Terrain project

This has been taking up some time as well. I'm hitting the overall halfway point, more or less, and hope to have it looking mostly finished in a couple of days, if I can find the time to work on it. And then, I'll be getting rid of it. I built it mainly to see what the Space Hulk set from Hirst Arts would look like in person. The answer is pretty nice. (Disclaimer - I do have a license, and do sell kits from time to time.)





Anyway, I'm thinking that I need some khador jacks, and another gun carriage. And maybe some more Nephilim, or at least a few more harriers.

No painting tonight, but still productive

(Okay, I did paint something - a terrain piece that I don't plan on keeping. I'll take pics tomorrow.)

So, I did not paint anything tonight, but it was still productive. The min unit of Winter Guard is now primed, as are the stingers, Harkevich, and the alt manhunter. The AFG is mostly assembled, and is actually ready for priming tomorrow, once I check the final dry fit of the upper and lower carapace pieces.

My goal for tomorrow is to work on the gun carriage, and the full unit of Winter Guard rifles. And Kovnik Joe. I am planning on heading over to the FLGS this weekend, and the owner wants another game. I would like to take all three battle engines, even though they are still in the process of assembly and painting. I really need to get in on a GW night, and drop a couple of the battle engines onto a table.

Progress of a sort

Quick note - I forgot Harkevich in the Christmas post. Slightly more Khador goodness.

Last night, I got the mechanics trimmed and onto bases, and they were primed this morning. This afternoon, while the kids played in the basement, I got two of the Winter Guard trimmed and on bases, as well as Harkevich. I plan on getting more done later tonight, although some of these models won't see paint for quite some time. (Although if I try and put paint on everything in November, they will at least have something done then, right?)

Gotta have 'em all!

As of yesterday, I can field at least 35 points for every faction. The only merc contract that I cannot field is Talion, although all of my mercs other than Searforge are pretty weak. Sure, for some factions, my lists are pretty thin, and I don't have a lot of wiggle room, but my main goal for the 2011 year is now complete.

And, since I have several months left, I guess I can start on my next goal - having decent 35 point armies for every faction, contract, or pact. I'm thinking I'll start with Talion, then pick up some Steelheads, grab some more Khador, pick up another couple Legion units & beasts, and then bulk up my Circle.

And in other news. . ..

As of earlier today, I am officially a pressganger for Privateer Press. I guess this means that I need to get more stuff painted, as an example or something.

It's almost like Christmas

Provided either I bought the stuff for me, or Santa followed my wishlist, instead of getting me more socks. Either way, I got this today:



Now, I confess, that I did expect the box to be at least a little bit bigger. Fortunately, it was full, with no need for filler. Look at all that blistered and boxed goodness.



Once separated by type, my Khador collection gained a gun carriage, a min unit of winterguard, a max unit of winterguard rifles, Irusk, Kovnik Joe, a unit of mechanics and the variant manhunter.



My Cygnar was not neglected - I picked up a hunter. Kraye needs at least another, but it's a start.



Lord Carver gained some friends - a razorback crew and a unit of slaughterhousers.



And, Everblight gained Typhon, eThag, a blister of harriers, a seraph, a min unit of striders, a nephilim soldier, a raek, Absylonia, a scythean, a blister of stingers, and the Nyss sorceress.



I have more happy news, but I'll put it in its own post later tonight. For now, it's off for some painting time - or maybe assembly and priming.

A productive evening of painting

First, to answer the unspoken question - no, nothing got finished tonight. I worked on a lot of stuff - pButcher, a Stone Keeper, an Impaler, the magnetized Cygnar heavy, a couple of gunbunnies, a dozen or more Ork boyz, a gun boar, pKreoss, and Menoth knows what else. I spent the better part of the time listening to a podcast (Boosted Damage), and actually got a lot done.

And it will all be rather moot tomorrow, since my order will arrive at some point in the afternoon, and my percentage of finished figures will drop by about 1%. It's not that the order is small, but rather that, once you have 600+ warmachine figs, another 70 or so isn't such a huge increase. 22/604 is pretty much the same as 22/700, really.

And, knowing me, I probably won't do too much painting tomorrow night. I'll be spending most of my time opening boxes and squealing with glee, as I finally can play 35 pt armies for
everything. (Except pirates. Soon, though, soon. Shae will be mine, oh yes. I will have some pirates.)

While I was painting, I did have a thought for my variation of the impossible dream challenge. Instead of trying to paint 100 points in the month of November, I am thinking about trying to paint at least something on every Warmachine/Hordes figure that I own. It's not a small challenge, actually - and by the time November rolls around, it's a pretty safe bet that I will still have about 650 unpainted figures. But getting some base colors on everything would make the whole pile look a lot less demoralizing, I think.

My collection is growing again

Got word that my order is on its way. In a couple of days, my Khador and Everblight forces move from battlebox to actual (bad) armies. IIRC, the order included a gun carriage, winterguard, winterguard riflemen, Kovnik Joe, a raek, Typhon, a scythean, eThag, slaughterhousers, a hunter. . . and then quite a bit more.

Sadly, there were some things that I wanted (widowmakers, Khador heavy jack kit, etc) that were out of stock, so I guess I have to start working on my next wishlist.

Backsliding (sort of)

So, no posts in a couple of days, in part because I have been busy, but mostly because I have not picked up a brush since Wednesday night. Thursday, I did some road-tripping, and wound up selling off my IG tank army, trading away some old GW skeletons, and leaving my BfSP Dwarves for a future trade. In return, I got another box of GW Ogres (for the undead), and a fair amount of cash (for the IG).

So, I ordered me some Khador and some Everblight. When they get here, I can make 35-pt armies for every faction (though not every Mercenary contract just yet). I have another couple pending trades/sales as well, so I may be making another order, plus my FLGS should have in a couple WM figs I ordered by now.

On a roll!

So, yesterday, I finally got the resculpt of the Butcher assembled and primed, and tonight, I finished up another two shredders. (Okay, technically the Shredders aren't finished yet - the flock/glue mixture for the snow bases is drying as I type, so they aren't sealed. Tomorrow morning, I fix that.)

There is a distinct chance that I will finish the Legion box set before I finish any of the other ones, despite having started Menoth and the Trolls much earlier. Of course, I haven't really begun to assemble the Carnivean, but I have heard enough horror stories that I am not eager to start it just yet.

I did some other painting, getting some base colors down on pButcher, pKreoss, some more Orks -- those guys just never stop - I am trying to work on each of them once before going back to one, but that's not going to happen. I'll probably make that work for the first hundred or so, but at some point, I will get tired of it and just want to finish some of them. And no, I won't take WIP pics, because there are so many, and the progress so slow, that setting them up for pics is just plain sad.

Haven't gotten a game in for a while, and unfortunately, this weekend looks as though it is out as well. Hopefully, next weekend is better.

Random progress update

Some nights, lots of things get done, and I can sit back, pop open a frosty beverage of my choice, and bask in the warm glow of Having Gotten Something Done. Last night was not such a night. Yes, Lord Carver is finally assembled (been putting that off), and even primed as of this morning. And I did a lot of painting in the hour or so that I was in the basement. But it was just hard to tell, mainly because of what I was working on. See, in addition to some Cygnar stuff (detail work on some jacks), and some more base work on my Menoth battlebox, I spent time working on my orks.

I have a lot of orks. As in, I might be able to field not one, but two, Green Tide formations from the Apocalypse books. So, doing the pants on fifteen Orks, and then boots on another twenty just gets lost in the noise, so to speak. I can honestly say that, on most nights when I work on my orks, I feel this way, simply because I could generally mix whatever I worked on back into the Shelf of Orks, and, ten minutes later, not be certain which orks had actually been painted that evening.

I know that it is progress, but man, that carousel of progress sure does seem stuck sometimes.

No pics, but. . . .

I also finished a squire. I think it brings my total painted Warmahordes collection to 20, out of 620. It means, among other things, that my total painted forces are now at 3%. (Hah! 3.2% - even more impressive.)

Meh. A deal is all but certain for my IG army - I'll "lose" 60-odd infantry, about 15 vehicles, some heavy weapon teams, and some other odds and ends. On the plus side, it means that my Warmahordes will gain another 60 models or so, and I will have a playable 35-pt army for every faction in the game. If I took some of everything, and someone wanted to play Retribution, I could say "Yeah, I got that" and loan out a 35-pt army. Skorne? No problem. Trollbloods? Easy. (That has to be worth something on my PG app, right?)

But until the figs arrive (and I am not ordering them until I have the cash for the IG in hand), I can't do that for Khador or Everblight. (Technically, I can't do all four contracts, but I know that I can do it for Searforge, and I am close, if not there, for Four Star and Highborn. Need me some pirates for Talion though.) It does look as though I will accomplish my goal of having a 50-pt army for every faction before the end of the year.

Legion color test

Just a quick test of the color palette for Legion beasts. I'm fairly happy with it, and it is pretty quick too.

One step forward. . . .

And about nine steps back. Last night, I got Targ and Lord Ossyan assembled (and just primed them a few minutes ago), and got some pretty significant work done on a Squire, a Firefly, a Grenadier, the Storm Strider, a magnetized Cygnar heavy, a Gun Boar, a dozen or so Ork boyz, and probably another five or ten models. Sounds good, until I mention that I also am in the process of getting rid of my IG army for 40k - and will be using the cash to buy some Khador and Legion models.

So, yeah - the IG that hasn't been included in my model count for years is going away, and I will have playable (albeit bad) 35-pt armies for every faction. (I have Rhulic for my Mercs - although I want to have pirates and a magnus force before the end of the year as well, because I am silly that way.)

I'm not making foolish choices for my Khador or Legion - solid beasts, and decent units, but I am going for some variety, and will be working on synergy down the road.

Tonight, I plan on getting more stuff painted (the squire is actually almost done, and I think the Grenadier is close), and taking pics of some (also uncounted) miniatures that I am offering someone. It won't be quite as large as what I will get for the IG tanks, but it should let me pick up a unit and a couple of solos/casters. I've been thinking that my Cryx really need Blackbane's Raiders, just because they look cool, and my Menoth still needs a book, which means I really should get a second Ghost Sniper for my Retribution (because 2 Ghost Snipers can kill the book in one turn). . . .

Cygnar progress

This might be kind of wasted, since if I chose Cygnar for the Journeyman league, then I am just cheating myself out of painting points, but I do want to get some things done, and I really like the Fort Falk scheme for Cygnar. So, here is some proof of progress - a couple of them are getting close to being done, though I won't finish anything until the weekend.

I know, I know - I was working on Gators last time. I'm still working on them, but I have gotten a little annoyed with how the feathers and the bones on the unit leader keep turning out, and until those are done, I won't be wrapping up the unit. Soon, I hope - we'll see how my current attempt turns out tomorrow.

Basement cleaning continues, and FLGS update

First, I'll start with the FLGS update. After dropping in on Saturday, it sounds like the store will actually start carrying PP merchandise. I promptly celebrated the good news by preordering Maelok and Jarl Skuld, as well as a farrow razorback crew. And, I picked up (elsewhere) a minimum unit of Warmongers and a minimum unit of blighted archers and the UA. It's not much, but it is a start.

And I continue to build on that. I have mentioned before that I am going to pare down my GW collection, and I have made arrangements to get rid of my BFSP Dwarves, and I just listed my IG army on Bartertown. I'm not sure whether I would prefer cash, or a big Khador (or Everblight) army - cash lets me build a 35 point army for each (and then some!), but a big army, arriving all at once, is kind of like Christmas.

Progress report

I didn't take a pic, so you have to take my word for it - but, even though I have not finished anything lately, progress is being made. The proof of that is the empty pot of Sepia wash that I tossed in the garbage earlier today. (Yes, I could fish it out and take a pic, but that would be kind of silly . . . not to mention messy, since I dumped the remnants of a glue and sand mix in on top of it.)

The sewing room did get done, FWIW, and I have gotten my Storm Strider partially assembled and based. I'll try and take WIP pics later.

Comparison

So, over on Pokeminiatures, Felix has put up a whole bunch of stuff that he has done so far his year. The sad part is that, even broken up into chunks, any chunk is more than he has done this year.

But, today I did get a Grenadier assembled, which is something. And the bottom half of a Storm Strider, though I haven't done the basing for it yet.

And I did paint about half of a room, which is a real pain with a 0 or 00 brush, let me tell you. I need to start work on the second coat in an hour or so - but I can only paint half the room at a time, without taking apart all the furniture, then moving it down at least one, possibly two flights of stairs. Instead of being an afternoon project, I probably won't be done until tomorrow night, and the room won't be put back together until Tuesday night.

FLGS update

Sorry, still nothing concrete on whether or not we will be able to start getting Warmahordes into the FLGS, but it is at least looking promising. And, yesterday, we had six players, so plenty of battle box games going on. We're going to start up the Journeyman league later on this month, and it sounds like everyone wants to play.

Definitely gave me some incentive to work on some painting last night, and right now, I am assembling my Storm Strider. (I wound up typing part of this post while trying to hold the legs in place as the glue dried.) I won't be using it for a while, although if no one takes Cygnar for the league, I might have to do it just as excuse to play the thing.

Sometimes, doing nothing is the same as doing something

So, almost no painting tonight, and not much painting on Warmahordes for the last couple of days. Wed night, I spent some time painting, but most of my hobby time in the evening was spent (gasp) organizing some stuff for a possible 40k game on Thursday. As I have said, the system of choice at the FLGS is 40k, or sometimes WFB. Either way, if I want to convert them, or even sometimes just get in a game, I need to be prepared to play The Other Game.

Now, I will admit that I have both a certain nostalgia for GW games, and, on the whole, I don't think that there is anything wrong with GW games. Both WFB and 40k have always had the feel of being "club games" - the kind where you get together with some friends, have a few drinks, something to eat, roll some dice, and push little metal & plastic men around the table for a while. The rules are loose, and sometimes more than a little vague, which is great when you are playing with your friends, but not so hot at the tourney level. At the tourney level, I would not be playing GW games.

(When I want to play tight, well-written rules, I turn to Warmahordes. And, as an added bonus, it's fun for more casual games too.)

Anyway, so Wedesday night, I hauled out some of my Tau, and put together an army list for them. And wound up not playing it. I got to the FLGS a little late on Thursday, and games were already in session, so I just basically hung out. But, I did convince someone to stop by Saturday afternoon for a demo.

He was at GenCon, and got kind of an abbreviated demo. It was enough to whet his appetite for the game, and he has already decided that he wants to play Khador, so hopefully tomorrow I can walk him through a more involved demo, and get him hooked.

This brings me to tonight. Instead of painting tonight, I really just spent the time trying to organize stuff. I wind up bringing a lot of stuff with me on Saturdays, mainly because I want to be able to show off pretty much any of the starter boxes in the game. So I sat down and looked over the list of forces in the Journeyman league. I cannot field the Retribution (even though I have a pretty decent Retribution force), nor can I field Capt'n Bart, and I have to proxy Madhammer as Gorten, but other than that, I think I can field everything else. (Maybe not the alt. Menoth starter - wait until the 2-player set is out!) I have everything set up and packed up for tomorrow, as well as some extra stuff, since people are starting to move past the battle box and into 15 point games. With any luck, the store can get PP stuff in soon, and we will start the Journeyman league by the end of September.