28mm American Civil War - 114th Pennsylvania

Here is the first completed unit for my 28mm American Civil War Union force. It's the 114th Pennsylvania Volunteers. The figures are a mix of 1st generation Old Glory and Sash & Saber. I purchased some of the figures (Old Glory) off of Bartertown a few years ago and sent the Sash & Saber off to Sri Lanka for painting (I hate trying to match paint jobs). I finally got around to basing the figures up and finishing them off...the flags are from GMB and they look very nice.

114th PA Color Guard

114th PA

I have plenty of other 28mm ACW to paint up. I'm going to try to work on the rest of the 1st Brigade/1st Division/III Corps from Gettysburg to start with, and then I'll likely move on to Barksdale's Mississippi Brigade. This is a long term project and I'm in no rush. I'll use the figures for either Johnny Reb III or for a set of rules that my friend Don is working on.

Warhammer 40k Stormtrooper Conversions

OK, so as anyone can tell you (especially Robert from the Drunken Samurai Paiting Blog and Tim from Cursed Treasures) I am not much of a modeler, nor have I done a lot of conversions. I have a rather large Warhammer 40k Daemonhunter Army that I've been wanting to add some Stormtroopers too for quite some time, but I don't like the standard GW ones. I saw some various posts up on the 'net somewhere that inspired me to do the following conversions. I used plastic Cadians to which I added WHFB Knights of the White Wolf capes along with heads from the West Wind Secrets of the 3rd Reich range; the heads are French Adrian helmets with gasmasks and they look ok on the models. I also converted a couple of flamers into meltaguns as you can see below. I'm hoping these guys look better once they are painted...now I just have to decide on a paint scheme!

Fences Finished

The Old Glory 28mm Russian Farmsteads I painted up for Gathering in the Desert came with some fences that I didn't finish in time. These are rather tall fences and will be of use for various era's. I'm thinking of coming up with a "firing step" to add along the inner side of the fence so 28mm figures can see over the top to shoot. As you can see by the test paint of the Warhammer Fantasy Tomb King archer below, the fences are a bit tall. And yes, Tomb Kings are my next major project.

More 2010 Gathering in the Desert pictures

Here are a few other pictures from this years Gathering In The Desert. There were some really nicely painted armies there.

GITD Pictures

Well, it's actually been a couple of months since the 2010 Gathering in the Desert for Lord of the Rings SBG and I'm finally getting around to posting a couple of photos I took. I took some notes, but can't find them so instead I'll just make a couple of observations that have stuck with me:

• Tim and his wife Shannon did a great job in putting the event on. They were organized and everything went off without a hitch.
• The players were top-notch; at least all of my opponents were. There were no "push-overs", that's for sure.
• The tables looked great...thanks to everyone who contributed to the tables.
• Armies and army composition are tough. Defense 6 and a tough character or two rule the day in the game now it appears. My forces for the past 2 years (Rohan and Uruk Raiders) have suffered greatly IMO at the hands of the dreaded "creap" as subsequent armies or armies with actual supplements have gotten better. Nothing like having a lower Defense, lower or the same Fight, Lower or the same Strength than your opponent AND being outnumbered!
• Also, I know composition is tough, but some allied contingents always make me scratch my head...and I'll leave it at that.
• Playing to the scenario is discouraging when your opponent would rather just focus on breaking your army and then can mop up and get extra points.
• I'm not sure which army or if I'll play next year. I have always used a different/new army at GITD and I have unpainted Easterlings, Dwarves and Orcs that I could get ready for next year, but I need to take a step back and see if I want to play.

Well enough of that...here are some pictures.

GITD 2010 - Rohan Settlement Debut

OK, so here is a possible lay out for my "Rohan" settlement for the GITD. It would look better on a mottled green and brown table, but all I had was green to chose from. The road, rivers and bridge are from JR Miniatures. The buildings are Old Glory. The Fences are from Pegasus (but have been repainted). I've had the hills for years; they were made by a local gamer (thanks Neil). And I did the tree pieces. They are Xmas tree armatures I got from Michaels...I brushed the snow off with an old toothbrush, sprayed them with Krylon camo brown, mounted them on some pieces of wood (also got from Michaels), stuccoed the bases and put some rocks down and then used Woodland Scenics foliage that comes in a small sheet that you unfold and cut and stretch. I think they look OK from a distance...less so from close up, but not bad. I didn't have time to replace or modify the roofs for the buildings in a true "Rohan" style....sorry...maybe next year.

GITD 2010 - The Return of Osgiliath!

Well, I had set a date of February 1st to be done with my army and terrain projects for this year GITD...it turns out I needed a few extra weeks, but I got it done! Here are some pics of a possible layout for "the dreaded Osgiliath" table this year. I eliminated one of the larger buildings from last year and replaced it with the "weathertop" Hirst Arts kit I won last year. I also eliminated a few of the smaller building pieces and added more rubble. It still will be a challenging table for all hopefully. One note...the large 3 storybuilding doesn't have the floor pieces in it for these pictures...it will for the tournament though. See you all there!