Halfway through the year already, and I'm not sure if it feels like it has been a lot longer.
Back to pretty much normal service at work, and been doing a lot of work outside on the garden and my workshop, so, not been overly hobby focused.
That being said, I painted the grand total of 1 miniature this month, Asteria Solbright, to finish off my #talesofinstahammer2020 force.
I'm pretty happy to have completed the tale this year, and it means I have a GW legal army painted and based now, rather than all being on lipped bases. Not only did I manage to finish the 2000pt list I had planned out, but I added a bunch of extra stuff meaning I have 3630 points painted as of January. The backlog of Stormcast miniatures has been severely depleted, even with the Mortal Realms stuff arriving.
Stonecast Eternals - #talesofinstahammer2020
I do plan to clear them completely, but I'll probably try and play a few games to see what I fancy adding next. The full list is
6 x Castigators (160) 6 x Castigators (160) 10 x Sequitors (260) 10 x Sequitors (260) 5 x Sequitors (130) 5 x Evocators (220) 5 x Liberators (100) 3 x Steelheart's Champions (100) 2 x Stormsire's Cursebreakers (0) 3 x The Farstriders (100) 3 x Prosecutors with Celestial Hammers (90)
Speaking of playing, I did find the time to get a couple of games of WARMAHORDES in, Circle vs Protectorate of Menoth. Basically threw together a comedy list (Kromac2, one of each Warpwolf, Storm Raptor, Wilder and 2 Blackclads) just to get back into the swing of things. Turns out it poses some issues for 'jack heavy lists.
So, managed to knock off another painting project, barely added to games played, and not been able to add to the shows or anything while social distancing continues. Current painted total is 329 minis, meaning I am more than halfway to beating last years total. Better really reign in the painting or I might have to actually transfer some paints if I run out of stuff to do.
That's pretty much it then, stay safe people and catch you later.
Well, another month been and gone, my first full calendar month in lockdown, and it's been a productive one. Over the course of the last 30 days I have managed to knock 2 entire projects off of my #hobbyresolution2020 list, and paint 169 miniatures in total.
Feel free to count them.
Age of Magic and Age of Sigmar
Age of Vikings and Grymkin
First up was my #talesofinstahammer Stonecast Eternals. The brief was "Reinforcement" so I started with bulking out my lines with another 10 man Sequitor unit and 6 more Castigators, both of which were on my planned 2k list. For extras, I added in the Lord-Relictor, Knight-Heraldor and the Warhammer World Exclusive Errant-Questor. I managed to get the full lot painted by about the 2nd, but then left them unbased until yesterday...
Sequitors
Castigators
Sword, Flag, Trumpet. One of these things is not like the others...
After the Stormcast were done, I painted up the full Saga Age of Vikings army I had planned using my Footsore Vikings. It is actually 7pts as I added an extra unit of Hearthguard to give me 4 units for the Rampant games. These guys were done over the course of about 10 days, and I also have a video of them up on YouTube.
Vikings! - Footsore Miniatures
Shieldwall!
Portrait of the artist battling against the lead mountain.
After the Vikings, I tackled the 15mm Dark Age Arthurian Spearmen from Sam over at 15mm Skirmish Supplies, but, I can't show them off right now, as they were samples to be shown at shows, and Westwind has shut down for the moment and can't respond to any enquiries. Some of the kickstarter ones may have made it out into the wild, so a bit of googling might turn up some unpainted images.
Following on from them, I grabbed a few Grymkin models that I already had primed and blasted them out over a day. Exact composition was 2 Grave Ghouls, 2 Piggyback Officers, a Glimmer Imp and Trapperkin, and finally, a unit of Murder Crows. The best part of this batch is it means I now have at least 1 of every single Grymkin option fully painted.
Grymkin - Hordes - Privateer Press
Finally, I tackled the Night Goblin army I had planned as a Horde force for SAGA Age of Magic. This was my testing out Contrast paints on a full army project, after I had settled on the colour scheme after doing the Underworlds warband last month. It is mostly infantry from the old Battle for Skull Pass box, along with some of the new plastic Squig models. Love them, but they are a far cry from the one piece models I originally had in the early 90s.
I do plan to add more to these guys at some point, another unit of Bowmen at least to allow me to run 2 units in Dragon Rampant, plus I still have some Hoppers to do. I'd also like to add a big centrepiece model like Mangler Squigs or a giant Troll.
Squigs!
Lowly Goblin rabble.
More lowly Goblin rabble.
Warlord and Shaman.
So yeah, 169 miniatures painted. I should be happy with it, but it has hardly dented the backlog, like, I'd probably have to be doubling those numbers to make a serious dent in it...
That's all for now I guess, stay safe people, see you in the next one.
It is looking pretty busy as I tidied up the primer and inked all the Vikings and a couple of random figures. I'll probably try and get all the bases drybrushed and rims tidied up before moving them again and concentrating on the Cephalyx and Grymkin stuff. Getting paid is a great motivator, right? :p
My wrist is still playing up a bit, and along with work, and family stuff, haven't had a change to get more assembly or gaming in. I have, however, made some headway into clearing out junk from the games room. It is going to be a long job however, and that is without actually sorting through individual boxes and maybe trying to punt a load of stuff. Maybe if I can clear a lot, I can get on my pipedream of creating a spreadsheet of every miniature I own. Baby steps, huh?
Workbench has 15 Black Knights, 6 Trolls and 6 Wolves that I primed yesterday, along with Sam's 15mm Warband. Plan is to get all the basework done on the new additions, then bust out the Knights for #talesof\Instahammer, then finish the 15mm stuff. Not sure if I'll get around to the secret project, as I've still a blog article to do too.
Last week, before flying out, a lot of the guys in the chat for Belgian Masters were saying they were doing some last minute painting, so, in a fit of solidarity, I figured I'd do some last minute painting too. I grabbed the Wanderer, 2 units of Piggy Backs and a Witchwood and got started.
I got as far as this before we left Friday morning -
Best part of 50pts and a caster in 6-8hrs...
Not bad, right? I probably could have finished them (cleaning off the excess grass and doing the blood) but figured I'd let them dry over the weekend.
The event went well, really cool location, good food, managed to stomach the cherry beer, and finished off my #hobbyresolution goal of new opponents between the Masters and some games of Secret Hitler in the evening. 5 Game breakdown as follows -
Game 1 - Loss (was still in bed. 6am finish drinking may be the cause, but crappy sleep the days before didn't help either)
Game 2 - Child vs Krueger2 - Win. Opponent feated thinking he was going to score, and in my turn I managed to kill his Storm Raptor, get a couple of swings on his caster, and kill his Gnarlhorn. He conceded after that as he only had some Mist Riders, solos and a damaged warlock with nothing to transfer to.
Game 3 - Child vs Rask. I move up, wait out the feat, and prepare to capitalize the following turn. Screen my caster, but he oneshots a Crabbit and pulls the Child out from behind 2 heavies that were just a touch too far apart. Cue one Skarryth coming in and making short work of her. Loss.
Game 4 - Child vs Iona. Wasn't the best matchup for me. Playing into Iona of Wurmwood in Devourers Host with a large central forest. Game was a bloodbath (if you were a Tharn) and ended with the Child falling after clearing out a Warpwolf Stalker for some points. Loss.
Game 5 - Old Witch vs Issyria - Opponent being too aggressive with his caster gave me a decent shot at assasination top of 2. Witch feats, blinds the solo next to Issyria, and burns through a couple of her camp. Longfellow gets some damage on her, and crucially, I totally forgert the Hollowmen ignore the rubble when targeting her, and miscalculate the rolls and how many CRA's to make. Don't kill her, and Sentinels and Invictors put paid to Old Witch...
Final result 1-4 (or 1-3 not counting the one I didn't play) which is disheartening as I've been playing more recently and had a good shot into all my games with the exception of Tharn, which I think does a number on both my lists. List changes will probably have to wait until April/May until the new Grymkin models drop.
We got dropped off at the airport Sunday afternoon, and after dumping our bags in the hotel, went for dinner with the English contingent.
Monday was spent sitting on the terrace at the airport dojoing lists until my tablet died (was saving my phone as my boarding pass was on it) and cleaning off the grass from the Grymkin when we got home.
Not used to the lack of rain or mountains...
Tuesday was priming stuff and doing the blood on the Grymkin, before getting them into the cabinet.
Wanderer
Piggy Backs 1
Piggy Backs 2
Today has been doing all the basework on the primed stuff, and I've got the metal down and washed on the horses. Hopefully can at least get the skin blocked in after I've been fed, and work on the bone and exposed flesh tomorrow. I've removed the riders until the horses are done, and I might just glue them on at the end and paint them that way.
Back again, current #hobbystreakday44. Workbench looks pretty static this week though -
Not even sure anything moved...
Couple of reasons for this, kids were over at the weekend, so they spent some time pottering about with their Dragon Rampant army, so, I took the opportunity to do some assembly and basing too. Figured I'm going to try and have as much as possible cleaned, assembled, based and primed so that I only have the secret projects for #talesofinstahammer to prepare. I'm at just over 60% of the planned stuff assembled and based for the year, and I reckon doing the 10mm Warband army will really ramp that number up. Also, that doesn't take into account any of the stuff I already did over what I had planned.
Speaking of which, the challenge this month is Vanguard, and the secret project is to paint up a hero (or two). I kind of scunnered myself here by painting 3 Necromancers last month, along with the 3 Skeleton Champions... Not sure, what I am going to do this month, maybe source another Necromancer model, or a Vampire of some description. My Vanguard unit will be 15 Black Knights using the Mantic Cavalry. They are the restic versions, so clean-up was minimal and annoying, so I just clipped off the injection points, trimmed them, and scraped the mould lines off the front legs and face plate. I've based them on 40mm lipped bases, so they match my SAGA stuff, and could also be used for Lord/War of the Ring(s).
All your base...
I've also assembled both warbands from the Warhammer Underworlds: Nightvault box, along with a box of the snap-fit Mystmourn Banshees, 6 Fenrisian Wolves, 3 Spirit Hosts and 6 Mantic Trolls.
The Underworlds stuff and wolves were a joy to assemble, and, just when I was thinking how nice it was to be putting together nice sprued plastic kits, I started the Spirit Hosts. They were a nightmare. I'm sure there could have been much better keying for the strands without losing the incorporeal look. The Banshees, Spirit Hosts and Knights are planned for my Death army, and the Wolves and Trolls for my Of Gods & Mortals force,
Carrying on with that, I've also cleaned up and based the Warlord and 2 points of Two Handed Axe armed Vikings for my SAGA Jomsvikings, and the 4 Berserkers, for my OG&M list. These two projects are pretty intertwined, as I'll be able to get a lot of double duty from the figures and switch up lists a bit.
Started work on 2 of the 4 units of hand weapon/shield Hearthguard too.
Finally, been upping my game count too in preparation for the Belgian Warmachine & Hordes Masters this weekend. Mostly playing Grymkin, but also dug out Baldur 2 for a practice game to see how Sarah's army handles the Starcrossed/behind a wall/Roots of the Earth (and Spiny Growth in the case of Ghetorix) skew. Lost on scenario, but had a real grindy game, and still finished with 3 heavies on the table. Lost Wrongeye trivially, because Incorporeal and Transference (and re-rolls) is a thing that deals with Starcrossed...
Tonight we're gonna rock you!
So that's pretty much it. Hard weekend of drinking with added Warmachine coming up, then back to the grind to get my #talesofinstahammer projects and getting on with the 15mm stuff that is already on the workbench.
Back again with another update. Been a busy week by all accounts. Current #hobbystreakday9.
On the workbench, just started another batch of 30 zombies, with another 30, a Necromancer, some Wraiths, more Grave Markers and my Copplestone 15mm Picts off to the side ready to go with bases drybrushed and rims repainted. It's been a while, years in fact, since I did some real intensive batch painting, so, part of me is considering trying to beat my personal best of about 200 28mm scale minis in a month, especially as I can churn out zombies pretty quickly. This batch is just started, you can see a few have the skin blocked in as I was using up the last of the paint on the pallet.
I've also put together ANOTHER 40 Zombies using the rising from the ground parts on the sprues, but then I ran out before getting a full 60. I'm planning on doing a large block of skeletons, but ran out of lipped bases so they are on order.
Moar Zombie, Zombie, Zombie...
So much rimming...
I'm looking forwards to getting to the Picts, despite still not having put last years on the table yet. Maybe because I know how quickly I'll be able to get through them. Small victories ya know.
In other news, a couple of rulebooks turned up today, I picked up the Macedonian and Punic Wars supplement, as I have the base rules already, and I'm toying with the (new project) a multibased 15mm Celt/Gaul army that I could also use for Hail Caesar or whatever, and I figured I'd grab the Legions of Battle one because it probably has a similar basing scheme, so I should be able to run the same force for both. Here's hoping. My Northstar order is also out for delivery, so hopefully I'll have the last figures for my OG&M force soon.
On the subject of projects, my first painting one took a hit today, as a surprise Grymkin CID (Community Integrated Development) just landed, adding a few new options to the army, that hopefully should be released this year.
Some light reading.
And to finish off, here's a quick shot of the minis I've rattled through already. 60 Zombies including a Leader, Musician and Standard Bearer, a Necromancer, and 4 Grave Markers/Objectives. Hopefully I'll have another full unit of Zombies added soon enough. Now, you'll have to excuse me whilst I go froth over the Grymkin CID update.
Happy New Year folks, lang my yer lum reek and all that.
Continuing on from yesterday's write up of 2018, I'm going to lay out my #hobbyresolution2019 plans for the year, and do the write up why, and maybe continue the reward system. I've changed it slightly from last year to be 8 painting and 4 each of gaming and hobby, for no other reason than it sits better on the 4x4 grid. Here goes nothing...
PAINTING (8 resolutions)
1. Fully Paint Grymkin (HORDES)
So, last year I managed to paint over 200 points of Grymkin, along with 4 of the 6 Warlocks, and played them in a few events, most notable Welsh Masters and the World Team Championship. Being a limited release Faction, and my stylized colour scheme, means it is both cheaper and quicker to get them all fully painted. I used the last of my Pressgang Points to pick up a second unit of Murder Crows and 2 Madcaps, along with some other stuff, so I have at least one of every available option for them. The plan is to paint up the maximum Field Allowance for everything (jury's out on a second Death Knell though) with at least 3 of every available Warbeast, with a couple of exceptions. I doubt I'll need 3 Clockatrice when they release in February, so, I'll do 2, and a 4th Cage Rager to run the Pat Dunford (or Mat Hickling, depends on who you believe) Dreamer list, and probably 4 sets of Crabbits, to max out the King of Nothing's warbeast points, or have spares for free cards. I still have a fair bit of stuff to pick up, and more resin bases to order, but if I can even finish the models I own, I'll be happy with that. So, starting Painting Resolution 1 with a target of 79 miniatures.
Reward - this is kind of a reward in itself, I still have stuff to buy for it, and bases, but I'll end up with a fully painted (Limited Release) Faction.
2. 2000 point Death army for #talesofinstahammer (Age of Sigmar)
This was a late addition to the list, but, I was already planning on doing a lot of the models for various Fantasy Dark Age gaming. The 72 Zombies I had planned to use as Levy for my SAGA Draugr soon became 120... I'm not going for a killer list, more, just random stuff that will be useable in multiple settings cobbled together to hit a points limit. I had a lot of stuff already for this, so it's not a huge drain on funds, and might be subject to change depending on what the secret challenges for the Tale are. There is a brief outline of tasks for the first 6 months of the year, followed by a 6 month open period where the plan is to finish the army, as far as I can make out, but, we'll see how it goes. Current list adds 152 models to the tally, with some extra stuff like grave markers to be added.
Reward - Probably has to be a Forgeworld Mournghul. Loved that model for ages.
3. 24pt Tree Folk army in 15mm (Dragon Rampant)
I really need to get back into my 15mm fantasy stuff, so I figured I'd do a Tree Folk/Forest Spirit/Nature based force for DR, mainly so I can throw dice with James and Sam, and it gives me the opportunity to go mad with clump foliage. It's all going to be Demonworld models for this, which I already own, so all I really need is a couple of movement trays. I did have to fudge the rules a little to get everything to fit, but I doubt either of them would care too much as it is thematic rather than gamey. Another 31 models added to the tally (even if they are, mostly, small.)
Reward - No Idea.
4. 6pt Jomsviking force (SAGA)
I've owned a large amount of Wargames Foundry Vikings for going on 20 years now, and maybe 3 have been partially painted... I figured it was time to rectify that, and it would give me a good start on models for Blood Eagle too. I picked the Jomsviking for the sole reason that they can be built as an elite force, so I could get away with the lowest model count army possible. I picked the most heavily armed and armoured sculpts I had, and sorted out enough shields with embossed emblems for them (I'll use the split shields for warrior units, and plain ones for any Levy models I get to. Yes, I know I can't take Levy, but I can if I run them as standard Vikings) 6 Hearthguard units and Warlord adds another 25 models to the list.
Reward - No Idea.
5. Taurian Army pack (Warband)
I picked these up a couple of years ago (Minotaur army, obviously) and figured I'd get them done too, as the Hordes of the Things painting went well last year. This will add another 73 models to the list spread over 8 multibases, so, I'm not really sure how I count them. It's a bit more than the 3-5 on a HotT base. Sadly, I know the correct answer to this.
Okay, 8 Elements it is...
Reward - I'll possibly pick up another of the army packs (Undead) or maybe some random additions for the list.
6. 15mm Worm Cult Picts (Hordes of the Things)
Despite not having seen the field of battle, I really like the miniatures I painted up last year for this, so I plan to add another 8 elements to the army, aiming to do a few new ones, and bulk out some of the options I already have painted. I've ordered more Worms for them from Heresy Miniatures, and they are resin now, which should be lighter on the bases and easier to pin. Again, 8 elements added to the total.
Reward - No Idea.
7. Paint 4 Shadespire Warbands
So, I was planning on doing the two warbands from the original box, plus the Farstriders and picking up the Sepulchral Guard, but, seeing as I got the Nightvault box at Christmas, I'll do the Briar Queen set instead. I'm still planning on painting Garrek's Reavers, although it might have been a better idea to do all 3 Stormcast Eternal warbands at the same time. Another 18 models to add.
Reward - I already think I'll be getting all the warbands one way or another, so, to avoid miniatures, I'll probably pick up the terrain set and/or some snazzy tokens for Shadespire.
8. 1200pt Norse Army (Of Gods & Mortals)
I've played OG&M a few times in 15mm with James, but I'm doing this in 28mm to get more of those Foundry Vikings done, and I wanted an excuse to pick up the gorgeous Odin sculpt from Nothstar. I also wanted to paint up some Berserkers (that the Jomsvikings don't have access to, to allow me to run them as standard Vikings) and give me more stuff for Blood Eagle. Got almost everything I have planned for the list, with the exception of a single Valkyrie (should have a female Foundry model somewhere) and some Trolls (also, these are somewhere, but I can't find them right now...) Another 40 models on the list.
Reward - No idea. Maybe a large scale figure suitable for another God.
Total painting target - 361 miniatures/elements/multibases (443 actual miniatures). I'd like to hit 365 miniatures painted over the year, so. getting all this done covers it (in individual models at least.) I'd also like to equal or beat my 2018 total, but really, I'm going to aim for 400 painted miniatures/elements for the year.
GAMING ( 4 resolutions)
9. Play 100 games.
Same as last year, keep hammering out games. Doesn't matter what scale or genre, just keep putting painted figures on the table and pushing them around and having fun. That's pretty much the whole reason for doing this, right?
Reward - No idea.
10. Play 8 New Opponents
Again, stole this one from last year. Probably because I managed it. It was something that I claimed early in the year, but even then, I tripled the original figure. It probably gets harder if I'm only playing one system, travel dependant, but as I add more painted forces to the stable, it should always be a possibility.
Reward - No idea.
11. Play 8 board games.
Again, stolen from last year, but upped the number. HATE should be arriving, and I'm keen to play that, hell knows if I'll ever see Rivals or Torn Armor, but I still have enough of a collection that I can do this.
Reward - board game expansion... modest kickstarter... I dunno.
12. Run APRIL FUEL DAZE 3!
Well, it's not personal gaming so to speak, but to continue the event I started as a Press Ganger, and give other people the opportunity to play, I'm planning the 3rd APRIL FUEL DAZE event. As always, I want it to get bigger and better, and really have an impact on the Scottish Warmachine Scene.
Reward - well... I already won a free ticket to Welsh Masters so...
A bit of a mix between things there, different types of games (no cards, they don't count) just to mix things up a bit.
HOBBY (4 resolutions)
13. Consistent Blogging
The plan is to continue with the same ideal as before, a weekly #workbenchWednesday post, and a monthly review post, showing where I am with my resolutions.
Reward - No idea.
14. Shows and Conventions
Aiming for at least 4 different shows or conventions. Vapnartak and Carronade are pencilled in, I'm sure I can squeeze in a couple more.
Reward - random impulse purchases?
15. Continue transferring paints to dropper bottles.
Herculean effort, glutton for punishment, call it what you will, I'm going to keep on keeping on with this one. A quick count shows 27 Games Workshop, 74 Privateer Press and 366 Wargames Foundry paints (467 total) to be transferred. And that isn't counting the newest P3 colours... I managed most of the GW ones last year, so, hopefully I can at least finish them.
Reward - more paint. In dropper bottles.
16. Even more blogging
I'd like to do at least one extra blog post per calendar month, on top of the weekly and monthly updates. It could be on anything, a painting tutorial, recap of a show or event, battle report, discussion about an army list, I dunno. I guess the plan is to just keep on putting stuff out there and hopefully build traffic on the blog.
Reward - no idea.
Again, a bit of a mix of stuff, one thing I really wanted to do, and had pencilled in for a bit, was get more 3d terrain done. There is a really good article over on Void Spaces about making a Barrow, which would be ideal for SAGA/Blood Eagle/All the Dark Aage Fantasy stuff I am, and have been painting up. It would be a bit of a throwback for me too, to get my hands mucky making terrain, as it's mostly been 2d stuff here, or hard plastic kits. I have some Hirsts moulds somewhere that would be suitable, and, there are probably a few things I would change, but it would be interesting to see the same idea done differently.
Well, that's it for now, I should probably get some sleep before getting started on this years hobbying. If anyone has any ideas for resolution rewards, I'm all ears.
