Slow Grow Part 1 Complete

This post comes about a week late, but you'll just have to take my word for it that I actually did manage to get my first "month" (really a first effort of 2 months in one go). The deadline was the 15th, and I finished painting at about 11pm that evening. Depending on your perspective, I either barely got there, or planned it perfectly...

The last part of my first month target was a pair of bolt throwers. Actually, this is a lie. It was originally 10 warriors, but by the time I got to them after painting hammerers and thunderers, and with time gradually sliding away, I decided to change my goals. The bolt throwers were always going to be on the list at some point given that I didn't have any painted, and it was a bit more interesting than yet another group of 10 troops. So here we are.

2 Dwarf bolt throwers with their crew. The crew are actual GW models, but the bolt throwers I 3D printed using a model someone uploaded to Thingiverse, which appears to be based on the model in Total War. It certainly looks like it.

More slow grow Dwarfs

Time ticks by, and the slow grow continues. We're now a bit over 2 weeks from the end of the first nominated 2 month period, and I feel like I have things relatively under control. I have already posted my unit of 10 Hammerers, but I can now add to that a unit of Thunderers, and a Thane.

I say a Thane, but I really mean Ungrim Ironfist, the Slayer King of Karak Kadrin. Except that he can't be that at the moment, because that would be ridiculous in a 500 point mini-army. So instead he's just a Thane for now, running around in his dragon pyjamas...

Ungrim Ironfist in all his retro-inspired glory. I based the paint scheme on the old original GW studio paint job for this guy from back in 4th edition. Mine has a more modern plastic back banner on a brass rod instead of a paper one like their had, and he's standing on a little green stuff rock that I must have made years ago. When I came back to this guy recently, he had already been assembled and undercoated for a long time.

Hammer time!

With the Landship out of the way, I was finally able to make a start on my slow grow Dwarf commitment. I've posted previously what my plans are for the first 2 month period up until mid-December, and it's relatively ambitious in terms of number of models. I figured it would be OK, given they're Dwarfs and not the slowest thing to paint, but as usual I found that I made slower progress than I had hoped with the first unit, and now I'm concerned I might end up having to scramble to get things done in time.

For my first unit, I went for the Hammerers. My existing unit is only 20 models strong, and knowing that I had a few more up my sleeve that could be bolstering this number had annoyed me for a long time. Well, that is over. I have no more spare Marauder-era Hammerers lurking in my cases.

10 Hammerers, ready to bolster my existing regiment's ranks. Old Marauder models, but with more modern shields (with the hands that were moulded onto the shields carved off).

We're on a boat!

It has been about 10 days since my last update, and I'm afraid that I have not yet made any progress on the slow grow painting challenge. Poor Dwarfs. Their time will come. In the meantime however, I have managed to complete the Marienburg Landship! In many ways I felt like I had already broken the back of it in my last post (or maybe broken my own back), but it is undeniably more colourful now.

One Empire Landship, complete with a 18x10cm base that a friend made for me on an FDM printer. It probably could have been a little smaller, but this feels appropriate for the size of the model.

Going slowly and another Slow Grow

True to my previous declaration, my hobby time for the last couple of weeks has basically been dedicated to painting up my Empire Landship. The fact that it's been that long, and that it's not finished, and that I haven't even really been skimping on time spent on it, is a testament to how much work this has been. It's a very big model...

Still a work in progress, but the worst parts of it are done now. Just detailing and crew to do.

The Halflings cannot be stopped

My progress on the halflings has rolled on inexorably. Or maybe it's that I've made progress on halflings who roll on inexorably. In terms of actual time spent on some of these guys, how can something so short take so long? It's a riddle indeed.

I find the Duncan Shadow halflings quite straightforward to paint, and I like that their snappy uniforms are so crisply defined. It basically forces me to paint the puff and slash in separate colours, which is why I elected to put them alongside the MOM greatswords, who are much the same. Of course, finding them straightforward and them taking little time seem to be two unrelated things for me. And I still find that I struggle with some of their faces, particularly the female ones. Painting faces is often one of the most rewarding parts of the model, because it is sometimes really clear where the highlights should go, and it draws the model together. I didn't always find that here, and it's discouraging. But they'll be perfectly usable as a regiment on the tabletop. Looking at them individually (or with a camera) is always a little less forgiving.

20 Duncan Shadow halfling archers, up to my usual sort of tabletop standard. I had already shared 10 of these. The other 10 were done in a reverse colour scheme to try to break up the fact that there's only 6 different models there.

A Different State of MInd

Well it's been over a month since my last post, but let's face it - there have been much longer gaps recently. This is practically frequent posting. And what's more, I actually seem to have rebuilt some hobby momentum. In my previous post I had painted 7 Teutogen Guard, and it was the first real painting I had done in months. Well since then, I have painted another 7 Teutogen Guard. I was going to do more (there are 11 more that already have a bit of paint on them), but I got sidetracked. Here is what my unit now looks like with all the painted stuff together...

49 Teutogen Guard, counting the obligatory unit filler. Most of these guys were painted long ago and need a clean up. Maybe they'll get it at some point. For now they can just rely on my poor, lazy photography taken with them sitting in my lap.

As I say, I got sidetracked. I was starting to feel the grind of painting the same things, and rather than risk pushing and burning out again, I looked around for something to inspire me. This resulted in me going off on a tangent and started painting Empire models for a new province - Talabecland! They have snazzy red and yellow uniforms, and in my mind it's one of the classic colour combinations you'd see in multi-state armies. Before this post I had literally no Empire models with this colour scheme, but now I have... some. More than none, but far from an army.

I'm not dead

So contrary to the indications from the complete lack of life here on the blog, I have not died. Life continues here, with our existence largely being defined with us popping in and out of lockdown, and going for extended periods without being able to meet up with anyone or play games. It's not really great for my motivation. 

Further to that, just as I felt like I was building some real momentum in my painting by working through all those militia, I went and made a mistake by trying to tackle painting a blood bowl team for a friend. I was not enjoying painting the models, but tried to force my way through anyway, and ended up with a complete lack of desire to pick up a paintbrush. It was silly. It happened ages ago now, and I really haven't done anything worth mentioning since then. It's a bit of a cautionary tale. I have had some success in the past with grinding through something I didn't want to paint and feeling the relief of coming out the other side, but realistically this time I didn't get close to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe I overestimated how much momentum I really had.

Whilst I sat in the hobby doldrums and licked my wounds, I have managed to make some progress in adding to my painting backlog - that's right, I am making the problem worse and actually going backwards. The 3D printer continues to churn away in bursts of productivity, trying in vain to keep up with all the fancy stuff people keep producing on Patreon and Kickstarter. It doesn't help that I end up wasting a bit of time and energy trying to ensure that what I'm printing will end up in a scale that's compatible with my existing models. It's a bit of a challenge when the files are coming from dozen or more different designers, and sometimes aren't even internally consistent...

That middle shelf is full of models printed from different manufacturers, sometimes at different scales, lined up with randomly selected Warhammer models. Sometimes scale is surprisingly difficult to work out.

A Tale of Two Taverns: The Other Part 1

Of course, there's two sides to this story. On the one hand you have that festering turd of an establishment called the Brass Farthing, but on the other you have the Fleecy Half Pint. In Averland it is, but not far from the border with Mootland. It's a fine place, although the roof is a little low on account of the customers bein' a bit short. But that just makes it all the more cosy, and the company is cheerful as you could hope for. And the ale... The ale is to die for. Though nobody ever finds the bodies...

We've been a little slow getting organised with the photos, but Noakes also completed his painting target for the month. Here we have the crowd from the Fleecy Half Pint, along with what personal details I was able to glean from Noakes' fevered ramblings...

20 painted halflings, all of them from the Warlords of Erehwon range. 

A Tale of Two Taverns: Part 1 Done

Now there's this tavern down in Stirland, called the Brass Farthing. Pretty dodgy place, it is. Not like our fine establishment here... Anyway, the place ain't much to look at, although they say the owner, some Dwarf fella, has more money than Sigmar... But yeah, the place ain't flash, but they say the ale they serve there is somethin' else. It's so good, it's almost unnatural!

A month has passed since my initial post in the series, and I'm pleased to report that I managed to paint everything I was originally hoping to. This is a novel feeling - it's been a long time since I really felt like I managed to paint anything to much of a schedule.

Anyway, behold the patrons of the Brass Farthing, one of the most questionable taverns in Stirland...

40 of the most questionable soldiers you're ever likely to meet in the field. The first time I've really painted any Free Company, and I'm kind of sick of them. Too many colour decisions.

Hobby Update

We're well into the month of April, and I'm happy to say that my effort for the Tale of Two Taverns is well under way. I made a lot more progress over Easter than I expected, and I honestly feel like I can take it a bit easy for the rest of the month. This isn't my proper post for the challenge - this is just a bit of a general hobby update. Just in case you thought I had forgotten about you.

This is Grubbi Geldsson, the owner of the Brass Farthing. He's not very nice, but he dresses very nicely. You can sort of see some of his patrons behind him. See, I'm making good progress!

A Tale of Two Taverns

It all started over a pint. Well, it was an argument over a pint. Actually, there were two pints, and they were arguing with each other. Yeah, that's it... Barkeep! Another!

It has been a long time since I committed to any form of hobby challenge. It's time to change that. My friend Noakes and I have decided to embark on a sort of hobby duel regarding two rival taverns. Probably the taverns are from different towns. But let's not bother with the details for now. The point is, right now we are planning to spend the month of April each painting up a regiment based upon the patronage of a particular pub. As of a day or two ago, none of the models had anything more than an undercoat on them. Here are some starting photos...

The patrons of the Fleecy Half Pint, which is Noakes' tavern. Apparently they are led by the baron, who is the guy in the middle with the eyepatch, and who is not in fact a baron at all, but a little guy with a fancy house and an ego. You may in fact observe that they are all quite short. Also, the banner pole really needs to be straightened...

The Cleansing of the Rear Passage (Part 2)

This is the second part of the battle report Cleansing of the Rear Passage. You can find the first part here.

Orc and Goblin Turn 3

The Orc advance continues, except over on the far left where the arguments are just getting worse...

The Cleansing of the Rear Passage (Part 1)

A Warhammer Fantasy 8th edition battle report with Tim Stewart

*****

"My queen, we are still having issues with the Rear Passage."

Queen Bellicosa stomped to a halt in front of the Ironbreaker as he gave his report. She was already clad in her ancestral armour. He favourite axe was slung casually over one shoulder. Behind her marched dozens of her best warriors.

"I know," she said matter-of-factly. "That is why I am here."

From around the far corner, a chorus of hooting and huffing announced the hurried arrival of a band of Slayers. At their head was a particularly muscular individual with a huge green crest of hair and an obvious lack of wits. Seeing the assembled Dwarfs in front of hum, he skidded abruptly to a halt, causing those behind him to collide in an undignified mess. Muffled curses and threats could be heard from the lower levels of the pile of orange hair, muscle and weapons. Their leader seemed not to hear or care.

"You're not going without us are you?" he demanded of the Queen. At least, that was what she thought he said. It was a little hard to understand him, given he had no teeth. Legend had it that he had crushed all the teeth from his head eating rocks on a dare.

Bellicosa simply shook her head. She had little time for Barri Stonechewer and his band of suicidal fools, but they might prove useful if they encountered something nasty during their expedition. The hold could not afford for this mission to go ill. Although the hold of Karak Nong's main gate emerged in the mountain passes high overhead, most traffic heading to the other nearby holds passed underground. 

With the rear passage blocked, life would soon become uncomfortable.

She hefted her axe and turned toward the gate. "The passage must be cleansed. Open the back door."

*****

Right, so it was my first time back at the games club in an entire year, thanks to a combination of COVID19 restrictions and common sense. Tim and I decided to play a game of Warhammer, and then I took enough photos that I figured I might as well turn it into a battle report.

Dork's Uninvited Green Guests (Tim)

• DW Dork Wildthrasher
  Black Orc Warboss with Battleaxe of the Last Waaagh, Heavy Armour, Shield
  263 points
• BSB Ruglub the Collector
  Black Orc Big Boss with Battle Standard, Heavy Armour, Dragonhelm, Ironcurse Icon, Talisman of Protection, Shield
  145 points
• W Wuzzup
  Orc Shaman (Level 2)
  100 points
• OBU 25 Orc Big'Uns
  Shields, Light Armour, Full Command
  260 points
• SO1 20 Savage Orcs
  Additional Hand Weapons, Full Command
  215 points
• SO2 20 Savage Orcs
  Additional Hand Weapons, Full Command
  215 points
• BO 20 Black Orcs
  Heavy Armour, Lots o Weapons, Full Command
  275 points
• T 5 Trolls
  175 points
• SH1 8 Squig Hoppers
  96 points
• SH2 8 Squig Hoppers
  96 points
• RT 8 River Trolls
  360 points
• MT Massive Troll
  Giant
  200 points
• Total: 2400 points

Knowing that we were going to be playing in the caves, Tim avoided fielding any artillery, chariots or cavalry. He also ended up not getting any  mangler squigs because he wanted to field lots of trolls. Especially once he saw that I had nearly finished a really big one that he could use as a giant. He also elected to generally avoid goblins, given the Gob-Off is yet to be resolved and that uses enough goblins for everyone...

His list is intentionally not too carefully tuned - we had agreed not to field anything like souped-up unkillable characters. The magic items were an afterthought, which means it's quite impressive that he managed to stuff a 100 point magic weapon on his mostly naked general...

Bellicosa's Dwarf Doormen (Me)

• QB Queen Bellicosa
  Dwarf Lord with Gromril Armour, 2 Runes of Fortitude, Rune of Stone, Great Weapon
  206 points
• SS Snuggi Softensson
  Dwarf Thane with Battle Standard, Gromril Armour, 2 Runes of Iron, Rune of Stone, Great Weapon
  146 points
• BS Barri Stonechewer
  Dragon Slayer
  70 points
• LB 20 Longbeards
  Heavy Armour, Shields, Great Weapons, Full Command
  330 points
• Q 16 Quarrellers
  Heavy Armour, Shields, Great Weapons, Dwarf Crossbows, Full Command
  270 points
• T 16 Thunderers
  Heavy Armour, Shields, Dwarf Handguns, Full Command
  238 points
• IB 20 Ironbreakers
  Gromril Armour, Shields, Full Command
  310 points
• ID 16 Irondrakes
  Forge-proven Gromril Armour, Drakguns, Full Command
  270 points
• S1 10 Slayers
  Array of Axes, 1 Giant Slayer
  132 points
• S2 10 Slayers
  Array of Axes, 1 Giant Slayer
  132 points
• M 12 Miners
  Heavy Armour, Great Weapons, Standard, Prospector
  140 points
• OG Organ Gun
  Rune of Forging, Rune of Burning
  150 points
• Total: 2394 points

For my part, I had decided to field a lord on foot (which you wouldn't normally do because shieldbreakers are a no-brainer). I went with blocks of 20 warriors and decent-sized units of missile troops, given they can fight in combat too. I did take a single war machine, but didn't make it too fancy with an engineer or anything. Just keeping it simple. I really need to paint up some more miners. I feel like an underground game should really have lots of them. Oh well, job for later.

Deployment

You'll have to forgive the map. I made it using an ancient Java applet that Pete managed to revive for planning cave maps. It does the job, I think... Hey, at least you got a map. You're spoilt, really.

I have a War Wagon!

As someone who grew up playing Warhammer in 4th and 5th edition, I find nostalgia for that period to be very strong. I read every battle report and article in White Dwarf, and pored over the pictures. Every time I pick up an old model to paint it, I am conflicted about whether to paint it in a (rather dull) manner that is coherent with my existing forces, or to surrender to my baser urges and paint it exactly as it appeared in those magazines...

I didn't play Empire back in those days, but I have since accumulated enough of the older models that I have this same issue when I'm painting them. I find myself wishing that my stuff looked like the old studio armies, so that I could properly recreate the vibe of that era. I haven't given in yet, but the urge is there. In a similar vein, it has bothered me for years that I didn't have a War Wagon. They were a fixture in the Empire army photos of the time, and it always felt like a gap. This is of course rather silly of me - there haven't been rules for a War Wagon in an Empire book since the 4th/5th edition one. So it's not like I had a functional gap in any list I cared to make. But that didn't stop me really wanting one. And any time I saw one for sale online, they went for an eye-watering amount of money. I have a stupid amount of stuff, but I still don't really see myself as a collector, and hence I have issues with paying what can only be considered collector-level prices.

Well, in recent times I have finally had the means to do something about my terrible need for useless War Wagons! In actual fact, I've done a couple of things. First there was a Norba kickstarter with some suitably retro-looking War Wagons that I backed. With the last year being what it has been, I'm not entirely sure when those models will arrive. And then along came another option, in the form of 3d printable files from Magori Miniatures. This would mean I could print unlimited War Wagons!! So I could really double down on my largely unusable models. This was perfect. I had to do it. And so I did. I became a patron, and I printed 2 War Wagons. Just the 2, so far. But I can always make more...

Of course, I say I printed 2, but so far I have only painted 1 of them. The other awaits assembly. And there are some learnings from this one that may or may not be acted upon.

A War Wagon by Magori Miniatures, with traditional GW barded warhorses. At the time, the wagon only came with unbarded horses and that didn't fit the traditional vibe I was going for. So I stole the horses from elsewhere. There is muttering coming from one of my bags of unassembled knights, I think... Amusingly, the designer added some barded horses maybe one day after I stuck this all together.

Blood Bowl High Elves

The world continues to spin, and we seem to be cycling in and out of lockdowns due to COVID19. It has been some time since I last managed a game of Warhammer or Kings of War... Probably close to a year, really. However, we have recently started up another Blood Bowl league and I've managed a few games of that. I have even managed to build and paint a team!

All of these players are 3D printed from bits from Ilhadiel, who has been rather prolific in producing models for specific armies (Elves, Herd/Nature/Beastmen, Varangur/Chaos and various other odds and ends). The models tend not to have excessively elaborate detail, but they have a particular style that I quite like. In particular I do like the range of Elf helmets spread across the units.

This is a High Elf team, but I've also printed some slightly different parts with which I intend to build an Elf Union team for a friend in the same league. The models won't be terribly different, but I will obviously use a different colour scheme. And capes. Everyone likes capes.

(Well, maybe not everyone...)

Anyway, nowadays High Elf teams have Blitzers and Throwers and Catchers, and it all makes sense and is very boring. Back in the day those things were less obvious and more High Elven - Dragon and Phoenix and Lion Warriors, respectively. I used that as a queue for how I was going to assemble the models.

The bare minimum 11 players, but I was in a hurry to get a team on the field and I had some minor misprints that ensured I couldn't make any reserves immediately.

Orc and Goblin Army Photo

Happy new year! I can't believe it's been 3 months since my last post. Well actually, I sort of can believe it, but it fills me with feelings of guilt about my neglect of the blog and stuff, so I shall feign shock at how long at has been...

The new year has started much like the previous one ended. Events are cancelled (we'd normally be getting ready for a road trip up to Cancon now), there is no sure timeline for when the games club will be back up and running, and everything is in a strange holding pattern. It doesn't do great things for my hobby motivation. On the bright side, a few people have started playing some games of 6th edition Warhammer Fantasy (including a game that took place right here, even though I was not involved). It's good to see some games happening again, even if people can't seem to decide exactly what they're going to play.

Recently I've noticed a number of whole army photos popping up on my Facebook feed, and it has finally helped me get up enough energy to take pictures of another of my armies. This time it's the Orcs and Goblins. 

Somewhere in the vicinity of 18,000 points, and over 1000 models. It took a while to fish them all out of the cabinets.