Bear Hug

Here's the latest character from Wild West Exodus.  His name is Avanaco, and he's smarter than your average bear.  Well, maybe not, but he sure packs more firepower than the average bear!!

Just like the rest of the Dark Nation, he uses the dreaded RJ-1027 energy which the enemies of the Warrior Nation have chosen to avoid.  This energy source is powerful, but it also corrupts.

While he can dish out major pain with this gun, he is no slouch when it comes to close combat either.

As usual, the Vallejo fluorescent paints were used to create the glowing effects.  When you have this many elements that are glowing, it can be pretty crazy to figure out where all the OSL should be placed.  There are times where you have to fudge a little, and skip an area here and there.

This was also unusual in that most of the figure was done in muted browns and less in cooler tones.  Normally I try to accentuate my glow colors by having the 'opposite' color temperature, but that is not always possible.

 In this case, I went with the muted vs highly saturated contrast.  Also, I made the fur and skin somewhat darker than if I was not trying to establish that glowing effect.

The Anti-Hero

This interesting and evil looking character is from Gamezone Miniatures

I had a lot of fun with the Dragon Motif!  I got a chance to play around with all manner of red tones.  Some warmer, others cooler and more muted, etc.

I tried to continue the dragon imagery on the base as well!

He's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/222134916175?

In Memory

For this Memorial Day, we have an experiment.

I wanted to see what would happen if I mixed weathering powders with my wash and glaze colors.  I have mixed them with the Secret Weapon sealer, as well as with rubbing alcohol, which turns them into a flowing paint.

They dry just the same as if I had applied them "dry", but I have the advantage of getting them to sink into the crevices, and mottle them a bit more.

I also did some splotches of darker wash colors over the dusty areas to see if I could create some interesting effects, especially on the flat surfaces of the upper hull.  I got some very fun results!

To all those who have served and sacrificed, many thanks.

An Officer, a Gentelman

While leadership in the French forces in June of 1940 was suspect at best, I think I may have found someone to take on that role!

I'm not sure if I will be using this figure as the overall commander, or the second officer.  Thus far, I have been shelling out the points for Majors, because it can be very handy for saving those ultra pinned units!

I think I had at least one unit with 3 pins that rallied in no time at all with that plus four!  If I can keep him around some valuable stationary units (such as artillery) which are the focus of sustained heavy fire, getting through those pins and rallying for a turn six or even seven might be a game changer.

And yes, I had some fun with foliage!  Stay tuned for more from the Officer corps.

Skin in the game

I didn't realize how long it's been since I had a Red Box Game miniature on the blog, but this guy should help make up for that!

These may be some of my favorite Red Box minis.

I enjoy these poses, and the way the extra 'stuff' sits on the figures.

The weapons are also in some nice fighting positions as well.

Stay tuned for more of these guys!

Little Big Horn

It's time to check out another new character for the Dark Nation... and his name is Big Horn.  This is part of the latest Wild West Exodus kickstarter campaign.

He is on a 50mm base, so that gives you an idea of how big he is :-)

He can deal out a lot of pain with either his axe or that shootin' iron, so look out!

The Dark Nation chose to split from their Warrior Nation brothers, utilizing the RJ-1027 energy source as the white invaders have done.  The Warrior Nation see this as a betrayal of all their beliefs, so I think there will be a number of interesting fights between these former kinfolk.

Beware of the deadly eights!

We continue with the desperate struggle between the French and the Axis terror.  Just when the brave French defenders thought that the line could be held by the power of their heavy guns, flights of Stuka dive bombers pounced again and again.

They attempted to fend off these attacks as well as possible, but to no avail!

Eventually the heavy guns would be wiped out by the persistent bombing, and the entire battery would no longer take part.  You will see some interesting consequences of this issue in coming WIP hobby reports!  Let's just say that from now on, there will be at least 2, if not 4, layers of air defense.

The looted Czech tanks stormed across the tracks, heading for the now vacated base!!

Nothing stood in their way, so the unit of Heavy machine gunners was ordered to leave their positions in the woods and advance towards almost certain death...

They knew that reinforcements were coming, but none could be seen.  Eventually some did arrive, but poor communication meant that the foot slogging infantry came in the wrong area!  

This meant that the hapless machine gun teams were completely on their own.

In desperation, the Somuas and Hotchkiss tanks halted their advance towards the German base and headed back towards the clouds of smoke and flame by the key railway yard.

It is just as well, since the German reinforcements did begin trickling in.  They brought with them one deadly 88mm gun, which took no time in making it's presence felt.  One of the Somua tanks was blown apart...

All enemy positions would have to wait for another time, as the delayed and misguided French reinforcements left them on the verge of defeat!

By now, strong emplacements were set up by both of the far objectives, making them unassailable. 

This phase of the battle showed me why the French categorized these two tank models as "Cavalry" tanks.  They charged in to rescue the machine gun platoon, only to find their charred bodies all over the rail yard.  They would have to hold that position themselves.

Off in the distance, the rumble of ancient Renault tankettes could be heard, along with the shouts of French soldiers, rushing ahead as fast as feet to bring them.  Once again, modifications have been made to rectify such eventualities of misplaced reserves.

Huzzah!  At long last, the communication issues were resolved, and a rifle platoon marched straight into the rail yard.  By now, the French tanks had stabilized the position.

The German tank destroyers proved to be an ever present threat, although the woods seemed to wreak havoc on their aim.  I don't think the French tankers will be quite so fortunate next time.

When the last looted Czech tank went up in flames, so did the German hopes of a rapid victory.

However, they were now in place with highly mobile units, and would surely make another push to the rail yard, and possibly beyond that.  The line was held, but only by the narrowest of margins.

Can the French continue to stave off imminent defeat?  Will new units brought in to the front honor the noble sacrifice of the Machine gunners?  We shall see.

Purple Haze

This classic Sandra Garrity figure was a lot of fun to finish off at last!  I had used it as a demonstration piece at Marcon in the dealer's room.

It was very interesting to paint the same miniature which I am sure I painted way back in 2002 or 2003... knowing all the things that I have learned in the years since!

The techniques and materials available for the basing alone are incredibly different than those early days :-)

She's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/222131393184?