The Ghouls that no one loved...

Yesterday I mentioned that I was participating in Black Knight Games Call To Arms event.  The goal is to get 2000 points painted by the end date (which I really should check into in).  The night I was invited to join I hadn't really seen the hot new Malignant models so I planned to just do a vanilla flavoured Death army.  I headed down to the store with a clutch of 20 Ghouls to paint thinking that would be a good start.  I managed to finish them the other day and then just decided to accept the fact that they're going to sit in a figure case and probably not be part of of my current/new Age Of Sigmar army.

Having said that I'm still happy to have painted 20 more.  I can always use more ghouls for lots of different games I play.

I painted these the same way I painted the ghouls I painted for my advent calendar over Christmas which is coincidentally the same way I painted my last 2 batches of Escape From Goblintown goblins. 

Depending on how things go these may turn up as allies in my Malignant force.  I'm actually also seriously considering some Dryads as allies and going with a haunted forest vibe.  We'll have to see if I ever actually make a firm decision.

-Jay

Age Of Frost-mar?

The work on models for Thaw Of The Lich Lord continues!

I had originally purchased a box of GW Ghouls in preparation for a Mordheim game that never actually happened.  As I was starting  to collect models to do a Mordheim force GW announced Age Of Sigmar so I basically put the whole thing on hold.  I base-coated the skin thinking I would use them for Age Of Sigmar but never got around to finishing them (until last night).  For Thaw of Lich Lord Scenarios 3 and 7 as well as the wandering monster chart I need  some Ghouls and now when I circle back to Age Of Sigmar I will have a small unit for that as well.

The other day I ended up working from home while my daughter was feeling ill.  When I work from home I usually try to get a little work done on figs on my breaks and with this figure being heavily textured and monochromatic I was able to get it done in about 30 minutes total.  This guy is a Stone Construct for Frostgrave so he's adding on to my growing collection of random wandering monsters.

I'm now planning on playing Scenario 3 tomorrow so I need to get a move on and paint my warband's Apothecary!

-Jay

Age Of Sigmar - "Gently used" character models

Tonight I re-based a few character models for use in my Vampire/Death force for Age Of Sigmar.

It felt funny to already be re-basing these figures because the one thing all  three of them have in common is that they have never actually been used in a game.  In the case of my Jester (who I'm fairly certain I'm going to use as a necromancer) this is because I painted him recently for a game that I never actually got around to playing, no big deal really.  But in the case of the two Von Carstein models this is slightly odder or more embarrassing.  I actually got both of those models and had them painted prior to their initial release in metal, this means I've had them painted for about 8 years now.  In spite of that I haven't played a single game of Warhammer Fantasy since they were released to they've been sitting along on their 20mm square bases waiting for some attention for a while.

Stan told me based on his goofy rules I had to field Konrad Von Carstein in a game at some point and if you've read his rules (I have to talk to him and he has to talk back to me during games) and/or ever played a game against me you probably realise that kind of stuff is right in my wheelhouse.

Hopefully the Ghouls will be done tomorrow and then it's on to the Vargheists!

-Jay

Age Of Sigmar - Ghouls (WIP)

Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in!

I shared my thoughts last week on the new Age Of Sigmar rules for Warhammer and one of the things I walked away thinking was; hey great I can use my existing models...but...you know....

So being a hobbyist I've decided to start up a semi-new Vampire/Death force in earnest.  I had originally been planning on playing Mordheim so I had picked up a few models but now I'm really exploring what I can do with Age Of Sigmar.  I've got to say the warscrolls have really gotten me away from thinking in terms of what a unit should look like (numbers, options, add-ons, etc) and have really sold me on looking at Warhammer box sets the same way I would look at Warmachine or Malifaux box sets, if it comes in a box it's a unit and I can use it that way.

So back to my Mordheim story; I had bought a box of ghouls with the intention of using 5 for Mordheim and keeping the rest aside for conversions, at one point I considered doing all 10 of them and starting a Warhammer Fantasy Battle unit but then I would need another box or two that I honestly wasn't sure I would ever field in a game.  Fast forward to Age Of Sigmar and my 10 Ghouls are a proper unit and can jump to the table once they're painted.

So far I've gotten the skin done and not much else, I'm planning an hour or two on them tonight and again tomorrow and then they should be done.

It's funny sometimes how the circle of your hobby life goes.  18 years ago when I had just started working for Games Workshop I was an avid 40K player who had never played Warhammer Fantasy.  I decided for my first staff tournament to play fantasy to force myself to collect an army and really learn the game.  The first unit I ever painted for my first fantasy army; Ghouls.  Now I've been gone from Games Workshop for 6-7 years and here I am looking at teaching myself a new version of Warhammer Fantasy and I'm painting Ghouls, sometimes it feels like you CAN go home again.

-Jay

Iron Painter 'Fool's Gold' DONE!

I just finished up my entry for the first round of this year's Iron Painter competition.

I'm fairly happy with how he turned out but the vision in my head of dark and light working well together didn't quite yield the result I was looking for.

At any rate I'm happy with my effort and if I can figure out how to upload my pic to Wyrd's website my entry will be in tonight or tomorrow!

-Jay

Hobby Grab Bag - The hobby A.D.D. is strong with this one....

Many different irons in the fire this week.  I've got a figure I need to finish for a painting contest by Friday, 2 figs that I need for a game on the same Friday, 1 figure that I had started for my D&D game and never finished, and at long last the start of my Robotech forces!

First up I got a bit (not much at all) more work done on my Jester for the Iron Painter.  The Jester will also being doing double duty in Mordheim.  At this point I have all of his brighter colours done, now it's time to go back and add the darker bits.

Next up I'm FINALLY circling back to Dr McMourning's nurses.  When I played in the Malifaux league I ended up playing Outcasts so the Nurses have been gathering dust for about a month.  Walking away from the league with a new box of Zombie Hounds got my excited about my Resurrectionists again, so more on that shortly.....

When I was bouncing back and forth on what my big bad monster for the snowy mountain would be in my D&D game the first idea I abandoned was a sasquatch.  I started painting him and I'd like to finish him just so he's not another half-painted figure on my desk.

And last but definitely not least, the figures that came out last year that I've been waiting for for almost 30 years....Robotech.  I'm starting my Robotech models off with the Destroids for 2 reasons; first up I haven't decided yet what I'm going to replace the ugly flight stands the veritechs came with, and second because I can use them as old school (3025 era) Battletech models!

That's it for now, if you don't at least see the Nurses and Jester done by the end of the week it means I screwed up.

-Jay

Progress on "Fool's Gold" Iron Painter entry

Whoever said slow but steady wins the race has clearly never run an actual race.

I've been trying really hard to pace myself and let everything happen in it's due time but I'm starting to feel deadline crunch.  I've gotten some of my brighter colours blocked in and I'm hoping to finish the Jester's clothing tomorrow night.

I'm definitely starting to really like this guy and I'm starting to give serious consideration to actually using him as the Necromancer for my Mordheim gang.  I'm pretty sure my Vampire is going to be a cousin of the Von Carstein's from Mousillon.

-Jay

Iron Painter 2015 WIP "Fool's Gold"

Wyrd Miniatures the company that produces Malifaux is hosting their annual Iron Painter competition and I decided to give it a shot this year.

Traditionally I stay away from painting competitions because my painting quality is just not in line with what people are really looking for but I decided to participate because the Iron Painter seems like a fun competition where I will get to paint a lot of different stuff.

The theme for Phase 1 is "Fool's Gold" and that is all the explanation that was given.  I decided I wanted a "fool" of some sort and some gold (I'm not the most imaginative person).  I went through my vast backlog of unpainted miniatures thinking something would jump out at me but I really didn't have anything that felt right.  I had a purchased a Bretonian Men-At-Arms kit a month or two ago from GW and was planning on using it for Warmachine (won't be doing that now BTW) but I forgot it includes some really great pieces to make a Jester.  And so my fool was born!

In sticking with the dark but humourous theme of Malifaux and taking some inspiration from Mordheim as well I've decided to make the Jester kind of a dark figure, perhaps a Jester from Mousillon or something like that.  To that end he will have some bright multi-coloured parts of his clothing but will also have some darker elements when he's done.

Hopefully I will do well enough to advance to the next round but one of the cool things about this contest is that even if you are eliminated you can continue participating, you are just no longer eligible to win.

Wish me luck!

-Jay

Blast From The Past - Mordheim

We're closing in on the end of our Malifaux campaign (still haven't made a final decision on a Master....) and I was talking with my friend Stan about what's next on the gaming horizon for us.  It took him about 30 seconds to convince me to hop into the Way-Back Machine and play some Mordheim.

Mordheim was a fantasy skirmish game produced by Games Workshop about 15 years ago (give or take) and when it first came out I played it all the time.  I'll definitely be painting up a new force for it but thinking about it and discussing it made me pull out my old Witch Hunters for a trip down memory lane.

The heroes of the Witch Hunter force are pretty cool but my favourite was always the guy with the sword and the torch.  Something about him just seems like the ultimate bad-ass.

The henchmen for the Witch Hunters were a pretty motley crew but I really thought the creepy guys with the placards around their neck captured the dark but somewhat humourous feel of Warhammer pretty well.

So in a couple of weeks an odd assortment of Warhammer figs will probably start showing up here.

-Jay