Bolt Action US Winter infantry squad

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Last week when at the FLGS, I picked up the new plastic US winter infantry platoon boxed set for Bolt Action. I put them together, primed them OD green, and was promptly told by Frankie that I could've gotten a bag of green army guys at the Dollar General for a lot less. 

It was kinda hard to argue that point. 

The squad's BAR gunner and a Grunt. I brushed the tops of the tufts with PVA glue (as well as the base) before dipping the mini in the snow flock. I then added a bit of green flock to break up the solid white of the rest of the bases.

Four rifle grunts, from various sides to show all of their kit. 

The NCO with a Thompson SMG, and a grunt taking a sip from his canteen.

 Now that I have a platoon of 30 guys, I figured I'd start out by painting the biggest squad which you can see above. With eight models painted, I'm almost a third of the way thru the platoon already! I wanted it to look at the though snowflakes were sticking to their woolen coats, and so I dry-brushed these with white which came out pretty good I think. 

The painted portion of my force thus far. 

All told, my army actually clocks in at 850 points. One of the guys on the FLGS's discord said to give him a month or so to work on his Germans and then maybe we can start stumbling thru some games. So with luck there might be a battle report on here before the year is out.

Winter is coming...

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Stay frosty...

Well, not here in South Carolina. Despite being November now, the air condition is still running and I haven't stopped wearing shorts every day. So winter is coming somewhere else. But hey, why not make a winter themed army? Our son Frankie has already noted the irony of moving south and painting a wintery themed tank.

Take note of the pinup art on the turret side, its pretty much indecipherable on the finished tank.

I just bought another one of these from the same seller to ensure the same print quality and scale. 

I bought this on a whim way back when I was still working on my former Sikh army. It has survived the purging of that force when it failed to generate any momentum in the game locally. Long before I had even started the Sikhs, Bolt Action had died a quiet death in our end of east Tennessee. However, after buying the rulebook here recently, there seems to be some local interest in starting up some Bolt Action.

Pinup? What Pinup?

The problem with 3D prints is I'm now going to have buy some white star decals.

($6 on eBay, done!)

The FLGS' owner was told by the rep for Warlord games that his store is the only game shop within hundreds of miles stocking their minis. So uh yeah, we're an isolated bunch. How gamer like. I posted the finished pics in the local discord and immediately received several compliments as well as my buddy Nick 2.0 mulling starting an army now. This evening when I go to play some Battletech, I'm planning on picking up a platoon of the new plastic winter American infantry. Those along with the 2 Chaffees will give me a 750 point force to get started with. 

Trick or Treat!

I'll leave it up to you to decide just which this post is...

This distraction is the real culprit. 

Long time no post (well, on this blog anyways). The Buffet Assault Group however has been going strong in this blog's absence. Especially as Battletech is the only game I've been playing and painting minis for here of late. Nonetheless, hope for this blog may be on the horizon...

You find all sorts of forgotten purchases when you have to move your collection from one house to another.

First up, I finished reading thru the Bolt Action 3rd ed. rulebook, and have watched a few battle reports online. I recently got some OD green spray paint and primed the 3D printed Chaffee light tank above. Currently, this is the entirety of my Bolt Action 'army'.

The base is primed as well. 

I also recently primed my Star Wars Legion Dewback rider. I'm hoping this won't be too hard to paint. Indeed it looks to be more of an inking and dry brushing dream. I also recently acquired a pair of used and (decently) paint Imperial scout speeder bikes (plus another R4 droid just because).

Good enough for now, these may be touched up at some point in the future. 

Leaving the Occupier tank out, these bring me up to a mostly painted 500 point skirmish force. The FLGS has learn to play nights almost weekly, so I'll have to make it to one of those I guess to try and figure Legion out for myself. 

So that's all I have for now. It's not much but it is what it is, I'll see you all in November (at some point).

Continuing a Love/Hate relationship...

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I haven't even cracked open the book yet.

I bought this on a whim as the FLGS had it discounted. I also got the free mini that came with it, that of Medal of Honor recipient Francis S. Currey. I may pick up the new and finally in plastic winter US infantry, or give the Quar another shot at Weird War II. I still have a handful of metal Quar including a universal carrier, as well of my newer plastic Royalist minis that I haven't done anything with. I mentioned this idea to a few folks at the FLGS and the idea was pretty well received. 

We shall see I guess...

Not dead, just distracted...

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Ready to Avenge all things Dire...

Just letting you know that I am still alive. Shortly after my last post, when I spoke of needing a break from painting my Il-Kaithe, I played a game of Battletech, my first game played here in South Carolina. Two days later my Battletech Kickstarter minis arrived and all of my attention has been over on my TBAGers blog since. 

I got a cheap squad of 10 Dire Avengers on eBay, sans targeters. Nobody has those bitz available however and well, they'd inevitably just break anyways. As such, I got some Corsair backpack bitz to use in their stead.

That all said, yesterday I needed a break from painting mechs and tanks and so painted this guy up. He came out a little darker than anticipated, but isn't too bad for a 1-day turn around. Also of note (and I am sure that Neverness will no doubt notice), is that this mini is the first to debut a new shade of my alien 'aquarium plant' colored tufts. 

Oh yeah, mold lines-still got 'em!

I have a mix of 13 Dire Avengers and Dark Reapers still on my desk yet to paint. Meaning I haven't forgotten about this project. Its just that 40k has fallen onto the back burner. Several of the folks that I've met in the local Battletech crowd also play 40k. Neverness has also inquired about the next time I'll be in Tennessee in hopes of a game. So 40k will come back around to the fore after a bit I'm sure. 

Il-Kaithe Guardian Defender Squad is complete!

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All ready to get obliterated at the enemy's earliest possible convenience!

Well, I milked this squad for all they were worth, now didn't I? (4) posts till completion equals 2.75 models per post (counting 11 with the separate model for the star cannon). It sounds paltry, and indeed it is compared to some folks out there. For me however, I'd call that about average (well, aside from the Covid quarantine Tau painting extravaganza of early 2022). 

The Final Four. Their Bayonets have been bloodied, though given how effective these guys are in close combat, they were likely bayonetting some Mon'keigh civilians or something similarly verminous.

Still, these weren't the slog that I expected them to be, Indeed I even managed to get a lone Dark Reaper and Farseer painted in along with them. Currently, I have the other four Dark Reapers and a full 10-Strong squad of Dire Avengers left to paint. All told these will bring me up to 400 points. Thus I've been searching eBay for a deal on something cheap to round out the first 500 points.

Yet another Guardian frolicking amongst the Venusian fly traps. 

I really like the pickaxe style bayonets!

Note the forked bayonet, much like an Eldar's tongue!

This one is in my favorite pose of the squad. This was originally a gunner model that I rearmed. 

That said, I have a partially painted Ogryn bodyguard and mortar team for my PHIGs on the table that I am thinking of shoving to the front of the line, before tackling some more Eldar. 

Il-Kaithe Dark Reaper

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Death from afar!

Progress was a little slow this past week. I caught a little 24 hour bug, I turned 49 which was unrelated to feeling ill (no, seriously), basically the typical real life stuff. Nonetheless there has been some painting progress. As you can see above, I painted the first of my five Dark Reapers. 

I was trying to recall and the Il-Kaithe are shaping up to be my fourth...or maybe fifth (?) Craftworld Eldar army. Surprisingly (or maybe oddly), this is the first time I've ever had any Dark Reapers other than Maugan Ra. I never liked the old metal sculpts which is the cause of that. The current minis look alright though, thus I finally have a squad.

The last four of the Guardian Defenders are in progress. 

This week will include a really quick trip back to Tennessee to take care of some personal matters. I don't plan to be 'back home' for even 24 hours, however with about a dozen hours of round trip driving (it would take almost the same amount to fly as there are no direct flights), I don't foresee these last four getting done this week, but ya never know...