Impact! Miniatures 28mm Hockey Players

Several years ago Pam got me a set of hockey players from Impact! Miniatures. I'd thought it would be fun to paint them to use in some kind of tabletop hockey game. Of course they sat in their box for... some time, until I recently decided to get cracking on them.

I should say that the sculpts definitely date the teams to a certain period in the history of the National Hockey League, mainly due to the style of the goalies' equipment. This type of gear was worn in the period between the late 1960s and about 1980 or so. The only anachronism with the equipment worn by the players, though, was that every Impact! skater was sculpted wearing a helmet, and helmets were definitely not in general use in the NHL during that period. Some players wore them, but they were definitely in a small minority. So in order to keep a consistent and historical look to the teams (which I had determined would represent the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs of the 1975-76 NHL season) I had to cut off most of the helmeted heads and replace them. For this I used the excellent bald head sculpts sold by Victoria Miniatures, on which I sculpted some 1970s hockey hairstyles and the odd moustache, using greenstuff. Above are the Canadiens - forwards Guy Lafleur, Pete Mahovlich, and Steve Shutt; defencemen Larry Robinson and Serge Savard; and goaltender Ken Dryden. You'll note that all of them shoot right-handed even though Mahovlich, Shutt, Robinson and Savard were all actually left-handed shots (like me). It would have been way too much work to fix this though. 

The "Big Bird", Larry Robinson

The "Flower", Guy Lafleur

Lafleur again

One of the reasons I picked the 1975-76 teams was that they didn't sport name bars on the backs of their sweaters (jerseys) yet. This was only mandated by the NHL starting in the 1977-78 season, which is a funny story... the owner of the Maple Leafs at the time, notorious cheapskate Harold Ballard, refused to put the players' names on the backs of their sweaters, reasoning that if he did so, no-one would buy the programs he sold at the games. The league threatened heavy fines for non-compliance, so Ballard gave in... printing the names on the backs of the Leafs' blue sweaters in blue, making them unreadable. The NHL clarified the rule to state that the names must appear in a contrasting colour and Ballard was forced to give in. 

And speaking of the Leafs... here they are: forwards Lanny McDonald, Darryl Sittler, and Dave "Tiger" Williams; defencemen Borje Salming and Ian Turnbull; and goalie Wayne Thomas.

Sittler, #27

I mentioned some slight anachronisms with the equipment but the real weird thing about the players is the way the forwards were holding their sticks. Normally you'd hold a hockey stick with one hand very close to the butt end and the other midway down. However the forwards were all "choked up" on their sticks, with their hands both close to the middle. I fixed this by cutting the end of the stick off and reattaching the taped up butt end right above their glove. This makes the sticks a bit shorter but it's certainly better than leaving them as sculpted - they just looked wrong. Fortunately the defencemen and goalie are good as-is.

Wayne Thomas

Lanny McDonald, #7

Montreal goalie, author, and sometime politician Ken Dryden

Some game action

So the next order of business is to find some rules and build a rink. There's a set out called "Trick Shot" as well as a variant of Blood Bowl called "Cross Check". Trick Shot originated in a Kickstarter but the rules can be downloaded for free. It seems straightforward but of course, uses special dice... not a dealbreaker but inconvenient. In any case the first thing will be to convince Conscript Byron to design me a rink... we'll see where it goes from there. And I have also resolved to get some new brushes, as the line work on these models is atrocious. I know a poor workman blames his tools but my detail work has been subpar for awhile now and it's time I did something about that. Maybe some Kolinsky Sables will help.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed the post as something different, and please stay safe. 

Painting Challenge Submission: Star Wars Legion - "They're not suits...They're Droids."

 

In Season 2 of the Disney+ television show, 'The Mandalorian', Dark Troopers were introduced as new villains for the Star Wars galactic heroes to overcome. They kidnapped Baby Yoda (Booo!), and helped defend Moff Gideon's light cruiser. These evil mooks were given a comic book origin; this third generation of trooper were no longer armoured humans, but powerful droids.

I wanted to introduce a few of these impressive troopers to our games of Star Wars Legion, but they are not manufactured by Asmodee or Atomic Mass Games. There is a strong community of sculptors and gamers out there, creating rules and figures for as yet unreleased or non-canon characters.

Accordingly, I picked up a couple of suitable 3D printed figure sets online to use as proxies: a 5-figure strong "Authority Dark Droid Squad" and a set that consisted of a "Rescuing Hero Wizard" with "Sliced Droids". For the latter two, one is crushed as if by a giant invisible hand, and the other is sliced in half from head to crotch, showing off its interior machinery. 

[The header photo above shows the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker figure I painted, fighting off a couple of Dark Troopers, as Mando & Baby Yoda (which I purchased for a fundraiser), and Sabine Wren (also my painting) prepare to deal with another.]

These 7 models are nice renders. I don't have a 3D printer, so I ordered resin prints, which had fairly subtle artifacts of printing (those horizontal lines). They are brittle; a couple arrived broken, but the resin broke clean and were easily repairable with super glue.

Studying stills from the show, they are basically black shiny armour with a few metal bits showing at the elbows and knees, with glowing red eyes and 4  lights on their chests. The armour really reflects lights sources.

After undercoating them with Chaos Black I under painted the guns with Vallejo Grey Black and painted the joints with various grey acrylics. I kept the rest simple. I arbitrarily selected a single light source located to their front and slightly to their left sides. I worked up reflections and catch points using indigo and titanium white oil paints. Other amour highlights were slightly rendered with neutral grey oil. I picked out the eyes and chest lights with GW Evil Sunz Scarlet. The sliced up one was further detailed with various orange and yellow acrylics and oils. Groundwork was Golden Garnet Gel (Fine), painted to match the sandy bases of most of my other SWL models. To finish I dirtied up their legs with Vallejo weathering powder, fixed with Vallejo Pigment Binder.

In the game these models are tough, shoot a strong gun, and are fearless, but they are not strong in close combat. Plus, characters with lightsabers will trash them. There's also online social media groups for unofficial game cards.

These were fun to paint and are a menacing addition to my Star Wars Legion collection. 

Star Wars Legion: “Echo Station 5-7, we’re on our way.”

My take on the Limited Edition Luke Skywalker, a 1/47 scale figure for Star Wars Legion. 

Fantasy Flight Games recently released a Limited Edition version of Luke Skywalker. A convention exclusive, in a year without conventions, this model was offered in very limited quantities to game stores as customer incentives, prizes, etc. (Shout out to Brian at Amuse 'N Games in Winnipeg!)

This is a lovely figure. The likeness is very much a young Mark Hamill. It comes with three different options for the head (including helmet and visor), and you can choose either a right arm wielding Anakin’s lightsaber, or a blaster pistol. Luke is sculpted as he appears on Hoth in the movie The Empire Strikes Back. 

I primed the figure with Chaos Black and hand brushed flat white onto the saber blade. Then, with an airbrush and compressor blowing at ~18 p.s.i., I laid in zenithal highlights and spotlighting with Vallejo White. I masked the figure with a plastic baggie, and airbrushed the lightsaber effect with Golden High Flow Fluorescent Blue. 

I have been asked about how I did the lightsaber blade. Briefly, I airbrushed the fluorescent blue really thinly (7 drops pigment, 5 or 6 drops each of thinner and flow improver, and about an eye dropper’s worth of water). Worked from the tip of the blade back towards the hilt, angling away from the hilt. Several applications (with some reloads in the paint cup) built up the colour at the tip, fading out at the base of the blade. The thin paint leaves no spray pattern.

Afterward, I under painted the face using the Vallejo acrylic face painting set, using those colours they suggest for tanned skin. The uniform was quickly laid in with acrylic glazes. Blending and final details were done with artists' oils. 

I painted the pupils indigo instead of blue, so they stood out a bit more. I painted the gloves and boots as black leather instead of white cold weather gear, more like his regular pilot’s uniform. I painted the sculpted base to match the sandy terrain of my other SWL figures. 

The Snowspeeder is shown for scale. It is a pre-painted model from WotC; I have not yet assembled and painted the FFG kit, which is basically the same size.

I am very happy to have a copy of this figure. It is very striking, and will make a cool addition to my Rebel forces.

Star Wars Legion: General Veers

 

 

General Veers, a 1/47 scale figure for Star Wars Legion, from FFG. I started with zenithal highlights and spotlighting with an airbrush, acrylic glazes, then details and blending with oils.

 

 

I used FFG’s Imperial Uniform as the base for the clothing, and Vallejo German Camouflage Dark Green (which I originally bought for WWII German helmets) for the helmet and armour.

 

 

  

 

For the game Star Wars Legion, points-wise Veers is a cheaper commander than, say, Darth Vader. His rules also make him good for coordinating vehicles with his troops and such. Fitting for someone who is, arguably, the most successful ground commander in Star Wars lore.

 

Star Wars Legion - Sabine Wren and a Gonk Droid

 

 Sabine Wren and a Gonk Droid, 1/47 scale figures for Star Wars Legion. Zenithal highlights and spotlighting with an airbrush, acrylic glazes, then details and blending with oils.

The Mandalorian is from FFG, and the droid is a 3D print from Skull Forge Studios.

 

 

For Sabine, her armour’s helmet and chest decorations are loosely based on her appearance in the series finale of Star Wars Rebels (see below). I also increased the contrast between her armour and under suit. The shoulder markings of the mythasaur skull are decals that I used decal solvent on to conform to the rounded surface, then over painted slightly with oils to give a little shading.

 

 

 

 

Star Wars Legion - Breaching Enemy Lines

Game 4 of my ongoing Star Wars Legion campaign play test. This time I ran the Imperials, and used Crabbok’s solo AI card deck to run the Rebels. An Imperial Officer led some Stormtroopers and Scout bikers, accompanied by the notorious bounty hunter Boba Fett. Han Solo and Chewbacca led several Rebel squads and a light walker. The Rebels outnumbered the Imps by 20% in points, to make up for their card-driven tactics.





FORCES:

Imperials:
Imperial Officer (50 + 0 = 50)

Boba Fett (140 + 12 = 152)
- Hunter (6), Endurance (6)

Stormtroopers (44 + 41 = 85)
- RT-97C Stormtrooper (26), Stormtrooper Specialist (15)

Stormtroopers (44 + 24 = 68)
- DLT-19 Stormtrooper (24)

Stormtroopers (44 + 24 = 68)
- DLT-19 Stormtrooper (24)

74-Z Speeder Bikes (75 + 0 = 75)

Commands:
Ambush (1), Whipcord Launcher (1), Pinned Down (2), ZX Flame Projector (2), Z-6 Jetpack Rocket (3), Coordinated Fire (3), Standing Orders (4)

Total = 498 points


Rebels (Run by AI card deck):
Han Solo (120 + 7 = 127)
- Duck and Cover (4), Environmental Gear (3)

Chewbacca (95 + 8 = 103)
- Duck and Cover (4), Tenacity (4)

Rebel Troopers (40 + 30 = 70)
- Z-6 Trooper (22), R5 Astromech Droid (8)

Fleet Troopers (44 + 23 = 67)
- Scatter Gun Trooper (23)

Rebel Troopers (40 + 22 = 62)
- Z-6 Trooper (22)

Rebel Pathfinders (68 + 28 = 96)
- Pao (22), Duck and Cover (4), Recon Intel (2), A-300 Short Range Config (0)

AT-RT (55 + 20 = 75)
- AT-RT Laser Cannon (20)

Total = 600 points

###

Each side set up within 6” of their respective table edges. The goal for each side was to get their unit leaders into the enemy deployment zones. As an added bonus, Boba Fett was trying to obtain a bounty on Chewie, garnering an extra VP if he defeated the Wookiee.

The table was a Scarif-like beach setting. I counted the 13 squares that were covered in water as bad going. This would not hinder the bikes (which hovered), Chewie (he is immune to such effects), and Han (who was equipped with suitable environmental gear).





The game quickly devolved into a series of close-range firefights, as both sides tried to get past each other. The turning point was mid-game, when the biggest Stormtrooper squad split its fire and in one turn managed to gun down the remnants of 2 Rebel units. Their Stormtrooper armour even allowed a couple of them to survive!
































I kept a Stormtrooper squad within its own setup zone, to draw Rebel fire. This worked, but they ended up fleeing off the table.

















By the game’s end , no surviving Imperial unit had more than a couple of members/wounds left, but they managed to get one more unit leader into an enemy deployment zone than the Rebels, squeaking out the win. Boba Fett was denied a bounty, as Chewbacca survived all the shots fired his way.

Losing all their forces but the walker, Han and Chewie will be hard pressed to accomplish any further sabotage against Imperial facilities...