September Slow Grow

The slow grind of the slow grow continues. Sadly I don't have that much progress to report overall, but at least it's not nothing.

Me:

I'm quite happy with this month, not necessarily because I produced an amazing amount of stuff, but because I actually started taking steps to tackle one of the weaknesses in the appearance of my Empire army - its banners. I have an awful lot of unit banners (we're talking dozens, really) where the painting is limited to a single colour, or maybe a vertical or diagonal stripe. I've always lacked the nerve to tackle anything more ambitious, and as I've generally been focused on getting things usable on the table, a fancy banner has never been a priority. But I've also been aware that banners can really improve the appearance of an army on the battlefield, so I've probably idly promised myself that maybe one day I'd go back and do something about them. I haven't quite got to that point yet, but at least this month's banners are done properly (to my level, anyway)...

Painted banners! Unheard of!

20 more Halberdiers, which is the biggest grind of all the things I've worked on thus far in the slow grow. The fact that I've been dumb enough to do it twice (and with 8 bonus ones slid in last month) is testament to my stubbornness (but also how I approach core infantry units like these).

The first unit was purple. This one is turquoise. The intention is that it will be easy to keep track of them, but if I wanted to I could blend it all together (along with a supply wagon/unit filler) to give me the traditional 60 man block that my Empire army is shaped around. I was hoping I'd jam the filler in as an extra this month, but I had forgotten I'd be away for almost a week - there was no way it was going to happen.

I still don't love these more modern Halberdiers. I don't think I'll paint any more of these. Maybe some Swordsmen or something.

The spot colours really do pop with the black uniforms.

Do they rank up? Well yes, but not easily. They'll obviously be much easier to work when I put them base adapters.

I was determined to break my pattern of wimping out and actually put something on the banner, and I made the mistake of looking at the Empire Uniforms and Heraldry book, and showing it to Noakes. He immediately spotted the most convoluted patterns and said I should go with those... I'm sure it's some form of sabotage, but I figured I'd give one a crack. It's just a lion with a cannon. How hard can it really be? Obviously it's not perfect, but given this is really not my thing, I'm pretty happy. Not sure I can handle painting a skeleton with scales on the other unit, though...

I've decided this cross is going to be a big part of how I tackle some of these banners. It turns up on a lot of shields (including ones on my War Wagons), and can become a bit of a thing. I figure the "back" of each banner can have a cross with an appropriate colour, and it should help with the overall appearance of the units on the table.

My Nuln army didn't have a battle standard bearer yet, so I figured I'd round out the month with something for that. This is a Highlands miniature, but it was also a bit of a misprint around the end of that yellow ribbon thing up the top (maybe it's meant to be metal to hold out the banner - I really don't know). I only noticed it pretty late in the piece, and ended up just cutting the bit that didn't come out properly, and carving the rest off the face of the banner. It came out fine. Mercifully the details on the front here (apart from the cross on the shield and the writing) are part of the model.

The back had not details, so he got another cross. This one being the army banner, I figured it should incorporate all the unit colours in it somewhere. This is where it ended up, which I think is fine.

Sean:

Sean has continued to cruise through this challenge, comfortably making his target each month. His focus has shifted this month toward some larger units.

A regiment of 15 Pink Horrors, using a pile of retro models that Sean somehow got his hands on (these guys are all about hands).

The standard bearer is a really smug looking guy. I like him. Sean is also keeping up with getting things based now before taking photos, which is good. Give us a finished product to admire.

The other unit (or maybe 2 units) is 10 Khorne Furies. 

These are Mantic Gargoyle models, which definitely do the job. Finding decent Fury models has always been a bit of a challenge.

Hamish:

Hamish is continuing his pattern of popping up occasionally with something that looks very nice, but is not enough to really swell is forces.

 

I think Hamish's beastmen are into Braveheart-style face paint, and this Minotaur is no exception.

The bloodstains and fallen leaves on the base are the sort of extra detail above what I tend to consider. All of my models are very clean and fight on nice, cleanly swept bases.

In other news, Tim has been doing some more work on his Skaven and will definitely have something to show next month. We're all slow, but we'll get there...