For Joshua: Second knight unit complete

Hi folks,

The last couple of weeks I have been prepping for the upcoming AHPC challenge, but have also been attempting to push ahead with my 10mm fantasy project as well.

On that note, a big shout out goes to john over at Studio Gaarew who has kindly responded to the project and is in the process of painting up some units which will be very gratefully received. You can catch his progress (and give his blog a follow) over here.

Onto the knights - I generally find painting new things daunting - especially when I have no pattern or guide to follow. This tends to lead to me procrastinating or being so indecisive that I just avoid painting. So doing the knights was a challenge, but I decided just to wade in and get them done. I've found when in doubt that knowing what my spot colours will be (in this case, green and red) and that the rest falls into place once I get going.

The main reference/idea for these units is heavily influenced by the old Warhammer Bretonnians.

This unit consisted of 12 knights, all from Magister Militum. The unit includes a champion and standard bearer which came from one of the command packs.

The banner is a 10mm Scottish banner (important for this to have a Scottish connection) although I did add additional green to the standard. Red and green are linking colours, which I will be trying to incorporate into all the human units I paint.

Along with the banner for this unit, I also added the banner to the Super Heavy Cavalry unit I had previously painted:

Next up will probably be a lord for the humans - in the form of a knight on a large flying beastie. I also have a load of pegasus knights to assemble as well as some mounted yeomen and some foot archers to figure out.

Progress is, however, being made!

For Joshua - First finished units

Hi folks,

Over the course of this week I've worked on my first few skelly units for the baddies. These are very much the prototype units for the project.

Just as a recap for those new to the blog, these models are for a charity project I am undertaking in order to raise funds for two local organisations who helped my family recently following the loss of our son Joshua at 34 weeks. More information can be found here and here, or on my youtube video on the subject.

For basing, I went for as simple an option as possible. A little checking about online and in the Pendraken 'Warband' rule book, and I decided to go for some mixed courseness sand and a few patches of 'summer' grass.

The 100mm by 50mm bases had some blotz dice holders added at the rear corners (just in case, we are planning on using various rules so I thought the holders might be useful). I painted the whole base my usual basing colour (Vallejo Flat Earth), put the models on the bases and then added the sand via PVA. The idea was that the sand would prevent a need for the bases being painted.

I then added 'random' patches of 'Summer' 2mm static grass. Nice and quick (relatively) and easily repeatable. Lessons learnt include that the larger stones tend to come out first when pouring sand, so aim away until this calms down.

The vast majority of these models are from Pendraken, with a single Magister Militum 10mm figure leading one of the regiments. As previously mentioned, I deliberately concentrated on having two units of melee skellies and one of spears, using the Army Pack. Melee units were bulked out by the leftover spearmen (with spearheads snipped off) as well as some of the catapult crews.

Flags were added via simple conversions of spear holding skellies using paperclip wire. The patterns painted on the flags roughly match those of the units shields. I used just regular paper for the flags, painted.

On the painting table, I am preparing the first of the knights along with some 15mm sci-fi models I plan to add in when I need a change of pace. I've also registered for this years AHPC challenge, in an effort to keep up my focus over the winter.

I'm thinking that units of knights might be slower going, as I am unsure as to how uniform to make them, but time will tell.

For Joshua - Some progress

Hi folks,

I've been working hard to get past my usual indecision inaction when it comes to painting new models and started to progress the first of the undead units for my 10mm fantasy project.

These are 10mm Pendraken skellies, from the undead army pack they donated to the cause. I had initially primed these figures grey, before giving them a coat of Vallejo Ivory (from a bottle so old the number has been worn off). Each unit is 28 figures strong (4 ranks of 7 models each).

I then blocked in the other colours. Shields in black with some red unit markings, weapons a mix of Hull Red and metallic (steel), clubs and spears Mahogany Brown.

What I did do with the army pack was break up the warrior skellies into three units. One with spears and two with hand weapons. The spearmen I used a bit of brute strength and ignorance one - pushing the upright spears closer to bodies in order to make them more upright. I also took three spearmen and turned them into standard bearers by chopping off the spear tip, drilling and adding in a length of paperclip. The paperclip section will be hidden when I later add simple black flags.

For the 2nd hand weapon unit, I was running out of figures, so some leftover spearmen were used with the spear tips chopped off (to make mauls or clubs). I had to also add in some of the catapault crewmen and another figure from my human models (painted to look like a revenant or some sort of armour wearing ghoul) as a unit leader. A couple of figures lost arms and the likes while I was messing with poses - I just stuck them in. Possibly the bodies were missing those bones when they were dug up...

Units were arranged on their bases in ranks, and then each rank transferred to a stick for painting.

Once all the details were blocked in, a transformative 'soft tone' wash (armypainter) was added.

Models on the left are post wash, on right are pre-wash

The wash over the basic white gave a really nice effect. In fact, I'm not sure I'm going to do much more to these figures in the way of highlights.

The figures look a lot brighter on camera than they do 'in the flesh'. This is the revenant led unit.

I also got the characters from the army pack painted, which will form one 50mm round with the evil rock and summoners, and a 25mm round with a skellie hero, standard bearer and drummer. Another 50mm by 100mm base will have the two catapults.

I've another army pack on order (along with some chariots and ballista), which should allow me to get a full unit of archers, with the crossbow armed skellies going to form some skirmish bases. More skellie archers may be required, but the baddies will no doubt be getting other ranged support from elsewhere (I hope!). The current plan is archers will be in two ranks rather than 4.

I just need to sort basing out for these painted guys, do some standards and think about how I'm going to paint knights...

As ever, thanks for all the messages of support and offers of help. The more the merrier, so if anyone fancies contributing a unit to the charity project, please drop me a line (ForJoshuasArmy@gmail.com)!

Charity Project - For Joshua (blog 2)

Hi folks,

Having now moved into our new home and given some more thought on this project, and having had Joshua's cremation service yesterday, I wanted to do a blog post to update those who had very kindly offered to contribute.

For those who might not be aware, I posted here about the passing of my unborn son, Joshua, at the end of September. I felt that I should do something in order to try and raise some money for the maternity unit who had provided us so much support and the charity which had provided the memory box for us. A little further research would indicate that this project would aim to benefit the following two charities:

4Louis - a charity which supports families through miscarriage, stillbirth and loss.
North Tees and Hartlepool Together, NHS Charitable Trust - a charity working within the hospitals locally to improve the comfort of patients and to support NHS staff.

Obviously, the intention is that I do not financially or materially benefit from this project. My aim is to do something to help memorialise my lost little boy, and to make some money for charity.

The plan:

The plan is, with help from the community, to build two opposing 10mm fantasy armies. To then use these forces to hold games at a variety of UK wargames shows, then to potentially raffle the whole collection off with the proceeds going to the above charities. Hopefully, with the raffle idea tickets could also be sold as the game tours.

If enough units are contributed for there to be more than one opposing armies, the forces may be split into multiple opposing armies to be raffled. The aim is to maintain the prizes as fully fledged games, with two sides, play aids, etc.

The model stuff:

From some initial experiments done with 10mm Undead figures kindly provided to me free by Pendraken Miniatures, unit bases are planned to be 100mm by 50mm (standard base size for Warband, Pendraken's own rules). These bases give nice, chunky and busy looking units. For figures per base we will be trying to stick to default pack sizes:

- Formed Cavalry units will be around 12 figures, skirmish units (light scouting cavalry) or 'heavy' units (Rhino riding heavy cavalry) may be less that this (probably 6).

Early experiments with 12 undead cavalry on a 10cm by 50cm base

- Formed infantry units will be around 20 to 30 figures (the average pack size for most manufacturers). Skirmish units (Elven Rangers, etc) may be less that this (10 to 15).
- Artillery will generally be 2 or 3 warmachines per base, as well creatures such as giants. 'Smaller' large creatures, such as trolls or Ogres will be around 6 per base. Unusual war machines such as dwarven airships or gyrocopters will be on a case by case basis.

However, in the interests of high fantasy and good old character inclusion, I am planning on also using round bases for mini 'hero' dioramas. There would be 25mm rounds for low level hero's on foot or mounted (champions, wizards, adventurers, etc), while 'mighty heros' such as army leaders, adventuring bands of very large creatures (Dragons, etc) will be on 50mm rounds. These bases would ideally be little dioramas (so a general with a few guard and army standard, or a small group of adventurers together, etc).

Basing:

With basing units, I am going to suggest that anyone who contributes can elect to sent me unbased painted figures and I will base them. This saves people having to buy specific bases they might never need for anything else, and also helps keep a uniformity to basing style. It should also make postage easier!

I will try and come up with a standard basing scheme. At the moment the plan is for a mix of static grass and patches of bare earth with a scattering of stones and the usual small tufts.

I plan to do a little print out on the underside of each base, which some brief details about the painter, where the models were painted, details of the unit or the imagi-nation that they hail from or any other info the contributer wishes to include. This way even when the collection moves on the contribution is recorded.

The armies:

There will be two 'sided' planned. Undead/Orcs/Goblins/evil versus the forces of the free/living world. Please note that all painted units (or even unpainted units) will be happily accepted, but more baddies may be needed than good guys! While I would like to keep the core as the above 'evil' races, Dark Elves, evil humans, etc, will also be welcome. But don't let that stop you from contributing some good guys as well!

For the baddies, the paint scheme should be drab, with lots of bone, rusted metal, blacks and small amounts or reds. Banners are encouraged! Any type of unit would be welcome, infantry, cavalry, monsters, etc. The more infantry, the better! But again, any unit would be gratefully received.

For the free forces, literally whatever you want. I mean it. Fancy painting some imagination 10mm Spartans, Romans, Mongolians, Templar knights, Italian infantry, Cavaliers or other historical unit more or less prior to the Napoleonic period - feel free. Anything that would be suitable in a fantasy setting up to and including basic firearms and gunpowder artillery - there is almost no limit in what historical units you could pick that fits within a rough definition of 'fantasy'.

Just keep them bright and colourful, give banners where you can and really don't stress - the idea is these are units which have answered the call from all over the world to come and fight the big bad. Mercenaries, national armies, volunteers, conscripts, lords, freemen and peasants. Think the old Warhammer/Warmaster range of tech and magic. The idea is that tech levels (in a fantasy context), dress style, etc will all vary depending on what kingdom the good forces come from.

Good old human spearmen, men at arms, archers, billmen, pikemen, peasants, etc, will be more than welcome. But as will human handgunners, landschneckt, cannon, steamtanks, etc.

Otherwise, feel free to pick units from any of the fantasy ranges available. This could be Halfling Ostritch Riders, Elven Spearmen, Dwarf Warriors, Horse Tribe Mounted Archers, or any other 10mm scale unit you fancy. And there are a lot of really cool models out there, including armed penguins, Eskimos, Aztec warriors, elves riding stags, samurai, dragon warriors, etc. Some producers that are worth checking out include:

Pendraken 
Kallistra
Copplestone Castings
Magister Militum
Irregular
Old Glory
Rebel Minis
Fighting 15's
Warmonger Miniatures
Trolls under the Bridge
Newline Designs
Laran Miniatures
Spellcrow

I am really not fussy, so long as the unit isn't science fiction, it can fit. For you historical painters, this is a chance to just pick a period you have always liked and paint up a unit or two. I would add that Pendraken have been fantastic in supporting my initial idea and have provided me with a free undead army pack and rule book, as well as having a chat with me about other support they can offer.

My own contribution:

Currently, I have figures to start both sides in the form of a collection of Kights and Undead units. I aim to paint both up for inclusion in the project. The Knights will very much be styled on Warhammer Bretonnians, and will include (hopefully) some Pegasus Riders and a Lord on a large flying monster. As well as a lot of units of heavy Knights!

However, as mentioned above, I also aim to help base figures received as well as picking up the play aides and such which might be needed, as well as trying to source terrain and the likes.

How you can help:

After my initial post, I have several people kindly offer their brush to the project. I'm am extremely grateful for any help in this that I receive. The support from the guys at the Old Guard Wargames Club has already blown me away, with plans afoot for various forces. Others have contacted me via facebook or through blog comments and offered to help or offered support for me. I very much appreciate this, and I will take up those offers.

As I am UK based, I understand that there are cost implications of international post. I also appreciate that models are not cheap, and that everyone has their own lead mountains and personal burdens to carry. Therefor offers of help of contributions are extremely gratefully received, no matter the size. I know that time, and hobby time, is the most precious thing that anyone can contribute - and that people would contribute that for my wee boy is the most generous thing I can imagine. You'll be helping a dad feel like he is doing something when there is nothing else to be done.

Whether you decide to donate a single monster, hero, a single unit or multiple units, your contribution is gratefully received. If the models are painted, all the better. At the same time, 10mm suitable terrain would also be welcome. 

If you would like to help, to contribute in any way, please drop me a line via ForJoshuasArmy@Gmail.com. I can provide more information, answer questions and provide a postal address.

Other help, such as shout outs to the project on blogs, facebook, podcasts or Youtube are also welcome.

Finally, I have never done anything like this previously, so any advice or guidance that can be offered would be welcome!

Thanks,

James

For Joshua

Hi folks,

Apologies for the not strictly wargaming content.

Regular blog readers may have noticed my comment a few weeks ago that I was going to be a dad again. My second child and my wife's first. Our baby was due in early October (due to be induced at 37 weeks).

Unfortunately, on Monday 16th September, my wife felt unwell. This resulted in an emergency scan being undertaken and as a result it was found that our baby, at 34 weeks and 2 days, had no heartbeat.

No words can even begin to describe the level of grief and pain that our baby's passing has lead to. Made all the more difficult and cruel by the requirement that my wife deliver our baby. She did this on the early hours of Friday 20th of September. We are both, obviously, extremely upset. I suspect we will remain so for some time.

Following his delivery we had the opportunity to meet our little boy, Joshua, to tell him he was loved and that we were sorry. And for him to have an all too brief cuddle with his mum and dad before he went on to the next stage of his journey in this world.

We endured, and continue to endure, the unendurable - mainly due to the love and support of our family and friends. But also through the dedication, care and empathy of the NHS staff who we dealt with.

We spent the last week staying in a suite at the local hospital, where I was also fed and looked after while staying with Amy. We were provided with a separate entrance and a room with a double bed to stay while we waited for the medication to induce Amy to take effect. When our son was born, he was treated with utter care and attention by the staff. We were given, free of charge, clothes which would fit him as well as a memory box of items to help us record our son's time with us, clay and ink materials with which to take prints of his hands and feet, cot cards and name tags and a host of other useful bits - all for us to keep and treasure, and to help use remember our little boy.

I would like to repay this kindness in some way, and to do something for Joshua. I would like to undertake a project with some contributions from the community with a view of selling or raffling off the completed project. 

My current idea is a 10mm project - fantasy undead and orcs versus the 'free people'. The free people would be eclectic - a mix of whatever anyone wanted to contribute or paint that fitted the 'fantasy' setting. Arthurian knights, Elves, Dwarfs, Humans of any variety, Lizardmen, etc, etc - anything and everything from medieval or late medieval model ranges or fantasy ranges.

The baddies would be in black with a little red.

The set would then do some of the wargames shows in the UK, as a display or demo game.

The whole project would then be raffled (or auctioned) off - The proceeds would then go towards an appropriate charity in honour of my little boy whom I will never get a chance to share my hobby with.

This may take some time to organise, paint, set up, etc. Possibly it would take more than 12 months.

However, I would love if you, dear reader, could contribute in some way. Whether it be donating some unpainted 10mm figures, providing some painted 10mm figures or bits of terrain, etc, I would be grateful. It would mean a lot to me if someone out there would take some time to paint something for my little boy, that I could then use to raise some money for a cause which helped me and my wife when we needed it most. Either for a donation to the maternity ward or to the charity who provided the memory box we received.

I've not settled on unit sizes or base sizes yet - It would be more about look (massed ranks, ala Warhammer or Warmaster), with me either coming up with some simple rules or adapting something off the shelf. My initial idea is also that I would base the models, to keep both armies using the same basing technique. (edit: More information on these details can be found here).

If you think you would be able and willing to help, please let me know. This is very early in my thought process but the outline is there and I hope others can see my purpose and are willing to help.

Thanks,

James - dad of Joshua.