Fred's 2016 Painting Diary

[Womble67]

Yeah when me and the wife went we really enjoyed ourselves.

Take care

Andy

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Great shots, thank you.

[Techno]

Thanks for sharing those, Forbes.
Cheers - Phil

[fred.]

glad you like them chaps

Noticed one of the image links is wrong

[fsn]

I love the Leeds armouries.

They normally have a series of events going on though. I've seen Rifleman Costello, Tudor Fencing and hawking.

They've got tilts outside to, don't they?

Perhaps these are just summer funs.

[Westmarcher]

Agreed. A great cultural asset for the North of England and a must see if you are in the area. On my first visit, I was also fortunate to be there when they were running various events (e.g., jousting, hawking, etc.). I think it was at Easter. My favourite was the Pole Arms Combat demonstration. Guys in full plate armour dispelling the myth of heavy armour being too cumbersome to fight in, by leaping about all over the place. Fascinating stuff (nor did it do the varnished floor any good either!). Would liked to have seen the Rifleman Costello demo, fsn. 

On the second occasion, I was staying at the hotel across the road. There was still a lot of building work going in the immediate vicinity. Nevertheless, I was fairly miffed to be awakened on the Saturday morning by the "construction workers" and their heavy vehicles. However, it was only when I got downstairs, that the true source of the noise became apparent - WW2 jeeps, trucks and a German half-track parked outside replete with Tommies, G.I.s, Panzer Grenadiers and other assorted people walking about in WW2 period costume! Excellent start to the day!

[Leman]

Love the Royal Armouries - Pavia, Samurai, Chassepot and Needle guns - what's not to like. Been three times now but still not seen the tilt yard in action, although the commercial armoury next to it is pretty impressive.

[fred.]

A few more bits of painting on the Banana marines over the last couple of days



Pretty much there with most of the painting. Just waiting on a few bits from H&R to convert some stuff with missiles. Then on to basing.

Oh, and I bought a bunch of bikes off eBay, so they will need painting when they arrive. Will it ever end?

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Nice one Forbes

[Leon]

No painting this weekend, but I did get to visit the Royal Armouries in Leeds - which I would recommend highly...

What's it like for kids?  I remember going when it first opened in the 90's and they had a load of interactive displays, crossbow firing, electronic pedestrian shooting (!), etc. so it was quite good fun for younger visitors.  I've not been back since, so we're thinking about taking the kids over in the next month or so.

[Techno]

Looking really good, Forbes. 
Cheers - Phil

[fred.]

What's it like for kids?  I remember going when it first opened in the 90's and they had a load of interactive displays, crossbow firing, electronic pedestrian shooting (!), etc. so it was quite good fun for younger visitors.  I've not been back since, so we're thinking about taking the kids over in the next month or so.

There is definitely some stuff for kids. But most of it is quite traditional objects in cases. But lots of objects well presented. As I didn't have the kids with me, I kind of didn't pay too much attention to the more interactive kids stuff. The various shooty  things in the entrance hall were all out of service though.

[Bodvoc]

I have just booked a school trip for 128 pupils and the Armouries are putting on some great workshops for us, suiting up in 100 years War armour, firing model trebuchets etc...At least I will have fun, hopefully the kids will too!

[Leon]

There is definitely some stuff for kids. But most of it is quite traditional objects in cases. But lots of objects well presented. As I didn't have the kids with me, I kind of didn't pay too much attention to the more interactive kids stuff. The various shooty  things in the entrance hall were all out of service though.

Thanks for the info, we'll go along and see then.  It won't be for a while yet so hopefully some of the out of service things will be back in action.

[fred.]

I have just booked a school trip for 128 pupils

Good Luck!!

and the Armouries are putting on some great workshops for us, suiting up in 100 years War armour, firing model trebuchets etc...At least I will have fun, hopefully the kids will too!

Sounds great. I only saw a chap talking about the various Samurai displays - but this was very interesting and informative. So actual hands on stuff should be really good.

Double Games
Managed to get a game in both Friday and Saturday night this week.

Friday was 4 player Epic at a mates, Marines and Necrons in an alliance of convenience vs Tyranids. This was using a new 'nid list, and it seems a bit too good. But it was a good game, even if I was struggling with armour saves, and with rally rolls.



Saturday, we tried some new rules - Irregular Wars - which are historical rules in 16th to 17th Centuries, particularly focused on the smaller scale conflicts around the fringes of Europe and the exploration of the New World.
We went with a some what hypothetical Imperial (Holy Roman Empire) vs Steppe Khanate - basically as I had figures for these two armies.


Lots of Pendraken figures (about time, says Leon!) The Steppe Khanate are Pendraken Mongols, and the Imperial Pikes and Cannon are Pendraken too.
In this picture the Khanate forces have moved from their starting position on the right, to the left, and would later move back to the right - they are highly mobile as would be expected. Steve was rather cautious with them and eventually allowed the Imperial shooting to really take its toll. The Imperial pikes proved very resilient in melee - even when flanked. We really enjoyed the rules - they were simple to get the hang of, but had a lot of flavour and tactical thinking. Well worth the £12. I'm working out which other armies I already have a core of - and which need a few additions to increase their playability.


Banana Basing

Lots of basing of the Banana Marines' Armour today - so got all the bases textured, and a couple of layers of dry brushing applied.


But now that it is starting to dry, I am wondering if I have gone light enough.