XPS foam building, first attempt progress log, just a simple building for a start. Photos after the "continue reading"...

This time in the Valhallagames podcast we look back on 2019 from a wargaming perspective and we hand out awards in various categories for wargaming excellence. Bring your black tie and tuxedo or ball dress, find out who gets the imaginary valhallagames golden trophies.

Dan gives us the run down on his recent Bolt Action tournament "no surrender" along with all the cinematic drama.

Lastly, we look forward to all the new ideas valhallagames has for 2020 to do even better with the YouTube channel, podcast, and audience participation.

Web player here:
https://pca.st/31ung25h

Show-notes here:
https://www.valhallagames.net/index.php/home/2-uncategorised/10-podcast-e10-shownotes

The best fantasy miniatures from a company that Rex had never heard of!! Firstly, I have to buy one of these Yeti's it would make a great "cave dweller" for my Kings of War Northern alliance army. But secondly I cant believe I have never heard of these guys! Click on the images below or go to: https://www.atlantisminiatures.com

While your there have a look at all the other miniatures, I think you will agree there is some outstanding stuff there. (NOT a paid promotion)

Something completely different, zero dollar secret Santa

The good the bad and the ugly of mass army painting:

OK I admit it I love skirmish games for a number of reasons but tonight's painting efforts have revealed just one more reason.

• The good; my painting has improved each new army puts the last to shame so that's a good thing. Still plenty of room to improve but heading in the right direction.
• The bad (and good); bad news is that these new plastic Northern Alliance Clansman from mantic games are too good! The amount of detail is amazing, sure that's a good thing but its going to take a huge amount of time to paint them.
  
• The ugly; how will I ever get a full Kings of War army painted with this level of detail? Did I mention I love skirmish games​?
  

See below for a couple of snaps of the first completed test model, after that I'm looking for something in a shade of camo green!

Test piece... on day when I have the real thing finished I will post a video.

So at this exact time last year; the beginning of my xmas holidays I started a scorecard of what id painted in the year. 

I admit to not always being current in updating it , but heres the finished list, as its been a year and i will start the 2020 scorecard as of now.

 DANS PAINTING SCORECARD 2019

• 2 x King Tigers
• 3 x Tiger 1's
• 1 x German Opel Blitz canvas canopy/sideboards (interchangeable with existing passenger open back one)
• 24 Italian Coastal Defense Division infantry ( Based by Rex- thank you!)
• 2 x Italian heavy weapons teams
• 1 x Italian Artillery piece incl. 3 crew and spotter
• 15 x German FJ in smocks
• 9 x German FJ Tropical fatigues
• 17 x Late war German Heer infantry
• 7 x Early war Heer '88 crew
• 1 x Heer kwk 5 cm static gun and crew
• 25 x  British paratroopers
• 1 x Wehrmacht citroen staff car

Terrain;

• 1x Italian Church
• 1x Stone Bridge
• 1.5 m2 of teddy bear fur hay and grass fields
• Painted ONLY; 1x medium (!) Hill ( Made by Rex)
• Painted ONLY; 1x small (!) Hill ( Made by Rex)
• 1 x table worth of textured flexible rural roads
• 1 x street barricade ( ponys, mattress, crate & sandbags)
• 2 x concrete pillboxes
• 1 x box Girder 'Primosole' Bridge ( Yes- I made and painted another one! Lol)
• 30 x 'infantry dug in' entrenchments terrain pieces
• 12 x urban rubble piles
• 20 low stucco wall sections
• 24 stone, wattle and wood fence/wall sections
• 1 potting conservatory
• 1 wrecked opal blitz with box loads
• 8 various field entrenchments
• 2 urban barricades
• 1 x Tobruk bunker for static german gun
• 5 x sandbag gun pits.

I dont think thats a bad list considering the amount of time i spend away ​and in the field in my job as well as working shifts whilst instructing  our trainees ..its one thing to  say one 'doesnt have time' its another to really physically not be with your models and hobby equipment for large chunks of the year, so...i think a job well done! 

I will start my new list as of now and keep anyone who cares updated on here! 

Regards,

Dan

Not a day by day mission, but i do commit to painting the following by 31st January;

If you don't know already, ​I am making terrain boards. I'm trying to do the best I can do to make them as realistic as possible, I'm using a lot of new techniques or pushing on further with techniques that I already do. To that end I have purchased a woodland scenic rock molds and have cast up and stuck on some plaster rocks now I'm learning how to paint them to my liking.  The "its easy just do it like this" video by woodland scenic didn't work quite as planned and its a lot harder then what I expected probably because i'm mixing my own acrylic washes rather then using theirs. That's because it would take me 1000 years to use up all the products and they are relatively expensive.

Test 1

​Test 1, too dark (WAY) to dark need to water down the paint a LOT more

Test 2

Test 2, this was a lot lighter but more or less the same result??? I must be missing something.

Test 3

 Test 3, getting better, nice in fact but too red...

Test 4

Test 4, I like the result (not yet finished) but not the red colour. Off to the shop to get some more paint. Plus a few more casts required!!

Test 5

Test 5, happy with the colour just a little too strong. Getting close to what I want.

Test 6

Test 6 too light hitting on a roll of 2+ next turn...

Stay tuned for more excitement. I have had to create a couple of new units of measure they are called the; The black-current (a "black-currents" volume of paint), a pea (slightly bigger than a black-current), and a "SG" (that's 75% of a shotglass of water). Yes... I know!

Improvised Hitler's buzzsaw (...and hot too)

In this episode Dan & Rex talk about "the trouble with 28mm". What even is 28mm… it's not a scale? Rex gets angry, will Dan soothe things out and will we come to grips with our scale woe's? Will we have a prime directive to give to all manufacturers to ensure that when we open the box will we have "joy"?

As well as that Rex talks about the performance of his new soviets at MOAB gaming convention in Sydney. 

Subscribe in your favorite podcasting app (search for vallhallagames) or click on the image below to view the web player.

Scientific analysis (not really!) of who talks most on the forthcoming podcast? Dan's waveform at the top, Rex's at the bottom. Next Podcast episode coming to a device near you very soon.

Dan's Scatter terrain-o-rama for WWII Chain of Command & Bolt Action on YouTube:

Dans scatter terrain build comes to fruition!

Manufacturers links: 

Anyscale Models; https://www.anyscalemodels.com/
Charlie Foxtrot; https://www.charliefoxtrotmodels.com/...
Supreme Littleness Designs; http://www.supremelittleness.co.uk/sl... 

Thanks for watching! Please "like' if you enjoyed it and consider subscribing and telling others about our channel. Regards, Rex & Dan.

Rex shares his first impressions of the Kings of War V3; Shadows in the North, 2-Player Starter Set. If you don't play KOW already it a great low cost entry into a fantasy game system. Now in version 3, a well-tested and mature game system. http://www.manticgames.com/

XPS foam buildings and terrain, its like finding an unlimited box of free Lego under your bed! 

My first attempt is below which I did while watching TV last night. However seeing as overnight I literally I dreamed about building an entire city this way, there is no holding back now. (excuse the mini painting, I got him on ebay as part of a bulk lot)

In this video Dan takes us on a tour of the book "Masters in Miniature" by Alan & Michael Perry. We hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to subscribe to our youtube channel while you are there.

Share this video round and help promote the Perry's, a great miniatures company.

https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product_info.php?products_id=3073
NOTE: there are two order codes AND PRICES(!) for this book... this link above takes you to the website and the book for the "rest of the world" postage. For orders within the U.K choose the "other" option from the Perry Miniatures website.

(NOT a paid promotion)

Kings of war V3 printable rulebook index, created for your playing enjoyment by valhallagames.net click on the image below to go to the download page. Consider this version 0.5, a work in progress, more to follow. Contact us here for corrections or suggestions.

Edit V0.6 now available has special rules and artifacts.

Friday Photo - Tea

On the 75th anniversary of the D Day invasion, the CWC organised a full event for wargamers and public alike to attend. Dan attended to take part in Bolt Action and record for posterity.

With Militaria from the period and Huge games of Flames Of War and Bolt Action on display the club did itself proud in both commemorating and educating others around the event.

We have invested significant time on the video to show the efforts of the coordinators and the participants - thanks to all and we look forward to the next opportunity.

A listing of Bolt Action Podcasts is now on the static part of our web site click here or on the image below: