Welcome to my July, August, September Hobby Update. As may be apparent from the first line of the update, hobby took the backseat to life this summer. A side effects of being well…a hobby. That being said I did make some progress here and there and I even found time to mail Ben a suspicious package filled with tiny planes.

Chain of Command / Bolt Action

-Generic France/NW Europe Board: I recieved the Cigar Box Battle mat I mentioned in my last update, and I’m quite happy with it. Currently it’s only seen action for some Pathfinder 2nd Edition. The board is still being printed. Part of this was the fact I acquired a new FDM printer this summer, the current market hype Bambu Labs P1P. That’s been an excellent printer and I’ve churned out a ton of terrain for both the France board and bits for other games too. I went back and reprinted what I had printed because the quality was just so much higher on the P1P.

1940 French Platoon: “yeah I’ll print it up real quick how bad could it be” -Me, nearly 4 months ago. So this has been the best I’ve been wrestling all summer. With 65 minis involved it’s made each step long and painful. I’m happy to report I’m down to rifles, helmets, boots and bases to go. I did do one test mini first and it turned out great. Colonel Muller Miniatures has been pumping out new French releases all summer though, so I’m sure I’ll have another 50+ minis to paint for my next batch too.

WW2 USMC- not a ton of progress on this project to report. I’ve received most of the files from the First to Fight kickstarter but I have yet to print them. I also assembled a trio of Rubicon Shermans for a Tarawa force.

Moderns

I’ve only painted a small handful of Moderns since last time, eight of ESS’s African Regulars. I did however procure a few new sculpts. I also began backing the new Gunslinger Patreon from Flytrap Digital. I haven’t printed any yet but I was waiting for the first 3-month theme set to be complete because again, I refuse to learn a lesson about batch painting (much to my entertainment – Ben).

Planes, Planes, and more Planes

So I haven’t really painted any planes this summer apparently as my last WIP picture matches my current WIP. However, I never stopped printing! I printed a ton of planes I sent to Ben (Jesus it was a lot of planes – Ben), plus I printed some IAR-80s and Yak-1s in 1/200. I also have been test printing some jets for Missile Threat, a jet age ruleset.

I’ve just finished reading through the latest Blood Red Skies supplement “Wing Commander” and I encourage anyone who’s a fan of the game to pick it up. There’s also a great camapign system in it called Air Medal & Iron Crosses, which combines a lot of great mechanics for a nice clear and concise system for BRS (or really any aerial game) campaigns.

Playing wise, I played a good amount of Bag the Hun, mostly solo for my camapign (catch up here) but also a teaching game online for Ben. I’m overdue for more solo games, so look for those soon. I am also working on a BtH scenario for Adepticon 2024, tentatively titled “Last Rays of the Rising Sun” which will replay the events of a dogfight on March 19, 1945 between US Navy carrier aircraft and Japan’s 343rd Kokutai, a “squadron of experts” unit formed in the closing days of the Second World War.

Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and More

I’ve mentioned before my (currently more dormant) interests in sci fi and fantasy minis and I continued to work on a few things here and there.

For sci-fi I started speed painting some Star Wars minis, originally to hop on the “What a Nerf Herder” train with Ben and Michael Charge. That is, adapting Too Fat Lardies “What a Cowboy” ruleset for Star Wars settings. However the fire seems to have died out a little on that front so I have one painted mini and five others that need a little more work.

Also in the sci-fi world, I continue to work on things for Enemy Spotted Studio’s Killwager ruleset. Currently my projects are a kitted out M1078 “War Pig” truck for one faction, along with one of the new “Duster” mechs for the new BLKOUT version of the rules. It delivers on the Titanfall vibes which was enough for me to grab one. Another local player and I have been playing the equivalent of phone tag trying to find a good meetup day without much luck so I haven’t played any games recently.

Fantasy, I haven’t done anything with. I have a big ol’ box of GW Gargant (giants) that need paint, and I continue to feel the allure of all things Ogre themed.

Beyond that I’ve been speedpainting (seeing what this slapchop business is about) minis for a Pathfinder 2nd Edition camapign I’ve been running with some local friends. Since it has a limited scope I decided to try some 54mm minis I printed, mostly from Loot Studios. The scale and technique change has been a good palette cleanser between steps on my French force.

Finally I’ve been helping with Iron Dice Gaming expansion as much as I can from a distance. I live a good seven hours driving time from the rest of the gang which makes it hard to pop in and lend a hand physically. (But I can’t wait to reveal your gifts from afar to the world! – Ben)

That’s about all I have to report. Hopefully I’ll be back again soon with photos of a completed French force. If not, listen for my screams of anguish on the wind as I paint more tiny hands.