Goodbye, 2015, And SAGA Vikings Are Done!

As of this writing 2016 is only a mere few hours away. My fiance is currently halfway across the world, and I'd rather not deal with the headache of going out and dealing with abysmal crowds, thanks in part (read: mostly) to my misanthropic nature. I'm happy enough staying in, sipping on some good ale, and reminiscing about the last 365 days. A lot has happened in my personal life since December 31, 2014--getting engaged, moving back to the U.S., and starting grad school, for starters--, but as this is a blog dedicated to my adventures in painting little metal and plastic soldiers, I'll spare you, the reader, (if there even are any!) my contemplative meanderings outside of hobbying.

Aside from the craziness that is my life, the time I devote to painting and gaming has seen a bit of a paradigm shift this year. This can be summarized in five words: I'm done with Warhammer 40,000. Okay, okay, I know those are some pretty hefty words there. In all honesty, I'll more than likely keep painting GW models, at least. I got some Space Wolves for Christmas that are just too awesome to keep in the box, and I'll still play my beloved Orks every now and then. But the pay-to-win and keeping-up-with-the-Joneses aspect of the game has taken its toll on my sanity (and bank account!). I don't mind losing games, but when I lose with my Orks against Tau, Necrons, Daemons, or a plethora of other armies with a final score of 0-68, I know something's wrong.  There are just so many better, balanced games out there. My more recent posts have hinted at the fact that I've gotten back into historical miniatures and games. SAGA has currently been my poison of choice, and I finished up two more Viking berserkers today, officially finishing my 4-point army; I still need to paint the Warlord, though. I'd like to expand the Vikings to a 6-point army, so I'm not completely done, however. I think I'll get another unit of Hearthguards, some Levies, and definitely a named Warlord. I've been watching Vikings and The Last Kingdom, so I'm partial to Ragnar Lothbrok, but Harald Hardrada is pretty bad-ass, too. And his ability to add a unit of Dane-axe-wielding Hearthguards sounds like too much fun to pass up.

Anyway, I'm already getting ahead of myself. I didn't get to paint this year as much as I'd have liked to, but I definitely enjoyed every stolen moment to do so. I worked on plenty of 40k Orks, a Reaper bard (who now currently has grown a beard; my painting/gaming pal Nils says he's a hipster.), an Age of Sigmar Retributor (I painted three but only posted a photo of one), a Reaper Bones Bugbear, which I'm calling my best work of 2015, and spent the last two months or so on these Vikings (while consuming much more time than the Bugbear, still coming in at a close second).

I'd like to continue this post, writing about my future plans for 2016, but the ale (Bootlegger's Golden Chaos) has started to take its effect, so I better wrap it up here. For now I'll post a picture of my Viking berserkers. A full shot of the entire 4-point army will be my first post of 2016.


Happy New Year!

I had a blast wrapping up 2015 by painting these guys. And, yes, the guy on the right IS straight out of Dragon Age! (He's a berserker; there's gotta be some blood here, c'mon.)

First Viking Hirdmen

Here are two (of four) of my Viking hirdmen for SAGA. These guys function as the Warlord's personal guards. I'm still chipping away at this army, but currently being on winter break should help me reach my goal of having the entire army complete by New Year's.

I'm slowly making the transition away from GW paints to Vallejo. I traded in a bunch of old RPG books at my FLGS and got about $200 store credit! This allowed me to pick up quite a few new colors. The Vallejo Model Color paints are a lot thinner than I'm used to, but they make painting thin layers and subtle highlights so much easier. These fellas are painted with said paints; I really like the results.

I've been researching online about the Vikings so that my army can be (somewhat) historically accurate. That being said, I'm not afraid to take liberties here and there. Aesthetically and artistically pleasing models are more important to me than factual faithfulness--the shields, for example.

Zzap Gun

I've been having a lot of success blowing stuff up with Mek Guns in my Ork army for 40k. I don't use the models put out by GW, though; they are just waaay too expensive. I bought some cheaper figures put out by Kromlech a few months back that I use as Kannons and Lobbas. Apparently, I also bought this figure (put out by Mantic Games. I think it's called a Hailstorm cannon - or something like that) along with those models but completely forgot about it until I found it a few days ago hanging out it in my bits box. I had some free time yesterday, so I decided to spend my lazy Sunday working on this model. It was a relaxing afternoon goofing around with highlights, paint chippings, and some kind of laser thing-a-ma-bob glow along the barrels.

SAGA Viking Warriors

I love history. Ancient, the Middle Ages, the Machine Age, the Post-war era, you name it and I'll find something about it that draws me in. But I am in no way, by any stretch of the imagination, an expert. I think this fascination with the past came from my dad. Growing up, our house was filled with history books ranging from ancient Mesopotamia to the War of the Roses to the Vietnam War. Looking at all those maps, photos, and drawings of battles, weapons, and uniforms filled my head with unpronounceable names of long-forgotten places, mighty commanders, and strange instruments of death. Painting historical miniatures reacquaints me with those days spent in the living room browsing the pages of those massive tomes.

I very recently got into SAGA, a historical game set during the Viking Age, beginning in 793 when Vikings raided the monastery on Lindisfarne, a small island off the northeastern coast of England, and ending during the Battle of Hastings in 1066, when William the Conqueror defeated King Harald of Norway at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.

I decided to build a Viking army (other SAGA factions are Anglo-Danish, Welsh, Normans, as well as others from subsequent supplements), and this is my first unit of Warriors, essentially the Viking militia and men-at-arms. My complete army will have another unit of Warriors, one unit of Berserkers, one unit of Hearthguards (the Warlord's personal retinue), and, of course, a Warlord.

A friend of mine described these figures as "cute." I think their pudgy hands and exaggerated qualities lend them well to a high-contrast painting style. For these Warriors, I stuck to earth tones for their clothing: deep green, grey, dark blue, sand, and reddish brown. For highlights, all I did was add some bone color to the base color. I added more bone color to each successive highlight--I think there were about 2-3 highlights on average for each color. I used the shields as an opportunity to individualize the figures a bit and add more color. The shield damage was done by painting a quick line of bone color in a random direction, and then painting dark brown next to it. I then dipped a bit of sponge in dark brown paint, wiped most of the paint off, and dabbed the shield with the sponge. Finally, I did the same sponge technique with Citadel's Blood for the Blood God, trying my best not to go overboard.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the final result, and I'm looking forward to painting up the rest of the army. The goal is to have the entire army ready (and another blog post) by New Year's Eve. Wish me luck!

Krazy Killa Kan

I've had this guy sitting around unpainted for a few years. I had a bit of free time this afternoon, so I did a bit of a speed-painting session. I didn't try to attempt to reinvent the wheel here; I just wanted to get him ready for a game I have tomorrow. (I needed one more Killa Kan for my army list.) Check out the blood on its right foot. What could it have recently crushed?

Age of Sigmar Retributor Stormcast Eternal

       That title's a bit of a mouthful, huh? The latest incarnation of Warhammer Fantasy is here, and I think I might be the only person on Earth who actually likes this game. Yes, I know it's been "dumbed down" and all that jazz. But I, for one, am happy to have more of a casual wargame to play with friends while drinking a few beers. Don't get me wrong, I love the complexity of games such as Warhammer 40k, but sometime's you're not in the mood for filet mignon; sometimes that cheap, greasy burger is the only thing that'll hit the spot. And that's exactly what Age of Sigmar is.
        Love it or hate it, more people seem to agree that a lot of the new models look really, really cool. Here's a Retributor that came in the box set. I decided to go with the standard color scheme, using the new GW gold paints Retributor Armor and Liberator Gold. While they're a bit pricy (GW products pricey? No!?) they go on super smooth and look fantastic. I had such a great time painting this figure.

Stop.....Hammer time!

Reaper Bard

I started this figure up around two months ago, quickly setting him back on the shelf to collect dust while I played an insane amount of PlayStation 4 games for the rest of the summer. Now that vacation and all that fun stuff is over, I figured the best way to send off the end of this (f@cking ridiculously ) warm and carefree season was to get this guy done. I'm glad I finally did. I'm more or less happy with how he turned out, but I really don't like how the lute strings were modeled; I painted them over and over, but since the sculpt wasn't that good, I could only do so much... I took a lot of time messing with progressive highlighting and glazing--especially on the tunic, which I think came out okay. Now that he's done, I'm really excited to start my Stromcast Eternals for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, the game that everyone on the Internet seems to hate. Come at me, bro.

Some More Lootas and an 80% Complete Dakkajet

 I'm still working on my 15mm Ancient Britons, but I took a little detour and painted some Ork Lootas for a game last week, and then I got a really good deal on a dakkajet, so I started working on it. Here are a few shots...

Not a whole lot to say. I had some extra red primer, so the dakkajet got basecoated quickly. The lootas remind me of the Mutant gang from the 80's Batman grapic novel The Dark Knight Returns.

15mm Ancient Britons (horsemen)

 There's something to be said about the subtle pleasures of painting 15mm figures; they're not big enough to have to worry about all the fine details and such, but they're also not too small where you can't have any fun. After painting 28mm figures for the last few months, it did take me a little while to get used to painting in this scale. I'm working on a new army for DBA (De Bellis Antiquitatis), a well-known historical wargame. This is one unit of horsemen that will be a part of my Ancient Briton army. In DBA, each army consists of twelve elements, so I've still got eleven more to go. This first unit was more of a test model than anything else. Who knows if I'll ever get to play it? But being able to paint an army for less than $25 bucks is always good in my book. These guys aren't the zenith of my painting ability, but considering that they're merely the size of a U.S. quarter, I'm pretty happy--especially with the horses and freehand shield designs.

Until next time...

I did some research online--and even ordered a few books from Amazon--to make sure I was painting them historically accurate.

More Orks!!!

Look, I've painted a lot of Ork boys--over 120 of them, in fact. Some of them may or may not be just green skin and black clothing. Can you blame me? It's tough to find the time and energy to paint up each boy all fancy schmancy. But I'm slowly trying to resolve that. I got tired of looking at green and black on the battlefield, so I'm doing them in batches of ten and taking my time, painting them up however I see fit. There's no way I'm painting all 100+ the same way, though. There are two good reasons for this: the first is that it is mind-numbingly boring. And the second reason is that my army consists of a bunch of small Ork tribes (yeah, I made some of them up. What's it to ya?!) all united under my warboss, Jack Bloodspilla'. So there ya go. There's no way I have the discipline to paint an army of Space Marines...

 Here's a test model I did today for the current batch of ten. They say you never see an Ork in purple, so I though't I'd go with that. I thought the turquoise and light brown went nicely with the purple and green. WAAAGH!

Reaper Bones Bugbear

 I buckled down this afternoon and finished this guy. I can't really remember all the colors I used (because I used A LOT), but I employed a mix of Vallejo, Citadel, and Reaper paints. I blended colors together on a whim, grabbing whatever was nearby, and experimented until I was happy. He came out looking bright, cartoon-y, and exaggerated--which is what I was going for.

I did write down the skin colors I used. I ended up using more colors than I had originally planned, going back and forth, dulling down highlights with a light wash, and then highlighting again until I was happy. It was pretty time consuming, but I'm quite pleased with the final result. For the sake of remembering in case I paint up a few more of these guys, this is how I did the skin:

1) Basecoat: Vallejo Leather Brown
2) Wash: Citadel Reikland Fleshshade in the recesses
3) Highlight 1: Reaper Master Series Paints (MSP) Oiled Leather on the raised muscles
4) Highlight 2: Reaper MSP Tan Leather
5) Highlight 3: Vallejo Brown Sand
6) Glaze: watered-down Citadel Reikland Fleshshade wash to smooth color transitions
7) Highlight 4: Vallejo Brown Sand again only on raised muscles exposed to sunlight
8) Highlight 5: Vallejo Brown Sand / Citadel White Scare (50:50) on the tips of knuckles, upper lip,
                          ears, shoulders, and other raised muscles exposed to light. (very minimal)

That pink nose cracks me up every time!

It took me a while to decide what colors I would paint the pouch and pants (skirt?!). I think the blue and yellow complement the skin and red fur nicely.

The next project will be a 15mm Ancient Britons (Celtic) army for De Bellis Antiquitatis. I recently met some other historical wargamers at  my local gaming store, so I'm filled with inspiration to get another historical army on the table. (I painted up some 10mm Marian Romans a few years ago but never got to use them in a game.)

Reaper Bones Bugbear WIP

 Just in case you were wondering, I do paint other minis besides Orks. I also realize I've been posting a lot of Ork-related things over the last year (or more!). And that's because putting together a Warhammer 40k Ork army is a loooong commitment.

However, I really needed a break from painting green, so I busted out an old Reaper Bones mini I had sitting in the closet for who knows how long. I haven't completed much, just some skin and fur basecoats, and one skin highlight (planning on at least two more highlights), but I'm inspired and aim on getting him done soon. It was really nice to spend a few hours this afternoon on a miniature I can use in a future D&D game or something.

I still haven't decided what color I want to paint his armor, shield, and bad-ass mace.

The patch of fur on his back will be a gray-ish white, I'm thinking.

A little more work this afternoon. Those are dragon scales on his shoulder! This is one nasty bugbear.

I stopped painting at this point since I'm still not sure what color I want to paint everything else. Thoughts?

Gorkanaut Finished!

 After several weekends dedicated to this nearly-half-a-foot-tall model, I'm happy to say it's finally done! I've already played him in a few games, and he was...less than spectacular. He took out a Black Templar landspeeder his first turn ever, but other than that, he's just fired off some 'pew pew' shots and taken out a few enemy models; nothing my hoard of Ork boys can't handle. That being said, he's still pretty intimidating on the battlefield, so there's that at least.

I've got a few new projects in the works, so I'll be back for another post soon.

Gorkanaut WIP #2

 This guy's still not 100% finished, but I got a bit of work done on him this weekend. I probably could have done quite a bit more, but I had to assemble, prime, and paint a new Killa Kan on Saturday a few hours right before a game where I needed it. (I'll have a--out of focus--pic of that, too.)  The Gorkanaut should be completely finished, based, and ready to shoot the $%!& out of anything in its way for a game this coming weekend.  The arms and legs are attached, but I still need to do the right arm, paint the driver and gunner, highlight a few red parts, weather the metal parts (really looking forward to that!), add a good amount of wear and tear--especially on the lower part, and finally, do the base.

Lookin' sexy

The checker pattern wouldn't look right all super clean.

Oh yeah! Lot's of hurt coming out of those barrels.

Ok, Mr. Gorkanaut, you just had to steal the shot when I'm trying to show off a model I painted up this weekend, didn't you? (I still forgive you, because you're awesome.)

Gorkanaut WIP #1

  I assembled and primed this monstrosity a few weeks ago...and then left him to collect dust--I had no idea how I wanted to paint this thing. After a few days of thinking it over, I decided to go with a Goff theme, which means lots of black, white, and red. I finally sat down this weekend and got to work. Painting red and white over black took a long-ass time, so I'm guessing it's going to take a few more weekends until he's ready to do battle (lots and lots of DAKKA!). I am having a lot of fun, though. Here's how he ended up after the first painting session. So far I'm diggin' it.

Getting a nice shade of red (while painting over black) took a lot longer than I initially thought it would. Once it was nice and pretty, I, of course, had to give it a little wear and tear.

If you think red is a pain in the @#$, try painting white over black!

So far so good.

I've had this random grot I painted up a few years ago just sitting around. I figured this would be a good place for him to hang out.

"Wadaya want? Kan't yooz zee Oi'm buzy?"

The legs, crazy weapon-wielding arms, gunner, and driver are all that are next. Hopefully there's another update sooner than later. 

Back in the U.S. And a New Camera. And a Battlewagon!

 Hey there, everyone. As you may or may not know (or care), I was in South Korea for a year. I am now back on U.S. soil, and after having refreshed a bit, I've gotten back into the hobby. I finally caught up with the rest of the world and now own a smartphone. The pictures are much better than the ones I was taking with my crappy digital camera since I started this blog. I think now I'll be able to post a lot better quality photos of my painted miniatures, which I'm really darn excited about.

That's about it. Here's a photo of some of my favorite Ork models for Warhammer 40k, and a recently finished Ork Battlewagon.

In the works I've got an Ork Gorkanaut and a squad of the new Ork Flash Gitz--good stuff.

After that, I plan on taking a break from 40k, and getting back into some historical wargaming and painting. I've had my eye on Bolt Action, a World War II skirmish game, for a long time. I can't wait to paint up some U.S. soldiers, and of course some Sherman tanks!

Until next time.

I painted some of this while abroad last year, and some are much older. 

This Battlewagon was a lot of fun. I think I went a bit crazy with the weathering, though.

The rust was actually done by drybrushing brown and orange paint.

Just after running over a squad of 'Sperce Mu-rurns'.