Too slack for words

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Is there anyone out there?

Hello, I’m back!

Yes I’ve been too slack for words, so I’m back on board and I hope to post more wargaming stuff and things!

So what have I been up to since 2019, heaps! AWI, Cruel Seas, chain of command, terrain building but unfortunately not too many games!

But here is a tidbit that you may enjoy!

More Saga Rocky Ground Terrain Pieces

Step by step process of making rocky ground for Saga

 

1. Find rocks which have large flat surfaces that look dramatic but can have figures stand on them without toppling.
2. Cut out MDF board to fit within 20x20cm square.  Sand edges to a nice bevelled slope, e.g. about half the thickness of the board.
3. Glue rocks to base by mixed 2 part epoxy glue on the board and dabbing on rocks before placing. Make sure that you can fit figures and their bases between any large rocks.
4. Mix up smaller rocks in PVA glue and then layer onto base between the large rocks.  Spread into a single layer and evenly to provide a stable flat surface for standing on.
5. Once dry, apply more PVA glue and sprinkle on fine and coarse sand around remaining exposed MDF. Leave to dry.
6. Prime base with matt grey spray paint.
7. Dust off with matt white spray paint.
8. Paint rocks with desaturated paint and inks.  I use a mix of blacks, earth shades, sepia etc...
9. Dry brush with light stone and light grey.
10. Apply watered down earth colour to the sand.
11. Apply green blend flock to 90% of the sandy surface.
12. Apply fine and coarse turf using thick PVA and brush and then drop watered down PVA over the surface to fix.
13. Add tufts if desired.
14. Varnish with matt or satin spray varnish.

   

 

Test building hills using fibreglass bandages

Can you make durable wargaming terrain using lots of free stuff?

Of course you can, but can I develop a mass produced version so that we can make a bucket load of hills in time for Victory or Valhalla.  This is what I have managed to produce so far.

Fig 9. First coat of blended turf

So having scored a whole heap of MDF off-cuts, 30mm high standard packing polystyrene (bathrooms renovations) and out of date fibreglass bandages from a hospital, it was time to give it a go.

Fig 1. Hill No 1 glued to base

The first step was to trim the polystyrene sheeting to the shape of the base and then cut down the slopes with a hot wire cutter.  For the last few years I have only used high density extruded polystyrene so I had forgotten how easy it was to cut through the lower density expanded polystyrene.

During the cutting process I keep one of my miniatures around to test whether it would stand or topple on the slopes.  Steep size and flat tops make easier placement of figures, but I wanted more natural hills since Saga is skirmish based.

Fig 2. Hill No 2 sculpted and glued to base

I have found that PVA glue is not the best for gluing polystyrene to MDF.  This is because it takes far to long to dry and I am focused on speed.  Instead I use liquid nails, applying beads to both surfaces, smearing it smooth to the edges and waiting for it to tack.  I think place the polystyrene on the MDF and get a very quick bond then allows me to progress with the rest of the project quickly. Figs 1 and 2.

I have used plaster bandages before but never the fibreglass versions.  Since they have taken over the stabilisation of broken limbs, I thought that they must be pretty strong and therefore would be a good material to cover polystyrene
and strengthen the hills.

Fig 3.  Hills with fibreglass bandages 

Fig 4. First coat of sand to smooth out edges

Equipped with gloves, scissors and a bucket of water I set to work.  Like the plaster version, you submerge the bandage in water and within seconds you are good to go.  I held out the bandage to hill size and my trust companion (son #3) wielded the scissors and I smoothed the bandages over the polystyrene. Fig 3.

Fig 5. Full sand coast

I tried two methods.  The first was cutting the bandages first, then wetting them and placing them on the polystyrene.  The second was wetting the bandage, cutting and placing it.  The second worked much better sticking to the polystyrene straight away.  With the first method, the bandages stuck to each other and moulded to the shape of the hill but I need to remove them and glue them with PVA to the polystyrene.

Once the bandages had dried I trimmed around the bases to neaten up the hills.  When I next do this, I am going to try laying the bandages on the polystyrene hills before gluing them to the MDF.

Because the edges didn't always stick to the MDF, I applied a couple of layers of sand to the edges to smooth out the sides of the hills, Fig 4.

I then applied another layer of PVA to the rest of the hill and sprinkled fine sand on mass, Fig 5.

After letting the sand dry and a very light brush down to remove any loose sand it was time to prime.  I have been using grey primer for the last year across my terrain and miniatures.  Decided I needed a change from white or black and I am happy how it works as a base.

Fig 6. Grey primer

My spray area is on the temporary fence which houses the chook yard and it has gained a little patina of different sprays.

Fig 7. Dusted white primer

Fig 8. Base layer of homemade earth colour

The grey covered well and it was interesting to see how the colour was absorbed differently between the fibreglass and the other materials.  Once the grey was tack dry I then dusted the hills off with white primer.  FYI, the white dusts easily because I am on the third can using the same nozzle and it is has developed an inbuilt splatter pattern.

Over the primer I applied a watered down layer of earth colour.  I had run out of my normal Woodland Scenics earth colour pigment, but decided to have a go a making some homemade earth colour.  Given that my kids have grown out of their big acrylic paint tubes, I pulled out some red, green and yellow and went mixing.  Very quickly I had whipped up a suitably earth green blend and with trusty paint brush and jar of water proceeded to slosh it on to the hills.

Aside from the extra glue lines around the fibreglass seams which remained its whiteness, the colour went on and dried pretty much the same as the pre-made bottled variety.  Guess what I am going to be using for the next year?

Next on the list was to apply a later of Mod Podge aiming for around 90-95% coverage.  I then generously sifted the Woodland Scenics blended turf over the hills one at a time.  I generally leave the flock on the glue for a few minutes, around about the time it takes to prepare the next hill with glue, before shaking the excess off into a plastic tray for reuse.

As a proof of concept I am pretty happy with the outcome in Fig 9 and they got the seal of approval from the gaming crew.  So these will go into mass production soon for Victory or Valhalla.

Old Ruins and a Muddy Field

More Saga suitable terrain pieces

Around 25 years ago I splurged out on a whole village worth of Armorcast buildings including some ruins.  The ruins had been sitting in the "too be completed one day" tub, when that day came around and I decided to whip them into Saga ruins.

I personally think that the ruin terrain piece is the best one in Saga.  Hard cover and difficult terrain that blocks line of sight, so what is there not to like, most of the time.  So I normally reach for the ruin first and if it is taken grab the rocky ground.  Most of the time it is to secure an important point on the field of battle, though sometimes it is just to remove it as an option for my opponent.

Whilst Armorcast still exists and still does the medieval buildings, my old ruins don't seem to be sold anymore. Plus it isn't easy to find in Australia any more.

Fig 1. Really old Armorcast Ruins 

So like all my other Saga terrain pieces, I have glued them on to regular-ish shaped bases that fits within the 20x20cm footprint and applied basic ground textures and flock.  In both cases I have added some additional rocks to reflect the ruins being spread a little wider.  I have been sorely tempted to try drilling out the arched window, but each time temptation arises, sanity comes following behind very quickly.

Fig 2. More really old Armorcast Ruins

These models are representative of their time and the early days of resin casting.  Stuff is much better now days, but I am still very fond of my old buildings, so much so I will probably give them a good touch up and refresh one day.  Fig 1 is a 4 part model and Fig 2 came in 3 parts.  the joins are at the corners and don't fit great.  I could have gone to the trouble to fill the gap with putty or bicarb and superglue, but since I like the look of moss and nature taking over, a simple line of PVA and flock hides the gap and looks the goods.

Whilst making the fields in my last blog, I also made a small muddy enclosure using some Renedra Wattle Fences.  I had used the rest of the sprue to make flexible fence lines, but had enough left over to make this square which fits nicely within the Saga terrain footprint around the same size as the ruins.

Fig 3. Muddy field with Renedra Wattle Fences

The fences come with small plastic stands, but I decided to tack the corners together with superglue and glue the fence directly to the MDF base.  By adding lots of PVA glue and sand along the fences edge, I am happy that I have achieved a strong bond.

I have had the pigs out playing in the pen and they have made as awful mess rooting out all the plants and leaving around a foot of mud and lots of pig shit!

All 3 pieces are still awaiting some tufts and clump foliage to finish them off, but I was keen to get them done in time for some gaming tomorrow.

Terrain building update

Spending time away from painting figures to build terrain.

I have playing around with building some basic terrain pieces for Saga.   Sometimes I need a break from painting miniatures and I have always found building terrain enjoyable.  I am also one of the organisers of Victory or Valhalla, which Melbourne's largest Saga tournament.  For my sins, or passion for playing on nice tables, I have taken on the task of organising all the terrain for the day.  So whilst we can rely on people bringing some of their own and using the venue's stuff, very little is Saga specific and therefore I am going to be building lots of new stuff.  As it is going to be a massive task, I will save this project for another blog.

So with the goal of having Saga specific terrain and trying out examples which can be mass produced for Victory or Valhalla, I have gone on a little building splurge.

Rocky Ground.  

I love rocky ground as it is difficult terrain and provides hard cover.  Always one of my first terrain choices if one is available.   Fig 1 was my first attempt at building really rocky, rocky ground. The rocks are really rocks, Woodland Scenics talus and sand which I glued to an MDF base.  Once dry I primed the base with brown and grey spray paint and then painted it up with highly thinned paint and dry brushing.  Then flocked and some home made tufts.  I was quite happy with this result only to have it thoroughly soaked by heavy rain after I had left it out to dry post varnishing.  However once the water was drained off I put the base in the oven at low temp and left it dry out.  There was very little warping, but some of the MDF did swell.  So I sanded the bottom flat with my belt sander and sealed it with Mod Podge, all good.  This is the photo after all the misfortune.

Fig 1

My next  piece of rocky ground (Fig 2.) still fits within the 20x20cm footprint for Saga terrain but is triangular.  This is mostly because it fit the MDF off cut I had to hand, but also I thought it would fit the rocks I had collected.  These rocks my youngest son and I collected whilst walking the dog in the woodland reserve before school.  These is a great selection of rocks on walking distance within a short distance of my house.  All different and I have started harvesting them so I gain a collection.  When I am out and about I am looking for large ones which are flat with lots of texture and smaller ones which can work as scatter. It is amazing how looking a rocks more closely shows the diversity of colour.  I can see the attraction of geology now, aside from the mining industry pay packet.

Fig 2

Like Fig 1. I glued the larger rocks down first, spacing them so I could still place miniatures so that the based could be filled and the figures wouldn't fall over.  Since the terrain provides cover I wanted make the cover seem obvious and not just difficult.  For Fig 1. I glued the large rocks down with tile adhesive (which I actually love using for surface terrain e.g. my 1:3000 scale WWII naval fleets) before using Mod Podge for the smaller stones and scatter.  However I found that the tile adhesive takes to long to set and I wanted to work on the terrain faster.  So for Fig 2. I glued the larger rocks down with 2 part Araldite 5 minute epoxy.  As the name says, you mix it up place it on the MDF, position the rock and 5 minutes later it is set.  I was therefore able to support the rocks into position so that they were more level during the setting process and move to adding the other rocks much faster.  

For this base I used a grey spray primer and then dusted the rocks with a white primer.  Then using a similar blend of washed out paint, inks and light dry brushing got the rocks looking pretty rock like.  My my kids question why I am spending all these time painting rocks to look like real rocks rather than just not painting them, I think that the technique must be working OK.

Both Fig 1. and Fig 2. were flocked in Woodland Scenics blended turf.  They are ready to go, but I will probably add some static grass tufts and clump foliage when I have time.

Fields.

These two fields are my first attempts at using teddy bear fur.  I was given some off cuts from a friend at the wargaming club who had made a lovely 6'x4' mat.  I was interested in see how it would work as Saga fields so I gave it a go.

Fig 3. was my first go.  I cut the fur closer with my dog clippers and scissors until it was not much higher than some of my static grass tufts.  The fur was a golden brown so I used a lot of different green and yellow poster paint to get it to this colour.  Using the brush and comb method I got the fur to a colour and texture I was happy with and then glued it to an MDF base.  I used contact adhesive, but didn't quite get it right and ended up using PVA glue around the edges.  I made the corner hedge with an old strip of Heki hedge I had in the bits bin and added clump foliage and coarse turf to make it leafy.  To get the course turf to hold I dropped on watered down Mod Podge with detergent (my normal flock sealing system) which worked fine on the hedge, but leeched under the fur, so it required careful grooming to stop it gluing flat.

Then I though disaster struck when this piece as also caught out in the same rain as Fig 1.  The fur soaked up everything and it was like a sodden dish cloth.  So very upset with myself I drained it off, patted out more water, combed the fur (yet again, but this time the colours had mellowed to the better) and stuff it in the oven.  The picture is of the end result and like Fig 1. I ended up standing late the MDF base (which was much worse than the rocky ground) and sealing it again.

Fig 4. was a very experiment in fields building.  I decided to make a large field using teddy bear fur again and enclosing it in a dry stone wall. Yes, I know that fields don't provide hard cover, but I am prepared for some artistic license if it looks good.  I made the walls by making Lego formwork and filling the space with small rocks mixed with Mod Podge.  After making the first side in a 100% Lego form, I used masking tape to hold the form directly to the MDF the other walls.  I also built the wall in layers of 2 Legos high the second time around so that the glue would dry faster.  I found that even though the top layer dried quickly the result seal and Lego walls meant that the bottom layers took ages to dry as they weren't exposed to the air.

Fig 4

Like Fig 3, I used the brush and comb method on this piece of fur, but I was lighter on the paint and also kept the length of the fur longer. I am happier with this result as I think it looks more later in the growing season, whereas Fig 3 looks more marshy.  I also got the gluing to the MDF down pat with the contact adhesive without any side effects or significant adhesion issues. The walls followed a similar painting technique to Fig 2 and both bases were flocked the same way.

Fig 5. was back to my tried and proven field method using a coir doormat.  These are dirt cheap to buy and once you have vacuumed up all the dust and trimmed away to loose pieces they are use to cut, glue down nicely and really durable.  You can even paint them up to make them more green and alive, but I have never really bothered, though maybe I should.  Since the coir mats I buy are stitched into rubber backing, they are very easy to cut and glue. So you can place the field, apply the texture around the outside and have it ready for painting really quickly.

Fig 5

That is enough for now.  As you can see there are some ruins in the background of the last picture, but I will save them up for another post.

Mounted Heathguard from Conquest and Fireforge

Since my last post I finished the four extra mounted heathguard made from Conquest and Fireforge sprues.

Fireforge Mounted Sergeants

These two knights are made using Fireforge horses and torsos.  To keep them in theme with the Norman/1st Crusades models in the warband, I used heads and shields from Conquest Games' Norman Knight sprue.

All the conversion work was done with a hobby knife and file. Whilst it isn't perfect, I am very happy with how I was able to match up the heads and neck onto the Fireforge torsos.

As the riders had sheathed swords I used a Fireforge mace and Conquest knights hammer for the weapons, rather than go the spear / lance route.  Unfortunately the sword sheaths are easily bent and I had to continually straighten them!!

To match the saddles of the rest of the knights, I cut down the saddle horns front and back so that they were not to obvious.

Conquest Medieval Knights

These use the horses and torsos from the medieval knights sprue.  Like the Fireforge figures I ended up using Norman heads and shields instead what was on the knights sprue.

I was surprised to find that the medieval knights used a different system for matching their heads to their shoulders than the Norman knights and infantry sprues.  So I used the same cutting and filing process as I used on the Fireforge figures.

 I also used one of the Fireforge swords arms which match up really with the Conquest torso.

Overall

I was pleasantly surprised with how well the figures and horses painted up.  The horses were very easy to paint and I think I preferred the plastic horses over the metal ones from a painting perspective. I will be more than happy to mix and match plastic and metal horses in future, including swapping riders over if they will fit.  The Conquest and Fireforge riders seemed interchangeable once the saddle was cut down, but I decided to keep them on brand.

Side by side I think that all four manufactures blend really well together. Aside from the missing shield bosses (which I may add in later), I would struggle to tell the difference on the gaming table.

I have the minis so can a build a combined Norman / Crusader warband

Every year I take an extended Christmas & New Year holiday.  So from mid-December to late-January I try and build and paint a new warband, plus other miscellaneous wargaming stuff.

2019/20's project was building a new Norman / Crusader warband using the variety of Norman miniatures I had in the lead and plastic pile.

First and foremost the aim goal of this project was to paint what I had rather than build a specific Saga warband.  So don't expect and optimised warband post.

Secondly this post is also about giving my thoughts on the miniatures I painted.

Crusader - Dismounted Norman Knights with Axes 

What is there not to like about heathguard with heavy weapons.  Hit hard, have full armour against shooting and die like flies (well when i play with them anyway).  

Crusader heathguard with heavy weapons (4 poses)

With lots of mail, helmets and axe heads there was a lot of metal and therefore quick and easy to paint. I hadn't worked out what the colour scheme would be before starting the project, but working my way through these it became red uniforms, with white highlights and blue leggings. Which has now continued across the whole warband.

Unfortunately there are only 4 poses because I really like these models.  The level of detail is crisp and simple, I like the shields and there was very little clean up required.  The only minus (and it is a very small one) is that the figures are a little chunky compared to some other manufactures, but not overly so.

Wargames Illustrated - Balian D'Ibelin

This is a limited edition figure which fortunately I got before it sold out.  He is my warlord when he decides to get off his high horse and hoof it with the infantry.

Giants in Miniature's Balian D'Ibelin (warlord)

I am very happy with how this figure turned out, especially since I am not fond of removing flash. This figure require more cleaning than I like and I end up sanding the whole face of the shield to get a smooth surface to paint.

The heraldry on the shield is from the GW Bretonnian knight transfers which I painted over. I liked the idea of a Saxon dragon since I think it suits my idea of a Norman lord wanting a tenuous relationship to a Saxon realm and ties into his retainers whether they be Norman or Crusaders. If the shield was not cast on to his arm I would have switched it out for a kite shield.  But I didn't want to risk butchering the model.

Wargames Foundry - Dismounted Norman Knights

Knights didn't always fight on horseback and there are times when you just have to get down and fight on foot.

Sculpted by Matthew Bickley, these miniatures are full of character with dynamic poses. These were very easy to clean up and the casting detail is crisp. Compared to the other manufactures in this warband there are more details to pick out on each figure which means they took a little longer to paint. However the extra effort was rewarding. Aside from the variations in armour on the figures, the facial expressions really stand out. The minis are charging full scream into battle.




The miniatures are also as chunky but this is offset by the obvious layering of the gambeson under the mail. I would love a few more.

Warlord Games - Heavy Infantry A

Every warband needs standard warriors and sometimes they are luck enough to have decent mail, even if it means they can't afford a horse to ride on.

Warlord Games armoured infantry warriors

These are part of the Colin Patton's Saxon Miniatures range that Warlord purchased a couple of years ago.  I have dozen of so of the Vikings in this range and they are lovely figures.  Like them you get 8 individual dynamic poses, so I was looking forward to painting these.

The unit didn't end up being 100% Warlord games.  I didn't want the round shields so swapped them out for a couple of plastic ones from Conquest Games and Fireforge kits.  The spears were North Star metals which glued into holes drilled though each hand (the ain't falling off).

They are nice figures, but not as nice as the Viking range.  Also compared to the Crusader and Wargames Foundry figures the casting wasn't as clean and whilst their wasn't a lot of flash they were more fiddly to prepare. The are also a leaner miniature compared to Conquest and Wargames Foundry, but no massively so.

Crusader - Unarmoured Norman Spearmen

Your more traditional warrior could afford a decent helmet a solid shield and not much else.

Crusader unarmoured infantry warriors (4 poses)

With no mail the Crusader spearmen are obviously less chunky and nicely proportioned.  The hands were large enough to be drilled out for wire spears which glued together nice and solid.

Having been painting lots of mail it was nice to paint plain red tunics.  The casting was clean and the model have sufficient detail to make layering easy and making our highlights.

Unfortunately there are only 4 poses, which given how spoilt we are for unique poses in many ranges nowadays is a shame.  But all things considered a different paint job on the shield and slight repositioning of the spear makes them different enough.

Crusader - Norman Knights in Chainmail with Swords

Most manufacturers of Normans have mostly spears, whereas I like to mix things up and use hand weapons too.  Hey, they must lose those spears in battle and it is hard to pick one of the ground when you are in the saddle. Crusader and Wargames Foundry sell their cavalry in blisters of 3. Which means you need to have some spares around to make a point of heathguard, buy another pack or get one of each in my case.

Crusader mounted knights or heathguard

Crusader makes nice horses, they are dynamic and generally have clean castings.  As I am not fond of painting horses anything that is quick and simple to get a decent outcome gets a big thumbs up from me.

The riders are heavily mailed so are easy to paint and highlight details.  What really stands out as an odd point in this range is how the rider have severely bowed legs as if they were sculpted on a piece of dowel.  As such the rider's saddles don't glue neatly to the horses bases which is a shame.

However once painted up and in a unit this is not immediately obvious and given how they paint up I see this as a minor issue.

Wargames Foundry - Norman Knights 1 

Foundry mounted knights or heathguard

Like the foot knights, these miniatures have lots of character. I especially like the one drawing his sword as that is unusual in most ranges.

The riders were sculpted to fit really well to the horses were a pleasure to paint.

However the horses were another issue.  One first look, the horses and poses looked great, but I found myself cutting and filing away lots of solid flash which seemed really out of ordinary based on past experience with Wargames Foundry figures.  Then I discovered that the one of the hindquarters of one the horses had failed to fill the mould fully and I needed to green stuff the muscle back in.

Conquest Games and Fireforge Games - Medieval Archers, Norman Infantry and Footsergeants

To keep with the red and white theme I need to paint up some more crossbowmen.  As there are no Norman specific plastic crossbow kits, I decided to mix and match pieces from Conquest and Fireforge plastic sets.  Whilst I was at it I also assembled another 8 unarmoured warriors as well.

Kit-bashed plastic Conquest and Fireforge crossbow warriors

The crossbows on the Fireforge sprue are great, both with and without arms attached. These would fitted to a 50:50 mix of Fireforge and Conquest torsos and then I added heads from Conquest's infantry and archers sets.  I felt that the Fireforge heads didn't fit the thematic look of the warband so they were left out.

The benefit of plastic is its ease of conversion as I was able to get everything together with just a hobby knife and a file. Whilst I prefer the aesthetic of metal miniatures I was pretty happy with the outcome of the crossbows.

Kit-bashed plastic Conquest and Fireforge unarmoured warriors

The unarmoured warriors were also assembled from components from all three box sets.

To provide additional variation I added swords and axes to the mix.  Keeping with theme, all bar one of the shields and heads came from the Conquest sprues.

These warriors have padded and leather armour and more layers than their Crusader counterparts. So they have a more varied use of the red and white uniform compared to the other units.

How do the scales compare?

Left to Right: Conquest, Foundry, Crusader, Warlord, Crusader, Fireforge

Overall the figures from the different manufactures fit together very well.  Yes there are some variations, but I consider this no more than what you see as normal height and weight differences in today's population.  To my eyes the Fireforge figures seem slightly weedier, and not being Norman specific don't fit in as neatly as the others.

As a whole I am very satisfied as how they fit together as a warband.  (Note to self, as some stage I need to sand a mm of the bases of the plastic warriors to even up the heights)

Left to Right: Crusader, Foundry, Crusader, Foundry, Crusader, Foundry

Like with the infantry, the cavalry figures scale and fit nicely together as a unit. If it were not for the obvious way in which the Crusader riders sat on their horses I would have trouble telling the ranges apart on the table top.

To finalise the warband and the range comparison I have 4 more mounted heathguard in progress built using Conquest Medieval Knights, Norman Cavalry and Fireforge Mounted Sergeants.  I will post them up once they are finished with another comparison photo.

Now For Something Different!

Eureka monk

Eureka Miniatures are based in Melbourne and it is always fun to drop in when they have their store front open and browse through the trays of minis to find something fun to paint.

 

Eureka horse holder and 3 horses

This is one of there generic robed monks, silently praying for victor and the safe return of the warband from battle.

And every Warlord needs a couple of remounts to keep them going.  So Patsy is keeping them safe whilst D'Ibelin goes off to battle afoot.