Welcome to Pits-Ville

 I finished off the buildings for my shanty town this week. Really happy with how they turned out and I'm looking forward to using them in some Kill Team or Necromunda soon. I dug out some of my Diggas and Inquisitorial troops for some scale shots.

Since doing these, I've developed the urge to go back and edit my Ork Fort scenery slightly. Just to match with the rest of the shanty town, but it isn't a priority.

Goblin Bonanza

 This week was pretty productive. After finishing the long over due Night Lords project, I decided to reward myself by getting to work on some of my Xmas presents; Skraggrot and the Manglers Squigs. Both are wonderful models, oozing character and details.

First Skraggrot. Once again, so much to look at on this guy. Everything from the curly shoes to his Squig cape carriers was a joy to paint. Not sure how he'll fair in my current army list, but he's a cool model to have on hand none the less.

Next, the BIG one. My new general; Big Boss Gorduz Rotsnik Fatboi Crazy-Pantz IV. Where Skraggrot covers the classic sneaky megalomaniac with a God complex that is a Goblin over fiend, Gorduz is the other end of that spectrum. A giggling lunatic, constantly in motion and a danger to everyone and everything within a 5 mile radius. Every part of this model is dynamic; the poor goblin hanging on for grim death, the flailing chains and of course, the mid-air squig. Pure joy to paint. Can't to get him on the gaming table.

Midnight Clad & Ready to Hit The Town

 Hello all! I've been a bit quiet the last week or so. Getting a few things in order about the house, but also pouring some real effort into finishing a small (ish) project that has been languishing unfinished for a LONG time. Way back when Kill Team Armageddon was a thing, I built a small Night Lords Warband. It was a fun little modeling project to see what I could build just using my bits box. No purchasing, just spares and repairs. Here they are for reference...

Nothing over the top. Some specialists, a few cultist meat-shields and some heavy hitters. Done! Sort of...

Well after a while, I started thinking. I have loads of left over chaos and space marine bits, even a few terminators bouncing about in shoe box. Could I build an army within the same restrictions ie. No additional purchases, just bits box? Well turns out I could and I did. The building was finished sometime in 2019, but painting was a bit of a slog as I never had the drive to get in and finish everything. Well I got the Stormcasts done for my buddy the other week, I decided to capitalize on that energy and finish off the Night Lords too. Enough build up, here's an army I built from a bits box. 

First up the grunts. As you can see the initial five Marines grew to fifteen and gained some extra weaponry. There was always the thought of making two squads of ten, but I started running out of bits. The cultists were probably the easiest part of the whole army to finish. I had plenty of general human/guardsman bits from various places so cobbling together a few more cultists wasn't hard.

Next, Elites. I had one terminator, but it took some digging to get a squad of five together. These lads are a real Frankenstein's Monster. Classic metal chaos models, current Terminators, Fantasy Chaos knights and greenstuff. The Classic models do seem a little on the short side, but when they're all together the squad looks pretty bad ass.

It's a Night Lords army right? So I knew I wanted some Raptors in the army, but I didn't have any jump packs and the Space Marine Jump Packs never really looked that cool on chaos models. I did have wings however. Several pairs, but to keep me from buying anything I had to trade with a friend to get the last set to build a squad of five. A bunch of bat winged Raptors fit nicely into the army and would become a visual focus for the army.

I had already built a Spawn for the Kill Team but I fancied another to add a bit more gribbleiness to the army. The two Spawn are a mash up of leftovers, off cuts and bits that really had now where else to go.

Next up are the bosses. What Chaos Warband is complete without a Sorcerer to be all dodgy and psychic. Built from an old Dark Angel with a head swap and various Chaos bits, this guy was a last minute addition during the build phase of the project. I think 40k had just updated and the rules meant I needed two HQ choices for a complete army. I wasn't sure what to do with the flame at first, but I basecoated it white before deciding on a suitable colour. Once it was bascoated however, I really liked the finished look so I added dry brushing to finish it off and left him as is.

The last model to show off. This guy was one of the first model after the Kill Team to get built and painted, so he's been waiting a long while to see this day. The Chaos Lord and master of the Warband. Built from a classic Abbadon model and plenty of extra bits, he stands taller than the other Terminators, but I put him on a rock to make sure he wasn't made to look short by anyone else.

Finally, the family photo to show everything off.

They're not likely to see any play anytime soon sadly and part of me was thinking of selling them. I'd done what I set out to do, but my Ork army will always be my go to for gaming and I feel like this lot might just end up stuck in a box not doing much. But since finishing them, I'm now rethinking it.

Let me know what you think, C&C always welcome. 

Cheers

Storming the Paint Cans

 Just before Xmas, a friend asked me to paint up his Stormcast army. I already owed him a big favour so this was a small price for me to pay him back. Then Lockdown hit and all the work I had lined up for the Xmas season vanished. First time in 7ish years that I've had a December off work, not complaining. So with all this extra free time, naturally I did a bunch of other stuff before kicking myself into painting what I was supposed to be doing.

Well it took a while, but they're done. Biggest shame of course is they probably won't see a game until February most likely. Still I'm optimistic and it gives me an excuse to get some more stuff done for my Goblins. After all, I painted the army, only fair I should get a game against it.

 

Loonville: Town Planning

 I decided to do some scenery this week. I've almost finished my Stormcast commission for a mate so I've obviously begun to procrastinate with other projects. I've been wanting to add some habitable scenery to my collection for a while now, especially my sci-fi collection (planning for Stargrave) ever since I painted up the villagers for our household Rangers of the Shadow Deep campaign. I quite fancy building some scummy shanty town inhabitants when I'm done to really flesh the place out. This lot will double for things like Necromunda and Kill Team which will be nice.

Obviously still in the build phase of things, but they look pretty cool and I'm super happy with how the tents are looking so far. I'll put up a few pictures before I basecoat everything on instagram.

Clearing the Lead Pile

Alrighty, I been painting a few bits and pieces recently, here are the first batch of finished bit for my personal projects. Some Oldhammer ogres to start us off.

Absolutely love these models. So much old school character and a surprising amount of detail. The ogre on the right is a good example, I didn't spot the set of severed hands on his belt until I sat down and started painting. These fellows (along with most of the stuff in this post) Were done for Ranger of the Shadow Deep, but will see some work in Mordheim and Frostgrave I'm sure.

Along with the Ogres, I alson painted up a few generic human soldier, because what's a band of heroes without a few expendable meat-shields to look aghast at when they get slaughtered. These were made from LOTR warriors of Minas Tirith with head swaps from a Perry Miniatures kit. A little Green Stuff was used to neaten up the necks.

Also a zombie crow.

Yet more Turnip28 (this will be the last for a while, I promise) I finished of a unit of Brutes for the Gleebland Wanders. I fancied the army had numbers on their side with rifles already so I decided to make a melee unit. I got a few French infantry lads with the rifles at the shoulders and went to work with the drill. A few spears, ripped flags and some poly filler later and they're good to go. As mud covered thugs in a ruined world go, they're surprisingly colourful with all the banners.