Showing posts with label Tabletop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tabletop. Show all posts

Saturday, 2 June 2018

Blood Red Skies - Painting The BF109E Squadron

Blood Red Skies - Painting The BF 109 Squadron


With the arrival of the Blood Red Skies starter set and getting the Adlertag set from Warlord games, I now have thirteen BF109's, two squadrons of six planes and the Ace Aldolf Galland.


A few of the research pictures of possible paint schemes. 

With the scheme I went off to the LFGS and picked up the colours need, I've chosen to use GW paints on this occasion, as I usually stick with Vallejo for WW2 miniatures. 

The Paints I purchased. 

Caliban green - (To be mixed with a little black) for the top and wing "triangles"
Dawnstone -  for the other "triangles and base grey. 
Fenrisian Grey - for the underside
Flash Gitz Yellow - for the nose and tail marking.


I started by giving them a spray coating of black. 

Underside

The underside was given a base coat of Fenrisian Grey and then washed with Agrax Earthshade, then brought back up to Fenrisian Grey leaving the panel lines. I didn't bother highlighting further as you're not going to see the underside that much. To finish the underside I picked out the wheels in black. 

Wings and Fuselage

After looking at the reference pictures I decided to go with the triangular pattern instead of the mottled design for the wings. The black and Caliban Green mix was added to the upper sides of the wings and the top and sides of the fuselage. Then following the triangular design pattern above from the reference pictures. I've used Dawnstone to paint on the markings, just on the wings.  

The fuselage I went for the mottled pattern, as in the reference images. then drybrushed up with Dawnstone over the Black/Green mix across the whole miniature. I added a little bit of white to drybrush over the Dawnstome wing section to bring out the paneling and details. 

The Nose and Rudder

   I base coated them with Zamesi Desert and then gave them a light wash with Agrax Earthshade. Once dry, lightened them up to Flash Gitz Yellow leaving recesses dark. The spinner was painted back to black and given a small highlight of Dawnstone. 


Windows and Canopy

These were base coated Lothern Blue and given a wash of Drakenhof Nightshade, then once dried, highlighted back up to Lothern Blue and a small final highlight with some white added to the blue. The frames of the canopy where picked out in Dawnstone. To finish off I added a coat of  gloss varnish over the glass areas




The first six Painted BF109E's before the decals





I really think that the BF109's come to life once the decals are applied. They were god quality and very easy to apply. Once applied I gave the transfers a coat of Matte varnish to help seal them in. 


Decals are from 1/144 Direct

Next up was the
Fighter Ace - Adolf Galland

My reference picture






Then it was decided  an attempt on the yellow wing tipped fighters, I'm only wanting to make a pair. 






The Black Buzzard

In the usual fashion as the Soviet Yak-1 article I've chosen a cover of a Commando comic to paint up an Ace or Squadron leader.

The Commando Comic cover by Benet

Oberst Von Regner. 




The Black Buzzard and his wingmen


Starscream

In Jet Mode


In BF109 mode. 


Sunday, 10 August 2014

my new obsession - Star trek attack wing

My new obsession...



Over the past few months i have been playing Star Trek Attack Wing (STAW). I started because i play X-wing the Star wars version as i am a big SW fan and the fact that STAW uses the same rules system (Flightpath system) was a huge bonus to me, it saved me learning another set of rules. Also with the painting list getting bigger and bigger, pre painted miniature was a very welcome bonus. 


Starter set


Before i started playing this game, i can honestly say that i wasn't a star trek fan. Don't get me wrong i enjoyed the original movies, when i was growing up (Star Trek IV The voyage home was always a favourite) but i didn't watch any of the series in the star trek franchise. It took a friend to persuade me to buy the game, and i'm glad i did.



After getting a few of the expansion ships i started looking for the episodes the ships where featured in to get a bit of context for the ships and crew. The ships come from all corners of the star trek universe from the Klingon D7  I.K.S Gr'oth  ship from the Trouble with tribbles , an original series episode to the U.S.S Equinox from Voyager.



Klingon D7 class I.K.S Gr'oth 
Nova Class U.S.S Equinox


Each of the expansions come with a mission card so you can play a mission that usually has relevance to its involvement in the story. For example the U.S.S Reliant  has the mission card that lets you re fight the battle against Khan in the Mutara Nebula. This is one of the appeals for me, that is to replay all the battles in the original films.

Fleet Building
The massive choice of ships and captain's gives you great flexibility as the captains don't have to stay with the ships that they came with, they can even cross faction. So you can have Jean-luc Picard on a Borg tactical cube can be locutus of borg, or Kirk onboard the Klingon bird of prey with his crew.


Kirk onboard the Klingon bird of prey with his crew in Star trek IV

The upgrades are my favourite part of the fleet building. Each ship as different upgrade slots depending on the class. These vary from crew, tech and weapon upgrades. Some captains have access to elite talents. 


Crew upgrades


Weapon and a tech upgrade 




Compared to X-wing there is a lot more factions you can use if you wanted to play pure non mixed forces.

I prefer to play with pure single faction forces. 

The choices available are

  • Federation
  • Klingon
  • Romulan
  • Dominion
  • Borg
  • Species 8472
  • Kazon
  • Bajoran
  • Ferengi
  • Independents
  • Mirror universe
  • Vulcan


Each ship comes with a card that has a named version of the ship and default stock ship of that class. The named ships tend to have +1 shield and a special rule.




The Miniatures

The miniatures are good and detailed,  but the paint job is what lets everything down. the range as a whole is a bit hit or miss. Some ships look fantastic like the U.S.S Equinox and the U.S.S Excelsior. but others look bland and are in need of a details like the Borg Tactical Cube, i had to add a few patches of bright green and a dark wash to make it look less plastic.
.







Gameplay

The Flightpath system is a very good system but what set this apart from the x-wing game is that the game is more about the crew and upgrade actions. This you have to make a choice of which actions to use, not just out pilot them. So in the end it does capture the feel of a star trek battle, instead of a dogfight which x-wing does very well. Compared to X-wing the ships hit hard but dodge very little and all ships will have shields, helping to reinforce the cruiser type conflict.

The Missions cards in each expansion is a very good idea for refights with different ships, like the Kobayashi Maru mission with the Enterprise-D or the Voyager.
The multiple factions available leads well for Multiplayers games, the starter set promotes it further with three factions included. 

The large variety of crew and cross faction upgrades, makes each battle feel like its own mini episode.

My collection

Federation 

  • U.S.S Enterprise - Constitution class
  • U.S.S Enterprise Refit - Constitution class
  • U.S.S Enterprise- D - Galaxy class
  • U.S.S Reliant - Miranda class
  • U.S.S Excelsior - Excelsior class
  • U.S.S Voyager - Intrepid class
  • U.S.S Equinox - Nova class
  • U.S.S Enterprise- E - Sovereign class
  • U.S.S Enterprise NX-01 - NX-01 class
  • U.S.S Stargazer - Constellation class
  • U.S.S Pegasus - Oberth class
  • U.S.S Prometheus - Prometheus class
U.S.S Voyager - Intrepid class



Klingon

  • I.K.S Gr'oth - D7 Class
  • I.K.S Kronos one - K'tinga Class
  • I.K.S Maht-H'a - Vor'cha Class
  • Chang's Bird of prey- Klingon Bird of prey.
  • I.K.S. Negh'var - Negh'var Class
  • I.K.S. Ning'tao - B'rel Class
I.K.S Kronos one - K'tinga Class

Romulan
  • I.R.W. Khazara - D'Deridex Class
  • I.R.W. Gal Gath'thong - Romulan bird-of-prey
  • R.I.S Apnex - Romulan Science Vessel
  • Scimitar - Reman Warbird

I.R.W. Khazara - D'Deridex Class

Borg
  • Tactical Cube 138 - Borg Tactical Cube
  • Borg Sphere 4270 - Borg Sphere
  • Borg Soong - Borg Ship Type 03
  • Scout Cube 508 - Borg Scout cube
  • Queen Vessel Prime - Borg Octahedron

Tactical Cube 138 - Borg Tactical Cube
Bajoran

  • Interceptor 5 - Bajoran Interceptor
Dominion
  • Gor Portas - Breen battle cruiser

Gor Portas - Breen battle cruiser


Independant
  • Alpha Hunter - Hirogen warship
  • Gornarus - Gorn Raider
Alpha Hunter -Hirogen Warship



Mirrior Universe
  • I.S.S Defiant - Defiant class
  • AssimilationTarget Prime/U.S.S Enterprise-D -Galaxy class
  • Regent's Flagship - Negh'var class
  • U.S.S. Pasteur - Olympic class
  • I.S.S. Enterprise - Constitution class
U.S.S. Pasteur - Olympic Class



And no doubt more will be coming soon

"I'm from Iowa, i only work in outer space." - Kirk

Wednesday, 19 March 2014

Dreadball - Azure Forest League - Week 4



Dreadball - Azure Forest League - Week 4




Hello Sports fans, thank you for joining the OSQDB network for the thrilling highlights of the Galactic tour series week four. My Name is Eddie Alba and I'm here in the Blue moon of Azure IX for the Azure forest league. 

This week we have a handful of MVP's are up for grabs.

A'teo Adysi - Joined the Teo-Ti- Wakan Temple Guard in Pod A
Drake - 
Joined the New Luna Elements in Pod A
The Praetorian - 
 Joined the Wraith Children in Pod B
Dozer-
 Joined the New Luna Elements in Pod A
Reek Rolat-
 Not Hired
Gorim Ironstone Joined the Major Nuggets in Pod B
Gabe -
 Not Hired
The Veteran 
Joined theTeo-Ti- Wakan Temple Guard Project in Pod A 
Big Mech - Joined the Eurocorp's Eugenics Project in Pod C



Week Four Pods

Pod A

Dwarves under the Mountain - Forgefathers
IRN Wildcats - Trontek Humans
Teo-Ti- Wakan Temple Guard - Trontek Humans
New Luna Elements - Void Siren Humans


Pod B

Team Kappatate -  Teratons
Major Nuggets -  Forgefathers
Wraith Children -  Asterians
Dagobah Monks - Judwan



Pod C

Eurocorp's Eugenics Project - Zee
Hard Carries - Void Siren Humans
Barr's Girder Grinders - Trontek Humans
Silence - Judwan*  - Tip Tap went the Crab - Nameless

* the Judwan team Silence have had pull out of the Azure league, to be replaced by Tip Tap went the Crab - Nameless 




Pod A

Round one - Highlights

New Luna Elements Teo-Ti- Wakan Temple Guard
++Unfortunately the Vidpix operator have been taken by a bad case of Jungle Sickness so no vidpix were taken++

IRN Wildcats Dwarves under the Mountain 
++Unfortunately the Vidpix operator have been taken by a bad case of Jungle Sickness so no vidpix were taken++

Scores 
Score - ( )  league points

  New Luna Elements 1 (2) v 0 (1) Teo-Ti- Wakan Temple Guard

 IRN Wildcats 0 (0) v 7 (3) Dwarves under the Mountain

Round two - Highlights

New Luna Elements   IRN Wildcats
++Unfortunately the Vidpix operator have been taken by a bad case of Jungle Sickness so no vidpix were taken++

Dwarves under the Mountain V Teo-Ti- Wakan Temple Guard
++Unfortunately the Vidpix operator have been taken by a bad case of Jungle Sickness so no vidpix were taken++


Scores 
Score - ( )  league points

 New Luna Elements  0 (1) v 3 (2)  IRN Wildcats

 Dwarves under the Mountain 3 (2) v 0 (1) Teo-Ti- Wakan Temple Guard

Round three - Highlights

IRN Wildcats Teo-Ti- Wakan Temple Guard
++Unfortunately the Vidpix operator have been taken by a bad case of Jungle Sickness so no vidpix were taken++

Dwarves under the Mountain New Luna Elements
++Unfortunately the Vidpix operator have been taken by a bad case of Jungle Sickness so no vidpix were taken++

Scores 
Score - ( )  league points

 IRN Wildcats  7 (3) v 0 (0) Teo-Ti- Wakan Temple Guard

 Dwarves under the Mountain 0 (0) v 7 (3) New Luna Elements


Pod A final League standings

 Team name - League points - Team rating-  (Strike difference)

New Luna Elements  - 6 - 267 - (+16)
Dwarves under the Mountain - 5 - 309 - (+3)
IRN Wildcats - 5 - 257 - (+3)
Teo-Ti- Wakan Temple Guard - 2 - 243 - (-11)

Pod B

Round one - Highlights

Team Kappatate V Wraith Children




Dagobah Monks Major Nuggets
++Unfortunately the Vidpix operator have been taken by a bad case of Jungle Sickness so no vidpix were taken++

Scores 
Score - ( )  league points

Team Kappatate  0 (1) v 3 (2) Wraith Children

 Dagobah Monk 7 (3) v 0 (0) Major Nuggets

Round two - Highlights

Wraith Children Major Nuggets



Team Kappatate  Dagobah Monks
++Unfortunately the Vidpix operator have been taken by a bad case of Jungle Sickness so no vidpix were taken++

Scores 
Score - ( )  league points

Wraith Children  7 (3) v 0 (0) Major Nuggets

 Team Kappatate 0 (0) v 7 (3) Dagobah Monks

Round three - Highlights

Wraith Children Dagobah Monks





Team Kappatate Major Nuggets
++Unfortunately the Vidpix operator have been taken by a bad case of Jungle Sickness so no vidpix were taken++

Scores 
Score - ( )  league points

 Wraith Children  0 (0) v 7 (3) Dagobah Monks

 Team Kappatate 0 (0) v 7(3) Major Nuggets


Pod B final League standings

 Team name - League points - Team rating-  (Strike difference)

Dagobah Monks - 9 - 230 - (+21)
Wraith Children - 5 - 196 - (+3)
Major Nuggets - 3- 226 - (-7)
Team Kappatate - 1- 231 - (-17)


Pod C

Round one - Highlights

Barr's Girder Grinders V Eurocorp's Eugenics Project 





Hard Carries V Tip Tap went the Crab
++Unfortunately the Vidpix operator have been taken by a bad case of Jungle Sickness so no vidpix were taken++

Scores 
Score - ( )  league points

 Barr's Girder Grinders  1 (2) v 0 (1) Eurocorp's Eugenics Project 

 Hard Carries 7 (3) v 0 (0) Tip Tap went the Crab

Round two - Highlights

Hard Carries V Barr's Girder Grinders
++Unfortunately the Vidpix operator have been taken by a bad case of Jungle Sickness so no vidpix were taken++

Eurocorp's Eugenics Project  V Tip Tap went the Crab
++Unfortunately the Vidpix operator have been taken by a bad case of Jungle Sickness so no vidpix were taken++

Scores 
Score - ( )  league points

Hard Carries  0 (1) v 2 (2)  Barr's Girder Grinders

 Eurocorp's Eugenics Project  0 (2) v 0 (1) Tip Tap went the Crab

Round three - Highlights

Barr's Girder Grinders Tip Tap went the Crab
++Unfortunately the Vidpix operator have been taken by a bad case of Jungle Sickness so no vidpix were taken++

Eurocorp's Eugenics Project  V Hard Carries
++Unfortunately the Vidpix operator have been taken by a bad case of Jungle Sickness so no vidpix were taken++

Scores 
Score - ( )  league points

 Barr's Girder Grinders  7 (3) v 0 (0) Tip Tap went the Crab

 Eurocorp's Eugenics Project  0 (1) v 2 (2) Hard Carries


Pod C final League standings

 Team name - League points - Team rating-  (Strike difference)

Barr's Girder Grinders - 7 - 220 - (+10)
Hard Carries - 6 - 208 - (+7)
Eurocorp's Eugenics Project - 4 - 197 - (-3)
Tip Tap went the Crab - 1 - 155 - (-14)



Final League standings Recap


 Team name - League points - Team rating-  (Strike difference)

Pod A


New Luna Elements  - 6 - 267 - (+16)
Dwarves under the Mountain - 5 - 309 - (+3)
IRN Wildcats - 5 - 257 - (+3)
Teo-Ti- Wakan Temple Guard - 2 - 243 - (-11)

Pod B


Dagobah Monks - 9 - 230 - (+21)
Wraith Children - 5 - 196 - (+3)
Major Nuggets - 3- 226 - (-7)
Team Kappatate - 1- 231 - (-17)

Pod C


Barr's Girder Grinders - 7 - 220 - (+10)
Hard Carries - 6 - 208 - (+7)
Eurocorp's Eugenics Project - 4 - 197 - (-3)
Tip Tap went the Crab - 1 - 155 - (-14)



Total League Points

 Team name - League points - Team rating-  (Strike difference)


  1. IRN Wildcats - 26 - 257 - (+29)
  2. Dagobah Monks - 25 - 230 - (+40)
  3. Teo-Ti- Wakan Temple Guard - 24 - 243 - (+31)
  4. Wraith Children - 22 - 196 - (+23)
  5. New Luna Elements  - 20 - 267 - (+9)
  6. Barr's Girder Grinders - 18 - 220 - (-3)
  7. Dwarves under the Mountain - 17 - 309 - (-6)
  8. Hard Carries - 15 - 208 - (-9)
  9. Major Nuggets - 15 - 226 - (-15)
  10. Eurocorp's Eugenics Project - 11 - 197 - (+9)
  11. Team Kappatate - 7 - 197 - (-46)
  12. Tip Tap went the Crab - 1 - 155 - (-14)


Next week we will check out the biggest cheers. So stay tuned and remember this was brought to you by the Exotic fragrance that is "Judwan No.5"