Week 8:A bigger pile of bones

Completed the unit of skeletons this week. Well I say completed, I need to add a emblem and some words to the standard bearer. No idea what to do yet, so I thought I would leave it on the shelf and see what comes to me.

Quite fun to make and paint and has given me the chance to raid my bits box, which is getting a bit packed. For my own records when I come back to paint more skeletons the paint recipe is scorched brown - Bestial Brown - Snakebite Leather - Bleached bone. Many mixed layers between each one.

Next week I think its time to get back to the puppies (Chaos warhounds).

A quick and very cheap turn marker

When I play at my local club, we keep a track of which turn we are in by keeping a dice with the turn number displayed. However this can easily get mixed up with other dice. I decided it would be a nice idea to build my own turn marker. My main criteria were that it had to be easy to build and nice and cheep. Here is how it turned out..

Here is how I built it..

Basic components are a GW 40mm round base, a lid from static grass (any would do), a bit of rod that fit nicely within the hole in the underside of the GW base and some thick plasti-card (mine was about 2.5mm thick and was left over from basing 15mm Napoleonics).

My most useful tool is a compass fitted with a small blade. I picked this up cheep at a hobby store.

I marked the card with the sizes of both the lid and the base. Note how I marked the position of the centre so that I would not lose it. I had to chamfer the outer circle to match the shape of the lid. A small file and thirty seconds later and that was done.

Card cut.

I drilled a small hole in the centre of the lid with the large pin vice. GW helpfully mark the centre of their lids.

The rod is fed through and glued in place. I used superglue for this. Once dry I trimmed with a sharp knife.

The card was then added and we are almost there. Time so-far is about half an hour.

I then added some conveniently sized card counters from a no-longer played board game.

and a bit of sand.

I then cut a bit of card for the centre dial. I copied the symbol on the empire figures because I have an empire army, but I plan to construct a number of centre dials, one for each army and then just swap them over as required.

The centre dial is assembled....

And then the whole lot painted...

Snow in Exeter

It snowed (a little) in Exeter on Saturday so it was too cold to spray on any undercoat. So I took the only opportunity available to me and cracked open the green stuff. The dragon ogres are a combination of cold ones and ogres. I know its been done before, many times, but it still felt as the right way to go. It needs a lot of green stuff and a lot pf patience but I'm going for it any way.

I also had a little play with the Varghulf and have added his prey. The wound will be filled with PVA.

Week 7: A pile of bones

Week 7 has come and gone and all I have to show for it is a small pile of bones. Nicely piled in skeleton form of course, but just a pile of bones non-the-less. I have decided to try and stay away from red colour schemes because I have seen too many red skeleton units. Besides I quite like the green colour as a contrast to the yellow (ish) bones colour.

I found these to be some of the most fun figures to assemble because I just tipped out my bits box and had a play. Two of the chaps above have armour from cold one riders. I wanted the bones to maintain the same dirty look of the ghoul units and I thought it important for them to look as if they had spent some time buried in the ground. 

I had some fun trying to reproduce a rusty look. I hope it worked. The base above is four wide and may help make casualty removal easier. It includes bits from dryad, ghoul and chaos marauder sprues. Hopefully it adds a bit of fun to the unit.

Varghulf

Start of a new month, so I have splashed out on some new metal. Varghulf this time. Looking for inspiration I came across this address. A bit too much gore for my liking, but nice non-the-less. I will probably try to model in a similar way, but I will need to try and work out how to do the goo. I'm guessing water effects with red paint in it around a wire frame. Guess its time to experiment. I have pinned every joint and raised him above the base so that I can mount him on rocks.

A Valentine Vampire (ish)

To mark valentines day I give you a vampire with a couple of hearts on his cloak. Ok, its a half hearted effort, but it was the best I couple think up and it fits in with the remainder of the VC army. His flesh was built up from Graveyard Earth to Bleached bone in an attempt to make it look more undead, but I added a bit of red to his cheeks and I think I have lost the effect.
He was floating above the gravestone in an attempt to make him rabk up and to simulate his move 9 thanks to his Talisman of the lynci. I have since found that I am not the first to come up with this approach. I am also not happy with the fabric around his head it makes him look like a victorian child in a sailor suit. I think a bit of dull coat on the back of his cape would also help.
Oh well, maybe I'll return to this chap and rework him.

Week 6: A slight diversion

This week I believed that I needed to paint a few empire figures to get an army ready for GT. I had six swordsmen, five halberdiers and a priest of sigma. I have been painting the army for 7 or 8 years now, but I always need to add a figure here or there to round off a unit to an appropriate size.
The centre figure here is a significant adaptation of the newer swordsman sprue.

The other figures date back to the last edition of the empire figures. Whilst these are dated now, I did not think that the two figure designs would work together within a single unit. I'm not keen on the empire state troop figures anyway, because they all look as if they are in desperate need of the toilet. I elected, back in the day, to keep to a single shield design. The problem with this now is that I need to special order in a few sprues of these. One day I will remember to do this.

The old metal halberdier figures I love and would paint whole legions of these if only I could find a tactical use for them and I could find a supply at a reasonable price. As it is I have to resort to bidding on EBay until I manage to happen upon figures that have not been overinflated to a stupid price.

The figures are used as detachments. Whilst I would love to try them as a unit, I cannot believe that they would stand up to any kind of damage.

I have also finished the warrior priest, but to be honest my heart was not in painting him because I am just not keen on the warhammer priest figures. If I ever have a few moments free I might consider a practical conversion alternative.

I have also had go at a ghoul ghast. This is a Mordheim undead figure. I'm undecided if he works or not yet. maybe I'll put him on the shelf and when I come back to him, decide if he works or not.

I will return to the project next week. I am thinking skeletons...

New Camera, old figures

I have treated myself and brought a new camera. I got myself a Canon EOS 1000D (rebel if you are American). Great fun and so very much easier than borrowing the work camera. To celerbrate this I hove photographed some old but favourite figures. These were painted three and a half years ago and used a lot of brass etched leaves and green stuff.
Enjoy if you like those things.

WIP: Vampire Count character

Its time to start some work on characters, so I have choosen a relatively simple one to get me started. I have opted to go for the vampire hero from The first Vampire counts list.
The first question was simple, what kind of vampire did I want. I love the imagery within the old fashioned hammer house of horror kind of horror movies, so a humanoid with fangs and a flowing cloak are the first needs.
Then to decide on which model to start with, I had to consider what the chap is carrying. This chap comes complete with Infinite hatred, walking death, sword of battle, armour of night and the talisman of lynci. So to take each in turn;
Infinite hatred: The guy hates everything. Not a lot I can do with this in modeling terms, but worth remembering when painting the face.
walking death: He must look powerful. Difficult to model. Not sure what to do with this.
sword of battle: must be armed with a sword.
Armour of night. "This black enamelled armour swathes the wearer in an impenetrable cloud of darkness." Whilst initially drawn to the umbrella carrying beast in order of the stick. I guess I am going to have to be a bit more sensible than that! The vampire must be seen wearing armour, or at least a breast plate, which must be painted black, look shiney and may well require gloss varnish! yummy!
Talisman of the lynci; Apart from the fact that he needs an amulet, he needs to look capable of moving 18" on the charge! That is almost flying speed!
After a bit of searching I have rounded on the Mordheim: Vampire with Sword. This had the significant advantage that I still had one in blister from when I had a small Morheim undead force. I noticed from the pack I paid only £3 for it and its now £8. Wow, it didn't feel that long ago when I brought it.
During cleaning up, I noticed that his feet don't touch the ground and that his cloak is so wide that I have no chance of ranking him up. I have opted to take both of these aspects as an opportunity to play with him a little.
After asking around on my local forum I have managed to gain a headstone from a friends spare box and have mounted him on that. This has the advantage that he looks more like he can leap (or fly-ish) with some grace and may well be capable of moving 9". It also gives me a chance at ranking. I drilled a vertical hole through the tombstone and passed a brass rod through this. I missed a little so you can see the rod at the front, but I think I can cover this.

I have had to add four extra strong magnets in his base to give him a chance at not toppling over with the movement tray is tipped. Otherwise I am quite happy with him so far.

Week 5: Chaos Marauder Horsemen

This last week has stretched my ability to speedpaint. You may not consider 5 figures in a week speed painting but for me painting 5 cavalry figures it is. I've previously spent three weeks painting a single infantry figure, so this just feels wrong. I have managed 5 horsemen, but I found it hard work.
The guys carry the slaanesh mark and so I have tried to give them a more luxurious and self indulgence combination of colours. I choose to go for a lilac and beige combination. I also cannot see slaanesh warriors wearing a standard uniform, so I have tried to add some variety in the patterns.

In their final form each unit will be six strng and will include a musician. However they only come 5 to a box, so here are 5. To maintain their light cavalry status I cannot use the shields. This leaves a problem of what to do with the shield arm. Really I could not think of anything other than to put things in them. Not sure how well it was worked, but never mind. They are what they are.

Warhammer Fantasy 8th Edition

It appears that everyone has a view on what they would like to see in the new rules, so I thought I would record my wish-list. I love the game and I don't want dramatic changes, they are just not needed. I do, however have concerns about the odd little thing

1. Fear

It is not that I dislike the current fear rule, I just think that it is a little too powerful at times. An autobreak when outnumbered is just too strong. Maybe keep the auto break - unless you roll double 1 - for the first turn of combat (the shock of combat against a unit that scares you), thereafter just modify your leadership by the amount you are outnumbered. Some armies need fear, quite rightly, so it should not be dumbed down too far. It just needs a little softening.

2. Missions

I have played a lot of Flames of war in the past couple of years, one of the best features of this game is that it has some great missions that reward thinking on the hoof and, not to put too fine a point on it, good general ship. These missions would also make scenery significant. At the moment it becomes a bit of an irrelevance at times.

3. Cannons

As it stands, the best use of my cannons is as a sniper weapon to kill off enemy characters in units. In one game I shot three cannons at a Vampire count general and killed him in the first round. Admittedly he had to fail a look-out roll, but it was a little too easy.

4. Autokilling Chariots.

There are just too many units that can deliver strength 7 hits now. It makes chariots a poor choice.

Just my thoughts. probably best that I'm not involved in the re-write.