Galvanise the memory cells with Eavy Metal!: Part 5 (White Dwarf 149)

 Oh look here it's a New Year and another White Dwarf  blog post  this time No.149, let's dive into the goodness.

We should take a minute to talk about this bonkers cover first. I know they take all comers in the imperial guard but these grey trouser, blond tough guys are something else. Did they fall down that hole or make it themselves?? Either way the commissar clearly has trouble keeping track of his regiment as they have the issue standard happy birthday 4th regiment badges.

Moving on we now get to some soldiers of the Empire. First with the mighty and now very expensive War Wagon. It's a great looking model and these are some bright colour choices, even a red morning star! 

Not sure I recognise Thaindon and Kargos High Elf Dragonlord and mount. IT's a nice looking grumpy dragon though. On doing some rummaging around google I found this nugget of gold about the pair.

Amongst the Dragonlords of the Elves Thaindon’s name is held in awe, for it was he who hunted the Fire-Drake Kargos, scorcher of a hundred castles, and bent him to his will. Thaindon triumphed in a mighty battle against the dragon-wyrm, and earned both the beast’s respect and the right to ride him in battle. Together they are rightly feared throughout the Elven Kingdoms.

Tzeentch Bird Demon attempts to scare an Ogryn and a Gretchin

Spring sunshine is here! I hear bird song, wait is that screaming?!

Once there was a series of greater daemons. The Bloodthirster of Khorne, canine fury with axe and whip drenched in the blood of numerous corpses. The Keeper of Secrets, seduction and terrifying beauty in the the name of Slaanesh. The Great Unclean one, Nurgle's bloating virus laden puss bag. Which of course leaves last the Tzeentch greater daemon, The Lord of Change

Bring forth the Easter Mini Eggs or suffer my wrath!! 

For me as much as I like Tzeentch the daemons of the chaos god are an odd bunch. The Flamers got all the cool abilities with the bounding leaps, jets of eldritch flames and bizarre models (I prefer the old mushrooom looking ones over the bird heads or whatever the pure magic looking new ones are supposed to be). The horrors are amusing as they divide in two like really a strange bacteria performing binary fission. Whilst the disc come across as the best form of transport for tooled up sorcerers. Yet the Lord of Change is bland rules wise (well in 3nd edition at least), just causing terror (like all the greater daemons) and having the ability to fly. Of course it can cast all the Tzeentch spells but I felt they missed a trick and could have given it something of it's own for it to stand out on it's own a bit. Like a hypnotic gaze or some sort of chameleon effect from it's feathered body

Anyway the original miniature is the last of the greater daemons I acquired. Although not the last to be painted. When it arrived from ebay it was in bad shape. The leg had broken off at the ankle and I don't know what paint was used on it but the dark navy blue colour would not shift easily.

The only photo I have of it's original condition, low quality as I had to scavenge it off the ebay sale.

Once that was all sorted out and it had an undercoat it was time to choose a colour scheme. For me it had to be mainly blue which meandered into purple, that's just how I relate to Tzeentch, but as I had been watching The Dark Crystal TV series (the cancellation is a crime) I took some inspiration from the Skeksis, particularly the Chamberlain for the head. The yellow beak and purple to red skin shading.

 hhhhhhmmmmmm

I found the model to actually be a lot of fun to paint as a bird like creature isn't my usual area of painting, all those orks get in the way. The thing is the actual pose of this Daemonic Bird is kind of surprised which can make for interesting photo options. Thus instead of the usual photo stylings the photos here will be the Bird interacting with other miniatures I have painted up.

You are under arrest for crimes against the Emperor! 

As you can see he's a loony looking bird daemon, especially on his left side with that big eyeball. I tried to go with a more eagle bird of prey looks for the legs. The mushroom on the base was just some spare green stuff I needed to use up. As you can see we also have a Frateris Milita chap with an autopistol I have painted. I have no sisters of battle army for him but I have use for him in Stargrave so he got a lick of paint recently. 

Keep going, click the 'read more' there are many more photos.

Chaos Ogre from the Northern Wastes

Hey oldhammer fans, it is time for another classic ogre to get a showcase on my blog. This is the first Jes Goodwin ogre I obtained many moons ago off eBay but it always came across as quite an intimidating figure to paint up. Mostly down to this particular ogre not being painted up much if at all in the pages of White Dwarf.

The Chaos Ogre is an interesting miniature, clad in some sort of armour with that massive face being the focal point of the miniature. Also this ogre has an added of challenge of needing a shield. A large shield at that.

Gonna smash those humans right out of that fort!

One issue I had was what paints I was even going to use on this ogre. With no particular theme to my band of ogres/ogryns I decided to go a bit mad with reds, greens and metals. His actual clothes beneath the armour is a leathery dark red. The armour started out as being just a classic silver/grey but this looked a bit drab so I started adding a bronze and metallic green to parts of the plating. 

Ogre artwork, not a huge amount out there but this one is fun.

The real fun was the face. The horns were simple enough but in the end I went for a violent furious looking red with some golden orange hair for the face itself.

Bring forth the Giant!

Winter has come and the light begins to fade in the early afternoon. On the horizon a huge shadow looms out of the murk!

Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an elaborately armoured ogre?! 

Holy crap it's the Marauder Giant!! Yep despite being firmly a Warhammer 40k painter, I do occasionally dabble in the fantasy side of things and this is one of the few models from the fantasy side of things I acquired in the 90s that didn't have something to do with Orks, Chaos, Eldar or Tyranids.

I do have some marauder trollslayers, perhaps they could be painted soon.

Look at this wonderful model. I think anyone who saw this back when it was released surely must have wanted one. The sheer amount of metal makes the giant a hefty model and the features like the barrel and the small sword and shield are great features.

A blurry shot of what the original painting was like for him.

The original paint I gave the giant was an all navy blue tunic and a very red haired face, it was kind of basic but I liked what I did at the time. As my skills increased painting wise I always though I could do better so I decided to redo the Giant. 

Cold hard stone, wait did it just move?!

It's been almost a year (and quite a while since I made a post at all) since I did a Heroquest blog post and finally the last monster hit the paint table. I could say other projects had taken priority but honestly it was more down to being unsure of how I wanted to paint the stone boss of the original mainstream dungeon exploring game.

Yes the Gargoyle! The dread statue that rolls more attacks than the barbarian and is often best avoided if it can be helped. It's such a great model I wasn't really sure how I was going to paint it at first. Do I go down the route of painting it like a small Bloodthirster or maybe make it a sandblasted rocky colour like on the cover art of the Kellar's Keep expansion.

Despite the menace, I do like that one goblin struggling not to fall.

In the end I decided on a halfway between stone and being alive. I decided for a more grey stone than the above artwork as I felt it fit the aesthetic I wanted a bit more.

Behold my power, living stone becomes living death!!

First I need to explain my current camera is not ideal for taking photos and lighting is an issue at the moment so in comparison to some earlier posts these are not the best photos.

I went for the classic khorne style colours for the top half of the gargoyle, nice to use reds and bronze makes a change from the green of orks.

Death comes for this plane of wooden ground and chair mountains!

This is the reverse shot of the Gargoyle. I tried to keep the wings simple and just went for some shading on the orange/red colours.

Where is that barbarian? I will cleave his head from his bloody corpse!

There we have it all the Heroquest monsters and Heroes are complete, might get a group shot up of them all when this lockdown comes to an end.

In the meantime have a great day and thanks for reading :)

Burly and Mean - Gladiator Ogre

If you enjoy oldhammer and especially the late 80s early 90s era then you almost certainly have seen the amazing Ogre models that were produced at the time.

An ogre shaman meets two trollslayers in a dungeon.

There was a large range of varied sculpts from a mercenary to a berserker, I happen to own four in total and I am looking for one more to make a nice group of five (possibly use them as ogryns in my ork force or for a warhammer fantasy chaos warband). Today though will be about the first of the four I do have. It’s the gladiator ogre. This guy was more of an impulse buy rather than one of the actual ogres I originally wanted but it is still an excellent model and easily worthy of my painting time. I'm not up to spped on my old warhammer fantasy lore from the time but I don't remember any coliseums or other gladiators in the old world.

Are you not entertained? Look at my finely toned musculature.

 One thing I have changed with this model is the base. Normally I am fine to just have a base witha little bit of flock on it. However my bounty hunter ogre I bought on ebay came with a lovely base that someone made which wouldn't fit witht he other ogres. Fortunatley I recently bought that starter age of sigmar kit from the newsagent with the three sigmar knight guys. The bases those three have are very detailed and so one went to this ogre. No fancy marbel though, this got turned into ruined paving slabs in a marsh. I think it came out quite well as a n alternative to my normal basic basing style. 

I earned enough in my last fight for some nice new green hair dye!

To paint this ogre I first started with a white undercoat and then a heavy wash of rhinox brown. This then followed with some elven flesh . The gauntlet and flail were boltgun metal and mithril silver with some black wash for the crevices. The hand is a combination of brass scoprion and gold on top of those previous colors. I decided to be a bit bold and go for a lilac purple loincloth, why is he weaing only a thong loincloth the world will never know. Lastly the leather straps are black with a grey highlight attempt.

Mine's several pints, or do you want a smack?

As with all Jes Goodwin ogres the faces are the best part. The mohawk is a mix of greens with putrid green being used as a highlight. The nose got a light wash of red gore to give the look of a heavy drinker and the eyes and mouth were done using rakarth flesh.

Grrr, think I'll just duff you up for yer gold anyway!!

One oldhammer ogre down several more to go. I hope you enjoyed looking at these pics as much as I painted this guy.

Until next time :)

Dawn of time painting and the Black Orc

The year is 1992, Rhythm is a Dancer is in the charts, I get taken to see FernGully: The Last Rainforest instead of Aladdin and Ric Flair has become WWF champion.

None of these things are as important as the fact that 9 year old me for Christmas had been given Heroquest! Running through dungeons filled with orcs, claiming gold and potions of healing was amazing. The hook was in and then came White Dwarf 145! Which had so much mini goodness especially for Heroquest. (Well it did for 9 year old me). One thing led to another and one autumn day I got taken to Games Workshop in Hammersmith (child me oblivious this was the very first Games Workshop) so we could get a copy of the Advanced Heroquest Paint set.

The real tale to tell though is whilst in the shop I got to pick a blister pack of models as well. Now to child me this was crazy, new models and they would be made of metal! What to pick? Well I can't remember the thought process but I do remember seeing row upon row of blister packs beneath the colourful big box games like Space Fleet, Kerrunch & Battle for Armageddon.

The Giant Black Orcs. I own Mace 1 and Sword 1 but I have noticed my Sword Black Orc has his sword attached to his head.

Who knows what was in those blister packs I glanced through? What I do know is I ended up picking some Black Orcs. Bigger stronger foes for my Barbarian and Dwarf to fight maybe even use them as the Orc Warlord. With that and the big box paint sent money was paid and I went home a happy kid with the first lead to my name.

Never seen you looking so lovely as you did that night, stabbing me in the back in sheer delight ...

Buying miniatures is always a fun hobby, but buying miniatures and forgetting you bought them only to discover them later only leaves the question, why?

Out for a walk.

Why did I purchase Inge: Human Sorceress from Heresy Miniatures. I know she arrived alongside some of the heresy Delaque inspired gangers but I can't remember what use I had for her? It's possible I was going to add her as an alternative mage for Warhammer Quest or more likely she rounded up the price of shipping 😄

Oh no a chugger!

In any case I felt it was time to get her painted up. I went for a blue dress with a combination of tallern flesh and elven flesh for the skin. The dagger is a simple metal and wash while the handle is red mixed with a light brown. The eyes were the hardest think I redid them three times as her face is so small.

"Hi, How are you today, could I interest you in making a small donation to the Slaanesh ..." 

"(sigh)"

Overall she was fun to paint and might even have a role to play in my Slaanesh war party or be used as a civilian. A nice change of pace from the Waaagh and chaotic things I usually paint here.

Until Next Time :)

The Genetic Freak of the Chaos Week! - Slaanesh: Keeper of Secrets

The warp has been fluctating really badly in recent days, not sure if it is the heat, the smell of burning meat or the flow of alcohol on these hot summer nights.

"Mortal you are unworthy to be in the present of greatness!"

Or it could be because I summoned a Greater Daemon of Slaanesh to the paint table. This is a really great model and I have owned it for a long time which is why it might not match up with what you may find in the citadel catalogues of times past.

My first knowledge of Greater Daemons began in the Codex Imperialis: Chaos Section. This image next to the Keeper of Secrets entry really grabbed my attention. What a monster and he is fighting a Grey Knight! Those guys are tough, I need to know more. The thing is I never collected a Slaanesh army of any kind back then, but somehow I ended up buying the Greater Daemon early on.

Follow on for more glorious Slaanesh details ...

Close your eyes ...Werewolves open your eyes!

It's awfully bright for night time! Why can I smell wet dog?

"Hoooooowl!"

(Throws stick.)

Yep this is a little post about Werewolves, notably the Heresy Miniature which I picked up when I bought some of the Heresy hive ganger minis for my Delaque gang (A post for another time) along with a few other bits.

Expectantly bounces around hoping I throw the stick again.

New Year, Old Projects and an Ancient Evil

2019 is here and the cold weather is settling outside, the perfect climate for outdoor activities, no wait that is summer. This is the perfect time for indoor activities like tabletop gaming and painting. With that in mind; blows the dust off a very old box ...

Braawd Swoord!!

The Heroquest: Design your own Adventure Kit! Ah yes this is an amazing blast from the past. This is what you needed back in days of yore before PCs had become affordable and could only just about run Space Invaders. 

Dib dib dib dib

Dark clouds loom, Maalica Iron Hoof!

What is this? A painting post that has nothing to do with orks! Yep this is an update on some chaos for warhammer fantasy featuring a chaos sorcerer.

Hmm, need to cast some fire magic it's a bit cold!

Clad in plate of steel, the Chaos Warriors (Heroquest)

I've been thinking quite a bit lately about something we can all relate to, something that is unquestionably, inescapably… Chaos!

I am referring, of course, to our great national pastime - merciless combat. Or so it had been. That's right, wasteland dwellers. Before we were devastated by heroic deeds, each lair had its OWN professional combat team. Imagine, a perfect, rain soaked day. The sun is enveloped by darkness and misery. And on the horizon, they appear, like knights of yore, armed with axes of hate and malice.

"Erm, guys the camera is this way!"

Their name? The Chaos Warriors. Their purpose? To make you, dear reader, revel in the joys of savagery and blood, if only for an afternoon.

... you never know what lurks around the corner!

From the swamps and bogs they came, shrouded in mist ready to haul away unsuspecting townsfolk and their pets!

Quick find the Hobbits! ... What do you mean wrong franchise?

Those dungeon heroes should really be careful ...

... you never know what might show up in the catacombs beneath the old world.

Yep over the weekend I have completed painting and basing a whole host of Heroquest miniatures ready to ambush an unwary hero or two.

Ow my ankles, damned crafty goblins sneaking about!

Two Battle Master goblins, not a fan of these minis as they are a bit lacking in detail so difficult to paint up properly. Still nice to have some variation in the goblin ranks.

Orcs with big swords, flails and an angry temperament!

An orc with a cleaver, meats on the menu boys!

With these six orcs complete, all of the orcs have now been painted up. I did enjoy painting these greenskins, the blue tunic one was a bit of a throwback as that was the original colour scheme I gave him. All I did was tidy him up a lot and base him, I'll use him as an orc with a big sword in a quest as he stands out from the rest.

They found some shambling rags, must be the work of a shaman!

Two more goblins here which completes the set of diminutive greenskins. Plus the final mummy, you can see some red areas which are a younger me giving it blood marks, tidy up and complete once again.

Something new, or is that very old and rotten? :)

The shambling horde approaches, finally got around to painting up the zombies for Heroquest one of which was missing a head. This meant searching the bits box for something else. Finally found a zombie head from the warhammer range and after a bit of filing down got it in place. I think it looks good and adds some variation to the trio. I have always liked these zombie minis they have the right amount of ghoulishness for the heroes to overcome.

That's it for this post, the fimir will be up next. Those cyclopean monsters are going to be great to paint.

Until next time :) 

From the Outlands a Chaos Warband begins to emerge

Last time I mentioned building a chaos warband for the first time. This was partly inspired by reading oldhammer posts and also because some friends have shown interest in doing something with Warhammer Fantasy notable the 3rd edition rules. Thus I shall form a warband and if further down the line a gaming session happens I'll be ready. Plus painting up some mutated monstrosities will be fun :)

To war my goat headed minions!

My Top Five Least Liked Miniatures...

If there is a best there must be a worst, so here are my five least favourite miniatures of all time. This is purely my own personnel taste and in no particular order. Off we go ...

Quick Heroquest update (extra image added)

Just a quick update for today, finished two more greenskins from Heroquest.

Cleaver time!

An orc (yes the cleaver was broken off, so hastily glued it together in the past) and a goblin ready to chop up some heroes in the dungeons :)

Look at that skull, he must be dangerous!

Thought I should add this chap to the entry. A goblin from Battle Masters a game I never owned but somehow a few of the goblins ended up in my collection.I used them in Heroquest instead, this one in paticular got a role as a goblin champion for a bit (thus the skull). 

Until next time.

Memories: My Top Ten Oldhammer Miniatures:

Having read some time ago various blogs with lists of top ten miniatures in the oldhammer community, I thought I should put forward my own and share with you all. Thus what follows is my personal favourite miniatures of all time.

When deciding on a list of ten I tired to keep to models I have a very fond memory for or have some significance to me as I have been gaming. So although I like a lot of models that have been produced over the years these are the ones that really stand out and made an impression on me. I also limited it to models I actually own. Let's get going then ....

Heroquest Mummies: Do not read from the book!

One thing I really do like about Heroquest is the variety of monsters you can find lurking in the dungeons. One of which I am happy they bothered to include at the time was the Mummy! A bandaged shambling corpse from Egyptian legend. The miniature is really good and I like the fact it has no need for weapons and will simply beat or strangle the heroes to death, which it certainly can with the dice it can roll.

The tomb robbers will be punished! 

Here are two of the mummies painted up, I have one more but it still needs some painting. I do like the shambling stance of menace they show.

Who let these sneaky Goblins slink in!

Yep got three goblins done too, the middle one had lost his base so had to glue him to another base and steal some feet from the bits box, which is why he is a little taller than the other two.

Now orcs are here, quick search the taverns for the heroes!

Three Orcs complete and based. Always like that they came with a variety of weaponry from the ball and chain to the meat cleaver! The middle orc was chopped up in the bits box when I found him so had to add some arms and a knife to bring him back up to scratch.

So another Heroquest update for you to enjoy is done.

Until next time.