Hordes Switch, Time for Skorne

This is going to be a quick post tonight as I am about to start assembling my Titan Gladiator, hence I want to spend as much hobby time as I can working on the angry elephant. It looks like he's going to take a lot of pins and greenstuff so I'm eager to get to it. As I look at the generous pile of pieces that await me, I have a feeling this guy would really benefit from being rereleased as a plastic model. Hopefully PP has that in the works for their future Hordes plans.

Earlier today I repaired that Cyclops Savage who was damaged in the move without too much trouble. This means that once the Gladiator is built I will have my first 15 points of Skorne ready for painting. I still don't know if I'll go with the standard paint scheme or an alternative selection of colors. I like the basic red-flavored Skorne enough that I'm happy to use it as my default paint scheme should I not think of anything else with more appeal. Since the current Gladiator will likely take me a while to build, I'm sure I have plenty more time to consider my options.

As for the change of pace, I decided that I was ready to switch from working on Circle Orboros and start in on my next faction. Eventually I'd like to be able to run intro games in the Asheville area as it seems there is not yet much of a following here for either Warmachine or Hordes. Unfortumately I do not believe there are any Press Gangers within several hours drive of me so no help there. No worries though, I don't think it should be too hard to teach the game to someone else should I get the chance.

In order for me to do that, however, I need to paint some more monsters. Therefore it's time I return to the knives, glue, greenstuff and pins. Goodnight!

QuickPic - Lord of the Feast

Today I unpacked my Hordes miniatures for the first time after the move and was relieved to see that all of them held up quite well to the jostling. A couple of smaller pieces popped off of one of the unpainted Cyclops Savages but otherwise everyone appears to be in good condition. Phew! Also I noticed a few areas here and there that will need touching up but again it doesn't look like it will take much to fix 'em.

So after inspecting all the models I couldn't help but play around a little and take some pictures of them. Even though he's been seen on this blog a few other times, this Lord of the Feast is still one of my favorite minis to photograph. I hope you don't mind me posting him again, I kind of like the way this one turned out.

Hmm... I wonder what he's pointing at.

Oh well, goodnight!

POWER!!! etc.

It's been dark and stormy times on my little island these past four days. We lost power on Sunday and only had it fully restored earlier this afternoon. Fortunately I did have the opportunity to check out the initial wave of pictures from Games Day mere hours before the lights went out as the alternative would have been too cruel. Wow, those are some cool models. I don't know exactly what I'll do but I definitely want to mash up a Raider or two for some terrain. Making a Sarlaac pit seems like it would be fun. Once I have time I'm eager to catch up on whatever else has come to light about the upcoming product release.

To celebrate the power coming back on I took the above photograph of my Circle Orboros guys. Since referring to them in my last post I realized that I had not ever taken a group shot of the happy bunch and decided I would set them up once I could charge my camera's battery. How's that for a dorky celebration? Also I looked into how many points they comprise, the total of which turns out to be 21. When I am again motivated to work on this stuff I believe I will next paint a unit of Wolves of Orboros or Tharn Bloodtrackers to add some cheap numbers to the army. I don't anticipate that being any time soon, though.

Prior to the power outage my wife's parents were visiting and stayed with us for several days. I've therefore done very little painting over the last week but I should now be able to get back to it so long as the electricity doesn't go out again. (Fingers crossed as the storms have hardly lessened.) With the hobby time that I was able to scrounge up I assembled the first of my Skorne models, a unit of Praetorian Swordsmen and the warlock from the Skorne starter box. It may not be much but I'm thankful that I accomplished anything considering recent circumstances.

Okay, that's it for the update. Time to paint.

Breaking Fealty

I haven't mentioned Warhammer Fantasy since 8th edition was released when I decided to start a new Bretonnian army. I've been quiet about this undertaking since then because I have not made any progress that seemed positive or worth discussing. The past couple of months have seen me become increasingly frustrated with my choice of army as I've struggled with list after list to make an army that lives up to my early enthusiasm for the chivalrous blue bloods and their filth-encrusted peasantry. I simply cannot find a force hiding in the Bretonnian army book that I like.

When I chose to go with the Bretonnians I was somewhat aware of the challenges this would bring, though not entirely so. It would seem my "careful" consideration was not as carefully considered as I had thought. I was not foolish enough, however, to believe I would be able to come up with a super-tough list capable of competing against strong opponents. All I really wanted was an army to use in some fun games against friends, thus allowing me to return Warhammer Fantasy to my gaming rotation after my interest in it had waned over the lifespan of the previous edition. Yet even with these modest goals in mind I have not been able to put anything together that excites me enough to begin investing the time and money needed for a new army.

So what's a fella to do? For now at least I'm stepping back from my pledge of loyalty to Bretonnia and the Lady of the Lake. While it may cause my Dwarf army to label me as an oath-breaker and refuse to ever fight for me again, I think this is my best option. I don't want to fall into the trap of forcing myself to work on an army I'm not excited about as there are numerous other projects I'm eager to tackle. As a finicky and easily distracted hobbyist, I finally learned that it's almost impossible for me to get very far with an army when I'm less than fully enthused about it. Despite the frustrations necessary to bring me to this point, I am at least grateful to have recognized my issues with the army before putting forth any significant effort.

Eventually I'd like to get back to these Bretonnians though I have no idea when that will be. It feels to me as if the army currently lacks in variety, a problem which is exacerbated by the fact that several characterful units I'd like to include are not well represented in the range of Bretonnian miniatures. For example, weren't there at some point more than five Questing Knight sculptures? Two rank-and-file variants just seems to me woefully inadequate for a unit that should have lots of individual personality. In this particular case I could set about trying to convert or kit-bash some models of my own but that sounds like a lot more than I'm willing to do at this point. Therefore, confronted with an army book that doesn't particularly captivate me and a range of miniatures that leaves me wanting, I think it would be best to set aside the spurs and lance until Bretonnia receives its update for the new edition.

While I'm content to hold off on the Bretonnians, there's still the fantasy itch that needs to be scratched. I started to look again at what other armies I might want to collect but so far nothing has jumped out at me. I thought it would be fun to work on a new army to coincide with the latest edition of the game but it's certainly not necessary. I still have a couple of functional armies which I can use in friendly games of Warhammer, but they've become sort of stale feeling to me over the years. Nonetheless I would like to work on something of a more fantastical sort so as to satisfy that part of my gamer soul not currently fulfilled by chainswords and plasma guns. Hmm, what to do?

Oh yeah, there was that other game that had captivated my attention last winter... Hordes. Or more properly, HORDES!!!! (PP's penchant for capitalization still cracks me up.) The game offers lots of cool monsters, crazy warlocks and spells, and some really bizarre factions to choose from, all of which sounds to me like a winning combination. Plus every model I worked on before was a blast to paint and I doubt I could ever tire of painting monsters. The more I think about, the more convinced I am that this is where I need to look to get my fix of fantasy gaming.

In fact the last miniature I painted before my unanticipated five month break from the brushes was a Lord of the Feast for my Circle Orboros gang. I already have 20ish points of Circle Orboros painted and another 15 points or so worth in boxes, as well as 35 to 40 points worth of Skorne models waiting around in their original packaging. Therefore my plan going forward is to cease worrying about doing something new for Warhammer Fantasy and will instead turn to Hordes for my swords-and-sorcery gaming enjoyment.

Best of all, this is the perfect time for me to return to Hordes as the faction of my dreams is just now being rolled out, the Blindwater Congregation:

Crazy voodoo alligators... I think I may have just fallen in love.

Showcase: Circle Orboros

While waiting on the police after his car was broken into at AdeptiCon, DrGabe was kind enough to photograph my finished Circle Orboros guys. I'm so impressed with his camera skills that from now on the pictures I take are going to look pretty poor in comparison. Also it makes me wish I had done more painting before leaving for the con. Thanks again, Gabe... I'll come to Missouri next time I need pictures of something.

Kaya the Wildborne

Warpwolf Heavy Warbeast

Argus Light Warbeasts

Gorax Light Warbeast

Shifting Stones

Lord of the Feast

Oops, WIP

AdeptiCon is officially one week away and I'm supposed to be in Chicago five days from now. Well, I just realized about twenty minutes ago that I don't have plane tickets. I had researched a bunch of options months ago, but then never got around to actually purchasing any. My wife was growing suspicious over the past several days that we had overlooked getting the tickets, and after searching around in my inbox this evening it seems that I currently do not have a way to get to the Con. But this is no time to panic, I'm sure I'll be able to work it out... it will just make things more interesting.

I'm still working away on the Lord of the Feast. He's a creepy dude and has some sort of bad mojo going on. Even though I like him a lot and think he is a cool miniature, I'm looking forward to having this one wrapped up and done. I keep finding little areas of skin that need to be painted and this has been slowing me down. Also I've made a few color mistakes and have had to go back several times to redo an area, so maybe I'm just being influenced by these delays and frustrations. Or maybe it really does have something to do with him being the embodiment of entropy as a force of nature. Who knows, perhaps I should blame the Devourer Wurm? Check out the WIP photo above to see where I'm at, meanwhile I'm still updating the Color Guide as I go along. I apologize if the picture is too dark, I'll try to get a better one in the morning to replace this one.

Regardless of whatever voodoo he might be working on me, I've got more painting to do. I expect to finish him up in a day or so. After that, I'm not too sure what to do. I'm starting to get the itch to paint something 40kish in anticipation of AdeptiCon. I should address that Chaos Sorcerer if only as an exercise in painting discipline. There are just so many other things I would rather work on, and right now there's not a whole lot of time left. It would nice to at least get the Tharn Bloodtrackers assembled, or perhaps some of the Minions that I plan on taking with me to AdeptiCon. Oh yeah, and there's the matter of actually getting to Chicago... nope, I do not want to forget that again!

Lord of the Feast WIP

Okay, so I said before that it was time to work on some units for my Circle Orboros army, but here I am posting about another one-off sculpture, the Lord of the Feast solo. I took Monday off from painting and instead opened up a blister of Tharn Bloodtrackers to see what would be involved in assembling them. I decided that I wasn't quite ready to begin on them and would rather do the Lord of the Feast first. I wasn't sure how I wanted to divide up the Bloodtrackers and realized that if I had the solo done, I could next paint the first six of the Tharn to give me a 25 point usable army. After that I can finish off the unit before moving on to the unit of Druids, thus bringing up the points total to my current goal of 35, which I believe to be a relatively standard size for most games.

As for the Lord of the Feast himself, I initially struggled to find the right skin tone to use on him. I want to convey a sense of unwholesomeness and a sort of general ickiness that I get from the miniature and his fluff. Although I like the soft grey colors that I've seen him done in before, I'm nonetheless happy with the progression of colors that I ended up using. For a skin tone, I think it looks pretty gruesome, although I won't know for sure if this was the right way to go until I can see how it looks with some other areas painted up. Getting this guy assembled was fairly tricky and challenged me enough for the day so I don't feel like pressing to get much more painting done on him tonight. I'm also not sure how I want to paint all those different areas of animal skins so I think I'll leave him alone for now. As can be seen in the WIP photo, I've already managed to break the raven off of his arm within the first few minutes of painting. I'm worried that this forebodes some durability issues but hopefully he won't prove to be quite as delicate as I now fear. Oh well, time will tell. I really like this miniature and just hope it all turns out okay.

Color Guide - Lord of the Feast

Basecoat: Chaos Black, Bestial Brown drybrush

Skin: 30A, Ogryn Flesh, 30A, 30B, 30C

Chainmail: 35A, 35B, 35C, Badab Black

Eyes: 4C, Gryphonne Sepia

Stockings: 11A, 11B, 11C, Devlan Mud

Leggings and Straps: 45A, 45B, 45C, Devlan Mud

Skirt and Hood: 12A, 12B, 12C, Devlan Mud

Satchel: 7A, 7B, 7C, Devlan Mud

Belt: 13A, 13B, 13C, Devlan Mud

Severed Arm: 5A, 5B, 5C, Ogryn Flesh, cuts done with Baal Red

Bracelets, etc.: 36A, 36B, 36C, Devlan Mud

Pendants: 32A, 32B, 32C, Badab Black

Skulls: Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, 9A, 9B, 9C

Trophy Skulls: same as above and finished with Devlan Mud

Antlers: Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, 9A, 9B, 9C, Devlan Mud

Sword Blade: 35A, 35B, 35C, Badab Black, Ogryn Flesh

Sword Grip: Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, 9A, 9B, 9C, Ogryn Flesh

Mane: Scorched Brown, Dark Flesh, Red Gore drybrush, Ogryn Flesh

Trophy Hair: 34A, 34B, 34C, Badab Black

Raven: 34A, 39A, 39B, 39C, Badab Black twice

Base: watered Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, Graveyard Earth drybrush, Kommando Khaki drybrush

Stones: 57A, 57B, 57C

Base Lip: 34A

Shifting Stones WIP

I finished up the Gorax last night and thanks to some great weather, I was able to get him sealed earlier today as well. This means I now have a fully painted 15-point army for Hordes! I know that 15 points isn't much, in this case being just one extra warbeast added to the Circle Orboros Warpack box, but I am proud of the accomplishment regardless of its scale. I just realized however that I don't have any pictures of the completed miniatures posted here, so that all I've shown off have been WIP shots. Fortunately I am still working on a solution and hope to have some showcase photos added in the coming week. It turns out there is an internet cafe even on my rural island and so I plan on going there to do all of the uploading necessary to launch a picture gallery... my internet is just too slow for me to do it from home.

Having gotten to this point with my Circle Orboros collection, I feel it is now time to begin painting some units. It's been fun painting the individual miniatures, but I am now ready to branch out into new territory for a different experience. The first unit I'm painting is a batch of Shifting Stones, which are pictured above in the WIP photograph. I anticipated them being a fairly easy project and one I could get through quickly. I got them assembled and primed today while the baby was sleeping and had thought I might be able to take them from out of the packaging to completion in the span of a single day. Although I stopped painting tonight with them incomplete, I'm still pretty sure that another day of work should see them finished. Considering my usual pace, I would certainly be happy about getting a unit done over the course of a weekend.

As per my now standard practice, I have listed below the colors that I am using in painting the Shifting Stones so as to help me keep track of them.

Basecoat: Chaos Black

Plinth: 34B, 34C, 57B

Relief: 41A, 41B, 41C, 2 parts 41C mixed with 1 part 2B, Thraka Green, touchups with 41B

Plants: Knarloc Green, Ogryn Flesh, 28B, 28C

Stones: 57A, 57B, 57C

Skull: Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, 9A, 9B, 9C

Base: Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, Graveyard Earth drybrush, Kommando Khaki drybrush

Base Lip: 34A

Gorax WIP

I started work on the Gorax this past Sunday and even got to do a little sculpting to fill a gap with green stuff. The rope connecting the Gorax to his stone did not fit exactly together, it being a couple millimeters too short and left a noticeable area lacking depth and detail, so that is where I focused my attention. I'm uncomfortable with sculpting but I am satisfied with how it turned out, although that might change once it's been painted. Regardless of how it looks, though, it will have to do as I am not going back to work on it anymore.

As for the painting, at first I thought I wanted to try out a more unusual color scheme for the Gorax and decided to go with Slate Grey (32) for his body and Moss (29) for his mangy hair and fur. I quickly felt like this might not be the right way to go but continued to build highlights until I pretty much finished with those two areas. Something still seemed off about the Gorax and he just did not seem to fit in or belong when viewed with my other painted Circle Orboros minis. So Monday night I reluctantly started going back over the previously addressed areas, though this time I feel much better about his overall appearance. I'm now confident that I have the color scheme worked out and like the way he is starting to look now. If all goes well, I hope to have him wrapped up by the weekend. As with some of my other WIP posts, I'm keeping track of the paints that I've used in the following color guide. I will be updating it as I go along.

Basecoat: Chaos Black

Body: 32A, 32B, Devlan Mud?, 11A, 11B, 11C

Mangy Fur: Scorched Brown, Bestial Brown drybrush, 3 parts Bestial Brown mixed with 1 part Kommando Khaki drybrush, 3 parts Kommando Khaki mixed with 1 part Bestial Brown drybrush, Badab Black, Scorched Brown touchups

Claws: 9A, 9b, 9C, Devlan Mud

Teeth: 10A, 10B, 10C, Devlan Mud

Armor Plates: 41A, 41B, 41C, Thraka Green, touchups along edges of armor with 41A

Metal Collar: 35A, 35B, 35C, Badab Black, Devlan Mud

Straps: 45A, 45B, 45C, Devlan Mud

Eyes: 4B, Geyphonne Sepia

Big Rock: 32A, 32B, 32C, Devlan Mud

Rope:55A, 55B, 55C, Devlan Mud

Base: Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, Graveyard Earth drybrush, Kommando Khaki drybrush

Stones: 57A, 57B, 57C

Base Edge: 34A

Check It Out, I'm 33!

Today is my birthday and am turning thirty three years old, so happy birthday to me! I don't really know what to say... I think it's going to be a great year and today was an excellent launch into this new age. I've had a lot of fun today and even got in some painting here and there. I received a bunch of cool gifts including some awesome birthday gaming surprises, no less! My wife went so far as to brave a trip to the not-so-friendly local (actually it's an hour's drive away) gaming store to pick out some miniatures herself to give to me. I'm really touched by her having taken that upon herself. In honor of our little daughter, she got for me a unit of Daughters of the Flame! Hmmm, I have been increasingly interested in the Protectorate of Menoth and so this could be the start of something exciting. Additionally for my growing Circle Orboros collection she also got for me a new warcaster, Krueger the Stormwrath! I still feel shocked by the thoughtfulness of it as I now know she really has been paying attention to my hobby beyond the painting itself, not to mention the courage it took to walk into such a den of nerdiness and dorkitude. I'll detail the other gaming stuff I was given sometime soon, I just wanted to express my thanks while I'm still in the moment.

I have good news to report from the painting front, too. Tonight I finished work on Kaya which means my Circle Orboros Warpack is now done! Woo-Hoo!! I had so much painting these miniatures and even though it was only four models, because of the nature of the game, they actually do represent a decent sized chunk of an army. I therefore feel like this was a real accomplishment for me and am encouraged about the prospects of getting some playable armies painted in the near future. I plan on paining the Gorax light warbeast next, then probably some units or solos. As for Kaya, the gold ended up being a pretty big pain in the rump but ended up looking good I think. The eyes however were really tough for me to get right and in fact I think they still look sort of jacked. Her right eye looks okay but the left one is not pretty. Is there anything more frustrating than botching the eyes on an otherwise well painted figure? I'm just glad the way the miniature is posed should keep her face hidden most of the time when seen on the tabletop. I suppose they're not all terrible bad and do look better than many of eyes I've painted in the past, but I am far from satisfied with my eye-painting abilities right now. Maybe I'll spend some time searching around for tutorials on the subject... let's see if this internet really is good for something!

Third Kaya WIP

I painted for close to another four hours tonight and got a lot more done on Kaya. No transcendental experiences like the last time I stayed up to paint, but still a good night nevertheless. Plus I feel like I ran out of steam earlier as well... it's been a long day for this dad. Other than the usual touch ups, all that remains to paint is her hair and eyes, her cloak, and finally all of that gold. Apparently people in the Iron Kingdoms like their bling. It's late and I'm going to sleep. The picture above was taken after I stopped painting for the night around 12:30 or so. If I can get to sleep quickly, I just might be able to finish tomorrow. Goodnight!

Another Kaya WIP

So after taking the past two nights off from painting, today I got back into the swing of things and returned to work on Kaya the Wildborne. The baby's nap this afternoon lasted about an hour longer than usual and I tried to make the most out of that little bonus hobby time. I really do prefer painting during the day rather than at night so I'm appreciative of these opportunities for to paint while she sleeps. Few things calm my spirit as much as quiet afternoon spent with my paints and brushes... oh yeah, and miniatures too.

Check out the photo above to see how I am progressing on my Circle Orboros warlock. I haven't put a whole lot of time into it since my last WIP picture, although there certainly is a lot more color in place now. I tried to hide it with the angle of my camera but you can still somewhat discern the overly thick paint buildup on Kaya's abdomen. As I mentioned before, I noticed this as a problem area while still working on it but there wasn't anything I could do to reverse the effect. The best I was able to achieve was to smooth it over a little by applying additional watered down coats of the final highlight followed by a wash of Ogryn Flesh. Fortunately this flaw appears to be a lot less noticeable when viewed in person until you put the figure right to your face. I don't know if it's me or the camera, but in the photos however I can't seem to not notice this. Room for improvement I suppose. Nonetheless, I continue to be happy with how she is shaping up and I'm excited about seeing the Warpack completed.

Kaya the Wildborne WIP

Good news... I finished the Warpwolf today! There were just a few remaining things to address on him and so, with a little work during the day and then some more this evening, I was able to wrap everything up. That leaves just my warlock left to paint and I will have completed my Circle Orboros Warpack. I doubt that there is enough time to paint her before the start of the next month but I still feel like getting this much done is a good accomplishment for the month of February. That doesn't mean, however, that I am not going to at least try. Tonight I have therefore officially started painting Kaya the Wildborne.

I decided I would try out something a bit different with Kaya by lightly drybrushing the entire model with Bestial Brown. I was having trouble figuring out the overall color scheme that I wanted to use and thought that this would be easier for me if I could see all of the details sculpted onto the miniature. Brown seemed to be the way to go since I'll be sticking with the earth tones common to the Druids of Circles Orboros. And it's always seemed to me like gold-colored paints go on better over brown rather than black, so even the metallic areas should benefit from the brown drybrushing. Although I'm little concerned that I might have gone too heavy with the paint in certain areas, such as Kaya's abdomen, I am generally very happy with how this experiment is turning out. It really is amazing how much the details stand out now and I'm pretty sure that this will end up helping me to get her painted quickly and with less hesitation than I would normally have experienced. I didn't get much beyond this initial step tonight but you can see the results of my labor in the above WIP photo. Also it is enough to start a color guide for Kaya the Wildborne:

Undercoat: Chaos Black, Bestial Brown drybrush

Skin: 5A, Ogryn Flesh, 5B, 5C, Ogryn Flesh

Hair: 53A, 53B, 53C, Devlan Mud

Eyes: 34A, White?

Armor Plates: 41A, 41B, 41C, Thraka Green, touch-ups with 41B

Gold Edging: 36A, 36B, 36C, Devlan Mud

Pants, Vest, and Sleeves: 7A, 7B, 7C, Gryphonne Sepia

Cloak: 26A, 26B, 26C, Thraka Green

Arm Guards: 12A, 12B, 12C, Devlan Mud

Boots: 14A, 14B, 14C, Devlan Mud, multiple washes of Baal Red for the top of the boots

Straps and Tassels: 45A, 45B, 45C, Devlan Mud

Trinkets: 9A, 9B, 9C, Devlan Mud... also the Stone bits on the tassels are done like those on the base, then washed with the other trinkets

Staff: 13A, 13B, 13C, Gryphonne Sepia

Base: watered down Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, Graveyard Earth drybrush, Kommando Khaki drybrush

Stones: 57A, 57B, 57C

Late Night WIP

I'm going to be staying up for a while tonight to keep painting the Feral Warpwolf. I feel like I'm into a good groove and have been making good progress... I spent all of last night beginning to define the sculpted musculature and hope to finish up that process this evening. It's been an interesting night so far and I get the sense that the miniature is drawing me on to do more. I think this is probably a good state of mind for a painter, however unwise it may be for the father of young child. I'm ready to accept the consequences of being tired and out of it tomorrow but right now I simply must paint more.

I was in some pretty deep thought earlier while painting concerning the nature of painting and how it occurs. It's something that has crossed my mind before but tonight it has really been in the forefront of my thoughts. Although it is a basic and straightforward question, I doubt it has been examined too often by those in our hobby. So, why do I paint the way that I do? I'm not wondering with regards so much to any particular techniques or skills but rather more having to do with the colors chosen, the order in which they are applied, and the placement on the sculpture itself. And why is it uniquely the way that it is for each miniature? This intrigues me to no end and is something I would like to explore in the future. However, as I have already dropped the Warpwolf twice in the last couple of hors while contemplating this matter, I should probably just focus on my painting for the time being. I've reattached the two spines that popped off of the right shoulder and believe the glue should be set by now. Back to it, then!

PS - I'll come back and add a picture to the top of this post in the morning to show how far along I got tonight. I expect by the time I stop painting it will be too late to worry about messing around with my camera. Otherwise I am going to just go for as long as I can....

[2/24/2010 - Update: Yes, the picture at the beginning of this post was taken around 10:00am of the following day. I painted for another couple of hours before calling it a night sometime between 1:30 and 2:00 am. It was indeed a good night of painting!]

Feral Warpwolf WIP

I decided to take Thursday off from painting after having completed work on the Argus minis, but I was then too tired to get any painting done last night. Despite a somewhat late start tonight I was able to get in a couple of hours painting time and have begun work on the Feral Warpwolf from the Circle Orboros Warpack. Once again I am quite impressed with the miniature itself and believe I'll enjoy getting him painted up. I don't want to just replicate the colors I used on the two Argus models, although I do want them all to look like they belong together. Having an army comprise of mostly a bunch of monsters does allow for more latitude than I'm used to when painting uniformed soldiers. I'm therefore looking forward to being able to vary the color scheme a little as I go along and hopefully make each character or beast look like an individual while still having them look like a cohesive group.

Just as with my previous WIP, I'm going to keep an ongoing list of the paints I use. I plan on adding to it as I make progress on the Warpwolf so that once I've finished with him I'll have a full color guide.

Basecoat: Chaos Black

Body: 6A, Devlan Mud, 6A, 6B, 6C

Shaggy Fur: Scorched Brown, Dark Flesh drybrush

Spines: 6A, 10A, 10B, 10C

Armor Plates: 41A, 41B, 41C, Thraka Green, touch up along edges of armor with 41A

Scar/Wound: Baal Red, Mechrite Red, Red Gore, Blood Red, Baal Red

Eyes: 4B, Gryphonne Sepia

Tongue: 6A, 5B, 5B and 5C mix, Ogryn Flesh

Claws: 10A, 10B, 10C, Devlan Mud

Teeth: 9A, 9B, 9C, Devlan Mud

Armor Edging: 36A, 36B, 36C, Devlan Mud

Straps: 45A, 45B, 45C, Devlan Mud

Base: watered Bestial Brown, Devlan Mud, Graveyard Earth drybrush, Kommando Khaki drybrush

Stones: 57A

Circular Logic

I finally managed to finish the two Argus minis tonight... yeah! Painting all of the gold edges for their armor took a lot longer than I had initially expected but in the end I am quite happy with how they turned out. I need to glue some grass to their bases but otherwise they are done. Who knows when the weather will cooperate and allow me to spray them with the matte varnish, but for now I content to appreciate what I've accomplished so far. These are the first Privateer Press miniatures that I've ever painted and I definitely had a lot of fun with them. After these guys, I know I want to paint a bunch more. It's also been a strange feeling working with metal again because I've become so accustomed to the plastics available from Games Workshop. What really stands out the most to me is their weight... I love the extra heft that the metal provides. I'll get pictures up as soon as I can.

Even though I wasn't able to get the Circle Orboros Warpack painted as fast as I had hoped, I'm still want to continue with them as previously planned. But what next after this initial group? Thanks to the iBodger phone app, I have been making lots of army lists over the last couple of weeks to help me figure out what type of miniatures I should look at adding to me collection. I know I said earlier that I was just going to paint whatever appealed the most to me, but I'm really spoiled for choice as there are so many that I like. I might not know how to play the game but I have gotten a sense at least of what type of miniatures can be used to make playable armies. I'm therefore starting to collect and paint with army lists in mind in something like an escalation type of format. I'm sure I'll end up with more than these minis, but this is what I'm aiming for with which to begin my HORDES experience. So check out my first couple of Circle Orboros lists and let me know what you think:

Kaya the Wildborne (+6)

2 x Argus (8)

Feral Warpwolf (9)

Gorax (4)

TOTAL = 15 Points

Kaya the Wildborne (+6)

2 x Argus (8)

Feral Warpwolf (9)

Gorax (4)

Shifting Stones (2)

6 Tharn Bloodtrackers (5)

Lord of the Feast (3)

TOTAL = 25 Points

These two lists are based on the miniatures that I've already purchased and therefore I've already got a game-legal army underway. My goal is to have enough to field 35 to 50 points worth of Circle Orboros with maybe some extra guys as well so that I can change things up as I learn the game. I plan on collecting approximately that same size army for each of the other factions so that I can play around with them and figure out which of them I like the most. Right now though I'm content to just work on what I like with some help from my lists for guidance. What can I say? I'm a gamer and so I love making lists!

Snow Day in SC

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody! I'm up early with the baby and so thought this might be a good time to post an update, especially since blogging later tonight might not be the most romantic of ways to spend the evening. Hopefully I'll still be able to get some painting done today as I am now very close to finishing the two Argus models. Even though I was aiming to complete them last Friday, this was not in the cards for me. Amazingly enough my area of the state got its first real snowstorm in a dozen or so years and ended up leaving a couple of inches of snow on the ground!

As fun as it was, this did not help my painting as we lost power Friday and it did not come back on until the early hours of the following day. I had been painting for only about a half hour or so before the lights went out and therefore wasn't able to get much accomplished on those doggies. Considering how rare of an occurrence this is for the coastal region of South Carolina, I'm not upset about this surprising delay and appreciate the little taste of seasonal variety. When it's usually green all year long, a day of seeing white is a nice change of pace. I took the above photo the next morning as the snow was quickly melting. The view is from our backyard looking out into the salt water marsh on which we live. We usually get very light snow flurries about once a year but the snow never sticks. Having snow on the ground this close to the ocean is indeed an exceptional thing to see and I'm grateful for it.

Last night I was able to get back to work and painted for probably another three hours. I finished painting the leather parts of their armor and harnesses, as well as taking care of their teeth and claws. The teeth in particular were pretty time consuming but I'm happy with the final results. All that's left now is to paint the gold trim on their armor and a couple of metal rings, their eyes, and then finally whatever tidying up needs to be done. Oh yeah, also the little stones on their bases. I'm not 100% confident that I'll finish them off today because of the holiday, but I do feel good about my progress and suspect that I will still be able to manage some painting time. Fun, fun, fun!

Argus WIP

I'm painting again! I've been working on two Argus models from my Circle Orboros Warpack for the last three hours which means that HORDES is now underway! I'm having a lot of fun and the miniatures are a joy to paint. I plan on staying up a while longer tonight and so I hope to have these two finished by tomorrow. Could I possibly have the whole group painted by the end of this weekend? That would definitely be a cool accomplishment. We shall see.

On this project I want to do a better job of keeping track of the colors I am using. Therefore I will be listing out my steps as I go along. This is what I've got so far:

Basecoat: Chaos Black

Body: Foundry 42A, 42B, 42C

Shaggy Fur: 42A, 42B, Devlan Mud (Argus #1) or Badab Black (Argus #2), 42B drybrush (A#1) or 32B drybrush (Argus #2), reapply appropriate washes to each Argus.

Armor Plates: 41A, 41B, 41C, Thraka Green, touch up along edges of armor with 41A

Muzzle and Nose: 34A, 34B, 34C, Badab Black

Harness: 45A, 45B, 45C, Devlan Mud

Metal Rings: 35A, 35B, 35C, Badab Black

Foot Pads: 34A, 34B, 34C, Devlan Mud

Claws: 10A, 10B, 10C, Devlan Mud

Teeth: 9A, 9B, 9C, Devlan Mud

Armor Edging: 36A, 36B, 36C, Devlan Mud

Eyes: 4B, Devlan Mud, 4B

Base: watered Bestial Brown, (possibly a wash of Devlan Mud?), Graveyard Earth drybrush, Kommando Khaki drybrush

Stones: 57A, 57B, 57C

Base Lip: 34A

Photo Woes, Et Cetera

My internet is messing with me and I'm having a lot of trouble uploading pictures right now. I don't really know what's going on or how to fix the situation, it just seems like I can't get anything more added. I still haven't figured out if I can do a gallery section on this blog so I was just going to do a separate entry for each finished miniature. Since that does not appear to be a viable solution, I am going to rethink this and hopefully come up with something else. For now though the only photo I could get to load is the one above which is pretty similar to one I posted quite some time ago. You can see in this new shot, however, that I went a little heavy on the varnish and therefore he's now a little bit shiny. Oh well... live and learn.

We've had a lot of wet weather in my area of the country and I haven't done any painting in about a week now. I'm pretty disappointed about that but I had nothing primed so what could I do? After finishing the Scout squad last week we had several days of rain and so I moved on to assembling my Circle Orboros Warpack. Fortunately my experience with them went much smoother than those Scouts, which surprises me because I've gotten used to plastics being so easy to work with compared to metal. I think I may have even been unconsciously avoiding larger metal kits because of all the hassle they've caused me in the past. I'm pretty sure the last big metal kits I worked on were the Ork Dreadnought and Killer Kans which were nearly impossible for me to assemble. I feel better having learned that those particular miniatures were notorious ill fitting and difficult to work with... apparently I'm not the only one to have experienced genuine pain trying to get them to hold together. I'm happy those guys in particular are finally getting released as plastic kits because the metal versions probably did more than anything else to drive me away from the hobby for two years.

With all that still seeming fresh in my mind, my introduction to Hordes miniatures was really a joy as I was expecting it to be so much more difficult than it proved to be. There were a couple of tricky things to contend with but overall nothing that made me get frustrated or mad. I even made my first successful attempt at pinning heavy components! The spine things jutting out of the Warpwolf's shoulders didn't fit perfectly and were a bit fiddly, and there were also some minor gaps that needed filling with greenstuff. All things considered though I am very happy with these miniatures, they are beautifully sculpted and look fantastic. I really want to get painting them right away but am conflicted because of all those Dark Angels that need to be painted as well. So what should I do? Do I listen to my head and turn my attentions to those Scouts, or should I go with my heart and start painting my monsters for Hordes?