Kingdom of Britannia: KRRC, all but done

A dash last night to get some painting in whilst the better half watched Grey's Anatomy, and these guys are all but finished. I have left myself with only the basing to do to bring these guys into line with the rest of the force. The only other bit of painting I may have to do is to add a little something to the face of the drummer boy. As a non-combatant, he'll be staying on the table till the end of the fight, and all that braiding catches the eye, so I feel like I have to do something a little better than what we see here.

Some better pictures of the drummer. I don't know why I bother with these close-ups, all they do is show off the inconsistencies with my painting and make me realise all the bits I missed, showing me I'm not as finished as I once thought.

The best laid plans...

The more eagle eyed amongst you may note that I didn't quite stick to the colour scheme I had planned, as shown here. I went with white/khaki haversacks and belts instead of the black shown. There are a few reasons for this. I hear mention there are to be a section of the 95th available in the future, so I want to keep the black for them. Also, the khaki allows these guys to fit in better with the with the colour scheme I used for the 24th, giving me some uniformity where otherwise we have 2 different coloured units. These all seem great reasons, yes? The real reason is, I didn't look back at the scheme I posted, and just started painting. Just as well, as I'm rotten at painting black leather.

Review: Ravage 4 (English Edition)

I have taken the time to read through this, the 4th edition of the English language edition of Ravage magazine. After I had given the 1st issue what can only be described as a lambasting, I thought it only just that I give this issue a once over, to see if, as I had been told, the issues had been fixed.

I have only recently got my hands on issue 4, as there have been distribution problems that have not allowed my FLGS to get issues 2, 3 or 5 in stock as yet. This in itself seems to be a strike against Ravage, as to make it with a paper magazine in this day and age, you really need to get it out on the shelves. However, since this may be a local issue, I'll leave it out of my consideration. So, with that aside, on with the meat of the review.

The production values for this magazine are top notch. The glossy look is great to show the wealth of images the pages contain to their best advantage.

Game Articles.

The first and largest article is an 8 page reworking of a review of the new edition of GW's 40K, I say reworking, as this is obviously a translation of an article written for the original French language version. The translation is superior to that by google translate in the 1st magazine, it has obviously been done by a human, but it has not been edited by a fluent English speaker, as there are quite a few slips where the writing doesn't flow well in English, and indeed some parts that just don't make sense.  As to the rest of the article, it give a thorough overview of the new edition, and how it varies from older editions, going into detail where needed. The only thing I would say, is that it is written for 40K players, it's not for those who are new to the system as throughout, there is an assumption that you know more about 40K and its universe than may be the case (I for one have never played it, but I know fine I am in the minority).

The attention given to the new release, Zombicide runs to 6 pages,containing 4 articles (one of which is a scenario) great introduction to the game, and of course, since Ravage is being published by Cool mini or not, who also edit and make the English version of the game, they are going to use the space to launch their products.

There's a nice overview of the Zombies! box game, which goes well with the theme of the mag (pushing Zombiecide), but again, it suffers in the translation/editing, as does the article on Dust Warfare, which is an otherwise good introduction to this game, and comparison to Dust Tactics.
I'll skip the rest, for fear of sounding like a broken record, but the wealth of games covered by the mag should be congratulated, as there are few magazines who cover this range of fantasy/non-historical games, be they board games or tabletop miniatures games.

Hobby articles.

These were fun, if a little wacky. The first is a Space Wolves, carry case. This was a diorama for 4 minis, that was made to be carried , and the minis taken out for use. However, this 'carry case' consisted of a cake box with 2 bloody great logs in it! For 4 minis in what is likely to be a rather much larger army? Really? I don't think it's all that practical. 9 out of 10 for imagination, 2 out of 10 for practicality. A nice diorama, but in no way portable.

The second was a painting guide, for a Nurgle axe. Nice, but as I noted in my previous review, better suited to a web environment. It seemed a little rushed on 1 page.

Overall, I wish Ravage well, but it's still coming up rather short of my expectations. It looks good, but the quality of the writing  is lacking. There are some fine bloggers out there who write better, and should be prodded to submit some articles for the mag. (In fact I think I should suggest that to some of them). The editing for the articles that were taken from the original French language magazine is also non existent. The translation is much improved (in that it is now done by a person, and not a machine), but it still needs to be given the once over by someone who's first language is English. I may be being harsh, and some may not even notice, but these are obvious to me, and may be accentuated by the fact I live in bilingual Montreal, where I face English and French daily, but if these guys want to make it in North America, they need to tighten up the ship.

There is definitely a niche to be filled by the range of games this magazine covers, as there is no other paper magazine out there right now, who is not house owned (although CMoN seems to be becoming a distribution house with their own agenda, if not focused solely on their own products), or focused on historical gaming, so please guys, take heed.

Amazon Order

I had some Amazon vouchers stacking up on my account, so I decided to order a couple of books. I thought to treat myself with some Osprey titles, so went for The Zulu War, by Angus McBride and The British Army on Campaign (3) by Michael Barthorp and Pierre Turner. I really wanted to get my hands on a copy of Canadian Campaigns 1860-70, but it seems to be rather hard to get a hold of, at least on Amazon or even directly from the Osprey site.

I'm quite looking forward to the McBride book, as I have been a fan of his work for a very long time (since I bought pretty much every book going for the MERP system back in the 80s and 90s), but this will be the first of historical books I own. I am rather surprised to see that he's down as the author of the book as well as the illustrator, I didn't think this was something he had done. It will be interesting to see how well the great man writes.

Why these ones in particular I hear you all ask, well really if you're asking that you haven't been paying attention at all recently, have you! It's all towards inspiration for my Britannian army for Dystopian Legions. Although, my steady rate of painting has meant I don't have much left to finish off, but the miniatures and the game itself have got me into looking up more on the era, which I must admit is one I know little about.

Another reason I went on to Amazon, was to look at the range of Osprey wargaming titles they have available there. In particular, and of special interest to this post, In Her Majesty's Name steampunk skirmish wargaming rules, which are available for pre-order. I did not pre-order them, but I think I'll most certainly be ordering them once they are released. It makes great sense to have another set of rules to use with minis I already have.

Kingdom of Britannia: KRRC Riflemen, part the third.

Another WIP, with rather blurry pictures. The highlighting is done on all but the faces, just a  little tidying up to do where I painted outside of the lines on the collars (in red, so it's noticeable). The drummer boy will need a bit more work, as I'm not sure which colour to do all the braiding on his jacket. I'll probably go for white, with red accents on the cuff, but I'll wait till my eyes and brush hand are less tired to do that detailing. Still, he's much more advanced than teh drummer for the 1st section, who's languishing in the cupboard half done.

Steampunk War Movie: Arms Race, Escalation

I was made aware of this little movie by way of the Wargame News and Terrain blog. A fun collection of steampunk videos on You Tube. Very well made, and I think the steampunk aspect, at least in the costumes, is perfectly underplayed. I just sat and watched all 6 of them, whilst painting my second Rifleman section for Dystopian Legions.

I'm aware that steampunk can be a bit of an acquired taste, it's certainly not always for me, but I think they're worth a look!

Kingdom of Britannia: Riflemen and Bertie

A little more work done on the KRRC rifle section, inking all now finished. Just a little hightlighting to do and we're good to go. Previous WIP here. These guys are now sure to be finished in time for this month's Colore ton Monde. 

I also started on Captain Gilbert 'Bertie' Smethington II, or as he will always be refered to here, Flashheart ('Woof!'). I was initially unsure as to what pain scheme to go with for him, but in the end, I just went for it. There are lots of heavily watered down paints at play here over a white gesso undercoat. Makes for fast and easy painting. I'm not so sure about the brown ink over grey greatcoat. It looks better in the pictures here than in real life. That may be painted over, or at keast inked with a darker shade to kill the red tones.

Kingdom of Britannia: Basset Tankettes III

I think I'm happy with these now, and will get on with making the bases, as there's nothing more to add to the painting of the minis.

Last night I did a last wash of watered down arcane blue (P3) over the brass wheels, followed a  by a mix of terracotta earth and Lahmian medium, then a dab of yellow earth. I have also included a picture of the Tankette beside a Rifleman, to show the Tankette to scale. It may end up a few millimetres higher once the base is complete, but not much more than that.

Tankette to scale

Wash of Arcane Blue (P3)

The second section of Riflemen are well on their way now. Their base coat is all but done, just some inks and highlights to finish them off. There's a drummer boy in the section too, painted in the same scheme and at the same time, but he seems to have fallen off the edge of the pictures. Man, inspiration has truly struck for this army. I think it helsp that the options are so far limited for troop choice. The only think I am not yet in the zone for are the character model from the box set, and the Sky Hussars (I don't know what colour scheme I want for either).

Colore ton Monde: Fevrier He shots, and scoooooooores !

January's completed models are up on the Club Chaos site here. I failed to enter this month, as I had my paint on for Dystopian Legions, and didn't want to break the run by finding another model to paint for the challenge. So congratulations to Wulfbein for winning the draw this quarter.

On to February's Challenge:

He shots, and scoooooooores !

Le hockey étant de retour, il est grand temps d'attacher vos patins et de pratiquer votre lancer.

Pour le mois de février, nous vous invitons à peindre un modèle avec une arme de tir.

Or, for those who prefer it in English

He shots, and scoooooooores !

Hockey is back, it's time to tie on your skates and practice your shot.

For the month of February, we invite you to paint a model with a ranged weapon.

Easy peasy. I'm just about to start my second section of Riflemen, and I already have the colour scheme fixed. No problemo!

Convergence of Cyriss

Okay, I'm seriously tempted by these guys. Art Deco Warjacks? Yes please!

Details of the specific cards, from Templecon here:

Iron Mother Directrix

Father Lucant, Divinty Architect

Axis the Harmonic Enforcer

Galvanizer

Cipher

Kingdom of Britannia: Basset Tankettes II

More WIPs of the Basset Tankettes (previous post here). Almost there. Just a bit of detailing and weathering to do. The wheels for the tread need something done to them, they're still far too bright an factory new to look good. There's also some detailing I did one one of the two that needs repeated on the other, now that the original numbering I painted on has been hidden by the tracks.

I was wondering before whether or not I would be using the bases that came with these guys, as they're not all that necessary for the game. However, after I glued the tracks on, it became clear the bases were a must, as the back of the tread rises up from the table, meaning the centre of gravity of these guys is a little too far forward for them not to be based. I don't mind, the larger base size will (hopefully) allow me to go a bit more scenic.

One thing I am rather liking is the way the old Citadel Colour Flesh Wash I have looks great as rust. I have some Secret Weapon weathering powder rust colour to add too, although I will have to use is sparingly, not to over do it on these small minis. I think I'll have to go get some mud coloured powders to go on the tracks.

Once I start on the bases, that will give me a great opportunity to try out the little bricks I bought (also Secret Weapon, these guys are really going for it with their great releases)

In further news, the second section of Riflemen is based and primed. I went with a grey primer, as these guys will be following a different painting scheme from the first unit. I'll be going back to a scheme I wrote out for my 95th Rifles. That post is, coincidentally, the post with the most hits by a long margin for this blog. I guess there's a lot of gamers out there painting the 95th!