An update for May!

 Holy cow! I'm actually getting around to updating for the month BEFORE the month is over! What's up with that?

So, things have been going here at Murph-Haus, since my return back from Little Wars. For those of you interested in attending, we are already making plans. 

I've been doing some painting, some priming, and working on things.

I didn't get as many figures painted this month as I wanted to due to doing some work around the house, and helping the neighbors and life in general.

However I did get some figures done, and I got some other stuff cleaned up and ready for priming. I now just have to wait for the heat and humidity to drop down to prime.

Figures painted, WIP's....

I've attached a picture of some of the recent WIP's I have been working on. One of them, Lord Whitehall, is a repair job due to me having to do a quick fix on a stubborn flash issue with his mouth.

The rest of the figures are a mixture of Foundry and Company D figures, of which I will be showing and reviewing later on in a future post.

Most of these figures have been flocked already and are waiting on the sealing.

(Figures waiting to be finished....and in the background the British Infantry continue to patiently wait to be completed.... Soon boys soon...)

Eee-yi, Eee-yi, Oh!

So one of my purchases during Little Wars, was "farm animals". I needed some animals for the scenics as well as for some of the objective markers, (Pigs for food, etc.), and The Assault Group, (TAG) makes some nice ones in 28mm range.

My wonderful wife, (Gawd bless her!), told me "Make sure you get cows, pigs, chickens, and ducks!"

"Yes dear." I said as every dutiful husband would. Besides she was telling me to get more miniatures... Who am I to argue with that?

So I got pigs...

(That's a lot of ham and bacon there...)

And chickens...because my wife loves chickens....

TAG makes theirs loose and a couple of roosts with one sitting in one.

(Egg layers and friers...)

Unfortunately I had to tell my wife that "there were no ducks to be found..." and so I went with the alternative, GEESE!

For me a geese are nothing but "Bigger ducks with bad attitudes and loose bowels".

(Six of them and a feeding trough...)

After that it was off to get some "furniture"....

"Put it over there....no wait....there!"

I've decided that for the month of June, I am going to focus mostly on scenics and terrain. I have a couple, (actually about four) buildings that I want to get finished, as well as rebasing some trees, building a pig sty, etc.

But some of my buildings needed furniture in them.

So I wandered over to Knuckleduster.

The first item I picked up was their Barbershop furniture set.

This is a nice set of resin pieces that will fill out any barbershop.

("Shave and a haircut...."  come on, you KNOW you want to finish it...)

Then I picked up the all metal Fancy Parlor Set...

(This will look nice in my future "Fancy Sporting House" project...)

I also picked up the Knuckleduster General Store Furnishings but for some weird reason, taking a picture of the items, escaped me.

28mm Groceries...

And then it was time to move onto food.

Back in December one of the items I got on my first order from Tabletop World was their "Groceries" set.

This is a very large set of 28mm resin printed food items.

And wow...

I've always been impressed by the level of detail that these fine folks put out, but when you look at the detail on things such as "cheese", and the pies...(yes...pies in 28mm), it really says amazing good things about the company and the products they deliver.

This is a pic of what you get in the entire package.

(All the meat, vegetables, grains, and fruit for a well balanced meal...)

Close up pics revealed an amazing amount of detail that I hope I can do justice to.

(Garlic cloves, sausages, breads, pumpkins meat, and so much more...)

(Baskets and crates of food, sacks of stuff...stacks of cheese...some fresh squirrels, pies, breadsticks, oh my!)

("Looks like meat's back on the menu boys...."  A nice selection, of meats, eggs, cheese and poultry...)

(Even closer "close ups". The level of detail for something so mundane and simple is amazing. I am VERY impressed.)

(Did someone say "Pies"?)

(The detail on the garlic cloves is simply awesome.)

To show you how small the pies are, take a look at this one, on the tip of my finger...

So my project for the month of June is pretty much "Terrain and Scenics". I know I will probably get a few figures painted, but I am going to focus on the T and S for June, as I have some buildings that desperately need finishing, so I can clear them off my list of "things to do."

So now all I am waiting on right now, is the humidity to drop so I can get all of this out and prime it.

(More "stuff" for the brush...)

And that's currently it for now. 

I'll be at the Memorial Day Services tomorrow, and then back to the brush.

More as this comes but I just want to give one last shout out to Tabletop World for their awesome products and service. If you have been on the fence about buying from them, please take it from me. They are top notch!

More to come!

Thanks for reading!

My 2024 Little Wars Loot and Swag...

To all of you that read and commented on my Little Wars 2024 review, I want to say thank you.

I didn't include these pics or entries because simply put the blog post was already a longer than expected mess. 

But I DID promise a run down of my Little Wars Loot.

So here we go!

THE STUFF....

I knew that Bones VI KS was going to blow my "Painted figures vs bought/acquired figures count/pledge" all to hell and half of Georgia, but I really wasn't expecting that count to be wiped out at LW. 

Well, tbh, I kind of feared that may have been the case.

So, on the stuff.

First off was a gift I got for my LW friends that came to meet up with me, (JW & MB).

I went to the Father and Son team of benshot.com and purchased each of us an 11 oz tumbler; each with a .308/7.62 mm slug in it. I had them engraved, and given to each member.

I plan on each year doing "a gift" to friends that are willing to join me, game with me, have fun with me, and put up with me for the convention. It's my way of saying "Thank you" to my friends for simply being my friends.

I am honored by them.

(They really hold bourbon well, and make a nice piece...)

The company makes a wonderful product, and shipped it out very quickly. I was very pleased with their service and recommend them.

So first off....

The Free Stuff...aka "SWAG"....

I will admit (or should that be "confess"?), that I kind of "made out like a bandit" during this convention. 

One of the things I had been hoping for up there was to get a Caribbean water battle mat, (the kind offered for sale by Cigar Box Battle) at either the Flea Market or from a retailer. I was unlucky on both, so I will have to order directly from them which is no problem.

I did get a lot of "Free stuff" though.

Upon confirming my pre-reg, I was given my first piece. A KODT issue. 

 

(An older issue but still something nice to read between games and downtime...)

After that I was given some free stuff from a friend; a couple of items created by "Things From The Basement". I had always wanted to see how their stuff was, and now this gives me an idea on whether or not I want to do future orders with them. 

The Phalanx Consortium made up some nice wooden measuring templates. I was able to get a couple of these. I'd love to have about 10 more. 

 

(Very hand to use in games...)

I was lucky enough to be graced by HMGS-Midwest with a copy of the print "First to Fight" which was also the copy of the raffle print.

(This will be going into a frame and hung soon....)

Another gift I was given was a set of HMGS-Midwest 2024 Game Master dice.

These are beautiful and I am so honored by the gifts. 

All in all, for "Free" swag, I did pretty good. This is my "Free Swag/Loot Table", minus two items I will be discussing later on in this blog...

(Not a bad free haul...)

One of the other things I was able to get was a "Wounded Warrior Project Pin", for donating to the project by buying raffle tickets.

This is a nice piece and I will be proud to have it on my convention card holder.

I was actually able to score two of them, so one will be on the my card holder and the other will be going on my American Legion Service Cap. 

(It's a noble cause and a good thing that HMGS-Midwest works with...)

From the Flea Market....

I hit the flea market on both days. 

I was lucky enough to score some really good deals, however I didn't get as much as I feared as I am not that much of a WW2 guy and a lot of it was WW2 stuff, or genres that didn't interest me. I also was hoping for some more scenic and terrain pieces than what was there, but with flea markets, it is what it is. 

That being said.

On Thursday night I picked up these....

The first item, I had told myself, "I really don't need another set of rules.", but the price was too good. And later on I saw a vendor selling it for much, MUCH, more. So a good deal was had.

(This was my first purchase, and I picked it up for five dollars...)

And then I picked up a nice 28mm barn... This will go good with many different periods.

 

And on Sunday (San Jacinto Day), I was able to score some more stuff!

(First up was 10 28-32mm compatible street lamps. Perfect for lighting up those dark, spooky, streets of your town setting.)

And then I grabbed some Ospreys at five bucks each....

First up were a couple to help in my delving into the 18th Century...

(These should help with my painting dilemnas...)

Then it was a 2 part OOB series for Day 3...

And with it being San Jacinto Day, I HAD to get these. No questions ask. This was a mandatory purchase.

(April 21st 1835...."ME NO ALAMO! ME NO GOLIAD!!!")

And one last 18th Century one....

And then it was off to make my wallet cry with the vendors....

The Vendors loved me....and my money....

I made a few rounds of the vendor area each day starting with Thursday night. There were a few times that I stepped back because of "The dudes that barged in front of you wearing large backpacks", (this was honestly the first time I had seen this here at LW. At Gen Con this was common and expected.), or came back later when they had left the area.

The first thing I bought was from HMGS-Midwest.

A large sized pin that I shall have on my badge holder next year.

(This is really nice...)

The first thing I did was get some flags for my 28mm 18th Century Stuff...

British Flags and Pirate Flags.

ARRRRR!

("Arrrr matey! These will look good flying from the masts!)

(Flags for any of Her Majesty's troops...)

And then speaking of pirates, I made a purchase from an estate sale of some figures.

A gentleman had passed, and I decided to give some of them a new home.

(Some nice variations on figures. Some will be touched up, some will be repainted and some will be left the way the original owner had them.)

Over the next couple of days I made several purchases from two vendors.

The first was Knuckleduster, who I swear when Forrest Harris saw me coming, he broke into a smile before screaming "Here comes Murphy! Yee-Haw! I just bought a boat!"

And indeed, I made purchases.

The first few were some furniture sets for my buildings.

(Furniture for Thinglum's General Store...)

(Furniture for Barber Joe and his shop...)

(What's a saloon without a poker game or a faro game going on? You can always try to "Buck the Tiger!")

(Every fancy parlor, in a fancy house, needs fancy furniture, and Le Belle Rose is no exception...)

Then it was getting some actual figures.

First off three guys in black sombreros...

(Here to help from the depredations of the Notorious "El Guapo"....)

I also needed to pick up some more "Good guys" for a future game I want to run. 

(The "White Hats"....)

And I picked up a "Hot Single"....

("If you know, you know....")

And then I got another couple of squeaky clean good guys....

(You know who....)

And then on Sunday I came back and picked up, "The Band"....

(Coming soon to a stage near you....)

After this is was heading over to Badger Games and coughing up cash for figures.

In this case it was a bunch of packs from TAG ("The Assault Group") ling of miniatures.

And in this case it was pretty much all animals that I needed to get, except for ducks. They were missing ducks which made my wife sad.

(Cat's....meow!)

(Bothersome and noisy yappy dogs for ladies of high status to pamper...)

(I've decided that Geese are nothing more than oversized ducks with bad attitudes and loose bowels...)

And I needed some cattle, so I got some of the shaggy ones... Dairy cows to be coming soon I hope.

(Moo...)

(And pigs...all places need pigs...)

(As well as chickens....)

So yes I had dumped some serious money.

But that wasn't all.

So Sunday morning came around, and as places were shutting down, one vendor was getting rid of a lot of this 3D printed Demo Stuff. 

"Take what you would like." He told me.

So I looked over and found two items I got for free that would fit my 28mm games quite well.

(All pulp adventures need an airplane....)

(As well as a boat...and this one in stocks for maintenance in the yard!)

(Showing the boat and stocks...)

Not bad for a free haul....

Closing down I got home and looked at my stuff and took group photos of my loot.

Next up on all of this is storing it and cleaning up my messy game room.

(My "other loot" picture. Most of this, except for the two models, were purchased. I did some pretty good deals this convention. I hope for more next year!)

And so that's it for my "loot".

I hope you enjoyed it, and stayed tuned as there is more to come!