MINI WARGAMING: 28mm Barbary Pirates (27 April 2008)

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TOP: My work bench is as cluttered as ever!

Hi All,

Sorry for not having updated recently... as I might have previously mentioned, I've put most of my efforts into finding a new job and pay dirt finally hit. After going to what seemed like about a million interviews, I finally got picked up and started a new job just this past week. It's a good job and came with much better pay, a shorter commute, and a great, new boss. In other words, I'm very happy and that means I can start putting my "job search" energy back into my blog! Huzzah!

Gaming has been good and the April MWS meeting was nothing short of fantastic. We had something like six games, which I'll have to write about later. Several of the local guys have taken a keen interest in FOG (Field of Glory), Osprey's new ancients rule set. That excites me since I've put alot of energy in to building some ancients armies this year, specifically a Samurai army, a barbarian army, and an Arab army. I'm looking forward to getting those minis into action!

Among my gaming musing lately has been the 28mm pirate project I've been working on. I now have a goodly-sized 28mm undead pirate crew built to complement my historical crews. I have also got an Orc / Goblin crew planned, but only a few fellows built so far. And the latest idea to captivate me has been the idea to build a 28mm Barbary Pirates / Corsairs crew and ship. I still have now firm idea what to use for a ship since the Xebec is so distinctive and noone makes a perfect match in 28mm that I'm aware of yet; I might just have to scratch-build one...

I posted in several forums soliciting advice:

Here:

http://forum.backofbeyond.de/viewtopic.php?t=5148

And here among others:

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=140000

But enough of my writing, please allow me share some minis photos with you:

TOP: Three RAFM Corsairs...

My find of three packs of the above minis are what inspired me to start a Barbary Pirates / Corsairs project. The package was labelled RAFM JT-10 CORSAIRS and came with three crewmen. The kneeling, be-turban'ed fellow on the left is armed with a musket. The center fellow is a truly gruesome sculpt with an oddly proportioned body (huge head, Popeye-like arms, etc.), but nevertheless I like 'im! His left hand comes with a pistol while his right has an oddly positioned knife. I think I'll be modifying him. The fellow on the right looks more properly Colonial Egyptian with a fez, baggy clothes, and a cutlass. Again, I think I'll play with some weapon swaps with this guy and perhaps reposition his head.

With the exception of the middle guy, the other two figures are decidedly old-school 25mm and wouldn't fit in perfectly the the overgrown scale-creep 28mm pirate figures made by most manufacturers these days. However, I'm not so picky so they'll do fine by me... even if some of their crew mates will have been obviously eating their Wheaties and genetically modified "Frankenfood."

TOP: A mix of motley old North-African & Arab sailors...

The above three figures have come from used bins and off trades for some time. The fellow holding a small chest of loot on the left is unidentified although he looks like an old 25mm Hinchcliff to me. The fellow in the middle is Ral Partha and he needs a new spear tip, of which I have a few waiting in my bitz box for him. And the fellow on the right who looks suspiciously like Sinbad came from a 1980's Grenadier line if I'm not mistaken.

TOP: 28mm Sudanese Spearmen...

My Arab WAB army is all but done with nearly 95% of the figures painted. I'm re-basing some off of fender washers onto some Litko 20mmx20mm's that I ordered. These 28mm Sudanese Spearmen are probably Artisan and Gripping Beast, but I'm not sure which are which. While they are meant for 28mm WAB El Cid, I'll have them double up for Crusades Saracens as well... And who knows, a few might even join the Barbary Pirates...

TOP: Another batch of old Arab warriors...

The above based lot have come from a variety of trades and flea markets. I have no idea who manufactured them except for the un-primed fellow leading the unit. He is Gripping Beast and out of a command pack if I'm not mistaken. Behind the Arab warriors, are some cheap plastic plants I based on fender washers.

TOP: The un-washed (...and un-primed) masses of undead pirate crew...

And lastly, the last photo is of some undead pirate crew along with Flagship Games ships in progress. The crew come from a variety of sources including Reaper, Black Cat Minis, Moonlight Minis and others.

May your gaming be good and...

Have a great Sunday!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (...if it is indeed an infringement).

MINI WARGAMING: "28mm Undead Roman Legions On the March!" (3 November 2007)

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TOP: Box art for Zvezda Set #8801 Cursed Legion

Hi All,

I've spent some time the last few days working on the 28mm Undead Hordes of Master Necromancer Maksimok. My strategy for building this army has been a little unorthodox... way back at the end of 2006, my buddy Nils invited me to join his gaming group's Warhammer Fantasy Battles (WHFB) camapign, and I decided to allow myself to do so bacuase I've always wanted to build a 28mm undead fantasy army. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s I used to salivate over all of the cool undead lines that companies like Ral Partha, Grenadier and others used to manufacture. Those figures were so inspiring. And roughly twenty years later, this was my chance.

But I digress, my strategy in building this army was to buy no more than 10% of it new... everything else would come from buying used collections. And I have. And the result of that has been a very gnarly mismatched collections of figures. And, at that, I've ended up with a vast variety of undead figure genres as well. I had originally only intended to build an undead Vampire Counts army with a Gothic Horror theme, but now I have much more. Here are the current plans of which armies to make out of my figure stocks:

1. A 28mm Undead Pirate army along the lines of "Pirates of the Caribbean." Most of the figures are Reaper from a discount bin. I'm not sure whether I should try to form them into a Lustrian army with Count Harkon & the Zombie Pirates or a more conventional Vampire Counts army. I'm going to let this army sit while I finish the Vampire Counts one first.

2. Despite trying to select used lots for a Gothic Horror army, I have a strong nucleus of a Tomb Kings army. I have a ton of chariots, mummies, undead giants, and other goodies with an undead Egyptian theme. I'm also going to let this army sit while I finish the Vampire Counts one.

3. My pride and joy is the nearly 2,000 points of Vampire Counts that I now have nearly 100% assembled AND painted. The current army is almost all skeletons and, as time permits, I'll be experimenting with the more exotic units on the Vampire Counts roster... I have an undead dragon, giant vampire bats, a Black Coach, and plenty of undead cavalry among other undead goodies.

And one of the other things I've been experimenting with is building themed undead units to function as infantry blocks. Each will be twenty to thirty figures strong when I'm done with them. They've all been built to suit the Gothic Horror theme and here's what I am working on:

A. A block of Halloween themed units comprised of pumpkin heads and scarecrows.

B. A block of Undead Asian Warriors: ninjas, Samurai, and plenty of lacquer-armored infantrymen.

C. A block of Wights or Ring Wraiths. All of them have robes and hand weapons.

D. A block of Strigoi Bestial Ghouls. I've mixed in some cheap bitz bin Orky figures that have been zom-bi-fied.

E. An extra-beefy Grave Guard block made with larger undead warrior miniatures based on 25mm squares. The old GW wights were too large to mount on conventional 20mm squares. They look far better on 25mm ones.

F. A block of Drakenhoff Crossbowmen, mostly zombies and skeletons to work with a Sylvanian list.

G. A block of Drakenhof Guard, all heavily-armored wights with polearms to work with a Sylvanian list.

H. An Undead Demi-human Infantry block modelled along the lines of GW's The Cursed Company.

I. A Female Lahmian Infantry block.

But my favorite unit is a block of undead Roman Legionnaires and they are the topic of this post.

Where does one find 28mm undead Roman Legionnaires?

Zvezda is the first source. There are five Zvezda undead sets currently available:

8801 Cursed Legion
8803 Necromancer

8807 Return of the Cursed Legion
8815 Artillery of the Cursed Legion
8822 Cursed Cavalry
8829 Zombies

Zvezda main site here (Site in Russian & English):

http://www.ringofrule.ru/main.php?lng=eng

The Zvezda zombie box looks very interesting, but I haven't been able to locate any photos of them yet Frothers had a set up, but they were taken down shortly after. The guys at TMP found some great links for the Cursed Legion set, but didn't have any for the zombie set either.

Here's the best Zvezda link I've found yet, a comparison of the GW 28mm plastic skeletons and the Zvezda ones:

http://www.dungeoncrawlers.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=65&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

TOP: Box art for Zvezda Set #8829 Zombies

And here are two links for some photo galleries of Zvezda 28mm fantasy figures:

Gallery with Zvezda 28mm Cursed Legion minis:

http://www.ringrule.narod.ru/galery/gal_clg.html

Gallery with Zvezda 28mm Cursed Cavalry minis among others:

http://www.ringrule.narod.ru/user_galery/gal_hovrashok.html

TOP: Box art for Zvezda Set #8807 Return of the Cursed Legion.

Eureka Miniatures is the second source. Nic over at Eureka Miniatures in Australia also makes a fine undead Roman Legionnaire, which isn't listed in his catalogue yet, but if you make an inquiry, he can send a few to you. He also makes some fine undead Greek Warriors and the finest undead horses on the 28mm market.

Eureka web site here:

http://www.eurekamin.com.au/

I owe Nic many thanks for being kind enough to send me a sample of the 28mm undead Roman Legionnaire figure.

Thanks, Nic!

TOP: Box art for Zvezda Set #8815 Artillery of the Cursed Legion

And the third source is from assorted companies. Some other companies make a few figures that could pass for 28mm undead Roman Legionnaires, but they are few and far between. However, one company that makes a large number of figures with horsehead plumes on their helms, Lorica-type armor, and Roman-like weapons that could pass for undead Roman soldiers is RAFM.

RAFM link here:

http://www.rafm.com/

Update (4 November 2007 at roughly 7:30am):

My TMP reader Cornelius found a source that I neglected to mention: Ghastly & Company. Thanks, Cornelius!

Link here:

http://www.ghastlyco.com/

Update (4 November 2007 at roughly 8:00am):
An anonymous Frothers donor found yet another source that I neglected to mention: Alionis Miniatures. Thanks, Anonymous Donor!

Link here:
http://www.alionas.com/

Have a great Saturday!
And a Gut Shabbos to my Jewish readers!

Shabbat Shalom,

Maksim-Smelchak.

Notes regarding photos / pictures / videos: These are not all my images and videos. I am using various images and videos from around the web, mostly from public sources and/or private sources used with permission. I have tried to include only images and videos under public domain, creative commons, or fair use. If I have inadvertently violated any copyrights, please inform me and I will remove your image/s (if it is indeed an infringement).