2013 Review and Lame New Year Resolutions

I guess it is time to write a review post to wrap up the year. I always like these kind of opportunities to look back and see what I have done throughout the year; it was one of the reasons why I started this blog actually. So, let's get started...

To kick off 2013, I announced my new army project: An Araby-themed Bretonnian army which I call "The Arabian Knights of Saladin". The bulk of the army was from Black Tree Design's Warriors of Islam product line, with several figures from Perry Miniatures and Reaper Miniatures. Also don't forget the cheap plastic toys and numerous bits from other kits.

JANUARY

In January, I was mostly into the Arabian Knights project and my -late- birthday gift for Mr.Lee, "The Oppressor". This has been a thing between us for quite some time now. We started giving miniatures as gifts to each other at first; but then it evolved to giving painted busts.

On the left, some early musician knights, from Perry Miniatures. The other photo is the orc bust.

FEBRUARY

Quite a slow month, with only three updates. I started the month with an usual figure: Prince Apophas from Tomb Kings line. I painted this one for a local kid, who was so generous to the club to give us a free PC...!

Another update was the towering manjaniq, trebuchet substitute for the Arabian Knights army.

The last update was a Magma Cannon for the chaos dwarf army, my previous project. In a moment of weakness, I couldn't resist the urge to get my hands on that.

MARCH

This is the month in which the Arabian Knights project really took off. Every single thing that came out of my workshop was Arab-Breton guys: A couple of mounted damsels, a bunch of camel rider knights and a unit of vulture riders knights, pegasus stand-ins.

APRIL

April was a productive month for my standards; but also it was a week with mixed focus. I started the month working with Arabian Knights again; but halfway in the month I was distracted, again... My distraction took me to chaos dwarf lands once again. This time it was a unit of K'daai Fireborns. After that, I moved away from Warhammer altogether in favor of Infinity. Back then I and a mate from club started promoting Infinity heavily in our club. Every thursday we held Infinity nights to keep the interest going. As a result of that, I redirected my efforts to Infinity miniatures. Antipode Pack was the most notable of those.

MAY

With the summer knocking on the door, it was another slow month with only a couple of updates. One was another Infinity figure, a figure that Mr.Lee gave me for my birthday before... Due to Infinity being stagnant at best in our club environs, it stayed in the drawers so long.

The other update was about a monstrosity. No kidding there, it was a Hellcannon of Chaos project that I long had in my mind. I was very happy with the result to be honest and I received nothing but praise from my buddies...

JUNE

Before I go on talking about the minis, I must say somethings about the turmoil in Turkey which erupted on the very last day of May. The protests against demolishing a park at the heart of İstanbul quickly turned to a massive turmoil throughout Turkey after violence from the riot police. Mass protests went on for more than two months and I was either on the streets protesting or before my computer to convey information to those on the streets. I don't want to bore you to death; but you can read more on my blog post about the Gezi Park protests.

The protests really changed the way we lived. Many people joined the protests immediately after they were out from their day job, only to go home to sleep. Those days, I was rarely before my workshop, so the only thing I managed to complete was another bunch of camel rider guys.

Also, since it was summertime, we had pre-planned vacations. One of the most impressive destinations was Lisbon, Portugal. I was even able to hunt down a GW store there and went on to meet and chat local guys. You can read about my insights about the Portugal travel here.

JULY

Literally no updates. Was still protesting...

AUGUST

The protests were settling down and we actually went for swimming and do other summer stuff without any guilt. No real updates; but I published an Infinity battle report over three blog posts. This batrep proved to be a success, drawing attention to my blog from many sources, most notably from the official Infinity forums. If you are interested, you can read more about the most awesome Infinity battle report from part 1, part 2, part 3.

SEPTEMBER

No updates again, due to job change. It was helluva busy month for me since I was expected to transfer my responsibilities to other people at work, where there were still business to take care of for the customers...

OCTOBER

After starting working for a big corporation, my leisure time was increased significantly. Most of the times, I was busy with Infinity scenery which we all chipped in to buy. The very first piece I finished was the District 5 L Apartment. I tailored my post about that piece to include some kind of review as well and I covered every piece of Infinity scenery that way from then on.

Before the month's out, I was able to squeeze another Infinity figure, a Para-Commando proxy for my Aradna force.

NOVEMBER

Even though it was quite a productive month, I was too lazy to post about what I completed. The only post from this month was for the Sarissa Precision Gantry Set. However, I managed to complete two of MAS' District 5 Apartment, one Objective Room and several concrete wall sets. By then we had some decent Infinity scenery in the club and we held our very first Infinity tourney. It was a 200pts tourney with only four players; but I'm inclined to see that tourney as the crowning achievement of our efforts to promote Infinity. Wish I won that one though :)

DECEMBER

With the extra motivation of the Slow-Grow fantasy tournament started in the club, I turned my attention to the Arabian Knights once again. The first step was for 750pts which I easily matched; but for the next step, I was expected to have 1250pts. That required me to paint more and more Arabs and so I did. After increasing the number of the archers to ten, I completed another unit of camel rider guys in a couple of waves: Regular guys first, command guys later.

With the year is over now, I am pleased to see that my Arabian Knights project is a 1500pts worth of an army now. I even took a family photo :)

So what happens now...? Why, it's time for the lame new year's resolutions of course. Even though I still have many Arab guys lying around, waiting to get painted, I don't think that I'll do much on that front until I learn about the future of the Breton army. There are some rumors about the army that it might be consolidated and whatnot, so it's best to see what GW thinks of the army first.

I am still keen on keeping my last year's resolution which was to have a new painted army every year. I think this year it will be a new Infinity force; but I haven't decided what it will be yet.

Also I'll have to finish the bust that I bought for Mr.Lee for his birthday, which I'm already late as usual. Oh well...

Thanks for reading all the way down here. I wish you all had a nice year and wish you the best for this one.

Other Side of the Portal: Another Hellcannon

With my Infinity figures painted and my motivation for the Arabian Knights is rock bottom, I decided to do a project that I had in mind for quite some time now. Some of you might remember my other hellcannon, her sister actually (yes, it is a she, problem?). The monster is in fact a SPAWN action figure. It was in the form of siamese twins, both of which I used as the monster part of my hellcannons now.

The idea I had in mind was a scene of the summoning, with the monster is just about the step (stomp?) in from within the portal. I first started with the portal. The portal was done brick-by-brick with Pegasus Hobbies' bricks. Then I glues a cardboard between the brick frame and did the swirling portal effects with Vallejo's Oxid Paste. That stuff also helped closing the gaps here and there. Before it was completely dry, I buried some tiny skulls in the portal.

After the foundation of the portal was done, I had to decorate it with some bits. I started with a couple of torches. I think they were Ainsty Castings stuff; but since I had them forever, I really can't recall. I thought a couple of hooks and hanging skulls on the side were enough, all of which were GW's bits. Finally, I cut a Hashut symbol from balsa to go on the top of the portal.

As for the crew, I must say my bitzbox made me a very happy man. There's a metal hellcannon crew (guy that carries the chain) with his hand bits are from OOP dwarfs box. There's the other guy with the hook. His body is from Forgeworld's infernal guard, head from Mantic's abyssal dwarf and weapon from OOP dwarf box. And the last guy were made of FW torso-Mantic head again, and also his scepter was from Mantic's halfbreeds. The bit with the book on top should be from Ainsty Castings again.

Originally, my plan was to place the summoner guy on a higher ground, only accessible with spiral stairs; but since the monster occupied a huge portion of the base, I had to drop it. Baaad planning...

So, that's all for today. Here are some more photos, enjoy...

Projekt Core: Hobgoblin Bows

After finishing the hellcannon project, it was the time for me to go back to my initial plan, which was to increase the core units. The reasons were obvious: I am limited at 3k points because of the minimum core allowance and also I'd like to have some different options in my army. I finally got myself painting some hobgoblins for the task at hand.

The miniatures I will be using as hobgoblins in my army is Wargames Factory's Orc Warband. Some of you might remember my recent review about them. There are many other alternatives of course; but these ones attracted me the most.

To keep things simple, I placed them on a 5-men regiment base this time. Because you know, they are expected to die in droves. My equipment choice for them was bows since I am planning to use them as small units which will provide fire support and WM protection rather than huge fighting blocks.

While building the models, I didn't make any conversions so everything you see there is from the original box. Also, when you have some 80 of them waiting their turns, you just can't try that hard for perfection. The same goes with the painting. You can easily notice that the painting quality on them are nowhere near my standard; but they will have to do.

The hardest part of painting those guys is the fact that they are slaves. They shouldn't wear uniforms, actually it should be the opposite. They are slaves, they wear what they find, they fight with what they have at hand, you get the picture. This diversity makes it very hard to batch paint them where it is needed the most. The only part I could paint in one go was the skins obviously; but I think I will find a way to make it work soon.

So, to be able to field a 4k point army, I need to paint 39 more hobgoblins. Just 39, oh the pain... Will see how it goes. Enjoy the photos.

Terror from the Deep: Second Hellcannon

Here I am again, with yet another monstrosity. I have another hellcannon to show off; but this time, it is entirely different from how Games Workshop interpreted it.

Before I talk about the mini at hand, I have to say that I am not a fan of GW's current hellcannon sculpt. It looks too "machine". Hence, I looked for ideas on how to build a hellcannon which looks more "monster", less "machine". I found my answer in Ordo Fanaticus forum. The user JMGraham's beauty was too good to pass and I decided to undertake this project.

The base model here is a SPAWN action figure again. It is called GEMINI from Warriors of the Zodiac series. I am familiar with working on action figures lately. As you might remember, my second K'daai Destroyer was also built off of a SPAWN figure.

So, I started building this model by creating an effect that it is hoisting itself from inside the ground. The height of the model was crucial here due to the "firing point" of the monster. To make it right, I placed it side by side with an original hellcannon. Once I adjusted its height, I buried it into the ground by using putty and then surrounded the putty with balsa pieces. Finally, I applied -a lot of- Vallejo Black Lava for the lava surfaces, as well as the rabble on the rocky parts.

The painting has no real trick. Flesh is Tallarn foundation, Ogryn wash then HL with Tallarn again. The gems are done with Vallejo Golden Yellow and GW Chaos Black GW Orange base with a touch of white dot in the end, a very common gem painting recipe.

I painted the crew miniatures separately and placed them after that. There are many conversions on the crew miniatures and bits from various sources. As a last minute touch, I ransacked my gf's accessory box to find the chains and the bollards (?). They look OK, don't they?


In the end, I am very satisfied with the result to be honest. I am looking forward to displaying this piece in upcoming events and hopefully, I can bag a trophy or two with it. Who knows...

Enjoy.

 

Pimp my Ride - Hobgoblin Wolf Riders

I'm a little tired of dealing with monstrosities, so here's something small for a change: A bunch of hobgoblin wolf riders.

Being the only fast cavalry, I think these little annoyances have great potential in a Legion of Azgorh list. I can see them being useful at usual redirecting duties, as well as hunting a war machine or two, earning more than their cost in the process. Also, they might prove invaluable as screen units, which will provide screens for my monsters from cannonballs, hopefully...

Of course, there are some cons about them too. The most important thing is the hobgoblin animosity. They tend to fail their animosity rolls at times that you need them most, so they are not exactly a dependable unit. Also, they are not very cheap pointswise. One of the other handicap they have is that they are listed on rare slot. It's quite a problem for them since they share that category with hellcannon and k'daai destroyer. It's the tightest slot for chaos dwarfs and it's sometimes hard to squeeze these buggers in.

The miniatures I used here are from GW's Goblin Wolf Riders box, so nothing fancy here. The lava bases are still there and I am still using the Black Lava of Vallejo. When painting, I tried to make them look as ragged as possible, so I used earthly colors like khaki, leather brown on their cloths as much as possible. As for the metal parts like the helmets and the horn, I applied some flesh wash for a little rusty look. The skin tone recipe is very simple: Paint with knarloc on brown undercoat, wash with Thraka then highlight with Knarloc first, followed with Vallejo's sick green.

With one other test model I have done before, they are now 5 guys and can be fielded in the games I'll play. I think I really need to return to basics and do some more cores, as I am stuck at 3k points now due to the core requirements. Expect some more cores soon, most probably in the form of hobgoblins on foot.

Enjoy...

Rebasing the Hellcannon

This will be a quick update about the rebasing of the hellcannon. As you might already know, according to the new rules, the hellcannon is supposed to be on 150x100mm base. So many models are supposed to be on those gigantic bases these days. I was not aware of that while I was building it, so I had to rebase it accordingly.

It looks kinda small on that base ain't it :)

Heavy Industry Move: Chaos Hellcannon

Previously I wrote that I need to focus on the cores, right? See, core troops are overrated :) Until the point that you are unable to field an army due to the lack of them that is. Jokes aside, since The Legion of Azgorh is an elite army list, I opt to field minimum amount of core troops allowed. All the killer troops are in special and rare categories and that's where your points should go if you want a competitive list imho. With a new league in horizon at my club, I decided to add some more punch to my army, broaden my selections and possibly confusing fellow competitors about what I can field. Also, enslaving daemons in huge piles of metal sounds pretty cool ;)

I got this miniature from an eBay deal and it was a bargain. Yes, I'm an eBay addict and seriously thniking on founding an instution like Anonymous eBayers (AeB?). I think it can be a thing. Anyways, as you can see, the kit is missing some decorative bits like the ones that tie the monster to the ground; but all the necessary parts were there. I'm telling you, it was a bargain :)

I wanted a dark, worn look on both the machine/monster and the crew, hence I was even harsher with my washes. The chassis of the hellcannon is painted with the same recipe with my infantries and the metal parts are boltgun washed with badab then HLed with boltgun again and mithril. The soul cages, heh... soul cage... funny saying, I painted them to Deep Yellow (vallejo) first as an undercoat. The I washed them with Baal Red just a little. The HLs of the souls/skulls were done with Golden Yellow first and White later. Nothing special with the crew, except that I liked how the dark skin on them turned out. I also made them removable with magnets beneath them. Nothing fancy to be honest. After I did them, I noticed that the wounds of the hellcannon are not counted with the remaining crew, so it's kind of dumb; but it is what it is...

That's pretty much all about the hellcannon. So, onwards to the ranting section. Recently, I noticed that I developed an allergy to Pattex, the super glue I have been using. Hence, I wear a mask all the time; but even that doesn't help at times. This reduces my productivity seriously, so I'm looking for a solution. I've checked the other super glues in the market: Bison, Scotch and a few local ones but it seems they all use the same active agent: something cyanide if I am not mistaken. I wonder if there is anyone out there who suffers the same reactions and is there any substitues for super glues. Oh, and since I am still ranting, I must say that the weather started to get awfully hot here. Last time I checked it was 29 degrees celcius (84 fahrenheit), significantly higher in my balcony where my workbench is. Oh well, what can you do sometimes, right?

Enjoy...