Squat Re-Inforcements And Orkish Marauders

Hi!

Well I have the day off at last and have finished off a few bits and bobs for my Epic project as well as adding a couple more sculpts to my SD Orks:

 Squat Warrior Squads

The Squat Warriors have been on my painting table for some time as they are the most involved Epic figures that I've encountered as they need so many colours to get them looking right but look cracking once done and round out my infantry force nicely.

 Squat Infantry deploy

I've got another Thudd Gun underway at the moment which will give the little guys some more ranged firepower and also want to add another heavy weapons squad but that should then be the detachment complete! Looking through my small stash of unpainted Squat gubbins, I have enough to add a robot unit, some more bikers, artillery and berserkers but want to move onto another force for my next update as my Ultramarines are in need of some new additions too.

On a related topic, I've been pondering the possibilities of playing a game of 2nd edition 40k using 6mm miniatures and think I may have come up with a bit of a cunning plan but it's going to require quite a bit of planning to work out as I need to order some bits and bobs as well as tracking down suitable miniatures and adding quite a bit more scenery to my collection before a decent game can be played but I will update the blog here once I have things sorted!

I am also quite interested in the upcoming Osprey game called HORIZON WARS which sounds quite good and I think I might be picking up a copy once it's released:

Horizon Wars

Next up, there's a couple more Orky marauders for my SD project which I've been pottering around with over the last few months:

Bloodaxe Marauders

I still need to add a heavy weapon and a few more close combat troops as well as a Dreadnaught and some sort of transport but they are heading towards completion at which point I will be starting work on some Space Marines or Imperial Guard to oppose them. Interestingly, I find painting the little guys a breeze compared to 28mm scale s think I could do with making a few more too...

I also have a couple of weeks of holidays coming up which I am looking forward to rather a lot but my job is going to be requiring a lot of artwork over the coming weeks and months so I am not too sure how much time I am going to have spare to work on my various hobby projects but we shall see what we can do!

In the meantime, All the best!

Blood Axe!

Hi!

Well wonders will never cease apparently as I've managed to clear another long standing bugbear from my workbench in the form of a Mantic Ork Commando who will be added to my slowly expanding Bloodaxe warband:

 Ork Commando

Much like the Eldar from my previous post, I had started this chap at least six months ago and gave up finishing him as the detail on the figure annoyed me so much. I decided to get him out of the way and spent a couple of evenings to get him to the standard that I needed to and am really pleased to have got him done.

As I mentioned when I posted pics of the last member of this warband that I put together, I find a lot of modern sculpts a bit too fiddly and detailed to be an enjoyable object to paint and this fellow is no exception. There's a profusion of straps, buckles and small details that need to be sorted out for him to look good and it really does put a crimp on my painting enjoyment.

Bloodaxe Warband

Saying that, I have him done and think I will be taking a proper break from 28mm for a while as I find the experience rather frustrating and will be resuming Epic project gubbins for my next update. 

I do find myself in a bit of a quandary with my hobby blog at present as I am loving painting 6mm stuff and forming decent sized forces to play platoon to company level battles but I can't seem to find my mojo when it comes to skirmish sized games. I have sold off my 15mm stuff as I just can't seem to summon up any enthusiasm for it anymore and my 28mm stuff just isn't doing it for me either. 

Handily, I have another batch of sculpts underway for my chibi/super deformed project so will be seeing about creating some new factions as my Orks are very nearly done now and I hope to have a few more bits and bobs to show in the near future including my freshly reinforced Bloodaxe warband!

In the meantime, All the best  

Orks With A Difference...

Hi!

Well it's now mid June and over the last couple of months the intrusion of real life and a fairly major dose of painters block has left me bereft of any updates for my blog and apologies to the folks who have been kept waiting!

Having looked at the miniatures I have lying around and what projects I have want to investigate, I realised that nothing was really doing it for me so last week I decided to throw caution to the winds and try something a bit different. I currently have a couple of sculpting commissions underway and have always got a little bit of putty left over that needs using before it cures so I decided to use these leftovers for something a bit more useful than junk.

The result was these fine little chaps:

Bloodaxe Mob

I must admit that they kind of appeared a bit at a time as I had been thinking that I really wanted to game 28mm as the sculpts have real personality but lacked the space so was going to settle for 15mm instead but with the best of intentions, the figures just don't have the character of the larger 28's.

Kaptain Morgor

The result of my ponderings was a bit of an oddment and a squad of rather stylised Orks. Standing 20mm tall to the eyes, I must admit that I have grown rather fond of the little chaps and quite like their quirkiness too. Better yet, they cost me absolutely nothing and combine character and small scale, something that ticks a lot of boxes for me!

Interestingly, following the painters block, these little chaps almost seemed to paint themselves and even had enough heft to them to allow me to add some small Orky details, be it Glyph plates on the Nob or graffiti on some of their gunz.

 Private Wensleydale 

 Private Fung

 Korpral Krung

Private Bovril

I have a vague plan to flesh out the mob a bit so I can have a bash at playing a campaign of Gorkamorka and in a fit of enthusiasm, have got about a dozen or so bits and bobs from various game systems under construction, including a Warzone Dark Legion patrol and the Boar Company!

Now I have no doubt that these little chaps aren't going to be to everyones taste but it's got me back into the game so to speak and actually enjoying my hobby again which has been brilliant so expect to see lots more cartoony figures soon!

All the best!

40k 2nd Edition on the Cheap Project Part 1

Hi!

Well I have to say I've been overwhelmed with all the messages of support, suggestions and ideas for a 2nd edition 40k project and just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all the support! It does look like 2nd edition still has supporters out there!

Now that I've settled on giving the project a bash, I need to sort out a few bits and bobs, namely what force I want to attempt and how I am going to do it!

Having rummaged around my bits boxes, I realised that the most economical option would be to go for a Blood Axe force as I already have a fair number of bits and bobs kicking around, be they Mantic or old GW gubbins such as my Commando:

 Sneaky Gitz

I also have the Deadzone Marauders slowly getting closer to completion:

1st Mordor Rifles

This gives me enough for a couple of squads of Orks and some characters as well as heavy and special weapons which I will be trying to get painted over the coming weeks (I must admit that I really want to paint up the warboss as he is a rather snazzy sculpt that oozes character!)

Further rummagings has even come across the Ramshackle Games Rhebok Armoured Transport that I picked up when Curtis did a Kickstarter a while back and looking at the finished piece from his website, it looks just the business as a looted Battlewagon:

Rhebok

I think my initial attempts will be to get what I have painted up which could take some time and then see how much I have for a warband. I could easily play a game of Rogue Trader at this point but want to take the project a step further and put together a 2nd edition force using my horded Ork codex.

There's more though! As this is all going to be based in my alternative Imperium, I will see if I can't roll it all into a bit of a narrative too and as my gaming area is rather petite (currently only 3'x3' but aiming for 4'x4') I also intend on completing my 15mm scale army too with a combination of original sculpts, conversions and a certain amount of low cunning!

This will allow me to make the most of the space I have and actually get some games played as I tend to paint 28mm scale but play games with 15mm and I have been building lots of Imperial themed terrain too!

Hopefully this will keep me entertained for the foreseeable future and give me a much needed boost to the hobby time too!

So for the time being, All the best!

Orkish Attack Hound

Hi!

Well I had a rather productive day off yesterday and completed a few more bits and bobs that have been languishing half done on my painting desk for some time now:

 Fido the death dog

First up, there's an attack dog for my Bloodaxe warband. Originally from the Mantic Marauder faction for Deadzone, he painted up really quickly and despite having rather a cartoony look to him (or possibly because he did) he fits in really well with the Bloodaxes.

 Nom!

I extended the body very slightly with a little putty and went for a really quick paintjob and it turned out surprisingly well for about an hours work. I have a second one in the queue to get put together and may convert him slightly by removing the chainsaw from his mouth and adding a tongue instead.

Bionics detail

I also managed to finish off a couple more stands for my Grey Elves for Leviathan:

Elven regiment

I must admit that the little chaps are looking good but I frankly hate the amount of work that it takes to get them ready to paint. I have to remove the original spears, clear off lots of mould lines, add a new spear from wire and then sculpt on a replacement arm. Irregular miniatures looks surprisingly good once painted but they could really simplify things if they cast individually!

I'm off to work in a couple of hours so will have to leave it there I'm afraid but hopefully I will get some more bits and bobs done soon including another Eldar who has been sat half finished for far too long now!

All the best!