Galleys & Galleons, part 2

After a multitude of delays, from holidays to a pronounced avoidance of the painting table, a small measure of progress has been made.  Here is a pic:

This is the assembled Figurehead small English squadron for the Armada period, in 1/2400 scale.  These vessels are not very large - those bases are 40mm long and 20mm wide!  But, for small miniatures they are very nice.



Here are some close-ups:

The largest ships are these:  FR30 Race built galleons, based on Ark Royal.  One can see that there is a good amount of detail, including flags from each mast.  These miniatures are three-piece kits, with the fore and main masts being separate from the hull.

The other two large galleons are:  FR31, based on Revenge.  These are also three piece miniatures.

Here are three of the six small galleons (FR32).  This pic only shows three, as I had misplaced the other pack until just before the squadron pic was taken.  In contrast to the larger galleons, these smaller galleons are one piece castings, making assembly just a matter of removing a small amount of flash and making sure the bottom of the hull is flat.







Last but not least:

This is pack FR34, showing a large pinnace (left) and a galleass (right).  One piece castings, these small ships still have a lot of detail.





Unfortunately, my slow pace of assembly/painting means that the next game of Galleys & Galleons will use the counters again...

A new year...

Happy 2015 everybody - a bit late I know!

Just a brief post for now:

My painting table as of today.  

I will try to have a more substantial post later.


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Another year!

Happy New Year everybody!

It has been a little too quiet on this blog, but there have been some stirrings of late.  Just before the holidays, I had the inklings of getting the troops (and monsters!) back onto the painting table.  Also, there is a nice little project that another enthusiast has been working on which has put some energy back into this project.

There are a few things that I need to straighten out first:

1.   The first quarto of my Boschenburg troops need to be finished - they are mostly done;

2.   Baskets need to be completed as well - a couple are finished, but the grinnlings and that big fellow from last year are waiting;

3.   Rules - many contenders;

4.   Basing - my little experiment with Warbases did not work out so well as I ordered the wrong sizes!  However, subsequent orders, for other projects, have shown that they should work well.  Now, do I stick with 20mm or go to 25mm for the humans?

Galleys & Galleons, part 1

Last weekend, my lovely wife and I sat down to give Galleys & Galleons, the renaissance-era naval rules now in playtest, a go.  You will need to forgive the pics, as I do not have miniatures painted up, and I forgot to get my blue felt out for an appropriate backdrop!

This pic was taken after the full first turn.  The table is roughly 3 feet square, and we are using counters out of the Close Action game by Clash of Arms.  We kept details simple for this first game - 3 galleons each, with equal stats.  My wife is closing fast, as she rolled very aggressively (and well) throughout the game.  At this point, two of my ships are in irons - i.e. pointed into the wind.  It is an omen of things to come!

A few more turns in, and I am trying to shake my squadron back into a line.  My ships are taking damage, and Little Miss Horatio Nelson is about to break my line!

Even though one of her ships is out of contact, things are not looking good for me.  Yes, that ship of mine got raked and will strike its colors in the next turn, and the one on the right side is about to get raked, catch fire, and explode (!) in the next turn.

Here is the next to last turn - my last ship is trying to get off the board. She agreed that if my last ship could sail off the table, that it would escape as my wife's ships would need to return and claim the surrendered vessel.  Fortunately for me, my last vessel escaped...





So far, the verdict on the rules is quite favorable.  Even my lovely wife enjoys them, and she is a hard sell on sailing ship games.



As I would rather play with miniatures than counters:

Here is the start of a fleet of Figurehead 1/2400 ships on the workbench.  The bases are just temporary until I can order some better ones.

Huaxtecs, part 2

Some small progress on my Meso-American project - here are the Huaxtecs, among others:

Shown here with some Scots, Aztecs, and a few fantasy figures, the Huaxtecs are getting their base flesh color - I am using P3 Khardic Flesh.

Here is a closer pic - may be slightly NSFW:

All of the Huaxtec warriors are mounted onto 25mm round bases from Warbases.

Here is a pic with some flesh shading experimentation:

It is not a very good pic unfortunately  -  it shows the neat Khardic Flesh base on the right, and on the left is the aftermath of a heavy wash of P3 Idrian Flesh over the Khardic base.  P3 paints are on the satin side, which is not a bad thing but my picture taking skills just are not showing the contrast.


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