AHPC XII: Iron Golems Warband

"Flesh is Impermanent - Metal is Eternal!"

These doughty fellows are highly skilled armourers and metal smiths who hail from the Volcanic mountains of Chamon in the Realm of Metal.  To showcase their master crafted wares in a kind of uninvited roadshow advertising, they get out on the road and take their frustrations out on people they consider naughty (and there are quite a few of those). And after all that time practice on anvils, they are itching to thump out some punishment and prove their skills as master artisans.

Heavy Hitters: Signifer, Dominar, and Ogre Breacher

Rip and Tear lads!

Together they form a warband for the Warhammer skirmish game Warcry that I call the 'HateForged' and are lead by Dave the Dominus - not to be confused with the other Dave who is neither the Dominus or as imposing as he stands at only 4 foot 3inches tall. 

Dave and other Dave (no relation)

There was some debate at the forming of this intrepid group that they be called "The League of Extraordinarily Murderous Gentlemen" but a Nether Realm judge considered this to be too similar to an existing IP and  a Cease and Desist Order was issued. Such is the way of things in the badlands of the Blood Spoil regions.

Ready for Trouble, one way or another

I went for an antique Greek style with a slightly rusted/tarnished look to go with Deep Sea diver helmets.  It was also a colour experiment, using a brown/metallic monochrome style with accents from the blue/green verdigris and red blood splashes.  I think it worked out OK, but it does lack a certain 'pop'.  

This duo deliver a slightly ranged effect to the team

Actually, I understand their rules are kinda underpowered but the models just look too cool to not paint. Such is the way of things... 

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2022/03/from-paulog-iron-golems-warband-60.html

Painting Notes:

Armour

Basecoat: Coat d' Arms Dwarf Bronze (quite a light, desaturated colour)

Wash: Ork Flesh green contrast

Drybrush: Coat d' Arms Dwarf Bronze

Wash: Agrax (leave some of the green in areas)

Drybrush: Coat d' Arms Dwarf Bronze

'Zenithal' style drybrush GW Dwarf Bronze (much stronger yellow tone)

Alternate metal colour: Brass Scorpion

Aged effects with GW Nihilakh Oxide (veridgris) and AP Dry Rust (on chainmail mostly)

Flesh: Palid Wychflesh base, wash Druchi Violet, re-highlight with Palid Wychflesh

Basing (matching the Warcry 'Defiled Ruins' board): base Snakebite Leather with Gor Grunta Fur contrast

AHPC XII: Beastmen

Due to work travel its been a good few weeks since I touched a brush. This gave me time to reflect on this year's Challenge and I realised I was missing something - I've painted no Beastmen - for shame! So this week I've rectified that with some characterful Beastmen models from the Underworlds "Grashrak's Despoilers" set.

BFFs Grashrak and Draknar are the bruisers of this warband

Grashrak Fellhook is a magical Bray-Shaman, and his buddies are Gor Draknar the Cruel and the Ungor Hunters Gnarl, Ushkor, Murgoth Half-Horn, and Korsh the Sneak. Together they 'hate all things pure with a bestial vehemence that knows neither reason nor restraint' - nice lads to gatecrash your forrest outing. 

With the idea that these would be a flavoursome raiding force for WHFB as well as a Warcry Warband, I lavished attention on their lovely details and tried something different with desaturated flesh tone colours and shades. I quite like the paler, muted tones but I'm not going back to my 200 odd beastmen army to redo those :-)

Painting notes (all GW colours)

Basecoat: Rakarth Flesh

Wash: diluted Bugman's Glow

Highlight: Rakarth Flesh

Fine Highlight: 50/50 mix Rakarth Flesh and Wraithbone

Fur was GoreGrunter Contrast with a light drybrush of Baneblade Brown

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2022/03/from-paul-og-beastmen-and-more-archers.html

AHPC XII: 'Nidzilla!

News of the upcoming release of the new Tyranid Codex had Reilly and I reaching for some unpainted bugs this week. He did a Broodlord and this is my contribution: a Trygon - and a big (half a foot tall) menacing fellow he is!

Game wise, he is a burrower and erupts from the ground in a nasty surprise attack kind of way. He also generates a tunnel behind him that other bugs can then scuttle through - so apart from his personal attacks, it can be a bit of a pain when bugs suddenly erupt amidst your army.

The basing is done to match the rest of the army - I'm not super happy with it yet and will add to it later, but I am literally off to the airport for a work trip now so thats good enough for today.

Game wise, he erupts from the ground in a nasty surprise attack kind of way. He also generates a tunnel behind him that other bugs can then scuttle through - so apart from his personal attacks, it can be a bit of a pain when bugs suddenly erupt amidst your army.

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2022/02/from-paulog-nidzilla-arrakis-45-points.html

AHPC XII: Chaos Landraider "Blood Storm"

It was only 2 weeks ago amidst this very challenge that I got obsessive over a single, low point submission. I wouldn't fall into that particular hole again so soon would I?... You know it!

Meet Bloodstorm, a Chaos Landraider with a multitude of Spikey bits and more than the odd skull affixed to the superstructure in praise of the Dark Gods. To be more precise it is a captured and repurposed Imperial vehicle, turned against it former masters - Chaos guys are a bit insidious like that. Its also big and bright and red. Chaos guys like that too.

Obviously I went overboard once again with the customisation and the silly amount of layering and edge highlighting (not seen well in the pics) to get the bright, vibrant red colour.  Hopefully that draws the enemy fire and lets the other parts of my army get close enough to breathe sweet nothings in the enemy's ears, before they hack them off (and the rest of the head too, ideally).

In true Khorne fashion is trying to climb OUT of the heavily armoured fighting vehicle so he can hit things with his chainsword - Khorne guys REALLY like doing that.

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2022/01/from-paulog-chaos-landraider-cybertron.html

AHPC XII: A few more DungeonBowl players

Back to the office this week, which has impacted hobby so only a minor submission this week, adding a few new players to my College of Shadows Dungeonbowl team.  

Added to the roster is a third Skaven Gutter Runner, Git-git Greenstripe - a fast player who can skitter around the dungeon with great agility...but is admittedly a little fragile (Reilly stomped one to death during a recent match!) 

Also joining the Team is Penny the Pricker, Dark Elf Assassin. This is a player type I haven't used before but anything that against the tower of muscle that is Reilly's team is welcome. 

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2022/01/from-paulog-more-dungeonbowl-players-35.html

AHPC XII: Chaos Hellbrute and Silver Bayonet Beastie

My next AHPC submission was a Chaos Hellbrute/Dreadnought. Basically, this is a hulking murder obsessed robot named KILLFRENZY who is controlled by an insane, blood craving heretic. Good times!

For the 40k affectionados this is a converted Blood Angels Death Company Dreadnought fitted with a pair of nasty looking Blood Talon close combat weapons, heavy flamer and storm bolter.  Lost in battle when its former pilot succumbed to wounds, the happy-go-lucky World Eaters salvaged it and interred their own ill-mannered psychopath who rather enjoys his new toy and its plush (if somewhat blood spattered) upholstery.

I enjoyed sculpting the battle damage and trying to get a more dynamic feel to what is a rather static and boxy sculpt, even trying some OSL and 3d printed effects (Translation - yes, I again made the classic Challenge error in being completely obsessed with minor detail on a single model). I also used some new techniques with oil washes over acrylic base coats.; it certainly takes a lot longer to dry and I haven't got it quite right yet, but I got the grungier look I wanted.  I'm trying to improve my basing game too and did more in that regard with a slain foe who, quite coincidentally, looks remarkably just like the new Thousand Sons force that Reilly is painting... 

"All is Dust..."

While I'm here I'll also post this strange little fellow whom I found lurking in my stash: a Razormouth from the Reaper Black Bones series. I built him as a beastie for Silver Bayonet, but he will be equally at home in the Necromunda Underhive or similar.

That completes my 4 outer sphere planets (Istvaan V, Glorantha, Klenadathu and Skaro) and so I now transit via the adjacent Great Abyssal to start the challenge of the middle ring...

AHPC XII: Stalingrad Apartment Complex

28mm Soldat shown for scale

This 28mm scaled apartment complex building occupies a 1 foot square tile and has 5 seperate (and detachable) floors. It was 3d printed* in small sections by Alan on his filament printer last year, after which I then spent some 30 odd hours glueing, chopping and drilling to give it that pristine Urban Combat look. Quite a labour of love in which I took my own modicum of injuries!

WIP build pics here: http://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2021/10/october-hobby-roundup-terraintober.html

 Each floor was modified to make it is quickly removable to allow whole skirmish games to be played just in this building alone.

The building breaks down into five separate floors - I added framing to the underside of each so that it doesn't inadvertently revert to this state mid-game...

I wanted a balance of dioramic destruction vs playability, so tried to portray a holdout building in which defenders have cleared the worst of the rubble to keep their fighting positions effective. It took quite a bit of time to do this sensibly (and of course with obligatory research of actual Stalingrad buildings - Alan's high standards require nothing less than primary source evidence, which makes one really lift one's game!). All this took well over a month so I then quietly packed it away so I could enjoy painting it during the Challenge

Undercoated in black, I then got my airbrush into action (with coaching assistance - thanks Marty!) to finally start adding pigment to the project. I really wanted to bring some colour to the table amongst all the usual urban grey wreckage, so went with a timeless brick red vibe with some coloured internal walls. I added floorboard beams and other detritus from scrap balsa. Final layers on the brickwork were traditional drybrush method, while internal floors and walls were stippled to give a bedraggled look.

Junkers-eye view of the building

Overall, this construct netted me 140 points for the painting challenge. 

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2022/01/from-paulog-stalingrad-apartment.html

* commercial stl files by WOW Buildings, here: https://wowbuildings.net/

Hail Hydra! (Red Skull was my AHPC VII Character bonus round submission :-)

AHPC XII: Dungeon Bowl: Into the Shadows

New Year - New Game - New Team... More Mayhem!

I've been a Blood Bowl fan boy devotee tragic - have been since my teen years and then dragged my son Reilly into it before he was 10 years old. We are loving the recent GW attention to this game so the re-release of Dungeon Bowl last month was a no brainer for us.  I mean, its fantasy rugby/gridiron played in a Dungeon with exploding treasure chests and magic teleportors - whats not to love?

Dungeon Bowl is quite differently managed in comparison to the more traditional above ground leagues. Underground, teams are sponsored by a different Colleges of Magic and comprised of mixed race players. 

Skaven team members

This is the College of Shadows - one of the 2 teams that come in the new boxed set, comprising Dark Elves, Skaven and Goblins (though I added the latter models from our stash, they don't come in the box).

Dark Elf players

Each college has a theme colour and the College of Shadows has adopted (perhaps unsurprisingly) grey. I embraced the colourless tones overall with a saturated green for the Goblins to really leap out, and kept this same spot colour to get a consistent team look.  The dungeon styled bases are home made (3d printed) and the dungeon they are standing in is a project you will see more of later on.

The Goblins are fun, but..not the most valued players in the team!

The Team's legendary female Captain is Harriett Heart-Stealer, so named for her long line of heart broken suitors. And also for her penchant of actually removing this vital organ during matches and then keeping them for some kind of secretive, post-match ritual that sensible people don't ask about...

In their quest for on-pitch glory, adoration of cheering fans and the attention of high paying sponsors, the heroes of this College of Shadows team are assigned to the planet Glorantha. Overall this submission is 14 figures, but 2 were pre challenge colour testers, so only 12 for scoring (60 points) plus the planetary bonus for a total of 80. 

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2021/12/from-paulog-dungeon-bowl-into-shadows.html

Modelling Notes: I went heavy with the contrast paints with these guys

- Black Templar Contrast

- Grey Wolves Contrast, 

- Warpstone Green, Biel-tan wash, 

AHPC XII: 28mm Lovecraftian Night Gaunts and Ghosts

AHPC 12 has kicked off and each Challenge I try to get an entry done in the first few days. While generally very simple offerings, they give me a sense of first steps taken, a journey begun.  Some lads here are into the Napoleonic Horror game Silver Bayonet - I think it's a salve for the thousands of Nappy troops that should be used more often, plus its just cool! Uncharacteristically, I'm not one of those with thousands of Nappy troops (in fact I don't have a single one) so I am focusing initially on the monsters.  

Here are a trio of Lovecraftian faceless horrors known as Night Gaunts to oppose our heroes. They have been patiently sitting in my pile of potential for some years, but I believe they were by a company called Hobby Products and are now OOP.  

And a trio of Ghosts - older GW Army of the Dead model from their metal Lord of the Rings range. Base coated in white, washed in Fluro Yellow (Vallejo 70730), washed in a GW Warpstone Green (diluted into an ink) and drybrushed again with Fluro Yello.

Thats 6 x 28mm figures to get me off the mark with 30pts, and 20 bonus points for the planet Istavaan V due to their horror/cultist/heretical nature.

Best wishes for a great AHPC everyone!

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2021/12/from-paul-og-28mm-lovecraftian-night.html

November Hobby Roundup

A busy month but other than the separate Shamrock Cup report there wasn't much on the Hobby front, having moved job/house once again and relocated the Man Cave back to Sydney.  Excitingly, both Reilly and I are signed up for the upcoming AHPC Season XII, which I always love.

Before I packed up the painting station I did manage to add a model to my Traitor Astartes squad. This time it was a fallen marine from the Lamenters Chapter, of Badab War fame. I did him as the Squad Leader Champion, armed with a lightning claw and plasma pistol.  Not wanting the yellow colours to be overly bright, I freely added chipping and streaking grime in a grimdark style, which helped the eye lens and plasma coils pop better. Plus blood splatters of course...

While the hand painted chapter symbol isn't as neat as I would have liked, I quite like the overall look of the model. Here is the traitor gang so far all together (posed on my recently built but not yet painted apartment block terrain)

We were also excited to see GW re-releasing Dungeonbowl so that will be under the tree for us this year, and the on-pitch mayhem will move underground. Reilly is also working on getting his new Khorne team ready for action.  With his new job he splashed out to get some star players as well, with his very first Forgeworld order - such a right of passage!

Finally, I have been musing about the future of this blog. I find it is mostly of use only to myself these days with scant reach out, and I wonder about the utility or relevance of continuing it into the future. Perhaps blogger has had its day and there is a better platform to use now? I do like Twitter for a quick Hobby fix but on the other hand it doesn't have the depth for AARs etc. Not sure- would welcome commentary on the topic and the utility of personal blogs in general. On one hand I suspect they may have had their day.