Painting and Dust News

What I did this afternoon.

Since 40k has been my most played game for the past month or so I figured it'd be a good idea to slap some paint on my budding Dark Angels army.  My plan was modest: dark green on the regular marines, blue on the Librarian.  Nothing excessive, not even (much) concern with leaving the black primer exposed in the crevices, just a quick base coat so I could prime the other squads and still be able to tell them apart at a glance. 

Of course things soon spun out of control, but we'll get to the soon enough.

Another Batch of Axis

It'll be time for basing soon as I'm almost out of unpainted minis.

The (painting of the) Axis war machine continues, inching towards total domination of unpainted models.  This batch consists of:

• Snipers
• Spotters
• Brain Eaters
• Grenadier X
• Stefan
• Ludwig arms
• Flamm-Luther arms
• Wotan arm shields

I had another unfortunate Dust experience this week, akin to the previous one.  My Wednesday opened up unexpectedly so I headed out to roll some dice at Huzzah but found no other combatants.  The group there has taken a couple body blows over the past few months, but this was the first time I showed up in vain.  This saps my zeal for reinforcements as I don't want to sink money into a game that I may have no competition for, which is unfortunate on a couple levels.  With the recent release of Icarus there are a couple builds I want to try out with the new units, Brain Eaters among them, but said builds will require another couple boxes to manage which, despite Dust's reasonable pricing, is more than I'm willing to put towards something that might sit on the shelf.  While this is, in my mind, a reasonable response to faltering interest, it also reinforces the problem.  If less people show up to play because less people are showing up to play then even less people will show up to play.  Quite the spiral.  I'm not throwing in the towel yet, but with the Caps making the playoffs gaming time might be scarcer than it already is for the next few weeks, which could be the deathblow for Dust.

The last few posts here have been pretty down, so I'll end this one on an note of optimism.  I cut it pretty close without really meaning to, but I bought in on the Arena Rex Kickstarter just before it expired.  It's a gladiator skirmish game that looks fast to play while having a reaction system, like Dust, to keep everyone involved throughout the game.  The models are few at this point and mostly in progress, but what has been shown is gorgeous.  One of my Warmahordes locals bought in as well, so this won't be another Dreadball-esque solo leap of faith, and there's still the option on the AR site to kinda sorta get in on the Kickstarter via Paypal.  There are playtest rules in the works for "summer," which hopefully is in the near future.  In other news I'm still fighting the good fight against including flyers and dedicated anti-flyer tech in my Dark Angels army, but with EV fielding a pair of (unreasonably brutal) Heldrakes that time may be winding down.  I considered an Aegis Defense Line at Huzzah this week but balked at the $30 tag as I'd mentally figured $20 would do it.  High prices from GW shouldn't surprise me any more, but they still manage it every now and again.

Dust Regionals, Games And Stuff Style

If you like, I can save you some time: it didn't happen.

Want the fuller course?  I suppose I can oblige.  As with the Huzzah qualifier, I headed up to Games and Stuff on Sunday with little preparation, running late, no list, and only a general idea of what I wanted to play.  I nearly stuck the second Horten that arrived on Saturday in with the rest of my army, but my previous attempts to forge a dual plane list were unsatisfying so I left it at home.  The trip into the heart of darkness (aka Maryland) was uneventful and I found the new location with only one U turn.  Now GNS is in a strip mall with lots of obvious parking, food options, and a lack of the general unease for your bodily well being that I always got while walking from my car to the old location.  I arrived right on time, a minute or two before things were to kick off, paid my entry fee and rumbled into the gaming room where I found...the TO and the guy who won at Huzzah.  Without breaking my arm trying to twist it around to properly reach my back, I'd like to draw your attention to a bit of prophecy that I dropped in my Huzzah post a week back:

Another Wave of Reinforcements

Chipping away at the pile.

Got my paint on yesterday with an eye towards having a fully painted tournament list for this weekend.  I'm still not sure what I'll be fielding, but since most of my stuff is painted at this point I think I'll be able to plug any gaps that appear.  This particular batch finished off the (first) Horten (got another for $23 on Amazon yesterday while looking to fill out a free shipping order), one Wotan, arms for a Luther, Recon grenadiers, the last Battle grenadiers squad, and Lara.  With the exception of a Hans and the other pair of Wotan guns (but not shields), all my walkers are either "finished" or have had their initial wave of spray can painting, which makes them all but finished.  There's still a set of spotters and snipers to do, plus any infantry with a laser and all the non-Lara heroes, but at this point everything that I'm likely to field is painted (or close enough as previously detailed for the walkers).  This afternoon will see a massive cloud of varnish rise over the DMV as I seal up a bunch of stuff, then there will be basing.  I'd pay a reasonable amount to see a movie where Daniel Day Lewis rants away while gluing sand and drybrushing...

Dust Regionals, Huzzah Style

Not quite what I expected from a GIS for "gamer butts."

Round one of the Dust Regional Qualifiers was this weekend at one of my local stores Huzzah Hobbies.  They expanded at Huzzah last week and this was my first time there when the expansion was officially open.  The floor space doubled, in part to accommodate more and larger events, and it was just in time.  There was a Malifaux tournament going at the same time...and in the same room.  Things were close but there was still room for everyone.  To be fair we had one table in the expansion room, but it was an extra and didn't see use past the first round.  I don't think I mentioned my concerns on turnout previously, but it didn't matter as we had all the regulars including the folks that haven't been around for a while (but without EV, who is inaccessible on weekends).  Despite my nitpicking things went smooth and I never bumped butts with anyone behind me which is the highest praise I can give.

A Tiny Taste

Reinforcements, now in a reasonable diversity of color.

The past few days have been productive.  I've managed to get another big chunk of Axis painted.  I'd love to be able to say that this latest push allows me to field a fully painted army for the upcoming regionals, but that may not be accurate.  Or it could be.  Truth is I still don't have a list or even a good idea for what I want to run, outside the usual template that I've had so much success with.  The Lothar in the picture isn't necessarily a portent of things to come.  The big factor in getting it painted was that the arms were ready to go and straightforward to paint.  That doesn't mean I won't be fielding a Lothar as I find them to be effective if a little frustrating since they have to reload after every shot.  I'm still on the fence about the Fledermaus (which has already suffered a broken/about to be broken landing strut, which is very disappointing) but am leaning towards fielding it if only to get some more reps in with it and because I had a good time with it earlier in the week.  For tonight I'd like to go over the new tournament battle builder again and build up a couple lists, but that's going to be a stretch.  If I manage to settle on a list before the morning I'll call today a success.

First Flight

The camo actually worked.

My cup of flying enthusiasm overflowed yesterday so I broke out the painter's tape and spray cans and got started on the Axis plane.  In retrospect I should have left the area immediately around the cockpit the base dark grey primer so the cockpit itself doesn't stick out so much.  I'll have to put that into practice if I go in for a second plane.  The base and flight stand are very frustrating but I have some ideas for them.  In general the model has grown on me a bit but it's still far from attractive.  There may be a bit of an Axis painting push for Saturday since there's plenty of stuff, mostly soldier 3 units, that are ready for washing and final details.  I'd like to field a fully painted army for the batch of regionals, but that's probably not going to happen.  It would also require me to have a list in mind to play.  I had hoped that the plane would take my pants off and demand a permanent place in all lists going forward, but the results were less than hoped for.

More DA Painting, Icarusmas

Green with envy.

First the boring stuff: painting.  When I said this morning that I'd be happy with getting the greens
done on the Deathwing tester, I thought that would include more than just the chest eagle.  That's all there is though, at least for the time being, but I will be thumbing through the codex, examining box art, and making use of the 360 view option on the GW site to see how they do things.

On second thought there is a bit more green than just the eagle.  I did the eyes and the "lenses" at the end of the arm cables in green.  Whether they stay that way is up for internal debate, though you can weigh in as well.  Next up will be metals and reds, which I think will take care of the vast majority of the model.  It's amazing what a little splash of color, even limited to the chest eagle and eyes, will do for a model.  The internet seems to be frightened of the Christmas effect when red and green are paired on a model, but my Khador scheme should show that I am made of sterner stuff, so I'm looking forward to seeing how a darker-than-usual red affects this model. 

More Deathwing, Upcoming Release

Armor finished, which is most of the model.

Work continues on my Deathwing tester.  As is usual in these cases, I spent way too much time on highlighting my initial model.  Will I carry this through to future models, or will my standards relax over time?  We'll all find out together.  Following my other pattern I think I went too subtle on shading and highlighting, but maybe less so than usual.  There's clear definition between the majority of plates and all the time spent on clean and even base coats yields better returns as more of it remains exposed.  One day I'll find something to try out the over the top cartoony style of black recess and white highlights.  I'd like to get this one finished today, but more realistically if I can get the greens done then I'll call it a success.  I might also try out the recent influx of greens on the regular Dark Angel tester.  For now I'm resisting the call of the Ravenwing.  One project at a time.  (HA!)

In other news I hope to have a copy of the new Dust Warfare expansion in my hands later today.  The new Axis models have been out for a while, but with no rules for them I haven't had any idea which, if any, of them I'll want.  At the top of the list are planes.  My local meta doesn't really do helicopters, but after one particularly gruesome game against one I'm a convert to the power of flight.  The plan is to hit Huzzah if/when books come in, see if the planes are worthwhile, then (perhaps) get the pair that have been taunting me from the shelf for many weeks.  Normally I'd make a large purchase like this through online channels as the discounts are too deep to ignore, but with the regional tournaments starting next weekend I'm not sure they'd arrive in time.  My biggest fear about Icarus is that it will be a game changer, much like Hades was, and that I'll run into some early adopters posing questions that I have no answers for, hence my desire to beat them to the punch.  Regardless of how things pan out it should be nice to have some new toys to play with.

Finished Hans, Future Plans

Ready for action, but still needs detailing.

I got a wee bit of varnishing in on Tuesday before the Snowquester hit, or missed, yesterday.  Since I didn't ballast the Ravenwing bases on Monday night the spraying was confined to a pair of Hans arms, but now I can field at least one (almost) fully painted walker for my Axis troops.  As I've probably noted before it still needs numbers/icons and basing, but it's as finished as my infantry is.  Despite having it be dry for about two days I haven't actually put a finished trooper next to the finished walker yet, but I'm confident they'll be consistent with each other.

Striking While the Iron Isn't Humid

Not pictured: the author.

The weather over the past few months has been less than acceptable for spraying, so when a window of warmish (for the season) and reasonably dry weather opens it's best to take advantage of it.  I did just that today by varnishing the zombies and Hans torso that have been on the painting table for far too long, priming four Terminators and a Tactical Marine that come from EV's recently acquired Dark Vengeance, and priming/basecoating a full Wotan and a medium walker torso.  I considered arms for the medium for a bit but couldn't settle on either Luther or Ludwig arms while the Lothar arms won't be camo and thus need no spraying.  As if all that wasn't enough I also sullied myself by going into an actual GW to poke around at their Dark Angel stuff, namely FoC unlocking characters and direct order bits.  In case you're like me and have avoided GWs like the plague you'll be glad to know that it hasn't been for nothing.  The full court sales press is still on and even having an obviously disinterested party along for the ride is no deterrent.  I did confirm that I could get direct order only stuff (looking at you Chapter specific upgrade sprues) shipped to the store while also avoiding S&H charges, so my suicide mission was successful.  I will need to shower for the next 72 hours, continuously, to feel normal again though.

Paint ALL the Models

Not a bad result for a day spent painting.

Let's be honest from the start: the subject line is a bit of an exaggeration.  But only a bit. 

I've been tiptoeing around painting my Axis for a while, spending plenty of time considering my approach, working on a test model here and there, but by no means making use of the time saving techniques I've theoretically been honing.  Today that finally changed.  After a bit of inspired late night gluing in Friday's wee hours I jumped in with both feet, slathering paint on anything within reach.  That tally is as such:

• Kommandotrupp with optional radioman
• Snipers
• Battle Grenadiers with extra Panzershreck
• Sturmpionere with optional radioman
• Two squads of zombies, still in progress
• Some dabbling with the test Hans (not pictured)

With the newly painted soldier 2 units it should be less of a struggle to figure out what models go in which squad (or how many Panzerfausts go in each squad).  I'll also be able to field at least some painted models, which will be a nice change of pace.  I've been spoiled by my past Journeyman efforts that let me take most any Legion model I have assembled while fielding only painted models.  The good news is that painting went about as quick as expected, so once I clear the final remaining hurdle of how to tackle the soldier 3 units then things should wrap up in short order.  The walkers will need a little extra attention, but they'd get that anyway since they're so big.  Now I just have to hope that the weather on Monday allows for varnishing.

Further Adventures in Painting Dust

Today's entry comes from the making lemonade file.  My weekly game with EV was pushed back from Tuesday to Friday to accommodate the new year.  Then the dastardly forces of Real Life converged to make our available window too small to game in.  Instead of moping about I forged on with hobby-related activities, namely getting stuff painted.

Step one: tape it up.

Since my previous experiment painting Axis infantry, I've managed to get exactly nothing finished.  Or started for that matter.  While I'm happy with the planned approach to painting Soldier 2 infantry, Soldier 3 is a hurdle yet to be cleared (what to do about all the armor), and there's also the small matter of walkers that need to be painted.  (As a side note, last week I took a hair dryer to my various bits of plastic and got them all as straight as they're going to get, so I'm running low on excuses to dodge painting.)  I'd picked up some painters tape a while back to try an idea for doing walkers, and today the weather warmed up enough that I felt comfortable giving it a shot.  I've pulled inspiration from the Cerberus camo found here.  The first step was simple: mask off spots that would end up the darkest.  Since the models come "pre-primed," and since I'd incorporated that "primer" into the Soldier 2 scheme, the stock grey forms the darkest, bottom layer of paint.  After taping I took a can of light grey spray to the entire model.

Axis Infantry Painted

The sniper's shoulder isn't really yellow, it's just a reflection.

Big day for the Axis cause: frequently-used models have been painted.  The gorillas I did a few weeks ago were selected because they don't find a place in many lists, so if they took longer than expected it wouldn't cause (m)any problems.  Today I took a bigger leap by tackling a unit of snipers, along with a unit of the recently intriguing spotters, both of which have featured in every list I've run since getting the Hades book.  I wanted to take a bigger bite since I felt confident in my at the time untested scheme, but was restrained by my lack of prior preparation.  I'd cleaned mold lines and glued wiggly components on the radiomen, snipers, and medium walkers a few days back and didn't like the idea of painting something that might twist around and rub away my work.  I almost went with the walkers instead but I'm less confident in my approach as it involves a number of techniques I've never tried before, but there will be time for that later.

As always, my pictures turned out dark.

You are no doubt wondering about my amazing approach to these models.  (As an aside, I've spent about the last half hour looking for a close up of just hands, mini, and brush so I could make up a "my painting technique is unstoppable" picture.  You have failed my stock photo needs again Internet.)  To scratch your curious itch, and to keep a record for myself, this is how it went.  Start with a heavy drybrush, or the closest I can manage, of VGC (Vallejo Game Color) Stonewall Grey on everything that isn't going to end up flesh or metal.  Next apply VGC Gunmetal to all metal areas.  VGC Bronze Fleshtone goes where you'd expect.  Follow with a liberal coating of GW Badab Black wash, assuming you still have a pot.  Because I was working with a small batch and had a heavy hand with the wash, I let the models dry for a while before continuing, but once I get rolling on a couple units at once I don't think drying time will be required.  Regardless, after the wash came Vallejo Model Color Yellow Ochre on the backpacks.  After a bit of experimenting, and taking stock of my materials, I went with a Vallejo Umber Shade wash over the yellow to get that mustardy-sorta-brown color I wanted.  I picked out the toes and tops of the boots, grips on the guns, belts, a strip of trim on the bottom of the jackets, the odd strap on a hat, and all the metal bits on the backpacks with VGC Black.  The penultimate step was a VGC Chainmail Silver highlight on the existing metal areas, plus picking out the metal bits on the backpacks.  Another Umber Shade wash on the backpacks, especially the metal bits, and the job was finished.  Basing still needs to happen, but the models themselves are done.

You can see the belts and jacket trim in this one.

The only real hitch in this process was figuring out the yellow.  My initial approach was to thin down the VGC equivalent of Snakebite Leather as a wash.  While this still seems like the right tactic, I watered it far too much and didn't get the results I wanted.  I tried a GW Ogrun Flesh wash on the left backpack, but the result was red instead of brown.  My thought now, and always, was Devlan Mud, but my supply is all but exhausted and it's part of my Legion scheme, so I want to preserve it for that use.  I've had the Vallejo wash for quite a while but never really use it, so I gave it a shot and it was almost exactly what I had in mind. 

Overall I'm happy enough with the result to begin preparations for the rest of my troops.  This batch strikes me as a bit on the drab side, so I may go back and do up some flesh colored hands, but mostly I'm hoping that having a non-grey base will give them some visual life.

Dust Up: Supremacy Showdown

Not this kind.  Well, maybe a little.

Special Disclaimer: New ground is breaking in this very post.  Etna's Vassal and I doing something I've been thinking about for a long while, a double battle report.  This is different for me as I generally try to cover both sides, successfully or not, when I do a battle report, whereas this time it's (mostly) all from my side.  You can find EV's half of the story here. 

You'd never know it from this blog, but I've been playing a lot of Dust Warfare lately.  It took a decent amount of sniffing around and shuffling feet, but I'm now at the helm of a nearly complete collection of Axis forces, thanks in part to the Escalation league that's been running for the last month or two at Huzzah.  (Wednesday nights if you're a curious party.)  I've had a good time with Dust, which is quick and interactive, and am now starting to appreciate the depth of the system.  It's one of those easy to learn, hard to master things.  I've even settled (I think) on a scheme and approach, which should make a certain reader happy.  Once I get going on it of course.  The Huzzah league is wrapping up currently, with EV and I finishing up tied for first.  We hadn't played each other during the league since we get in a weekly game on Tuesdays, so there were no handy head-to-head tie breakers available.  The only way to determine a champion was to duke it out.

Monkeys

Turns out dark models that lean forward are hard to photograph.

I've been a lazy hobbyist of late.  Games aren't a problem, and I'm probably playing more than ever since getting back into gaming a few years back.  The struggle against unpainted (and worse, unassembled) models isn't going as well.  Today I struck a tiny blow against the unpainted masses in the form of four apes.  Before painting began my focus was on speed, but that fell down the priority totem pole in the usual manner as I got to work.  Despite dragging my feet a bit the actual painting went quick enough, though it was accompanied by a large pail of drying time.  I "drybrushed" the fur (aka 90% of the model) straight over the "primer" that the models come out of the box with, then gave it a heart black wash.  Panzerfists got a coat of black, then bronze, then a slathering of Tamiya Smoke (along with the silver generator on Markus' back).  Final details were eyes and tongues, both red, along with white teeth and colored wiring.  I had been set to base my Dust mans in the same manner as my Blood Angels, meaning painted ballast with static grass tufts, but now I'm reconsidering.  My base edges are painted black because I'm not going for a super-realistic style.  These aren't real mans, they're little bits of plastic, so I feel no compulsion to try and camouflage the base to make it look real.  As such I'm thinking about painting the bases silver since they have a diamond steel plate sort of texture, plus the rivets around the edge.  Maybe a silver top and rivets with a black edge, though that's a bit more work than I want to sink into these bases.  Will this be the much looked for start of painting Dust?  Hopefully.  The monkeys were the first because they didn't need any flash cleaned or pieces straightened.  The rest of the stuff?  Not so much, which presents a bit of a hurdle.  Maybe Santa will bring me a fat sack of hobby momentum.

Something Is Better Than Nothing

A different sort of gun mage.

Despite the complete lack of blog activity over the past bit, I have neither died nor forsaken gaming.  Having finally obtained a copy of the IK RPG I've been deep in its pages for the last few days.  The game has a much stronger focus on combat than I'd hoped for, but on further consideration that isn't surprising.  RPGs are what you make out of them though so the possibilities are endless.  My initial impulse was towards a spell slinger of some flavor, a Greylord most likely to keep with my theme.  Pistoleers look interesting too though with the added benefit that there are lots of models out there that are appealing (this one in particular).  I could combine the two into a Gun Mage except that I'd want to do an Amethyst Rose flavor which doesn't really click with the Khador thing.  For now ideas will just swirl while I make my way through the book. 

Plus there's the small issue of finding a group, but I'm hoping that resolves itself with little fuss.

Also in recent news, I finally have a Dust army to push around on the table.  When I put the order in the Revised Core Set was out of stock which put a sizable spanner in the works since the plan incorporated most of the pieces in it.  Of course you can only get those in that particular box, which is a rant I've indulged in elsewhere, so I went back to the drafting table to hammer out a collection that could stand by itself until I could get the Core-only models.  After a pair of speedy field tests with EV I found my force to be fit for fighting.  Of course the real test remains: painting.  In addition to figuring out a scheme (I'd like something at least inspired by what the Germans wore while fighting in Russia) there's the question of mold lines and bent barrels.  Mold lines aren't as bad as they could be, though they're far from wonderful while also being trickier than usual to get to since the minis are already assembled.  Part of me wants to embrace the economy of the game and just paint them as-is, stock primer and all.  The rest of me knows that I'll get halfway through the first squad and wish I'd taken the time to clean them properly.  I think I'll give it a week or three to simmer and see how it looks after a couple more games.

Journeyman Painting Log # 4

Add another tally to the "finished" column.

Today I finished pVayl, more or less, as has become my custom.  My original thought was to do her inner dress/robe in purple, but somewhere along the way I roughed in a purple interior to her cloak.  Since I am nigh-powerless to change something I've roughed in the cloak has a purple lining and Vayl has a creamy dress.  In a flash of justification I reasoned with myself that the purple interior was better than the dress as it stuck to the role of purple in my scheme, namely as a lining color.  The orange Oraculus turned out reasonably well, as did the autumn colored leaves.  The only place that looks to need more love is the metal parts of the dress and....hat?  I'm not sure anything can be done for the thing that lives on her head, but a little highlighting wouldn't hurt, and the dress could stand some of the same treatment.  Whether that treatment is via standard highlighting or by applying a second purple wash for additional shading, or even a combination of both, is yet to be determined.