Silent But Deadly

 Sci-fi halfling snipers from Warblade Miniatures Kickstarter.

I love these little guys and how they look like some of the early GW/Citadel fantasy halflings. Funny, cartoonish, and not very "realistic", just the way I like them. I think they fit in well with other minis of this style, such as the space pirate orks I painted recently, or old school GW space goblins. A bit of whimsy for "grim dark" science fiction.

All 12 together. Should have been a baker's dozen. 😄

Dwarves and Friends

 Some miniatures from Northumbrian Tin Soldier.

First, a fancy dwarf, a Will Scarlet look-alike and his halfling assistant.

Then, four lady dwarves (more or less bearded)

Welcome Home

Over the summer I spent some time experimenting with different materials, tools, techniques and ideas and after some slow work at scratchbuilding I created this little hobbit hole. The main hill is made from rigid extruded polystyrene (rigid insulation foam). The front façade was built on a piece of cardstock/chipboard so I could do it separately and then assemble once it looked good. The woodwork is made from balsa wood, with a plastic bead painted brass for the door handle, black construction paper painted metallic for the hinges, clear plastic from some packaging for the window, the stone path in front from egg carton cardboard, and thin card from a food package for the shingles on the little overhang. I sculpted the chimney from polymer clay. The filling between the timbers is Woodland Scenics foam putty. Once everything was assembled and painted I glued some fine sand in the front, added assorted grass tufts and flowers, and then flocked with some static grass and some coarse turf, trying to keep it from being all too uniform.

One Year Later

or
Space Murines!

Well, it is nearly one year later, and I finally got some more miniatures painted. First some space mouslings from Reaper, including the ultramurine in heavy armour and a crew of 3 space-mice.

And more character figures from Iron Mask Minis Musketeers line.
Dart Onion (riding and on foot) and his servant, Planchet, along with the lovely Constance, Queen's maid. Most of the miniatures in this line are dwarves, but these three characters are halflings.

And finally, the Cardinal and a Musketeer character, both with foot and riding versions.

I have more of the musketeers to paint, and backed another kickstarter for this line, so I will have more figures to assemble and paint one of these days. It's a fun range full of character. Eventually I hope to have enough to create some small forces for small battles. Maybe using some rules like Dan Mersey's Pikeman's Lament?

Assorted Miniatures

I finished off a few assorted fantasy miniatures.
An old GW halfling and a Reaper elf

 

An owlbear and a mimic from Otherworld Miniatures, which seems to have good range of 25-28mm miniatures that hark back to some of the old artwork for D&D. I like the style of the figures. Otherworld's service was good, too. They added in a few figures I hadn't ordered, at no extra cost.

 

I also have some kobolds from Otherworld. The kobolds look great, but they are small figures, about halfling size, and many of them come with separate hands or arms that I haven't been able to attach solidly yet. I wish they were all cast in one piece. I dislike trying to assmble small figures.

And some snow goons from Reaper. When I placed an order with them in December the snow goons were included free as the "perk" for ordering that day. Reaper was doing a sort of "12 days of Christmas" promotion where they included a free figure or so depending on which day you placed your order.

Quiet? Yeah, Too Quiet

It was a quiet day in the shire. Cattle browsing under the watchful eye of dog and halfling; a woodsman seeking wood for fires; a goatherd drowsing after second breakfast; a farmer and his donkey tending to a field of potatoes and carrots.

Little did they know, a raiding pack of gnolls were coming over the hills to the north, intent on gathering food and captives.

The gnolls swept down to attack the woodsman, but he fought back valiantly, escaping from the gnolls and blowing his horn to alert the other halflings.

The hunter by the pond fired his bow, striking one gnoll. The woodsman and hunter retreat back towards the walls and hedges of the farms around the halfling village, pursued closely by the raiding gnolls. The gnoll chieftan captures the cowherd in spite of having to fight over the hedge. Meanwhile, the goatherd strikes another gnoll.

The gnolls press their attack and capture the woodsman and the hunter. The halflings hit a couple of gnolls, while the herders start herding the cows and goats to safety.
The gnolls surge forward, but don't quite make it into contact with any of the halflings. The dog rushes in to attack the gnoll chieftan, managing to get in a good nip and hold her off for a little while. The halflings fire off various missiles, knocking 5 gnolls off balance. This leaves only 3 gnolls on their feet and ready for action, but the gnolls hold their ground. The goatherd sees his animals off to safety.

The gnoll chieftan captures the dog, while the halfling barmaid knocks one gnoll back with a flagon to the kneecap, but the gnolls capture one of the town guards, the old potato farmer, and the halfling slinger.

More halflings join the defense. In a flurry of assorted missiles the halflings discomfort 4 gnolls, but the gnolls hold their ground again, and in return capture the halfling lad with his slingshot (or catapult) and Littlejack, Robyn Hood's sidekick.

More halflings, four adventurous fellows, join the fray. The gnolls press the attack. The halflings fight off 2 of the gnolls, but the donkey and 5 halflings are taken captive. The remaining halflings fire off another flurry of missiles, tankards, rocks, arrows, etc., and knock down, knock back, distract, etc., 5 more gnolls. The gnolls decide they have had enough (and have enough captives) and retreat back the way they came. 

In the aftermath of the raid the remaining halflings ponder what to do about their captured friends and family.

Thus endeth the gnoll raid on the halfling settlement of Duckweed.

In a further post I will write a bit about how this raid was conducted.

Halflings and Big-folk

More halflings  and a couple of big-folk from Foundry. The female "Robin Hood", the villain (boo, hiss), and the halfling in green are from an old Foundry pantomime set. The rest of the halflings are from a more recent halfling set. There are 3 or 4 more halflings from that set that I haven't painted yet. I like the cartoonish look of the halflings and they fit in well with some old GW halflings I have. Similar stocky build, not the weedy (but possibly more refined/realistic) figures of some miniature lines. These are stout lads and lasses.

I have some ideas of how to use these in some games, scenarios and battles (ala Hordes of the Things or similar rules where you don't need large numbers of similar figures for each unit). The variety of figures gives me lots of ideas for characters and abilities. More on that if or when it comes to fruition.

Meanwhile, I have been enjoying playing various boardgames solo. So far, in the past couple of weeks I have played Race for the Galaxy, Tales of the Arabian Nights, Witches of Discworld, and Agents of SMERSH. All fun solo games with good thematic story-telling aspects, good artwork, various levels of challenge. Some wins and more losses, but lots of fun.

(apologies for the variable quality of the pictures - I keep trying to get good shots, but I can't tell how they really look until I upload them to my computer, and I haven't figured out the right combination of lighting, camera settings, placement, etc.)

More Assorted Miniatures

First, some halfling militia/home guard and a couple of halfling adventurers with their well-stocked pony, all from Foundry.

Next a female archer from Reaper and a couple of male archers, source forgotten.

And last, but not least, some female dwarf warriors. I think these were from the same manufacturer who did the Highlander dwarves I did quite some time ago. The one with the axe is a weapons conversion. Her sword was too fragile, so I used a plastic axe head from a GW dwarf sprue, a bit of wire, a bead, and some greenstuff, to give her a sturdier weapon.

A Few Odds and Ends

You ever come across old minis you had lying around somewhere half-forgotten?

In honor of Halloween here are some old GW skeletons and orc archer.
And another band of heroes. I think they're all GW/Citadel minis.

From the back, mostly so you can see the shields of the 2 warrior women.

Next, some old greens I sculpted quite some time ago. Practice pieces, not sure I'll ever do anything with them.

Goblin with sword, he'd be holding a shield with the other arm/hand.

Some halfling archers. Terrible faces! ha ha

And a couple more. I think the one with the horn isn't so bad, but I need a LOT more practice!

A halfling hiker, mayor, and an Alice in Wonderland walrus.

The Halfling Contingent

Enter the halfling contingent. The halflings have an enclave within the human kingdom of Hardwicke. In addition many halflings can be found living in human towns within that kingdom.
Except for the knight on the pony these are all GW miniatures. I don't remember where the knight came from.
Archers

Spears

Rangers - these are another GW "Regiment of Renown" (whose name escapes me at the moment)