Project Draftdodger: Part 8

See here for part 7.

 

This is gonna be a shorter update than usual. Partially because I was doing another unit of infantry, and partially because something went wrong.

I don’t have a huge amount to say about the infantry. I’ve done a lot lately. An odd thought stuck me though: painting and modelling a bunch of battleline infantry has given me a new perspective on the whole Super Prototype trope. You do inevitably simplify and streamline the process. Because, frankly, if you're doing a big number of something, fiddly bits that look good have severely diminishing returns. Thus this new Krieg blob is less impressive from a painting/modelling perspective, but they don't look worse for me omitting the hoses. They came out OK, and were much less of a slog than I feared. These are built to use the Death Korps of Krieg rules, and will probably see combat once I get around to playing a 2K game.

I would like to have talked about my new artillery teams today, but there was a problem. Certain bits were missing, to the point where one could not be assembled. This caught me on a bad day, and the seller is making it right, so I don't want to go off on one about it. I'll talk about them as actual models next week, by which time I'll be over the inconvenience and more pragmatic about the experience. As first impressions go though, its a little going to shake a man's hand, only to trip, fall, and headbutt him in the dick on the way down.

 

That wonderful image aside, these artillery units were intended to supplement or replace my existing indirect options by focusing on what is probably their most desirable weapon, the Siege Cannon. This splits the difference between an Earthshaker and a Lascannon, and should be a useful tool. Assuming the bits arrive soonish, I might be able to play test them in time for next week.

Cross your fingers.

Blog Update: March 2025

Well, as you may have noticed, I'm not posting on Sundays right now. How did that happen? Uhh. I had to think about why. Its tempting to point my finger at the Xmas period. I basically stopped writing for a month plus, in an attempt to get a better work/life balance. It was a mixed success, Xmas was a right old slog but I coped, and maybe I just got out if the habit of writing. And because I like to run with a buffer, and had quite a surplus now I think of it, its taken a while for the absence to be felt.  Some potential articles got trashed too, some just not working out. I had to return two(!) Transformers due to factory faults, it was shocking. In terms of mental health, I'm doing OK, trying to push on with Real Life, but I did find myself mildly surprised about my drop in output. Then again, Project Draftdodger has been a fine distraction and source of material. If one that demands regular-if-brief updates as opposed to deeper work. Its not so much that I’m not writing, its more that I’ve gone hard on the armymen, and I’ve not had much to say about Transformers as the new lines for this year aren’t out yet. I am a creature of habit, and a habit got broken.


Here’s what I’ve decided to do. At time of writing, Project Draftdodger is approaching a natural conclusion, so I'll use that as an opportunity for a soft relaunch. That will come on April 6th, hopefully giving me enough time to rebuild my buffer. This should also mean some more variation in blog content. Here’s a short list of what I’m considering currently.


I should have something to say about TFN Manchester.

A look at Legacy United Wheeljack (No, not that one.)

A Gaslands car. I’ve picked up the odd car on impulse, and its usually relaxing.

Possibly something on Super Robot Wars J, I’ve been playing it again recently.

The aftermath of Project Draftdodger.

Maybe some tactics articles, what the hell.

Or I could just pack it all in? Well, we’ll see.

Project Draftdodger: Part 7

See here for part 6.

With today's instalment, the end is in sight. I've deviated from my initial plan with respects to the Krieg Heavy Weapons, yes, but otherwise its largely done. This leaves me with the somewhat mundane matter of my new battleline unit that I last mentioned in part 4. Its not especially interesting as a model making experience, nor is it opening up anything new from a gameplay perspective. But, boys before toys. Or girls before toys, in this case. This unit will bring my basic infantry total to 90, or 9 battleline units, which is likely all I'll ever need. For these, I've opted for a simplified gasmask style that I’d previously used for my Stargrave Cadians, as well as some Iron Brother heads I had spare. This is to speed the process, as I'll likely spend two weeks on these as it is. There’s not much to say otherwise, its the dull part of the project, its not gonna be difficult, its just a matter of maintaining motivation. Doing the first four main colours on Sunday afternoon for example was an hour’s work, the tricky bit was getting going. And once they’re done, 2000 point battles will be within comfortable reach.

Providing most of today's actual pictures: I also finished off the quad guns, plus assorted hangers-on, from last week. My previous difficulty aside, the guns came out well. I even did up the assorted screens and sensors with a mix of technical and contrast paints. With the parts I have left, I can likely make a trio of flamethrowers as originally planned, although as I’ve yet to resolve the wheel issue, that’s still on hold. I did field this unit, along with the Ratlings, on Monday night to mixed success. The quad guns survived and dakka-ed some Swooping Hawks to death, while the Ratlings established a locus and then died. For that game, I played against type, and left all my tanks at home. Did it work? Short answer: I won the game so there's probably some potential there, but I want to see if I can repeat the experience before making any judgements. EDIT: Also I need to read up on reserves, I've gotten rather confused.

What I’m planning next is to move away from infantry a bit, and add more artillery. I’ve found a suitable proxy for the new Krieg Artillery, although at time of writing these models are still in the post. I'll talk about that more next week. All being well, Project Draftdodger will come to a natural conclusion circa part 10.

Then I have to figure out something new to do...