Author: Felix

Doctor Who: The Ripple Effect

As part of the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, there are going to be eleven short novels from famous authors covering (as you might have guessed) all eleven Doctors.

Doctor Who: The Ripple Effect

The seventh book features the Seventh Doctor, along with Ace and the Daleks!

When the TARDIS lands on Skaro, the Seventh Doctor and Ace are shocked to discover the planet has become the universal centre of learning, populated by a race of peace-loving Daleks. Ever suspicious of his archenemies’ motives, the Doctor learns of a threat that could literally tear the universe apart…

It certainly sounds like an interesting story and I am looking forward to reading it.

Get The Ripple Effect at Amazon.

Get the Ripple Effect at Apple Books.

I was less impressed with the Sixth Doctor story and didn’t enjoy that short novel compared to others in the series. This one with the Seventh Doctor and Ace I have quite high expectations about.

Daleks to Return in the 50th Anniversary Special

As is quite fitting the Daleks will be in the 50th Anniversary Special of Doctor Who, with the 10th and 11th Doctors, alongside the mysterious John Hurt Doctor.

The Daleks are the second monster to be announced for the 50th and will join the shape shifting Zygons, which have only appeared in the show once before in 1975. The Daleks were one of the first monsters to terrify audiences in 1963, 50 years ago, cementing their place in British popular culture.

Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer, said:

“The Doctor once said that you can judge a man by the quality of his enemies, so it’s fitting that for this very special episode, he should be facing the greatest enemies of all.”

I am pleased to see that they have abandoned the plastic Disco Daleks and have returned to the classic style, well updated classic style.

Digital Apocalypse

Digital Apocalypse
Games Workshop have, as it getting to be the norm now, released their most recent publication, Apocalypse as a digital book for the iPad, a snip at £44.99.

The greatest heroes of the age lead battalions of troops and tanks against the foe. Super-heavy war machines dominate the conflict like gods of battle as bombardments rain from the skies. This is war on a whole new level.
Apocalypse is a new way of playing games of Warhammer 40,000. Allowing you to field as many miniatures as you like, in any combination. There really are no limits to what you can do

FIGHTING AN APOCALYPSE BATTLE: The rules for setting up and playing games of Apocalypse; new Apocalypse missions and strategic assets; new rules such as Divine Intervention, and Sons of the Primarch; world ending Unnatural disasters; and advice on how to field all your miniatures in one gigantic collection.
APOCALYPSE FORMATIONS: Details of more than 100 devastating formations that feature the most powerful military assets of the 41st Millennium. With 11 distinct classes of formation, you can take your choice from the C’tan-powered Tesseract Vault to an entire Battle Company of Space Marines!

MINIATURES SHOWCASE: Sumptuous photographs of super-heavy vehicles, gargantuan armies and heroic commanders to inspire your own collection.
WAR ZONE: ARMAGEDDON: Details one of the most monumental campaigns of the 41st Millennium, with unique special rules, formations and missions.
Peppered throughout the book is a host of additional background information to further inspire you.

I really like the idea of digital rules and though some baulk at the price, remember when buying any book you are not paying for the physical costs of printing etc, you are paying for the effort that went into writing the thing. So digital or paper the costs are for the authors, illustrators, photographers (oh and a decent cut for the publisher).

Reflections on the Ork Big Trakk

I have been thinking about going through my Ork models and getting them finished and painted. I seem to have stalled and got distracted by Flames of War and Dystopian Wars (and Doctor Who) and haven’t really painted any Orks for ages.

One model that has only got as far as an undercoat was my Forge World Big Trakk. Looking back at the last update on this model (in 2011) it was apparent I was having undercoating problems with a fair few of my Ork models.

Eventually I hope it might look similar to this finished model that I photographed at Games Day 2009.

Ork Big Trakk with Big Lobba.
Ork Big Trakk with Big Lobba

I would like to get a dusty dirty look and I have the Forge World weathering powders somewhere in my collection of paints and inks.

Adding Foliage

Canadian Sherman Tank

I have been thinking about adding some foliage as camouflage to my Flames of War models (once I have finished painting them). Looking at photographs of real tanks, such as the Canadian Sherman Tank in Italy above, there is certainly no one way to do this.

One consideration when modelling in 15mm, is that though the true reason for adding foliage is to camouflage the tank. I do think you can add too much foliage, which may be authentic and realistic in real life, may look “weird” on a 15mm model. It may look like a moving bush or tree, rather than a tank with added foliage camouflage. Part of that reason is that in real life the tank when stationary needs to appear to be hidden, but once moving it would be obvious it was a vehicle with foliage on it. In 15mm the models do not move by their own power, so it can look “weird”.

So next question, how do you model foliage on your 15mm models?

15mm Plastic Cromwell Tanks

15mm Plastic Cromwell Tanks

The Plastic Solider Company have announced their release of a set of 15mm scale Cromwell tanks.

15mm Cromwell kit – 5 models for £18.95. Each sprue gives an option to build a 95mm howitzer close support variant and has a British commander figure and a Cullen hedgecutter.

Really quite like the idea of these models and they are very cost effective  too.

King John – Ruler Class Battleship

I finished painting King Richard III and used it in a few games. The first of my reinforcements for my Kingdom of Britannia naval forces is another Ruler Class Battleship, called King John. Having constructed the model I gave it a white undercoat.

Unlike my other Battleship, this one only has three turrets, but does have a shield generator.

As I have said in previous posts I am not a huge fan of the Kingdom of Britannia ship designs, say compared to the FSA or the Prussian Empire. I just imagined them to be sleeker and more menacing. The Prussians certainly have that kind of look.

SMS Scharnhorst

I have started to paint the second of my Spartan Games Prussian Empire Dreadnoughts.

I finished the first, SMS Blücher and will be painting this model in a similar fashion. I decided early on to use the same turret layout as my first Dreadnought and not use generators. I did wash the model first to remove any mould lubricant.

I then gave the model a white undercoat using Citadel Skull White spray.

SMS Scharnhorst

I also affixed the model to an old plastic blister using a hot glue gun to make it easier to paint.

I’ve named this ship, SMS Scharnhorst, after Gerhard von Scharnhorst, he was Chief of the Prussian General Staff, noted for his writings, his reform of the Prussian army and his leadership during the Napoleonic Wars. Blücher who was an army Field Marshall, is whom the Blücher class Dreadnoughts are named after, I have decided that the first of my dreadnoughts will be the SMS Blücher. Generally ships in the same class are named in a similar vein, so the first of the class is the SMS Blücher, this dreadnought will also be named after an army general, in this case Scharnhorst.