#workbenchwednesday 31/01/12 and Month in Review January 2018

Turns out this year that 3 months end on a Wednesday, meaning you (should) get a bumper post of my ramblings.  Lucky isn't the word...


Kicking things off with the compulsory workbench shot, got both Farrow units bases finished off, and got back to blocking in the base colours, Slaughterhousers already had a lot of work put into the metals, but I'll need to go back and tidy up a lot because technical paints and drybrushing is messy business.  Rear left shows that I've put together Nora from the upcoming Fallout Wasteland Warfare miniatures game, and rear left, Ulix has been inked and is awaiting layers and highlights to finish off my Malifaux crew.

Slaughterhousers, Nora, Ulix, Bone Grinders

After my late post last week, I got the Gatorman stuff primed and finished up the Wild Boars for the Hog Wild box, and following a really messed up sleeping schedule, managed to get a lot of time into the Gatormen over the course of the weekend.  Not sure exactly how long it was in all, a lot of time waiting for ink to dry, but I'd reckon somewhere between 12-15 hours in total for all 12 models.  Blindwalker being the worst offender, for having so many different areas.

Gatorman Posse, Blindwalker, Blackhide Wrastler, another Posse

Now, I don't "love" them, but they are growing on me.  I guess it stems from the whole make them as cheap, basic and quick as possible brief, and whilst I know I am far from being an amazing painter, I'd like to think I am at least a good painter, and it kinda kills me that I churned these out when I know I can do so much more.  However, they tick all the boxes for tabletop standard models, fully painted and based, arcs marked as required, 3 colours minimum (or all areas painted different colours for those who think the former is a fallacy), and whilst I could rattle out a lot of stuff to this level, I really don't think I could, at least, not for myself.  Turns out the fact it kills my soul means little to people, as I've already been asked about doing some Trenchers...

In comparison to the Gators, the Wild Boars probably took a similar amount of time, all that fur...  but I am a lot happier with them.  As usual, can't take pictures for toffee, so, you probably can't see a difference online.

Wild Boars - Hog Wild box

Gamewise, only played one game, a rematch of the Arkadius vs. Xerxes2 battle, swapping table sides and first turn.   I was severely hamstrung (see what I did there?) by terrain, but managed to grind out a 7-2 scenario win with a combined time of about 18 seconds on the clock.  The Arkadius feat double turn proved pivotal in removing the Siege Animantrax before it did any real damage, alongside 2 or 3 Archidons.   A forward placed Warhog forced Xerxes to move to one flank, as killing it would have shut down a decent assassination run, as I was camping 2 transfers, and would have picked up another 4 with it being killed.


In other hobby news, I assembled and primed the Ironskull's Boyz box for Shadespire that I picked up, and made a start on transferring some paints to dropper bottles with my old P3 inks and washes.

Also, this turned up.  Last years CMON kickstarter for Rising Sun.  Got the lot, and spent part of this afternoon sorting it all out.  Need to grab some extra sleeves for the cards, but should be good to go shortly, and will hopefully be a way to tick off another boardgame.

Oversized gameboard mat not pictured, as CBA unrolling it.

So, how was January overall then?   Pretty good I guess, kept up the #hobbystreak challenge for the entire month, I finished 26 models or elements in total, have approximately 35 WIP models on the workstation, played 7 games, transferred 8 paints, and surprisingly, kept the blog updated.  Full totals below.  Placeholder total for the Warmahordes list, still haven't figured that out, probably something I should set my mind to, seeing as WTC is a thing...

Amount	Task	Completed
517	Transfer Paint to dropper bottles	8	2%
1	Run April Fuel Daze 2018	0	0%
500	Make £500 selling old models	0	0%
61	Maintain Blog	5	8%
2	Go to 2 shows or conventions	0	0%
6	Play 6 New Opponents	1	17%
100	Play 100 Games	7	7%
6	Play 6 different Boardgames	2	33%
3	Play 3 New Games (or new editions)	0	0%
28	Paint 4+ points of Saga Normans	0	0%
3	Paint Guildball Butchers	0	0%
49	Paint remaining Deathguard	0	0%
26	Paint Waiqar starter for Runewars	0	0%
15	Paint 15mm army for HotT	3	20%
40	Paint 75pt Warmahordes list	0	0%
6	Paint Malifaux Crew	5	83%
1363		2.27%

That pretty much covers everything for now, off to York on Sunday so, probably have some new WIP models next week, or at least a confession about an enlarged lead backlog...

Cheers,

John

#workbenchwednesday 24/01/18

Yet another week rolls around, and things are happening, even though it was my long week at work.  If you've been following along on Instagram or Facebook, you'll have seen most of the pictures before, but currently the workbench looks a little like this -

Malifaux crew is looking smaller, right?  As you can see I got them pinned to their bases, which isn't something I normally do, but I figured it might save me some time if I wasn't highlighting all the hair underneath the boars.  Really just need to do the final white highlight and finish the tusks, teeth and toes and they are ready for varnish and basing.  Ulix might take a little longer, as I'm still undecided on colours for him.

Old Major

Penelope, via Brushchewer's iPhone, hence the fact you can actually see the texture of the fatmat...

Managed to finish up Old Major and Penelope for the crew, taking me to 2/6 Malifaux models for my Hobby Resolution, been fun, and I'll probably get the Piglets I have added in if I get time to bump up the crew.  I only picked them all up as I was planning on playing Arcanists, and had the Rasputina and Marcus sets, and figured more beasts was a good option for Marcus.  I don't have any plans to play super serious, so, maybe I'll stick with Gremlins.  Time will tell once I have the crew done and get some games in.

 I've also been adding some colour to the Broken Legions Warband whilst painting the Malifaux crew, nothing major and still a long way to go.  I really want to get these guys done soon, as I want to pick up some models to use as Ghouls from Vapnartak next month.  I'm thinking some of the Corelock Bods from Lucid Eye, but I know if I go to somewhere selling them, I'm gonna end up with the rulebook, lots of Bods, a few Heroes...

Love the crouching guy on the right.

 The backlog also got a sweet new addition in the shape of Geralt of Rivia, from Artel Miniatures.  My phone takes really bad pictures (did you notice?) so, I'm just gonna link the stock image so you can see how nice it is.  I guess Brushchewer missed watching me play Witcher III for hours on end.

Finally, played another game taking me to 6/100.  Dr. Arkadius in Will Work for Food vs. Xerxes 2 in Imperial Warhost.  Supremely tilting when you can't walk 5" out of deployment without being threatened by multiple charging heavies. Moved up anyway, getting some damage onto 2 Archidons, then took X2's feat on the chin. Lose 3 heavies (not the one with Forced Evo) and Targ, meaning I am in no position to attrition, forcing a desperate assassination attempt. Mist Speaker gives Arkadius Eyeless Sight, Witch Doc gives remaining Warhog Ghostly, and the Battle Boar Primal's him. Arkadius moves up, lands a boosted Crippling Grasp on Xerxes and feats, letting the Warhog fail a charge to put him in charge range for his own activation. Warhog gets to Xerxes and it takes all 6 attacks to kill him on 2 transfers and passing his first 2 Tough rolls....

Arkadius WWFF vs Xerxes2 IW

 I mean, I guess I should get more games in now, seeing as it turns out I made the Scottish WTC team this year, right?




That's all for now, plans for the day include having a new dishwasher installed, building some Razorboars for Mike, and getting the Wild Boars for the Malifaux crew done.

A belated #workbenchwednesday 17-18/01/18

Didn't have time to get this up yesterday as my work schedule was rearranged a bit due to a bereavement in the family.  Picked up a shift to cover a night off for the funeral, and had the kiddo's over, so, I got my #hobbystreak stuff done and that was about it.

So, what has been happening in the last week with my renewed hobby mojo?  Well, I've started keeping a diary of all the things I am doing (alongside the compulsory spreadsheet for tracking) so that I can actually reference what I've done.  I've managed to play 3 games (2 Warmahordes, 1 Blood Rage) and assembled 24 miniatures, not done a huge deal of painting (some basecoats and base work mainly), and set up my 2 day Warmahordes event for April on facebook (APRIL FUEL DAZE!)

In gaming accoutrement news, I ordered a copy of "Setting the Scene" from Wargaming with Silver Whistle based on a glowing write-up by Stu at "Worlds in Miniature" which features some gorgeous scenery already.  Head over there if you like gratuitous shots of 3d terrain.


It's a short week this week, only have tonight off then back to the graveyard shifts, so the plan is, drop kiddos at school, get a few hours sleep, then hopefully (if the snow has disappeared) get the assembled minis primed, maybe an hours painting, and knock out a few games.  Well, that's the plan.

#workbenchwednesday 10/01/18

Well, it has been a productive week.  Quick pic to begin with of the side of my desk, as all the stuff that was on it is done.  Ignore the 6mm beastmen, they are a hangover from last year, and I still have to find somewhere to move them to.

So, above we have, the Hog Wild Malifaux crew, plus some sweet Bases4War slate resin bases, Dr. Arkadius, a Razorback Crew, Razorboar, Bone Grinders and Slaughterhousers for Mike's army, my Broken Legions warband and a Minotaur, the remaining Butchers players for Guildball, the Shooter and Rider elements for Hordes of the Things, and a couple more Guildball minis for a friend.

Managed to get the bases spray primed for both Farrow infantry units, as well as having painted and varnished the Malifaux bases.   Started the metals on the Broken Legion models,after having done most of the base work.

In actual real progress, I finished up the 6 Farrow warbeasts, although I still have arcs to make on 2, and some blood effects to add to a few, mainly where they've had metal bolted into the flesh.

 

For myself, I completed the Magician, Behemoth and Stronghold elements for my Hordes of the Things army, just working away on them whilst waiting on washes and varnish drying on the Farrow.  I really like how the Behemoth turned out (I love the Reaper Bones Purple Worm, have about 3 now...) and I didn't bother highlighting it, as I felt it was clear enough to see, especially on a 2ft board.  I added some slime effects to the mouth, and dripping on the base, but I'll probably have to rework them once dry.  The Stronghold was fun, just 2 resin scenic pieces, but I've rediscovered my hatred of sand and gravel for basing (resin bases 4 life), and the Magician was a great wee tester, love how the glow came out around her eyes.

 Getting there Dave, might be on for a game before half the year is out.


In bad news, whilst looking for PVA glue, I unearthed a box of another 30 or so Foundry paints I had moved to make space, so, I'll have to add them to the tally...


So, that's it really, still on track with updates, and hit day 10 of the #hobbystreak movement.  I'll probably do some Broken Legions or Malifaux stuff next, then crack on with the Farrow infantry and the HotT bases.  I've also managed to reorganise a couple of shifts at work to get down to Vapnartak again with the club, which is always a good day out (even if I end up like a zombie).

#workbenchwednesday 03/01/18

Woo, first Workbench Wednesday update and 3rd post of the year.  Strong start again (probably doomed to failure).

So, what's happening on the productivity front?

Got the Minotaur cleaned up, arm pinned on, gap filled and base textured.

Cleaned up the Magician, Riders, Shooters and Behemoth for Hordes of the Things, and sealed the bases for the Stronghold and Behemoth.  Got all the infantry glued to lolly sticks for priming, along with the riders pinned.   Hopefully can get them sprayed tomorrow, weather permitting, along with the last 2 Deathguard and the resin bases for the Guildball minis, as they will all be bone.

Got all 3 Guildball minis cleaned up, pinned, primed and inked.

Got the Northstar Barbarians and Reaper Ghoul cleaned up, assembled, bases textured, primed and inked.

Got the last 2 Malifaux models primed and inked, along with the 3 resin bases that still needed it.


I also put some time in yesterday to get some work done on Mike's Farrow, which is a long overdue project, and got most of the metals sorted on 6 warbeasts and a unit of Slaughterhousers.  Really want to make a good dent in this before touching any of my own stuff.  Mike is the just the best about this, super patient, and constantly telling me to keep painting my own stuff too, but I really need to get the finger out on this project, and to clear the other couple of jobs I have lined up.  Hopefully I can get the last few models of the army assembled soon, and just plough through them.


In other resolution news, still not picked what Warmahordes army 'll be doing this year.  It was going to be Cygnar, and it turns out I have enough resin bases for the list, even if I am missing about 8 models, but the imminent arrival of a Dracodile might see me return to Minions and get more of the untouched Blindwater stuff done.


That's all for now, only managed about 3 hours sleep after work, so probably going to be an earlyish night for me, so I doubt I'll get much more done, maybe clean up a few bases of Warband for HotT, or just painting the rocks on the resin bases.

2018 Hobby Resolutions

 Happy New Year folks, here's to a prosperous and productive 12 months ahead.  I'm going to take some time to go over my Hobby Resolutions for the year, and explain why I've picked them.  I'm gonna deviate slightly from last year, as I really want to try and limit my hobby spending this year, so I am considering a reward system, where I set out some sort of incentive for finishing each task.  Chances are I'll completely ignore it, but I at least want to try.

1 - Transfer my flip-top paint collection to dropper bottles. (0/491)

Resolution - A continuation from last year, I managed to do all the GW Base paints and Washes, and figured out a set-up that allowed me to do about 9 paints at a time.  The washes were easy, the base paints took slightly longer due to consistency.  I'm hoping the layer paints are a bit quicker.  It's a lot of paint to get through, but it does include the remainder of the newest GW line, almost the entire Foundry line (missing one of the discontinued WWII sets) and the original P3 line.  I guess taking the time to do a few sets of 9 every time I have a spare day will help to chip away at it.   Even if I can't get through it all I'd like to at least clear the GW ones, and ideally the P3 too.  

Reward - some new paints.  I figure that if I do either of the GW or P3 lines I'll grab another set of Scale75 paints to fill out the collection.  If I do both, I'll get two.   If by some Herculean effort I clear the Foundry ones, well, I reckon that's worth two sets in itself.

2 - Organise and run a two day Warmahordes event, (0/1)

Resolution - Run April Fuel Daze again.  For my first big solo two day event, things went surprisingly smoothly, and it was definitely well received.  The fact that it was the largest two day event in Scotland for WarmaHordes last year was also a nice bonus.  I'd like to make it part of the WMH event calendar if at all possible, and would be aiming to up the places from 24 to 48.

Reward - Attend a two day event as a player.  It's good to let someone else call the shots once in a while, and I enjoy travelling to events and meeting up with folk I don't get to see that often.

3 - Make £500 selling old models. (0/500)

Resolution - Like most gamers, I have an insurmountable amount of tat lying about collecting dust, and like most gamers, I've always told myself that I'll get around to it some day.  The thing is, as I'm mostly about the aesthetics, most of the minis I've bought are because they look cool and I really do want to paint them.  Listing stuff for sale and dealing with the inevitable bargain hunting can you dig out one model from a collection of thousands for a pound just isn't worth the time or effort  (people, gah)  One of my main barriers to productivity ( after video games) is just the sheer amount of stuff sitting about to get around to.  Clearing some of that will hopefully clear my mind a little.

Reward - I guess the reward is doing this, I get £500 cash and free up some space.   Less clutter equals less distraction.

4 - Maintain the Blog with weekly and monthly updates. (0/52 and 0/12)

Resolution - Do a #workbenchwednesday post each week and a monthly update.   I always have the best intentions when it comes to blogging, but always seem to peter out after a few posts.  This year I want to try and break that by providing regular updates.  It's kinda hard to stay accountable to a general readership of 0, so, hopefully by posting more regularly, this blog will pick up some followers and I'll actually need to work at entertaining them.

Reward - No idea.  She says get a new laptop.

5 - Go to 2 Gaming Shows or Conventions. (0/2)

Resolution - Get out the house and go to a couple of shows, ideally including one of the Scottish ones this year.  I missed them due to being out of the country for various WarmaHordes events last year, so would be good to get back to them and see the familiar faces.  Outside of Scotland, I try to get to York with the club as it's a good day out, and there is a bit more variety in traders.

Reward - Again, no idea.

6 - Play 6 New Opponents. (0/6)

Resolution - Play a game against (or including) someone I've never played before.   A repeat of last year, but it worked well, and, well, I guess it helps me feel a bit less anti-social than I can be due to nightshift.

Reward - No idea.

7 - Play 100 Games (0/100)

Resolution - Play a total of 100 games across miniature and board games.  It's a big part of the reason why we paint these things so I'm told, so I guess it makes sense.

Reward - No idea.  Not sure these rewards are gonna be any sort of incentive...

8 - Play 6 different Board Games. (0/6)

Resolution - Again, a repeat of last year.  Still, have to put those kickstarted dollars to good use.  With any luck Rivals will eventually turn up this year (not holding my breath for Torn Armor) and Rising Sun is due to be delivered.  I've still got to get around to trying out all the Undead for Runewars V2.  I can see Blood Rage and Chaos in the Old World being pulled out again.

Reward - Pick up an expansion for one of my boardgames.

9 - Play 3 New Games or New Editions of Rules (0/3)

Resolution -  The past couple of years it has pretty much been 99.9% WarmaHordes when it comes to playing miniature games.  I haven't played 40k since maybe...  2004?  And I have umpteen sets of rules that have been updated without ever being played.  Plus there are new games coming out all the time, so this challenge should be relatively easy.  Seeing as I put the Deathguard together and got them painted, I figure the new 40k should be one of the games I play, and Saga has a 2nd edition coming out too, so that will probably make the list.  Malifaux, once I get the starter done would make up the 3rd.

Reward - Buy a new rulebook (and try to have models painted and playable before it is obsolete)

10 - Paint 4pts of Normans for SAGA. (0/4pts, 0/28 models)

Resolution - Paint at least another 2pts of Normans to give me a 6pt force, and aim for 4 to give me some options.  I currently have 8 Mounted Hearthguard (2pts) and 8 Warriors with Crossbows (1pt) part done from last year, and put together 12 Levy (1pt) the other day, along with a mounted Warlord and a...  well, I don't know, objective marker of some sort using one of the casualty figures from the sprue.  Can't find the dead horse in my bits though...  I'd probably throw in another unit of Warriors to this lot, as that would, over 3 units, give me the 24 models to run 2 units in Lion or Dragon Rampant, and having had a brief look, should be, with these new additions, enough to play a game.

Reward - Pick up the SAGA 2nd Edition rules.

11 - Maintain Butcher's Guild being fully painted. (0/3 Models)

Resolution - Get the last 3 (current) models built and painted.  It's 3 models.  One of them is a single piece.  And it means my Guild is fully painted and I can maybe look at starting one of the other ones in the backlog.

Reward - Pick up the Guildball Terrain pack from SFG.  It'll make a change from flat mdf that I use for Warmahordes.

12 - Paint remaining Deathguard for Warhammer 40,000 (0/49 Models)

Resolution - This one is more for her benefit as she's keen to play, to the point that when she picked up the latest edition, she swapped out the Primaris Marines for more Deathguard and immediately gave them to me so that I'd have an army.  I managed to get one box worth finished last year, and have the 2nd to work through, alongside a few extras like Deathshroud Terminators, some of the Easy to build kits and the Limited Set, plus a donated monopose Hellbrute and the Nurgle Daemon Prince from when it first made the transition to Finecast.

Reward - Probably pick up a Plagueburst Crawler as a nice centrepiece model (I would have said Mortarion, but I'll save him for when I have a much larger force)

13 - Paint Waiqar half of Runewars Miniatures Game Starter (0/26 Models)

Resolution - Picked this up last year to split with her because I loved the models (part due to Battlelore V2) and got started on it, but that hit a wall.  Steve at CGG is trying to get it up and running again, so I figure might as well get it tableworthy.

Reward - I'll probably pick up the Waiqar Infantry Command Unit Expansion, or, if I can find one cheap, a 2nd Core box.

14 - Paint a 15mm Hordes of the Things Army (0/14 Elements)

Resolution - It's one of those games that has been on my radar, probably because of the amount of older grumpier gamers that wax lyrical about it, although the cover kills it for me because it looks so 70's...  but it gets rolled out at the club every now and then, so, I figure it might be something to get me playing people outside my usual group, and knock some of the huge 15mm backlog down.

Reward - No idea.

15 - Paint a 75pt Warmahordes List (0/? Models)

Resolution - I already have plenty of Circle and Minions table ready (I mean, I still have huge backlogs of both, but...) Recently I made up a 2 list competitive (for me) pairing for all 13 Factions, and spent the last of my PG points picking up the models I needed to complete the Legion and Grymkin pairs, along with one of the Trollblood ones.  I am close to having everything for the Retribution, Minions and Circle lists.  I also came into possession of the new Trencher army box for Cygnar...  I guess it would be nice to paint up a real Warmachine faction after playing Hordes exclusively (demo games aside) for a few years, but I think Cryx or Khador is more my style.  So, contenders are Cygnar, Grymkin, or the Blindwater side of Minions.

Reward - This is a weird one, because the reward is gonna be part of the project.  Depending on what I choose, I'm either going to need to pick up a few more models to finish a planned list, or a bunch or resin bases, so, once I've chosen, I'll work on what I have and then pick up the models/bases as required to finish the list.

16 - Paint the Hog Wild Malifaux box (0/6 Models)

Resolution - It always comes back to pigs doesn't it?  I picked these up mainly for the boars for the Marcus box I had, however, I reckon they'll be more fun to do.  Not to mention quicker.

Reward - No idea.  A new Malifaux model?  

So yeah, that wraps up the 2018 Hobby Resolutions, I'm off to write some spreadsheets and colour in boxes.