Year of puns. Ap(e)ril. 40K Jokaero Weaponsmith

So here is my Entry for Ap(e)ril.

"Forget 'Phone home'. Eat digital lazers, scum bag!"

One fun thing about my year of puns is not only am I painting a wide variety of stuff I have never painted before, I am also being more experimental in my actual painting.

With the exception of the metallics and eyes this fella was just ink washes over a white under coat. Being an Oldskool painter I usually go for more vibrant, pop-out colours.

The inks have given this fella a more 'washed out', desaturated look then the rest of my miniatures. This is not a bad thing as it certainly marks him out.

I am not sure I am 100% happy with the effect but it is certainly something I am happy to experiment with some more.

I wish I had taken more time to 'fine line' the metallic elements of the figure but I was dipping in and out of this fella (pun intended) while marking some particularly boring English books so he was a welcome distraction!

Being of a certain age I cannot help but think of E.T. whenever I look at this fella's out stretched fingers.

Miniatures painted / sold this year = 65

Target 100

Miniatures bought 15

389 miniatures to go!

50 in the black this year.

I'm a prodigal son. A black sheep of a white flock. Mordheim game 11.

Keel Grymm the Engineer could not believe they were only 3 hours into the funeral dirge of Ale-Axe-Ander!

They had ringed the pyre with salt and ensured the flames had taken hold before retiring to the tavern to begin the Saga of Ale-Axe-Ander. Even the Reiklanders had sent flowers!

Suddenly the door exploded in on it's hinges and the horrificially burned form of Ale-Axe-Ander stood in the doorway glaring at the Dwarves with a baleful gaze!

"You dozy bastards!" he muttering through his blistered lips . . . . . . . 

Started from the bottom . . . . . .

now we're here!

The Mordheim board has certainly come a long way from this. . . . .

Just because your paranoid. . . . . . .

does not mean I am not out to get you!

A top night at the Creative biscuit with a large number of the old faces turning up to chew the cud and push little men around a board.

We had Vulture Warriors from dimension X meet Godless, commie, xenos, scum via Paranoia and White Dwarf 112.

Both players ended up suitably paranoid and gittery by the end. Despite me not having a clue what I was doing and dropping a massive clanger toward the end (sorry Tim) both players somehow managed to enjoy themselves.

There was also a brutal game of Assassin execution force going on at the other table. . . . .

Great to see all the old faces and really looking forward to the next meet on the 19th of May.

Mordheim card Tavern. Too much is never enough!

"This is more like it!"

With the building and undercoating of the wooden base for the Mordheim card Tavern on Saturday I could not wait to get it painted and finish the thing off.

Well here it is. . . . 

"Oh . . . .Hang on"

It is only now I am realising what a lucky git I was for picking the boxed set up at Hatecon one for only £5, as for the exception of the card Bridge house, it is all there!

"That bloody Estate Agent! He's done it again!"

And 'all there' includes the spare equipment and gargoyles / tavern sign sprues.

This stuff is now rarer then Hen's teeth!!

"This is what he meant when he said 'some renovations needed'!"

I am not going to add the tavern sign at the moment as I get the feeling it will only get in the way during games but we will see and I do have a proxy if needed.

I cannot believe how good the building looks considering it is just a card building with some painted plastic augments and a base made of coffee stirrers and cereal card!

And the really good news is there are still several card elements left in the box to build.

Really hope Kris can make the game Friday, as I am desperate to see the whole lot laid out on a gaming table.

When Crossbolts and Catapults and Mordheim collide!

In a bid to beat the Salute, cold turkey, sweats I wanted to spend Saturday painting but the clouds rolled in and the light was kack for painting so my son and I had a particularly brutal game of Crossbows and Catapults instead!

I have a distinct memory of my poor Mum having to trawl every toy shop in Essex and East London to find me a set for Christmas when it first come out and I still have the bits stored away in my Mum's loft of hidden treasures!

The set we were using was a large set of the more modern re-boot that come out a few years ago and I found at a Bootsale last year for a song.

As the projectiles were flying across the room I kept drifting off, thinking about Salute. Then I picked a spare one of these up. . . . . .

Which comes apart into two pieces. . . . .

and they look about 28mm size!

I wonder . . . . . . ?

After the games (Which Troy won 5 - 3), I retired up stairs with the spare towers and broke out the coffee stirrers and bits.

A couple of hours later I ended up with this. . . . . .

Salute 2016 and why I can NEVER complain about the Missus having too many shoes ever again!

Lano texted me the other day to see if I was going to Salute tomorrow?

After the giddyness of last year lets have a think about this. . . . . .

Do I need to buy any WHF Empire stuff

NO!

Shortshank redemption pt.10. Street fighting man.

Crazy Joe could hear  the others complaining ahead of him and could not care less. Joe could not give a damn if the area this close to the East Gatehouse had probably been picked clean by hundreds of Warbands before them! 

They had not spent three weeks in the infirmary after going head to head with the Dwarf leader like he had! And look at the state of Crashart after their last foray. So what if he was called 'Crazy Joe', he only did it to make himself sound scary. Besides there is a big difference between being crazy and suicidal!

Holiday painting. Chipping away at the lead mountain.

Looks like I have got my painting Mojo back!

Here is some shots of the bits I got finished while away on holiday.

Got to be honest I got nowhere near as many miniatures finished as I did last year but the kids are older and at that age where they want to spend the WHOLE day in the pool and do not need their afternoon naps anymore (although I still do!).

First up a Dwarf for my Brothers Mordheim Warband.

He is another chip that has spent over 30 years in the lead mountain before being excavated for his new role.

Originally a Grenadier miniature bought from the 5th floor of Hamleys back in the day. Still a cool little sculpt but he will suffer 'little man syndrome' standing next to the Scibor Dwarves!

Next up, not really a new miniature but rather 'Guapo Joe' with a new set of painted arms after he was issued two swords after his heroics last game. Also I figured being strength 4, with 'Mighty blow' and a double handed sword for the +2 strength bonus might be a bit overkill!

Next up Jung a Reikland, Marksman armed with a crossbow. I like the 'everyman' feel to him.

This is Tod. Another Marksman. I painted him 'boss-eyed' after his failure to hit a single thing last game. It seemed appropriate!

Next up is the new incarnation of 'Bill' my youngblood.

Daxio, I have a question for you. Bill has Ginger hair, decayed teeth, needs a wash and has a strange staining on the fingers of his hand. . . . . Can you guess who he is modeled after?

I did it to wind up my brother as the thought of this 'Cat' taking one of his boys 'out of action' will really wind him up.

Answers on a postcard to Riotville at Riot Street, Riot town R10T VI114.

I also have two maybe three miniatures near completion which I will hopefully finish soon.

Miniatures painted / sold this year = 64

Target 100

Miniatures bought 15

390 miniatures to go!

49 in the black this year.

If you build it, they will come! Mordheim card building.

With the 'Shortshank', Mordheim campaign heating up I was hard at work building terrain before the holiday.

Funnily enough the better my Marksmen get, the more terrain Kris insists on putting on the table. Go figure!

This is one of the original card buildings that come with the boxed Mordheim game I bought at 'Hate Con one'.

Just based it and used coffee stirrers to create floor boards and some Wills cobblestone sheets for the pavement.

Pleased with how it turned out and how the Elf blends into the terrain.

I figure I will have a go at the corner house included in the box or the tavern next.

Year of Puns. (M)arch. Better late then never. Scarloc Archer.

So here is my entry for (M)arch for my year of puns.

I have to be honest this is not supposed to be my entry , that was originally the Ophidian Archway which then become the Gate house for my Mordheim terrain BUT . . . . . . . 

I had forgotten we were going away on holiday. . . . . . I knew we were going away but had completely forgotten the flight date!

In a panic I grabbed this fella as there was no way the original item was going to fit in the suit case. He is one of Scarlocs Woodelf Archers from the original 'regiments of renown' set and has been sitting in the lead mountain for at least 30 years.

I had fished him out as an Elf ranger for a hired sword for my Mordheim warband.

For this reason I gave him a washed out look to suit the urban terrain he would be fighting in.

The shield design was influenced by the artwork from the Mordheim rule book and seems to fit thematically.

Not a great sculpt but good for it's day. Shame it had to wait 30 years for it's time in the sun!

AND I got it finished before the 31st of March deadline!

Miniatures painted / sold this year = 60

Target 100

Miniatures bought 15

394 miniatures to go!

45 in the black this year.