Harker got broke!

That's right, my Harker model got broke, the cloak has come well and truly off!

So, how did this happen? Was it an accident? Was it done maliciously? Am I heart broken considering the hours I put into sculpting the cloak? Can it be fixed?

Hobby goldmine and the kindness of friends ...

Recently, I stumbled across a hobby goldmine whilst out shopping with the family. We were in our local shopping center or mall for those across the pond. In the basement, there's a large market area that's made up of lots of small independent traders. We'd nipped down to get some food from the cafe and after eating, little man needed the toilet, so I took him. As we rounded the corner to the toilet I spotted this tiny hobby shop, and when I say tiny, I mean tiny. It was 8ft square and packed full of hobby goodness, models, tools, paints. So, after a delve into this goldmine, I came out with a few bits.

First off, I picked up a 1/35 scale military accessories kit from Tamiya. Quite a bit of the stuff on the sprues is a little overscale for 40K, but there's plenty that I can use as stowage on my vehicles.

One of the bonuses of the overscale stuff is that they'll be perfect to use as guides for my sculpting, so expect more green stuff stowage coming soon. There's also a little dog on the sprue, so you might even see a regimental mascot a la Admiral Drax style.

I also pickup these Tamiya weathering kits. I've never used used powers before but I've seen great results achieved with them. My only concerns is I'm not sure how to fix the powders in place on the models so that they don't come off and also, I'm not sure how they'll look on my models with them being heavily washed in devlan mud already. I'd be grateful for any tips or links you guys can provide.

My other purchase was the Microscale range. Once again, I've never used them before, but the results I've seen are great, so I'm going to give them a play and let you know how they turn out.

Finally, I wanted to give my mate Mike a shout out. Me and Mike are always swapping bits and recently he passed me some IG models. First off, he gave me a completed chimera. It's already been built and primed white, so I'm not sure whether to strip it or just go over it with black as I prefer all my models primed black. Also, it's the new style chimera which doesn't really fit with my current forces which are all old school. Since it's got a more advanced look to it, I might convert it up as the regimental command squad transport which means I'll have to put a regimental command squad together. I think I've got the making of another 'project'!

Mike also gave me one of the new punisher tanks still on the sprue, so that'll help bolster my armoured company - Thank Mike!

So, plenty of hobby goodness and more plastic for the plastic crack mountain!

Harkers squad got badged

I broke out the green stuff and sculpting tools this week and managed to make a little progress on Harkers squad. My plan was to get their cap badges done. It's been a while since I last sculpted so I was a bit worried that I'd wouldn't be able to pull it off. Surprisingly, they came out pretty well, although it took a few attempts to get it right. Here's how they turned out ...

 

 

 

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. Some of them are pretty good and some are a bit iffy, but I'm not being too critical on myself as it was my first attempt at sculpting such small details.

What I've learned this time ...

• When doing small details, it's best to push the green stuff completely flat to ensure it sticks and then push it toward the center to build the details.
• Don't sculpt small details late at night when my eyes are tired.
• It's easy to keep going over the same sculpt trying to get it perfect but at this stage in my sculpting, it's best to get it pretty good and leave it there rather than overworking it and getting annoyed.

I also finished off their bases, which means all I need to do now is to give them cloaks. Unfortunately, they're going to be on hold until I can find a decent tutorial on how to make simple cloaks from green stuff.

Hopefully, I'll find one soon and get these guys finished and ready for painting. In the meantime, I'll be cracking on with my Starstreak Hydra's.

Incursion Board Game

During a recent visit to Worlds Wargames at Derby last month with little man and my good mate Mike, I picked up a copy of the board game Incursion from Grindhouse Games. Some of you might already know it or have seen the excellent charity auction copy over on Dave Taylors blog. With my gaming time been limited recently, it turned out to be an excellent buy!

The game is based in an alternative WWII setting, and by alternative, I mean alternative. The German special weapons division has managed to create all sorts of weird and wonderful weapons including a gas that reanimates the dead into German zombies, as well as Werewolves, superhuman sexy Nazi guys and a whole load more. Now, you may say how do the allies possibly stand a chance against things like that. Well, they’re packing diesel powered power armour that been reversed engineered from a spacecraft that crashed in the New Mexico desert. The action itself takes place in a tunnel complex under the Rock of Gibraltar where the Nazi’s are holed up and striking out at the shipping through the Gibraltar straights and it’s down to the Lucky 7^th to go in and ‘resolve’ the problem with excessive force. With a background like that, it’s hard not to get dragged into the story!

The game itself is board based, with everything you need in the box, including the rules, reference sheets, special effect and event cards, diecut standup model pieces and doors. Overall, the production is a top quality one with excellent graphics with only the odd ‘photoshopped’ bit on the board and you only notice them if you really going looking for them. The graphic design done by Tears of Envy is truly excellent and just drips comic book gruesomeness and really adds to the game itself. 

It plays a lot like Space Hulk, we've each side getting picking their forces based on a number of requisition that's specified by the mission brief. Various troopers in the force have various abilities including the ability to effect the other troopers in their force. Roughly speaking, the allies are slow moving, heavily armoured and packing serious firepower whereas the axis are made up of waves of close combat zomies, fast moving werewolves and other nasty's. 

The game is turn based with initiative been decided by a bidding system using command points, which can also be used to supplement an individual models actions. Another interesting element are the event and effect cards which have various effects on the game and can prove game changing. These cards can be voided by other special cards or by spending more command points, and so the game has lot's of twists to it.

It plays very well, with you getting to grips with the rules relatively quickly. There's an overwatch rule which is a bit silly as it allows unlimited firing during the opposing players turn as long as you didn't have a line of sight to any opposing models at the start of the turn. Also, the command points and cards can allow certain models do cover serious ground or killing loads in one turn, which can leave the other player feeling like they've just got no control in the game. Luckily, these things happen very rarely, and so don't really dampen the game at all. 

Overall, it's a great game, supported by an excellent range of models for those who like a more miniature based game. There's also a missions supplement coming out soon, which I'm really looking forward to. So, if you're looking for a board game to have a laugh and a good night's gaming with a mate, I wholly recommend Incursion.

Finally, check out the charity auction on Dave Taylor's blog, if only to see his excellent Incursion models up close. Right, time to crack on with some 40k stuff, more posts soon guys!

A quick update ...

I just thought that I'd post a quick update for my regular followers ...

Although life's been tough recently, things have started to take a turn for the better. The kids are more settled now, we've started to balance the finances, my wife has landed a good job and I've had a cracking promotion at my new job that's made quite a bit of difference. We're not out of the woods yet, but at least we're moving in the right direction.

All this has given me a new lease of life for the hobby as I don't feel as guilty now for spending time on little toy soldiers when my family was struggling so much. I certainly don't have the time I use to have for the hobby, but one of the bonuses of this hobby is that you can do as much or as little as possible.

So, I'm dusting off the painting station, shaking the paints and pointing the brushes, expect model updates coming soon!

Yours ..... A Happy Hobbyist!

Lest We Forget

Lest We Forget.

For all those who have made great sacrifices in the past for our freedom and for those who fight courageously for our freedom now, we thank you.