Dragon Rampant - Hill Giant Army

 Hello fellow Grognards!  

I know it has been awhile since my last post, but I have been busy, very busy.  Quite a few projects on the burner and a ton of painting completed, so I have quite a backlog of posting to do.  So let's get started!

Dragon Rampant armies have been high on the work list.  Below is a look at my new Hill Giant Army (36pts.).  Models are all from Reaper Miniatures as I try to use as many non-GW models as possible to add variety to my armies.  

I have also made some custom unit cards for the Army and now have them in hard plastic card sleeves for durability and game play.  An example below.  Hope to upload them to the site for your use.  Enjoy!

                                                                HILL GIANT ARMY

HILL GIANT KING

                                                  HILL GIANT HUNTER w/ DIRE CAT

                                                                          OGRES

                                                                        OGRES

                                                                        OGRES

                                                                        OGRES

                                                                        OGRES

Hill Giant Army List:  36 pts.

Hill Giant King with Blessed Weapon (8pts.) [Elite Foot]

Hill Giant Beastmaster with Dire Cat (8pts.) [Elite Foot]

    Note:  Dire Cat is counted as "shooting" for the unit.

Hill Giant Bodyguard (6pts.) [Elite Foot]

Hill Giant Bodyguard (6pts.) [Elite Foot]

Ogres (4pts.) [Bellicose Foot] (Reduced Model Unit)

Ogres (4pts.) [Bellicose Foot]  (Reduced Model Unit)

UNIT CARD EXAMPLE:

Print, cut, fold and slip into a hard case card sleeve!

Models are all from Reaper Miniatures as I try to use as many non-GW models as possible to add variety to my armies.

PAINTED MINIATURES SCOREBOARD:

2021 Painted Miniatures: 169

2022 Painted Miniatures: 214

2023 Painted Miniatures: 48

Next-up, my expanded Front Giant Army for Dragon Rampant followed by a Battle Report, Frost Giants vs. Hill Giants!

Until next time fellow Grognards and Young Guard!  Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum and.....Game On!

Simple Conversions for Galactic Heroes or Xenos Rampant - Gran Raider aka Ree Yees

Welcome fellow Wargamers to another installment of 'Of Dice and Army Men'!

Before I get too deep into the armies I have painted for Dragon Rampant, I have been working on a little side project for Galactic Heroes or Xenos Rampant.  It all started with an idea I had a few years ago and the Gran Raider figure from Star Wars Miniatures Game.

As you can see, this guy is not properly outfitted, in my humble opinion, for survival in the Star Wars universe.  He, for whatever reason, is bringing a knife to a blaster fight.

Now these minis are fairly cheap, likely for that very reason.  I have acquired a few and an evil plan has began to take shape!  Evil, quite evil....

As goes with the Grognard name, I have been playing wargames for quite some time.  I was introduced to table top wargames back in 1992, by some friends who were playing Warhammer 40K, Rogue Trader.  Times were different then, and we purchased boxes of plastic marines, 30 to a box if I recall correctly and just built our chapters out to massive numbers.  To do the same today, would like run the same cost as funding the next space shot to Mars.  But I digress...

So, having had many 'beakie' marines, I also was left with a pile of alternate arms, weapons, and accessories.

Lighting struck and when I saw this Gran Raider, he was destined to go under the knife.  Through the wonders of conversion, I removed both his arms (into the bits box they went) and glued on a right and left arm from my 'beakie' marine bits box.

I painted some additional details onto the marine arms to match the existing details on the Gran Raider model, repeat and 'voila', a squad of troops ready for the Galactic Heroes game!

 With some use of a power glove and bolter from the bits, I created a 'Sergeant' for the squad as well.

So, here is the full squad for your review.

There are many minis out there that can be repurposed and converted for your games.  In many cases, they can be done cheaply as well.

PAINTED MINIATURES SCOREBOARD:

2021 Painted Miniatures: 169

2022 Painted Miniatures: 214

2023 Painted Miniatures: 35

Until next time fellow Grognards and Young Guard, keep your fingers clear of your Xacto knife and Game On!

 

2023 - Playing Catch-up - Planet of the Apes

 

Welcome back fellow Wargamers!  It has been some time since my last post.  The good news is that I have been busy painting and hitting some conventions, so have much to share.

I've made and executive decision and have decided to count any of my un-blogged miniatures in late 2022 in my painted miniatures for 2023.  I feel like getting them posted is part of the deal.

One of the late entries is something I had hoped to find and be able to put on the wargaming table for a long time.

Planet of the Apes!  Not the remake of course, but the classic!  Charlton Heston (Taylor), Roddy McDowall (Cornelius), Kim Hunter (Zira) and, who could forget, Linda Harrison (Nova)!

Finding miniatures has been a challenge to say the least.  I finally stumbled across three sources.

An ebay seller, 'batval' has a large collection of Gorillas on foot, Mounted Gorillas and some character figures that seem to represent Cornelius and Zaius.

The second, is from Crooked Dice 7TV and they also have foot and mounted Gorillas but also offer more character figures for Cornelius, Zeus, General Ursus and Zira.

The third is a British company called Aintsy and they too have Gorillas on foot and mounted similar to those sold on ebay by 'batval' but have a variety of weaponry.  Also, the mounted sculpts are different poses, although all appear to be the same size.  They also offer a command groups of General Ursus and his lieutenants, but they also offer a mounted General Ursus and lieutenant and a groups they call 'Smart Apes' which look like Cornelius, Zira, Zaius and other orangutans.  Since they are UK, I have not yet been able to find a US stockist (that actually has stock).  Noble Knight Games shows they had once carried them in 2022, but has not restocked them since.  Whimper...

Enough talk and now for some images of the Apes!

First up, Zaius and Cornelius with some Gorilla Soldiers.

Next, a squad of Gorilla soldiers!  I have actually painted a few squads, but all are similar scuplts.

Next up, 6 mounted Gorilla soldiers.

Finally a few shots of the entire Gorilla Army!

30 models in all, and ready to fight!  I'm looking to use these in Xenos Rampant as well as Fistful of Lead Wasteland Warriors or Galactic Heroes.

You might notice there is no Taylor, Ursus, or Nova in the pics.  I have found Ursus model and a few others from Crooked Dice 7TV and will hopefully have them painted up soon.  I have found a stand-in for Nova, as no one seems to have made her in miniature (why, I can't fathom!)  That leaves Taylor.  I have scoured the mini manufactures and haven't found anything I can use, either in his space suit or in his tattered rags.  Any idea, I'd appreciate letting me know.

So, the race has officially began for 2023!

PAINTED MINIATURES SCOREBOARD:

2021 Painted Miniatures: 169

2022 Painted Miniatures: 214

2023 Painted Miniatures: 30

Spoiler alert!  Upcoming armies to add to the painted list for 2023 include a run of fantasy armies for Dragon Rampant and Fistful of Lead Fantasy.

Orc Army

Goblin Army

Vampire Army

Arachnid Army

And currently on the painting desk is an army I wanted to put together for a long time...

Army of Anubis (including the Scorpion King!)

Also, I will be adding some pics from 2022 and 2023 Gigabytes Historical Days as well as Siege of Augusta 2023!

Until next time fellow Grognards and Young Guard, may the pile of unpainted plastic and lead never blot the sun from your sky...and Game On!

AWI - Rebels and Patriots - Game Markers

 Welcome fellow Grognards and Young Guard!  

Today we make a brief step away from a Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far Far Away and jump back to AWI or Revolutionary War gaming!

As a fan of the Osprey Daniel Mersey titles, I decided to make my own set of game markers for Rebels and Patriots.  They are loosely based on the markers used for Dragon Rampant that can be commercially purchased.

The difference in my markers is that I placed the unit status on one side and the effect on the opposite side for quick reference.

If you followed by Fistful of Lead marker creation post, these were made in similar fashion.  I had to lay out the chips on a word document as a table and then printed them out.  These paper markers were glued to square wooden chips from Hobby Lobby.  Instead of applying Mod Podge to these, I chose to use clear gloss spray paint.  This is much faster and works just as well.

Hope you enjoyed this little diversion...so get your chits together and GAME ON!

PAINTED MINIATURES SCOREBOARD:

2021 Painted Miniatures: 169

2022 Painted Miniatures: 215

Fistful of Lead - game markers

 Welcome fellow Grognards and Young Guard!  Today I thought I'd bring you a quick look at some markers I made for Fistul of Lead from Wiley Games, using copies of their free PDF file for the markers and some wooden chips from the wood craft section at Hobby Lobby.

The chips used are somewhere between the size of a nickel and a quarter.  They come 12 to a pack, which is very convenient as the paper markers come in groups of 8 or so.  You can work out the numbers needed easily (even using the NEW math of today's schools!)

After wood gluing each marker which I cut in the shape of a circle (or attempted to do so) to one side of the wooden nickels, I let them dry.  I then painted acrylic paint around and sometimes onto the marker to give them a unique look.

Once painted on each side and given time to dry, I brushed on gloss Mod Podge to protect the paper marker, the paint and give them so shine.  Below is the fruits of my labor!

Of course, you can avoid all of this silliness and purchase your markers directly from Wiley Games!

Whichever way you chose, you will find them fairly inexpensive.

So, when the chips are down, keep your poker face firm and GAME ON!

PAINTED MINIATURES SCOREBOARD:

2021 Painted Miniatures: 169

2022 Painted Miniatures: 214

Fistful of Lead - Galactic Heroes - Terrain Special Part III

Welcome back fellow Grognards and Young Guard!  Today we venture out of the rocky wastes of Tatooine and into the town space of Mos Eisely.  Quite frankly, the building can serve for any of your western town games as well.

Below are some mounds that I made out of some scrap pink insulation foam board.  Cut to shape, and hot glued together, they are based on some scrap cardboard.  Prior to painting, I coated them in the fluffy light drywall spackle.  This measure is to prevent the foam from being dissolved by the aerosol paint I later used for the base coating.  After base coating these, I worked them up in dark to light browns to add contrast and highlight detail.

 

Next up are some 3D printed buildings I found for cheap on eBay.  The three similar buildings are 28mm, while the larger building is actually to 32mm scale.  While not much of a difference appearance wise, it does create a small issue with larger Legion scale figures fitting in the buildings due to height difference when the roofs are applied.

Somewhere in the future, I will likely buy some 32mm scale buildings to replace these for my Legion scale games and keep these for my smaller 28mm figure games.

Now, to bring all this talk of terrain together, below are some pics bringing in the hills, building and some scatter terrain! (forgot to put in a miniature when I was taking the pics!)

In addition, I just wanted to throw in a bonus miniature.  I am not taking credit for painting this one and I don't actually know who the painter is, but I purchased it online.  The model is outstanding and will serve us well!

Next up, something a little different...It's just a jump to the left....

Game tokens for Fistful of Lead!

So until next time...and a step to the right...and GAME ON!

PAINTED MINIATURES SCOREBOARD:

2021 Painted Miniatures: 169

2022 Painted Miniatures: 213

Fistful of Lead - Galactic Heroes - Scatter Terrain Special Part II

 Welcome Grognards and Young Gun to SCATTER TERRAIN SPECIAL PART II!!

Below are some offerings from Fantasy Flight in the Star Wars Legion offerings.  These are classic features from Tatooine.  Below are some moisture vaporators and control panels.  No water farm would be without them on Tatooine!

Simple yet effective!  Hope you enjoyed them.  Next up, we move to some buildings to get our desert town on the map of Tatooine!  Part III to the terrain special is close at hand.

Until then, make sure you get up on the ridge, and make those repairs before Uncle Owen finds out you've been off at Tosche Station picking up power convertors or they'll be hell to pay!  ...and GAME ON!

PAINTED MINIATURES SCOREBOARD:

2021 Painted Miniatures: 169

2022 Painted Miniatures: 204