As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

Monday, May 5, 2025

The Colonel’s Recovery Repeats: 42nd Highland Unit Complete

 I love Highlanders and Highland units! Originally published November 19, 2020:

Kin ye spell "Shock Infantry"? 

I finished what I consider my "main" unit for my initial British Force for Rebels and Patriots . My Highland unit will be a Shock Infantry unit that is Big (18 figures) and Aggressive (+1) in Fighting. But more on that later when I post the entire, initial British Force. Miniatures are from Warlord Games and the Lifht Company miniatures are from North Star. 



 Notice th' guy in th' rear rank ah knocked ower? Re-shoot!  






Light Company.

Th' 42nd Hielan regiment light company.

Th' 42nd hielan regiment is duin fur thair foremaist battle!

Thursday, May 1, 2025

The Colonel’s Recovery Repeats: Arthur, Dux Britannia

Originally published on July 17, 2017 and one of the best armies I have painted. Figures are from Wargames Foundry and Old Glory:

 Arthur, Dux Bellorum of Britain leads the elite of Britain against the Saxon invaders.

My Romano-British army composed primarily of Wargames Foundry figures with some Old Glory miniatures is finished and battle tested.  They are mounted for Dux Bellorum on 120mm wide bases.  In Dux Bellorum game terms I organized the army as my own interpretation of King Arthur:
1 Mounted Companions: 5 points
3 Noble Riders: 15 points
2 Ordinary Shieldwall: 6 points
1 Mounted Skirmishers: 2 points

Of course I utilize the Experience Warlord and Imposing Horsemen option!


The assembled War host.

Shieldwall infantry #1.

Shield Wall infantry #2.

Arthur is the middle figure from Wargames Foundry flanked by Old Glory miniatures. Since he was also known as the "Bear" I added an extra flag to go along with the traditional Pendragon standard.

Okay . . . I'm showing off the dragon painted on the shield.

Another view of the mounted force.

One of the most useful units are my mounted skirmishers for making Saxon Warbands charge when they don't want to. I have also discovered that dismounted skirmishers with javelins are very useful.

I love the priest from Wargames Foundry.

One last look at the "overlooked" infantry of Arthur's army.

Monday, April 28, 2025

The Colonel’s Recovery Repeats: Painting White on Figures

Originally posted on July 20th, 2010 before we had the fancy paints we have now and I learned a new painting technique!


Painting white uniforms or clothing has been a challenge for me in the past as I did not want the uniforms to be white! Hunh? In other words, I wanted my figure's fabric to look textured and realistic with shadows and highlights. I have achieved that effect easily with other colors by starting with a base of black, and then wet brushing with the base color to get the desired effect. Then I would highlight with a lighter color. Unfortunately, starting with black did not get the results I wanted until I stumbled on a painting guide for "Gandalf the White" on the Games Workshop website. As I primarily use Games Workshop paints, it was perfect for me and I like the result. You can see the completed Gandalf above.

Since I am painting the British Foot Guards (sorta, I really need to finish them before the French Dragoons come), I took some quick pictures to show how I am painting the coveralls white.


After priming in black, I paint the pants with a base of GW's Bestial Brown.

Wet brush with Bone White being careful not to cover up the folds of the figure which leaves a nice shadowing effect.


Highlight with Skull white - Tah Dah! You may notice that I have not done the straps of the figure with this painting technique. I wanted the straps and lace to be "whiter" and stand out more. For this, I just use Skull white in several layers until I get the desired look.

Remember the first rule of painting - if you make a mistake, just paint over it!
Below are some French Napoleonic Troops from Wargames Foundry that I painted that illustrate the technique:




Thursday, April 24, 2025

Time for some Repeats!



The body keeps score. I’m a retired Infantry Officer (light, airborne, mechanized, Joint Special Operations, etc.) and after ducking and dodging I’m on my last phase of repairing my body. First up, the right foot. With a metal plate, two screws and getting the floating and jagged cartilage removed, I’ll be able to walk without pain in my right foot and then - I’m looking at you left foot!


“Hey my right big toe is actually straight!

I will be keeping my foot elevated for 2 weeks and then I’ll hopefully get the stitches out and wear a boot for 4 to 6 weeks - and then figure out when the left foot gets the same treatment. Anyway  . . . it didn’t take me long to figure that I can’t paint figures or other hobby activities except sketches for new watercolors. What I have decided is to post some of my favorite entries from the past until I’m back in the painting/gaming saddle.


Monday, April 21, 2025

Operation Heinlein: Strike Force Commander


"As a Space Marine officer, I prefer not to wear my helmet into combat. Heads up displays, thermal imagery, communication nets, real time location and the status of my Marines - plus the protection it provides are for sissies. Plus I can see my chain sword better without it.


As a follow-up to my earlier post on painting armored infantry, unh Space Marines copyright by Games Workshop with blood oaths, Dwarven runes and Chaos Demon lawyers, I finally found the commander for my Armored Infantry Strike Force commander for Xenos Rampant.



I was able to get the Boardgame “Space Marines” which is sold exclusively at Target or online from GW for the ridiculously low price of $25 US dollars. It’s actually a fun, fast game and comes with Lieutenant Titus of the Ultramarines and 10 Tyranid termagants and 3 ripper swarms. It pays to wait for sales.


Lieutenant Titus will get a new name for Xenos Rampant. I did the figure just using Citadel Contrast (CC) paints and as always use a quality primer! In this case I use Citadel Bone Wraith. There is a little paint on his face because I wanted to get a picture of the primed figure and almost forgot.



For the skin I used a base of Vallejo Dark Flesh and then added a wash of CC Darkoath Flesh for shading and detailing. 




The chain sword (let’s face it, chain swords are ridiculous but cool) is painted with CC Black Templar.



It’s time for CC Ultramarine Blue for the armor. I’m not worried about a smooth, even application as I want the armor to look like it’s been used in combat and not on the parade field.




The star burst is CC Blood Angel Red and I later cleaned it up with Vallejo Flat Red. 

The blue hanging rectory weird GW bone box I’m going to pretend it is a medical kit. I painted it with CC Aethermatic Blue and all of the leather is painted with CC Snakebite Leather.



The scroll under the skull is Striking Scorpion Green, the battle honor strips are CC Skeleton Horde with the seals CC Blood Angel Red. The skull on the base is also CC Skeleton Horde and the STUPID loin cloth, one more thing to get stuck in combat, is CC Nazdreg Yellow. The hilt on the chain sword is Vallejo Shiny Gold.


The wreath is also CC Striking Scorpion Green.


The concrete is CC Space Wolves Grey and the pipe will be eventually painted with CC Basilicum Grey.


I forgot to mention that the weapon and other bare metal is CC Basilicum Grey.

I used my usual basing mix of various sizes of railroad hobby ballast. I painted the base color Vallejo Luftwaffe Uniform WWII and dry brushed Vallejo Neutral Grey followed by Vallejo Light Grey.


The side of the base is Vallejo Flat Brown.




Always keep those bits. Since the leader has a larger base, I added a Necron arm to give it a little jazz.


Regular ole green static grass from Gale Force 9.




Ta Dah!