Time ticks on as 2019 ends.

A final post of the year for this little blog that keeps putting out the odd nugget of oldhammer goodness.

For me it's been a good year of painting, certainly my most prolific. Not sure how I found the time to paint the following:

The Witch Lord from Heroquest
A Heresy Werewolf
Two Gretchin for a Squig Catapult
One Goff Ork
One normal Ork
A Kustom Blasta Mekanik
A looney Mad Boy
One Female Sorceress
The Keeper of Secrets that sat in my bits box for years!
An ancient Bob Olley Giant Black Orc
A converted Gyro-Stabilised Monowheel Ork Bigboss
Seven Ork Stormboyz

Now for some photos of things (2019 & older) I forgot to show or meant to include in a blog post that I never ended up creating.

Space Crusade

Somehow I ended up playing a game of Space Crusade this year and was in control of the vile alien xenos. The above photo is when the Blood Angels and Imperial Fists got a bit heretical and accused each other of joining chaos. The Genestealers jumped in for afters :)

Movie Review - Castle Freak (1995)

Castle Freak (1995)

The venerable 40k Quest movie review returns and this time we are delving into 90s horror obscurity Castle Freak.

On a vague off-hand recommendation I picked up this Jeffrey Combs horror film and I am so glad I did. Especially as I love a good HP Lovecraft style horror flick (see Re-animator, In the Mouth of Madness etc ...)

The plot is straight forward, a man carrying the guilt of blinding his daughter and killing his son in a drunk driving incident inherits a castle in Italy after the duchess he didn't know he was related to dies. He and his family; including his Wife who has not forgiven him, move into the place while he tries to sell it. Unbeknown to everyone is the duchess has been keeping her long thought dead, disfigured son in the crypt who she used to beat and treat worse than a dog.

That's right officer an angry, surprisingly strong naked man with no thumb has been prowling around my 150 room castle and I'd like you and your men to find him.

The location is different and interesting. The acting is decent, Combs is great as a slightly off-kilter alcoholic father and Barbara Crampton is good too as the struggling Wife. The blind daughter is a nice addition to the film even if her main role is being a near victim for the beast man most of the time. The star of the show though is certainly the beast in the cell aka Giorgio. The effects they used for his face are top notch and his perverted and self-mutilating actions are amazingly grim. Once he escapes things get very creepy, horrifying and very gory in this film. Although I'm not entirely sure we needed to see his very hairy and very nude body dangling about quite so much, I suppose it is balanced out by the whore Combs meets at a bar, who gets her kit off first.

There are plenty of great scenes in this film from jumping through windows, police beat downs and police deaths. Plus there is the scene involving the previously mentioned prostitute and Giorgio which goes from creepy to downright savage as he literally bites off her nipple!! Also if you like cats then I should warn you this film has one, that doesn't make it to the end.

Overall I was greatly surprised by this film and really enjoyed it. I would definitely watch it again.

Until next time.

Fly me to the moon, let me crash into a tree: Stormboy Orks.

Orks are not reliable, kustom weapons will blow up, madboyz will stand around drooling. Yet nothing compares to the Stormboy Jetpack!

Oh yes the joy of being able to leap miles along the battlefield for a deadly strike ... at that large clump of spiky cactus and deal explosive death ... in midair!? Okay so Stormboys are not great but they have character, buckets of it. 

"Attention! Lads there is report of chaos activity in the mountain!"

Ditch the ere' we go mantra it's time to get professional, regimental and organised! When I think of Stormboyz I think about old time wrestler Sgt Slaughter; not the american patriotism part, but the backstage promos: "Listen Up Maggots!". Angry but ordered and with great pride in there skills and equipment which makes them feel all a bit un-orky.

Camouflage at it's finest.

Now when it came to painting these guys I didn't want the standard drab grey uniform that is found in the codex. All a bit 1940s Germany and also a bit dull. Instead I looked through a variety of military uniforms and found the Georgian Hussars. Now this is more like it for orks, bright yellow coats and boots with red pants. Amazing!

"Ready and waiting. Drillboss Displeen wat orders?"

As you can see although these minis are mostly classic stormboyz the one on the right here is a normal blood axe ork I gave a jump pack too with his axe on his belt (nicked from a trollslayer). I think he fits in quite well and brings the squad up to seven.

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.