Squeek squeek...

And he's finished. The bone rack was a pain, and overall the model is 'dirtier' than I wanted, but I am still really chuffed with him. I tried Noestes suggestion and added some whisker dots but they looked pants, so they came straight back off. Also, the little ratties at his feet are a bit lame, I got all the way to that point and never thought what colour to do them, or even what a little normal rat looks like - is its face entirely covered in fur?? who knows, and I didn't think to research it on the mighty Google, so they ended up a plain grey with beady little red eyes - oh so beady.

Any way, the lads at the local liked it, and he is now proudly on display in their cabinet ready for a January painting comp. There are categories for 20-25mm bases, 40mm bases and 60mm bases. He fits in the 20mm range, I think I might bring out Rex for the 40mm (will need to rebase him as he is currently on a non-standard base), or maybe on Ork Banner Boy I have floating around, and then possibly a Sentinel for the 60mm - its all a bit wait and see.


I have been working away at my Empire Swordsman, but am massively tempted to break out the paint stripper and rethink the whole project. Blue and Yellow is a bugger - particularly the yellow. Mine is not turning out anywhere near clean enough, and the dirty/messy look I have ended up with is both a pain to paint, and gnaws at my image of how I wanted them to look. Don't know. Will think on it. I don't want the generic red/white combo - any ideas or suggestions, particularly with pictures to work off of would be handy and appreciated.

Cheers all, and hope your all having a nice break (for those who got one over xmas/new year). I know I have just knocked of some guttering, and will be back in the garden tomorrow for a bit of a tidy up before the missus' shin dig for her 30th - working up a nice tan to go back to work with with all the time spent out in the sun.

Pom

Merry christmas...

I have snagged 3 weeks off of work over Christmas, so between family engagements and shopping, I should be able to do something hobby wise.

So far, I have built the remaining portions of my Empire army which I have had hiding away in a draw for the last 2 months or so. I must say, I am already really impressed with the standard of plastic kits generally these days, but the Flagellant and State Trooper kits are just wicked. So many bits options and little details. I had to stop myself from over doing it on the Flagellants as I realised I would need to paint all these finicky little bits and bobs eventually - I resigned myself to the front rank, and the outward facing sides getting some bits love, with the remainder getting the basic treatment.

I finished priming them this morning, after spending a night building movement trays and basing everything - PVA glue in a confined room leads to headaches - You have been warned.

The only thing I haven't done is base the Cannon and Hellblaster (which I actually could have magnetised to make it a Helstorm if I had been bothered - did I mention how versatile these kits are). When I built my Hellcannon for my Chaos I put it on a filled in movement tray and cut out squares for the crew to slot into which was pretty nifty up until the point I had to move it and game with it. It is the heaviest thing in my collection, and has a massive footprint (I'm not even sure it is game legal). I tossed around mounting each cannon on a round 60mm base, and cutting out a similar shape in a filled in movement tray, so that I can set up the base and pivot on the spot for sighting etc, but that was way too fiddly. I will probably mount them eventually but will have a wait and see for now I think.

The army looked quite impressive pre-priming when it was all laid out in ranks with detachments etc and vastly outnumbered my WoC (even if they are only scrawny men rather than hulking brutes - Knight for Knight, the WoC would eat the Empire lads - this is where these models show their ages - the Empire Knights are circa 1991 with a few upgrades over the years but are really small and lacking in detail compared to the new breed Chaos Knights). I costed it up last night, and even pimping for full commands, magic items etc, it barely made 1,900 pts. My WoC can clock up 2,250 pts without trying, and there are less of them. I had thought that I wouldn't need to add to this army, but I think a few more units of State Troopers is needed to hit the magic 2,000 so I can at least get a Lord choice. And that is the crux of the matter - I have so many choices in the Empire book - you are really spoiled for choice, and I have a ton of Lord/Hero models which will probably never get played as I can't fit them in the points. Oh well.

My aim over my break is to get all the bases painted (the first thing I do on any army. Actually the second - I have tended to by the whole force at once, build, base and prime, and then paint the bases - gives me the false sense that the ball is rolling.), and then finish the unit of Swordsmen I started weeks ago, and which I have neglected after the horror that was painting the faces. Luckily, Noeste sent me his flesh recipe, and between that, Ron at FtW's Raven Guard look, and the latest WD's 'eavy metal masterclass (on the Skaven Vermin Lord), I have been turning in some fair approximations of skin tone which doesn't turn out looking like a burn victim. Part of the problem was that some of the Empire heads are rubbish - no eyes, quite flat features, and just a hole in the face for a mouth, not the best effort for a wash fanboy - in 40K, you tend to get a fully detailed face - which brings its own problems - but at least you can paint a relatively half decent face.

I also want to finish off Queek, who has been languishing on the paint bench while I paint up guardsmen for Necro. I will be following Noestes suggestion and painting on dots on the snout to represent whiskers, and then need to tidy up the cloth, and do the bone rack (and redo the bones on his helmet - Thinking of doing it like the grey bone on the Vermin Lord rather than my standard brown bone look), and finish his base including the little ratties running around at his feet.

I have just finished a 40K book run, knocking off Sandy Mithchell's (of Ciaphis Cain fame) Scourge the Heretic and Innocence Proves Nothing - both Inquisitor books tied to the Dark Heresy background, Dan Abnett's Titanicus, a re-read of most of the Gaunts Ghost saga, and Mechanicum by Graham McNeill. All fantastic books, and all got me really pumped about Guard, Techpriests and armour units, and Titans. After reading about all this Titan goodness, I came quite close to placing a Forge World order for a Reaver. I realised that after conversion to Aus dollars, I would most likely end up pawning of all of the as yet unborn future little Pom's to pay for it. Those things are bloody expensive - beautiful, but expensive, and I really didn't need one.

I have settled for turning my mind to my Valkyrie which has sat in pieces in a box since I bought it - in pieces as I have dreams of fully painting the interior, and you can't do that when its built. So that is probably my next holiday painting challenge, which should see me well into the new year based on the 6-8 months my Baneblade took to finish - plus I am still un-decided on the actual paint scheme - Im thinking some sort of Mechanicum red for the upper body work, with the underside a tan colour like my Guardsmen's clothing. I have already thrown out the idea of matching the 'Blades colour scheme, on the basis that the Super Heavy is on loan to my forces, and its crew wouldn't insult the machine spirit by repainting it in any old colour. I could do the same thing for my flyer - paint it something completely different and say it is on loan from the Navy. Anyway, that is a thought in process.

Over the past couple of weeks, my non-gamer mates have really gotten into Space Hulk which has been cool as I have someone to game with. We have played up until the 5th mission, and had a real ball. There is talk of having a monthly game night (including xbox, Space Hulk and Risk - we got the new Halo Wars Risk to go with our Star Wars and Generic Risks - you can never have too much Risk) which would be sweet, and they have even started talking about learning 40K and fantasy using my OpFor as loaner armies - double sweet. We had a quick trial game in which I was actually beaten - I used my Guard and my mate used my Marines as proxy Space Wolves - lack of any terrain played a crucial role in my defeat - note to self - buy some terrain. I am picking up some wood this week to take to my dad's so he can build me a gaming table to have at my house which will be cool (it will be 2 4 by 4 foot sections with transportable legs - all capable of folding away for easy storage) - there might be some terrain purchases on the cards for the new year too.

I also got another game of Necro in. After my last game, one of my gangers earned the Marksmen bonus, so I painted up one of my Snipers to reflect his increased ability. Unfortunately, my second game wasn't as good, and most of my force ended up wounded on turn 1, with the rest wounded on turn 2. I finally scored some kills in turn 3 before being bottled and legging it. Disaster struck when working out the serious injuries of my lads when 2 of them were 'captured' by opposing gangs. I was able to buy one back, but the second is now Lukes slave, and I will need to mount a rescue op to get him back. The campaign is now on hold until the new year as the store is open longer hours and we can't play during trading times. I am thinking of going in after Christmas when they are running some raffles and auctions - might try to bag another bargain - but based on last years turnout, it is liable to be busy - crazy busy - this is a wait and see.

And that's that for this year I think. I have started this blog and clocked up over 50 posts, swapped and received hobby advice and made mates with lads across the globe, made a dent in my horde - which (unfortunately) has grown at a greater rate than that which I paint at - and in different parts of it, built a new army, learned a new system, read some classic books, won some painting comps and gotten my name on my locals roll of honour (found this out last week - I was the 2008/09 Summer campaign wining Fantasy General - winning with my first round of games with my (new at the time) WoC), and generally had a blast with this hobby. Here's hoping there is more fun in store for 2010 - come on plastic Thunderhawk Gunship.

Merry Christmas all, and a safe and happy new year.

Cheers,

Pom

Painting update & Necro...

I mentioned in a previous post that I have been working on Queek Headtaker - the new Skaven Warlord model - a totally badass model that I knew I wanted as soon as I saw it - raw aggression is what this model is all about.

I have been painting it in store which I never do as i have this petty phobia of people watching me paint, but the guys at my local are chill so I figures why not. I have had a couple of days off work for various reasons recently, and I have used some of that spare time to paint Queek - gaining added motivation being in store which I wouldn't have had at home- namely because of the xbox - can anyone say addiction.

Anyway, here are some progress shots:


I am quite stoked with how he is coming on, even if it is slow progression. This fits in perfectly with my new doctrine of being relaxed and enjoying the hobby. I have found some real peace in my painting with this model, much like with my Dwarf Lord I finished a couple of weeks back. And by taking it slowly, I can make sure I am happy with how every part of the model is turning out.

As I said in my previous post, I tried my hand at the glow effect around the warpstone crystal which the pictures make out looking like an unsightly green blemish on his armour, but which is really much better in person - although there is still plenty of room for improvement.

I am really happy with most of the rest that I have finished - ie the weapons (the verdigris is not as prominent as it shows in the picture - a product of taking the photo at night with a flash on), armour, flesh/fur and tabards. I have a few more highlights to redo on the tabards and fur, and maybe on the tails, and then it is on to his banner pole and the little rats that he is jumping over.

I also mentioned a while back that there was going to be a Necromunda campaign kicking off. I originally wasn't going to bother at it put more pressure on me to build/paint something else, and I already had a lot on. Well after much muttering by Adam and Luke about how cool the game was, and how all I needed to do was finish my Guardsmen, I relented.

I have had a squad of Guardsmen partially finished for what seems like a long time, and the other night as I worked on my Empire and was waiting for some washes to dry, I pulled them out to finish them off - be warned, they are a quick and dirty paint job compared to most of my Marines and Chaos stuff, but are perfect for rolling out for 100+ other chumps:


I knocked them over on Monday, and took them down on Tuesday as a backup in case I decided to play - which I did (handily having printed up a roster sheet and read the basic rules). Some of the highlights are really bright - particularly on the black (no matter how many tutorials on painting black I read I don't think I am ever going to get this), while others are quite subtle - ie the armour, and yet more are down right terrible - the curse of the flesh tones. The pictures make them look really shiny but this is a by product of flash on satin varnish. I have started using satin on the advice of Oz Marshal on the understanding that it gives more life to the model than the matte, and I wholeheartedly agree.

Anyway, my first Necromunda game was frantic, confusing, and a complete blast. It was an 8 way round table bash, games mastered by Adam, and involving 4 lads who had some clue what was going on, and 4 who didn't (including the grumpy git Cal who had been adamant he wouldn't play, and yet by turn 2 was dishing it out like no-one else).

I had third go and with my first shot routed half of the gang next to me (who promptly failed their bottle test in their turn), routed another gang on my second turn, had the ignominy of being the only guy to shoot his own leader in the back with one of his own chumps (luckily he survived), and made it until turn 4 before being routed in turn. For those who have never seen it, it is basically a skirmish game of 40K using a mix of second through fifth edition rules mixed with a bit of fantasy (ie charging and shooting modifiers) involving a gang (mine numbers 10 lads) led by the leader and made up of Gangers, Juves and Heavies, who each have individual weapons and characteristics which can be improved based on how they perform in any given game, and how you and your gang perform overall (each gang member can also be killed like number 2 chump was for me - you are meant to name each ganger, but being the lazy git that I am, I just numbered them). My number 7 chump earned the marksman ability so I am now painting up one of my Snipers to represent this new trait - the idea being that what you see is what you get in game - there are no substitute weapons (ie you can't model on a bolt pistol and call it a plasma gun). This encourages unique gang builds and also painting as you are only allowed to use painted miniatures. I am looking to expand my gang with another heavy (a plasma gun), as well as a new gang leader (my Gideon Lorr Inquisitor model to represent the new equipment I intend to buy my leader) .

Unfortunately I won't get a game in this week as I am being sent to Melbourne for a work conference and will miss the Vet's night (you can't play Necro during regular trading hours in store as the game is not one of the core systems and is not officially supported - plus I don;t fancy going down on normal games night - Thursday - as it is now school holidays and late night trade - with the lead up to Christmas the shops are packed out - is madness). This at least gives me a bit more time to work on some models, but means I will be lagging behind in my gang rating and experience levels when I finally get to play again. The real beauty of this system is that when this campaign ends I can either retire the gang and start a new one next campaign, or refresh it with a few new members and bring it out of retirement later on keeping the same stats and experience - really building a story and theme for the force.

And before I forget, I got my From the Warp dice the other day and they are awesome. I followed Ron's instructions regarding blessing the dice before their first roll, but think the dice gods must have been snoozing as I don't seem to get any more than 2 6's at any one time which is a bit lame. Here's hoping that when they are rolled in anger for the first time they show a bit more oomph. But in the mean time big ups to Ron for organising these - little things like this help build our community so cheers Ron.


And that's about that I think, I've rambled long enough.

Hope all is well out there in the big wide world.

Cheers all,

Pom

Book Review - Iron Company...

I have been meaning to get this review up for a while now.

I knocked of Iron Company, the newest Empire Army Novel by Chris Wraight in about 3 days, it was such a good read - now by that I don't mean it was one of the best fantasy books out there, more that it was an actual pleasure to read, and to be honest, it could have been set in any other fantasyverse, not the GW one. This is because it is not like any of the other Black Library fantasy books, it is not about Orcs and Goblins, or Skaven or Chaos. It is about men of the Empire fighting against other men, plus a Dwarf.

The story is set in the province of Hochland, and revolves around the disgraced Master Engineer Magnus Ironblood, disgraced through his tinkering with the designs of Leonard Da Miragliano, most notably the Steam Tank design. Apparently, the School of Engineers is very much like the Mechanicus of the 40K verse in not liking people 'improving' on a design. Ironblood had done just that, refining the Steam Tank design into a multicannon steam engine, which his father, an even greater Master Engineer had test piloted when the device exploded. Ironblood went into exile, and became a drunkard.

This background is alluded to throughout the book, and is not until the end that the story is made whole. Where the book starts is with Ironblood in Hochland, being propositioned to lead a campaign against a rebel land owner who has retreated into a mountain fastness, and so far defeated a previous army sent to bring her to justice. Ironblood is tasked with overseeing the 'Iron Company' - the war machines of the newly raised army that will again go into the mountains and bring the Counts justice.

Ironblood takes on the job, and hires on his old war veteran friend Hildebrand, a Dwarf Thorgrad who knows secrets about the Fortress they are to assault, but who also has a hidden agenda, and a Tilean, Messina and his offsider Lukas, to be his assistant commanders.

They join the army for the march on the fortress. Although not alluded to in many of the fantasy books I have read, the Iron Companies are looked on in disdain by many, most notably the church, as new science, not needed in the time of Gods (most notably Sigmar), and as such, the artillery and guns are not respected and need to prove themselves. This image is not helped throughout the march when a cannon is lost to the mountain when a trail gives way, and when the force is ambushed by snipers whose weaponry is far advanced on the Empires own, making a mockery out of the Iron Companies claims of usefulness.

This outclassing by the enemies weaponry is the crux of the story. Captured enemy weapons show marks of Dwarven manufacture, but Thorgrad assures the him it is not of 'dawi' manufacture. This word, and the word 'umgi' are thrown about by the Dwarf, and i assume they mean Dwarf and Human in the Dwarven tongue. This 'dwarven' flavour to the weapons made me think that the rebels were colluding with the Chaos Dwarves (linking nicely into the rumours of the new Army Book) - this being heightened by the enemies constant reference to an 'infernal machine' which I took to mean some form of Daemon Engine - but it was not to be.

It turns out that Ironblood had not built the machine that killed his father, rather a colleague - Rathmor - had continued his work after he had realised how dangerous the machine might have been. This colleague had fled after Ironblood vowed vengeance, and in his travels had come across an ancient Dwarven book of engineering, and had adapted some of the designs for use on human weapons - hence the similarities to Dwarven design. Rathmor had also used the book to perfect the design of the new Steam Tanks - creating the 'infernal machine' - not really sure on why it is called that.

The book is quite well written compared to some of the latest tosh put out by BL. The siege scenes, and the ultimate infiltration and breach of the fortress are told quite well, and you gain a sense of attachment to the characters - some but not all. Some characters seem like they have been added just to fill space. The cause of the rebellion is not really explained other than the Lady at the centre of the schism being cookoo, and being easily led astray. The final battle is quite engaging, and leads to a satisfactory conclusion.

Overall, I enjoyed this book more than the last Empire novel, and would buy more of Wraights books in the future. As for the rating, I feel it is worthy of a 4 on the Oni scale.

As I said, an enjoyable read that would fit in nicely in any fantasy setting.

As I flick through the preview guide for January to April 2010, I see a lot that interests me in both 40K and Fantasy fiction. Stand outs include:

-Shadow King - Time of Legends - Gav Thorpe (January);
-Rynn's World - Crimson Fists - Steve Parker (February) - the blurb for this reads really well;
-Black Tide - Blood Angels - James Swallow (February);
-Ravens Flight - Horus Heresy - Gav Thorpe (February) - an audio book - not sold on these;
-A Thousand Sons - Horus Heresy - Graham McNeill (March);
-Call to Arms - Empire Army - Mitchell Scanlon (March);
-Flesh and Iron - Bastion Wars - Henry Zou (April);
-Prospero Burns - Horus Heresy - Dan Abnett (April);
-Nagash the Unbroken - Time of Legends - Mike Lee (April).

Wow - 2 Time of Legends and 2 Heresy books - boo-yah.

On my reading table at the moment is book 1 in the Dark Heresy saga, Scourge the Heretic by Sandy Mitchell of Ciaphis Cain fame, and I have book 2, Innocence Proves Nothing waiting to be read. Heretic is quite a good read which surprised me - expect a write up soon.

Cheers all,

Pom