(Gnome Wars) Hawaiian Gnome Tiki Giant Now Available from Brigade Games

Thankfully, checking out the Pirate for "Talk Like a Pirate Day" for me, allowed me to realize the secret  Hawaiian Gnome Tiki Giant I saw at Historicon is now on the Brigade Game website.

He is a towering six inches of resin, and $18 is not a bad price of all.

Of course, we're still working on the play-test rules for the Hawaiians (really it's just the pineapple catapult we're tinkering with), so I'll have some stats for the behemoth ready by Fall-In! 

Talk Like a Pirate Day… at Brigade Games

 I've had a few employees that drove me crazy, and Maggie was certainly near the top of my list, but every year, she actively celebrated, "Talk Like a Pirate Day,"  and with the Pirate Gnomes from Brigade Games heartily available, it would be right and fittin' for a landlubber to order a unit or three.

It's certainly a good deal for 14 figures, but if ye only need a crew of seven scallywags, the Gnome pirate squad is a pretty decent deal as well... 

And let's not forget Brigade's 28mm Buccaneers, Pirates, and Privateers line as well, if ye would prefer to walk the plank, rather than playing with gnomes..

Brigade Games Sci-Fi Releases

 I know Historicon is going to be extremely tight this year, but god knows Brigade Games is going to the top of my potential want list with their new sci-fi figs. 

BG-SFW007  - Space Base Tactical Assault Team B (3) - BG-SFW007  $9.00 USD

... and while I'm not the demographic for Space Apes, the heavy sci-fi weaponry is bulky perfection.

BG-SFW202 Space Ape Troopers (6) - BG-SFW202   $18.00 USD

(Kickstarter) Yangtze Patrol - Adventures in War Torn China - by Brigade Games

Brigade Games is at it again with another unique range of historical figures:  Yangtze Patrol - Adventures in War Torn China - 28mm Minis

Why paraphrase when you can read the words of Lon himself:

With this Kickstarter, we are starting a new range for China mainly covering the period of 1910-early 1930's. We have centered the range around the U.S. Navy Yangtze River Patrol and their Chinese antagonists.  We believe you will love this first wave of USN and Chinese models. The models are larger 28mm and a medium heft, perfect for easy painting. Note that the Chinese are scaled smaller than the USN as that was reality.

And there's an option for a rickshaw with different drivers and passengers! 

Glorious Adventures in the Age of Steam for Fistful of Lead

One thing I've realized about Fistful of Lead... What seemed to start as a $20 set of rules you can cobble together your own version of the fantastic.. or the realistic, is becoming a lifestyle, if one wants to spend the coin.

Straight from TMP to this blog: 

It is truly a wondrous age! It seems a new invention destined to change the world is created every day. Babbage's Analytical Engine has transformed modern mathematics and made complex calculations capable of changing the world. Edison's Aether ships ply the space ways making interplanetary travel a daily occurrence. Tesla has made electric power plentiful, and advances in steam technology have made the impossible possible.

Of course, none of these advances in science would be possible without the discovery of X-Matter in 1869. When this miracle element is combined with other substances it can make metals lighter and stronger, and make fuels burn hotter. Even members of the occult societies claim X-Matter has a mystical effect on reality itself.

All this new technology has quickly found its way to the battlefield. Soldiers march to war resplendent in their colorful uniforms, armed with the newest, deadliest weapons. And the march to war beside monstrous, steam belching machines; airships, armored walkers, submersibles and landships.

Glorious Adventures in the Age of Steam is a stand-alone game. People who already own a Fistful of Lead game will notice the core mechanics are unchanged. In this book, you'll find new equipment, weapons and exotic new locations with lists of inhabitants both friend and foe. Your adventures may take you from the haunted back alleys of London to the majestic canals of Mars. Or are you more in the mood for a dinosaur hunt at the center of the Earth? It's all right here.

To be completely fair, Glorious Adventures is available directly at Wiley Games, but is, of course, stocked to at Brigade Games.  The printed edition is $40 with the Glorious Adventures card deck for $20.

(Painting) Hawaiian Gnome Pineapple Catapult - Gnome Wars

 Last official painting post for the year... and it's a big one. 

I've finally completed the Hawaiian Gnome Pineapple Catapult for Gnome Wars!

I did need to brave Wal-Mart this past week for large round bases, because Hobby Lobby and Michael's were barren... I grabbed the last one there to boot!  

The one displayed on Brigade Games uses a 2 inch base and separate 25mm bases for the loader, spotter, and double pineapples.  I did try to ram them into a near 3-inch base... and of course I stuck the plant there first and was too stubborn to move it.  

My attempts at a vine slingshot were pretty abysmal, so the closest color I had to a traditional rubber band was Craftsmart Cafe au Lait.

In the Queue - Teddy Bears (and another "fun with paint colors", Death Planet Iota characters, and a possible new convention project. 

Project: 350 -   We finally officially end 2025 at 466 (282 /184) another decline from 469 (281/188 scheduled posts).  I am behind on Gamma World actual plays and a few other things, but with the #CharacterCreationChallenge coming up, we'll see a good number peel off until the next Project 350 update should be 2/6/26.

(Painting) Female Armed Civilians by Brigade Games

 There are just certain figures that draw you in.  Although I had no idea of the reference when I purchased Brigade Games' Veteran with Pickaxe and Pistol, I knew I needed to order both sets of Female Armed Civilians.  Having done my due diligence, and enjoying every second of it, the full squad is ready to take on any threat that I put in front of them.

I'll be honest, the prodigious use of Seraphim Sepia ink wash I normally use might have been too perfect, since I want to use these figures in traditional Pulp games far more than they'll be killing Nazis in Lapland

Female Armed Civilians 1

Female Armed Civilians 2

We just started Tomb of the Serpent recently, and with the girls and I forming three new leagues, we exhausted my supply of painted female minis.  This is the stop-gap, just in case we need more, and I've adjusted the queue accordingly.

In the Queue - More Pulp, a few select Gnomes for a special series, and aforementioned female figures... Soviet style.

Project: 350 -  484(283/201) from 488 (281 drafts /207 scheduled).  Most of the next two weeks are already scheduled out, and we're looking at something like 50 out of the next 75 days already have material. I've mentioned it before, the only think keeping me from my goal of 350 blog drafts/scheduled posts is that 113 of those 207 scheduled posts are for holiday filler in 2027 or later! 

(Painting) Hawaiian Gnomes Wave 2

It's been a bit of fun with the research but the rest of the Hawaiian Gnomes are complete!

They are finally up on the Brigade Games website, so they're officially Hawaiians, but I've seen Polynesians, Tiki, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and to be honest, there's enough borrowed from each culture that they could all work.  

With that many variables, here's my suggestion from my group: The Polygnomials.  

I did paint the early batch as Rapa Nui stone heads, but the rest I've fiddled around with bulky wooden Tiki-inspired heads.  The head style does not bring out the best in some Tiki styles, so I kept them simple.  

Now the strange little critter I had found during my early research post-Historicon, and as luck would have it, I failed to write in down and now I'm at a loss.  Polynesia in general doesn't have a good sized primate, but I swear it's some sort of trickster character with black and white colors. 

I also completed the previously missing figure from the three-piece goblins with spears set coming from Brigade Games. I updated the original post.

In the Queue: More Gnomes, Pulp, and Miscellany cleaning up the table, as things have already exploded.   

Project: 350 - Ah, the double edged sword of productivity!  I'm at 488 (281 drafts /207 scheduled) up from 481 (287/194). 

(Painting) The Nā Koa Pohaku of the Pacific Islander Gnomes from Brigade Games

The big Gnome Wars release was what I was told was "Hawaiian" Gnomes.  Since then there is great debate over the masks and dress whether they're Polynesian, Tiki, Hawaiian, and even a healthy dose of Rapa Nui (Easter Island).  

I've decided for my first unit to have some diversity, so here are the Rapa Nui-inspired Hawaiian Nā Koa Pohaku:  The Stone Warriors

Perhaps I don't understand Gnome physiology, but it's unclear is the figures have decorative garb completely around their necks (painted green), or if they just have very odd shoulder blades.   I'm assuming in most cases, you won't see their shoulder blades... although if you're properly terrified the Island Gnomes might see yours running away.

There's also a unsubstantiated rumor that the Gnomes should be completely stone Rapa Nui, from head to toes.  Does that mean the loincloth is stone too? 

(Edit: I did complete the rest of the Island Gnomes, in Tiki-related style.  They can be found here.

In the Queue: More Gnomes, Star Wars, and some Pulp trickling onto the bench.

Project: 350 -  I'm adding just as much as I'm finishing... almost.  481 posts "in production" (287/194) from 479 (285/194) .  

(Painting) Some Women of Pulp

Yesterday I noted a bunch of new figures that magically appeared onto my painting bench.  To further insult the poor figures that are eternally in the queue, only to be pushed back, I got two more of the new ones finished.  

Our eye-patch clad gal is actually a villain, Minvera, from the Pulp Alley line.  The figure is also included in the Pulp Alley Starter Set, which I had happened to pick up through the Kickstarter.  

The other figure, if she was sold individually, would normally go by "Elina."  She's part of the Female Armed Civilians 1 pack from Brigade Games' WW2 line.   I do have all six from both packs, patterned after a certain popular Finnish war movie. This one just happened to be ready for wash and detailing first.  

Goblin Guards from Brigade Games

One of the pick-ups from Historicon were some new metal 25mm goblins made directly from Brigade Games.  

(Edit: I did find the third goblin for the set, painted it that up, used my time machine to add him to this post)

They're solid, easy to to paint, and might be the only two goblins I have that are actually green (Remember, all my goblins/Gretchin are painted up as "Blue Martians." 

As of October, the goblins still aren't on either of their websites. 

In the Queue:  More Rebel Commandos, the Tiki Gnomes, and a small pile of miscellaneous fun.

Project: 350 -  Still in the early year reorganization at 482 (286/196) from 483 posts (283/200) last week.  Hopefully the placeholders I have for October will get posted on time.   With 2 1/2 months left in 2025, I have 26 posts ready to go, most of a big January project finished....

Wachtmeister's Patrol Review of Tiki Gnomes

The biggest piece of Gnome Wars news coming out of Historicon was the release of minis for a brand-new faction.  I was originally told they were Hawaiian gnomes.  Others, like Wachtmeisters Patrol's review, called them Tiki gnomes. 

Hawaiian mythology does have a short race of magical folk known for their ingenuity.  

Obviously, I'm calling them the Polygnomials, although that's subject to change.  We're still working on official rules, hopefully before Fall-In! 

The biggest thing I'll address are the heads.  I was told they were full-sized wooden heads, in appropriate Hawaiian (Tiki?) style.    That's how I'll be painting mine up... although one fella will be painted with a stone head.  Great minds think alike! 

(Painting) Joseph Nash McDowell and His Cinnamon Bear

There's a reason Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff (KARTAS) remains my favorite podcast.  Sure, after 600+ episodes, it’s formulaic, and sometimes predictable,  but every segment produces some little kernel of information... or inspiration.  More than six months ago, in episode 620, "Where All My Bones Gone?"  the last segment is a whiz-bang overview of  anti-Catholic, grave-robbing, presidential cosplaying, musket collecting, and medical doctor, Joseph Nash McDowell.  It was agreed that McDowell would make a great 19th-Century villain, but I have grander ideals. 

I'm custom building an army for Gnome Wars, based on some of his shenanigans. 

An order from Brigade games was finally placed, and of course, I pushed off my massive lead pile to work on the new toys that showed up.  

Let's start off with the command group for the Kemper Episcopalian Medical Militia. 

Dr McDowell, "Cinnamon", and Jed Sawbuck

It makes sense that McDowell liked to dress up like Andrew Jackson, because, in reality, he looked like Jackson's and John C Calhoun's love child.  With the available Gnome Wars figures, the Southern Doctor is not close to him in real life, but by far the best fit, with a little flourish.  The Southern Doctor is currently on the list of figures to be remastered at Brigade Games, and I hope remain one of the few individual figures available for sale (unlike the army units).  Treat him as both a Doctor and an Officer for game play.  Melee is d6.

Cinnamon is an Upright Bear or Grizzly Bear Rearing from North Star through North Star (Brigade here in the US). Using the regular bear rules from the rulebook.

Good 'ol Jed, completely fictional, is a medical student of Dr McDowell's.  As a medic, he saves the figure on a 5+ on 1d8, but if he’s successful, the figure is -1 movement for the remainder of the game.  The effects are cumulative.  He's the Northern Gnome Doctor, and is in the same casting purgatory as his rival southern brethren.

The rest of the militia is sitting on my painting bench, in various states of progress.  I do need... a flag, and I may borrow the Kemper Military School of Missouri (no relations, but partial inspiration for the concept). 

Next:  Gnomes, Cultists,  Ducks .... and Mushroom Dudes

Project 350: Holding pretty steady at 473 (297 drafts/176 scheduled posts), up from 472 (295/177).  A couple side projects, some work on International Gnome Week, and most importantly, no one around to play some games!

Hairfoot Jousting

 In a world where we are still debating what we are running at Historicon, the Friday-night gnome joust is locked in.  So long as one of the Stout Gnomes is on site, the joust is always conducted at HMGS conventions. 

This just shook me to my mortal coil: 

Hairfoot Jousting is a whimsical game of halfling jousting, where are favorite non-hobbit folk ride chickens, pigs, dogs, weasels, geese, and even turkeys for glory and fame. 

The pre-order for the figures launched yesterday.  I'm hoping Brigade Games, who distributes a lot of North Star in the States, will be carrying this line. And at $7 or so a figure, if they're just a hair bigger than 25mm, they find their way onto the table at a certain Friday night Historicon extravaganza.

(EDIT: Despite my initial enthusiasm, the halfling (and goblin) miniatures are true 25mm.  They are tiny compared to Gnome Wars.  There will be no cross-content.   That's not to say Hairfoot Jousting figures can't use To Cry a Joust, or that Gnome Wars mounted figures can't use Hairfoot Jousting, but there will no rush to purchase them for use at HMGS cons... at least for the Stout Gnomes.)

(Painting) Russian Train Crew by Brigade Games

Now that #RPGaDay2024 is over, we're back with our regular programming, at least until my October to September end-of-year wrap up at the end of the month.  

In one of those mini-miracles, something I picked up at Historicon is already painted up!

This is a Russian Train Crew from Brigade Games

I gotta get back to the tiny eyes, although these guys have obviously seen some shit. 

These guys are obviously allies of the mythical Alexander Mikoyan, the rogue Soviet agent keeping the Motherland safe.  These three, the "Temnye Relsy Okkultizma" are frontline scouts on the war against against inhuman creatures.  They scour the trains, looking for relics and nefarious folk, all in the propped up authority from Moscow.

And going through my "Zombie" case of minis, I remembered that the Armed Jews from Battle Valor should probably get a place in the lore, as allies, enemies, or both. 

I don't foresee myself painting up the Chinese Henchmen I also got from Brigade anytime soon, but I can at least say I have some Asian Pulp figures.

Next in the Queue:   28mm sci-fi, 1/285th sci-fi, and fantasy round out the items I'm trying to clear off the painting bench until my next year's projects change everything. 

Project 350:   This project, with the goal to keep my blog drafts and scheduled blog posts behind the scenes at 350 or fewer is, of course, horribly backlogged.  The blog is currently at 516 (319 drafts /197 scheduled posts) significantly up from 506 (327/179) after Historicon, when the project goes on hiatus due to all the posts for #RPGaDay.    I'm not too worried by the uptick remaining in scheduled posts.  The next week's worth of posts are already ready to go, a number of the Georic Gazetteer entries are complete, plus a few more future holiday posts.   While I probably won't clean off my notes until the end of the month, I think we're making some significant progress working through some of these drafts/ideas/etc.

And, for my own future reference, the posts I already have in the can, waiting to be released over the next five months: 

Rest of September 12

October                 10

November              8

December              8

January                 16

#RPGaDay2024 - Day 27 - Marvelous Miniature

Day 27 of #RPGaDay2024 and we're back in my territory:  "Marvelous Miniature" 

I saw "Veteran with Pick-Axe and Pistol" in a promo from Brigade Games, and it was one of the few "must-have" items when I went to Historicon last year.  Completely missing the context for this figure’s creation, I painted him up as an old Soviet, possibly a Commissar that's avoided the Purges through pluck, ruthless guile, and a penchant for saving everyone from Secrets the Committee Was Not Meant to Know, Comrade.

I did do some basic stats for him in Savage Worlds for the #CharacterCreationChallenge last January, and painted up some enemies for him, as well as an ally....

Adrik the Rusalki (RAFM)

Die, capitalist Deep Ones!  Share your gold with the State!

Zombie Camel for Egypt: Shadow of the Sphinx

 Who knew that May was Zombie Awareness Month???

Not much is catching my eye for pre-orders nowadays, but by golly, when this showed up on my routine mail alert from Brigade Games, I knew it at least needed to be post.  

Zombie Camels aren't cheap, nor should they be.  

The Zombie Camel is part of the  Egypt: Shadow of the Sphinx expansion for the Napoleonic Horror wargame The Silver Bayonet.  The pre-orders are being taken by Brigade through May 23rd. 

(Kickstarter) 28mm Minis for the Indian Wars by Brigade Games

 Brigade Games has launched a Kickstarter for a range of US Cavalry and Native American 28mm figures for the Plains War

(Painting) Don't Ask About the Luger

 When I left for Historicon this year, I didn't have a look list of "must-haves," but with my final acquisition of the weekend, I made sure to pick up Veteran with Pick and Pistol from Brigade Games.  It had been the first picture on a recent email blast and it was just a cool pose.  

Of course, once I got home and looked him over, I realized, "What nationality is this dude?"

He was advertised as above, and alongside fairly generic armed civilians.

He is wielding a Luger, so that might make him obviously German, but the Wolfman Jack look seemed out of place. 

If he was a veteran of the Great War, filling in the lines from the deep reserves, I could buy that.  

But during my research, a Soviet soldier seemed to fit better.  With a little more research, a Soviet political officer fit the look.  Combine that with Ray Stevenson's character in the first episode of Ahsoka, and I think I have my dude, Alexander Mikoyan. 

And after yesterday's Tabletop Inquirer post, I darkened the eyes, no detail.

Definitely not your normal WW2 figure, rather I'm seeing him as a leader of a deranged Pulp faction of Soviet oddballs and secrets man was not meant to know.  He's been around since the discovery of Lovecraftian Ghouls during the Russian Civil War, he jumped sides and joined SV-8 during the Purge, and he's either so deep into occult research that he's eluded Stalin's purges or Stalin's minions are too afraid to try anymore.  

By the time of this picture, it's the pinnacle of the vicious fighting in Stalingrad.  No man of his pedigree should have been with 300 kilometers of the battle, but reports of agents of the Karotechia moving to the city caused him grave concern.  His fears were realized, as they were able to release some sort of ritual to turn the piles of corpses into re-animated killing machines that no human was able to control.  

One of Alexander's allies is a Deep One he calls Adrik the Rusalki.  A hybrid almost nearing his complete transformation, Adrik was picked up from a remote fishing village on the Pacific coast.  

Part of the three figure "Deep Ones Mutant Fishman" pack from RAFM

Alexander knows that Adrik will either go fully feral and attempt to slaughter him, or simply skulk off into the waters one day, but for now, whatever sliver of its humanity is still willing to help him, especially reading all those infernal books.

I have little use for either figure at this time, so I'll add them to the list of potential inspirations for the #CharacterCreationChallenge in January.

(Edit: I got some responses back, to help connect the dots on the pick guy.   Not only might my observation on German firearms be off, but these and the figures he was announced might be part of a little movie called Sisu.  (Note: Red Band Trailer, NSFW)  It's John Wick killing Nazis, if John Wick was a Finnish gold miner in 1944.  Heck, there's even a dog.)

I'm sticking with an Soviet SV-8 agent for now, and building up his league for Pulp Alley.)

In the Painting Queue - The bench has been a dumping ground for anything and everything over the summer, but five things  catch my eye:

1. Pulp Season 4 - One of two major roadblocks are actually getting completed. Watch out!
2. Mouslings of Yore - The Heritage Dungeon Dweller Mouslings from Reaper in the 90's are staring at me right now, with their big sad eyes.  
3. Gnomish Space Marines - The latest Macrocosm Kickstarter was the last thing I was working on before the bench became overwhelmed.  Gotta dig them out 
4. Zombie Car - No, not animated cars, rather, vehicles that need to be weathered for a zombie/apocalypse game.
5. Inflatable Yard Pirates of Doom - I think I figured out our Halloween game for the year...

Project: 350 -  After surviving #RPGaDay2023 and a month's worth of posts to write, we emerged in decent shape with 461 posts in the queue (308 drafts/153 scheduled) from 464 (312/152) back in July.  Actual plays are very caught up, so it's a bunch of games and painting for the near future.  The horror!

The Ever-Growing Gnomes at Brigade Games.

As fans of Gnome Wars know, the inventory of Gnomes at Brigade has been dwindling since the start of the pandemic. While COVID is not the base cause, it has been delaying the anticipated re-mastering of the moulds and the conversion of many of the cavalry mounts from metal to resin.  

Thankfully, this has been improving since Cold Wars, as more and more units are becoming available.

Some units are in desperate need of updated pictures.  The Russian Cossack Cav is not one of them.

Remastered units have been appearing back on the website, at varying prices, based materials cost.  

Resin bears!

It appears the days of individual figures while be largely gone, although some units do not includes medics or any sort.  

British Highlander Infantry Regiment (16)..............$45.00

French Infantry Regiment (16) ............................... $58.00

Japanese Komodo Dragon Cavalry Regiment (6) .. $75.00   (Resin Mounts)

Leprechaun Wolfhound Cavalry Regiment (8)  ..... $70.00

(Singles are also available for $12.00 apiece.)

Pirate Regiment (14) ............................................... $55.00

Pirate Squad (7) ....................................................... $35.00  

Russian Infantry (16) ............................................... $65.00

Russian Cossack Bear Infantry (8) .......................... $96.00

Swiss Infantry (16) .................................................. $58.00