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These arrived last week and just in time too. I'm dying to paint something and with my current slide towards historical it couldn't have come at a better time :). This plus I'm currently enjoying watching the Viking tv series.
Saga is skirmish game set in dark age England. Done by Studio Tomahawk and published by Gripping Beast. The first thing that struck me when I started reading the book was the writing style. Witty, lively, humorous at times...I love it!! Here's an example from the page 8 The Basics. "Levies or peasants: Give them a sling, a bow or even some stones and you might be surprised. Might". And this candor is repeated many times throughout the book. Again, I really enjoyed reading it to the end.
The book is lavishly illustrated with many nicely painted models for painting inspiration. I've not played the game but the system is interesting and unlike others I've tried before. I'll write a proper review when I've a few games under my belt to be fair.
In the meantime I also got myself a box of the Gripping Beast Viking Hirdmen box set. You get 4 big sprues to make 40 viking warriors and 2 sprues to build 2 warlord and 2 blowing horn guy (whatever you call these guys haha). So 44 models in all. A very good deal considering it's only retailing for GPB20.
Valhalla awaits!!
I present to you...HMS Temeraire in all her glory. May she sail safely and sink many enemy ships :)
And how would I recognize the beautiful Temeraire when she's on the table with all the other ships??
Why with a nice custom acrylic base of course :)
This has been a very nice change in subject for me. I really enjoyed building the Langton ship and rigging her up. And then yesterday my hensem brother got me this...
Going to be a good week ahead of reading after completing the Temeraire.
Thanks bro :). And thank you all for dropping by.
Managed to get some more work done on the Temeraire. Didn't do much weathering on the sails as it's my first build and didn't want to screw it up.
Most of the time spent since was on getting the rigging done. It's not as complicated as I thought it would be but neither was it an easy process. But I enjoyed getting the rigging all done up.
What is needed most during this process is a bucket-load of patience.
The fishing thread that I got was supposed to be single thread but experience has shown me that it's not. If you look carefully at my rigging you'll be able to spot some split threads. Also liquid super glue and accelerator is really helpful. Even then you need to make sure to give it sufficient time to dry. After a few disasters and re-rigging,
I decided to be on the safe side and allowed every spot to truly dry before carefully cutting the excess thread.
She should be ready for the high seas by this weekend :)
Thanks for tuning in :)
Continuing my hobby renaissance/getting into historicals, I'm now building Napoleonic ships. I got the 1/1200 British Starter pack from Langton Miniatures. This is the Pack Two set which contains 1 second rate, 2 third rate and 1 fifth rate ships. That's 4 ships in all.
http://www.rodlangton.com/ This is their site if you're interested to start your own fleet.
I decided to build the biggest ship first (the 2nd rate) and have decided to name her HMS Temeraire. This ship was the second ship in Nelson's Weather Column and had quite a history on her. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Temeraire_(1798)
The details of the ship is gorgeous for such a small cast; 6cm long for the hull. Mind you this is the second largest vessel available during that time. The quality of the white metal casts are very good and only minor cleaning is required. The bottom of the mast will need some trimming but overall the parts will fit nicely. Now that's what I call finecast.
By the way, we'll be using the Trafalgar rules printed by GW under their GW Historical banner some time ago. I believe it's out of print at the moment.
That's it for now. I'll share more when the ship is done.
Before I start anything let me just say that this is a very beautifully designed rulebook. I love the layout, the colors chosen, the presentation style...all of it. You can feel the love that was put into this book when you flip through it for the first time.
Dues Vult is published by FireForge Games. It's a set of rules for wargaming in the crusades era. As I've mentioned above, the 200 page book is very well and clearly presented. The main pages are in parchment style effect and on either sides are brown tabs giving tips or historical notes. Overall very pleasing to the eyes in my opinion.
This is my first ever historical ruleset which uses 28mm figures and I must say that I am pleasantly surprised. I haven't had a chance to play it yet due to lack of models but I'm slowly trying to build up a force. Hence, the painted Saladin and Richard figures in my two previous posts.
There are two armies that are listed; the Crusading armies and the Arab dynasties. Religion aside, I've always been fascinated with this era. And the models shown in the book are gorgeously painted. I'm surprised that FireForge Games didn't even hint at using their new cavalry and infantry range. That is until the very end of the book! Say what you will but I call it class :). Compare this to another company which I've stop buying their monthly magazine a loooooong time ago. Go here http://www.fireforge-games.com/webstore.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=36&category_id=12 and honestly tell me you are not tempted to get those Templar knights.
Therein lies our biggest problem with being a wargamer/miniatures hobbyist in Malaysia. It is so so very difficult to find what we need. But I guess it's also a blessing in disguise as I would probably max out and go bankrupt were I living in America or UK :). So slow and steady getting things from the net is the way for me. Even this book was brought in from UK when I couldn't find any shops carrying it local. If you can get this book on the shelf anywhere here please contact me :). I'm hoping they would have some nice Arab cavalry and/or infantry.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book and think the game mechanics would make for some very memorable games. My most sincerest appreciation to Dave Edwards of the UK for graciously getting me this book.
One final note. If you have not watched Kingdom of Heaven; the Director's Cut then you truly owe it yourself to do so. This should have been the actual movie that was released and not the cut/edited version. Having the movie play while you paint (of course concentrate on seeing it the first time) your Arab or crusading knight is ....nirwana.
http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/movies-we-love-kingdom-of-heaven-the-directors-cut.php
God wills it!
This was another nice painting experience for me. Nothing to shout about but it felt nice painting the figure. Probably because it was painted without any particular goal in mind such as finishing up a unit or army. Painting just for painting.
I believe this and the Salahuddin figure I painted earlier are the first non sci-fi or fantasy figure models I've painted in my life. Its a nice change I must admit.
And I believe this will be the trend or state of my hobby from this point on.
Cheers everyone and thanks for visiting. Appreciate it.
This model is from the Wargames Illustrated Moments in History collection. But I decided to base it individually without the Lionheart because I hope to use this to play Dues Vult one day. I'm still in a hobby/painting rut at the moment and this model just called out to me.
Especially after my super duper bro got me 'Kingdom of Heaven : The Director's Cut' last week. You HAVE to watch it if you haven't! There is around 1-1.5 hours of footage that they didn't put in the actual movie and it adds so much to an already great movie. Go get it now and be surprised!!!
Painting this model after watching the movie was really fun. I've always been fascinated with the crusades era so this side project filled the painting rut very well. Next up, the Lionheart.
