Templecon Painting Log Update #8

Merry Christmas Eve y'all. I'm writing this blog post while I wait for the little guys to be fully asleep before Santa puts stuff under the tree. I had a fairly productive beginning to this week. It was fortunate I was able to get stuff done early as the rest of the week will be pretty much shot for hobby time what with Christmas and travel and what not.

After my last blog post it was only fitting I got this gentlemen done. All that's left to do is black out the rim of his base and put some grass tufts and static grass down. All the grass will be done on the army at once. 

I assembled a unit of hammer dwarfs, primed them, did my three color airbrush for grey armor, and started to sponge on the battle damage (after this photo was taken). These fine fellows will most likely be in my Ossrum list. 

Alexia1's risen. I decided I wanted no part of actually painting the risen and that there would be absolutely no time to paint them so ghostly was the only way to go. I did a multicolored airbrush and based them. All in all I am pleased with the quick and dirty results for all 20 risen and all that's left to do is black out their bases and obviously the grass like the good captain above. 

Lastly I primed the nomad from the last challenge update and did the first color of grey on the armor plates. I didn't have time to do the highlights when I did the hammer dwarfs which is why he is lagging behind them. 

Not photo'd: I basecoated the flesh on the old metal unit of drudges, started the grey sections of the earthbreakers arm plates, did a little skin work on Rhupert, and a few other minor things which aren't jumping to mind at the moment. OK my wife is telling me the boys are out color time to get to work. 

Merry Christmas all and hopefully Santa leaves you all that shinny new toy you've been looking for!

Templecon Mercenary Musings (List One)

As Templecon approaches and my pile of unfinished mercenary models continue to pile up I need focus my time on banging out only the models needed for Templecon. I intended to have my cephalyx force be my Templecon painting challenge army but I may have to shift the challenge army over to my dwarf list. I have signed up for every event at Templecon currently but I think I would like to focus on iron gauntlet, team tourney (with Northblade and Adam), and hardcore as the "for sure" events. Seeing as IG is a three list event and needs to be fully painted it may force Thexus to the side for this convention. At the current time I am sure Damiano is one of my three lists. List number two will be an earthbreaker list run by either Ossrum or Durgen (I keep going back and forth). I run into trouble when I start trying to pick list number three. The final list is between Drake MacBain and Exulon Thexus. I have no delusion of grandeur and do not expect to reach the "gauntlet rounds" of IG but I don't think I can have a three list pair that will be unable to make a 75pt which is why Thexus is looking more and more like the odd man out.

I have to lock up my list and I think the Damiano list tis the one I need to sure up first as some of the units can potentially spill into my dwarf list. I recently played in an event and was running this Damiano list:

Captain Damiano (*6pts)
* Rocinante (9pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (Cylena and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2pts)
Alexia, Mistress of the Witchfire (4pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2pts)
Kell Bailoch (2pts)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2pts)
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw (9pts)
* Bull Snapper (3pts)

I really enjoyed the list and while I didn't play it perfectly by an stretch of the imagination it did do what I wanted and I was poised to win when a dice spike of 17 on 3d6 at dice off 5 put Damiano in the dirt (killed him to the point). I have no problem with this as it is part of the game but it got me thinking about what I can build into my list to help avoid this from happening again. That brings me to list idea #2:

Captain Damiano (*6pts)
* Nomad (6pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters (Cylena and 9 Grunts) (10pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Gastone Crosse (3pts)
* Vanguard (4pts)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2pts)
Kell Bailoch (2pts)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2pts)
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw (9pts)
* Bull Snapper (3pts)

This list is obviously very similar to list number one except I drop Rocinante to a Nomad and dropped Alexia2. I like the idea of Alexia2 but I didn't get much use out of her in the game I played and I get the feeling she is a model you need to have some practice with to really make her sing and I'm just not going to have that time before February. Putting Gastone and the vanguard in there gets me some quality boostable guns to make up for the loss of Rocinante and the all important shield guard so I can potentially avoid that one final shot assassination which got me last time I played list one. I also like the idea of the possible Gastone/Galleon going into the earthbreaker list at 75pt if needed. I did a third list because I can't leave well enough alone and have to keep tinkering all the time. Lets take a look at #3:

Captain Damiano (*6pts)
* Rocinante (9pts)
* Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker (2pts)
Greygore Boomhowler & Co. (Boomhowler and 9 Grunts) (9pts)
Kayazy Assassins (Leader and 9 Grunts) (8pts)
* Kayazy Assassin Underboss (2pts)
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution (3pts)
Gastone Crosse (3pts)
* Vanguard (4pts)
Gorman di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist (2pts)
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord (2pts)
Wrong Eye & Snapjaw (9pts)
* Bull Snapper (3pts)

Once again very similar but I was able to get Rocinante back into the list at the expense of Kell and the Nyss hunters while slotting Boomhowler and Co into the unit spot. While they will not be as effective at range as the Nyss hunters Boomhowler with deadeye can get some work done and really gum up the works as a tarpit unit. I feel I will be a little more tempted to cycle death march over to the Boomies from time to time which I'm not sure is a good or bad thing as it is really freakin' amazing on Kayazy.

I think for the present time I am leaning towards list number two but three is still in play. If I go with number three I can play Durgen/Earthbreaker and put the Nyss with him. If I go with list number two I'm more likely to play Ossrum/Earthbreaker and have boomies available if I want. Once I settle on the Damiano list I will be able to pick a dwarf list and once lists one and two are locked in I can see my 75pt options between the two lists and that will help select between Drake and Thexus for list three.

So what do y'all think? Damiano list 1, 2, or 3?

Templecon Painting Log Update #7

I keep trucking along taking baby steps to my fully painted merc goal. Once again I didn't accomplish nearly as much as I would like but I did travel out of town to play in a tourney with my mercs so I guess that's acceptable, right?

'Cause Im all about dat base, bout dat base

First off I have no idea why these photos keep turning but I dont have time right now to monkey around with blogger. These are the standard Dragonforge bases I have used in the past. I did my standard four color drybrush on the stone consisting of P3 thornwood greem, bastion grey, and trollblood highlight, menoth white highlight on the edges. The dirt was washed with secret weapon dark earth pigment, once dry washed with vallejo sepia ink and then drybrushed with old GW graveyard earth and bleached bone. I also washed a little dark earth pigment onto the stones to add a little character. The reason I did these bases was I anticipated some minis getting finished and needing them.....lets see if I accomplished that shall we

Kinda. Drake MacBain. Nearly 100% finished. I need to paint his eyes and the lenses on his goggles and I'm pretty sure that's that.

Durgen pretty much in a similar place as Drake just needing a little more attention. I need to highlight his purple loincloth, paint his eye, lense, handle of his hammer, and a few detail items.

Ossrum needs his face painted, lenses painted, and yellow metals painted.

I keep tweaking my lists and I wanted to get a vanguard into my Damiano list (with Gastone). I assembled this vanguard and got his feet situated on a resin base.

Did some metal work on Drakes Galleon.

Blocked in some test colors on Rockbottom. I think I like them but need to figure out my shading and highlighting for the color used on the jacket

While not pictured I also finished the yellow metals on Exulon Thexus, finished the leathers on Damiano (calling him done except for his base), painted and shaded the leathers boots on Hawk, and I did some work on the nomad which I may or may not be using in the Damiano list anymore. My dumbass may have added another mini to the log by looking at swapping in Rocinante instead of the nomad. Like I said my lists have been in constant flux as I can never seem to just settle into a list I have to keep tinkering and tinkering. Well I have to start getting ready for work

Templecon Painting Log Update #6

The song remains the same progress nothing completed. I've done some work on the galleon, restarted Ossrum, worked on Durgen, Drake, Damiano, and a few other things along the way. I decided no photos just gonna get back to work as the time is flying by. I have today and some of tomorrow to work. I am hoping to travel to Albany for an event on Saturday and my wife and I are taking the boys on the "Polar Express" train ride tomorrow night which is done out of a local train station.....if the boy are both health which has been nearly impossible to have both health at the same time since the weather has started to change. Enough babble back to the cave.

Templecon Painting Log Update #5

Same song as previous update.....progress nothing complete. This week the progress was even less significant due to the Thanksgiving holiday, travel, and starting my week of work two nights early. In theory the latter should allow me to be more productive on my week off seeing as I'll have an extra two days but again that's purely in theory. Well pretty much all I did was work on some dark steel as outlined in the Forces of Cephalyx PDF:

nine grunts where painted only photo'd one of each scupt

six thrall warriors were painted for Alexia2

Yup that's all folks. Thats that for this week. See you next week for a real update I hope. 

Templecon Painting Log Update #4

Computer is buck up and running so I have some WiPs once again. I still haven't finished a minis but we are making progress so I'm hoping all of a sudden I will have a bunch done and start to feel like this is doable. I realize the Cephalyx are all I really "have to" finish but I'd really like to have three playable 50pt lists done. OK on to some photos. First up will be the 'casters I mentioned last week and where they currently stand (seeing as I didn't work on them this week)

First up is Drake MacBain. I tried out some battle damage on some of these new merc minis. Since I decided to basecoat all the armor via the airbrush I felt the paint chipping helped break it up a little and add a little more character.....it also seem to speed up the process a little which every little but helps. As you can see I may have been inspired a little by a wrestler from my youth :) "Whatcha gonna do Brotha when MacBain comes for you?"

Durgen! I did the same battle damage on Durgen as I did on Drake. All I really need to do on this little man is the yellow metals, the eye piece, finish his base and glue him down. 

Last of the casters I worked on was Damiano. Like little Durgen I was feeling the ginger facial hair on the good captain. Damiano is probably the closest to being finished as I need to tighten up his leather sections, highlight the purple and do his sword blade. 

Those where the photos I wanted to show to y'all last week but the computer issues prevented it from happening. Week #4 was a work week for me (never terribly productive) but I did get some work done and as Dory says "just keep swimming, just keep swimming"

To make my cephalyx list even harder to finish I've decided I want to drop one of the monstrosities in favor of a second unit of mind slaver and drudges. Here are the old school metal drudges cleaned and primed. As you can see I didn't assemble the metal cephalyx leader mini as I am trying to obtain a plastic one some how. So far I'm not having great luck getting my hands on one so I may have to use the metal leader.....anyone have a spare they'd like to trade for a metal one ;)

Next I assembled and started to paint a machine wraith. The machine wraith is one of the sweet Cryx minis that can be included in the cephalyx contract. He is a nice little one point filler that if an opponent is light on magic weapons can be great at contesting zones and flags. 

I have been tinkering with my lists and decided I'd like to try Alexia2 in one of them. I assembled and primed four more thrall warriors which gets my total up to 6......should be enough, no? 

I also started on Alexia's horse. I've used a couple different colors drybrushed for highlight and then washed the minis with two different washes. I need to go back and do some purple spot washes here and there and a few other colors to add interest but for such a quick and dirty start I'm pretty pleased. 

Last for today are a couple pirate solos and Mr Carvolo. I had a Rhupert started previously but the feet got snapped of by "It wasn't me". Funny how that guy is responsible for everything.

I love this model. The Doc is so full of character that I had to slap a little extra color on him one evening when I had a spare 15min. 

I didn't take any photos but I cleaned the last night risen needed to get me up to a full 20 for Alexia1. I think the only minis left to be assembled/cleaned are a unit of press gangers and the weapon attachments for the sea dogs. 

One month in the books boys and girls and zero finished mini. Tomorrow it Thanksgiving so Im not sure how much I'll get accomplished over the next few days but maybe I'll bring a couple minis and some paint and try and lay down some color during down times. Have a great thanksgiving all and safe travels wherever you may be heading. 

Templecon Painting Log Update #3

Three weeks in the books and still not minis finished.....I did have a productive few days during the week however and nearly finished three warcasters and have started a bunch of other minis. I'd love to show you some WiP photos (cause I am pretty happy with some of the work) but my home computer seems to have crapped the bed and I am banging out this pseudo-update on a break at work. I hope I can get everything sorted out at home and get back on track with photos and completed minis for update #4. Thanks and see y'all soon (fingers crossed)

Nomad Conversion

In my last Templecon painting log post I showed pictures of a nomad warjack I plan to include in my Captain Damiano list. This warjack had a small conversion so I figured I'd show what I did. I was never a huge fan of the original nomad's arm positioning and had plans to adjust but this just came together and I have to say I prefer this over my previous plans and it was simpler to achieve as well.

I had some spare Stormclad arms sitting around so I decided to see how they fit...the answer was pretty darn well. 

I used a saw to cut the sword blade and hilt off the nomads arms and cut the blade off the stormclad. I did my best to keep these cuts as clean and straight as possible so as to make attaching them to the new arms as easy and smooth as possible. 

I elected to for go adding the butt off the sword handle as I felt this looked good enough as is.

The legs applied to an ancient city ruins base from Dragonforge.

Here he is ready to fight alongside Damiano (more on the good captain later)

Templecon Painting Log Update #2

Week two in the books and still not a single model finished.....great start, eh? Once again despite not finishing any models I did get down to the cave for a couple quick painting sessions. The majority of the work came from one session and with the airbrush and some grey paints. Here are the fruits of those labors:

Durgen was painted with the grey triad I plan to carry over to many of my mercenary models with armor. The model was painted with the airbrush first covering the plates, then at a downward 45 degree angle, then from directly above. The colors were P3 greatcoat grey, VMA USA grey, and VGC stonewall grey. The color was then knocked down a little applying a very light coat of GW Badab black via the airbrush as well.

Whats a dwarf 'caster without the dwarf journeyman warcaster Thor ;) Same grey triad as Durgen.

MacBain! Same grey same application.

Tac to keep Thexus and Durgen (hopefully) safe. Yup same greys.

Started to block in the grey on the galleon. So far just P3 greatcoat grey but need to improve the coverage in a few places before I move on. 

A converted nomad. This model had been started previously with the grey triad but I started to black out some of the model in preparation for the application of metal paint. 

Lastly (but certainly not least) the two unit of drudges for my Cephalyx force had their skin blocked in with the airbrush. This was pretty sloppy but the other colors around the skin are dark and should go on very easy and cover the over spray with little to no issue. 

Templecon Painting Log Update #1

Week one is in the books and I didn't finish a single model so I guess that would be a "rough start"? I didn't really get a lot of painting time despite it being my week off from work. I didn't finish any models but I did work on a few so lets see where we stand:

We start with Mr Thexus himself. I started the metal sections on Thexus. I was trying out a different metal technique from usual as I was trying to get that dark iron feel from the studio Cephalyx. I followed the PP studio painting guide from the Cephaylx PDF and I have to say I am pretty happy with this metal and plan to work this in to my "regular" metal rotation. I also started putting down the yellow metal sections. These will require another thin coat to improve the coverage and then will receive my typical yellow metal treatment.  

Oh the monstrosities. Two wardens three wreckers. The basecoat was applied with an airbrush. While not photographed I also blacked out the metal sections on one of the monstrosities in preparation for the metals. I plan on using the dark iron formula tested on Thexus for a large portion of the metal on these guys. The skin will be finished like the test bloat thrall (I think)

After playing my game the other day with Les' Durgen I knew he was going to be one of my future go to 'casters so I got my Durgen assembled (he has since been primed....ha)

Whats a dwarf 'caster without an Earthbreaker? I primed the Earthbreak via the airbrush. I am still trying to decide how I am going to paint this monster. 

Last but not least the Galleon was also primed. This guy was primed using can primer which reinforced how much I dislike can primer. The results are fine but the application isn't as smooth and damn does the stuff stink......which make the wife crazy(ier) and you know what they say happy wife happy life so I'll be sticking with the airbrush primer. I am still trying to decide how I am going to paint this monster too.

That concludes the lackluster update for week one. This week is a work week so I do not anticipate great progress but I do need to finish something. I will most likely focus on finishing Thexus or one of the other 'casters I have in the works.