Community Spotlight: Invaders In England’s Green And Pleasant Lands, & Dodging Torpedoes In The Dark

Come and join us for another delve into the Projects to find the best of the best from the last week or so. We’ll be getting stuck into lots of great-looking miniature wargaming painting and hobbying this week…

…always let us know what YOU have been working on and share it across the site.

Owzat?! Spring Clean 2026 by tinyheadbones

We're kicking off this week with Tinyheadbones dusting off some whites and getting ready for the summer cricket season. Nothing is more English than a village cricket team, and THB has a set of fantastic figures from Sloppy Jalopy and Hasslefree Miniatures. Mostly a selection of one-piece metals they should have been a quick project to tackle, but as always, life gets in the way, and THB hit a snag with a miscast mini; however, necessity is the mother of invention, and that rescue job spawned a bonus umpire for the force!

Anyone who has had the misfortune of painting white knows how big a pain in the hole it can be; THB tried a mix of traditional paints and washes created from speed paints. While it was a bit of overkill and required more of a touch-up afterwards, I think the starting eleven look amazing. The addition of players from other Commonwealth nations gives a splash of colour along with their different club colours. A great way to make them stand out for gaming on the tabletop.

A Very British Civil War is such a wacky concept beyond the reasons for the civil war itself breaking out. The various groups and how they are portrayed on the table leave a lot of space for you to interpret them any way you desire and this set of cricketing riflemen ready to defend their village is a fantastic example of that. I'm sure bowling is a great way to practice throwing grenades; I know the US Army's hand grenade was developed to match the size of a baseball. I've never checked the British grenade compared to a cricket ball mind you!

If there's one famous cricketer that everyone knows, then it has to be Shaun; he often has red on him. In this case, he's been renamed to Kev and added to the ranks as a star batsman, or shotgunman depending on what's required. As a lovely touch, the ties are a vivid pop of colour and based on the MCC of Lords cricket fame. Alongside the pipe-smoking umpire, they're a terrific trio to be added to this village team ready to protect their nearest and dearest.

The Day Went Well After The Eagle Landed by Richsh

Moving out of the interwar and into the early Second World War, Richsh is putting together a what-if scenario based on two legendary films people are probably aware of: The Eagle Has Landed; they may not be as aware of the 1942 Went the Day Well. They're similar films with a German force undercover attempting to infiltrate merry old England, and so Richsh is building attackers, defenders and even the village itself!

While there are a whole host of allied uniformed fellows coming for the goodies and badies, the real stand-out force for me in the project has to be the villagers and local defenders. A selection of more interwar minis gives a really nice, diverse set of miniatures and paint schemes in a sea of camouflage fatigues.

A bit of colour with the local landed gentry. Ralph is on hand to reminisce about his glory days in Africa. With a fine set of mutton chops and a big scowl on his face, to discover that some damned huns are invading his little bit of paradise. Of course we can't be sure how much action an officer actually saw himself and when the enemy try to get into the bottom field there's only one man to call.

With a list of terrain to come the prospect of an exciting battle report is on the horizon for me. Add to all the work that Richsh is putting in naming his characters there is going to be an amazingly punny project and I'm keen to see how it works with the One Page Rules Grimdark system. It wouldn't be the first think that would come to mind for a WWII game but it's quick to play and fairly modable, so it should lead to some fast games.

Night Naval Brawl: Empress Augusta Bay by Oriskany

Our final project for this week is a twofer. Not only is it a battle report of a naval action between the US and Japanese, but it's also a look at a ruleset that Oriskany is working on specifically for fast play streamlined club games. World War II naval combat presents a difficult balancing act for tabletop designers. Players want cinematic gun duels and devastating torpedo attacks, but they also want a game that can comfortably handle the large cruiser and destroyer actions that dominated the Pacific War, and that's what Oriskany is working on.

Although this was the first playtest for new players, by the third turn the rules explanations had largely disappeared, and everyone was simply concentrating on fighting the battle. Rather than reproducing every technical aspect of naval warfare, Gun Flashes At Midnight concentrates on keeping fleets moving while preserving the important tactical decisions. Ships have only a handful of actions each turn, but every decision matters.

Combat combines straightforward dice mechanics with armour penetration, flooding, fires and critical damage. Rather than overwhelming players with charts, the rules allow damage to build naturally until ships begin to lose speed, steering, weapons or command efficiency. One particularly memorable sequence sees the Japanese flagship Myoko suffer repeated critical hits that leave her unable to steer properly while damage control teams desperately attempt to keep her in action. Ships are exchanging fire at point-blank range, destroyers weave between burning cruisers, and command has largely given way to survival. It makes for tremendously entertaining viewing.

Historically, Empress Augusta Bay was comparatively restrained. Although both sides suffered damage, neither fleet was annihilated, and the Japanese eventually withdrew after failing to disrupt the American landings.  The tabletop version becomes far bloodier mostly because tabletop commanders naturally behave more aggressively than their real-life counterparts. It is far easier to risk miniature ships than hundreds of sailors and priceless warships. Overall, it's a great look at a developing naval ruleset and I can't wait to see what Jim adds next, collision damage is on the cards but I imagine his bloodthirsty players will set for ramming speed faster than an Athenian trireme!

What Are You Painting Right Now?

Every week, we’re absolutely blown away by the incredible topics that are put into the Projects; it’s getting more difficult to choose Community Spotlights! We love your work and we hope to see a lot more of it in the future!

If you fancy getting your hobby fingers out and showing off your newest paint job, terrain piece or even greatest gaming achievement, we want to know about it! We don’t mind if you’re a newcomer to painting or a veteran of the brush; everything you do inspires us to create more and more content together!

What do you think of the entries this week?