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 Nevelon wrote:


One down, 4 to go. Still need to base, but I tend to do that in batches.

VERY nice work! Great colour choices and very good painting. Everytime I see the current title of this blog 'The Dead Walk' I am reminded of that newspaper flipping in the wind in the opening to George Romero's 1985 Day of the Dead film. Intentional or unintentional, nice reference. Good luck working on your undead!

The reference might have seeped into my subconscious, but the truth is I’m not a huge fan of zombies movies. Pretty sure Day of the Dead is not one I’ve seen.

Everyone got their black layer down this morning. Working through the basecoats.

Awesome news that you're getting the launch box. Those things are fun, and good value for money too. Vamps are looking great so far!

 ZergSmasher wrote:
Awesome news that you're getting the launch box. Those things are fun, and good value for money too. Vamps are looking great so far!

So the box showed up. Did a quick survey and thumbed through the book quick on my lunch. Should be fun. I hope the grave guard have some options and pose-ability, as it’s 4x the same sprue.

PtG anvil of apotheosis looks to be a hoot. We’ll see what kind of monster I can make. Mwahaha


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So one of the things in Path to Glory AoS is you get to build your own character. There are 3 tiers, which cost 150, 250, or 350 points. You start with a base profile, and add bits and features. As we are partway into the campaign, I’ve been stockpiling Ember shards (the currency similar to requisition points for 40k crusade) waiting for the book. I’ve got 5 banked, and it would be 3/4 for the 150/250.

In an ideal world, I’d have the new mounted vampire lord. But he’s not even released yet, and even after that I’d need to buy/build/paint him.

So do I just tap a Blood Knight (conveniently, I have finished painting one) to count-as while I wait? Or go big, and use my Manfred as a counts as for the larger option?

Budget (15 DP):
-3DP Martial Vampire (Wizard 1, Move 6, Gets 5A 3+to hit, 3+ to wound, rend 1, D2 crit=2hits)
+4DP Flaw: Repulsed by the sacred (can’t make ward save if a priest is in 12”, or vs prayers. One of the guys is actually bringing one, so this is a real disad.
-5DP Undead mount (Move 10, +3 health bringing him to 8, save 5+, some lame attacks)
-4DP Macabre Panoply (Save 3+)
-5DP Blade Master (+2 attacks)
-2DP Swift (+2 move)

Monster (35 DP)
-3DP Martial Vampire (Wizard 1, Move 6, Gets 5A 3+to hit, 3+ to wound, rend 1, D2 crit=2hits)
+4DP Flaw: Repulsed by the sacred
-20DP Mighty Grave Beast (Move 12, Health 16, OC 5, Save 4+, Fly, 7A hitting on 4+, wounding on 2+, 2 rend, 2D)
-5DP Blade Master (+2 attacks)
-5DP Feed on Sorcery (on a 3+ pick an enemy unit. they can’t make ward saves for the round, monster get +1D for the round)
-3DP Ancient skill (Vamp hits on a 2+)
-3DP Unholy Str (vamp wounds on a 2+)

Now optionally, I could boost the horse guy all the way up. Start running out of things to buy, but could kit him out to be a right blender. But it seems like if I’m going big, the monster just brings a lot to the table. But thematically, a mounted vamp on a nightmare steed has alway lead the charge.

Horse Lord (35 DP):
-3DP Martial Vampire (Wizard 1, Move 6, Gets 5A 3+to hit, 3+ to wound, rend 1, D2 crit=2hits)
+4DP Flaw: Repulsed by the sacred (can’t make ward save if a priest is in 12”, or vs prayers. One of the guys is actually bringing one, so this is a real disad.
-5DP Undead mount (Move 10, +3 health bringing him to 8, save 5+, some lame attacks)
-4DP Macabre Panoply (Save 3+)
-5DP Blade Master (+2 attacks)
-2DP Swift (+2 move)
-3DP Ancient skill (Vamp hits on a 2+)
-3DP Unholy Str (vamp wounds on a 2+)
-4DP Grave Lancer (+1D on charge)
-4DP Cursed Weapon (crit mortals)
-3DP Deathless Hunter (Gets Anti-X (+1 rend) probably cavalry)
-3DP Become the Swarm (when killed, explode into swarm and do mortal wounds before being removed)

I’ll mull it over and chat with the guys at the store.


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And so it begins…

Edit: and the next 5 also built. All with great weapons. Next squad will be sword and board. And while I know I can have 1 standard and musician per 5 guys, screw that. 2x10 man squads with one each.

Heads up for anyone building these guys: it days to build the drum as a sub assembly and then attach it. As the strap goes to the opposite shoulder, it would probably be better to leave it in parts before attaching it. I had to bend it a little to get it to fit.

Edit:
And just primed. might be a little humid out, but the temp was good. I’ll check them in a few. Hopefully went on clean.

Making good progress.

How are you going to paint those banners?

Honestly, banners are probably going to be a basic red.

I’m not a freehand guy. I do it occasionally, but it’s basic at best. Trying to get a coherent pattern on a tattered flapping ruined stretch of cloth is not going to happen.

Doing a few more touch up passes on the stuff on the bench. Not a huge fan of the vines on the black knights. I get it for them on gravestones, but mounted knights? Plus they are fiddly. not a fan.


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Edit: finished drilling guns and assembling the 5 intercessors I’ve been picking away at. Build plate is now clear for more undead. Not that the intercessors stopped me from doing the 10 grave guard…

Getting while cleanup passes. Which is a lot of work. First 3 have rough passes with the big brush, then will need the fine pass to get the small stuff. Blood knight 2 is done, just finishing their shield. Next one is down and ready to start.

Flocked them on my morning break. Not sure if I’m going to get the black knights done by the end of month, should probably pick 5 minis from the month and get the formal shot.

Pretty cool cavalry. Good luck in the comp.

Very nice. I really like how the eyes came out on the horse.

youwashock wrote:Pretty cool cavalry. Good luck in the comp.

I really like the Blood Knights. Looking forward to the rest.

Tommygun1918 wrote:Very nice. I really like how the eyes came out on the horse.

Just a splash of red wash in the socket, nothing fancy.



Black knights done, on to baseing. And I need to finish the shields. Going to push to get them done tonight so I can pick one to represent them in the comp. Need to pick 5 minis, and it’s quite the selection.

Quite the selection is a nice problem to have, right? Now me, I got my entry done a while ago, but the problem is I've been slacking for the rest of the month mostly.

Not quite 32 models this month. I got a little head start on the foot vamp, so she gets to sit out the comp. Which is crazy fast for me. More work on the shields, rocks and tufts down. Few more licks of paint, swipe in the flock, and the knights will be done.


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So done with these guys. They did not age well. They bug me more then the hexwraiths, who are built from the same kit. But I painted them 8 years ago. Kits have got a lot better in that time. Looking forward to building the new ones and getting them painted.




1-a-week is my painting goal. This was April. To be fair, skeletons paint up pretty quick. Not a huge amount of detail, and when you black wash everything it’s quite forgiving.

And here is the pic 5 for the comp:

The Varghiest and Black Knight are there mostly to be representatives of their units. If I was to pick out my personal favorites, they would not make the cut. Probably swap out for a few more skeletons. I do like the newer kits. Not enough to get the brand new one, although they look good. I’ve got 10 more on sprue, and 10 in the primed pile. 2 blocks of 20 should be overkill for my army building needs, as they are not my focus.

Next up is to continue to work the blood knights across the monster handle, paint the gravis apothecary for May’s challenge, and work the grave guard across the bench. Starting with the 10 I have primed.

Next build will be the new mounted wights.

Just a quick proof of life. I’m afk for the week, so no pics or progress.

Before I left I put the first reds on 4 grave guard. Also magged the bases pf all the undead knights, painted and primed.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Outstanding work on the vampire knights Nev.

I noticed there wasn't a drop of blue in your army... burned out on blue by Ultramarines?

Gitsplitta wrote:Outstanding work on the vampire knights Nev.

Thanks! 3 more to go for the squad, and the new HQ announced today!

Lathe Biosas wrote:I noticed there wasn't a drop of blue in your army... burned out on blue by Ultramarines?

My different armies have different palettes. My vamps are silver/red/black. Nighthaunt have some blue, but it’s more turquoise. My old school fantasy chaos warriors used the same blue ink as my Ultras as an accent color. It’s not that I’m burnt out, just a different paint scheme.

I kinda was to break out a color wheel and plot the shades used by my different forces, just to compare and contrast. I hit a lot of the same notes on a few of them.

Im amazed of the speed you manage to keep painting new things in! Great job!

Nilfisken wrote:
Im amazed of the speed you manage to keep painting new things in! Great job!

My current pace is not sustainable. We are a third of the way into the year, and I’ve already painted 76 minis, which is more then I manage to get done some years. I can get these numbers doing basic low detail troop units to table-top levels. Basic skeletons, nighthaunt, tyranid gaunts. Anything requiring detail work or highlighting (like marines) is not that quick. And I have finite stocks of those kind of models. That said I could probably manage another two months like I just did before running dry. One to clean out the nid pile, and one for more soulblight. Although I’d need some build time to prep for the later. I’ve got 10 more skeletons, 10 grave guard, 5 knights, and the wight lord to build. And the new vamp who I’ll grab at the end of the month. Add those to the 10 wights I’ve got in progress, and that would be another month like April. Although the grave guard have more detail bits then the skeletons. Plus the CC stuff and the 10 old crappy skeletons currently in the primed piled.

I could continue to burn hot, but would run out of steam sometime mid summer, and fall back into my more normal 1-a-week pace for the rest of the year. That said, I would not be surprised for my total model count for the year to be in the 150-175 range. Potentially as high as 200, but I doubt it.

Nevelon,

"150-175 range. Potentially as high as 200" That is a lot of figures to paint...although I have seen your other painted armies and the numbers in their ranks.

Cheers,

CB

My whole Custodes army isn't that many models.

How many armies are you building?

1. Eldar
2. Tyranids
3. Ultramarines
4. AoS Skeletons

 Quixote wrote:
My whole Custodes army isn't that many models.

How many armies are you building?

1. Eldar
2. Tyranids
3. Ultramarines
4. AoS Skeletons

30k ultras in addition to the 40k, some scraps of deathwatch and nighthaunt, random minis etc. i’ve got the necron half of the 9th starter I’d like to build. Right now the primed pile is about 150 minis deep. Pile of shame is not huge, but there are 25 soulblight at the top on the sort list of stuff that needs to be built, over 2 dozen 30k marines, the necrons, and then assorted scraps of projects that go deep.

I’m not “building” most of my armies. Soulblight are the only one that’s really in that category. I have armies I slowly (and not so slowly) add units to. The Ultras and Nids are still flush with new kits from the drop of 10th. Eldar are a long standing side project that’s slow burning in the background. The AoS armies were similar, but have been kicked into high gear recently.

I’m fairly good about resisting shiny model syndrome, but not immune. And sometimes the big bundle boxes take a while to work through.

Slowly chipping away at the pile of shame and it grows. Although one of my yearly goals it to make sure I paint more then I buy.

One of the things I'm jealous of you for is your ability to keep to a steady pace of work. I tend to go in fits and starts, where I'll do nothing for a couple of months and then bang out a bunch of stuff in just a week or two. Then get burnout from doing that whole bunch of stuff so fast and the cycle repeats. I gotta quit making excuses at this point and just get some painting done every day or two, even if it's just a coat here or there on random models. And even if I think I'm too tired. Occasionally I change it up and do assembly instead, as these days I've got models still in their boxes. That helps with the monotony.

 ZergSmasher wrote:
One of the things I'm jealous of you for is your ability to keep to a steady pace of work. I tend to go in fits and starts, where I'll do nothing for a couple of months and then bang out a bunch of stuff in just a week or two. Then get burnout from doing that whole bunch of stuff so fast and the cycle repeats. I gotta quit making excuses at this point and just get some painting done every day or two, even if it's just a coat here or there on random models. And even if I think I'm too tired. Occasionally I change it up and do assembly instead, as these days I've got models still in their boxes. That helps with the monotony.

Slow and steady wins the race. I have the luxury of a large dedicated hobby space. So I can just zip down and slap a layer on, and not have to deal with set up/break down times. And have multiple projects and builds set out and ready to go. If I’m tired I don’t do detail work, but can still clip models, clean mold lines, or sloppy basecoats. While I do build models all week on the side, I like to reserve Sunday mornings to cleaning, while I listen to the retro-music Sunday Rewind on the local radio. (WEQX 102.7, 9:00-11:00 eastern, they stream if you are out of broadcast range)

I don’t make it to the bench every day. Especially if I’m at an irritating stage like finicky edge highlights. Which not only do I dislike, but requires me to be awake, calm, and not drinking coffee or alcohol. But I find the making an effort to sit down daily, even if I’m just putting a single color down on one model, make the progress happen. And sometimes I’ll have way more productive sessions. Mix up your subjects. I’d go mad if it was all Ultramarines, all the time. Find what other motivation you can. This Path to Glory campaign has given me a lot of motivation to get my soulblight done. And I have, at astonishing speed. Blogging helps me keep pace as well. Different people have different ways to motivate. Find what works for you and keep at it.

Or not. It’s a hobby, not a job. If you need to take a few months of minimum hobby or time off, to play the latest video game, do that. Models don’t go bad; they will be here when you get back. As will the community. Find what brings you joy and embrace it.

Awesome stuff man, good work!

I identify with that attitude of sitting down every day, even if the only progress I make is small. In fact, it's the small days that add the most progress because I'm not overburdening myself with the whole pile. I get a feeling of accomplishment and a finished project, eventually. I try to keep my eye on the here and now - the small thing I can achieve in one short session. I derive joy and triumph from every increment and ignore the end result. And then one day I sit at the bench and the project is complete. Time to start another.

Warboss_Waaazag wrote:In fact, it's the small days that add the most progress because I'm not overburdening myself with the whole pile. I get a feeling of accomplishment and a finished project, eventually. I try to keep my eye on the here and now - the small thing I can achieve in one short session. I derive joy and triumph from every increment and ignore the end result. And then one day I sit at the bench and the project is complete. Time to start another.

Truer words were never spoken.

Mega impressed with the night haunt. They look great en masse. What will you come back to focus on?

What’s currently on deck is the apothecary for the comp this month and grave guard. I want to get 10 of them done so I can switch entirely over to magnetic cases for them and stop using my old metals

Past that we’ll see what the comp topics are. And what the Q2 report shows at the end of June.