15mm Superhero Gaming - Stardust Character Sheet

An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Stardust is a trained martial artist and is extremely adept at various fighting techniques. She is also highly trained in disguise, espionage, infiltration, firearms, and computers.  Although she has no superhuman abilities, she is blessed with extraordinary agility and reflexes.  Stardust is also a skilled military tactician and is well known for bringing good fortune to each operation in which she takes part.

15mm Superhero Gaming - Reignstorm Character Sheet

Reignstorm is an enigma.  Where did she come from? More so - WHEN did she come from?  No one can say, except for her... and she isn't talking....  

All that is known is that her cybernetic body possesses enhanced strength and durability, and her techno-organic eyes give her enhanced eyesight, allowing her to see farther than a normal human and in the infrared spectrum.  It appears she is also able to interface her techno-organic body parts with other types of machinery, an ability that allows her to hack into computers, open electronic locks, and just maybe, somehow, travel through time.  She has indicated she is from one possible future.  A future with advanced technology and weaponry is certain.  She had indicated she would like to partner with The Repulsers, but to what end?  No one knows, because, again... Reignstorm is an enigma. 

15mm Polish Paratroopers

I recently painted up some 15mm Polish Paratroopers for a custom game we will be playing, (based on both the One Page Rules and NetEpic rulesets).

The 1st (Polish) Independent Parachute Brigade was a parachute infantry brigade formed in Britain to help liberate Poland.  The unit was sent into action in support of the British 1st Airborne Division at the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944, under the command of Major General Sosabowski, (played by Gene Hackman, in the exceptional 1977 war movie, A Bridge Too Far).

The miniatures are from Forged In Battle's excellent B-PARA-01 British Paratrooper Platoon pack.  I based the miniatures on pennies, and worked to paint them up relatively quickly, although the camouflage took more time then I liked.  I based them on the pennies, added sand, then primed them with Army Painter Desert Yellow, which was then left, as is, for the trousers.  I tried to follow the great guide from Crac des Chevaliers.  I cheated by using both a green and brown Sharpie to help with the camouflage, as well as a metallic Sharpie for the silver parts.  I dipped them using the reliable MinWax PolyShade: Royal Walnut Satin - my usual dipping media since 2008.

The Poles used the British battledress, but instead wore blue greyish berets (instead the striking scarlet red).  I originally used a bluish grey color, but went over it after dipping with a normal old grey, as the dip had darkened it too much.

I'm looking forward to painting up some 15mm Polish Armia Krajowa (Home Army) partisans, as well as some 15mm Croatians (Army of the Independent State of Croatia) in the near future....

"Perturbers, Assemble!"

Nick Fury recognized that a new post-Avengers superhero team was needed after the events of Avengers: Endgame.

A team that could handle important, but less universe-impacting threats than greater superhero teams.

A team that would compliment and work alongside The Repulsers,...

I introduce to you... The Perturbers!

Winged Hussar has been chosen to lead this new team, (and he comes with his sidekick Wotjek 3000).  Remaining members of the team were recruited from a list of occasional allies of The Repulsers, including Taffy Man, Bronze Basilisk, and The Legacy.

15mm Superhero Gaming - Winged Hussar and Wotjek 3000 Character Sheets

Winged Hussar was created in a laboratory experiment by HYDRA.  Franciszek "Frank" Danielkiewicz was a member of the 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade - the Polish Black Brigade.  After his capture in 1939, an early experimental prototype super soldier serum was injected into Frank to test its effects.  The serum worked well, and gave Frank super strength, speed, and stamina.  HYDRA immediately froze Frank in an cryogenic tank, where he remained until his recent release.  He now fights for the freedom and honor of his homeland Poland, and well as for all those who value freedom and democracy.

S.H.I.E.L.D. quickly recruited Winged Hussar and provided him with some of its most advanced technology.  Wotjek 3000 is a meta-physical spirit projection - a spectral bear, and Winged Hussar's sidekick, (don't say ghost - most ghosts can't rip you from limb to limb with one swipe of a claw). Winged Hussar can summon Wojtek 3000 via his spectral projector console which is part of his left handed-gauntlet, (which also magnetically attaches to his vibranium shield).

"Forgotten Heroes" 2019 - Update #5

For my Forgotten Heroes 2019 submission, I present Winged Hussar and his meta-physical spirit projection - Wotjek 3000:

I will soon post the origin stories and the character sheets for Winged Hussar and Wotjek 3000 for use in my custom 15mm superhero ruleset, (loosely based on Flames of War rules).

I'd like to thank the Carrion Crow’s Buffet website for hosting this year's Forgotten Heroes event.  It was a fun event and provided a great encouragement for me to create and paint up a superhero!

"Forgotten Heroes" 2019 - Update #4

To start on the bear, I used the Citadel Technical paint called Hexwraith Flame.  It provided the ghostly green I was looking for with just one coat.  I then lightly dry-brushed using pure white and I was done!  For my Polish superhero, I simply started with a primary basecoat of red, white, and black.  I then added a few details for the lower face (flesh) and eyes (blue wash).

I then painted each base in a leather brown, similar to my other superhero miniatures.  I used my normal dipping method on each of the figures, (but did not use any dip on the green portions of the bear - only the base).

Next up - just a quick matte finish (to take away the shine), a few additional details on the superhero, and then will come the flocking of the bases....

"Forgotten Heroes" 2019 - Update #3

In developing my superhero for the Forgotten Heroes 2019 event, I decided to create a custom superhero based on the country of Poland, as well as giving him an appropriate sidekick.

I took inspiration from the Winged Hussars - a type of shock cavalry used by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th through 18th centuries that were known for their prowess on the battlefield. The Winged Hussars are celebrated for their important role in the Siege of Vienna in 1683, when the Polish army led by John III Sobieski, King f Poland, saved Vienna (and likely all of Europe) from Ottoman domination. For my superhero's colors, I decided on the colors of the Polish flag - white and red, with some black and gold accents.

For his sidekick, I decided on an idea to have a physically-projected meta-ghost/hologram of Wotjek, the the beloved brown bear that officially served in the Polish army during World War II. As for the color of his miniature, I decided on a ghostly green to test out one of Citadel's green technical paints....

"Forgotten Heroes" 2019 - Update #2

To continue this year's Forgotten Heroes 2019 event, I pre-based the miniatures using my normal method - model sand.  I couldn't find any of the finer sand I usually use, so I opted for a thicker sand which I hoped would provide similar results.

Once the superglue was set, I primed both figures white with a cheap white "paint plus primer".  Unfortunately, it had to go on a pretty thick in order to fully cover the sand I decided to use, which meant I lost some of the detail of the models.  I also needed the bear to be a bright white for the idea I had for him, so I also had to over-prime that miniatures with some quality Citadel Corax White spray primer.

The painting method I work to achieve for most 15mm miniatures is "extreme contrast", so I don't rely as much on the detail of the miniature itself for differentiation of color.  I'm hoping the thick prime coat won't matter too much for the final result.

"Forgotten Heroes" 2019 - Update #1

I kicked-off this year's Forgotten Heroes 2019 by choosing and assembling my wargaming miniature superhero.  The superhero is from Old Glory SuperFigs S15B - 15mm Supers # 2, a collection of 15mm miniatures of which I have used most of the other figures in the pack for various custom (as well as licensed) superheros over the years:

• The Legacy
• Bronze Basilisk 
• Star Flare 
• Plasma Man (and Minions) 
• Captain America and Black Widow

I also wanted my superhero to have a bear sidekick....  That miniature is from Copplestone Castings FM09 - 15mm Cave Bears, which was ordered once I entered the event.

More on the planned identities of these new superheroes later - for now I just want to focus on the simple assembly of the miniatures themselves.  I just glued the miniatures to old Flames of War bases, which I continue to use because I started my superhero wargaming by having Captain America available in Flames of War sessions.  For the superhero, I decided to give him a round shield, which was punched out from plasticard.  Next up - pre-basing and priming.

Flames of War: 'Nam - Viet Cong Local Forces Infantry Battalion

After almost four years of working on them off and on, this weekend I finally completed my Viet Cong Local Forces Infantry Battalion for Flames of War: 'Nam.

Since I started the force, the new 'Nam book was released which changed some options.  I custom created a sniper model that can't be used, and a few of the command stands are no longer needed. In all, with off-table artillery and Guerilla Booby Traps, I can assemble just over 50 points under the new rules.

I built the machine gun nests out of toothpicks and greenstuff, but most of the miniatures are a mix of Battlefront's miniatures and the Viet Minh offerings from Eureka Miniatures.  Although the Viet Minh miniatures are not ideal for this time period, I found that they sized better for the 15mm scale look I was going for, and they mix in with Battlefront's official miniatures well enough.

The Eureka miniatures are more based on the traditional pith helmet, and I wanted to go more with the look in this photo, as opposed to the conical leaf hat so predominately featured in Battlefront miniatures.

Looking forward to putting on some Creedence and getting in a game soon.  I'm also hoping to be able to leverage some of the miniatures for some 15mm Superhero gaming, perhaps in a time-travel capacity.

Flames of War: The Great War - French Renault FT-17s

Battlefront released The Great War supplement for Flames of War back in 2014, but I only recently completed painting my two FT-17 tanks for my French "Polish Army in France" army.

The FT-17 was a French light tank with its armament within a fully rotating turret - many consider it the world's first modern tank.

With the upcoming new Great War book getting released in March, I'm hoping to complete the rest of my French "Polish Army in France" army soon....

Team Yankee - Yugoslavian Army T-55s

In the spirit of "Tanksgiving", I wanted to post my recently completed T-55s for Team Yankee.  There are thirty-one of them in number, including a model to act as a command model.  I previously shared my attempts to make a JNA (Yugoslavian) force for Team Yankee (using the rules for the East Germans).

The T-55 tanks are from Plastic Soldier Company.  In general I prefer Battlefront's plastic tank offerings, but back when I purchased these their plastic T-55s were not yet released.  I primed the tanks with Goblin Green from Army Painter, and used Army Painter Dark Tone which greatly muted the bright green.  The tracks were first primed with the green, then hit on the top and bottom with black primer.  This saved me a ton time by not having to hand-paint the tracks (except for weathering).  I then painted on the details before lightly drybrushing on dust and dirt using a light brown color.

I also completed some BTR-60s a few weeks back and now almost have a fairly good-sized force awaiting some infantry, which are in progress....

Happy Halloween!

A few years ago, just before Halloween, I led my first 15mm Superhero gaming session.  It was called Rise of the Dead and used a number of zombies from Rebel Miniatures.

Herr Kürbiskopf has completed his dark ritual in an abandoned church near a small village, raising soldiers from the dead to be his minions.  Nick Fury has quickly assembled a small team of new superheroes to confront Herr Kürbiskopf and his undead horde.  The mission: to protect the villagers, stop the zombies, and defeat Herr Kürbiskopf.

The superhero team needed to call in some US Army (NPC) reinforcements, but the village was saved from the zombie horde and Herr Kürbiskopf was defeated!  Along the way, some Galactic A-Holes joined the fight....

Herr Kürbiskopf will return in... "The Dead Rise Again"!

Team Yankee - Yugoslavian Army BTR-60s

I previously shared my attempts to make a JNA (Yugoslavian) force for Team Yankee (using the rules for the East Germans). I recently completed the 15 BTR-60s, including a model to act as a command model.

The BTR-60 transports are from Battlefront Miniatures. I primed them with Goblin Green from Army Painter, but primed the wheels black before gluing them on. Army Painter Dark Tone was used to mute the bright green. I painted on the details before lightly drybrushing on dust and dirt using a light brown color.

A force of BTR-60s in the JNA is ahistorical and I received a ton of information about this from nikolas93ts in a post on The Miniatures Page - his father had served in Yugoslavia and was knowledgeable about the subject:

Only two BTR-60PB were acquired by the JNA (for trial purposes) in 1967, and it was never adopted. A certain number of BTR-60PU was acquired with SA-9 Gaskin system as battery command vehicle.

Another vehicle, TAB-71 (a Romanian-made variant of BTR-60 with the petrol engine) was accepted for service in 1976, but exclusively for military and civil police forces. They were known as very unreliable vehicles for a myriad of reasons (including apparently low mileage per year and lack of purposely trained drivers) and MP vehicles were gradually cascaded down to federal and later republic police forces. While a total of 119 TAB-71 were brought, an operative number (including Soviet-made BTR-60PU) in the late 1980s was only around 60 vehicles. First JNA unit to receive them was the 282nd Military Police Battalion of Federal Secretariat for National Defense, which was also characteristic for having 20 vehicles in total, in the first and second company.  

Other seven MP battalions (in Belgrade, Nish, Skoplje, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Split and Sarajevo) included one TAB-71 company, each with 10 vehicles. There was also 99th Military Company, subordinated to Air Force and Air Defence HQ, with 3 vehicles in a single platoon. The rest went to police and Ministry of Interior forces. Army vehicles were gradually cascaded, and their role was taken by BOV M-86 armoured vehicle from 1986-1987. They were intended for mostly for internal and police tasks, like security, riot control etc.