See you in the Funny papers...

Hobart's Funnies, that is.  A rather ingenious set of adapted British Churchill tanks that were created in 1944 to facilitate many tasks involved with the reopening of the second front in the West.

As you can see by this Memoir '44 reference card, they performed a wide variety of functions.  I still have not painted the Petard Mortar version yet.

These next few shots are more about the AVRE 6's themselves...

Just the tanks...

And some of the options.

I really look forward to trying out these equipment load outs in our Memoir games!!!

This will present some serious new thought to our usual approaches, in which most of the tank units have either been elite, Tigers, or flamethrowers.

Bridging the gap, so to speak.

When I saw this image, I got the hankering to paint one of these much larger scale versions!

For now, I must settle for these tiny versions.  Perhaps some slightly larger one might end up in Flames of War games during 2015. :-)  

I have been surprised at the increasing interest I have in the historical figures.  While I obviously enjoy the fantasy figures, etc., this merging of my love of history with my love of miniature painting begs further exploration, to say the least!

The charge continues...

Onward!  More sabre rattling!

I don't know if I have any terrain to use in the final group shots, outside of some trees... I think my buildings are from every other era besides this one!

Still, 24 horses together should be very impressive!

Casket of Skulls... and souls.

It's hard to believe there are still Tomb Kings items that I have not yet photographed on the nifty Hangar 18 backdrops!  How did I miss the very first thing that I painted for the Tomb Kings.... The Casket!

Here's the story of the army:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2012/06/tainted-pharaoh-pseusenes-fate.html

Some pictures of the Casket in the individual parts:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2012/06/sneek-peek-introducing-legions-of.html

Sketches of the army board, which I am hoping to reshoot with the new lights:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2012/06/i-love-it-when-plan-comes-together.html

I couldn't resist trying out some of the other backdrop colors with this!

Foot and hoof...

Together at last!  The dismounted version of the banner bearer united with his alter ego on horseback!

It is fun to see the completed banner at last... although I don't seem to recall that he ever had the horse shot out from under him.

He was usually obscured by all the other knights around him, or moving too rapidly!

The 13 inches of movement every turn, coupled with the 4 chariots in the way of any bowmen meant that he was rarely targeted.

It certainly was fun watching all the dwarf archers in the tournament shooting like mad on those chariots, which are nowhere near as fragile as WFB Tomb Kings chariots!

The next post on the Easterlings will show some more of the lower grade Easterling pikemen in this color scheme.

It made it far easier to distinguish the Dragon Knights from the regular recruits, that's for sure!  Stay tuned...

All in the Family

A second Earp brother joins Wyatt in the quest to rid Wappelville of crime forever.

Or at least rid Wappelville of Jesse's over appreciation of his own fashion sense...

RIP Jesse!

Tree time!

Let's get down to some quick basing, via tree bark.  You see just about everything used in the image.

Piles of bases at the ready!

Yummy bark!!

My three types of gravel and ballast...

Piece after piece of bark will be added to the bases.  Some extend a bit further than others, since I want to leave room for figures that have a wider stance or footprint.

Oxide paste was used to fill the gaps between the bark and the base, while the super glue would do the heavy work of securing the bark to the base.

You can see some branches have been added to bases...

Look at all the different layers and shapes.  You can even pile several thin layers of bark onto each other.  Not only does this create an even more unique shape, it is now stronger due to all the glue in between those sections!

I like to have a nice supply of branches on hand.  This small collection has a variety of textures.  I try to gravitate towards gnarled shapes and 'forks' in the branches.  This does help simulate the tree appearance at this tiny scale.

These are much bigger pieces, which I have saved for large creature bases and dioramas.  These have even more dramatic textures and shapes.

My favorite branch sections were found during a fall storm.  There were just enough leaves on the trees to make them more prone to have broken branches in all the intense rain and wind.  I will be using these for my eagles and other flying creatures.

Stay tuned for more!!

Stare into my eyes...

I don't recall exactly what this Forgeworld figure is... I have not been able to find any links to it on their site.  In fact, a number of links to various Mechanicus figures no longer seem to exist on that site.

Very odd, but I'm sure it won't take very long for loyal Wappellians to provide the vital information!

A crazy week continues.  Something tells me it's gonna take another week, or even two, to come close to stabilization...

Wish me luck!