Most Welcome News...

As you may have guessed from my blog posts, I am a lover of 6mm and 10mm figures. Some of my favorite manufacturers over the years have been Baccus (6mm), Pendraken and Magister Militum (both 10mm). 

Not too long ago, I remember I was in a hotel room in McAllen, Texas when I learned that Magister Militum was closing up shop. This caused a panic as I had multiple projects involving MM figures that were half-complete or never started (WW1, Crimean War, Biblical, etc.). I placed several large orders but I knew that I hadn't ordered everything that I needed. 

Magister Militum closed and I waited for someone to purchase the 10mm historical ranges. A few months back I learned that this had happened but didn't know who the buy was. Today I was delighted to learn that Peter Berry and Baccus acquired the rights to the Magister Militum 10mm historical ranges. It is of great comfort to me to know that I can continue on finishing the various projects that I either never completed not ever started. 

And the results are in ..

Well the Pendraken painting competition results are in and, while I didn't have the success I was hoping for, I did manage to win the Sci-Fi/Fantasy category with my  Sardaukar from the movie Dune. 

It's funny how things occur, the Sardaukar were probably the fellas I put the least amount of effort into. I used a black SpeedPaint from Army Painter and then added green visors and some small details. 

The figures I placed the most effort into were my 10mm Sassanid Persians although I didn't necessarily think they came out the best. I was most proud of my Korean War Chinese, I really liked the end result and the snow effects. I also had some sentimental attachment to them because I purchased them directly from Leon over at the 2024 Claymore convention and had told them I would paint them up for the competition. 

There were some incredibly painted entries in the various categories and I am fortunate to have had some success. I appreciate those that voted for my entries so a thank you to all of the people who voted and participated. 

I have always enjoyed the competition, it's motivated me to paint some things that have languished in the queue. However it the 2025 competition may have been my last, at least it will be the last time I specifically paint for the competition. As I get older my eyes aren't quite what they used to be and I suspect that my painting quality will begin to noticeably suffer (if it hasn't already). I have also learned that photographing your minis is almost as important as painting them and I have accepted the fact that I'm not a very good at taking photographs.

I may enter something from time to time but I won't pre-plan projects specifically for the competition. I have been left with a large collection of partially painted projects that way and now it's time to start focusing my painting towards completing projects. However, I think I will use the prize gift certificate to purchase some 10mm Irish and English for the Nine Years War. Maybe a small new project...and who knows, maybe I will enter them into the 2026 Pendraken competition. 

Cold Wars 2025

At the end of February, HMGS held the 2025 Cold Wars convention. Cold Wars always seemed to be the runt of the three major HMGS conventions and recently had take a few years hiatus so it was a surprise that it made a comeback. The venue choice was an old one from year's past...the Eisenhower Conference Center in Gettysburg, PA. 

Decades ago, I remember going to an HMGS convention at the Eisenhower but I didn't really remember much about my experience. 

Work has been pretty chaotic and demanding recently and this was an opportunity for me to meet up with my friends Bill and Rob. We could push some lead, roll some dice and share a beer. 

The Eisenhower was a short drive and upon arrival I was a little underwhelmed with the facilities. There were two hotels (Eisenhower and Aspire) and an old indoor sports complex. Games were held at both hotels while the sports complex hosted registration, Wally's, the vendor Hall and tournaments. The buildings were spread out on the site but we were blessed with mild weather so it could have been much worse. In addition, the food selection left a little bit to be desired. 

Enough of the negativity, the games were good and I ended up purchasing more than anticipated. HMGS put together a convention that allowed me to play games, but hobby stuff and spend time with friends...and that's all that matters. For that I am grateful. 

Bill, Rob and I played a game of Blitz Bowl where my Skaven lost 11-0 to the Dwarf team handled by Rob and Bill. I really enjoyed the game and need to paint up all the other teams I own. 

The star of the convention was Kurt Vonnegut's long lost boardgame GHQ. The well-known author was apparently a little-known board game designer. GHQ is a mix of WW2 and Chess. It really makes you appreciate the primacy of combined arms. There is artillery (motorized, conventional and heavy), infantry (motorized and foot) and paratroopers. 

Friday night we managed to continue our tradition of playing in Brian's Friday Night naval game. Brian is the best game GM and his games are always a blast. This game was the much loved, Form on the Admiral's Wake. The scenario was a Napoleonic clash between British and Franco-Spanish fleets. 

I was an admiral with British and we lost pretty convincingly. We had some interesting personalities on both sides and it was really entertaining to see how their various gaming styles came though on the tabletop. Always so much fun, win or lose. 

There were some very cool looking games and I have to thank Rob for taking these pictures.  

Friday's Wally's was pretty disappointing but Saturday brought some good stuff being sold. I purchased a bunch of 15mm Aztecs from Gladiator/Black Hat, 15mm resin supply dumps and a large bag of 6mm Baccus War of the Roses (which turned out to have more 6mm ACW, 6mm Gauls and 15mm WW2 Japanese than WotR figures). 

At the vendor Hall, I picked up a really cool book by AK Interactive which depicted armored vehicles used by various factions of the Lebanese Civil War and also a book on the battle of Salamis. 

One of the first projects that I completed was my 15mm IDF and PLO for the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. I was always tempted to expand out my armies to include a few Lebanese factions. Perhaps the eye candy will inspire me to get that kick started. 

Despite my initial misgivings, the convention turned out to be very rewarding in various ways. Most important was the opportunity to spend good time with great friends. 

Pendraken 2025 Painting Competition

It's that time of the year...approaching every February, I pause my various hobby projects and dedicate some resources and time to entering the Pendraken Painting Competition. I've had some decent but mixed success with the competition. Some entries won that I didn't expect while others I felt were better didn't. Regardless, it's fun and I enjoy seeing all of the other entries as many of these provide inspiration for future and current projects. 

Vehicle Category:

This is an Egyptian Su-100M from the Battle of the Chinese Farm that occurred October 15 to October 17, 1973. I made some modifications to make it the proper variant: extra fuel tanks, an additional storage compartment on the front right. I also opened up the one hatch and added a crew member. These conversions were either Pendraken bits, green stuff and plasticard. The inspiration for this was a scale model conversion that I saw on the internet. 

Fantasy/Sci-Fi Category:

Here we have the aforementioned Sardaukar on Planet Arrakis from the novel and movies Dune. I realize these fellas are a bit plain with the black uniforms. I added the three gold stripes to the right shoulder pads and tried to accentuate the neon face screens. The basing is plain because I wanted to stay true to the sands of Arrakis. 

Foot - 20th Century Category: 

For the 20th Century Foot category, I am entering this Chinese Infantry Platoon, 1950 Korea. They are based for FiveCore Company Command. Comprising of three infantry sections, there are also assault and leadership attachments that provide an additional order and a bonus in assaults. Additionally, they have some extra firepower with a Russian Maxim machine gun. 

I purchased these figures from Leon over at Pendraken during the 2024 Claymore Convention. At the time, I told Leon I would make these winter-themed with snow bases so I guess I made good on my promise.  

I will put the whole company with various attachments and support weapons into the Open Category - Army category for the competition. 

Open- Army Category:

For the Army category, I chose my Chinese PVA infantry company based for Company Command. 3 overstrength platoons with company heavy weapons, attachments and even a Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go tank in PVA livery. I was pleased with how easy they were to paint up and how the basing and snow effects came out. I really look forward to painting up the Americans as well as some winter scenery and finally getting them on the tabletop for some gaming.. 

Open - Single Base Category:

This base depicts a standard bearer and commissar for the Chinese Peoples Volunteer Army's 38th Army (which was really more like a corps). I found an image of the actual flag online and modified my own image. When I saw the flag, I thought it looked so cool that I had to recreate it. For wargaming purposes, it is just like a commissar in Company Commander (or is it Company Command?). The figures are from Pendraken's WW2 Soviets in winter kit.

Foot - Pre-20th Century Category:

I went with Sassanid Persian levy spearmen for this entry. Originally it was going to be Pathans based for TMWWBK but I called an audible at the last minute. I purchased these figures with the assistance of winnings from a previous painting competition and the plan was to base them up for Dux Bellorum (and using my new bases that I plan to redo my existing DB armies). Unfortunately I couldn't find my bag of dice frames so I based without them. When I find those frames, I will add them to that empty area in the back right corner. I wanted the Sassanids in muted, soft colors. That choice probably doesn't make them "pop" to the eye but I am fine with that.

Mounted Category:

Similar to the pre-2oth Century foot, it was going to be Pathan cavalry based for TMWWBK for the mounted category. I went with Sassanid Persian light horse instead. Muted pinks, creams and whites for the color palette and a green and yellow shield. This code could have really benefited from an additional sculpt to add variety.

And that's it, there are my entries for the 2025 Pendraken Painting Competition. I enjoyed the diversion of painting these however I didn't enjoy photographing them. It is a skillset that I am very ignorant to despite much research and practice! Definitely looking forward to resuming some of my long-neglected projects and ultimately starting some new ones.

T-34 Identification

I recently purchased this 10mm T-34 off of eBay. It was described as being Pendraken code SVV4 which is the T-34/85 variant. Does the turret look like a T-34/85? It appears to have a single hatch in the center of the turret roof. 

Any insight is appreciated. The plan (if it is in fact SVV4) is to clean it up and include it in my Chinese force for North Korea. 

UPDATE: I have been informed that I have a T-34/76 M1941 or M1942 model with 76mmL41 gun. It's a bit of a downer as I was planning to use this with my Chinese PVA forces and apparently the Chinese did not use the 76mm variant. I ended up ordering a T-34/85 and a Japanese Ha-Go tank and will use one or both for my Chinese PVA forces. 

Big Battle Ravenfeast Norman infantry

With the Vikings and Anglo-Saxon armies complete, I have turned my attention towards the third and final army of the 1066 campaign, the Normans of William the Bastard. 

Unlike the other two armies, the Normans have a rather decent sized contingent of cavalry. They also have some crossbowmen and archers. The Normans have a much smaller infantry core: 6 Norman infantry stands and 3 stands of Flemish infantry. 

Here are the completed Norman infantry, I opted to use Old Glory's heavy infantry (SVN-304) which have chainmail in addition to helmets, shields and spears. I will use the medium infantry for the Flemish. 

Side view of the stands to show the armor details. These were very easy sculpts to paint and even the shield designs went quickly. I have a feeling the Flemish/medium infantry will be a bit trickier. 

Frozen Chosin...

Or is that the Frozen Chosen? Any matter, when I went attended the Claymore wargaming convention in Edinburgh, I had the pleasure of chatting with Leon from Pendraken. I had placed a small order for pickup in advance but as I was standing there, I had pounds in my pocket that needed to be spent and lots of tempting miniatures on display. 

I opted to buy Korean War Americans and Chinese army packs in winter kit. It was completely impulse, I had never really considered collecting, painting or gaming the conflict (not entirely true, I think I purchased a pack of 15mm Chinese a few decades ago and maybe painted a couple and then sold them off, but I digress...). I told Leon I would paint some up for the competition with snowy scenic basing. 

Being a man of my word, I embarked on this project. I would initially paint up a platoon of Chinese with some support weapons. The army pack included infantry, officers, radios (alot of radios in fact) and 3 mortars with crews. I placed a small order for some additional support weapons and figures for both the Americans and Chinese. Hopefully that arrives in time for me to get them painted up as well. 

Here are my completed Chinese thus far. The uniforms were painted with a watered down, 50/50 mix of VMC 70.914 Green Ochre and VMC 70.821 German Camo Beige WW2. Green bits were Vallejo Game 72.145 Heavy Grey (which is actually green). 

Basing was accomplished with Golden fiber paste to create texture which was painted with Americana Dark Chocolate craft paint, given a wash of AP Strong Tone then drybrushed with CMC 70.843 Cork Brown. Brownish yellow static grass was applied and then GW Valhallan Blizzard (a very effective product). The reason why I am being descriptive with the paints and techniques is because I will invariably forget how I accomplished the look so I can use this as a reference later on. 

Here is a close up of an infantry base (representing a section) and the platoon command stand which includes an officer in an overcoat. 

Overall I'm quite pleased with how they turned out. I photographed them on a frozen tundra gaming mat that I purchased on sale from Cigar Box. I imagine I will paint up some snow covered hills and outcrops for additional scenery. I will have to do some research on the battles to get some good inspiration for scenarios.