Redeeming some not-great miniatures

Earlier this year, I replied to an ad on Facebook Marketplace offering a big job lot of Warhammer figures. I really wanted the plastic Rogue Trader Imperial Guard and some Genestealers that were in the lot, but I also wound up with a bunch of the early multi-part Chaos Warriors. These miniatures are ... not kindly remembered. They're hunched and ugly, and usually thought of as not as good as the subsequent, more upright models with the cloaks. But I had a load of them. 

As you can see, they have a stooped, hunched posture with weird, long, gangly arms, and the metal halberd arms are pretty crude. The upper and lower parts of the halberd don't even line up clearly. 

Anyway, I decided that since these models were a bit crude and since I tend to play Nurgle, I would paint them up in a beat-up and rusty paint scheme that would focus on overall effect rather than individual detail. 

I was inspired by a rust-painting workshop I did at BOYL 2019, taught by Curtis Fell of Ramshackle Games, whose rusty paint jobs have always impressed me. Here's the rust-work I did on the model from that workshop (I later went back and did the cloth and so on). 

I don't think I achieved the same effect here, but that was the inspiration. 

I put my test models together and primed them black. This will be more forgiving for the loosey-goosey paint scheme I'm going to apply. 

Next, I just took a big brush and jabbed this thing over and over with brown masonry paint to give it the necessary flat, dark brown colour. I didn't care if this clogged up the detail, because ... well, you know.

Then I applied a few more stages. Again using a big brush, I applied gunmetal grey over the exposed edges and points, bringing out the edges of the armour plates, blades and so on. Then I flicked watered-down orange-brown paint at the model with a toothbrush to add some rust.

I picked out a few details in a bright fluorescent green that I thought would stand out against the dull background.

Next, I went back and tidied up some sections with thinned-down black. If there were soft boots I did those, for instance, I painted the weapon hafts, and in some places I cleaned up the joints between armour plates. I also added some bone colour to the decorative skulls, the horns, and what have you. 

I wanted to add one feature to each of these guys that would stand out, and I resolved on giving them weird shields. I went into the bits box and pulled out various bits and pieces that would do, including some Reaper Bones shields and a Renedra tombstone. Then I did the bases. 

I've got three in so far, and I think they look pretty OK! I'm going to do a leader and a standard bearer to bring them up to a standard unit of 5, just to complete the project. But for models I can polish off in a spare hour or two, I'm really happy with them. 

Age of Sigmar challenge: more Marauders!

In my ongoing Age of Sigmar painting challenge with Tim of The Responsible One's Wargaming Blog, I had a bit of a rough couple of months. Over the holidays and in January, though, I bounced back a little. I assembled and painted some more of my Marauders, who I have set up to be more like cultists of Nurgle than tough-ass barbarians.

They're put together from Wargames Factory Vikings, Frostgrave cultists and barbarians, Gripping Beast warriors, GW Flagellants, and various other parts from the bits box. The last group were mainly dressed in black with green shields and accents, whereas on these ones I've gone with a mainly brown colour scheme with purple accents. The intention is to make them fieldable as two separate units (they'll eventually get a standard bearer of their own) while also letting them fit in with the first unit to make a single regiment of 20.

Here they are in that format:

I think they look not too bad for a somewhat loosey-goosey approach to painting and modelling.

Age of Sigmar challenge: not going so great

So my challenge with Tim of The Responsible One's Wargaming Blog came something of a cropper in November. In short ... I basically didn't paint anything and am now a month behind. I still have to finish five Chaos Knights, and now to that I have to add ten Marauders and a Chaos Lord on a demonic steed. I may have to try to finish by the end of January rather than December to take full advantage of the school holiday (work has been nuts).

However, I have not been completely idle. I have done the following things:

Acquired this box of Frostgrave barbarians with which to make the remaining Marauders (combined with all the miscellaneous sprues you see next to them)!

Painted most of this prototype Chaos knight to test the paint scheme!

It's not much, but it's more than nothing. 

Age of Sigmar: Easy mode update

So I mentioned that I didn't think I was going to be able to finish this month's Age of Sigmar painting target, so I pulled out my big single model to fill in the gap. Well, that seems to have been successful so far.

So, this is what it looks like after an evening's work. As you can see, the basic colours are all on there, and if I don't get time to back to it this month I'm going to call it done. Like any Reaper Bones model, the mould lines are an ugly mess, and I kept finding them when I thought I'd got them, but ... eh. It'll look OK on the tabletop. I feel like it's at about 80%, and if I get the chance to touch it up a bit over half-term I can get it to about 90.

I was originally going to paint it in naturalistic colours, but I wanted it to be more consistent with the rest of the army, so I went for a white-and-black colour scheme with the side heads represented in the army's green and purple accent colours.

Age of Sigmar: Breaking the glass

So far, I've been doing OK in my ongoing painting challenge with Tim of The Responsible One's Wargaming Blog. But in our most recent conversation about the topic, I suggested that October would be a tough month for me to get a lot done -- and I was right! My teaching and tutoring workload has gone bonkers as the school year got going, and for some reason this has also been accompanied by an increase in work for some of my other jobs. Add to that that I have an upcoming talk at ExiliCon next weekend and even though I assembled my Chaos Knights regiment, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get all five of them done this month.

They are exactly as painted today as they were in this photo from two weeks ago. 

Fortunately, I planned for just such an eventuality! My goal was to paint 200 points worth of models each month, and my army list includes two large models worth 200 points each, which I have been holding back as models to paint in months when time is not very easy to come by. This month I'm busting out the chimera, which is my army's designated big monster.

Now, this Reaper Bones chimera is nothing like the colossal size of the current Citadel model, but the good news is that I don't give a hang. I think it'll be relatively simple to paint and look good on the table, so I'm happy with it. 

Age of Sigmar: the Chosen of Chaos!

So, I have just about finished the Chosen for my ongoing Age of Sigmar slow-build with Tim from The Responsible One's Wargaming Blog. These guys, as I mentioned, are originally from Grenadier, now available from Forlorn Hope Games, and I think they came out OK. The paint job is pretty simple, but they look effective en masse. Not a very big masse, but still. I might touch up one or two points on them, but I'm happy to call them done for now.

As I explained last time, I primed them grey, drybrushed up to white, then painted the armour with a mix of black paint and ink. I touched up the edges with a little VMC German Grey, then did the fur textures up to pure white, plus weapons and so on. I went back to do some little accent details, trying to give every model some bits of brown, bone or bright green to break up the black-and-white monotony.

Here they are together with the unit of Marauders from August, as well as the sorcerer and his familiars. That's 400 points out of 1000, two months into a five-month schedule.

The next unit is going to be a unit of Chaos Knights, based on some ones that I've had ever since high school and a couple of spare Battle Masters guys that I picked up online for cheaps.

We're bang on schedule, then, more or less. I'm pleased with how this is developing. After the knights I've got one more unit of Marauders, the Lord, and then the Chimera to do.

Age of Sigmar challenge: The Chosen of Chaos

Hey, it's about time for another update in my ongoing slow-build Age of Sigmar challenge with Tim of The Responsible One's Wargaming Blog! He's got a recent post on finding alternative models for the unit of 10 Chaos Warriors he's fielding as part of his army. I have a similar issue on my mind this month, although I have only five Chosen to field. Chosen are basically elite Warriors armed with heavy two-handed weapons. I didn't have any good models lying around to represent them, so I looked about for a budget alternative. I had recently sold some models, which meant I had a few quid earmarked for minis spending.

I settled on some models originally sculpted by Mark Copplestone for Grenadier but now available through Forlorn Hope Games. These are "medieval foot knights" or maybe "evil knights," and I've always liked the sculpts. I got four of them to go with a champion I already had on hand.

The champion is a bit of an odd figure. He's an unreleased Citadel model -- Foundry, who recently put him back into production for BOYL 2016, call him a wizard, but that's obviously not the case. He's a medieval Russian type, maybe a proto-Kislevite? That's not important for my purpose; he has a suitably wicked-looking axe. I took advantage of Kev Adams' charity sculpting fundraiser to get a new face sculpted on him. I just asked for a leering, demonic face, and I wasn't disappointed. I like the idea that this is a sort of samurai mask, but given how I eventually painted it it looks a little more organic. Perhaps it's a chaos gift; who knows?. He's a little different from the rest of the unit, but then he is the champion, and the backstory is sufficiently cool that I don't want to leave him out.

Now, as you can see from the photo, the Forlorn Hope models took a bit of work to clean up. They're new casts from presumably quite old moulds, and there was a fair amount of flash. They're also ever so slightly smaller than their champion, but I guess he is a champion after all.

I mounted them on old-fashioned 25mm slottabases to help add bulk and stature compared to the Marauders, who are on flat bases. I wanted to keep their colour scheme stark and simple, so I gave them black armour and grey-white cloaks with natural accents and the occasional bit of livid green. As usual, I primed them grey, then I washed the armour with a mix of Army Painter Dark Tone and Black Paint to give it a bit of shade; I then highlighted armour edges and so on with VMC German Grey and then the same colour mixed with VMC London Grey. I washed the blades of the weapons with a mix of black and green ink to give it a slightly odd tint, but they're pretty simple paint jobs.

Here are the champion and a member of the unit; I have a few weeks to get the remaining three done. No musician or standard for these guys, although if I expand the unit up to 10 they will get them.

I suppose he looks rather goblin-y or hobgoblin-y, particularly with the vest, but eh. I like the model enough that I'm going to use him, even if he is a leeetle incongruous. Perhaps something else will suggest itself, but he will do very well for now.

Anyway, I think I'm steadily on track for month two. I think for October I may just shoot for the Chimera and defer the problem of finding some Chaos Knights until November.

Age of Sigmar project: first month complete!

As I have mentioned, I'm doing an Age of Sigmar slow-build project using the "matched play" points rules presented in the General's Handbook. Together with Tim of The Responsible One's Wargaming Blog, I'm trying to complete a 1,000-point force by the end of the year, which means 200 points a month. This month, my 200 points are a sorcerer (100 points), two familiars (40 points) and a unit of 10 Marauders (60 points).

And here they are:

When the plague struck the city, none were spared. The wise died with the foolish, the brave with the cowardly, the poor alongside the rich. Scheltorius was the most learned of physicians and astronomers, but no medicine could prevail against the illness. When his colleagues sickened and died, he applied all the teachings of physic, but to no avail. When his love, the fair Clorinda, began to cough and spit blood, he poured out his fortune to the temples of Sigmar, but no help came. When his children took sick, he sought spells and incantations in forgotten tomes, but they were powerless. But when he himself began to show signs of the disease, then in desperation he called upon the forbidden name of Nurgle. And this time, his prayer was answered. 

For his devotion, the plague lord gave Scheltorius his life -- but for his cowardice he gave him life imprisoned in a hideous fleshless form, a cruel mockery of his former self. Chastened by his master's lesson, the sage devoted himself to the unclean one. Now, as a sorcerer of Chaos, he leads a band of wretched survivors on his lord's work. 

Speaking of wretched survivors, here are that first unit of Marauders:

They're a mix of GW Flagellants, zombies (Mantic?), GW Mordheim militia, Frostgrave cultists, Gripping Beast Dark Age warriors, Wargames Factory vikings and a Reaper Bones barbarian. The standard is a mix of quotes from Boccaccio's description of the plague in Florence on some aged paper, with a stylised Nurgle rune. They're going to get their muddy bases tufted up a little, but otherwise they are all done. They represent plague survivors maddened by their experience into the worship of Nurgle, led by the kind of guy who aspires to be a Warrior of Chaos.

Next month I'm doing another infantry unit, but this one is smaller: a five-man unit of Chosen, who are Chaos Warriors armed with two-handed weapons. I have the models picked out, so this should be a nice easy one compared to August, which is good news, seeing as it's the start of the school year again.

Tale of Gamers: painting progress

Just a quick update on the joint painting project I am doing with Tim of The Responsible One's Wargaming Blog!

I have painted a few models, which was a great relief as I was, for reasons that will be seen in a post next week, itching to get some done.

This is one of the sorcerer's familiars. He's a little Reaper Bones imp guy, and he was very simple to paint. I primed him grey, then just drybrushed up to pure white. The main body got a 50/50 mix of green and yellow washes, while the tentacles are a mix of purple wash and old Liche Purple GW paint. The wings and a few other areas got a very thin purple wash, and then I highlighted up with a mix of Coat d'Arms Goblin Green and VMC Yellow Green. He's not very big, as you can see -- that's a 20 mm base.

This is the test model for my marauders. He had the same basic grey-then-wash setup, with a mixture of black wash and black paint for the armour and boots. His skin, following a suggestion from my friend Ian, is a mix of yellow and purple washes, with some areas then touched up with GW Carroburg Crimson to look inflamed. Everything else is just basic washes, with most of the colour in this unit intended to come from the shield. The unifying colour for this block of ten is going to be green, as you can see here. I wasn't pleased with the way the shield came out, so I went back and redid it. It's now OK. Still not great, but definitely better.

This is the champion of the Marauder regiment. I didn't want to paint acres of bronzed musculature, so I gave him a cold blue colour. To fit in with the theme, I gave him some bright green warpaint. This model is a pretty goofy sculpt with a pretty rough casting, and I'm not 100% happy with how it came out, but I think it will work in the regiment.

And this is the sorcerer, based on the Morcar giveaway figure from BOYL. I painted him as an homage to Skeletor, more or less, and in the photo I can see some places where it needs touching up -- the belt, the rings on the left hand and the base generally --  so I'll do that before calling it done. Still, so far so good.

Here he is with both familiars. Like the first, the second is a Reaper Bones model.

And lastly, here's the model I'm happiest about so far, the musician for the Marauder regiment. The entry in the army list specifies that the musician is a skull drummer, so I dug out some spare skulls. The head and arms are from GW Flagellants, with weapons carved down into drumsticks, and the body is a Frostgrave cultist.

Age of Sigmar project: work in progress

As you may recall, Tim of The Responsible One's Wargaming Blog and I are doing one of those Tale of Gamers things, where we paint up units over a schedule, perhaps resulting in some games at the end. We've pledged to do 1,000 points by January, which means about 200 points a month. My 200 are going to be:

A sorcerer and his familiars: 140 points

The sorcerer is the Morcar giveaway figure from this year's Bring Out Your Lead event, sculpted by Geoff from Oakbound Games and supported by generous anonymous members of the community. He is going to get a Skeletor-esque paint job, but aligning with the army's overall themes of being mainly grey, black and white with bright green and purple accents. The familiars are various small critters from the Reaper Bones II Kickstarter.

10 Marauders: 60 points

Here are the first five:

As you can see, like Tim I'm keeping my models on square bases for maximum inter-system compatibility. These guys are a mix of parts from various different models, including Wargames Factory Vikings, Gripping Beast Dark Age warriors, GW Flagellants and Frostgrave cultists. The leader is a Reaper Bones barbarian. They will have shields when completed. My plan is to do a standard bearer and musician in the next batch.

So far, pretty much all these figures have either been free or surplus from other projects.

A joint project: Age of Sigmar

It's not that I play Age of Sigmar. I've never even really thought about it. But scheduled painting projects help clear the ol' backlog, and I do like that idea. With that in mind, Tim of The Responsible One's Wargaming Blog and I are starting a joint project. We're each going to paint 1,000 points of Age of Sigmar forces over the next five months with the goal of creating little armies for a game in the new year.

I don't intend to use actual Age of Sigmar models, unless some fall from the sky onto me, because I am not made of money. Instead, I'll be using whatever I've got lying around plus whatever I happen to come across in the next few months. There's oldhammer metal in there, Reaper Bones, historical plastics, whatever.

If this sounds like fun to you, why not join in? The idea is that by posting frequently, we encourage each other to stay on schedule and even create a little shared mythology for the characters. I should probably be focusing on the painting I need to do for next week, but you know how it is -- I'm already thinking of stuff for this project instead.

Anyway, here are some of the models that are going to wind up incorporated into my budget vanguard. Starting a project box is always fun!

I'm not including the sprues from Sprue Hell that are going to contribute to the Marauder ranks, of course.