Basing wargaming figures (hiding plastic bases)

Recently, in a conversation about Clash of Spears, a player asked about hiding the "puddle" bases that are prevalent on historical wargaming figures.

Since I am in the middle of trying to get a Celt-Iberian warband finished in time for a tournament, and I am currently doing the bases on 34 figures, I felt it would be a good time to share my method.

Keep in mind, there are many, many other ways to do this. Some people cut off the puddles and glue the figures directly to the gaming base. Others use putty to build up the area around the puddle. And others may not be bothered by the appearance of the puddle at all.

This is the method that works for me and gives me results I am happy with.

The first step is to glue the figure to the final base. In the case of my example, I am using a square base, but the technique works for any shape base.

The "puddle" base can be clearly seen when glued to a regular base.

The first step is to cover the entire base with glue. I use carpenter's glue because I like the thicker consistency. But regular PVA (Elmer's white glue) works also.

Cover the entire base, including the puddle, in glue.

Step two is to dip your figure in sand and shake off the excess. I use sand that I got from the beach, sifted to get rid of the coarser grains. Beach sand is cheap (free!) and last time I went to the beach several years ago I brought back enough to last me for years. Sifting is a bit of a pain, but necessary to get rid of shell fragments and to get a more consistent size of sand for basing.

Dip the figure's base in sand.

As you can see, the puddle base is still clearly evident.

After the first dip in sand, the puddle can still be seen.

The next step then is to equalize the level of sand around the base. For this I use a scenic cement, applied with a needle applicator.

I make my own scenic cement (4.5 parts water, 4.5 parts PVA, 1 part isopropyl alcohol) and it works well for me. Woodland Scenics makes a similar product if you want to buy it ready to go.

Scenic cement in a needle applicator bottle.

The next step is to apply the cement only to the lower areas of the base. That is why I use a needle applicator in order to get the cement exactly where I want it.

The scenic cement is applied around the puddle base.

Finally, dip the model in the sand once again, knocking off the excess. This should level out the sand on the base, minimizing the appearance of the puddle base. In the case of some puddle bases that may be quite a bit taller, you may need to repeat this step.

The puddle base is no longer so apparent.

After this I paint my bases, add a little grass for visual interest, and voila! A completed, based figure.

A completed base.

I hope you found this brief tutorial helpful/educational. Please let me know what you think in the comments, and share your preferred method for basing. One of the great aspects of this hobby is learning from and encouraging each other.

'Til next time!

Modeling on the go! Building Celtiberians during dinner break...

The recent launch of the Kickstarter for Clash of Katanas got me thinking about Clash of Spears again, and the Iberian force I started a couple of years ago.

 

 

Since that time, I've decided to build a Celtiberian force instead, but one that can also function as an Iberian warband due to the similarities. Why the change? Well, I've learned that there's a good chance my ancestors were Celtiberian. The ancestral home of one of the Spanish branches of the family is located in the Cameros region, just between Soria and Logrono. Soria is the site of the ruins of the ancient Celtiberian city of Numantia, which was destroyed by the inhabitants rather than surrender it to the Roman besiegers. I don't think it's a stretch to believe Celtiberian blood flows through my veins!

 

Because my hobby time is practically non-existent, I decided to make use of the dinner break at work. I packed up basic tools and was ready to go.

 

I clipped the parts I would need from the sprues (I'm using Victrix Iberian warriors, in this case the unarmored ones) so they'd just need cleaning up and gluing. I brought a couple of hobby knives, plastic glue, and my magnifiers (the eyes are getting older).

 

The first night I was able to get all the parts cleaned of flash, and assemble two of the warriors. After all, I also need to eat during that time!

 

The second night I finished the ten remaining warriors. A unit of 12 completed.

The third night I was able to get another 12 warriors completed: four Celtiberians and eight Iberians.

I'm pretty happy with the progress. I was able to get something to eat, and still complete 24 figures in three dinner breaks.

All that's left is to base them and paint them, and then get their shields sorted. I have some time off scheduled next week, and I'm hoping to be able to finish these warriors as well as paint up my Imperial Guard squad for Kill Team.

'Til next time!

Creating a Kill Team for the 2021 version of the game

 

A while back I told my son about an idea I had for an Imperial Guard regiment based on the British Natal Native Contingent from the Zulu Wars using Praetorian officers and Tallarn troops. I used to have the Praetorian boxed set as a start to making this force, but circumstances forced me to sell it many, many years ago.

Limited edition Praetorian XXIV boxed set from Games Workshop.

My son, Lucas, remembered that and for Christmas this year got me some figures from Victoria Miniatures to make a Kill Team based on that concept. (I cannot tell you how moved I was by his gift - that he would remember something like that and act on it was very thoughtful!) Victoria Miniatures is an Australian company, but they now have a US-based distributor and they make “not” GW Imperial Guard units. Lucas got me a squad of the “Desert Scorpions” (not-Tallarn), and one of their character figures  - a Praetorian officer based on Michael Caine's character from the movie "Zulu."

Since the release of the Octarius boxed set for Kill Team included rules for a Veteran Guardsman team, with more options and detail than a standard Imperial Guard team, I decided to build them as a Veteran Guardsman squad. This meant digging into my bits box and planning out exactly how I was going to assemble the figures, since many of them would need to be non-standard infantrymen.

In the end, I ordered a few more figures from Victoria Miniatures to fill out the roster and have a complete Veteran Guardsman Kill Team with all the options. I ordered the Desert Scorpions Heavy Weapon Crew, as well as the Colonel Ash Ironside character figure.

The Victoria figures are great quality, consisting of resin castings and 3d printed components. Once I had planned out my builds, I was able to assemble them without any issues at all.

My Kill Team consists of:

• Sgt. Mika Bromhead (Sergeant Veteran)

• Cpl. Heydar (Confidant Veteran)

• Lahab (Veteran Gunner with a meltagun)

• Harun (Veteran Gunner with a plasma gun)

• Kanballah (Veteran Gunner with a grenade launcher)

• Nureddin (Veteran Gunner with a flamer)

• Dhamar (Sniper Veteran)

• Asim (Medic Veteran)

• Raja (Comms Veteran)

• Atallah (Spotter Veteran)
  

• Haddim (Demolition Veteran)

• Fathi (Hardened Veteran)

• Al-Qadir (Bruiser Veteran)

• Mustahim (Zealot Veteran)

• Ameen (Trooper Veteran)

• Boutros (Trooper Veteran)

• Zahir (Trooper Veteran)

• Farid (Trooper Veteran)

Sgt. Bromhead was assembled as per the instructions, as were the four trooper veterans and the four gunners.

When looking at the stats for the Confidant Veteran, I could not make up my mind whether to arm him with a pistol and chainsword, or with a boltgun. Fortunately, I did not need to choose. The Desert Scorpions set comes with 10 sets of legs, but 12 torsos. This let me build two torsos for Cpl. Heydar, and magnetize them so I can easily swap him out between both weapons options.

This still left one extra torso, which was very handy since the Heavy Weapons crew set has six torsos and seven sets of legs. Between both sets this let me build an extra figure (in this case, the sniper Dhamar).

I did not use the backpacks that came with the Desert Scorpions, since in my opinion the canteens and daggers are plenty. This left me with many left over, which I used to build my specialists. Since they have a small antenna, I felt the backpack could easily represent a vox-unit, so I used one on Raja (the comms veteran). By removing the antenna, the packs can easily work as medikits, especially if I paint them white and put a red cross on them. This took care of Asim, the medic.

The Heavy Weapons crew comes with a hand holding a detonator, and a hand holding binoculars. This made easy work of the spotter and demolition veterans.

The last three were the most fun, and the required the most thought. I was able to find a hand, and an open book, among my bits and used them to build an arm for Mustahim, the zealot, quoting from holy scripture as he wades into battle. I took the bionic arm from the Ash Ironside figure and gave it to Fathi, the hardened veteran. I used a brutal club that looked like it would work to clear trenches in hand-to-hand combat forAl-Qadir, the bruiser. I also gave him the shotgun arm from Ash Ironside (even though it does not have specific rules in the game, I felt it would be another likely weapon for clearing trenches and made the figure look even more brutal).

I have written up a bit of background for them which I will share in a future post. All that is left to do now is paint them, which for me is always a challenge...

'Til next time!

It's back from the dead! Again!

Wow! Nearly four year since I last posted on my blog...

I bet you thought the blog was dead and buried, or maybe I was. Well, the past four years have been quite difficult, but I am still here and looking to get back to some of the things I love, such as gaming and talking about gaming.

Since the last post there has been a lot that happened, globally (the pandemic, of course) and in my personal life. Lots of ups and many downs, financially and emotionally. I was able to do some gaming and quite a bit of photographic train chasing, but that detracted from my search for work and caused me greater difficulties. After getting my priorities back in order, I am again gainfully employed. I started just over three years ago unloading trucks and stocking shelves and was quickly promoted to supervisor and then assistant manager. The long hours and hard physical work of my current management position at the world's largest retailer takes almost all the energy and enthusiasm I have. That leaves very little for my limited spare time. However, it is that very situation that I think makes it such a priority for me to use that spare time to its fullest!

The stress and anxiety of my job, especially during the past three to four months of the world's second Covid-Christmas season, has caused me much emotional, mental and physical stress. I have lost over 50 pounds in the last three years - 15 of those coming in the past three months. I now weigh what I weighed in college - 36 years ago! But, enough about my problems - this is not that type of blog. Maybe one day I will explore those issues, but for now, let's talk gaming!

Besides my need for a creative outlet in my time off work and my love of gaming and modeling in general, what has spurred this resurrection of Plastic Pirates? Well, in August of last year Games Workshop released a new version of Kill Team - their skirmish combat game set in the universe of Warhammer 40,000. If you have followed this blog and/or know me, you know that I am a sucker for skirmish games. With my anemic painting output, completing a large army for a game is something I am very seldom able to accomplish. But, if you only need five to fifteen models for a complete force, that should be doable, right? (We shall see, that may be too ambitious for me!)

The first release was the Octarius boxed set. This included the rules, the terrain and two sets of brand new plastic miniatures - the Death Korps of Krieg (a human Imperial Guard unit with design features reminiscent of World War I German and French troops) and the Ork Kommandos (a funky unit of greenskins borrowing inspiration from many sources as to what special forces look like).

Octarius Boxed Set

Death Korps of Krieg

Ork Kommandos

I didn't immediately get the box, due to budget considerations at the time, and because I wanted to see how well Games Workshop would support the game going forward. Despite grand announcements of a bright future for the game, GW has a somewhat spotty track record when it comes to abandoning games they no longer wish to support.

Well, in September the second boxed set was released, this one called Chalnath. It featured two sets of figures as well as some more terrific terrain. This time it was the Tau (basically alien Socialists) and a squad of Sisters of Battle Novitiates. Sisters of Battle (known as the Adepta Sororitas in the false Latin called High Gothic) are basically nuns in battle armor with big guns and swords. The Novitiates are the nuns in training.

Chalnath Boxed Set

Sisters of Battle Novitiates

Tau Pathfinders

My son Lucas and I decided that it would be a good time to get into this game, due mainly to two reasons:

The first is, again, the scale of the game (small forces playing on a smaller board - 22" x 30" - so no need for a huge armies and a massive 4' x 6' board filled with terrain).

The second, and most important in my mind, is the opportunity the game gives to create unique squads with interesting backgrounds, histories and narratives set in the wider Warhammer 40,000 universe. I enjoy converting and building, whether it is terrain or figures. The small squad size of the Kill Team units makes it possible for me to be creative without needing to convert huge armies.

So we took the plunge and got Chalnath between the two of us. Lucas would take the Sisters, and I would sell the Tau and start on a different Kill Team for myself. Going forward I intend to share my progress (I already have ideas for five or six, at least, different Kill Teams I want to build) more regularly, but we all know about intentions paving a road that leads to a hot place. We'll see what the future holds, but I am hopeful that this new year will bring blessings and good things - and more opportunities for time spent with family, gaming and friends.

God bless you all.

'Til next time! (Hopefully less than four years!)

Sigrid and her walker for Dust 1947

So far this year, I've managed to paint more models than in the past two years combined. This is due to a couple of factors.

First, my son Lucas and I are participating in a slow-grow league for Dust 1947 at Giga-Bites. In addition to scoring points for games played and victories, you can earn them for painting your force. Second, since Lucas is in the league and has begun to paint figures for the first time, I am teaching and encouraging him as he learns.

One of the units I really wanted to get painted is Sigrid and her walker, the Snow Lynx. Sigrid is a hero for the Axis, and the leader of the Blutkreuz faction which I play. She can pilot her personal walker, a Jagdluther named the Snow Lynx. Since I am painting my figures for a desert battlefield, I chose to rename the walker the Wüste Luchs (or Desert Lynx).

The Sigrid figure is a resin model that I won several years ago at a Dust tournament, and which has been in storage since then. I thought it high time to pull her out and get her painted.

The walker is a standard Jagdluther, with two modifications. I removed the rear compartment (I am using that for another project that I'll share as soon as it is finished), and I added an antenna.

I've painted a couple of light walkers and some squads of zombie troops as well, and I'll be sharing those here in future posts.

'Til next time!

Using Northstar's Oathmark Dwarves for Lord of the Rings Battle Companies

"I wish I could muster an army of Dwarves, fully armed and filthy" - Gimli, son of Gloin

“Boom! Boom! BOOM! BOOM! Boom! Boom! BOOM! BOOM!”

The rhythmic sound of the goblin war drums carried up from the burning dwarven settlement and reverberated among the crags above. The goblins were too entranced by the dancing flames to look up, but even had they bothered they would not have noticed anything amiss among the boulders and outcroppings overlooking the settlement. A dwarf, tucked partly behind a large gray rock, his stony features almost indistinguishable from the granite beside him, looked down on the victory celebration, gnashing his teeth and weeping in frustration.

Skirfir, son of Nifir, and his small band of dwarf warriors had been away from Khâr Zagâl at the time of the attack, tracking a party of goblin marauders through the mountains surrounding the dwarven town. After nearly three days of following the raiders, they had caught them in a small pass. The fight was vicious, but short, and soon all the goblins but one lay dead. Skirfir's force had not escaped unscathed, suffering three dead and two wounded in the skirmish. As his men tended to their wounded comrades, Skirfir had interrogated the still living goblin. And what he learned chilled him.

The goblin raiding party, though wiped out, had achieved its purpose: to draw the defending scouts away from Khâr Zagâl. At first, Skirfir just stared at the goblin in stunned disbelief. Then the realization that it was the truth hit him like a punch in the gut. During the pursuit, he had wondered what the invaders had hoped to accomplish, raiding so late into the fall. And at times he had felt that tracking the marauders had been too simple, that they were not even making an attempt at covering their tracks. But he had dismissed it, assuming that the goblins had simply grown overconfident and careless, or even plain stupid. In reality, it had been Skirfir himself that had been guilty of overconfidence, and he had underestimated his foe.

As soon as the truth had dawned on him, Skirfir had ordered his dwarves to make ready to return to Khâr Zagâl. Fortunately, both of the wounded were able to walk, although two other warriors were detailed to keep to their slower pace. Skirfir and the remaining Dwarf, Lofar, had made the best possible time back to the outpost. But they had arrived too late to warn their brethren.

From the rocky ledge, Skirfir could see the savages crawling over the structures below. Occasional fights would break out among the goblins over a particularly valuable piece of plunder, or even the remains of one of Skirfir's folk. He could hear the goblins singing, and chanting to the beat of the drumming, as they searched from building to building, with the howls increasing in volume whenever they found a survivor of the attack. Though the pain of helplessness burned deep within him, Skirfir knew that he could do nothing to help his kin. Any rash action would certainly lead only to his death, and the deaths of the dwarves accompanying him, leaving no one to avenge the fallen.

But, he vowed to himself, one day he would return at the head of a great company of dwarves. He would hunt down the rakhâs, and exterminate them. Aye, by Aulë, he would track down this marauding band of goblins and slay every last one. Yes, there would be a day for celebrating, and for singing remembrances to those slain this day. But for that to happen, he and his companions needed to survive, and grow wealthy and strong.

An idea began to form in Skirfir's mind. Recently, tales had begun to be told of a dwarf kingdom that had been retaken, first from a monstrous drake and then from a goblin army. Travelers had spoken of the great war, describing the victory of an alliance of dwarves, men and elves. In this newly restored kingdom, a brave warrior could rise in rank and influence, if he dared. And with that influence, he could draw strong fighters to himself.

After what seemed like hours, Skirfir turned his back on Khâr Zagâl for the last time. He climbed back down from the edge of the cliff and faced the remaining members of his scouting party. “Remember this day, my brothers,” he muttered grimly to his barely visible companions, their grey cloaks pulled low over their faces. “Remember it long, for one day we will have our vengeance. One day the rakhâs will hear 'Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!' But that day will not be soon.”

Skirfir began to walk, away from Khâr Zagâl, away from his former life, into a breeze that dried the tears on his face. As one, his men followed, turning their backs on the smoke rising from Khâr Zagâl into the bright, clear sky.

They headed west. To Erebor.

______________________________________________________

Some of the players at the local game shop are getting together a group to play the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game by Games Workshop, specifically Battle Companies (which requires only a handful of models to start).

As usual, I've decided to start a dwarf warband. Since the Games Workshop models are no longer available, we're allowing proxies to be used. I've chosen the wonderful new plastic dwarves from Northstar. The models are designed to be used with the forthcoming Oathmark rules, but are very Tolkien-esque in design and will fit in wherever dwarf models are needed.

Step one is cleaning up the torsos and putting them on bases.I decided to use the Frostgrave plastic bases. Even though the figures are plastic, I still pin them to the bases for security. I know it is probably overkill, but it's been a habit of mine for a long time.

I like my plastic figures to have a little weight to them, so I usually glue the bases onto a 1" washer.

The hole in the washer has the added benefit of being a perfect place to glue a rare earth magnet, as I keep most of my figures in plastic storage bins with metal sheet glued onto the bottom.

 

The Northstar figures are plastic, and are easily customizable. And the parts are readily interchangeable with the other plastic sets from Northstar. For example, the two-handed axes for my dwarves are from the Frostgrave Soldiers set.

The models are easy to assemble, and paint up nicely. On these models I simply primed black, drybrushed chainmail on the armor, painted the base colors and gave them a wash before varnishing. That's it.

 

 

They won't win any prizes, but they are perfectly good for tabletop gaming. I'm looking forward to getting them on a table and smashing some Moria goblins!

'Til next time!