Favorite Units I painted in 2025

 

Wow. Where to begin?

1. Ogre: Infantry in Power Suits. These were not a challenge to paint but I think they look so cool!

2. Austro-Hungarian Naval Brigade from the SMS Zenta. Who would have thought that the Patriarch of the von Trapp Singers (The Sound of Music) was decorated for bravery during the Boxer Rebellion. Copplestone Miniatures Back of Beyond Russian Naval converted to Austro-Hungarians.

3. Imperial Japanese Infantry, Boxer Rebellion. Imperial Japan had the largest contribution of forces to the 8 Nations Alliance and I am really liking Crusader Miniatures new Boxer Rebellion range. Naval ensign hand painted by me.

4. Imperial Chinese Unit, Boxer Rebellion. You can never go wrong with figures from Wargames Foundry. Banners are from Crusader Miniatures. Flag hand painted by me.

5. Kansu Braves, Boxer Rebellion. Another winner from Crusader Miniatures and banners from Crusader Miniatures.

6. Imperial Chinese Krupp Mountain Gun. I think I'm seeing a pattern here. Figures by Wargames Foundry and gun by Askari Miniatures.

7. Musketeer Regiment Von Bose. I'm returning to an old favorite, personally and professionally (it's hard to take the history out of the military historian after numerous thesis', articles, dissertation, ect.) the American War for Independence. Proving to myself that I could still paint small figures in gaming detail, I'm going to use the Warlord Games Epic Revolution range in 13.5 mm. First up is the Musketeer Regiment Von Bose which famously fought back to back at the Battle of Guildford Courthouse.

Now it's time to get ready for the 2026 plan.

Starship Troopers: The Annual Read

 "I always get the shakes before a jump . . ." thus starts one of the greatest military science fiction novels of all time, Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein. Even today, the book has stood the test of time, and was a big influence on my decision to be an Infantry officer.

When I attended the Command and General Staff College, I was pleasantly surprised to see the novel on the required reading list. Today, the novel is still on the reading list for the US Army, Navy and United States Marine Corps.

The overall theme of the book is that social responsibility requires individual ownership. Social responsibility is an act of self acceptance of that responsibility along with the concomitant commitment to the debts that are incurred. 

Juan Rico begins the novel with no thought of his personal responsibility or of any particular group's responsibility to self or others. This theme is obliquely addressed in the novel's opening: "We had all inspected our combat equipment (look, it's your own neck -- see?), the acting platoon sergeant had gone over us carefully after he mustered us, and now Jelly went over us again, his eyes missing nothing." "Now I was going to have a hole in my section and no way to fill it. That's not good; it means a man can run into something sticky, call for help and have nobody to help him." "I've heard tell that there used to be military outfits whose chaplains did not fight alongside the others, but I've never been able to see how that could work. I mean, how can a chaplain bless anything he's not willing to do himself? In any case, in the Mobile Infantry, everybody drops and everybody fights -- chaplain and cook and the Old Man's writer."

 The theme is repeated through flashbacks to High School and Officer Candidate School in a required class called History and Moral Philosophy. In this view, everything from the right to vote to the punishments for various crimes are depicted as part of a larger effort to recognize society's needs and improve society, as distinct from self-interest. The service Heinlein envisioned was an all-volunteer service, long before the US military had changed to an all-volunteer model. Other than the rights to vote and hold public office, there is no other restriction between service veterans and civilians.

 

In the course of both the "current" plot and flashbacks Rico learns to take responsibility for ever increasing groups: himself, his comrades, and eventually all of mankind (a shared responsibility), and accept that as the reason for remaining in the service. Further, Rico is seen to develop from a relatively powerless citizen, to a very dangerous fighter: "There are no dangerous weapons; there are only dangerous men. We're trying to teach you to be dangerous -- to the enemy. Dangerous even without a knife. Deadly as long as you still have one hand or one foot and are still alive."

I just finished my annual reading of the book . . . something I do annually!

Now for the Warning!!!

This is a poster for the movie directed by Paul Verhoeven who admitted that he never read the book (that bastard)! Not only does the movie miss most of the points of the book and, as a retired infantry officer (Regulars By God!), it's embarrassing to watch. 

Please don't get me started on how they portray Lieutenant Rasczak, the epitome of the servant leader in the novel that leads the Roughnecks.

One of the worst scenes in the book is when the platoon is defending an outpost and the bugs are coming. I can see the nuclear rockets strapped to the backs of the (so called) Mobile Infantry! So what do they do? Break out the SMALL ARMS (sigh). How about the scene when the platoon surround a bug in a circle, and then they all fire at the bug! In a circle? They would have hit each other. (Note: That's a safety violation) And please

Do not watch the movie!



The book sums it up nicely: "For the everlasting glory of the Infantry . . ."

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!

Operation Heinlein: Quick and Easy Painting guide for Armored Infantry

Okay; it’s a Space Marines (Copyright Games Workshop and if you don’t believe me I have some Demonic Chaos Lawyers to send your way). I’m building an armored infantry force of the Terran Federation for the game Xenos Rampant with GW deals I have been finding.

I’m a minimalist when it comes to painting Space Marines. For me, less is better and I don’t want the armor to be a “perfect” paint job! We are not on parade - we are wearing armor that has seen some action. Somehow to me, they look more intimidating.

I’m not sure when, but GW was selling random Blood

Angels that cameone to a box. I scarp this one up for $2 US dollars.

1. I used Citadel Contrast (CC) paints for this figure. When using enamels, you can use a lower quality primer. But for Contrast or Speed Paints, it’s well worth the money to invest in a good quality primer. I use Citadel Wraith Bone.

When painting my armored infantry I don’t get to concerned if the original color of the plastic shows - it will appear as “battle worn.”

2. I did the skin using a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Dark Flesh and Mahogany Brown.

3. Next up on the skin is a thin “wash” of CC Darkoath Flesh.

4. You guessed it! Paint the armor with CC Ultramarine. The inside of the armor is CC Black Templar.

5. The bolter (weapon) and other metal parts are done with CC Basilicum Grey. The belt, holster, and other leather pouches I used CC Snakebite Leather. The grenade in front was painted with Striking Scorpion Green and the grenade in the back is CC Aethermatic Blue.

6. The targeting device lense is CC Blood Angels Red and the concrete on the base is CC Space Wolves Grey.

7. The basing material I use for the ground are various grades of model railroad ballast mixed together. I put several globs of white glue on the base, grab an old handy dandy brush and I dip in water and then spread the glue so it’s watered down. I dip it in my “sandbox” container and then let it dry.

The color scheme I used was a base of Vallejo Luftwaffe Uniform WW II and then I dry brush Vallejo Neutral Grey followed by Vallejo Light Grey. After all of that is dry I add some green static grass with watered down white glue.

8. Last but not least Contrast paints can be shiny. To protect the paint and tone down the shine, I use a clear matte spray to finish it up.

Ta Dah!

Slowly but surely my Armored Infantry is getting ready for Xenos Rampant.