Into the New Year

A belated, but Happy New year to you all! May 2016 see the reduction of our lead pile to a manageable level!

As I look back on last year in terms of my blogging, it seems to have been a game of three halves. I started the year full of good intentions, as I'm sure we all do. I had the plan to paint all my Khador casters, in my Khador Caster Challenge, and it did start well, with one a month done up till June.

Unfortunately this was when the second half of the year kicked in, otherwise known as Summer, and both painting and gaming fell to the wayside.

The last half of the year was when I got back into some gaming with some Osprey Games. Firstly with IHMN, then with Frostgrave.

And that's where this year is blending seamlessly into the last, with more Frostgrave, as there seems to be some real energy behind this game, both online, and in my local gaming group. It is also a game that has really inspired me to delve back into my lead pile and dig out some old gems that would otherwise never get played with, which is what attracts many to the game. I received the Thaw of the Lich Lord campaign book yesterday, and have read through it, and I must say it seems to make some fun additions to the game, so I'm looking forward to running through this campaign soon, while interest is still high.

2015 was the year when  the "Colore ton Monde" painting challenge finally closed it's doors, but it was also the year that The Viridian Wars blog opened, as infrequent as posts there may be.

I don't really like to have posts here that don't have any pictures, but I don't yet have anything new that is ready to post, so I went back through last years minis, and selected a few to repost here.

Onwards to 2016. What will it bring to my gaming and painting table? Well, I do not have and grand plans, unlike last year, except to finish a full warband for Frostgrave. Which will only happen if I stop painting wizards, as I only need two of those, even if they are such pretty miniatures...

There is also a painting class, here in Montreal in a week or so, so maybe I'll head over for a day of that too, knock some of the rust off after the slow painting of the last part of last year, get me back on track.

Happy 2016 to you all!

Khador Caster Challenge, Irusk update

This is not a full post for the Khador Caster Challenge, but just a quick update with a final version of Irusk. I was initially unsure what to do with his base, however, I found some trench bases I had made way back for Strakov and his Assault Kommandos, and appropriated one for Irusk. The thing with Irusk, however, is once he plants his feet somehere, he's all but inpossible to displace. He was so well stuck onto the base he was on, I had to hack the base to bits with my wirecutters to get him off. Fortunately, any damage to his feet during that process, and the subsequent pinning, were completely hidden by the trenchworks.

Initially I had a yellow leaf stuck to the trench mud as well as the red one, picking out colours from his scheme, but the yellow one seems to have fallen off along the way.

Speaking of Strakov, here's a quick WIP of him, as I started him for the June entry in my challenge. The eyes seemed a little cartoonish, but my fix seems more like my brush slipped. I'm  going to have to go back over his face.

Khador Caster Challenge, May: Kommander Orsus Zoktavir

Kommander Orsus Zoktavir, or eButcher took a little longer than I had planned. Indeed, I thought I was finished, at the end of the month, but had forgotten to do his boots. Always the last part to paint but now they are done and dusted.

I now have my camera fixed, so no longer camera phone images, which were coming out a little striated. However, it has taken me so long to take these pictures, the mini has become chipped, and is already in need of repairs.

 

That now leaves the running total at:

Casters Painted: 7
Old Witch and Scrapjack
Zerkova
pVlad (Variant)
pButcher
pIrusk
eButcher

Casters to Paint: 5
eIrusk
pSorscha
eSorscha
Strakov
eVlad


Next up on the painting table is Strakov.

Khador Caster Challenge, April: Kommandant Irusk

This month has been a bust in painting terms, between family holidays and other commitments, I have had a grand total of 4 hours painting so far this month. Not that I am complaining, as the other stuff has been fun, but it does leave the post count here at a low ebb.

To combat this lack of time, I am painting one mini that will fit in both with this month's colore ton monde challenge, and my self imposed Khador Caster challenge. Since this month's colore ton monde was open to pretty much anything, this was not hard.

I had previously put some base colours down on pIrusk, and he is a relatively simple model compared to the epic versions of the casters that are left to do on my list, so that made him a shoe-in for this month's mini.

I experimented a bit on the Khador anvils on his shoulder pads and neck. as well as with the crest band on his hat. Rather than going for a metallic gold, I went yellow with a bit of highlighting. This is not an NMM effect as such, but has the same feel. A little more cartoony than many of my historical minis, but that fits with Mr Big-Hat here.

This leaves the Khador Caster Challenge in the following state:

Casters Painted: 6
The Old Witch and Scrapjack
Zerkova
pVlad (variant)
pButcher
pIrusk

Casters to Paint: 6
eButcher
eIrusk
pSorscha
eSorscha
Strakov
eVlad

Half way there in 4 months, but with some of the bigger models like eButcher and eIrusk still to go I'm glad to have time to work on them as they may take more than one month each at my current rate of painting.

Khador Caster Challenge, March: The Butcher of Khardov

This month was the new League at my FLGS, through which I planned to play, and to play Khador. This is what the Khador Caster Challenge was laid down for, to get these guys on the table and play with them. I plan to play lots of eVlad, as I plan to win lots of games, however, I also want to take my time with him and paint him well, so for this month, I went back to touch up the paint job on pButcher, and sort his base out. A quick fix to get another caster completed and move on to other things. In the end, the league closes this week, and i got in a whole two matches, but that's still better than nothing.

The start of the month was taken up with the conversion and painting of my Manhunter hero for the league, so I wanted to get on with that rather than spend too long on the 'Caster this month. The Butcher was also the caster I played my second and last game of the league with. He won.

The Lady herself!

One down, two more challenges to get done for this month, with Colore ton Monde, and another, which I will reveal when all is done and dusted in a month or two.

That leaves the running total as follows:

Casters Painted: 5
The Old Witch and Scrapjack
Zerkova
pVlad (variant)
pButcher

Casters to Paint: 7
eButcher
pIrusk
eIrusk
pSorscha
eSorscha
Strakov
eVlad

Khador Caster Challenge: February, Vladimir, the Dark Prince of Umbrey

After having finished Zerkova, I had started to paint up Irusk as the next caster, but after playing a game of Warmachinea couple of weeks ago, where I fielded my Khador for the first time in a very long time (so long in fact, that many of the players at the store were unaware I had a Khador army, to them I was a Legion/Menoth player), and played and enjoyed my game with eVlad, I decided that Vlad was the way to go. Since my eVlad is not completely assembled, I dusted off pVlad. That is not a metaphorical dusting off either, this guy had been primed way back when he was originally released in 2005, and I literally had to clean the thick layer of dust off of his cloak before painting him!

This is the Variant version of Vladimir, the Dark Prince of Umbrey, after there was much outcry to resculpt the original version, which was a very early sculpt from Privateer Press, and is quite frankly lacking in charm. This version was originally released, with some of the proceeds from the sale going to Hurricane Katrina Relief.

His face is rather hidden, and hard to get to between those massive shoulder pads, but since the shoulders are clearly the focal point of this mini, I decided to spend the time getting them right, rather than the facial features,

Now that I have the paint scheme down for his armour, I can go and assemble the epic version, and get on with painting him, as he is a lot more fun to play with on the table. Afterall, the challenge to paint these guys up is with the intention of playing my Khador more too. I may even try to sign up for the next league at my FLGS with them, as I hear it's going to be a lot of fun!

To have this mini pull a double shift, I went with a winter base, that way he count's for this month's colore ton monde entry too. I went with the traditional PVA glue and baking soda mix, which worked perfectly when dry-brushed on the cloak, but didn't work so well on the base, as I had not base coated white, or blue, so the black of the base showed through. After that, I put a thin layer of white and blue paint, to cover the darkness of the PVA-Baking soda mix, then added some Army Painter snow flock. The result looks messy, and I don't like it, but for this month, it'll do, and I can always re-base him later.

Khador Caster Challenge: January, Zerkova.

After a Christmas break where I was pretty busy painting, What motivation I had to get on with my self inflicted Khador Caster Challenge went by the wayside after completing MacBeth. However, I forced through it, and with a couple of false starts, this evening I put the finishing touches to the first of my 'casters for the year of 2015.

With that, I present to you, Koldun Commander Aleksandra Zerkova.

 
The picture quality is down due to the batteries running out on my camera, so these are taken with my phone, hence the strange stripy effect in the background.

Her wand and sword have also had a coat of luminescent paint, as I did with the Old Witch. Again, there is no way this will ever be seen in regular play, but I know it's there.

I'm happy with some parts of the mini, but I feel I rushed things a little at the end, so her boots and hat are a little scrappy, but I am very happy with her face and cloak. My technique is on the up, if not all the way there yet. The glowing effect on her sword need a lot of work though, I think I need more contrast in the shadows to bring out the lighter parts. Maybe with a touch of white here and there to really make it pop. I tried to use the same ink effects as on the wand, but it is a completely different surface, so requires some modification to the mix.

I'll maybe make those little adjustments whilst working on another caster next month. I think Irusk has made his way to the front of the queue, as he's quite a simple miniature really. Poor Sorscha keeps getting bumped down the list, despite being my first.

Casters Painted: 2
The Old Witch and ScrapJack
Zerkova  

Casters to Paint: 9
pButcher (to be based)
eButcher
pIrusk
eIrusk
pSorscha
eSorscha
Strakov
pVlad (variant)
eVlad

This brings me one step closer to allowing myself to by The Butcher Unleashed.

Colore ton Monde: January 2015

The results of the December Colore ton Monde challenge have now been posted on the Facebook group for all to marvel at, so with last month's offering now packed away ready to play, it's on with a new challenge for a new year! This month's Colore ton Monde challenge is as follows:





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* Macdonald, et pas le resto ! *
Le 11 janvier est l'anniversaire du père fondateur du Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald. Pour l'occasion, nous vous invitons à peindre un "fondateur", un chef, un leader. Quelqu'un qui dirige, pas un sous-fifre !
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* MacDonald, and not the restaurant! *
The 11th of January is birthday of the founding father of Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald. To mark the occasion, we invite you to paint a 'founder', a chief, a leader. Someone who leads, not an underling!
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Well, as themes go, I really couldn't ask for more to help me off with my Khador 'Caster Challenge. I was also inspired to pull out MacBeth, as, as leaders go, you can't go much higher than a king! When I went to get him out of my bits box and build him up, who else should I find in there in need of some TLC, but eSorscha. The evening was spent carrying out the pinning required to fix both models, I'm now all ready and primed for this month.

Here's hoping I get as much time to devote to the hobby as I have had over the last two long weeks of Christmas break. Okay maybe not, but I should realistically manage two minis, one of whom is 75% chain-mail!