Playing a tactical starfighter game has been on my list for a while, so painting a set of them was long overdue. I chose Brigade’s 1/300 starfighters that can be used for Squadron Commander – but I’m sure that dozens of other options are available too. My squadron has six Hornisse Interceptors, four Galland Attack Fighters and four Kondor Strikeboats.
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OutRim Coalition Marines – Stargrunt II Data Cards
Now that I have a full platoon of OutRim Coalition infantry painted, I think it’s time to summarize how this army works and what it is capable of in a Stargrunt II game.
The Outer Rim Coalition (aka OutRim Coalition or ORC) is one of the smaller factions in the Tuffleyverse. The Full Thrust, Dirtside II and Stargrunt II rulebooks don’t give too much detail about them: basically, they are the people born and living in the outer worlds, on starships and on space stations, at the edge of the human influence zone. They are not associated directly with any of the Terran nations and they are facing all the threats lurking in the unknown depths of space. They kind of resemble the Belters from the Expanse series with this background.
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The Heavy Weapons Have Arrived
I took my first steps in the world of 15mm wargaming a year ago, when I painted the first squads of my OutRim Coalition army. I collected and painted several assault troops and support weapons (plasma guns, missile launchers, snipers) since then, so it was time to add the heavy weapons as well.
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Winter Haul Report 2020-2021 – “It Wasn’t Me, It Was Santa”
Christmas is about friends, family, celebrating, spending time together, having fun and exchanging gifts. Sadly, most of these were impossible at the end of the last year, which is why I focused more on gifts – some for my loved ones and some for myself.
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Weathering with Enamels and Pigments
When I started painting minis and when model paints finally became available, the most commonly used option was enamel. It wasn’t the most friendly material: it was smelly, it dried slowly, it could re-activate the layers under and correcting mistakes with it was also difficult. Some of the more experienced miniature painters had used oil paints, but that seemed to be even more challenging, so I have never considered oil paints as an option. Acrylic paints made everything a lot easier, and when they appeared, I was convinced that enamels were gone for good.
Apparently, I was wrong: I have seen more and more articles recently, where enamels and oil paints were used, tutorials where pigments were applied, and I also found a growing range of these products, but they still seemed to be over my league. When I bought the “Painting Wargame Tanks” book of Ammo by Mig Jimenez, I was shocked to see that they recommend these techniques for wargaming tanks. Since the book explained everything in detail, and it made this method look so easy, I soon ended up with a set of pigments and enamels. When I gathered my courage and applied it on my Valentine Mk IX, I was pleased with the result and decided that I would write more about this topic.
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My Funny Valentine
Love strikes in the most unexpected moments… You catch a glimpse of perfection, the true beauty itself and your fate is sealed. Love fogs your senses and you don’t care anymore if there’s another one that is younger, more modern, better armoured or has more firepower: you’re in love with the Valentine Tank.
Joking aside, Valentine is a British tank that was manufactured in the highest numbers during World War II, it was used probably in all the theatres of the war and had more than a dozen variants. The distinctive look and the diversity of this tank make it a very interesting subject for my hobby.
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Battle of the Brushes
When I started painting minis, brushes were just plain standard brushes and the ones that were too old and worn got trimmed, and were used for drybrushing at the last stage of their lifecycles. I tried GW’s brushes made specifically for this technique, and I was pleased with them: the flat profiles worked surprisingly well and since it offered a range of sizes, I could choose the right one for every task.
When I saw the Series D Drybrush Set from Artis Opus, I found it really weird: the brushes had huge, rounded heads, and were sold in elegant wooden boxes at a shockingly high price. In the end, the tutorial videos I saw convinced me and, I bought my own set. A few months later I found that The Army Painter’s Masterclass Drybrush Set had an undeniably similar design, but for less than one-third of the price. Is it possible that their brushes can offer the same, or is it too good to be true? I had to find out, so I bought their set as well and tested both products.
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Goodbye 2020, Hello 2021!
Well, last year didn’t exactly go as planned, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that way. 2020 wasn’t the best year for gaming: game shows were cancelled, and due to the lockdowns and the restrictions, there were only a few face-to-face games. I was also very busy at work, and I had many exams which left me with far less free time for my hobby than I expected. Sadly, I had no chance to paint with my nieces either.
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Christmas Special 2020
Now that Christmas is over, packages were delivered and gifts were opened, I can finally tell you about the project that I had been working on in October and November. I try to make a handcrafted Christmas gift for someone in my family or for one of my friends every year, and this year it was my nieces’ turn. Sadly, visiting family and painting something nice together was not an option in December 2020, but I still wanted to give them a personal gift that I made.
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Autumn Haul Report 2020 – aka The Treasure Hunt – Tranche 3
Not much has changed since the last haul report: there have been no face to face games and no wargame shows either but apparently, this didn’t stop me from buying new stuff.
The first item, TravelBattle from Perry Miniatures, was a real surprise. Though it’s a very interesting period, I have never considered buying Napoleonic minis and I was also sure that I would focus on 28mm and 15mm, with a few 6mm pieces as a rare exception, but after reading an article about this game, it looked very engaging. One single box that has everything you need: terrain boards, troops and a rulebook. After reading a few reviews, it quickly became irresistible, mainly because of the quick and simple but fun to play rules. The size of the minis is 8mm, which is a scale I have never seen before and there are probably not too many accessories for it on the market, which is in a way a blessing in disguise: it will stop me from expanding this into a massive collection with dozens of extra units.
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