Metal Horrors in Color

 

A bit of paint goes a long way. I had a couple of nice evening painting sessions and the Old Ones are ready to spread terror. I also painted up the newest plastic Beast of Nurgle to add to the party.

Azoth the Faceless, my metal AF Sorcerer, was the hardest to nail down, color-wise. All back is the obvious choice, but I wanted a bit of pop. I went with dark green robes at first, but I just wasn't feeling it. Then I though, "What would Dio wear?" 

I'm pleased with the dark purple look. Stands out a bit and ties into the beast's tentacle colors.

The Chaos spawn was also tricky due to a lack of definition. So I went with the tried and true method of  base coat, wash, and highlight drybrush. Looks fine from two feet away.

The old Slime Hounds were fun. They came out much better than I had hoped they would. Now to figure out the details of my campaign.

Release The Slime Hounds!

The Old Horrors Rise Anew

JoyToy Space Wolves

 

Hope you all had a festive Yule! The JoyToy Space Wolves 1/18th scale action figures have stopped by for a pint (or gallon) of Mjod. 

I was on the fence at first when they first came out, 4.75" tall, nice weapon options, extra hands, all the cool stuff a modern figure has. The Ultramarines are the poster boys for 40K, and that's fine. They look good. So I was just going to admire the Joytoy line from afar.

Then the Space Wolves were announced. Damn. Well, I'll just get one, you know, to put on my desk...

Now I have five, sure, one is a Dreadnought, but still counts a one figure.

Damn, they are cool. Bjorn is HUGE, like he should be. The detail looks like JoyToy took the CAD files and upscaled them. Which totally works. The paint job is very well done, and the poseability is good, but not extreme. For display pieces they are awesome. A bit pricey, but can be found at discount. Recommended if that is your thing.

 

Wolves On The Shelf

I Hope They Don't Make Abbadon

Old West Zombies

 

YeeHaa pardner! It's zombie killin' time, cowboy style. In typical CMON fashion in response to nobody, a new Zombicide game has been released. At least they went with a fun theme. I'm afraid they will go with Zombicide: Victorian Peril soon.

CMON has gotten a lot of flak recently over their alleged deceptive Kickstarter shipping practices, and that may well be deserved, but we are talking about the game right here.

Zombicide: Undead or Alive is up to the typical CMON standards of excellent quality components. Nice sculpts, good art, and authentic wooden dice!

They continue to make slight refinements to the well done player trays. The simulated wood texture is a nice touch.

I just started to read the rules, and we will get a few plays in soon. I have said that the Sci-fi version, Invader, is the most fun, but we will see if the Old West can compete. Time to see where this newest version falls in the slightly overdone system!

Go Roll Some Dice

With Authentic Frontier Gibberish

Plague Daemons

 

You can't run a Nurgle campaign without Plaguebearers! I have had these twenty-one foul fiends built, and have sat in the "To be painted...someday," pile for a good long while. Their time has come 'round at last!

Led by a Poxbringer this pair of squads were quick and easy to paint. No Golden Demon winners, but they look good on the table.

The command staff. I went with only one crazy bone flute player because I somehow lost the parts for the second one. Just as well, their music is terrible.

Next, the Old Metal Horrors get some paint.

Sling Some Paint

Make Grandpa Nurgle Proud!

Lost Metal Horrors

I have an idea. I'm painting up my Nugle forces, and besides making the Death Guard Army, I want to do a narrative campaign. Some brave Imperial types vs the horrors of Nurgle, I'm still hashing out what rules I should use for this adventure. My brain reminded me that I have some old metal dudes, long forgotten in the back of a drawer somewhere... 
 

After a fair bit of digging through the hidden pile of shame I found some excellent surprises.

A Chaos Spawn (built), a Very Metal Chaos Sorcerer, and the parts for three Beasts of Nurgle, back when they were better, if briefly, know as Slime Hounds.

Metal AF Sorcerer just needed a 32mm slota base and was good to go.

The trio of Slime Hounds...wow. They were, let's go with extremely challenging to assemble. Early '90s metal figures did not coddle the weak. The body is in two badly alined parts, two badly fitting feet, and three rows of tentacles that were an absolute nightmare to fit to each other and the top of the body.

After trying a few round bases, I settled on a newer oval one. A ton of work, but I like they a lot. Full of that whole "weird and pissed off," vibe. Now for paint!

Go Build Something

And Make it Weird

Slimy HQ Choices

 

I finally got around to painting the Nugle HQ figs for the Dark Imperium box...

I do like this guy the least. I think it's the "axe". Overly complex but seemingly not very functional as anything but a blunt weapon. Nonetheless, it gave me a chance to develop my Death Guard paint scheme.

At first I wasn't even to going to paint this one. I really disliked the baby face he had.

Then, I thought it would so much more creepy if he had no face at all. I put a large amount of plastic cement of the face, let it sit for a few minutes, and then gave it a bit of a stir with the backend of a paintbrush. Poof! Just a blank, face-like visage. Much better.

"What? I like bells," I like this one the best. Just kinda crazy, and a bit ominous. 

So much more to come from Grandfather Nurgle.

Go Paint Something

With Extra Slime

New Dread

 

I started out with two metal Ork Dreadnoughts. For many years that was good, then the new plastic ones arrived, so I got two of those, and it was very good. After a bit I wanted a third Deff Dread (as they were now know as) to complete a squad, and have a new mix of weapons.

I received the new Ork combat patrol box, which has lots of new figures and a a Deff Dread. More choppy and shooty is never enough. I decide to take the bold move and make a Dread with a mixed weapons load-out, and a subtle Mekboy theme. 

Now to unleash a tide of Dread upon my foes!

Go Make Something

But Make it Extra Choppy and/or Shooty

Armor Action

 

Just some battle pics that were not used for various reasons.

Lots of guns! Nothing quite like a heavy shootout at point blank range with no cover.

Tau Deep Strike that actually worked. Poor composition, but it does have a cat.

These matches of heavy hitters tend to go very quickly. Lots of dice though...

Go Roll Some Dice

Just Take Better Pics

Just a Bunch of Smiling (ex)People

 

When there's no room left in Hell the Dead will walk the Earth. I just could not have a Death Guard army without some Poxwalkers. Okay, sixty of them. Plus a big 'un taken from the Fantasy line.

It was a lot of work to do sixty and try to have them be kind of different from each other. The end result is worth it. 

Great for 40K, Kill team, and other systems. I have a co-op scenario I am working on, that will be unveiled in a few weeks. 

 

Fighting a zombie horde is always fun! Painting them was entertaining as well. I look forward to having them on the table, happily eating brains.

Go Paint Something

A Horde of Somethings

Death Guard on the Bench

 

Some days you just have to start easy. After building my entire Death Guard army, they sat unprimed for a few months. Now it is time for gooey evil! 

I chose to begin painting Nurgle's champions with a Plagueburst Crawler. Kind of an odd choice, but I wanted to get a feel for the palate I had chosen. 

It is a fairly simple kit, and a little bit bigger than I thought it would be. I do like it, but I think it is lacking some finer details. I did go with a simple, straightforward scheme for my Death Guard, but I find it effective. 

So much more to come!

Go Paint Something

Something Icky

 

Rotating Paint Rack Deluxe

 

Yet another way to make handling paint pots easier and more convenient.

This time from Gamecraft minis. It's a nice laser-cut wood spinner tower that holds 58 Citadel sized pots.

Some very quick and easy assembly is required, with a bit of white glue. 

It has a small footprint for holding so much paint, and is really easy to use.

In hindsight, I should have spray painted the wood before assembling, but I don't mind the natural color.

I've put an Amazon link over there to the right >.

Go Build Something

So You Can Then Paint Something

 

Chaos Kill Team

 

My Kill Team rampage shows no sign of letting up. I have assembled the Legionary Team from the Nachmund set. The new standard ten Chaos Marine sprue with a bonus sprue to made some cool Kill Team figs. 

It makes a nice selection of minis to swap in and out of my Team, depending on my mood, and/or mission.
 

What Legion? I'm leaning towards Night Lords...but they may well wind up as Black Legionaries (my main 40K Chaos Army).

Go Build Something

Then Strike Down the Lapdogs of the False Emperor

 

A Quick Message From James

 

I'm impressed. Not only did Games Workshop quickly address issues with the new Leagues of Squats Codex, they copped to not getting it right. 

I have not yet picked up the new Codex (I will) or any of the models (still on the fence) but I have heard the chatter over the Space Dwarfs being somewhat O.P.. This often happens. Then a tournament or three outright banned the new fellas. That was different.

You may or may not think the tourney scene is full of hyper-competitive WAACers who are prone to fits of drama when something upsets their finely balanced plans. I had a few really bad experiences in row before giving it up. It turns out the tourney folk were right about a new army being overpowered. Broken clock being right twice a day and all. 

GW gets a lot of hate, always have. Clearly this is a vocal minority or GW would no longer be in business. I have a few issues with the current state of 40K which I shall talk about soon. But I do feel that GW does care about it's customer base. It is engaged with the player base far more now, and sometimes even takes action on the criticisms. For a huge publicly traded corporation I think GW is doing well with its interaction with a...let's be nice and say, very passionate fan/user base.

At the end of the day most of us are just playing with toy soldiers for fun, and don't have our entire self-worth wrapped up in the outcome of a game that is decided by random dice throws. Which hate me.

Relax, Throw Some Dice

Errata Means Somebody is Paying Attention

    

Picts From the Front

The boozed helped with the crushing loss.

Needed more buildings.

Pre-shading the Wolves.

Sneaky Broadside Snipers

Get More Action Shots

It's Not Like Film Costs Exists Anymore

Neu Kill Team First Thoughts

It took a while, but I have come around to Kill Team 2021. The rulebook is not written the clearest, but after a few games, and a few internet game watches, I am enjoying it a lot.

There are some odd things. The insistence of calling a game turn a "turning point" is the one that bugs me the most for some reason. The colored shapes instead of just inches kind of works, especially when for movement, but is also kinda odd in other places.   

The heart of the game, combat, works really smoothly, both shooting and melee. A new system, not related to any version of 40k, so it does take a game or so to get used to it. The game flows very well, and is engaging for both sides at all times.

We are just diving a little further into the game and exploring the 'extra' stuff: equipment, Tactics, and more. It seems like it all integrates well, but we shall see.

Go Roll Some Dice

Try Something New

Into the Dark Box

 I picked the new Kill Team: Into the Dark, huge box. It is packed with stuff. The new Space Hulk terrain looks like it will be great, although some people have had issues with it being too tight a fit. I will find out for myself this week. 

Kroot and Imperial Breachers were definitely surprise picks for the two teams in the box, but that is the magic of Kill Team: You have a team, not an army. Which can lead to some fun choices.

I have gone off that offramp and just finished up a Ultramarines Intercessor team. Next I may do a Dark Eldar Wych team. There is something so satisfying about a small project that you can put some extra care into. A very nice rebound from painting 56 Tau drones in one go, or any mass troop army.

I'm not so sure about the making the first set of the season a Starter set again. It may not have increased the cost all that much, and I guess it may be nice to have a spare core book?

I think I will spray prime and base coat the Space Hulk terrain on the sprues. That should save some time. The detailing and washing can come after the fitting and sanding.

Go Build Something

In The Dark

New Avatar, who's this?

 

The freshly painted, New & Improved Avatar of Kaela Mensha Khaine took to the field for the first time against the Orks in a 100PR slugfest. Both sides brought one Lord of War to the party, the Orks went big on mega-armored bosses and nobz, while Mrs. Blackheart's Space Elves had a mix of Aspect Warriors, Vypers, and Guardian Defenders. 

The Pointy Ear Devils went first, and the swift Eldar made it to 3 out of 4 objectives.

Her Wraithknight smoked the Battlewagon that all the Mega-armored folk were riding in. That's a long walk to the enemy for Orks with a 4" movement. The rest of the Aeldari shot up a fair amount of Boyz.

On my turn almost everybody Advanced, and had some decent rolls, but I didn't gain control of any objectives. My shooting phase had one highlight: The Morkanaut did significant damage to the hated Wraithknight.  At the end of the turn I was down 0-3. 

The Wraithknight's revenge was not long in coming. With the help of the Farseer, it dealt a stunning 34 points of damage to the Morkanaut. Nothing like some good overkill. Fancy(flaming no)pants Avatar killed off a Deff Dread, and charged and super-overkilled a second one. 

Vypers and Striking Scorpions wiped out the rest of my Left Flank. Yeah, not going to plan.

Realizing this battle was lost, I declared the Waaaaagh! My mob of Mega-Armored fools ran a whopping 10" to get within charge range of the Wraithknight.

Tuska, my last Deff Dread unleashed his two rocket launchers at the Wraithknight, and guided by the Hand of Gork did 12 points of damage, destroying it! 

Which then promptly exploded and killed two meganobz, the Big mech, and badly injured the Boss. Such is the fickle nature of the gods.

The next turn was just the cheesy Eldar jerks mopping up what was left of my army. Final Score 1-9.

A fun if bloody and short battle! The new Aeldari are quite the force to be dealt with. Stay the hell out of close combat with the Avatar. Kill the Farseer. If only I had an army that valued shooting over everything else...

Go Roll Some Dice

Damned Smug Space Elves