4Ground 10mm Security Fencing for Adeptus Titanicus

Last year for Christmas, Pam got me some very cool terrain from 4Ground. The first one of these kits to be built was their "Security Fencing" set, shown above with Gilles. 

The set gives you ten full-length fence sections, eight half-length sections, ten corner sections, and two full- and one half-section gates.

The photo above gives a good idea of how much you get. It should be an ample quantity for fencing off an industrial area on your AT table. The terrain tile above is two feet on each edge.

Tiny though they are, the fences in the kit are composed of *many* tiny fibreboard parts. The fencing itself is printed clear acetate that you cut out from the sheet yourself. Clever.

You also get some "gate" sections as shown here.

The kit is listed as "Skill Level 3" out of 5. I also have a "Skill Level 5" kit yet to build and I have to confess I'm a bit afraid of it. The fencing kit was certainly not difficult to assemble but it was somewhat fiddly and composed of many small parts. Thank goodness it was pre-painted... however the parts all fit well and putting them together was a pleasant way to spend a few hours.

Hopefully they'll maybe see the gaming table sometime next year...?

Stay healthy and safe everyone.
 

Zealot Miniatures Fantasy Adventurers and Undead from Litchmyre Dungeon

Some time ago, I supported a Kickstarter campaign launched by Zealot Miniatures out of the UK, for their Litchmyre Dungeon range of fantasy figures. I really liked the aesthetic of the models, sculpted by the very talented Boris Woloszyn. I picked out the five I liked best (specifying that they be cast in white metal - no resin for this Conscript!) and they arrived in June of this year. I painted them in the last couple days. I find that fantasy single models paint up really fast.

This is "Melran, Elf Warrior". She's a multipart metal casting and is just beautiful.

I really like the detail on the (obviously) wooden shield. I couldn't think of a better way to paint it, so I just left it in a wood finish.

A superb little model!

This is "Mercenary with Torch" - will be great as a retainer for an adventuring party.

This is "Skeleton" - does what it says on the tin.

I really dig the aesthetic of this model as well. Note the shackles on his wrists and ankles. Very cool model.

This is "Undead Dwarf King". I like the idea of undead versions of races other than human - I seem to recall that GW got into this a little bit in their Warhammer Fantasy Battle range, centuries ago. It was pretty cool having undead Skaven and the like to paint up.

Now this guy is cool - "Spirit Warrior". With that mail coif he looks like something out of a Monty Python/Holy Grail nightmare.

Just a super-nice model.

The Zealot stuff is a little on the larger side of 28mm, but they have a LOT of models on offer in their webstore, including monsters and other adventurers. Worth a look if you're into the genre, but all of their product is in resin now - metal was only for Kickstarter backers. Too bad. And they're not cheap either - for example, the Spirit Warrior is 7.90GBP. Maybe Santa might chuck some in your stocking if you've been good this year :-)

Anyway that's the update, stay safe everybody! 
 

Scratch Built early-WW2 German Artillery

 The scenario for the assault on the Polish Post Office in Danzig called for a number of specialized units in the German order of battle, such as the Steyr ADGZ armoured cars. It also called for quite a number of artillery units that would be placed on the table top, something that rarely happens in our games. The Germans deployed a total of two 75mm Infantry Guns (7.5 cm leichtes Infanteriegeschütz 18) as well as a 105mm howitzer (10.5 cm leichte Feldhaubitze 18M). I had one of the former that I bought years ago when planning out a Dieppe scenario, which I have since painted, but I couldn't justify the cost of the additional guns which are likely to only see action in the streets of Danzig.

Here are some stills of the two types of artillery taken from film footage of the actual attack.

 Note that the version of the 75mm Infantry Gun still had spoked wheels as they were mainly horse drawn in many early war German infantry divisions. 

It was time to do some scratch building. Materials for the 75mm Infantry Gun were balsa, cardboard, paper, and bits of cork. The wheels were salvaged from some old Airfix HO Scale French Napoleonic Foot Artillery

The 105mm Howitzer was a bit more complicated, as well as being a bit trickier as I didn't have scaled dimensions. For the 75mm Infantry Gun, I had my unassembled Bolt Action model as a template, but I was winging it from photos for the 105. Here's the detailed parts list for all the bits and bobs that went into the model.

The recuperator cylinder is part of a wooden skewer from a restaurant burger. The barrel is part of a hollow plastic sucker stick. The breech block is a piece of cork. The cradle is a piece of a square wooden stick that came with a potted plant. The trail was cut from 2mm plastic card. The wheel tires are garden hose washers.  The wheels are seals from a milk carton plastic spout. The wheel hubs are paper circles cut with a hole punch. The gun shield and spades at the end of the trail were cut from old War Amps key tag. It is all held together with crazy glue, model glue, or epoxy depending on material.

 

Some of the dimension in the final assembly of the howitzer are a bit off, but it will do for the purposes of the scenario. If I had to do it again, the recuperator-barrel-carriage assembly should be mounted further forward, the trail should be 30% longer, and the gun shield a bit wider. Still, I am pretty happy with the final results.

 

I decided to mount the two guns on bases with a cobblestone pattern on them to resemble the streets of Danzig. Here is the 75mm Infantry Gun. The crew are from my Black Tree Design 75mm Pak 40.

And here is the 105mm Howitzer. I decided to make a mini-diorama on the base, inspired by the photograph of the actual gun in action. The spent shell casings are short sections of plastic insulation from some thin copper wire. I sealed one end with a dab of glue, and then painted them brass. The ammo boxes were made from some scraps of foamcore with a strip of paper glued around the edges to hide the stryofoam.

 

 

That pretty much completes the last of the necessary support weapons needed for the scenario. The workbench now is occupied by larger caliber anti-tank guns and kubelwagens. Stay safe out there, and I hope to see you all around the gaming table at some point in the future.

War Griffons Warlord Titan for Adeptus Titanicus

So in the accumulation phase of the Adeptus Titanicus buildup, I ended up with two Warlord Titans - one from the original "Battlegroup" box I bought at Warhammer World when we were there last year, and one from a subsequent purchase of a secondhand "Grandmaster Edition" box set.

I painted one of the Warlords for the Princeps of my Legio Krytos Titan maniple, and had fully anticipated bolstering the forces of the Warmaster with the second Warlord as well. However... when Conscript Greg decamped from Winnipeg to Parts East, I re-evaluated that plan and considered that maybe since his huge Loyalist Titan force would be not likely be seen again soon at the Conscript Towers gaming table, I'd better start on some Emperor-loving opposition for the Warmaster's crew.

But what Legio to choose?? I looked at the "history" of Legio Krytos in the Heresy, and by far their coolest-liveried opponents were the legendary War Griffons of Legio Gryphonicus. So I decided to paint the Warlord in LG colours with the thought that if Conscript Greg ever did return for a game with his Titans, LG could be represented in even greater numbers...

I painted this Titan in a notably different style to Greg's - I tend to go to a bit of an extreme with the weathering, probably because I like the "campaign look" and tend to get a bit lazy about painting neatly and cleanly. 

This Warlord was basecoated with Mechanicus Standard Grey and XV-88, which were overcoated with a light stipple of Administratum Grey camo and Averland Sunset, respectively. Mechanical bits are Leadbelcher and Brass Scorpion, with the latter also serving for the armour trim. Of course the whole was copiously washed with Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade, then decals were applied. After this came the rust streaking (Reikland Fleshshade punched up with Doombull Brown) and the sponge shipping (craft black and Rhinox Hide). Groundwork was painted Rhinox. Mournfang, Steel Legion Drab, then drybrushed lightly with Rakarth Flesh, which was carried up the legs as well for a bit of dust blending.

"Juliet balcony" back there for the Titan crew.

As Greg's noted in his posts, the Warlord takes magnets superbly. Here it is in its component parts.

I like to be able to position/rotate the waist joint so I magnetised that as well. 5mm magnets go on the bottom of the Warlord's torso...

...and stick to the washer positioned at the top of the pelvis. Using the washer has the added benefit (for me) of allowing some final adjustment of the attitude of the torso. In this case I positioned the washer to point the torso a touch downward to compensate for a bit of backward tilt that crept into assembly of the legs.

So that's it - Warlord done. Up next for the War Griffons will be a pair of Warhounds, with more on the way of course. Escalation waits for no man!!

Stay safe friends!

Bolt Action and Crusader early-WW2 German Infantry and Support Weapons

 While Conscript Dallas was busy painting up his platoon of early war German infantry in preparation for the attack on the Polish Post Office scenario, I was working on a backlog of miniatures by Bolt Action and Crusader, some of which have been based and primed for years, Others were still unassembled in the original box or zipper bag in which they were shipped. Just as an indication of how long these have been on my 'To Do' list, a number of them are no longer in production, or the sculpts have been changed since I bought them.

In total I completed a ten man infantry section, two additional LMG teams, an anti-tank rifle team, a MMG, two mortar teams, a 75mm infantry gun, a 37mm anti-tank gun, and a bailed out Panzer crew.

Bolt Action infantry section

Close up of the rifle group

Close up of the LMG group

 

Crusader LMG teams, and Bolt Action anti-tank rifle team

 

Bolt Action 37mm anti-tank gun (Panzerabwehrkanone 36)

Bolt Action 75mm infantry gun (7.5 cm leichtes Infanteriegeschütz 18)

 

Crusader 50mm mortar teams and MG34 on a tripod

Bolt Action bailed out Panzer crew (OOP) with a Corgi 1/50 diecast Panther

The infantry section, infantry gun, and the MMG will all see action in Danzig at the Polish Post Office. Currently on the work bench are additional support weapons. More to follow.