Tag: Games Workshop

Warhammer 40,000 – Great Unclean One/ February Challenge WIP (Score So Far +6)

I don’t mean to be crass but, by the green tinged skinfolds of the Lord of Flies, this chap has a lot going on in the sculpt…

I have decided to do a WIP post for two reasons.

  1. I just need a rest from holding him. Finger cramp is not often a problem for me but this chap is almost solid lead. It seems to be an old school trend, from the same era as the solid dreadnoughts of the mid to late 1990’s.  Makes me think back to the stories of the original Thunderhawk Gunship.  I never owned one, but it was spoken about in hushed tones, weighing in almost as heavy as a small, well fed, child…
  2. I have begun to notice that every time I turn it over I find another couple of things that I have missed in the way of detail.  Taking a few photos will let me make note of what areas still need to be revisited.

So far I am happy with the skin tones.  Contrast seems to be turned up a bit to far so I will aim to tone down the red, white and yellow a little.

His nails are a touch too clean for a follower of Nurgle so will need dirtying up a bit.

That huge sword may get some more attention.  I have some rust effects that may be used here.

I usually speed paint, as I find some jobs are eventually more taxing than fun.  This figure, however, I am happy to put down, think about it, and then pick up again a few days later…

One thought is to get some Martian Cracked Earth paint onto the base, as the bright desert yellow is making me think the figure is darker than it really is.

Does that actually make sense to anyone else?

Not sure yet about the skulls on the flail. They appear slightly flat at the moment.

I might leave them alone until the base is coloured though, as they seem to be hiding in that yellow, but may contrast better against the final red earth colour.

If you are wondering about that hole in the base (I know you are unlikely to be that bothered by it, but I will tell you about it anyway). This figure came with a few Nurglings as you would expect for a plague daemon.  The problem is, I put them somewhere safe in the shed, and I don’t have any other Nurglings left over from other kits.  I appear to have scavenged them all when I built my unit of 6 Nurgling bases.

I guess a trip onto eBay awaits me.

Work done on an item listed on The Plan, definitely a point in my favour.

Score for post +1 point / Total score +6

 

Warhammer 40,000 – Does This Herald A New Age? Unlikely… (Score So Far +6)

February brings a new vigour to the shed, with the achievement of some mild successes.  Not only have I started on my Nurgle Daemon backlog but I have also managed to get some use out of my airbrush for the first time.

The Great Unclean One (likely to be used in games as a humble Daemon Prince) has had some layers put on to him.  I may still cock this up by not knowing when to stop with the airbrush and revert to a normal brush.

My Herald of Nurgle also got a few air brushed layers as well. If all goes well this may be a good way to get some quick base colours on the other Nurgle Daemons too.

I don’t expect this to be my new ‘normal’ method of painting figures but it does allow me to try a few new things.

I have always thought of myself as a ‘basic’ painter.  I am a ‘colour in up to the lines and try not to go over the edges’ kind of guy.  I like miniatures that have well defined edges sculpted into them, that I know I can stop at.  Lots of new figures, like these Nurgle Daemons, are appearing on the market which have softer transitions and require more blending of colours to get them to look good in my opinion. That is something I have never been comfortable doing with a brush.

This airbrush thing seems to be one way of getting that blended effect that I like onto figures like this…

My Herald is definitly on ‘The Plan’.

Score for post +1 point / Total score +6

Warhammer 40,000 – Nurgle Daemons Planning Stage Part II (Score So Far +4)

Looking at everything that needs doing on ‘The Plan’ that I listed, to get the Nurgle force finished, gives me the feeling I may have asked too much of myself this Spring.  To make it more achievable I have therefore put together a ‘first game’ list. That way I just will focus on the figures I need to finish for the first planned game, and not be put off by it all…

The list is likely to be less than game winning (as most of my armies are) but appeals to me as it is a bit more thematic (the excuse I give when I lose to a more focused list).

  • 1x Great Unclean One (Mother of all worms)
  • 1x Daemon Prince (Old GUO)
  • 1x Daemon Prince with wings
  • 3x Heralds of Nurgle (Pox Bringer, Spoilpox Scrivener, Sloppity Bilepiper)
  • 6x Nurglings

  • 30x Plague Bearers (mixed figure unit 15 older PBs and 15 Proxies)

  • 30x Plague Bearers (mixed figure unit 15 older PBs and 15 Proxies)

The force needs some work with a paintbrush and some rebasing to get it ready, but it is an achievable amount of work.  It also lets me practice with the army colour scheme again (I haven’t painted anything for this force for a good few months) before I attempt the largest figure in the force, my Glottkin…

Still just moving stuff about so no points this time again…

Score for post 0 points / Total score +4

Warhammer 40,000 – Nurgle Daemons At The Planning Stage (Score So Far +4)

Although the plan is progressing well, +4 at the start of Februaury, I find myself missing opportunities to paint again.  Well, not so much ‘missing’ but maybe more ‘avoiding’ them.  I have been in the shed a couple of evenings and not managed to pick up a paint brush at all.  I have many ways of wasting the hours, none very productive.

So when I found myself moving stuff about in the shed for the 3rd day in a row, I decided to try to get my enthusiasm going again by getting a clearer idea of what I actually had for use with the new 40K Chaos Daemons Codex.

It still involved moving stuff about but felt more like a positive achievement. Above is the extent of my Nurgle Daemon collection (both official and proxy models).

In the painting queue and on ‘The Plan’ are these 20 plague bearers. They started as a unit of 20 with one command set but gained a second command when I was bored, and thought it would be a good idea for some reason.

I have lots of different plague bearers in my collection. The old and new plague bearers are very different in style and pose.  All of my old plague bearers (31 of them) came from eBay and were painted in various colours and styles.  My plan is to rebase these to tie them into the main Nurgle army.  The idea of stripping them just to paint them in a more uniform colour seems foolishness in the extreme. All sorts of folk come in a range of different colours and I don’t see plague bearers as any different. Considering some of the things I have used as proxies for plague bearers in the past I for one cannot comment.

The last of the guys on the to do list and also to be found on ‘The Plan’ are these rather large chaps.  An original Great Unclean One (decidedly small next to the new GUO model by GW) has languished in an undercoated state for the last six months along side my Glottkin (who is more in line with the size of the new GUO).  A Herald of Nurgle and two reaper bones beasts complete the group.

Only one of these chaps look like they will be used as their original purpose.  The Great Unclean One will likely be used as a Daemon Prince so that the Glottkin can be proxied in as a larger GUO or as Scabeiathrax The Bloated from the Imperial Armour Index: Forces of Chaos book.  Scabeiathrax’s stat line has him as almost equivalent to an imperial knight so fits the Glottkin’s stature…

These were finished a while back and have been played as proxies for Beasts of Nurgle (the giant worms) and Heralds of Nurgle (the giant snails).  If I play the heralds as more plague bearer sized figures then these may be proxied in as a mixed unit of Beasts of Nurgle.

Nurglings speak for themselves and are just fun to play.

These critters (30 of the blighters) are a mixed lot that have been proxied into use as plague bears in the past and may continue to be used that way.  Maybe with the newer (yet unpainted) plague bearers mixed in for even more variety.  Why should Nurgles Rot just affect humans.  Wouldn’t he focus his aim on infecting all creatures equally?

Still not sold on the plague drones from a game point of view.  A great set of models and they are absolutely huge.  Which is probably why they seem to attract so much fire in the games I have played them in.  Never effective so far, I love them all the same…

My ‘Mother of all worms’ has been my usual Great Unclean One proxy for the last year and I always worried it was too big.  With the new GUO from GW it is now just the right size…  Likely to remain a GUO proxy or maybe be reinvented as a ‘Spined Chaos Beast’ with the Mark of Nurgle…

These Preachers of Nurgle have been a number of things over the years.  As one has scrolls and one has a megaphone they are likely to be used as the two new versions of the Herald of Nurgle in the first few games I play.

My Daemon Prince with two malefic claws and wings won’t change much as I like his look and his effect on the table.

After looking out all the other figures, I came across this little chap and remembered he was also in the army codex and could be given the Mark of Nurgle too.

All in all its far more than I need for the 75 power games we usually play (quick tally estimates the collection at 139 power).

As this is just me moving stuff about and not actually doing anything I am not going to score the post this time.

Score for post +0 points / Total score +4

The New Year Plan – Man Flu… Medicine… The Arrival Of Papa Nurgle (Score So Far 0)

This post was planned as a quick aside really, to say that I didn’t get a game of Heroes of Normandie in as planned.  I have what seems to be a mild dose of the flu.  I know, I can hear women everywhere (at least those living in my house) saying ‘man-flu’ but it has kept me in bed for most of the last 48 hours.

As I fight of the virus that is trying to distract me from keeping my focus on ‘The New Year Plan’, I find myself up against a new opponent that has found its way into the house.

My good lady wife has installed this monstrosity in our conservatory recently, and its directly in my line of view when I write this blog…  If posts get a little strange over the next months, it may be this glowing brown medicine taking an effect.  I will keep my resolve and try to avoid its wanton glare…

Its apt, and a little unnerving, that this book arrived in my possession a little before my flu took hold. It would seem that the more I read over the first few days the sicker I became.  After 3 days of my colleagues commenting that I looked ‘a little peaky’ I had read most of it and tried to plan out my first Nurgle Daemon list.  As soon as that list was written the infection took hold in earnest…

I will leave you to make up your own minds as to its power over me…

Scoring this should really be +2 as I should get the point back for not playing Heroes and for getting my Nurgle list together. I suspect however that we will still get that game of Heroes played, albeit a few days later than planned.  So rather than gain a point, just to have to post that I have lost it a gain, I am only awarding myself +1 point for the work done on my Nurgle list.

Score for post +1 point / Total score 0

Warhammer 40,000 – Dreadnought Update

I have had this Dreadnought for a number of years.  He is an old Rogue Trader miniature and is armed with two close combat weapons with bolters.  He is a nice model that sadly no longer fits any Dreadnought weapon load out in any current GW rulebook other than a Blood Angels Furioso Dreadnought (and I don’t play Blood Angels).

I have found one option that will get him back on a table though.  In the Forgeworld Adeptus Astartes Index is a Chaplain Venerable Dreadnought that can field two close combat weapons with Storm Bolters.  Therefore this chap will need to be given some additions that make him look more Venerable and a bit Claplainesque. The skull faceplate from an imperial knight and the helmet wings from a dark angels terminator give me a start point but still leave him looking less than finished or Chaplainesque.

By Chaplainesque I do not plan to add a bowler hat, moustache or walking cane…

I am thinking of additions that are more like a Reliquary, Terminator Honours and a couple of Badges of Office…

Thankfully eBay has plenty of bits sellers that can provide terminator, officer and chaplain parts that can easily be added to the base model, as he looks a little plain at this point.

 

Warhammer 40,000 – Death Guard Heavy Support

So in that mad moment recently, when I risked a bit of cold weather spraying, a few other items got a coating of colour as well.  One I was keen to start was my first real tank for the Death Guard.

So far its just base coats, and a wash to weather them.  I suspect that the spiked rails will be painted brass at some point as the traditional colour scheme for this model appears to be a mix of greens, silvers and brass.  A scheme that I do kind of like.

Those colours will mix well with my old school, green, Death Guard troopers.

The Death Guard are a good army for me, as my painting style favours dark washes and simple weathering.

I may get this brute finished this side of Xmas. If I don’t get distracted again…

Warhammer 40,000 – Predator Upgrade And Turret Mount

So, I took a risk in this cold weather and base coated my new predator.  Some cold and moisture related unevenness can be seen in the finish but not enough to make me think it was a fail.  I wanted to get this back into the paint queue quite quickly.  All those bare metal (or plastic) bits are now unlikely to get looked at until the weather improves enough to undercoat them…

The original plan was for a versatile vehicle – Rhino, Razorback, Predator and Whirlwind.  The missing ingredient was always a set of missiles.

That is no longer an issue… and they even came with a turret mount that will allow me to field the weapons as a rapier style sentry gun.

Kromlech have supplied the assault cannon and the missiles.  Their range is slowly expanding and the option to purchase as hatch mounted or with the ground support adds to their flexibility.

Only trouble is its not yellow yet…

But it will be soon! (well, maybe in the spring…)

Warhammer 40,000 – Leaning On A Lamp Post (Or 12) And Dreadnought Musings

I picked up a few new lamp posts for the table recently that are 3D printed.  They are very nice but the bases are a little small and don’t keep them stable so needed slightly wider bases before painting them up.

While I was waiting for them to dry I was staring at the shelf of shame (where things that have been in the painting queue go when they have been started but then neglected – a bit like purgatory for toys I guess).

I noticed that I had 4 dreadnoughts on the shelf from a number of differing eras. A short and long limbed rogue trader era dread, a Venerable dread and a Helbrute.

The size difference between the smallest and largest is vast.

I also had an older plastic Terminator

And a newer Death Guard hero in Terminator armour.  No real conclusions to be had here but just an observation of the passage of time and our need for ever increasing size.  The detail on the larger figures is more notable and I wonder if this is the reason for the size change (to make room for more detail).

I hope it isn’t just the manufacturer feeding our need to feel like we are getting more for our money.

Warhammer 40,000 – Helbrute Rebuild And Rearm

As always, finishing the easy one is always… well…  easier!

Blending the skin tone and greens on this chap when I was unsure of the original colour was always going to be fun.  In the end a couple of washes over the new and old surfaces brought them nicely in line.

The greens were more difficult to match so I decided to paint the weapon in base metals and silvers as an easier option (see that word again? It keeps popping up, almost as a theme…)

I am quite pleased with the finished effect.

As soon as I was done though, this happened…

I had noticed as I changed the weapon on the other arm that the original build was done using a rubber based glue.  Hideous stuff but I hadn’t imagined it would be this weak.

So instead of just gluing it back on, I decided to make it into a feature and magnetise both the Lascannons and a set of Heavy Bolters for a touch of variety.

Now this chap can throw out a hail of lead…

Or cook up a few tanks, whichever he chooses…