Back to the wargs

I got two gobbo riders painted last PM, but the camera's batteries were dead, so no pics yet. =(

Skin is goblin green (VGC), pants are coal black (p3), tops are cobra leather (VGC), belts are scorched brown (GW), metal is gunmetal (VGC), hilt is dwarf bronze (GW), wood is gun corps brown (p3), and eyes were black + bald moon yellow (VGC). Then the whole thing got washed with badab black.

The overall effect is not bad. There's no saddle or reins, and the little HQ guys look like they'd bounce right off, but they are unmistakably goblins riding wolves, and that's what matters!

I may saw off a few weapon hands and swap them out some holding bows, maybe even a standard bearer. I dunno yet.

Back from Garycon 3

It was quite a blast. There quite a few miniatures games going on in addition to the RPG-ing. I took a few pics and will upload them soon. The only one I played was Siege of Bodenberg, where I was on the invader (Hun) side.

The poll is closed and it looks like I'll be working on a dragon soon. The model in question is Mathrangul from Reaper Miniatures. I picked this model up a few years ago and it is still waiting in the wings. Here's a shot of its piece (templar mini for scale):



I had previously gotten it assembled and primed


The top of the head and one claw I plan to paint separately, then attach later. I also want to make him with a decorative stand for shelf display, but able to be removed for play. I have a few theories on how I may attempt that.

The plan is for it to be a big ol' red.

I still am working on the genestealers, but since the dragon is going to be less of a speed paint, I figure I can work on the SH minis in between stages of the big model.

baby steps

Well, I didn't end up painting the wolf riders (played with my new iPad instead!), but I did get them primed, along with several shields and some bow arms. I can make the pin holes in the wolves' backs this PM before the session and at least we can field the models. It may be after Garycon before I actually slap paint on these, but we'll see.

Gobbo riders, part 2

I should mention this is not a major project. I expect to finish it within a few days at most. Last PM I got the pieces of the goblins glued together (although I may still swap out a couple weapons for bows and/or spears). It's rainy here today, so this PM I will try to brush-on primer them and do a simple paint job. Goblin Green for skin, gray tunics, yellow eyes, Cobra Leather for the pants, and some Tin Bitz + Gunmetal for the weapons (Scorched or Beasty Brown for wood hafts, etc.). At that point they're ready for the table. Ideally, I'd like to have all ten ready for tomorrow PM's game.

Warg riders innnnn the SKY

What do you get when you take this:


and this:


and this:


and mix them together?

Hopefully –with the judicious application of a jeweler's saw and some milliput– some warg-riding gobbos. Pics to follow in the next day or so.

I'm working from some bitz and pieces I've got lying around. At first I thought just removing the Heroquest goblins' bases would work, but that quickly became messy. Sawing off the top half and gluing to the WFB goblin rider legs was much simpler. I have 10 of the WOTC Timber Wolves and I'm going to try just mounting the gobbos with a pin w/o gluing so I can add or remove them depending on whether I need wolf riders or just wolves. Nothing complicated. No saddles, etc. Just some mounted greenskins to wreak havoc. And, really, what more can anyone ask? (Besides hordes of zombies, that is.)

Post-Game Analysis

Well, the 48 are painted and sealed and ready for orc-y mayhem, all within the time allotted, so it's all good. Now it's time for a bit of "lessons learned."

Pacing: Overall I think the pace I set worked well. A dozen a week sounds like a lot, but really it was just 3-4 nights a week for a couple hours. Also, "rack-painting" 3-4 of them at a time goes faster per figure than painting them individually.

Color scheme: Planning out the colors ahead of time helped a lot. Likewise, the initial test-fig made me more confident of my color choices. That said, the next time I paint a large group like this, I'll probably try some more variation in the colors. Maybe having a couple of choices for the cloth or leather, etc. There were a couple of these minis that ended up with a lot of the leather color dominating the color scheme. If it had been a smaller project, I would have been tempted to re-do them, but I pressed on. Which bring up my next point.

"Get it on the Table": This was the mantra I had to repeat. I'm no Golden Demon painter, but I do like my figs to look nice. I'm what I like to consider "tabletop+" quality. Sometimes, I had to sacrifice some fiddly detail to keep moving on the overall project. As I looked at some strap or buckle that I wanted to make stand out, I would often stop myself and just pass it by. Part of it was the nature of the GW plastic sculpts, but I don't want to blame the materials. The simple fact was I wasn't going to waste the time and energy puzzling out each individual model's details. I still did things like put a touch of metallic on the belt buckles, or a little bleached bone on the teeth, or a spot of orange on the eye. So I guess I didn't jettison ALL the details. =)

I'm not a big wargamer, so despite having painted minis for years, most of the figures I've painted were for RPGs. This meant I was trying more for variety than quantity. So this was a neat exercise for me and gives me confidence to try getting more of the little hordes of minis crowding my table painted up.

48 orcs? What 48 orcs?

Oh, you mean THESE 48 orcs!



I'll post some better group shots when I have time to take them, but I wanted to get the mob pic online ASAP. All 48 are DONE, except for varnishing the last 12 shield & weapon boyz. (EDIT: I sealed them Thu. night, so they are all ready for the table!) Speaking of which, here are the final 6 I completed last PM.



This was a lot of fun, but I don't know if I wanna paint a mob of humanoids again anytime REAL soon. The blog was very useful for tracking my progress and motivating me. I'll have some postgame analysis in the near future.

It's a Poll!!

I don't want to jinx anything, but the project is drawing to a close and it looks likely I'll make the deadline (knocks on wood). I'm looking ahead to future projects and trying to decide what to do. While I think I will take a week or two to focus on those genestealers, I'm pondering a few possibles for after that.

Take a look at the poll above and tell me what you think sounds fun or interesting. You can vote for more than one option. I'll leave it up until after I get back from Garycon (3/29)

Day 26

No minis painted last PM, but we played two rounds of Space Hulk wherein I got annihilated playing the terminators. We also played a quick round of SBH, where the Starwood Clan Elves (see below) beat my Gnolls (Quick tip: failing a morale check right next to the edge of the board? = Bad Idea). Fun was had, though. Tonight, PAINTING.

Day 25

The friend for whom I am painting the Space Hulk minis is coming into town this evening, so I'm going to play some SH tonight instead of painting. I may get a chance to start the last six orcs tonight before he gets to my house, but more likely it will be tomorrow or Thursday.


We might play some Song of Blades and Heroes too. I'd also recently made up a bunch of pre-gen 300 point warbands for pick-up games like these. There are:

• Orcs (of course!)
  
• Goblins
  
• Undead
  
• Dwarfs
  
• Elves
  
• Gnolls (aka "Hyena men")
  
• Humans
  
• Bugbears
  

Feel free to use the lists for your own games. I make no promises regarding battle-effectiveness. I was mostly basing it off of what models I personally have on hand.

42/48!

Got these 6 finished last PM and put static grass on them this morning. I'm not crazy about how much leather is right next to itself in a couple of these, but that's tabletop speed painting for you, sometimes you just have to go with the color scheme and move on.

Weekend Update

Jane, you ignorant- wait, wrong update!

I put 6 more orcs on the painting table Saturday PM, I only got the skin done on them, but it's a start. My normal gaming session may be canceled for this week. If so, I'll try to use the time to make some progress.

End of Week Photos

Here are the greataxe orcs



And here are the first batch of the shield boyz I painted Fri PM:



Current count: 36/48 (back on track!)

PS- I realized I miscounted the days and labeled the End of Week 3 posts as Week 2. Fixed now. Going into the last week now with a dozen to go! Deadline: Fri PM (3/18)

Day 21 update

Since I was up so early (4am), I did finish the basing of the greataxe orcs this AM before work. I also began some shield orcs. I only did a basecoat on the skin and the tunics, but it's a start.

End of week 3

I didn't get a chance to paint last night, so I am 4 orcs behind :-( (Still 32/48) I'll try to paint some tonight.

I did get online at the crack o' dawn this AM and order my iPad2 though! With luck, it'll arrive in time for my trip to Garycon. I went with the black 16GB & Verizon 3G. I also snagged a blue neoprene cover.

Why the heck not?

Jim over at the Underdark Gazette has a Fiendish Plan to increase awareness of old school RPGs, RPG sites, and various OSR Games. So I present

Felicia Day as a Hot Elf Chick

March 10; Pluggin' along

I've been sick the last couple of days, but I did manage to finish 4 more (greataxe wielding) orcs. They still need the bases touched up a little and static grass, but otherwise they're done. I'll have pics in the next day or so.

Now it's on to the shield orcs. I'm still on schedule, assuming I get 4 more finished by tomorrow PM.

32/48!

Results from the painting club: 28/48

I think there are 4 more 2H weapon orcs (these guys with big axes), then I think it's on to the hand weapon + shield bunch (16 of those).

Reaper Warlord Reven Orc Beserker

The other orc I just finished.





Oh, and I got to seal this one and the 8 pikers from before. Also, I primed some old Citadel/WFB orcs that had been gathering dust, including a standard bearer, so that'll be fun to add to da horde! =)

EDIT: A-doy! I forgot to do his fingernails! Well, hopefully that will be easy enough to fix.

Pics for end of week 2

Current tally: 24/48! Halfway there!

These still need to be varnished, but otherwise they are done.



The fellas on the right went fast because they were all exactly alike.

End of Week 2

Well, ALMOST!

I finished the bases of the 4 pikers (pics in the next day or so), but failed to start more orcses. So current tally is 20/48. I will try to paint 4 tonight to get me back on schedule. I have high hopes of getting ahead of the curve during Sunday's painting, but I don't want to count on it for catch up.

I also finished a Reaper Warlord orc berserker I've been working on. This one has been done with a bit more detail, but still tabletop. I say finished, but it needs a little bit of cleanup where painting the base may have gotten on its feet, and the static grass still needs to be added. I'll post a pic of this one too.

It's day 14, but it's not over yet.

I got 4 more pike/spear boyz nearly done last PM. They just need the bases painted and flocked. I should polish them off this PM. Which will bring the count to 20/48! That should be the end of the polearms (hafta double-check the ones waiting in the wings to be sure). There are sword+shield and 2H-weapon models left. I think I'll do the 2-handers next. If I can get 4 of those done between tonight and tomorrow PM, I'll be on track at 50% after two weeks.

Sunday is my paint club meeting. With luck, I'll get a good chunk done there.

Day 12- Orcs: 0, Sleep:1

I crashed hard last PM, so nothing got painted. That skirmish game Monday PM lasted until 11:30, which is quite late for a middle-aged guy that normally gets up at 5AM. I'll take a fresh stab at them tonight.

Two unrelated notes: I am a-quiver waiting for the iPad2 announcement coming later this AM. I swear, if they start taking pre-orders I'm going to be all over that nonsense. I've been utterly twitching for an iPad for months, but my wife has (wisely) held me back to wait for the upgrade. SQUEE!

Also, I am heading to Garycon later this month for some lovely old-school RPG-ing at the Mecca of gaming: Lake Geneva, WI. Garycon is a small con run to honor the father of RPGs: Gary Gygax. I've been looking forward to it for a while, so I'm totally jazzed that's it's finally almost here.

PS- Since I don't have any minis pics to post, I thought I'd post this gamer-related image instead:

My other project

I've also been (slowly) painting up some Space Hulk minis for a friend of mine. The terminators are done, but I still have several genestealers to go. The orcs have distracted me a little, but I will attempt to press on with both.

The SH minis are for actual game play, so I'm painting for tabletop. Here's a sampling of what I've finished so far (forgive the less than stellar pic quality):









And here come the marines!

AUUGHH!! It's MARCH!

Actually, not that panicked (yet). I'll try to get through a few tonight.

No painting last night, but a fun 3-sided SoBH skirmish with my gnolls vs. a human militia/peasant mob vs. a zerg rush of halflings. Our normal LL game was shy two people (including the GM) so out came the minis.

Neither of the other two guys had played SoBH before, but it went well. They both opted for quantity over quality and have well over a dozen models each. I had a total of 9 gnolls (hyena men): 4 warriors, 3 archers, a 2H weapon "guard", and the chieftain. The battle took about 2.5 hours. It would have been quicker if we weren't all still pretty new to the rules and there hadn't been so many little models to roll for (though most of the human peasants fled early after two gruesome kills). In the end, it was down to one gnoll archer, one human barbarian, and one halfling slinger. The human barbarian managed to off my gnoll and chase down the slinger to finish it off. Kill point-wise, it was close, with the human side winning largely due to having killed a halfling hero and a veteran as well as my gnoll chieftain.

No orcs were harmed in the playing of this skirmish.