When I started collecting in 15mm I told myself I’d be happy with two armies (good guys and bad guys), but there’s a real temptation to build out a Nurgle-Chaos force now.

My two almost completed armies are humans/dwarfs and orcs and goblins. The greenskins have some Chaos Warrior allies, and I now have a unit of 15mm plaguebearers in my collection.

I bought these on Etsy shortly after a member of our Discord community (thanks Dave!) very kindly offered to sell me a classic Great Unclean One miniature at a very generous price. I’d mentioned on the podcast that this was my all-time sought-after miniature, and after getting him through the post, it became apparent he’d work really well in 15mm scale.

So back to the 15mm plaguebearers, and these are fantastic little models printed to a very good quality. I’m no expert on 3D printing, but they don’t feel very fragile or breakable, either.

I had a rogue movement tray from Warbases because, in my infinite wisdom, I’d given them the wrong measurements on a past custom order. I also had some MDF hex bases I’d been using to playtest a little pen-and-paper game.

Glueing the plaguebearers to the hex bases worked well, enabling me to get 11 of them in a unit, and giving them more of a “mob” aesthetic, rather than being ranked up.

Continuing on the “no uniformity” theme, I used as many different contrast paints as I could on them.

Then, I used my ground texture to fill in the edges of the movement tray.

So there you are, my petite plaguebearers. I’m pretty chuffed with how they turned out, given that I didn’t really do that much to them. I suppose that’s a benefit of choosing Nurgle miniatures, and maybe a big reason why I might be in the market for more in this scale!

I’ve been looking to up my collection of plastic sci-fi miniatures for games of Star Squabble. As much as plastic isn’t my favourite medium for miniatures, I certainly feel a lot more relaxed when playing with them. Paint on plastic is virtually unchippable.

My first purchase was a squad of classic Space Rangers, sold by eM4 Miniatures for the incredible price of £4.99.

My pal had a few of these when we were younger, and I remember they integrated into our games of Space Hulk and 2nd ed 40k seamlessly. They’re a little soft on details compared to what’s out there nowadays, but for less than a fiver, who’s going to complain?

I also got myself some Stargrave Scavengers from North Star.

As I said, I’m not usually a big fan of plastics, and clipping sprues isn’t an aspect of the hobby that ranks high on my list, but this was a great kit to work with. There was just enough variety without it becoming fiddly and annoying.

At £22, these models aren’t too far off a pound a piece either – you can build 20 of them with the contents of the box.

So these guys, combined with my Aliens xenomorphs, give me lots of options for fully plastic games, and my precious metal guys can watch on from the safety of the display cabinet.

By the way, if you’d like to try the aforementioned Star Squabble, I’ve made a fledgling rules sheet available. I appreciate all and any feedback on your playing experience, as well as any tips and suggestions for streamlining and improving the game!

Brace yourselves; winter is coming. And conditions certainly won’t be conducive to priming miniatures outside with a spray can.

With that in mind, I’ve based and primed a wide variety of miniatures. This lot should keep me busy for the foreseeable future.

I did finish a few things, too. These zombies are a new addition to my sci-fi undead warband.

Then there’s Ravey Davey. Not sure he’ll get that crossbow and bag of miscellaneous into Glastonbury, though.

The official Bring Out Your Lead 2024 miniature got a lick of paint, too.

We played a game of Star Squabble yesterday, too. I’m pleased with how the rules are shaping up.

And I set up an ongoing solo game of Mace of Spades. Finishing up new paint jobs is great, but seeing them on the table is even better.

I’ve been building and painting this undead sci-fi warband on and off for the past three years. It was initially intended for Stargrave, but it’ll fit in well with any other ruleset, too, from Planet 28 to my very own Star Squabble.

I liked the idea of a “crew” that didn’t need to be kept safe, fed, watered, and essentially transported around the galaxy. The leadership would simply arrive at the location of their next objective and re-animate the corpses of whatever last happened to die there.

These little undead aliens by CP Models can be used under the ‘Guard Dog’ category.

The backbone of my force: undead space troopers by Diehard Miniatures.

Midlam‘s great Crow Shaman miniature will make an ideal “medic” for the crew. Not a medic in the conventional sense perhaps, just someone with a bit of necromantic magic know-how who can patch up skeletons when they get blasted to bits.

The Captain and Vice-Captain of the crew are Chaos Villain Skully and Kane the Tech Mancer, both courtesy of Diehard.

An ex-Blood Angel, perhaps? He can be deployed in Stargrave in the ‘Armoured Trooper’ category.

These Plague Zombies from North Star are part of the official Stargrave miniatures line.

If you’re not too familiar with Stargrave, you can learn more about it on this episode of the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast. Find the show anywhere you get your podcasts.

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Remember to check out the four companies I used to assemble my undead space crew, too. They are, CP Models, Diehard, North Star, and Midlam. You can find more info about them in my roundup of Oldhammer Miniature Companies, too!

This post was initially published in August 2023. At that point, every single miniature was in its shiny metal form. Now that a decent amount of them have been painted, I thought it was time for an update.

I’m never going to own a 6’4 table. But I still look at those old Warhammer Fantasy Battles pictures in White Dwarf and want to recreate the experience in my own way. 6mm is unarguably a brilliant way to fight out massive battles, but when I learned more about 15mm last year, it felt just right. Not too big, not too small, just right.

To be clear, I’m not abandoning 28mm. It’ll always be the main scale for me. But doing mass battles at that scale is unrealistic for me. I just don’t have the space, or, the budget.

I did have some hobby money available after selling a few 28mm regiments I knew I’d never use. So I re-invested it in two full 15mm armies, which I was able to assemble for around £120 in total.

One is an Orc & Goblin horde (with some Chaos Warrior allies), whilst the other is an Empire/human force. I put them together from three different companies, Ral Partha, Alternative Armies, and Pendraken.

Eleven months on, and here is my progress:

I recently bought a box of Alien Warriors from the official Aliens game. I thought 12 miniatures for £20 was a great price, and I’d been in the market for something like this for a while.

I’m looking to create a DIY version of Space Hulk. I also wanted additional options for my Titan scenarios, particularly non-ranged creatures that can be used as NPC swarms in solo and co-op games.

The miniatures were difficult to build. I’m not used to multi-part plastic and naively clipped them all from their sprues before realising that some parts had very specific companion pieces. Nevertheless, I got some help and managed to eventually get them all put together.

Four of the miniatures had their class inscribed on their bases. Because I’m not using them for their intended rules system, I covered these up with some plastic putty and painted them green. The effect is a sort of xenomorphic acid.

I gave them a zenithal undercoat then covered them with the Terradon Turquoise Citadel contrast paint. I then dry-brushed them with Bleached Bone, and with Tentacle Pink on their heads and faces. Finally, I coated them with Vallejo Gloss Varnish to give them a slimy, wet, shiny effect.

I’m really chuffed with how they turned out, especially given how easy they were to paint (though, as I say, they were also a nightmare to build!).

I’m looking forward to handing them their debut in a playtest of the narrative Titan-based scenario I’m working on. I’ll also be looking to pack them into the cramped tunnels of a derelict spaceship for a bit of Space Hulk-style action soon, too.

View the full photo gallery right here