Blood & Plunder - Bark & Piragua

Painting has happened (to the absolute surprise of noone). And this time, it's more ships (well, a ship and a half, really, and not a very big ship at that) for Blood & Plunder. Yes, plural. Because they're both too small for a decent blogpost each by themselves.

First up, the Bark. A tiny fishing ship, runabout, coastal trader and general ship-shaped thing, that were never-the-less quite popular among the buccaneers in the Spanish Main (as well as the Spanish Guarda Costa), possibly because they were easy to get hold of.

Maybe not plenty of space, but enough for a trusted crew (one kind of harbour rat or another, be they english, dutch och spanish) and some trade goods (legally obtained or otherwise).

Neither is she the most heavily armed, but once again, enough. A few cannons and swivels, enough to keep heads down as you approach. More cannons is not always better, because if you sink the enemy ship, then it gets much harder to plunder it (remember Maxim 1: Pillage, then Burn).

And there she is, Lydia as she's tentatively named (although I haven't bothered to get her a nameplate). All in all, she's a very cute ship, and just enough to teach one the basics of sailing (at least in Blood & Plunder).

Of course, all the masts can be taken down, and the flag replaced, for ease of transport and change of allegiance. And all armaments are mounted with magnets, for reasonably safe play and ease of removal (even if it will probably be rare to change all that much, since she doesn't have many options... but still, if I have a system, then I have a system).

If the Bark is small, then the Piragua is tiny. Only slightly larger than the Longboat and Canoas, this boat mostly compensates by girth, allowing for a decent amount of crew. Interrestingly enough, a Piragua can technically be towed as a ship's boat by a Bark, despite being almost as large. Ah, rules conundrums and literal reading, aint it wonderful.

 
She's got very few guns mounted, but that can be compensated by muskets. She's small, she's fast, and can carry both a decent boarding party and some fellows who keeps enemy heads down. Is it any surprise that this was also a favored ship by the buccaneers?

Once again, the sails can be dismounted for ease of travel. Although here, they're likely to be left of, because the magnets I used aren't quite strong enough (and/or aren't getting enough contact due to the layers of paint), and the rigging is non-existent, leaving them somewhat wobbly and too prone to randomly falling down for the average game. Still, it's nice to have while it's waiting its turn on a bookshelf.

And of course, the swivel guns are only attached by magnets, and can trivially be removed (especially useful if the Piragua is to be used by Native forces).

Still, she looks splendid and fast even when slimmed down. And one can appreciate the fact that Piraguas weren't as much built as carved directly from a large tree, with only some timber enhancements.

All in all, not a bad start for a buccaneer fleet. Now I just need to get a chance to field them in action, and see how they work in game... They both seem brittle, and perhaps not the most agile, but they're cheap, so one can fill them up with good troops. I'm really tempted to try the Piragua with a small unit of Sailors, and a medium-to-large unit of Boucaniers. Although perhaps those would be better in the Bark, with some gunners, and then a boarding party of some kind in the Piragua... as can be seen, ideas are multiplying.

/Fool Out, there's more sails on the horizon

Blood & Plunder Painting Showcase - French Reinforcements

I keep churning through my painting queue. This time, it's some French sailors for Blood & Plunder. I already have a decent french force, but one can always have more options.

As is my habit, it is a not-too-small batch of 21, with a mix of different units (and a significant proportion of reinforcements for existing units)

First up, one new and one repainted commander. On the left, Laurens de Graff (allowing for a slightly more dutch playstyle with the french, i.e. more sailing and more cannons). On the right, a repainted special gift commander from the first kickstarter, since he had gotten a few scratches where the metal shone through.

There were a few full units painted as well. Specifically, Engagés (using the Sailor Musketeer figures). A cheap unit with decent musketry can always be useful.

And what's better than one cheap shooty unit? Why, two, of course. These Engagés will be 20 points each, and hopefully require just a tad more effort to remove than they're worth. But mostly, they'll allow more options for the other units in whatever force they find themselves.

Talking about other units, two Flibustiers. The right one is another repaint (once again, plenty of wear and tear made some metal shine through), while the left one will serve as a Character when such is needed, most likely a Grizzled Veteran or an Officer. I don't quite remember where I got him, but he's originally a Forlorn Hope, which I didn't really have a need for. But he's got all the guns for a Flibustier, and will stand out nicely, so...

Two men doesn't make much of a unit, but combine with the other 7, and it's much better. The two new ones fits in quite nicely.

Similarly, the Marins got a few reinforcements, with some grenades (/firebombs/smokebombs) and plenty of blunderbusses... and a female sailor (my last from the last kickstarter) to serve as character when this unit needs one. Nominally, she can be Anne Dieu-le-Veut (wife of Laurens de Graff, above), if they're both on the table.

Of course, 4 Blunderbusses, one man with grenades and a character rarely makes a legal unit. But combine with the 6 older Marins in unit "light blue II", and it is one heck of a sledgehammer. One I should perhaps write up a separate article about (especially if led by that old terror, L'Ollonais). Do tell if such a thing would be of interest?

And finally, I can't leave the other Marin unit ("light blue I") without. In general, my sailor units tends toward 8 men strong with grenades. I'm going to ignore any grenades not actually bought for the games, and assume these sailors are instead carrying extra reloads for the pistols, some loot, or maybe a rum ration instead... always nice to have the options.

/Fool Out, this queue aint going to reduce itself.

Amazons approaching the Ghost Archipelago

Last year (not that long ago, really), Bad Squiddo Games launched a kickstarter that had a fair few dwarves I found great (female, of course, we're talking Bad Squiddo here), and after much humming and hawing, I decided to go all in on that. Which meant that I got not only a bunch of dwarves, but also a decent batch of amazons.

After some more hemming and hawing, I decided to initially paint them up as a crew for Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago, helped by the fact that I had about as many as necessary for a crew with some variations. And suddenly they found themselves with paint, long before the dwarves I initially pledged for... oops?

First up, we have the Heritor (in the center, with some blue stripes in her hair), the ships captain (and someone with a bit of tactical sense, to the left... she probably won't see the table all that often) and a mystic with some powerful abilities (right, and totally not able to murder you five ways from sunday)

A bit of heavily armed and armoured support is never a bad thing among the islands. Either a shield, for some protection (with a greek A, for amazon, inspired by the spartans and their L), a big axe/club thing for smashing skulls, or just incredibly heavy armour over the entire body (counts as Heavy Armour and a Shield).

Of course, sometimes the heavy help is too slow to get where they're needed. In that case, some faster people is needed. Two Tomb Robbers, for fast melee (that might have an unfortunate tendency to die a tad too fast) and an Archer leaping through the undergrowth.

Then there is the crew, of course, with a variety of weapons and lighter armour to protect against the dangers of the Archipelago (gamewise, these will all count as Hand Weapons and Shields, even if some of them seem suspiciously large for one-handed weapons). They're also all marked by having at least some equipment of copper, and not just the everpresent bronze. Cheaper stuff for those that hopefully won't need to use it too often (oh, who are we kidding, this is the Ghost Archipelago).

Finally, there are these two young wolves hanging around the ship, helping out where needed, being taught fighting (with their copper blades) by whomever's nearby, and generally being just adorable enough to not get thrown of in the nearest harbour for their mischief. The fact that one of them looks suspiciously like the Heritor, including blue stripes in her hair, might have something to do with it. (Gamewise, they're emergency crew)

Personally, I love these scuplts (although they deserve a greater painter than me), the only thing missing would be a more mage-y character (preferably neither of the "young sexbomb" or "old crone" categories that are so common) and perhaps a second archer (because I really want two in my crew). And lo and behold, didn't Annie hint last week at just such things coming "soon" from Bad Squiddo? Why, yes, I think she did. Guess I will have to do an emergency shop-stop once they drop, followed by clearing some space in the painting queue.

/Fool Out

New Years hobby resolution once again

Another year over, and the new one's just begun (as the song goes). And as the hangover subsides, it's time for me to look over how my hobby resolutions for last year went, and make some new ones.

• Paint the rest of the No Peace Beyond the Line kickstarter

As I put it down on the list, I knew this would be the main thing I would paint. And I can't say I was wrong.

• 50 Dutchmen

These got done, and expanded upon as well, so this is an unmitigated success.

• 40 generic europeans (which will be distributed among my other forces... don't know which yet)

Another unmitigated success... which then got expanded upon even further as I began the Scottish Militia

• a Piragua

I thought this was done, but somehow I managed to screw it up. She's currently stripped and waiting for take two. Bother.

• the Fluyt "Amelia"

As can be seen, she's done, and a beauty too. Even managed to get me going for painting more ships, size be darned (and aint that a good thing)

• The Galleon "Santa Barbara de Nicomedia"

Of course, that doesn't mean I've had the time to actually paint them all. Galleon is somewhere soon-ish in the queue, but not yet.

• My Blood & Plunder Natives need reinforcements. Get those, paint them

The natives most assuredly got reinforced.

• Finish my Blood & Plunder Frigate (this one should be easy, at least...)

Got her done early in the year, possibly because she was already halfway there by last January. And a small part of me wants to get another...

• Once the other B&P ships are finished, get a Bark (tentatively named Lydia) and paint it.

Lydia is bought, primed and waiting next to the Piragua... but not quite yet.

• Frostgrave

As with Blood & Plunder, I had several subsections and a plan (of sorts).

• The gnolls I didn't manage to get done 2018. Aiming for 20 fellows, with useful armaments for both normal Frostgrave and Ghost Archipelago

Yep, they're finally done. And just in time, too. We'll have to see if I get some silly ideas and expand them further.

• The all-female warband from the latest release of plastic female soldiers (all assemled already)

Not at all surprising, these got done quite fast. Lovely sculpts of lovely subjects tend to get punted to the front of the queue.

• At least three winter-themed treasures (all I have so far are very obviously summer/tropically themed).

Sort of done. One of these looks suspiciously green, but magic, dude. Ain't gotta explain jack all... I will probably expand with another treasure next time I paint Frostgrave stuff.

• Various monsters from Maze of Malcor

The monsters got delayed until "after the gnolls", and... well. The gnolls are done, so hopefully this year.

• Chain of Command (in 15mm)

Game's kind of died out again, but I should at least finish the projects I've started.

• The 21 Panzer Divison  platoon really needs some support. Get to it.

Done and ready for a game. And I might have to expand them as I find some of weird and wonderful machines the 21st drove in France.

• Get them some opposition: a british rifle platoon (with support)

Due to a combination of not finding the kit I wanted, and the game dying out, I haven't even looked all that much at these. Perhaps for the future.

• 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.

I got some done, so there's now slightly more space on the shelf (that promptly got occupied by some pirates)

• Finish up an understrength company of canadian Sherman tanks (5 to go, but they need to be assemled as well)

These are done, at least. I have no idea what to use them for, but done's done and a good one.

• Oathmark is set to release heavily armored dwarves. I will need at least one box of 30.

Done, at the same time as I expanded and/or (temporarily) finished my band of dwarves. Well, 20 of them, at least. The rest are currently spared for some ideas to finish bouncing around and get nailed down.

• Paint up more Landsknecht (there is a list)

Got a few done, but I've mostly been distracted by other stuff. A prime example of the hobby flame burning hot, but not so long. That said, I've recently gotten to use them for SAGA: Age of Magic, and something has rekindled here. Hopefully I get at least a pikeblock finished this year.

At least the knights on monsters (Creatures for AoM) got done. That was a project that got put on hold for too long.

• Perry Miniatures are releasing Agincourt mounted knights. Get them, assemble them, paint them. Possibly as a second army for The Ninth Age.

They're assembled, but it has not been a good year for painting horses here, so there's still not a speck of paint on them... However, I have some ideas for SAGA: Age of Magic here as well, so I might finally get them done, or at least 25 of them.

• 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.

The fellows didn't get it going, so I haven't bothered to look at these... not too much, at least. I'm tempted to do some (british) Highlanders, though.

• Time and money permitting, I'll try to get a wargaming table of my own.

Time and money hasn't permitted, so nope. I will probably put the very idea on the backburner for now, and figure out solutions "later".


Of course, I didn't only paint what I had made a resolution though (although these resolutions and a painting planner has meant that the amount of unplanned stuff has been reduced).

First and foremost of the "oopsies" would be the Scottish Militia for Blood & Plunder mentioned above. And somehow, a Tartana managed to sneak its way onto my shelf. It's currently primed and waiting for some paints (that's ship #3 on the "soon" list).

There is also the fact that Gaslands Refueled exploded at the club, so there's been a pair of cars for that. And there might just be some more, if it continues to be as popular (one wants options to play with, y'know).


Of course, I can't exactly show how I managed to fulfill all resolutions and not follow up with new ones. As with last year, these are more guidelines and less rules, but they do keep me focused. Anyway for 2020, my resolutions to paint are:

• Bad Squiddo Games released some Amazons in a kickstarter. I got them, just need to paint them (which should be quick, as they're already primed and waiting)
• Bad Squiddo Games also released some Dwarves at the same time. These are not primed yet, but should also get some loving paint. Possibly, I'll combine them with some Oathmark and/or Atlantis Miniatures Dwarves.
• The Landsknecht need more love. Let's aim for the pikeblock being done, and hopefully some crossbowmen as well.
• Shipwise, I have a Bark, a Tartana and a Piragua that need some paint (these are all from last year, and primed, so should be quick)
• Expand the Blood & Plunder French with some more Sailors (also primed and ready)
• Similar for the Blood & Plunder Spanish, one starter box should round out my force nicely.
• Dito (although smaller) for the Blood & Plunder Dutch, they can do with a few more sailors, mostly to get up to units of 8. And maybe a second unit of Enter Ploeg
• The Galleon! Keep the shippainting going, get this humongous thing done.
• Firelock is also releasing a 6th Rate Frigate for Blood & Plunder... I need it! Even if it's supposedly almost as huge and the Galleon
• Oak & Iron is incoming. Since I intend to run demos for this come Gothcon, it will be catapulted to the front of the queue as soon as I get it.
• Blood & Valor (also from Firelock) is coming, I should probably look into it (which means whichever plastic ww1 army I find most interresting... or go with Italians, because my competence at the table shouldn't prevent me from playing historically)
• Take 2 on the Mace of Malcor Monsters for Frostgrave.
• Victrix Vikings have caught my eyes, and I'm tempted to get a pack to paint as Jomsvikings for SAGA
• Perry Mounted Knights are assembled, but still waiting for paint. Let's try to do something about that. Perhaps I can use them for SAGA: Age of Magic...
• Speaking of SAGA: Age of Magic, I have 2, or potentially 3, new ideas for warbands, either on their way (yay, kickstarters), or at least planned for purchase as soon as the FLGS gets them. (I'm being non-specific in the interrest of being coy with the fellows at the club, always fun springing surprises on them)

Any bets for how much of this I actually manage to get done?

Happy New Year

/Fool out

Frostgrave Gnoll Warband

The painting goes ever on and on. This time something non-historial and non-piratey (no, I'm not just a Blood & Plunder blog, appearances aside). Instead, it's Gnolls for Frostgrave. And Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago. And wherever else a bunch of hyena-dog-men can make do. Always attempt to make models as multi-use as possible.

All in all, it's 22 gnolls, with a variety of weapons. For the games currently planned, I doubt I'll ever field them all at the same time. For further utility, they can either be used as non-player wandering monsters (bags of XP), or form a coherent crew for a player. Basing has been kept intentionally simple, with just plain dirt and a bit of dry grass. Works equally well on warm, barbaric islands and in cold, abandoned cities.

First up, the low-level, mediocre threats. These would be crewmen in FG:GA and Thugs (spotted ones) and Thieves (stripes) in FG. Most weapons are also heavily rusted, not getting enough care and/or getting cast-offs from the bigger and fiercer gnolls.

Next up, a pair of raiders (Treasure Hunters, Tomb Raiders), running around with speed and a plethora of weapons. These hounds have better, less worn weapons than the thugs and thieves, and even some old bronze blades found in the ruins, still surprisingly sharp.

Of course, sometimes picking up a shield to help you avoid getting your skull bashed in is helpful. Therefore, 4 of these fellows. One of them has dark greyish fur and skin, signifying an inherently stronger foe (always useful to have easy visual distinction between almost similar models). As with the raiders, weapons are better taken care of, and occasionally sharp bronze treasures found.

Although a shield can be useful, sometimes you just have to rely on bashing the others head in before he does yours. For that, grab a big sturdy axe, or a long spear (with a nice, bronze cleaver as spearhead!). Once again, one stronger dog goes in shades of grey.

 
In case prey refuse to get close to you/let you catch them, some ranged weapons can be useful. Three shades of archers (sandy with brown spots, plain brown and a surprisingly wolflike grey, for increasing danger and strength), and one rare crossbowdog.

To lead this pack, someone with a good bark is needed. Call him Alpha, Captain, Heritor, Chieftain, or just "Will hit you if you dun do as 'e says", he can have many names. And of course the strongest wolf has an almost pure black fur (and a missing eye that doesn't seem to slow him down any), as well as a honking big sword (and a smaller sword. And a shield. And...)

In a caste for themselves are the mages and shamans, signified by their almost albino white fur, going ever purer with age and experience. The apprentice is more of a very light grey, while the master mage is next thing to white in these dirty circumstances.

As a unifying mark, a significant portion of them have dabbled a crude, red cross on their shields or clothes, to signify their packs for anyone who sees them, gnoll or non-gnoll/interloper/dinner.

In case anyone is curious (and because I want to remember for myself, in case I expand them), I noted down which colours I used for the various fur shades. All colours were Vallejo Model Color

• Thieves and Thugs have Iraqui Sand fur with Mahogany Brown markings (spots for the Thugs, stripes for the Thieves).
• Brown-furred gnolls have Mahogany Brown fur, with either Tan Earth or (Game Color) Parasite Brown bare skin.
• Grey-furred ones have Grey Green fur with some Medium Sea Grey bare skin portions.
• The Leader have Black Grey fur, with a little bit of Grey Green skin showing.
• The Shamans have Deck Tan fur and skin, with the Master Shaman getting a White drybrush over it.

That's one more new years promise (2 years delayed), and one project closer to starting on some of my newer ideas. I hope they offer inspiration.

/Fool Out.

Blood & Plunder Fluyt

It only took me half a year, but another Blood & Plunder ship has been finished. I seriously need to up my painting time for these. Especially since my effective painting time isn't all that long, it's just that I keep procrastinating and painting smaller stuff (painting gods know how that will work with the Galleon)

Anyway, one fully armed bathtub Fluyt is now done and ready to battle it out on the table. Painting inspiration is somewhat from Kalmar Nyckel, with my usual judicious application of "this color seems nifty here".

The jack (front-most flag, for us not so nautically inclined) was a bit of a rushjob, but it will do for now. And until such  time that I manage to decide between red och orange on my dutch flags, she will get to fly both.

As is usual, I have of course given her a female name, Amelia in this case (as it is suitably dutch-sounding... and close enough to Maarten Tromps ship, Aemilia). Historically, there should have been a painting here, but until I trust my freehanding skills, I will go with names.

The interior is relatively sparse in various shades of wooden browns. My first try with a lighter deck color, and... I think I like it, will have to do similar with more ships.

Of course, it doesn't feel right to have an empty ship. Much better when she's filled up with dutch seamen. Also allows us to get a sense of her space. Just for fun, I drew up an almost fully WYSIWYG 300 points list.

The larger decks have 2 units of 6 models each, with a commander on the rearmost full deck, while the subsection to the rear (the poop deck, unless I mangle my naval terminology again) only a single 6-strong unit. From this, we can see that the rearmost full deck is full (the subsection could probably fit a single model more), while the front deck have some space left... and the middle deck has plenty of space, one could probably fit another 6 models here without problems. Perfect space for some larger cannons...

And a swift change of flags, and she's suddenly belgian (Ostend Privateers, almost-dutch except under spanish command). Truly, she's a versatile ship.

And a somewhat shitty joke to finish us off. Sorry, but I've been itching to make this joke for a year by now...

Now I just need to figure out how to best transport Amelia. The (very) tall stern structure makes my usual boxes insufficient...

/Fool Out