Dwarf Slayer Trio

The first of the dwarf slayers painted. These are a mix of old metals - a dragon slayer, a Marauder troll slayer and a Blood Bowl troll slayer. This last one is probably my favourite, though he seems to have lost his axe, which is probably why he looks so angry.

I was hoping to have the whole unit done by month end, but when it became obvious that was not going to happen I concentrated on these three, partly to experiment on hair colours. I had said that I would not go for the usual orange dye, but it just seems to work really well on them. It's some kind of fluff conditioning! The stripey trousers look good, but you have to really examine the figures to see them. The beards and hair are really exaggerated and it leaves little room for anything else - some tattoos would be good but I think they would just get lost in the overall scheme. I am calling these done and moving on to the rest of the unit.

Desert Trees Ideas

Not local, nor hilly

Real life has been busy recently, so I have had little time for hobby activity. Over the weekend the sun came out for a short while, so after a nice walk up a local hill, it was time for a less nice session of gardening. Pruning and tidying the garden, I discovered that a huge ivy had blown off the neighbour's roof and was hanging down the side of my house, blocking access. I had to remove it as best I could. Now if there's one thing I like less than gardening, it's heights, so perching on top of a ladder wrestling with some very tough ivy vines was not my idea of a pleasant afternoon. Still, once it was done and in the garden recycle bin, I could celebrate with a beer and the rugby down the pub.

A few days later I was admiring the latest update on possibly my favourite blog, the Gardens of Hecate, and it got me thinking about my desert terrain collection. Trees are probably the last thing on my desert list, but I was inspired by the effect a few lone trees could have. Googling desert trees returned images of what are basically bare twigs - some with a little vegetation. And that's where the ivy comes in - what could be better as a gnarled and twisted tree trunk? So back to the garden recycle bin I went and rescued some of the old vines. Suddenly the gardening session seems so much more worthwhile.

This final image shows just how simple a desert tree can be. These should be really easy to "build" and base, to add some easy vegetation to my desert gaming board. It's also an interesting picture for the hill feature in the background. Desert hills or dunes have been on my mind for some time, but they require a little more planning and effort than the twigs. I have started to gather materials, from which ideas will materialise - but that's another post for another time. I am hoping to get some hobby time over the Easter break. A handful of desert trees and maybe a few thickets of scrub and thorny bushes should be easy enough to knock together. We shall see.

Twisted Kickstarter

It's the final few hours of the Twisted kickstarter. I have been watching this for the past few weeks, though I already have most of the figures that I like from their range - bought last summer when I started a secret steampunk project (but that's another story for another time). They are superb sculpts, the detail level on the resin figures is world leading, while the metals are finely detailed too.

I have backed for just one starter set, I already have the complete Guild of Harmony collection plus a number of the newer Dickensian figures, but I wanted to back in some small way. So I will be expanding my collection to include the Egyptian explorers. I will also be adding a couple more miscreants and will qualify for a small number of free extras. Another dozen figures to add to my upcoming project.

Take a look, the concepts are amazing and the sculpt and casting quality is really top of the range. Having dealt with these guys previously, I am happy to back them and wish them all the success they deserve.

Slayers Flesh WIP

There's not much progress to report. The reason for this should have been that I took a short spring break in York, but a couple of days before departure I picked up a virus and had to cancel the trip. It's taken about a week to recover from the bug, but finally I am able to make a partial return to brushwork. If I had a Book of Grudges, the influenza virus would be at the top of one page!

The skin is well advanced in this shot, I would like to add tattoos but there is very little to work on - most of their bodies are covered in beard and bling! The colour of the hair will not be orange, I think it's the one reason I have never really liked the figures. I did read somewhere that ancient Britons washed their hair with limed water, to cause it to stand up, and it had the side effect of bleaching their hair blonde. This sounds like a good background to me, so I might have bleached highlights on the hair and beards.

Ork Nobs WIP

I am gearing up for some serious painting sessions. These ork nobs were born from the couple of drubbings I have recently suffered in games of one-page-40K (battle reports here and here). I am hoping they will give me some options on the battelfield. There's ten here, from the Stormclaw and Black Reach boxsets, plus a few leftover resin bits from commission work. The bases are (I think) from Malifaux, the official bases were far too small for these hulking bruisers. Along with the recently built dwarf slayers, this gives me plenty of brushwork to get through in the next few weeks.

Another game of one-page-40k

After battling through the desert wastes (see previous report), the orks have reached the outskirts of a bombed settlement. Chaos cultists have dug into the ruins, but even worse a huge defiler is roaming the craters for prey. The orks will have to remove these defenders if they are to continue their advance.

As the defender the cultists grabbed the centre of the table and the ruins, the orks then had to deploy at least 12 inches away from their enemy. The objective was to wipe out 75% of the enemy, within just 4 turns. A tall order, especially as I deployed the orcs at the far end of the table with no transport! I think I was trying to make the most of the cover, but it meant I had to travel down the length of the board, with the defiler sat right in the middle.

As in the last game, the orks struggled to make a dent in their well armoured foe, the weaker cultists wisely staying in the cover of the ruins, out of range of the slow moving mobs. The kans managed to get halfway up the board but were immobilised. The boys tried to make a run for it past the defiler, but predictably they were easy meat out in the open. Eventually a lone orc made a suicide charge into the defiler and amazingly he, er, committed suicide. After shooting everything in my army at the beast for much of the game, it had took not one wound. The orks definitely struggle against armour - and they probably need more mobility. Still, it was good to game in the new improved terrain.

The crazed cultists proved to be very sensible really, they kept their heads down in the ruins and suffered just one casualty the whole game, though probably a disapproving tut from Khorne. Poor deployment and lack of mobility from the orks made it too easy for the chaos forces.

I think perhaps a trukk would be a good idea to give the boyz some options. Maybe the addition of some nobs to give them a little more combat prowess. Or perhaps a squad of koptas would be the best bet. Something needs to change, before this becomes the World's Worst Waaaaaaaargh.