Know, O Prince...

...that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars.  Nemedia, Ophir, Brythunia, Hyperborea, Zamora with its dark-haired women and towers of spider-haunted mystery, Zingara with its chivalry, Koth that boarded on the pastoral lands of Shem, Stygia  with its shadow-guarded tombs, Hyrkania whose riders wore steel and silk and gold.  But the proudest kingdom of the world was Aquilonia, reigning supreme in the dreaming west.

Hither came Conan the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet. 

-The Nemedian Chronicles

My love for all things Conan started when I was younger, watching Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Destroyer, and Red Sonja on Sunday mornings.  It wasn't until I was in college that I finally read the R.E. Howard stories.  I have always wanted to translate the stories to the table top and i have looked for suitable figures for years.  After seeing some posts on Lead Adventure Forum, I decided to "get off the pot".  I had a some figures picked for the main characters, mostly Reaper miniatures but some from Otherworld, Black Tree Design, Ral Partha, North Star Miniatures, and Hasslefree Miniatures.  Since there are always some Magistrate, temple, or caravan guards/soldiers to fight, I decided to go with some Victrix Republican Romans/ Rome's Allies/Carthaginian/Samnites/Numidian kitbash.  This would provide me with some opportunities to paint some bronze/ steel armor mix.  I'm also using some Byzantines from Fire Forge as these remind me of the troops in the old Marvel Conan comics.   I decided to use some arms from the Human Oathmark box to give them a different look.  I plan on using Fist Full of Lead or possibly Pulp Ally.  Not quite sure yet as I haven't played either of them yet, but I have heard nothing but good things about both rule sets.

First up is the man himself

Next are some soldiers

Next up I have some allies to fight with Conan and also some temple guards.

Battletech

I've always loved the idea of giant robots fighting it out in the remains of a destroyed city.  I never got into the original Battletech game, it seemed to complicated for me.  Some of the old figures did not appeal to me, but after seeing some of the recent video games my interest was brought back "online".  I was perusing e-bay when I saw a seller posting a large collection of plastic click figures for Battletech Dark Age.  I know these are not the same design as the current figures but they work for me.  I plan on painting up two major factions with a few mercenary companies.  These will be loosely based on the Battletech universe. One faction with be green with tan, the other probably grey with different colors to denote units, and the mercenaries/pirates to be multi-colored.  I'm thinking of using Fist Full of Lead to have these giants duke it out.  Here is the first unit, the 7th "to be decided later" light lance.  

A Valiant

A Phoenix Hawk I

A Mjolnir

A different angle

A large Wasp

A to be named light lance