Dust – a game of Dust Warfare, Axis vs SSU

The set-up. SSU starts in the near left corner and Axis in far right.

It was a long time ago I last had a game of Dust Warfare (and then I just had a couple of practice games) and now at last Thomas and I had a go at each other at the club.

We were both really rusty when it came to the rules, but practice makes perfect and I fully intend to practice.

The good guys - the SSU. Clear based painted by me and the other by Thomas. Unfortunately some original unpainted ones as we haven't had time to paint everything... or even a small amount of what we have. I'm trying to crank out a unit a week now to rectify that.

The Axis, played by Thomas. Just one unpainted hero there. They should win...

You might think there is a certain grim-dark look of the buildings, but I’m told that that is an authentic neo-empire look was all the rage in the Soviet Union in 1947. Figures...

The SSU set-up

and Axis.

The battlefield from the viewpoint of a common Axis grunt.

What can we hit from here?

First turns is only manouvering, trying to get good firing positions. I place my BR 47 self-propelled anti-tank gun in a hull down position that proves to be extremely powerful later on. All of my soldiers in the center of the board takes cover behind a stone wall, also a good defensive place.

Axis troops walking around doing nothing much :-)

More troops taking cover behind walls and my Chinese (unpainted) volunteers prepares to climb up to the first floor. They will take heavy losses, being unpainted...

The sniper rifles of my Rifle Squad proves to be rather effective against Thomas' walker. They won't knock it out but they damage it. 

My troops in well protected positions.

Kaboom! The BR 47 pays its cost as it destroys the Axis light walker. Urrah!

And soon there after it takes out the heavy walker also. Urrah! Great performance from that cheap vehicle.

At this point Thomas starts swearing and looks rather disgusted. I taunt him, of course, and we call it a day.

A good day, if I might say so J

Welcome McSver/Tim McDowall with the blog Battleshed Diaries, a blog on what’s happening in said shed. Really worth a look as there is a wide variety of topics to look at.

Agatha Fox, Female Spy from Reaper

Another Reaper Bones figure finished.

You can get this from the Reaper Bones range, called 80026 Agatha Fox, or as metal mini in the Chronoscope range, called 50143 Agatha Fox, Female Spy. It is sculpted by Andrew Rae.

Paints used:

Coat – Vallejo 896 German Extra Dark Green drybrushed with 922 U.S.A. Uniform and Citadel Snot Green

Hair - 941 Burn Umber with Army Painter Dark Tone wash

Boots and handbag – Black with a highlight of 895 Dark Prussian Blue and a satin varnish

Nimrodel from Mithril

This is M209 Nimrodel from the The Elves of Lorien range from Mitril. Another beautiful miniature from their range.

I painted her dress with Citadel Foundation Mordian Blue with a drybrush of Citadel Ice Blue. Belt etc painted white. Jewelry Vallejo Game Color 56 Glorious Gold highlighted with silver.

Her face looks strange in this magnification but it does look better in 28mm J

A priest from Artizan

The CSSS needs more recruits!

This priest is one third of the pack Departmen of Paranormal Studies II from The Thrilling Tales range of Artizan Designs.

A fast and easy paintjob.

Clothes – Black lightly drybrushed with Vallejo 941 Burnt Umber.

Scarf (or whatever the religious name for it is) – Citadel Foundation Hormagaunt Purple

Shoes – Black with a highlight of 899 Dark Prussia Blue

Cross – Vallejo Game Color 56 Glorious Gold and edges highlighted with silver

Hair – 822 German Camo Black Brown with an Army Painter Dark Tone wash and drybrushed 875 Beige Brown.

Cringing Captive – sitting, from Pulp Figures

What would a pulp game be without damsels in distress?

We certainly need a couple for the Pulp Alley campaign on Perilous Island.

This is the first of four from the Cringing Captives pack from Pulp Figures, sculpted by Bob Murch.

I painted her dress with Citadel Foundation Mechrite Red with an Army Painter Dark Tone wash and highlighted with Mechrite Red.

Tombs of Darkness from Ziterdes

I’ve got quite a lot of fantasy minis so it was easy to fall for Frostgrave as I can pick and choose from what I already have painted or at the most find a suitable figure in the box of unpainted fantasy minis I have.

It is worse when it comes to terrain. I’ve got dungeons covered quite well but ruined cities… well, there is a hole in the collection there. I guess I could find most of what I need at the club but I would like to play this at home with the kids also.

So, when the local shop had a sale the other week I found some stuff from Ziterdes that will work well in what will be my version of the city of Frostgrave.

The first Ziterdes stuff I finished are the content of the Tombs of Darkness pack-  a two-pack of prepainted tombs for around €10. The terrain from Ziterdes is made from a prepainted lightweight and durable foam-material. Easy to work with and close to weightless.

I painted the tombs in the same way as I did the flagstones of Soerabaja Harbour, using household Flügger paint - Grey Umbra as base and drybrushed with Lava. I have a cunning plan….

Female Monk from Otherworld Miniatures

Otherworld makes really great miniatures. They started out with monsters looking like they did in 1^st edition AD&D Monster Manual and later on did a range of adventurers looking like adventurers would look like if they went on a real adventure. They have suitabel gear and sensible clothing and armour – no chainmail bikini in sight.

This is the DAH18 Human Female Monk character. Great looking mini armed with a pole-arm, just as a first edition monk would be (Hmm, it would have been good to see her with a bo-stick, though. Just to see what it would look like :-) )

I painted her clothes in light colours (Coat d'Arms Unbleached Wool, Vallejo Pastel Green and Green Ochre) and used Army Painter Soft Tone ink on that to get shadowing. I usually go for darker colours, so this was interesting to try for a change.

I think she turned our rather well, if a bit cross-eyed. 

Anyway, I’m thinking of starting a Frostgrave campaign and she will fit well as an infantrywoman. Lots of more great minis from Otherworld to choose from if you want Frostgrave soldiers or wizards. 

If you’re interested in finding more miniatures of realistically clad females you can’t find a better place than Bad Squiddo Games/The Dice Bag Lady. She’s got a great selection of miniatures from a whole lot of manufacturers. Worth a visit just to be inspired. Great stuff! 
Edit: Listen to the interview with Annie on Meeples & Miniatures episode 157.