Slice, Dice and Flambé

November 28, 2017, 12:00 am

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Second batch of Chaos Cultists (Kairic division), and here we get the answer to the question: "what is the only unit less effective than cultists with autoguns?"

Let's see those close-combat cultists!

The same drill here as the previous batch: four duplicate models, plus a special weapon and a leader.

Head swaps with Kairic Acolytes for all (except the leader, who brought his own), and it was mostly straightforward - although the model with the ersatz morningstar already had a cowl, so instead of removing his head, I had to snip off the front of his face and take it from there.

As before, for ageing, push-fit models, these are some nice sculpts. I'm not sure how sharp the details are (they're repaints of second-hand purchases), and it does get a bit lost in places.

As before, the trickiest part was keeping the colour combinations deliberately random. The clothes are a mix of: Skavenblight Dinge, Mechanicus Standard Grey, Dawnstone, The Fang, Incubi Darkness, XV-88, Balor Brown and Dryad Bark. Then washed with Nuln Oil or Agrax Earthshade.

I'm happy with some of the experiments on the flamer: the 'dirty orange' fuel line is Troll Slayer Orange with Nuln Oil wash, with the central fuel tank the 'gem paint' Spiritstone Red.

In addition to his own mask, the leader also has a big axe and a pair of Freddy Krueger claws. All good elements, and better posing than his opposite number with the shotgun, but for my money, not as memorable.

So another batch of Cultists will go to war! (sit on back objectives and try no to catch anyone's eye). In their game performance, they've chopped down a couple of Necron Immortals (although the pesky bots kept bouncing back up), so it's safe to say their best days lie ahead of them (as Chaos Spawn).

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Noxtopi

November 29, 2017, 12:41 am

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A quiet couple of weeks after the genestealer marathon. I needed the rest! But now, back to work with more Tyranids.

Nautiluses and Crosses

These are Venomthropes, hybrid offspring of the nautilus and a blimp. "Are those Triffids?" my Dad asked in passing, spotting them in the cupboard. Triffinids, maybe. Either way, very handy for the roaming to hit penalty they grant nearby units, and a must take for the Elite slots in my army.

Nautilus but Nice

As they're joining Hive Fleet Afanc, they're getting the same paint job as the 'stealers. So A white basecoat washed with Bieltan Green, then given a good highlighting with Rotting Flesh before doing the tentacles and flesh over the top. Black, white and orange shell stripes, as before.

He's not the Messiah, he's a very Naughty Lus

They're quite good models, actually, now I've lavished time painting them and getting to know them. The kit doubles as Zooanthropes, which means I've got some handy spare bits to play with. Not enough spare bits to actually make any complete Zooanthropes, GW is savvy that way, but maybe some Tyrranoform objective markers or set dressing. Still, we'll see what we have in the bits box before deciding.

Tell you what, I'm glad they don't have to rank up. Those tentacles (Xereus Purple layered up to Lothern Blue, by the way, 'Ardcoat gloss on top) would be even more of a tangly nightmare if they did. As it is, storage is going to be a bit of an issue. Chuck them in with the genestealers and you'd get some kind of Gordian Knotilus.The dream of a display cupboard seems ever further...

Nearly Advent! And I'm glad I've been sparing my energies, we've set ourselves a tough challenge this year. More soon!

Christmas is Coming

December 1, 2017, 12:00 am

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My ass is getting fat

Please put a bolt round 

Through the old man's hat

Oh, happy days! 'Tis Woffvent once again, and thus some daily seasonal posting.

Between us, Stylus and myself cooked up an Advent painting challenge. We'd make you the offer of playing along at home, but you'd need a very specific model collection to do it.

Ours, namely, for the deal is that we're trying to clear the decks, presumably so we can put holly and shit all over them.

I, Stylus, would say this ever-increasing Advent challenge is crazy, but I'm way behind on my leadpile taxes, and I need something dramatic to finish the year in credit.

Each day, one of us gets a roll on the random tables below, and that tells us what we've got to have finished and posted in two days time. Well, four, really, we were feeling intimidated generous, so we gave ourselves a little lead time.

(as well as a little 'lead' time ... that doesn't work unless you can hear me saying it, but trust me, it's a cracking pun)

There's a Nice List and a Naughty List for each of us, and it's all the kind of stuff we've got cluttering up our hobby in-trays at home. A selection of exceptional models that you really can't wait to slap paint on, usually single ones that you could feasibly do in a night, for the Nice List.

For the Naughty List, a bunch of terrible gruel that you'd rather play solitaire than wade through, units of chaff and the kind of junk that might ordinarily take you a whole week.

I don't want to hurt the feelings of my Naughty List - there are some lovely sets in there - but yes, it's the only way I'm going to paint dungeon doors other than at gunpoint.

Then, because we're competitive and ridiculous, we made a bunch of extra rules up to keep it complicated and confusing.

So, every time you manage a post on schedule, you earn a Command Point. Just like 40K! And we're starting with 3 each. Even more like 40K, you can burn them on stratagems:

New Orders (1 CP) = Re-roll the number that has just been issued

Paint and Hold (1 CP) = Gain two numbers at once, rather than one (to get a head start on the next one)

Auspex Scan (2 CPs) = Discard the issued number and choose one of your own

--- Bonus stratagems ---

Lick the Brush (1CP) = The finest of tips produces the insanest details. All your models count as having perfect eyes for the next round, although you take one mortal wound from paint ingestion

Recidivism (1CP) = Apply one thick basecoat and don't feel bad about it

Sweat Shop (2 CPs) = The Krakenettes perform all your basecoating for the day. Relax with coffee and gingerbread, but be prepared to accept pink space marines

Blind Faith(2CPs) = You are permitted to believe that you will not purchase any new miniatures until your existing ones are painted. Lasts until the next Saturday pre-order

Always Paints First(3CPs) = All your models become instantly painted. You may declare victory and overturn any nearby tables as you do so

Exterminatus(3CPs) = Switch everything to square bases

The winner is whoever makes it to Christmas with the most Command Points. May the Paintiest Player win!

Here are our lists:

Kraken's Nice List

Massive Darkness Monsters! 

1. Ettin

2. Fomorian

3. Giant Spider

4. Hellephant

40K Crypt Angels!

5. A Sorcerer

6. A Sorcerer

7. A Sorcerer

8. Cypher

9. Grand Master Voldus

10. Terminator Librarian

Repaints!

11. Brother Captain Stern

12. Typhus

Kraken's Naughty List

13-15. Massive Darkness goblin swordsmen - 19 in blocks of six or seven, including an Agent and two Bosses

16. Massive Darkness Bridges x2

17.  Massive Darkness chests x16

18. Massive Darkness pillars x6 

19. A unit of original space Hulk terminators

20. A slaughterbrute 

21-22. Two 40K imperial ruined buildings

23. The catapults from Shadows Over Camelot, all twelve of the little buggers

24. A Big Tau Walker (critical fail result)

Now for my list. And I am not remotely concerned that I could easily find 24 different painting projects that needed my attention.

Stylus' Nice List

1. Aelf - Tenebreal Shard

2. Blades of Khorne - Slaughterpriest

3. Darkling Coven - Sorceress

4. Disciples of Tzeentch - Curseling

5. Empire - Leopold

6. Fyreslayers - Doomseeker

7. Gorechosen - Exalted Deathbringer

8. Night Goblins - Battle Standard

9. Silver Tower - Gaunt Summoner

10. Slaves to Darkness - Darkoath Chieftain

11. Skaven - Deathrunners

12. Thousand Sons - Exalted Sorcerer

Stylus' Naughty List

13. Astra Militarum - Infantry Squad

14. Goblins - Spear Chukkas

15. Last Alliance - Elven Archers

16. Isengard - Uruk-hai Scouts

17. Mordheim - Middenheimers

18. Silver Tower - Grot Scuttlings

19. Orks - Goff Slugga Boyz

20. Saga Dark Age - Ceorls

21. Shadespire - Garrek’s Reavers

22. Stormcast Eternals - Liberators

23. Wood Elves - Beastfriends

24. Dungeon Saga - Doors! Doors! Doors!

I, Kraken,  have the honour of kicking off, and I managed to get him finished yesterday. It's number 7, a Crypt Angels Sorcerer, and here he is:

"Fore! ...is what I rolled. So, er, my smite didn't go off."

Now, he might seem a little Thousand Sons underneath all the paint, but the Crypt Angels are nothing if not entirely unfussy about who they reanimate. Will his brothers join him? Or will I roll something from the Naughty List? 

I'd like to say 'Stay tuned', but I've already gotten the roll, which kills the suspense rather. And typically, yes, I got the Critical Fail result, so I'm currently Tau Light Ochre to the elbow. Sigh. Christmas. 

Elves Off The Shelves

December 2, 2017, 12:00 am

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My first swing at the Advent Painting Challenge, and I get a roll on the Naughty List: Lord of the Rings Elves!

Let's face it: it was the only way I was getting more of them painted.

They're quick enough to do, especially as I was leaning heavily into the washes, but there are nine of them, and they have those tiny eyes inside their ruddy Corinthian helmets, so that's why they made the Naughty List.

But they're nice models, albeit simplistic and monopose, and it's nice to have them in the cabinet. 

I painted them in the same style as the melee elves I did last Christmas, but with different colour robes (Kabalite Green makes a lovely compliment to the gold - ask the Brazilian football team).

• Cloak: Drakenhof Nightshade wash, White Scar drybrush
• Armour: Retributor Armour base, Reikland Flesh wash, Golden Griffon drybrush
• Robes: Kabalite Green base, Nuln Oil wash
• Sashes: Nuln Oil wash

So that's my first challenge done, I'm off to get my next roll!

O Little Tau'n of Bethlehem

December 3, 2017, 12:02 am

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Critical fail on my second result. Honestly.

Well, in all fairness, I'd already done most of the legwork a week or so ago - I was out on tour in a small town on the other side of Sweden, where I know from previous experience there is nothing to do in the evenings, so I took some painting with me.

Three evenings of monochrome monotony later, I'd finished the layering for these two titans. So when their number rolled up in the Advent Challenge, I decided it was only fair to finish not one, but both of them up. Coloured panels, plasma glow, lenses and a bit of final work on highlights and bases, and here we are!

These two are experimental variants of the T'au Riptide, and as such have experimental names. Forge World calls them the Y'vahra (the one with the big plasma gun and the triple rotating flamethrower, which is surprisingly a fast attack choice) and the R'varna (the twin cannon one, who's more predictably a heavy support dude). Good luck saying those together quickly and keeping them distinct.

Both are shiny, factory new pieces in terms of paint job, to go with their smaller brethren from the other week. Rushed off the production line before the kinks are all ironed out, which is why they can voluntarily take mortal wounds in order to pull assorted awful shenanigans as they overcharge their reactors.

Having tidied them out of the way, I earn myself another CP (running total = 5), and a roll on the chart. And the table was Nice to me, so there's another Crypt Angel character on its way for next time!

I did consider taking the head off and reposing it to look at the broken lamp post as though to say 'oops' but it felt a bit cheesy

Stormcast Liberators (Swindon - Con hold)

December 4, 2017, 1:00 am

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With one Naughty List item under my belt, I confidently awaited my next roll: another Naughty List.

Oh Come, Only The Faithful!

Namely, the Stormcast Liberators I've had sitting around since June. To arms, brothers!

In case you're wondering about the title: this painting challenge hasn't driven me loopy (it's only day 3; wait for around day 12 for that to happen).

You may recall, unless self-preservation has blanked it from your mind, that the UK held a General Election on 8 June 2017. I always stay up to watch the results come in, but given that the whole night is usually dull as Doncaster North (Lab hold), I thought it would be productive to glue together my Age of Sigmar starter set.

With the combination of plastic glue fumes and sleep deprivation, I'm amazed I ended the night with a fully-completed set to my credit. When each unit rolled off the assembly line, I noted the latest election result. For these guys: Swindon (Con hold).

As for the models themselves, I'm already falling into a very comfortably rhythm for the Hallowed Knights (although if I'd had a little more time to paint them, that would have been nice).

They're such enjoyable models to paint - big, bold colours and easy blocking. The whole thing is like a palette cleanser, and even if you have no intention of collecting Stormcast, I encourage you to grab one and give it a go.

Colours as before:

• Armour: Leadbelcher base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Ironbreaker drybrush, Stormhost Silver drybrush
• Skin: Bugman's Glow base, Kislev Flesh highlights
• Hair: Skavenblight Dinge base, Celestra Grey highlights, White Scar highlights
• Sword: Skavenblight Dinge base, Abbadon Black/Dawnstone layering.
• Gold trim: Retributor Armour base, Reikland Flesh wash, Golden Griffon drybrush
• Kilt: Wazdakka Red base, Nuln Oil wash
• Plume: Khorne Red base, Nuln Oil wash, Mephiston Red drybrush
• Shoulderplate & Shield: Macragge Blue base, Drakenhof Nightshade glaze
• Cloak: Calgar Blue base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Calgar Blue drybrush
• Sash: Flayed One Flesh base, Seraphim Sepia Wash, Flayed One Flesh drybrush

One that that would have made the process easier is leaving the shields off until the very end, but in the wee hours of June '17, I was on a mission and sub-assemblies were furthest from my mind.

I had a try at something different with the bases too. I'm sticking with the Agrax-soaked sand, with dabs of static grass (the uniform colour for all my Order bases), but as these are very large bases, they could do with something else to enliven them.

I put down patches of Mars Ironcrust (which didn't crackle quite as much as expected - this is why I've abandoned 'crackle' paint as a primary basing material), then painted over it with 'Kraken Stone' (Steel Legion Drab base, Reikland Flesh wash, Deathclaw Brown drybrush, Karak Stone drybrush, Eldar Flesh drybrush, Terminatus Stone drybrush).

Finally, to bring it in line with the sand, I gave it a lick of Agrax, with I could have probably done in the first place.

So that's my first proper Stormcast unit done, and very happy I am with it too. I'll look forward to whenever I get around to the remaining lot (hopefully not under the cosh so much).

And what of my next challenge? I received my order from Kraken: who had rolled for me again on the Naughty List.

Oh Santa, what did I do to deserve this? Was it because I've been skipping the two thin coats?

Dewey Decimation System

December 4, 2017, 10:28 pm

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My third challenge is another solo model from the Nice list, thank goodness. I still have Tau Light Achre after the last one.

A Crypt Angel Terminator Librarian, specifically, to join his many brethren. I zoomed through this one in an evening. He was already basecoated, and the old Winged Maw isn't as fiddly as it used to be thanks to all the practice I've had.

Another CP for the pot! Bring on the next challenge!

In The Bleak Middenheimer...

December 6, 2017, 12:00 am

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My third day of the Advent challenge, and my third strike on the Naughty List. I can't really complain, Santa knows what I've been up to.

So here's a selection box of Mordheim goodies!

Only two of these five are actual Mordheim models (they're ruinously expensive on eBay, even for an obsessive completionist like me), but they'll fill in the blanks nicely for my half-finished Reiklanders and Middenheimers.

The only genuine Middenheimer in my set. I'd really like to add the two leader scupts at some point, as they both look cracking. Fortunately, with the New GW in place, they may reappear in their 'cast-on-demand' service, and I wouldn't have to pay upwards of £20 for a model

I think he was sculpted to be wearing trousers, but I leaned into the whole 'Cold Weather Conan' look.

Which is ironic, as the models I'm proxying - Teutogen Guard - aren't exactly cheap on the secondary market either.

They look a bit over-armoured for Mordheim, so one of them is going to be the leader, and another will just be a very extravagant champion, but they certainly look the part.

"Call casting - get us a Skarsgård."

Now, it may look like these were just undercoated, then drybrushed to look like armour/fur, but trust me: they were heavily in the Naughty List camp (as my 3am completion time will attest).

I pushed myself to try something new, and so their faces and beards were done with layering (Kislev Flesh over Bugman's Glow), rather than my usual wash n' drybrush.

"They ask if we want another Skarsgård?" "We'll take him!"

For the Reiklanders, another proxy: none other than the renowned dogs of war captain, Rodrigo Delmonte of the Alcatani Fellowship!

He got replaced as the unit champion, as he is a total mis-match with the rest of the regimental aesthetic, and I'm still not keen on his awkward right arm and overall derpy expression.

And if that wasn't enough to make me hate the model, I decided to freehand on the shoulderplate and eyepatch (the sodding eyepatch!). Sorry Rodrigo, but you're getting used a Skaven-bait on the next mission.

"I see no Skaven."

Finally, my favourite model of the bunch: the Reiklander Captain. The other captain variant is none too impressive (plate armour, static pose, pistol), but they've really compensated with this one. I love the cutlass/buckler combo on any model, all complimented by his ornate armour, fancy cloak and awesome feathered cap.

I used layering for his face (not entirely convinced it's better than drybrushing, but at least you don't wash time for a wash to dry) and again for the feathers and cloak. The rests is fairly standard for metals and leathers, but I've very happy with the result.

In the movie, you'd cast Timothy Spall

So that's five models done, who now complete two warbands (ready for that 2018 Mordheim reboot - let's all believe)

Sigmar!

I've got a pool of non-specific henchmen for the heroes to draw from, although now I'm thinking the pickings might be too slim for two warbands (maybe I need to invest in that Frostgrave set?)

Ulric!

And my 3am sacrifice was not wasted - I get my next assignment: it's from the Nice List!

---

Boxes of Delight

December 6, 2017, 11:00 pm

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Nuts, more naughty list.



At least it's Massive Darkness naughty list! So it could be worse. It is, however, everyone's favourite paint job - a bunch of tiny caskets. Finely detailed though they are, they don't exactly make your heart sing.

Treasure chests are your core source of upgrades in MD (the system has streamlined gold out of the loot system, pretty much), and they come in two flavours. Standard, which gives you card draws at your own level, and Better, which gives you a card from the next level up. Two flavours of box to represent this, and then a ton of brown paint to get it done.

Painting Guide:

• Basecoat - Corax White
• First Coat - Either Rhinox Hide, Dryad Bark or Abaddon Black
• Second Coat - A drybrush of Tyrant Skull, Sylvaneth Bark or Dawnstone, linked to the above
• Metal - A random selection of Leadbelcher, Brass Scorpion or Tinbitz, a couple done with Jokaero Orange for a rusty look
• Wash - Nuln Oil, Agrax or Agrax, linked to the relevant first coat
• Metal Highlight - Either Ironbreaker or Runelord Brass

Bring it, Santa! What's next?

Die Shard

December 8, 2017, 12:00 am

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I thought this title was a great pun on everyone's favourite Christmas bullet-buffet, Die Hard.

Now I'm thinking it will just bring in confused German readers looking for 'The Shard'.

Skippee ki yay!

But to the point: my first roll on the Nice List has arrived! The Tenebreal Shard from Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower.

So it's a single model, which is a welcome change of pace, but quite a fiddly one nonetheless.

A mix of naughty and nice, much like the Dark Aelves, who I imagine are still less than chuffed to find themselves on the side of Age of Sigmar's nominal good-guys.

I'm not crazy about this model (which was the reason he was still prancing around the to-do pile). He was a bugger to glue together (lots of sliding long delicate pieces between each other) and looked like a confusing tangle to paint.

He also continues the GW fashion for 'characters in mid-leap', which I generally don't care for. I'm all for a bit of dynamic posing, but it can too easily look flat (not unlike his fellow Aelf, the Mistweaver Saih) and while the 'standing square' pose may not be as exciting, when done properly, it really looks the business (such as the Darkoath Chieftain).

But I'll stop complaining about the model and pick out something I do like: the hair!

I didn't fancy the black-and-white paint scheme of the model (there I go complaining again), so I thought I'd give him some really Slaanesh-inspired locks. All that hair also afforded me the chance to improve my layering technique (with not a drop of wash!)

• Hair: Screamer Pink base, Pink Horror layer, Emperor's Children layer
• Skin: Grey undercoat, Reikland Flesh wash, Pallid Wych Flesh layer, White Scar layer
• Armour: Stormhost Silver and Ironbreaker layer, Drakenhof Nightshade wash
• Leggings: Skavenblight Dinge & Chaos Black base, Nuln Oil wash
• Kilt: XV-88 base, Reikland Flesh wash, Cadian Fleshtone drybrush

I took the opportunity to push myself into pale flesh, since I normally chicken out and just drybrushing Kislev Flesh over and over. I went straight with a Reikland wash as a base (which may have turned out too dark) and then layered with Pallid Wych Flesh, and touch of White Scar.

The contrasts look too stark to me, and could have done with a subtler base and some better blending, but I like the idea of the super-pale elves, so I'll persevere.

The rest of the pieces were simple enough: I assumed the half-cloak/kilt he's wearing was the flayed skin of his victims (he may be Order Allegiance, but he's not a boy scout), so I touched up the brown with some pink skin tone.

Strange how, two years into Age of Sigmar, we still only have two 'new elf' sculpts to represent them (when we've already had two whole factions of dwarf). Maybe the GW design team are getting their heads around what can be done with them. Interestingly, the Tenebreal Shard was the only character not to feature in the Silver Tower novella - so maybe no-one knows how to approach them.

And that's my challenge done. It really was nice to be working on a single model (but I guess that's why they call it the Nice List) - and as a Christmas treat, I get another Nice List to paint! I've been looking forward to this one too.

The Bridges of MassDarknesson County

December 8, 2017, 11:00 pm

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Oh come on! I wasn't that naughty this year. I misinterpreted a rules call in my own favour that one time, Santa, and this is what I get? More Naughty list, more Massive Darkness furniture. Bridges this time.



Exclusive to Kickstarter came this pair of plastic fillers to replace the cardstock bridge board. Perfectly decent bits of kit to do, if a bit dull. They kind of want to be incorporated into something else, though, I think, as the board bits they replace are fine in their own right, and that may yet happen in time.

One in my stock dark grey stone:

And one in brown marble, which hasn't totally worked but is good enough for naughty list stuff. I think the stripes needed to be darker than the base colour, rather than the other way around, something just looks a bit off with it.

Ah well! Reward me, Santa! Surely my penance is done!

All I Want For Christmas Is You (Off My Back)

December 10, 2017, 12:00 am

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Santa was kind to me: another single model from the Nice List, and this is one I've really been looking forward to.

Rod Hell & Emo

Say hello to The Curseling and his Little Friend!

This model was a turning point for me: I'd read the fluff in the battletome and thought he'd be a good addition to our ongoing Age of Sigmar Tzeentch Battle Saga (we haven't revisited that for a while, but don't worry, we'll get to the finish. We move slow, but we're not G.R.R. Martin).

So I bought the model, immediately cleaned, built and primed him. The first basecoats were going on, and I was congratulating myself that, at last, THIS was how I would approach the hobby from now on, with no needless purchases, procrastination, or sky-high painting piles.

And then something distracted me, and I haven't touched him for six months.

Lucky his number came up in the painting lottery, really.

Interestingly, there is a sharp divergence in the fluff for the The Curseling between his origins in Fantasy Battle and his current incarnation in Age of Sigmar.

Fantasy had him as a unique character, named Vilitch, with a fairly pedestrian backstory about a feeble brother whom Tzeentch had fused to his hulking twin, making the big guy a mindless automaton (basically Master Blaster from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome).

Whereas the Age of Sigmar makes 'Curseling' a generic title to a sorcerer who is cursed by a parasitic creature known as a Tretchlet, who continually hisses advice to its host. As the Tretchlets can detect lies, the Curselings are the inquisitors of Tzeentch cults, and all potential acolytes must endure their trial.

In-game abilities allow them to irresistibly cast enemy spells they have just dispelled, and to glean magic spells. So not too shabby if your opponent is bringing a lot of wizards to the table.

For me, the new version seems a lot more fun that the old. And, for that matter, makes a lot of sense of the sculpt: according the the Fantasy fluff, Vilitch is in full command, so why is he whispering to the mindless warrior? It would be like having a conversation with your leg (can you imagine that, elbow, talking to your leg!)

As fickle fate would have it, during The Curseling's painting hiatus, I became very practised at painting turquoise armour with gold trim, so that was fairly briskly achieved.

The Tretchlet part was going to be more challenging, as it was yet more pale skin (and I wasn't overwhelmed with my efforts on the Tenebreal Shard), but I went with a modest base colour and carefully layered up from there, making sure my paints were well-thinned. The result wasn't too bad: I'd maybe had preferred the skin to look a little lighter, but when I got to 80% happy, I didn't dare mess around any further.

Recipe as follows:

• Gold armour: Retributor Armour base, Reikland Flashshade wash, Golden Griffon drybrush
• Blue armour: Thousand Sons base, Nuln Oil wash, Thousand Sons layer, Ahriman Blue layer
• Tretchlet skin: Deamonette Hide base, Rakarth Flesh layers (several, progressively thinned)
• Tretchlet feathers: Naggaroth Night base, Genestealer Purple drybrush
• Sword glow: Averland Sunset base, Cassendora Yellow wash, Fuegan Orange wash Yriel Yellow tips
• Sword: Chaos Black base, Ironbreaker drybrush, Nuln Oil wash
• Metal: Leadbelcher base, Nuln Oild wash, Ironbreaker drybrush
• Staff: Ushabdi Bone base, Agrax Earthshade wash
• Loincloths: Celestra Grey base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Ulthuan Grey layer
• Gems: Stormhost Silver base, Soulstone Red glaze

And so we have a new contender for the Ark of Alternative campaigns. And I get another roll, and another model from the Nice List! Go Santa!

Turkey Gobbliners

December 10, 2017, 11:00 pm

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The Naughty List is being relentless here. Even more Massive Darkness (it'll all be done by Christmas at this rate), with a stash of Goblin Swordsmen.


Great sculpt! Pity there's sixteen of them, all identical. As with the Bowmen, I'm going for two variations, and this is the first set of eight.

And I'm pleased with them, I'll say that much. Not so much that I'm secretly wanting more blocks to turn up before the end of Advent, mind, although it will be nice to have them all done at some point. Goblins are the largest mobs in the game, and although I have Orcs, Dwarves and Troglodytes yet to do, having the sloggiest ones finished will feel good.

Roll on, Santa...

Merry Christmas, Darkling

December 12, 2017, 12:00 am

≫ Next: Back For Morian

≪ Previous: Turkey Gobbliners

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Another Nice List assignment, and my third attempt at pale skin.

Oh mercy, this flatters no-one.

I feel like Santa is grading me on a curve.

Yes, it's the Darkling Aelf Sorceress; and yes, it's the most generic paint job possible. My first draft had her with blonde hair and ice-blue robes, but it was reminding me of someone else, so I had to Let It Go.

Aside from a wash n' drybrush for the gold bikini (from our 1983 Hutt Collection), most of the big stuff was painted with layers, in my belated attempted to achieve competence with a technique everyone else seems to have been using for years.

I can't actually tell if the effects are better or worse that drybrushing, but it does cut down on the drying time, and when time is of the essence, that counts for a bit.

Recipe as follows:

• Skin: Rakarth Flesh base, Pallid Wych Flesh layers (thinned)
• Hair: Chais Black base, Skavenblight Dinge layer, Mechanicus Standard Grey layer
• Loincloths: Naggaroth Night base, Genestealer Purple layers, Drucii Violet wash
• Boots: Skavenblight Dinge base, Nuln Oil wash
• Staff: Sotek Green base, Nuln Oil wash
• Hand Glow: Lothern Blue base, White Scar highlights

I think the skin is the best so far from my past three attempts, although I probably over-reached with the 'hand-glow' lighting effect, which looks more like finger-painting.

But it was a pretty quick model to bash out, and it's one I've wanted to add to the collection for ages, so thanks Santa!

Back For Morian

December 12, 2017, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Silver Hells

≪ Previous: Merry Christmas, Darkling

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Finally! I got lucky and scored a roll on the Nice List!

This young beauty is the Fomorian, one of the Massive Darkness wandering monsters. Great models, I am really looking forward to painting them.

He really looks like something you would be upset to stumble into in a darkened underground passage, although in fairness, there is almost nothing I would like to stumble into in a darkened underground passage. The exit, possibly?

Painting Guide:

• Skin - Rakarth Flesh with Reikland Flesh wash, then Rakarth again, then Pallid Wychflesh. Kislev Flesh patches with Red Ink for his weird scales, Drakenhof Nightshade wash over the veins, Warpfiend Grey for the lip
• Trousers - Eshin Grey, Nuln Oil, Longbeard Grey drybrush
• String - Deathclaw Brown with Agrax Earthshade
• Bones - Ushabti Bone, Seraphim Sepia wash, White Scar highlights
• Leather - Rhinox Hide, Nuln Oil, Dryad Bark layer
• Hair - Black, Eshin Grey, Nuln Oil, Longbeard Grey

I am now up to 10 CPs, by my reckoning, and there's more Nice than Naughty left at this stage. I feel lucky!

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Silver Hells

December 14, 2017, 12:00 am

≫ Next: EXT: Coventry Carol c.1940

≪ Previous: Back For Morian

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Another check on the Nice List. Santa loves me!

It's the Gaunt Summoner! The toughest model in the set. Santa hates me!

This is almost the last of the Silver Tower set I've painted, not because I don't like the model, but quite the opposite. Painting a Gaunt Summoner is not to be to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly; but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, soberly (that bit's important), and in the fear of yet ANOTHER attempt at super-pale skin!

I gathered unto me all the wet-blending, layering and shading skills I have acquired this year, and set to work. Luckily, I'd been tinkering with this model for months, so this Advent challenge was more about booting me in the arse to get on and finish him.

The paint recipe is easy to remember: all of them.

Literally every paint in my collection appears to have found a home in this technicolor monstrosity.

At least the armour was easy: my now-standard gold 'n' turquoise Tzeentch plate. The robes were a mix of wet blending from maroon to purple to blue. The skin was a wash of Drakenhof Nightshade over grey primer, with highlights added by Ulthuan Grey highlights. The loincloth feathers were a mix of washes and wet blending every damn colour of the rainbow

The burning book was quite a nifty effect of Chaos Black stippling around some Averland Sunset, dabbed with Fuegan Orange, then the usual Nihilakh Oxide, White Scar drybrush and Biel Tan Green for the flames.

But to empty my head of this recipe:

• Flesh: Grey primer base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Ulthuan Grey layers
• Crown: Retributor Armour base, Reikland Flesh wash, Golden Griffin drybrush, Waystone Green stain
• Armour: Ahriman Blue base, Nuln Oil wash
• Robes: Screamer Pink+Naggaorth Night+Caledor Blue wet blends. Pink Horror+Lothern Blue layer highlights
• Feathers: Averland Sunset base, Biel-Tan Green and Fuegan Oranage stain, Ahriman Blue tips
• Book cover: Stormhost Silver base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Khorne Red layer; 
• Book pages: Flayed One Flesh base, Seraphim Sepia wash, Flayed One Flesh drybrush, Warpstone Glow ink 
• Flames: White Scar base, Nihilakh Oxide wash, White Scar drybrush, Biel Tan Green tips
• Staff: Skavenblight Dinge base, Nuln Oil wash
• Staff head: Screamer Pink+Caledor Sky base, Carroburg Crimson+Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Pink Horror+Lothern Blue layer highlights. Ulthuan Grey eyeball, Warpstone Glow pupil.

I think that covers everything. Once I'd conquered my fear, he was quite a fun model to paint. In fact I'd say that about anything from the Silver Tower. Game notwithstanding, it's quite a bargain for getting a whole box of cool stuff to paint.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting him on the tabletop, now that he is building quite the cabal of Tzeentch followers.

But for now ... another roll on the table. It's the Naughty List - but at least there's no pale skin this time!

EXT: Coventry Carol c.1940

December 14, 2017, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: A-Scuttling We Shall Go

≪ Previous: Silver Hells

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Sheesh. The Naughty List is just being relentless, now, I'm taking a hammering. My latest roll is a 40K ruin, but glutton for punishment that I am, I'm actually spending a CP to convert that to two rolls, so I can get the paired ruins on my commission list sorted before Christmas.

Ouch, basically - nice models, great modular kit, big and chunky results. But one hell of a slog to get through, even if it wasn't especially taxing stuff. Red and gold on the outside, black and burnt-out on the inside, like an overworked member of the Queen's Guard.

Only minor conversions here and there, and by conversion I mean snapping balustrade sections with a pair of pincers to make them extra ruined. And gluing some bits of sprue on somewhere to make a ladder. Let's be honest, scenery may be the third army on the table, but you don't necessarily want it to be the focus of the match. A good catwalk should never upstage the models, after all.

I'm weary and sore now, it's been an intense couple of weeks of painting. Please be kind, Santa.

A-Scuttling We Shall Go

December 16, 2017, 12:00 am

≫ Next: Typhoid Mary's Boy Child

≪ Previous: EXT: Coventry Carol c.1940

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Santa's not messing around. He really wants me to finish this Silver Tower set.

It's the Grot Scuttlings! They may be from the Naughty List, but if I can't rush out eight goblins, then I might as well hand in my paintbrushes.

I sped through them, although I didn't take the absolute shortest route (which would be just drybrushing over black primer). The robes were Incubi Darkness with a Nuln Oil wash, which I think turns out a really nice 'black robes' effect. I must remember it when I do some Ringwraiths, or Hogwarts miniatures.

Quite nice little models these - the Night Goblin/Spider hybrid works pretty well (when are we going to see that AoS army?) and certainly gives them enough weapons to hold.

And in case I ever forget how to do goblins:

• Skin: Elysian Green base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Nurgling Green drybrush
• Robes: Incubi Darkness base, Nuln Oil wash
• Weapon hafts/bows: Scragg Brown base, Agrax Earthshade wash
• Quiver: Zamesi Desert base, Agrax Earthshade wash
• Base Astrogranite texture paint, White Scar drybrush.
• Eyes: Yriel Yellow

One complaint: some of these models has three or four eyes! All in-keeping with the spider theme, but damnit, there is an unspoken contract that I shouldn't have to tackle more than two eyes per model!
(ideally less - I'm a big fan of faceplates, visors and eyepatches)

Check another one off my list! Although I've been travelling with work for most of this week, so my next assignment is going to go down to the wire.

Typhoid Mary's Boy Child

December 16, 2017, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Chukka 'Nother Log On the Fire

≪ Previous: A-Scuttling We Shall Go

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Nice list again! Finally!

I'm running lower and lower on speed and energy, and repeated Naughty list hits are taking their toll. Good to rest up with a quick and fast one, a repaint of an old lead classic.

Here's Typhus, who's been lurking in my collection since his original release something like twelve years ago. Not a bad job, really, but as you can see from the zoomed in shot above, he'd suffered from some badly frosted varnish, his base wasn't finished and he just looked a bit tatty overall. Not in the deliberate way he's supposed to, I mean, in the sense that he's been knocking about in my Old Lead box for a while.

He's coughing and sick He's sharpened his scythe He's going to find out who's naughty and nice

While it's probably immoral to refresh the paint on a Nurgle model, I decided to do it anyway. I redid the green, sharpened up the white, redid the scythe blade and handle and finished off the base with a little flock. Nothing big, nothing that took more than an hour or so, but here he is, back to face the new edition, where he looks rather small compared to his newer mini. Ah well, time takes its toll.

He's brought some gifts for you, pa rumpapum pum.

And then we're right back to the Naughty List again afterwards. Sigh.

Chukka 'Nother Log On the Fire

December 18, 2017, 12:00 am

≫ Next: In Excelsis Moria

≪ Previous: Typhoid Mary's Boy Child

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This Naughty List assignment should have been an easy swing for me: rebase a couple of war machines.

But most of my painting time this week has been eaten up by travel, so this turned into a very close-run thing.

Painting by the seat of my pants.

Of course, no-one forced me to add a couple of bullies to the mix. That was my own silly fault.

A couple of landmarks with this set: they're the last of my 6th Edition Goblins to be rebased (a hardy little army that won a noteably victory over Kasfunatu's Ogres in WoffBoot III)

They're also the only Warhammer Fantasy Battle models I've painted this year (if you exclude the single Orc I knocked out to demonstrate how small they are compared to Ironjawz). 

A shame really, and I do hope we'll be able to generate the momentum to return to some rank n' flank battles (not least because I have four armies on squares). But you have to go where they enthusiasm is, and at the moment, WFB isn't getting a look-in.

Ironically, these are also going on rounds. It makes it easier to pivot and aim them.

Back to my assignment: it wasn't anything much more exciting that replacing the bases and flock, and making the war machines look a bit more tatty with some Typhus Corrosion and Reza Rust.

I also added some more resin toadstools to each of the bases, and returned some of my makeshift bolts to the side.

I have no idea why he is wearing a Phrygian cap.

The crew got a clean-up, followed by a rust-up, and then sprucing up the black cloth (Incubi Darkness) and replacing some of the red cloth (less is more) with grey (Mechanicus Standard Grey).

Of course, it was only when I took the photo (why is that always the way?) that I noticed I'd forgotten to paint in one of this spear-carrier's eyes. So now he has a blind eye, which I really like.

And the next pair of goblin crew are exactly the same. I had plans to convert or mix them up, but there is no time for such frippery in the Advent Challenge - which is precisely why it's awesome for just Getting Stuff Done.

I then added a couple of Orc Bullies. Technically, I suppose they weren't required to meet the challenge. But when else was I going to paint them?

I've already painted the only official Orc Bully model, so these greenskin war machine supervisors are from the 41st Millennium. A pair of Rogue Trader-era Oddboyz with whips and no discernable technology made perfect alternative bullies.

Maybe the wrench is a bit anachronistic. Let's say he stole it from a Dwarf.

The one with the wrench is a Mekboy from the Hop Splat Field Gun (it sounds a lot cooler than it looked). His gretchin crew have already been co-opted to crew the Doom Diver, so maybe he'll catch up with them and box their errant ears.

The next bully is the Runtherd from the Squig Katapult (which would make a decent Rock Lobba, if only I had it). He needed a plastic arm, as many of his lead contemporaries did, so I gave him a regular Orc knife.

I love the detail lavished on these models: extra tools for the Mek, manacles for the Runtherd. He even comes with a money purse that you can see is stuffed with teef.

So this was something of a 'by hook or crook' submission, but a win is a win.

And to reward my duplicity, Santa gave me a roll on the Nice List!