Finished Goblin Regiment

 I'm trying to work down my leadpile, and this regiment of goblins has been staring at me waiting to be finished since October. I painted the first dozen back in 2021 as part of the Old World Army Challenge, then came back to them last year to try and round them out to a regiment of useful size for Warhammer: The Old World. I got bogged down last year with seven figures left to go to reach my target of 40 figures. 

Tonight, I finished those last seven figures, giving me a unit of 39 goblins with a full command, accompanied by a shaman. There's still a few shields to paint and affix but overall I'm happy calling them done. The figures are a mix from Knightmare Miniatures, Harlequin/Black Tree Design, and Midlam Miniatures, all sculpted by Goblinmaster Kevin Adams.

My favorite figure in the unit is a bit of an easter egg in the back row - a goblin eating a meat pie (with a rat tail hanging out of it) and apparently burning his tongue on it. 

I've also knocked out a trio of treasure markers - I'm going to be running some demo games of Fistful of Lead on March 8th at my local game store, and I've put together a simple scenario with groups of orcs squabbling over the division of loot following a battle. I'm hoping I can lure a couple people in. I forget where the treasure pile with the shield and chest came from, but the other two are from Reaper Miniatures - and all three have been in my bits box for the better part of a decade. 

Figures Purchased in 2025: 40

Figures Painted in 2025: 47

Red Ninjas

 Fresh off the painting table - a trio of Ninjas from Crooked Dice, painted in red clothing to represent the imaginatively-named Red Ninjas from Marvel's GI Joe comic book in the 1980s. In the comic books, the Red Ninjas are renegade members of the Arashikage ninja clan (of which GI Joe member Snake Eyes and Cobra assassin Storm Shadow are also members) who end up working for Cobra saboteur Firefly.

I actually don't have a figure for Firefly in my collection yet, but in the meantime I'm sure this trio will find employment under the command of Storm Shadow.

Figures Purchased in 2025: 40

Figures Painted in 2025: 37

New Arrivals: TAG African Militia

 Following on the heels of my last post, another group of modern African paramilitaries - this time three packs of "African Militia" from The Assault Group, armed with AK-47s. Leading them is a figure marketed as "The General," whose cigar and aviator sunglasses give him a lot of personality. 

Given the more ragtag look of this bunch, I think the Crooked Dice figures I painted last week will be national army troops, and these will be rebels. This does swing me back into the red (though not by much) in regarding figures purchased versus figures painted, but I anticipate moving that needle back into the green before long.

Truth be told, I haven't had a lot of spare cash for hobbying this year. My wife and I have been getting hit with surprise bills one right after another since the turn of the year - veterinary bills for Atticus' passing, deciding to adopt a new cat and having adoption fees, this cat promptly managed to scratch his cornea necessitating a veterinary visit, the toe gave out on my winter boots in the midst of a polar vortex - and getting hit harder at the grocery store, so I have less and less money available for my hobby. 

Fortunately I have an extensive backlog of figures I can work on. 

Figures Purchased in 2025: 40

Figures Painted in 2025: 34

The Governor-General's Army

 Another eight figures finished - these are two packs' worth of modern African paramilitary soldiers from Crooked Dice, marketed on the website as the "Governor-General's Army." These were a semi-impulse buy for me a few months back; I placed a big order with Crooked Dice and I tossed these in among everything else. I had some vague ideas about using these as local forces in GI Joe games - the fictional African nation of Kalingaland appears in Marvel's GI Joe comic series in the 1980s, with the Joes team helping ensure free and fair elections in Kalingaland in the face of Russian interference. So these might appear in my games as the Kalingaland national army receiving support from the Joes, OR as anti-democratic forces receiving support from Cobra. 

I'm really happy with the camouflage on their fatigues, and let me write it down here so I can recreate it later if needed:

• Basecoat Warpaints "Venom Wyrm"
• Wash "Agrax Earthshade"
• Heavy Drybrush Warpaints "Woodland Camo"
• Brown splotches in Reaper "Brown Sand"
• Dark markings in Reaper "Woodland Brown"
• Light Green splotches in Pro Acryl "Faded Green"

Honestly I could probably ditch the Venom Wyrm - it's a warmer green than Woodland Camo, and I could have done a basecoat of Woodland Camo, washed Agrax, then drybrushed with Woodland Camo again and it would have looked fine. 

Figures Purchased in 2025: 27

Figures Painted in 2025: 34

New Recruits for GI Joes

 Greetings, readers. For the past three years now, I've been working on and off at painting up (and in some cases, converting) figures to represent the heroic GI Joes and the villainous Cobra from the 1980s animated series. Today, as I work through my collection of miscellaneous primed figures, I've added five more figures to the finished pile - four Joes, and one Cobra.

First up is the sinister and sensual Baroness Anastasia DeCobray, Cobra's chief intelligence officer and one of Cobra Commander's lieutenants. This figure, the "Crimson Contessa" from Crooked Dice, depicts her in the costume she wore in the original animated miniseries, vs the leather catsuit she would wear later.

Next up, on the Joes side, we add Flash (laser weapon specialist), Dialtone (communications), Shockwave (S.W.A.T.) and Starduster (aerial reconnaissance and jet pack pilot). Starduster is an interesting one - his figure wasn't a regular commercial release in the 80s; instead you mailed in box tops from GI Joe Action Stars cereal to get him. 

It's hard to say no to a figure equipped with a jet pack and a grenade launcher, and I'm happy to have him in my collection.

Figures Purchased in 2025: 27

Figures Painted in 2025: 26

Running GAGG XXIX - Sharp Practice Demo

 Greetings, readers! This past weekend was the annual gaming convention put on by the university gaming club I've belonged to for almost 20 years now - Running GAGG, hosted by the Geneseo Area Gaming Group. I joined as a freshman in September 2005, and have only missed the convention twice since then. 

This year I committed myself to playing more games than I ran, something I've never done before. I signed up to take part in two wargaming demos - Sharp Practice and Bolt Action - and two RPG sessions, both played with 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. I also ran a session of the RPG "Barbarians of Lemuria" with an adventure I'd written set in Alex Bates' Lost World of Azor, with miniatures available on his website. 

Playing AD&D from 10pm on Friday night until 2am Saturday morning meant I was in no shape to attend the 8am Saturday game of Bolt Action. However, I did get to learn to play Sharp Practice on Friday afternoon, which was a lot of fun despite a late start!

The scenario was a simple meeting engagement between American colonists and British regulars in the American Revolution. I took the British, while the gentleman hosting the event played the Americans. We were dead center in the student union ballroom so it was a bit noisy, but overall I had quite a bit of fun.

I don't recall the names of the units - I know I had three 8-man blocks of Highlanders with an officer, two 8-man blocks of Grenadiers, a 3 lb cannon and a small unit of scouts. The Americans had similar unit sizes as well as a preacher and a sergeant. I did take a few pictures as we went:

My deployment

Scouts meeting on the road

Cannon moving into position (disregard the pile of tokens)

The British Highlanders in retreat

We were coming up on the end of our timeslot, my forces' morale were much lower than his, so we called it there. Overall I had a good time and would absolutely play this again. And this counts towards my two games a month!

Figures Purchased in 2025: 27

Figures Painted in 2025: 21

More Modern Figures

After finishing that unit of White Russians, I needed a palate cleanser so I picked out a few of the modern/zombie apocalypse survivor type figures I've got in my primed box.

First up is "Cobra" from Hasslefree Miniatures, but we know exactly who this is. The iconic Snake Plissken from "Escape From New York," played by Kurt Russell. This is the second figure sculpted in Kurt Russell's likeness I have in my collection, because I also have a "wink wink, *not* Jack Burton" that Hasslefree sells. 

Next up is "Monique," also from Hasslefree - wearing nursing scrubs and reloading a revolver. My wife briefly had to wear scrubs for a front desk medical job she held, and I based the colors on a set she had owned. 

"Rihanna" is another Hasslefree figure, described on the site as having waited out the first few weeks of the zombie apocalypse at an airboat tour office, surrounded by increasingly-less-hungry alligators, seemingly immune to the infection. 

Finally, an unnamed cartel soldier from Brigade Games' "Drug War Z" line. I really like the personality to this line of sculpts, and this guy's cringing posture is great. 

And I just realized I didn't paint anybody's belt buckles. Guess I'm going in to fix that later!

Figures Purchased in 2025: 27

Figures Painted in 2025: 21