Hordes: Thrullg!

Looking to fill out my 15 pt. Blindwater Congregation force for Hordes, I noticed this guy on the rack at Phantom, so after examining him more closely, I snatched him up. He's a 3 pt. Solo in the game, and has some neat "tech" that will make him pretty useful.











He's a medium model, a lanky bugger--here's a comp shot of him with Barnabas and the Wrastler:



Next up, the Croak Hunter, when he arrives! And swamp terrain, if I can make it work.

--Scott

Swamp Terrain

I was in Michael's with my wife, JoAnn, today and I came across some nice bags of various types of moss that might make ideal swamp terrain base dressing. With my upcoming Blindwater Congregation force for Hordes, I thought I might try my hand at making a few bases of this stuff.

Today's post will just show the bags of the stuff I brought home from the store. Hopefully later this week I can cobble together some full terrain bases between my painting work.









I may experiment with cutting one of the moss balls in half to see what looks like, but I'll likely try placing a few whole and mixing in some other elements.

Bases will be made from CD's, or maybe shaped Styrofoam.

We shall see!

--Scott

Hordes: Blackhide Wrastler

Managed to get this guy done in between servings of turkey!

This figure is massive, and at 6 pieces, went together well for a PP kit. I did not have to use any green stuff.














Here's a comp shot of the Wrastler with Barnabas:



Barnabas is no small model (that's a medium, 40mm base he's on), and as you can see, the Wrastler truly lives up to the Large Warbeast billing it gets.

Now I just need to wait to get a hold of the other figures that will comprise my 15 pt. force.

--Scott

Hordes: Bloody Barnabas!

I've decided to build a new Hordes faction, starting small with a 15 pt. force. I am really liking the stuff for the Minions, and the Blindwater Congregation's croc models are awesome, so I selected Bloody Barnubus. He's got a feat that is easy to use, and a small but effective suite of four spells, and he can do major damage up close in melee.













Very little washing on this guy--I did a lot of layering and some blending with my Foundry 3-step colors. I plan to use the same method with all of the pieces in this force, since it will only be around 6 total models.

Next up, the Blackhide Wrastler large warbeast--and I do mean large!

--Scott

The Aquan Adventurer

The Blue Moon line of 15mm sci-fi aliens is a tremendous resource for big-battle games. But it's quite possible to pluck any mini from any of the ranges for use with 15mm Skirmish. In this, my Starport 3030 setting wherein all of my 15mm sci-fi skirmishes will take place.

Here are some shots of the Aquan sergeant model from that selfsame range of Blue Moon aliens. You have to love the "rodian" resemblance on these guys! I know I do!





And here's a comp shot with an old Laserburn minis from the 15mm.co.uk range:



If I don't get a chance to post tomorrow, Happy Thanksgiving!

--Scott

15mm Sci-Fi: Blue Moon Robot Legion Strider

This past weekend I tried a new color (for me) in the Army Painter line of colored spray primers. I'd been wanting to paint the Blue Moon Robot Legion Strider, so I thought this the perfect time to try the brown leather spray from Army Painter.









Once I sprayed the model with the Leather Brown primer, I found that GW Calthan Brown (from their Foundation line) is just about perfect for filling in those nooks and crannies that spray priming often misses. Once this was done, I went in and did the sections in the two secondary colors. I used Vallejo Gunmetal Grey and Vallejo Battleship Green to do the secondary areas.

I did some weathering tricks with Scorched Brown and more metallic, and used a very light wash with Devlan Mud over the brown areas. Overall, the method is quite fast and produces excellent results relative to the work put in.

Here's a comp shot with a Blue Moon sci-fi alien Aquan that I will talk more about tomorrow:



Tomorrow, more shots of the Aquan sergeant pictured above!

--Scott

Dark Eldar: Hecatrix

Every unit needs a sergeant, and the Dark Eldar Wyches have their Hekatrix. This plastic models can be built from the elements provided in the standard plastic Wych unit box.

I am not normally a "back-banner" guy, but I just love this one and had to include it. Wonder what new alien that creepy skull came from?










This week, I'll be showing off some more 15mm sci-fi, and maybe the first of my new plastic Hellions for the DE. We shall see!

--Scott

Freeze! Magistratum!

In the Dark Heresy RPG one of the backgrounds players and NPC's can have is Magistratum Officer. This could be an Adeptus Arbite Enforcer, or Planetary Marshal, or some other kind of local constable. In getting ready to run DH, I'm going through my collection to paint up various sci-fi minis that will work as NPC's for the game. I figured they needed to encounter at least one honest lawman in their travels, and here he is!





The model is from Aberrant Games' Rezolution line. A really nifty source of minis for DH, Shadowrun, and practically any other sci-fi RPG out there.

Truth be told, if I get to play DH again as just a player character, this guy might be the model I use!

--Scott

Chinatown Cyborgs

Back in the early 2000's the now sadly defunct Stone Circle Games produced the Chinatown line of 28mm sci-fi miniatures along with an accompanying rule-set. The figure line was a mixed bag, a sort of gonzo mish-mash that managed to channel classical Chinese myths, John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China, and the Feng Shui RPG all at once. Some of the figure releases for this line suffered from odd proportions, but many of them are pure miniature gold.

I've managed to accumulate quite a few, and I painted a pair from my backlog not too long ago, and so I thought I'd show them off today as a way to re-visit this sadly departed line of figures.

The Ashigaru Cyborgs are members of the Samba Garasu faction, a pair of lethal, augmented killers. Here I've re-based them onto washers--the Chinatown line is normally tabbed for slotted bases.











These dynamite models would make ideal foes for a Dark Heresy RPG game, and they would be just as at home in an AE-Bounty skirmish battle game. They'd also make excellent villains in a supers game.

As I get more minis from this line painted, I'll be sure to re-visit this topic in the future. And who knows, maybe J.D. Lauck from Mega Miniatures will track down the molds from this line and add them to his stable. We can only hope!

--Scott

Battle Mages Done

I was able to finish my House Shyeel Battle Mage unit this weekend, thus completing by 25 pt. Retribution of Scyrah force for Warmachine. Until they put out some plastic light warjacks, there's really nothing else in the line that inspires me to paint it, and the rules for this 25 pt. force are so deep, I can play with them for a good long while before "exhausting" its play value and feeling the need to add any more to it.

I really like these models, and at some point, I'll take some shots of the whole force together.










I'll also say that as Privateer Press kits go, these models go together beautifully, with more than half the models being single piece castings.

Thanks for looking!

--Scott

Dark Eldar Wyches!

The Dark Eldar Wyches are some of my favorite of the new plastic models offered by GW.

These vicious close combat troops rely on speed, elusiveness, and a hefty dose of combat drugs to wreak havoc on the field of battle. The kit itself is brilliantly done and allows the modeler plenty of options. They fit my red and black scheme quite well!









Six more Wyches to go to finish the first unit!

--Scott

House Shyeel Magister

Way back in the spring I started working on a small Retribution of Scyrah force for Warmachine. I set that aside for a while and worked on many other projects. Recently, a lot of folks at the Phantom of the Attic have begun playing the game, so I decided to go back and work on some of the stuff from my backlog.

First up, a solo, the House Shyeel Magister. I love the whole power-gauntlet aesthetic that runs through this army's models, and so the Magister, and the Battle Mages unit that will eventually go with him look really great! I matched this model's paint job to my existing Scyrah stuff, a non-traditional red scheme.








Here's a comp shot the Magister with a Scyrah Light Warjack, the Chimera:




The Battle Mages will be the next goal for the force when I can make the time to slot them into the painting schedule.

--Scott