Monday, 17 April 2023
Mustering for Ipsus
Friday, 14 April 2023
Litter Lout
Monday, 10 April 2023
Phalanx VIII - All Over Bar the Grouting
Here is the Great Phalanx for Salute, approaching its finished form. All of the 720+ minis are now on bases- the only things left to do are grout around the feet of 192 of them, then paint the grout, flock and tuft, with which activities chum Ian is kindly assisting. But these are just snagging, the phalanx is, as of yesterday, combat viable!
Other things I need to do before Salute are to some extra command stands, notably one depicting Antigonus "at bay", finish the scenario and identify all the other minis required for the battle from amongst my huge stacks of RUBs- the Great Phalanx above constitutes approximately one half of one of the two infantry battle lines. I am quietly confident that the game will be the largest ancient game ever to be played at a convention, twice.
At Salute you will be able to find the Battle of Ipsus with me and sundry "To the Strongest!" chums at GG04, which is near the centre of the vast hall, between the Warlord merchandising/painting competition area and the N7 exit. I still have some organisation to do - next week I'll write out to the people who have expressed interest in playing. BTW I still have some slots for people to play in the PM game.
Thursday, 30 March 2023
Phalanx VII - Making Basing
Friday, 24 March 2023
Salute VI - Last of the Phalangites
Monday, 6 March 2023
Salute V - all the Silver Shields
Here is a work-in-progress shot of my new Silver Shields. They will constitute the right-most two units of my "Great" phalanx. I feel very reassured now that I know, for sure, that the front ranks will rank-up acceptably. All of these minis were painted by Shaun McTague and highlighted/finished by me. Chum Ian flocked the bases. I still need to grout around the bases of the front rank minis, a filthy, time-consuming job that I will save for later. You can click the photo for a close-up.
The key to ranking up the front rank pikes was to mount all the pikes at the same, correct angle to the horizontal. To facilitate this, I made a template out of MDF, sticky labels and a spare pike. The Blu Tack holds it upright. Next, I bend the arms of all the front rankers so that their hands "hold" the template's pike. Then I remove the template. Finally I glue a pre-painted pike in place, having scraped away paint so as to ensure a metal-to-metal contact. It works really well, I can fit a pike or more every minute.
The phalanx as a whole is progressing satisfactorily and the other 8 units should be finished in time, so long as I keep plugging away every night on it. I'll show some WIP photos in a few days time.
Wednesday, 22 February 2023
Salute Phalanx IV; the Silver Shields
- 55% done with finishing/basing the rear ranks
- 95% done with finishing/basing the middle ranks
- 0% done with finishing/basing the front ranks
So almost half way. However, I expect the lowered pikes of the front ranks to be particularly challenging to base. Still, though, I should be just about OK to get them all finished in time.
In other news, I'm finalising the next release of the TtS! Medieval Army List eBook- due out on the 28th. There will be two new lists and some more background material. One of the new lists will cover the peasants for the German Peasants' War- I've been hugely enjoying the Helion on the Swabian Wars and am struggling to resist ordering the pretty new Steel Fist minis. :-)









