#dragonrampant

Maori warriors, New Zealand Wars Empress Miniatures April 2026

British command group, 1st World War Northstar Military Figures March 2026

Here we have a First World War British Lewis gunner, in 1/10 scale, originally designed by the lovely folks at Young Miniatures in Korea. It's taken me substantially longer than it usually would to get this chap painted up, given his size and the sheer amount of detail on him, and I'm incredibly chuffed with the result. Do you ever paint something, step back, and think "I can't quite believe I did that?"

It’s always nice to return to the medieval and renaissance periods for a bit of a palette cleanser; I painted up a Landsknecht vignette a while ago, and found that painting a number of similar miniatures in an absolute riot of colour was a really nice break from the usual uniformity I go for (if a little more time-consuming than that typically is). In that same spirit, here are a couple of European renaissance mercenaries, ready to stand in defence of the highest bidder. I painted these with the Italian states in mind, but they could just as easily be from essentially anywhere else in Europe. These are from Wargames Atlantic's 'Conquistadors' box, with equipment and headwear to allow them that little bit more pan-European versatility.

Here we have one base of three Compagnies Franches de la Marine, flanked by three Coureurs de Bois, ready to take the fight to the British across the dense forests and vast mountains of New France. Miniatures are from the wonderful Crann Tara - a manufacturer who absolutely deserves more coverage, as their 18th century figures are beautiful, and incredibly good-quality for their reasonable price.

Every so often I get the urge to really lean into the whole ‘glutton for punishment’ thing I’ve got going on and paint up some Napoleonics. All that piping, lace and finery can be a bit of a test of one’s patience, but I think the results often speak for themselves. If I ever need a reminder of why painting miniatures for this period can be so rewarding, I turn to Perry Miniatures, and their 40mm range in this case. Here we have two elite infantrymen - a French trooper of the 2nd Hussars, and a British Rifleman of an undisclosed regiment - ready to march (or skirmish?) into battle. I’m not entirely sure how two men from opposing nations would feel about being photographed together, but it’s 2026 and we’re all friends now.

I suppose, realistically, it was only a matter of time before I began my exploration into yet another scale. Here we have some Prussian jagers, grenadiers, and mounted officer in 18mm, from the lovely folks at Eureka Miniatures. These were a joy to paint, and have some lovely little details on them, despite their diminutive size. They're pretty easy on the wallet too, at just pennies per figure. I also have a handful of other minis from this range, including some French, more Prussians (naturally), and a couple of bases worth of Russians for a fun 'what-if' project I've been pondering on.

Wherever I end up on my miniature painting journey, the Second World War is never too far away. I've been especially interested in Poland's role in the conflict, from its valiant stand against Blitzkrieg in the early years, to its occupation and subjugation from two sides by the Germans and Soviets, to the efforts of its brave and stalwart resistance fighters, right up to its 'liberation' at the end of the war. To that end, here we have a number of Polish People's Army soldiers, who were equipped by the Soviets (with some equipment from other Western allies smuggled in) to resist the German occupation. These figures are sculpted by the masterful Propylene Foliescu for his brand Just Some Miniatures, and printed for me by an Etsy seller. I doubt they'll see use in any games (that's not what I paint for, after all), but these were absolutely worth it for the painting alone, and I'm looking forward to working on the handful more that I have in my queue.