Blood & Plunder Frigate

After a bit too close to two years, she's finally ready to weigh anchor. My Blood & Plunder frigate is done.

Since I suspect that she will mostly be used as English, I decided to let english ships inspire her color scheme, with large areas yellow and smaller black (well, painted very dark grey, since few things are truly black) details.

And with the inside bulkheads being a very reddish brown (or possibly brownish red). The english did it to hide blood splatter during combat, I did it mostly because I had a nice color.

She's currently carrying a mix of light and medium cannons, with heavier ordnance to the rear. The cannons on the open mid-deck are attached with magnets and can be exchanged. The arrels sticking out of the gunports to aft and fore are solidly glued, but similar enough to be whatever I claim them to be (which may include "painted logs", when there's not a full broadside).

Sails are cloth, since the masts can be folded down when she needs to be transported (theoretically, at least... I have yet to actually try this feature).

Such a beautiful ship of course needs a name, and a name plate. Say hello, Virginia (something suitably english, but could also be spanish, if need be). And yes, that is two gun ports rearwards, that may or may not contain actual cannons, in case someone tries something silly.

All the flags, including the massive ensign to the rear, can be detached, both for transport and when she needs to fly other flags. My intentions are to have a full compliment of spanish flags for her as well, but I will wait to finish those until my galleon is finished, so as to not have lots of loose flags lying around (let's just hope that the galleon gets painted faster...)

/Fool out

New year and resolutions

At the beginning of the year, I posted a few new years resolutions at the facebook page of my local club. Since we've now hit the end of the year, I thought it could be amusing to see how these have managed to stand up.

• Paint two ships for Blood & Plunder

Well, I got a bit more than half way on this, the Brigantine Hermione is done, and I'm about half finished with the Frigate as well. The large ships are daunting simply by their size. And the fact that I only have one of each, and am not too used to painting ships, certainly doesn't help.

• Paint 125 ish sailors once the No Peace Beyond the Line kickstarter arrives

It arrived a bit later in the year than expected, but I've got 26 done with my natives. Next up is the 50 Dutchmen, which will soon get their time.

• Related to the above, paint three ships and 2 canoes for Blood & Plunder

The canoes are small, and thus easy and done. The bigger ships, I haven't even started with (although the Piragua is looking inviting)

• "Finish" my Norse Gaels for SAGA (where "finish" means "have 6 points painted and done").

This would be the first unequivocal success, they're done and ready, and I even managed to add some options to them.

• Paint 2 dedicated Frostgrave warbands, as well as treasures

This resolution was borne of the fact that I was getting tired of using my SAGA Vikings when playing Frostgrave, and is another success, although I'm slipping by here on a technicality. I've got two warbands painted, Cultists and Shieldmaidens (nevermind that I currently have two more shieldmaidens on the painting table, those are a pretty distraction with converting and painting something different). However, the initial idea was to paint the cultists (done) as well as a gnoll warband (current status: 10 assembled...) At least I went above and beyond on the treasures, with 4 ready to use, including one larger one.

• Paint a platoon for Chain of Command in 15mm (and decide for a nation and division for that platoon).

I'm not quite there. In the end, I decided on a panzergrenadier platoon from the 21st Panzer Division in Normandy (if only because of weird french vehicles). The core platoon has been finished, but it has exactly 0 support available (unless I scrounge some tank from my Flames of War germans... and then it would be the wrong division markings). I could try to argue that the platoon I painted for a friend should count for this, but we all know that if it isn't left with you, it doesn't count.

• Reduce the amount of unpainted 15mm tanks

This has been more of a running resolution, but I've painted up several platoons of british tanks, as well as a few germans, so some advances has definetely been made, my "to paint" shelf is now less than half full of 15mm tanks, where it was all full at the beginning of the year.

• If time and money allows, build and paint a platoon for Chain of Command in 28mm

Suffice to say, time and money did not allow. Then again, this was very much something cool to do if I didn't get distracted by other stuff.

• If I get a 28mm platoon, create a wargaming table for them

Follow-up of the above. Since that one didn't get done, this one oviously failed as well.


Of course, this isn't everything I've painted. I tried to keep to the list, but I'm me, and I suffer from a severe case of Wargamer Attention Deficit... ooh, shiny! Two major things stand out.

First, I painted a SAGA warband of dwarves (excellent now that Age of Magic is inbound)

Secondly, I've discovered The Ninth Age (5 second explanation: old Warhammer Fantasy, now handled by the fans with focus on balance instead of selling newest and shiniest models), which gave me all the push I needed to get Warlord Games Landsknecht. A few of those have been painted. Many more to come. In fact, I should probably do a review of the Landsknecht, they're some very nice kits. And useful for both historical and not-so-historical stuff.

Of course, while the old year is gone, the new year is just about to start. And it was both fun and useful to have a list of stuff to paint, so I'm going to put out a new list here.

Fool in a Hat's New Years Painting Resolutions for 2019

• Paint the rest of the No Peace Beyond the Line kickstarter
• 50 Dutchmen
• 40 generic europeans (which will be distributed among my other forces... don't know which yet)
• a Piragua
• the Fluyt "Amelia"
• the Galleon "Santa Barbara de Nicomedia"
• My Blood & Plunder Natives need reinforcements. Get those, paint them
• Finish my Blood & Plunder Frigate (this one should be easy, at least...)
• Once the other B&P ships are finished, get a Bark (tentatively named Lydia) and paint it.
• Frostgrave
• The gnolls I didn't manage to get done 2018. Aiming for 20 fellows, with useful armaments for both normal Frostgrave and Ghost Archipelago
• The all-female warband from the latest release of plastic female soldiers (all assemled already)
• At least three winter-themed treasures (all I have so far are very obviously summer/tropically themed).
• Various monsters from Maze of Malcor
• Chain of Command (in 15mm)
• The 21 Panzer Divison  platoon really needs some support. Get to it.
• Get them some opposition: a british rifle platoon (with support)
• Concurrently to the above, paint more 15mm tanks. Try to clear out the "to paint" shelf, then get started on the "to build" piles and whatever else I have scattered around.
• Finish up an understrength company of canadian Sherman tanks (5 to go, but they need to be assemled as well)
• Oathmark is set to release heavily armored dwarves. I will need at least one box of 30.
• Paint up more Landsknecht (there is a list)
• Perry Miniatures are releasing Agincourt mounted knights. Get them, assemble them, paint them. Possibly as a second army for The Ninth Age.
• If the fellows at the club get their Napoleonics going, I will probably have to join in. For that, I need to decide on what regiment of redcoats to paint.
• Time and money permitting, I'll try to get a wargaming table of my own.

This is a dire list, and I must admit to not thinking I will get done with everything. Still, it gives me a plan, and I might just surprise myself (or I will get distracted by some new game...) At the very least, it should keep new purchases to a minimum.

Feel free to share your own new years painting resolutions.

Happy new year
/Fool Out