424 - "New Wyvern Pics"

You'll note the quotation marks. Sorry GW - Drax got there first on this one.

From my original post in April 2009, may I present the Imperial Guard Wyvern:

Ach! "Imperial Guard" - maybe that's where I went wrong. I guess I should have called them "Astra Something-or-Other" instead - "IG" is just too damned prosaic these days!
Anyways, a rumour's popped up over at the wonderful Faeit 212 [link] suggesting that this is the direction the new Astra Militarum is going. Let's play, shall we...?

• Chimera chassis? - CHECK
• Pivot-mounted mid-range indirect fire weapon? - CHECK
• Alternative mount for hydra flak cannon? - CHECK.

This is my version in its original post, by the way - if you're still interested: link. I was pretty proud of it at the time: it was intended as a support weapon for command squads, hence the typically Draxian grenade launchers at the back! The turret-front weapon, by the way, has been down-scaled to a heavy stubber. I detailed the whole design and realisation process on the blog too, including the Drax-style swept-back hull - it's all there under the 'wyvern' tag [here].

Oh yeah - this is the version with the hydra:

 

...You'll note it's the same chassis. Sadly, it's my hydra version which has seen all the gameplay. booo-ring.

 

By the way - if you came here under false pretences, then I apologise. It's just a bit of fun. I'm as excited as you are about the new incoming codex!

 

- Drax.

423 - Review: Peter Pig Crew and Brew (15mm)

Hullo All!

Back in Post 320 [here] I introduced you to my new Carrier platoon...and the fact that they were somewhat deficient in crew.

Well, I been and done and got me some drivers. They're from Peter Pig [here] (a long-established UK company) and they're absolutely smashing...but not half as smashing as the other minis I ordered from them (Part 2, below)!

Part1 - the Drivers

Here they are:

Peter Pig infantry packs comprise a selection of eight figures - I received three with helmets, three with service caps and two with berets. Each holds a steering wheel.

Sadly, there was no picture of the drivers on the Peter Pig website, so I bought these 'blind' and - as I rather suspected - they don't fit into the cramped confines of the carriers at all. This isn't a huge problem at all, as I can cut them down a bit. I might even see if I can convert some of them into bren gunners for the carriers. We'll see.

Part 2 - 'Brewing Up'

Here's the stock pic of my other purchase from the Peter Pig website:

[from Peter Pig - used without permission; credited to Alan Woodcock]

These figures are just amazing, aren't they?!

Here's what I received: 

A slightly closer view - lovely detail!

The excellent rear-view of the tea-drinkers with undercoated Battlefront command minis for scale

In this pack I received three private soldiers, three offices and two NCOs, all very much enjoying a brew. What a brilliant idea, and what lovely sculpts. I fully intend to emulate (steal) Alan Woodcock's modelling idea (above) with one of my spare carriers, and I'll let you know when I do...
   Price:
Dirt cheap - £2.90 for eight minis in each pack and utterly reasonable P+P.

   Speed of Delivery:
A few days. Considering I live in the back-end of nowhere, that's good going!

   Quality of Sculpts:
Absolutely great - better than a lot of the Battlefront (Flames of War) figures; especially those brewing-up .

   Size Comparison:
15mm heroic - they're absolutely spot-on alongside Battlefront figs.

   Other:
My only other thoughts, really, are that the website is nowhere near as helpful as it could be. It's very 'busy' and surprisingly hard to navigate around, and too many of the products don't have a picture up. Mind you, the website does have some very useful historical notes on it...

Overall, the characterful models on offer at Peter Pig are absolutely grand - so if you're interested in any era of historical gaming I urge you to take a look at their stuff.

Until next time, then,

- Drax.

422 - Review: Kolisnsky Siberian Weasel Brush

Yup - that's right, folks: after only 21-odd years in the hobby Drax has finally got himself a Kolinsky Sable brush:

After asking your advice, dear readers, way back in July '13 - thank you! - I bought it via ebay from GamesQuest.co.uk [here] and eventually got around to using it properly last weekend, when I painted the white-on-green flashes on the track guards of my new Flames of War univeral carriers [here]. I was very pleased with how well they turned out (most of them, at least) as the flashes are but 3mm across:

So thank you, GamesQuest; thank you My Good Readers for your excellent suggestions, and thank you eM-4-Miniatures [here] for your impressive Rotmarder-Kolinsky size 1 brush.

But most of all, thank you, Siberian Weasel (I kid you not) for your fur. It makes me feel kinda bad, and it's probably best I don't tell Mrs. Drax, but it's very soft and lovely. Thank you.

- Drax.

421 - A New Leman Russ for £26.50 delivered? Strewth!

What more can I say?

- That's what's on offer to UK customers at Kirton Games this week courtesy of Col. Gravis: click on the pic to go there!

More content soon...

- Drax.

420 - Universal Carriers; 4 KSLI, 11th Armoured Division

Hooray - at last I have a carrier platoon!

Admittedly, they don't yet have any crew, but I've ordered some drivers from Peter Pig, so they will do soon. They're from 4 King's Shropshire Light Infantry, and they'll form the first part of the recce screen for my 11AD Rifle Company.

 

Delightfully swift to paint, but the decals were fiddly. I've not yet given them their final dull wash, so if some colours look a bit bright, that's why. That said, this is the first time I've ever tried painting such small numbers as the white-on-green flash, and I'm super-chuffed with how most of them turned out! Yay me.

EDIT: Thanks to chrisb and Cameron for the source of this image (please see comments)!

- Drax.

419 - What on Earth Does My Blog Look Like to YOU?

Hullo, All.

I'm becoming increasingly conscious of how odd my blog looks.

Since I adopted the 'new'(!) layout* I've realised it doesn't quite 'fit'. I've also realised - to my dismay - that I never got around to putting up a permanent banner ad for either Kirton Games (here) or Mad Robot Miniatures (here)...and that's a real shame in both cases, as they are both absolutely superb independent manufacturers.

Also, since getting a different computer at work, I've realised that my blog page has some weird issues with the width of its columns and banners: issues that simply weren't apparent on my old computer. This has led me to realise that other readers must get a similarly disparate layout, and I'm keen to do some or all of the below to remedy all this:

1. Get some proper banner ads for companies I like (and maybe lose the sidebar google ads);
2. Get some feedback on what my blog actually looks like to you (goodness knows how!)
3. Work out how to fix it or change it;
4. Fix or change it;
5. Realise I don't have know-how enough to do points 4 and 5 above, so ask someone to help me;
6. Maybe even update some of my long-standing sidebar features *gasp!*.

TO WHICH END, please please please comment with any and all thought you have which may be of use to a bear - like me - of very little computational brain.

Many thanks in hopeful advance,

- Drax.

*Ages ago now - I can't even be bothered to check when it was!

418 - Universal Carrier Conundrum

I bought these cheap on ebay as a single lot:

I'm not happy at the moment, although forgive me for not giving the details whist it's unrsolved.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Grrr...

- D.

417 - The Brotherhood of Drums and Flames - Cultists for Hire

Hullo All,
 
AT LONG LAST I've finished the painting work Zzzzzz sent me! Most of the pics came out alright (below) and I've put a few notes with them, but the unit notes beneath them are characteristically Zzzzzz's...

Okay, I'll admit it: they may be chaos scum but these sculpts are gorgeous!

Group Hug! I really like the dynamic of this shot.

The Unholy Triumvarate.

Fiery things this time. Quite an Eldar-y vibe from this chap, too... 

Yup - flames. That was fun.

More fiery things. Sadly, the details I put on this chap don't show in the photo...

...but the hazards do! Oh yeah - I'm rockin' it 2nd Ed-style.

An entirely practical thing to lug into battle.

This cheeky wee face is behind there somewhere, though. Pic didn't come out too well.

Drums and Fifes...if by 'fifes' you mean 'flamers'.

 

A-rooooooo! A-rooooooo!

This guys looks a lot better in real life.

 

Brotherhood of Drums and Flames
As a proper gang made up of disparate individuals, the cultist gang have no need to observe the unit coherancy rules. They are, in effect, an army of individual Characters.

WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv

Ganger 2 2 3 3 1 3 1 7 6+

The Brotherhood are all fired up over the goings on the east side. And they are convinced that their Gods are with them. They all have the Hatred USR. As long as there is at least one musician left, cultists within 12" have the preferred enemy (everyone who is not one of their brotherhood) special rule. Musical instruments count as hand weapons in appropriate situations.

WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv

Magister 4 2 3 3 1 3 2 9 6+/5+

Burning Star (power weapon), Book of Norman, Refractor Sheild, Hatred.

Once per game the Magister can read from the Book of Norman and all cultists within 12" gain Battle Fury for their next turn only.

Battle Fury: Such is the rage imbued by a Preacher's oratory, that the entire gang charge in the Assault phase if there are enemy within reach. In addition, such is their state of agitation, they always count as moving even if the models are stationary, so would be unable to fire heavy weapons.

__________________

Until next time, then,

- Drax.

416 - Drax Has Not Been Idle...

...and here's the proof:

That's right, I've near-as-damnit finished the project for Zzzzzz. The pic is deliberately small as a wee teaser(!) but I hope to get some proper photos taken this weekend - details will accompany it then.

You'll note in the foreground my new brush. yup, after asking your advice something like ten months ago, I finally got myself a kolinski brush (from the good folks on the card).

And it's very nice.

Thank you!

- D.

PS: I fianlly got a decent lamp too.