Progress!

So, I fail one painting challenge and I just keep going. At least stuff is getting paint.

I have my first draft of my intended 50 pt Cryx Hardcore list for Adepticon in March. Given that my Cryx get a speed paint method, I have hammered out two Warwitch Sirens (with differently coloured robes!), a Necrosurgeon, her three Stitch Thralls and Gerlak. Ok, Gerlak isn't actually even in the list, but he was kind of my test model for the Bloodgorgers. Not to mention the little blue pacman of doom has actually DONE something for me of late so I felt he deserved some paint. He needs some blood splatter somehow, but I don't know what yet.

But it is a nice start on this list. I have my lists for the 50 pt Hardcore (Cryx), 35 pt team tourney (Menoth), 35 pt Steamroller (Circle x2) all ready. If I somehow actually have time to paint for the Mangled Metal (which is 50 pt Mangled Metal!), I have a list for that too. (Hint, my model count is more than most probably. Go Chickens!) Though if anyone brings just a mess of bloody Shredders (like Ravyn if she ends up in attendance), I'm buying them a drink.

But aside from the Adepticon cutoff, it looks like another Online Gamer's Journal is coming up. I plan to do the Menoth for that since unlike everything else, they are not even started. Given that it isn't a month this time and I have my sights set at only 35 pts, I think I can do it. I'm kind of scrambling to get a good start on other stuff just so that when I start that up, I have less to worry about. Unlike my Circle and Cryx, the Menoth are getting a bit more trying scheme. As in, I am actually trying to properly paint, with highlights and everything! Not to mention, I plan to make a bunch of tiled bases (with a special, more intricate design on the base for the Avatar. Because hey, he should be striding over a menofix).

But yay! Paint! Now I think I should turn my attention towards painting up a Seether before I shamble off to bed.

Impossible

Ok, I'm throwing in the towel early. The Impossible Dream Challenge is impossible for me. I simply do not have the dedication to work on infantry so fast. Bah!

But instead of just stopping where I am, I am going to just dial it in sharply. Things left to finish before the challenge ends officially:
Druids of Orboros + UA
Stone Keeper
Blackclad Wayfarer
Stoneward

That means the pieces I have given up on were:
Mohsar
Krueger
Wolf Riders
Bloodweavers
Reeves
Wolves

Notice that this is the lion's share of my model count.

Other things though, we are planning to hold a Battlebox "Bring or Borrow" tournament here at the end of January. We have so many battleboxes amongst our group, we wanted to get people in and trying the game out. So, with that in mind, after this set of Circle stuff here, I plan to work on painting my variety of battleboxes. I like painting casters and jacks/beasts. This is going to go much better, I'm sure.

But on the path to doing that I am trying to also become a Press Ganger. I sent my application today. This involved pictures of two painted battleboxes as well. Guess what? I'm gonna' share those here now too! Yeah, I speak a lot of the painting and show very little. Well, here ya' go. Snapped today before the rain rolled in.


Here is the Cryx box. It's been a while since I painted these and I'm not exactly pleased with the end results. But I don't field these too terribly often. I also have the new plastic box set waiting to be painted too (and thus add another battlebox to my list for the upcoming event). But that one is a bit lower on my list right now since I need to get the Skorne box painted first. Followed by a Menoth box once I can figure out a scheme I like.


And here is my second box, Gorten and his jacks. I really like the Gorten model for some reason. I noticed after I snapped the picture that there is a mold line I missed on the top of his hammer. Bah! Oh well. Still looks good on a table top. I don't think I'll ever build a real army out of these dwarves, but I do enjoy their models.

And that's it for now. I'm actually really impressed with my phone's camera so I guess I'll be putting up more pictures in the future.

Painting update

The Woldguardian, Megalith and Woldstalkers are done. Well, nearly. They need something done for their gems but I have no idea what I wanna' do. Otherwise, done.

Lord of the Feast is sitting next to me on the painting table drying right now. He's gonna near a few highlights on his sword and hair followed by some blood for his sword and the hand in his sack. I need to figure out how I wanna' do that too.

This brings me to 47 pts done. I still don't feel too good about that. See my previous post about infantry. They will find me one day completely mad muttering repeatedly about wolves and reeves and cannibal girls. I will be committed immediately. Maybe then I will be safe...

Another week

So, another week has passed. I sadly haven't gotten nearly enough done. It's the infantry. It's always the infantry...

I have been enjoying getting some painting in while I play d20 with my friends on Thursdays now. It gives me something to do with my hands while we play. Last night though turned into a movie night (hey, Pandorum is pretty good. Also, "Sex Galaxy" is one of the most ridiculously hilarious movies I have ever had the joy to see. The overdubbing of old movies is amazing!), so very little got done.

And before that, I spent Sunday through Tuesday back home with the family. I got nothing done those three days. Wednesday I got nothing done except play some Warmachine that night. As far as how that goes, let's just say my ARM 47 Venethrax just doesn't die. Oh, and Gerlak pacman'd through 16 models (10 Winterguard, their 2 man UA, 3 Rocketeers and Strakhov's Wardog. Oddly enough, dogs have souls. Who knew?). Between this and his performance the week before, Gerlak has FINALLY done something for me! YAY!

So what have I gotten done? The Lord of the Feast is almost done. The Woldstalkers, Megalith and Wold Guardian need a little work on their ropes followed by a wash to finish them up. I haven't decided if I'm brave enough to throw some glow effects on any of my Wolds, so for now I'm going without. So long as I don't varnish them, I should be able to add it later without disturbing anything like the base.

And that's really it. I still have 22 Wolves/Reeves staring at me accusingly. And 11 Tharn ladies (five of them with puppy mounts!). Yeah...this is not going to end well.

Cassius spoilers have gone up. Seems to be rather interesting. In short:
6 Fury
Interesting spell list, including a spell to move his tree and the best anti-infantry spell in the game
A forest creating feat that makes Tough models grumble (And hey, anytime I make a troll unhappy, it's a good day!)

The problem seems to be the shared health with his stationary tree. Skip Cassius and kill his tree. Hm. Gonna' have to see him on the tabletop before passing final judgment. Good thing I have him on preorder for the end of this month!

Honestly, the most interesting thing about him to me is his feat, because it causes models caught in his forest to take 1 pt of damage if knocked down. Ok, kind of situational all on its own, but I really wanna' play a two caster game with Cassius and Blood Barnabas. Get Wurmwood up into the enemy army via Cassius or Shifting Stones, pop feat, hurl Barnabas up, pop his feat, watch infantry die in DROVES. If they don't have Tough or multiple wounds, they will die immediately. Even Incorporeal models will bite it because this IS a feat causing the damage.

Man, I really, REALLY wanna' do that. If I get to wipe a large number of models from the table in one go, it makes me happy, regardless of whether I win or lose the game after that. Hell, I'd take this to a tournament and play this combo all day until I got it off just so I could go home happy having wiped 50% of someone's army from the table in the span of four activations, two models, and just about no way to save them.

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAHHAAHHAHAHA--*cough* hahaha *hack* ahem.

Where was I?

Oh yeah. Nowhere.

So that is really it for now. I need to pick up the pace. November is almost half over and I do NOT have 50 pts done even. Even if I generously give myself the Guardian and Megalith as complete, I'm at 42 then. But that is 42 pts in five models out of...ok, I don't wanna' think about that.

The Impossible Dream Challenge

I'll be fairly brief this time.

First off, I should really remember this thing is here more. I've moved my bookmark to a more noticeable spot so I can stop forgetting it exists.

Alright, this is what I've been up to. The Privateer Staffers have started the "Impossible Dream Challenge", which is to paint a hundred points from scratch in the month of November. Since the story concept I was playing with for NaNoWriMo was no where near sketched out enough for my liking (really, it was a concept at best...), I've decided to still try to be creative and productive. So, a hundred points of Circle. Some of these had a little progress before, such as a little brown on the Wolf Riders from my previous aborted attempt. But otherwise, yay, I will not complete this. But hey, if I at least force myself to get SOME progress done, I will have more models painted at the end of November than I did at the start. And that's still a good thing, right?

But anyway, here is what I'm doing:
Mohsar the Desertwalker *5
Krueger the Stormlord *5
-Megalith 11
-Woldguardian 9
-Gnarlhorn Satyr 8
-Pureblood Warpwolf 9
-Woldwyrd 5
-Argus 4
-Argus 4
-Druid Wilder 2
Druids of Orboros 7
-Druid Overseer 2
Wolves of Orboros (full) 6
-Chieftain and Standard 2
Reeves of Orboros (full) 10
-Chieftain and Standard 2
Tharn Bloodweavers 5
Tharn Wolf Riders (full) 10
Shifting Stones 2
-Stonekeeper 1
Stoneward and Woldstalkers 5
Blackclad Wayfarer 2
Lord of the Feast 4

Ok, so my current progress. No basing will be done until the end, so I will not bore you with repeatedly saying, "So-and-so is done except for the base".

Gnarlhorn: Nearly finished. Needs his loin cloth to be painted and then he's done. I can't figure out what colour to paint it. I might also try dry brushing some red onto his knuckles as a finishing touch. Not sure yet.

Pureblood: Needs a wash on a few areas (such as all his spines) and then he's done too.

Stone stuff (Wold Guardian, Megalith, Woldstalkers, Shifting Stones, armour on the Stone Keeper, Stone Ward, weapons for Druids and Wayfarer): All drybrushed up. Three stage process on each of them.

Argii: Both need their mouths and claws done. One needs his gold trim done. That's it.

The Druids, Stoneward, Stone Keeper, Wayfarer: All have the base brass on their armour with the green wash done. However, I have found that the black I had is rather...shiny so I have put these on the back burner now until I can get my hands on a black that isn't so glossy, since they are mostly black that will be highlighted. They are all called "Blackclads" for a reason afterall.

Lord of the Feast: Coming along VERY nicely. My biggest problem for this guy was really deciding how I wanted his flesh to come out. Flesh is a constant problem for me (and I will be bitching about it many more times before this Challenge is over), but I found that GW Gryphonne Sepia over the white base coat is PERFECT. In fact, it has inspired me...

Mohsar: MUAHAHA! Yay for experiments on the LotF! I've decided I like the way the flesh on the LotF is coming out so well, I undid some of my progress on Mohsar. I'm going to multi-wash his cloak in the same way to get that desert-y feel out of it.

Morvahna: ...the hell? Yeah, I tried my Thraka Green on her cloak and I really like it. I might actually do her instead of ol' Krueger since I am waiting on a green I cannot get in short order for his cloak. Though I am kind of liking the idea of painting eKrueger before I ever play him.

And for the record, I HATE the Reeves/Wolves models. I started on them tonight and oh god. Too much detail for such cheap models! At least for the Wolves. Really, 8 pts for 12 models...too much work! They will look nice after they are done I'm sure, but I will never do a second unit of either. The worst part is that I am currently working on 12 Wolves and 10 Reeves since the Reeve UA comes out later this month (I already have it on order too. Whee!). So when I finish them, there are still MORE to go! And at some unknown time in the future, I will probably add one or two Reeve Hunters too. And you know there is gonna' be another Wolves of Orboros type unit at some point in the future.

Kill me.

But hey, making progress already this month. My aim is to knock out the armoured stuff first then move on to the Tharn stuff. I have the models set out on a table at the bottom of my stairs so I have to walk by them repeatedly all day long. They are all staring at me accusingly...

So, this wasn't short. I hope to make it more frequent though which means I don't have to do anything this expansive. Look for hopefully daily updates when I get anything done.

Gamer's Journal 15 pt game vs Khador

So, I got both my 15 and 25 pt games in tonight, but I'll save the other for just a little bit.

To recap, my 15 pt list is:
Kromac the Winter Hunter (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
Wolf Riders x3 (6)

In the tundra, we found...
Forward Kommander Sorcha (*6)
-Destroyer (9)
-Juggernaut (7)
-War Dog (1)
Widowmakers (4)

I won the roll and had him deploy first. He deployed with the two jacks in front of Sorcha and her puppy. I put my Wolf Riders on the far left flank (which had a hill on it on his side of the table, expecting his Widowmakers to move into position there) while Kromac set up a bit back from a forest outside of my deployment zone with his beasts. The Widowmakers AD'd on the opposite side from the speedy wolves, scared of the puppies after their previous experiences.

He advanced to no real avail, trying to shoot at my Feral but finding his snipers to be out of range. Kromac went first and tossed up Warpath on himself, Inviolable Resolve on the Wolf Riders and finally Wild Aggression on the Warpwolf, finally advancing into the edge of the forest. I ran and light cav moved up the left flank with the Wolf Riders, turning to look at Sorcha. The beasts advanced and riled for not much else.

Sorcha got ballsy and actually charged the Wolf Riders. He's seen what they can do before if allowed to Assault and was try to cut them off. As I recall, one bit the Frostfang in the face but the other two survived. The Widowmakers tapped some damage onto the Warpwolf and not much else happened. On my turn, the Gorax failed a charge at the Widowmakers (SPD5 in Circle suuuuuuucks) while the Warpwolf warped for armour and moved to protect Kromac who had moved further up in the forest and tossed up Bestial, catching Sorcha. The Wolf Riders whiffed terribly and I passed the turn back to him.

The Juggernaut went after the Feral, failing to really hit at all. Sorcha saw an opening and went after Kromac herself (stupid War Dog). Sadly for him, he forgot to pop her feat and he wailed into Kromac, connecting and dealing 12 pts of damage. I spent my last fury to transfer it to the Gorax and then took a second swing for three points of damage, where I decided to Beast Out. Kromac took the turn back in beast form, letting his upkeeps expire. Before he got to do his thing though, I activated the Wolf Riders who came Assaulting in. The killing blow was a wolf, just like the last time the Wolf Riders managed to kill his caster.

Wolves biting Sorcha's ass are awesome!

So, the list worked basically as I had hoped, with the Wolf Riders going after the squishiest target within reach, namely the caster in this case. While the beasts and Kromac advanced more or less up the center. If Sorcha got within range of Kromac's advance + jump with jacks in the way, I was planning on going for the feat assassination.

Kromac felt a growl growing in his throat moments before he heard a rifle report from up ahead, from within the cover of the falling snow. At the same moment, despite the cold all around him, he felt an unnatural cold through the snowy veil. He knew this feeling. It belonged to one of the Northern witches and her pet constructs. Kromac fell into a hunting stance as he moved into the trees, his warbeasts ranging out to one side while he knew the sisters covered his left flank. But as soon as he heard the shrill warcry of the Khadoran warwitch Sorcha, he wondered what ill befell the sisters.

Sorcha came in screaming and swinging her polearm. Catching him off guard, the blow connected with his side. Kromac rolled with the blow even as he expended the last of his magic to force the Gorax to accept the wound in his stead. In the back of his mind, he felt the pain through his connection to the enraged beast as it laid about itself, tossing and clawing at the Khadorans before him. Kromac rose and let Dusk and Dawn drop down in his grip until he held them by the end of their hafts.

"You're going to have to do better than that, girl. That hammer seems a little big for you..." he snarled as he came rushing back in at her. The icy witch was twirling that blasted hammer around her fending off his half hearted axe swings while he listened and felt for any sign of his forces. The Warpwolf had been found by one of those infernal iron constructs, though it was struggling to catch the exceedingly nimble wolf. While his mind searched for the sisters he missed a parry and felt her hammer glance off his thigh, bringing his attention back to the fight. Drawing on the throbbing pain in his leg, Kromac let forth his bestial nature, spasming uncontrollably before being becoming the hulking, muzzled monstrosity he was.

As he drew in his breath to roar at the stunned officer, he heard the yelping hunting cries of the sisters, who appeared miraculously from the whiteout, a javelin landing in the Khadoran's back while a wolf savaged her leg before throwing her away from Kromac. No sooner did her battered form land than her warjack scooped her up in its open hand and a deep tha-whump sound was heard, before a portion of the ground exploded. Another beat later and another shell fell. The wolf had wounded her badly so Kromac withdrew. He would track the witch down and kill her another day when that blasted cannon could be dealt with.

Before long, Kromac was tracking the Khadorans while one sister lay slung over her mount, wounded but still alive, for now. An ambush would hopefully let him finish the ice witch before she could recover to put up a fight. And if he could slay her quickly, her machines would be lost without direction. He had killed her kind before. And tomorrow he would add another mark to his axe...

Double post incoming!

Going to double post this so I can copy paste in what I had on the Privateer forum for the starting fluff I'm writing. Then I have my 15 pt game fluff to include!



Kromac strode through the knee high snow, never noticing the chill on his bare skin. He paused to breathe in deep, letting the freezing air fill his lungs, somehow smelling of the cold. He felt an unbidden growl deep within his chest, though he was making no sound. His warpwolf had found the beast they had come for. He let his consciousness slip into the feral's and immediately was able to pick up a snarling at the edge of his hearing. Kromac returned to himself and nodded to the slender Tharn woman at his side. She immediately swung up onto the back of her wolf and let forth a primal howl, answered by her sisters, before loping off into the trees, vanishing from view into the gently falling snow. He tightened his grip on Dusk and Dawn before following her into the snowy veil.

Before long, Kromac was joined by the warpwolf, it's fur plastered against its body as the snow melted against it. They slowed as the snarls grew louder, until they entered a clearing and found what they sought. The beast was chained to a stone held in place by druidic magic, but still it strained against its bonds. He saw motion behind the raging Gorax to see the wolf riders circling the clearing. Expecting them to take it down if the creature made a break for it, he set himself before it and nodded to his wolf, who quickly severed the bonds of the distracted Gorax and stepped back as it leapt at Kromac's throat.

Kromac felt a growl stirring within him again, but this wasn't conveyed from the beast who now watched the scene. This was his own bestial nature struggling to come forth. He normally would restrain himself, but he needed that side of himself for this and he let loose the beast within. His heart stopped for a moment as his body suddenly convulsed, the muscles stretching, the bones growing at unnatural speeds, his face elongating into a savage muzzle. Within the span of a few heartbeats, before the enraged Gorax had even crossed the clearing, an equally ferocious creature stood where Kromac had moments before. He tossed aside his axes disdainfully and answered the Gorax's charge with a challenging roar of his own. The only sound that filled the dead and still forest was the two animals. But Kromac would not let the Gorax swing its claws at him. He leapt at it midcharge and stole its momentum with his own. The Gorax went down in a heap as it found an equally fanged maw at its own throat. In that moment, Kromac reached into the savage mind of the Gorax and pulled it from its frenzy. The beast calmed as Kromac stepped away, pleased that his journey had gone so well and ended so bloodlessly. But now he craved blood and flesh. And so the band set out in search of prey.

So, I've recently decided to go with a winter themed Circle army. Of course, given the typical Circle armour, working in blue is easy as the enamel. The Tharn represent another challenge. And speaking of challenges, I am challenging my terribly weak paint skills to do this. I recently had asked about painting tattoos, because this is the way I wish to bring the blue into the Tharn elements. And part of my inspiration is this fellow:



He has some enourmous and recognizable tattoos while still being fairly simple. Perfect! I can totally paint simple! This is really my first shot at free hand, so here's to hoping it comes out well. Since Kromac is kind of the crown jewel of Tharn models, he is actually going to be reserved for the end of the painting league, the capstone of the project as well as the culmination of what I have learned and practiced on other Tharn in the weeks before.

Oh, and other inspiration comes from another video game character:
http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-01/art/ff7-redxiii.jpg

Yeah, even my wolves are getting tattoos if this works out...

But I'd like to hear suggestions too. The models are going to be EXTREMELY cool. Like, wow, that's cold. But the Tharn are savage and cannibals, as we know. Hell, we have BLOODtrackers and BLOODweavers (one of which will be showing up later in this project!). Should I consider blood splatters on the Tharn? I'm leaning towards it for the Bloodweavers at least (oh damn, I gave away that surprise I guess...)? Tell me your thoughts!

I guess you wanna' see the first list, huh? Well, if you bothered reading the narrative, you will already know it.

Kromac the Winter Hunter (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
Tharn Wolf Riders x3 (6)

15/15

Yup. Lots of fur here.

Pictures are gonna' be pretty poor for a bit here as I am relegated to just my poor phone camera for now. Next week, I'll be back home with the family and I can try to search out the charger for my actual digital camera. I'm being overly ambitious for my painting skill and pace, so I'll be working myself hard to try to keep up with everyone here.

The winter snow betrays you

Time to get this going again (And the start of the Online Gamer's Journal)

I've been lazy about this. I made it a bookmark and I forget it. Ha!

Well, I have a painting project now. Someone over on the Privateer Press forums has this great idea inspired by a running No Quarter article. The thread can be found [url=http://privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?p=310960&posted=1#post310960]here[/url]. The basic idea is a painting league dealy to give us all peer pressure to get things painted. Good! I need someone to ride my ass and make me get stuff done! And right now, I'm back to my Circle Orboros. This is a great excuse to get an army painted up for the next league, which starts June 7th. I wanna' play Kromac. So, he's it. Four successive levels of Kromac lists at 15, 25, 35 and finally 50 pts. Some of the warbeasts have some paint on them but none are done. They will be finished and based. Some of what is already done needs to be changed since I have recently decided to go with a winter theme instead of the bog standard green and gold.

As the project goes on, I'll post what amounts to fanfiction for each successive group as Kromac's personal little warband grows. I [i]will[/i] be taking liberties with the fiction where I do not know things (such as the closeness of family bonds within the Tharn). If anyone actually reads this and wants to correct me, awesome. Go for it! I don't know as much about the Tharn as I'd like. I've only read the three Hordes books and that was several years ago, so I don't remember all of it at this point.

Further, I made myself some rules. I posted them in that thread, but here they are again!

+No bouncing around! I will paint each list all the way before I paint a model from the next tier. 15, 25, 35 and 45 pts.
+The aim is the 15, 25 and 35 pt lists each in one week with all remaining time before the June 7th league start to finish the 50 pt list (and extra time is spent on alternate warlocks!)
+Any units that appear will be painted as a full unit, not just the number in the list. (This is only relevant to one choice in my lists, but I hate to paint only part of a unit when I have the full unit. I feel the models end up inconsistent when painted at different times)
+My warlock is the last model painted. There are a couple reasons for this. First, I want to try some techniques along the way on other models (tattoos on other Tharn if you saw my recent question about them). Also, I like getting every bit of practice before I paint a model as daunting as Kromac! And it means I have my Tharn painting schemes down by the time he comes up. Also, I love painting characters more than anything else. He is my final reward and the capstone to the project.
+Pictures! For the start of the project, my pictures will be terrible camera phone ones since the charger for my digital camera has decided to go AWOL. I will have a chance to look for it in a little over a week. If I cannot find it, I will be placing an order for a replacement.

But on to the lists!

Week 1 == 15/15 pts
Kromac the Ravenous (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
Tharn Wolfriders x3 (6)

Week 2 == 24/25 pts
Kromac the Ravenous (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
-Gnarlhorn Satyr (8)
Tharn Wolfriders x3 (6)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1)

Week 3 == 35/35 pts
Kromac the Ravenous (*4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
-Gnarlhorn Satyr (8)
Tharn Wolfriders x3 (6)
Tharn Bloodweavers (5)
Shifting Stones (2)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1)
Lord of the Feast (4)

Week 4 == 50/50 pts
Kromac the Ravenous (*4)
-Argus (4)
-Gorax (4)
-Feral Warpwolf (9)
-Gnarlhorn Satyr (8)
Druids of Orboros (7)
-Druid Overseer (2)
Tharn Wolfriders x3 (6)
Tharn Bloodweavers (5)
Shifting Stones (2)
Shifting Stones (2)
Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew (1)
Lord of the Feast (4)

You might notice I'm adding a unit every week. That's because I hate painting units and doing more than one in a week might make me kill myself. Once this is done, I will still have full units of Bloodtrackers, Reeves and Wolves for another time. But I'll put a dent in them!

I'm looking forward to this. In the next month I've gotta' move and work. And not much else really and I knew I wanted to get some painting done. So this is perfect!

If possible, I am gonna' try to get at least a game in at each level each week with each level. This will however be dependent on others being up for the games. I will be trying to get someone else at my LGS to join me in this though.

That's it for now. Expect starter pictures of everything in the next couple days!