Wargame Bloggers Quarterly Issue Three

Hi Everyone,

Curt has very kindly consented to me posting a bit of gaming news. Some of you may know I'm involved in a publishing "side-project" called Wargame Bloggers Quarterly along with quite a few other Challengers.

We've just published Issue Three which explains why I've been so quiet and have not posted any work this week. Please tell us what you think and don't hesitate to get in touch of you are interested in joining in the fun as an contributor for a future issue.

That's all from me. See you next Thursday with more painted lead :-)

From RossM - Various Scales and Periods (144 points)

Posted here for your appreciation - one hopes - are a range of miniatures from various periods and scales.

First up are a couple of retro 28mm Chaos Warriors from the glory days of Citadel Miniatures.

The figure above was originally catalogued in the second Citadel Compendium and passed me by in the early eighties. Tastes change and some thirty years later here he is, making three of those originally shown in the catalogue making an appearance here. There will be more to follow soon

This Chaos Warrior came from an early box set and again others from this set may appear in the near future.

Next up are four German 20mm scale AFV's from WW2. All four are from Britannia Miniatures and yet again are great models to paint.

First up is the Hummel 150mm SP Artillery piece. Here I opted for no camouflaged patterns, however I washed the base coat in both Nuln Black and Devlan Mud for a darker and more earthy feel to the colour of the finished paint job.

Next up is the Sd Kfz 10 (1 ton), a prime mover that will see varied use on the gaming table in the future. This reflects its actual usage throughout the war as it was used in a variety of campaigns throughout.

Next, is the Jagdpanzer IV with long 75mm. A favourite here that may gain a few fellows in the future.

Last from this period is the Sd Kfz 250/22/D Hanomag with PAK 40. Another iconic German Half Track variant. Painted with a basic camouflage pattern to allow the base colour its place this time.

The last part of this entry comes from the 15mm Sci- Fi forces that have been getting painted throughout this years challenge.

There are nine attack drones and a command set in the first pictures from this period. The attack drones will be used a a covering force for ground troops and are basically flying HMGs. All of the figures shown are from Ground Zero Games.

The red was added a touch of colour to bring out the dark grey of the drones and show that less some times really is more.

Red go faster flashes!

The attack drones shown below supporting a missile support section of sixteen figures and three command. Two of the figures in this section were painted before the Challenge began and aren't included in the total number of figures for the points tally.

The older painted figures stand out in the bases as they are lighter than the newly painted. Not enough, however to justify stripping and re-painting them.

Next, is a half infantry company to compliment the above missile section. These can be used on their own or with additional support elements to create a full company.

This concludes this entry and I hope you enjoy what is on show.

Cheers for now


From Curt:

What a wonderful sampling of figures Ross! It's great seeing those Chaos Warriors again - I definitely have good memories of them from my salad days. The German armour looks great (always liked the look of the Hummel), but I have to say that I'm quite taken by all this 15mm Sci-Fi stuff we've been treated to during this year's Challenge. I really like the drones in this entry, especially with their 'go faster' red stripe. :) I also think the airid basing is very well done. 

Great work Ross!

From RoyW - 10mm (very fashionable) Zombies! (14 Points)

Hello everyone, 

It's been a while since I last posted anything. The reason being, I suffered painting burnout from everything I did during December (which, incidentally, was the highest output of work I've ever achieved in such a short period of time).

Anyway, I'm back painting once again and will hopefully see out the rest of The Challenge. 

The miniatures shown are all 10mm Pendraken Miniatures - Sci-Fi Zombies. 

I've based them on Octagonals to help with quick-glance recognition during gaming. 

The Survivors will be based singularly on round bases.

Also, to help distinguish the living from the dead, the survivors will be painted with natural skin tones and the zombies have been painted with green skin - again, to help during gameplay.

I bought enough models for twelve more bases of these and I hope to work in more fashion designs onto the clothing; Adidas, Nike, camo' patterns and imagery, etc.  

If nothing else, these zombies are colourful!

Points: Fourteen 10mm foot will give me 14 points.

From Curt:

Yeah, the December/January flurry often creates painting burnout. Wait until late March - then we'll have some real paint zombies (right Tamsin? Ray? Millsy?).  

These are very cool figures, Roy. Their flesh is ghoulishly wonderful. What system are you using them for? I really like the octagonal bases with the high-contrast black edging. It gives a nice 'playing piece' quality about them.

Great work.

From MarkO - Send in the Landwehr! (726 points)

Ok, 144 Austrian Napoleonic Landwehr. Two main thoughts sprung to mind while painting these: "Wow these are much easier than painting other Napoleonics" (all the black webbing), and also "Wow Napoleonics are still a pain to paint compared to practically anything else I could have chosen!". But I love them, so... here we are...

I wanted troops that wouldn't look too out of place in later campaigns, hence the grey jackets with coloured facings. The uniform is still rather drab compared to many Napoleonic uniforms though, so here's a nice stirring piece to improve the morale of these militia.

And... forward!

Close ups of one regiment.

From Curt:


Well, this is a points nuke if I ever saw one! Fantastic stuff Mark, I particularly like the battalion with the pink facings, very smart looking. Are these Perry plastics? Also, (and I can't remember if I've asked this already) what rules system are you using for these? I'm really looking forward to when we near the end of the Challenge so we can get some 'work entire' photos of people's work. Your 3-months worth of labour will be very impressive Mark!

From MilesR - More DAK Support Units in 28mm (90 Points)

Some more support units for my 28mm DAK army.  These are all 28mm Perry metal figures.  Outside of a few Opel trucks, which are on back order, this should finish out my DAK force.

First up is a heavy machine gun unit with four figures.  The team isn't fully mounted on a single stand so it can take causalities via figure removal.

Next up six figures from the German command pack - a light machine gunner and ammo carrier, an anti-tank rifleman, NCO and two officers.

The ubiquitous 81mm mortar - just about every army in WW2 used an 81mm mortar, so my DAK would feel left out of the party if they didn't get one too.

A SdKfz 2 Kettenkrad light transport.  The Kettenkrad was originally intended to be used by airborne troops but saw very wide service on all fronts as a light transport.  It was slow for a light vehicle (top speed of 44 km/hour) but could go through just about any terrain.  It had a very interesting steering design.  Initial turns were accomplished with slight turns of the handle bars using the front tire.  When turn past a certain point the track drive train would assist the turn by adjusting the speeds of the tracks.  It very rough terrain the vehicle would be operated with the front tire removed and just rely on the tracks. This was one of the few German vehicles to be switched to non-military use after the war as there was a very successful agricultural version sold after 1945.

This Kettenkrad is an all metal kit from the Perry line and was a lot of fun to build.  I may get a few more.

One thing I will be trying with the mortar unit is using some unit "horde" bases I purchased several years ago.  To be honest I can't remember the original purpose for the bases - I'm sure none of you have similar items in your lead pile...

Bolt Action is meant to be a fast play game and I'd like to see how these trays speed up play and do they do so without a major reduction to the visual appeal of the game.  Of course, I still need to scenic the tray.

I did have some good news that will impact my hobby time - my robotics team won the Delaware State Championship which qualifies them to complete in the East Regional (which is the next step to qualify for World Championship).  It's great news but means the Robotics season is extended as we prepare for the upcoming PA and MD state Championships and the Regionals.  I am multi-dimensional geek!


From Curt:

Great work Miles! I really enjoyed reading your factoids on the Kettenkrad, especially it's unique drive system and post-war agricultural use - very interesting.  

I'm typically not a big fan of individually based multi-figure weapons teams but I do like how you're making use of sabot trays to make them more manageable - never thought of that.  Good one! 

Finally, congratulations on your robotics team's recent victory and best of luck in the upcoming state and regional events!