Sunday 30 November 2008

"Uh-Huh-Huh, Than' yo vey much"

As you can see from the title, I'm talking Elvish!!
(Probably the best pun so far there!)
This month was a bit of an odd one. I had this bunch done to about 70% after a week then got a bit complacent, lost interest and found it a real struggle to finish them!
But finish I have:-
Who said they're the same archers as last time you've just stuck feathers on their heads?
Its not true I tell you!
Really! It isn't!

Anyway next month is the penultimate month of this challenge for me (really? It's gone so quick!) and it'll be the silver helms (and a bloodbowl team, hopefully!) leaving just the mage for the month of Jan.

Saturday 29 November 2008

Winging it!

I'm not generally known for getting involved in scenery building, but for some reason the skulls on display around Halloween gave some ideas and so I got down to it.
Here is the results of one of the two projects I put my mind to.

Firstly is a red wing....















Then a nice big red sword....



















And then another red wing....



















Put it all together and you get a nice big Dark Angel Icon













My other project is half done and should be ready in time for the first games of the new year

Wednesday 26 November 2008

Blood Bowl Season Approaches

As regular gaming is taking a break due to me inconveniently moving house and taking our venue with me, all thoughts have moved onto Blood Bowl and the 'Annual Lone Wolves Challenge Cup' - It's an open tournament and any one can take part. All you need to do is find out where I have moved to.

Personally I can't wait for the the pre-season warm up games and Binx's subsequent report.

Oh I and I am rubbish and very, very bad tempered when playing Blood Bowl. A brilliant game but it sucks the sportsmanship right out of me in the very first turn.

Oh and keep the pencils out of my reach!

Monday 17 November 2008

Storm the battle field....

Well here we are the nice large unit of stormvermin which is always needed in any Skaven horde. The rank and file have been painted in a similar way to everything else I have done so far for this project with the exception of having a coat of green wash over the armour to make it look a little more mouldy/used as it should be by these battle hardened troops. They do have splashes of red to help tie them in with the rest of the army, you just can't see it in this picture. The leader of the pack painted in the same way as the rest of the unit but with slightly more red to make him stand out. Also has a few extra bits of warpstone for added detail. Complete unit with Battle Standard, as will be used in any games in the Tale of Six Gamers, which is now down to four. Here in all there glory the Stormvermin with Battle Standard pushing the Screaming Bell.




Saturday 15 November 2008

Potty Training

With my tale of X gamers project done for this month and the Lizardman book not far off, I thought i'd continue to add to my force.

This time it was my Slann mage priest. I got the Forge World Slann a good few years ago and have finally got round to painting it and here is the result.

Complete with dead Skaven on the base its now ready to be joined by the Temple Guard which will be done over the final 2 months of the X gamers project.

Tuesday 11 November 2008

Prepare to Move!

MOVE!

Ah the good old days when that meant something more, something exciting, something dangerous. This weekend it will mean exactly the opposite, moving house. I've steadfastly continued to host gaming Wednesday in the run up to leaving and I've played, mostly with my own figures, most weeks but this week is the last until I can get the gaming space set up once more. My figures are already packed and I will revert to my 'Tactical Advisor' role rather than Company Comander.

Now this could be a depressing situation but far from it, it has allowed us to review our current boards and scenery, plan for replacements and improvements. There is even scope for an additional table to be installed. Gaming is dead, long live gaming!

Now all I need to do is get the game room moved up the priority list and gaming will be better than ever. A diversion and I should be able to get to the task list in all the confusion.

Covering Fire!

Friday 7 November 2008

Rack em up! A product review

Tired of your paint pots being scattered across your painting area blocking all the room for more models?
Wish you could easily see the colour of the paint pot you're trying to find but they're all on the same level?
Largely disinterested with what's on TV and want something to mildly distract you for a minute or two?

Then read on...................
Recently myself and the good lady celebrated another year together (thank you, thank you!) and were looking for some random presents for each other that we would actually use and enjoy! I was struggling to come up with ideas for myself ("I'm not buying you any more stupid models!")when I spotted an item on Ebay. A paint rack.

This is something I've wanted for a while and have considered making one myself but due to the usual time issues haven't got round to it! It also had the added advantage of being something that would tidy my paint zone and isn't "more models"! Ticked the right boxes as a gift!
Product link here:
What do you get for your money?

4 sheets of thin MDF which have been cut via computer laser (or something similar!) into the various components needed for the rack.
There was a lot more construction than I expected and the instructions weren't great but anyone who has put a GW kit together would have no problems. This means BigJon would struggle and Tomarse would give up at stage 2!!
Firstly you need to cut the pieces from the MDF "sprue", clippers cope with this no problem. I also recommend making a couple of sub assemblies and leaving plenty of time between stages for drying etc. I also ensured I used lashings of PVA to keep it together and was tempted to use a few tacks on the edges for extra security but after a few tests (gently pulling, twisting, crushing etc) it does seem to be well held together by the glue alone.

One downfall though is the pre-drilled holes for brushes didn't fit my GW brushes but it was a simple job to drill slightly bigger ones.

So is it any good?

Early days but it does seem pretty sturdy and has the benefit of being modular with tool racks/bitz racks also available. There is a high chance I'll need a second to hold all my paints but I'll see how I get on with this one first.

All in all I'd recommend it to anyone who is looking to make it a bit of space in their paint zone. It may not suit those of you with more "transitory" painting areas although it could be moved around with your paint station to increase the amount of paint pots you have on hand?
The Paint rack in situ:

Monday 3 November 2008

Sally Forth ( well 2nd and 3rd )

Is it the end of November already?

This months quota done early in the month this time, allowing more time to play with some 'side projects'

This time it was 2 more Salamander Hunting Packs to add to last months one.

2 months more painting for me now ( 2 lots of 8 Temple Guard ) and everything is coming together nicely.















Sunday 2 November 2008

Cry Havoc!!

The side projects continue!
3 warhound packs for the growing Celt army (now 383 points).
There remains some doubt amongst historians and therefore historical wargamers over whether Celts actually used hounds on the battlefield. I don't really care! To my mind its too cool an image to pass up, they're in the army list plus they'll be very handy for protecting and hassling flanks!
These miniatures feature my first foray away from Warlord games. The hounds and handlers to the left and right are from Crusader miniatures are excellently sculpted and fit right in! The middle hounds and handler are Warlord.














Managed to get through that post without typing the obvious:
"let slip the dogs of war!!!"

Ooops!