OWAC IV Preparation: The Waaagh Kev'adumz (the Heavy Hitters)

I've posted recently about Project Greenskins, my ongoing plan to build a big, old school Warhammer Fantasy Battles army of orcs and goblins, complete with Goblin Green bases and all metal figures, the majority of which being Kev Adams sculpts.  I've joined Iannick Martin's excellent Old World Army Challenge for their fourth iteration, using it as impetus to build out at least the core of an army, and in so doing, given my project its "official" name: the Waaagh Kev'adumz.

I'd posted an initial army list with my introductory post at the OWAC blog, but after finding and repainting my Barnorsk Great Orcs, I realized they really covered the Black Orcs I'd originally planned on including in my army. Some revision was in order, along with double-checking my math, especially once I realized the default Orc chariot in the Warhammer Armies book was drawn by Wolves, not Boars. I ended up going to the "Chariots" section of the main rulebook for WHFB 3rd edition and calculating out exactly what the model I'm using would end up costing points-wise.

What I ended up with could be considered, along with the Black Orcs painted earlier this month, the "heavy hitters" of the army - the orcs, especially the Big'uns, and the trolls providing a lot of the muscle for the army, with the drawback of not being as mobile. Maybe OWAC V will see the speedy, shooty side of the Waaagh Kev'adumz!

Here's what I'll be painting over the next six months:

Yorzolg the Conquerer, Level 25 Orc Hero, Light Armor and Shield (146), riding in a Boar Cart* with 2 Crew armed with hand weapons (86): 232

Bogloaf, Level 15 Orc Hero, Shield, Army Standard Bearer: 139

The Black Fire Boyz, 14 Orc Big'uns, Spears, Standard and Musician (168), accompanied by Grubrot, Level 15 Orc Hero, Double-Handed Weapon (92): 260

Dem Lads Ova Dere, 11 Orcs Boyz, Standard and Musician (110.5), accompanied by Arzenut, Level 5 Orc Hero, Light Armor and Shield (36): 146.5

Dese Lads Ova Here, 11 Orcs Boyz, Standard and Musician (110.5), accompanied by Zartanesh, Level 5 Orc Hero, Light Armor and Shield (36): 146.5

Cannon Fodda, 12 Goblins, Standard and Musician: 56

 The Big Lads, 4 Trolls: 260

Total: 1,240

Rank and File: 705 (56%)

Characters: 535 (44%)

*As a four-wheeled vehicle, Yorzolg's ride is technically a "Wagon" in WHFB, slower and less maneuverable than a regular chariot but able to carry a larger complement of crewmembers. I'm picturing something akin to an Orcish version of the ceremonial chariot used to parade Julius Caesar during his Triumph in HBO's Rome. It might not be the best use of points in an army, or make the most tactical sense, but it'll be a showy centerpiece and look really cool on the table and that's what counts.

OWAC-Bound and Warming Up

 

This year I'll be taking part in the fourth Old World Army Challenge, using it as an impetus to get a good start on my Orc and Goblins army project. I've built a straightforward, no-frills 1000 point list, using what I have on hand and planning a few strategic purchases from Warmonger Miniatures and Knightmare Miniatures, that should be comfortably doable within the six months of the challenge, and might possibly end up with a few extras getting painted as well, depending how things go.

To my great glee, my friend Neil has decided to build an Averlander force in parallel to my greenskins, which means once things get better on a virus front, he and I will be able to play Warhammer 3rd edition...an edition neither one of us is old enough to have experienced firsthand during its heyday. 

That will begin January 1st, and in the meantime, I decided to warm up by finishing some figures I started a year ago. These are ten "Barnorsk Great Orcs," originally released by Harlequin Miniatures circa 1996 and recently rereleased by Black Tree Design. I picked these up from the Indiegogo campaign Black Tree ran and they're kind of what catalyzed Project Greenskins for me. Getting them cleaned up, based and ranked made me decide I wanted a metal army, with as few duplicate sculpts as possible, and as many sculpted by Kev Adams as I could get my hands on. 

I'd gotten everything but the wood, leather, brass and details finished a year ago; I redid their skintones, as the highlights were too high-contrast for my liking, and then finished up the rest and touched up the few spots where the paint had been scraped off during their year in a box in the closet with some goblins and a Frostgrave warband.

The shields are some classic Warhammer shields I'd gotten through one of the Oldhammer Facebook groups, and I did them with brush-on primer after sticking them to a piece of cardboard for stability. Drawing inspiration from classic 'Eavy Metal examples from the late '80s and early '90s, especially studio painter Colin Dixon's work, I painted gruesome little snaggletoothed faces on each shield and did a bigger version on a piece of paper for the banner. I've done paper banners before (including for my Averlander Mordheim band two years ago), but this is definitely the most complex yet. Good practice for the OWAC, since I've got two units of Orcs that will be getting similar.

And now, the picture dump:

Diehard Sci-fi Troopers and an AAR

 I'd hit a bit of a painting slump again - I'd start projects but feel no sense of passion towards them or desire to finish, but finally got myself motivated and finished off a couple figures this weekend while watching Reaper Miniatures' virtual convention.  They won't win any awards but I'm pleased with them nonetheless.  

 These are "E-Corps" Sci-fi troopers from a recent Diehard Miniatures' Kickstarter - I've got a fifth figure with a rocket launcher but I didn't want to put two special weapons figures into a squad for Fistful of Lead: Galactic Heroes, so I stuck with the sniper.  I've got a Warbot on the way from Diehard which will be painted in these colors and added to their squad.  

I also got motivated enough to clear off the dining room table, set up some scenery and hold a solo game of Galactic Heroes.  I decided on a simple scenario: A corporate spy carrying a hard drive full of secrets has crashed and hidden out in an abandoned, overgrown colony town.  The E-Corps asset recovery team has been sent in to retrieve him and the hard drive (I pulled an old Grenadier robot I'd previously painted to stand in for E-Corps' Warbot).  Unfortunately, a gang of Space Orks had also seen the ship crash, and were looking for the spy...for lunch.  

 

I decided that any time a figure spent an action searching a building, I'd roll a D10, adding 1 for each building that had previously been searched.  On a modified roll of 10+, the spy had been found; if I didn't get a 10 before the last building, he'd be there.  For added mayhem, I decided a natural "1" on the D10 roll would mean that an Alien Monster had been lairing in that building, and had been awoken.  

Naturally, a "1" was rolled on the very first building checked, and suddenly the Orks had a Ravenous Bug-Blatter Beast on their hands:

"Davy," the Ork in the coonskin cap, managed to hold the Bug-Blatter Beast up in a draw, locked claw to bayonet, until "Cap'n," the Ork in the officer's cap, managed to run up and kill the Beast instantaneously! "We ain't got time for dat nonsense!" says Cap'n!

Meanwhile, Pvt. Sit-Down leveled his shotgun at the Ork Boss and...click! Out of Ammo! Seeing this, "Bomba," the Ork in the bomber cap, raised his SMG and...click! Out of Ammo! "Tanka," the Ork in the tanker cap, charged Pvt. Blaze and obliterated him in a single go.  

The Ork Boss charged at Sit-Down, chainsword raised, and got clocked right between the eyes with Sit-Down's shotgun butt for a solid Wound! Taking advantage of the situation, Captain Ando of E-Corps advanced to the edge of the roof he was on and took a long shot with his autopistol - which paid off in spades when the Ork Boss collapsed to the ground stone dead!

Tanka then charged Sit-Down and, much to his surprise (and Sit-Down's), got hit in the chin with the shotgun butt hard enough to lift him off the ground and send him sprawling, out of action.  Why Sit-Down even bothers loading that shotgun is now a mystery, given what an unstoppable weapon the butt of it is. 

Davy, though shaken by a sniper bullet, wasn't about to accept Sit-Down's battlefield supremacy, charged in and headbutted the shotgun into metallic splinters.  He and Sit-Down began shoving back and forth, neither gaining a clear advantage but Sit-Down definitely beginning to weaken.  

Meanwhile, Captain Ando found himself dueling Cap'n on the roof of one building, Sgt. Clutch the E-Corps Sniper took out Bomba with a well-placed shot, and Wally the Warbot climbed the tower that Baldy, the Ork heavy weapons specialist, had holed up in and began punching him with metal fists.  

Sit-Down finally fell, out of action, but by that time Davy was the last Ork left on the field.  He turned and half-staggered, half-charged Sgt. Clutch - and was knocked out by one swing of the rifle butt.  

Exhausted, with two men out of action and Wally spilling oil from a hole blown in his side, E-Corps grabbed the corporate spy and called it a day.  They had completed their mission. 

ERE WE GO!

 I needed a bit of a break from Egyptians - I finished my Asar Spearmen, I'll post pictures shortly - so last night I pulled out some Space Orks I'd primed months ago and never started work on, and began painting them up as a crew for Wiley Games' Galactic Heroes and Wasteland Warriors rulesets.  The figure with the heavy machine-gun is a Games Workshop metal figure from Warhammer 40K, the rest are from Knightmare Games and I think sculpted by Kev Adams.  

Group shot of the squad

I managed to do skintones and then most of the cloth - trousers, padded tunics, the ratty shirt worn by the heavy weapons guy last night.  Metallic bits, leathers (they all have backpacks and an assortment of belt pouches) and details will get done today I think.  

Saluting, or trying to see where that errant shot went?

I think I really nailed the skintones here - over black primer, I laid down a basecoat of Reaper "Driftwood Brown," and once that was dry gave it a heavy wash of GW "Agrax Earthshade" to accentuate all the creases and wrinkles in their ugly faces.  Finally I lightly built up highlights of Vallejo "Dead Flesh" which is a wonderful yellow-green.  The end result to me reads as a very organic, natural green instead of the more cartoony colors favored by Games Workshop these days.  

The Boss and the lone GW figure.  I like the cigar hanging out of his mouth.

The Knightmare sculpts have a ton of personality to them that is a joy to paint and some charming details - I like how each one has a different hat on, and the fact that they're carrying stick grenades on their belts.  The boss has a giant stogie clenched in his teeth and most of them having earrings or nose rings.  

They look so happy to be causing mayhem!

I'm looking forward to getting them done and on the table - maybe I'll play a quick solo game of Galactic Heroes this weekend to pit them against Captain Crash Carter and his Space Rangers. 

Wargods Army, Part 3

Still plugging away at my Wargods of Aegyptus army, and pleased to report I'm nearly 1000 points of troops and characters painted and ready to play.  I take a lot of pride in not playing with unpainted figures wherever possible; I'll never shame another wargamer for bringing unpainted troops to the table, but I can be the "city on the hill" with my figures and hopefully inspire others. 

This Beastmaster (and the elephant that will be accompanying him) won't be seeing the table in 1000 point games, I don't think, but I could potentially field them in 1200 point games.  His skin and hair, the leather he's wearing and the green fabric are, as usual with this army, all GW Contrast Paints. 

These City-Dwellers just need the wood and metal bits detailed, then touch-ups and their shields and bases done.  Once they're all set, I just have one City-Dweller hero and my Harbinger himself and that'll bring me to about 1000 points. 

I do have more awaiting assembly and painting, however; an elephant to accompany my Beastmaster, a unit of archers and a champion to accompany them, and two chariots that will be reserved for bigger games, but I'm nonetheless excited for them.

Wargods Army Part 2

I've made some progress on my "Wargods of AEgyptus" army; a second block of ten Khemru have been painted (with red gems instead of blue, to differentiate them from the first unit), as well as the first of two champions armed with two-handed weapons.

Currently on the painting table, I have another four Khemru warriors (to bump these two units up to 12 apiece), a second champion, a Master of Words (aka a spellcaster) and a Beastmaster, a special troop type that Khemru can field.  He'll eventually be paired with an elephant to smash opponents' heavy troops with.  Also on the painting table is a unit of ten human spearmen; I might strip and repaint them; their skintone is currently two coats of GW Contrast "Darkoath Flesh," and the second coat went on a little blotchy.

Coming this week or next in the mail are an elephant, a unit of Basti archers and two chariots.  That'll put me at about 1500 points for this army and I'm not sure if I want to continue building up to 1750 or 2000.  I'm pretty happy with where things sit and I expect most games I'll be playing, at least locally, will be in the vicinity of 1000-1250 points. 

Beginning a Wargods of Aegyptus Army

Right before lockdown began, some guys in the local wargaming community began talking about possibly getting some armies together for Wargods of Aegyptus, a fantasy game set in a Mythic, prehistoric Egypt produced by Crocodile Games. 

Now, years and years ago (pre-2010) I'd tried to drum up interest in my college gaming club without any luck, and sold off my books and such like.  My better half was kind enough to get me a new copy of the rulebook and the beginning of an army for my birthday this year, and now I'm getting some paint on them. 

These first ten are a unit of the Khemru, the Children of Khanum (soon to be bumped up to a unit of 12).  These goat-headed warriors have a fairly tragic backstory in game; a naturally peaceful race of healers and farmers, they've been forced to go to war to restore peace and the Law of the Gods to Aegyptus.  They carry maces to avoid drawing blood and shout appeals for peace before every battle. 

I've found it's been getting more and more challenging for me to sit down and assembly-line paint units, and to that end I bought a couple of pots of Games Workshop contrast paints to help speed the process along.  Their skintone is GW "Space Wolves Grey," all of the leather on their collars and armbands is done with "Snakebite Leather," and their kilts, standard-top and shields were done with "Warp Lightning Green." It really made things easier - the entire unit of 10 was done in about six hours spread over 3 days.  I don't remember the last time I painted 10 figures like this in less than a week. 

I have two more figures to add to this unit, and another unit of 12 Khemru to do, followed by ten human warriors, allied to the Khemru cause.  That plus a few characters will give me my first thousand points. 

"The Children of the Night...What Music They Make!"

First up, a bit of news; Mike Hutchinson, of Gaslands fame, has released a beta PDF of a new solo-play/co-op pulp game called Perilous Tales.  Drawing inspiration from Lovecraft, hero pulps, Indiana Jones, and the Universal and Hammer horror films among others, it is squarely within my wheelhouse and I'm hoping to give it a go later this week.  

To that end, this week I've painted up a Vampire Count and his minions to play the villains in that first game.  

The villain himself, Count Ludwig von Blutburg, is a "Vampire Lord" from Reaper Miniatures' Dark Heavens line of metal miniatures, and even without the rock he's standing on, is an absolutely towering figure.  

He's served by Hans and Hilda, a pair of Vampire Spawn, also from Reaper's Dark Heavens line.  

And then finally he commands a pair of Bat Swarms, from Reaper's Bones line of plastic figures.These I was worried about coming out well, but basecoating the swarm in Reaper "Woodstain Brown" and drybrushing with "Driftwood Brown" honestly looks pretty darn good to me.  They're on 40mm bases.  

All in all, I think they make for a pretty imposing bunch, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they fare against Count Casimir and his Trans-Siberian Renegades.  If the weather improves later this week I'm hoping to get some more figures primed for both Perilous Tales and Fistful of Lead, as well as the first unit of a small Wargods of Aegyptus army I'll be working on in the near future.  

Bolsheviks and a Game

Eesh, It's like I've forgotten how to update this blog.

I haven't done a ton of painting - or at least, I haven't finished many projects lately.  That might be a  more accurate statement.  I have a bunch of figures just waiting for their bases to be painted or flocked. 

I did finish off a squad of Bolsheviks for Fistful of Lead, to use in pulpy games opposite Count Casimir and his White Russians I posted previously.  The Leader, Agent Stransky, is from Pulp Figures, and the rest of the crew is from Copplestone Casting's Back of Beyond range of 1920s Central Asian figures.  I decided to go for a team weapon this time around, and purchased a pack containing a Maxim Gun. 

Once they were varnished (and I got some foam hills I'd ordered in, as I don't have the dedicated workspace available to make my own), it was time to get a game in.  I unrolled a 3' x 3' game mat over our dining room table, threw down some hills and ruined buildings, and came up with a quick scenario - a race to reach and control a sinister ruined temple before the end of the sixth turn.

Initial Set Up

The two teams rushed towards the temple, with the Maxim team moving towards setting up in the nearer set of ruins.  Before long, Commissar Aronovitch was crossing swords with the Count's fencer daughter Yolanda:

And Fireteam Leader Petrov was literally punched to death by Blotsky, the chief of the Count's secret police in the temple:

The game concluded with Stransky facing off against the Count's entire team inside the temple after the Maxim team got into position, set up, and then completely whiffed gunning down the Count.  It did not go well for Stransky.  By the end of the game, Stransky had been shot 5 or 6 times, the Count and his bodyguard Misha were both out of ammo, and Yolanda was prone from a wound. 

All in all it was an evening well spent around the gaming table, even playing solo; the Maxim Gun wasn't a great choice for this game, as it limited the Bolsheviks' ability to put bodies in the temple and once Petrov and Aronovitch were rendered out of action, the game was basically decided. 

Count Casimir's Trans-Siberian Renegades

Some figures I finished between the end of the Painting Challenge and going into quarantine, these are "Count Casimir's Trans-Siberian Renegades" from Pulp Figures.

Front and center is the Count himself, flanked by his wife the Countess (red coat, fur hat and falcon) and his daughter Yolanda (in fencing gear).  Behind them is bodyguard Misha (white sweatshirt and sailor's cap) and lurking in the background is Secret Policeman Blotsky. 

The red and white color scheme wasn't really intentional; white for Yolanda's fencing gear was obvious, and Blotsky's coat was done red because he reminded me of Telly Savalas' Cossack captain in the 1972 film HORROR EXPRESS.  It's well worth a watch (Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are the main leads) and it's super weird seeing Telly Savalas with a cigar in his mouth instead of Kojak's usual lollipop.  Misha I had originally intended to have a striped sweatshirt but keeping the lines straight became such a headache that I finally gave up and gave him a solid-color shirt. 

This bunch will hopefully be seeing some action on the table soon using Wiley Games' Fistful of Lead rules. 

Challenge X Entry 1

I'm off and running with the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, with my first entry satisfying the requirements of the "Douglas Shallows" locale on the Challenge Map.

First up, a Fishing Boat that I got as part of Reaper Miniatures' "Dreadmere" expansion from the Bones 4 Kickstarter.

I was aiming for a "whitewashed, but not maintained well" look for the interior, via a basecoat of "Misty Gray," a wash of "Seraphim Sepia" and a drybrushed highlight of "Pure White." I think I achieved what I was looking for. 

Next up is the "Dire Crab," painted as a Chesapeake Blue Crab.  Legs and underbelly were base-coated in "Yellowed Bone" and washed with "Seraphim Sepia," while the back of the shell was a 1:1 mix of "Deep Ocean" and "Olive Shadow" drybrushed with "Olive Drab." The blue on the legs was picked out in "Surf Aqua" and glazed with "Gulliman Blue," before highlighting the center of each blue patch with Surf Aqua again.  The claws were done with multiple glazes of "Bloodletter Red" with each subsequent layer of glazing being smaller and more concentrated towards the tips of the claws. 

Clearing the Painting Desk

In preparation for the Painting Challenge, I'm trying to get some partially-finished stuff off my work bench (aka, the side of the kitchen table my partner and I don't eat on) since nothing begun before December 21st can qualify for the Challenge. 

First up, a pair of Giant Leeches from the Reaper Bones 4 Kickstarter, part of the "Dreadmere" expansion:

These were base-coated in Reaper "Uniform Brown," given two heavy washes of GW "Athonian Camoshade" and then a light drybrushing of "Green Ochre" before picking out the jaws and tongues.  Nothing fancy but they came out pretty well I think.

Next up is the beginnings of a project I'm very excited for.  First, a bit of back-story: I first came into miniature painting and wargaming in the early 2000s, probably 2001 - in fact, looking at White Dwarf back-issues, I'm thinking I must have made my first foray into a Games Workshop store in August of 2001.  6th Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battles was in full swing, and the helpful clerk at the GW store asked me a few questions and determined that Orcs and Goblins were the force for me.  A few models in particular really caught my eye, but I'd never end up buying them.  These included the Stone Trolls, the Orc Warboss on Wyvern, and "Grom the Paunch," a morbidly obese goblin warlord in a chariot (that required an extra wolf to pull due to Grom's bulk). 

With the announcement of "Warhammer: The Old World," and with both "Dragon Rampant" and "Warlords of Erehwon" sitting on my shelf as alternatives, I decided it was finally time to build the Greenskin army I'd always dreamed of.  I've read enough Oldhammer blogs, and recognized that more than anything I love Kev Adams-sculpted orcs and goblins.  So I knew I wanted to focus on Kev Adams sculpts, from a variety of lines and manufacturers, and build an army that I could use across multiple rulesets.  This is going to be an ongoing project throughout 2020 and beyond. 

I am now the proud owner of an unbuilt Grom's chariot, and also got a spare Grom off eBay that I based on foot, and got a couple packs of Kev-sculpted goblins, originally by Harlequin Miniatures that have since been rereleased by Black Tree Designs, giving me the beginnings of a regiment as well as a shaman.  I got these glued to 20mm bases, primed, and painted to test my color scheme.  I still have to flock the bases, but I'll let you judge the results so far: