The New Recruits

This is my entry for Bonus Round #4 for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.  The theme is "West".

Captain Weeks looks at the 3 men before him as he runs them through some practice drills.  He will do his best to teach these new recruits as much as he can in the next week before they reach camp.  He had hoped for better numbers, but now these will have to do.

After Trenton, he was given a couple of weeks leave to head home and to take care of some family affairs.  On his return he was to travel through several counties of New Jersey to enlist more recruits.  Starting in Egg Harbor he worked his way West towards Philadelphia.  Along the way he picked up these three volunteers.  Morale was high after Trenton, but people were still more inclined to join the militia than the continental army because discipline was more lax in the state militia units.

At-ten-shun!

The young man and the clerk showed promise.  The third fellow, only volunteered at the insistence of his townsfolk.  Cpt. Weeks showed concern, but the Mayor said he would do the town a great service by taking the man into the army.  No, not promising at all.  But three was better than two.  The man would have to do.

Right face!

A few more drills and then it was time to continue the march West.  Time to get these new recruits outfitted and ready to join General Washington.

About face!

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4 - 54mm figures from All The Kings Men Toy Soldiers

This is one of those projects I have been meaning to pick back up for some time now.  54mm sadly requires a lot of table space, but now that I've recently picked up Sharp Practice 2 I have this urge to try to play it with my 54mm AWI guys.  So you may see more of this soon.  :)

Unfortunately for these recruits they never found Washington's army because a strange rift opened up in their path and a giant cat named Freya stepped through and devoured them.  But that's an alternate history...

Rod

The Creakin' of Old Bones

Here's some more of my 10mm Undead army for Warband.  I'm already being plagued by thoughts of adding more troops and I have to constantly remind myself to paint what I have on-hand.  It's something we all experience as miniature gamers, rationalized as "but it will be here when I ready to continue this project".  That "reserve" is also known as the lead pile.  I'm still working on my goal of making a dent in it this year and so far I'm being successful!

So here's a shot of the three new stands together.  We have a skeletal crossbow unit, a necromancer unit, and the leader unit.  One thing that came about with doing these units is that I decided on a army color scheme.  With my Dwarves I had chosen Red & Blue.  Deciding to give my units a sense of uniformity I went with Purple and Yellow.  This is not to say I connect the Undead to the American college football team Louisiana State University, but I am an Alabama fan so it kinda fits!

The Undead Army box only comes with 4 figures for the General unit.  That seemed like a rather large base for just 4 minis so I added a couple of ghouls and vampires I had ordered separately.  I'm rather pleased with how it turned out.

The same thing goes for the Necromancers.  There were just 4 in the package and the spooky monolith.  I wanted to make it look like these guys meant business.  So I had also ordered some spirit figures.  I added 6 to this base and I think it makes these guys look like a unit to be wary of just rushing into for a fight.

The last unit is my ranged unit.  I went with all crossbows, saving the longbows for a potential later unit to build.  I decided that all my skeletal units would be accompanied by a necromancer.  You never know when those skellies will start falling apart!  It's like a team mechanic repairing or replacing parts as needed!

Huntmaster Farhop and Whisper

There very few who can claim to know all the paths of Cool Dip Swamp better than Hedger Farhop, the Royal Huntmaster.  There are even fewer who can claim to be able to name the species all the creatures that inhabit the swamp.  But none can claim to know the life patterns, migrations, feeding habits of all its creatures as well as Hedger Farhop.  A point he takes an extreme amount of pride in, especially after downing a few Muckfly Ales.

The Huntmaster can almost always be seen accompanied by his faithful companion, Whisper, the wasp.  Their work is well coordinated but often neither will mutter a sound, and yet when you see them at work it is almost as if they can read each other's minds.

He is a very quiet man frog who tends to keep to himself.  And would prefer to spend most of his time alone in the swamps instead of social gatherings.

But, when it comes to organizing and leading the hunt, he does come out of his quiet shell and excels at his work.  It is said that there  has never been a better and more skillful Master of the Hunt.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This is another figure from Darksword Miniatures.  Cheers!Rod

My AHPC Bonus Round 3 - "Home" Entry

//ProxyHost/*/.../Tx/DoucetCorp/ANewHomeOfDiscovery

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Do you have an adventurous spirit?  Dreams of traveling to a newly discovered world and being one of its early pioneers?  Want to earn an advanced degree in leading technology fields?

This is your opportunity!

Doucet Corporation has the answer for you!  We are looking for young couples willing to live and work on remote research stations on newly discovered worlds.  You will have your own home right next to your work.  This home will have all the most modern amenities to help you feel comfortable and safe on your new world.  A new life of discovery is waiting for you and we'll provide the job, the home, and the advanced education.

This picture is our newly built research station on Oizys.  Two couples currently occupy this research station and are at work analyzing weather patterns, minerals, agriculture, and many other subjects to help prepare for colonization of this planet.

Interested in joining one of the Doucet Corporation research teams?

Requirements:
1) Young married couples (30-45 years of age).  No children.  [Families may be started once on location.]
2) Both must have Masters degrees.
2) Must pass physical and mental examinations.
3) Must be willing to attend school for doctoral degrees selected by Doucet Corporation [based on current research needs].
4) Must sign a 5 year contract to work on research station.  Options to continue staying at the site will be based on job performance after completion of initial contract.

Please click the "Apply" button to get further details.

[APPLY]

Doucet Corporation is a registered corporation on 17 worlds, including Sol Prime.  Name and logos are trademarked by the Federation of Human Planets and protected by its laws.

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The buildings are all 15mm and made by Brigade Models.

Beating a Dead Horse...

I'm not sure how it translates in other languages, but in English there's an expression "beating a dead horse".  It basically means you keep bringing up a same opinion over and over even though it won't change anything, but just gets annoying to everyone having to hear it.  Well, that's what I kept thinking when I was painting these Skeletal Cavalry.  But it was really more of just how long does a skeletal horse go?  Sure it doesn't get tired.  But don't they start falling apart after a while?  Meh, I just over thinking it.  It's magic!  Fantasy!  Who cares?

So, speaking of fantasy, magic, and the Undead.  How about I introduce you to the start of my 10mm Undead army for Warband.  You didn't think I painted up all those Dwarves so they could sit on the shelf and drink all my ale did you?

More to come soon.  Enjoy the last hours of your weekend.

Rod