Friday 28 August 2020

Space Fleet. P1



Amongst the vintage games played by my group, Space Fleet sits in the top tier. 
Space Fleet is the venerable predecessor of GW Space ship combat game Battlefleet Gothic and set in the Warhammer 40k universe. 
Far more detailed overviews of the game can be found at:





I managed to acquire a copy of the original game and additional models enough for an Imperial and a Tyranid Fleet but could never settle on a paint scheme for either.
The summer has finally brought inspiration for both fleets;

Tyranids


Tyranid mountain


Modern plastic drones used as the Tyranid Spore Mines 
(They were also a cheap test run for the paint scheme)


Hellblaster Krakens


Hive ship

(This model is a copy made using Green Stuff and a press mould)




Deathburner Kraken


Hive Fleet Cygnus 
380 Points

The colours of the Imperial fleet have been inspired by the Pre Heresy Emperors Children


Cobra Destroyer Squadrons
'Rampant' and 'Couchant'




Gothic Battleship 'Bright Tower'


Emperors Children Icon 


Rear of Battleship with ornate superstructure and engine flare


Emperors Children Imperial Fleet
260 points








Saturday 15 August 2020

Dark Age. Romano-British Warband 1

My current reading and viewing material is dominated by the Dark Ages and the work of Bernard Cornwell
Watching his Saxon series 'The Last Kingdom' and going through the books (just finished book two, The Pale Horseman) and book one of his Arthurian series 'The Winter King'
























I have also started ' God of Vengeance' by Giles Kristian which is the start of a Viking series featuring the Viking Sigurd who he introduced in a previous series of which enjoyed immensely.




With all of that running through my head I dug out the Gripping Beast figures I still had and have started putting together a Romano-British Warband.
Ruleswise I have looked at several options, and Dux Britanniarum and Saga stand out for me so will build with both of them in mind.

The first unit using the Dux Britannarium starter force is the Archers. These have been put together from the Gripping Beast Late Roman Infantry boxed set. The Romano-British force starts off with 4 slingers or archers and I will add more later to build it up to a full 12 man unit for Saga.

I wanted quite a dirty Grimdark style for them and borrowed from the style (and mud) I was using for  my Turnip28 Project


The Bowstrings were added using thread


Figures were based on 2p









The first unit of Levy Spearmen build using Gripping Beast Dark Age Warriors box and shields from the Late Roman Infantry box
The Shields are all handpainted and I wanted to keep them quite simple as befitting their station. The next six will give me the two starter units for Dux Britanniarum and one Levy unit for Saga


Warband so far...





Tuesday 11 August 2020

Turnip28. Sunsold 1

As part of building my corner of the Turnip28 map, I have started sketching out ideas and plans for a small settlement called Sunsold which I will expand in further posts but I put together a test villager for Sunsold which I wanted to show off first.

The Hermit roots are parasites that infect Boulder Snails. They start off small and spread throughout the snail and control it before absorbing it and taking over the shell for itself. The Hermit Root will then drag itself around looking for other snails or larger shells to inhabit. Hermit roots live off small animals and birds that are attracted to its smell which is like rotten meat. The stench is partly due to the root and partly due to the slowly rotting and digesting corpses that nestled in the shell and roots. The roots can be harvested and have a tough meaty texture like beef jerky.

Tobias is a Root Herder and tends the Hermit roots that graze beneath the perpetual shade of Sunsold. He has lived in Sunsold all of his life. His only joy and sadness are in his red hat which his daughter Agrave gave to him before she left the village to follow a soldier who she had fallen in love with.


Tobias and his herd of Hermit Roots


A Corpse of Hermit Roots. 
 (The Collective noun is Corpse after the foul smell they give off.)


Root Herder Tobias





Root herding on the edge of the Wasted Sea


The base figure was a Gripping Beast Arabian with a scratch-built basket on his back and suitable roots, tufts, and dirt.
Inital tufts, twig and baking soda


Added a basket as the character started to emerge



The Hermit roots were made with Garden Snail shells and Dandelion roots that had been dried and sealed with superglue.

Saturday 8 August 2020

Turnip28. Terrain 2

Turnip28 Terrain board completed tiles.




Completed board tiles with scatter terrain and figures completed so far

Aerial view




Dead not buried
Trench with scatter terrain









Nine tiles ready for storage.

I have another set on order so I can add a Marsh area for a stilt village and some more open tiles so I don't have to use the trenches and fortification every time.