Major Ballsup's Hobby Shed

As is my tradition April is time for the first update of the year.  The gaming update for April is here .   At the start of the year this is what the doing Ovelist looked like (detail here ): And here's the updated list as of the end of April: Big ticks are for completed projects, little ticks show how many months I've completed something for that project.  The only changes are: the 1980's project has now solidified into The Iran-Iraq War project; and I've added a square for The Old West.  This is a project I've been adding to for 20 years or more and I've recently picked up some superb Native Americans to work on. The starting balance as of January 2025 was : 28mm - 43 figures (21 Norse Age, 8 Verrotwood, 10 WW2, 4 Burrows & Badgers) 20mm - 24 figures (24 WW2) (this was 26 but 2 had missing/broken bits so I binned them) 15mm - 2 afvs (2 WW2) 6mm - 44 figures (11 WW2, 33 1980s, 9 1980s afvs) The current balance is: 28mm - 30 figures (8 Verrotwood, 10 WW...

Here's the first third update of 2025, a summary of my gaming up until the end of April.  The doing update can be found here . This was the gaming Ovelist at the start of 2025 (detail here ): This is the current position: I've played six games.  This is not as many as I'd have liked (I was aiming for eight, two a month), but it's six more than I did in the first third of last year so I’m happy enough.   Sci-Fi/ Post-Apoc  - I used Space Weirdos to play a game set in my fictional neo-Soviet city of Grozniansk ( AAR here ). Rome’s   Wars  - I gave the Early Imperial Rome collection that’d I’d completed last year its first outing with a game of Midgard ( AAR here ). 18th   Century  - For the first time in years I got my small collection of 15mm Pirates forces on the table for a game of Sword Weirdos ( AAR here ). Second   World   War  - My other games were all set in Hungary during late 1944/early 1945 using my 20mm collection. ...

April has been and gone and a third of 2025 with it.  It's been quite a busy hobby month with Salute in the middle, which I've always seen as the start of my hobby year  As much as possible I’ve tried to clear any bits and pieces that have been hanging about for awhile. Completed I finished off the figures I'd started on before going away at the end of March: Six 28mm Victrix Armoured Rus warriors.  That's the last of the Dark Age figures for now and you can see more  here . 28mm Oathsworn Miniatures Burrows & Badgers Kingfisher Warrior and Badger Mage.  The last of my Oathsworn, you can see more here . I also started on the revamp of the 16th C collection.  I rebased some of the figures and added magnets to these and a few others that were already on round 15mm bases.  I've got a fair number to do so I'll just do a few as and when between other jobs over the next couple of months.  On the terrain front I finished: Two 6mm wooded areas.  ...

Introduction The First Century A.D.  In Roman occupied Germania, Lowenbrau a local warlord has rallied his tribe to strike at the hated invaders.  A small Roman force under Misserablus Buggarus has been assembled to show the Gemans the folly of opposing the might of Rome. This is a 400 points per side game of Midgard, using Scenario 1: Battle.  The force lists can be found here . Starting positions Turn 1 The Germans are the attackers and their leader Lowenbrau wastes no time in sending his whole force forwards.  His impetus young warriors the Geoguth, move twice eager to get at the Romans.  Anxious to enhance his reputation Rauchbier the Minor Hero attaches himself to the unit.  The German Woodsmen Archers end their movement just short of being able to shoot at the Romans. Misserablus Buggarus orders his Romans  forwards to prepare to meet the inevitable German charge.  Slipiuptus the Roman Optio who is attached to the Auxiliary units, spend...

Here's my latest completed Burrows and Badgers figures, a Badger Mage and a  Kingfisher Warrior.  Not wanting to spoil such splendid sculpts, I thought long and hard before applying any paint.  I started with the Badger, using multiple thin washes of thinned down Vallejo Model Colour (VMC) Matt Black over an undercoat of Citadel Base Wraithbone, until I got the look I envisaged, which was that of a grizzled old boar.  I varied the depth of washes on different areas to get the right look, with the paws and legs being darker. This went surprisingly well and with a few highlights of Wraithbone, all the fur was done.   The clothing wasn't quite so straightforward and it took three attempts to get his robes right.  I'd worked out a rough colour palette but couldn't get a green shade that worked with the scarf, cuffs and bag colours I wanted to use.  Then in the words of the much missed Bob Ross,  I had a happy accident.  I was painting some 6...

Following on from the half dozen unarmoured warriors I finished last month ( here ), I completed their armoured comrades at the beginning of April. As with the unarmoured figures, these went together very well.  I was wary of a couple of the figures as they had separate legs and torsos, but they're very cleverly designed with a little nub that helps to secure the parts just right.  These figures look really dynamic.  If you've made other Victrix Dark Age kits, you'll recognise a couple of the bodies and arms.  Victrix are very good at taking what they've done before and tweaking it for each kit.  It's basically the dolly technique that the likes of Artizan, Empress and Perry Miniatures et al. have been using for years.  I'd like to see some more unique sculpts in each kit but there you go As ever there's plenty of head and arm options.  I chose the most Eastern looking to differentiate them as much as possible from the Norse they'll be fighting.  ...