Turkemen, part 1

This is the first new post on an old project of mine that is taking on some new life of late.  The Turkemen, not to be confused with the Ottoman Turks, are from the fictional world of 'Monster Blood Tattoo' or The Foundling's Tale as the series is known in the USA.  MBT is a series of books by D.M. Cornish, following the adventures of a young boy through a dangerous, mythical world.  This mythos would be best described as 'black powder fantasy' with a heavy dose of alchemy and Frankenstein-ish beasts, along with other interesting quirks which will be examined later.

The Turkemen are the northern neighbors and foes of the main european-styled civilization, the Haacobin Empire, and yes they are based on turks but only in a vague sense.  One of the specialties of the Turkemen is the construction of bolbogis - a 'dog of war' after a fashion, although it is not readily apparent that they are related to canines.  (One of the fascinating points of Mr. Cornish's writing style for the series is his habit of turning our usual English words and phrases around to sometimes very different meanings.)  Bolbogis are created/constructed/raised/? by inexplicable means as guard and attack creatures, and although they do not feature prominently in the stories, I am taking liberties to put those few words into gaming miniatures using proxies.

Pictured above are my first attempts to put bolbogis on the table.  On the left are a trio of miniatures from Khurasan Miniatures known as 'sponks'.  Their claws are not glued in, however.  They will be smaller, faster bolbogis.

In the center of the above pic is a Scarab Ogre from Crocodile Games.  They are larger than the average human and much more dangerous.

On the right is an Umber Hulk, a D&D figure.  The original miniature is bent down close to the ground, so I intend to alter the miniatures so they stand more upright.  These figures are plastic, which will make it easier to convert them.


A strange project?  Yes, but one that will be lots of fun, at least for me...


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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 project, and old

Just a quick pic or two:

On the left, my new 1/1800 ships from WTJ, with a pair of extras that were sent just in case some of my order fell afoul of a production problem.  Awesome service from WTJ!  Now, for some primer...



And on the right, one of my 1/600 Xyston ancient vessels, and assorted bits.  I am going to take another look at this scale for my Tékumel naval project.  One item that I can see already is the size of the 'castle' from Xyston.  It seems to be slightly small.  A scratch-built replacement might be in order.





Lastly, the Tékumel naval project got another boost with this:

I finally purchased my copy, and I am looking forward to reading through it again.

Reptus, part 1

While planning the next set of projects, I have worked a bit on some of the older figures in the hobby mountain, my Reptus force from Reaper.  I left off, some time ago, with this post of  some of the Reptus going for a swim in some Simple Green:

After a few months, and some rebasing, they look like this:

The 3 figures that were soaking have a patina on them that seems to come off with some effort from a knife or file.  I do not expect that it will have an effect on the primer coat, however.

I also took some time to alter one of the Reptus figures.  I did not realize that I had a duplicate of one fellow, so the unsoaked figure received a slight modification - I removed the armored tail and sword blade from one Reptus and put them on the duplicate.  Here are the parts (in a poor pic):

The top pic shows the miniatures before swapping parts, and the bottom pic shows the new figure ready for assembly.  I did not use the razor saw to trim the parts, just some nail clippers.  The parts were drilled out for a small length of brass wire, using the drill bit shown.  These bits are some of the last of my stash from my old printed-circuit manufacturing days, and I find them to be a useful tool for drilling pewter or plastic.  The shank is 1/8" and can be rotated without the use of a pin vise.


And, after re-assembly, a side-by-side comparison:

Not a big difference, and one that would have no effect on gaming, but it was nice to get back into the swing of things.


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Other fantasy stuff

I have been reconsidering some of my gaming goals lately, and one of the ideas that I have renewed and brought forward to my gaming plans involves getting some skirmish groups together for some Song of Blades-type scenarios.  I have a variety of figures that can be used for this including my lovely wife's elves and my Reptus (lizard folk).

A few other groups can be formed, like orcs:

These are Old Glory orcs, from their Ghost miniatures line.  The skin color has just been started - no green orcs here!  The orcs suffer from having no magic-user types, but maybe numbers will help them out; I think that I have 18 of them someplace...


And some humans:

The sword-swingers are old Harlequin miniatures, with a musician and standard bearer included.  I am not certain if those two have an effect in SBH but they will look nice.  The crossbow types are Old Glory miniatures from their late HYW selections, and the guy in grey is a Reaper martial arts type that will be a special character.  After taking this pic, I found a chap that could work as a magic-user, so the humans have a balanced force.


The intended effect of dusting these old miniatures off and getting them painted is to get some sort of actual gaming going on here - it has been far too long...


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End of June Table

Finally cleared up the hobby table a bit, and immediately put more stuff on it!  As the pic shows:

Old and new projects there, with the Huaxtecs dominating, and those archers from the First Legion of Ever Present Glory, resplendent in blue, are on the left.  Along with those troops is the return of some Boschenberg musketeers from my Monster Blood Tattoo project and, making a table appearance after a very long absence, are some Reptus warriors.

The Huaxtecs have a fairly good coating of paint for their skin (close-ups at a later point).  Some will get tattoos, and their clothing and weapons need to be finished.  Then, there is the matter of their shields...

The Ever Present Glory archers are getting close to being finished also, with just some detail work and skin shading left to do.

The Boschenberg musketeers just need detailing also.  I am wondering if I should consolidate the posts from my usual Monster Blood Tattoo blog (link here) to this blog.

The Reptus miniatures are for an old fantasy skirmish project, and they will need to be stripped and restarted anew.  I have orcs, humans, and Reptus, while my lovely wife has elves, and I am slowly getting around to doing some actual work on them.  I feel a little more confident about my usually poor painting technique and I am willing to give it another go.  Of course another driving factor is the hobby budget, which is getting tight once again and new purchases are being directed into just one or maybe two projects.


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Frogs & Mice?

While engaging on my usual 'Net rounds, I came across    this post at LeadAdventure     forums and I was intrigued enough to get the book:

It is a thin volume for the price, but it hits several targets for me.  One, it is an odd enough venue, perfect for games.  Second, Homeric fable?  Nice.  Third, it is illustrated by Fred Gwynne, better remembered as Herman Munster, who was a skilled illustrator, a fact that I did not know until I read about him.

Now, there is a small company that is starting a line of miniatures based on the book, Grimm Miniatures, also with a Facebook page.  

No new projects though, right!?!


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Legion of Ever Present Glory, part 18 (and Mríssa too!)

A small measure of progress on the painting table today:

In this not-so-great pic, the archer cohort of my First Legion of Ever Present Glory troops has been visited by the paint-laden brush!  The armor is mostly done, now the bows, quivers, tunics, and other small details need to be finished.

Also in the pic above is the command cohort of my Arídani Legion of Lady Mríssa troops.  Nothing has been done to them for a long time, other than the first dabbings of flesh-colored paint on the first miniature.  I think that these miniatures are going to be among the hardest to paint for my Tsolyáni force, as the details are small and delicate and it will take some careful painting.  I am wondering if I should just paint over the slender chains fastening their skirts with flesh, then go back over the chains with a dark wash and a metallic drybrush.  It might make the process some what faster.


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The table, and other stuff

Nothing much going on here hobby-wise, especially as work has been a bit crazy.  I did take the time to clear off the table:

The table, before

The table, after

Cleared off and re-organized a bit.  I am wanting to start up another 'build' round, where I clean, assemble, and prime miniatures, as I have the Huaxtecs and Islemen patiently waiting.  Nothing is going to happen with those two groups until my recent base order comes in, however!  I was experimenting briefly with some trays I received from Warbases, hoping that my steel washers would fit into them, but the washers are just too large and I have little inclination to modify either the trays or the washers to suit.  So, a small order of bases, and a couple of trays, has been made and they will appear soon.


Now, if that was not enough, this appears:

Over at Grimsby Wargaming, Paul posted a brief review of this book.  I was intrigued, but it was the finding of the above-pictured book at a local used bookstore (a hardback 1st ed for only $6.50) that has set some more gears grinding - another project, yes quite probably!  But, most likely it will take the place of my Scots project - I might be able to morph both of them together, if I am careful, and maybe I am just more comfortable with a fantasy setting than a historical setting where I might be put under a microscope for 'accuracy'.  My lovely wife - the one that found the book at the store - is comfortable with either route which is always a good thing!


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Ahoggyá, part 9

Finally, these are done!

Well, almost.  I see a spot or two of touch-up is needed, and the grey one might need a bit more matte varnish.

I tried to make the base a bit less green this time, as compared to the Ever Present Glory troops:

Partly by design, and partly by the difficulty of getting the adhesive under all of those legs, I think I succeeded.


Another angle:

Right rear flank.  This pic shows the shield design a bit better.  The halberds have a variety of symbols on them; they are mostly random, with the exception of the grey one - I tried to represent the circle of eight which IIRC is symbolic of the Ahoggyá reproductive ceremony.

One last pic:

Rear angle.  Much earlier in the process, I lamented about how I made a mistake when gluing the loose shields onto the left arms of the Ahoggyá, and this shows the problem quite clearly.  The shield face is pointing down, making it difficult to see while playing.

This is number 4 of approximately 27 elements I need for my Tsolyáni army in the Thámerü scenario...


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Legion of Ever Present Glory, part 15

It has been a long time; here is a finished result:

Three elements of finished troops!  That is not quite right... For the time being, these three elements will represent three cohorts, three separate units, of Tsolyáni heavy infantry, as my table space is limited.  In the future, I hope to have more room for a larger table, and then these three will be equal to one unit in a game.


Any way, these three are done.  More views:

And, a couple of pics on the future playing surface:

I am not sure why, but the color of the felt is grey in pics.  It definitely is not grey in person, but more of a light tan.  The felt and the base edges are much closer in color than it appears above.  The bases might have come out with a little too much green flock on them, and the mix might change for the following elements.


This marks a turning point in this project.  For so long, I was not certain of the basing scheme, but I have settled on one I like (those are 60mm squares), and everything will be based around that idea.  Also, these were the easy ones.  The only work for these elements involved re-basing painted miniatures.  The rest of the troops are not finished, and progress is going to slow down.  More miniatures are waiting for completion:  three more elements of Ever Present Glory troops - archers; three elements from the Legion of Sérqu - more heavy troops; and three elements of Ahoggyá.

Then, of course, I will need some opposing forces...


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Legion of Ever Present Glory, part 14

Another week, another pic of my poor, abused Tékumel miniatures, specifically the First Legion of Ever Present Glory:

I painted the base, and after letting that dry coated the back half with Liquitex Matte Medium, then quickly dumped an assortment of flocking materials on the wet medium.  I am a bit concerned about the interior spaces of the base, where the brush found it difficult to reach.  I hope that I have not, once again, painted myself into a corner with these miniatures and my basing scheme.  The fluid but reasonably slow drying Matte Medium should do the trick, though, as compared to PVA or a similar glue.

This first base of troops will sit under the dusting of flock for a while, then we will see if it worked...


Meanwhile, another pic of a slightly different part of the desk:

More miniatures, waiting their turn!


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Legion of Ever Present Glory, part 13

Another poorly lit pic:

Work continues on the rebasing of this fine legion.  On the left, the base has been replastered, and it will receive a new coat of paint shortly, then a new bit of flock for decoration.  On the right is the start of the command stand for the legion.  I have tried to save as much of the original groundwork with the command stand, but now I am not sure that was a good idea.  I will make it work, one way or another!

Also, one can see the difference in the shield trim.  I forgot to repaint the shield on the right-hand base before gluing it down.  Quite a difference.


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Legion of Ever Present Glory, part 12

Just a brief update with a pic of some of my long-suffering miniatures representing the First Legion of Ever Present Glory:

That is the first element of them with their new shield trim.  The element is not done yet, as I still need to finish off the base.

Also shown in the pic:  some of my Sérudla, waiting their turn under the brush; a couple of priests and a Hlutrgú that just need their bases decorated; and some Ebor WSS troops...


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Langton ancient ships

And now, a closer look at the Langton ships:

Deceres

Octeres

Hepteres

These are among the largest ancient ships that Langton makes.  For Tékumel, they will fill the role of the zírunel,
the largest of the common classes of warships.  I believe that there are
larger warships plying the oceans of Tékumel, but they are rare and I
will not worry about them, for now...

Roman quinquereme

Carthaginian quinquereme

Quadrireme

Trireme

The next step down in size, these are slated to represent the qél for my Tékumeli navies.  I
was pleasantly surprised to see that the relatives sizes of these
miniatures are very close.  This will allow a lot of variety, not only
for different navies but also within a particular empire's navy (Langton
has other miniatures of this size that I have yet to purchase).

Liburnian

Trihemiolia

Hemiolia

These
three miniatures are markedly more narrow than the previous four, as
well as being slightly shorter.  For Tékumel, I think these will work as
the srügánta, although the hemiolia is a bit smaller than the other two and might be better as a séscha.  Out of these, the liburnian is especially appealing with the stern platform.

Overall, I am quite pleased with the appearance of these miniatures.  There is still work to do, as the representation of a séscha is
not fully set yet, and there are a couple of trireme variants I would
like to look at before setting it all in stone (heh) for the building of
some flotillas.

Tékumel naval, part 9

And now, a closer look at the Langton ships:

Deceres

Octeres

Hepteres

These are among the largest ancient ships that Langton makes.  For Tékumel, they will fill the role of the zírunel, the largest of the common classes of warships.  I believe that they are larger warships plying the oceans of Tékumel, but they are rare and I will not worry about them, for now...

Roman quinquereme

Carthaginian quinquereme

Quadrireme

Trireme

The next step down in size, these are slated to represent the qél for my Tékumeli navies.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that the relatives sizes of these miniatures are very close.  This will allow a lot of variety, not only for different navies but also within a particular empire's navy (Langton has other miniatures of this size that I have yet to purchase).

Liburnian

Trihemiolia

Hemiolia

These three miniatures are markedly more narrow than the previous four, as well as being slightly shorter.  For Tékumel, I think these will work as the srügánta, although the hemiolia is a bit smaller than the other two and might be better as a séscha.  Out of these, the liburnian is especially appealing with the stern platform.

Overall, I am quite pleased with the appearance of these miniatures.  There is still work to do, as the representation of a séscha is not fully set yet, and there are a couple of trireme variants I would like to look at before setting it all in stone (heh) for the building of some flotillas.

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