maandag 31 juli 2017

What I painted in July 2017

The short answer?  A lot.

The somewhat longer answer is that I nearly completed one, and finished another, army.

The main focus this month was on the Grand Alliance Order force that needs to take to the field of battle in august, so bar a single model that still is in the post, the small army is ready for action.

The first unit I rounded out was a regiment of Halberdiers, painted in the uberclassic Altdorf scheme.

Next, I finished 5 more Witch Elves, rounding out the unit to 10 models.

Every army needs a general, and I had decided early on The Empire contignent would be mainly focussed on the Hochland province.  So for the general, I took the old (1994) Elector Count Ludenhof model.

And added a retinue of three State Troops units in the Hochland livery, consisting of 10 Swordsmen, 10 Militia and 10 Handgunners to bulk out the army.



The army I completely finished this month, and then some, was finally starting my 6mm force of Emperor's Children for Future War Commander.  Apart from the 100 points I planned for it, the foce was expanded by some units already and more are on the way in august, so I guess by the end of that month, it might already be at, or even over, the 2k mark...

The final thing finished this month is the first unit for my 40k force, in the form of 5 Warp Talons in Emperor's Children livery. Now to get them registered in the online campaign lol...

A very productive month as such indeed, and I doubt I`ll top that one in volume anytime soon though...

zondag 30 juli 2017

Haul Report 92

Greetings all to another week of glorious hauls for the collection... including the start of a totally fresh one.

But that is for a bit further down...

The first thing I got was through a find on a local Facebook group, in the form of a boxed set of the old metal Mounted Chaos Marauders.  They are the first unit for the plan I unveiled earlier this week, to start and collect a Slaaneshi army in Age of Sigmar.  Or Warhammer / The Ninth Age for that matter... Coming my way at only 15 euro, that is about half the price these boxes are now going sealed on eBay.

A trip to the local Games Workshop also yielded some more paints, basically the Slaaneshi suited colours I forgot to bring along last week.

Another small parcel fell in the mailbox this week, with some little additions for the Future War Commander force, as two Whirlwinds and a Knight Lander where purchased through eBay, adding some artillery and mecha support to the force.

But about that whole new collection.  We are starting a boardgame night with a ladyfriend, probably once a month to catch up on chatting and such, but that means of course I need to collect a few boardgames to start.  I found the 999 Games The Hobbit (dutch edition) in a second hand toy store on the Krabbenfoor in Bergen op Zoom (the Netherlands), complete for 9 euro instead of the 30 something it`s in the stores for.  Well, as good as complete, I still need to count but apart from perhaps a small counter or such, it was all checked instore and looked great.

So expect the coming weeks perhaps a boardgame or two to be added to this budding collection, I`m looking at "popular culture" games like Game of Thrones, Zombicide, Arkham Horror... that sort of things.

Or the Elfenland special edition, that looked great...


zaterdag 29 juli 2017

On the Painting Desk 5

Well, I finished the Warp talons, my main target for the past week, so it`s time to move on to the next unit in the budding Chaos army, basic Marines.

I`ll hopefully assemble them tonight, in order to be able to undercoat them tomorrow during the GP of Hungary.

In the meantime, I have some 6mm on the table as well to work on during the week.  After finishing the small Alpha Legion detachment for my force the past week, I`m aiming to do the little Night Lords section this week.

Also on the menu are two Whirlwinds to serve as artillery pieces.  One will be in the pre Heresy colourscheme, the other in the pink and black one.  And I also have a Knight Lancer prepped to bring some Mecha power to my force.

Now, I`m still awaiting a Dark Elf figure, and if she arrives, she`ll get priority in painting, as she *should* be on the table next friday when I`m fielding my army in Age of Sigmar for the first time, to learn a bit of the rules before the big battle.  Or get a suitable figure this week from the GW store otherwise...

Considering the busy week ahead, I`ll see how far I get on these figures...

Emperor's Children Warp Talons

The first squad for my return to the 40k battlefield has been painted! 

Cry joy in extasy!

Numbering 5 marines, the Warp Talons are the close assault variation of Raptors, and with their dual Lighting Claws and Warpflame ability a dangerous opponent. 
Combine them with a sorcerer on their arrival, and one Warptime later they can be making a mess of Overwatch while butchering the unit(s) they are hurled into.



I went for the typical pink and black colourscheme of the Emperor's Children, while doing three of the five claws in an blueish style. The other one has extensions of his arm armour as claws, while the champion has actually bone claws growing through his plating.

For the bases, I went for the marble style I used for the first time on my Future War Commander force, to have them come from a demonic "gallery style" world, and because it offers a nice contrast.

Hope you like them, now to see how that Fate campaign works, as I read something about registering painted units...

For Slaanesh!

Realmgate Wars: Balance of Power

The second of the campaign books that came out for Age of Sigmar, Balance of Power continues exploring the new world through a set of linked stories.

Like with the previous tome, this 300+ tome features a lot of backstory on how the wars in the Realms develops as Sigmar tries to push back the forces of Chaos and free the 8 planes.

Of course, this means his Stormcasts are still the central force he is using for this, but in this book more armies are introduced and at the end a heap of warscrolls have been added.

The first story is a continuation of the story that took place on the plain of Life, as Stormcast and Sylvaneth alike are protecting Alarielle from the attack of Nurgle.  While both Khorne troops and the Seraphon appear later on, the main story focusses around the Lady of Vines.

In the second chain of stories, the Fyreslayers are joined by Stormcast Eternals in an effort to push back the Skaven and assault the Blood Keep of Khorne on the plane of Fire.

Meanwhile, on the plane of Death, Stormcasts form an uneasy alliance with Neferata to defend the realm against an attack by followers of Slaanesh.  But perhaps the greatest of consequences is that during this conflict, the Great Necromancer Nagash is once more reborn.

The final story builds further on the Ghal Maraz arc of the first book.  As the Stormcasts hunt the Tzeentch sorcerer from book one, they come across the most dangerous of enemies, and pay for it the ultimate price... Archaon arrives in the Age of Sigmar!

Another gorgeously illustrated and well written book, this one features most importantly the warscrolls for the mainstay of Chaos forces.

vrijdag 28 juli 2017

Wat Mannen Willen

Wat Mannen Willen (What Men Want) is a flemish comedy from 2015, following the lives of 6 guys living in Ghent.

The movie follows these six different blokes, and how their lives get connected to each other in some way.

Full of stereotypes, like the cold feet soon to be husband, the ex with anger management issues, but also special cases like the schlager singer who wants to better the world through his lyrics...

While this is basically a "chick flick" I saw it yesterday when the GF and her friend where watching it in the saloon, and I was (trying to) do some paintwork.  It`s not a bad film, even though the humour isn`t really of my tastes.  Though the ladies had fun in comparing me to one of the blokes in the film :-P.

All in all, it was a good hangover afternoon movie, but not one I would label as a flemish classic of cinema.

The Empire - Hochland Militia

The last unit I needed to paint for the 1000 points mega battle, this mob of 10 Militia takes the total to 940 points.

The very last thing to be added is a Hag for the Dark Elf contignent, but as she is still in the mail, she probably won`t be on the table IF I get a game in to learn the rules next week friday.

The unit conatins of 10 militia men, without command group, who will be the brave souls that will serve as the "speed bump" for any threatening cavalry or scouts, allowing the rest of my small force to hopefully rearrange ranks and form a decent battleline.

The uniforms where painted with more browns as this is basically a regiment of townspeople, farmers and other pressganged souls, but I kept the Hochland colourscheme on their clothing, albeit with a more muted red (I started with Terracotta instead of Heavy Red).

So the army is now gathering up nicely, meaning if the final model arrives and gets painted, I`ve done 1000 points in a month and a half, and a force of numbering almost 70 figures...

donderdag 27 juli 2017

The mulitple Legions plan

I already said something about it in my earlier post today, but let`s spend a few words more on it.

I`m planning, overtime, to field not only my beloved Emperor's Children, but three others as well.

Now, I know, I still got to finish my first unit since I`m back into 40k, but I am drawing here on experience from the previous "stint" in wargaming.  As I will be amassing more and more figures, like from buying a lot on a convention, or receiving sets as gifts and such, I`ll end up over time with multiple copies of the same units.  For example, in the past I had 9 squads of 10 Chaos Marines, and all painted pink.

This means they came out when a mega battle occured, which was, well, never.  By having formed the idea of painting up multiple Legions, and idea I "borrowed" from my Nemesis, I can actually rotate at times between which army to play.  Building a large Emperor's Children army as the main force, and then adding three smaller armies of say around 1000 points more themed to their specific playing style and background.

For example, mostly cultists in a Word Bearer's force.

Now to that end, I`m going to pick the Alpha Legion, a force I always liked the background and "feel" of.  Other Legions, mostly for the colour scheme, will be the Night Lords (so if I get an additional box of Warp Talons, I can go for their colour scheme), and the Word Bearers, both forces who sport lovely colour schemes that will be nice variations on the pink and purple of the main force.

Because that`s also a lesson I fondly remember, having to much paintwork of the same colour tends to syphon out the drive to do them...


Future War Commander: Alpha Legion detachment

One of the things I`m going to do with my Chaos forces, both in 40k and FWC, is paint up units in multiple Legion schemes.

This will prevent the monotonous job of the same colour over and over again, but I`ll do a post on that perhaps later today.

I tested this out in Future War Commander with a small detachment of troops and a CO painted in Alpha Legion colours.

As a stealthy force, I also gave them a bike Recce unit.  Ingame wise this all doesn`t matter in what schemes they are painted, as long as you stay in the "boundaries" of the army list.

Tiny hydra symbol effort for the banner.

Next detachment will be Night Lords, and then a small one as well of Word Bearers...

... the four Legions that overtime will end up in my cabinet.

dinsdag 25 juli 2017

Future War Commander Daemon Princess

The most recent addition to my Emperor's Children 6mm incarnation, I finally found a suitable miniature to present my "head honcho".

Well, until I get my hands on the old Fulgrim figure that is...

And she is actually a GW model as well.  I found the old wizard's familiar, the naked demonic lady, for peanuts, and decided to put her on a lower base (otherwise she would become far to high) to go with the army.

She`ll be the HQ unit, while the commanders with banners will be CO`s.  I painted her with the Army Painter Purple wash, and it actually gave such a cool effect on her skin (Flesh from Coat D`Arms, a very pale colour like the prehistoric GW one) that I didn`t drybrush the skin afterwards, but just the hair.

Slowly but steadily the force keeps growing...

maandag 24 juli 2017

Okay okay... Slaanesh in Age of Sigmar it is...

I wasn`t planning on it, seriously.

I wanted to keep with my restoration works on my Empire, Wood Elves and Dark Elves to field an Order force for the occasional AoS game.

Like the big battle in a few weeks.

But then I saw the Sigvald character (he wasn`t around when I went into hibernation), and found my Lord on steed back.

I wanted Sigvald actually for an Empire hero, but then I brought along that Naga character last week.  I was looking the day after on a Facebook group, and found these for a measly 15 euro, still sealed.

I was hooked, and I had already "just in case" drawn up a Slaaneshi army for Age of Sigmar, build around demons mostly.  Because they can be used both in 40k as AoS anyways, add a few characters and hoppa, instant fantasy force.

Well, that was the plan initially, but as I said, those classic metal Marauder Horseman have pulled me over the brink and into the tender care of the daemonettes.  I have given in, I will be building up something I wanted to do years ago but never gotten round to. 

I`m going to build a decent Slaanesh force of maximum 4.000 points for Age of Sigmar, and it`ll be my main "to paint" target come 2018.  I`ll probably start it already with the AHPC if I get in. 

The flesh is weak, but the pleasure is strong!

zondag 23 juli 2017

Crisis 2017 limited edition figures revealed

The 2017 limited edition figure for Crisis has been unveiled, and here they are!

Sculpted once again by Paul Hicks, Tijl is a figure from the 14th century.



From our TSA Facebook page: 
Please find here Tijl Uilenspiegel. He' s the free figure for this year's Crisis.As always the run is limited to 1600 figures. So be on time if you want him. The two other figures can be bought for 10 euro. You will get Nele and Lamme Goedzak + base for the 3 figs in a box. This run is limited to 300 boxes. Clubmembers (only them) can reserve their extra figures with the committee.

He was a sort of a jester that travelled through the lowlands and germany, and said to have been born in Damme (Flanders), who's gotten mostly famous through the book of Charles de Coster, "De legende van Tijl Uilenspiegel".

The others are his travelling companions / romantic intrest, and I`m especially fond of the Lamme Goedzak figure, who will look awesome in settings of the early musketry era. 

Crisis takes place the 4th of november this year, once again in the Waagnatie in Antwerp.

Haul Report 91

Hey all, and welcome to the weekly oversight of thingies I added to my collection.

A bit of a varied selection this week, as not everything has been purely for the wargaming collection.

The first thing I grabbed was this model of Thunderbird 2 and 4, which I found at a fleamarket for a few euro, and completes my collection of old Matchbox Thunderbirds again.  Overtime I`ll be looking around for a better condition 4, just like I have to do still with my 3 copy as age has been not to kind on that one.

I also picked up these two figures still carded, but I admit that is purely for trading onwards.  I paid 5 euro a piece for those, and expect to get around 10 each.

When visiting Standaard Boekhandel for something for my mom, I found this book at 9.95.  The series was rather okay, so let's find out how the book is, shall we.

My clipper, after years of loyal duty, was getting ruined, so I went to Modelbouw Verschooten in Antwerp to get a new one.  being there, I also picked up a fresh pot of Sky Grey (it`s a color I use a lot, as base for lighter tones) and a Naga lady from Avatars of War, which is excellently suitable to become a Herald of Slaanesh (she az bubz).

Right around the corner, I hopped in at the local Games Workshop to pick up a small order I had made the previous week.  My Sigvald, a Slaaneshi character for Age of Sigmar, had arrived so I went to collect him.

And brought along some paints as well while I was at it...

The final arrival was from Forge World, as my Chaos Index book finally fell in the mailbox, and quite a few of those units will be added to my forces in the future for sure!

A good week with some lovely stuff, and see you all next week!

zaterdag 22 juli 2017

Trying something on YouTube

Babbling and painting...

I got the inspiration from fellow wargamers, and thought "heck, that looks like a cool way to share some thoughts".

While I`m not dabbling (yet?) in the live stream thing, nor planning to make it a regular, fixed moment series, I kind of enjoyed doing this.

Guess talking out loud to yourself is a normal thing to do...

I`ll definitly be doing this more often in the future, generally when I have like half an hour to spare or so and feel like rambling and brabbling while having fun with my brushes.

Enjoy (or not)!

TSA Clubnight 21st of July 2017

Even on our national holiday, the tabletop generals assembled in the clubhouse for another evening of frantic gaming.

And it must be said, for the first time since I came back, fantasy and sci-fi had a clear overhand on the historical department.

Though this has to do with the new 40k, as no less then 3 battles where fought, one of 500 points which saw my Nemesis go down to Tau (oooooooh snif) with his Plaguemarines.


The second one was a none game that had a collection of 7 Battlesuits (I don`t even know what the big one is, it`s from after my time, but it`s apparently named a Riptide) decimate a force of Eldar in two turns.

The third saw a force of Orks scrape a victory on points to a massive guard force.  Both these two battles where 1.000 points btw.

I was there to observe this, and lesson learned: Quad Heavy Bolters, period, against all those shooty grunt armies around.  And Sicarans.

French and British forces duked it out in Song of Drums and Shako's.



Another battle I have been following was this Dux Britanniarum game, as I`ll be joining in a campaign starting soonish (but I`ll handle that in a blogpost later today or early tomorrow).



The Heroquest game was played as well, as adventurers went through their monthly game, part of a longer running campaign.


A four player Fantasy game in full swing.


I forgot to take pictures of the boardgames going on though, as I was embroilled in watching and studying the above mentioned games and especially the players I don`t know yet, to hone my blade for battle and "read" their playing styles, so sorry guys!

Next time, I`ll be playing myself for the first time with my figures since coming out of retirement, so I`ll be doing an AAR then instead!