Foundry 2000AD Pack - Dredd, Mean Machine, and Johnny Alpha

Further to the recent Dredd-mania afflicting the residents of Conscript Towers, I've just finished three models from the late, lamented Foundry 2000AD range. These three - Judge Dredd, Mean Machine Angel, and Johnny Alpha (the Strontium Dog) - (as well as Slaine) were packaged in a "2000AD Preview Pack" that I was fortunate to pick up on an eBay forum. I'm not a big fan of Slaine (or more accurately, I can't think of a game to use him in) so I've left him unpainted for now.

First up, Judge Dredd. By Grud, this is a nice model! Chunky but finely detailed, it's a perfect Dredd I reckon. As nice as the new Warlord sculpts can be, this one just blows them away. Metal > resin/plastic, plus the detail and heft are just awesome.

"Old Stoney Face" indeed!

One of the main reasons I wanted to pick up the Foundry pack was to get a Mean Machine model. Yes, Warlord makes him too, but you have to buy a box of half-dozen characters to get him, and Mean was really the only one I wanted from that box.

An excellent sculpt here as well, down to the detailed "dial" on his forehead. He really just seems like the kind of dude that would pair a denim vest with jeans, doesn't he?

Here's weird-eyes Johnny Alpha himself. I've always been more of a Dredd fan than Strontium Dog, but I thought it'd be good to have a model of Johnny handy nevertheless as the two did meet once or twice in time-travelling crossovers.

Johnny, of course, is a mutant Search/Destroy agent ("Strontium Dog") - basically a bounty hunter who tracks down criminals for pay. Johnny's weird eyes are the source of his mutant ability to see through walls and read and influence the minds of others. It's not all X-Men in the S/D world though - most mutants aren't super-powered, just weird looking! Strontium Dogs are pretty much all mutants too, as the S/D lifestyle is too dangerous for normal humans. There are exceptions though, such as Wulf Sternhammer (Johnny's sidekick and apparently a Viking transported forward in time)...

Time travel is kind of a thing with the Strontium Dogs, as Johnny wields a multiplicity of time-based gadgets, and has even travelled back in time to apprehend a criminal from Mega-City One and (of course) to capture and bring Hitler to trial in the future.

I have to say that it was super-fun to paint these three. Nothing beats Foundry models when they were on their game and as noted metal always ALWAYS > resin. Looking forward to getting these guys out in a Judge Dredd game for sure.  BOK!!!

Painting Challenge Submission 10 - Mme. Clergue, Franc Tireur Commander

Mme. Clergue and her first recruit prepare to resist the Prussian invaders...

Regular visitors to this space will have noticed reference to "Challenge Island", a feature of the 10th edition of Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.  One can "travel" on the island following a particular path, making the themed submissions in turn, or one can take a short cut to any particular spot on Lady Sarah's Balloon.  The fee for the journey is simple - you need to paint a female figure. And you get bonus points if you show that you are enjoying some bubbly drinks as part of the painting. For more info and background on the Island and Sarah's Balloon, see info here.

I needed to make some more progress on my Challenge Island journey, but the options for my next stop were not great - either "Rousell's Sandhill" or "Douglas' Shallows".  Neither theme location worked for me or my figure collection. So, I summoned the Balloon of Lady Sarah.  As a figure, I submitted Mme. Clergue - budding commander of a Franc-Tireur formation for my Franco-Prussian War project. These are 28mm figures from the Wargames Foundry 28mm FPW collection.

Things go pear-shaped for the French in 1870...

The Franco-Prussian war went very badly, very quickly for the Imperial Government of Napoleon III.  Moltke and the gang had them in the bag at Sedan, and surely assumed some smooth negotiating and tough concessions would make for a lovely fall.  But that was not to be...the French Republic rose from the ashes of Napoleon III's abdication.  It had almost no army to speak of, but the French spirit was not to be easily quenched, and the Republican forces fought on.

Some sort of volley-gun-style pistol...should be epic.

The Prussians found themselves needing to occupy and secure considerable chunks of French territory as they pursued a siege of Paris and fought to crush the Republican French armies.  This task was made harder by the Franc-Tireurs, guerilla fighters who harassed Prussian troops along their lines of supply and joined in at the margins in some of the engagements in the later phases of the war. Foreshadowing the time of the Maquis, the Franc-Tireurs battled to make sure the Prussians paid as high a price as possible, and made the final defeat of France in 1871 a lot tougher.

As is so often the case in these situations, many a Franc-Tireur met a grim and summary fate, either in action, or caught in security sweeps. The reprisals visited on these resistance fighters were at times expanded to local communities by weary, angry and scared occupying troops.

My Franco-Prussian War collection is, for now, very focused on the initial "Imperial Phase" of the war, but for skirmishing purposes I want to get from Franc-Tireurs organized.  Many of these bands were led by men, but the women of France played a critical role in these efforts too, and I wanted my band to be led by one.  Thus we have Mme Clergue...she is on a hex-shaped base used in our skirmish games to denote senior officers. Standing with an innocent basket (loaded with baguettes and spare ammunition), she will be coordinating the efforts of the resistance in her local district, ready to show the Prussians that France is not vanquished yet...

We also have one early recruit, who looks to be sporting some kind of volley pistol(?) - should be entertaining. Watch for this band to grow as this edition of the Challenge goes forward.

Sparkling wine is a favourite! This is Paul Mas Cremant de Limoux, from St. Hilaire. So, so, so good...

For refreshments on the balloon trip I thought French wine would be appropriate (actually, French wine is always appropriate, but I digress).  With these figures I enjoyed a bottle of blanquette, a sparkling wine from Limoux. 

Updated map showing travel to "Piper's Peak" and the "Path of Imagination".

Sarah's Balloon transported me to a location called "Piper's Peak". Stay tuned for more on my submission for that location!

Ye Olde Trip to Nottingham

No painting to show off in this post (well, no painting of my own anyway) but I wanted to put up a few pictures taken on our recent trip to the UK. Needless to say, it was awesome, and started off with a few days in Nottingham, the spiritual and temporal home of British wargaming.

I do have a very loving and indulgent wife but wanting to keep it this way, I planned only two serious wargaming stops here - the first of course being Warhammer World. We'd visited here before, on our first trip to the UK in 2009, but that was before the big makeover and expansion of the WHW museum. Fortunately Pam told me she was happy to sit in Bugman's Bar with her book and coffee while I explored the expansive new museum space.

 Outside of course is the M113 made up to look like an Ultramarines Rhino... cool...

 We arrived bright and early, just before the 10am opening time. Not excited or anything...

 In we go!!

On the way up to the museum space, the infamous Golden Daemon Slayer Sword!

And right away, you get a dose of Warhammer history. I love the nostalgia factor of this stuff, takes me right back to my own beginnings in the hobby as well.

The dioramas are just great too. If memory serves this one's by John Blanche his own self.

Dave Andrews contributed this excellent piece depicting a Bretonnian tournament scene. Please excuse the reflection - you'll be seeing a few of those.
 

Another diorama just full of old-school detail.

Had to take a couple pics of Mike McVey's iconic depiction of the death of Sanguinius and the final confrontation between the Emperor and Horus. EPIC!!

What I wouldn't give for a cast of the figures in this piece, or even a conversion recipe. Although the current Forge World Primarch models are no doubt amazing, I love these ur-depictions of the characters we've known for 30 years as part of the Heresy mythos.

We'll come back to some old stuff soon, but the newer dioramas were most impressive as well. Here's one featuring World Eaters mustering for campaign.

Models in this one were straight-up Forge World pieces.

Mixing it up... a scratch-built Thunderbolt fighter by Dave Andrews, Golden Daemon winner.

Yes, the Squats still exist at Warhammer World. Good to see GW embracing this controversial part of its past :-)

Another giant dio featuring over 300 specially-cast Cadians on parade. Pretty impressive.

"My ships may lay at anchor, but my foes know full well that BIG GUNS NEVER TIRE" (or something)

The burning of Prospero - Space Wolves vs. Thousand Sons - with terrain completely bespoke for the diorama.

How about that - even Space Wolves can look cool ;-)

The centrepiece of the museum had to be the "Battle for Angelus Prime."

Over 5,500 models, parts from 1,200 scenery kits, 23 feet long, 12 feet wide and over 20 feet high... wow.

Back to reality for a sec... some of the original 40K models in this case. The museum space was chock-a-block with painted armies from Warhammer Fantasy Battle (R.I.P.), Warhammer 40,000, and Age of Sigmar - too much to photograph, but I got one more pic:

BIG HATS! My first WHFB army - Chaos Dwarfs. Still have 'em, and these guys are fantastic.

McVey contributed another classic diorama.

Forge World's big boys were well-represented too.

Love the weapons on their platforms! Honestly, there was so much cool stuff to see in the museum, I could have (and did) stay for hours... I think I nearly ran the camera out of memory I took so many photos.

Back out in the gaming hall a school tournament was in progress. Good to see the future of the hobby here. Of course there's also lots of opportunity at WHW to partake in some retail therapy... plus, models are eligible for VAT refund if you have the retailer fill out the correct forms for you, and remember to claim it back before you leave the UK. I did the first thing, but not the second... boo. In any event, I have a nice Adeptus Titanicus battlegroup and some great modelling books to remember my visit by.

I'd mentioned above that we made two wargaming stops in the area. The second was just outside the village of East Stoke...  

A bit off the beaten track but WELL worth the visit, Wargames Foundry HQ sits in a cute little farm complex.

Inside, a lovely gaming table and even more lovely racks upon racks of wargames models. Kid, meet candy shop...

One cool thing was the display cabinets all about the place, each rammed full of beautifully painted Foundry and Citadel models. I had to get some close-up shots...

 Genestealer Magos and friends.

Some of the original Chaos Warriors.

Titans from the original Adeptus Titanicus.

New obsession: the second Barons' War. I picked up the new Osprey on Lewes and Evesham 1264-65 while in the UK and a visit to Lewes Castle and the ruined Priory did not help matters...

Gotta have a close-up of those knights. Sweet! Of course the credit card was exercised here a bit as well, another great thing about Foundry HQ is that standard packs are only 10 pounds instead of 12 by mail order. Can't afford NOT to indulge!

Oh, and we did some other stuff in the area as well, including having a drink in (what's claimed to be) the oldest public house in Britain, "Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem", 1189. Pretty awesome. Can't wait to go back!