Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Looking Back at 2015

The blog launched on December 14, 2014, but I only managed around 5 posts that year. I am now up to 164 posts, 88 followers, and a fairly large collection of painted oldschool lead!

55 Chaos
38 Undead
70 Rogue Trader

All but 7 (2 Chaos Warriors and 5 Ultramarines) of these were painted this year! I also managed 162 models on my other site - WW2, League of Augsburg, Beyond the Gates of Antares, and a few more. But, here are just a few of the models I painted this year...































Thanks for following the blog! Lots more on the way in 2016...

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Dwarfs in 2016

Just picked this up on eBay...


This was one of the first Warhammer boxed sets I ever owned. I have long been planning to add a 'good' army to my Oldhammer collection and the Dwarves have always been one of my favorite. Inspired by Jaeckel's stunning and successful project, I decided 2016 would be the year of the Dwarf.

I apologize in advance to any Oldhammer collectors I may go up against on eBay (really, really soon) and do not begrudge any who defeat me on the field of battle.. err.. bidding.

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Oldhammer Doesn't Work


They really have no clue over at Bell of Lost Souls if your game doesn't involve trying to melt the face off your opponent with your ridiculous army build before the dice even start rolling...

Oldhammer Doesn't Work

The funniest part to me is this:

You may have heard this term bandied about quite a bit during the whole birth of Age of Sigmar. Many people who thought negatively about the Age of Sigmar rules decided to just keep playing 8th edition Warhammer Fantasy Battles.

I really don't think the article is about Oldhammer at all and the author grabbed the term without knowing what it meant. Likely he 'heard this term bandied about', probably by those raging against Age of Sigmar.

The entire concept of the article is foreign to the concept of Oldhammer as it's been built by the community that coined the term...

In short: your game gets stale. The Power Curve gets stale, the codices get stale, the unit entries get stale. You lose all hope for a better codex. If you play the same edition and same codices for, let’s say ten years, the armies that were on top at the beginning will undoubtedly be on top at the end. There is a 0% chance that they will get any worse and that other armies will get any better. The game would almost become rock-paper-scissors after you’ve played enough games. When Army A fights Army B, the battle will probably go the same way it always did every game previous; generally speaking.

That description has ZERO to do with Oldhammer. I'm not going to go into what Oldhammer IS... I've posted this link before and you can go to The Realm of Zhu to read it if you are unfamiliar with what I'm on about.

Friday, November 27, 2015

Delany King


Delaney King is a Trans Woman who is also a well respected miniature painter, sculptor and works in computer graphics making some truly amazing models and designs (from quite a few big titles including Dragonage: Origins, Civ 4, LOTR Online). She has worked on developing computer model design coursework in this country in an attempt to raise the profile of Australian computer game design and appeared on industry panels at conferences.

This year she began transitioning, which together with it came a wave of transphobia from the nerd and geek community which is unacceptable in this era - especially from a community of which the chief focus is playing with toy soldiers. She is now resettled in Melbourne after moving from Canberra for work and split from her partner and one year old child who remain in Canberra.

She now finds herself struggling to stay afloat as described in her post. If you can help, Delaney is asking for donations to help her get on her feet in a new city. Share out to the wider nerd network if you can.

Delaney has chronicled her beginning stages of transitioning, separating with her partner and relocating to a new city together with some of the transphobia she has encountered. Her blog over the last year has been an interesting read if this is something you haven't known within your circles.

http://kingsminis.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/please-help-me-get-back-on-my-feet.html

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Squat Squad

Here they are!



Like the Imperial Army squad from last week, I managed to maintain a uniform look while making sure each model was an individual. This was fun unit to paint.

Not sure what's up next, but I'll have a root around the lead pile and see what catches my interest...

Friday, October 16, 2015

Squats

Same pose as one of the others earlier in the week, but the lack of a helmet adds a different bit of character to the model.


Right - so this unit is sorted... I'll have them assembled for review tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Squats

Here is one of my favorite Rogue Trader models of all time!


I love the cigar and cap turned around backwards.

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Squats

Here's a chunky little fellow.


I sorted through my models for a squad armed with boltguns. I have enough models with lasguns to build a ten model unit (including a leader and heavy weapon).

Monday, October 12, 2015

Squats!

Yes, squats. Like the Imperial Army models, these models may be used in a variety of roles - Imperial Army infantry, members of a Rogue Trader retinue, mercenaries, etc.


This is the leader of my squad - initially I'm aiming for only a five model unit, so I will finish the entire group this week. As with all of my projects, I have lots of squats on hand - I'm just not exactly sure where I'm going with this. I decided to paint the same yellow and blue disk on the shoulders of models that have them to tie them in with the Imperial Troopers I painted last week.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Imperial Army Squad

All ten models assembled for action (click on 'em to see better)!


I managed to achieve a lot of variety even with the limited color palette. The accents of red, yellow, and blue work to add some color while the overall grays give them an all business look. I'm really happy with how they turned out.

I have another squad of unpainted Imperials, but I think next week I am going to give them allies of a different sort...

Friday, October 9, 2015

Imperial Army Trooper

And that makes ten!


The heavy bolter will add some needed firepower to all those lasguns.

I'll post a shot of the assembled squad tomorrow!

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Imperial Army Trooper

This may be my favorite of the lot...


The gas mask is too cool. I used gloss varnish on the goggles to bring out the glass.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Imperial Army Trooper

I chose a poor angle for this photo because the cigar is dead on to the camera, but this is a great model.


Monday, October 5, 2015

Imperial Army Trooper

Probably my least favorite of the squad... Not a lot of character to this model, but I suppose that means he may be good at his job.


Friday, October 2, 2015

Imperial Army Trooper

Another nice model - this guy puts me in mind of a vehicle crewman for some reason, but I'm not sure why. He makes a great sentry.


Thursday, October 1, 2015

Imperial Army Trooper

I wish they made a few more variations of this model. I know there is an officer type, but I would have liked a few more rank and file.


I loved the idea of abhumans mixed in with the rest of the squad.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Imperial Army Trooper

I like the small variation in equipment - this model has a different helmet than most of the others.


I should mention the unit badge isn't finished. I like the blue and yellow division, I just haven't decided if I want to put a device or a number of some sort over it...

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Imperial Army Trooper

Not a lot to say on many of these... they are just nice models.


I purposely kept the color palette very monotone to keep the models as generic as possible as I want to be able to use them for a variety of troops.

Monday, September 28, 2015

Imperial Army Trooper

I really love the old Rogue Trader Imperial Army models. The models work great for both regular Imperial forces and mercenaries (corporate security, planetary militia, etc).


This is the squad leader. The model would also make a great adventurer or body guard.

The next two weeks will feature the rest of the squad...

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Eldar Lightning Squad

The finished squad...



I'm on a bit of a ramble. Rather than continuing on the Eldar I've been distracted by an Imperial Guard unit and they will be up over the next few weeks. I'll return the Eldar soon...