Vlad Dracul – The curse of Immortality

It took several years, but finally my slightly converted Judas Bloodpsire by Reaper Miniatures is finished. Why did it take me so long, you may ask? Well, I was stuck with his fancy headdress and only recently found a solution to depicting the pearls. I also got a new miniature called James. He is extremely well cast and keeps us quite busy. So despite a creative draught and a new baby in the house, I managed to get some hobby time in.

I will elaborate on the headdress’s construction, colours used and last but not least show you the results of my new ring light and smart phone photo setup.

The Menhirs of Gelosul – a tutorial on standing stones

After a long hiatus I return to the blogosphere with a new tutorial. A full-time job, moving countries and the advent of a baby boy did somewhat reduce my hobby time to almost zero and only slowly I get back into a rhythm of late night hobbying. Nevertheless work continues on my forest themed gaming boards.

In this post I focus on making standing stones from scratch, a staple in any fantasy game, but also interesting for the historical wargamer. Making some ancient menhirs for the gaming table is a fairly simpel affair. You won’t need fancy supplies or exotic materials. So come along and explore ancient sites deep inside the forest.

A chill to the bone – Reaper Miniatures’ Iconic Wizard Ezren

Dreadful chimes can be heard in the larder, abominations in garish dress haunt the good people of our village and not long until a blood sacrifice to the old gnarly tree is due…yes, …the Quickening and Krampus are coming closer every day. But fear not gentle folk of Greifshold, archwizard Ezren will save your souls from damnation, as he will cleanse the putrid essence belaying our village with his powerful magicks.

*harumph* Oh, I didn’t see you there. Today we will look at a sculpt by Todd Harris, namely the Iconic Wizard Ezren. We are looking at the Bones version, not the metal one. As always after a short assessment of casting and sculpting quality a detailed list of the colours used is provided. Finally some words about the photographic set up may be of use for your own projects.

How to make wargaming trees – adding that extra bit of realism

It will shock you, but I really enjoy making trees. I know, I know who could have known? No wonder then that I dedicate yet another post to our green (or gnarly) friends.

I already covered birch trees, hazel bushes, oaks and yews, but this time the question is which features make a home-made model tree stand out and more naturalistic than the store-bought ones? What techniques can you use to add this last bit of realism to your trees?

I will address these questions with regard to bark texture, foliage, trunk and crown shape, scenic basing and critters. This is also an excellent occasion to show off my latest tree commission plus some trees I made for my own collection. We will look at oaks, apple trees, plane trees, olive trees and umbrella pines.

Celtiberians – “They died with obstinate resolution”

The Battle of Great Plains or Campi Magni in 203 BCE was a disaster for Carthage, ultimately resulting in Hannibal being recalled from Italy to safe the day and finding his master in Scipio Africanus at Zama a year later (cf. Goldsworthy, 2003, 294-298).

At the first charge of the Roman cavalry both Carthaginian cavalry and infantry at the wings were driven from their ground, leaving exposed the centre formed by Celtiberian mercenaries. But it was here, faced with their imminent demise,  that they made a name for themselves and allowed the Carthaginian and Numidian commanders Hasdrubal and Syphax to escape:

The Celtiberian line, though stripped of the support of both the wings, stood their ground; for neither did any hope of safety by flight present itself, as they were ignorant of the country, nor could they expect pardon from Scipio, against whom, though he had deserved well both of them and their nation, they had come into Africa to fight for hire. [9] Surrounded, therefore, on all sides by the enemy, they died with obstinate resolution, falling one upon another; and, while the attention of all was turned upon them, Syphax and Hasdrubal gained a considerable space of time to effect their escape (Liv. 30.8-9).

This was not a singular event, quite the opposite: Diodorus Siculus explains that “the Celtiberians advanced far in fame and were subdued by the Romans with difficulty and only after they had faced them in battle over a long period” (Diod. 5.33.1). And indeed they were one of the last to be overcome by the Romans after 200 years of upheavals and conflict on the Iberian peninsular (for campaigns in the 2nd century BCE see Quesada, 2006b).

But who were the Celtiberians? How did their panoply look like and how did they fight? I shall give  an overview of the historical background of these fierce warriors, tactical considerations when using them in Field of Glory and finally some thoughts about sculpting and painting of my – now sadly OOP – Corvus Belli Celtiberians.

Remnants of the Past – a collection of mediterranean terrain pieces for 15mm and 28mm

Some years ago I made my first steps into miniature terrain building. Alongside my ever-growing Carthaginian army I also wanted to have some nice terrain pieces for Field of Glory. A system that requires players to have a good selection of terrain that goes well with a specific army. I did not want to go the felt pieces route, so I decided to make a variety of mediterranean pieces: A lake, a group of mediterranean pine trees, an olive grove, several fields, a swamp and a number of hills.

I will present some of my early works and provide some brief notes on how I created the pieces. As I am working on improved versions of these I will, as of now, not provide detailed step-by-step instructions. Some of the photos are of an older make, so please excuse the sometimes less than stellar quality. The pieces will also go up for sale very soon in a new section of the blog, so if you are interested watch this space.

Iberian Scutati – “Esteemed to be the most warlike barbarians that now are.”

Ancient Iberia and Carthage had a long-standing relationship. May it be trading relations, cultural exchange or military support.  Even more so when Carthage expanded into Iberian territory in the aftermath of the First Punic war to establish a permanent presence and exploit its riches and man power for the dawning conflict with Rome.

The Carthaginians relied heavily on foreign contingents in their armies, with Iberian troops being no exception. They supplied both lightly armed and medium infantry and formed a major element of a great many Carthaginian armies throughout the ages.

In this post I will focus on my mix of Xyston and Corvus Belli Iberian medium infantry, commonly known as Scutati, named aptly after their oval shield, the scutum or its greek equivalent thureos. A historical introduction will be followed by some tactical considerations with regard to using them in Field of Glory. Finally the sculpting and painting of the miniatures will be expounded on.

Numidian Light Cavalry – the extended arm of the Carthaginian army

Hannibal’s Numidian cavalry was famed for its performance in battle, but also very apt in small-scale operations. During the battle of Cannae their conduct made victory for Hannibal possible, yet at Zama them changing sides helped along with his demise.

A Later Carthaginian army is unthinkable without them and in many rule systems they are an obligatory element of the army list. I decided to use Corvus Belli for my Numidian contingent and can say I don’t regret it.

I shall give  an overview of the historical background of these fabled riders, tactical considerations when using them in Field of Glory and finally some thoughts about sculpting and painting of the Corvus Belli miniatures.

 

Fire and Ice – Experiments with the Golden Crackle Paste

There are many products available that are not originally meant for the aspiring model terrain maker, but nevertheless provide us with the right tools to recreate nature. One of these products is the Golden Crackle Paste. Being an acrylic effect paste that – as the name suggests – cracks during the curing process, it supplies us with the perfect means to depict dried out lakebeds, but also cracked ice or even cracked lava.

In this short review I document the curing process over several days and show two of the terrain pieces I made using the crackle paste, namely an almost dry lake with barren trees and a water hole as well as  a frozen lake with cracked surface and a snow-covered tree.

Rome wasn’t built in a day – 3-D Dungeon tiles

We already took a look at my set of 2.5 dimensional dungeon tiles for some hearty Dungeon & Dragons sessions or some simple SoBaH past-time. I also recently completed a set of Hirst Arts castings to furnish the dank rooms of my dimly lit dungeon.

However, the tiles were not entirely finished and some of the features were still missing, such as door and wall elements, tiles with a wooden floor and a bigger room that is suitable for boss encounters. These also elevate the dungeon to the third dimension.

This post is mostly picture centred with some short comments about the techniques used. For a more comprehensive  how-to have a look at the older post.