Sisters of Battle Rhinos

These are the Rhinos that came with the Combat Patrol boxes (1 each). Painted up as Our Martyred Lady Order.

They come with decals for all the major militant orders - as well as some for scrolls - fiddly to put on, but nice once applied.

The hunter-killer missiles are magnetized so they can be removed and the hatch flipped.

A bunch of optional part are included to bling out the vehicles.

A fun kit to put together and paint up - the edge highlighting took the longest, but I wanted it to match the way the Battle Sisters were painted up.

Here they are with the missiles detached.

On the gaming front, have another Black Powder game this coming Friday - the Battle of Gorodetschna. Finally getting the Russians and Austrians I painted a while ago onto the gaming table. I don't have any Saxons, but will use French and other troops as proxies. My buddy James will be supplying the Austrian artillery as he has a ton of them. Thanks again for stopping by and wishing you all the best.

Sisters of Battle - Order of Our Martyred Lady

Finished the Battle Sisters from the two Combat Patrol boxes. Still need to paint up the two Rhinos and other figures.

This is a Canoness and a couple of Repentia Superiors swinging neural whips - which cause "agonizing pain with every skillful lash."

Seraphim on flying bases.

The stands attach to the bottom of the jet packs.

And the Battle Sisters - two squads of 10, or can be combined into a large unit of 20.

Plan to work on the Rhinos next - as they are black and will be highlighted the same way of the armor worn by the Battle Sisters.

On the gaming front, I plan to host another Black Powder game in a couple of weeks based on the 

Battle of Gorodechno. Until next time, wishing you all the best!

Battle for the Farm House - La Haye Sainte - Black Powder

Finally got to game the La Haye Sainte Black Powder game today. Used a mix of the mid-size and larger game scenarios that came with the Warlord Games set. I wanted to add a few more supporting units, to include some cavalry. Here's the set up prior to the game - with a bit of inspiration watching the old Waterloo movie with Rod Steiger and Christopher Plummer. 

EDIT: A little more details of the game - the French had two brigades of three infantry battalions each; a cavalry brigade of one Cuirassier and two Lancer units; two horse artillery batteries and several small detachments, including an Engineer/Pioneer unit.

The British, besides several small detachments of KGL Lights and Nassauers in and around the farmhouse had two brigades of two line infantry each, two RHA batteries, small detachments of 95th Rifles and a unit of Scots Greys.

The French started the game as attackers and almost all of the units were successful activating and moving towards the farmhouse. The British in their turn attempted to move along the flanks of the farmhouse towards the French. One brigade of French infantry managed to get through the orchard and up against the southside of the farmhouse in turn 2. While the other French infantry brigade moved into assault against the KGL unit guarding the barn door on the western side of the farmhouse. The French cavalry moved up to the KGL Line on the western side of the battlefield and forced them to get into square. The British Line on the eastern side of the road slowly moved up to support KGL inside the farmhouse. In turn 3, the French stormed into the farmhouse and took on the small detachment of KGL Lights inside. A fire was also started on the roof of the stables which the KGL were not able to put out. The game was called when an overwhelming number of French were inside of the farmhouse and courtyard.

We played four turns, with the French having four battalions assaulting into the farmhouse. Now this probably stretches the basic rules with the amount of units allowed in a building/structure, but we went ahead with it.

The scenario booklet actually has smaller units in and assaulting the farmhouse - companies and such. The stables on the western side did catch fire in turn 3 and was not able to be put out successfully by the occupying KGL.

The French had a Cuirassier and two Lancer (Polish & Dutch) units. They destroyed the one British cavalry unit - Scots Greys. The French cavalry also held off two KGL line battalions by having them stay in square for most of the game.

Here's where things got out of control - that is the number of French units in the farmhouse. The French had actually gone into skirmish formation, but we left them on the movement trays for ease of handling. One thing that was evident was the break test results for skirmishers. We thought it was way too advantages especially when resolving combat with heavy cavalry.  We plan to use the artillery break test results for small/tiny infantry units in the future. Thinking of giving infantry skirmishers vs. medium/heavy cavalry the same results as artillery during break tests. Basically anything 4 or less is destroyed.

With a few tweaks, like the one mentioned for small/tiny unit break test - and limiting the amount of units in the farmhouse, I plan to host this at our next Enfilade convention. Granted it's a ways out, but a few more playtests will be needed.

Anyway, I was glad to have finally gotten this game in, having finished the farmhouse over a year ago. It was good to flesh out the scenario and use the special rules like the French Engineers breaking down doors, setting buildings afire and also scaling walls.

Thanks for stopping by and wishing you all the best.

Sisters of Battle - Order of Our Martyred Lady - WIP

WIP on a couple of boxes of Adepta Sororitas Combat Patrols. Thought about building either a Space Wolves or White Scars Space Marines army, but saw these going for a great price - one quite a bargain because the box had a damaged corner. Anyway, just finished putting together the figures and Rhinos. One of the Canoneses was left on the sprue as only one will be needed for this army.

Magnetized the heavy weapon on the Rhinos to allow the hatch to be flipped over as an option.

Used most of the extras as bling on the two Rhinos.

Here are a few pictures of the 7" McFarlane Space Marines previously painted. Added some purity seals too.

They're getting some PT while attending DWAS (Deathwatch Assessment and Selection).

Obviously getting smoked during a run as they can't stay in step.

The Blood Angel LT class leader will get them through the course.

Thanks for stopping by for this quick 40K interlude. Wishing you all the best.

Austrians vs. Bavarians 1809 Black Powder Game

Just got back from playing a very enjoyable Black Powder game hosted by my buddy James. He has a keen interest in the 1809 Campaign and has a huge collection of figures for the period.

Set up prior to starting. Bavarians on the near side of the shot - and Austrians holding the far side of the table. The victory conditions were for the Bavarians to make it off the table through a narrow pass or killing off over half of the enemy.

The Austrian left.

Bavarian left.

Bavarian center - I ran two Bavarian infantry brigades and James ran the Bavarian cavalry as well as their light infantry sharp shooters.

The Austrian center with a unit of Uhlans.

One of my Bavarian infantry brigades assaulting the Austrian right. One of the Bavarian regiments was wiped out by enemy artillery and musket fire. The other one survived. James included special characters based upon actual historical figures - for instance, one of the Bavarian regiments had a father son - officer/sergeant major duo to add bonus for attacks. Another character was a Bavarian pioneer who added bonuses for combat in wooded terrain.

Bavarian cavalry waiting to support my other Bavarian infantry brigade firing down into Austrians retreating off the high ground.

The Bavarian cavalry actually ended up getting decimated by traversing artillery fire as they attempted to advance to the pass. It was a declared an Austrian victory at the end of turn 5 as no Bavarian units made it to the pass. However, the Bavarians did manage to kill off a good number of Austrians.

James has a Bavarian cavalry helmet and Austrian grenadier cap, as well as a French cuirass from the period.

All in all a really enjoyable Black Powder game. In fact, this was my first Black Powder game in about two years. All the core rules came back nicely, and plan to host my own Black Powder game in a few weeks - the La Haye Sainte scenario game. Thanks again for stopping by and wishing you all the best in gaming and painting.

McFarlane Black Templar Space Marine - Abhor the Witch.

Sticking with the black armor with bluish-white highlighting like the earlier Order of Our Martyred Lady Sister of Battle, did up this Black Templar.

The edging does look a little too strong - and not the most realistic highlighting; probably should've lightened it up a bit.

The purity seal is another separate piece from ebay. It actually came as a freebie with a weapon order.

A fairly simple paint job, with the Maltese crosses on the pauldrons and helmet being the standouts.

This is likely the last Space Marine in this type of armor I'll paint up. However, I do have several pre-ordered figures in Phobos armor that are supposed to be released in December. I also ordered a couple of of Sisters of Battle Combat Patrol sets - couldn't pass up the discounted price on ebay and Amazon. Plan to paint them up in black armor too.

I'm running out of shelf space for these big figures, but they're kind of fun to paint up. Anyway, thanks again for stopping by and checking out the blog. Oh, and I am playtesting a Black Powder Austrian vs. Bavarian Napoleonic game my buddy James is hosting this Friday. Will post pictures when done. Until next time, best wishes to you all!

Another McFarlane Sister of Battle - Order of the Sacred Rose

 Another McFarlane "action figure" that was given a detailing treatment, and a resin head.

The little stand that comes the figures is usually not needed for the bigger footed Space Marines, but the Sister figures are bit more dainty toed.

She may look like one, her name isn't Karen.

I saw blue used as shadowing for white on some GW 'eavy metal painted figures, so gave it a try.

I was initially going to paint this one up as an Argent Shroud Sister in silver, but thought the white was a nicer contrast to the silver edging and gold icons.

Well, thanks again for checking out the blog, and best wishes to you all.

McFarlane Sister of Battle - Order of Our Martyred Lady

Here's another articulated McFarlane "action" figure; this time an Adepta Sororitas Sister of Battle. I added details over the basic pre-paint job.

Not very up on Sisters of Battle, but I think this one is belongs to the Order of Our Martyred Lady - which I ran twenty reds light in her honor. 

The figure comes apart for painting, but a little different than the Space Marine figures - which is no surprise as they aren't in power armor.

Added a 3D resin head I picked up from a separately ebay vendor.

Next to a 28mm Chaplain and the previously painted McFarlane Salamander.

Another size comparison with the two McFarlane figures. For the record, I pre-ordered their soon to be released Reiver Space Marine figures wearing Phobos armor. Yeah, I know I'm kind of making technical references way above my pay grade.

Anyway, just a quick update to blog to keep it moving along. Appreciate your stopping by and wishing you all the best in health and hobby pursuits!

Citadel Warhammer 40K Imperial Sector

Managed to build three ruined building from the opened box of 40K Imperial Sector picked up at the recent Bring and Buy for $20.00. The box was missing a few sprues and didn't have instructions, so I used the box art to build these the best possible with the existing parts.

As with the great detailed sculpting on Citadel models, it was a fairly easy process of dry-brushing and washes.

Tried to keep the colors as muted and toned down as possible so these can be used for historical scenarios - like Bolt Action European stuff. Of course, the large skulls on one of them are going to have to be overlooked.

I used a method on YouTube posted by Sonic Sledgehammer Studio - a foundation of black and lighter coats of brown and gray. Here are the pieces prior to dry-brushing and washes. It's a quick down and dirty method to get terrain on the table in no time.

Thanks again for stopping by and wishing you all good health and happy gaming and painting.