Old School - Style Modern Miniatures

I took delivery of a box of 1987 Imperial Guard Plastic Models and some RTB01 Beakie Space Marines. More photos to follow and it got my thinking about getting some spare las guns for the Imperial Guard and the oldhammer group suggested:

https://madrobotminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_19&products_id=309

These certainly look good. 

And then after some net searching I came across these guys:

Anvil Industries
https://www.anvilindustry.co.uk/regiments-heavy-support-weapons

I particularly like this Automatic Mortar 

Not sure of how this will scale with the older figures, but I do like the design and I hope it will work well. 

Skirmish on Rynn's World - Battle for Jadeberry Hill - Oldie but a goodie

 And so a few weeks have passed and I am still looking into running a campaign. 
Briefly it looked like we might be returning to some semi-normal during the Covid 19 pandemic, but the UK is about to head back into a lock down. 

So it looks like I might be playing this scenario with a friend at home in the future.. 

This was first published scenario for Rogue Trader. Published in White Dward Issue 94 1987. 

This was in the days when you ideally needed a GM and two opposing players for games. When Rogue trader 40K was designed to be played in a narrative style with the story being key and gaming freedom. 
Yes the intro blurb speaks of using proxies.. can you imaging GW saying that in this day of utter corporate control!

Something tells me this was one of a number of scenario's that were planned and never really got published. Probably due to a host of reasons. 
If you want a full look at the campaign you and find it here: 

I will do a write up of the scenario shortly and will go over the elements and why it is till a great scenario and fun to play. 

Master of Campaigns Reporting - A possible Beginning!

 And so in 1995 GW ran the Ichar IV global campaign. Tyranids, versus Space Marines, Imperial Guard and Eldar Allies. The idea was simple. Run lots of games over a single weekend at the various games stores. Each store representing a location on the world of Ichar IV and the side with the most wins would capture that location and the thus the side with the most locations would win the war! 

And so in White Dwarf Issue 78 and 79 the campaign was written up. 

A PDF of the relevant White Dwarf Articles can be found HERE! (And if you like Oldhammer, Join the FB Page.. )

Further campaigns followed and a few details can be found on the WIKI Here. 

As a youngster these campaigns were impressive and I recall my GW store running several "campaigns" in advance of the global Ichar IV campaign event. These were several years before and were a mix of Rogue Trader 40K and Spacemarine/EPIC. The games centered around a central theme and usually ran for a month or so from what I dimly remember. At the time I had a black painted Dark Angels force, a Squat force and an Imperial Guard force for 40K. Playing RT, 2nd edition, again from my slightly dodgy memory. 

The series of games would be run and we would all gather around to hear the "update" and get the briefing for the next game and eagerly discuss how and who would team up to play which games at which fiction locations and eagerly try and get more units painted up for the next weekend to be able to add to our forces (Yes even then GW were hot on the pulse of driving sales! )

I recall it all came down very close in one campaign to a battle between orks and marines and a single shokattack gun hit on the marine commander caused a cascading failure of moral and bang the orks won! And despite loosing the sorry bunch of gangly 11 to 16 year old's all cheered and recounted out battle stories as we headed for our various buses home! 

I think since then I have always loved games where they felt part of something larger or had some sort of "presence" within a narrative and I guess these store run campaigns and the battle reports in White Dwarf at the time, have given me a lasting love to narrative games and campaigns. 

AND FINALLY.... 

After that wander down memory lane.. I get to the point.. 

I fancy running another campaign in that style. Given the various Corona Virus restrictions in the world right now and the risks from face to face gaming at a store or shop etc... I cannot do what my initial interest was to do which was to book Element Games venue for a weekend and run a series of games there. 

So instead I think I might explore if the old hammer community and fans of some retro gaming might fancy a more simple campaign run over a few months. Do some bi-weekly updates and suggested mission types.. record the over all progress of each faction and notable heroics of particular commanders and models and try and get a community built story going for some fun. 

So.. what do folks thing? 

 

Home casting in resin - NOT For sale!

Came across this short video on resin casting at home and doing a simple two part mold to make duplicates of items for your own use.. I stress for your own use and not for sale.

Its legal to make a duplicate. It isn't legal to sell it! You will be infringing Intellectual and Copyright for the owners in many cases and re-casting costs business and sculptors jobs so please.. be sensible.

So that aside, it is quite nice sensation when you manage to get a mold to work properly but it is a lot of energy and frustration when you get an air lock or bubble that ruins are part..

With 3D printing coming along and getting cheaper and cheaper, this old fashioned method will fade I suspect in popularity. Especially when high def 3d scanners become cheaper.

But in the meantime.. watch and enjoy:

The wonder of 3D printing.. Great Gargants!

Well I like many, marvel at the wonder of 3D printing and how the capabilities have come along. I own some 3D printed terrain that is awesome.

I have stumbled across this thread about a 3D printed version of the iconic Great Gargant that Armorcast made back in the early days of 40k. The one model I would LOVE to get my hands on..
I came close once with a USA based seller but in the end the shipping such a fragile resin monster all this way to the UK. Was just not worth it for the price.

I do own a head at least lol.. yes just the head! I have for years toyed with the idea of scratch building one, But I am super impressed with the build in this thread.

3D Printed Armorcast Great Gargant!

Looks nifty and also looks like several weeks of print time I suspect. lol.

But oh my.. Do I like this model! If only I have a super huge 3D printer or new someone who did! lol

Maybe in a few years.

Removing Miniature Oxidization

So I have a few old minis that are lead and white metal and have turned super dark grey.
Not exactly full on"lead rot" but certainly a bit more corroded than I would like.
So came across this article on how to remove the oxidization and I am partly tempted to give it a go on a couple of my older minis. They are only likely to continue to degrade, so have little to loose.

http://minismuseum.com/2015/12/27/lead-rot-cleaning-pt-1/

I am familiar with electrolysis for cleaning rust off Cast Iron. I have just never used it for the purposes of cleaning miniatures. I will have to hunt out some carbon rods to use and give it a go!

Getting the next generation into Wargaming.. with AT-43

In January

, I picked up a copy of Operation Damocles, AT-43 by Rackham. It was a whim purchase and didn't really have a use for it. BUT its proven to be a great buy..

With the Covid Lockdown hitting here in the UK and isolating.. my friends two lads were off school and stuck upon the gaming console, getting more and more feisty and less and less social.

So in an attempt to get them off their console I have given them the box set and got them into gaming, via social distancing. I write the missions and they play them.

Its amazing how they have improved socially now they are off the x-box and actually engaging their brains. They love the figures, especially as they are pre-paints.. not the best quality, but are sturdy enough to survive their rough handling.

So far they have completed all the missions in the set and enjoyed some others I have made.

I am now hunting for some more figures to expand their forces and keep the games going.. and keep them off the gaming console.. So if anyone can help please please, give me a shout.. On the hunt for any old AT-43 stuff to expand the games.

Cheers John and happy gaming in these strange times.

Return to gaming..

So the Corona Virus has hit the world hard and we are still in the midst. For my its a tough time. The lock down we are currently in and the virus presence means no club gaming.
I have not been well health wise either and so haven't had much energy for gaming of late.

However it is finally time I got some of my Rogue Trader era 40K miniatures on the move and painting.
I have just taken delivery of a ultrasonic cleaner and will be giving that a try to help with the stripping of old lead and plastics.

I have some new boxes to go on the shelves and I plan to finally.. yes finally.. get my collections into some sort of organisation rather than random boxes of ebay wins etc littering the shelves where I forget what is in them and then promptly buy the same model twice or thrice or four times or may, just maybe five times.. lol.

So the lead addiction and mountain still grow. Though some will be going up for sale soon as I rationalise a few unwanted projects, as I simply need to clear space.

So apologies for the long delay between posts but hopefully will get some more going soon.

Stay safe everyone and happy Hobbying as best you can.

2018 - Oldehammer and Going forward

Welcome Back!

Hi Folks.. yes, yes, I know.. it has been a little while.. oh well.
What can I say.. real life sadly gets into the way at times and finally I am back to some hobby-ing.

Its time to restart some older projects. In the short term it is, going to mostly be some good old Oldhammer.. yes.. Rogue Trader 40K and beyond..

I have a a few sets of old beakies in need to paint and a new life.. so its time to generate the Howling Reavers or Death Tempests and possible chapter names..

I will also be reviewing some older projects..

Ok fans, a bit of an apology. This year has not really seen any posts on my blog.
Unfortunately life has been a bit manic and I haven't managed much in the way of gaming or modelling this year. I have been spending more time playing RPGs due to a move and work.

However I have managed to pick up a few good sets of old Rogue Trader 40k era figures for Orks, Marines and Eldar and I have some great games in mind for the new year.

I have had a few figures painted by Jonathan Tarry of Felix Figure Painting: 

These are a mix of Macrocosm figures and original GW plastic hybrids which I had painted by Jon prior to the release of the new Genestealer Cult Book and Figures by GW. I love the look he has given them. The lighting on the picture is a little bright sadly on the macrocosm figures. But if you have a look through his immense gallery of pictures of things he has painted you will see some lovely work. And at good prices.

So my gaming projects for 2017 are simple.
1. To get the painting table setup, as hasn't happened since the move.
2. To get some more Rogue Trader 40k games and maybe some 2nd Ed played. Getting the Oldhammer Feel.
3. To try and rationalise some of my gaming collections and get more actual games played and reduce the lead mountain a little. As frankly it is more a mountain range and mountain right now.

So a year comes to a close I can only wish you Merry Festivities and may 2017 bring you more games and more fun!

I am back.. ok.. so it has been a long time since I last posted on there. Life has been rather busy to say the least and my miniature wargaming had to take a back seat as it were. This year, well what is left of it, I am slowly getting back into gaming.

I am working on a few Rogue Trader 40K era projects. I have a marine force, a chaos marine traitor force, a few Eldar, a few Squats and a lot, of Orks to get stripped, built up and painted.

I will try and track the projects here again and for those who have subscribed, will see some interesting bits a long the way.
So please stay tuned..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6E2-OOQo13c

The Goose is back! Back to the future!

OK, ok.. calm down.. I have only been absent for, errr a while.. shall we say.

So.. firstly! Big apologies for the lack of posts and in fact the general lack of anything what so ever. To say life has been hectic, would be an understatement. New job equals new life and new amounts of other things taking up ones time.

So now I am back. Well I hope so.

So order of the day.. err.. not sure.
Simply put. I have a plan to get a small 40k Rogue Trader gaming setup going again. Why Rogue Trader Warhammer 40,000 and not the latest version..?


Simply because, it was fun and genuine. It wasn't a rule set solely based to make you keep buying more and more miniatures. Rogue Trader did many things, but the big one, was to encourage you too play fun and creative games, not solely 1 on 1 tournament style objective based pairings with equal forces.


It actively encouraged you to creative. To use narratives and have fun.


So I am going back to my roots as it were. A trip down nostalgia lane.

A few beekies and a few orks and a mix of other things for some small scale skirmish games with plots and story and dare I say the odd mutant.. !

Where has the time gone??

Fe****ing Hell!

Where has the time gone??

Seriously.. it is now February 2014. A few years ago I bought some zombies, I started my Starship Toopers Miniatures Game project and my 28mm Vietnam project and errrr "some years" later.


And none of completed. It is scary how time has flown. In fact it is alarmingly scary!

So I will be trying to catch up! Watch this space!!!

South Cheshire Militaire Show - Sunday 23 February 2014

First show of the year for me.
Though its primarily a modelling show with some fantastic models on show, with some stunning levels of detail and skill, there is usually a small war gaming element to it.

It is also a nice day out.

Alas I have no photographs. I was a little battle weary on Sunday and didn't take any photos.

The show was pretty much the same size as the previous year. There was only one empty stand, in the main hall.

The up stairs was the usual mix of wargaming, RC cars/planes and trucks! With an indoor flying area for some of the smaller electric models.

The bring and buy was a little empty.. a shame, but that is the way things go now and then.

The main hall was its usual busy self though it was noticeable that there were a few re-enactment displays filling in and less actual "modelling supplies" traders, which was a shame. As I was on the hunt for a few tools and bits and bobs.

The range of models on display were once again, massive and varied. All sorts of things, from plains, trains, trucks and sci-fi "what if" creations.. with various local and not so local clubs and groups displaying.

The venue is a little crowded first things, but it does quieten shortly after lunch most years and this year was no exception. Seems to the general trend for shows these days. I guess its time pressures on gamers and modellers alike.. spending all day is difficult to do.


Sadly the out door displays of vehicles / bb shooting range / paintballing  etc that in some previous years have been seen were not present. A shame, as me and my friends were discussing over lunch in weather spoons before returning to the show. It does seem to be a changing of the guard, as it were, for the ages.

The average age of modellers must be approaching 60-70s now, and fewer and fewer younger people entering like me. Now I don't do much modelling if at all any these days, due to wargaming being my primary interest, but I do love to and see the efforts of those far more skilled than my self. But it is alarming, that so few younger people seem interested at all.


And frankly, the poor understanding and ability to identify historic aircrafts or boats is alarming in its self amongst the younger generation.

I am now officially, by virtue of writing this post, old!
But it is scary.


Shows like the South Cheshire Militaire are facing a battle against changing times. Even our wargames shows have seen many a decline and I am not sure quite what the solution is.

It was good to see the show organisers asking people leaving, if they minded suppling their home postal area code (just the first two letters) in an endeavour to understand where their customers come from and where to focus their advertising. Though my postal code area, covers a massive area and crosses borders of England and Wales, so that one might not be as "telling" as others.


So over all I spent £6.00 and came away with a book and some dice! I would have bought some paints, apart from the offer for £1.80 or 5 for £9 or 10 for £17! A crafty bit of advertising.. as the first two are identicle value.. 5 paints for £9 is £1.80.  So I held off till WMMS in March, as that is not far away and there are usually a trader or two doing Vallejo paints.

So will we be back in 2015? I see no reason why not, timings, life etc allowing.

Paint Stripping Part 3 - After some testing.

A while ago I did a few posts on paint stripping.. (See Parts 1 and 2 in the blog history).

At the time, someone said they had heard Coca Cola was worth a try and acetone free nail polish remover.


So here are the results.




Coca Cola - 100% original full fat(Sugar) coke!.. well.. it made some of the paint sticky, it had no effect on the miniatures material, be it metal, plastic or resin. Paints from Vallejo, GW and Army painter, showed no real weakness to it.. on some older models the stuff did soften the paint a little but, compared to Detol (pinesol solutions) it was no where near as good.






Acetone Free Nail Polish Remover - This stuff is odorous.. if you like the smell, great, but don't sniff too much, or you will put your health at risk!!! It might be acetone free, but that means it has had one chemical replaced with another! (or more likely many). Also don't spill it on your nice polished table tops, or you will be heading for the yellow pages to get it repaired!


However.. it eats paint! Yes. It works pretty good. I mean, on metals and most plastics and resins.
The "Most" bit however is key. I tried it on some GW plastics.. without issue.
I tried it on some resin scenery pieces I picked up off a bring and buy a couple of years back, and it worked fine. I also threw in a resin GW cr*pc*st, sorry fine-cast figure! DONT! I don't know what resin they use, but it didn't seem to like it. Metal figures however, not an issue.
Now, it did pretty well with most paints too, but there is a cost consideration. If you can get Detol cheap, then you tend to get more for your pennies, than nail polish remover though prices to vary.

However, I have found detol may discolour and go cloudy, but it still strips paint. I found the acetone free nail polish remover evaporated far faster and after a couple of dippings of 48hrs etc, it started to loose its effectiveness faster than Detol.



So now I am back to using Detol and only use the acetone free nail polish remover for metal figures where I need to get the figure turned around quickly.

So.. over all I still rate Detol! For price, re-usability, effectiveness and lower chances of killing me or making me seriously ill.

The biggest tip for detol.. soak the figure in it, then rince the figure off in detol, yes, detol, not in water. Use a tooth brush, but don't touch water on it, till the paint is off the figure. As, as soon as you add water, it nullifies the pine-sol content and causes any part dissolved paint to go rubbery and very stringy! So have one pot of clean, detol, to put the "soaked" figure in and use to wash off the paint in following a soak, before then rinsing in hot water.

2014 off to a good start! Sort of. Penkridge Table Sale - 5th of Jan 2014

So the new year has begun. 2014! And so the first show or event of the year. Penkridge Table Sale.
A group of us, made the early hours rise, to get on the road south. The M6 was clear and we made good time on a crisp icy morning.

The show started at 10am officially but we were in and consuming bacon butties in seconds upon arrival.

The four of us had a great day. We routed out various bargains and I came away with some sci-fi terrain, some more figures for my zombies project and some other bits along the way.

Here are some photos from the day. Not taken by me and borrowed with permission from the originator.

It was a good day. Some folks didn't turn up to trade and sell sadly. But only a couple. The rest of the hall was packed.

A really good turn out in the morning and quietened down into the afternoon.

Penkridge Table Sale 5th Jan 2014

Someone looking Happy

The sales were going so fast it was a blur! - Penkridge Table Sale.

Many thanks to the folks who organised it, the traders who attended and the private sellers. I know we are definitely looking forward to the next one.

Prodos Aliens Vs Predator the Miniatures Game - Kickstarter - Wargame Video 4

Wargames video 4 from the Demo Day.
Not shot by me.

The Kickstarter is now over £230k..  and new Wargamer Pledge Levels have been added, giving you the rule book and add-ons. Not the box set, but you still get the freebies.

So if you just want to wargame it, and not play the board game. Then Prodos have listened!

Prodos Aliens Vs Predator the Miniatures Game - Kickstarter - Wargame Video 3

Wargames video 3 from Demo day.
Not shot by me.

Prodos Aliens Vs Predator the Miniatures Game - Kickstarter - Wargame Video 1

Wargames Video 1 From Demo Day.
Not shot by me.