'Tell me, what is the greatest lie in all of Azyrheim? Surely, that we all "live in peace", is it not?' said Siegfried as he finished the last of his drink and set the pewter flask down upon the tavern table. 'Here in the lower levels, in the slums, Sigmar has forgotton us, be we Man, Aelf or Duardin. Our God is all but consumed with his war even while this city rots from the ground up.'
'You speak too much, Captain,' said the Aelf dressed in ancient armour. 'Will you take us or not?'
'The map is incomplete.'
'We are aware and had hoped you could circumvent any missing passages. Your reputation precedes you, after all.'
Siegfried smiled at her words. 'Do you have the coin?'
She tossed a rawhide pouch across the table.
'Then it would be my pleasure...' he regarded the second Aelf sat at the table, '...your Highness.'
Introduction
Once-upon-a-time there was a "world-that-was" and there was myself, happily returned to the hobby, taking the first steps into Warhammer Fantasy Battle with a growing Empire army. I made a blog which can be found here: link
But then that world blew up and everyone died... the end.
Fast forward 40,000 years (or thereabouts) and we are now in the Age of Sigmar. Same models, different bases, rules and fluff.
I love the rules. I love the bases. I love the freedom of army composition. The fluff...?
I'm still warming to it.
Where's the GW trademark grimdark? I don't buy it. If Man, Aelf and Duardin live in harmony in Azyrheim for what reason did Sigmar open the Realm Gates once more?
No. There must be a dark side, a rotten core. Sigmar to me is an incredibly petty God, prone to his obsessions and revenge. The people of Azyrheim have been left to their own devices: the fanatical zealots of cult Sigmar. The dispossessed Duardin with their grudges. The many facets of Aelfdom and the Free Peoples, all stepping on eachother's toes.
Azyrheim is a multicultural city like none before. And there is not a chance they are all living in harmony together.
That leads us to this blog. Here I will be doing my best to inject some grey back into Age of Sigmar whilst finding a home for my displaced 8th Edition army. Throughout I will be aiming to improve my painting too and of course have lots of fun along the way.
If you ever read my Necromunda blog (here), this one won't be as structured or narrative but I hope to have a fast pace and include some fun extras like battle reports and other things along the way.
Siegfried's Desperados
My 8th edition Empire army is evolving to the freedom Age of Sigmar offers. No longer are they the city guard of Altdorf, they are now known as 'The Desperados', a band of inter-realm smugglers, treasure hunters and misfits operating out of Azyrhiem. When Sigmar opened the realm gates once more an appetite for luxuries found beyond the Celestial Realm grew amoung the upper classes of society. Siegfried and his Desperados were some of the first to capitalise on this market.
The Mortal Realms are perilous especially beyond the areas newly liberated by Sigmar's rampaging Stormcasts, but for those willing to brave the dangers, the treasures to be found amongst the ruined cities are without count.
Siegfried Stormhart
Brash, compulsive and prone to vanity, Seigfried Stormhart is perhaps an unlikely leader of the Desperdos, however he has gotton his men out of enough dire situations to earn their respect. At a young age his mother would tell him wonderous stories of a "city-that-was", a place called Altdorf where the God, Sigmar, ruled when he was still a mortal man. His mother even claimed lineage from the city's nobility, an unknowable truth that Siegfried fiercely defends.
Intrigued by the ancient city still to this day he has dressed himself in the city's colours, red and blue, and many of his desperdos follow suite. Siegfried hopes that one day his adventures will lead him to stumble upon the location of this long lost city.
This model is really the last I painted for my 8th Edition Empire army (where he was intended not to be my general, merely a captain). I am particualry proud of his face, which I think came out very well. The highlights on his clothes are a bit sharp and untidy in my opinion. I am considering to switch to white undercoat for my remaining Empire models and I am interested to see how they will look side by side.
Once an Amethyst Wizard, Cornacaprious is now a wanted outlaw sought by many in Azyreim. Not long after the Realm Gates were reopened he came into possession of a book, the book of Nehek. This tome was filled with the dark secrets of Death Magic from Shyish, with one problem - it is written in a language dead for thousands of years.
He has agreed to work for Siegfried in return for the protection the Desperados offer as he travels the Mortal Realms seeking to learn the ancient language the book of Nehek is written in.
This miniature was my first attempt at painting from a white undercoat. I largely painted the lighter tones first and then inked down to create shadows. It was a learning process indeed, but a fun and rewarding one! I really think white undercoat is going to help improve my painting I just need to make sure I get a smooth finish from the spray, as it came out grainy this time.
I love the ideas and the presentation. Nice graphic design.
I think that AoS has so much potential for a dark side, more so than the Old World even, and I think it is a bit of a shame we have only been given a look at the Eternals so far. Like you I wanted to dive right in and get started on something else, but there is always the risk that what you do won't fit in with what GW does, when it eventually does it.
I suspect that the germanic influence will be dialed down when it comes to the human survivors, possibly the religious side (fanatics and such) dialed up. I hope that elves and dwarfs are re-imagined quite dramatically It is frustrating there aren't many hints about it yet.
The book of Nehek - Summoning Incantation of Spirit Hosts
The nefarious studies of Cornacaprious (The Desperados' Necromancer), have yielded its first dark fruit. Cornacaprious has unlocked an incantation to summon a host of spirits at his bidding.
This is what I love about Age of Sigmar. I'm starting a Vampire Count army essentially, but until it is ready to be a force in its own right I can add it into my existing Empire army. No books needed, no complicated allying rules, just a narrative about a rogue wizard slowly being corrupted by the book he carries.
These models were an absolute joy to paint.
- White Undercoat
- Nihilakh Oxide
- Lahmian Medium + Biel-Tan Green 50/50 applied in recesses
- Celestra Grey first highlight
- Pallid Wych Flesh second hightlight
I enjoyed painting them so much I am going to do a Banshee and some Hexwraiths in a similar scheme.
Very cool project so far! I especially like how you encapsulate it here:
Bottle wrote: That leads us to this blog. Here I will be doing my best to inject some grey back into Age of Sigmar whilst finding a home for my displaced 8th Edition army. Throughout I will be aiming to improve my painting too and of course have lots of fun along the way.
Some "grey" would be most welcome in Age of Sigmar, and I really like the look of the models and the story you have started here.
Paradigm wrote:Excellent! I really liked your WFB stuff, and you seem to be continuing in the same vein here! Keep it coming!
Thanks man! The WFB stuff has been on hold for a little while with the uncertainty before AoS, so it's great to be back.
Bruticus wrote:I love the ideas and the presentation. Nice graphic design.
I think that AoS has so much potential for a dark side, more so than the Old World even, and I think it is a bit of a shame we have only been given a look at the Eternals so far. Like you I wanted to dive right in and get started on something else, but there is always the risk that what you do won't fit in with what GW does, when it eventually does it.
I suspect that the germanic influence will be dialed down when it comes to the human survivors, possibly the religious side (fanatics and such) dialed up. I hope that elves and dwarfs are re-imagined quite dramatically It is frustrating there aren't many hints about it yet.
Good start, keep it up
Really interesting comment, yes there's a chance that any story I make doesn't fit with GW's fluff later on. Hopefully there will still be trade and commerce between cities though (surely!?) because that would also hint at crime, smuggling and all those black market pastimes I need here :-)
Littletower wrote:Great start, Wizard looks very good.
Will be waiting for more!
Thanks!
Paradigm wrote:Those minis look sooooo much better on round bases! The awesome paintwork helps!
Yeah, I love the circle bases. It really enhances the miniatures, but the models that have improved the most are cavalry with their oval bases! Can't wait to post some here.
RiTides wrote:Very cool project so far! I especially like how you encapsulate it here:
Bottle wrote: That leads us to this blog. Here I will be doing my best to inject some grey back into Age of Sigmar whilst finding a home for my displaced 8th Edition army. Throughout I will be aiming to improve my painting too and of course have lots of fun along the way.
Some "grey" would be most welcome in Age of Sigmar, and I really like the look of the models and the story you have started here.
Thanks very much! I hope it stays as interesting as the project grows.
I have to agree with you on round bases. ESPECIALLY when the whole mini is contained in the base (I hope you get what I mean), or atleast is for the most part. That is really nice looking!
The book of Nehek, Chapter 2 - Summoning Incantation of Deathrattle Warriors
The clatter of shields, the rattle of bones. Warriors of Death slowly approach.
Cornacaprious has unlocked more mysteries from the book of Nehek. Now he can summon forth long dead warriors from ages forgotten to wage war once more.
Here is my first unit of Deathrattle Skeleton Warriors armed with swords and tomb shields.
I had an absolute blast painting these miniatures, some of the most enjoyable to paint miniatures I have ever had.
Again, these where painted from a white undercoat. I took extra time on the rusty metals. I wanted to use the turquoise of Nihilahk Oxide to give them an ethereal and fantastical touch. I think I pulled it off convincingly, but I would love to hear your thoughts.
The pink makes a nice colour to contrast with, the scheme was taken from the new studio Death army.
I think at some point I would like more skeleton warriors to paint. Perhaps some Grave Guard next time...
Cornacaprious can summon quite a legion now. See the force all mustered below:
LeCacty wrote:I have to agree with you on round bases. ESPECIALLY when the whole mini is contained in the base (I hope you get what I mean), or atleast is for the most part. That is really nice looking!
LeCacty wrote:AWWW YISS SKELETONS!
Stop making me want to buy skeletons. Stahp.
Thanks! And yes, I love the round bases. One of the best things about AoS for me.
toasteroven wrote: Some really nice painting and modeling. Those skeletons are almost enough to convert me over to the round bases side. Almost.
I hope AoS allows and even encourages the sort of storytelling you're doing.
Not to derail the thread but I think that was the intent. If you wanna converse about it let's PM so we don't distract from PURPLE SKELETONS OHMYGOD I WANT, *ahem* Sorry.
Bottle, loved your Necromunda blog. Really like the work you are doing here as well. Your empire / VC models are top notch.
I personally don't like the direction AoS has taken, but I have been having fun with my fantasy models in other games such as Mordheim and Song of Blades and Heroes. Keep up the good work and I'm glad you're having so much fun with it!!
Feels pretty cool considering I visit the blog every day (even Sundays...).
Maybe one day I can aim for actually being featured in the post? Guy can dream right? I'll probably have to get a better photo set up than an iPhone and a piece of A4 paper though :-P
Januine wrote:ooooh - some vrey very nice stuff here! I'm in!! Particularly like your Cornacaprious fig. Tidy stuff bottle
Gomawoyo! I love your work, so it's great to hear that from you.
toasteroven wrote:Some really nice painting and modeling. Those skeletons are almost enough to convert me over to the round bases side. Almost.
I hope AoS allows and even encourages the sort of storytelling you're doing.
Thanks! When you play a pile in, round base on round base, you'll never want to go back. Trust me ;-)
My biggest problem with AoS so far is how dull the background is to the game. Especially compared to the Old World. I really hope with time GW can improve it as they expand it. If not, I'll just stick with my version of things :-)
LeCacty wrote:
toasteroven wrote: Some really nice painting and modeling. Those skeletons are almost enough to convert me over to the round bases side. Almost.
I hope AoS allows and even encourages the sort of storytelling you're doing.
Not to derail the thread but I think that was the intent. If you wanna converse about it let's PM so we don't distract from PURPLE SKELETONS OHMYGOD I WANT, *ahem* Sorry.
Haha. I stole the colour scheme from GW. Love those purple robes they have done one of their death armies in!
squall018 wrote:Bottle, loved your Necromunda blog. Really like the work you are doing here as well. Your empire / VC models are top notch.
I personally don't like the direction AoS has taken, but I have been having fun with my fantasy models in other games such as Mordheim and Song of Blades and Heroes. Keep up the good work and I'm glad you're having so much fun with it!!
Cheers, It's really nice to hear you liked my Necromunda too (still my favorite GW game ever!) The Necromunda thread will come back eventually. I've been eyeing up my Ratskins recently... but no. I have to stay focused on AoS for now.
In the end I do want to expand into other games with my miniatures. Mordheim is an option (can it be played with round bases?) and also some AoS meets Warhammer Quest hybrid. So much gaming to do, so little free time...
rhesusforbreakfast wrote:This blog is the first thing to make me excited for AoS. Can't wait to see more from you.
More of my old 8th Edition Empire have passed through the realmgates to Azyrheim (i.e. have been rebased onto a circle base). This time it's Wolmar Held, Battle Standard Bearer, pledging his service once more to Siegfried.
Sigmar might have forgotten about the lowly denizens of Azryheim, but the Free Peoples are a suspicious lot and the Desperados are no exception. Wolmar Held carries the Desperado's totem aloft no matter how dank or dark the dungeons they find themselves in across the Mortal Realms.
What's next?
I have lots on my painting station that I am hoping to finish soon. Cornacaprious has been busy delving into the dark arts and I have a Wight King, Tomb Banshee, Cairn Wraith and Hexwriaths all nearing completion.
Meanwhile Siegfried has been making allies among the outcasts of Azyrheim. I have two High Aelf heroes coming as well as a Duadrin Warmachine. All coming soon!
LeCacty wrote:WOW DUDE! Congrats! Seriously! You definitely deserve to be up there
Thanks a lot, mate! I was really stoked. Hoping to appear on it more if I can!
Azazelx wrote:Great work, that Undead warband looks fantastic!
Thanks, Azazelx. I am a big fan of your blog too, so that's nice to hear. :-)
The Duardin of Azryheim are known as the “Dispossessed”, stripped of their homelands, their mines and their fortunes. They have been refugees for an age ever since Sigmar first closed off the realm of Azyr. Through that time they have never forgotten nor forgiven any who have wronged them, for the Duardin are notorious for the grudges they bear.
Now that Sigmar has reopened the realm gates the Duardin have began to cast their gaze back across the Mortal Realms once more. The great Steam Guilds of Azyrheim each crafting their own plans to retake the lost holds or to carve fortunes anew.
Expeditions of Prospectors, Surveyors and Cartographers have been sent out to map the Mortal Realms and it is not uncommon to see bands of Duardin alongside armies of Free Peoples or Aelves selling thier services in battle for the chance to chart unexplored territories.
Prospector Glimmer
Prospector Glimmer of the Ironfire Guild has joined Siegfried and the Desperados under the provision of first mining rights on all potential rare metals found as well as a cut in the treasure. The Ironfire Guild has provided a Battle Cannon to Siegfried with the promise of reinforcements if their ventures are successful.
These are models from the old Battle For Skull Pass (the WHFB 7th Edition Starter Set). They are not the greatest of sculpts but to me they have some charm. I wanted to experiment with them a little bit, so I went for a NMM (non-metallic metal) approach to try and recreate a cartoony appearance similar to say, World of Warcraft.
There are no complicated blends, so it's not a true NMM style. Instead matt base coats and simple edge highlights for grey and gold pieces. What do you think?
This Cannon has been nicknamed "Baby Cannon" as it is fielded next to my Empire Great Cannon in games. It fits perfectly on a 40mm base, and the only word I can think to describe it is... "cute", haha.
Like my Vampire Counts models, these Dwarfs will eventually become an army in their own right. I have plans to paint the Thunderers from the BFSP set next and then perhaps to add new models. I love the Gyrocopter and the Ironbreakers, so those are strong candidates.
What do you think of my Duardin?
....and that's not all. Cornacaprious is still busy binding dead souls to do his bidding....
Cracking stuff as usual! Love those Dwarves, and the Undead remain fantastic!
That style of NMM is one I personally prefer over the uber-shiny look. The thing I've found helps a lot (which you might have already done, but I'll suggest it anyway) is washes; purple over your 'gold', black or very thin blue over your silver/steel, works a treat to just tie the highlighting in a bit more and add another layer of depth.
Thanks for all the replies everyone, it's really encouraging to hear!
Da Boss wrote:Fantastic work. Your undead are amazing, love the corroded bronze weapons. But everything is gorgeous.
Thank you :-) I think it turned out really well too. I am a big fan of GWs Nihilakh Oxide and Ryza Rust, both of which got used a lot on the Skeletons' weapons and shields.
Paradigm wrote:Cracking stuff as usual! Love those Dwarves, and the Undead remain fantastic!
That style of NMM is one I personally prefer over the uber-shiny look. The thing I've found helps a lot (which you might have already done, but I'll suggest it anyway) is washes; purple over your 'gold', black or very thin blue over your silver/steel, works a treat to just tie the highlighting in a bit more and add another layer of depth.
Hmm, that's really interesting. Do you have a link to any guides? I only used good ol' Agrax Earthshade on the metal parts of these models, but I would be very interested in improving my technique!
Januine wrote:Beautiful work yet again B. Keep 'em coming
Cheers Januine!
nathanie1 wrote:So very cool, your skills as a model maker and painter are so complimentary, subbed, subbed subbed subbed subbed
Thank you! Although I don't think I am much of a modeler, just a painter. It's one thing I worry about with my blogs - I come up with stories for all my miniatures to try to bring them alive, but I never attempt conversions or the like. I wonder if there is ever a disconnection between the two sides because of this...
GiraffeX wrote:That's really cool on the Flickr page, keep up the great work.
Yeah I was stoked!
LeCacty wrote:I can't get over the round bases.That cannon is really great!
Agreed. Round bases has to be the BEST part of Age of Sigmar, haha.
Kommissar Waaaghrick wrote:Oh my Zog these are so good. I'm ashamed of my army now.
Haha! No way. But thank you :-D
And now for something completely different
So as well as painting warhammer, one of my hobbies is messing around in Photoshop and InDesign. You might have guessed from the level of presentation this blog aspires to. Anyway, I had this crazy idea to make my own Battletome...
And this weekend I put in lots of the ground work. Please see some of the mock ups below!
<Edit - Pictures removed, you can see the whole thing just below :-) >
The idea is to have 8 pages in total. 6 that detail the story around my Desperados and 2 that are appendix pages for reference. I would then print out all my warscrolls and add them to the back of the book to create a nice gaming aid.
What do you think of the mock-ups so far? I've actually almost finished the entire thing, so I need to turn my attention to the last few remaining models to reach my first milestone with this project.
No link to a guide for the NMM, I'm afraid, it's just something I came across reading years ago, always thought it was a bit of an urban myth, and then actually tried it and it worked a treat.
Please behold below my custom Battletome! 8 Pages, that hopefully weaves a tale of Siegfried and the Desperados amidst the dark and corrupted world of Azyrheim. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! (Especially spelling and grammatical errors - already noticed "Siegfried" is misspelt on page 4...)
Hopefully it will catch the eye of my opponent when I next go to GW for a game :-P
Page 1
Spoiler:
Page 2
Spoiler:
Page 3
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Page 4
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Page 5
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Page 6
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Page 7
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Page 8
Spoiler:
Paradigm wrote:No link to a guide for the NMM, I'm afraid, it's just something I came across reading years ago, always thought it was a bit of an urban myth, and then actually tried it and it worked a treat.
Those pages look very nicely done!
No worries! I am already trying it out on some miniatures. The blue wash seems to be working well so far :-D
THIS! Is what I feel AoS was made for! You should write Codices for Geedubs, but first we'd need to inject pure evil and anti-consumerism into you! MWAHAHAHAHA!
Agreed, every time I see a post about this army or the school leage 30-model format, I'm so very tempted to start up a small force with all kinds of kits that I'd never want to build a full army for. I think I could even (just about) manage to get that all painted to a decent standard without getting too distracted!
Bah round bases! Seriously though it's nice to see regular humans in AoS. The gritty heroic underdogs vs the hugely powerful evil overlords was a big part of Warhammer to me. I'm still not particularly interested in making the change as I want massed ranked infantry blocks myself but hey if your enjoying it. Beautiful models and the flexibility of the smaller model count is a huge advantage.
Cornacaprious never rests! He has captured the soul of a Tomb Banshee and a Cairn Wraith to summon up in battle.
He has also reanimated a Wight King to lead the Deathrattle hordes.
This largely finishes my Death models for the moment (although I do have 5 Hexwraiths coming too). I'm am now moving onto 2 High Elf heroes and a big rebasing project for my old Empire to get my 30 model school league army all finished.
The Wight King came out a little messy unfortunately. He won't be a part of my "Desperado" army (as he cannot be summoned), but will become part of my larger Death Army once it is big enough.
I found it incredibly hard to take good photos of both the Cairn Wraith and the Tomb Banshee together due to how dark one is and how bright the other is haha. I will try and add more photos in future posts.
The Cairn Wraith is one of my favourite models ever so I am really happy to have one all painted up.
I decided to do the Tomb Banshee monotone to fit in with the Spirit Hosts, what do you think?
I was going to do the Hexwraiths in the same scheme but have since changed my mind and the Hexwraiths will be in black robes to fit with the Cairn Wraith.
It's been a busy few days if you can tell! But I am pretty happy with this productive push :-D
... More to come
Automatically Appended Next Post:
LeCacty wrote:THIS! Is what I feel AoS was made for! You should write Codices for Geedubs, but first we'd need to inject pure evil and anti-consumerism into you! MWAHAHAHAHA!
Haha thanks man, and I agree. Age of Sigmar is best for letting your creative juices go wild! And that's why I am having so much fun.
Agreed, every time I see a post about this army or the school leage 30-model format, I'm so very tempted to start up a small force with all kinds of kits that I'd never want to build a full army for. I think I could even (just about) manage to get that all painted to a decent standard without getting too distracted!
Cracking work on that document. Inspiring stuff!
Thanks Paradigm! The prolific painter that you are, I am sure you could create a 30 model force in no time at all :-) let's see it! I know you already have your fanatsy models on circle bases.
Llamahead wrote:Bah round bases! Seriously though it's nice to see regular humans in AoS. The gritty heroic underdogs vs the hugely powerful evil overlords was a big part of Warhammer to me. I'm still not particularly interested in making the change as I want massed ranked infantry blocks myself but hey if your enjoying it. Beautiful models and the flexibility of the smaller model count is a huge advantage.
I think there's a compliment in there somewhere ;-) I agree the charm of Warhammer was the little guys. That was the reason I collected Empire. That charm is still there in my opinion, only now the other guys are even bigger!
I haven't posted much of my Empire as they are due a rebase. But I plan to do some more Empire units soon. (I have a unit of Hunstmen I am dying to paint)
Januine wrote:Stunning stuff there Bottle. Absolutely cracking work. 잔짜좋다!!!
extremely productive. I really like the Wight King - I admire your neat+tidy style but I think the slightly looser paintjob on the Wight looks great, I love the dirty bone colour and dirty, rusty armour.
Very nice, perfect for the Season of the Witch indeed. I particularly like the banshee and the rust looks fantastic on the wight and that scythe wielding fellow.
Niiiccee!
Great painting and a very enjoyable backstory.
Definitely going into the inspiration folder. How did you paint the ghosts and banshee, love the effect.
Thanks Paradigm! The prolific painter that you are, I am sure you could create a 30 model force in no time at all :-) let's see it! I know you already have your fanatsy models on circle bases.
I probably could, especially if it were a mix of stuff rather than the same over and over again. The hard part would be halting at 30 models... My first force would have to take advantage of the alliance potential, which would then become two separate forces, which would then need opposing forces, which would then need allies of their own... So on and so forth. If I had a gaming group open to playing AoS (or scratch that, a gaming group at all) then it could well happen...
Just throwing some stuff out there, how would this work as an army with the 30-model school league rules? I'm not overly concerned about effectiveness, more just synergy and coherency and having all my bases covered.
Spoiler:
Elves:
High Elf prince on Griffon
5 Dragon Princes of Caledor
Empire:
2 Empire Wizards
10 State Troops of some variety
Dwarves:
some kind of Big Gun (do these count as 1 model or do I need to count the crew?)
10 of whatever the gunners are
Master Engineer or whatever he is?
30 minis, got a little bit of everything in. Would that be workable?
Thank you everyone for the kind words about the Wight King. I had thought he came out messy to begin with, so it's nice to know others like him. I snapped a few more pictures for a better view.
I also got to play with my Death army as a standalone force on Friday at the local GW - I would like to do some full on battle reports in future (like I did with my Necromunda), but I don't have the set up at home just yet so this single picture snapped in the GW is all I can offer :-P
LeCacty wrote:Great work as usual. The wight king is such a cool model. I really need to pick one up. Any plans for black knights and/or krell?
Thanks! I'm doing some Hexwraiths at the moment. Krell is a super model but I am pretty scared of finecast. I am painting two High Aelven heroes right now at the experience has just been horrible :-(
Black Knights are a maybe for the future! I find the Vampire Count models so quick to paint I could see myself growing a large army of them!
Bruticus wrote:extremely productive. I really like the Wight King - I admire your neat+tidy style but I think the slightly looser paintjob on the Wight looks great, I love the dirty bone colour and dirty, rusty armour.
Great work on the army book too.
Thanks man!
Januine wrote:loving that wight king - think i'm gonna have to get one!
Does this mean we get to see you do fantasy, Januine? Or do you imagine some cool Admech conversion....
MuchoDonchatz wrote:Very nice, perfect for the Season of the Witch indeed. I particularly like the banshee and the rust looks fantastic on the wight and that scythe wielding fellow.
Sadly my Hexwraiths are already half painted so don't qualify under the rules! Maybe something for November?
Modhail wrote:Niiiccee!
Great painting and a very enjoyable backstory.
Definitely going into the inspiration folder. How did you paint the ghosts and banshee, love the effect.
Thanks! I am a really big fan of your work, so that's nice to hear from you.
The Ghosts were super easy to paint, and very fun:
- White Undercoat
- Nihilakh Oxide
- Lahmian Medium + Biel-Tan Green 50/50 applied in recesses
- Celestra Grey first highlight
- Pallid Wych Flesh second hightlight
Paradigm wrote:If you do have any deathy, magicy or spooky stuff left to do, then they'd be most welcome entries to the challenge!
Thanks Paradigm! The prolific painter that you are, I am sure you could create a 30 model force in no time at all :-) let's see it! I know you already have your fanatsy models on circle bases.
I probably could, especially if it were a mix of stuff rather than the same over and over again. The hard part would be halting at 30 models... My first force would have to take advantage of the alliance potential, which would then become two separate forces, which would then need opposing forces, which would then need allies of their own... So on and so forth. If I had a gaming group open to playing AoS (or scratch that, a gaming group at all) then it could well happen...
Just throwing some stuff out there, how would this work as an army with the 30-model school league rules? I'm not overly concerned about effectiveness, more just synergy and coherency and having all my bases covered.
Spoiler:
Elves:
High Elf prince on Griffon
5 Dragon Princes of Caledor
Empire:
2 Empire Wizards
10 State Troops of some variety
Dwarves:
some kind of Big Gun (do these count as 1 model or do I need to count the crew?)
10 of whatever the gunners are
Master Engineer or whatever he is?
30 minis, got a little bit of everything in. Would that be workable?
It would be very workable! The only thing is the gun does instead count the crew as separate models (so a cannon would be 4 models for example). Of course a Gyrocopter or Gyrobomber could be a great addition.
And I am in the exact same boat as you. I have my current 30 model army almost to completion (Siegfried's Desperados), but after that I want to expand the Duardin and Death into separate 30 model armies each and dust off my Night Goblins for a 4th 30 model army....
Gallahad wrote:Great painting. I love the face and reds on Cornacaprious in particular. Thank you for sharing!
Smugglers, brigands, sell-swords and deviant scum. Seigfried and his Desperados have been called all and worse. Some of it might even be true... for the right coin, of course.
The Desperados are a motley crew of misfits if ever there was, but who would expect anything else from the city of Azyrheim? Man, Duardin and Aelf fight side-by-side, some under the banner of Sigmar, others for gold and others still for reasons unknown. And yet it is Siegfried they follow across the Mortal Realms, exploring lost tombs and crumbling cities to seek fortune and glory.
For every player making the transition from WHFB to AoS there is one decision we must all make...
Do I rebase my existing army?
Over the next few weeks I plan to move all my painted Empire models onto round and oval bases. Here we have the first 10 Swordsmen to make the transition as they will be part of my 30 model "School League" army.
I love round bases. Not only do the models look better, they also look much more imposing. 10 models standing flush on square bases doesn't have much of a footprint, but 10 on circle bases in a loose formation looks quite formidable on the battlefield.
These models were painted close to a year ago, and with a black undercoat. I think my painting has improved lots since but they don't look too shabby.
They are very much still Altdorf City Guard in appearance despite me rebranding them as the "Desperados". Again this is something that every player making the transition has to deal with too, how does my army fit into the new fluff? When I have the chance to paint some new Empire to add to these regiments I will start to play down the reds and blues in favour of natural leathers and creams to give them a more rag-tag appearance.
LeCacty wrote:Hexwraiths, black nights, same thing, eh? Horsey dead men. And yea, I feel your pain on finecast. Metal can be bad, but not THAT bad.
Oh, I disagree! Metal is fine to work with, all my Necromunda is metal and I love it. Metal doesn't have air bubbles or crumbling detail, hardly any flash and stuff that's bent out of shape can just be bent back again :-P
Azazelx wrote:Great work on the dwarves, and I love what you've been doing with the undead - both the ethereals and also the black-robed and corporeal ones.
Thanks! I have some Hexwraiths coming to join my Cairn Wraith and they will be in matching black robes to extend the theme!
Thanks for reading and for all the comments as always everyone!
Excellent work, Bottle. You seriously tempt me to rebase all 100+ of my Night Goblins for AOS. Maybe I'll give the new rules a try first, haha. I'd love to see some action shots of the Desperados in-game. The paintjobs must look striking on the field.
Of all the races that took refuge in Azyrheim it is perhaps the Aelves who struggled to adapt the most. The feuds and rivalries of the Aelves were brought with them to the city and now play out in close quarters and behind closed doors. Political intrigue is rife among the Aelven nobility, where lands long lost from the Mortal Realms beyond are still bartered and fought for. Down the dark corridors of the Aelven palaces at night can be heard the footfall of exiled assassins as they bring plots to dark fruition.
After a bloody night of executions, Shiran-khan found herself the last in her bloodline and heir to a lost Kingdom. Fearing for her life she fled the Aelven palaces accompanied only by her loyal handmaiden.
With the Realm Gates open once more , Shiran-khan now has a chance to return to her family’s Kingdom and lay claim to her bloodright, but getting there will be no easy task.
This was my first time ever dealing with Finecast and I came to loathe it haha. The sprues arrived with so much flash I had to carve out the legs from the resin. Air bubbles a plenty, warped sections too. When I sprayed with my white undercoat I made the mistake of spraying from too far away causing a grainy finish on the models... I really wanted to throw them away at points.
I persevered though, and while I don't think this is my finest work (especially under close scrutiny) and am still happy with how they turned out in the end!
And this marks a historic landmark in the project! My 30 (+15) model army (designed under GW's School league Rules) is complete!
Here are all my heroes assembled above, making up a D&D style party. I haven't shown the final empire rebasing yet, so stay tuned for a full army showcase ASAP. What is especially nice for me is it is almost exactly a year since I got back into the hobby and painted up the Bright Wizard shown above.
great stuff as ever Bottle. One tiny thing I noticed - might try adn smooth out the transitions on the Aelvean cloaks though. Lovely looking band coming together there though
Good stuff! Is that still NMM on the elves? (if it is then well done, if people have to ask whether you've used NMM or regular metallics then it's mission accomplished!)
I'd agree about the cloaks, though, they do stick out when the rest of the model is so smoothly done.
youidiotkid wrote:Excellent work, Bottle. You seriously tempt me to rebase all 100+ of my Night Goblins for AOS. Maybe I'll give the new rules a try first, haha. I'd love to see some action shots of the Desperados in-game. The paintjobs must look striking on the field.
Thank you! and that's great to hear :-) actually I have 100+ Night Goblins I need to rebase too (and largely paint, haha) But that's a project I am keeping in the pipeline for now :-P
I'll try and do some battle reports soon, most of the players in my local GW field grey models though (which is a shame), and often half assembled models (an even bigger shame). But when I get a chance to play another fully painted force I am going to take many pics!
Januine wrote:great stuff as ever Bottle. One tiny thing I noticed - might try adn smooth out the transitions on the Aelvean cloaks though. Lovely looking band coming together there though
Thanks man! Yeah... I was rushing these a little by the end. I bought some paints to fill the gaps so I can smooth out those blends.
LeCacty wrote:I agree with jan on the cloaks, but I think that may just be because of how damn colorful they are!
Amazing work, as usual though!
Thanks!
Paradigm wrote:Good stuff! Is that still NMM on the elves? (if it is then well done, if people have to ask whether you've used NMM or regular metallics then it's mission accomplished!)
I'd agree about the cloaks, though, they do stick out when the rest of the model is so smoothly done.
Yeah, I tried that blue wash technique you mentioned :-) again, I don't think this NMM is my finest work by any stretch, but they look nice from 4ft away haha. All your comments have made me decide to revisit the cloaks to smooth them out.
Mymearan wrote:Wonderful work as always Bottle!
Thanks Mym!
Here is the rest of the Empire I have been rebasing:
As mentioned before this is my School League army 100% painted. I will get an army showcase together as soon as I can. Unfortunately I don't have the set up at home (all the pics you see here are just taken on A4 paper with an iphone), so I was hoping to get some photos in my local GW, but I am off sick with a cold at the moment so maybe next week :-)
Lovely stuff there Bottle. Particularly like what I'm now calling the Soju Gunner - fella on a horse blasting off rounds and packing a few bottles of the evil stuff on his saddle. Great work!
I really like your painting style. It's not the cleanest when it comes to blends etc, but it doesn't matter because you're great at putting highlights in the right color, where they belong, which is more important imo than blending.
Januine wrote:Lovely stuff there Bottle. Particularly like what I'm now calling the Soju Gunner - fella on a horse blasting off rounds and packing a few bottles of the evil stuff on his saddle. Great work!
Haha yes! A new name for him. He has D3 shots with his gun but I should only allow wanshat!.
LeCacty wrote:Awesome riders! I personally would have found some helmets for them but these actually look nice (I hate the default outrider heads)
I like their mustachioed faces haha. The pistoliers heads are being used for an upcoming Halberdiers unit! What sort of helmets would you use?
impulse wrote:Wow, very inspirational! I only wish I had a gaming group who'd be interested in something like this.
Thanks man! Do you just mean AoS?
Winter wrote:Awesome work, really great use of colour and the freehand on the banner was awesomely executed.
Would be nice to see some more inventive basing, but it's hardly something to fault you on.
Thanks! Yeah, they do get my little pointy toadstools on bases as a personal flair but I tried to largely mirror the studio bases. I have a Mortach to paint up and hope to do something more exciting with that base!
Mymearan wrote:I really like your painting style. It's not the cleanest when it comes to blends etc, but it doesn't matter because you're great at putting highlights in the right color, where they belong, which is more important imo than blending.
Thanks man. Yeah I try to paint as quickly as I can which means not always devoting as much time as I can to blends. These Empire guys were painted close to a year ago now and from black undercoat. I can't wait to paint some empire with my new painting style (which you can see best on my undead)
Age of Sigmar needs more good press, regardless of how (if at all) you comp it.
I have one tiny wrinkle though, with your amazing battle-tome. If you aren't in the mood for a bit of grammar correction, please ignore the spoiler.
Spoiler:
Your beautiful battle tome has the following line, "Your reputation proceeds you.". The phrase would actually be, "Your reputation precedes you."
This is because in this case, his reputation is so strong that people have heard of him and can formulate an opinion about him before having actually met him.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Is there any chance you'll be doing a Nagash? I'd love to see your paint scheme on one of those.
Great stuff. Scintillating and inspiring. It's amazing how great the old models look on round bases. I also love the "warband" or D&D adventurer (as you said) vibe of the heroes all together.
This is top-notch work. Incredible paint jobs, and I really love the fluff you've given your army. I think it's really cool what you're doing with AoS and I hope to see more!
Well, you know I don't like to post without an update, so here's a unit I finished today!
10 Duardin Thunderers to accompany Siegfried and his men.
These models are from Battle For Skull Pass and look a little goofy, but I have had them lying around for almost 10 years so it was time I painted them! I am trying out new things on these dwarves - firstly I am trying to speed paint them from a white undercoat and secondly I am trying out a few NMM painting styles. I am going to limit any NMM to these dwarves as I think it gives them a nice cartoony-world-of-warcraft look but will stick with traditional metalics on my Empire and Undead.
I mentioned I am trying to speed paint them from a white undercoat, I'll give you a rough idea of what I mean: (big images within)
Spoiler:
Step 1 is to paint the highlight colour straight onto the white undercoat. For example with the flesh, where I would have started with 'Bugman's Glow' I now jump straight to 'Kislev Flesh'.
The advantage of the white undercoat is layer paints get good enough coverage straight away - and if the undercoat does poke through, it's white rather than black and so adds to the highlights later.
Step 2 is to apply all the washes. For example the flesh has Reikland Fleshshade painted onto it. Because the models were so bright to begin with this stage is akin to dipping. I think if the bases were tidied up this would make a fine table top standard.
Step 3 is to highlight all the colours, using that layer paint again and then mixing it 50/50 with Pallid Wytch Flesh for the final highlight. You can see the highlights are bold and crass under scrutiny, but from table-top eye level they look great and really pop.
Step 4 was to do all the NMM and finish the bases - viola!
I have big plans for this thread in 2016.
Not one, not two, but FIVE armies are planned! With a stronger return to the narrative snippets I have been a little lax on recently. I want to thank you all for following this thread in 2015, and I promise to get a whole army shot of Siegfried's Desperados soon, it's difficult with my iPhone and a piece of A4 paper!
I see other P&M Blogs are doing an end of year recap - I'm not going to post anything in depth, but I thought I would post where my painting was at the start of 2015, and how far it has progressed:
Start of 2015
At the start of the year I was still painting my Empire swordsmen which was the FIRST Warhammer regiment I ever completed. I had only been back into the hobby for a couple of months, and this regiment seemed like a mammoth task at the time!
End of 2015
I'm going to choose the above image as my best work in 2015 - hopefully you can see the improvement from the swordsmen to the Undead. One of the big changes for me was moving to white undercoat which I vastly prefer. This image was also featured in the little flickr pool box on the 'What's New Today' which while might not be an impressive feat for many, made me very happy all the same!
Goals for 2016
So what can you expect from bottle in 2016...
MORE UNDEAD - I think everyone likes my undead (I do too), the only reason there hasn't been more of them is because I have a big painting backlog I am trying to clear! My Undead army will expand in 2016, do not worry.
MORE EMPIRE - All the Empire in this thread have been rebasings of my old 8th Edition army. I want to paint some new Empire models from white undercoat and develop the colour scheme to move away from the strictly Altdorf scheme but still matching my current models. I already have some Empire Huntsmen in the pipeline...
MORE BIG KITS - Sometimes my blog feels like; infantry, infantry and more infantry... I want to do some bigger kits. Looking in my painting backlog I have 2 Rat Ogre's, 3 River Trolls and 1 Mortach to begin ;-)
MORE ARMIES - Did I just mention Rat Ogres and River Trolls?? Yep, Night Goblins and Skaven will get added to this blog in 2016, although they won't be fighting on Siegfried's side...
MORE NECROMUNDA - Well, not really relevant here. But in case you're interested, there will be a second chapter to 'The Good, The Bad and the Deviant Scum'.
CLEAR THE BACKLOG - Apparently, it's not as serious as Paradigm's, but I do have a lot of models without a lick of paint on them. For me it's actually an issue of space and storage and so I am taking drastic measures this year. I am only going to buy 6 new miniature kits (well, that's the plan). Now, this could be 6 starter sets, or 6 clamp packs, but I am imposing this limit on myself to help manage my projects. (Note, this only applies to miniatures. I can buy as much terrain, books, paints etc as I want :-P)
BUILD AN AOS GAMING TABLE - I have a whole set up for Necromunda, but when it comes to playing AoS at home my armies are running around on blank boards of MDF in between the unpainted mausoleums from a Gardens of Moor set. It's time to change that!
Very cool tutorial too, loved it.
I bet you cant wait for the FIre Slayers
Oh you bet, my body is more than ready, haha!
Actually all this Dwarf prep is exactly for the upcoming Fyre Slayers.
Thanks to everyone for the positive comments on the Dwarf Thunderers! I have a few more stunties on the conveyor belt at the moment so expect some more soon :-)
A very impressive improvement! Those undead push me towards doing some of my own every time I see them!
My own backlog isn't too horrific, most of it is stuff bought ages ago before I really got into painting, most new stuff I buy gets painted fairly promptly.
Love the models, and the story behind them, though I've got to ask, are you going to write about any of their adventures, or just the history of the beautiful models. If the first is true please include some Wood Elves...
Hey did anyone read 'What's New Today', today? You may have noticed some familiar miniatures haha
I am so stoked! It also makes me happy that my Tomb Banshee and Spirit Host are framed on an incredibly old OOP piece of GW Dwarf Scenery mwhahahaha
The next goal has to be getting in White Dwarf or Warhammer Visions!
The_Grey_Knight wrote: Love the models, and the story behind them, though I've got to ask, are you going to write about any of their adventures, or just the history of the beautiful models. If the first is true please include some Wood Elves...
Yes, I would love to write about their actual adventures. Battle Reports, Battleplans, Short Stories. It's something I really want to do, but I am still working on my set-up. Once I've got a battle board and painted terrain we are ready to roll!
I have lots more in the pipeline, so please wait for updates soon :-)
The steamhead Duardin of the Ironfire Steamguild were not the only dwarfs to join Siegfried's Desperados. Almost a year after they had first set forth from Azyrheim to deliver the princess Shiran-Khan to her lost kingdom were they joined by a band of Vulkite Bezerkers, Fyreslayer Duardin.
The Bezerkers led by a Karl named Thorgrim were the last survivors of the Khadúm Lodge which had be ransacked by forces of Chaos as the armies of Nurgle swept across Ghyran. Thorgrim accepted Siegfried's offer of allegiance in return for any Ur-Gold the Desperados found on their journey.
Thoughts
Wooo, I am so happy to finally show you guys this completed unit. It took ages (2 months!) - partially because I am in the midst of buying my first house, but mainly because these models are 99% skin and metal, and being a bright spark I decided to do none-metallic-metals on all my dwarfs and there's no turning back now!
What does everyone think of them? I am really happy with the finished result. These models divided opinion on the quality of the sculpts. I think we all saw that particularly bad picture of the fyreslayers punching their shields into the air, right?
The truth is you do have to be a bit careful with this kit. I wanted to go for the shields option, but I definitely did not want a load of them to be in dumb poses. You get 4 models in the kit with their left arm raised... so what was the solution?
- Make one the Hornblower
- Make one the Karl (champion) - with 2 axes
- Give one a dual weapon loadout and strap the shield on his back
- Let one of them fist-pump the shield in the air.
So with these considerations, I think the kit came out very nicely. What do you guys think?
Lovely job there, Bottle! I like the transition from dark to light on the mohawks. Gives it a very fiery look! The skinhead guy looks a bit psycho! Ideal slayer material!
Gotta say, your take on the setting improves my opinion on Age of Sigmar with about 3400%. Like, I want to make a Warband just like yours, just seeing this!
I finished rebasing another 10 of my Empire Swordsmen from my old Warhammer Altdorf army so they could join their brothers and be reborn in the Desperados.
This marks a milestone for me because these are the last of my Empire I still had on square bases. I stuck them all together for a photo and dragged in Siegfried himself as well as Wolmar Held:
They look badass (even if I say so myself). I love this about Age of Sigmar. This was a tiny tiny regiment in Warhammer, and it's now a giant rabble of nefarious types from all over Azyrheim haha. The paint jobs do look a little dated now, and I can't wait to show with you some of the new Empire models I am working on from white primer instead of black.
angelofvengeance wrote:Btw Bottle, your Vulkite Berserkers are up on the GW site's Flickr pool.
LeCacty wrote:
angelofvengeance wrote: Btw Bottle, your Vulkite Berserkers are up on the GW site's Flickr pool.
Damn Bottle! GW loves ya!
Whooo! I am always so happy when I get on (my 4th time now, and 3rd for this blog!).
I always take a screenshot to commemorate:
Thanks guys for notifying me of this. I wonder if I'll ever get into White Dwarf or Visions? Hopefully next time! :-)
The Wise Dane wrote:Gotta say, your take on the setting improves my opinion on Age of Sigmar with about 3400%. Like, I want to make a Warband just like yours, just seeing this!
Thanks man, the best part of AoS for me has been to collect and paint exactly what I want and not a figure more. Eventually all the Desperados will go their separate ways and be armies of their own but for the moment they are battling together. I hope to actually post some battlereps in the future like I did with my Necromunda Blog.
IGtR= wrote:These would have been soooo much better as a marketing too than the pics GW released. Kudos bottle
Wow thanks, it's really nice to hear praise like this!
I bought an A2 piece of paper so I could snap some cool group shots... Well that was the plan. Sadly it wasn't as easy as just using a bigger piece of paper, and the iPhone struggled to take a nice picture. Still, it's great to be able to post all my finished miniatures for Age of Sigmar in a single photo. I could almost convince myself this is a finished army...
...but really it's more like 5 unfinished armies lumped together :-P
I'm going to start fleshing out each of the different factions into its own force and then onto making a table and maybe even getting some battlereports.
angelofvengeance wrote: Will you be playing Empire as their legacy rules, or the Freeguilds for GA:Order?
It's certainly an interesting question for me! I will definitely be buying the book (cannot wait, I have the Death one already and it was worth every penny).
But - I've now got 3 OOP units in my army... Alarielle, the Handmaiden and the Empire Cannon. I will likely use old warscrolls for the two high elves, for the cannon I'll see what the Dwarf one like in the Ironweld Arsenal and decide if I should play them both with that Warscroll.
For all the other units I'm going to use the warscrolls from new book. Love the name "Freeguild" and can't wait to start referring to my army as that. :-)
Your models just ooze with that Old World charm that a lot of the newer sculpts lack; even your take on the new Berserkers is great! I love your style, and you do great, characterful paintjobs on every model. Keep it up!
Hey everyone, thanks for your kind words as always! Really helps me keep motivated and working on my armies for Age of Sigmar. Speaking of which I have just finished off another unit!
Hexwraiths
Another unit to add to the necromancer Cornacaprious' disposal. The paint jobs are perhaps a bit quick and rough - maybe not quite up to the standard of my Fyreslayers but I am happy with them all so them. Actually, I am quite relieved to have them finished. I started these guys in... October? The robes were painted pink/purple to begin with to match my skeletons' rags - didn't turn out very well making them all look like the Grim Reapers of Ribena haha, so I repainted the robes black... but did so by painting them Eshin grey and then using Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade to get it to black. All in all a very tedious project that was ever put onto the backburner in favour of something else!
And with this unit my Death army is getting very close to becoming its own entity. I want to do a thematic battle report about Corncaprious' betrayal of Siegfried with full pictures. Similar to my Necromunda thread...
Well, that means I need to paint up some scenery and get a battleboard put together doesn't it... hmm....
Mymearan wrote: Really love those Hexwraiths, the horses in particular look suitably grimy... How did you paint them?
Cheers man. The skeleton of the horses was largely done by just painting Gryphonne Sepia (the old sepia wash) onto white undercoat, after that a bit of Agrax Earthshade is dabbed into the very deep recesses and Rhinox Hide is added to any parts the wash can't reach (like deep in the eye sockets). After that I did a few quick highlights in Screaming Skull and Pallid Wytch Flesh.
The metals were done with Skrag Brown followed by a wash of Agrax Earthshade and strippled Ironbreaker - Typhus Corrosion added sparingly and a drybrush of Ryza Rust in places, followed by verdigris created by Nihilahk(sp?) Oxide and then mixing it with Pallid Wytch Flesh for the lighter spots.
Black robes where done with Eshin Grey covered in a few coats of Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade with some quick drybrushing of Pallid Wytch Flesh and Karak Stone to create soft highlights.
The ethereal flames where done with Nihilahk Oxide over white undercoat with Biel-tan green drabbed into the shadows, highlighted with Pallid Wytch Flesh and then random placement of Waywatchers Green glaze.
Hey everyone, it's been a little while since I last posted so even though I usually don't post WIPs I thought I would make the exception today.
The recent coverage of SCGT really opened my eyes to how awesome tournaments seem to be, and so I quickly hunted down the next one close to me and signed up. It's the 'Bristol Smash' in June. So I am now preparing my army to be tournament legal and adding some much needed reinforcements:
All WIP so far with the steamtank and Cogsmith coming along, the others are still just basecoats on top of white undercoat.
I have learnt to magnetise so the steamtank pilot will be able to sit in the turret or go on a seperate base (he is too nice a model to stay coped up in the tank all day long). The steamtank marks one of my new year goals to tackle bigger models too.
Seems like I have enough time to get these finished for the tournament on June 4th but I am also moving into my first house this Friday! So life is super hectic!
Thanks guys, it's all still a work in progress. The Steamtank still needs highlights, details and the base finishing. The infantry need even more work still. I will update with some more pictures once I have some more progress. Moving house this Friday so everything is in boxes now!
Once me and the wife are finally in our own place again, hopefully things will really start to take off with this blog! ;-)
Hey everyone! I've been moving house the last few weeks which means I've been building Swedish flat pack furniture instead of Warhammer kits. But I've had some time to work on the last few pieces I need for my tournament (The Bristol Smash) in June. Behold!
My Steam Tank is done! I'm not a 100% happy with it but it feels good to finally get a centre piece for my Freeguild army. As an Empire collector it has always been on my bucket list to get.
But that's not all:
I also got a Cogsmith/Grimm Burloksson done too. This awesome guy is going to be the leader of my Dwarf contingent in my army.
You'll also notice the Steamtank driver is out and about. I magnetised him so I could put him in the tank or on a base. I think this is one of the best Empire sculpts and it goes to waste cooped up in the tank.
I am also really happy with the paint job on this guy. In fact I think it's my best paint job to date. What do you guys think?
Sorry it's not on my clean white backgrounds. I haven't got a space set up yet to take photos on :-)
in terms of tournament preparation all that it left now are the 10 archers.
Superb stuff! The tank is a great centrepiece, and as great as the driver is, I reckon that Dwarf Cogsmith might be one of your best yet. Excellent use of colour and tone to bring in the NMM to life!
Paradigm wrote: Superb stuff! The tank is a great centrepiece, and as great as the driver is, I reckon that Dwarf Cogsmith might be one of your best yet. Excellent use of colour and tone to bring in the NMM to life!
Thanks man! I wasn't actually too happy with the Cogsmith - I really like the NMM armour look you get on your models (like the neck armour plates of your general's horse), I think mine still needs some work. But it is nice to keep trying to get better each time I have some Dwarfs to paint.
Absolutely phenomenal work Bottle. Thatis a beautiful piece you've done there. Great to see you back at at the brushes. Hope the move went relatively painlessly!
The Steam tank, it's crewman and the Dwarven engineer all look fantastic. I need to get one of those kits before they and the rest of the Empire hit the "Last Chance" walk of doom. I missed getting my Brettonian Battalion.
Thanks guys! @Azazelx Yes, I regretted not getting any Brets in time. I think we'll see a few years in these remaining Empire just because they have so much to do before they turn their attention to regular humans again. The Steam Tank is definitely a "must-have" for any fan of the old Empire models.
@Jan, yes the move went smoothly although most of my Warhammer is still in boxes in the soon-to-be office (or "hobby room" as I call it ;-).
Just over a week to go until Siegfried marches to war at my first ever tournament - the Bristol Smash. I was hoping to play another warm up game last night, but instead had a great game playing 'The Ritual' with a guy named Dan. My Desperados stood facing an oncoming army of Death whilst the two wizards tried to jump start a Realm Gate so they could make their escape. I snapped some pics!
The Desperados won, largely due to making Arkhan the subject of cannon target practice. As you can see I am tantalisingly close to having a fully painted army!
Some big news for me today as I finish my tournament army a week ahead of the deadline! Today I finished the last 10 archers of my 20 pool army just in time for the Bristol Smash!
Freeguild Archers
I am really really happy with how these guys turned out. They are beautiful models (my favourite Empire infantry kit by miles) - they also represent some significant milestones for me:
- This unit marks the first Empire/Freeguild unit I have done from white undercoat. It might be hard to tell from the pictures, but the highlights are much smoother, the skin has much more depth than I ever reached from black. I've been painting with white undercoat for almost a year now, but this is the first human unit I have done from it.
- The colour scheme has evolved. My army was once the XIIIth regiment of Altdorf - but as all WHFB players who moved over to AoS, I had to find a place for my army in this new game world (hence the 'Desperados'). I have wanted to move away from the Altdorf colour scheme whilst keeping my original units in place with the new. This marks my first attempt to evolve the uniform colours.
- The shades have been altered firstly, the blue now comes from Stegadon Scale Green and the red from Khorne Red - after that the red is moved to a spot colour and natural gowns and whites are brought in to replace it. One of the archers has a pair of split red/blue trousers under his riding coat as homage to the other units in the army.
- I am trying to change my highlighting style too, having them reflect where light might hit rather than being straight edge highlights. Let me know if you think it is effective or not.
So what do you guys think of my Freeguild Archers?
I also snapped pics of my Steamtank in front of a white backdrop but overexposed the photos in hindsight (taking pics in my new crib is tricky).
What's next?
Expect photos from my upcoming tournament! After that I want to focus on my Death stuff, as well as putting together a board. It's slowly starting to come together now!
Bottle's Bristol Smash Report - aka "Dumb Ways to Die"
Hey everyone, here's a quick report of my trip to the Bristol Smash. Not only my first ever AoS tournament by my first wargaming tournament ever!
My objectives for this event was to:
- Have fun - meet people
- Get some feedback on my painting
- Get better at Age of Sigmar
And in light of that, it was a resounding success. But if you were expecting Bottle to storm across the top tables, you'll be in for a disappointment! I came second to last, which whilst being better than coming last - I did actually lose to the player who came last overall! So, this bite size report will be titled; Dumb Ways to Die haha.
Here was my army:
Heroes:
Freeguild General x2
Battlemage x2
Cogsmith
Alarielle the Radiant
Handmaiden to the Everqueen
In each game you could deploy up to 20 "pools" (points), and I took all of the above minus Alarielle and her Handmaiden each game.
Game 1:
Game 1 was against a Death army, and it was Byron of the Facehammer podcast fame. I am a massive fan of his painting so it was great to meet him and he gave me some tips on how to improve my stuff.
His army smashed me up though! It was: Nagash, Neferata and Arkhan. On turn 1 he summoned 6 Morghast Archai and got off all the charges meaning I was fighting for my life from the word go.
Although it was a complete defeat to me (20-0), in many ways it was quite close as I almost killed Nagash.
My steamtank rammed Nagash, but alas it was ripped to shreds my the Mortarchs either side!
Game 2:
The secomd game was against George who had Ogors (led my Goddrak, the new Orc 'Maw Krusha' special character). If I thought last game was brutal it was nothing compared to this one!
This was an odd scenario, the board was split into four corners and each player had two opposite corners to deploy in. The deployment zones were really close too.
This combined with Goddrak's ability to give a formation a 3D6 charge, and that his entire army was a formation, meant everything charged into me turn 1 and I lost every scoring unit before I had even moved!
The game ended 19-1
Game 3:
Game 3 was against a great guy, Mike from the Cheltenham Warchiefs. It featured an Archaon who wasn't that scary and 6 Stormfiends who were terrifying! (Mincing my Steamtank in a single turn).
In this game I didn't get tabled. (Had one wizard still alive at the end). And got myself a few points for assassinating his general with a cannon ball, but it was off to the bottom table for me lol!
Game 4:
Game 4 saw me against Charlie who eventually came last. This game was close and ended 12-8 (IIRC) so a slight loss to me.
This was a really fun game in which my Steamtank ran over a bloodthirster and killed 40 clan rats! I also learnt from my mistakes previously and deployed and played much more tactically. But obviously still not amazingly well as I still lost and so by the end of this game was bottom and ready for my name to be immortalised on the wooden spoon they have...
Game 5:
Game 5 was against Goblins and a great guy called Carl from the Warchiefs. This game had some fun moments, including taking out 2 giants in one turn (and one was felled by a fyreslayer throwing axe).
I actually came close to winning this game, on my last turn my Steamtank only had to kill 20 goblins on an objective to stop them from scoring it, but despite shooting it with everything and then ramming it too, 5 goblins survived and the game ended up a straight draw at 10-10...
Which pushed me back above last place as my previous opponent had lost his final game quite badly. Phew!
So I had a really great time. One of the best things was to speak to Byron (in game u1) and later Les from Facehammer also came over to introduce himself and say some kind words about my painting which was amazing for me! :-)
I am gonna push my painting and do a few more centrepieces for the army so see if I can get a nomination next time for best painted.
I also need to learn to play better lol!
Oh, and I have some plans for this blog, so let's leave this here:
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WarbossDakka wrote:Well done bottle. You never cease to amaze. Be sure to update us on the tourney though!
Januine wrote:Bloody lovely
Thanks guys!
Azazelx wrote:Unit looks great, Bottle. The Steam Tank certainly takes the cake, though!
Thanks man, I have more centrepieces planned. Will be doing either a Luminark or Hurricanum for the army next :-)
EmberlordofFire8 wrote:As a fluent german speaker, i will tell you that you may have named one of your wizard "Disgusting Old Ghost". Just maybe.
Haha, yeah, most of my characters have stupid names made from Google Translate :-)
Here's a finished model for a new unit I am making - a Freeguild Guard Militia unit (formerly known as the Free Company). I only have one miniature to share today but for me he's something special. I really, really tried to push my painting with this model. Hopefully it'll be a miniature that you think came out nicely too. The other 9 of the unit will follow shortly as they are almost all done.
It's coming up to two years since I have been back into this hobby. In that time I like to think my painting has come on a long way (but still has room for so so much improvement of course). Here is a comparison of the new model side by side with one from my first regiment:
I've been working on my skintones, adding red into them (a red wash in certain areas, and red on the nose and lips). I think here you can see the evolution better in my colour scheme (which started with the Archers) where I move away from the strictly red & blue of Altdorf and instead bring in white and brown to go with the blue and relegate red to a spot colour. You'll notice that my blues and reds are just a lot nicer too (at least, in my opinion). I think one of the most important parts of pushing your painting is choosing a nice shade of each colour.
Lastly, I tried to improve my basing. Black base rims recommended by Byron from Facehammer (my first opponent at the tournament I went to) really do frame the miniature nicer. I don't know why it never occurred to me to paint my Mordhiem Tufts too lol. Those grass tufts are the same but on the new model I have sapped Agrax Earthshade into the centre and then drybrushed lightly with Screaming Skull.
So what does everyone think? I would love feedback positive or negative as I want to constantly improve :-)
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Thraxas Of Turai wrote:So much AOS inspiration, the army is looking excellent and that Steam Tank just takes the biscuit. Beautiful painting Bottle. It
And kudos to the Fyreslayer for bringing down a Giant with a throwing axe. At least you enjoyed your first tournament experience.
Thanks man! The Steamtank gets quite a few compliments but I don't think it came out that nicely if you look at it really closely. It did teach me the importance of a centrepiece though! I am building a Hurricanum currently and plan to add in a second Steamtank - hopefully a little better painted :-)
Glasdir wrote:subbed,
looking forward to seeing more of your work, not only is it fantastic but it's pretty inspirational too!
I thought it would be fun to quickly track the Season of War campaign in my blog.
I played my first Season of War game tonight and had loads and loads of fun. Siegfried and his Desperados were fighting for Order and the city Greywater Fastness, standing firm against the Ironjawz.
This was also my first game under the new Matched Play rules. 2000pts playing scenario 1 'Take and Hold'.
The game started well with my formidable gunline laying down lots of shots on Goddrak and his Maw Krusha. The Fyreslayers swore oaths for the finishing blow and in a blaze of glory failed to take off the remaining 6 wounds and got themselves all killed instead(pictured above).
Goddrak didn't survive past the second turn however, eventually being slain by a Freeguild Archer
Things took a turn for the worse as soon as the Weird Nob got in magic range however. Foot of Gork squashed Siegfried and instakilled him Monty Python style! This broke all my synergies (mainly the 'Hold the Line' ability and the Order allegiance bravery shenanigans) and allowed my left flank to quickly crumble and get swamped with brutes.
Foot of Gork came down again and squashed my second Freeguild Hero (although not before he slew the Orruk Megaboss!), and Foot of Gork came down later and squashed 11 Freeguild Swordsmen!
All of a sudden, instead of playing for the win, I was playing for the draw to keep my own objective safe! In the end the Ironjawz won a minor victory on kill points.
A total blast of a game and it was so great to play with both points and base-to-base measuring in a GW store. Can't wait till next week!
Currently, however, my store is in the hands of Nagash. Let's hope next week I can secure a victory for Order.
Just read through your whole log, as having only seen the a few bits in the other thread. Lovely work. The fluff for your empire troops is excellent, and very nicly put together.
Your painting has come along in huge leaps, the new skins tones are fantastic. Really like what you did with the tufts too, really adds a lot to finish the mini off.
Your work inspired me to stop painting the armies I was meant to be working on, and picked up some ghosts. Mine didn't come out any where near as nice as yours, but glad I did as they were really enjoyable to paint, and very different to the thousands of goblins I am meant to be painting!
This is a fantastic blog, Bottle. It's honestly made me start to rethink AoS and possibly give it a chance, despite the fact, as you mentioned, new fluff that seems largely naff. The silver on the steam tank is particularly good, I want my Grey Knights to look like that, did you use a black or white undercoat?
Any more games in your Season of War yet bottle? In recent months AOS seems to have really picked up steam in my local GW and the local clubs... a lot of units being painted and games being played.
The Freeguild Militia are here! 10 of Azyrhiem's most notorious smugglers. I really tried to push my painting to new levels with these guys, so I am very happy to finally share them. Please check them out and let me know what you think!
This brilliant model is a classic Mordhiem Witchhunter Flagellant. I got him for 99p :-) lots of fun to paint, and I tried adding in purple tones to the face.
These three make up the core. The unit is led by Caspan Vergolt, or "Gilden Mask" as his men call him. The golden mask is rumoured to hide a horrible disfigurement.
The warscroll for Militia weapons gives them a ranged attack and a melee attack, so I made the unit with a mix of weapons.
The unit has lots of kitbashes, but my favourite is the ad-hoc backpack made out of parts from the Outriders kit.
Next up in the pipeline is a Celestial Hurricanum and 30 Handgunners, at which point I am hoping to call an end to my Freeguild army. Let's see if that's possible lol!
RexHavoc wrote:Just read through your whole log, as having only seen the a few bits in the other thread. Lovely work. The fluff for your empire troops is excellent, and very nicly put together.
Your painting has come along in huge leaps, the new skins tones are fantastic. Really like what you did with the tufts too, really adds a lot to finish the mini off.
Your work inspired me to stop painting the armies I was meant to be working on, and picked up some ghosts. Mine didn't come out any where near as nice as yours, but glad I did as they were really enjoyable to paint, and very different to the thousands of goblins I am meant to be painting!
Thanks a lot man! I saw your ghosts in the AoS thread and thought they turned out excellently.
TheEldanariPrince wrote:This is a fantastic blog, Bottle. It's honestly made me start to rethink AoS and possibly give it a chance, despite the fact, as you mentioned, new fluff that seems largely naff. The silver on the steam tank is particularly good, I want my Grey Knights to look like that, did you use a black or white undercoat?
Cheers.
Thanks! I actually think the fluff has gotten a lot better recently and will do if Order win the campaign (very likely) as we'll finally have some cities to base our armies upon. I am thinking of dedicating a banner to Greywater Fastness if it survives the campaign.
I use White Undercoat for 99% of my models now, but I did use black for the steamtank, as I then sprayed it with Leadbelcher spray immediately afterwards. I think that really helped the Steamtank to get a nice smooth silver in a matter of moments. Interestingly when sprayed I thought it turned out brighter than I had expected. I compared my paints with the spray and found that the spray is much closer to Ironbreaker (identical to my eyes) than it is to Leadbelcher. If you can no longer get the spray, I would consider using Ironbreaker as you base metal if you are not already.
Thraxas Of Turai wrote:Any more games in your Season of War yet bottle? In recent months AOS seems to have really picked up steam in my local GW and the local clubs... a lot of units being painted and games being played.
Any progress on your Hurricanum?
I have played a second game, and lost again! Haha, not going very well for me so far this campaign. I'll probably only get one more game in for the campaign as I am going to Venice with Mrs. Bottle next week. Glad to hear it's picking up in your store too.
The hurricanum is terrifying me. I tried an inverted zenithal technique when undercoating, where I sprayed black from the underside first and then sprayed white as normal on the top and side afterwards to put some black in the real deep recesses, but other than that I haven't touched it yet. I'll try and get some WIP shots up as this will take me a while.
Cheers everyone!
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NAVARRO wrote: Always a pleasure to have a look at your army.
Great looking stuff as usual Bottle. You can feel real character in the figs rather than just blank line and file anonymity if you know what I mean.
I had knida wondered about that in AoS - are there any cities anymore - just city cities - where folk go about their business day to day. AoS seems to be lacking an actual context if you see what I mean.
Anyways - have a great trip to Venice with the Mrs. Mrs. Jan loved the place when we were there for our honeymoon last year
And that's incredibly great find of that Witch Hunter zealot for just a quid. Such a characterful sculpt with the little hand puppet.
Yes! Sometimes when I see a cheap mini on eBay I just put a bid on it to see what it later goes for. Well no one bid afterwards on this one haha. You're right it's a zealot not a Flagellant. Your comment inspired me to search eBay again and I've put more bids on the odd model to see if I get lucky. It's little characters like that which could make this unit really fun. I plan to increase this to 20 models in the future with a banner bearer and musician - hopefully I can get some fun models in the remaining 8.
Januine wrote:Great looking stuff as usual Bottle. You can feel real character in the figs rather than just blank line and file anonymity if you know what I mean.
I had knida wondered about that in AoS - are there any cities anymore - just city cities - where folk go about their business day to day. AoS seems to be lacking an actual context if you see what I mean.
Anyways - have a great trip to Venice with the Mrs. Mrs. Jan loved the place when we were there for our honeymoon last year
It's a good question! I was quite negative about the AoS fluff when it first came out as it's the complete polar opposite of say Dan Abnett style gritty and vivid realism. There weren't really cities to begin with, but they are starting to crop up in the fluff now. We currently have 5 important ones (Azyerheim, Hammerhal, Greywater Fastness, the Living City and the Pheonicum) - so it is getting better, but it's not exactly as I would like it.
With the release of the General's handbook have you any idea of what amount of points of miniatures you have painted?
I get the trepidation with the Hurricanum, it is a fair chunk of miniature with a lot of detail, including some annoying and difficult stuff to get to in the rear cabin. Then there is deciding what various colour of planets to paint on the apparatus itself.
Thraxas Of Turai wrote: With the release of the General's handbook have you any idea of what amount of points of miniatures you have painted?
I get the trepidation with the Hurricanum, it is a fair chunk of miniature with a lot of detail, including some annoying and difficult stuff to get to in the rear cabin. Then there is deciding what various colour of planets to paint on the apparatus itself.
I've got a comfortable 2000 points fully painted with quite a few characters (mainly wizards) that get left at home each battle. If I was to include the Death contingent that'll be another 600-700 I guess :-)
Yeah, you nailed it exactly with the Hurricanum - still i'm going to start on it proper this month and aim to have it finished by the end of September :-) I might need to sign up for another tournament to give me a deadline to reach! After that I want to move onto a terrain project - I feel a bit inspired after seeing all the cool stuff you are working on.
I'm a bit burnt out on my army for the moment, so I am going to take a break and work on some other things for a month (maybe I am just stalling with the Hurricanum )
I'll be painting a High Elf Mage for September's painting comp here on DakkaDakka and will of course have to start on my SLAUGHTER PRIEST WITH HACKBLADE when it arrives, but in the mean time I wanted to share the start of a fun little side project, A town for my Freeguild.
The MDF kit only cost £8 on eBay but with a few bitz added I think it's starting to shape up nicely. If this building turns out well, I'll add another and then paint up my Gardens of Morr to complete the town.
It was in a sleepy Freeguild village deep in the hinterlands of Gestran Doth where our heroes first battled against the undead hordes that plagued the lands...
Final Update
Hey everyone. It was about a year ago that I first launched this blog, and this will be my final update for it. No, it's not for any sad reason, and I am not going anywhere - but I feel it's a time for a reboot. A lot has happened with Age of Sigmar and I feel the game has really matured well. A lot of complaints in the original post have been rectified. The fluff for example, although it will never go into the detail I would like; describing the trade routes from Hammerhal to Greywater, at least we have those places now for us to base our stories in and to get my low fantasy juices flowing.
I have learnt a lot too in that year. I am really proud of the picture above; it's basically everything I wanted to do from the get go with this thread but wasn't able to. That's why I want to reboot the blog. I didn't so much lose my way, but didn't realise the effort that would go into creating the scene above. But now I am there I want to narrow the focus and improve the content.
I would like to thank you all for following the journey so far, your feedback has been so crucial in helping me up my game and I hope you have enjoyed my posts here. Expect Siegfried's tale to be told soon in a brand new blog coming in a month or two with all the bells and whistles. Bigger and flashier than before.
Oh and yeah, that building kit is amazing for £8! It's marked as "unbranded" but I got it from this seller: wargame.models.1. I'm going to get the tavern next!
Sad to see this one wrap up, but with the promise of further adventures to come, all we can do is wait! As a project, though, this has been a joy and an inspiration to follow (not to mention pretty much entirely responsible for my own AoS dabbling... )
