Secret Santa

A 'Secret Santa' miniature exchange was organised on the Librarium Online forum. I love the idea of painting something as a present for someone else, it really keeps my enthusiasm up. I did this Ratskin Renegade from the Necromunda game (which is Mordheim in 40k).

Not 100% happy with the photograph quality, but he's already a little behind schedule so it'll have to do. Tomorrow he'll be off to Oslo, I hope his new owner likes him.

Ice Devil (Gelugon) WIP

Work in progress. Still a little way to go, this is my first attempt at source lighting.

Mum's Chaos Warriors

Really late with this one, but soon after paintintg her first miniature, An Ogre, my Mum had a go at a unit. She liked the look of some mauve Chaos Warriors on a website, and this unit of Slaaneshi baddies was the result.

October Commission

Some more Battle For Skull Pass Dwarves, done on Commission;

Dwarf Miners and Warriors

Coming to the end of the Battle For Skull Pass boxed set now, just about in time for the Assault on Black Reach one to be delivered.










As usual, they're all for sale.

More BFSP minis

More BFSP minis, Dwarves this time;





And a unit of Night Goblin Spearmen. As usual, all of them are for sale.

Squats Ebay bargain

I managed to snipe this lot of Squats on ebay for £5.50, because they were listed by someone who didn't really seem to know how rare they are.

Blessed parents selling their kids old junk!

I'm not even going to do anything with them, just take a decent picture and relist them with the proper name.

????

PROFIT

Battle for Skull Pass Goblins

Finished a sizable chunk of the Goblin Army.





I know I could highlight the black robes grey, it'd improve their finish, but I feel I've spent enough time with these chaps. I'm so ready to do something new.



However, it is satisfying to see several units together, all with the same colour scheme. When I put them all together I almost wanted to keep them instead of selling them on ebay in a few days.






I like the funky lil mushrooms that pop up here and there.



The Goblin Boss's pet Squig had a big enough eye to pop the added detail of a 'glint' of white, something that I've recently been trying to add.

BFSP Goblins

So many of them...

I'm going to sell the lot as soon as I've painted them; have been playing Warhammer with the great little rulebook that comes with the BFSP boxed set, but i'm not really enjoying painting great blocks of troops as much as I do individuals. Having said that, I might still grab a box of the 40k equivalent in September - If i've never painted space marines, I can't really call myself a Games Workshop enthusiast can I?

WIP: Giant Skelly thing

A few years ago I was given some Hangman sets. Instead of drawing a man, if your opponent guessed incorrectly you would add a piece of the skeleton hanging from the post.

I built a bone giant for the Tomb Kings army out of the last kit, and this time I'm thinking I'll go for something to ride the wave of the latest army release for the hobby; Daemons.

When the damned (hurr) thing's set I'll invest in some greenstuff and raid the bits box, to create something suitably putrescent.

Mordheim: Another Possessed Warband

Another Mordheim gang from a couple of years ago. Just like the last Undead warband, they're on those godawful green-flocked bases.

These lot were mostly Redemptionists from the Necromunda game. In future I'm going to avoid converting metal miniatures if it can be helped - unless you pin them they are prone to breaking. The minis really need to be sturdy in Mordheim, as they get a lot of individual handling rather than hitching a ride on a movement tray.

I will NEVER buy another one of those Possessed miniatures (the big green guy at the back, and the pink tentacled chap in the last Possessed warband). Those models are so damn ugly! And not in a cool way.

Plus, the opportunity to create something unique is a crying shame to pass up.

Mordheim: Undead

Yesterday I received an email out of the blue from a man in Holland asking if my Mordheim warband was for sale. He'd found pics from 18 months ago on the Librarium-Online forum, but they were long gone. We had a good chat about his campaigns, ending with me missing the game, and impulse-bidding on a load of Necromunda lots on Ebay that I shouldn't have.

Here are some pics of that warband. Some are a bit slapdash, but I was only fundraising. As such, the gang were never played with before being sold, like last month's Possessed Warband.



The Vampire Leader was the standard Mordheim mini, who is too short to be imposing; if I was ever to have another I'd boost his base. The Necromancer and Hero Ghoul (having received a 'Lad's Got Talent' increase') are iffy conversions; an old Daemonette of Slaanesh with zombie arms instead of pincers, and a Necromancer composed of Brettonian Man-at-Arms body with some Mordheim bitz. Apologies for those Green Hill Zone bases. That box of Brettonians went towards several cheap Spellcaster conversions for Mordheim and Dungeons and Dragons.



All of the Dreg miniatures I have seen are humans with something amiss, usually an an Igor-hunch. For this Dreg I used a Dwarf body to get a weird posture.



Ghouls. I really liked the previous Ghoul miniatures, and I think they're much more disturbing than the new plastics. I included an Ogre Mercenary with the Warband, as another fast mover to support the Dire Wolves and Vampire should they race off ahead:



From the GW site:
"Mercenaries beyond peer, Maneaters have spent decades accruing scars, tall tales, wealth, and exotic weapons before travelling back to the tribe from which they came. As Ogres tend to inherit culture rather than pioneer it, Maneaters typically dress in the style appropriate to the lands in which they fought during their mercenary career"

I decided that it might be fun to have an Ogre that had imprinted onto the Ghouls. The Gut plate received a Skeleton Warriors shield boss, a severed leg from the zombie spru in his right hand made a tasty snack, and an axeblade was made from plasticard and attached to an unused Standard Bearer arm. I took a head with a long moustache and repositioned the jaw between the tips to make a distended maw. A cocktail stick extended the nose, and the upper teeth where taken from an Imperial shield boss (the previous, frilltastic plastic set):



The Necromancer operates an Equal-Opportunities policy when recruiting zombie henchmen. A motley group of zombies of different races.



Human zombie:



Dwarf Zombie:





Zombie pillaged from Advanced Heroquest:



Goblin Zombie:



Not the so easy to show as dead, so I just lopped an arm off and poked an eye out.

Skaven Zombie:





The whole gang was inspired by one component: the Skaven skull. This one was my favourite.

I'm sure I'll give non-human zombies a go again in the future. As well as the Mordheim range which includes a zombie Sister of Sigmar, and others, I could also splash out on some minis from the Dogs of War Regiment of Renown 'The Cursed Company', which includes a skeletal lizardman, skaven, orc, goblin, dwarf and high elf. I would also give a Beastman zombie a go, as there is a bovine skull in the (Tomb Kings) skeleton box set. For a more involved project someone might get inspiration from one of the troll skulls used as markers in the Battle for Skull Pass boxed set.

Possessed Warband complete

The Possessed Warband is complete, the dwarfs are my favourite. This is my first time using Warlock purple, which was good fun, and I've not really tried gemstones before, but I'm pleased with the results on the Magister's staff.

In other news, I have finally removed the mould lines from every single model in the Battle for Skull Pass boxed set, and undercoated everything; phew! I felt like I was working in a sweat shop.

Mordheim: Cult of the Possessed

I love Mordheim because I am a cheap bastard.

In Mordheim each player takes control of a gang of a just a dozen or so miniatures. This means is that unlike the big sellers Warhammer and Warhammer 40k, where you're looking at spending at least a hundred pounds plus for a good game, for Mordheim you're looking at £20 - £30.. or even less if you're crafty.

The dozen miniatures for your gang can be easily chopped up from standard regiment boxed sets; Dwarf Treasure Hunters, Beastmen and Skaven warbands can be built with one of the army's regiments of plastics. The Empire Militia regiment *are* the same miniatures as the Mordheim mercenary warband.

With it's focus on individually characterful miniatures, the game is ideal for those who enjoy converting. It gives you the opportunity to rake through your bits box and use all those little bits you've been saving for a rainy day, or too much of a pikey to chuck out (no matter how old and awful a mini is, someone somewhere will still like it. People are still buying Heroquest Orcs on Ebay today). Those naff old Brettonian Archers that came free with the Games Workshop paint set? Head swaps and a couple of stuck-on pouches and you have some henchmen for your Reiklanders.

While I'm waiting for Skull Pass to arrive I've been rummaging through my bits box to see what I have left. A few Brettonian bodies. Two Dwarfs. An old Chaos Sorceror and a Possessed model that was thrown in for free when Games Workshop Mail Order was cool. Nothing that could be of use to a Warhammer player, but what about Mordheim?



The prospect of getting rid of the hated Possessed model galvanised me. There were plenty of spare heads from the last Chaos Warriors. 'Excellent' I thought, because;

*Helmets that cover the face are quickly recognisable as 'eeevil'.
*I didn't have to paint eyes.

The group consisted of a Magister, a Possessed, and two groups of Brethren. However, I did'nt have any Darksouls (mortals driven insane after demonic possession). Then I thought about the Dwarf minis:



The great big Chaos Warrior helmets from the less recent 'Hunchback' Chaos Warriors was in proportion. To keep things fair I had the Darksouls / Possessed dwarfs standing on stuff so that the miniatures would be the same height as the miniatures they were proxying.

Possessed Dwarfs. Not to be confused with Chaos Dwarfs...

A Misunderstanding

New Tricks

I don’t know whether it’s a cool thing to be able to say or not; I spent yesterday afternoon teaching my mother how to paint a Warhammer mini.

It was a great afternoon actually.

She poked through the bits box and asked if she could paint one. Sure, I thought, always keen to share the hobby with someone new, and if she does well then meybe she won't be so suspicious of those funny little men and monsters with guns and swords and stuff.

I don’t have many miniatures left; I sold my whole collection to help fund a year spent traveling, so the selection was slim.

This concerned me a little – pretty much all I could find was a Sisters of Sigmar Mordheim Warband (too fiddly), some Necromunda Ratskins (sci-fi didn't appeal), and some bits and bobs from from hobby store bargain bins. She didn’t seem enthusiastic about any of them, and was about to settle for some thing with one arm when I happened across this fella;

That horrible, blurry picture is of an ogre bull. Probably the perfect miniature for a first time painter. A large, easy to handle miniature with relatively little detail, and consisting of nice big areas to be painted in the same colour. This also meant that he would be quite satisfying to paint, as he would take form quickly. If you've ever painted a tank or a war machine you'll know what I mean. He already had a head, one with an eye patch - even better, I thought; she wouldn’t have to agonise over wonky eyes. There were plenty of arms to choose from; she chose to equip him with a sword and club.

She left gluing the arms on until everything was painted and began with block painting the exposed skin with Dwarf Flesh and the trousers Hawk Turquoise. On seeing the paint on the model she had misgivings about the turquoise. He looked a bit Disney. However, applying a dark wash to the trouser took the edge off the colour, and she quickly figured out how a wash can create shading, using thinned down ‘Bestiality Brown’ to run between the cracks of the arms, back and moobs.

Dwarven Brass drybrushed onto the gutplate and sword, highlighted with Chainmail Silver, and Jon the ogre was ready for a flocked base and varnish.

I think she did really well for a first go. Now she’s looking at my Chaos Warriors, and asking me how many shades of mauve and purple I’ve got…

Chaos Warriors of Khorne

Blood for the Blood God!

I bought these chaps for something to do when I was in Vancouver, Canada. My brother, his girlfriend, and her sister all had a go at painting them. With all of us sitting at the table felt like being back at primary school, it was all of us making a mess.

Then when I got back home I painted over them all.

Sorry chaps, red-yellow-green-blue chaos warriors went out in the 80’s, along with electro pop and ZX Spectrums.