27 Dec 2017

The SilverFox 2018 Challenge

I've been quiet. So very quiet. In 2017 I hit 2,000 points for my AoS army, added a Predator to my World Eaters and stopped.

I could blame work or my other hobbies (mainly video gaming) but to be honest, once I analyse what makes me tick I realise I'm goal driven. I like a target. Something to work towards. I used to paint for tournaments but since I stopped attending those I've lost focus.

That's why the Analogue Painting Challenge is so good for me as it drives me to paint towards a target.

With that in mind I'm now introducing my Challenge to myself for Paint Year 2018. My target is to paint 3,650 points of models. The points for a unit are the in game points at the time the unit is finished. If a game doesn't use points or the unit doesn't have points then I'll settle on 10 points for a 28mm figure.

Is this achievable? Yes. Work will always throw in spanners and new video games will hog the limelight for a while but I'm determined to hit this target.

The Paint Year started on 20 December 2017 to coincide with the start of the Analogue Challenge and therefore it will end on 19 December 2018.

And here is my first 100 points! A Skaven Warlord for my AoS Chaos Army which lacks leaders...



I've built a lot of figures in advance of the Analogue Challenge so expect to see regular updates as the Challenges continue through this year.

My next unit is underway and fingers crossed it'll be done in time for the first Thursday in January which is my day for posting to the Analogue Challenge.

Wish me luck. I suspect I'm going to need it!!!

15 Dec 2017

Playing with my wood



 I’ve been quiet on the blog lately but fear not I am still beavering away.

The BFG planned a big game of AoS for the beginning of December. Sadly I couldn’t attend but he tapped me up to make some broken wall sections to go with the Warhammer castle set they would be using for the siege he had planned.

Bish bosh and three pairs of ‘bookends’ were created to slot in as replacements to the walls when they got battered down.




I spectacularly managed to screw my ankle up at the weekend leaving me unable to drive. Rather than sit around useless I took refuge in my study and worked away at some of the MDF kits I’ve not had a chance to do yet. Firstly I wanted to finish off the defence guns for the planned 30K siege game.



Then I got some fencing done for my city scenery set.



And a camper van.



And a security check point for the docks.



I had also finally gotten round to getting the monitor turret and tug from Blotz as the next step on the road to Mars. Lovely kits that go together really well.



The tug has a nice lot of character I think and I’m pleased how it turned out. Hopefully it won’t be too long before the two Oriental vessels appear.



TTFN!




28 Nov 2017

Across the line!!

With these last few figures I have finally finished the 365!

The troglodyte set was a quick paint job as I didn’t want to spend too long doing them. I opted to use dry-brushing to complete as much as I can.


Troglodyte Grunts


Troglodyte Leaders


Minotaur


Cockatrice


Dwarf Heroine. She is a bit odd this one. Quite cartoony, more so than the other heroes I think.


Lord Tusk.
I wish I’d used a more contrasting colour for his clothing now as it doesn’t stand out very well against his skin colour.

So this means that I’ve passed my target of 365 for the year and in good time as the deadline wasn’t up until 09/12/17.

Completed this year was:

Epic Iron Warriors:                           95
Epic Orks:                                         49
Massive Darkness figures:                25
30K Iron Hands:                               13
30K Iron Warriors:                           66
30K Mechanicum:                            9
40K Eldar:                                        30
40K Howling Griffons:                    9
AoS Seraphon:                                 56
28mm Container Ship:                     1
Pulp City figures:                             10
Aeronef:                                           3
               
                Total:                                366

A pretty good total but not a wholly accurate summation of what I have done hobby-wise this year. On top of the above I constructed and painted two Spartan Scenery box sets to create the sizeable Anphelion Base. I’ve also almost finished the Spartan 28mm Space Ship (I really should finish that).
As well as all that I also made some Epic woods and a set of blast markers and prepped a shed load of figures such as all the Primaris Marines from the new box set. And, as always I’ve put together a load of MDF kits. Man….I love the MDF.

What is good about the list above is what it represents; sizable changes to the nature of the painting queue. It was good to make some solid progress on the 30K stuff and the 40K items had been hanging around so it was good to get them finished. Clearing the Spartan Scenics after all this time was pretty cathartic as well.

2017 has been a damned good year for painting and hobbying and not too shabby on the playing side either. I’ve slipped on the games blog posts but I crossed the 52 game point some time ago. I think that this year’s tally will end up being in the 70-75 region. That is good but it also represents an effort to play multiple missions and experience more of some of the smaller games we play.

With a month left of the year I’m planning to progress the DL on Mars project, draw together what is needed to get the Pulp City stuff to where I want it to be and to get the Primaris Marines done.

2018’s objectives are all about getting DL and PC to the table in a complete form. It seems now that DL will have a different rules set but it will be good to have the figures out and in use after sitting idle for soooo long. If Warcradle do something with DL as well is DW it could be great to see these forces expand with new releases. I’m quietly hopeful on that!

Lots to look forward to especially the continuation of the Aeronef project!

TTFN


24 Nov 2017

Another 'Nef

I've finished construction on the third Aeronef kit that I commissioned from Blotz.



It has turned out really well and is a really easy kit to pop together. I'm pleased with how much deck space this one has although it will lose some of that once the monitor style gun goes on. The lack of railings at the front will also look less silly once the armament is on. The Roanoke class tug should be ready soonish hopefully and I'll get myself a deck gun when I order that.



I'm going to go with an un-historically early US green as a colour scheme. I think it'll work well with the decking being a mix of browns. Question is: White Stars? I'm not sure when the US started using them but they are quite distinctive so I may well do some.


I found some of the Pulp Figure range last weekend at the Warfare show in Reading. I'm really looking forward to painting them up as crew for the 'Nef. The quandary here is whether or not to paint the uniforms blue with white trim or white with blue trim. I'm leaning towards the latter as I'm imagining my VSF Mars as being a temperate place more suited for the white uniforms.

Rules wise this project is looking decidedly like its not going to be Dystopian Legions but VSF under a completely different rules set. Urn suggested the konflict '49 rules and Junta has kindly donated a rule book with this in mind. It looks, on face value, as a rule set that should be easy enough to tweak to my needs.


Work has also continued on painting Massive Darkness figures. the first tranche are nearly ready and these coupled with some hero figures will take me over my target of 365 for the year. Huzzah!

TTFN

14 Nov 2017

3 More!

Totals up to 341!

This also means that the VSF project now involves paint as these are the first items for the game to be painted. I need to have a snoop around for some embellishments like decals but they are basically finished now apart from the bases.


Oxford Class Skyship.



Aether launches

Perhaps a little drab but that will change when the Scarlet Jackets of the Queens finest are on board!!

I tried, when designing them, to allow for as much deck space as possible. I've got a romantic notion of boarding actions and such nonsense when we finally get round to playing.

Looking over the figures for this, most are prepped but a handful still need filing and sticking together. I will confess to not being hugely excited about the prospect as going back to metal figures after sooo many plastic and resin ones is somewhat onerous. They're a real pain to prep!

TTFN

10 Nov 2017

338! Not too many to go!

I've hit the 338 mark for my painting challenge this year.


33 Epic Ork speed freaks ready for action. Still loads to paint for this force but I'll keep plugging away.

Only 27 figures to go!

These could have been finished weeks ago if I hadn't let myself get soooo distracted by the VSF Aeronef project. Three of the ten kits are finished and on the Blotz site. Three more have been submitted and I'm just waiting to hear back from Blotz on their progress. I still have the Prussian and Antartican ones to do but I'm pretty much settled on how I want them to look so I just need to get my head down and draft them.

My mind is turning towards getting some rules for this VSF game so I'll have to head off to the forums to do a bit of research. In the mean time I'm squeezing in a little time to progress the MDF aeronefs that I have already.

Last night I started the flyers but they will take a while. However I did get to do the Tesla Guns. Black under coat spray and then dry brushed bronze and brass. Simples.


TTFN


30 Oct 2017

A riveting evening

You guessed it!

An evening spent adding rivets to my new VSF stuff.

Utilising my trusty Rivet Maker (a greetings card makers hole punch)....


...I set about adding rivets to the under hull of my new VSF flyers. The punch makes it a quick job to make them and then it is a fairly quick process to dab a blob of glue and shove a rivet on. I tend to give them a watered down PVA wash afterwards to seal them.


Also did the Tesla Guns so I can get all these sprayed soon.


TTFN


26 Oct 2017

Tesla Guns!

Krak Kerpow ZZappp!

Yeah 'Lecky Guns for zapping people!


Dinky little kit from Blotz and it only took an hour to put both together.

I think I'll add some extra rivets to the base and some power cables as well. I might have to see if I can find two of those old GW ork gun sights to add to them ACME styleeee!

TTFN

24 Oct 2017

Letting myself get distracted.

With only a few weeks to go for the painting deadline I should have my nose to the grind stone getting the last figures painted for myself impose challenge. 60 still to do so what do I do?

Something else completely different of course!

Being so close to the finish line my mind has wandered off into 2018 with a view to setting some goals for next year. Yes yes I know I haven’t finished this year but it’s just how my mind works!

Sat around my study over the last few years has been the collection of Dystopian Legions (DL) stuff that I purchased ooooh sooo long ago. I’ve always been interested in the Victorian Sci-Fi but never really got to have a crack at it gaming wise. I even had a copy of Space 1889 but never played. That desire is what lead to all the purchases of DL and also the 6mm Dystopian Wars (DW) stuff. It had been niggling at me that nothing had come of these so I became resolved to do something about it. Well that was over a year ago and still nothing happened. Well apart from Junt and I conning Urn to buy loads of stuff for it as well. 

We had come to a consensus that it would be fun to take DL to Mars. I suspect that this may have been driven by me but I will deny it if so accused. However that notion stuck, germinated and started to grow. First it stemmed into the idea of a couple of funky Aeronef flyers to supplement the land forces we already had and then, like so many of the notions in my head, it got out of hand.

Long story short …..Aeronef started getting designed. Then I balked at scratch-building all these ideas. Then it occurred to me that they might be good in MDF. Looking around there are a few people making Aeronef but they weren’t what I was looking for or were too big. So I resolved to contact a manufacturer to see if some could be made. I had to good fortune to choose Blotz as my first port of call and I am very pleased that I did. Since the early contact the idea was well received and handled in a stress-less manner. So in just a short time the first two designs from the project have gone from concept sketches to scale drawings and onto being finished things. I have to say it has been fun! Slightly surreal getting your own design through the post as a kit to put together but fun none the less!

The first two were the Kingdom of Britainnia ones primarily because they were the simplest designs on which I could get some idea of how to proceed with the drawings that Blotz would need. I will admit to being quite pleased with how they have turned out.

A Patrol boat for HM’s forces…..


…..and a light launch to ferry troops around.



As this had come from the DL perspective I’d intended the large ones to be ‘sky tanks’ and the smaller ones to be ‘Sky APCs’. I suspect however that the DL rules will be thrown out of the window, due to them being poorly received, and a new rule set will be found which will give the Aeronef a life of their own.

Given that we have five DL factions between the three of us that have DL, then ten designs are required in total. The first two are finished, the next is now with Blotz and the fourth will be pinged over shortly. I’ve been scribbling away on new design ideas trying to make each new one markedly different from the others which is a fun challenge.


I keep having to rein myself in with the practical limitations of size. I doubt the Long Haired General at home really wants a house full of massive sky ships. Shame. I’d love it. ;-)

If you like them then head over to Blotz where they are available to buy or keep an eye out for the new ones in future.

TTFN

6 Oct 2017

Bbbrring bbbrring!

Once again I allowed myself to be distracted from my mission of painting figures!

But I couldn't help it as the little phonebox from Blotz is just awesome.


Didn't take much to do. A solid undercoat of black followed by a heavy dry-brushing of red. Then the sign got several quick coats white. I didn't want to lose the etched letters so I used airbrush white paint because it's got a much thinner consistency.

Once that was dry I used a touch of Nuln Oil black wash and watered that down slightly to pick out the letters without staining the white too much.

I love these little kits. So characterful!

TTFN

5 Oct 2017

A deadline on the horizon

I've allowed myself to get a little distracted by another project of late so must redouble my efforts to get my 365 figures painted before 10/12/17.

Lots of things on the go but I decided to try and finish some half done stuff to get it off of the painting table. First off is a bundle of Ork Dreadnoughts and Killer Kans for EPIC along with an AA wagon. With these finished I've only got 60 left to finish!


 With them out of the way I've moved onto a tray full of Ork buggies, planes and scorchas that had been started. I've slowed myself down, once again, by choosing to paint checker patterns on 6mm figures. why do I make these choices?? Oh yeah! Cos it looks good! ;-)


I'd expect these to take me another week to finish but there is something like 30+ so its more than half of what I need to do before December.

Also on the go are some more Pulp City figures and I've started painting two of the smaller Massive Darkness box sets.


As always I've also allowed myself to be distracted by scenery. No great surprise there as it is a real weakness of mine.

First up a cool phone box and some street lamps from Blotz. Very nice fun little kits to put together!



I'd gotten them at Colours and really wanted to put them together to get them done for my City scenery set. I also got the new tram kit from Warbases as I thought it would look good on the city streets. Sweet kit.


Not quite sure when I'll get around to painting it?

;-)

TTFN

Game 48

Massive Darkness again for game 48.

This was a fairly standard mission with no time pressures. As such our characters were tooled up and had advanced skills by the time we got to the Hellhound at the end.


He didn't last long.

TTFN

Game 47 Warhammer 40K

We've not had a chance to play much more 40K after our flurry of games in the middle of the year so it was good to pile round to Urn's place and get the marines out.

This, as it turns out, ended up being a marine on marine battle as the sneaky underhanded Raven Guard fell in with the flighty White Scars to try and take some clearly high important objective from the Brave Heroic Howling Griffons whilst denying the Griffons their spoils of war! Fiends!



Things started bad for the Scarlet and Gold when the Turncoat allies managed to steal the initiative however not a lot of firepower could be brought to bear upon the Griffons so casualties were light.

Sadly the return fire from the Griffons was less then impressive.

The mission had both sides turning up piecemeal and this served the Scars well as their bikes arrived with good effect as did their Raven guards assualt squad both of which were quickly bearing down on their goal.


An attempt by some Terminators to grab their opponents objective was stymied somewhat by them being outnumbered and overrun.


Thankfully the second terminator squad had scared off the scars on bike who didn't get back close enough in time to help get onto the Griffons prize before the game was called.

A draw but a real shoeing for the Griffons. Shame. The termies were itching to have a go at the bikes.

TTFN

Games 45 & 46

The Immortal.

Sounds menacing doesn't he. Well in Massive Darkness he bloody well is. Game 45 was a special mission to grab dynamite, lure the bad boss to a subterranean bridge and blow it up to send him plunging into the Abyss.

This was a tricky one. Which is why Game 45 was short lived and a failure. We messed about too long and before we knew it the Immoral, the unstoppable target of our plans, had passed the point where he could be drawn to his death.

Quick Reset!


This time we didn't hang about......no actually we bibbled a bit on this one as well and then happened to notice that the rouge had placed themselves well for a run on the bridge and had the fireworks to lure the bad guy!

Once we cottoned on to what was possible it was an easy matter for the Rogue to tease the horrid ogre onto the ancient stone walkway before using a magic spear to destroy the supports and dispatch the Darkness's lieutenant to its doom!

Fun mission and nicely different to the others we've played so far.

TTFN
 

Game 44

The run of Massive Darkness games continued with game 44 being a mission in which the dungeon progressively collapses as the rounds go by.



We'd found that the game itself isn't that difficult barring an unlucky draw of the cards however...

...adding the time element to the game really steps it up a gear! No more checking every room for cool equipment. This was a race to get out past the inevitable encounters.


Pulling two horrible cards near the end did for us! We defeated the monsters and all of characters got out except for the Stout Dwarf who tripped and fell before being buried beneath the collapsing ceiling of the dungeon.

Technically a loss. Morally? Well I suppose that depends how you feel about dwarves?

;-)

TTFN

15 Sept 2017

Some Pulp City for a change and more.

I've been doing pretty well tackling the list of figures I drew up for the 365 challenge but there has been a lot of batch painting this year.

Also on the list were some heroes and villains for Pulp City. We've not played this in ages but I have been working on my city scenery with the primary purpose of getting more games of PC. I'm thinking about making it an early hobby objective for the beginning of 2018 to get the scenery ready so now I've got double reasons to paint them. This has afforded me a break from batch painting masses of thing the same colour. A refreshing change.



This takes me down to 76 left to do before December 10th to complete 365.

I've not had the opportunity to paint much at work lately but today I managed to get the first colour on some Iron Warrior terminators for 30K.


30K had gone a bit cold lately partly I suspect because of the prospect of playing it in 7th edition. Not massively appealing since we've moved to 8th edition.

However....you gotta love the gamer fans! Some stalwart fellows have begun to created legion lists for 30K and they have finished the core legion stuff already.

Link to the Heresy 8th project

 Looks like the legion specific stuff is going up too! A truly excellent piece of work from those fellows. So with that on the cards my mind had turned to getting some games of 30K lined up and I also fancy trying some of the other missions from 8th. There are assault scenarios in the book for attacking defended positions and it stuck me that this might be fun to do for 30K.

So I got some walls from TTCombat and some big guns to be emplacements.



This is just the first set of each. Another gun and another wall set to be made. I also want to dress them slightly to make them fit the Grimdark a bit better. I've made some molds of skull bits and light fittings to add to them.

But I need to get some more figures painted first before letting myself get to distracted by that!

Colours 2017 wargaming show in Newbury at the weekend so i'm bound to find even more distractions there!

TTFN!