Tcho Tcho Goblin Hastur Cult

 As a quick break from my 100 Days Napoleonic project, I decided to finish off a project that I started last year - namely completing painting up figures for "Children of the Tattered King" a Hastur cult for In Her Majesty's Name (IHMN). My previous post dealing with these cultists is located here, and it in I hinted at my idea of using GW Night Goblins as Tcho-Tcho cultists.

Looks like Bak Bon Dzshow is back on the menu boys!!

Naturally this would mean yellow would feature heavily in the paint scheme:) The fleshtone was a nice pale clay colour, with a heavy brown wash appliedd in an effort to tone down the yellow and make everything look dirty.

Tcho Tcho bow in the foreground blocking the view to the spearblock behind.

While the Tcho-Tcho don't feature in the background material provided in IHMN, the nature of the background doesn't preclude the introduction of elements of the Cthulhu Mythos (click here for a basic primer on the Mythos). Indeed, IHMN is flexible enough to accommodate material from a variety of sources.

These banner holders will work as specialist wielders of arcane powers. 

The intent is to use these figures against both 28mm and 20mm forces. In 28mm the figures will use a Hastur cult flavoured Pygmy list with the Tcho-Tcho being the bulk of the force using Pygmy stats, while in 20mm I am making a custom list where the figures will represent the more robust purpose bred combat monsters that some backgrounds have the Tcho-Tcho breed for war. Naturally the 20mm list will largely consist of the cheaper, and more expendable, human cultists detailed in the previous IHMN post.

These fine fellows are intended for use as either leaders or champions.

The internet is full of different interpretations of how Tcho-Tcho can be dealt with in games, and how they can be used in a manner that doesn't rely on the usual tropes.  A nice discussion on this can be found here, and here. It should be noted that the only certainties regarding the Tcho-Tcho is that they seem to originate from Leng, are non-human (but may have interbred with humans at some stage), and when ever and where ever they manage to establish settlements on Earth, they are feared and despised by their neighbours.

Cannon Fodder Garden variety armed cultists.

Of course this raises the possibility of Tcho-Tcho communities across the world, each with their own distinct culture that has resulted from interacting with human neighbours, while still maintaining a core set of cultural characteristics that are uniquely Tcho-Tcho.  

Five more cultists, for a total of nine spear.

The more I look into this, the reater the possibility of me grabbing a copy of Delta Green, GDW's Dark Conspiracy RPG, and seeing if I can get something suitable worked out for a nice game of Stryker.

And Now for Something Completely Different.....

A collection of oddments.

When I still lived in Christchurch, I was asked to help make some props by a local tourist attraction that could be used to help create a certain late 19th Century / early 20th Century atmosphere for one of their displays. The project was quite fun and was well received by the attraction.

Old bottles with  labels and contents added.

 From memory the items were to viewed through a window that allowed the viewer to peer into a dimly lit room.  As such, they only needed to give an impression, rather than provide an accurate  reproduction of actual items.

More old bottles and a repainted Altoids tin.

 The labels were in the main sourced via various sites on the web, and were printed out and given a wash of  various strengths of cheap black coffee. Many of the labels were chosen for  how well they would look on the item, rather than if the item would be found in an explorer's cabin.

The tin on the bottom right has yet to receive a wash of coffee.

Tinned goods were made by putting printed labels made in MS Word over various empty and full tins, that had the ends painted rusty brown, and then given a wash of coffee.

A Miniature Freud

A co-worker is a big fan of Dr Freud, and when they saw some models I brought into work, asked if I could make them a 1/72 Scale Freud.

A collection of Freudabilla.

Since they are a valued co-worker I said yes, and did a paint conversion of a Nexus Lenin figure from the Nexus reissue of the Atlantic Russian Revolution set.When did a google search for images to base my painting on, I found a number of images of Freud without his glasses. This convinced me that the Lenin figure could be easily repurposed .into a figure of Freud.

The good doctor and a GMG.

Another view of the GMG.

The addition of the GMG onto the stand is partially due to Freud's purported interpretation of the underlying meaning to having or desiring big guns. Plus I think it looks good on the stand :)
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Complete with  travelling case.

I recycled an old GW paint container to make a transport case for the good doctor on his travels. When I gave the figure to the co-worker they were quite pleased with the final result.

Dodgy Armoured Car

A while back I decided that I needed a Panhard AML 90 (click here for details on on vehicle), and that I didn't want to track down a plastic kit or resin model of one. Rather I wanted to see if I could produce a suitable proxy from my bits bin.

Picture sourced from E-bay of a much nicer toy than I used as the basis for conversion.

I started with a rather play worn Corgi Daimler Dingo armoured car, which I roughly cut the sides down on.

Corgi Dingo sans sides and crew.

I added an Airfix Sheridan turret, and added the barrel from a Roco Tiger II. I then added a figure from a Hawesaga kit to act as the vehicle commander.

The proxy takes form.

The paint scheme is loosely based on a vehicle on display at Bovington (click here to see pictures)

And now painted and washed!

The business end.

This should serve as a suitable proxy until I decide to replace it with an actual model of an AML 90. Should I do that then this proxy model will be used in Harad games.

Side view.

The view from the other side.

 Given the way Command Decision treats vehicles (one model represents 3-5 actual vehicles) I shouldn't need more than one AML-90 for the Falklands, as their battlefield use was quite limited.

A view from above.

On an unrelated note I am currently looking for a rules system similar in approach to Megablitz, but for modern (read 1970s-1980s) forces. I had an idea that I could use such a system to fight the larger actions of Harad's civil war, and use CD for fighting the smaller ones.Should anyone have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments. Of course it may well be that Megablitz is perfect for what I want, in which case I then have to track a copy down!

Alternate paint scheme for Kubelwagen.

The Kubelwagen is a familiar sight to many WW2 gamers, either as a valuable and useful piece of transport, or as opportunity to demonstrate Allied firepower. Many manufacturers have made Kubelwagens over the years, and I have acquired a number both brand new and secondhand, in various conditions over the years.

Hello Kitty Kubelwagen - two icons meet at last.

I am unsure of the manufacturer of this Kubel, possibly Nitto or Eidai.

I still haven't decided if I am going to give it white wall tyres or not.

Inspiration for this paint job came from reading the comments on this post over at Plastic Warrior. Iwasn't going to paint up a halftrack or tank this way, but I did have a very small Kubelwagen that I was prepared to use to test this paint scheme out. Regular service will shortly resume.