PIG IRON BLOG

Ambush Alley Afghan game pics

2012-02-17T01:59:00.000-08:00

Here's some pics of a recent Ambush Alley game we had.
The actual result of the mission has been censored by the MOD. British figs are by Empress (painted by Martin Howarth) and the Afghans are TAG (off Ebay). Buildings are hand made from Touching History. The trees/bushes are plastic decorative stuff from the garden centre that have been based, the trunks painted brown and the branches lightly flocked.
Enjoy.

Gun Sprue - on sale now

2012-02-14T05:52:00.004-08:00

Just a quicky to let you all know the guns have been added to the shopping cart.

Visit the shopping cart

Gun sprue castings

2012-02-06T05:10:00.000-08:00

We've just got our first production run of the new gun sprue. There are 10 different weapons and 4 scopes. These will soon start appearing on some of our minis but we thought some of you might want to buy them for conversions etc.
They'll be going on sale shortly so keep popping onto our main site if you fancy some.

Victory without quarter game

2011-12-20T07:06:00.000-08:00

A load of stuff is at the casters and we won't see it all again until the new year I thought it was a good time to feature an ECW game we had recently.
For this game we tried Victory Without Quarter rules which we found suitably enjoyable. They use a card based unit activation with a 'new turn' card shuffled in the deck which meant that not only did you not know when you could move your units but sometimes you missed a turn entirely.
We felt the rules really captured the lack of control and unsubtle movement of the period and how you never knew what was going to happen to your cavalry whether it won or lost a melee. There are a few gaps in the rules but with a bit of 'period pondering' you can work around them.
I recommend tracking these down off the internet. Here's link to a forum all about them.

http://www.leagueofaugsburg.com/fightingtalk/viewforum.php?f=20

Legs Akimbo

2011-12-02T11:01:00.000-08:00

Lots of legs on the workbench at the moment.

These are being done in prep for some more Kolony rebels but I've started off with plain, basic legs with baggy pants and generic combat boots. All the interesting bits like kneepads, pockets, and the bottom of the jackets will be added after these have been made into master casts

What I want to try is separate sprues of legs and torsos which would give loads of converting possibilities and allow me to do future versions with added kit, greatcoats, trenchcoats etc. The thing is, until I do some proper moulds I'm not 100% sure whether it will work and how it effects pricing etc but that's the basic plan. If it works it opens up loads of opportunity to build a range of 'body parts' to complement our existing ranges.

Anyway, for the Kolony rebels I wanted a more 'irregular' but well equipped look rather than scruffy versions of the militia so I am already sculpting different sorts of flak jackets, body armour and padded jackets along with new gasmasks, and some more 'normal' heads. I think that naturally these will tend to have a more generic 'near future' look depending on what heads are used.

More on the torsos and heads another time.

Latest from the 'workbench'

2011-11-28T05:56:00.000-08:00

Not exactly from the workbench - more like the worktop but I thought worth blogging up.
I wish I could say I had a hand in this but it's been made entirely from scratch by the better half of Pig Iron - Lisa, and a fine piece of work it is too.
There's a fair bit 'scale-creep' in this as it won't fit into any of our tins and is fully loaded with brandy.
We're looking forward to getting stuck in on xmas day.

On a more sculpty subject - lots of legs on the workbench at the moment - pics soon.

New weapons on the workbench

2011-11-18T08:04:00.000-08:00

Hi all,
I've been busy working on stuff for next year which includes a new batch of weapons to go on all sorts of stuff. So far I've done 10 in a variety of generic near-future styles. I wanted to make them more detailed and less bulky than stuff I've done in the past so they are more scaled to modern day weapons. I have included a pic of a plastic lasgun so you can see the scale.
Also included is an 'AK' style one which I thought would be well worth having for future stuff. There are 4 different scopes done as well so these can be attached to give some variety.
I'll put new sculpts here in batches as they are done. When I next get a master mould produced I'll get a full sprue done so you can buy these as a set.
Laters Si

Gary Beardsworth's Tanks

2011-11-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
I've had these shots for a while now and tought it was time to share them with you all. These pics show Gary Beardsworth's great Pig Iron tanks with some camo netting conversion work. The netting was made with crepe bandage and tea leaves, painted up and dry brushed to bring out the texture.
It's a nice effect to add some variety to your vehicles. The figs are from our Heavy Infantry range with additions on the vehicles from our tank accessory components.
Enjoy the pics.

28mm Wrecked cars

2011-10-19T05:39:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
This time I thought it was worth showing these wrecked cars I made for modern/near future games. I came across these toy cars one lunchtime in Tesco and thought they look like a pretty good scale for 28mm, plus they are only £6 for a set of 3.
They come in sets of emergency, fire, construction and general purpose so plenty of variation. All we did was wreck them with a vice, big pliers and snippers and a dremel drill to mash up the windows and paintwork then set to work distressing them. One thing to point out is that the original gloss paint finish needs dulling with matt varnish before adding any washes.
Me and my daughter Ella had great fun wrecking them and they were all painted and finished in an afternoon. The figure is from Foundry's Street Violence range - Swat teams.

New System Trooper command pack and TW offer

2011-10-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

It's an exciting month at Pig Iron as we've got some new System Trooper command figs available plus we've got our first shipment of the Tomorrow's War rulebook for sale on the site. As an introductory offer we are letting you choose a free pack of heads when you buy the rulebook. Get in there quick though as we've only got a small amount of stock to start off with and we think they will shift pretty quickly.

There, thats the sales pitch over - more modelly, converty stuff on the blog soon.

Tomorrows War - First Game

2011-09-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

Exciting times last week as I got an advance copy of Tomorrows War last week well ahead of official release courtesy of the lads at Ambush Alley and Osprey - many thanks.
First impressions upon a quick flick through show its an impressive piece of work, all full colour and packed with decent artwork, diagrams and great miniature shots (especially our figures). If you are familiar with the Force on Force rules they follow a similar format and share a lot of the basic mechanics. Added onto this are expanded rules that cater for all kinds of sci-fi techy stuff, weapons, vehicles. etc etc plus a basic fluff section that give the rules a sound background to draw upon. Although the background material is designed to be on a 'take it or leave it' basis its very convincing and is a good read in itself. Also included are scenarios with army lists and a set of Fog of War cards at the back.
All in all it's well worth the cash, but how does it play?
If you are familiar with FOF you will already be a fan of its mechanics - fun, fast play, very little page flicking and decisive. Now I'm not a big fan of pouring over rules, I would much rather dive and see if you can muddle through a game picking things up as you go. Basically, I have played FOF twice before and really enjoyed it so we set up a game where Martin Howarth would command the 'regulars', Gary Beardsworth would command the 'irregulars' and I would umpire the game.
First off we had a quick pow-wow on what we could remember from FOF, did a bit of flicking through the basic rules to set the troop quality, re-read the mechanics and got familiar with the basics. We set up a basic scenario based on the scenery I had set up. Basically, the regulars had to fight their way up the table to destroy a stranded MTB before it fell into the hands of the rebels, then get back off the table. The rebels had to stop them. We used the 'hotspots' rules for the rebels and kept recycling casualties back into play as required.
* Apologies are made now to FOF/TW purists - we have quite a 'fluid' approach to rules and tend to bend things on the hoof to keep it flowing.
Here's briefly what happened-
The regulars made good speed on their left flank while the right flank got bogged down in cover under fire from the factory - this turned into an extended firefight. The left flank then met opposition as they worked their way through the building as reinforcements started to arrived on the hotspots. The rebels paid a high price for slowing down the regulars but started to inflict casualties which meant the wounded had to be helped back towards their own lines. Things were looking good for the rebels. Grimly, the fight continued through the buildings with the irregulars taking a beating but holding ground while more reinforcements started to filter onto the table.
Under constant fire from the factory, the regulars on the right had taken a bit of a pounding but dug into cover and had a good line of sight which meant that the rebels couldn't cross the main road without coming under fire.
By this time Martin and Gary had the flow of the game nailed so I put down the rulebook, swigged beer and watched the game unfold.
The turning point happened when the regulars neutralised two of the hotspots which stopped the flow of reinforcements to the main scrap within the buildings, this meant that the route to the objective cooled down and some rapid movement towards the stranded MBT was made.
The next turn saw the regulars hoof it up to the MTB and start to plant charges while coming under fire from a new group of rebels that had amassed around another hotspot. They managed to shrug off the fire and retreat away from the tank as the charges blew in the next turn. With the objective blown it was now a case of stopping regulars get off the table. What was needed was a good throw to get some reinforcements on a particular couple of hotspots - Didn't happen!
The regs legged it down the table with the irregs following. A brief bit of fire happened just at the table edge before the regs moved off the table and claimed victory. The irregulars picked up tonnes of casualties, but still managed to kill and seriously injure quite a few, better armed and equipped regulars.
Overall a really good game to watch, with no sitting back for either player. I particularly like the aspect in the rules where casualties have to be looked after, it gives the game a 'human' touch which tends to be lacking in a lot of rulesets.
I think TW will make big waves in the sci-fi community for not just for it's overall presentation and content but more importantly for its flexibility and playability.
Highly recommended. For more info: www.ambushalleygames.com

Here's a few game pics. Figures by Pig Iron and Copplestone.

Getting ready for Tomorrows War - 1

2011-08-25T05:15:00.000-07:00

Like a lot of gamers out there, I'm looking forward to the release of Tomorrows War so over the next couple of months I'm painting up some new minis in between sculpting jobs.
What I'm looking at is a near future, earth based, post apoc, theme with games based on a couple of squads so they can be set up really quickly.
I'm using our System troopers as the basis for one side but using the Kolony Militia heads lowers the 'techyness' to the level I am looking for. The opposition will be based around Copplestone partizans and scavengers with some of our figs mixed in for good measure.
Here's a test figure I have been working on based on dark green with chipped ballistic plate and fabric camo scheme. I did try a black (swat team) version but it looked too dull so I went back to green. The basing uses rubble with red bricks that allows me to use my ruined WW2 buildings rather than overtly sci-fi stuff.
You can see the figs with basecoats on the second shot and also the Copplestone stuff in the background.
There's still plenty to do but more on this over the coming weeks.
By the way, a System Trooper command squad is at the casters at the moment. Sneak previews coming soon.

WW2 28mm game shots

2011-07-21T06:42:00.000-07:00

This weeks update shows a few snaps of a recent Eastern Front WW2 game we played using our own house rules penned by Martin Howarth. There is a total mix of 28mm figures on this game and the vehicles are 1/48th scale plastic kits, plus other stuff. As usual we rolled out the home made teddy bear fur mat, generic hedges and loosely matched up the forces giving the attacking Russians (Gary Beardsworth) more armour and infantry and the Germans (me) more anti-tank weapons. A good, quick and easy game which turned into a bit of a hedge to hedge shoot 'em up with the Germans ultimately holding their line.
Enjoy the pics.

Step by step Sniper pit

2011-07-08T06:15:00.000-07:00

Our new System Snipers and wall have been well received since their release last week - many thanks for the positive comments.

Here's a quick step-by-step guide as to how we made the scenic base for the snipers. Its pretty easy to make and can be adapted to all kinds of movement bases.

1. Work out the basic arrangement and draw around the different parts on a thin piece of card.
2. Cut out the figure holes slightly bigger than the bases on the figures.
3. Glue the card to another piece slightly larger.

4. When it's dry cut the base to size and shape the edges at an angle.

5. Glue pieces of rubble of different sizes around the based - avoid the figure holes.

6.Undercoat the entire base to match your terrain and figure bases.

7. Undercoat the concrete with codex grey and give it a dark wash to help define the bullet holes etc.

8. Drybrush the base with successively lighter tones and add flock/bushes as required.
9. Job done!

ACW Game

2011-06-24T04:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a selection of images from our recent ACW game.
We were using Regimental Fire and Fury for the first time and it seemed to flow nicely and reflect the period well. There were a few moments of head scratching and page flicking but we got a result and had a good laugh in the process.
The majority of the figs are Perry with a few Foundry plus a couple of others. The scenery is all hand made by the lads except the stone walls. The shots were taken on our phones (with very steady hands).

Heads Up for Dentatus

2011-06-17T05:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a selection of conversions from the talented Pat Todoroff (Dentatus) using our Heavy Infantry and GW Catachan heads. They work together well and make for some cool veteran minis.
It also brings up another contentious issue we hear all the time where gamers in GW stores are often banned from using figures with our heads. We believe that people should be able to use whatever figs they desire anywhere they game - some of the most creative figs out there are conversions.
Enjoy the pics.

The voices of reason...

2011-06-10T05:23:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
Thanks for all your comments from TMP on the System Sniper sculpts. I was more concerned about the length of the gun but more comments came back about the length of the capes. Looking again I think they were good points so I went back and lengthened the capes, not so much that they covered the feet but they do look a lot better. A bit more tidying up and some more bullet holes on the wall and they are off to the casters.
I also started sculpting a small ruined wall section which are looking to release as a separate pack. This allows you to make a little diorama around the snipers or use on scenic bases for other figures.

System Sniper update

2011-05-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since our last proper Pig Iron update so here's where we are up to with the System Sniper team. There are 2 figures in the pack and the sniper has a separate rifle. The heads are cast-on due to the hooded capes. They are nearly ready for the casters once I have tidied up a few bits so expect them to be released in the next few weeks.

More ECW game shots

2011-04-20T05:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a few more strangely atmospheric 1644 game shots from Martin Howarth. We really must find a more visually appealing way of recording casualties and morale than dice and explosion counters.

English Civil War game shots

2011-04-19T06:07:00.000-07:00

Recently, me and the lads have been having a bit of an ECW revival. New regiments painted, 1644 campaign on the go etc etc. Here's a few shots of the first pitched battle of our campaign which turned into a bit of slugging match until both sides grudgingly withdrew to lick their wounds.
We used 1644 rules and the figs were a mix of Renegade, Perry, Foundry, Warlord, Front Rank and others.
Without going into too much detail, ECW will feature heavily in Pig Iron moving forwards and exploring other periods - watch this space.

Pig Iron and Tablescape at Salute

2011-04-15T00:03:00.000-07:00

Just a quick reminder that Pig Iron miniatures can be purchased from the Tablescape stand at Salute this weekend. Enjoy the show.

New System Trooper squad leaders and heads

2011-03-04T11:42:00.000-08:00

This week sees the release of new System trooper squad leaders and a selection of alternative heads.
The squad leaders gives you some much needed command to your platoons and contains 4 different figures with separate heads and waving or pointing arms.
The 3 different sets of alternative heads gives you the opportunity to change the look of your System Troops entirely or pick out specialists, leaders or characters.
More System Troops are in the pipeline and include snipers and a selection of command figs.
Until next time...
Cheers
Simon - Pig Iron

Chaos Renegade Armour

2011-02-25T07:08:00.000-08:00

This week saw a bit of a last minute change of direction.

I was busily painting up new System Squad leaders when we decided to have a 40k all-armour game this weekend. The problem was I had a box of unpainted and semi-painted tanks which meant I had indulge in some serious bulk painting.

To be honest it was quite a simple process with the main steps taken from the Imperial Armour Model Masterclass book:

1. Undercoat the bodywork in a suitably sickly green and all the weapons and tracks in black.
2. Paint on some chaotic icons - as rough or as neat as you like.
3. Roughly apply rusty brown using a brush and a small ripped sponge (from inside blister packs).
4. A liberal wash with Devlan Mud.
5. Paint details, stowage etc.
6. Job done.

The main picture shows a finished tank I did a while ago to test the techniques and includes more details from the Chaos accessory sprue.

Next week I'll be back on the Pig Iron stuff...

New System Trooper Heads

2011-02-18T03:52:00.000-08:00

Exciting times for us this week - we are busily expanding the SYSTEM Trooper range and have received the squad leaders and helmet alternative masters back from the casters. The production moulds will be done very soon but I got chance to drop some paint onto some spare heads.
This gives you the opportunity to customise your System Troops or use the different heads to distinguish leaders, specialists etc. After all, who are we to dictate exactly how you build your Pig Iron, or other minis.
Next week we will show some squad leaders using thse heads so keep checking back for updates.

WW2 28mm Italy Game

2011-02-04T05:33:00.000-08:00

I managed to finish a small squad of Artizan US paras recently - lovely figures. They got their first outing as part of US / British force advancing on a village in Italy defended by a small force of Fallschirmjager and Luftwaffe ground forces. The Axis put up a stirling fight and managed to seriously maul the allied armour infantry before they reached the village wall. Sadly, we were running late and had to leave it there; a great game though using Martin Howarths self-penned WW2 rules.
Figures were mostly Artizan, with corgi vehicles and buildings by Tablescape.

Portcullis Wargames Emporium opens in Bolton

2011-02-02T05:52:00.000-08:00

Great news for gamers in the Northwest this weekend as The Portcullis Wargames Emporium opens its doors this weekend. This looks like it will be a great venue for both gaming and picking up your gaming supplies. For more info contact Brian on Tel: 07528 722 365.

Worldworks Terrain

2011-01-21T07:21:00.000-08:00

An interesting little post this time showing our System Troopers gracing Worldworks excellent Titan Control terrain by the talented Mr Paul Senior.
We think the styling of our ranges meshes well with the grungy hi-tech look of the Titan range. For more info on this and other ranges visit http://www.worldworksgames.com

On the workbench - System Troopers

2011-01-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

I thought it was about time we showed where we are at with the System Trooper range. We are currently looking at HQ, Squad leaders and a sniper team. Plus, we have System head alternatives on the way. The pictures below are all work-in-progress but gives you a good idea of where things are going.

Spanish Buildings and ACW Rebs

2011-01-07T05:55:00.000-08:00

Over xmas I have been sculpting more system troopers which I will put up next week but I also took some time out for some hobby stuff.
First up is some buildings from Tablescape which I have been converting and painting. The Villa is a combination of Tablescape wall sections, stable and their Villa style building.
Secondly is a few Perry ACW Confederates - absolutely lovely figures.
As I said, new System sculpts up next week.

Painted Feral Heads

2010-12-16T05:03:00.000-08:00

This week has given me the opportunity to paint up some of our new Feral Heads. I wanted them to look really pallid, almost dead in appearance so I base coated them in GW Dheneb Stone, then gave them a mix of washes that included red, purple and green. The next step was to highlight them in Dheneb Stone, with a further highlight of white. The metal was GW Boltgun metal and Chainmail highlights over a dark brown basecoat with some washes of GW Devlan Mud to dull things down.
Enjoy your lunch.

New Unhooded Feral Head Sprue

2010-12-08T06:22:00.000-08:00

New Unhooded Feral heads are released this month, just in time for converters to get gross over the xmas break. Crude cybernetic implants, riven and diseased flesh - Lovely stuff!
Not so good is that we are putting our prices up in January. Its the same story as other manufacturers; constantly rising metal costs and the VAT increase to slap us around in the new year.

Still, there's a few weeks left before Jan so go 'fill your boots' with Pig Iron weirdness before the rise kicks in. More details on pricing coming soon.

Bladed Ferals - Bigger Pics

2010-11-15T07:30:00.000-08:00

We've been receiving some great feedback on the new Ferals so we thought it was worth putting up some bigger pics and back views. These figures have been painted with GW foundation paints and GW washes, with a couple of stages of highlights.

New Ferals with bladed weapons

2010-11-05T12:13:00.000-07:00

This week sees the release of new Ferals with bladed weapons. These are a joint effort between Shawn Green and myself. They feature 4 poses of Ferals with wicked punch daggers and a double handed glaive, plus 10 ravaged heads minus the ragged masks usually featured on the Ferals. The idea behind these is that they have finally succumbed to the toxic environment and shed their masks to vent their homicidal revenge before slow death takes them.
The heads were particularly fun to sculpt and feature crude mechanical implants and wasted faces. These would be great for all sorts of conversions where a diseased, crippled look is required.
As usual, the heads will be released seperately in a few weeks.

Incursion Board

2010-10-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

The new Feral stuff is back from the casters but I don't want to show it until its painted so I thought I would show our Incursion board and a selection of figs.
The base boards are made of placemats that have a thin layer of cork underneath which can easily be scored into floor tiles etc. The walls are made from pink foam sanded down with bits of junk and pipes added from the bits box. The doors are made using GW plastic barricades with the surround made from foamcore - I left the eagles on there as the board id good for 40 as well. An iteresting effect can be achieved by using Army Painted dark tone wash to get dirty looking puddles and seeping pipes.
The figs are Incursion with Westwind zombies, note the addition of one of our rebel heads instead of the WWII ones - works a treat.

That's it for this week, hopefully new Ferals will be up there next week.

WW1 Game at Bolton Vikings

2010-10-22T07:11:00.000-07:00

We've got loads of stuff at the casters at the moment which has allowed me to paint up some more ECW figs but I also thought it was time to put up some recent gaming shots.
This selection shows a recent game at Bolton Vikings club night (Monday nights, Doffcocker Pub, Bolton) using Great War figs, Great War Rules and marks the debut of our home made teddy bear fur terrain mat. I think it's one of the best bits of terrain I've made as its so easy and cheap to make and looks great for 28mm scales. It's also perfect for club games where everything has be light and easily transportable.
For those that are interested the Germans suffered under the weight of fire from the Lewis guns before they got chance to use their flame throwers among the hedges. Decisive British win.

Ambush Alley paints Pig Iron

2010-10-15T04:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to the Ambush Alley forum where Piers has started to paint up our minis for the Tomorrows War project. Nice work so far with more in the pipeline.

http://www.ambushalleygames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5244

New Feral Head Sprue

2010-10-08T03:56:00.000-07:00

We thought it was about time we did a workbench update. What we have here is a new sprue green for the Ferals with bladed weapons we are working on at the moment. These heads represent Ferals which have removed some or all of their protective wrappings and show how twisted they have become over the decades. Most heads feature some kind of crude cybernetic implants and twisted, mutated features which would also work well on our existing rebel figures.
They will be part of the next pack and also be released as separate sprues for conversion fans.
More to follow soon.

Pig Iron supports Tomorrows War!

2010-09-27T06:34:00.000-07:00

Pig Iron are pleased to announce their support of Tomorrows War from Ambush Alley Games.

The many gamers who have downloaded the pdf so far will have noticed some of our figs and vehicles gracing the pages. This involvement is set to grow over the coming months working towards the full release of the hardcopy.

We are currently working closely with the guys at AA working out how our ranges can be used for some of the various factions currently under development. Its all early days at the moment so we don't want to give the game away but needless to say, we are very excited on how things are going so far.

For more information on Tomorrows War and to get hold of the download visit www.ambushalleygames.com

Camo test figure

2010-09-24T04:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a test figure I painted up a while ago to see how I could make the System Troopers more like modern day infantry after playing an enjoyable game of Ambush Alley. Changing the head to a covered Militia helmet helped bring it back into 'near future'. The camo was quite tricky but I'm quite pleased with how it looks as I didn't want to labour over it and make painting a full squad too labourious.

Chuck Reinitz Conversions

2010-09-23T03:48:00.000-07:00

We get loads of pics sent to us of peoples minis - either pure Pig Iron figures or conversions. Here's some tasty work from Chuck Reinitz using plastic Cadians with our Kolony Militia heads and backpacks. Top work!

System Troopers - Work in progress

2010-09-23T03:11:00.000-07:00

Here's a selection of dollies for the System Trooper range - now all I need to do is get some close combat Ferals released and these will be worked on. You would not believe how hard it is to get figures with oversized armour to kneel down.

First Blog: System Troopers

2010-09-23T02:22:00.000-07:00

Still getting to grips with this blog but here's a nice pic of our System Troopers to kick things off. More to follow as I get used to things.