Starks with Sticks!

It seems that every time I discuss the Song of Ice and Fire miniatures with people, they ask if they could also be used for other things aside from SoIaF... and if they can be converted.

That made me curious, and when a project popped up which required such conversions, I thought that would give me a definitive answer!

As you can see, it was not too much trouble to get some spears into the hands of the standard Stark swordsmen.  All that had to be done was to cut away the sword, place a pin in the hand, and then add the two sections of spear to either side.

I did shave down the pointy ends of the spears, as they were originally an odd shape.  With the pin running through the hand and into each end of the attached spears, they are very sturdy!

I was amazed at how natural they looked, on all three poses!  These were plastic spears from another game system, and this is part of a commission where the 'official' colors are not being used, but those of another story line created by the client.

This reminds me that I have also been asked if these could potentially be used in more of a historical setting, and I think that answer is yes.  That is one reason behind the quartering of the colors on the tunics.

The purists need not worry, though, since I will be doing an entire Stark army in those standard colors.  This will be part of the Army Painter series available on the Patreon Page here: www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Travelling Trolls

Here's a combination of different trolls from various manufacturers (I don't remember for sure which one is made by whom), starting with this interesting and quite tall chap.

As you can see, there's a wide variety of pose and personality to each sculpt, but I tried to keep them unified via color scheme and basing.

There were a few basic elements to that color scheme, and the basing was kept unified by utilizing the same type of bulletin board cork and the sculpted mushrooms.

The Vallejo Environment Moss paint created an interesting color/texture effect on the rocks and mushrooms which contrasted nicely with the muted, cool grays. 

Color testing: Army of the Dead

Exciting times in my Lord of the Rings rebuilding process continue with the Army of the Dead!  With the first episode of the Army Painter Series 5 (which focused on basing) completed, it was time to create the "Color test" figure.

This is something that I do for each series, which is usually 5 episodes long.  The idea behind a color test figure is not only to work out a color scheme for the unit or army, but to judge how long it might take to achieve a certain effect or look.

Since we all have a limited time to work on our own armies, that "currency of time" is all important, and has to be spent wisely.

As you work on that color test figure, you can figure out what you might be able to leave out, or a better way to go about an effect which might be more elaborate.

When you get into things such as Non Metallic Metals like my previous series on the Lannister Halberds and the Sky Earth Non Metallic Metal effect, time will have to be conserved in other areas.  In the case of this Army of the Dead, the time will be spent getting the glowing ethereal effect using the Vallejo fluorescent paints.

While I am creating new armies for use in battle report videos in the future, my goal along the way is to find new ideas and concepts to demonstrate with each series.  Some feature oils, others more complex basing, Object Source lighting, freehand, and so on.

I also try to build on previous series, and this one ties into Series One, where I used a similar greenish glow on the bases and on one of the figures in the set.

Now that I have the color test episode loading to the Patreon Page, I will move on to the next 3 episodes, where I take you through the Shaded Basecoat stage, middletones and weathering, and the final highlights.

These "Army Painting" series have been available to my Patrons at a $15 pledge level.  Between these and other related videos done each month, that means about 18-24 hours of video content every month!

However, there is a lot more work involved than simply turning on the camera and painting...

Once filming ends, several more tasks begin as I have to transfer photos and video segments to another machine to create title screens and overlays.  After creating those, I can edit and render the video.

This is a process that takes several hours, and it is something that is done many times each month. The Army Painter series alone have compiled over 20 episodes!!  As you can imagine, that is a lot of effort, which is why I have the Patreon page.

Should you be interested in the Army Painting pledge, that is found on my Patreon Page at the $15 level: www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Going from Oils to Acrylics

I am asked quite frequently if I ever use "regular" acrylic miniatures paint over figures that I began with oils.  The answer is yes... all the time!

Once the oil paints dry (which can be a matter of hours if you use the Mig Ammo Oilbrushers and thin your other oil paints), you can seal them with any sort of Dullcoate, and paint right over them with no troubles at all.

I thought I would film a quick video last week as I did this very process.  Originally these figures were part of a massive batch of stuff that I was painting, which is the primary advantage of oil paints.  You can work on a vast amount of figures all at once quite easily.

I sealed these with Testors Dullcoate, and they were ready for working in acrylics.  The original layers of oil paints would be used essentially as an underpainting.

I also made a few other changes... especially going from Non Metallic metals to metallics by using the Vallejo Metal Medium.

Here's a link to the tutorial video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6991iucjt0

Final Report: Operation Sting 2018

Round 5 of Operation Sting was going to be unlike anything I had experienced before in all the years I had been doing tournaments.  When the table assignments were handed out, and I found myself on Table 2... I thought something was miscalculated at first!

I had a notion that completing those Secret Missions on top of draws would keep me at least in the upper 30%, I had no idea what 4 draws, mission points, Painting and Sportsmanship could lead to :-)

It was back to fighting Americans once again, this time an Airborne army. So, it would be a fight to the death between paratroopers!!!

This also meant that I would be facing the Rangers lead the way effect, and other army specific traits.  Also, a double air strike, which we will discuss later.

The Airborne troops did indeed try to utilize that pre game movement to get into better positions in and around the village square.  The Fallschirmjager established more of a defensive position, waiting for a potential preliminary bombardment.

That bombardment did hit both sides, dishing out plenty of pins!  Rally orders were the theme of turn one for sure...

With Paratroops already moved into the buildings in the main square, it forced me to bring in two of the Fallshirmjager units in to combat them... or at least pour in some pinning fire.

There were a few troublesome elements that the US forces had on this flank.  The light howitzer on ambush, as well as a few other units armed with bazookas meant that zooming down this road could be a wee bit hazardous.  It would create a traffic jam that ultimately meant major problems...

Things were going very well initially on this flank.  The combined firepower of these units, along with a well timed/placed artillery strike caused a LOT of pins and casualties among the US units.  It too Captain Spears himself to call on the troops and rally them back into the fight!

Here we see the intrepid general overseeing the US forces.  At this point, things looked very bleak for the Americans.  The only thing that stood in the path of German victory (or at least a draw)  was an American air strike.

Sadly for the Fallschirmjagers, the angle of attack prevented the transports from adding their defensive fire to the mix.  That would spell disaster, because all of my waiting anti aircraft guns missed horribly, and the plane survived!

This lead to the destruction of the transports, and pinning the infantry units to ineffectiveness.  

While the last submachine gun squad were lead in a heroic charge by the German officer, killing a few Airborne survivors in the central square, it all came down to one mortar blast on Captain Spears himself.

Lo and behold, he would survive, and the US forces would be victorious!

There were a lot of magnificently painted and researched armies at this tournament, which is one of Sting's trademarks.  Sportsmanship, terrain, and painting are held to high standards, which made me very happy to be awarded Best Axis Appearance!

I learned a lot of new techniques painting this army, and building the terrain board.  There is a 5 part series that shows how that was created.  I will also be adding more units to this army, so stay tuned for more articles and painting videos!

This made me had to rethink the entire game, as up until now everything I've played has been VERY early war.  Going from mid 1941 to 1944 was like heading into outer space, and adapting to that kind of weaponry and special rules on the fly was a monster challenge!

I mentioned those "soft scores" earlier in regards to painting, sportsmanship, theme, etc.  A major part of your overall score was determined by those factors, and I was quite surprised to hear that they had carried me to a 6th place finish out of 29 players!

While I had a suspicion that winning that last game might lead to something interesting, I was still very happy to be in the top 10.  The effort was really exhausting, to be honest.  The stress of bringing a totally untested army to a major event like this was heavy on my mind for months leading up to it.

The other players at the event made it all worthwhile, as did the equally exhausting efforts of the tournament organizers.  Those efforts are much appreciated, and it is an experience that will stay with me for many years to come.

Thanks to everyone for a great Operation Sting!!

Winter in the Tropics!

Round 4 of Operation Sting was going to be a very different animal compared to the "Cat and mouse" type games of Day 1.  The Axis was deemed to be the defender in the deadly scenario that requires you to not only set up half your units in the center, but then face a preliminary bombardment!

Fortunately I had this building to serve as cover initially, but with the confused deployment of reinforcements on subsequent turns, hiding behind something could actually leave you out in the open!

The green counters also indicate hidden units, which I have done in numerous battle reports in the past.  I was pretty used to utilizing that technique!  This would prevent those early lucky shots and kills.  Even more important, as that prelim bombardment always dishes out lots of pins before the game even starts.

The opposition this time would be a batch of angry Soviets, including lots of Partisans.  Here they are using the sneaky maneuver of "laying in the weeds"

They kept ducking, because a mortar was ranged in on them. The Germans thought this would be the ideal time to bring in the submachine unit right between them and the Zis field gun!  Sadly, the sights must have been off on the guns, because the artillery piece survived.

As turns progressed, I would need for that to keep getting pins, but not be killed, so as to avoid an ambush by a big Partisan unit!

Here's a case in point.  I needed to neutralize this mortar, because it kept ranging in on one unit after another.  However, if I killed it outright, that Partisan unit on the left would really blast the Fallschirmjager unit.

This is what I love about confused reinforcements!  You can come in on any table edge, as long as the opponent had not used it last.  As a result of that condition, it is vital to have plenty of things in reserve, and be willing to save them to respond or close off an edge in the first place.

Another unit of inexperienced soviets advances towards the railway station... the MMG team has been hit by mortars and prep bombardments, so they seem to be doomed!

Here's another pesky unit of Partizans behind the lines.  Maybe they are the ones who brought the portable snow machine...

Because winter just arrived!  How did these guys manage to keep their advance hidden in the jungle with all that snow?  Maybe that quieted the squeaky track links of the T-34...

One turn after the next, units would appear in this corner of the board.  Unlike the more gentlemanly engagements against the US forces, this was going to be a real Bear Hug... a brawl to the death!!

A well placed Panzerfaust shot blew up the T-34, while an assault took out the unit of Soviets.  However, some angry tank riders would deal vengeance on the more tropical Fallschimjagers.

The snow camoflage on the Zis gun must have distracted the gunner of the SDKfZ, because it survived with 1 last crew manning it.  A few survivors of the German squads took cover behind terrain (and even Soviet artillery pieces!), which meant that we had a fourth consecutive draw!

I was able to accomplish my Secret Mission for an additional 5 points.  I had to keep at least 4 infantry based units intact through the entire game.  Very tough, since most of them were getting shelled before it even started!

This was definitely not the scenario or opponent to use the "Kill the enemy commander in close combat" Secret Mission.  As I mentioned a few episodes ago, matching up the scenario and secret mission and opponent together would be trickier with each round.  Just one more left, so stay tuned!!