SAGA - A Tale from the North

Och aye... sorry.

As part of my drive to not buy new shiny stuff and get tempted in to new games I decided to give SAGA a go over at Tea Urns :-)

Suffice to say I ended up ordering the Scots together with the various books. Oh dear.

Now I'm not really an historical gamer, old yes, historical no. SAGA has a very nice mechanic with the battleboards and I decided that as it doesn't need many figures (25) I'd give it a go.

Warlord takes centre stage!

Boy what a chore it turned out to be! In the end with the Chaos release looming for 40K I decided I had to get the Scots done as quickly as possible so opted for a very simple paint scheme in the end. The fact the the figures are a bit bland didn't help and so the whole exercise has been a challenge. In theory these could be used for any of the races in the game so a couple of dice sets probably and their versatility will be put to the test. I didn't paint any tartan because a) it would make them fully Scots and b) I didn't have the time or skillset.

See this? It's a spear. The sharp pointy end goes towards the enemy

Still, we like a challenge and so I've finished them (well, apart from sticking some grass on their bases and highlighting their hair) so for now they can go sit and dry off in the corner whilst the objects of my next blog post are painted up.

The Full Scottish Horde

Don't get me wrong: I like SAGA. I think it is a great little skirmish game especially when you can make 7 5+ saves with 8 dice to survive! Just for once I can say I've finished something. Nearly. Now there's a first!

Pods!

I was kindly given one of the fantastic Warmill scenery sets by the GoGs for my birthday and I could not help myself so I got stuck stright in at the weekend.

Lovely kits. They go together beautifully and have loads of bold detail that makes them seriously cool looking! Love 'Em! I've not gotten to the walkways that came with the kit yet and I might hav a tinker with those to see what possibilities they have. They look fab as walkways around the pods but I don't think it will take much to have them a modular walkways that can be versitile. The plans in the box positively seem to encourage it!.

Thanks Gogs!

You should never contain your inner Ork

As you can see from the pic, I have loved 6th edition so much that orks are back.

Painted today, ghazgull, burna boys, a burna nob with a KMB, a painboy and if you look in the back ground, I have base coated 70 grots .....

😄

6th Edition Flies In

Ah yes.

I could say the usual phrase "it's been a while" but I'm not going to. Whilst it would be factually correct it doesn't even come close to describing the last couple of months so I'm going with a new phrase: "today I spent time with my hobby"

Suffice to say that I'm now picking and choosing what I work on depending solely upon my mood so the Flames of War stuff had to take a back seat after our first game of 40K 6th Edition re-fired my need to get on and paint something futuristic.

The question was where to start? In the end I decided to start in the air!

Please welcome my new Triumvirate of Fliers to the world of 40K:

First up the Stormtalon for my Raven Guard. Yes it's a bit stumpy but I like it! I have modified it slightly by removing the heavy looking Assault Cannon turret and sticking the guns directly into the front of the aircraft. Now it has to point where it shoots which works better for me.

Does my Assault Cannon look big in this?

Look at my Missiles

Expect Black Hawk Down references aplenty

Next up we have the very sexy Necron Doom Scythe. I recently found out that Tamiya have re-issued their Metallic Red Spray paint and I was one happy bunny. Finally I can expand the army with all the swish new toys!

This is my best side. Very similar to my other side actually.

I am a crescent moon

Where's my little red sliding light?

Ghost Arks, Command Barge and Triarch Stalker to be added soon as they are sat on the shelf asking why the flyer got done first???

And finally a group shot showing the brand new Ork Dakkajet for my Orky Allied contingent. Bought on Saturday. Built and undercoated on Sunday. Yes that is quite remarkable!

Why a Dakkajet? Because something about the Ork Red Baron just appeals to my sense of flyer justice! Hopefully get this painted soon and then on to whatever appeals next.

The Power of Three

A visit from a friend....

...was what I really needed to remotivate me. I had been trying to use the few scattered moments of free time I get at the moment to chip away at all the hobby stuff I have to do but in truth my resolve had been flagging.

A visit from the Silverback on Friday night has really helped get me back in the mood and I even managed to get some things progressed just by using the spare ten minutes that popped up here and there over the weekend.

I'd intended to get all the infinity stuff I have ready together in stages but I was starting to beleive that it wouldn't happen like that as time was dragging. Thankfully the bits I got done mean that I have now assembled more than half of the Aleph figures I have and my batch painting mission seems likely once more. I always prefer to paint things like these together as it helps me give them a coherent feel on the colours.

I am still however in a complete quandary over what colours to paint them. The 'official' colour scheme is great but I'd like to put my own spin on it. I think I need to wait until they are spray undercoated to get a better idea for how to approach them.

6th edition virginity lost

Please see the photographic evidence of the classic "I am new to 6th edition" pose, or an orks eye view of the next strafing run :)



More Flames of war stuff painted

So, with my hobby time under pressure like never before, I have decided to crack on and still do what I can!  So herewith find the latest tales of derring-do from the painting table....

First up, the Soviets.  I saw this first lot on Maelstrom and they were a bit of an impulse purchase on the basis they looked like fun.  Less than a couple of quid per pack, I thought they were worth a punt.  So I got around to basing them up, painting them and using them on the tabletop..... And they were great!  What were they?  Tank crew.  Yep, utterly unnecessary and make no difference to the tabletop as "bailed out" and "bogged down" markers come with the dice sets that I have.  But a couple of games against Nick from a few moons ago showed that they make the tabletop look smashing as my crews spend plenty of time hanging around outside their tanks not wanting to get back in!  Red bases to show they don't "exist on the tabletop and I was so impressed that I've bought some German crew for my other army too :)

"Dimitri, should we get back in our tank?"
"Not a chance Sergei, we can have a picnic at the edge of this wood instead!"

In the interests of transparency, the crews were painted before the family expansion, but these next two items were all painted afterwards.  They helped keep me sane :)

First up are some lend lease AA carriers.  I have no plan for including these in any particular army, they'd just been hanging around for ages so I thought I'd better get them painted or they'd be there for ever!

You'll have to forgive the background..... A nursery prospectus :)

US army warpaint spray, nuln oil wash, pick out tyres, crew, weapons, etc and add some transfers and AA units 15, 16 and 17 are ready for action!

Next up was another item that I have no particular plan for using.  In fact, I need another 6 to make a useful sized platoon.... But I decided that instead of the old gamer "I'm going to buy everything I need before I start painting approach and then find it all looks a bit daunting to ever start it" I decided to paint these three and then as and when I get the next ones they'll not be too tough to do.  These aremore lend lease vehicles but British universal carriers this time.  I really like the Russian passengers that come with these models and they certainly make them look the part!

These look like fun to drive!

Khaki grey and green grey mix to get an armour colour that I was happy with, paint the crew and passengers with my normal infantry scheme and wash away.  Fun little models.

Bit odd for me to paint stuff I don't know when I'll use, but with the limited hobby time available to me, I wanted to enjoy it and I just felt like painting this little lot.  And if you think these are odd, just wait for my next update :)