I finally have the time/space...

 I'm back at wargaming and painting, although time is still short due to work and family. 

I've not stopped reading the magazines and rulebooks, but my time has been too limited to do any wargaming, painting or anything really. 

But now, I have a couple of evenings a week and to get me back into painting I'm doing something for fun, with no plans yet for a tabletop army or a game system in mind. That said, as these minis are Warhammer Goblins released in 1992, then any version of that game would do, as well as any other fantasy rank&file or skirmish rule set.

It's been a while since I've painted anything (well over 12 months), but I really enjoyed painting these in a style that is heavily influenced by the way the minis looked in the 'Eavy Metal pages of rule books, army books and White Dwarf back in the 1990s, an era called either 'Middlehammer' (4th and 5th edition of the Warhammer tabletop game) or the 'Red Era' due to the prominence in red of the Games Workshop in house painters. This does not mean that everyone painted their Goblins, Elves, Chaos Dwarfs or Skaven in this style at that time, just that, in those pre-internet days, we were saturated with these bright, colourful schemes and I thought I'd fully engage with the nostalgia.

The last time I painted these minis was 1993, when I got the starter set for my 9th birthday. These are not the exact minis, I got these off ebay and added them to my pile of opportunity about 10 years ago. Back then, I didn't have a clue what I should be doing, I'd only ever assembled a couple of airfix kits, so my dad took me to the local art supply shop in Nelson, Lancashire to get some paints (I assume that a trip to the nearest GW shop in Preston was not considered, over an hours drive in those pre-M65 days). 
Tucked in the back, among watercolour paints, charcoals, canvasses, card, fancy pencils and picture frames 1, was a rack of Humbrol Enamel paint. I picked out the colours I needed for the Goblin and High Elves. Other than paint, the only other thing I needed was a small brush, as my dad already had a few bottles of turpentine substitute in the cellar, next to some oily rags and the fuse the box. I painted the whole lot in a weekend - I didn't bother with undercoat, shading or highlights (I was only just 8), but I was quite impressed with how I'd done such a neat job. 

Now, aged 42, I could improve on the work I'd done some decades ago, and get my skills brushed up for when I'm ready to move on to some 15mm Ptolemaic pike or 10mm Warmaster units. 

Here is the one finished mini I've done, a single Goblin with spear. I'm pretty chuffed, definitely an improvement on the job I did when I was 8, and no smelly chemicals needed to clean my brush. 

 

Notes:

1 - My grandfather, a keen painter and artist, would get his work framed at this particular art supplies shop, apparently because he was have an affair with the owner of the shop and so would get a discount, but I didn't know that then. No one in the family had seen him for years. I also later found out his first wife had had an affair with Albert Camus. 

Why you should watch... Uglubs Armoury

Every now and again a you-tubes channel comes along that is truly original. I don't mean being origional for the sake of it, or in a novelty way. 

No, this channel is original in all the best ways, the ways that matter, the ways that make it good. 

Original thoughts expressed in an engaging way, original creations in modelling and painting that are a real joy to see. 

The first thing I noticed with Uglubs Armoury is how cool the workshop/games room is. Just check out how cool it is! 

The second things that I noticed and what comes across in all the videos is the enthusiasm. These guys love their hobby and they have a definite opinion on how they want to hobby, which is great to watch. 

My top 5 favourite videos are:

1) It took me 40 years to finally play a Cyberpunk Wargame - this video looks beautiful and the commentary is great to listen to. 

2) Mighty Lizardmen Army for Warhammer 5th Edition - I really love the mid-90s Lizardmen. They have so much character, especially the skinks and the Kroxigors. And here is a great big, beautifully painted army. 

3) Warhammer 30k terrain - this HUGE board shows exactly what a lot of 30k or 40k DOESN'T show, a non-ruined city. And what a beautiful city it is. I'd love to play over terrain like this. 

4) Bolt Thrower and Bolt Guns - this is one of my favourite videos because of how well the thoughts and idea are put across with great eloquence and real feeling. I love this channel. 

5) Scratch-built hovercraft for WH40K Rouge Trader. - some really great old school modelling.

As you can see from the above list, Uglubs Armoury has a real breadth to it, both in the specific wargames covered and in the style of videos. 

Dark Elf Warmaster part I: The Spears

I am not an experienced or talented painter in any way, the below is for my own reference as much as it is anything else. If you have any tips or suggestions, please leave a comment, they are most welcome. 

 The aim of my 10mm Warmaster Dark Elf project is to get an army ready for the table top with as little time spent painting as possible, whilst still having a good looking force. With that in mind I wanted a small colour palette of bright colours, using fast techniques. As I mentioned in my previous post, I bought these miniatures from ebay, as I don't want to do my own 3D printed. The STLs are from Forest Dragon. 

command strip with two troop strips ready to undercoat

I have never worked with 3D printed resin before, but from research I knew I needed to wash the miniatures in warm soapy water. For undercoating I glued the miniatures to a large lolly stick and sprayed with a metallic undercoat, as the main colour will be the dull metallic look of the Dark Elf armour. (Note: my budget would not allow a 20p piece for scale). 

spray undercoat on, start of blocking out in white

From there, the parts of the miniature that are not armour I painted with white. 

Then, the block colours. Again I've kept things quite simple, but tried to make the lines crisp and neat (sometimes I succeeded). 

After the block colours, I apply a wash using 'marine juice', a wash created by Sonic Sledgehammer and made by mixing three parts Dark Tone from Army Painter, three parts Reikland Fleshshade from Citadel, and four parts Lahmian Medium, also from Citadel. This was the first time I've used it, I thought it was quite effective. 

A quick highlight of purple, red, silver, grey and bronze and the paint job was done.

I just need to glue to a base, and add texture and colour to the base and I'm done. I will do this when at least half of army is done, all in one batch.

The total amount of miniatures in this batch has been 60 minis, made up of 12 strips of 5, which makes 2 units in Warmaster (2 strips per base, 3 bases per unit). 

I'm quite happy with these, especially the brighter purple, and will now continue onto the crossbows, with an identical scheme and method. 

The project as a whole will be the following (this list includes the 2 units already painted)

• 6 units of spears - 180 miniatures
• 4 units of crossbow - 96
• 2 units of black guard - 60 miniatures
• 3 units of witch elves - 90 miniatures
• 1 unit of harpies - 18
• 2 units of dark riders - 24 miniatures
• 3 units of cold one knights - 36 miniatures
• 1 unit of bolt throwers
• 2 war hydra
• 1 general on manticore
• 1 hero on chariot
• 1 hero on cold one
• 1 hero - foot
• 1 sorceress on cauldron of blood 
• 1 sorceress on manticore
• 1 sorceress on dark steed
• 1 sorceress - foot

Why you should watch... Jordan Sorcery

 Why you should watch... Jordan Sorcery. 

The You-Tubes is full of people waffling on about what people now call Warhammer Lore. Don't watch those people, they are all wrong and know nothing. Apart from Jordan Sorcery. 

Jordan does not just read from one of the fan written wikis about Warhammer, he does actual research, he does brilliant interviews, he reads material that was actually published by Games Workshop. And of these three, it's Jordan's research that shines through and separates him from the rest of the chaff on wargaming You-Tubes.

Jordan (L) and Martha (R)

His series on the history of Warhammer is, quite frankly, a tour-de-force; history of the real-world development of the fantasy world that our toy soldiers inhabit; the artists, writers and business people that worked over decades to create Warhammer. The story takes many twists and turns and is fascinating, but I think that it's Jordan himself that makes it so fascinating. He brings the subject to life, like any good historian, as he explains and entertains. 

Jordan has dozens and dozens of interviews with people that have been involved in the wargaming, rpg and general gaming industry and they are all of a high standard. There will be someone you really want to listen too and a few interesting people you have never heard of. 

Here are my top 5 Jordan Sorcery Interviews:

1. Rick Priestley - Warhammer Unmade
2. Alessio Cavatorie 
3. Ian Watson
4. Kim Newman (AKA Jack Yeovil) 
5. John Blanche 

But it's not JUST interviews. It's not JUST Warhammer either. Jordan has gone into the history of Bolt Action, starting with the two founders of Bolt Action Miniatures, before they were bought out by Warlord games. RPGs are obviously of interest to Jordan, in fact he has written a part for the upcoming Warhammer The Old World RPG from Cubicle 7.

The single best thing about this channel is Jordan himself however - he is enthusiastic, knowledgeable and a great writer, presenter and interviewer. When he talks it's always interesting and when he's interviewing he lets his guests do the talking, just pipping int to nudge them in the right direction. 

Jordan, of course, is not alone on his channel. He is often kept company by his cat, Martha. 

The end of one project, the start of another.

I have finally finished my DBA Ptolemaic army that I started 18 months ago (or was it two years). These were the first miniatures I've painted since about 2005 or so, which was a few Warhammer Savage Orcs. 

Then, one day, I walked into East Manchester Historical Games in Hyde. I'd wanted to get back into the hobby for a while, and having discovered a club just 5 mins from my front door, I now had a perfect opportunity. 

The people I met couldn't have been friendlier, and I soon fell into a group that were playing DBA, 15mm ancients. The game was fast and looked fun. 

I sat down with Keith, we played a game with his minis and I was hooked. 

I decided to collect a DBA army, and the army I chose was Ptolemy, mostly influenced by someone else I met at the club, Carl, and his Seleucids. I bought all the army from Xyston, with Carl kindly supplying the mdf bases for free (Thanks Carl). 

This will be quick and easy I thought. It was not quick, and I had forgotten most of my painting skills. I between being a dad to two young kids, it took way longer than I thought. 

Anyway, to cut a long story short, here is 15mm DBA Ptolemaic army. Please forgive my photography, I will endeavour to take better photos and re-upload. 

Xyston miniatures Pantadopoi Phalangites

Shield transfers by Little Big Men Studios

Close up. The bases turned out better than I thought they would. 

More of the army

So, what is next? 

I have a Republican Roman army for DBA that has been prepared and had the base coat applied. 

However, I do feel like a bit of a change, so I am going to paint something different from 15mm ancients. All those ranks of spears and shields just put me off. 

So instead I am going to do some 10mm fantasy Dark Elves, a completely different type of ranks and ranks of spears and shields. These are resin prints that I bought off ebay some time ago - the sculpts were by the excellent Forest Dragon, with a large and ever growing range of 10mm fantasy, mostly useful for Warmaster. I just wish they were metal as I both refer the feel of metal over resin and plastic and I have found the resin really very brittle, with some spears snapping off. I hope a few coats of paint and a good varnish will help that. 

I don't have any photos of the work in progress yet, but here is an image from the Forest Dragon Patreon page. 

Dark Elf 10mm stl files by Forest Dragon.