Games Workshop (GW Demon) - WIP

Confession: This one was pulled from the archives (a year ago). Backstory ..I had a moment of weakness, I think I was in need to cheer myself up with a tonic and "it" took advantage of me!  Daemons are like that, they attack you when your defences are down and this one appeared unexpectedly in an aisle in local non-wargaming shop (Boyes) during a boring shopping trip (see below, yes I totally blame the Games Workshop Daemon for taking advantage of me, I am weak and it promised me riches [but it took my wargaming soul]. I have primed, washed and base-coated it [and washed it again for good measure] to gain the following effect): 

Despite being a bit over the top, it is very, very good fun to paint and it is one of the "classic Warhammer miniatures" - just sought after just to paint (see below, I like the way fantasy holds no bars so you are free to experiment - although you could say I went for a typical "Demon Red" painting scheme, three layers of paint [shade, base, highlight] and a wash on the metals! Presentable but not yet totally finished): 

Vallejo Game Colour paint range did the trick, along with their washes. The next stage is spot highlighting and some extra "detailing" on the base! Watch this space ...

A retro-project approaching its completion: Games Workshop Warhammer Starter Set circa 2003 - The Orks!

Before Xmas this was the state of play of my Warhammer Starter Set - bought for me as a birthday present circa 2003. The Empire troops are long painted but the Ork (careful not to drop into the LOTR spelling convention here) are still wanting a  bit of attention (see below, the Ork Boar Chariot and Ork Archers are just primed, Ork Chopper Boyz looking ok): 

The Ork Chopper Boyz are pretty much done - an extra bit of work on the blades won't go amiss (see below, these Ork Boyz don't seem to be the 1HD wonders of Second Edition D&D I remember so fondly of in my youth , more like 3-5HD "bad ass" things you try and avoid if at all possible):  

So during the Xmas break I went to it with gusto [it was a bucket list item]! The Ork Archers get their final painting session (see below, basing and flocking of course still to follow): 

The Ork Crew and Wild Boar Chariot was the most challenging. In short, a lot of work .. albeit mostly brown and metal (see below, it did however become a mix between a "labour of love" and "point of honour to finish without rushing". Note:  the Spear Ork is really working hard to find something "to hit"):

A close-up of a typical Greenskin - showing off with a whip, prodding a Wild Boar and bigging himself up (see below, where is a juicy, defenceless Elf when you need one?): 

Nearly there, just the last bit of basing to do! Not that bad after twenty years - I was just waiting until I learned to paint?

28mm Fantasy - Undead Hoards - Skeletons

For reason still as yet clear to me after a short conversation with my eldest teenage son I began painting my massed skeleton (from various manufacturers) collection (see below, HeroQuest [top left], Warlord Games [top right down to bottom], Wargames Atlantic [middle left down to bottom] and there was even some Games Workshop lingering around off camera): 

My colour palette (see below, Army Painter Grey Spray Primer plus the paints shown - Citadel Base Corax White (which I think is a lovely grey), Citadel Contrast Skeletal Horde, Vallejo Game Bonewhite and Vallejo Game Dead White): 

Corax White (see below, looking white, but a grey white to my eyes, perhaps it is the primer coming through - but as a base paint it is rally rich in pigment): 

Skeletal Horde with the Bonewhite highlight (see below, I must confess to using it more as an all over wash than a selective paint so perhaps I am missing a trick here, still I like the end result):  

Dead White ultra-highlight (see below, trying "not to do too much" with a dab, giving a fine-lining highlight effect - which I find the hardest part, just to put enough on and no more): 

Thank is the bulk of the figure done, just a bit of work to do on the weapons and shields. The aim is to produce a suitably rusty grimy effect .. watch this space ;)  

Update (3/10/2022): Swap out Vallejo Game Dead White for the less bright Vallejo Game Off White, the less intense colour works better for the highlight IMHO. 

Morder Orcs from Warlord Games

Happily assembled, or rather happy to assemble these mutinous creatures into one bit (as yet unpainted) warband (see below, who knows they may well becomes the stuff of nightmares for a Saga warband):  

I do like them as they have a feel of the old Tolkien wood carvings about them, the cruel look and vicious posturing! I may have to go and get the Saga Age of Magic expansion ..

https://www.grippingbeast.co.uk/SRB24_Age_of_Magic_Supplement--product--5849.html

The Beholder

Sometimes all it takes is a little push, so when my eldest son said he needed a monster for his D&D club (an at school activity) to chase a bunch of newbies (giving them a head start at 5th Level) around a dungeon - he asked would I paint the Beholder that had been lurking primed and shaded on the shelf for over a year, it was enough of a prod (see below, the paint went from pot to brush to figure and before you know it, my mojo was back):  

Not someone or something I would want to meet any day down a dungeon! The Whizzkids model is much more animated and scary than the previous one I painted.

Purchase Number 2: Hero Quest Expansions

As I picked up Warlord Games Epic Napoleonic I came across a "must buy it or regret "scenario. I have acquired an original Heroquest but the revamped re-edition has also pushed out the two expansions .. and an irresistible force met my wallet (see below, no regrets .. even on the figure count it was worth it .. and there was some cool dungeon scenery bits too):  

The beasties inside need painting and I now feel as if I have enough undead zombies to chase unwary adventurers through the catacombs) .. Game On!

Beauty is in the "Eye of the Beholder"

This is a Black Tree Design "Evil Eye" which to me equates to a Second Edition D&D Monster Manual picture of a Beholder (see below, a ping pong table tennis ball with pin tacks sticking out of it and a "bitey" mouth on it): 

As they say, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder (and although it does not compare to the Fifth Edition pimped up larger model of the Beholder) and I like its rustic charm. The other nickname we gave it was "the purple people eater"! Time will tell on that one as you have to be fairly high level to be unfortunate enough to meet and greet one! 

Nurgles .. Fun with Painting .. Nominally Fantasy/Sci-Fi

The good thing with good old "make-it-up" fantasy and science fiction is that nobody can really tell you are doing it wrong and really anything goes, especially when you are talking boiling beasts of  Chaos like GW Nurgles (see below, this was a little bit of an exercise in dry-brushing, first pass Army Painter Primer [Grey], then Vallejo Brown Dipping Formula, then Vallejo Dark Flesh, using a slightly worse for wear GW/Citadel Dry Brushing Brush): 

Just for experimentation I decided to throw an ink glaze (Vallejo Skin Ink) over it to get a wet look (see below, admittedly most of this would be lost when I dry brush but inaccessible places will still look dark, dank and wet): 

I now have a wet looking band of Nurgle miscreants (see below, the "game" they are being painted for is a "Party of Demons in Hell" take on FrostGrave - which should be interesting, I intend to mix and match to make an "old ball bunch"):

I then stopped the batch process and took one through to completion, or at least very near completion (see below, dry brushed passes of 50:50 Vallejo Caymen Green/Camp Green, Vallejo Camo, Vallejo Rotten Flesh on the main body): 

Another, this time close-up view, in the unnatural light of day for this "demon-thing" (see below, Vallejo Blood Red, for flesh - boils Vallejo Vermin Brown "tapped" on some with with Vallejo Off White): 

I also plan to use these as standard "biggish monsters" for RPG [Undead and Chaos]. Painting wise I experimented here and there on the other bits, such as introducing Vallejo Blue Ink into the guts finding an old guide to painting miniatures useful, but having to convert "old" GW to closest Vallejo. I had fun basically :) 

Random Things That Appeared In An Amazon Shopping Trolley Over The Past Months

Why? Because .. it looked good and was at a discounted price .. and my powers of resistance were low .. (see below, a "shiny" Sci-Fi adventure game for £20 .. after all I have to do something with all those Space Marines and other various Sci-Fi figures): 

Although a Chain of Command buff, I have heard too many good reports from people playing the alternative too .. so again I was victim of a discounted price (see below, although it is safe to say I was a happy victim, another £20 .. could be expensive if I get all the supplements):  

Third and final was Rangers of Shadow deep, a Fantasy (relatively light .. in comparison to 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons) adventure game .. yes again discounted .. please note this was not one mad single Amazon shopping trip, but rather multiple over months (see below, this one was also a Kindle edition whereas the other two were physical): 

The latter (Rangers) was with a selection of LOTR miniatures I have yet to paint in mind. Game on (after reading the rules that is)!

The Finished Minotaur .. I am gong to call him Finbar

The finished "beast" (see below, pity the poor fool of an adventurer who tries to take him on alone, in a disorientating underground maze): 

I toyed with the colour scheme, originally having him much browner but my eldest son convinced me to go more "fleshy" and I am glad he did (see bellow, looking rather Spartan with his bare buttocks): 

A bit of bounce off glare perhaps spoils the total effect but up close and personal this dude is going to tear hit points off you):  

Scratch this one off the bucket list, but maybe I need one with an axe too?

Bucket List: Fantasy Monsters - I always wanted a .. decent Minotaur figure (WIP)

The Minotaur is an iconic monster and one I never had as a kid, but it was always on the "bucket list" of D&D monsters to get. Lock-down and internet browsing lets certain things happen and while "purchasing" a WW2 28mm German infantry gun (more about that in another post) from Black Tree Design something dropped into the Cart and once in I just could not figure how to remove it (see below, I think they called it a Minotaur Champion but it looks like how any Minotaur should look to me - based up on Milliput to avoid it embarrassingly falling over): 

The base texturing came from my son's hobby tip courtesy of the Critical Roll podcasts - crumple up some tin foil into a small ball and roll it over the still pliable Milliput. He took pity on his farther cursing his old school efforts with an old toothbrush. Airfix Acrylic primer under coat was added (see below, ready for the painting tray to begin proper - really impressed with this sculpt): 

Note: This one might be a race against time to get this one ready for his (or its) campaign debut! Just saying to any PCs casually reading this blog post ;)  

Hero Quest the Game Continues

In keeping with the 1980/90's "retro" post of my latest 1970-80's Traveller acquisition, a game that I missed out on acquiring in my youth (though I have managed to play it since) was the Heroquest series. This now has come my way via the sad circumstances of a games clear-out as one of the co-owners passed away, but in their honour I shall educate my family in the ways of Heroquest over the coming Covid winter (and paint a few of the retro models to boot! The "Barbarian" springs immediately to mind). Going back in time, I think I had just moved on from my first RPG phase at that juncture (it was not pulling in the girls methinks) and Games Workshop was pushing me away with the huge amounts of models required (masses of "orcs" .. or is it "orks"?) for their epic fantasy battles (in retrospect, fool that I was for thinking that!). I vaguely remember my nephew becoming interested in Space Crusade so I did see Heroquest on the shelves alongside it. The good news for me and the family is that it is D&D-lite on rules but epic in charm which is win-win  (see below, the beautiful box and remember to see the unforgettable video): 

Alongside Heroquest was Advances Hero Quest which I think was a way to route impressionable youngsters over to Warhammer, an armies even Peter Jackson would be proud of (see below, behold hoards of evil Skaven): 

This surely brings down an embargo for me to stop collecting things and start painting (with the possible [noted] exception of some 15mm Traveller figures for my Xmas present).

Is it true - Hero Quest is coming back?

https://heroquest.avalonhill.com/en-us?fbclid=IwAR1mkNKOo9K7Oz8qtR1Pe8RQ8HG230kkoiKA9gq2zNM8ZwoDAsRx8T9w_ik 

You must see this video ..

https://youtu.be/Cx8sl2uC46A  

This is the man I wanted to grow up to be ... what went wrong? I think I went too corporate!

GW Tomb Banshee "Washed"

Like the Moria Troll this little begger got my attention (see below, tip don't hang around the graveyards at night): 

The Vallejo Brown Wash is but the first step in the painting process

GW Ghouls .. Possibly useful to terrify adventurers with

I was actually pleased to pick these GW figures up (especially since they were a "last chance to buy before they get sent back to central store" - am I just a sucker for marketing or what?). Twenty ghouls for £25 is not bad for GW prices, as in cost per figure - their strange special "leader types" can literally go for that in a single figure [PS: And I don't buy those!]. To me these are just generic fantasy monsters (see below, assembled [and there were quite a few parts to each monster] and based waiting for some painting tray action, then a dungeon to inhabit):

As a D&D gamer I always hated facing ghouls; multiple attack creatures with a paralysis saving throw required after each hit. Fail one and you were ghoul-meat. I think I lost too many adventurers to these un-dead and don't get me on the subject of "level draining" un-dead monsters!

There Be A Dragon Here (a GW LOTR one, but not Smaug)

My eldest son is battling away trying to assemble a huge lump of GW LOTR lead for his Duke of Edinburgh modelling badge. The bid bits were put together with a good quality super-glue and a tiny bit of Blue Tack to help hold it in place as it dries (see below, not as big as Smaug, but still fairly impressive nevertheless):

My son learns the merits and patience required, filing small assemblies on big models is just as important as gluing the big bits on (see below, something to do with the head methinks):

Well he got there; he wanted something big to scare his friends RPG characters (aka PCs) in his Dungeons and Dragons adventurer (see below, assembled and ready for painting - that's what you get when you give levels to characters too quickly - they have got to earn that experience and gold pieces the hard way):

Stepping back to give you a sense of scale (see below, that is one big beast):

What colour? Red naturally!

Tomb Banshee - Impulse Buy

Passing through Tesco last week I noticed an Age of Sigmar magazine, kind of overpriced at (£8) but in these times of "closed shops" and "no unnecessary travelling and mingling" it seemed an incredibly prudent buy on reflection. So I decided to treat myself seeing because it looked like a generic "cool undead" sculpt (see below, a D&D monster if there were ever a GW monster that could be used for other RPG games - I also got a bottle of red Khorne Bloodletter Red, which could be useful):

Welcome to the Painting Tray "Ms Tomb Banshee"!

The "Joy of Nurgle"

Following the recent posts about GW Fantasy figures that "took my eye" it may come as no surprise to you that yet another set has come my way .. this time that of Nurgle - yes the mark of chaos is truly on me now. The appeal of a set of figures that could be as easily used for 40K or Age of Sigmar was completely of secondary interest as I play neither - but I could do in the future if my kids want to. No the primary appeal was that of "The Dark of Nurgle"; the fact that I just "took to" the look and feel of the Nurgle Plaguebearers with their sprawling guts and infestations (see below, "plastic hell" comes your way):

I suspect this is how the Horus Heresy started (see below, as they come closer you just have to know that little bit more about them):

Each one seems just a bloated sack of bile and hatred for the "clean living" beings of the multiverses, but the closer you look you notice how each one has their own mark of uniqueness about them (see below, isn't there something to love about them?):

From a horned creature with abominations erupting from its stomach to another horned being of decay being tormented by a "Nurdling" hanging from its intestines (see below, what's more I can see no complicated army painting schemes being needed here):

In fact each Nurgle is unique, but that uniqueness is lost in the squabbling hoard intent on its mission of death (see below, who needs smart uniforms to look nasty?): 

Why try and be nice when you can be simply mean! This Nurgle in a former life was probably a "Tax Inspector" or "secondary School Teacher" - there must be sufficient pent up anger and hatred to freeze the blood of a Terminator or Pilgrim Priestess (see below, my guess is that this fellow does not care what you excuse is, you're guilty in his eyes and the sentence is death

As if the larger terrors were not cause in themselves to like Nurgel, these tiny terrors that "hang along" are reminiscent of the hoards of seemingly harmless small Snotlings that cavorted around Green Skins armies - harmless that is until they got in close with numbers and evil pointy things (se below, it is that insane mad grin that means you know you are in trouble - a bit of artistic license is taken with a few Nurgle Plaguebearer spare parts and a disembodied hand chasing a tiny Nurgle after it has obviously been "naughty" and needs punishing!): 

My initial use for these beasties will be to scare the pants off some unwary adventures in the bowels of the castle of a (very) Mad Mage! They will initially kill them easily enough, but then the when dying bodies explode, the splattered guts will cause mayhem in themselves and the adventurers woes will truly start.

More 28mm but it's not WWII rather it's Fantasy instead - Khorne Bloodletters

Following the perverted logic that if you leave me alone long enough in a shop (particularly one where there is models of any kind in) I will find something I like and invent a reason sufficiently plausible to my vulnerable mind to persuade me to buy. I have so acquired a pack of Bloodletters of Khorne - why? Well they fit into both Fantasy and Sci-Fi genres (well, at least to Games Workshops taxonomy of things - 40K and Age of Sigmar compatible) looked easy to build and fun to paint. They also came in a back of ten which meant they were a standard army box and not one of the exotic expensive specials. If I get as far as painting one up then it can prowl the dungeons of the D&D universe (or should that be multi-verses) scary the whits out of the shorter (20mm) adventurers! (see below, a horde of assembled monsters waiting to be processed):

I am thinking they will get the dunk and dip treatment and be painted to individual colour schemes, as opposed to an army formula. After all there are Fire (Red), Cold (Blue), Bile (Green) and Sun worshipping (Yellow) demons! I feel the need to go "Nurgle" in the not so near future ;)

GW Banshees

I was really blown away by these GW Banshee sculpts. I have no intention of raising an army to fight Age of Sigmar but I am more than happy to pick and choose from the interesting undead figure ranges that seem to be pouring out of their moulds (see below, may the black forges issue forth multitudes of such demons and devils to fill my RPG adventurers with horror):

Even better I got them at a reduced price from the normal boxed set because they were in a GW Magazine!