15mm Dwarfs - First painted Unit

Hi everyone,

One of the great things about wargaming in 15mm, is that you can build up armies quickly, simply and efficiently.  There is no need to paint in details of every single miniature.  One can paint in block colours with a quick wash to tie up the figure.  The results are visually pleasing on a unit scale rather than a miniature level.

The unit of Dwarven veterans was painted up over two evenings. The models are from the old Grenadier Models that are now produced by Mirliton Miniatures.  I spent a total of 5 hours on it.  Now for me that is quick, considering that I have always been a slow painter.  I think the unit looks quite acceptable for gaming purposes on an army level.

This ease of preparation allows the gamer to focus more on actually wargaming rather than painting.  It is also ideal for those that do not enjoy or are not very good at painting, to build up armies that are visually stunning in a short time with very little hassle.

I will be posting more units of my army as I finish them off, and I am also thinking about writing up a post about the actually wargaming in 15mm and its advantages.  I hope you all find it interesting.

Well that's all for today, and as always -

Farewell and good health,

       NR

15mm Dwarves

Hi everyone,

I have been dabbling in 15mm wargaming of late, maybe you have seen the other posts on my 15mm Orcs, in any case I always wanted to build two armies for wargaming in this scale.  I have completely given up fantasy wargaming in 28mm for a few years now, migrating to 10mm, but now I want to do a few Dwarf-Orc campaigns in 15mm.  I have started painting up the armies, but I wanted to make a quick review of the Dwarf ranges out there for anyone who would be interested.

The picture below shows four 15mm dwarf ranges currently available, and which I think are the best on the market.

The first four minis starting from the left are samples from the Alternative Armies and the Old Grenadier range now produced by Mirliton miniatures respectively. I have grouped these two ranges together because they have similar qualities.  Both ranges excel in proportion over detail and are slightly larger than the following two ranges.  Both companies offer several poses within each weapon category which offers a nice variety for 15mm.

The second four minis belong to the Demonworld range and the old Ral Partha range.  These two companies produce slightly smaller dwarfs but with more detail than the previous two companies.  The old Ral Partha dwarfs are hard to get a hold of, but the Demonworld minis are now being produced by Ral Partha Europe.  Unfortunately, for reasons I am not sure of, they no longer hold the rights to their old range.  These companies do not have a wide variety per weapon category, but their quality and detail are slightly superior to the previous two companies.

The last two minis are from the Blood Dawn range sold by Magister Militum.  They are lovely minis but unfortunately their scale is way too large to be compatible with other 15mm ranges.  I would only recommend these if you were intend on building a whole army with them.

Personally my army is a mix of the first four brands, that is : Alternative, Grenadier, Demonworld and Ral Partha. By combing all four I can simulate every unit type in several fantasy settings.  The height descrepancy can be easily overcome by placing the Demonworld and Ral Partha minis on slightly higher bases.  I will be showing examples in the near future.

Overall I recommend theses ranges, regardless if one mixes them or builds an army from just one range.  If you do decide to build from one range then I would choose from either the Grenadier or Demonworld sets since they offer the most choice in weapon  & unit catergories.  Please check out my miniatures page on this blog for links to the respective sites.

Well that's all for today, and as always -

Farewell and good health,

       NR

English Knight

Hi everyone,

The last month I tried my hand at historical modelling for a change. After I migrated from Warhammer fantasy wargaming to historical wargaming, I thought the change in painting genres might be refreshing, and I was right.

I found a 54mm English Knight from Andrea miniatures with a simple paint scheme for my trial.  I think it came out well but the photo does not do it justice.

A lot of the highlights have been lost.  It seems I will have to do some more research into close up photography if I want to improve the quality of my pictures, but that is a whole different story. 

Farewell and good health,

       NR

The 2nd Grey Hunter Pack - Part 2

Hi everyone,

I have just put on the finishing touches to the last five Grey Hunters and I have left them over night to dry.  This morning I took two pictures and here they are:

As you can see I have kept more or less the same themes throughout, that is wolf-tooth necklaces, fur cloaks and trophies.

The first miniature on the left is from the older metal line of Space Wolves.  I always wanted to add a few of these but they seem short next to the newer plastics.  Therefore I had to saw the legs off and lengthen them a bit in order to match the others. As you can see its height blends in with the others better now.

The next space wolf that is running with the flying cloak is a variation from the last post, but with the fur on the inside.  I also gave him a wolf skull trophy on his shoulder pad.  It is not very clear in the pic though.

The banner man in the middle has to be my favourite.  Since I will be painting up 3 Grey Hunter packs, I wanted them to all have different banners.  There is only one in the box so I had to get to work building up something different.  The results of my modest endeavors can be seen in the pics.

The power fist marine running was another experiment at diversification.  I wanted to cover up the pack markings with fur so I could inter-change the power weapon marines from pack to pack.  The power weapon wielder in the first pack had a wolf's head covering the shoulder, so this time I opted for tails.  I can't say I'm a 100% happy with it, but since I built them up to army play standard, I think it will do.

The last is the weapon specialist.  It is basically the same as all the others I have done with the single difference that it is kneeling instead of running/standing.

Well that's all for know.  Until next time.

Fare well and good health

 
        N.R.

The 2nd Grey Hunter Pack - Part 1

Hi everyone,

I have just finished putting together the first five minis of my new Grey Hunter pack, the second of three I intend to build up before I stop once and for all with GW army building.  The reason simply is that GW have pushed me out of 40K gaming & army building with the last price hike the year before.  I have enough models to finish my Space Wolf army, then I will only concentrate on dioramas with respect to GW products.

On the bright side this has given me the inclination to look up other game systems.  In fact I have landed my sights on Dystopian Wars.  I intended to build a flying force from the Covenant of Antartica faction.  More on this at a later date.

In the meantime here are the first five Grey Hunters from the second unit.

As you can see one is already painted.  This was a test paint-up to see if the colours match up with existing models in my force.  Since it's been a while since I have painted any Space Wolves (in fact it has been a while since I have done anything hobby related), and I wanted to get it right.

I also wanted to differentiated the 2nd pack from the first, so I added differnt trophies to them.  As you can see I gave the Plasma gunner a combat knife on the shoulder pad, ans I added a wolf skull and a different type of fur cloak.

I also thought of adding a horn blower to the pack, besides a banner (it will be with the next post).  I think it gives the pack a nice touch.  Well that's all for know.  Later on next week I will post the other five and get on painting my Long Fangs that have been sitting in my 'To Do' box for the past six months.

Farewell and good health,

       NR

Crimson Fist Anniversary Model

Hi everyone,

I just received the latest Crimson Fist Anniversary Model in the post yesterday, and I thought to share it with the community.  I wont be showing the box art since it has already been discussed and shown over the net.

We all know the fame of Finecast, so I am not going to go into a rant about the line, but I will say a few words about the kit I received.

All in all, I am surprisingly pleased with the quality of the model.  There were hardly any bubbles or miscast parts or pieces, and the definition was good.

Since this was a limited piece, I was afraid it might not be replaceable if it was defective.  At least that is not a problem.

The only quirk are the flat surfaces which seem slightly wrinkled. Nothing that cannot be sorted out with a bit of fine sanding, but still - it is a hassle.  The other point I'd like to make are the mold pour entries.  I think that some of them are a bit too thick and positioned wrongly.  This can cause some inadvertent damages if cut without extra care.

Other than that I would have preferred if they stuck completely with the original artwork and integrated the plasma pistol into the arm, instead of giving the model a plasma pistol.  In my opinion the artwork looks way cooler!

So, I can safely say I am quite happy with my purchase, and I might just be interested in doing a small vignette with it, adding a few models to simulate a section of the artwork. That's all until next time.

Farewell and good health,

 
         NR

The Ork Nob and other Domestic Adventures!

Hi everyone,

I know I haven't been a good blogger lately, but this situation unfortunately will persist up to about the end of November.  I have currently taken out a home loan and bought myself an apartment, simply because renting is not a viable long term option anymore in this country.

To save a couple of thousand euros, I bought the flat in shell form and I am currently working on it on my spare time.  I have to bring it to a livable standard by the end of October, because by then I have to move out of my current apartment.

Due to this current state of affairs, my time has been eaten out by plumbing, wiring, plastering and tile layering.  In the meantime, I have packed up nearly everything except the essentials, and stored it in my mom's garage until the move is complete.

In the meantime I have found some old pictures of one my first attempts at sculpting - one of the more presentable attempts at least.  I plan to paint it up next year.

The fur cloak and shoulder pads were worked out separately, to simplify painting.  The ammo-belt and  a lot of the plates are removable as well.

The weapons were the most fun to make, as well as being the part which offered the highest learning curve.  I have never done anything with card before and in the process discovered the wonderful material called dope.  And yes, that is a button from  a calculator on the gun!

I will probably re-visit the hand on this power-axe since it came out somewhat smallish compared to the other.

As you can see from the pics, I have used a variety of materials to make this model.  The reason was purely experimentation and to get to know the materials at my disposal better - their properties, workability and cost effectiveness.  If I had to re-do the model I would probably use completely different materials, as well as less types.

Well that concludes my once monthly post.  See you again next month for another post or two - if I can get it in.

Farewell and good health,

       NR