Saturday 24 November 2012

Wild West - 7th Cavalry.

7th Cavalry Regiment, dismounted.


The 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army Cavalry Regiment, whose lineage traces back to the mid-19th century. Its official nickname is "Garryowen," in honor of the Irish air Garryowen that was adopted as its march tune.


Following its activation the Seventh Cavalry Regiment patrolled the Western plains for raiding native Americans and to protect the westward movement of pioneers. From 1866 to 1881, the regiment marched a total of 181,692 miles (292,342 km) across Kansas, Montana, and the Dakota Territories.



Friday 9 November 2012

Cthul-Who.


So, here's how it is. Cthul-Who. The Doctor and his Companions, along with the brave troops of UNIT (1970's of course) under the command of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, combat the combined dark alien forces of the Daleks, the Mi-Go, the Cybermen, Shan controlled Autons, Sutekh and the Serpent People and the true 'Masters', the Great Old Ones.


As I have now reached a point that I am happy with on my main projects of late (see Gjallarhorn and A Project Too Far) I am now planning my next ones for the new year.

I have been picking up various 7TV books and useful figures for some time now and have recently been bitten with the 'Spy-Fi' bug. Add to this my obsession with all things Lovecraftian, especially the Strange Aeons game and my recent discovery of the Doctor Who Miniatures Game (thanks Matt) I thought, why not combine all three? Of course I still want to pursue each game individually but the potential for cross-over seems really great fun to me! I am sure I am not the first to think it but the idea of the Doctor battling with 'Sea Devils' allied with Deep Ones really appeals...

First up, my small selection of figures for 7TV - a mix of Copplestone and Crooked Dice.

The Good Guys.
The Bad Guys.
Yep, definitely pretty Bad. But wait 'til you see the next guy...
My recent Black Tree / Harlequin purchases include the obligatory Davros below, plus a small army of Daleks, Ogrons, Cybermen and Autons. A good smattering of 'Doctors' and companions plus a few extras from Crooked Dice and Hasslefree, plus a handful of UNIT troops round out the good guys. Of course, it has to be 1970's UNIT - they have that great 70's 'Action Man' look, carry classic L1A1 SLR rifles and wear the distinctive tan beret with the round UNIT badge. I am thinking of topping up my small Black Tree force with a few Gripping Beast Mo-Fo British soldiers, that have a nice generic look to them and could be used for lots of periods, even from the 1950's to the 80's. A horde of spear armed Deep Ones might stand a chance against them.
"...AND THROUGH THE DALEKS, I SHALL HAVE THAT POWER!" 
As far as other figures go, this can lend itself to a great variety. Rob (GM) has a fair few of the Doctor Who minis already (get painting Rob) and the ZM has loads of Cthulhu monsters. Spy-Fi and pulp figures could also be used (such as pulp types in Pyramid of Mars) especially Artizan. I would think you would only need a handful of UNIT troops, no more than 20 odd. Scenery and terrain can be pretty generic and multi-purpose, one of my favourite things! The time travel aspect opens it up very nicely...

Davros and some mean looking Ogrons.
A veritable horde of Daleks.
Cybermen.
The Minion of Sutekh and some Robot Mummies. Where's Sutekh?
Prof. Kettlewell, the Master and Weng-Chiang.
What next? Lots of painting I guess.

Further thoughts? How about Tintin meets Cthulhu???

Guillermo del Toro's next film? Or not.
Tintin, Snowy and Jolyon Wagg.

Wednesday 7 November 2012

Citadel Newsletters 87.

This next selection moves deep into the realms of slotta-based miniatures...

First up is one of the big 'fold out' style of the new releases for Spring 1987. On this one we have a load of Orcs, some rare Paranoia figures, a chariot, a balrog, some Blood Bowl (all the rage again?) and my favourite bit, the Regiments of Renown. I managed to get hold of a load of these, including a few boxes of Bugman's Rangers ("Mhinz Abier - Z'yor Rond"), the Knights of Origo, Harboth and his Black Mountain Boys, the original Menghil Manhide's Dark Elves and the High Elf Cavalry. My mate had a load of the Lizardmen, Mad Mullah Akland's 'Death Commandos, Grom's Goblin Guard, Oreon's Wood Elves and the Lothern Elf City Guard. He also seemed to have countless Chaos Monks, known then as the Dark Disciples of the Red Redemtion. Unfortunately he sold all of these off - wish I had made an offer now...





The next selection is tagged 'July 1987'. This has some great minis on it starting with Dwarf Villagers, another set I wish I had bought. We also get some Gothic Horror figures, some Elric troops, Snotlings, Feudals / Men at Arms, Skeletons, Chaos Dwarves (I hate this concept...) some Skaven, Zoat, Goblins and Chariots. I wouldn't mind some of those Perps for Robs Dredd game.





Last up for this batch is the Summer 1987 Newsletter. Up for grabs here are more fighters, some great Norse Dwarfs, Barbarians, Skeletons, some cannons and bolt throwers, a load of villagers (always useful), Rogue Trooper minis, Goblins and an 'Adventurers Cart' (I gather Otherworld Miniatures will be releasing one at some point). Of most interest to me (at least for the moment anyway - see below) are the set of plastic Daleks and Cybermen. I would love to have got these! £4.95 for the lot too. Probably would cost that for one now...





As for the Daleks and Cybermen, my next project / obsession is the Doctor Who Miniatures Game, so 20 each of them would be fab! I am gradually picking up some Black Tree Design figures for this, usually when they are reduced. I am slowly putting together a nice force for this, when I have some painted I will post some pics.

Well, that's it for this lot. I found a few more of these the other day but have yet to scan them. Hope they are of interest!