A lotl of Axolotls

 Well, two actually.  These are both from Reaper.  Who doesn't love axolotls ?

These two join Erenthal for a campaign called "The Founding of Alladore".

Not only am I a big fan of Rangers of Shadow Deep and its many scenarios, I also like the background itself and as some you may already have seen, have run it extensively in an Anthropomorphic setting.

I thought it would be really interesting to go back 800 years in time, and play out the founding legends of Alladore.  This campaign will see the beginnings of the Rangers, and, who knows, may touch upon the genesis of the Shadow Deep itself (that we name the Jungle Deep, for various reasons).

I decided to use Burrows and Badgers for the campaign (what, use Anthro rules for an Anthro setting ?  What a radical idea !).  One band led by Erenthal, the future founder of the kingdom that would later split into Alladore and Lorenthia, and the other not being a fixed band, but the various adversaries he meets on his way.   

The first part is a sort of Odyssey (very hip !), as Erenthal leaves his home continent driven by disaster, and is then whirled far off course.  The first scenario is here with the AAR, and the second is awaiting play.  There will be a third, called Shipwreck, which sees Erenthal landing on (well, flopping onto) the continent from which he will carve out his future kingdom.  If all goes well, of course...he might simply die from a Mist Ghast's touch in Lost in the Fog.  For the next part, I will use the B&B official Warren Percy campaign, which looks really good.

Since I also love Burrows & Badgers, both the amazing figures and the world that Oathsworn have so lovingly created, I decided to go for a sort of crossover.  The place where Erenthal first kisses the earth (well, slobbers on it, as he is washed up half-drowned...but legends are not about truth, are they) is called Northymbra, and will share as many characteristics with the Oathsworn universe that I can fit in... 

Anthros

I painted both of these a while back, but never got around (as far as I remember) to posting them here.  Them being in action was a good opportunity to get some half decent photos !

A lovely owl from Oathsworn, one of their resin models for Burrows & Badgers.

 

 

A camel from Mierce's Byzantii range.  A highly unusual figure that was a pleasure to paint.  That is one hell of a sword to paint with NMM, however !

 

 

 

Carnevale

They (obviously) aren't based yet, but I made three additions to my Carnevale factions.  There is the Capodecina (The Guild), the Butcher (Guild), and a Martyr (Vatican).

Photos are not the best, but they'll do ! 

 

 

 

More (many more) to come ! 

Another Fantastic Battle

Quelque part dans le sud du péninsule italien, au début du XIème siècle.  Une modeste armée byzantine se préparent à recevoir une incursion aux effectifs pléthoriques d'un royaume arabe de Sicile.  Le terrain est dense et mettra à épreuve les talents tactiques des deux généraux... 

Partie de Fantastic Battles en 1200 pts... 

L'engagement se solde par une victoire byzantine.  La manœuvrabilité des skutatoi et des kavallarioi byzantins, ainsi que leur solidité, a mis en échec le surnombre adverse ! 
 

Projects moving forwards...

Apart from some Napoleonics now and then, I pretty much stopped painting any scales smaller than 28mm about 5 years ago.  Just couldn't be bothered to paint armies any more.

Then I decided to have a clear out in 2025, sold off stuff I was no longer using (or in some cases, had never used !), and armies that annoyed me because they were bits and bobs from various others.

During my career change, I toyed with the idea of painting for a living, and thought it would be a good idea to paint up armies that I might either sell, or keep if I couldn't (or no longer wanted to). 

Hence my "1040 AD" project was born, and Sicilian or North African Arabs were first off the paint table...then sat around for several months because I really hate basing !

Well, it is too hot to paint, but basing 15mm is a no-brainer, so here they are at last !

I have also painted up my recent order of 6mm Sun King Wars stuff from Baccus.

After ordering them, I read that the Imperial infantry mainly used matchlocks right up until the beginning of the 18th century.  Obviously at this scale you cannot tell a matchlock from a flintlock, but users of the former will carry the "apostles" well known from the ECW, which is visible on a 6mm figure.

So, I decided to paint these three battalions as German mercenaries, no doubt Bavarians.  Although they have fought the French on many occasions, they have no combat experience against the Turks, and are therefore retaining their pikes. 

The two battalions with the red facings were the "test run", on which I made a few mistakes.  The blue-green coated battalion represents the painting procedure I will use on everything else. 

 

The two cavalry units are Imperial Cuirassiers.  They still wore armour back and front, and favoured the old pot-helmet.  Unexpectedly, they do not rely on a flat out charge to break the enemy (although they may sometimes do so, especially against weakened opponents).  Instead they fire one or more volleys with carbines and pistols before closing at a trot.  Against the Ottoman horse, they apparently drilled to dismount behind chevaux de frise and engage with their firearms.

The Imperials used a lot of them, so I expect I will paint about 6-7 bases.  They were frequently very large regiments, so here both bases are from the same regiment.

All in all, this batch represents about 1500 foote and 600 horse.  I have worked out my Imperial army at 36 bases : if that proves to be too many, some of them can form an embryo of another force.  Rules wise, I looked at another couple, but Ga Pa and Polemos GNW are still the contenders.