Eldritch Outcasts - Eldar Scout Unit

Back at the start of the year I confidently predicted I'd be painting up a Rogue Trader Eldar army. That may yet prove to be the case, and perhaps my current project will help ease me into it.

I'm painting up an Eldar Scout/Ranger* force two hit two hobby outcomes. The first is to create a new force to use in games of Kill Team, the new 40k skirmish game. The second is to participate in a fun two-month challenge in one of the Facebook groups I'm a member of. The Old World Sprint Challenge challenges participants to paint at least 10 models from the system of their choice.

I'll be painting 6 standard Eldar scouts plus some conversions to represent the different troop types available in Kill Team.

Max Data V2.0 - New Tech Gang Leader

One of the elements that I really enjoy about an extended Necromunda campaign is the progression of your fighters. In the campaign I've been playing in for the last few months, my Tech gang, the Data Kings have gained some really useful fighters - Osbourne who can snipe almost anyone with his plasma cannon. Fischer who's a deadeye with his hot-shot lasgun. Of course Sinclair has a strength-sapping injury, and Celerity has a badly damaged hand, but that's all part of the fun.

My Leader, Max Data, hasn't had too many progressions, but I have invested in some rather tasty gear. He now walks the underhive equipped with a las-plas combi weapon, energy shield, mesh armour, laspistol and a las projector. All this necessitated a new model to accurately represent Max Data and his gear.

To the Victors, the Spoils - Necromunda Campaign Trophies

My gaming group's Necromunda campaign, 'Welcome to Deadwired', reaches its culmination this week, with my fellow arbitrator Mike deviously planning a multiplayer finale. Knowing Mike, there will be numerous dangers and gribbly beasts in the shadows. I can't wait!

Ahead of the final week, I've prepared some trophies for winners of various campaign benchmarks. The trophies are fairly straightforward - figures painted in metallic paint, mounted on some resin display plinths from Model Display Products.

From left to right: 

• 'Regular Guy' (most games)
• 'Executioner' (most opposition fighters taken Out of Action) 
• 'Overlord' (campaign winner) 
• 'Killer Rep' (highest reputation increase over the campaign)

Cosmic Forces Beyond All Comprehension - Buck Rogers in the 41st Millennium

In the year 1987, at the John F. Kennedy Space Center, NASA launched the last of America's deep space probes. The payload, perched on the nose cone of the massive rocket, was a one-man exploration vessel - Ranger 3. Aboard this compact starship, a lone astronaut - Captain William "Buck" Rogers - was to experience cosmic forces beyond all comprehension. An awesome brush with death: in the blink of an eye, his life support systems were frozen by temperatures beyond imagination. Ranger 3 was blown out of its planned trajectory into an orbit a thousand times more vast, an orbit which was to return the ship full circle to his point of origin - its mother Earth - not in five months, but in 38,000 years. 

I was born in the late 1970s, around about the time that the world got gripped by science fiction. Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers became fixtures of Christmas and Saturday afternoon programming and indelibly etched into my brain.

I don't know what sparked the idea to bring Buck Rogers into the 41st Millenium. I know I chatted about it with cheetor and Curis as part of the 'Choose Your Own Adventurers' project last year. I know I spent several weeks searching on eBay for a Corgi diecast starfighter to adapt. I know I earmarked the pilot from the Rogue Trader adventurers range for the project!

BOYL 2018 (Part 3) - DAiS & Bounty Hunting

Dracula's America in Space

Saturday at Bring Out Your Lead 2018 (BOYL) continued after lunch with a rather chaotic game of Dracula's America (in Space). Dracula's America is Osprey's excellent fantasy Western game. But you can add in spacemen and laser guns if you wish!

I pulled out a whole load of my scenery to create the settlement of Black Dust Gulch.

BOYL 2018 (Part 2) - What an (Orky) Tanker!

Following on from Part 1 of my Bring Out Your Lead 2018 (BOYL) report, the Saturday saw me taking part in an all-comers tank battle organised by Whisky Priest. Rather than muddle our way through any of the various vehicle rules published by GW, Whisky Priest was championing 'What a Tanker!' by Too Fat Lardies.

Battle is engaged!

 In order to participate, we just needed to bring a suitable tank. You may have already seen Asslessman's Metal Slug or airbornegrove26's insane Pizza Tank. As of a 10 days ago, I wasn't planning to participate in the game, so hadn't prepped anything of my own. In fact, I didn't feel I had anything suitable to use. Then I asked WP if I could join in, and started delving into my hobby supplies to see what I could put together.

Sadly I lacked any kind of suitable hull. I did have the domed top piece from the GW Shadow War Armageddon terrain, and was wondering if I should procure a second to make a rolling tank. And then I wondered if I could scratch build something...

BOYL 2018 (Part 1) - Heat Builds in the Underhive

What's the best excuse for playing miniature wargames? Meeting up with friends and having fun of course! Over the course of the weekend just gone, I attended Bring Out Your Lead 2018 (BOYL).

Bring Out Your Lead started as a low-key meet up of a handful of enthusiasts of Games Workshop's older games and miniatures at Wargames Foundry's Nottingham shop in 2013. The event has grown into a three-day annual event at Foundry's current location in Newark, with over 100 attendees, special guests and a wonderful array of eye-catching games.

Pre-BOYL Necromunda

Like last year, myself and some good buddies took the opportunity to have a full day of gaming at Warhammer World. This year, with Necromunda was flavour of the month, so I booked the tables, and completely ripped off the event pack that GW put together for the Necromunda tournament I attended in April.

Curis is aghast at the way Whiskey Priest wields his tape measure!