Finished Models, New Adventures

Behold my mighty works and despair!  

The first two members of the newly formed Northern Crusade are finished.  At least I think they're mostly finished.  I'm in the midst of a fierce internal debate over whether to add some static grass to the bases.  The grey cobblestones are the victory I hoped they would be, and the bases are pleasing overall, but I think a little something extra (like static grass) would really kick them over the line I was shooting for.  Are they worth the extra steps, and vast amount of drying time, for the results?  I'm not convinced just yet, but they do look nice.  Granted they're going quicker as I do more and get to know the process better, but it's still a couple extra hurdles to getting models assembled, let alone painted.  I'm already invested for this army, and they'll be a nice touch for character/showcase models, but I don't know that I'll want to do another whole army this way.

Big, meaty shield fists.

As for painting the models, as opposed to the bases, there's not much to add since I covered most of the process last time.  The only real addition was finishing up the blacks.  This was my first time using the oft-touted P3 Coal Black.  It looked a little green, but other than that it was comparable with the usual VGC Shadow Grey.  While I'm pleased with how the blacks turned out here, especially on the Vigilant, I think that's due mostly to the sculpting, namely the sharp ridges that made highlighting a breeze.  The menofixes on the Vassal's shoulders didn't go nearly as well, but they're also much smaller.  We'll see how things turn out on other infantry, of which there is still plenty to go.

Showing off the base.

Speaking of painting infantry, I have a painting schedule in mind.  While my Journeyman list isn't quite set in stone yet, though it's getting close, it's a pretty safe bet that Errants will factor in.  They have a fierce reputation for being made of many bits and having tons of detail.  After assembling the unit, if not yet the UA and solo, I can confidently add my voice to the chorus.  If I want to do a decent job on them, and I do, trying to cram the unit in between Journeyman games is not going to work.  Fortunately there's quite a bit of wiggle room this year  which will let me get them finished before the league officially begins.  Thus the plan is to get at least the unit, and hopefully UA and solo, done in roughly the next two weeks.  The stars aligned properly to make this a viable entry for the revived Paint the Target and the year long painting challenge on the big boards, so I'll be merrily triple-dipping.  If I can manage this, which really shouldn't be too hard, I'll have (roughly) the following to tackle during the league:

• Zealots
• Choir
• Caster and a handful of solos
• 3-5 jacks

The Zealots and Choir should go quick enough since they're mostly robes.  If I take a bit of time on the jacks and caster, which I plan to, I should still get done with time to spare.  I just need to get on the Errant horse as soon as possible and make sure I get all the remaining construction and priming done in the next week or so.  Easy peasy.

Now with bases for the players.

As for the new adventure, last night I got in my first real games of Dreadball.  While I regret jumping in on the Kickstarter as much as I did, sunk costs can't be recouped, but the fruits of them can be enjoyed.  Dreadball rolls along quickly once you get a good feel for how things work, and it's certainly a brutal game that reminds me of a mix of rugby and hockey, which is a very good mix in my book.  The Orx (I hate that X so much) performed more or less as expected: great big stompy bastards that are prone to getting so distracted by stomping that they forget to do much scoring.  Despite rarely facing a full team, thanks to all the stomping, I still had to work to pull out a win the first time and narrowly lost a second contest.  I'm not entirely convinced we were playing 100% correctly, and there's plenty of strategy that we barely brushed up against, but it was entertaining and good to finally get some use out of all my future psuedo-football mans.  I hear there's rumblings about the game at Huzzah, and there's an interested party or three in my usual Wednesday night group, so hopefully things will congeal enough to try out the league part of the system where I assume the bulk of the fun is.  The biggest problem is that my desire to paint up the Orc smashers, and their little goblin buddies, has reappeared.  Normally this would be a good thing, but I'm not normally staring down a pile of Menites with a ticking deadline.  At least I'm back to painting after a far too long layoff.