New FOG unit finished

Just a small update today.  I finished my Roman Auxiliary Cavalry Battle group for my Principate Roman Army.  What do you think?

Also trying out a new photo background - not sure if i like it or not.....

Back to Base-ix

Hi Guys

Last time i posted about my man cave re-organisation at the end of that post i had commented on needing a paint rack solution. Well ive found it (Actually I found it minutes after typing that Blog post the other week.)  Back to Base-ix is an Australian company located in Adelaide and makes a wide variety of war-gaming aids and modelling materials - the coolest items they make in my opinion are the paint racks and draws for keeping your painting area neat and tidy - just what I was looking for.

Now to the actual product I ordered two of the Paint rack straight section - large.  There are a couple of different options - the racks are available in MDF or Acrylic. You also have the option of having the holes cut to fit different popular paint ranges:

Bottle quantities held:

• GW 2012, GW Hexagon (new), GW Hexagon (old), Lifecolor: 43 Pots
• Foundry, Coat D'Arms, GW Round , P3 : 45 Pots
• Vallejo: 53 Pots

the two racks combined hold all my paints with a few holes left over. The racks come with some nice features which for the price i wasn't expecting:

• Stainless Steel Nuts, Bolts & Washers for Assembly
• Silicone Rubber Feet for a non slip unit
• Rare Earth Magnets and locators to allow each modular unit to join to the next.
• Easy to follow DVD Assembly Instructions

They came nicely wrapped as you can see below:

The DVD was interesting - it actually shows you how to build all of the different racks and draws available which gives you a nice overview of how all the products go together.  I had hoped the DVD would have voice instructions but instead it has text prompts appearing at different points in the video. As a soundtrack it has a fairly easy listening tune in the background that i must confess drove me a little mad by the end of watching the whole DVD - easily solved by pressing mute :)  

The Construction of the racks are so easy i imagine most people wont need to watch the DVD. Since my computer is right next to my work area i just had it running in the background.

As you can see the finished product is attractive and of course most importantly highly functional. I like the fact that the Vallejo paints can be stored both standing upright or upside down.

my newly set up workspace - what do you think? Im going to get a set of the draws next pay to clean up the area off to the left.

Aaron (the man behind the great ideas and owner of the business is a really nice friendly guy and was happy to answer questions i had about future ideas and listened to my suggestions and feedback). He's very easy to get hold of as Back to Base-ix has a Facebook page so you can send him a message and have a chat.

Im giving this product a big thumbs up. Its well priced and with lots of options available there is a solution for everyone's painting workspaces. I highly recommend you check the website out.

too damn funy

All my followers need to go check out The Chaos Manifesto http://thechaosmanifesto.blogspot.ca

He's having a give away comp.  Seriously one of the funniest Blog writers ive followed in a long time.  I think you will all enjoy his sense of humour.

Man cave upgrade

My gosh 2 posts in as many days!!!

Today i was forced to go spend stupid amounts of cash at the dentist. This (as you can imagine) left me feeling a little blue..



 To counter this I decided i was going to do something to cheer myself up so I decided it was high time I improved my man cave. Considering its my fortress of solitude from the wife and kids and also where me and the lads play games I figured it was well worth any money spent in improvements. After having a few minutes think i realised all I really need to improve was my painting area. Being a professional miniature painter you would think i have a great set-up but the truth is I do 90% of my painting at Battlefront HQ so i haven't really needed anything special. The picture below shows what my painting area looked like this morning. I think you have to admit its pretty small and cramped. (And almost never that tidy!!!)

I had a desk on the other side of my garage that i kept my gaming rig on and had been thinking for a while that the space could be much better used if i moved it around did some tidying up and put a large sheet of wood on top of the smaller desk to give me more space and allow for both the computer and a nice large area for painting or paperwork (making army lists ect). Several hours later and much cursing and swearing assembling a set of cupboards (my miniature collection had to be placed somewhere!) :)  
This is the end result. The old painting area will now be (Once it's all cleaned up) my Airbrushing area.

The complete set up:

An improvement i think.  Now maybe i can get a bit more painting done at home now i have a much better painting area.  Now all i need is a paint storage solution.

Greeks, Romans Carthaginians and Gladiators

Hi Everyone

Ive been very quiet as of late with a pile of work on and very little free time blogging has had to come last. But I have been playing some games and doing some modelling. My Field of Glory Kyrenean Greeks are at last finished after at least a year of sitting to the side of the painting table. Ive added several units to both my Carthaginian's and my Romans. The Carthaginian's have received some extra Numidian light horse and Iberian light horse as well as another legionary unit for the Romans. Ive also added a new game to my bookshelf - Red Sand, Blue Sky (This Brings us to the Gladiator section in the title) :)

Ive been trying over the past 6 months or more to get into playing games of Warhammer Historical's Gladiator Game as i really like the idea of Gladiator combat. - Unfortunately although kinda fun the first few times you play it quickly becomes a tad boring with very little tactics. None of the gaming group seamed to really enjoy playing it. The campaign rules are ok and the actual book itself is very nice indeed. however i wanted more!!! I wanted to be able to hit someone more than once or twice before they drop dead, I wanted to cut them and make them have to keep fighting as they bleed out.. (yes i know im slightly twisted). I wanted some tactics like having to conserve strength.

Based on the review I read at Delta Vector http://deltavector.blogspot.co.nz/2012/06/red-sand-blue-sky-2hw-gladiator-rules.html and this utube video review http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AqY7eEUA90 i decided to dive in and try the game, whilst not as fast to play as Gladiator i find the combat much more satisfying overall. It has a lot of dice rolling and at most points both the attacker and the defender are rolling dice so no one ever feels like they have to wait.(Something im looking for more and more in games lately). One of the things i liked the most about this game is that it can be played solo (Very useful if no Gaming buddies are to be found).

 I blame my rekindled love of Gladiator action on Spartacus: Vengeance - Season 3 of the Spartacus TV Series.  Although on the surface a B grade blood and guts type affair the story telling is actually not poor and the combat scenes are excellent. Characters interact well with each other and the acting overall is quite good. Undoubtedly not to everyone's tastes but if you haven't watched it yet i suggest you watch a couple of episodes and see what you think.