28mm Painted Eureka Miniatures US Force Recon Marines.

Lovely set of 28mm painted force recon US marines from Eureka Miniatures, posted a picture of comparison sizes with some other miniatures, they are slighty smaller but not enough to be an issue and I should have got the sniper when I ordered them(no point now as I wrote down the colours I used but cannot find the piece of paper now.

L to R, Empress Miniatures, Hasslefree and Black Scorpion for size comparison.

Posties Rejects:15mm Crimean Wargame Report(Picture and word heavy)

BATTLE OF CHOULIOU RIVER,27TH NOVEMBER 1854.

Posties rejects turned up for a game last saturday of an action in the crimea between french and britsh forces facing a russian attack at the chouliou river in the crimea(battle is fictional but river existed at the time and there was fighting near the area).There were 4 players and Postie as umpire(commands were picked out of a hat at beginning of game,
Surjit: French forces (Allied Commander)
John: British forces
Smithy: Russian Commander (1st brigade)
Me: Russian second in command (2nd brigade)
FORCES:
French: 2nd infantry division(part),1st brigade:7th line, 3rd zouaves(elite), 1st chasseurs a pied(elite), a battery each of heavy and medium guns and an attached cavalry brigade of the 1st/4th chasseurs d'Afrique(elite).
British: 3rd infantry division,1st brigade:1st,38th and 50th line,2nd brigade:4th, 28th and 44th line, 2 batteries of medium guns plus an attached cavalry brigade of the 17th lancers, 4th light dragoons and 8th hussars(elite) and a battery of light horse artillery.

Russian:16th infantry division, 1st brigade, Vladimir and Susdal line regiments plus 2 batteries each of heavy and light guns and an attached cavalry brigade of the 11th/12th Hussars plus 53rd Don Cossacks(conscript).
2nd brigade, Uglutz and Kazan line regiments, 6th schutzen battalion(elite) and 2 reserve batteries of heavy and light guns.

The rules we use are a variation of General De Brigade with house rule changes,the ammo on all artillery is limited(especially shell), the russian units were larger(20 figures to 16 of the allies) but all had muskets(9" range) compared to british and french rifled muskets(15" range).
A brief description of the battle, the russian commander in chief did not come off the hill until it was too late, I got bogged down at the bridge and only got over with my schutzen battalion(skirmishers with rifled muskets) my reserve artillery arrived too late to influence anything.The russian cavalry(huge units of 24 figures) got hammered by britsh and french cavalry and left the game/board(all 3 of them).The russian infantry got outdistanced by the range of the french muskets(the british infantry only arrived at the end turn to deliver 1 devastating volley), the french would move out of our effective range and fire back in theirs.The battle ended when we called a halt to the misery and on points they won 10-4, good game but frustrating on a period I quite like.

Initial set up with the russians on the left.

 

My brigade approaches the bridge of death and despair.

Russian 1st brigade initial set up.

The british forces with cavalry out front(part of the light brigade)

My Uglutz boys crossing the bridge with the schutzen in front,the bridge was the furthest my formed units got.

The first unit took 50% casualties failed its morale went straight back through everything else and disordered them aswell(the yellow markers).

Massed russian cavalry heading off to engage the british and french cavalry.

The disaster at the bridge(the green markers signify march column and white signifies first fire)

Before the first round of combat.

After the first round of combat(something is missing).

My reserve artillery pushing forward but too late.

The russian first brigade engaging the french and british but with horrendous losses.

French and british cavalry finishing off the 12th hussars(3 to 1).

A picture at the end of my schutzen behind the french redoubt(far smaller unit by then) but its my only positive for the russians the whole game.The dice rolling was horrendous on our part but we won iniative nearly every turn but a game is a game and all thanks to Postie(I hope you enjoy the report and apologise for any mistakes I may have written).

The Walking Dead: Episode 4.............good again.

After the severed hand is found in Atlanta the group search for Merle when they run into another gang of survivors, Glenn gets kidnapped and one of the other gang falls into the hands of our survivors which leads to some tense negotiations for the guns(which have been recovered along with Ricks hat).back at the camp Jim has gone a little weird(digging multiple holes)and ends up tied to a tree.The negotiations for Glenn are sorted out as the other survivors are doing some good work despite appearances and some guns are shared much to Daryls digust(still a great character) but their van is missing and believe Merle is heading back to camp for revenge.Back at camp things are good(a lot of fish had been caught that morning by the sisters), Jim is released and feeling better and food is been eaten and beers are been drunk when the attack comes from approx 20+ zombies,things are tense when Rick and the rest turn up and finish them off but not before several survivors are down and dead.
Not a bad episode with some good zombie action, thinning out of some survivors, I relate myself more to Daryl but Rick is the man.

Wargames Illustrated 278: The Samurai Issue(mostly).

One of my monthly magazine expenses Wargames Illustrated 278 has come up trumps with an issue covering my favourite period, Samurai in the Sengoku period.Its got background information and history of the three men who unified Japan but also a painting guide for mons, armour and clothing(nice) and some rules aswell which can be downloaded(which I did and will have a read of later) from the wargames illustrated site called Legends of the Rising Sun(based on GW Lord of the Rings rules).If you are a fan of the samurai period you will know a lot of this already but its nice to see a bit of eye candy.The issue also has some non samurai related articles to read aswell.

Yakoi from the blog http://monkeesspot.blogspot.com/ is doing a multi part history series on the unification of Japan if you want to have a look.

The Horde: Zombie Movie Review.

Watched this last week as I am a bit of a fan of Zombie movies, this is a french one from the director Yannick Dahan.It starts as a revenge trip for 4 corrupt police officers as they attempt to kill the criminal responsible for the death of one of their own, that mission goes bad for them and they are at the mercy of the criminals when zombie hell breaks out literally and they have to join forces to fight off the zombie menace(fast zombie and slow zombies?).This is a grim movie and would be a lot better if you actually cared for any of the main characters but you don't(I did not recognise any of the main actors possibly because they were french and not really known to me),The movie is quick paced and set in the location of a tower block and it just about worth 3 STARS for a couple of good scenes(.30 cal WW2 light machine gun and a corridor full of zombies being a stand out moment).Remember revenge is a dish best served cold and your greatest danger is always going to be other survivors.Make sure you watch it in its native language it really helps, dubbing can be a real curse.

On a lighter note I have created another blog for movies and TV and the other bits of screen shenanigans, I will still post zombie goodness here but if you are interested in the big and small screen here is the link http://theangrymovielurker.blogspot.com/  it's still new but updated very regularly. Thanks.

28mm Painted Four A Miniatures Golem or Bodybuilder Zombie.

When I purchased my 28mm snow troopers from Four A Miniatures along with quick delivery I got this free figure which is a 28mm Golem which I have painted up and took some pictures including giving you an idea of scale, Four A Miniatures do lovely work especially with this figure as it representing a figure from Jewish folklore as seen here  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golem

I use it as a bodybuilder zombie.

L to R Black Scorpion, Four A, Hasslefree.

28mm Painted Eureka Miniatures Escaped Asylum Patient. Updated 24/11/10

Got this figure when I ordered off http://www.fighting15sshop.co.uk/ the UK retailer for Eureka Miniatures but have forgotten the name of the figure exactly and cannot find it on their website anymore.The figure appealed to me because it was quite quirky, have posted some size comparison pictures aswell.

UPDATE 24/11/10: The reason I could not find it on the Eureka Miniatures or Fighting 15s website is that it is now been sold on this site http://www.victorialamb.com/store.html under its name Victoria Lambs.

L to R,Hasslefree, Eureka, Black Scorpion.

28mm Tengu Models Naked Zombies: Painted and Scale Pictures

Painted up some of the stuff I ordered off Tengu Models, first off the "No Time To Dress" pack of zombies or the naked ones! I started on the "First Contact" pack(5 grey aliens) aswell but I am unhappy with my paintjob and they nearly ended in the bin, also started on "Son of Yog-Sothoth" no idea why I bought it but it is a lovely model.The naked zombies are lovely sculpts and easy to paint but are small which is no problem when mixed in with others and I have included comparison pictures so you can judge yourself but I like them(if I didn't they would be in the bin).

The comparison picture figures are L to R Black Scorpion and Hasslefree Miniatures.

1000 years of war in 4 minutes and 47 seconds.

This animation shows all the important battles that took place over the last 1000 years, the size of the explosions and labels are proportional to the number of casualties.



The link is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hsDn2kNriI and originally seen at http://peanadipiombo.blogspot.com/

The Walking Dead: Episode 3........good but only just.

The 3rd episode covers the reunion between Rick and his family and best friend Shane and the greatest problem during a zombie holocaust, other survivors.Apart from the introduction of a new character Daryl Dixon(very good) brother of Merle left on the roof,there is nothing but whining, physical abuse, recriminations,bartering and threats(all legitimate problems when people are forced together during difficult times).The episode ends with the attempt to free Merle on the roof but even that goes bad and only 2 zombies in the whole episode.I am starting not to care about many of the characters in the series and if that is what they are trying to show they are doing a good job

As I said when the apocalypse comes stick to yourself and family until you know better.

Inspiring Picture 8: Yes.

Nice to have some visual confirmation.........

Paint colour problem: Vallejo Russian Green

I use Vallejo model color acrylic russian green to paint my 28mm neo-soviet figures and vehicles, so I was running low and ordered some more and got something a lot different in my opinion called cam.olive green from vallejo with the same numbers as the russian green.I took some pictures to show the difference of colour but the similarity in numbers, I have gone through friends and gotten what they had but what I am asking is if you see any russian green in your travels(it has to say it on the bottle) could you message me with a comment with a web address so I can purchase them(only need about 3 or 4 to finish project and future touching up due to clumsy wargamers).I have tried to locate some myself but no luck yet and would be grateful if somebody out there still had it in stock or found some. Thanks.

Both bottles say 70894 and 096.

The cam.olive green does say panzer series.

My 28mm Painted Copplestone Castings Hunter Aliens.

Some pictures of my recently painted 28mm Copplestone Castings Hunter Aliens which look amazingly like Predators from the movies, there were 8 but my anger issues and a tantrum later there are 7(I cannot find where I threw it and anyway everybody knows 8 predators are unlucky).The pictures are not great as usual but hope you like what you can just about see.

The movie case in the background(Predator and the best one in the series in my opinion ) you can see something similar to these models. 

28mm Quantum Gothic Wars models size and comparison pictures.

Bought these models and thought you may like to see some size and comparison pictures for these lovely models if you have never heard of them or were contemplating a purchase, easy assembly(even for me) and very good quality of castings.They can be used for modern, sci-fi, pulp, WH40K and many others I believe.
The figures for scale from L to R are 28mm Foundry, 28mm Black Scorpion, 28mm Copplestone Castings and 28mm Hasslefree Miniatures.
Models can be seen here http://www.quantumgothic.co.uk/ , highly recommended.

15mm figures posing as 28mm figures: Terminators

Wanted to add some bits and pieces to my 28mm terminator forces but could not find anything I liked or could afford(£60.00 for a painted HK tank) in 28mm, so while at SELWG I picked up some 15mm pieces from GZG and painted them up to go with what I had and I think they work with the 28mm Copplestone Castings terminators in the pictures.
The big boy is a 15mm VTOL, the double gun boys are listed as gunbots and the little boys with aerials(the aerials are paper clips) are listed as wheeled drone with sensors.I mean to use them as remote guarding drones for facilities or urban areas.

ATZ: All Things Zombie....the way to go now?

Downloaded a copy of these and printed them off and thinking of going this way now with my zombie/apocalypse gaming.I am a rule whore as many gamers are(I use AKULA's AR:SE rules at the moment because they are funand quick and I have a copy of Ambush Z from AMBUSH ALLEY GAMES but not that set upon them) and I have read the bat reps on other blogs like http://vampifansworldoftheundead.blogspot.com/ and http://obviouslyzed.blogspot.com/ to name a few and the general consensus is good.

What do you think of them and what supplements do you need and recommend to go with core rules?

Thanks.

The Walking Dead: Episode 2..............still good.

Episode 2 last night, shorter episode, lots more zombies(some showing the skills seen in the zombies in the movie Land of the Dead), the zombies appear quicker(some of them anyway), lot of new characters(good and bad), plenty of gore(especially the axe and disgiuse scene), all in all still good but not as good as the opener and the breaks didn't help but still looing forward to next episode.

Inspiring Picture 7: Regrets.

Regrets.......I've had a few.

28mm Painted Heresy Miniatures Ghoul Hag Figures.

Painted these up around the same time as the Hasslefree mawes, these are the ghoul hag and child from Heresy Miniatures and they definitely come under the title "different", I use them for my zombie games but they are lovely figures to paint and there are more ghouls in the range but this pack(still not used the gravestone and shovel that also came in the pack) appealed to me!

The other figure in the picture is a 28mm Hasslefree miniature called "Ken" for scale purposes and he is about to open a  whole case of "whuppass".