Kingdom of Death: Trial figures

I have watched the developments over at Kingdom of Death with some interest. They are a small American company run by Adam Poots, who have been developing a nice, if occasionally bizarre collection of figures for some time. I have held off ordering anything from them for two main reasons.
They encourage use of UPS recorded delivery, which to the UK is a very, very expensive postage cost.
They used to operate short runs on figures, so I was always too late to order.

They have now launched themselves into a gorgeous kickstarter campaign which has got me very tempted. But first things first, before throwing myself head-first into the project, I wanted to look at what the figures looked like. I therefore ordered two. I elected to order a twilight knight and a Pin-up Twilight knight.

After a short wait the figures have arrived, so I have had the opportunity to put them together.

The figures are excellently sculpted and moulded. The plastic is relatively defect and flash free. The initial thoughts are at 35mm, they are quite a bit taller than my traditional 28mm figures. I have not based yet so I don't know if I would consider using within a army. The other initial thought is that the limbs, whilst realistically proportioned are very thin when compared with other figure manufacturers. For those older gamers out there, they remind me very much of the confrontation figures. This made pining and gluing joints quite challenging. This makes me think these are more suited to display figures than gaming pieces.

Having said all that, they are really very beautiful pieces and handling them was enough to encourage me to splash the cash on the kickstarter campaign... I will throw some paint at the figures and see if I can do them justice!

Big and beautiful: Dominar Rasheth

Big? - Certainly

Beautiful? Well it is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder....

Every hordes warband needs a warlock, and mine is no exception; however I was not keen on going for the conventional choices. I wanted something a little different. So once I saw the model of Dominar Rasheth I fell in love. What is lot to love about a chap, too fat to walk; carried into battle on a crib supported by three six-legged baby elephants!

Our fat little lord is resting on his back; but only because he really is too fat to move himself. Does he care? Not one jot, why he has napkins, wine and even a small plate of delicacies to eat. I believe he is pecking at a tray of eyeballs.

I have kept with the same green and gold colour scheme that I have used throughout the wargroup, but have tried to make his skin look pink and sweaty. Don't know if it worked, but that was the idea.

Despite the lovely look of the slothful one, my favourite part of this model is the agonizers.

They look so sad, yet resigned to their fate of forever carrying the decadent one until they collapse and die.

 I hope you I enjoy looking at this chap as much as I enjoyed painting him.

More Chaos Trolls

A little over a week ago I posted up my first two painted trolls. Two was never going to be enough for the fun I have planned! So it is time to add a couple more to the collection.

 Although these are Chaos Trolls I have gone for quite a restrained colour scheme. Fear not I have plans for a much more colourful unit to follow. However, for now I am keeping to this brown look. 

 I have never really felt comfortable before with the technique required to paint different coloured patches of skin, so I was a little uncomfortable painting the lighter belly, inside of arms and legs. However I need not have worried, it was far far easier than I had imagined to get a fair colour blend. It was literally as easy as painting one colour over another.

As always, click on the image to make it bigger....

New Dwarfs: Avatar of War: out the box

Back in June Avatars of war participated in a Indiegogo campaign to support the development of an extension to their range of Dwarf figures. This is a site which is very much in the "Kickstarter" style.

The idea is that you commit to buying some of the new figures from them and if they get enough money committed then they can afford to produce the figures. If they don't hit the target then you don't get charged. Their target was met and they have started to manufacture and post out some of the models.

I ordered the following selection:
40 Ironshields
20 Thunder Warriors or 20 Crossbowmen (whichever is finished first)
20 Doomcrushers
1 Rune master
1 Ltd Edition standard bearer
1 Dwarf Lord with great weapon
1 Dwarf King.

Today I received the first selection of figures.
 21 Ironshields
All of these are plastic with torso and legs separate,but delivered on a single sprue piece.
The first up are a command group with musician, standard bearer and champion. All except the musician could easily be assembled as troops.

Next up come the core troops. There are 9 different torsos.Two models are provided of each. If you click on the picture you will get a much better impression of the detail on each figure.It is clear and well sculpted, so should be very easy to paint. One weapon had separated in the pack, but this will fix very easily.

Four shields arms are provided..

 Together with a fine selection of hand weapons..

 And a standard. It appears that AoW quite like this standard. I am not clear if they intend to use it in all their packs. Either way, it will be very easy to replace.

Dwarf Noble
This is a very nice metal figure which comes as a single piece. Crisp modelling with no flash. Very nice..

Dwarf Rune Master.

This chap is harder to judge. He is split into 4 key parts with cape, beard and staff all individually supplied. Nice casting and crisp features. Should be nice to paint, but will look better with paint on him.

All in all a mighty fine selection. I will need to work out how I want to base these and then find a little time to paint. Should be fun...

The last of the (gladiator) Titans...

A long time ago I started Skorne Hoards force and it is time to present the last two of these figures. Today I will post up the last of my three gladiator titans then as soon as he is ready I will add a completed Fatty on a mattress (Dominar-Rasheth)...

When you have a couple of Gladiator titans and a titan cannoneer; anything smaller just does not feel enough. Therefore I kept with the theme.

 I just love the green and gold look for the armour. I think it works quite well against the reddish skin of the beast..

 The markings on the base important for game play because you need to know where the front arc of the model is.

 I built the chap with no flag for two main reasons.

• I wanted to easily spot her from the other two gladiators.
• I couldn't face painting up another detailed banner.

This last shot shows the quantity of green-stuff. Which I have to say was less than any of the other Skorne gladiator models and was a big relief...

Mountain Chaos Trolls

It has been a little while since my last post and I suppose that that should not go without comment. I had a holiday so was out of the habit of posting and then work got a bit busy. Any-hoo that was then, this is now.

I have owned and played a small Warhammer Fantasy Warriors of Chaos army for some time that was built around a small troupe of Trolls. The only problem was that I was slightly intimidated with the thought of painting them.

My normal way of encouraging myself to paint an army is to put myself into a tournament. It gives me a deadline and a list of models to complete. To this end I signed up to a doubles event at Warhammer World. Therefore for your entertainment I present the first two figures; two chaos trolls...

  I elected to use these old Orcs and Goblin figures for three main reasons;

1. I don't like the Chaos Trolls GW produces
2. I quite like these models
3. I can get them quite cheap on ebay....

You will notice that these two chaps are the same basic model with just a little tinkering. I swapped the weapon around and played with the pose by straightening him up a bit and twisting his arm positions. By placing a rock under one foot I have made a subtle difference to his stance that hopefully hides the fact that they are the same model.

Skorne titan cannoneer

It has been a little while since my last post and I suppose that that should not go without comment. I had a holiday so was out of the habit of posting and then work got a bit busy. Any-hoo that was then, this is now.

I painted up a Skorne Titan cannoneer some time ago, but never posted up the images.

This chap follows the same painting scheme that I have adopted for all my Skorne Titans. The green and gold were selected because these two colours tend to compliment each over. The reddish skin provides a little contrast.

 I had a little play with NMM on the silver; mainly just to see what it would look like. Not an absolute success, but it will do.

 Love the fact that these guys have so many arms.

Skorne paingiver task masters and a start on fatty

 On Wednesday I added my first Hordes figures for a while when I loaded up pictures of some paingiver beast handlers. I guess if I have paingiver handlers I should add some task masters as well...

 I have retained the same colour selection as I have used for all my Skorne. I guess I just quite like the grean, gold and cream contrast.

 

Now I have the pictures loaded, I can see I need to complete the second prod...

and at the end of the post,a start on old fatty himself. I have painted his agonizer bearers (bless them)..

Skorne paingiver beast handlers

It is time to catch up on my small Skorne Hordes force.To date I have painted Agonizers, Gatormen, a Bronzeback and two Titan gladiators. What I need now is to paint up a unit to collale all this. Whatbetterthan a mini assortment of beast handlers....

For these guys I have maintained my green and cream colour scheme. I do like to stick with coloursif possible....

With so little of the face showing, I found it quite a challenge to give the models a point of focus. However, once complete I think that that these are some of the nicest models that PP produce for the Skorne range. They have enough to give interest, whilst maintaining  a clean look....

Hope you enjoy..

Now from the back....