[Epic] Traitor Titans of the Legio Mortis

I actually completed these guys a few weeks ago, but only just got around to taking photos of them.

These are the first of the Warlord Titans I picked up through eBay earlier this year. I've painted them up for use with Adeptus Titanicus as members of the traitor titan legion of Legio Mortis. In due time, these will become Chaos Titans of Nurgle, but in the AT continuity they are still more or less closer to their human roots. Nevertheless, I loaded these guys up with as many chaos-like weapons as I could lay my hands on.

My goal in painting these was to give them as much detail and care as I wished I could have when I painted my first Warlords as a young lad. Back then I wanted very much to do a full complement of banners, flags, and pennants, as well as scale-appropriate paint jobs, and I'm quite pleased with how I was able to realize those goals. I found a fun way of making sturdy banners by using plastic from blister packs and a bit of heat from a candle flame to shape the plastic into billowing forms. I used jewelry chain to hang the banners, as suggested in the AT rulebook - it looks great, although it's a bit flimsy and I anticipate much breakage and repair in future games. Ah well. The disruption pattern (modeled on World War I German designs) sported by the Legio Mortis, as nice as it turned out, nearly proved my undoing.

My next project in my Epic collection will be to paint up four more Warlords from the loyalist Legio Metalica. Fortunately, those guys don't sport disruption patterns on their carapace, so things should go a bit faster.

Here they come...

I'll have to come up with names for each Titan, I think.

The disruptive camo pattern: Never. Again.

The groups' Praetorian. He's set up for long-range bombardment and support.

Tentacular action!

A vague fly-head suggests this Titan's future as a servant of Nurgle.

This guy might be my favorite. Chainsaws, chainsaws, chainsaws!

Missing Out on the Painting Challenge

I discovered the excellent Analogue Hobbies blog last year, right after Curt launched his annual Painting Challenge. I watched in fascination as entry after entry poured in and resolved to get in on the action the following year.

Unfortunately, as I had missed the beginning of the Challenge, I had also missed the point that it's a "historicals only" affair. Had I known, I would have reserved more historical figures for this time of year, instead of knocking them out earlier in the fall. I've still got a small pile of WWII figures to work on, but it's only a couple dozen or so - not really enough to justify (in my mind) joining the Challenge. I want a big project to tackle so that the Challenge will motivate me!

I think I'm going to set my sights on building up such a project over the next year, so that I'll have a nice, impressive pile to dive into. I've been meaning to start a 6mm Great Northern War project; winter 2014 seems like a perfect time to get cracking on that.

In the meantime, I've been laboring (and I do mean laboring) over my first batch of vintage (and distinctly non-historical) Warlord Titans, part of the batch acquired back in May. I've been incredibly pleased with how they're turning out, but oh my word it's taking a long time. Disruptive camo patterns: never again.

I'm hoping to finish up the batch by the weekend and post pics then.

Operation Squad Mini-Review & AAR - "Bloody Orchard"

Is there anything sweeter than actually bringing a miniatures project to the table for the first time?

Back in May of 2012, I decided to get back into WWII skirmish gaming. I've done this genre at 15mm and 20mm before, but I wanted to go all out with 28mm this time and I've been incredibly happy with the scale. So much so that it's been quite frustrating having to wait for the day I had the requisite terrain and painted miniatures before I could get a game going.

That day finally came today, and I had a blast. Dave, one of my RPG group regulars (and fellow podcaster) had expressed an interest in miniatures wargaming, and had worked the camera during my last outing against Des, so I invited him over for a game of Operation Squad.

My primary interest these days for games up to platoon level is actually TWG's Nuts!, but as I had enough painted minis for an OS game and I was curious how the OS mechanics would play out, I chose that set of rules to break in my new terrain and figures. All in all, I liked OS quite a bit. There were only a couple minor oversights of the rules, and the game played quickly despite its highly-detailed focus. 

We played the first scenario from the main rules ("Recon"), but I replaced the building objective with an orchard, as I'm still waiting on delivery of some MDF buildings. I played the British (Rifle Squad), my opponent took the Germans (Panzergrenadiers). And I was handed my ass - by the end of the game, 5 of my number (including the squad's corporal and lance corporal) lay dead, a sixth was wounded, and the rest were fleeing the field, leaving the Germans in possession of the orchard.

However, I definitely bloodied Jerry's nose, killing three of his veteran squad, including the squad leader. The turning point of the game came round about the fifth turn, when my corporal, who had bravely rushed up to the orchard wall, lobbed a Mills bomb towards one of the German MG42s. The deviation dice were kind, and the grenade went off nearby the machine-gunner and two other Landsers. Unfortunately, due to the grenade having landed on the far side of the wall, it failed to cause any wounds. The next turn, the MG42 started speaking, and it had very little nice to say to the British.

(Seriously, the game was pretty much over once those two MG42s got going. Good lord, I knew it was going to be rough, but it was still shocking to see how much damage those things can do.)

Partly because this was our first game with these rules, I went with a very basic build for my squad, purchasing Marksman for my rifles and three Wait maneuvers. As it was, my points would have been much better spent on a mortar or Vickers HMG. I didn't get much firing action with riflemen, and I completely failed to play in a manner that would've taken advantage of the Wait maneuvers, instead rushing forward to try and capture the orchard. Clearly, I would've been better off standing back and using a combination of my Waits and sharpshooting chaps to pull the Germans into a trap. Lesson learned.

Like any WWII skirmish game, effective play of Operation Squad seems to benefit greatly from playing to the strengths of the nationality you're deploying. Obviously, where points allow you some choices, force construction can be a decisive element, too. The casualty rate was, I think, higher than a normal game - we were both rolling abysmally with our cover dice, so most hits were kills. We didn't get a single Pinned result between the two of us! We also didn't get a chance to have a figure on Fire orders interrupt an enemy's movement, but we got a good feel for most of the other basic rules. The game, as expected, proved to be quite counter heavy, but it's a price I'm willing to pay as it means no paperwork for the forces on the table. I've seen some people use 3-D markers, and I might look into doing that. Another idea would be to stack differently colored 25mm discs under the figures, although that might be too fiddly at the end of the day. I'll have to give it some thought.

(One final note before we get to the pictures: I broke one of my own rules by using partially-painted figures on the table. I had some casualty figures that I hadn't quite completed, but we decided to use them anyway. Even half-painted, the casualty markers really added to the aesthetic of the game, and I'll definitely be ordering and painting up some more.)

At any rate, here are some shots of the action. Both forces moved up along the hedgerows towards the orchard, the Germans occupying it first and never relinquishing it.

The battlefield layout.

The first half-painted casualty marker makes its appearance!

So close, so far - my valiant lance corporal lobs his Mills bomb.

Right before the MG42 opened up from inside the orchard.

The bloody aftermath. 

From behind a hedgerow, the survivors look on in horror, their nerves failing them.

The one sweet spot for the British: the German squad leader lies dead.

Latest WWII Output

After a couple false starts, my minor reboot of my WWII skirmish forces has been a great success. I'm quite satisfied with my work on these figures - or at least as satisfied as I can be, given that I'm trying some things for the first time - and I'm really liking using Artizan for the vast majority of my figures. They're full of character, and, of course, they all scale well with each other.

I've now got sufficient forces painted up for a game of Operation Squad. I've been focusing my efforts on finishing up a couple terrain projects - hedgerows and a farm complex, namely - and am very close to having a game-ready collection. The RPG campaign I've been running with my wife since 2010 is due to wrap up in the next couple weeks, after which I see lots more time for minis gaming. I can't wait!

In the meantime, here's what I've got painted up so far: a British rifle squad, Vickers HMG, and light mortar team (all Durham Light Infantry), and two German Aufklarungs half-squadrons (Panzer Lehr). This is actually slightly more than I need for a game of OS, but it gives the British side some nice force-building options.

I got to take my first crack at splinter camo pattern on the helmets. It ain't great, but it's a good start.

That squad leader front and center is easily one of my all-time favorite minis. So much character: the cigarette, the Mauser pistol with the rifle stock attachment, the wristwatch - he's even got an Iron Cross hanging from his throat. Plus his smock gave me more opportunity to work on my splinter camo technique.

Despite previous posts decrying fancy basing, I decided to have some fun with the support weapon bases. In the words of Doc Holliday, apparently my hypocrisy knows no bounds. 

It wouldn't be Normandy without some dead cows, so why not incorporate it into the light mortar base?

I did a little conversion work with the infantry here - Artizan Brits don't sport any netting on their helmets, and it was fairly common in Normandy, so I modeled some on a select few - another goal of mine is to get handier with sculpting putty.

I also couldn't resist taking a crack at painting up a Panther. This was my first pass with painting 1/56 scale armor, and I quite enjoyed it. For the camo I employed a mix of airbrush and drybrush. I expect that as my airbrush skills get better, I'll use that more and more until eventually that's all I'll use for the base colors. I'm also thinking about adding some foliage to the hull and turret.

The tank commander is mounted on a rare earth magnet, so he's removable and movable.

I've gone ahead and ordered some more vehicles and guns (250/1 halftracks for my German scouts, an 88, a 6-pounder, etc.) and will be adding a painted squad of Brits and some support elements to each side in order to enable games of NUTS! or perhaps Chain of Command (which I have yet to check out but looks totally awesome). Pictures of these reinforcements will follow as they're completed, of course.

The title for the British edition of NUTS!

Why I'll Always Be An Aesthetic Snob

I've posted before on the aesthetic appeal of miniatures games being one of the primary draws of the hobby for me. So you can imagine how gratified I was to read a post over at The League of Ausburg stating the very same. Best quote of the post:

If this is wargames porn then I am a pornographer without shame. Enjoy my dark secret and damn the eyes of wargaming's Mary Whitehouse Brigade. Mediocrity breeds the same.

I couldn't agree more.

Games featuring unpainted figures or, worse, proxies are the sort of affairs best conducted behind drawn curtains, with many a backwards glance over the shoulder. "I'm just testing out the new rules for this unit I haven't ordered yet, honest!" Games featuring unpainted or proxy figures run in public?

For me, the work I put into building the aesthetic appeal of miniatures games is sort of the point of the hobby itself. Otherwise I might as well be playing hex-and-chit wargames or their computer equivalents. To my mind, it's worth gaming less if it means each individual game looks better. (And, honestly, my [in]frequent gaming is due more to the fact that minis aren't my primary hobby; insistence on high-quality tabletop presentation need not be a barrier to frequent gameplay if minis are your main concern.)

We live in a world of instant gratification. I see no problem with taking my time on this one thing, and of experiencing the payoff of my hard work; of seeing my painting and terrain-building efforts get better and better over time, and of reveling in the uniquely thrilling beauty of a fully-realized tabletop layout.