Mighty Armies 15mm Fantasy

As wargamig butterflies goes I have the attention span of a mayfly... ooh shiny!

Just over a year ago Craig bought a set of rules for 15mm fantasy called Mighty Armies by Rebel Minis, and about 4 armies :) I have and undead skeleton army by Alternative Armies from 15-20 years ago which looked like it could do service. However about a month later my interest had once agian moved on to another project.

Last week we were discussing the merits of armies that have units all on one base like Kings of War and Inpetus. This sparked my interest and I started having a look at DBM and then Hordes of Things. After sending alink for HOT to Craig to look at he reminded me of Mighty Armies and erupted in to what I can only describe as an orgy of enthusiasm!

So having a bit of a look on the web for inspiration on basing and terrain (unfortunately both extremely limited. Last week I knocked up the folding 3 foot square board for Malifaux and was myself inspired to make a similare set up for Mighty Armies. The idea of having a 2 foot square folding board and nine bases of troops to plonk down almost has the air of a portable wargame.

To get started I have begun assembly of the undead and this week I will be making the folding board.

Production Line In Full Swing

Some linear obstacles for Warmachine / 40K type 28mm games.

Ogres Re-Basing Update

Having to press on with this as the competition is looming and I need to actually put paint on the figures.

Styrofoam was 'painted' with pva to stiffen it, after drying it was then given a solid coat of matt black.

When the black dries the bits that get missed including air pockets show up so I went over them all again with a black wash.

The rocky surface was then dry brushed with dark grey (wilko flintstone emulsion).

Used fine builders sand for the base as I wanted it to be a bit like snow, The builders sharp sand I usually use would have been too coarse for that.

The sand and base edge were then painted with pearl grey emulsion (a tester pot from wilko - great for painting scenery). I applied this slightly watered down so it would not cover completely solid and give me some sandy colour showing through to dirty it up.

When I asked my wife what colour is snow, instead of the getting a silly answer she said "well, if its fresh then its white but old snow tends to get dirty brown."

Rocky area then dry brushed with the pearl grey to give it definition and help to blend the base together.

By the way this is about as sophisticated I am going to get on the snow front apart from adding a little gloss varnish here and there to represent either ice or melting.

Trying to get  frozen water effect on the front but I think it is going to need a few more layers to get the effect I need. Still quite pleased with how its coming along.

Always good when something starts to look a bit like your initial ideas.

Ogres Re-basing

Well a competition is only 2 weeks away and I have done nothing to prepare my Ogres for it as per usual. However I have a plan that included changing the basing on the ogres with a rock and snow finish. Originally the rock was going to be slate but I am too lazy to cut all the slate to fit!

So using a technique to texture styrofoam taught to me by Andy (check out his excellent painting and terrain making blog here http://napoleonicwargamingadventures.blogspot.co.uk/ ) I came up with a new plan.

With mdf bases for all the ogres cut out, I marked the 25mm thick styrofoam with half of them as I intend to split the styrofoam once textured. It is a good idea to mark the styrofaom slightly larger than you want as the texturing will remove a bit of material.

The knife blade held rather too casually in my hand is a bread knife. I have bought this specially for such job as she who must be obeyed would go ballistic if I borrowed one from the kitchen :)

The technique is to drag the blade along the cut edge of the styrofoam to roughen it up. You can also use the point to dig out some larger chunks.

Second step is to take off all the flaky bits. I do this by rubbing my thumb over the surface till it is the texture needed.

Now I have all the pieces textured it is time to split the bases to get the number I need and a more sensible 12mm height

Voila! As our french comrades say! PVA glue to be applied and then leave them for 24 hours. Once the base is securely glued to the styrofoam I will 'paint' the textured edge with PVA to help stiffen this surface in case any loose bits were tempted to fall off.

Folding Malifaux Board

Just a couple of pics to show the 4-way Malifaux game played last Thurdsay night on a new folding board I knocked up. It folds up so the flocked surface is on the inside.

This one is 3' x 3' on the gaming surface. The frame gives and edge about 18mm, something that is growing on me since playing on Kev's board at his home. I will be experimenting with some other sizes as it it quite rigid and can store easily in a corner. It has felt pads on the bottom to protect precious dining tables and keep the missus happy :)  I will be doing one with two catches and a handle if its needed to be carried about.