Laserburn Imperial Trooper

Laserburn was one of the first games I played, and after nearly 40 years I managed to find one of my painted miniatures.

William Killian (28mm) for scale.

The paint job (and the moulding) do not stand up to close attention.

The paint job was Humbrol matt white enamel, Humbrol red enamel and the black detail courtesy of a small diameter Rotring pen.

The sculpt looks rather crude compared to a recent GZG Chinese Astronauts.

Oathmark Elf Cavalry

 The recently released Oathmark Elf Cavalry and supporting metal miniatures.

Empress LK-II Light Panzer

 The Leichter Kampfwagen II (LK-II) was a German light tank developed towards the end of World War 1. Two prototypes were built by June 1918, but no more were completed  before the war ended. The design lived on, illegally exported to Sweden as the M/21-29, one remained in Swedish service until 1938.

There were two weapon options, one armed with an MG08/15, the other with a 57mm Maxim-Nordenfelt gun.

The Empress kit comprises four resin mouldings and a bag of white metal pieces (two gun options and the rear step). I think it was originally sold by Mark Copplestone.

The kit is easy to put together, the main issue is ensuring the track units are aligned - super glue is not very forgiving. There're two gun barrels. The one seems extremely short (the surviving M/21-29 has a short barrel and appears to have a short cannon rather than an MG. What is confusing is that there are photographs that show the short barrel but appear to have a barrel sticking out of the centre - this may be a plug inserted to keep dirt out).

The model was undercoated with Citadel Chaos Black, followed by Citadel Mechanicum Standard Grey. Unfortunately, the Mechanicum have changed their standard as the spray and the paint are noticeably different colours, so it needed to be given a full coat of the paint.

The tracks were painted with a wet mix of Vallejo Hull Red, Army Painter Black and Vallejo Black Grey. The tracks were dry brushed with Army Painter Stone Golem.

The Iron Cross decals were from the I94 WW1 German aircraft set and the numbers from another I94 set (20mm WW2 German numbers).

The windows were painted Humbrol White, followed by Citadel Warpstone Glow.

It needs to be weathered.

T62 - Bovingdon

 T62 tank at The Tank Museum, Bovingdon.

Anvil Pickup Truck

 Anvil Industries have recently released a number of 3D printed variants of a US Pickup Truck.

This is the Standard Pickup with closed cab.

The "kit" is in five parts, the body and four wheels. Cleverly, the front axles have a ball and socket connection, so you can set the wheels as if the vehicle was turning.

It is of reasonable proportions compared to my standard scaling figure (William Killian).

The wing mirrors do look a bit odd - I would have expected them to be at the front edge of the door if not on the "wing".

It is notably longer than the Crooked Dice Land Rover, but is lower.

It is also wider, but that might be expected.

It is about the same width as a 3D printed Range Rover also for 28mm scale.

The range Rover does tower over the pickup.

As this is the cheapest version of the Pickup, there is no interior detail, however the cab is empty, the side windows are just printed solid so if you wanted a wreck you could just remove the windows, you will need to put in a floor. The versions with open windows fits the two seats in from below.

The resin seems to paint up well, there was some layering on the front window and across the side window (it looks like it is printed at an angle, nose down). This was smoothed with sand paper.

Trench Offensive by Pandyman Entertainment

Pandyman Entertainment have recently released a World War One trench warfare game, including a boxed starter set.

This is a 28mm scale small scale skirmish set that allows the recreation of the disparate trench raids which attempted to break the stalemate of the Western Front.

 

The starter set has a full colour printed A5 version of the rulebook.

Two colour printed battle mats (that conveniently have the quick reference information on them) that combine.

Three 3D printed Germans (with four different heads).

And three British, again with four different heads.

There are also two six sided dice plus a six sided scatter die.

More on the rules once I have read them.

Warfare 2023

 For the first time in a while, I went to Warfare. For reasons as baroque as why the SELWG show is in the Lee Valley, Warfare was in Farnborough (okay 1.5 miles from the nearest railway station according to the web site, though whether that was as the crow flies or including going way past it to get to the entrance I do not know).

SELWG does lay on a bus service to and from the station, but for Warfare it was a bit of a slog out there.

There was a lot more of the companies I buy from at SELWG, but there were some surprising no-shows, which lead to some rearranging of tables that made finding some of the traders more difficult as they were not were they were on the map

I did end up buying a number of sets of rules, so in no particular order.

Seven Days to the Rhine, Cold War rules for the 'eighties. Though designed for 15mm, I am looking at either 10mm or 6mm.

Crooked Dice had their 2.5 version of their Cinematic Skirmish Rules. Combining the rules from the previous variants into a common book. They had lots of new figures, a number of which I also bought.

This is the first Fistfull of Lead game I have bought. It is a simple game for mechanics (and Kaiju) battles. No to find some suitable figures.

Pandyman had their new World War One Trench Offensive starter set. More later.

Winter of '79, set during a fictional civil breakdown during the late 'seventies. Small scale skirmish.

Other items, from Empress I bought a Hornet tank.

And LK-2 tank, plus a T64A.

From Pandyman I bought a number of their modern emergency service figures including Riot Police.

Fire man.

Police.

And two armoured Paramedics.

There were a lot of other things bought, but that is for a later post.

On the way back the route goes past the Farnborough Aeronautical Science Trust museum. There are a number of interesting items on display outside, one day I will come back and have a look in the museum.

Crooked Dice "Cunning Man" for A War Transformed

 One of the options to command His Majesty's forces in A War Transformed is The Cunning Man.

Who is the person that would spring to mind?

Crooked Dice have pack of Heroes (Heroes 9) with a suitable figure for a war weary Cunning Man.

The figure is supplied with a tab for a slotta base, so this was cut off and filed flat. A hole was drilled in one boot and the figure was pinned to a Renedra 25mm base.

Base coated with Citadel Chaos black.

The trousers were painted with Citadel Steel Legion Drab.

The jacket and spats were painted with Army Painter Leather Brown. The boots themselves were painted with Citadel Dryad Bark.

The waistcoat was Citadel Death Korp Drab and the scarf Citadel Mephiston Red.

The jacket, trousers and spats were highlighted with their respective colours lightened with Army Painter Stone Golem.

Army Painter Stone Golem was used for the buttons on the spats, waistcoat and the photonic spanner.

The business end of the spanner had Citadel Warpstone Glow applied.

The hair was also Army Painter Stone Golem.

The belt and cross belt was Citadel Mournfang Brown.

The brown bits had Citadel Agrax Earthshade applied. The spanner and the hair had a Citadel Nuln Oil was added. The mouth had to be cleared of the wash.

Citadel Reikland Fleshshade wasapplied to the skin (base coated with Citadel Bugman's Glow and highlighted with Citadel Kislev Flesh).

Here is the Cunning Man and two infantry.

Now this is not the last Cunning Man to grace this army, as there is another figure in the pack that might (re)visit The Great War (monocle or not).

Also, though they may not have received the vote, there is no reason the Cunning Man post cannot be filled by a woman with a family history of service in the armed services. That might lead to an interesting selection for a witch figure as well.