A Tale of Four Oldhammer Gamers: tutu evasion

So I got a bit confused this month and assumed that the deadline for the first batch of 100 points completed would be October, but apparently not! So rather than have to wear a pink tutu (don't ask) I rushed to get out 100 points by the end of September deadline. I figured the quickest way to do this was to paint one of my command figures, and so I present to you F'rrr K'iw, level 5 Lizardman hero:

I really like this range of Lizardmen, which started off as preslotta figures but many of them then acquired slotta tabs. I can't remember with certainty who sculpted them but I think it was Trish Carden.

According to Warhammer Armies, a level 5 Lizardman hero with a shield costs 72 points, so I'm not quite up to the 100 pts, so I guess I'll have to make up the deficit next month.

But hopefully it's enough to avoid Chico's pink tutu...

Check out my fellow gamer's progress: Chico's fabulous jade temple dog, and James' stylish (if Nurgle can be considered stylish!) palanquin. Paul promises to have something uploaded by Wednesday, so keep an eye on his blog!

The Kev Adams collection part 2

In the first installment of this series of blog posts I focussed on the goblins in Kev's collection; this week it's the turn of the orcs, ogres and trolls, and features some of my favourite of Kev's conversions and paint jobs. Many of the bases are adorned with Kev's characterful trademark foliage.

First up are some converted orcs which are, for me, the stand-out figures in Kev's collection.

Here's a classic Perry twin orc sculpt, one of the first slotta orcs, a line of figures that Kev went on to dominate. The original sculpt (no. 14 here at SOL) is a great figure, but Kev manages to make it more menacing and war-like with the addition of armour plates on the arms and the helmet protrusions:

A Tale of Four Oldhammer Gamers...ribbit

So this thing is happening. Back in July, just prior to this year's BOYL, the esteemed Warlord Paul of The Black Hole blog suggested we take on the challenge of "A Tale of Four Gamers", an idea that first appeared in White Dwarf 218 back in 1998. The "we" being Paul, Chico (Oldhammer on a Budget), James (Realm of Chaos 80's) and myself. The armies would be of an Oldhammer flavour and we will fight our battle/s at BOYL 2016.

The rules are simple in that between now and BOYL we must each amass a force of 1000pts at a rate of roughly 100pts per month, and to blog about our progress at least once per month. We haven't set ourselves a cash budget in that we each already have most, if not all, of the miniatures we will need. So the bulk of the challenge will lie in the painting and the modelling.

The forces chosen are:

- Chico: Hobgoblins
- James: Chaos (Nurgle)
- Paul: Undead
- Myself: Slann

John Blanche's wonderful Slann illustration from the 3rd edition Warhammer Armies book.

Why Slann? Well, since returning to the gaming scene at BOYL 2013 I've only painted two forces: a chaos warband for BOYL 2013 (that didn't actually make an appearance), and a human/giant force for BOYL 15. Both forces had one thing in common: a predominantly red/gold colour scheme. This was coincidence rather than design but I think it's fair to say that I'm now utterly bored of this colour scheme! So part of the reason for choosing a Slann force was because I could experiment with very varied colour schemes. If you think frogs are just a dull green colour then try googling Dendrobates and check out the wonderful colour schemes of these amazing little creatures. What better inspiration could I have!

I also discovered when researching Slann army choices in the 3e Warhammer Armies book that Slann animal handlers can not only take warhounds, but giant scorpions, giant spiders and sabre-tooth tigers! Brilliant opportunities for painting and modelling there.

So look out: the frogs are coming.

Ribbit.

Previously unreleased "Empirical Squads" now available from Wargames Foundry

The good folk at Wargames Foundry are now selling some of Bryan Ansell's science fiction miniatures that have been unreleased since 1987. Here's an image from their website:

If you want to order a squad of these you can give them a call or purchase them directly from the website. Details here.

If these figures are a complete mystery to you then you might want to look here, here, here and here.

They come with integral solid bases similar to the ones on all their other models.

Here's what the Foundry website has to say about these figures:

We believe that these newly discovered items are the almost mystically rare deathcasts of the elite

EMPIRICAL ABSOLUTION and LIQUIDATION SQUAD. We estimate their value as somewhere in the region of an ENTIRE GALACTIC EMPIRE, probably with a couple of lost mythical lands thrown in.

The Empirical Abs etc. demanded absolute and immediate unthinking obedience to the Empiricator [BLESS HIS NAME!] and not only from the inhabitants of Known Space, but also from the entire population of the Multiverse.

Indeed: after a boozy afternoon of high stake rune casting and seven episodes of the most sacred tapes of STARTREK, the EALS (as they liked to be known) took to speculating as to what their ultimate rewards would be for their lifetimes of ceaseless holy work:

At this point the Empiricator [BLESS HIS NAME!] got a whiff of what was going on. He sighed heavily, made a few passes in the air, clicked his heels together twice, shouted SHAZAM! And he had obliterated the foolish boozy EALS. All that was found was a neat pile of bleached skulls. Each bore the word HUBRIS and each had a tiny lead ceremonial Manikin perched there on its dome.

The Kev Adams collection part 1

As many of you will be aware, Kev "Goblin master" Adams is currently working for Bryan Ansell, producing loads of various greenskins for Warmonger Miniatures, and is also working on a range of chaos beastmen types (not yet released). I was fortunate to share the Warmonger stand with Kev at the last Salute, and after having a good old chat we decided that Kev's collection of vintage painted figures needed to be photographed for posterity. The majority of his collection is at his parent's house, who were wonderful and generous hosts for the day. So I set off with Kev and a camera in early July to take some pictures.

What I saw blew me away! This is the site that greeted me when we arrived at Kev's parents' house:

Iron Wind Metals interview with Tom Meier

David Wood of the Dear Tony Blair blog just shared a link on Facebook to an Iron Wind Metals interview with Tom Meier. Tom discusses how he got started sculpting, and his opinions on working with various mediums. It makes for fascinating viewing!

The video is part of a series that focuses on Iron Wind Metal's recent successfully funded Ral Partha Chaos Wars kickstarter that I blogged about last month.

Let's hope that Iron Wind Metals release more videos featuring Tom!

Warmonger's forthcoming Kev Adams beastmen...and a bit of Blanche

First off, please note these haven't been released yet, so don't go calling Foundry/Warmonger asking if you can get some because they aren't at the production stage. But I couldn't resist sharing them with you.

While I was helping the Warmonger Miniatures crew pack for Salute just gone, I had the pleasure of seeing some of greens of the beastmen heads that Kev Adams is sculpting. There's some proper old skool chaos-y stuff going on here:

It's difficult to pick out a favourite but for sheer bonkers check out the two on the left of the middle row.

Another one I'd like to single out is the one on the top left, which you can see here in side profile:

Unfortunately I didn't quite manage to get it in focus, but there's something about the eye that gives a real look of melancholia, of a beast doomed to follow the path of chaos.

While I was wandering around Stoke Hall packing up various bits and pieces I happened to notice part of a painting sticking out from behind one of Bryan's sofas. Hang on I thought, I recognise that...

It's only the original cover art of the first Citadel Compendium, painted by John Blanche and one of my favourite pieces of art EVAAAAHH! Drool over it ye mortals and despair. If you're thinking that part of the painting in the centre has been erased (that white patch) then don't worry, it's just the light hitting the glass.

Bryan also produced a card that had been sent to him many years ago, that had another piece of original John Blanche art attached to the front!

Beautiful.