Because I'll be fielding a lone troll, he needs to look awesome... and the BFSP troll doesn't look awesome... I feel like having him piledrive the Games Day slayer spices him up a bit.

Hey everybody, sorry for my absence (during which I managed to pick up another follower, so, welcome new follower!)-- I'm back now, conflicted as always.

Basically, the IFL escalation tourney is coming up in... 3 days. Crap.

Okay, so I have nowhere near enough stuff painted (due largely in part to the fact that Emergency Medicine stuff got me pretty busy). So I'm guessing I'll just play the Ogres unpainted for the day, and then retire them until the new book comes around.

This raises the question of what to do next, and my answer to that is to start up my Empire force again: AVERLAAAAND


Even more flamboyant than the rest of the Empire, Averland has some interesting pro's over some other choices...
- The Yellow/Black Color scheme is a REALLY good one
- The Moot
- Bigger Feathers.
- Some really cool background (Blackfire Pass, The Moot, A crazy Elector Count)

So the plan comes down to this:
-2250 points of Empire, representing Averland as accurately as possible.
-No Steam Tanks will be in the army- Heresy! (they're really cool, but out of the few that have ever existed, why would one by in MY tiny army?).
-Color Scheme will be Yellow and Black, and the army will be represented as ornately as I can make it (More Feathers!). I'll do my best to incorporate the Black flames/yellow field motif whenever I can.
-Archer and Free company detachments will be made of halflings. If possible, I'll convert up a hot pot to count as a mortar. Perhaps even a halfling chef (Astromancer?)
- It's always vexed me that pikes are unavailable to an army based on the Landsknechts... so I'll have at least 2 blocks of spearmen with longer spears (bought from either perry miniatures or old glory... I have to compare prices).
- Centerpieces are important to me in making an army.. Mine will either be a mercenary giant, or a war altar... I'll probably include both

The idea is to have the 2250 completed by mid-May, which is when I move down to Austin, Texas. It'd be pretty rad to have an army ready to go so I can get gaming down there ASAP

Hey guys, sorry about the ever-changing looks.. the last one was cool, but sort of gave me a headache. I feel that the newer, more minimalist look is more suiting.

Anyway, there's been a distinct lack of well, anything on the blog lately, and I'll seek to remedy that. I'm working on setting up a 1k game to get my Ogres going in the escalation league, so that should force me to rush and get some stuff done (as well as base the 7 ogres I've already got). The game will be on Tuesday, which begins the 75% (of total wounds) painting requirement-- expect pics before the game tuesday!

First off, the Ironguts are almost finished, I should be able to get all the work on them done in the next day or two (pictures soon!).. then I'll figure out just how I'll go about basing the army. On a related note, it sounds like Ogres are next up for an army revamp (though I haven't seen anything definitive on this), and with the recent trend of big monsters (bigger than ogres?!) being a big focus of the books, I'm anticipating having to buy a whole bunch more crap for the army sometime soon. So I think that I'm going to avoid buying more for the army than I already have.

Anyway, the last week or so, I've been overcome by an urge to start (or re-start, rather) 40k. I'd played before for a bit, but between a bad group and an unfriendly local gaming store, I got sort of turned off to the game. I've since found the IFL and the Game Parlor stores and the groups for all the games played there look really friendly. Between that, 40k's awesome background and the superb tourney support, it's just too hard to resist.

Because 40k's got such a good background, I just can't pass up the opportunity to model one of the specific really cool armies that are out there. After pondering several ideas, the one that's sticking with me the most is the Blood Pact. There's some really great stuff to tap into for a force like that.

First thing I'll have to do is look around and see what does and doesn't work (relatively) for a Imperial Guard army. I'm not going for the most competitive force possible, I mostly just want something that looks cool, and is fun to play.

So perhaps I'll toss a list up here soon, and if I've got the stuff I need, possibly a conversion for a basic trooper.

The biggest thing I'm worried about is the fact that my army is going to be compared to Dave Taylor's Blood Pact. I want to borrow a few of his ideas, namely his troop trucks/halftracks as counts-as Chimeras, aiming for a mechanized army. He's got some pretty good tutorials up for them, and just buying the bits will make it more cost-effective than buying normal Chimeras anyway. These'll be a big challenge, because I'm a total noob with scratchbuilding. But I'm determined to learn.

PS- Sorry I write so damned much every time!

Okay, so I've been scouring the Ogre Stronghold for what the community there believes is a formidable list for the Ogres, and after reading a TON, I've settled on the Paradigm Shift list.

Wildcard, who is sort of the Stronghold's resident tactical Guru, posted this list in their all-comers thread for an online battle, and it's something I'm looking to emulate:

1 Tyrant
heavy armour
cathayan longsword
brace of handguns
1 luck gnoblar
2 sword gnoblars
beastkiller
wyrdstone necklace
greedy fist

1 Bruiser
2 sword gnoblars
heavy armour
brace of handguns
tenderiser

1 Bruiser
BSB
heavy armour
2 sword gnoblars
sword of might
2 gnoblar thiefstones

3 Bulls
additional hand weapons
bellower
crusher

3 Bulls
additional hand weapons
bellower
crusher

3 Ironguts

20 Gnoblar Fighters

20 Gnoblar Fighters

9 Gnoblar Trappers

3 Yhetees
greyback

3 Yhetees
greyback

3 Maneaters
heavy armour
brace of handguns

The goal of the list largely focusing around getting the Maneater/Tyrant/Bruisers deathstar unit into combat, and tie the 1000pts+ up in combat where shooting cant get them. The list is only 2000 points, but I figure if I get this soonish, I can play around for a little while and see what I want to do with the 250 points I've got left.

In terms of models, the things I need to get ahold of are-
Another Box of Gnoblars
6 Yhetees (which I'm going to make myself... the current models are UGLY)

The Maneaters and Characters I can convert out of Ogres I have from the battalion box and such, so I shouldn't have to buy any of those, just maybe some green stuff for them.

All of a sudden, getting an army done for this tourney is looking so much more possible.

Alright, I've officially switched to Ogre Kingdoms for the IFL Winter 2010 Escalation League. As far as momentum goes, I'm kicking some major ass- 1 unit (9 wounds) finished (except for basing... but that doesn't count)-- and just got a unit of Ironguts ready for painting. I'll be priming them here in a minute.

I'll try and get a list up tomorrow, and if everything goes as planned, some WiP pics of the 'Guts. This weekend is going to be pretty much nonstop classes and general fire department whatnot, so my early estimate for Irongut completion is Monday night.

Managed to finish up the ogres last night, all except the basing situation, that is. I'm still not sure how I want to accomplish that, as the 40x40mm bases offer an interesting predicament of space. The ogres don't occupy very much of the overall space, so the normal flock and static grass basing that you'd do on a 20x20mm ends up looking really boring. So that's one more thing to figure out

I probably should have been painting, or studying for my Emergency Vehicle Operator's Exam, but I spent some time this afternoon fixing up the blog. It was a total pain in the ass, but I think it looks better than it did before... The slideshow will be much cooler when I can get around to taking more pictures, so I'll have to get painting, and picture-ing.

(I figured last night that perhaps starting with the goods was the best plan, so there you go)

3 followers, I'm moving up in the world!

On to the Ogres, I dug a unit of 3 up the other day that I had started painting, and did a bit more work on them last night. I'm pretty happy, I think, with the rust on the metals. The skin needs some more work, to smooth it out some, and I think I might try some wet blending to make some of the shading (on both the skin and the pants) smoother.

This unit will be my compulsory unit of Bulls, and will be pretty plainly equipped-- As such, they don't quite have all the bells and whistles hanging off of them. Their plain-ness should serve to contrast them against the more elite units and characters that will be in the army.

Okay, back from the firehouse to do my followup post to the snotling pictures I showed you guys the other day.

First off, being a broke-ish student creates an interesting dynamic when paired with the Games Workshop hobby, what with constant price increases. So this, in addition to my other problem of being largely unable to work out how to approach the Chaos Dwarf army, I've elected to put that project on hiatus for the moment, and start anew:

Project Green will be my attempt to not only finish an army, but to do so as cheap as possible- I'm off to a good start, with 2 boxes worth of BFSP goblins at my disposal already, and my bounty from the IFL Swap Meet last weekend, which I came away from with some great bargains. A few other trades and such on WarSeer, and we're off!


*Disclaimer: I'm counting my expenditures from this point forward. Stuff I've had laying around prior to the project is being counted as free, essentially. It's cheating, I know.

The snotlings were a good unit to start with, so I've got a decent foothold on my painting technique for the army-- I just have to streamline my goblin "how-to" as much as possible for the long road ahead!

During my break in ambulance driving, I gave in to my urges and painted stuff for the Night Goblin army instead of the Chaos Dwarfs... and down the slippery slope we go



Just some Snotlings, so it's some pretty simple stuff. I'm really happy with the mushroom bits, and I think the basing came out alright overall. The models themselves aren't perfect, but for my first shot at greenskins in... well over 2 years, I'm pretty pleased.

Tomorrow I've got my Emergency Vehicle Operation Class from 0800-1700, and a shift at the firehouse right after that, so it'll be a while until I can do my followup post-- But my Sunday post will outline the details of Project Green: Night Goblins (On the Cheap!), my plans for it, and all that good stuff.

What exactly this means for the Chaos Dwarfs, I'm not entirely sure. Gaming-Wise, the CD's are a more competitive choice BY FAR. That said, I'm really not a competitive person, and I really prefer an army like the Goblins which is just about pure, unadulterated fun... Perhaps I'll see if I can switch for the escalation league

I just got off a 24 hour shift at the firehouse, so bear with me.

Saturday was the IFL's swap meet, and I got even MORE for the budding Night Goblin army... Off the top of my head, I came away with a pump wagon, 2 goblin spear chukkas, about 20 night goblins, a TON of snotlings, and some extra night goblin bits. Adding to my 70-some BFSP night goblins with spears, a bunch of bow gobbos (though I'm going to avoid the Fanatic Catapult Gunline list at all costs... so I probably won't use most of them), 4 Squigs, and the old Marauder Giant.

Long story short, I really want to do the NG army... not so much the CD army. Damn.

I knew something like this would come up at some point, and I know I need to finish the chaos dwarfs by March. It doesn't really feel like I have a choice in it (odd thing to say about painting toy soldiers)... I think the answer is to just buckle down and do a couple... that should help me motivate myself. I hope.

Probably what I'll do is continue working on the CD's, and use them to hone my painting/modeling skills... and sometime further down the line do a few test models for the goblins, with the aim of finding the perfect ratio between painting speed/ease of repetition and quality.

So, something's come up (as we all knew it would)-- Basically, it just so turns out that the only Emergency Vehicle Operator's course is in 2 weeks... So I'm going to have to somehow spend 10 hours behind the wheel of an ambulance within the next week.



Obviously, this isn't IDEAL for the army project, but I'll do my best to work around it and churn out a few more annihilators, and the beginnings of the warrior unit. Rock and roll.

Also, the IFL's swap meet in Woodbridge this weekend already looks like I'm going to be getting a TON of night goblins... New project on the horizon?

As promised, I've finally taken pictures of the Annihilators I've done already, and with them I pose a few questions, but first, pictures (something that there really aren't enough of on the blog)-

10 Annihilators- (Full unit will be 15... I have 2 more off-screen, so I have 3 left to do)


aaaaaand a close up on some of their ugly mugs


Now, my questions on the unit-
1- with the more Persian/Bighat theme in mind, should I keep the classic Red/Black color scheme, or switch to a patterned yellow/black?
2- should I keep the current dwarf sleeves, or switch to a baggier, poofier sleeve

(The guys in the center background)

I think that those two changes might add an interesting exotic quality to the army... though the poofiness will probably be a lot more work than would be worth it visually.

I guess the last question would be should I keep the faces open like they are now, or give them some cloth covering their face like they have in the movie. This would probably be a good deal of work, but it would definitely go a long way toward the exotic, sinister look I'm going for.

Stuff to think about!

Okay, this is late, I know, but quite a lot of cerebral work DID get done over the weekend.- I've been fiddling around with a list, looking around online to see what kind of tactics the gaming community has been able to agree upon for the new Indy GT list-- And I found an early draft of a list that I've sort of emulated... I've still got about 60 points that I'm not sure what to do with, but this is the VERY early version of the list. Ideally, I'll get the army done sooner than later so I can do some playtesting with the full-size army.

Also, in the way of theme, I've opted to take bits from both the Bighats and 300 Persians-- This sort of allows me to stick to a less 300-fanboy theme, as well as one that better suits an army that's toting a death rocket and an earthshaker cannon around with it.

Chaos Dwarfs-2250pts Take 1. (complete with modeling commentary!)
High Priest
- Level 4
- Arcane Apparatus
- Black Gem
= 330pts
The High Priest is going to be the general of this mess- and to suit such a title, he's going to be the evilest mother I can manage. He'll be seated on a throne, with a big naked belly, and a ton of piercings (counts-as chaos armor??) to sort of strike a balance between bighat-ness and a Xerxes general. Model-wise, my idea thus far is to have him ride around on a mini-Xerxes throne, that'll be a unit filler for my major CD warrior block-- with one of the front rank sections being designated as his 'position' in the throne. Form over function, by God!

Slavemaster (BSB)
- Scale Mail of Gazrakh
- Sword of might
= 140pts
Going the way of 300 here, the Slavemaster will be one of two things:
A. A fat, more ornamented chaos dwarf (visibly a character) who cracks a whip and such
or B. This guy.


Daemonsmith
- Shield
- 2 Dispel Scrolls
= 162pts

Daemonsmith
- Shield
-Holocaust Cloak
=157pts
I can't find a picture of them, but if you know what the Persian Sorcerers (the guys throwing the bombs) in the movie looked like, that's basically what I'm going for.. something exotic and strange.

CORE
23 Chaos Dwarf Warriors
***General and BSB here***
- Full Command
- Shields
-Stone Totem
- 1 Eruption Team
= 307pts
Okay, now for this unit, I'm a little torn. If I'm going even partway bighat, my major block should have the hats. But I desperately need to have SOME Immortals in my army... so I'm thinking a combo between having the big hats, and a sort of blood-pact style mask? The unit will be planned with the unit filler Throne thing in mind.

Also, I have no idea what that Eruption gun will look like. Just throwing that out there.


15 Annihilators
= 180pts

15 Annihilators
= 180pts

I've done up a unit of 14 Annihilators already, so I'll take the command out of there, and just try to go for the look I got with them, which overall I'm pretty happy with. My big question is should they have puffier, looser sleeves and such? That would lend the weirder, more exotic appearance (and be true-er to the movie!) but would have the possibility of making them look like pirates.

SPECIAL

5 Bull Centaurs
- Shields
= 95pts

5 Bull Centaurs
- Shields
= 95pts

The Bull Centaurs are a challenge that have been tackled many a time in the Chaos Dwarf community... and one that I don't feel has ever been done QUITE right... I'll have to think on these a while before I do anything.

Death Rocket
- 90pts
The words "death rocket" were what inspired me to play chaos dwarfs YEARS ago (note that I'm just now jumping on that inspiration), so I want it to look good.. but it'll require some tinkering. I think the key here is A)Differentiating it from normal Dwarf-anything (as it'll most likely be based on the dwarf cannon from BFSP) B)Reflecting the fact that it IS a monster capable of going berserk and eating stuff and C)Finding the happy medium between lunatic steampunk technology, and oldschool bighat CD's.

2x Hobgoblin Bolt Thrower
-70pts
There's a great tutorial up on CDO about making these from the grudge pony's cart, probably about an afternoon's work?

RARE

Earthshaker
= 110pts
I've actually got the oldschool Earthshaker cannon, though I don't think that it would fit straight-up into the army. So my task is going to be to accomplish all those mini-goals I set up in the death rocket comment, and meanwhile incorporate the barrel (at least!) from the old gun.

3 Inferno Golems
-Lava Fire
-Face of Hashut
= 275pts
When I first glanced through the Indy GT book, and saw the words 'Inferno Golems' I knew I would make some. The question is how. It'll be the sort of thing that I'll have to show you rather than explain.. but I'm thinking just about the wackiest steampunky idea I can think of. Brace yourselves.

So that's the tentative 1st list that'll get me about where I need to be model-wise! I'll write the Modeling Schedule up on a calendar once it's a sane hour and I can look into how best to do that on the blog. I'll also snap some pictures of my painted annihilators, and see whether or not I want to stick with the old black/red/metals color scheme.

Okay,so I didn't really do a New Years' resolution post or anything like that, so this one about my Chaos Dwarfs will have to suffice:

So, as I was outside brushing snow off of my car and shoveling the driveway, I had some time to think about my chaos dwarf project (I do that a lot, if you haven't guessed)-- Basically, here's what I'm working with:
-I'm doing the army as part of the Iron Fist League's Winter '10 Fantasy Escalation League
-That means I need to have 2250pts of said Chaos Dwarfs for a tourney on March 20th (I think?)
-I just realized that a month is a very short period of time
-I'm at square 1
-I run out of steam on these projects relatively easily.
-I'm relatively new to the gaming aspect of WHFB, so I'm going to get my shit wrecked at that tourney-- So my best option is to go for Best Painted, and just have fun with it. It'll be a good way to sort of get introduced to tournament play and all that good stuff.

The answer to all this, as far as I can see, is that I'm just going to have to go Rocky Balboa on this mother, and crank out some goodlooking, superevilpersiandwarfs, and do it FAST. I'm going to try and get up in and around the 2k range sometime around mid-to-late February, so I'll have a little while to get accustomed to larger games, as well as just play the army some.

I did some Persian Annihilators, But I'm going to reevaluate, and change them up a bit, so no pics QUITE yet. I know, I'm sorry, you can blame the perfectionist in me. I've got a graveyard shift at the firehouse tonight, so work will resume when I get back home tomorrow morning. TOMORROW: I'll throw up my prospective 2250pt list, and pictures of those Annihilator conversions. Promise.

Okay, so as I've got this week off, I've been doing a great deal of thinking about my army (and, honestly, not that much doing), and I've decided to be honest with myself:

Until now, I've been striving to recreate the 5th edition GW Chaos Dwarfs, which are the ones that inspired me to start this whole mess. But over the last few days, looking at previous attempts and test models, I've decided that I'm going to go a different direction-- Not because I can't do it, and certainly not because I don't like the style. The biggest reason is really that I don't think I'm going to be able to recreate the 5th ed CD's in a way that lives up to my vision of the army... so rather than continue down the road to certain disappointment, I'm going to change directions.

Where will I change directions to? After a few days of thinking about it, I think that my favorite option is to go the route of taking Chaos Dwarfs' Persian theme, and blowing it up and exaggerating it a few bagillion times, and going after a sort of 300 feel.


Obviously there'll be some differences between my army and the movie (I can't really have an 8' tall general), but there will be some similarities for sure. From here, I'm going to take apart and strip the annihilators I've already done and redo them. So the quest for Chaos Dwarfs starts anew...

Alright, so it's been a while since I posted anything up here, and along with that, progress has been slow on the chaos dwarfs. Not to make excuses, but I drove 24 hours down to Texas, stayed a week, and drove 24 hours back. Does that make the lack of progress okay? No, but I'm just saying.

Anyway, no pictures for you today, but I'm taking the steps that will allow for quicker army progress overall-- While I have painted the Annihilators, I've neglected to throw some pics up here because I'm not happy enough with the tackheads-- so I took some tacks, did some work, and I've made some better-looking bighats for the army.

Right before I sat down to right this, I poured the first half of the mold for the bighats I've sculpted. So once that's done (in a day or so), I'll paint up a few hats, slap them on those annihilators, and get you all some finished pictures.

Expect all that sometime around the weekend, and some "greens" of my chaos dwarf warriors sometime soon after!

-Quin