Contrast experiments, and a big update

 Greetings all.

Been a while hasn't it? I've been back and forth on the blogging thing, but I'm gonna stick with it. At some point I need to refresh the blog a bit, probably change the name, and kind of refocus it on what I'm up to these days (which is all sorts of things actually). It's been a while since I've painted Chaos Daemons, Classic or otherwise, although I do still have plenty in my to do pile. I'll have a think on it and change things up a little, because I'm not sure I want to let the blog lapse entirely. It's a nice little diary of what I've been up to over the years, although it doesn't get a lot of traffic these days.

In any case, I might not have been blogging, but I actually have been painting a fair bit! This is due in no small part to the fact that I've finally caved to peer pressure and picked up some Contrast paints. Turns out they're awesome, and have completely revitalised my painting enthusiasm. There's definitely something to be said for just sitting down and smashing out some minis quickly. I tend to feel that painting is a bit of a slog, so this was a new experience for me.

Anyway, check out what I've got finished recently, mostly thanks to Contrast:

A bunch of sci-fi Beastmen to use as generic enemies in Stargrave

Saturated Rat, my new (old) Skaven Blood Bowl team. This is actually less than half the team mind you. I've managed to finish all the linerats, three journeymen, and some custom markers. I still need to do all the positionals, coaching staff, a few mutants, and a couple Star Players. Glad to be underway though.

Even more Renegade human linemen for my Chaos Renegades team

Random Troll for Frostgrave/Rangers of Shadow Deep

Familiars and bits, including my buddy Alex's Golden Fleece that he sculpted and had cast!

More Familiars. I've actually painted the entire range now so I'll get a group photo at some point

Heresy Ghoul King, again for Frostgrave or Rangers of Shadow Deep

Not bad at all. It's about 10 times my usual output, so I'm well pleased. I'm mostly focused on getting the Skaven BB team painted up at the moment, and then on to something else (possibly another BB team, although there are a lot of other things that are crying out for my attention!).

Till next time.

2018 hobby retrospective

Greetings all.

As is customary for this time of year, I thought I'd write up a little review of how this year has gone. It shouldn't take me long, because this year has been quite a rubbish one, both in terms of life challenges, and hobby output... I've painted a frankly pitiful 40 models this year, although I have managed to play a few games and whatnot, so it hasn't been a total wash. I'll do a big dump of photos and then maybe add a few resolutions at the end.

Some star players, templates, and tokens for my Blood Bowl team.

Never Mind the Orruks take part in a local BB league. They were stomping heads pretty well, but unfortunately I had to drop out of the league due to family commitments. 

A few Frostgrave goodies and baddies.

A load more Nurgle Daemons for AoS/40k.

The first of my Nurgle mortal (Rotbringer) followers for AoS.

More sideline staff for my BB team. This one is obviously for the Sports Wizard inducement (and for when a player gets turned into a frog...).

A fun little Rogue Trader esque game that Alex and I played during a gaming day hosted by Mark from Heresy of Us to promote his excellent Mag Bellum terrain system.

And that's that. It's been a bit of a struggle to find the motivation to paint this year, as we've had quite a lot going on as a family. I'm pleased that I've managed to pick up the brushes occasionally, and even roll some dice too. Looking at my last lot of resolutions (admittedly from the start of 2017...) it's not been a complete failure:

1. Actually paint my Orc Blood Bowl team! Now that the new game is out and I know what has changed (or mostly not, as the case may be), I can actually crack on and get these done.

This one I completely smashed, I'm very pleased to say! There are a few more bits that I might add in the future, depending on how the game develops, but for now I'm calling these guys done. They've even managed to see the tabletop a few times, but not as many as I'd hoped.

2. Revamp my daemons for 40k. I was going to tackle my KDK army, but given that there is a new edition rumoured for sometime this year, I don't really want to start something from scratch. I've already got hundreds of daemons painted, and there are a few bits I want to work on just to make them into an army that I can start playing with again.

This one was a partial success I suppose. I've been working on my AoS daemons, and a lot of them translate over to 40k pretty well.

3. Work on my familiars side project. It shouldn't take me long to get them all done, but I'll only be working on them as and when I feel like it.

This just didn't happen at all. However I am planning to pick it up in 2019.

4. Paint a big bunch of Nurgle daemons for Age of Sigmar! I've finally been drawn in, and decided to give AoS a try. I never really played Fantasy, so I don't have any of the hang-ups about it that long time Fantasy players might have. It looks like a fun game, and seems to be growing well, so I'm gonna give it a try!

This one I'm calling a success too. I've still got a load more to do, but that's ok. In terms of the game itself, I kinda go back and forth on it, but now that 2nd edition is out I'm hoping to get a few more games in.

Right, resolutions for 2019:

1. Familiars project! If I make a plan and stick to it, I could get this done very quickly. 
2. More Nurgle. I'd like to have a playable force for both AoS and 40k painted by about July.
3. Necromunda. I'm not entirely sure what I want to do for this, but I definitely want to do something. Probably a Chaos Cult, but I would like a house gang too.
4. Dragon Rampant. I'm not sure about this yet. I've just picked up the rules, and it looks like good fun. I can throw something together with what I already have painted, but if I really like it then I might paint a few bits specifically for it.
5. Other Osprey stuff. Ok so this is a bit of a wishy washy resolution, but basically I want to paint stuff for and play a few other skirmish games like Ghost Archipelago and Rangers of the Shadow Deep (ok, that one isn't actually Osprey).
6. Play more games! I haven't played enough games this year, so the intention is to play many more next year. Definitely with a bit of a focus on Blood Bowl and Necromunda, because those are the two that got me hooked on all this nonsense in the first place.

That's it for now. I've got a few bits that I'm working on currently, including something very special to me, so hopefully you'll hear from me again before too long...

He who makes a beast of himself, gets rid of the pain of being a man

Greetings all.

Two posts from me in under a week is surely a personal best, but as you loyal lot deserve only the best, it's happening!

Kind of a milestone for me this one, as it represents the completion of a project I've been working on for a little while. I'm overjoyed to say that I have now finished off the last of "The Chargers", the mutant beastmen in the service of the ever-shifty Inquisitor Emeric. The last of that barbaric bunch is the cyber Minotaur, Moloch:

Another model that was a pain to acquire, but a sheer delight to paint. I love the over the top craziness going on here, just pure RT goodness. Even more so than his brother Knossos in fact. I mean, this guy literally has guns in place of his horns, as well as no organic eyes and an exposed brain! He now joins the crew to add some more muscle and firepower:

I do actually have plans to expand this lot in the future, but for the meantime at least, they are finished. 

I'm aiming to paint eleventy-one models before the end of the year (currently at 108), so I'll probably go back to my roots for a bit and paint up a few of the many (many, many) old school daemons that are sitting around awaiting my attentions.

Comments welcome of course!