Da orcs are here!

The Waaaargh gathers momentum, in the shape of 25 boyz with extra choppas. This unit can be quite useful in games, especially when led by a black orc who quells animosity and adds considerable punch (and I have a very nice model lined up for this role). In 8th edition I expect this unit to be even better, if it's true about both front ranks fighting the unit will be pumping out 20+ attacks. Not too shabby, especially in the first round when the choppas rule gives them additional strength.

In terms of the painting they were very straight forward and I spent little time on them. There are some slight variations in the skin tones, which I figured would add a little much-needed variety to a unit that is mostly wearing brown clothing. The banner design is very simple but the bold colours really pop out against the drab tones.

I have also finished painting an orc shamen (left). The one on the right is a Rackham Confrontation figure which I painted a few years ago. I think of him as a savage orc, both in appearance and in the difference in skin tone (there's no particular reason why bright green = savage, it just seems fitting in my mind). I need to repaint the base edge, just realised it's brown rather than black. I have some other non-GW figures to use as savage orcs, but they will take me some time to complete so are on the back burner for a while. Next on the list are trolls and a giant. That will add another 300 points or so to the army, my ambition to have 2000 points fully painted for the launch of 8th edition is looking good.

One minor problem I have is with the new boar boyz. They are so much nicer then the old plastic boars that I am really tempted to bin my exisiting unit and get a box or three of the new plastics (for a unit of 10, steeds for 2 chariots and a character mount). The leftover boyz could be incorporated into a unit of biguns, which I have been pondering for a while. If I get that little lot painted up I reckon I would be closer to 3000 points. Not bad for an army that started life as a change of pace from my dwarfs!

Black Orcs

I am going through a Magnus Magnusson phase. He was the question master on the TV show Mastermind and if the end of round bleep sounded while he was in mid sentence of a question, he would say "I've started so I'll finish." This unit has been partially painted for a long time and is the first of a few I have in mind to finish prior to the release of 8th edition.

One thing I was particularly pleased about was the banner. I am usually very hesitant to paint freehand as I'm not particularly proficient. An orc design is about as basic as there can be so it's not a huge achievement, but it does look good in the unit. The horns of the skull I added to mirror the helmets of the boyz. Next on the Magnus list is a bigger unit of orc boyz, some of which isn't even primed yet, so plenty of work involved. I also have a couple of characters that are half painted, so lots more greenskins on the way.

Treeman

The elves finally get some serious hitting power. I cannot imagine a wood elf army without a treeman, he's an iconic element of the game. However, I was never a fan of the current model, I much preferred the Treebeard look from the Lord of the Rings range. I could have bought the model and used that, but I already had an old style treeman and decided to use that as a starting point. There's a thread on the Warhammer Forum showing in detail how I made the conversion.

I will be taking a short break from the elves. I don't want to spend too much time building new units until I have a better idea of the implications of 8th edition. The forest sleeps for a few months!

Next on my agenda is some greenskins, I have a couple of units that are half-painted that I would really like to complete before the new game is bought. I am also about half way through a mini campaign featuring the greenskins against the Empire, so it makes sense to get out the green paints.

Space Wolves on my mind

I'm feeling a bit confused about what to paint for myself next! Having painted elves for the past few months, plus a few goblins, I realised I was meandering through my fantasy armies. I think this is because I don't want to commit too much time to armies that I might have to alter when the new edition arrives. I don't really think this is the case, I suspect most of my armies will just carry on in the next version much as they do in the current one. But it seems to be a psychological block to starting something new. Which is why (as discussed in my previous post) I was intending to finish off a few units that I have already partially painted, or just assembled and never even primed. No new builds was my mantra, certainly no new purchases.

But then I started work on a commission, painting some Space Wolves. The new plastic kits are really nice work. I can see there's a lot of potential for some characterful marine builds. I have never really been a big fan of marines, not the models, not the background, they just seem a bit dull to me. The Space Wolves are the one exception, because their heads are visible it's far easier to get some expression, some feeling out of each model. There's just one problem for me - duck egg blue! Is there anything less vikingesque than pale blue armour? It's just so pastel, so 1980's, so girly. Hence the attempt above (using the rather spiffy Bolter and Chainsword Space Marine Painter). It looks very plain, but of course there would be wolf skins, skulls, runes, etc. added to the model. Perhaps I should dig out a marine from my old Macragge set, just to satisfy my curiosity.

Chaos army

Some time ago I promised to upload better pictures of my chaos army, so here we are. I made good progress on the army at first, painting these warriors, some marauders, hounds, a spawn and a character or two. But then I put it to one side to paint orks.

With the upcoming release of the new version of Warhammer Fantasy I am pondering what to paint next. I would really like to celebrate buying the new book by fielding a completely painted 2k army. The elves are leaving me a bit cold at the moment, so I need to take a rest from them. I have recently played my orcs and goblins a few times, and have a regiment of black orcs about 90% completed. But still I would have to add quite a few more models to reach the 2k mark. The dwarfs are probably the easiest, strictly speaking I have enough now, but it's not the army composition I would normally use. A regiment and a war machine would be an easy target.

Finally, there's the chaos army. High points cost means low model count, the last time I looked at my list I think I needed just a couple of mounted regiments to get me to the 1.5k mark, so it wouldn't take much more effort from there. In fact, I did paint up an unmarked regiment of chaos warriors a few years ago, I could touch them up and re-base them quite easily. Something for the weekend then, play around with a few lists to see which I fancy painting the most.

Easter Boardom

What can you do in a rainy long weekend? It's Easter, so there's not much on TV (hundreds of adverts for chocolate, films like the Sound of Music, and the interminably dull Grand Prix). Plenty of time for hobby then, so I thought I would finally take the plunge and paint up my gameboard.

I bought it last year and sprayed it black in the garden one fine sunny day in October. Then the worst winter for 50 years happened and I have been waiting for fine weather ever since, thinking I would take it into the garage to minimise any mess. But still, the weather is cold and wintry, so I have decided to tackle it indoors.

The first thing I did was the rocky outcrops, painting them grey and then a creamy highlight, then finishing them with some brown tinted antique washes. I'm using some cheap and cheerful art paints I picked up in a DIY shop bin end sale. The effect is really quite nice.

Then the bit I had been most perplexed about, the grass and earth bits. I bought some Woodland Scenics Earth pigment to use as a base colour, but it's really disappointing and does not cover the black very well. Once it was on I scattered on Woodland Scenics turf, in various colours. I was then hoping to spray it with some diluted pva glue and water mix, but that didn't really work either. So the scatter is still very loose. The photo shows some patches that I missed, these are showing as black.

This was a test run, I need to make some changes for the other tiles. The black needs to be fully covered with the antique washes, these go on very quickly and finish to a nice opaque finish. Then I will simply dab on pva glue, scatter the turf and allow to dry overnight. Then I will seal with diluted pva using a decorating paint brush for speed. With a little luck it will be finished over the Easter break, now that I know what I am doing.