Thank you kind postwoman....

The post lady brought goodies, the challenge is on!, but first......

Sublime live at The Hard Rock Cafe '96.

  Yep, a couple of days ago i returned home to Chez Sprinks, greeted the Amazing Mrs Sprinks with a chased kiss on the cheek and patted the Sprinklings on the head, hung up my hat on the hatstand and placed the umbrella in the old elephants foot before Millie the wronghammer dog fetched me my pipe and slippers......well, possibly,  i may be slightly incorrect on a few details but the crux of this tale to be taken by yourselves dear reader is that my minis for the £30 (or local equivalent) army challenge have arrived!. 

The Black Rats mercenary company, bastards to a man (boo, hiss.....etc)

 I ordered the the above pile of 12mm goodies from kallistra and very nice they are. They came in at a whopping £27.20 including postage, leaving £2.80 for something else i may be planning to add to the project, but of course that's top secret at the mo!. Now Kallistra do a fantastic 6 blisters for £30 offer, which would have been right up my proverbial under normal conditions but as the postage would have taken it over the £30 limit it was not to be (i did of course buy 6 blisters but am only including 4 in the challenge so not to be a cheating little bugger, the rest will be added at a later date).

  Let me introduce you to the lads.....

From the front: Ranger/scouty/skirmisher types, 2 units of bowmen (all taken from one blister of archers!), behind them are the collection of disgraced lords, bastard sons and the like that make up 'the Knights that will not stand up' (working title). Next to them is the Leader of the company, Captain C.C. Bathion, known as the Black Rat of Blithersthorpe and his Bastard Quentin and an as yet un-named second in command Sir something of somewhere.

Two units of company grunts to do the foot sloggin'.

 Im still not sure if i will keep to these unit sizes, the kallistra minis are sold in blisters of 32 foot and 16 mounted with 4 bases to make them workable with the companies rules and represent one unit in said rule system. I'm most likely going to be using mine for some fantasy one hour wargaming nonsense or some other homebrew rules so i may use half a blister per unit:

Not sure which would work best?, any ideas?.

So thats me up and running with this whole challenge type thing, how are the rest of you finding it?.

 Anyway, looks like i have some painting to do!. All that remains is to welcome Mr John Yorio to this bastion of bollocks that is this blog. Thanks for the follow and welcome aboard Sir!. I cant tell if you have a blog but if you do as ever please stick a link (or just a hello) in the comments so we can have a peek. 

and heres a picture of a unicorn shark:

....'till next time......

A plan sort of coming together!!

Oooooh spacey!

 So it turns out stuff has been happening this week regarding the challenge i suggested last time out on this ere loose collection o' piffle in so far as i may have a (not even slightly) cunning plan. The idea of the £30 (or local equivalent) challenge is to show that this hobby of ours is not as expensive to get into as the major manufacturers would have you believe. To this end i have placed an order with the nice folks over at kallistra for some 100 years war goodness for the princely sum of less than £30!. The loose idea is to build a small force of mercs to work in many game systems. I want the force to be playable, balanced and fun and if i added nothing else to stand alone as 'finished' as is. I will not go into the ins and outs of the make up of the troops but rest assured it is a good mix of foot, Knights and bows so should not be unbalanced. 

 Now the minis have yet to reach chez Sprinks at the time of writing however i have been sent some samples from the good folks oop Kallistra way so having looked through them again thought i saw two minis that would work well as the forces commander and his herald. So i set to work on them as kind of test pieces to see how you actually go about painting 12mm figs. I understand that using your commanders as test pieces is not the most sensible move but its all i have at this point and i'm on a deadline (and about as patient as a 10 year old told to eat breakfast before opening presents on his birthday) so i got cracking and turned out these two:

Captain Charles Christophe Bathion, 'The Black rat of Blithersthorpe' with his trusted herald and 2nd favourite bastard son Quentin.

Despite the minis small size they were fun to paint, just a base coat and a wash for Quentins horse (and four attempts at the bloody banner!!) and jobs a good 'un. I was tempted to wash all of the minis but i thought their small size would leave them looking dirty and muted on the table so i relented. The horse got one as it was winding me up (1st horse in 25 years so cut me some slack!) and looked too flat due to my choice of colour.  To get an idea of their size they are based on a 2p coin, here's an action shot to further demonstrate:

 'Have at you!!'. 12mm knights vs 1/72 Skellies'.

  If you are tempted to have a go at the challenge yourself please feel free to jump aboard an have a go. I rather stupidly wrote Oldhammer in the initial post but that was silly as it can be for any system you like, its meant to just be a bit of fun to make people think about how you can approach collecting a force and have fun with the restrictions and mucking about with scratch builds, scales and even thrift shop toys and such. I am a firm believer that this hobby of ours can be affordable and attainable to even those with a small budget despite what certain companies may tell you!.

 'till next time......

Skellibobs and ponderings

 Hello all, couple of bits to report, nothing major but first.......

Something to listen to unrelated to my bobbins.

Thing to report primus:

   I painted a few Caesar Miniatures Skellies while i had some down time over the weekend:

Filthy Harold and his lawbringers have a bad ol' time of it!.

They were easy to paint and quite fun if you enjoy a spot of drybrushing now and then.

Thing to report secondus:

   I have been pondering what project to plunge into. I have some 20mm skirmishing in the offing which i have been painting the warbands for. I have several ideas where to go with it and it will revolve around a sleepy border town becoming the battle ground for a master criminal and the Law man obsessed with bringing him in (think a west country/cowboy/Magnum Force mash up, but with orcs and necromancers thrown in!). For rules i am even considering using this relic:

Second edition Warhammer, it works for single model skirmish games....honest!.

 Also with all this painting going on i have been wondering what to do regarding mass battles. I dont fancy painting hundreds of 20mm minis to play a decent looking mass battle command and control based game (and i'm up for a decent looking mass battle command and control based game) so i have been looking into other options, namely going into a smaller scale to ease the painting burden and create the type of 'mass effect' i happen to be after. To this end i have received some lovely samples from two very cool manufacturers to see what works, kallistra, who produce some nice 12mm stuff and Pendraken who produce minis in 10mm. The pic below will give you some idea of the actual sizes of their wares:

Yep i know i spelled Pendraken wrong in the picture, that is quite simply because i'm a prize tit!!.

 Both companies sculpts are truly first rate, i have to say i am very impressed with both with next to no mould lines or flash. Have a look at the pics below to see what i'm on about:

 10mm Pendraken

12mm Kallistra

 Both scales offer a great deal in the 'mass effect' department (big multi-based units with a small table top footprint allowing for more 'realistic' battle lines) and follow the 'paint the unit not the mini' style of painting i can get on board with to speed things along.....i mean, the idea of spending years painstakingly painting mini after mini just to actually get a game on is not appealing at all!!.

I am also considering some 6mm bits from baccus6mm but i have no samples to show as they want £7 for them (with postage) and i am one tight bugger so......

  I have also been looking at One Hour Wargames again and may use some of my 1/72 minis for that in units of about 10 bods for foot which may not be too much work...

Thing to report ...er.....three:

Another thing that has been on my mind quite a bit has been the fact that wargaming as a hobby can be quite pricey if you go down the wrong route. Some of the top manufacturers and popular systems charge upwards of £50 to get a small force on the table ( and thats being generous) and i think that yes, its a choice to play these games not a need so you can expect to pay to get on board but the price to switch system or try something new with the official minis can be bloody extortion...

£4 per mini, call me cheep but:

Now, bearing all this in mind i have been spoiled with 1/72 minis prices as they are beyond reasonable compared to several companies out there but (maybe) going into a different scale opens your blinkered blogger up to the horrors of metal miniature pricing. This leaves me rather urked as this gives the companies not charging the earth (like the three named above) a bad rep by proxy for those not prepared to investigate further. I know there are several ways to get the price of collecting an army down. So i wondered, who's up for a challenge?, such as:

Snappy!!.

 The idea being you buy and paint an army with a view to gaming with it for £30 (or the local currency equivalent) or less in a set number of weeks. The aim being to show this hobby is not the financial black hole it is often made out to be but actually quite easy to get into if you are pointed in the right direction (i.e. shopping around and setting reasonable expectations). This could mean thinking outside the box, like playing Kings of War in 6mm or Bolt action in 1/72 for example but very doable with a bit of thought. Who's up for it?.

 Well tats my head emptied for now, all that remains is to give a full blooded WELCOME Peter to the great big mental soup that is this blog!. Thanks for the follow and welcome along sir!. I cant see wether you have a blog or not , if you do please feel free to pop a link in the comments section as it would be great to have a look at what you are up to!!.

.....'till next time.......

Warbands almost done!

 Soooo I wait 25 or so years then smash out two rival warbands in just under two weeks!. It has also not been too much of a chore (i will go as far as saying i may have enjoyed it) and the fruits of my labours have given me two usable forces for an upcoming narrative campaigning type thing rattling around the ol' noggin. Here are the latest editions to the forces:

Force 1 archers forward and twain.

Force two missile types one side an' 'tuther (basing pending!).

 I also painted up a leader for each force:

 The infamous Lawman Filthy Harold.

Rear shot.

And his nemesis the cad, bounder and all round vile cur, the man of mystery known only as 'The  Crimson Git'.

Aft.

  So there you have it, as before i am after a table top standard so am not too bothered if some bits are a bit rough, there is bound to be stuff to improve on!, Please feel free to offer any advice and tips below!.

  All that remains is to welcome Mr Tradgardmastre ( of the fantastic The Duchy of Tradgardland blog) to this messed up little corner of the interbobs that is Wronghammer.  Welcome to you sir!.

....'Till next time......

Fugazi 'In on the Kill Taker'. (American Punk gone very right!!)

WHAT?!..PAINTING...AGAIN!?, AND WHATS ALL THIS RADIO BOLLOCKS!?!!

One good thing about coming out of a right old fug, loss of mojo, hobby...er...meh or whatever you want to call it is a changed perspective and renewed sense of creativity. Its a bugger to get to but the other side of the bllerrghhh is proving to be rather fruitful so far as fresh ideas and a renewed sense of 'pep' go. So i thought i would introduce a new feature to the blog:

  'What the heck is that 'sposed to be?' i hear you cry, well i thought that i would share not only my love for plastic soldier shoving on this blog but also my passion for music (ooohhh i have hidden depth, shallow hidden depth!!). What this equates to is the basic idea that i post a link to an album, live performance or some such i like so you can listen along as you read the attached post then destroy my lack of taste in the comments section!. Really its just an exercise in sharing stuff i enjoy that you may or may not enjoy too and to encourage discussion and further recommendations from you guys. (also i am not entirely sure its o.k. to share stuff like this on blogger so it is also a study of how quickly i can get into trouble and with whom!!!.... cue manic giggling!!!!).

    It is also worth noting that my music collection sort of peters out around '99 and is mostly a mix of punk, grunge and metal so good luck to you with the crap you may be subjected to!....towit:

Exhibit 1: Kyuss: 'Welcome to Sky Valley'.

(Fuzzy stoner grunge akin to Sabbath on a downer lost in the Navada Desert!)

...Right on to the gaming related stuff.....

..I have been painting again (i know, i know...). I thought it would be fun to paint with an aim to gaming (like what normal people do), so i have decided to paint up two warbands with the aim to let them face off soon. I am, as i am sure you know, a bit ( well a lot) of an beginner with this painting lark so i thought by launching into this i will have something to aim at and can work at my own pace, providing myself with the perfect chance to learn. So do you want to see what i have put together?:

Group 1

Group 2

 These are the foot troops for the warbands, archers and leaders to follow. As i am sure you will see they are a little rough but are fine for the table top which is what i'm after. Also they are the first minis i have based for a fricken age and i am quite chuffed with the bases even if they are a little primitive.

Things i have learned so far:

- A wash covers a multitude of crap. A huge thanks to the Composer for the tip last time out, the dark wash brings so much to the minis.

-Have a go at the detail work during the highlighting stage, even if it is a little untidy it helps the overall effect.

- Don't fret over your mistakes. Painting is a skill so it by definition takes time and practice to learn. Mistakes can be painted over but looking at the whys and hows of a cock up helps you get better.

- Concentrate on what went well, you will spend tons of time looking at the mistakes but remember to also look at the bits you are happy with.

As i said they are for the table top so i am not bothered about perfection and to that end here's a gratuitous action shot:

 And how it will look with the old 'three foot rule' in action:

 Not to bad a start, i am quite encouraged by not totally mucking them up!. As ever please feel  free to leave any feedback and tips below.

....'till next time......