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So the nice long weekend is over, and it's back to work for me.

Of course, most of the weekend was spent researching refrigerators, a plan was formulated to purchase one of these refrigerators, and then at the last minute we changed our mind about the refrigerator and started all over again at the research phase after seeing the models in person that we had wanted to purchase.

Needless to say that fridge hunting took precedence over mini painting.

I did manage to sneak in a trip to a semi- local place with Barzam. Had the guys check in the back for Confrontation stuff and found something I've wanted for quite some time.



A Clain Nain box! I was so pumped! I have been SEARCHING for this! In English as well! YESSSSSSSSSS.

Well... no. Turns out, when I got home, and started going through the parts... I'm actually missing a fair bit of stuff. The little guy in the wheelchair is missing his wheelchair, the packmule robot is missing his front half, one of the thermo-warriors is missing his boiler and arm, and one of the forge guard is nowhere to be seen. Also a few cards are not in the box, but that isn't a huge loss, as I doubt we'll play the official game any time soon.

The other kits were all new, but it was a bit disheartening to get the one set I wanted incomplete. Ugh.

I finished up those guys on the boors over the weekend, as well as the Wolfen I was working on, and started in on some crossbowmen as well as a bones guy to go with all my dwarfs.



Nothing fancy mind you, and they'll take a while to get done. Should go well with the rest of my Tir Na Bor crew.

Also looks like Shaka- Morkhai is coming today. Curious to see how big he is. Can't find an actual photo of him with other orcs to get a sense of size. With his arrival it's going to be time for painting more greenskins...

Always liked the Pilzhenbir(?) model. Great finds.

Yeah, I've got both versions of that Defender of the Plains guy now. There's features of both of them I like. Got him primed already to go with the other Dwarfs.

Got my Shaka Morkhai today.

Since I couldn't find any size comparison pics, I made one.



He's definitely bigger than the average orc, but not ridiculously so. I guess he'll be a lot larger when he's got all his gear on (which is laying in the background).

Still like the dude with the mace resting on his shoulder. He just has such a "eh" attitude about the whole thing. Hipster orc.

The Shaka Morkhai model is really cool. Except for the legs... for the longest time I thought he was bursting out of the ground, like a berserker were-mole. Then I realized that he wasn't waist deep in dirt, but rather... under-endowed below the waist. The Formor fiends suffer from that as well, but man, I have always wanted to put a different set of legs on ol' Shaka because the rest of him is so cool.

My only real gripes about Rackham:

1: Tiny legs on big bodies.
2: Wasp waisted wulfen
3: The 1 mm bits of handle between the hands of Drune troopers' swords and the hilt, i.e. "breaking point".

4 might be the chindo the devourer's wear, or their gorgets in general, but those are all pretty minor compared.

Here's the same guys from my last update, this time with a bit of paint.




Shaka is a lot farther along than the rest obviously, and they are all graced by the presence of the Magnificent Ronaldo and his angelic voice. I spent the last few days doing Shaka's swords, which are all bundled together on his lower back/ hip area, and in the process cover up all the detail underneath.

I still need to do his huge trophy rack. Hoping to get at least a base coat on it tonight. Debating whether I want to drill in to him and pin the thing in, or just let it sit there glued on. Having that rack will help keep his topknots from getting bumped off as well, which I've naturally done multiple times. The rack works as a perfect buffer zone to keep things from getting broken.

I was all set to go prime stuff outside today, and then it decides to go and start seriously pouring rain. Darn. I've got a pile of stuff waiting to get painted too!

I've got my new Thyron, Sword of Truth coming today, so he's probably going to be bumping his way up the painting cue. Dude looks rocking.

Got a bunch of Trollbloods, Confrontation, and Wrath of Kings stuff coming my way this week too. Where it will fit in the painting cue, I'm not sure. Would prefer not having to add them all to the pile of shame (closet of shame? cabinet of shame?)

Weather was certainly not conducive to getting stuff primed outside last night. Everything was wet. Humid and wet.

Didn't stop me from priming a bunch of stuff anyways. Sprayed it and brought it in, and everything was dry this morning.

I couldn't help myself much either, and started in on two more figures.



Was busy speeding through a Khadorian Kayzay Assassin Underboss. Will be touching up/ highlighting his skin, and fixing up his blades. Obviously need to do something with his base as well.

He also got a friend to hang out with.



Keep in mind I JUST started him. I know that linework is atrocious on his sword, and there's a ton more to go. He'll be decent by the time I'm done with him. His loincloth I did kind of a lame job on, and I'm tempted to just leave it a solid color as I can't really do the linework like in the official version with my crummy brushes and the way I positioned his hands.

Thyron is also really big. I have no clue why. I mean, he's at least a head or two taller than the Underboss, who is a pretty good sized regular human (being Khadorian on top of that). Probably big enough to be an Infinity tag...

Did you just get Thyron yesterday? That's fast work. I may need to get my own.

Yeah, I just got Thyron yesterday.

Wasn't that hard. Brass, dark grey, blue, black, dark brown highlights... then all that damned lighting stuff. I should have him finished by tonight.

Funny thing- he's missing one of his shoulder fins. There was only one in the box. Case was intact, so I know it didn't fall out when I opened it. Already filled out a claim with Privateer for an extra one to complete him.

I also, FINALLY, got my orc head for my Avatars of War guy. It only took 6 months of me nagging them to finally send it. Jeez. At least I can get him started along with all the other orcs.

Looks like the Kriel Warriors I ordered Monday arrive today as well.

Just got Thyron, just finished Thyron.



I might touch up a bit of the brass, maybe put an even lighter highlight on the edge of his blade, but for the most part, the guy is finished. I have a TON of stuff that needs a sealer, so he'll probably jump to the front of the line.

Guy is huge too. Are all the Elves in Warmachine this big?

Speaking of huge, he's almost the same size as some of the new Trollbloods. I got the new plastic box of the Kriel warriors for less than half price on Monday, and it already arrived yesterday. Pretty impressed. Can't complain about 13 figures for 30 bucks. The difference in size is ridiculous though, comparing the plastics to the original metals.



Same basic grunt guy. New plastic one is at least a good 2 heads taller and broader than the metal version. Metal on has its own charm, but man do those new plastics have a lot more presence.

It dawned on me the other day- I have so many Trolls, why not use them for an Ogre army in Kings of War? Heck, that Kriel box gives me at least 2 units of foot troops. A box of scatter gunners gives me another 2 ranged units. I can group a bunch of casters and solos together for another unit or two. My warders would make fine Siege Breakers or whatever the heavy armor guys are called for Ogres. Maybe use a Bouncer for the Siege Breaker hero.

Gives me a good excuse to actually try and get them all painted! Of course, then I'm going to have to find some 40mm circle movement trays now...

Almost finished Shaka- Morkhai's trophy rack. My goal is to get it done tonight, so he can go in the pile of stuff to seal. Should probably wrap up the other Confrontation orcs I've got almost done, as I have a box of Amok Slayers coming tonight.

Used up some paypal credit and made a Miniature Market order. Finally ordered those Troll Northkin Fire Breathers. Really wanted those guys, yet not a single shop in my area has any in stock.

So Shaka- Morkhai is finished, and the photo does not really look that good. I know his body is super glossy, and due to that, you can't see any actual shading or detail. Darn. Some of my inks end up super glossy, some end up really flat and dull. It's hard to predict which way they're going to go.

Regardless I'm very happy with how he turned out. I will try to take another photo of him once I've sealed him, which I didn't end up doing last night. I was all set, but then I had an unexpected delivery. Fearing that it might be Kingdom Death, and me not having a spot to work on it or store it, I hastily began clearing shelf space and a spot to work on it.

In the end it was all a false alarm- it was another Kickstarter game I had backed that had turned up unannounced (Catacombs for those that care). Kids were excited to have that one at least, but then promptly took all evening to finish their homework, resulting in nothing getting played.

It did however give me time to prep more Trollbloods and Confrontation Orcs. I've got to say the Kriel Warriors are a lot better quality molds than some of the earlier plastics I got from Privateer. Way less mold lines, way less gnarled bits of sprue to hack off... much easier to put together. Only hassle is there's a ton of pieces, and no discernible method to putting them all together other than trial and error.

I also won a bunch of dirt cheap auctions for Warmachine stuff, so it looks like I'll have more Khador and Retribution stuff to paint soon.

What's up with you buying elves? You've never used elves!

That is really weird how your stuff always comes out looking glossy. You use a lot of Army Painter amd Reaper paints, don't you? Maybe that has something to do with it?

Have you put together a warband for tomorrow's game yet?

Well, I've used elf... stats. For my Nasier.

Thyron just needs some buddies to hang out with. They were also very cheap, so I'm not going to complain about that.

I'm guessing the gloss is coming from the inks. The paints are mostly regular vallejos and a bit of their game colors on the body, with an earthshade wash on top.

The rack is the same brands of paint, with a reikland wash. That came out matte.

I thought I mixed up the inks pretty well, but maybe I didn't. Honestly I kind of like giving it that glossy sheen. I ought to get some brush on gloss sheen. Some models need a slimy, shiny look to them.

Looks like today I have some random two dollar Hell Dorado figures coming in.

I like the Ork he looks very cool and thats one big trophy rack.

my backlog of stuff to seal is getting ridiculous.

I've got a good 20+ models all waiting to be blasted by the sealer. Some of them quite large.

Hopefully the weather holds as they keep talking about having rain down here in SoCal. We'll see, won't we?

At this point I've got a large, LARGE pile of Rackham Dwarfs all waiting to get finished.

I wrapped up about 8 or 9 of them that I know I haven't posted here.

Here's some of them.



That's a Thermo- Priest of Tir Na Bor, attended by his Thermo- Guard. Basically they're all carrying steam boiler which can naturally go haywire if it doesn't power their weapons to ridiculous extremes.

Now if I can only find the more armored versions...

I've got a fair amount of Orcs left on the table, and after that (or possibly before) I'm going to finish up my Noh Empire stuff from Relic Knights. They did well when they fought Barzam the other day. Why not continue the trend?

If by "did well" you mean they lost half of their forces while I only lost one guy to them, then sure, they did well. What do you have left for the Noh? After seeing yours in action, I'm a little tempted to grab a couple for myself. They don't seem to have suffered as much detail loss as some of the other factions did. Of course, if I got any Noh, they'd have to have blue skin.

I feel your pain with the pile needing to be sealed. Mine has been growing as well.

You forget- I had 300 points fighting 600 points worth of guys on two different fronts.

Not only that, I had a lot less models than both of you. I only had 4 figures total. I was thinking of doing a photo batrep using Deadzone terrain and my own models as stand ins for your guys, but I don't have any Skitarii so that would have been difficult.

So yeah, wiping out everything Tony had down to 1 guy, vaporizing your AdMech guy on the first turn, and tkaing pot shots at them the rest of the time, not too bad in my book.

If I'd had dedicated warbands to fight both of you, I think you would have lost.

Next time though? Antivenoms for everyone!

I think you should get the Noh. They're nice figures. Outside of the sorceress and the other female figures, the detail is pretty solid. The girls seem a bit more soft. Like I told you, there's some ebay sellers that have a lot of the figures REALLY cheap. I got started on the guy who's standing on top of the giant shishimai. Saw one online for 13 with free shipping. Sucker is huge with his mount.

You only had one less guy than me. Next time around, I'm going to bring a bit more variety to the table. I need to give my robots some action.

I saw the cheap Noh on Ebay. I'm tempted to get a Render. I've just got so much other atuff to paint right now is the problem.

So I had an order arrive earlier than expected.

It was mostly Krosmaster stuff for the kids and myself to play with, especially with Krosmaster Quest FINALLY coming, but there were a couple of interesting things in there for me as well.

I had picked up a few Avatars of War figures I wanted. I really like their figures (when they remember to include all the parts), but I'm not a big fan of their prices. I think my expected prices are still stuck in mid 90s mode.

One of the figures I got was the new(er) Saurian Mauler. Why? Because reptile, that's why. I figured it'd be about the size of a regular lizardman. NOPE.



He's not just a head or so bigger, he's quite a bit larger. Like, Kroxigor size I'd say- I wouldn't know as I don't own any Kroxigor. He's big. From this angle he looks kind of flat but he has a nice sense of depth to him.

Also got an Orc Pit Figher. Not sure why. I like his trophy rack and he has a giant hook hand to fight with.



The guy would make GW proud, the way he's festooned with skulls of all shapes and sizes covering all his armor. He's also a fairly chunky figure as well, sitting on a 40mm base. There was no way he'd fit on the 25mm square they gave him- he barely fits on the 40!

You can see the Savage Orc in the background who finally has head, 6 months after his purchase.

Here are a few other handy models to try and give a sense of scale.



I like those spikes on the back of the Saurian. Will be a fun one to paint. With a bunch of ebay stuff currently getting haggled over and some Krosmaster stuff my family wants back in stock, it looks like we might be making another Miniature Market order soon. If so, I think I'll be grabbing the other lizards Avatars make. Maybe the new knight and gladiator as well, just for the hell of it.

Also went and sealed about 24 figures this evening. Tried taking photos, nothing came out well.

Sigh...

I was supposed to get Kingdom Death today.

UPS decided, nah, I should wait another day, because reasons. BARF.

Soooooooooo... I had to drown my stone face and hand nightmare fueled disappointment in ebay auctions, and ended up getting a nice lot of Confrontation goblins for a very reasonable price. Thank you ebay seller!

I had my Shael Han and Goritisi figures from Bartertown show up last night. Apologies to the person who sent them, but my friend, your gluing leaves a lot to be desired. I managed to slice myself at least three separate times prying those guys and gals from whatever quagmire of hardened epoxy you put them in.

At the very least, they were glued directly into those deep dish pizza bases, and with a little PVA glue and some fine grain rocks and sand, nobody will be any wiser that I mangled the out of some of those bases, trying to get those figures off.

Thankfully it was only the Shael Han who were already glued, and outside of a few character figures, they were just a bonus. What I was really after was a Starter Set worth of Goritsi. MUUUUUUCH nicer. I can build these at my own whims, which I certainly plan to.

Speaking of building things- the que is growing. Considerably. And fast. I cashed out some credit at the game store, got the new Kromac figure as well as a small unit of Trollkin Long Riders. While they aren't as big and imposing as the newer plastics, their bisons are quite large as it is.

I tried to take a quick photo of my finished Dwarfs and Orks, but the pictures came out severely washed out. Blah. It is frustrating because it makes my painting look quite simplistic and basic... which it usually is, yeah, but I do try and put a bit more effort into it than that. Of course after uploading it, I selected the darker filter, which makes things even more difficult to identify.

So Kingdom Death is going to arrive today, and I have nowhere to set it up. The horror!

As promised/ threatened last week, I told Barzam I would finish up all my Noh Empire stuff for Relic Knights. I started in earnest on my Hatriya warriors.

Now the thing is, as far as I can tell, there are NO painted samples out there really. While a few hobby bloggers have done work on the Noh, and there's some great examples out there, far better than mine, these dudes in particular are nowhere to be seen...yet. Which means there's no real good paint schemes to borrow or steal. Heck, the only sample I can find is from Sodapop's case at some convention, and even that is from a bad angle and you aren't able to see both of them.

To compound matters more, the artwork doesn't really match up with the actual models. In fact, the artwork is WAY cooler looking. I wish the models looked more like the line art. I'm not a big fan of either of their poses, but I'm also not in the mood to hack and melt them into a position I'm more satisfied with, so for the time being they're staying stock.

Since there aren't any painted samples out there, I did a very sloppy, rushed, slapdash base coating of them.


There's a lot of work ahead for these guys. Clouds and scarves need blending, armor needs detailing (like the faces on them), the belts and knots all need painting, I need to ink in the weapons, highlight and shade just about everything... it'll be a while.

Also- these guys are BIG. Those are 50mm bases. They're right next to that wall I've been using in the background lately. You can get a sense of height by checking out some of my other photos. I'm going to have to game the Song of Blades & Heroes system like my family members do when I put these guys to work.

Also wanted to get this guy done for Wednesday, what with it being Yom Kippur and all, but sadly he still isn't done.



Not many people realize just how pious Orcs are I guess.

Tekiah Gedolah!

I've got those Hatriya warriors to a decent tabletop quality paintjob. At least I'm not too embarrassed looking at them now.


Still need to do some cleanup on them, and feel like I should do something with the recesses in their weapons.

Hopefully the next time I play against Barzam and our cousin these guys can get fielded.

Despite selling a ton of stuff, consequently purchasing more, and having it pile up on my dining room table to build while I supervise homework, I haven't really started in on any of it yet.

I started working earnestly on my Kriel Warriors in the hopes of getting enough Trollbloods finished to use in a proper game of Kings of War the next time I have vacation. I know I'll need to invest in some movement trays, which is fine, but I really can't stand the one local store that is going to be hosting games. I don't like the staff, the people that game there are a bit too far over on the scary end of the gaming spectrum for my tastes... and yet that's the only real option.

Tossing metals warlocks and solos in, as well as warbeasts, I can probably put together a good 1500 points already. With the Kriels, a box of warders, and some scattergunners, I have a good 4 or 5 regiments, a horde or two, and a fair amount of heroes and monsters to bring along.



I'm trying to go through one color at a time, and hit all 13 of them, but that's a little easier said then done. Some figures are a bit farther along then others, with the guy in the rear probably the most furthest along. Hopefully I can get them all finished in the next week or so.

Progress continues on those Kriel warriors and their never ending supply of straps, buckles, random armor plates, and tartans.

A few Trolls are close to being done. Hopefully by next weekend. There's just so much tiny surface detail on them to take care of it's rather time consuming. I'm trying to do it all in batches, but it still is not so easy. I'm trying to vary up the armor and skin protrusions a bit to make the repeat sculpt a little different.

While I've been doing the trolls, I got back to work on this Noh Beastmaster, who was last seen around these parts back in May. He's coming along steadily. I'd done his paints and base skin back then, and nothing since. He should be finished for the next Song of Blades and Heroes encounter.



Maybe if I can stop buying Confrontation figures or backing Kickstarters I can wrap up the Noh stuff and complete the entire faction. Will probably pick up the ladies next.

The Oni are looking good. You need at least one blue one though. I suppose you could also use a Momotaro. I can't decide if I want my Mechanicus Menials to fight them (I'm pretty certain I can make my human bomb Junkers work) or if I want to field my psychic Soviets.

Have you received your Kingdom Death stuff yet?

Yeah, Kingdom Death came already. Last weekend in fact. I've tried to read through the rules but haven't had much time to due to kids' homework and birthdays.

Only built the beginning survivors for the prologue and the lion. Haven't touched anything else yet. Some of it I legitimately have no idea how it goes together.

Orcs and Dwarves and Oni-types are looking nice. I wish I'd gotten some of the Relic Knights Oni. I wasn't too fussed about all of the other stuff, but I did like the look of those, and you make them look very nice indeed.

Those AoW models are pretty sweet. I ordered their Chaos Ogre Lord guy the other week. I had no idea that the Orc or especially the Saurian were so large. I might have to pick those up next time I trade with the Troll.

The Noh are pretty nice. Sometimes there's some soft details, but even for a poor painter like me there's a lot of solid definite lines there to guide your brush. For the most part they're solid.

I too was surprised about the Avatars of War stuff. Most of the other AoW figures I have seem to fit in with other figures pretty well. That Saurian is especially large though. I'm going to have to pick up the other lizards at some point down the road. I don't think they'll be as big, but who knows.

The Noh look cool. They are impressive models.

Finished up the Noh Beastmaster. Started in on the big huge kitty that comes with Kasaro To. Will probably put pictures of it up tonight or tomorrow morning, depending on how busy today is (I've got parent conferences scheduled well past my contractual time). The things already got its base coats and I'm starting in on the detailing. The boss oni isn't far behind, and having just finished the Beastmaster I have a pretty good idea of how to get him done quickly as well.

While I've been working on my last few Noh I have been trying to get all these Kriel warriors finished as well.



We've got these two lovely ladies of the Kriel almost finished here, and you can see the Beastmaster hanging out with his Skaven scale reference buddy in the background.

I hate painting tartans. I figure I'll keep doing it, eventually I'll get better at it. Doesn't help that their clothes are flowing all over the place in folds and windblown positions. Makes it a pain. I don't know how my dad ever painted all those Highlander figures he's got in 1/32 scale. He painted so many tartans over the years! I ought to ask him what his technique was.

These two ladies are the most farthest along at this point- they need an ink wash, the lead lady needs her tongue painted, and other than basing they are just about finished. It will be nice getting them out of the way, because 13 trollbloods on 40mm bases do eat up a serious chunk of table space.

To be a proper beast master, I think that guy is going to need a couple of ferrets.

He can have the Skaven stand in as ferrets for now.

He also would need a panther to be a proper Beastmaster, wouldn't he?

I might have some (or all) of those animals laying around in Bones. Hmm...

I wouldn't mind getting his Hounds of Nozuki eventually. They're pretty large "hounds," considering they all sit on 40mm bases and take up a good chunk of it.

Big enough to swallow a human sized figure at least.

All in due time...