Unleashing the Beast

I've spent a good amount of time this weekend working on additions to my Age of Sigmar army, almost all in the form of Tzaangors, the twisted bird-goat-men that comprise Tzeentch's rendition of the standard-issue beastmen. 

I started by assembling and painting a Tzaangor Shaman, one of the leaders of this abominable species, mounted atop a half-daemon, half-machine Disc of Tzeentch.  This was to fully test-drive the color scheme I was thinking about using to model a tribe of Tzaangors native to the Realm of Fire.  I think it came out very nicely, especially with the bases done up using the "Dark Runes" Green Stuff rolling pin.  I'll be doing as many bases as I can in this style going forward.

With that out of the way, I assembled a box of ten Tzaangors, deciding to equip them with paired blades instead of sword-and-shield, forgoing a little bit of defense in favor of a boost to attack rolls.  There's also a few equipped with "Great Blades" for some extra chopping power against heavily-armored foes.  I also assembled three "Tzaangor Enlightened," more advanced and favored members of the species, who have some delightfully nasty abilities, especially if a Wizard is nearby. 

Finally, something really fun.  Eventually I'm going to want to field a "Fatemaster" in my army, but refuse to work in resin, the only material the character is available in.  So I kitbashed my own, using Warhammer 40K's "Ahriman" Chaos Sorcerer, the glaive-wielding right arm and head of a Chaos Knight, and a shield arm off the Tzaangor sprue.  A little Green Stuff to cover an attachment point where a jetpack is supposed to go and he should be good to prime. 

Chariot of Chaos (not Fire)

Well I'll be darned.  My plans for a Kings of War Abyssal Dwarf army seem to be going on hold again, and instead I'm returning to Games Workshop's Age of Sigmar.  I'd initially put the game and my army in the closet and stopped attending events because I was getting disappointed and frustrated with the lack of interest in narrative play or scenario-use in my local area, but with the second edition preparing for release, interest has returned at my preferred local game shop, Just Games, and the focus does seem to be on using scenarios, victory conditions and narrative play.  So I dusted off my Chaos Warriors and Pink Horrors, and finished assembling and painting one of the units I'd started but was left unfinished last summer, a Chaos Chariot. 

The only conversion I did, besides sculpting some tentacled runestones on the base, is I swapped out the helmets that came with the Chariot for the rider for one off the Chaos Knights sprue that I liked the look of.  I don't know that I'd build another of these - the kit was a bit fiddly, and I still don't think I have the yoke on quite straight.  Both horses are fairly small (or at least seem that way) and each only has a single hoof resting on the base, not exactly conducive to balancing and gluing them into place. 

Happy Birthday to Me

I turned 31 last week, and as befitting the age, only my better half Gina and I got me presents.  All wargaming-related this year, and some lovely new toys among them.

Here's what I purchased for myself:

Two rollers from Green Stuff World (plain and "Dark Runes") as well as a pack of "Blue Stuff" thermoplastic which can be used to make molds and cast copies of pieces.  Then the latest issue of Miniature Wargames magazine; I would normally get this sort of thing digitally but I wanted the sprue of "Gun Dogs," steampunk artillery contraptions, from Wild West Exodus that came with the physical mag. 

Since I've decided to start up with Kings of War again, Gina gave me $100 and told me to buy myself the beginnings of an army; having been in love with Games Workshop's Chaos Dwarves since my first start in wargaming back in 2003 or so (naturally, after GW stopped producing them even semi-affordably), I decided to start on a force of Mantic's "Abyssal Dwarves," which share much the same tone and aesthetic.  $100 was neatly taken care of with the purchase of two regiments of "Abyssal Halfbreeds," Mantic's answer to the classic Bull-Centaurs of Games Workshop, and a package of movement trays to fit them.  When she saw what I'd bought, Gina told me that if she'd known I was going to buy movement trays, she would have given me an extra $20 to make sure I got some more fun stuff.

Moral of this story is always discuss purchases with your spouse. 

I've also dug my Age of Sigmar stuff out of the closet where it's languished for the better part of a year; I packed it up because I wasn't enjoying playing at the local Warhammer store, but a new guy wants to get Age of Sigmar started up at Just Games so I figured out an easy 1000 point list; all I have to paint is the Chariot I've had sitting primed and in sub-assemblies since last summer.  Unfortunately, it looks like the methods I used to try and clean up frosted varnish on my "Gaunt Summoner" have damaged his paint job, so I'll need to strip and repaint him at some point.  I'm not totally certain I want to get back into Age of Sigmar; I definitely don't want to be spending the kind of money Games Workshop thinks I should be, but a game or two couldn't hurt. 

I decided to get out some Green Stuff and give the Dark Runes roller a try on the chariot's base; I ended up creating two "eruptions" of runestones out of the ground that then sprouted tentacles, in keeping with the style of Chaos. 

Chaos Knights WIP

Just a quick update with some WIP shots of a unit of five Chaos Knights I'm working on for Age of Sigmar.  I'm keeping a limited color palette through this army with an emphasis on blue - sapphire blue armor, navy blue cloaks and banners, ashy gray-blue skin where exposed.  However, while my Chaos Warriors on foot had silver helmets and silver imagery on their shields, the helmets, trim and shield designs for the Knights are being done in gold to suggest that these fellows are a higher status within the army than their foot-slogging brethren.

The blue of their armor is completed; two coats of Reaper Sapphire Blue painted over a black undercoat, then each plate was edged in Sky Blue.  Once this was dry I went over and painted a glaze of Sapphire Blue carefully over each plate to blend the edging in a little bit and make it less jarring.

I think the blue came out best on this fellow.

Chainmail on the horses and riders were painted in Reaper True Silver, then given a wash of Citadel Nuln Oil to shade.

The golden areas have been picked out in a mix of Reaper Antique Gold and Leather Brown, which is the closest I've found to the old Games Workshop Bubonic Brown from when I first started painting miniatures.  Next, they'll receive a wash of Nuln Oil, then a highlight of straight Antique Gold before receiving a final delicate highlight of a mix of Antique Gold and True Silver.

The Champion showing his gold.  Shield still to be added.

I'm looking forward to painting the "Ensorcelled Weapons" carried by these riders - in keeping with the limited palette I've been using, I intend to paint the blades in shades of bright, vibrant green.  The method I used on the feathers worn by my Gaunt Summoner and Pink Horrors has been a base coat of Reaper Peacock Green, highlighted with Brilliant Green, then Viper Green, with a final highlight of Moth Green before glazing with Viper Green.  For these blades, however, I'm going to use the Moth Green to trace lightning bolts over the blades, and then go back over them with white before glazing with Viper Green.  Hopefully this will leave me with incredible, bright green lightning bolts against an emerald background.

Up next, I have a Chaos Warshrine that has been built up into sub-assemblies and primed, and I bought a box of Blue and Brimstone Horrors today to go with my Pink Horrors.

Age of Sigmar

I have been neglecting this blog horrendously, and I apologize for the radio silence.  Much of what I've been working on lately on the RPG front is under a non-disclosure agreement for the time being, and I haven't been taking nearly enough pictures of my wargaming and painting.

Games Workshop's "Age of Sigmar" has pretty much consumed all my time at the painting table and the wargaming table; having now four games under my belt, AoS is my most-played wargame, period, which is perhaps something of a sad state of affairs given that I've been enthusiastic about wargaming for hmm, fifteen years now? Lots of years where I didn't have anybody else to play games with.

I've been building a "Chaos" army since February, organized around the god Tzeentch; for those unfamiliar, Tzeentch is all about magic and mutation, a god of secrets, deception, lies and trickery.  And birds, for some reason, Tzeentch likes giving people beaks and feathers.  It's not the most straightforward army to play, but I like the new models that were being released around the time I started - models that I have somehow not bought yet, funnily enough.

everything so far.

Gaunt Summoner, picture taken while WIP.

Thus far I've built, painted and based two units of ten Chaos Warriors, painted in blues and pale shades to give them a "cold" feel that I've somewhat abandoned in subsequent models; a Chaos Sorcerer Lord, his armor trimmed in gold instead of silver, and a Gaunt Summoner, a many-eyed spellcaster who more than earned his price point this past weekend - he took down an entire 30-man unit of Bloodletter demons, as well as the enemy general, by himself at the escalation league match at the FLGS.  I've finished a trio of "Screamers," big flying demonic manta rays, and I'm most of the way done with a unit of Pink Horrors - just bases left to do on these capering demons.  And I've begun painting a unit of five Chaos Knights which will hopefully prove a good bruiser of a unit.

Tomorrow night Tom and I are meeting for a rematch, his Nurgle demons against my Tzeentch boys.  We're both bored with simple pitched battles so we're going to try out playing a scenario with victory objectives instead of just killing each other.  For fun, I converted the "Sausages and Mustard" scenario out of Lion Rampant over to AoS; one of us is going to be trying to set fire to the other's supply depots.

Finished Screamers

Pink Horror Iconbearer WIP

Catching Up

Haven't done a whole lot on the gaming or painting front lately; a couple weeks of painter's block kept me from putting brush to figure.

I did finally break through and painted Reaper's Griffon, from their Bones line:

Tom and I have played two games of Kings of War now, with my half-finished Teutonic Knights serving as a Kingdoms of Men army.  Last night we played a 1000-point game, with my Men barely eking out a victory over his Dwarves.  His Brock Riders (dwarves mounted on giant badgers) were brutal, and his Organ Gun could have dealt out a lot more damage if the Griffon (the "Winged Beast" part of my "General on Winged Beast") hadn't taken it out on the second turn.

Finally, I've checked out another hobby shop in my area - we have four that I've been in now, which stay in business through careful niche specialization - this time the Warhammer store in Victor, NY, an official Games Workshop outlet and, heaven help me, I've bought into Age of Sigmar.  There seems to be a thriving population playing it so I should have no shortage of games ahead of me.  I picked up the "Start Collecting: Slaves to Darkness" box and an additional box of Chaos Warriors (8th edition packaging, so 12 to a box instead of 16).

The store is running an escalation league, with monthly meets and each month the point total of our armies goes up by 250 points; so for March we're playing with 500-point forces, then in April it'll be 750, in May 1000, etc.  I've assembled a 500 point force (two squads of Chaos Warriors and a Chaos Sorcerer Lord make 500 exactly) and got them primed.  Painting begins tomorrow, and I'm thinking I can probably have them done in time for the league to begin on the 19th.