Invincible Warriors of Yu Jing

Well, I finished my Yu Jing miniatures. Instead of the orange body armor seen on the painted examples of the miniatures, I opted for a green and black color scheme. It was only after painting that I realized they ended up looking like the Salamanders Chapter of the Space Marines...

I started with the Zhanshi as these were the miniatures I cared about the least. Not that I didn't want a high-quality paint job on them, but if I did make an error on their color scheme, I'd prefer to make it now. It was while painting these miniatures that I realized the idea of actually painting them in a camouflaged color scheme was just not to be. There is just not enough flat space on these guys (or any other miniature) for that to work.

Next was the Celestial Guard model. I chose him because he would be the perfect transition from the lightly armored Zhanshi to the fully-carapaced heavy infantry.

My paint scheme was fully decided upon with this miniature. I settled upon "Uniform Green" (Vallejo Model Color #70922) body armor, brown leather (duh) red lenses on the helmets, and black weapons and cloth. The holographic displays on their arms would be the only splash of bright color on the miniatures with their orange finish.

Finally I moved on to the heavy infantry, These miniatures are pretty much all plates of armor, only broken up by tiny bits of cabling.

The cloth and guns were painted by first basecoating the areas with Citadel "Chaos Black", then drybrushing the areas with "German Grey" (Vallejo Model Color #70995) and then highlighting the sharp edges with Chaos Black mixed with "Bleached Bone" (Citadel). Once this dried, the area got a "Badab Black" (Citadel) wash.

I achieved the armor's coloration by first basecoating the areas with Uniform Green, then applying a "Thraka Green" (Citadel Color) wash. Once this dried, I went back and highlighted the armor with more Uniform Green.

Leather areas were painted "US Field Drab" (Vallejo Model Color #70873), washed with "Devlan Mud" (Citadel) and re-highlighted with more US Field Drab.

What little flesh appears on the miniatures was painted "Dwarf Flesh" (Citadel), washed with "Gryphonne Sepia" (Citadel), Highlighted with "Elf Flesh" (Citadel), and washed again with Gryphonne Sepia.

The red lenses are simply "Flat Red" (Vallejo Model Color #70957) painted onto the eyes.

Finally, the orange holo-projectors were basecoated Flat Red (this paint has amazing coverage) and highlighted with "Bloody Red" (Vallejo Game Color #72010) and finally "Blazing Orange" (Citadel).

The barrels of the weapons (and any other metallic areas) were painted with "Gunmetal Metal" (Vallejo Game Color #72054) and then washed (for lack of a better term) with "Smoke" (Tamiya Color #X-19)

The bases were my usual Drybrushing of "Earth" (Vallejo Game Color # 72062) over Chaos Black and then finishing with a light drybrush of "Khaki" (Vallejo Game Color #???- the number is worn off of my paint dropper)

A couple of areas of static grass were superglued into place on the bases, before wrapping up the paint process.

Finally, I painted around the edge of the base with Chaos Black, before drawing lines in Skull White (Vallejo Game Color #???- again, the number is worn off) to delineate the model's front arc (troops see 180 degrees to their front in Infinity).

Sorry if the step-by-step painting guide bored you, but it's as much for my reference when I pick up the last three minis for my force next month as it is for anybody who may like to mimic the results I got.

All I need now is a blister of Tiger Soldiers one with a Combi-Rifle and one with an HMG, as well as a Guilang Skirmisher with a Sniper Rifle to round out my 300 points of Yu Jing so I can move on to some ALEPH troops.

Infinite Possibilites

Well, I decided to grab some Infinity minis. More out of a sense that they're pieces of art than anything else. The squad shown above is illegal as it includes both a flamethrower and a missile launcher in such a small group, but come on, it's a girl in a skin-tight uniform with a rocket launcher. What more could you ask?

I haven't decided on a color scheme yet, but I'll likely go with dark green, khaki, and brown camouflage.

Just a quick-hitter today. I promise next time I'll have something of substance.

Okay Demitra, Now You Can Worry

eGaspy- painted and ready for action!

Well, I broke down and grabbed Lich Lord Asphyxious off my dresser and slapped some paint on him. I needed a break from homework, so what better to distract me than an Epic Warcaster?

This version of Asphyxious is darker than my Prime version, and features a lot more metal. His gigantic shoulder pads just screamed out for a bronze treatment.

All the metal was coated with Tamiya Color #X-19, Smoke. It does all the shading you'll need on a miniature, and all you may need to do is touch up some highlights. The down side to this treatment is that it leaves the mini ultra-glossy, but varnish fixes that issue.

Now to write up a list. Those Bane Thralls are seeming like a better and better choice!

They Combine, But Not Into Voltron

Victory over math and unpainted miniatures!

Just a real quick one before bed. I finished my equations which, in turn, means I got to finish the Withershadow Combine. Not my greatest paintjobs ever, but they (like the rest of my Cryx army) are intended for gaming, not to win painting contests.

...I really should get around to painting those arcs of vision on their bases...

That's all for now.

Good night.

She's Got a "Great Rack" (Of Horns)

Well, I'm back with a quick update. Today saw a metric ton (2,200 lbs) of homework done. in between equations that ate up at least a page of paper each, I decided I'd work on a couple of models in order to clear my head of any frustration I encountered.

It seemed like a good plan. Now, I've been hearing a lot about Epic Skarre and how amazing she is. I also heard a list on Podhammer that was feared by the hosts, so I decided to give it a whirl. Now, the exact contents of this list will have to remain a secret unless you listen to the latest episode, or until after I've played a game with it. I like the theory as to how the list works (that I've been able to glean from simply parroting a list) so I set about rounding up the required models as this is a list I knew I could replicate with my collection.

Rooting through my boxes I came upon the Withershadow Combine, sadly unpainted. I've heard good things about this trio, so out of the case they came, my nominees for painting between problems. They've come along fairly nicely so far, and I'll have pictures up once they're finished.

Once these three are painted I'll have a choice- do I paint Epic Asphyxious or do I start on my Soul Hunters?

...Or maybe back to painting Anima: Tactics minis...

New Adventures in WARMACHINE

35 points of pure pain. I hope.

I've got a WARMACHINE game coming up soon, so today I went about picking my force this morning. I ended up with what you see to the left.

This may seem strange to those who've played the game for a while, but in my 10+ year career playing WARMACHINE (it's supposed to be written in all caps) I've never, ever, used Commander Coleman Stryker. That's right, the Warcaster in the Cygnar starter box, and he's never seen the field under my control. I started using Cygnar fielding Haley, and I never really regretted it. Now, however, I must experience the power that is supposed to be Earthquake. Knocking down everything in a 5" area seems like an amazing ability, so why not give him a whirl? Stryker isn't a one-dimensional Warcaster, either. His spell selection includes a group of buffs that will be useful throughout the game.

My finalized 35 point list is as follows:

Commander Coleman Stryker - +6 Warjack Points
- Squire Warcaster Attachment (2 pts.)
- Lancer Light Warjack (6 pts.)
- Lancer Light Warjack (6 pts.)
- Ironclad Heavy Warjack (7 pts.)

10x Long Gunner Infantry (10pts.)

10x Sword Knight Infantry (6 pts.)

Eyriss, Mage Hunter of Ios Mercenary Solo (3 pts.)

Firepower is the name of the game here, with the Long Gunners getting Snipe cast on them on turn 1. Arcane Shield will be thrown up on the Sword Knights giving them an impressive ARM 19 as long as they're in base-to-bast contact with one another.

Earthquake will be used to knock down targets, getting around any Defense buffs, and those long range Long Gunner volleys should be able to deal with high Armor.

The Lancers will carry their Arc Nodes into range of Stryker's spells, and their Shock Shields will be used to annihilate enemy Cortexes.

The Ironclad is are unsubtle as you would guess. It's job is to smash the face in of any 'Jack it sees.

The Sword Knights are the close combat arm of my force, relying on their massive ARM stat to get in close to the enemy. a knocked down Warjack is a sitting duck to a unit of Sword Knights on the charge.

Finally, there's Eyriss. She just does what she does, sniping enemy models, disrupting enemy Warjacks and Warcasters, and generally being a hassle.

I'm hoping this army will do what I want it to, but we'll see soon enough.