D&D PLAYER CHARACTERS

Made a start on my D&D project, these are the start of my player characters, this group is the Magic User/ Thief and Assassin set, Thief on the left then two Magic Users and a pair of Assassins to the far right.

So the Mages are actually a Magic User and an Illusionist, I am also currently painting up a Druid which is included as a player character in D&D 1st ED.

And finally close ups of my Assassin / Thief set, the Assassins, one is a fantasy based Assassin and the other is more oriental (think Ninja), the Thief is just a normal human thief, I am trying to find a good 15mm Halfling Thief but so far I have not found any good minis for that purpose, all minis are 15mm Splintered Light Minis except for the Ninja which is a Peter Pig mini.

CANCON 2015 PURCHASES

I picked up a couple of things while I was at Cancon, not much of a haul, but like I said the inspiration just wasn't there, anyway, as you can see I picked up the rule set Lion Rampant, have only heard good things thus far, so I look forward to trying this rule set out in the future, also picked up a few paint pots from Vallejo for an upcoming project, there is also a 15mm Ogre for my D&D project, which will feature in the next few posts, my D&D project that is, and finally also did a bit of an impulse buy, a 15mm mythological Hydra which marks the start of a new project based in Greek mythology, I am particularly excited about that project because I am of Greek descent, and have grown up reading the myths, I have already ordered some Greek hoplites from Xyston Miniatures who are the bees knees for all things ancient in 15mm, will post more on these items as I complete them.

CANCON 2015

So Cancon came around again this year (what a great way to start the year), it always occurs on the Australia Day Weekend 24-26th, my brother and I made the trip from Melbourne to Canberra via hire car and stayed at a local hotel, the weather was awesome 30 degree days for all the days we were there, cant really ask for more than that, of course I took some pics so that you all could experience it as well, enjoy.

Area for painting

Not Sure who this dude is??

There was lots of Bloodbowl action

Some strange Samurai game

Flames of War terrain

Drop Zone Commander paper terrain

Drop Zone Commander resin terrain

More Flames of War Terrain

Infinity

I have got to say I was a little disapointed this time around the show felt very unorganized, with a lot of areas merged with little to no signage, to tell the different areas apart, they had a tornaments area with some participation games tagged onto the end and they had more participation games blotched through out adjoined to some of the sellers area, there also didn't seem like there were much in the way of participation games, with a lot of the big titles missing.... no Saga (Cross and Cres), no Skirmish Sangin etc... There was only one canteen in operation which meant that it took 10mins at least to get anything to eat or drink, Overall it seems to me that the crowds grew but the show didn't, I sure hope there are improvements made, I did still enjoy it, but changes are needed.

WILD WEST CHARACTERS

As stated in my previous post, this time around I have more Wild West cowboys, but this time they are sculpted in the likeness of known characters, some fictional characters but others are based on real life legends of the Old West, going from left to right, Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, The Man with No Name and Billy the kid, did anyone recognize any of them before I listed them?

Calamity Jane, Real name was Martha Jane Canary, she was mostly known for her association with Wild Bill Hickok and for her unusual Job as a professional Scout for the Military, there is a lot of controversy as to how she acquired her nickname and her alleged obsession with Wild Bill, truth or lie the one thing we know for sure is that she was and is a Wild West Legend.

' Wild Bill' Hickok, Real name was James Butler Hickok, Lawman, Gunfighter and Gambler, his gun skills and reputation as a lawman helped to create the Legend of 'Wild Bill', His exploits are to many to mention here but they include but are not limited to, fighting for and spying for the Union Army during the American Civil War, Army Scout and marksman in General Custers's 7th Cavalry, Failed actor and a Lawman in some of the most lawless US Territories of the time, Wild Bill was involved in many notable Shootouts, and it was a well known fact that his reputation alone was enough to diffuse a drunk angry man and if that didn't work he usually would end up shooting them.   

The Man With No Name, this is a fictional character played by actor Clint Eastwood in director Sergio Leonie's spaghetti western movies, the character portrays an Old West Bounty Killer (Bounty Hunter) cool, calm and collected who during the course of the three movies gets up to a whole lot of shooting, these movies are a must see.

Billy The Kid, Real name was William H Bonney, Made a name for himself as a Wild West Outlaw, possessing good skill with firearms, it is said that he killed more than twenty people, claiming his first kill as a gunman at the age of just 17yrs, this is one angry young man.

HAPPY NEW YEAR - MORE WILD WEST

I hope everyone had a great break over the holidays and I am hoping everyone has a safe and prosperous New Year 2015 filled full of hobby related fun.*raises a beer in the air*

As you all know I haven't done much on the blog for about a year or so, which of course doesn't mean that I haven't been busy painting and terrain making, so I guess I am saying that I'm back and eager to get stuck back into the blogging side of things this year.

I think in Feb of 2014 I got the Wild West bug back again and painted another ten or so Wild West miniatures and did some work on a Wild West town, three of which I have on display for you today, the first two guys going left to right will be another two Pinkerton guys specializing in the field of personnel protection, being hired as body guards for a Saloon owner or maybe a town banker, the last guy on the right is the first of many town folk who will inhabit my slowly growing but small Wild West town, which can be seen in the back ground, more on the town in another post.

That is it for this time around, coming up next I have Old West Celebrities. 

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS

As some of you know I have had D&D on the agenda since my post ( LINK) back in August 2011, wanting to recapture some old school fantasy action, I couldn't pass up the chance to purchase the limited edition Gygax memorial premium covered version of the AD&D 1st edition core rule books, which includes the players handbook, monster manual and the dungeon masters guide, all beautifully bound in a modern contemporary but yet still old school cover. the only real difference between the originals and this version is basically the covers, which have been modernized, internally the rule set is word for word, written in mono tone, nothing added just like the originals.

Between BD&D (basic, red box) and AD&D 1e there is no other version of D&D that I have played the most, I have played other versions, recently D&D 4e, but these two versions I enjoy the most and share the most memories with, of all the versions of D&D I think that AD&D 1e is the one true version, most of the other versions were either too basic, not yet matured enough or over cooked with way too many unnecessary features added on, this is of course only my opinion, I guess we all have our opinions right ?

BUCKBOARDS AND A WAGON

Hi all, back again after a bit of an unforeseen break (sorry bout that), continuing on with the wild west theme, I have put together a wagon, buck board and a doctors buggy, scale wise these are 15/18mm and are all from Blue Moon Manufacturing, all of these will be just obstacles and cover for the many warring cowboy factions that will inhabit my terrain, enjoy...

 

The buckboard was a basic four wheeled wagon of simple construction, usually drawn by a horse, a very iconic form of transport in the wild west, it received its name via the front most board which protects the driver from the horse's hooves if it was to 'buck'.

 



 The doctors buggy, again simple in construction, a smaller four wheeled wagon, usually drawn by one horse, but with much more comfortable additions, colored wheels and a comfy seating position, not a bad way to travel in the wild west.

 



The Wagon, A heavy four wheeled vehicle usually used to transport goods and in some cases even people, is the ultimate iconic ride in the wild west.

WILD WEST BUILDING #3

Hi again everyone, another building is completed for my wild west town, an important building, every town has to have a place where the local law resides right? well this is my Sheriff's office, a nice enough building me thinks, with this building I tried to use more natural tones as far as colour goes and used less facade decorations, a sheriff's office should look more modest, I think it turned out nice, I also ordered some trees, tufts and accessories for the landscaping of the town, this project is coming along nicely.

WILD WEST BUILDING #2

Hi everyone, adding another building to my slowly growing wild west town, this time it is a partially complete town building, an old west construction zone if you will, the building is still at frame stage, the flooring is laid out and most walls have been erected, it comes complete with a ladder, cutting horses and a pile of wooden planks, this building was quite easy to put together and so simple in design, but it comes across very effective visually, a nice piece in my opinion.

WILD WEST BUILDING #1

And so begins the process of Building my Wild West Town in 15/18mm, I don't know what this building does to contribute to this town but if you forced me to make something up, I would probably say that it will end up being a drug store, I have already organised signage but I haven't made a final decision just yet, this building is probably one of the smaller buildings that I will put together, it is one of about ten buildings that will make up my wild west town.

 

This is a DIY kit and a very detailed one at that, lots of little bits and pieces, with a lot of them needing painting prior to being put together, this made it very difficult, I made a lot of mistakes building this one, but I believe I have found a process which should make the next build faster and with a lot less mistakes, I hope you enjoy, there are more coming.

 

 

LOS PANUELOS ROJOS

 

I finally finished my first outlaw gang for my Wild West Project, fellow Blogger Zabadak, cleverly refered to them as 'Los Panuelos Rojos' loosely translated as 'The Red Neckerchiefs'  I kinda liked the name and so it has stuck, they number 9 in total and have a mix of weapons, sawn off shotgun, six shooters and a couple of rifles, the local lawmen had better watch out...

The only other miniatures I added to the group are the two in the foreground, the leader of the 'Los Panuelos Rojos' and one of his underlings, take note that the leader Carrys twin ivory handled pistolas, has a bit of a gut, but is still a lowdown good for nuthin son of a la perra, even though the group kinda looks the same, this was done on purpose, I wanted them to be easily identified in battle, I think they turned out real nice, hope you like them.

COWBOYS

Moving forward again with my Wild West Project, I painted some more Cowboys, these guys belong to the same cowboy gang as the outlaws I painted in a previous post (Go HERE to view that post), I painted them in similar tones and colours with all of them having a red neckerchief to link them together, this brings the gangs members to a total of seven men, I want to add at least a couple more to the total which will make these guys a force to be reckoned with, they have a mix of revolvers and rifles. 

As with all my Wild West miniatures they are from Bluemoon and are 15/18mm in scale. whats up next ? I will paint up the remainder of this gang, and then I will paint up a group of bounty killers (Hunters), you may even recognise some of them, well see.