Update Number Something or Other, or There Abouts

      Bored! Bored! Bored! And suffering from the trots....and not just of the verbal type. So what's a chap to do when he daresn't wonder more than 6 feet from the seat of ease? Well he seizes the moment and update his blog, between sprints, with all the wonderful(?) hobby related things he has been doing recently apart from rushing to the loo....anyhoo, more than enough info, to the update; what have I been a-doing, hobby-wise

     First of all, as you may have read a couple of posts ago, I attended the Targe Wargames show earlier this month and one of the things I got at the bring and buy there was the Warhammer Siege Defenders set; a thing of beauty and a joy to behold etc. 

     And just the thing for playing sieges with Lion Rampant. Previously the attackers in our siege battles held all the aces with his siege engines; now he won't have it half so easy...mwahahaha!!

     Now unlike the artwork on the box my efforts at painting it might not be a joy to behold however the kit truly is a thing of beauty; crisply detailed and almost leaps together on it's own....almost but not quite. It does go together very easily  after cleaning off what little flash there was. I was itching (no, dear readers, not another ailment, just a burning desire) to get this built and painted so everything else sort of went to the back burner....

     

My eyes lit up when I saw this set. Didn't even know there was
such a beast

Based and finished; Foundry man-at-arms for scale. I added the
bases mostly for stability, the rock and stone dropping engines
being top heavy but also so that I would keep the set together

Rats!! and big rats at that!!

All I need to do now is put together a crew to man these siege engines and I have some figures in mind for that.
    I also got around to finishing off a unit of foot sergeants from  Fireforge for my Lion Rampant forces. These chaps represent a unit of expert mercenary sergeants, long of service, tough, hard bitten and occasionally effective, led by their commander, Gilbert of Cockermouth (chap at the front centre in the blue, waving his big axe). Back story on these chaps to follow..... 

painted these Lion Rampant markers from Warbases 

     I also indulged myself at work and bought these sets from Colonel Bills Depot Battalion range. The photographer is for use in In Her Majesty's Name, the rest are for, surprise, surprise, Lion Rampant.....and Hail Caesar once we put together some more units for the Baltic Crusades 

      Stu at Colonel Bills also has these 4Ground buildings on sale. I have an addiction..I mean affection...oh okay, addiction for timber framed buildings so I indulged my addiction. As we, Danny and I, are exchanging mutterings about a Mordheim campaign (amongst many other games) I thought these might be just the job for a Mordheim themed table. Not your classic Mordheim table, mind you, this would probably represent a suburb or outlying village to the city of Mordheim.

     So whilst awaiting the super glue to dry on the siege defenders set I put the larger of the two ruins together, plopped it onto a base and threw in some cat litter (fresh and clean) and snapped wooden stirrers as rubble and smashed timbers.

     The other buildings in the photo are from Warbases and, after looking at them in the photos from my last post I realised they looked rather meh; somewhat bland and lacking in that certain something so I have tarted up the base a bit with a drybrush, glued on some flock, added a vegetable plot, a small tree and a bench outside the front door and it looks a lot better; a lot more interesting.

The finished timber framed ruin with a not very Mordheim
looking M5 Stuart for scale. This building can also be used
in the ETO 

     And speaking, well writing of the European Theatre of Operations I have added to my late war US Infantry/dismounted Cavalry. In this case 4 much needed LMG teams and a platoon commander and an intelligence officer (a handy wee extra for a platoon in Bolt Action). These are from Empress Miniatures and are stunning figures. Got quite a few more late war Yanks to paint but they are down the list at the moment as I feel I need a wee break from WW2 though that won't be for long, I guess, as there are plenty of kits looking at me longingly, desperate for attention.

Lt Tug McChord and his troops, ready for battling in the Bulge

     Finally, other bargains from Targe bring and buy include this fantastic book. Lots of lovely pictures inside as well as the uniform drawings, a sample of which are below.

     And in a further piece of good fortune I purchased these 24 Foundry Napoleonic Hungarian infantry for a tenner. I love Foundry miniatures, so much so I bought the book; well the Kevin Dallimore authored Foundry Painting and Modelling Guide; not at the bring and buy but on eBay. 

Wargaming porn. Well chuffed with this book

      Soooo, before I sat down to write this, with the ruined timber framed building finished and Mordheim (other skirmish games are available) on my mind I though I would see if I could put together a decent looking 4'x4' timber framed village using my cobbled mat as a base. Whilst I did this I decided to get out my ECW figures as they needed some fresh air and exercise. And then I decided to take a few photos.

     I had to set it all up on the kitchen floor as I don't possess a 4'x4 gaming board any more which gave me a good excuse to sweep the floor and get in the wife's good books. It also made it easy to take this plan photo.

...I have to admit I like it though I am tempted to buy Deep Cuts village mat in 4'x4' or even 6'x4' as this would give me a bit more variety for layouts. 

     However, that's a bit of wishful thinking, especially just before Chrimbo; this set up needs a few wee things such as a small paddock, some small fields or open grazing areas and a pond to break up the cobblestones a bit as well as more street furniture. These will have to wait though they should be fairly straightforward to put together. I would like one or two more timber framed buildings though; (see, told you I was addicted) as I think a row of buildings all joined together would look tiptop.

a fine selection of rules that I would like to use this terrain for
I've included Black Powder as I think it would be great to have
this set up on one of our big tables as an objective to fight over.
In reality it would probably be a bad idea but if I don't go, I
won't know, will I.

   That's all for this post (thank God, you cry! Don't you have a toilet to run too?), I have a game of Lion Rampant planned for next week wherein I hope to develop Sir Digby De Baqaill's background, especially his time in the Normandy campaign; no, not that Normandy campaign; the Normandy campaigns of King John when he, King John, tried to recover his lost lands in France. 

So for the moment; must dash!! Pip pip!! <cue sound of running feet and slamming doors>

Jimbob (who's feeling much better now, thanks :0D )