Wargames @ farfaraway.org » Mercenaries

Making Beach-style Bases

owen — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 11:44:36 +0000

I’ve used lots of different ‘piratey’ bases (see here and here) for my Warmachine Privateer army, but a sandy beach was one I hadn’t attempted until I was working on the last unit of Thamarite Cultists. I could’t find any good tutorials on this, but I decided I’d give it a go.

Step 1: Since I was using Warmachine rounded-edge bases, I decided to fill the inside of the base with Milliput. For these kinds of modelled bases I always work with the model off the base. Before the Milliput dried I pressed the base into fine (but not too fine) sand.

Step 2: When this dried I used a watered dow PVA mix to liberally coat the base and again dipped it in the sand. I’m not too concerned about uniform coverage as walked on sand is rarely smooth.

Steps 3 and 4: Repeat Step 2.

Step 4: Attached the miniature to the base. As always time spent pinning them on now will save heartache later on.

Step 5: Undercoat the miniature. I decided to undercoat these guys black, which was better for the miniature, but would mean a few more steps in painting the base.

Step 6: Paint the miniature. This is easy and should only take a minute or two, right?!

Step 7: Paint the base. I tidied up any mess from the earlier painting using Chaos Black. Next I used two watery coats of Khemri Brown to get rid of most of the black. A watery coat of Iyanden Darksun (a deep yellow colour) was applied next. I then drybrushed the base with this yellow colour. Next I mixed it 50:50 with Bleached Bone and did a light drybrush. Finally there was one more pure Bleached Bone drybrush. Take some Chaos Black and tidy the edge of the base.

(I painted the base and then the miniature, but that was the wrong way around as then you need to be very tidy when working on shoes, etc.)

Step 8: Add Seaweed. I grabbed some moss from the back garden and left it to dry overnight. I mixed a very watery PVA mix and then dipped the ‘seaweed’ in it and added it to the base.

That sounds like lots of steps, but when your basing a whole unit there is very little hanging around as (certainly with the painting) once one step is completed on all of the miniatures you can go back to the first model and start the next step. Easy and effective.

Owen

Phinneus Shae is a hard man to kill!

owen — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 20:00:34 +0000

I’m trying to get some experience using my Privateers and I thought I’d start out with some small games using Shae. I was playing a 15pt game against Khador on Tuesday and I thought it’d be a good opportunity to try out the following list -

Captain Phinneus Shae
- Freebooter
Press Gangers (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Sea Dog Crew (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Mr. Walls Sea Dog Crew Quartermaster
Bosun Grogspar
Doc Killingsworth
First Mate Hawk
Lord Rockbottom

This is a Tier 2 list and boy do you get a lot of miniatures for 15pts. I made my first mistake at the list construction phase. The Freebooter’s attacks are only POW 14 and the next most powerful attacks come from Shae with Blow the Man Down (POW 15) and Storm Rager cast on himself for a POW 15 melee attack. It was going to be difficult to dent Khadoran armour with that. My opponent had the Khador battle box and a unit of Widowmakers. Sorscha could immobilise much of my army as only Shae and the Freebooter would be able to shake effect.

My second mistake was made on my first turn. The Press Gangers and the Sea Dogs (because of Mr. Walls) were advance deployed with the solos as close as they could be. The mistake I made was moving the whole army forward and leaving Shae until last. He has two upkeep spells that I wanted to get out – Phantasm on the Sea Dogs and Storm Rager on Hawk. Unfortunately, my preferred targets were out of range. I moved him up and just cast Phantasm as Hawk was still out of range, but this left him behind the army when I’d prefer him to be in the middle of everything.

Anyway, the game went okay with Shae dealing most of the damage to the Khadoran ‘jacks and the infantry slowing the ‘jacks and dealing with the Widowmakers. Both armies were whittled down to pretty much the ‘caster and this is where Shae shown. He cast Storm Rager on himself and began camping focus. On a turn he upkeeps it he is DEF 17 with ARM 21. Even if you manage to knock him down he’s still DEF 17. MAT 9 and POW+S 15 is just gravy.

The game ended with Shae running into melee with Sorscha. She managed to critically freeze him, but couldn’t get through the armour. On his turn he shook the stationary and finished it.

Phinneus Shae is indeed a hard man to kill!

Owen

Talion Charter: Photographs

owen — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:00:37 +0000

There’s a complete gallery below, but first up are the recently completed Thamarite Cultists -

And Fiona the Black -

Everybody –

Owen

Talion Charter: Complete (Video)

owen — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:28:47 +0000

This turned out to be a bigger painting job than expected. Because I bought a few of the miniatures already (excellently) painted I had a standard to aim for. My painting has been getting better over time, but this project really pushed me. I’ve spent significantly longer on each miniature than I have with previous armies. There are two reasons for that – the first is that I wanted to achieve a better standard and that takes time, and the second is that the pirates are all individuals. It’s hard to production line paint them like a standard unit. That said, I now have a beautifully painted army, so, no complaints! So, that’s it, my MkII project is complete (apart from maybe a ‘jack or two!).

This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

I’ve just finished photographing the whole army, so I’ll post them later this week.

Owen

Fiona the Black and Thamarite Cultists: Work in Progress

owen — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 02:00:31 +0000

No, not the name of a terrible 1970′s soft rock band. Nope, this is the final Sea Dogs Crew unit for my Privateer army. I decided to paint them as Thamarite Cultists to complement Fiona the Black. They’re a work-in-progress, but are nearly finished. Anyway, here’s a quick video.

This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

I’ll probably pick up one or two more ‘jacks, but that’s it for the pirates for now.

Owen

Privateer Tier Previews

owen — Fri, 28 May 2010 21:34:54 +0000

We’ve been treated to some Privateer treats with the previewing of the Shae and Fiona Tiers. Bell of Lost Souls have also previewed the Fiona the Black Tiers here. I haven’t painted Fiona yet, but I’ll have a look at this Tier too. I have a good few more Pirates to paint and painting them as Thamarite cultists would be a nice change of pace.

The Shae Tiers are in No Quarter #30 and have already been implemented on the Forward Kommander Army Builder. Here’s a quick 35pt list I put together -

Captain Phinneus Shae
- Mariner
- Commodore Cannon & Crew (Commodore and 3 Crewmen)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Press Gangers (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Sea Dog Crew (Leader and 9 Grunts)
Mr. Walls Sea Dog Crew Quartermaster
3 Sea Dog Crew Riflemen
Bosun Grogspar
Dirty Meg
- Buccaneer
Doc Killingsworth
First Mate Hawk
Lord Rockbottom

This is a Tier 3 list. I get all of the solos I want at a bargain basement points cost. My army will be lightning fast in the first turn game and I get a better chance of winning the starting roll. Sweet!

It’s good to be a pirate!

Owen

Dirty Meg: Complete

owen — Wed, 19 May 2010 20:00:10 +0000

I’m trying not to get totally sidetracked by other projects, but in the last while terrain, Malifaux, Epic Armageddon and Flames of War have all distracted my from painting my Privateers. I’ve had a unit of Press Gangers and Dirty Meg on the go for a couple of months, but they kept getting bumped by the other projects. Anyway, excuses, excuses! Here’s Dirty Meg finished -

She’s a pretty easy minature to paint. I started with the flesh – Tallaran Flesh, two watered down Ogryn Flesh washes and then added progressive amounts of Elf Flesh to Tallaran Flesh. Next up I painted the apron and blouse with Khemri Brown. I lightened the apron with Snakebite Leather and then added Bleached Bone for a highlight. The blouse is Bleached Bone over the brown and then highlights with progressive amounts of Skull White added. Her trousers were based Shadow Grey and I added Space Wolves Grey for the highlights. They were washed with Asurmen Blue. Her hair is Snakebite Leather mixed with Khador Red Highlight (an orange colour). They’re all of the main colours. Everything (apart form the trousers) received a 1:1:1 wash of water, Devlan Mud and Badab Black. It makes her look appropriately grimy.

I now have a 35pt force painted. I’d rather not field this many solos at 35pts, but until the Press Gangers are completed this is the only fully painted Talion Charter force I can field at this size.

Captain Phinneus Shae
- Buccaneer
- Commodore Cannon & Crew (Commodore and 3 Crewmen)
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Sea Dog Crew (Leader and 9 Grunts)
- Mr. Walls Sea Dog Crew Quartermaster
- 2 Sea Dog Crew Riflemen
Bosun Grogspar
Dirty Meg
- Mariner
Doc Killingsworth
First Mate Hawk
Lord Rockbottom

Owen

Commodore Cannon and Crew: Complete

owen — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:25:30 +0000

The water tower and coal store terrain project distracted me a little and progress on the Commodore was slower than expected, but here it is now.

I received about 15 pirates (non-Privateer Press) from Ugo and they are fantastic sculpts. I’ve cleaned off a few Press Gangers and some of the models I received, so they are next on my painting list. They will bring my Privateer force to 35pts. I’ll use the additional models Ugo sent as another Sea Dog Crew unit for my jump to 50pts. I will probably add another ‘jack too!

Owen

Mr. Walls: Complete & Privateer Army Progress

owen — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:00:43 +0000

A saltier sea dog you won’t meet anywhere else…

I sculpted bases for the Commodore and its crew last night. I’ll clean off the miniatures and attach them today (hopefully). I got a text message from Ugo yesterday to say that he found twelve pirate miniatures (including a Goblin pirate!) during a Spring clean. He’s posting them to me, so I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in the box.

So, here’s the 35pt painting checklist I set for myself back in January -

Captain Phinneus Shae
Buccaneer
Dirty Meg *
Mariner *
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Press Gangers (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Sea Dog Crew (Leader and 9 Grunts)
2 Sea Dog Crew Riflemen
Mr. Walls Sea Dog Crew Quartermaster
Bosun Grogspar
Doc Killingsworth
First Mate Hawk
Lord Rockbottom

That’s just leaves Dirty Meg and some Press Gangers to do from the original list. The Commodore has now also made it to the painting list. I think it’s time to start thinking about my 50pt army. I’d love another heavy ‘jack and I think more Sea Dogs would be great.

Owen

Mr. Walls: Work in Progress

owen — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:27:40 +0000

Here is Mr. Walls about 80% complete. The metals will be the final stage and I’m going to try to keep them quite bright to lighten the overall colour scheme for the miniature.

I picked up the Commodore today, so along with the Press Gangers that will round out 35pts of Privateers. I’ll probably tackle Fiona the Black and Dirty Meg then, and will consider adding another mercenary ‘jack.

Owen

Lady Aiyana and Holt: Complete

owen — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:18:28 +0000

And just to prove I paint the backs too …

Mr. Walls is next on the painting bench.

Owen

Lady Aiyana: Complete

owen — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:28:33 +0000

Aiyana took longer than expected to complete – I haven’t gotten that much painting in recently. I didn’t want her to completely match Holt. Here outfit reflects the burgundy and light blue on Holt’s coat, but the bright red and brass are distinctive to Aiyana. On the tabletop it should be clear who is the client and who is the bodyguard.

As with Holt (and several of the Privateers) the base still needs some ‘liquid’ and then a matt varnish.

Owen

Master Holt: Complete

owen — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:04:02 +0000

Here he is. It took about an hour to finish him, so I reckon there’s about 4-5 hours work in this guy. Aiyana is next up, but she’s only about 20% complete at this stage.

The base still needs some ‘liquid’ and then the whole miniature needs a varnish.

Owen

Master Holt: Work in Progress

owen — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:38:45 +0000

Here’s a work-in-progress shot of Master Holt. He’s a beautifully detailed miniature with a great pose. I’m about 70% finished. The leather work, boots and base need finishing. The glasses, gloves and guns haven’t seen any paint yet. As you can see he’s bases on one if the green stuff bases I did last week. When placed side by side with Aiyana the bases line up and they look like a mini diorama.

Lady Aiyana is also on the painting table. I’ve started her by doing colours that match Holt at the same time as I was painting them on him, but I’ll wait until he’s finished before I tackle the rest.

Owen

Making Wooden Pier Bases using Balsa

owen — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:59:26 +0000

Here’s another quick tutorial on making bases. This time I’m making a wooden pier base. This approach can be used to create bases that look like ship decks or tavern floors too. The materials are pretty straight forward too. You’ll need a base of the appropriate size, a small coin (preferably one with a smooth edge), a piece of 3mm balsa wood and some Super Glue. You’ll need a hobby knife too.

Make sure the base is cleaned of mold lines and venting, then start off by gluing the coin to the base. Use the hobby knife to cut a 1cm wide strip that is about 2.5/3cm long. If you cut along the grain the knife will go though it like butter. 3mm is a little thick for the wood, so take the blade and use it to slice the strip in half. This gives a rough finish and it perfect for the exposed wood. Make as many strips as you need to finish the base.

Glue the strips to the coin and cut a small piece of balsa to represent a spot for tying up boats. You could leave it there, but it might be worth coating the wood in heavily watered down PVA glue (1:1) to toughen it slightly. If you’re doing a ship deck you should cut the wood so that it looks like planks and fit them inside the raised edges of the base.

Owen

Sculpting your own bases with Green Stuff

owen — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 11:19:53 +0000

I’ve been working on my Privateers for about a month now and they are coming along nicely. Most of them are on custom resin bases that I bought with the miniatures. These bases represent wooden and stone piers, but I’ve run out and am waiting for a consignment of bases before I can start work on my next unit (the Press Gangers).

I’ve written a basic basing guide before, but this time I decided to attempt to sculpt a couple of simple stone pier bases. With these done I can get Lady Aiyana and Master Holt assembled and painted. Here’s a step-by-step guide of what I did.

Step 0: What You’ll Need

The base I’m planning to build is going to be quite simple. It will be based on a 30mm rounded edge base (the kind Privateer Press use for small-based miniatures). I’m going to use half of a Games Workshop 20mm base as the bulk of the pier. Green Stuff will be used to sculpt the stones and Super Glue to stick the components together. That’s all of the materials required. On the tools side I’m going to use a sculpting tool, but a tooth pick/cocktail stick would do fine. You’ll also need a sharp bladed hobby knife. I also have an old plastic blister to supply something with a flat surface. Other than that I have a glass with some water, a piece of tissue and a bit of rough edged balsa wood (to make impressions on the back of the base – I’ll get to that later).

Step 1: Building the Basic Structure

When performing and kind of sculpting you want to minimise the amount of Green Stuff you use. It should only really be used for the actual detail and if possible used something else to form the structure. This is where the 20mm base comes in. The slot in these bases is off-centre, so I’m going to cut of the large half using the hobby knife. I also clean any mold lines or sprue marks from the 30mm base. Once these components are ready I used the Super glue to stick the 20mm half base to the 30mm base, being careful to try to cover the slot in the 30mm base with it. Ok – that’s the basic structure built.

Step 2: Adding the Green Stuff
There are several different types of two-part modelling putty, but I’m using Green Stuff as it’s the one I’m most familiar with. To prepare the Green Stuff cut a section of about 1.5cm (1/2″) off the strip and remove the plastic. As the yellow and blue parts are in the strip side-by-side the bit in the middle usually cures (i.e. it’s a bit hard!). I use the hobby knife to remove this tiny middle bit. The first thing to know about working with Green Stuff is that it is sticky. Before working with it I wet my fingers with a small bit of water. Now blend the yellow and blue bits until it is green.

Again using your finger, spread it over the 20mm half base structure. If you wanted to leave it cure for 10-15 minutes it’d make the next step easier, but I didn’t and it turned out fine.

Step 3: Sculpting the Base
After step two the base will be covered in finger prints. Use the empty plastic blister to gently flatten and smooth the Green Stuff. Again – make sure the plastic is a little wet or it’ll stick to the Green Stuff and possibly pull it off the base. If the blister doesn’t quite smooth out everything us a flat part of the (wet) modelling tool to smooth the rest.

Now it’s time to sculpt the stones. Lesson one in any sculpting is to decide what you want to do before you put the tool to the putty. I wanted defined edging stones that were reasonably big. I wanted the vertical edge (i.e. the one that goes into the “water”) to have long stones, with the bottom ones looking like they were submerged. The stones on the top would be small.

That’s the basic base built and sculpted now. I used the rough balsa edge to imprint on the back side of the base. I guess this would represent the fine rubble foundation on which the stone pier is built, but I did it as sculpting stones all the way around the base would look weird!

Leave your base to cure for about 24 hours and you can then pin your miniature to it. Viola, not too hard at all. If you are feeling adventerous, you can also add more detail at this stage. You could sculpt a sack of grain or dip a piece of fine string in some watered down PVA and add it to look like rope.

I’ve also built a wooden pier base from balsa. I’ll write a short article on that soon.

Owen

Arrr… here be Pirates!

owen — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:50:09 +0000

Progress on my Privateer force, my MkII project, is going pretty well. Here is a gallery of photographs -

Captain Phinneas Shae

First Mate Hawk

Lord Rockbottom, Expetidion Financier

Doc Killingsworth

Bosun Grogspar

Mariner

Buccaneer

Sea Dog Crew

Sea Dog Riflemen

As I mentioned before this is a strange project. I bought some of the miniatures painted. Everything shown here has seen some paint from me to touch them up, but the Mariner, Buccaneer and Bosun Grogspar were painted from scratch, as was one of the Sea Dogs. They are coming along nicely now. I’ll post a painting guide for the ‘jacks soon.

Owen

Mariner Heavy Warjack: Work in Progress

owen — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:07:01 +0000

Okay – here’s another work-in-progress shot of my mercenaries. The Mariner has been on the painting table for about a week and a half at this stage, so you can see that progress is slow. It’s coming together nicely with only the grey areas and detailing to do. It shouldn’t take much to finish it.

I’ve nothing assembled, but I think I might tackle some more characters/solos next. I’m waiting for bases (Victorian Sewers!) from BattleCry Miniatures, a new Dublin-based company. They’re in production at the moment.

Owen

Irusk vs Shae (25pt Battle Report; VASSAL)

owen — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:50:33 +0000

Irusk did not like the south of Khador in the middle of the, albeit short, summer. It was hot, too damn hot, and was frequented by the most villainous filth. These pirates were men without honour, fighting for coin and caring about nothing but their own hide. The clear weather allowed them to hit the coast wherever the chose and flee back to the see when the army closed in on them. Repeated raids in this area, and specifically on this Khadoran military outpost, had drawn his attention here. Every raid had a purpose that revealed these pirates to be more than mindless thugs. They were planning something big. Large amounts of black powder had been stolen and they came close taking cortexes in transit past Kulvorn Bay.

They would not get away this time. The ambush had been primed. Irusk could sense the Devastator twitching – it’s boiler was at maximum capacity and it knew battle was about to commence.

Yesterday I smashed my long distance VASSAL record! Admittedly it was only my second game, but this game had 6500km, of mostly ocean, between the players. I had a fantastic opponent in Clayton, who is based in Orlando. He fielded a Privateer force lead by Shae. They would face Irusk in a 25pt ‘caster kill game.

THE ARMIES
Here’s Clayton’s list. I think Clay would agree that the list had one ‘jack too many for Shae to adequately allocate focus to. That said all of the other elements are solid and the Commodore really frightens me. That cannon has some nasty options.

Phinneus Shae
- Freebooter
- Freebooter
- Buccaneer
6 Sea Dog Crew
3 Sea Dog Rifleman
First Mate Hawk
Commodore Cannon and Crew
Lord Rockbottom

This is a pretty standard list for Khador, but again it probably has one ‘jack too many. Irusk has one great ‘jack spell, Superiority, and on the Devastator it is fantastic. The IFP will go head to head against the Sea Dogs. I don’t have the solos to go up against Hawk or Rockbottom, so I’ll have to try other tricks to get them!

Kommandant Irusk
- Destroyer
- Devastator
4 Battle Mechaniks
6 Iron Fang Pikemen
Iron Fang Officer & Standard
Widowmakers

THE GAME

The pirates had with them one of the biggest cannons Irusk had ever seen. It looked to have the potential to total a ‘jack in a single shot, so he was careful to keep the Devastator out of range as it advanced along the wall of one of the outpost.

He initially sent the Iron Fangs to deal with the cannon up the right flank, but thought the better of it when he saw the speed and ferocity with which the pirates advanced through the middle of the battlefield. He made the ground soft under their feet and ordered all infantry into the centre to meet the pirate threat.

The Destroyer dropped a bombard shot on the cannon and seemed to almost destroy it. It was with dismay that Irusk saw the ‘jack hurled to the ground by return fire from the artillery piece.

On the left the Devastator ran to engage both a Buccaneer and Freebooter who had earlier cleared out the Widowmakers. Their blows bounced off it’s thick armour and when it opened up to rain death on them they were almost crippled.

Out of nowhere another Freebooter trampled aside infantry to end up standing right in front of Irusk. The undisturbed Iron Fangs swung at it and severely damaged the enemy ‘jack. Irusk and the remaining Iron Fangs finished it.

The Destroyer stood up and exacted it’s revenge on the cannon. The pirates in the centre were cut down by the disciplined strikes of the well trained Khadorans. The pirate warcaster’s force was now severly depleted.

Realizing that living to fight another day was in his best interest he fired a couple of menacing shots towards Irusk and fled the field.

All of the screenshots are in this set. In the images each round is broken down into two turns a (Clay’s) and b (mine).

That was a good game and Clay is an excellent opponent. My dice luck was ridiculously good. I made an unholy number of tough checks on my feat turn and every damage roll I rolled was massive! Against that kind of luck it was hard to formulate a response.

Sending the IFP against the cannon would have been a mistake. It’s spray attack would have decimated them. The Destroyer did a good job taking out the Commodore and the Devastator gets MVP for taking out two ‘jacks. He had Superiority up all game. It’s a great spell.

Thanks again to Clay for such a great game.

Owen

PS I don’t know why some of the screenshots have white areas. Must be a VASSAL issue.

Buccaneer Light Warjack: Complete

owen — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:42:38 +0000

This is just a quick post while I finish two battle reports. This guy is complete now. I’ll write the colour guide when I’m working on the Mariner and I’ll take some proper photos of the Privateer progress to date too.

Owen

Buccaneer Light Warjack: Work in Progress

owen — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:00:58 +0000

Just a quick teaser shot of the Buccaneer. The navy colour is done, as are the flames inside the head. I think I’m going to go with battleship grey on the other plate areas. The metal details will probably be brass and the gears steel, but that may change as I finish painting him. I need to think about some rust wear too. This guy is a tester for the Mariner, so if he turns out well the heavy will be painted in a similar manner.

I’ll write a colour guide when I’m finished this little guy.

Owen

Bosun Grogspar: Work-in-Progress

owen — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:02:27 +0000

Here’s a shot of the work-in-progress for Bosun Grogspar, the lates guy for my Mercenary Privateer force. He’s nearly there, just a little base work to do. He has a really dynamic pose and was thankfully pretty easy to paint. I went with dark Trollkin flesh and orange eyes. The rest of the colours are kept pretty earthy to reflect his ‘roots’. The one flamboyance is his peaked cap and the silver skull badge (and the stick of dynamite on the end of his harpoon!

Okay – the ‘jacks are up next. The Buccaneer will be first ‘cos he’s only little!

Captain Phinneus Shae
Buccaneer
Dirty Meg *
Mariner *
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Press Gangers (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Sea Dog Crew (Leader and 9 Grunts)
2 Sea Dog Crew Riflemen
Mr. Walls Sea Dog Crew Quartermaster
Bosun Grogspar
Doc Killingsworth
First Mate Hawk
Lord Rockbottom

The unpainted list is getting shorter. The ‘jacks are primed and based, but the rest are still in their blisters.

Owen

Warmachine MkII Project: Privateers

owen — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 12:26:11 +0000

This painting project is starting out a little strangely. About 3 months ago I bought 25pts of partially (some almost completely!) painted miniatures from Ugo to start the Privateer army. They included Shae, a bunch of solos and a unit of Sea Dogs. There were also two ‘jacks, but they were only undercoated. What makes this strange is that Ugo is probably the best painter in our club, so those partially painted miniatures set a high standard for the rest of my army. I’m no slouch when it comes to painting, but this is an opportunity to up my painting skills.

So far I’ve cleaned up and completed the miniatures pictured, the unit of Sea Dogs and two Riflemen. In the process of finishing the (maximum sized) Sea Dogs unit I’ve had to paint a miniature from scratch to match Ugo’s style. Here’s a side-by side photo -

The guy on the right was painted by Ugo and the one on the left by me in the last day or so. I think they are of comparable quality, but my guy is slightly darker (obviously with the flesh colour, but also with the duller colours). Ugo uses brighter highlights than I’m used to, so I’m on a learning curve. So far so good.

The 35pt list I want to complete is -

Captain Phinneus Shae
Buccaneer
Dirty Meg *
Mariner *
Lady Aiyana & Master Holt
Press Gangers (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Sea Dog Crew (Leader and 9 Grunts)
2 Sea Dog Crew Riflemen
Mr. Walls Sea Dog Crew Quartermaster
Bosun Grogspar
Doc Killingsworth
First Mate Hawk
Lord Rockbottom

The miniatures in bold are finished. Grogspar is next on the painting table and then the ‘jacks.

Owen