Sometimes you find a story that really captures your attention. Snowblind was one of those stories for me!
Snowblind is a novella by Michael McBride - it basically hops into the action right away and doesn't let up. I LOVE stories that are set in the wilderness with a blizzard raging all around. Good thing I live in Canada eh? ;-)
I won't spoil the story and tell you what is menacing the four friends who are out for a good time in the wilderness, but you'll like it (if you're like me!). There's not much in the way of character development, instead the author focuses on the tension and spooky atmosphere and constant threat that the characters are under.
I bought this novella to read my Kobo, and used a coupon that they often have on offer. I think it cost me a few dollars. I wish that it was longer, as I really was bummed out when it ended. I wanted more! But the story does end in a suitably gruesome way, albeit very dark...
Highly recommended!!!
I wanted to have another squad ready for my next game of Bolt Action, so I went nuts over the last few weeks and got a bunch of miniatures painted.
The guy on the left might end up being the NCO as he stands out...dunno.
The one in the middle is a sniper and the one on the left the spotter. I had some eye painting issues with them apparently! :-)
I might stick the guy on the left into as the another bodyguard for the lieutenant. The guy on the right is carrying a radio on his back - I'll probably use him as a spotter for the recoilless (I think I can take a spotter for that...)
I'm looking forward to seeing how the recoilless gun does in the game, as well as the sniper team.
All of the miniatures are a mix of Artizan Designs and Warlord Games.
One last surprise for you...and hopefully not in too bad taste....
The Fuhrer himself! I like the lazy heil pose and he was super easy to paint (I did have to do some research online to find out what colours to paint him in). This miniature is from Black Tree Designs - I'll have to get Stalin too when I start working on Russians! I'm extremely happy how he came out, especially the face.
I have a static MG42 almost done to replace the prone version I was using before - I should have pictures up for you next week. I've been working on some Compagnie Franche de la Marine for FIW gaming and have had fun painting them! The white and blue colours are great to do, especially after doing so much camouflage on the FJ.
My order from 4Ground came as well, and I'm hoping to have some of the buildings assembled over the weekend (a long one here in Canada!).
I live in Calgary and we've been having some of the worst flooding in decades (or so the news says). The downtown core was shut down Friday, as the river was flooding and they had closed the bridges.
This is a picture of the iconic Saddledome....
After politely declining to work at another bank branch for the day (along with everyone else at the branch), I decided to get some bottled water and other essentials and....paint. :-)
Here are some FIW natives for my growing French force:
I'm not at all happy with how the white girls came out - I should have shaded them with a darker colour than try and wash them. Argh! Oh well, that's what I get for trying to rush things. :-(
All of the miniatures are from Conquest Miniatures, the girls being from the Last of the Mohicans pack. The flowers are from my recent order of Tajima tufts.
I've been working on some Fallschirmjager still, a recoilless gun and some basic jagers. I might paint some Couriers de Bois next to mix things up a bit. I also ordered some of the Conquest French Regulars - I have lots of Old Glory ones, but I've always wanted to see how they rank up (get it?!?!) next to the Conquest regulars (which took forever to come out).
I put up the new releases on the website, three different poses of the same scientist/doctor, Dr. Borghesan. Here we have the "normal", "armed" and "zombified" versions:
Dr. Borghesan is the name of my family doctor. :-) The sculptor (Badsmile), remembers how women like to take off their schoes to run, so he thought it would be good to capture that in the "armed" sculpt.
Simon Bradley from Stone Cold Lead did an awesome job as usual on the paint jobs!
I've got a bit of a mixed bag for you today, as you can see in the title!
On the left is a loader for a panzerschrek team, an NCO with a SMG (which was part of the PAK 40 blister, but I needed an NCO with SMG!!!) and a flamethrower. All are from Warlord Games.
I like how they came out, especially the flames on the 'thrower.
The basing is done the same as on the previous FJ. I got my order of static tufts from Tajima miniatures in the mail on Thursday, so I got to try out the smaller tufts from them on some of the FIW Indians I'm currently working on. I really like the assortment of tufts, flowers and bushes that they have there and highly recommend them!
I've got a bit of a mix this week, a Fallschirmjager sniper from Bolt Action and some FIW Indians from Conquest.
I haven't received the other FJ miniatures that I ordered from Artizan yet, so I'm eagerly awaiting those in order to fill out a third squad. In the meantime, I worked on a sniper.
He was easier to paint as I didn't have to do the eyes, my least favourite part of a miniature to paint.
My order from Artizan/North Star contains the Muskets and Tomahawks ruleset, so I thought I'd paint up some of the Conquest miniatures that I've had sitting in a box for years. So sad, I know, but I'm sure some of you are in the same boat!
They were a bit more fiddly to paint than I thought they would be, with all the little details on the models. That and I forgot to paint some war paint on them, and had to put it on after I had already glosscoted them all. I used a brighter static grass for them to make them look a bit more "woodsy". :-)
I've ordered a few more boxes of small static grass tufts from Tajima1 Miniatures, as I only have a few small tufts left of my army painter supply. The Tajima tufts are great, and come in a thin box with all of the tufts laid out and have a way stickier bottom than the army painter ones. I feel that you get a lot more tufts for your money as well, and free shipping if you order four boxes or more! For me, it's only Tajima tufts from now on.
Sorry I didn't get a chance to post last weekend, but I will make up for it today with a mega-post! A while ago I met up with another wargamer in Calgary and played my first game of Bolt Action from Warlord Games. Of course, I forgot my camera but Grant took some pictures with his phone. Check them out on his blog here.
I had painted up some of the Foundry FJ a long time ago, but sold them when I moved to Calgary. I was happy to paint up another force of Artizan and Bolt Action miniatures.
This is my First Lieutenant (right) and his companion. They did extremely well in combat, usually hitting on three of four die rolls regularly!
I don't have a model with a static MG42 yet, so this one stood in as a proxy for a medium machine gun. He spent half the game on Ambush, keeping a main road of the town clear of troops. They played a better role in the last half of the game where they moved up and provided some needed firepower against the American mortars and remaining squad.
When I first started firing with the mortar I wasn't impressed. It didn't hit anything....until I ranged in. By the end of the game they were pounding the crap out of a squad lodged in a ruined building.
The pictures above show the members of my two squads of FJ. Also included is my mortar spotter (with the binoculars).
Please ignore the shinyness of the medic. I'm still trying to find a decal for the cross on his helmet. I'll re-post a picture of him again once complete. He saved a few people during the battle. The forward air observer actually managed to call in an airstrike and take out a few American airborne. I don't know if I'd take him again and would probably take another squad instead.
These tank-hunters didn't participate in the game as it was more of an early war theme, but managed to get them painted.
I really liked the Bolt Action ruleset, especially how the battle flowed back and forth and you can never really know who is going to win until the last minute.
I have some more fallschirmjager on order from Artizan, so hopefully will have another squad ready for play soon. I'll try and remember to bring my camera for the game we're having in a few weeks.
I'm also looking forward to getting the Muskets and Tomahawks ruleset (coming with the Artizan minis), as I have been inspired from looking at the posts on Jay's Wargaming Madness blog. Awesome looking miniatures and terrain on there. Check it out!
