Warhammer: The Old World - Finally happening for me?!?

 So as readers of the blog will know, I've been slowly building an all metal Orc & Goblin army that I could use in any edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles, The Old World, Kings of War, Oathmark, Dragon Rampant, etc. These days that project is more "art project" than anticipated "wargaming army," in large part due to the sheer weight of 200+ metal orcs, and also very much a "hey, 14 year old me - you did it. You built a Warhammer army, and it's awesome."

Well, asking around on Facebook, I found out there's a game store local to me that seems to prioritize wargaming and Warhammer, and there's a bunch of people there who are playing Warhammer: The Old World. 

I'd initially intended to drop by tonight and talk to a few of them, maybe watch a game in progress, but I got 4 hours of sleep last night and spent two hours today getting my internet turned back on, so by the time game-time rolled around I just didn't have the energy to get back in the car and drive 20 minutes each way, plus socializing. 

What I did do today, though, is go through the "Ravening Hordes" book of army lists and build myself a little 1000-point army; I'm hoping I can convince someone at the store to play a smaller game like this while I learn the rules more thoroughly, so that I don't have to try and schlep 2000 points of metal figures to the store and home. 

The whole army in one shot.

Characters - Orc Warboss on Boar Chariot, and Level 2 Orc Weirdboy

Da Red Bastids - 25x Orc Mob, hand weapons, shields and light armor, full command

Harboth's Black Mountain Boys - 20x Orc Mob, hand weapons, warbows, shields and light armor, full command

Cubsnatchers - 5x Goblin Wolf Riders, short bows and hand weapons

Da Red Stikkas - 20x Goblin Mob, hand weapons and short bows

Da Bilgesquatters - 3x River Troll Mob, great weapons

This will hopefully prove a fairly balanced force to start learning the game with, and one I can easily expand for larger games. 

I'll be paying the store a visit tomorrow (I need to restock a few things in my toolkit), and fingers are very much crossed that I'll make my triumphant return to in-person wargaming with a return to where my wargaming journey began - a Greenskins army for Warhammer. 

So Maybe I Lied a Little...

So I know last post I said things would be quiet around here due to the upcoming move; this has not stopped me from picking up a figure (my "lead pile" is already packed up, so I *had* to buy a new figure) from Just Games and putting some paint on it to mark the end of the work week and blow off some steam.

This is a "Cave Troll" from Reaper's Bones line, though originally released in metal many years ago.  I love this sculpt and it really defines what a "troll" is to me, in fantasy terms; this is the image that term brings to mind, with the pointed ears, upturned nose and massive underbite.

I tend to see this figure done in shades of gray-green, blue-gray, or dark, slate-y gray; I decided to go more "albino cave monster that wallows in its own filth."

I basecoated the skin in Reaper's "Leather Brown," a good yellow ochre shade; over this, I did a heavy drybrush of a 40-60 mix of Leather Brown and "Aircraft Gray" (50-50 looked too yellow still, not gray enough).  Once that was dry I washed the figure with a thinned down coat of "Wild West Rose" and, once that dried, I gave the whole figure an extra-heavy drybrush of straight "Aircraft Gray," followed by a lighter drybrush of a 50-50 mix of Aircraft Gray and Pure White.

Tusks and nails were picked out in Stained Ivory, and the loincloth was painted Worn Olive.  The troll's scalp and body hair, as well as the loincloth, were then washed with Citadel "Nuln Oil" to grease them up.

Still the base left to do, but otherwise not bad for about two hours' worth of work (quite a bit of which was waiting for the rose wash to dry).

Wraiths and Trolls

Just a real quick post to show what I've been painting lately.

First up, I finished those Reaper Grave Wraiths in a single painting session.  I've since flocked the bases, just waiting for the humidity to come down to varnish them.

The Wraiths were basecoated black, then given a heavy drybrush of "Midnight Blue," followed by a lighter drybrush of "Twilight Blue." The glowing sword blades and lighting effect are done with Reaper "Moth Green."

Second, my friend Jess got me a pair of the new Wizards' pre-primed Dungeons and Dragons miniatures for my birthday, a giant "Phase Spider" and a leering, groping Troll. I always forget that trolls in D&D have long, pointy noses.  He's had his skin basecoated in "Olive Drab" and given a wash of Citadel "Nuln Oil" here, and will be highlighted with "Worn Olive" before I move on to his dreadlocks and loincloth.