In the vats...

Goliath is taking shape...

As you can see, he doesn't have human proportions but then, he's an OGrymn... so you wouldn't expect him to!

On to a different matter...

The kindness of strangers. I have a friend who is really worried about one of his oldest friend's daughter. They need help and to read about it follow this link:

LINK

There is a direct link to a donation page here:

LINK

All I can ask is for you to click on the top link and make a choice. If you have blogs, please add a link as well and maybe we can spread the word.

The scientists have been busy.

The Grymn super-soldier program is continuing apace and now the small group of characters has been joined by Beast:

He brings additional combat prowess and scientific expertise to the group. The next soldier is one who is a little different. When the scientists started the program they worked on Grymn volunteers and never in their wildest dreams expected one of the revered OGrymn turning up to try the super-serums that were on offer. Well, one did turn up and after taking the serum the already large OGrymn took on giant proportions so he took Goliath as a name and here is a WIP of him (he's the one on the left):

There are more super-soldiers planned but at the moment, I am not racing ahead so for now I just want to finish Goliath.

If you want some reading to keep you entertained, here are two stories for you. The first is finished:

The Duplicate Adventures

The second one is still being written so stay tuned for further instalments:

Rebirth

Both are tales of a space-faring crew of Grymn and a selection of aliens. I hope you enjoy the read.

Walkers on the way.

I just thought I'd share some news from Hasslefree Miniatures' Facebook page and that news is...

...The Grymn Walker is now getting production casts made and there will be stock for Salute. That is excellent news and I am looking forward to getting a few more to add to the platoon.

Speaking of walkers... I dug my old Macross Regult Pods out of the loft the other day and have converted them to go with a small group of troops. The troops were converted an age ago and they were destined for a mercenary desert force but things stalled and now, I've found an alternative role for them as part of a little jungle patrol. Here are a range of pix:

The beginning...

Converting in progress...

All converted and troops selected...

A close up of the WIP troops...

So there will be eight walkers and eight troops. The walkers will be green and will match the troops. It really makes a change to paint something that isn't grey!

Consolidation.

One of the major problems I always have is that I paint too many troops before I varnish them. That means that before I know it, I have a cupboard full of troops to varnish and no enthusiasm to do it. One of the important goals I set for this Urban Army project was to finish each platoon before I moved on to the next one and that meant, all of the decals, insignia and varnishing. Well, the sixth platoon has been completed and if you follow this LINK you will see all of them in their matt varnished glory. The post also shows a few other things but the main point of posting it was to highlight the fact that a certain amount of consolidation is always required to keep a large project on track.

Consolidation allows you to take a step back and see where you are. It allows you to take stock and then plan your next move. It enables you to catch up on all those little jobs that have been neglected and it also gives you the incentive to move things along by completing things and providing a finished item to get enthusiastic about.

The week before last, I had a week at home and managed to complete the 6th platoon (including transport), re-base and re-mark the airborne platoon troops and finish up the conversion work on their drop-ships. I also began looking into the storage side of things and have worked out what cases I will have to buy in order to store each of the platoons.

Storage has become a major problem at the moment and I am really going to have to sort out a few cases soon otherwise I won't have anywhere to put things when they are finished.

The project continues...

The Grymn Airborne Regiment arrives.

As I had predicted, I have been working on the Airborne platoon this week and have managed to finish all of the troops. These were already painted but they needed re-basing, decals adding and a bit of adjustment to their rank badges to bring them into line with the rest of my NMA forces. Here they are, ready for war:

I have taken the simple approach to marking these up for a number of reasons.

1. I have a lot of letters that won't get used so I thought I'd use them
2. These are effectively the Grymn version of the RAF Regiment and they have a much less rigid approach to insignia
3. These are a 'one off' so I could mark them up as I saw fit...but still wanted them to be individual
4. Their helmet markings are similar to the ones on the Walker (another air-force asset)

This means that I will have to go back and adjust some of the insignia tables that I have put up to bring everything together. It is one of the beauties of a project like this...plans change and as long as you remain flexibly minded, it is amazing how you can tie up all of the loose ends.

I have also been working on the drop-ships for this platoon. They are called Pilum Drop-ships and are slightly adapted Tau Devilfish Carriers:

These have had the following modifications:

1. Wing tips removed and the missile launchers removed from the drones
2. Rocket launchers built (using the drone missile launchers) and added
3. Grymn mini-gun replaces Tau burst-cannon
4. Top hatch replaced with a DS base and the original hatch

Not a lot of conversion but the main thing was to remove the drones because they are absolutely tied to the whole Tau idiom. I still need to do a little tidying but they are almost ready for paint.

Hopefully there will be more news soon.

Grymn News form Hasslefree.

I thought it was going to be quiet but it seems that Kev over at Hasslefree Miniatures has triumphed again with his latest offering:

You can see the whole thread HERE (but be warned, there are some miniature Breasts on display).

She is a female, Grymn Walker pilot and she is pretty awesome and as a result I thought I'd better share her QUICK!

Let's take it back to the start...

I had a less than productive shopping day yesterday and as a result, was unable to find a can of spray Matt varnish. That means that the vehicles for Number 6 Platoon will have to remain shiny until I can find some. The troops, however, will be getting a brush-on, Matt varnish this week while I am on a week's holiday (YAY!).

I am not a fan of varnishing but it is one of those jobs that have to be done...a bit like preparing miniatures for paint. Fortunately, I had a productive day on the preparation front yesterday and have managed to achieve this:

Yes, the next platoon is ready to start receiving their paint. I haven't started on the vehicles because they will distract me...and I won't be doing so until these are glossed, ready for decals so it is a fair way off. I have chosen the 8th platoon because I have enough decals for the vehicles. I expect that the next one will probably be the 5th platoon for the same reason.

On another note, I have finished adding all the ranks to the 6th platoon and here is an example of what they look like:

Nice and easy to see and nice and easy to paint.

I have a feeling that things will be fairly quiet here for a while as I paint up the sections for the up-coming platoon but fear not...if anything else turns up, I will let you know.

New Model Army... News!

After a couple of evenings of cussing and swearing, I have managed to add decals to all of the troops and vehicles for the first of the platoons. Here is the 6th Platoon of the Third regiment of the Grymn Army:

Each of the sections are placed in front of their transport vehicle and for the infantry squads, Charlie fire-team has a white number and Delta fire-team has a black number.

I have changed the marking of the helmets so that the platoon number is on the same side as the section number. It means that the numbers match the vehicles better and also they don't obscure the Regiment symbol.

I still need to paint on the ranks but I have, at least, come up with a range of markings that I can paint on to represent the rank structure that won't be too difficult:

The markings will be on the front of the helmets over to one side. I have only decided on the field ranks...because they are the only ranks I am going to be putting in the army.

Finally, here are a few pix of the Grymn Walker for scale purposes:

The miniatures are a Void Syntha Marine, a Dark Eldar, a Vulkan Battlesuit (Clanker) and a converted Critical Mass Games Arc Walker.

A small group of Grymn ready for fighting!

All these need now is a good coat of matt varnish after adding rank to the NCOs and Officers.

Grymn Walker arrives.

This week I received a very nice surprise from Kev and Sally at Hasslefree Miniatures...I was sent the Grymn Walker along with a seated and standing pilot:

This appears to be the one that was used for the various photos on the Forum of Doom because it arrived in a partially assembled state.

When I took it to pieces (a simple task of breaking the super-glue joints) I had a few minor repairs to carry out but it gave me an overall appreciation of how the kit will assemble when it gets released.

Components:
2x weapon arms
2x identical gun shields
1x pelvis
2x legs
2x feet
2x leg shields
1x body rear
1x body front

Everything has idiot proof joints so it was easy to assemble. both of the weapons can fit either side on the ball joints on the sides of the rear body. The legs are handed (so the right leg will go on the right side and the left on the left side - no mix and match) so there is only a small amount of pose-ability but enough for a little variation in a unit... the ball joints at the hips and ankles will further add to the range of poses. The body can be fitted to the pelvis through quite a range of rotation (only limited by a beam that projects from the rear of the pelvis). The guns are on ball joints as well so they have a huge range of positions.

From a model making perspective it is a lovely little model and would look great painted up by a professional and mounted on a scenic base. As a war-gaming piece there are a couple of things to be aware of:

1 - The leg shields have a very fragile join that will need some form of beefing up. I used some Green Stuff.
2 - The front cover would be awesome if it could open and close but the hinge is not quite large enough to drill a pin into. I have put magnets in the front so that I can remove/fit the front cover instead.
3 - The gun shields are also quite fragile but I fixed that by gluing a small piece of sprue between the shield and the gun to add an additional connection point...now it is solid.

I love the kit (I always knew I would) and will be buying more when it gets released. I doubt if I will be making too many with a pilot on display so the hinged front cover won't matter to me. It is easy to carry out the small additions to beef up the gun-shields and leg shields so I am not worried about that (and I expect a bit of careful gluing would probably work just as well as my ideas).

Hopefully, at some point more weapons will be designed (a missile pod for one) but there is no reason that either of the existing weapons couldn't be converted.

As it stands, I have received a wonderful gift that will sit very well with my Grymn forces... and I look forward to being able to purchase more when they are released.

Thank you Kev and Sally at Hasslefree Miniatures.

Armoured might.

I have been working, feverishly, to finish off the transport vehicles for the 1st platoon and have managed it!:

These just need a gloss varnish, the decals adding and then a matt varnish to finish them.

The next stage is to gloss varnish them and then add decals to the entire platoon, ready for the matt varnish to be applied to the whole platoon as well. It also means that I am very close to the most daunting part of the project...adding decals to everything.

I have all the decals I need (for this platoon) and will have to spend a lot of time trimming them to fit partially obscured helmets. I will also be using some 'decal soft' for the first time so I will have to learn how to use it...interesting times.

With regards to the decals on the tanks, I will have the regiment badge on the front and rear (the roundel), the regiment symbol on the right of the turret and the platoon/section numbers on the left of the turret.

I have decided that this will be the sixth platoon so the numbers on the turret will be: 60 (command) 61, 62, 63 in white lettering. The troops will have the roundel with a white six on the right of their helmet and a 1,2 or 3 on the left (no marking for the command squad).

So... an awful lot of decals. On the bright side, they should look cool once they are marked up though (hopefully). Then all I need to worry about is rank insignia... but I haven't got that far yet (I am thinking that they will be painted on at this stage... but I may change my mind after Salute because I will be able to check out small scale decals there).

With all the focus on the vehicles lately, I will be glad to get back to the troops again.

Time changes everything...

Yesterday, I thought I'd add powered armour to the urban army but have decided to change my mind today. I have looked at my new purchases and as awesome as they are, I am not sure that they suit the theme of this particular army...so I'll err on the cautious side and think about it for a lot longer.

I have also been thinking about the mobile nature of this army and I am also starting to have doubts about walkers... I think that tanks would be more appropriate.

It doesn't mean I won't get hold of some of the stunning Hasslefree walker models, just that they may not be added to this army. However...time, like a river, flows... so I may change my mind again.

That is the beauty of such a large project; there is plenty of time to make changes while you are ticking along with putting together the basic units.

What about powered armour?

I thought I'd look at some of the more unusual bits and bobs I am planning to add to the army today.

I am a bit of an eclectic collector and have bought all sorts of interesting miniatures that I think may fit in with the Grymn; whether in this army or other ones and that includes some powered armour.

I originally bought a set of five 'Russian heavy combat armour' troops from Micropanzer but had always had it in mind to send one of them to a mate...so I was left with four (obviously). Now five would have been awkward but four makes a perfect little building block for the Urban Army...but where to fit them? I decided that they would make a good army HQ squad so that is where they are likely to go. My reasoning is this:

1. They are twice the height of a Grymn so wouldn't mix well in a Grymn squad.
2. There will only ever be four of them.
3. They look expensive so only the most important Grymn would get one.
4. They are imposing miniatures so would be easy to see for 'command' purposes.
5. I can have them individualised a little.

I am still open to suggestions but feel that they would be good for the top job.

Alternatively, I plan on adding a bunch of these to my army (once they get released):

Maybe I should keep the powered armour to act as a command group for those?

Either way, they will be sat for a while because my focus is on getting my platoon finished and that means finishing the transports, varnishing them, adding decals to everything in the platoon and then matt varnishing everything!

...but it doesn't stop the cogs turning.

The production-line continues

I have been busy working on the first platoon's transport this week and after assembly, filling and a spray under-coat on the four armoured vehicles, I began painting them. Unfortunately, life got in the way of as much progress as I would have liked but I managed to get one finished. It also meant that the colour-scheme had chosen itself:

In addition to painting the command transport, I also managed to put together an updated markings picture and an idea of how it would look on the troops:

Now that I have a set idea of what I want to achieve, I will finish off the vehicles and gloss varnish them. After that I'll have a 'decal day' and mark the whole platoon up at once. I have now got all of the decals I need for this job (with more on the way for additional platoons) so there will be no excuse not to finish them.

The slow conversion job on the four recon-bikes continues...

A bit of re-evaluation.

I have been thinking a lot about how much information needs to be displayed on a trooper's uniform and it has led to a re-evaluation of ideas.

I have been surfing the net to find out about unit markings for British soldiers and there is nothing below the company level (apart from rank/trade). That made me think about why I need to be quite specific about how I mark my troops and to be honest, it is just so that I know which miniatures should be in which section/fire-team.

With that in mind...

I received my order of transfers from Dom's Decals today and have discovered that some of the decals will be too big for my purposes. That is what you get for 'trial and error' ordering and is no way a reflection of the excellent decals that Dom's Decals have supplied. The particular decals in question are the geometric shapes that I was going to use to designate section status (command, support, troops)...but why do I need to do that? The British army don't have that level of insignia on their troops so why should I?

So...until I come up with a new picture to show off what I am planning, here is what will be on the helmets of the troops:
1. Regiment symbol (RH side)
2. Platoon number (on top of regiment symbol on RH side)
3. Section number (on LH side)
The section number will only be on troop sections and will be white for the 'charlie' fire-team and black for the 'delta' fire-team.

Only three decals per helmet now.

Flexibility is the key to success.

Vehicle assembly line.

I just thought I'd post pix of the assembled vehicles for the first platoon. I still need to tidy them up and fill the joints a bit (if I'd used super-glue there would be no gaps...I just used epoxy and that doesn't compress as nicely). So here are three Glaive APCs and a Slingshot AFV:

They are lovely vehicles that are beautifully cast. Here are a few pix with some miniatures to compare them against:

Over the next couple of days, I hope to get them cleaned, filled and ready for paint at the weekend.

After the troops.

I have now finished gloss varnishing the troops for the first platoon. All they need is decals and a matt varnish and they will be finished but until I get some decals, I will start putting together the transport for the platoon. Here are the four vehicles now that they have been washed:

They are drying nicely as we speak and the picture shows 3 Glaive APCs, a Slingshot AFV and 3 mini turrets to go with the Glaives. The bag has the metal barrels and hatches for the kits in it. The kits are from Old Crow and they are immaculately cast and even came sanded flat so that they fit together nicely. I have put together Old Crow kits before and they really are excellent value for money. Each of the Glaives will hold 8 troops and will house the infantry sections. The Slingshot will hold 4 troops will house the command section. I don't want to add stowage to the vehicles because I prefer clean, uncluttered lines and there is plenty of room inside the vehicles for extra equipment.

Lots to be getting on with.

First platoon painted.

The first platoon for the new model army is now fully painted and waiting for the next step:

The next stage in the process will be to apply a coat of gloss varnish. That will provide a protective coating and will make applying decals easier, helping them to blend in better. I will varnish these before I start the vehicles so that I get the boring bit out of the way and have a 'prize' when I am finished (vehicles to sort out).

Speaking of decals, I am still waiting for most of them to arrive so I will continue to paint the troops and vehicles until I am in a position to add markings.

I have been looking through my boxes of miniatures and have found a bunch of snipers that would make a cracking recon platoon. I was thinking that I would have 4 sections (a command section and three troop sections) with each one having four troops in it. I haven't decided on vehicles yet but am veering towards the Old Crow GECKO PICK-UP with some seating and covers fitted to the rear. I am also planning on adding a bike to each of the sections and after a good search, I found these bikes and a few riders ready for a bit of conversion:

I think that the addition of a bit of stowage, comms equipment and an SMG would make these perfect out-riders for the recon sections. The bikes are from Eureka Miniatures 'Boilersuit Apes' range and the riders are   from Hasslefree's Grymn range and are GUSTAV without his rail-gun. Obviously, I have a lot of work to do on these but I think the end product will justify the effort.

The recon platoon will form part of a support company along side formations like heavy infantry and air assault units.

Army painting update.

To follow on from the structure post this morning, I continue with a little progress on the army painting front. This week, I have managed to paint a further twelve troops and re-arrange the support section to fit in with the rest of the basic units (because I won't be using support sections as part of a platoon any more).

Here is the first platoon as it stands (all nicely grouped onto GW's Lord of the Rings movement trays):

I still need to add a further eight troops and the vehicles but I am getting there. While on the subject of vehicles, I decided to unpack some vehicles from storage and here is a picture of the vehicles for this platoon:

From left to right are three Glaives and a Slingshot. The turrets are neatly tucked underneath for storage so can't be seen. I have a further three Glaives and three Slingshots so a purchase of three further Glaives would complete the vehicle selection for the entire company.

I hope to have the last section ready by next Sunday so I will be able to show off the first platoon with finished paint. Hopefully, some decals will start showing up soon and then I can worry about adding some insignia and markings to them. With that in mind, once the final section is painted, the platoon will receive a coat of GLOSS varnish. This will help with adding the decals and will give them a nice elastic varnish coating to protect them. Once the decals have been added they will all get a MATT varnish to take away the shine.

You see? Everything is planned!

It's all about the structure.

Every army needs a structure and a strong chain of command spreads out the leadership to properly control the  discipline of the army. The Grymn urban army is no exception so I needed to take stock of the situation and put together a strong chain of command to lead it.

The Chain of command

The rank structure and chain of command was a pretty easy thing to put together because I just shamelessly stole it from the British army; with the minor exception of calling a Staff Sergeant a Master Sergeant instead (that ties in to some writing I am working on). I could include all of the ranks but the higher echelon officers would rarely visit the battlefield so I am sticking to those who would logically form part of the army. Here is the army rank structure that contains all of the ranks I am going to use in the unit roles that I have chosen for them:

Army Rank Structure

Army HQ

Lieutenant Colonel – I/C

Major – 2^nd I/C

Warrant Officer 1 – Senior Advisor (AKA Regimental Sergeant Major)

2^nd Lieutenant – Adjutant / Communications Officer

Company HQ

Captain – I/C

Lieutenant – 2^nd I/C

Warrant Officer 2 – Senior Advisor (AKA Company Sergeant Major)

Master Sergeant - Adjutant / Communications Officer

Platoon HQ

Lieutenant or 2^nd Lieutenant – I/C

Sergeant – 2^nd I/C

Corporal – Communications Officer

Corporal – Adjutant

Section 1^st Fire Team

Corporal – Section I/C

Gunner

Gunner

Gunner

Section 2^nd Fire Team

Lance Corporal – Section 2^nd I/C

Gunner

Gunner

Gunner

As you can see, it is all pretty basic and all of the blocks of troops are put together into groups of four.

The Platoon HQ leads three Sections of two Fire Teams.

The Company HQ leads three Platoons.

The Army HQ Leads three Companies.

...and three companies are enough for any table-top.

To re-cap...

Just to emphasise the change in platoon structure, I thought I'd post the updated platoon organisation.


This is the old version (with support squads):


Command Section: 1xCommander, 1xComms and 2xLight Infantry - Slingshot IFV.
Support Section: 1xLeader, 1xRocket Launcher, 2xLMG - Slingshot IFV.
Section1: 2 Fireteams with: 1xLeader, 1xRocket Launcher, 1xLight Infantry, 1xLMG - Glaive APC.
Section2: 2 Fireteams with: 1xLeader, 1xRocket Launcher, 1xLight Infantry, 1xLMG - Glaive APC.
Section3: 2 Fireteams with: 1xLeader, 1xRocket Launcher, 1xLight Infantry, 1xLMG - Glaive APC.


As you can see, it consisted of 32 troops and 5 vehicles. With each of the basic fire-teams having a LMG and a rocket launcher (single-shot for anti-tank actions), I thought that having a support squad was taking things a little far, especially with all of the vehicles having a heavy weapon (the Slingshot has a cannon and the Glaive has a mini-gun turret) so I decided to drop it with the added bonus that it lines things up more closely with the British organisation I am basing things on (loosely...but not TOO loosely).


This is the new version:


Command Section: 1xCommander, 1xComms and 2xLight Infantry - Slingshot IFV.
Section1: 2 Fireteams with: 1xLeader, 1xRocket Launcher, 1xLight Infantry, 1xLMG - Glaive APC.
Section2: 2 Fireteams with: 1xLeader, 1xRocket Launcher, 1xLight Infantry, 1xLMG - Glaive APC.
Section3: 2 Fireteams with: 1xLeader, 1xRocket Launcher, 1xLight Infantry, 1xLMG - Glaive APC.


Without a support squad and its associated vehicle, we have 28 troops and 4 vehicles. That makes things easier for the platoon commander to handle and means that the vehicles will be an easier fit for a platoon specific drop-ship. It also ties things in nicely with the British Army because a platoon commander is supposed to be in charge of up to 30 troops.


My basic idea for an infantry company is a block of 3 platoons under the overall command of a Company command section of 4 personnel, with one of them being a fairly senior officer (more about the rank structure later).


As for the painted support section...it has now been divided between an infantry section and lessens the painting load for a complete platoon so nothing has been wasted. I have also decided to have a slight variation in colours for the first platoon in order to tie the test troopers in properly.


My current thinking is all about how the support units will be made up. I already have some heavy infantry, snipers and heavy weapons with the intention of adding some medical, comms and engineering/sapper units at a later date so I am investigating how these fit into the British Army to get an idea of how I will fit them into my army.

Flexibility is the key to success.

I have been doing a bit of reading today and have had a bit of a rethink about the organisation of the basic platoons.

I have decided, after a bit of soul searching, to remove the support sections from the platoons for a number of reasons:

1. The basic British infantry platoon doesn't have a support section as standard.
2. The British platoon commander is responsible for up to 30 troops.
3. The command section is in an IFV so their vehicle has a support role.
4. All of the infantry section APCs have support turrets.
5. 4 vehicles make a nice block...5 don't.

I have also been looking into the rank structures and will be posting that once I have put it down in print.

The good news is that the troops I've already painted don't have unit markings so they can be re-distributed if I need to and it also means that I am a little closer to having enough troops for that elusive third infantry platoon.

I am planning to put together a mechanised infantry company with three platoons with a company command section to act as the bulk of the army and will have more information about the organisation very soon.

What this all shows is that it is possible to make changes at an early stage and that those changes will have a noticeable impact on the army as a whole. The building block approach to the British Army is quite handy at times.

Having an Identity..

One of the important parts of being in the military is a sense of belonging and the best way to belong is to build up a unit identity. The Grymn Urban Army is no exception and must have an identity so in a bid to get the ball rolling, I have started to think about how the platoons of the army will be marked up. Here is what I have come up with so far:

There are a number of reasons that I have chosen the system above but the most important one is availability of decals. The yellow markings are the same as WWII British armour markings and the the regiment markings are the same as those on Royal Air Force aircraft. The beauty of choosing these is that they are available in a range of scales so I can choose the right decals for both marking up they helmets and the various other bits of kit for the army.

As a result, I have just ordered a selection from Dom's Decals so when they arrive, I will be able to review them. I still need to source some numbers but I can do that at a later date (because I may need to make further orders to get exactly the right sizes).

Thinking of platoon markings has kept me busy in between putting together the units. I have been building units in line with an earlier POST that details the break-down of each section in to its component parts.

Here is the Command Section for the first platoon (the first platoon in build, not necessarily the actual platoon number):

It consists of the Platoon Commander, a Communications Officer and a couple of light infantry troops that will have leader ranks (a Staff Sergeant and Sergeant...probably). I am yet to decide upon a set rank structure at the moment so I will be using a few army ranks to represent the ones I haven't thought of a name for at the moment.

To follow, here is the Support Section for the same platoon:

It consists of a Sergeant, a light infantry soldier with a one-shot rocket launcher and a pair of light machine gun (LMG) gunners. This unit is designed to work in unison with the Command Section and act as the second fire-team if required. Although there is a one-shot rocket-launcher in the team, for game purposes the support section's weapon will have unlimited shots because they will have extra loads aboard their transport and would be aided by the Command section when reloads are required.

As you can see, I have not added markings (they haven't arrived yet) but the army is well and truly started. I have two more fire-teams on the table (for the first infantry section) and in the process of paint. I will be using the test models as part of the teams so I only need to paint six troopers to finish the section. Remember that an infantry section has eight members (two fire-teams of four) instead of the four members that the Command and Support sections have.

I will be trying to decide upon rank structure next.

Tweaking the colour scheme

After posting up the previous picture of the test Grymn for the Mechanised armour, I decided that the brown areas were lacking something so I went and had a look through my paints and existing miniatures and thought that Dark Flesh would work better on the boots and gloves with Calthan Brown making for darker webbing.

Here is what I have changed:

So we now have this:

I am much happier with the darker look to the boots,gloves and webbing with the overall look of the miniature being darkened a little. Here is a comparison picture:

I think you'll agree that the darker look improves things.

Now we have the paint scheme sorted, I will look to be adding the insignia to the helmet. At the moment, I don't have the required decals but I will try to provide some sort of pictorial device to show my plans.

The New Model Army

I have finished the first test model for my new Grymn army and here is what I have so far:

After finishing the first one, I think I need to darken the boots, gloves and pouches so I am thinking that the gloves/boots will be either Calthan Brown or Dark Flesh with the pouches being Vermin Brown (the colour the boots are at the moment). I am planning on trying a further test model to make sure I am correct in my assumptions before I launch in to a full army.

Even if I alter the basic colours, if I paint a few in a similar fashion, I can sprinkle them throughout the units as older style kit so the test models won't go to waste.

I want to get the scheme right so I am hoping that the second one works.

More to come.

A new army begins.

This is just a short post to say that I have started on the next Grymn army; a mechanised urban force. I am currently in the process of painting the test scheme, ready to repeat many times.

Watch this space because once I get started, I need to keep the momentum up.

I am starting with a basic infantry platoon and will be focussing on the troops first while assembling the vehicles in the back ground. The troops will be painted first, then marked up. Next the vehicles will all be painted and then marked up together. Once the platoon is all painted and marked up, they will be varnished and then I can get on with the next platoon.

I have enough vehicles for two platoons so I reckon I'll have enough to keep me busy for about six or eight months before I have to buy more from Old Crow.

Once I have the first Grymn finished, I will post pix of the process, the colour choices and the finished product. I will also post information on organisation and ideas for further development.

These are certainly interesting times and they are WAY over due.

Quiet but not forgotten.

It has been exceptionally quiet here lately and I thought it was time I waxed lyrical about the wonders of the whole Grymn universe.

In the beginning, Kev sculpted a few Grymn and came up with a very loose back-story about them being genetically made slaves for a superior race...added to that there were a few racial traits and that was about it.

The range has expanded a lot since then and there are new troops popping up every now and again, along with some interesting tech to go with them...like the Walker in my last post...but there is still no real back story and that means that the Grymn can be 'WHAT THE HELL YOU LIKE!!!'

I have talked about Grymn in different camouflage schemes and operating in different environments. They can be assembled in armies, small adventuring parties or even explorer crews. With a little bit of creative thinking, they can be mixed with other races to make mercenary crews and you cane even add some standard Dwarf models, with a little conversion, to give them a more personalised look.

At Salute last  year, they were all the rage for Necromunda gangs and can be used in a lot of rulesets as stand-ins for regular armies (WH40k, Void1.1, No-Limits, Stargrunt...etc...).

That makes Grymn very versatile.

I have been collecting Grymn for a few years now and have put together a few armies, with many more ideas in the pipeline but it doesn't take a huge amount of miniatures to make a hard-hitting little force. With the addition of a walker or two and some APCs or IFVs, a platoon of troops would make quite an impact on the tabletop.

...BUT...

...I like armies and I am hoping to start on my next one very soon. I am planning on taking you through the process from start to finish and posting it on here. From deciding on organisation, bases, miniatures, vehicles and all many things to getting the work done so that I have finished miniatures on the table.

My plan is to build up a force one platoon at a time. I will start with a standard infantry platoon; including the transport and support that goes with it.

It should be an interesting journey...