The Next Great Thing

For the past week I've been working hard with Kev at Deadstar Publishing to get ready for Cardiff Film and Comic Con. The event has come and gone and an enjoyable weekend out it was. We were accompanied by Cat and Lynx this weekend, (aka C L Raven) a horror writing duo that were sharing the table with us, thanks to them and all the people involved in making the two day event fun. My next convention will be Dragon Daze in Newport on the 6th October so if I missed you at CFCC I'll hopefully catch you in Newport.

All that aside, I managed to finish painting some Numenoreans for Lord of the Rings. There's usually a small event held in January at my local so I'm planning ahead and trying to get an army built for the event.

These took a while to get done. Mostly due to my work schedule, but also because of trying to keep everything neat and clean. When I've painted LOTR armies in the past I've been able to get away with a little messiness due to them being evil armies or by being straight forward uniform, but these guys have a lot going on I found. The white tunic under the black over coat for example, then there's the tree symbol on the chest and the shields. Don't get me wrong these are not complaints. It's been a long time since I had to paint something that required some thought and careful brush work. I've a banner in the army to paint at some point and that means I'll need to paint a free hand flag of Numenor.

I've also been finishing off a secret project via commission which has taken up some time as well as starting another project for "real life" work.

Just some doodles at this stage, but it's fun to try something new. That's all for now. will have something new next time.

Still Here!

Wow, I have fallen behind in posting. Reasons are two fold, firstly I've been super busy with both real life stuff and super secret project work (shhhh!) So no time to post. Secondly, due to super secret project work, I've nothing much to actually post. All my other stuff, like the comics and miniatures painting have been put on the back burn until I can finish what I'm doing. I assure you the wait will be over soon as I'm in the final stages and as soon as I've been given the green light I'll actual start talking about it.

Until then, a brief rundown of what's coming up for me; Cardiff Film and Comic Con as back on the 22nd and 23rd of September and Kev and myself shall be there flying the Indy Publisher banner again. This year, Deadstar Publishing will be table buddies with Hellbound Media who I've mentioned in the past and have also been involved in Age of Savagery. If you've not picked up a copy yet, come by and see us at CFCC and you can get a few signatures off some of the creatives that were involved.

Hot on the heels of CFCC is Dragon Daze in Newport on the 6th October. A small con, but one that is very special to me. This year the event clashes with a larger Gaming Con elsewhere, but don't let that dissuade you. If you're in the area and fancy attending friendly Con with games and LOTs of comics then check it out.

Not to be kept quiet, LondonMCM at the end of October will by the last Con I attend personally this year. November onwards is a busy time for people in the service industry and that means me too. I figured that if it was going to be my last con of 2018, I'd better make it a big one and London MCM sounds like the best fit.

On the Hobby front, I've been giving Kill Team some attention, but the new release of the Lord of the Rings Rules has got me fired up to play some games in Middle-Earth. I've tried to get some painting in between shifts and I should be able to squeeze a game in this week if I'm lucky ;)

Flag of the Loon

One project done and looking forward to the next. The Grots are alle finished and I'm looking forward to getting some more Kill Team games in with the little ankle biters. The main part of the the Mob are just the usual Grots from my Ork Army, but the specialists, warrented something a bit more unique. Whilst rummaging in the lead pile, I also dug out a few extra bits to round out the Mob for flavour and we are good to go!

Grot Pyro-Teams (counts as Burna Boyz) were a must have to get some actual damage causing weapons on the board. I thought about having Lootas, but after digging up the Grot with the welding mask I decided to go with fire.

The true heroes of the Mob; Scout Grot, Boss Grot and Flag Grot (aka fire magnet)

Finally, this little treasure. In the Mob he counts as an Ork Nob with a Power Klaw, but is still not the Mobs Leader. I'd like to get my hands on the other old Tin Boy models, but I'm un willing to pay the fees that some are asking for.

With the Grots taking to the field this week, I'm looking forward to the next two months of GW's releases. In October I'll be go full tilt into the new Ork Codex so be prepared for a LOT of new stuff along that theme, but first is the revamp of the Lord of the Rings game.

New rules, new look and certainly new models on the horizon. With that in mind I think it'd high time to dig out my home brew Dwarf army and get the little buggers painted.

Back From Bloodstock

Took a while, but I finally have a chance to sit down and write a bit. Despite having a well deserved holiday, the catch up period in work has been keeping me busy, but in the best way. So, how was my time away at Bloodstock? Pretty freakin' awesome!

To clarify, I HATE camping so going to a festival has never been on my list of things I've wanted to do, but I was convinced by those going with me that the "camping" side of things was a very small part of the experience. To their credit they were right and with the aid of an inflatable mattress (yes I am that determined to stay comfy) I was able to have many solid nights sleep the whole time I was there. Being well rested, fueled on booze and surrounded by metal heads I had a blast. The head liners put on a great show and so many bands made the week an event to remember.

 I spent as much time as I could spare in the New Blood Stage, checking out new bands and just trying grow my playlists. Music isn't something that gets covered on this blog as it tends to be something I have on in the background whilst doing other things. As a result, going to shows and listening to live music tends to pass me by. I am glad I had the opportunity to go to Bloodstock this year and I will certainly be attending in the future. Next year might be a stretch due to money, I will honour the memories. Whilst there, I saw so many cool battle vests; tons of unique badges and patches and plenty of art work alongside it. I was able to grab a few patches for myself towards the end of the weekend as well as cheap army vest from a stall there. I've plans now to build my own battle vest, but it wouldn't be mine unless I did something special. I've put together a few ideas for the back of the vest.

On the miniatures front, I've not a lot to show. But here's a WIP of the Grots for Kill Team. Hopefully get these done before the end of the week.

Goblins Gone Wild

Well it's that time of year again. The annual Grinning Loon Holiday to parts untraveled in the hope of finding relaxation and calm.... This year, however, I'm trying a different approach and heading to Bloodstock!
That's right I'm gonna be living it up by drinking and rocking out like I was meant to do.

I'll be back in a week or so, but until then, I'll leave you with the current state of my Grot Kill Team. I've got most of the fodder out of the way, just need to finish my heavy hitters and specialists.

I'v also continued my playing around with AoS28 and created a series of Knights and Heroes. These will be getting some attention closer to Xmas as right now I'm itching to get some Kill Team underway.

What's more, I've finished off my secret sculpting project, so if all goes well I shall be able to show that off soon. Cheers all, see you in a week.

Release the Hounds

The Witch Hunters have been finished! I'm super happy with this band or grim fanatics. So much character in the Frostgrave kits on there own and it's a great chance to paint something a little different. I don't paint "generic" humans often so it's great to not feel board at any point of the project.

The dogs, Butcher and Bane, were added recently just to round off the crew. They are from the Bushido range and took almost no time to paint.

I'll add a few extra mooks and maybe a hired sword at some point, but right now I've fallen for the new shiny...

Oh yeah.... Shadow War was a dangerous game that led me to building a Night Lords army (I'll finish it some day, Jeez) but I'm playing Kill Team safe and I've started mucking about with the Ork lists. I think it's time to return to a long neglected part my personality, Goblins in Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace......

Let the fires of Grot Revolushun BEGIN!

Effective Miss-Direction

So couple of weeks back I made mention of a new commission and whilst I'm eager to show it off, the client has asked me to keep it under wraps for now, so all I can show you is this....

It's nothing sinister, but for the time being, that's all I can show you until we get closer to the finishing line. I'm still working on the sculpt and it is coming along nicely if I do say so.... I just can't show any of you internet folks yet.

In the mean time, I've been painting away my lunch breaks in work, trying to get a few more Witch Hunters done and at home playing with a bunch of spare parts from my bitz box.

Going off some feed back from the AoS28 FB group, I've tried to come up with something a bit more original regarding a backstory and a setting for this lot. Once again, there are some talented hobbiests out there and I've been inspired by their take on an old fantasy trope of knights hunting monsters. I'll flesh everything out another day. For now I'm having too much fun playing with glue and plastic :)