Dark Angels - Ravenwing Attack Bikes & Black Knights

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer #DarkAngles #Ravenwing Attack Bikes & Black Knights... I know it seems like I haven't been hobbying and that's partly true, but I have done some things, just haven't written about them yet. Anyway, this is the metallics on all the bikes.

There were some slight changes to the recipe - Army Painter Rough Iron > VGC Hammered Copper > Citadel  Retributor Armour > Citadel Runelord Brass. The Runelord is'.t as light as the mix of gold and silver I usually do but the further sepia wash blends [obscures] it all anyway.

Having drybrushed and sponged the metallics on I then touched up all the back to make it tidy. Although bikes can be labour intensive, and attack bikes doubly so,

the Black Knights were also coming along. I even regret not getting my last 3 bikes 'Raven-blinged' up and to this stage too. The thought of tackling them further down the line and doing all this again is a little off-putting.

The Primaris Chaplain has kept pace though, even though I didn't want my Primaris force to have bronze as feature - they'll be silver as a significant counter-point to all my other armies.

That said, although I don't want Primaris in my Dark Angels, I have the Redemptor because it's a solo unit and would be a centrepiece. For that reason I think this as a HQ choice can sit along old school figures because it's a standout model.

I do have 2 other old skool Chaplains on bikes though so I can have them consistent if I want.

Question: I need to put a Ravenwing banner on the back of this bike, don't I?

With these ready for their Blessed Verdigris I ran out of momentum and switched to some terrain...

#BlackstoneFortress - Amallyn Shadowguide

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer ... honestly I have! Just not very much and the items I have been painting show limited progress and are difficult to take pictures of, so I've had little to post about. Anyway, I haven't shared any of this since my Big Build TO DONE! and that was pre-COVID! In truth I'm not sharing much this time, just the one picture. This had been primed and basecoated for a couple of years now and somewhere among my Tyranid Warriors and Ravenwing Talonmaster I painted the white armour. I'm pretty chuffed with the results, if I'm honest. It's really odd as I know this will look awesome when I finish it but I just have zero motivation to do so.

 

We're not playing BSF and there's no rush to get it done, not to mention I do have much higher priority models on my TO DO list. Maybe it'll be something where I just do the green or the brown inbetween other jobs. The gun will be black so perhaps tack that on with some Ravenwing stuff that I'm currently working on, when I get past the metallics stage that is!

Anyway, short and sweet. I've a couple of updates to share with you when I can find time to write them. My son is back to uni next week so I should have more hobby time to push on and complete some projects with a concerted effort.

What's on my palette?

Bless me #WarHamFam for I have sinned, it's been 3 months since my last confession! I've built lots of things, painted my Tyranid Warriors, a Death Guard and Ravenwing Talonmaster. I've played a few games of Blood Bowl and had a couple of Middle Earth role-playing sessions. I think this has been quality rather than quantity.

So what's on my palette right now? I've a number of things but I've had something of a short break from the hobby. Although it doesn't feel like I've lost my mojo the net result is the same thing. I've put in some time on my Ravenwing Attack Bikes and Black Knights - getting the metallics done, one colour at a time. When the final Runelord Brass and wash is on I'll share. It's tedious work but it needs to be done. I'm not pushing myself which allows me the easy get out of not doing anything.

I've painted the white on 5 more of my Halfling Blood Bowl team I'll get round to sharing them at some point but much like the bikes it's tedious work. Although that can feel productive, because I don't have to think and the result is a significant change from where the model started, it's not very rewarding creatively. They're also not high on my list of things To Do, as they're not part of my #NewYearNewArmy but I want to get to the pint bits as they'll look cool when that goes on.

I've done a little more work on a Munitorum Container. The red/cream one is very close to finished and will feature in my #ArmiesOnParade2022 so a small push on that will feel really satisfying. I've just discovered I don't appear to have any pics of that in progress. I'll have to check in more detail or remedy that.

Also I have done a bit more on my Sector Imperialis Administratum, which I claimed I was working on What's on my palette? in November '21! I have actually done the first set of red highlights on the walls and just concluded that I will also do the interior walls red. I had been thinking about following my current terrain design of cream interiors, but will reserve that for the floors. It gives me the opportunity to be a little different but still consistent. Again it'll be in my #ArmiesOnParade and terrain is always awesome. 

And finally, with the recently built Death Guard reinforcements I need to prime them so I can decide which ones I want to get a head start on and which ones I want to hold back on so that I can paint them with my youngest, when he finally wants to give it a go.

So, my eldest is due back at uni in a few weeks and I won't have this unknown evening schedule that currently exists. Until then I'll be dipping in and out of the hobby but should have some pics worth sharing soon. 

Lastly, I have the materials for my man cave upgrade. I will be installing some insulation on the floor. It may not solve the significant winter cold but I had to give it a shot. Whether I should have investigated some under floor heating system instead, I mean it's a wooden shed, on a wooden, open base, on paving slabs. It seems daft to put some sort of heating elements on that. Even with a reflective material I expect it would lose heat as well warm it from the floor up. Currently my electric heater just warms everything from about 24inches up, so feet are always freezing in colder weather. Fingers crossed the insulation mitigates this.

If I wasn't using it as a home office I'd never have bothered but I've survived two years and think it's needed if I continue. It also means I will have to empty the shed and that will mean a tidy out, it's proper Trebus and has become something of an issue. I still consider the efforts hobby related but it will eventually impact figure painting, if only for a few days, but I'll share pics when I do.

#DeathGuard #KillTeam #NewYearNewArmy Big Build TO DONE!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I stumbled across a tweet the other day pointing out Hachette were doing a 50% off deal on Warhammer Conquest magazine. I Was initially excited but not only were there a lot of the magazines labelled 'Out of stock' there were many that were not that were no longer available. Someone pointed out that there were some Pox Walkers and Death Guard so I rooted around and did indeed find them. As I hope to use these in my #ArmiesOnParaade2022 having a few more to bulk out the baddies made sense and some terrain too to decorate the board. So I got the Poxwalkers and Death Guard, another Munitorum Container, Haemotrope Reactor and some Plasma Conduits. If you spent over £30 you got free postage, this was £40 and then the 50% off came in at £20! Bargain in my book, and these will go on my spreadsheet as magazines, NOT new figures... 😎

So I got to building the marines and it was lucky I got these two sets, as the Marine on the Poxwalker sprue needs the spare weapon that's on the reinforcement sprue.

These Poxwalkers are fantastic models and how they are put together can be really ingenious. I hope we get to see more of this level of creativity in what is essentially a basic model.

They are so good, I don't know how easy they'll be to paint but the variety in them is awesome. However, I'm totally going to keep impaling myself on their spikes!

The Lord of Contagion is pretty hefty beast. You'll not that I've added my twigs and some sharp sand on the bases. They'll still be wading through tar sludge and I've already identified my Red Planet BASE sand colouring isn;t quite right but I'm hoping to solve that problem when they're all done.

Foetid Bloat Drone, so great to have something more substantial to add to the warband. Clearly something that would never be part of Kill Team but I love the model and I'm excited to paint it. My youngest has expressed an interest in trying to paint some figures in the summer. I'm thinking some of these would be a decent starting point.

I absolutely love this, I had no idea quite how large it was, you can hide a Redemptor Dreadnought behind it! I also got the plasma conduits made, but I haven't put their feet on yet as I don't want to commit to a layout just yet, I have a Magnavent and want to see how they all interact first.

I also part built the Munitorum Container, but I want to add functioning doors so it'll be awhile before it's built. So far, for all of this I'm going to get 5 Great Big Big Build BLESSED VERDIGRIS Stamps of Approval [the Poxwalkers only count as one].

#BloodBowl Chorley Bowl 2022 - Game 3, Humans Vs Squigs

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity and my third Blood Bowl match and I'm up against Otty and his Squig team. Well I say his team, but I think he was loaning one from David. Some things to note, Otty was not having much success, his bigger, stronger squigs bounced around in random directions - so although I was rightly terrified of them he constantly bounced around their intended victims. We were also running very late and only got the first half in.

If I'm honest I don't recall what was happening here, I think I got to shuffle off the line of scrimmage so I wasn't quite trampled on first turn. Oh, there were Chainsaws thrown on the pitch too, that's my Lineman running back to my endzone to pick one up.

I then managed to get the ball and went off up the right wing, with two catchers for options on who to throw it to and my Ogre getting in the way to draw attention away from them. 

My Chainsaw guy got to work butchering squigs and Goblins but with time running out I snatched a touchdown,

Despite my hazy memory there was one golden bit etched into my brain. I had got slightly frustrated with mixing up the D6 dice with the Block dice so had mixed two different coloured sets. But even so at one point I picked up 2D6 to block and rolled 10, to which I immediately said that would have been a great armour roll. I the picked up the correct dice, succeeded in my block, went for the armour roll and rolled 12! Then the injury roll was 11!

Otty continued to have misfortune after misfortune. Even when his big Squigs did bounce into my player he seemed only able to push me back, despite their advantage. His dice were cold and mine were hot. We came to the end of the first half and called it, his team broken losing 1:0. 

Somehow I came 3rd, which was fine, I even got this dinky little trophy. I had a lot of fun, moreso because I completed a game [2 actually]. It certainly helps when you're playing someone who knows what they're doing and is also willing to help you learn to enjoy the experience. I doubt Otty is motivated to play much, maybe he needs a team he's comfortable with and is less random. Humans are pretty average across the board so I think that faired well for me. I'd considered my Nurgle team but didn't want to complicate things with their extra rules. Overall I had a lot of fun, as this picture can attest, and I think it also illustrates Otty's feelings about Blood Bowl...

#WarhammerCommunity

Afternoon #WarHamFam I've been #PaintingWarhammer for a good few years now and you may have noticed I was lucky enough to be asked to share my Tyranids for a Warhammer Community article: This Tyranid Army Looks So Good You’ll Want Them to Eat You. 

This was such an honour to be asked, I'd seen a comment on Twitter about the community sharing their Tyranids, I shared pics of mine and also some of Otty's, because they're based on Jes Bickahm's scheme and he'd already chipped in with a tweet. There were a number of other fellow nid enthusiasts showcasing their Hive Fleets and I was totally unaware [or forgotten] the original tweeter is responsible for the community pages. A number of DM's later and I'm writing a few hundred words about my journey with the nids and taking some additional pictures [all on white background]. Now I've never been in White Dwarf, still a hobby achievement to aspire to. I had my Tyranid Reclamation Pool feature on the GW site a decade or so ago, but that no longer exists. I've been on the Twitch Hobby Round-up a few times and the Twitch live stream for the 40k GT, but this is one of the highest accolades I've ever had.

You all know me by now, I write far too much and take far too many pictures. Naturally they weren't able to use all of them and I was really impressed how they edited everything to still be coherent and make it better. That said I do have a number of new showcase pictures that weren't used that  I will be posting up in the future, and adding to the Showcase page.

Now back to my remaining hobby bucket list:

• Feature in White Dwarf, one model will do.
• Golden Demon participation pin

That's not too unreasonable I think...

#BloodBowl Chorley Bowl 2022 - Game 2, Humans Vs Dryads

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity and my second Blood Bowl match and I'm up against David's brother Tim's Dryad team. Its a fascinating army with some 'young' treemen, some Birch and Willow trees. I think the Willows absolutely terrified me, the were strong and all had the equivalent of tentacles and prehensile tails. Essentially once you were in their tackle zone you just couldn't get out. This time I was on my own but I was receiving the ball at kick-off.

I managed to move over to my right wing and even formed a rudimentary cage round One Eyed Jim. I actually had a play in mind to draw his team over to that side and then reverse and sweep up the left.

And it somehow worked. Everyone in my team moved over to the left. But there was a particularly sneaky move where my catcher had been knocked down. I knew he couldn't get past the Willow that did it, so I just kept him on the ground. When the Willow eventually moved on he got up and sprinted down the right hand side and then looped over to the middle heading towards the end zone. OEJ snuck up the baseline and completed the pass. Learning from my first game I mooched around in Tim's back field to draw out time and scored at the close of the first half.

I think I messed up kicking in the next kick off, and positioned it too close to an edge and naturally it scattered off in the direction of the nearest sideline! I think Tim was able to gift the ball to a player and relatively quickly score to draw even 1:1.

Again I'm vague about what was happening. Often I would just look at the board and my mind would go blank. I was so overwhelmed by my options and then trying to stack them in order of easiness/chance of success/absolute must take place which was difficult to work out. I also always forgot to roll Bonehead for my Ogre and constantly forgot to turn my models round to show they had made an action.

I think at some point I made another break for it and inevitably a 'go for it' roll left me on the ground and Tim was able to snatch up the ball.

I don't think I was able to recover from that mistake and I was outclassed at the end to lose 2:1. That said I found the game far more tactical and rewarding than my inexperience should allow. There were plays I'd tried and that felt good.