Odds and Sods 3

   It has been a while since I did an Odds and Sods post - this time last year almost to the day weirdly* - but my painting desk is so full of bits of projects that this was unavoidable to someone like me. This post has Dinosaurs, a WW2 Soviet tank, Star Wars droid and Frostgrave, so lets begin.

*Must be something about the first week of September

   First up are the Oviraptors that I picked up from North Star. I was in the market for more of their wire spears as mine have gone walkabouts, but they have some of the most dangerous emails in the hobby and I am afraid I was one such casualty. I did my customary research into this dinosaur and basically came back with the knowledge that it is another 'do what you want' as the scientists don't know, so I picked my favourite scheme and went for it. I really do need a ruleset to play with these figures now, as this collection is getting a bit out of hand.

   After nearly a year of break from Bolt Action, I have picked it up again and started organising games and a couple of tournaments. The army I enjoy playing the most are my Soviets and my favourite tank to use is the SU-76 but I have always wanted to try it's up-armoured brother, the SU-76i**, so when I found out that Company B sold one (via Great Escape Games in the UK) it was a must buy.

**Actually based on captured Pz3 and stugs

   Carrying on from last time, I still have a fair few Frostgrave figures on my desk, of which these 3 made it through the painting process; another man at arms, a white gorilla and a medium construct. The man at arms is from Ladies in Sensible shoes***, the white gorilla is North Star and the medium construct is from Black Hat Miniatures and was bought without a plan, but with my Frostgrave resurgence I knew exactly what to use it as.

***Like the unknown templar from last time.

   Last up is a test model I bought from Tritex Games. I was after a better Owlbear model for D&D**** and spotted they had a Star Wars Miniatures category, so I bought a couple of bits as test items for size comparrisons with Imperial Assault.

****My character now has a magic item

that summons an Owlbear on command.

   The one I bought to actually use in games - probably as scenery - was the astromech droid ' Red' which was the one that malfunctioned when Luke bought it instead of R2-D2 in the 4th film. A quick ink wash and basing brought it up to gaming standard but size was the big issue, but as you can see below, while the model is smaller than R2, it isn't massively smaller, so I wouldn't be upset using it in the same game.

   The only other thing to test was the human sized characters, so I picked up a Sith Nobel with plans to use him as NPC in D&D, but he does seem to fit Imperial Assault's scale, so there is a risk I might bulk some units out with figures from this range, especially if some of the worst priced units work out scale wise (thinking Jawa's here).

Thanks for reading

Darth Vader

   While I am terrible at keeping to a single project I do still feel the need to set myself project targets, that, while, I still mostly ignore them, they are always there buzzing in the back of my head reminding me what I still have to do. So, every now and then I settle down and deal with one of these buzzing noises to give myself a bit more space to go off track again later on. This is one of the buzzing noises I have now swatted.

   The two big projects I have in my head at the moment are painting the British Napoleon infantry so I can get a game of Sharp Practice and finishing the last of the first wave of Imperial Assault so we can play the whole base box campaign with painted figures and with only 3 models left to do, this seemed the easy box to tick off.

   The biggest issue with painting Darth Vader was there actually isn't much to paint. His outfit(?) is just black, gloss or matt, and even the detailing is in black. So the bit that took the longest was applying gloss varnish to the bits that needed to be shiny after I had already varnished him. He looks much better in person than he does in the photos.

    Lastly, there are the two AT-ST's. I hadn't planned on buying a second one as you never need more than a single one in the campaign (not seen a mission where you need two at least) and we had already played a mission that needed the upgraded one, so I was too late for that, but I was in Wayland Games and they had one on the shelf and the collector in me knew what to do.
   When I opened the box I realised that Fantasy Flight Games have been quite clever, you get the parts for both the upgraded one and the basic AT-ST in case you want squadrons of the things for the skirmish variant of the game. So I decided to make use of this and allow my second AT-ST to be both units depending on what I needed it to be, although, I left the General off as the hatch is just going to get damaged if you try to remove it too often.

Thanks for reading

Tusken Raiders

"The Sand People are easily startled, but they will soon be back, and in greater numbers."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

   So yet again I have failed to keep on target on something that isn't my target. The Sand People are, again, from the second box set, while the Bantha is from wave 4 but they had been sitting on the side of my desk* for a while, waiting their turn and it just made sense to paint them as it kept the Imperial Assault progress going even if it wasn't something I should have been doing.

*Although I am not sure why!

   Looking at photos online of both the real props and costumes, and how others have painted their figures, the overwhelming theme was a limited beige pallet with a few browns on the details. So that is what I did, picking out some bits in different creams and beiges just so it didn't look like it was a quick drybrush and finish job.

Thanks for reading

Forest skirmish

   It turns out I can't even stay focused on something that wasn't my main focus. Deviating away from the British Napoleonics into completing the first wave of Imperial Assault and then I paint a character from the second box set and a figure pack from the 8th wave, instead, but I have an excuse, I had an idea on the character's colour scheme and I wanted to him done while I was both motivated and inspired.

   As I have said before, my aim with the camo scheme is to try and create a group of rebels that look like a unified assault group for those missions that a bit more take and control than the campaign games in the box set. My theory is, in games of skirmish the imperials will mostly be stormtroopers so their rebel opponents should have a theme running through their kit even if it isn't a uniform (thinking battle of Endor or the end scenes from Rogue One).
   I just couldn't get the lighting right in the photo below but the force is coming together. I think another unit of rangers and it will be done, although I want to try a game out before then to see how the skirmish side of the rules plays out.

Thanks for reading.

Nexu attack

   There are 40 Napoleonic British red coats sitting on my painting desk, but after the heat of last week my painting mojo died and my painting board spent nearly a week languishing in my man cave untouched. In an effort to get me painting again I have gone back to small projects that I can get quick results out of and chief amoungst these is still Imperial Assault.
   Carrying on with my aim of having the whole first wave painted as soon as possible the Nexu found their way into my immediate to do pile. I hadn't painted these as looking online there are so many colour schemes all based on either pure imagination or on the various types of nexu in the Star Wars fluff. I found one scheme (that I think was based on the nexu in the second film) and it set me straight to painting.

Thanks for reading

The most unnecessary guard in fiction?

   On Friday night, I found myself staying up later than planned, fixed to the tv watching the modern A-Team film, the only reason I mention this is that it was extra painting time that I hadn't expected, the unit below are the result.
    The Royal Guard are another unit from the base box set that haven't been used yet but I wanted to make sure were painted before they came up in the campaign. Naturally, I added the Royal Champion as it made sense to make sure their red's all matched properly. These guys were a pleasure to paint, I forgot how much fun robes can be to do.

Thanks for reading

Keeping the cause alive

++ Many Bothans died to bring you this post ++

   More Imperial Assault and another vague theme to justify why I have picked the models that I have painted at the same time, in this case rebel infiltrators. I decided to ignore the established colour schemes for both the two rebel saboteurs and the Bothan hero, instead tying them into my rebel rangers from a few months back. I am aiming to create a coherent looking generic task force that looks like it might be capable of doing the everyday missions that keep the cause alive, rather than what films are about, which follow rag-tag bands of heroes doing the big missions.
   So the saboteurs are in full ranger gear of camo and brown packs, while I gave the Bothan hero the camo trousers and brown details but a black body glove top to suggest a slightly more stealthy nature but also so he still stands out as a character.

Thanks for reading

Droids

   The last time we played Imperial Assault we played a mission that used the Assassin droid, and I was gutted that a model that was one of the main stars of that game was in his basic grey colour when every other model we used in that game was painted, so something had to be done about it.
   Keeping to a theme I painted the two more famous droids up at the same time, even though their colours didn't match at all, just as having a single model actively being painted at one time seems to be a bit of a waste unless you can paint to a higher level than I do. The biggest issue I found painting the 3 droids was that R2-D2's colour scheme seems to be different in every reiteration, he is different in 1-3, 4-6 and in all the bits in between, so I picked one picture online and went with it, hence the odd orange bits (which I think makes this an early version of him?).

Thanks for reading

Trandoshan hunters

   In Imperial Assault, the role of main generic mercenary falls to the race of Trandoshans, who by their very nature as a species of big game hunters, fulfil this role with glee. The core set comes with 4 basic ones split into 2 groups and one of the later waves includes the named Trandoshan, Bossk, who I picked up figuring I could make sure I got the skin tones to all match if I painted him at the same time.

   As before, I am mostly trying to paint up those models that are appearing more frequently, or having a starring role, in our campaign games. The heroes have fought these guys a couple of times now, so it made sense to get some paint on them.

Thanks for reading

Imperial Officers

   The base set of Imperial Assault is really varied mix of different units, some that you need in almost every scenario in the campaign and others that only get used sparingly. So, obviously, it made sense to put some effort into getting the figures used the most, finished first.

   Nearly every set-up includes at least one Imperial Officer, and as they were an easy uniform to paint I added them into my painting list as a side project while other bits dried.

   The below photo shows how I have decided to mark each group out on the board. Each has a colour painted on the back of the base, so it isn't overwhelming on the figure but lets you easily see who is who, then I put the matching colour token onto the figure's card, while the red coloured base is nearly always the red elite unit in the scenario to try and cut down on the amount of tokens on the table at any one time.

Thanks for reading

Chewie and Han

   One of the things I said I wouldn't do when I picked up Imperial Assault was starting buying up all the main film characters. Luke and Darth Vader came in the base box, which was fine, but any more and all I thought I would be doing is going against the fluff by putting them into games (the same reason I don't tend to use named/special/real characters and/or people in games, I want my stories to be my stories).

   Then the 3rd mission we played called for Han Solo to be part of it. The set comes with tokens and card so you don't need to buy the figure, but I am a gamer, the chances of me not buying him once I knew I needed him were slim to nothing. Once you have Han in your collection it seems churlish not to pick up Chewbacca too . . .

Thanks for reading

Anyone need a hero?

   I've had a steady stream of heroes going across my painting table at any one time and these 3 all happened to be finished about the same time. The jedi and the smuggler are the two characters my mate uses in every campaign game (we decided to keep the game interesting and let him rotate in any character he wants as his 3rd), while the wookie was blocked out at the same time as I started on Chewbacca*.

   The heroes from the main box have been really well thought through, with all types ranging from the tank, the techy and everything in between, a full on D&D party in the star wars universe.

*More to come

on that one.

Thanks for reading

You rebel scum

   Ok, so one of the main reasons I was starting to chat to my mate about wanting to play Imperial Assault was that I had just seen Rogue One in the cinema (losing some serious geek cred on how late I saw it) and the final battle just inspired me. When I saw the Rebel Rangers in the shops over the next few days, in my head they matched exactly what I was after, so I actually bought a pack before I had even worked out how to justify buying the starter box. Upon looking at the uniforms I have discovered that they are in the Battle of Endor style dress and not the ones from the end of Rogue One, but frankly, who cares too much?
   I painted the squad in Battle of Endor colours, as I am convinced that would look epic on a board and if Fantasy Flight Games don't do an expansion based on it I will be shocked, but they look professional enough that they will make great standard rebel troopers for any scenario I plan to put them into. Again, I would be shocked if I don't pick up at least one more pack.
   The guy at the front is Fenn Signis from the starter box set. When we tried the campaign play out for the first time this was one of the heroes that my mate didn't choose but on close inspection it is obvious he is wearing the exact same uniform as the Rebel Rangers, just with the addition of the scarf, so I painted him to match them, keeping his original scarf colour so it is obvious who he is.

The rest of the heroes I am keeping to their artwork colour schemes which is a bit more of a headache.

Thanks for reading

Probe Droids

   One of the things you come to accept in this hobby is your level of painting skill, my skill is very much in getting uniformed troops onto the table in a speed that some of my mates can't get over, but that only really pass the 2 foot rule in general. My biggest issue are non-uniformed figures as these slow me down, and if I am not enjoying the process, it can kill my enthusiasm quicker than a horde army will. This is what is happening a bit with the heroes from the Imperial Assault box, so I thought I would treat myself to a unit that I knew I would enjoy painting and would be quick and easy to do. Up hoover the probe droids from the starter set.

    I haven't done anything special with the paint job, it really is as simple as it looks, but on the boards they really look they are supposed to be there. With these guys turning out to be a lot more potent in the game than I expected, it makes sense they should look the part.

Now back to painting heroes I think.

Thanks for reading

Rebels Sighted

   I currently have two main hobby plans on the go; I am planning on keeping a minimum of 30 minutes of painting a day before work, even with my busier work schedule and I am attempting to get everything from wave 1 of the Imperial assault set painted so we can play through the campaign with fully painted miniatures.

   These are the first products of this new regime; three rebel troops and Luke Skywalker from Imperial Assault. Much as I am sure anyone who has watched Rogue One is working out ways to recreate the final battle, these guys are just so iconic that I had to have at least a unit, and as some appear in the campaign, it was even more reason to buy a pack. While Luke just looked like fun to paint

Thanks for reading

Don't move! - Now with brighter Troopers, although, they probably still can't hit anything.

   Yes, so this is another new project but I can explain. I was bought the Imperial Assualt starter box by a, very generous, mate and in preparation for our first game, I have bolstered the collection with a few expansion packs.
   When it came to painting, it made far more sense for me to start with the Stormtroopers. So that is what I have done and they were really good fun to do.

  Three of the Stormtroopers.

Kayn Somos - a stormtrooper commander felt like a necessary extra purchase.

 E-web engineers.

Now to paint some rebels.
Thanks for reading