Miniature Review: Damn It Man, We Need More Guns!

In addition to the regular troops that I was assembling for our Colonial games, we are also branching out into the Victorian Science Fiction genre as well.  For me the first thought was "Ah... steampunk!" so off I went to scour the interwebs to find something that would fit my needs.  A quick search turned up more than I'd expected but in the end I decided to go with a company I've purchased from before, Zombiesmith Miniatures.

While better known for their very cool Quar miniatures, they have also expanded their line to include some vehicles to go along with their 28mm troops.  Currently the choices are somewhat limited in this regard (okay, so there are only two choices but that's still a choice, right?) but the Crusader Light Tractor quickly caught my eye.  One paypal purchase later and it was on the way!

Kind of.

It did come and it was in good condition but unfortunately it took about two weeks to actually get here.  Then again I did order it at the tail end their annual sale so I'm sure that played into the time it took for them to get it shipped out to me.  Once it arrived I was quick to rip apart the package to see just what this little beastie looked like and see how its size compares to my British Troops.

Throwing down my Gauntlet! (aka Crusader light tractor by Zombiesmith miniatures)

The figure itself consists of four pieces of resin (two treads, one housing to attach the treads to the body, and the turret/body itself) with some metal detail bits as well. The resin casting is pretty clean though the underside of the tracks had some pretty bad flash on them and there was some bubbling on the bottom of the turret/body as well.  Even so the flash was easy enough to clean up and it was all on the bottom of the figure as well so its not like it was a glaring problem.

Attaching the metal bits (rungs on the side, the hatch, the cannon...) proved to be a little bit of work as I had to drill out some holes to get a solid attachment but even so I really like how it looks once it was assembled.

So why does it need more guns?  Well, that's more a comment from my experience with the tractor in our Sharp Practice game rather than a complaint about the miniature.  The figure only comes with one weapon mounted on it (some kind of small cannon mounted in the front of the turret/body) so I'm probably going to add a machine gun or two to the front as well just to supplement its firepower.  Even with this minor quibble, I'm really glad that I decided to pick this one up and I can't wait to paint it up and get it back to the table.  Until next time...

Power Fists For The 1800's

The Game is Afoot!

We had our first real Colonial game yesterday and it was a blast (in a few cases quite literally...).  As an added bonus, there are even pictures!  Huzzah!  Now I just have to type up the battle report and a review of the Crusader Light Tractor from ZombieSmith miniatures.  All that and more coming this week!  Until next time...

Workbench: Come On Lads, We're Halfway There!

Well, my "weekend" has come and gone so the question is did I get my Colonials done in time?

The Company of His Lordship Sir Reginald Wadsworth Smythe III

 Unfortunately the answer is a resounding "No" but I did set a personal best for number of minis painted in that amount of time, especially since I was still able to keep them at a respectable level of quality (though I do still need to go back and do their bases...).

Two sections of the Kings Rifles with their Lieutenant, Sergeant, Colour Sergeant, and Captain.

I was also able to get enough color onto the remaining troops so that people can at least tell which section they belong to as my force is something of a miss-mash of various units.

The Royal Marines (minus two soldiers) and the Line Infantry

This also means that the first part of my plan for 2013 is on track for completion as I'd set a goal for myself to paint up my Colonial troops as my first priority.  I had also been brainstorming with the idea of building myself an aerial gunboat which is not likely to happen but I should be receiving my tank from Zombiesmith any day now which will round out my force nicely.  I still might try to put one together but I've also found a pretty nice looking resin version from Ironclad Miniatures that I've been thinking about picking up instead. Either way I'll be sure to post about it.

Up next here in Fabulous Lost Wages is our Colonial Boxer Rebellion game this Saturday down at Avatar Comics and Games.  I'm a little nervous because the game will be using the dreaded Sharp Practice mod again but Sky Captain has told me that they've made some modifications since the Big Hunt so it should work this time.  Fingers crossed, right?  Either way I'll be there all day with camera in hand so hopefully I'll at least have some good pictures to share with everyone.  Until next time...

Workbench: ...Go!

And I'm off, or I will be in a minute anyway.  Here's a good chunk of what I plan on working on tonight, plus another 9 that I'd at least managed to get a start on before.

 Now to queue up some Tick on Netflix for some background noise and get down to business!