More Middle Earth, Saga, and herds of animals!

 So being an avid cyclist (not your go out and ride around the block type, you know those dudes that dress up in spandex and look like pro racers but aren't😉) it happens that this can cut into my painting time. When you go out and ride around 2 hours and beat yourself up, you don't really like sitting down to paint much after that.

Why am I saying this? This past month has been a little odd. My wife and I were given a gift by our grandchildren in the form of an RSV type cold. It hit my wife harder than me, but we were both laid low for two weeks because of it. I being a smarter than average bear stayed off the bike to allow my body to recover. But when I got better I made a decision that benefitted me in more ways than one. I decided to stay off the bike for another two weeks. 

Man I am so happy I did. I hadn't realized how hard I had been pushing my body, and I started to feel better than I have in a long time. I am back on the trainer now and slowly building myself up, but I haven't felt this rested in a long time. The other super cool benefit was I painted my ass off.

In those two weeks I have painted 18 mounted Huns, 6 Warg riders, 4 stands of various herds for gaming with as objectives, and three objective markers. I also popped off 12 foot off their bases that a friend gave me a few years back and remounted them and completed the bases the way I like. I also stripped 8 Cavalry I got from same friend and redoing their bases to match my Huns I am painting up.

So all in all I have been highly productive, feel well rested, and ready to get that Hun army completed for Saga so I can start kicking some Saga butt!

So here are a few snaps of what I've worked on.

[above are my six Warg riders, I didn't go all out fancy, I just wanted them game standard so I can play Age of Magic (Saga ruleset) or Middle Earth Strategy Battle game]

[above are the foot figures I got from my good buddy Skip and remounted and flocked, paint job is his]

[above are three objective markers I need for some scenarios in Saga]

[above are two stands of Sheep herds from back in the period and I painted these not to be fancy but functional for scenario objectives for Saga]

[Finally same as above but pig herds from back in the day]

I realized after painting these four stands of animals that I will need two more, grrrr. Normally each player needs three, but I know my fellow players will never get around to doing so, so I will have to.

Well as always thanks for stopping by!

Cheers

Kevin

Hill Troll Chieftain Buhrdur

I have been as sick as a dog these past two weeks, no it wasn't the plague, but it sure felt like it. I had this one done a few weeks ago and finally felt good enough today to post some pictures. 

This is my very first miniature I have painted for Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game. I chose Buhrdur for no other reason than the rule of cool. He was fun to paint, and as I watch YouTube battles about MESBG, I am pretty fired up to paint up some buddies for him so I can start throwing some dice.

So here he is in all his glory.

As always thanks for looking and have a happy Thanksgiving.

Cheers

Kevin

Teutonic Grandmaster and his brothers

 Painting up a Teutonic Saga Army. I've painted up my Warlord and a point of Hearthguard. Working on a couple of points of warriors now, but a long way to go yet.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

Saga Muslim Heavy Cavalry

 There are three Muslim factions in the Age of Crusade Saga book. Each one of them has some unique equipment options and/or a look. I've painted these Heavy boys with swords pulled charging into the fray to use them, well, for Heavy Cavalry no special options. But they easily can be sprinkled amongst the others I am painting in case I am short a few figures. 

Here are a few shots of my completed unit.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

Aristeia! The Game

 So I recently posted some photos of Wild Bill for Aristeia!, as well as Gata, but totally forgot to post the other two models in the crew I painted up for a friend of mine. So here is 8-Ball and Miyamoto Mushashi. I am posting Wild Bill and Gata again, because hey you gotta keep the crew together.

8-Ball

Miyamoto Mushashi 

Gata

Wild Bill

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

Aristeia! Wild Bill

 Finally got around to painting the 4th character to complete a crew for Aristeia! a Science Fiction gladiator game. This is for a friend who loves to play Miniature Board like games but not so much the painting hobby part. I am pretty sure this will make him happy. Know he will get plus one on all his rolls because mine are still unpainted! Oh well, we are getting there.

As always thanks for stopping by

Cheers

Kevin

Saga Mutatawwi'a

 Mutatawwi'a are religious troops who inspired by their faith have volunteered to fight. One of the Army boards from Saga's "Age of Crusade". I've painted up two points of fanatics (Hearthguards which are four figures per point spent), and I didn't go to crazy but kept them uniformed to perhaps portray the Chosen Ones elite bodyguard. 

These are Gripping Beast plastics along with Little Big Men shield transfers. Putting them together wasn't too bad, and I did have fun coming up with my own paint scheme. 

I like them, hope you enjoy the eye candy.

As always thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kevin

 

Dragonborn character for DnD

 So tomorrow the Hellfire Club will meet again to continue our group adventure. I finished my Dragonborn character (Shaped by draconic gods or the dragons themselves, dragonborn originally hatched from dragon eggs as a unique race, combining the best attributes of dragons and humanoids.) a week or so ago and finally got around to putting a sealcoat on him. My two brave ten year old companions will be fielding their newly painted characters, one a rogue halfling, the other a human wizard. 

So far they are really digging it, and even I am excited to place my new figure out and swat at a few of those nasty little goblins. 

Oh and my Dragonborn character who's name is Medrash will be accompanied by his faithful friend Fang, a baby Wyvern. Think John Snow and Ghost in Game of Thrones.

Here are a few shots....

As always thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kevin

Painting class 101 for Ten Year olds

 So one of my grand daughter's, and one of her favorite friends, happen to be huge fans of the series Stranger Things. Because of this show, many youngster's around the world have discovered music that I listened to 37 years ago, and discovered the world of D&D.

This prompted my grand daughter to ask me if I would introduce her to the world of D&D along with her friend. Being a lifetime hardcore gamer my only answer was of course!

My new next door neighbor happens to be a teacher for 4th grade (both ten year olds just finished fourth grade) and also loves D&D and just happens to be a DM. Could I have asked for more from the D&D Gods I ask you? It was a sign I tell you! So I asked him if he wouldn't mind running us through an age appropriate introduction to the world. 

Their first game was a couple of weeks ago and they seemed to really like it. So much in fact that they where willing participants to a visit at my local brick and mortar to pick out their miniature characters from the wide selection of Reaper Bones, and Wiz kids rack. The store did not disappoint and had a huge selection. They went in knowing what they wanted and we spent a good hour and 15 minutes going through everything they had until they found what they wanted.  As a bonus the two little ones discovered the bazillions of D&D dice sets of all sizes and colors. How could two little girls resist not getting a tiny tube of cute little dice to boot (I told them they could only get them if I could read the numbers)!

So with their purchases in hand we set up a day to start painting them. Now mind you, these were their first miniatures ever, and have never painted before. So I set up a day to paint with "Mr. Kevin's standard table top painting school 101".

When that day arrived I was pleasantly surprised at how much they got into it. We spent a couple of hours before I told them we would have to finish another day. Man you would have thought I told them it was time to go to bed with the sun still up in the sky! 

Today we got a chance to play a second game (we got about halfway through before we reached our time constraint), and since it wasn't time for them to head home they excitedly agreed to have a go at finishing their figures. Which we did. The girls painted about 80 percent of the figures all by themselves with me showing them how to do it on a test figure, or me doing one arm showing them how and then they did it on the other. 

I have to say I was really taken aback by how much they are seriously into this. I don't think it will be a passing fade. Not only has it been a joy to be a part of their D&D company, it has been a pleasure teaching them how to paint and watching them blossom into the next generation of miniature hobbyists. 

Without further ado, I present to you their completed table top standard figures. I am proud of what they did, and they should be also. One figure is a Female human Sorcerer, and the other a halfling Rogue. The girls know which one is theirs, but I hope you enjoy their work.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin