These are the first Aventine Miniatures I've ever painted. And I have to ask myself, how is it that I took so long to get on the Aventine Train? They were such a treat to paint that Aventine is now one of my favorite miniature makers. The only thing holding me back from a big spend is they're ruthless about taking down their ranges when they show any mold lines. As a small operation, that means whole ranges are off their site at any time. That's ok. I've got them bookmarked and will swoop in once their Steppe Tribes and Sassanid Persians are back.   Painted for a Saga campaign but it ..read more

Bolt Action has been pushing for my #1 game spot based on a mix of our active community of great players and the many local events.  The Snafu-Bolt Action podcast team hosts an amazing 3 day event each November.  Day 1 was a themed 800 point Recon Rumble that required a transport seat for each infantry/foot sloggers OR a horse. I chose to paint 30 mounted and 30 dismounted Don River Cossacks. Figures are a mix of the superb Copplestone Castings "Back of Beyond" figures and 3D prints too.  Cavalry in Bolt Action is suboptimal and tricky to run. They're big, hard to hide ..read more

I finished up my Victrix Numidian warband this weekend.  Like many of my projects, this was not planned.  I got a box of mounted Numidian warriors as part of a trade. After putting them together, I loved the look of them so much I put in an order for a whole warband.  These lads will run under the Saga Age of Hannibal rules.  I've painted Numidians so many times in 15mm.  It was a treat to finally paint them in 28mm.  I'm greatly enjoying painting and playing ancients in this scale!  The Ellie is from Northstar Miniatures.  I took a Numidian horseman, cu ..read more

Recently, I stumbled onto an easy method for painting white.  I have multiple white paints and I've grown to hate them all. They each have issues with coverage. Some are too thick, some too thin, some grainy or crackle after they dry. After reading a positive review on a new US paint, Monument Pro Acrylic, I bought a bottle of their Bold Titanium White and 1 of Coal Black. These come in 22ml jars with a glass agitator.  The agitator is a nice touch but to be clear, the paint itself is very close to the consistency of my Vallejo airbrush paints. It is not thick at all so the agitator ..read more

Mutts are my Groundhog Day project. I keep painting, selling and repainting them. And usually getting a few reps in playing them as well. Looking back, this is my 4th version. This one started with me reacquiring 16 unpainted mounted Saracens I'd traded away to my buddy Brent years ago. They sat in a box until fate saw them boomerang back to me in another trade. I decided to go for a bright, colorful version. Basically, the opposite of the last version I painted a couple of years ago. Almost all Footsore figures with a few Gripping Beast Western Knights used, Gripping Beast Objective Mark ..read more

This is my Age of Crusades/post-Manzikert disaster Byzantines.  Information on what the Byzantine army looked like at that time is quite thin. Into that space, I created a "down on its luck" appearance where armor is quite rare.   The force is composed of Fireforge plastic Byzantine Spearmen & Auxiliaries (for the robed bodies), Gripping Beast plastic Arab foot (more robed bodies after I sawed off the left arms), light cavalry and heavy cavalry.  I sourced extra shields and my warlord from Gripping Beast. The shield transfers are from LBMS and Wargametransfers.com.&nbs ..read more

Saga Age of Magic is taking off in the Twin Cities and I just finished my 1st fantasy warband, the Great Kingdoms. I'll be taking them on the road next weekend to an AoM event in Wausau, Wisconsin. I'm so excited to see what other people paint and play! They're built off of my Footsore Miniatures Welsh with some crossbowmen converted into firearms. The pegasus-mounted figures are by Fireforge Games. The Stone troll and a war bear are Atlantis Miniatures. The troll is missing from their page so probably being reworked. 2 war bears are by Reaper Miniatures. Norba Miniatures makes the superb bea ..read more

4 full days and nights of Saga, and what a great run it was! We had two fellows from Australia, three from the UK, and Alex Buchel from France.  It was great to see old friends and make new ones. I finished on the top table in Joe's Age of Arthur event, killing Arthur but dying in a mutual warlord eradication exchange.  In the Age of Crusades, I finished on the top table against my buddy Stephen H where my Moors lost to the Pagan Peoples.  In the Age of Vikings, I finished 3rd overall.  On my way home, I thrilled my wife and daughter with countless stories of battles won a ..read more

4 days and 12 hours till I travel to Chicago for Adepticon and the US SAGA Grand Melee.  This year, I'm in 3 events and co-running a 4th. Thursday is a Legends of Camelot narrative organized and hosted by Joe Rogers of Saga Thorsday fame! Friday I'm co-running the Age of Vikings doubles. Saturday is the Age of Crusades and Sunday we finish with Age of Vikings.  Sooooo excited!  We have a bunch of regulars who turn out every year.  This is my one opportunity to catch up and game with Sagamites from all over the US and abroad too. The author of SAGA, Alex Buchel, will be att ..read more

Today's post is a quick bit of fun that turned out nicely! These are Gripping Beast's "Penda the Pagan" and his second.  I based them up separately to run them as Hengist and Horsa for my early Saxons. The fellow with the spear was a bit boring until I dug up my "Murder of Crows" from Zombicide. Now I've got the "Raven Whisperer." The Viking Runestones are from Fenris Games. The Odin Berserker is an Isle of Lewis chesspiece from Etsy with an eye carved out. All in all, a nice bit of color ..read more