A Few More Painted Figures - AND A Message From Our Sponsors!

 Here is the second unit of Auxiliary infantry from Cromarty Forge - supplied by Adam at Adrah Labs 3D Printing in Geelong, Victoria.

I did this batch in blue, in contrast to the green of the previous unit

And secondly, the first stand of metal Gripping Beast legionaries make an appearance

This is a command stand comprising the centurion, the cornicern and the signifer from the command pack, plus 11 legionaries advancing with gladius.

Pretty happy with how these have come out, to be honest - although the shield designs are not as nice as they could be - I might have to see how I go with LBM transfers - something I am not keen on using really, but if I can get them right, they will certainly improve the look of the figures.....

I had a call from my sponsors at the NZ Tourist Board the other day, threatening to cut off funds if I didn't include some promotional material in my blog, so here we go.

A short notice, overnight break away arranged by my dear wife - we spent half of Saturday at the small country town of Paeroa, for their annual Scottish Highland Games (I didn't bother taking any pics there - pipe bands, small girls dancing and caber tossing are not particularly photogenic, or interesting, in my book!)

After my wife had had enough Caledoniafication, we popped up to the local war memorial that dominates the whole town from atop a small hill

A short twenty-minute drive through the countryside later, we arrived at our Air BnB farm stay accommodation for the night and were greeted by the reception committee...

The location

Quite a cool little set up, a couple of km up a steep farm track, with fields in front and native bush behind the purpose-built units. The one on the left has a double bed, the middle one is toilet/shower and on the right are two single beds - its obviously set up for the modern standard sized family unit - but the nice thing is, the owners don't mix n match if only one cabin is in use - if you only need the double bed, they don't try and rent out the other room separately, which means you always have the place to yourself!

Bucolic views from the front gate of the paddock the accommodation was located in.

Inside, the unit is certainly compact - but really, all you need for an overnight stay

Spent a few hours on the deck in a beanbag, alternately reading and sleeping in the afternoon sun.

A short walk down the road and we got the view in the opposite direction 

Saturday evening we headed into the nearby historic gold mining town of Waihi for dinner - and did the same Sunday morning for breakfast!

Your intrepid reporter, in a selfie with some of the local herd! We did get up close and personal with them, and our host Neil, when the latter came down to introduce himself and hand feed the beasts!

View from the gate as we departed Sunday morning. After the aforementioned breakfast in Waihi, it was a leisurely trip back over to Pukekohe, arriving home late morning, with time to chill out for the rest of the day before the unwelcome return to the "reality" of work on Monday morning!

Thanks for dropping in - hopefully another solo game will be on the table tomorrow and reported on shortly thereafter.