Fantasy Miniatures 1989,

Greetings Dear Reader!

As you might have noticed recently my hobby taste (and thus the source material for this blog) has deviated somewhat from its usual comfort zone of retro Rogue Trader stuff. This has led to me dabbling in various other genres including modern fantasy such as Frostgrave and Historical miniatures such as my Norman Knights. 

To tell you the truth I just needed a change and a bit of a break from my usual interests (come on... We all need a break sometimes); however I've recently been getting that retro itch again and I wanted to get back into that 1980s/1990s Oldhammer way of doing business! After all...this blog is called Oldhammer 40k, so there is only so far you can deviate before you feel like you are cheating the readership.

Anyway I felt I needed some source material to get me back into the swing of things...now I own and have read every single book that came out for Rogue Trader and the same goes for every White Dwarf that was published between 1987 and 1998 (Rogue Trader and WH40K second edition eras)...so finding fresh reading material can be a bit of a challenge!

Thus it was with some glee that I found the following publication on eBay whilst trawling through multiple listings one day last week.

Knight Templar and Knight Hospitaller

2017 is shaping up to be a fairly productive year on the miniature production front for me; mind you I find most years start like this ... then gradually my turn out starts to ebb as time grinds on!

This year however I am determined not to let this happen and so my goal is to keep the momentum up.

Anyway here are my latest two finished models...

Miniature Wargames Issue 406 - Article

As most of you regular readers know I do a bit of Freelancing as a Wargames journalist from time-to-time... after all, I love this hobby and so it is nice to be able to give something back to the wider community on occasion.

Usually I write for Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy Magazine, but this month I have an article appearing in the recently relaunched/revamped Miniature Wargames. 

I have been an avid reader of this magazine for well over a decade so it is a real privilege to finally be able to contribute to such an excellent publication.

This article is entitled "Copying the Copycats" and it is a piece that explores how we as gamers can draw inspiration from other sources/mediums in order to enhance and develop our own gaming experience. 

I really enjoyed writing this piece as it gave me some significant food for thought in relation to my own current hobby activities and has given me some interesting ideas for a few projects for 2017!

 All of the pictures in the piece are mine and the models are predominantly drawn from my Terminator: Genysis and Fallout collections. The one notable exception is the red super-mutant fighting my Brotherhood of Steel Knight in the bottom centre... this rather vicious looking beastie was painted by JB (Asslessman) and the photograph is taken from our massive, multiplayer Fallout game that took place at Bringout Your Lead/Oldhammer Day way back in 2015.

I urge you to pick up a copy and give it a read; the magazine is really good since its revitalisation and I think it is an indesipensible hobby tool!

Let me know what you think!

Slingers... Will sling stones for food!!

Well I've managed to churn out a further two models this week which is pretty good going for the start of 2017. 

These two fellas are another pair of peasants who could soon find themselves eking out an existence on a backwater planet in the 41st Millenium; exploring the abandoned streets of Frostgrave or on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the 12th Century AD.

These chaps are armed with some fairly primitive slings that provide some very rudimentary ranged firepower for their Warband. 

I'm happy with how these guys have turned out utilising my standard mix of Citadel and Foundry paints. These models haven't been varnished yet, and I am reticent to do so as I know it will obscure some of my many layers of blending... particularly on the flesh. This has happened with my previous few models, and it is really frustration to see one's hard work tarnished!

Oh well.... Back to the paint station for my next models!

The peasants are revolting...first models of 2017!

So I've managed to finish my first couple of models for 2017... Nothing special, just some peasants to get me into the swing of things for the next 12 months!

I want some more generic civilian/militia models that I can use in a variety of settings and these guys certainly fit the bill as they would slide comfortably into a number of genres.

These fellas could easily fit into games of Rogue Trader as dirt farmers on some backward Imperial planet; or as survivors in a post-apocalyptic settlement; members of a Frostgrave Warband or simply as some medieval pilgrims! The versatility of these models is astounding!

Anyway... Here are the models:

Excuse the darkness of the photo...bloody winter weather!!

One thing that has annoyed me is that the satin varnish I used to protect these guys has obscured the complex layering I did on the flesh of their hands and faces!!

2016...a look back at the last year in the hobby!!!!

Well that's 2016 done and dusted, another year gone by.... So let's see what I've achieved hobby wise in the last 365 days!

For me it's been a pretty good year, I have had multiple articles published in Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy magazine and I have got a book deal with Osprey Games to publish a set of Wargames rules, both of which are sources of pride for me.

Additionally I got my first proper painting commission...and from none other than Joe McCullogh, award winning author of FROSTGRAVE! This was to paint up two full warbands for a project that he is putting together! Again this was a great achievement for me!

Anyway here's the year in pictures!