Last of the Warlocks

 Here are the final two warlocks from the old GW set: We have a Bright (Fire) Mage, and a Gold Wizard (Alchemist).

To be honest, I wasn't 100% thrilled with these two. I think I was running low on inspiration and wanted to just "power through" to be done with these fellas. But I do think they look fine for tabletop and I am happy to have completed the little project I set for myself.

Some recent efforts

 So this one is not technically part of the Warlocks set I've been painting through (2 more of those to go), but he is a old GW plastic figure from the 90s that came in a similar small box assortment. This guy is more of a generic imperial wizard (to me). I also painted this one about 20 years ago. It was not great, so I stripped it best I could and re-painted him as part of this set. I lost some detail because the old paint didn't completely come off. So you can see some less defined areas. 

 

At this stage of my return to painting, I'm just trying one or two new things on the minis and painting what looks fun. 

Next up is a fun dwarf that would be a great addition to a Treasure Hunters warband in Mordheim.

 

I am not sure of this figure's pedigree. He looks kind of Reaper-ish, but has a slot base and I can't find him in their web store. Anyway, I dig the sculpt. He's walking around quaffing ale bare-chested, but with axe & board ready to go.

Next is an ogre from the old WOTC "Chainmail" line. I've have a soft spot for some of the sculpts from this line, so I tend to buy up these old figs when at a con or similar. 

Last up is not a new mini paint job, but a re-basing of an old one. I love this old GW metal orc shaman. I painted it YEARS ago. It's base was horrendous though. It was a GW 1" square slot base painted goblin green. That's it. So I decided to practice making nicer bases by making him a new one with texture paint, cork, and some gravel + flock..

The Light Wizard Approaches

This fella was interesting to paint since there was so much white. I used TAP "Mummy Robes" as a base, then highlighted and shaded from there. "Light" or "White" College Wizards are known for healing, philosophy, and life-giving energies. The manipulate Hysh the White Wind of Magic. The serpent symbol is often part of their image.  

Warlocks 2-5

 So first off, yes I am still alive. I recently got some stuff cleared off the table so I could paint again, but I will likely have to replace some of my paints eventually that are... less than liquid.

Secondly, here is the sorceress from the old box set that I decided was an amethyst wizard.

I'm pretty rusty and the eyes show it if nothing else, but it's tabletop acceptable IMO. I did try to work on shading and highlighting a bit other than just dousing it in a wash.

Next up are some minis from the set that I had painted at various times in the past: We have the blue wizard, a chaos sorcerer, and a jade wizard/druid.

I am borderline embarrassed by the chaos wiz. He's so cartoony. I painted him up originally as part of a diorama (hence the different base). The blue wizard was also a very early mini in my painting journey. The jade/druid was almost 10 years ago but he was done when I was painting more regularly, so he's a little better. (I actually used him as a sample mini in a series of short videos about getting a mini done for tabletop). 

There are still 3 of these warlocks to go: the Gold, the Fire, and the Light wizards. Since i have some time off for the holidays, we'll see if I can get any more done. 

Warlock #1: Amber Wizard

 

One down, anyway.

It was fun and frustrating to work with such an old and, dare I say, crude sculpt? Some of the divisions between sections of the mini were a little undefined, but I did what I could. You can see on the back that the pelt/cloak lacked enough definition in parts to hold the darker wash, but that's OK. Overall, I'm happy with the result. He needs sealing, but January is not the best month for outdoor spray paints.

Ending a hiatus (Wait. I have a blog?!)

I doubt too many people check this space any more, but it's as good a spot as any for what I'm doing. After a few years of letting my painting supplies gather dust, I finally cleaned things up and started trying to paint again. You would have thought lockdown during The-Year-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named would have been the perfect time for painting and scenery projects, but the lack in in-person gaming sort of stole my motivation. Anyway, that's my excuse and I am sticking to it!

So what is this new project? Well, in a word, it's Mordheim.

I have been fascinated by this game since I got back into WFRP (2nd edition). I've never been a big wargamer, but the skirmish levels, the campaign mode, and the setting flavor is just awesome. Not to mention the inspirational scenery and terrain builds online. Games Workshop stopped supporting the game about 7 years ago or so, but the fan base is still very much alive. You can even get a free copy of the rules over on broheim.net, including supplemental materials like alternate warbands.

I won't go into a review of the game, There are far more knowledgeable folks than myself online who have done that. But the Old World has a special place in my heart, so this seemed a great way to jump back into painting and terrain. 

The project I plan to record here is sort of silly. You see, the various warbands can sometimes -if they've been successful enough in making money- hire models to bolster their ranks. Some of these are just normal troops, but some are special "characters," including mages for hire called Warlocks.

Now, it just so happens that I have had a an old sprue of Citadel miniatures from the mid 90s called simply "Wizards." (FT-03) It contains eight plastic figures designed as Old World spell casters.

I found a page online that identifies the individual figures as: 

Back Row:

Shaman

Chaos Sorcerer 

Fire Wizard 

High Priest 

Front Row:

Astronomer 

Alchemist 

Druid 

Sorceress 

Now to use Warhammer terminology, the "Shaman" would be an Amber Wizard, the "Astronomer" a Blue, an "alchemist" would be a Gold Wizard, a "Fire" mage is known as a Bright Wizard, and the "Druid" a Jade Wizard. The Sorceress' skull motif could make an argument for an Amethyst (Death) wizard or a Necromancer. The "High Priest" looks vaguely Egyptian/Tomb Kings-ish, but perhaps there is another cult that fits the bill. EDIT: Consulting with the nerdosphere, I think an argument can be made that he is a Light Wizard ("White College") which uses the wind Hysh. They are known to use a snake motif sometimes ("The Serpent of Light"). So that's good enough for me!

And the chaos sorcerer looks like just that. 

I had already painted the Blue, Chaos, and Jade figures years ago (and it shows). I even made a short series of videos showing me painting the "Druid." but the other five lay there, still on the sprues, untouched for all this time. So for fun, I am cleaning them up and getting them ready to paint as potential warlocks for hire. The old GW sculpts are crude by today's standards, but like the Heroquest orcs, they have a charm to them I really enjoy. 

So far, the five have had their mold lines cleaned up and put on bases. I've also added a little gravel to the bases for texture. Then, since we had an unseasonably warm day, I sprayed the with gray primer. Here's where they stand now:

Gold Wizard

Amber Wizard

Light Wizard

Bright Wizard

Sorceress

The next steps will be applying paint to brush. I want to do them in old-school color schemes, but still make them fit Mordheim's aesthetic and hopefully with better technique than I had twenty years ago. I'm a bit out of practice, and my eyes aren't as sharp as they were, but I'll do what I can. 

Minor update on the Table

The dice trays looked great, but the attachment method I used wasn't that strong; small wood screws from underneath that only went partway into the top sheet of plywood. One of them popped loose with only slight pressure. So I got some brass "furniture connectors" and hex nuts. The tops of the connectors are visible on the table's surface, but look pretty nice, actually.

NOW I think I am done!