pic of what is on the painting table at the moment:

More work on the Huaxtec, including some shields on the left; the Shén (blue chaps on the left) are getting a bit closer to completion; a few new Vallejo paints in the center background for my SCW forces; and hiding in the middle is a handful of miniatures from an old project - my Boschenburg musketeers for Monster Blood Tattoo are back in the queue along with a large 'monster'...


And I just realized that I forgot that a new arrival was not in the pic - more later!


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Picking up the pieces

As it has been quite a while since I have done any sort of work with this project, it might be a good idea to take stock and figure out a direction, once again.

First off, I am thinking of the dreaded rebasing task for the troops.  Currently, they are based of ¾" washers.  The smaller footprint of the washers is good, but it has one disadvantage - if I decide to move up a notch from skirmish games, then base trays would be needed, and I have yet to find a manufacturer that makes ¾" sabot bases as a regular item.  (And yes, I still think about moving up to bigger games!)  Therefore, I am considering moving to 25mm bases.  This will make the transition to sabot bases much easier, as they are commercially available from many places.  A new shop has come up - Supreme Littleness - with interesting products and competitive pricing.

Second is the subject of rules.  Always one of my prime friction points, single/sabot basing will make it easier to switch from one to another.  Of note, there is a new version of Sharp Practice coming, according to the TFL blog.  It looks to be great fun, and will be considered once it hits the printers.

Third, terrain needs to be constructed/purchased.  On this line, I have purchased some tree kits and am looking forward to finally getting something to decorate the table with instead of just figures!