Tom's Goblins and Orcs: Rank and File #3

March. Another month gone, and it feels like I'm slowly running out of time, and well - I guess we're now over half way through! This month I painted the lovely goblin archers from the Warhammer Fantasy Regiments set, and added another ogre too. 

Here's a classic breakdown of the archers, with GW standing for Games Workshop, PA for Pro Acryl and AK for AK Interactive...

GW Moot Green - skin

PA Orange Red - tunic

PA Black - bow

PA Warm Brown + PA Black - pouch

PA Warm Yellow - arrow flights

AK Deep Sea Blue - knife handle

Vallejo Metallic Black - metals

Then an all over wash of GrimDark Shadow from The Army Painter

Then the magic highlight! 

Either by adding white and/or yellow to the base. Although with the skin I used PA Bismuth Yellow (and then added white). This Bismuth Yellow is the main difference between the skin of the goblins, and the skin of the orcs. I use the Warm Yellow for the orcs... 

I also used GW Luxion Purple - for nails and shade in eyes, and a Vallejo Air Silver to highlight the metals.

The base is:

AK Grass Green, and the rim is GW XV-88 

The green is shaded with watered down PA Camo Green.

And then highlighted with AK Interior Yellow Green, and then again with a tiny bit of white added to the Interior Green.

Quite a few of these steps I could have cut out - for example, I think I could have just used the Silver and not used the metallic black. And I could have painted the knife handle black. And not done the extra highlight on the grass... 

But they're all done now!!

And here's all the lads in all their glory!

And I painted this ogre too, to 'match' Januarys OWAC submission :)

I very much enjoyed painting him, and now I plan to add a third, for when I paint my last rank and file unit - the orc boys.

That's my March month complete!

I just need to show my Tribute model - now with Byron in the States. Many thanks for your hard work!

He's a lowlands troll from Knightmare miniates - here's a store link:  LINK

I loved painting him too - very different to how I would usually. He's mostly wet blended, and was painted in one sitting, in about 2hrs. I think he's one of my best. It was mentally exhausting though, and had to have a few days rest after. 2hrs (I think) is absolutely crazy, but it was one hell of a super fixation! There's no way I could have painted another.

I used the hairdryer (a new addition) a lot.

The initial basecoat👇

Refining the highlight 👇

Very nearly finished 👇

And here's him finished with one more highlight - mostly on the blue skin. And some black reed things on the base 👇

The base is milliput, with holes poked in by a cocktail stick, with milliput stones on top. The black grass is painted toothbrush bristles.

I've wanted to paint him for aaaages. And I nearly chose to paint the knightmare range of Orc and Goblins for this OWAC, but the call of the monopose plastic was (thankfully) too strong!

All that's left is the links back through this Challenge, and the monthly total....

Intro: link

January: Rank and File - link

February: Rank and File - link

March: Rank and File 

54...   18 x Goblins (short bows)

40...   1 x Ogre

Total...   94

This brings my current army points total to 294. Which is low. But fear not. I have painted the giant, which neatly brings the total to just shy of 500. I'm just keeping him in reserve in case of a terrible April...

Anyhow - that's it. See you next month for that giant!

Maurice suspect the points total is a little low for three months work!

James WRR’s Rank & File 3: Big iron

 “And lo, on the day of judgement, great tides of flesh of claws and chattering teeth did descend upon the castle man had built.
He dared to scrape the heavens with the glory of plasteel and concrete. 
And the gods punished him by breaking the seal and sending forth his monsters.
Three years of torment followed, and man crawled to the heights of his towers to survive.
Until the Emperor on his throne felt pity, and saw man had repented.
The Emperor sent his angels, clad in burning ceramite and carrying the torches of purification. 
And they did smite the monsters from afar,
driving them forth into the wilderness from whence they came.
But the angel’s wrath was great and their swords sharp.
The tower that man had built was reduced to rubble,
a reminder to all the price of pride.”

• Canto 6 of the Great Book of Helvellin

_______________________________

Hello again, Imperial Citizens,

This month, I bring to you the very long arm of the law: a Grey Knights Devastator Squad. 

Devastator Squad Apollo

When I’d first picked up my little horde of RTB-01 Marines for this project I found myself in a bit of a conundrum. Would I just paint a couple Tactical Squads, as they were mostly all armed with Bolters? No, that would have been too repetitive and boring. Would I make one an Assault Squad? Hmm, tempting, but a full squads’ worth of authentic metal jump packs and weapons would run me well into the three figures. 

The answer hit my square in the jaw when I found a lot going for a set of Beamer-armed metal marines. Right, that’s it, I thought. Devastators!

Rogue Trader Space Marine squads had some strange restrictions on heavy weapons. For example, you couldn’t just pick and choose a medley of guns, you basically had two lots of two different weapons for each Devastator squad (Missile Launchers and Heavy Bolters, normally), which could be swapped out entirely for another set. For Grey Knights Devastators, one of the options to replace Missile Launchers were Conversion Beamers — one of the most insane weapons in 40k history.

What do you mean it’s a laser beam that turns matter into pure energy and becomes more powerful the further it travels? The Tech-Magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus were really smoking something strong that day. 

Heavy weapons specialists

And so, by picking up a couple Heavy Bolters and tacking them onto two of the previously Beamer-armed Devastators, I was able to create a full, functional squad of these heavy weapon freaks for the first time in my decades-long Warhammer career. Now to aim them at something.

I’ve always found this older style of heavy weapons a bit goofy. How the hell does a human being, even if they are a Space Marine, fire mobile ordnance that size with one hand, from the shoulder?

Logic be damned, the sculptors of the day were clearly embracing the rule of cool, and gave us a wide array of incredibly wacky weapons as a result. Most of these proved so iconic, they’re still with us today. Though you probably won’t see Space Marines in 11th edition rocking Webbers…

In terms of painting these guys, there’s nothing particularly interesting to add this month. I was inspired by the inimitable Curis of Ninja Bread for the Conversion Beamers, interpreting the little hollows around the edge of the weapon’s… ahem… bulbous head as little lenses. I imagine they must channel the destruction energy towards a single point, sort of like how the Death Star powers up.

Danger: Do not look directly into light.

The rest of the Marines in the squad, including the Sergeant, were painted in exactly the same way as my Tactical Squad, with a healthy smattering of checks, flames and saucy slogans. I had a lot of fun painting the big ol’ eyeball on one of the bases, and playing with different skin tones as well. I promise there’ll be some slightly more varied models to come next month…

But I’m proud to have built and finished this unit. With two squads of Marines on the table, a bit of armour and at least one character, this is really starting to feel like an army.

Slaughter of the daemons on the planet Helvellin

And remember everyone, as a certain Chapter Master of the Blood Ravens would say, “walk softly… and carry a big gun.”

_______________________________

Army list as of March

Techmarine Tarantus
Techmarine
Basic equipment
Vincent Black Shadow motorcycle
97 points

Brother Bethor
Deredeo Dreadnought
Missile Launcher, Heavy Plasma Gun
Standard Sensor Package, 2 Power Fields, Power Field Synchroniser
270 points

Squad Heliod
Tactical Squad
Sergeant with Bolt Gun, Bioscanner and Power Glove
1 Marine with Missile Launcher
1 Marine with Flamer

7 Marines with Bolt Guns
275 points

Bright Sword
Rhino APC with Techmarine Pilot, assigned to Squad Heliod
2 Bolt Guns
387 points

Squad Apollo
Devastator Squad
Sergeant with Bolt Gun
2 Marines with Beamers
2 Marines with Heavy Bolters

5 Marines with Bolt Guns
379 points

Paul's Dwarf Army Month 3 Rank and file Spearmen.

 Three months in and things have been a bit hectic with family stuff including the arrival of a new granddaughter which was pretty amazing. Despite this I have managed to crack on with putting brush to metal and have finished a unit of 10 spearmen. The intention was to complete another unit of 15 models but time constraints have taken their toll and I won't be able to do any hobbying for the last week of March. So I've had to bite the bullet and give in for the time being. I have partially finished the command group but I can submit them next month so that cuts future me a bit of slack. 

These guys were an absolute delight to paint as each is characterful but they don't have the frustratingly high degree of detail that many new minis exhibit. The faces on these are amazing as well with some absolutely astounding expessions. At present they cost 121 points but with 3 ranks and a full command that will increase to 178 points. Once complete the spearmen, thunderers and miners will give me a total of 515 points for the army so far. Below are some close ups of the individual ranks.

As a preview for the next post I will be completing another 5 minis for this unit which will include the command group. I have made a start on these and below is a WIP shot of where I've got to with them. 

I want to do a flag for the standard bearer so I will be trawling through old copies of White Dwarf and Army books for some inspiration. As well as these guys next month I will be looking at the command models for my army. The original list had a General and a Hero but I found an old metal Runesmith which I thought would be a nice addition. There may also be some Orange haired axe wielding psychopaths on the horizon. That concludes this months post. Looking forward to the next instalment. 

Paul’s Dwarf Army Rank and file #2

 Well this has proved to be a tough month and I will be happy if I avoid the trip to the field of bones. Below you can see the completed unit. These guys include a full command group and add up to a respectable 221 points taking the army total to 337 points when taking the thunderers I painted last month into consideration. 

I have just finished the unit of miners but if I'm being honest I am not completely happy with certain aspects of the painting, notably the lanterns and the small pouches on many of the models. However, this month I painted a unit of 15 infantry and last month I only painted 10. 

The command group are character models all on their own and here are some images of the trio, as a collective and as individuals. 

I was expecting the miners to be an easier ride than the thunderers due to the fact that I didn't have to paint any of the yellow. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. The NMM of the chainmail and the helmets makes up the vast majority to these sculpts and my main concern was that they were going to lack definition due to large amounts having to be painted the same colour. However, with a bit consideration and a lot of 'to-ing and fro-ing" I think that there is a fair degree of separation which is created by the contrast of the highlights. Painting the candles was an absolute joy and I was hoping to do a bit of OSL from these but that was being far too optimistic. It may be something that I look at adding at a later stage. 

Hopefully these shots show off the individual rows of the unit.

Next month I have even less time to paint so I think I will have to look at painting a couple of character models or a war machine just to be able to hit the deadline. After viewing some of the other blogs I feel that I should also attempt a themed display board for this army. I would also like to thank everybody who commented on my post last month. Thank you for the kind words and support. I will endeavour to respond to everyone. See you all next month.

Nicolas' Chaos Army of Tzeentch - Monster Month

 After a staggering amount of hours for one miniature, I offer you my Tzeentch Hydra, the Spectral Dragon II from Grenadier, also known as Tiamat, the lawful evil goddess of greed, the queen of the chromatic dragons, for the more D&D versed companions!

War hydra - 200pts

That miniature was insane to get through to the level I had invisionned, and although I would still burn 4 more hours to refine the body and base, I am more than pleased with the actual result!

It all started with this beautiful kit I got my hands on during this OWAC planing. A lucky find, brand new, part of a "hobby shelve clearing lot", hidden in a closet for over 3 decades. It struck me, its called a dragon... but its anatomically a wyvern, and an epic lead scultp on top of that. A creature off-putting and unatural, clearly soaked in magic, perfect match for a Tzeentch army.

I attacked this project like a one of a kind, sort of stagging every step to realy feel the milestones passing by. 

First, assembly, not a beginners kit at all, parts are heavy and the alloy shrinkage makes the 2 huge body parts leaving a huge crevasse on the back along the spine, or the belly, depending on where you apply pressure. Obviously I went for the back fit.

The mixed plastic and clay base was also an interesting build, which allowed me to easily deal with the miss alignment and mostly hide this flaw.

Building the structure of the base... terrain from the Warcry Catacomb box, I better make proper use of these! Plus these old movement trays are such great massive base!

The plastic sprues I glued at the bottom of the base help minimizing the displacement of the clay when it dries up, so it cracked along the weaker points I left on purpose and the contact line with the model remains intact. Now that the exposed parts have cured some 20 hours with the model in place, i can remove it for the inner part to cure... and the model will sit back in place properly afterward... mixing clay plastic and metal is tricky but I love the process.

The original plan was to paint it exactly in my flamers color scheme, I even considered changing the heads for bird like demons... but that would have been butchery! 

I finaly started the base colors like my flamers but went for the standard 5 colors.  I aimed to bring up as highlight/accent the yellow on the blue, the red and the green heads as well as on the back spikes... then use blue highlight on the black and use green as shadow on the white... and the front and back carapace bleached bones on green.  I even kept my wet palette since January so that should go smoothly!

Which got me to the point of the actual painting, each head felt like painting an idependant miniature. It was very challenging, but after hours of grinding, it is done!  Overall, I enjoyed the process as much as the result.  Special mention to that lichen harvest I did in the forest behind one of the campsite I vesited last summer. My wife was delighted. 🤣

And a family photo of the "horde" so far;

Which makes me realize... I realy need a new background! 😅

Andrea's Space Elves - Month 2, Leader month: the Avatar(s) of Khaine

 Hi OWACERs,

here is my leader for the Leader month: the Avatar of Khaine!

It is the first time I paint this incarnation of the Avatar, having already painted the NewHammer one, and I never used in the battle. Honestly, I wasn't a fan of the model but after this month I can say it is really funny to paint. Unfortunately the model was a little ruined in some details, especially the gems, so it was not completely satisfactory but I liked the exercise of blending the colours to give the fiery aspect. Overall, I am happy with the result.

Well, short after finishing I though that this was the good moment to slap some paints on another model. If the 2nd edition Avatar looks badass, and the 9th edition one looks like the overgrown brother, there is another one that is so much badass-looking that he could sell chunks of badassery at the fish market: the Rogue Trader incarnation!

We say, in Italy, that in the little barrel there is the best wine. Well, I think this is exactly the case!

So, know I have (except for the side track of ForgeWorld ones) all official Avatars, that could help me start an old project: EvolHammer, or how miniature design changed over time (one day I will publish a blog on this). So, I can't keep myself and I have show you the series (Parental Advisory, heresy inside: NewHammer models will appear):

Someone says "scale creep"? The son, the father and the grandfather

And so, for the sake of army points painted, here we have:

The Avatar of Khaine (Leader)........... 300 pts

Well, thank you for looking and see you the next March!

ciao, Andrea