“Blax The Kleric’s, top ten of 2016”

This’ll be the third year when those expecting yet another of Dick Garrison’s wonderful weekly postings will be disappointed to find that I’m in charge of “Rantings From Under The Wargames Table”, whilst Roger will be writing an entry on my blog “Fantorical”. The past twelve months have proven to be an especially tough timespan from which to choose my top ten favourite models as Roger has really cracked on with his “Very British Civil War” collection and, once again, demonstrated his prowess for sculpting with (yet another) “He-Man” project, as well as his awesome-looking “Forgotten Heroes”. As a result they’ll be a few ‘picks’ which simply best represent a batch of beauties as opposed to being individual place winners, and once again, for parity’s sake, I have tried to limit my ‘picks’ to just one or two from any particular month.

(10) “Roger Webb” – Sam The Eagle :

Whilst I do own a sizeable collection of ‘Chibi’ miniatures myself, I’ve yet to actually find the enthusiasm and take a paint-brush to any. However, that didn’t stop me appreciating this amazing ‘green-stuff’ gift to fellow blogger Jez. The fact Roger has sculpted the Muppet from scratch is incredible, and then he topped it off with a stunning paint-job to boot!! Terrific generosity, as well as a marvellous demonstration of both his skills with a crafting tool and a paint-brush.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2016/07/09/the-way-of-the-crow/

(9) “Copplestone Castings” – Yeti and Snow Trolls :

These “Salute” purchases weren’t actually finished until the following week [See “Wizkids” Ogre entry], but that doesn’t mean I didn’t appreciate the wonderful contrast between their blue skin and white fur once they were completed. The fact the three Snow Trolls are 15mm scale makes their matching paint-jobs even more impactive in my humble opinion.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2016/04/30/shiny-happy-people-not/

(8) “Irregular Miniatures” – Very British Civil War Artillery Piece :

Roger has painted loads of “VBCW” models over the past twelve months, and this ensemble is definitely my favourite of the bunch. The painting of the crew and their cannon is very characterful and I particularly like their facial expressions; especially the stern-looking bloke in the bowler hat. A terrific little vignette which will hopefully see plenty of tabletop action in the New Year…

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2016/02/20/a-very-british-roll-of-the-die-week-25/

(7) “Wizkids” – Erik Von Hasselhoff :

As a massive fan of “Wizkids” pre-painted miniatures I always enjoy seeing Roger’s reinterpretations of the company’s sculpts. This conversion of “Marvel Worldwide” hero Doc Sampson into a ‘Weird War Two’ Nazi super-villain was inspired, with Roger making the best use of a cracking pose with a terrific colour scheme. Kudos too for his work on the rest of the Fiendish Four: Neurotoxin, Infernikka and Blow’wave.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2016/02/05/the-fiendish-four/

(6) “Copplestone Castings” – Margot :

A breath-taking conversion from one of Mark Copplestone’s bikini babes, this awesome model of actress Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn was a memorable highlight of Roger’s “Zomtober” turnout; especially when you consider the original sculpt was a short-haired vixen wielding a samurai sword. Roger’s paint-job was additionally first-class, with plenty of colour and stripes on show.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2016/10/21/zomtoberwhat-were-zombies-its-what-we-do/

(5) “Copplestone Castings” – Chelsea :

Another of Roger’s first-class conversions for “Zomtober”, this particular survivor was tremendously well-received on account of all the delicate green-stuff lingerie which he sculpted onto the original bikini babe. A nice subtle paint-job also helped bring this ‘lap dancer’ to life, as did Roger’s brush-work on the two accompanying undead patrons of her club.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2016/10/14/zomtoberinappropriate-protective-clothing/

(4) “Wizkids” – Ogre :

Roger was rather secretive with me about this purchase when we met at “Salute”, and clearly my wait to see what he had bought was well worth it. Not only is this huge model a corking example of his painting skills, but the hairy features and formidable-sized club are all additions sculpted by Roger. Coupled with some nice basing, this ‘Frostgrave Ice Giant’ turned out extraordinarily well.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2016/04/30/shiny-happy-people-not/

(3) “Wizkids” – Ram-Man :

It couldn’t possibly be a fair review of Roger’s annual output without at least one of his awesome “Masters Of The Universe” conversions being included, and Ram-Man was definitely the pick of the bunch for me. Admittedly, it doesn’t actually use all that much of a “Wizkids” model for a base, as Roger ended up sculpting the vast majority of it from scratch. But that makes it even more of an incredible figure in my books. In addition, the paint-job is absolutely spot on for the animated cartoon character.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2016/03/26/a-spring-in-his-step

(2) “Games Workshop” – Punk Rock Orks :

To be honest this trio of ‘Oldhammer 40k’ miniatures completely took me by surprise, and proved, rightly so, an incredibly article on Roger’s blog. Not only do they provide plenty of nostalgia, but the paint-jobs are excellent, and contain a plethora of wonderful touches such as the lead singer having a gold ‘toof’ and one of the guitarists sporting a union jack badge on his shoulder.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2016/09/22/a-rock-roll-of-the-die-week-32/

(1) “Wizkids” – The Gangster Prankster :

Whilst my own submissions for “Forgotten Heroes” fell far short of my opening aspirations, this marvellous re-imagining of a Riddler “Heroclix” model into a character from the movie “Aftershock” by Roger was a joy to behold, and shows just what talent the guy has with both brush and modelling tool. In particular the detail on the villain’s outrageously colourful outfit is phenomenal and just goes to show what you can do with a lot of patience, perseverance and panache!!

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2016/06/29/i-always-play-to-sudden-death/

There are of course many other great miniatures which Roger has converted and painted over the past twelve months, with his “VBCW” Lewis Machine Gunners, standard bearer and Police cavalry, as well as plenty of Scrunts, all also being well worth a look. However these figures are just the tip of the iceberg for Roger’s incredible output during 2016. Many thanks for reading, and to Dick Garrison for letting me take over his wonderful blog for a third time. Normal service will be resumed shortly.

Simon.

(Just a quick note from me (Roger) to thank Simon once again for his time, and to remind you all that my choices  from Simon’s year of painting can be seen over at his own excellent blog here…

http://fantorical.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/top-ten-miniatures-of-2016-rantings.html

And finally just to wish you all the very best of new years, Cheers Roger)