Flint and Feather Contact

I've found that over the last few years my focus for 28mm wargaming has gravitated towards skirmish sized games. That's not to say that I don't like a large scale battle in all its glory, far from it; but maybe this shift is a consequence of available time and space. One such game in my current collection that fits into the skirmish genre is Flint and Feather by Crucible Crush, the pre-conquest game set in North America. As mentioned in a previous post the figures that accompany the game are lovely sculpts and were a pleasure to paint. I've also recently obtained a copy of Champlain's Dream by David Hackett Fischer which is next up on my reading list. It seems that fate had guided that purchase when I heard that Crucible Crush were planning an expansion to the Flint and Feather gaming world with the introduction of Europeans. Flint and Feather Contact has just stated on Kickstarter and has already been successfully funded. Once again the figures sculpted by talented Bob Murch are stunning, and I'm sure will find their way into being fielded in many other games as well. To say that I'm excited about this Kickstarter would be an understatement, and I will be thinking of gaming possibilities when reading Champlain's Dream. 

Other gaming developments that have captured my imagination is the release of Infamy Infamy by Too Fat Lardies and the latest SAGA Universe, Hannibal. Both of these games have figures painted ready to go and just require rebasing. There will be more added to each game, especially Carthaginians for SAGA. More on the development of those projects will follow. Currently I'm finishing off a 15mm Parthian army, and will post pictures once complete. I'm looking forward to getting this one on the gaming table. 

SAGA Magic Army

Eventually got my SAGA Magic force ready for action. The Warlord is the beautiful Freyja model mounted on the wild boar Hildisvini from Bad Squidoo Games as is my favourite piece the Norse Witch on Moose, as are the angry tree stumps which I will post better pictures at a later date. The Tree Herder is from Mantic Games. Some supernatural creature additions are from the Flint and Feather range by Crucible Crush, and finally the Satyrs, Brownies and Sprites were from Alien Dungeon originally for Fanticide. 

All flock and tufts on these models are from WWScenics, who do a superb range. 

Big moves afoot in the SAGA world, with the preorders open for the next universe: Hannibal, which includes SAGA Epic a way to play bigger games at 12-18 points, something a number of us in the local club are looking forward to. The Punic wars have always been an interest of mine, so I was excited at the announcement and place my preorder without delay. Currently I'm starting to rebase my Republican Roman army in anticipation of being able to play. If I did have one unfulfilled wish for a new SAGA universe it would be a Biblical setting, I'm quietly hoping that this is one that will be considered in the future. 

I addition to the new SAGA release, I've also been seduced by the latest offering from Too Fat Lardies that is Infamy Infamy. My Ancient British army is in the process of being rebased and having some minor running repairs made such as replacing the old white metal spears with wire ones. More will follow on both these new projects as they develop. It is unusual for me to have figures ready to go (well almost) for a  new set of rules. Also in the news of upcoming rules I noticed that there's a Crusades version of Lion Rampant on the cards, this is another one that has piqued my interest as it will fit in nicely with my existing plans. I have boxes of figures wanting for my attention to build SAGA warbands for the Crusades, and an Italo-Norman army, probably for Impetus which is another rule set I want to have a look at. So busy times ahead, hopefully I'll be able to get into a productive hobby mode once my dissertation and final assignment have been completed in the forthcoming months. 

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Warlord

Flint and Feather

I've had my eyes on Flint and Feather by Crucible Crush for quite a while, mostly due to the superb range of figures that accompany the game, which are simply stunning and a pleasure to paint. I finally took the plunge and ordered the rule book 2 starter warparties, the Huron/Wendot and the Iroquois/ Haudenosaune, along with the Iroquoian Spirit Creatures and some Iroquoian Companions, Great Warriors, Striplings and battle posts and fur trade markers. All are now painted up and ready to play, and since completing them I've added a set of 3 canoes. My favourite figure is the naked bear from the Spirit Creatures set.

As a bonus I've more than enough figures to field a Skraeling force for SAGA, a faction I've wanted to try out.

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SAGA Skraelings

The Fearsome Flying Head

The Great Horned Serpent

Stone Coat Giant Man

The Naked Bear Spirit Creature

Late Roman Church

28mm Late Roman Church for SAGA, Dux Brittaniarum and Dux Bellorum.

The model is from Warbases, and is a lovely little kit. I've used it as a base to build the Late Roman Church I had in mind that would fit into the world of post Roman Britain.

Pictures include the base model and work inprogress of the build as I've promised those on a Facebook page.

The Build

I really wanted to get the curved look to the chancel area of the church, and used several layers of Ranger Smooth texture paste to build up layers until I was happy with the look. I wasn't concerned about coming level with the existing roof as the thatch would overhang.

Then Ranger smooth texture paste was added to the walls of the church until I got the effect I was after. Once dried I used fine sand Marabu structure paste to add broken areas to the walls that were later picked out with Foundry Moss triad (29), I did use a wash of Army Painter Strong Tone Ink over the base coat of Foundry Moss, then highlighted up using the triad once dry.

I had to modify the supports to the flat roof sections to make it easier to remove and replace once the texture had been applied to the walls (picture attached).

The tiled roof sections were added, I used hot glue to attach (no room for error!). These come in vac formed A4 sheets from Empires at War and cut easily with scissors.

Bamboo BBQ skewers were used to create the ridge for the tiled sections, 2 at the bottom one piece on top. Some trimming was required of the side roof to allow the main roof section to sit properly (picture attached).

Smooth texture paste was used to fill in gaps of the tiled section, and the ridge pieces. These were later painted with Foundry Terracota (37B).

Pan scourers were cut and added (once again with hot glue) to the chancel and roof sections I wanted to cover with thatch. It best to fold and crease the ridge section of the thatch in half length ways as it makes adding easy. The roof was then given a heavy brushing with cheap artists acrylic Burnt Umber, I wasn't bothered about getting a uniform coverage as I was happy with some of the original green showing underneath. The thatch area was then brushed with Vallejo Green Brown (879) and Vallejo Green Ochre (914).

The walls were painted with Vallejo Beige (917), then over brushed with Vallejo Ivory (918) then Vallejo Off-white (820).

Wooden areas were painted with Citadel Colour Wyldwood. The door was then highlighted with Foundry Bay Brown (42)

Finally the Chi-Ro was added using Foundry Madder Red (60)

The texture pastes and pan scourers were found on Amazon. I also used a cheap set of artists spatulas for adding the texture pastes, also off Amazon.


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