A Victorious Victory... Again!

1,850 point Grey Alien army done.

Really, that about sums it up for me. After a false start trying to make an Irken force, followed by insults directed toward the models and their paintjobs, I have completed this army.

Maybe.

Long-time readers may remember the above picture as my first foray into these minis. These fellas still sit in my gaming closet waiting for an opportunity to be fielded in the right skirmish game. Look behind them. See that big UFO? It is not in my Grey Alien army, and that should be rectified. I have already decided to run it as a Razorshark Strike Fighter. Since the model has four landing struts I can use them to mark arcs on a round model. I do run into the problem of possibly not having the appropriate weapons to "count as" the armament of the Razorshark, but with enough work I can probably figure something out.

So, all I need to do now is order a plane flight stand from GW and get another UFO (this time to model as flying). That will take me to exactly 2,000 points- just right for many tournaments in this area. I will post the exact composition of the army later, but be warned- unlike my Dark Eldar these lil' fellas aren't designed to be honed to a razor's edge. This is well and truly a labor of love.

Ready to Rock and Roll

Paint pots prepared. Pallet positioned. Aliens aligned. Brushes... I dunno, bristled?

I'll be painting this last Grey squad today, followed by my last squadron of walkers. That means as soon as I varnish them the army is done! Time to get down to business.

Another Day Another Squad

One more squad closer to the finish line! Yep, my Greys have yet another squad ready to hit the battlefield (barring varnishing). this means that I have only one "Riptide", one "Broadside" squad, and one last alien squad to go before the army is fully painted. Once everything is done I'll need to strike out into the world and see if I can get a game in. I'd probably enjoy taking these lil' fellas out to a tourney, but...

1) They're not Citadel Miniatures.

2) Tournaments are pretty much exclusively held on Sundays around here (a day I must be at work).

3) Being as they're small some jerk would most likely accuse me of MFA (Modelling For Advantage).

4) I would totally need to get the TO's approval before bringing these fellas.

5) They're all "counts as" (NOT proxies- there is a difference) and this may confuse some people.

6) Tournaments around here are usually 2,000 points, and this army is only 1,850.

The list goes on and on. This basically relegates them to a "friendly game only" status, which is fine, I just need to get some friendly games in.

Tomorrow I'll be starting on the second of the big robots. I'm not a fan of painting these suckers, so I want to get it out of the way before I run out of steam again. With only three units to go until completion of the army however, I'm pretty sure this is a project that I'll get done soon.

Grey Alien Kick in the Rump

 

More painting of Grey Aliens. I finished my first two heavy robots (Broadsides). As you can see the minis are designed to fit on 50mm bases, and there are no GW bases of that size, so 60mm bases it is. I went ahead and put a Grey next to them to show their size (in comparison to an admittedly tiny mini).

 

 Now the figure case is looking much more full. There's a missing squad off to the right there, which is normally occupied by the squad pictured below. They are my mission for today, but as you can see in the horribly out of focus picture below I have a fair bit of work ahead of me. 

 

Ever onward and upward. Next: blue armor. Then grey, black, purple metal, and squad markings. Back to the grind!

Take Me To Your Leader





Well, there he is. My "Ethereal" is complete. I was probably a bit bold using my general as my test mini, but luckily he turned out just fine. Here's the color scheme in a nutshell:

Exposed cloth or gizmos are magenta.
Armored areas are blue.
Gloves, boots, eyes, antennae, and robot claws are black.
Metallic areas are the purple metallic I bodged together.
Skin is, of course, grey.

For the magenta I started with Vallejo Warlock Purple over a black primer, and then inked it with some Magenta Ink I found (from the days when GW made such things). I then gently wetbrushed the areas with the original Warlock Purple., From there I added a dab of a nice bright pink, and carefully added the final highlights. The blue is Ice Blue, a dab of Blue Ink in the recesses, touchup with Ice Blue, and then I added a bit of white to the blue for nice bright highlights. The skin starts with Cold Grey, which gets a Nuln Oil shade. Next I coat everywhere but the recesses with another pass of Cold Grey, and then a highlight of Fortress Grey. Finally, the purple metallic. This is simply Leadbelcher as a base, wetbrushed with Silver, and then a coat of Purple Ink. After touching up the areas that remained black, the minis are ready for basing. I used the same green I have been using for... Pretty much everything lately. Over that goes a drybrush of  Scorpion Green. Finally, I hit the rims of the bases with green, and there you go.

Once the basis for the army was determined, I went on to the first of my squads. It's kind of annoying that there are only five poses plus the commander, but it allows me to get into a rhythm better. You can't really see it in the picture, but their right shoulder pads are all purple (the color I was originally going to use for the armor) and I'm going to keep doing different colors as the army rolls along in order to distinguish squads (relatively) easily.

Next up is one of my "counts as Riptides". I'm doing all the exposed internal workings in magenta, all the armor plates in blue, and then a few black touches here and there. The purple will be on the sword arm as well as the barrels of the gatling gun. This is a pretty big model, and it will take several coats to eliminate the streaking left over from the brushes, but I'll try to post some work in progress pictures as I go since this will probably be a time consuming process. After that another squad, then another robot (or group thereof) and I'll keep alternating until the army is done.

I may break things up with another Super Dungeon Explore mini here and there, but I'd really rather not break up my momentum again, so we'll see.

Irken No More.

Sandy bases abound.

 

Today has been very productive. As you can see above I have now based every miniature in my "Tau" army, and I have encountered an issue. I hate the antennae I have added to my troops. Passionately. This has led me to (with pliers) rip every antenna out of my minis heads and go back to square one. They are no longer going to be Irken. I have had too much of an issue with finding the correct basis for my minis, and I am no about to start sculpting every last little thing. This is a cop-out, I know, but I have to protect my sanity here. My fingers too. I had the dremel slip on me as I was trying to drill a hole and it got perilously close to my hand. Not good.

 

Counts as Crisis Suit.

 

My conversions are not ending, however. I didn't like the head that came with this robot, so I swapped it for a bead just as I did with the bigger boys. This will give the army a more cohesive look as the heads of all of my mechanical minions will look the same. The fellow above counts as my Battle Suit Commander with two Fusion Blasters. You can't see it from the front, but I also added some thrusters to the model's back so that it will look like it will be able to boost around the board in the manner of Jetpack troopers. What sets this fellow apart from the other three "battle bots" (I'm working on a better name, believe me) is the aerial coming from his back. As you can see I shaved the bolts off this fellow in the same way as the Leviathan.

 

My "Ethereal" flanked by his two recon robots (Markerlight Drones).

 

I have also put together my "mini bot" models (by which I mean putting them on their bases). I fully intend to replace their heads as well, but I'm not too sure I can find the correct sized beads at the craft store, so their default heads will remain attached until I can find suitable replacements.

 

Ready for boostin'.

 

Finally, I added thrusters (well, most of the way) to the Leviathans. I fully intend to cover up the holes that are visible there, and I intend to do it with whatever I use for the minibots' heads. I just decided that these are supposed to be Jetpack Monstrous Creatures, so they should look the part. Good thing I had these resin jump packs lying around.

 

That's it for right now. I brought Von Drakk Manor to work with me to remove mold lines and fill in gaps in bases. I know I most likely shouldn't be doing this at work, but come on! I'm not even supposed to be here today!!!

For The Glory of Irk!!! Also, Christmas. Kill Team Too.

Playing around with my phone's collage function.

 

Well, most of my Irken force has arrived. I got a box from Zombiesmith on Monday, and then a box from Hydra Miniatures on Tuesday. I've put together all the included minis, and as you can see there are a lot of warriors in my army.

 

All is not well in EV land though- I started drilling the holes in the heads of the minis to put the antenna into, and things could be going better. They're ending up all over the place in the minis heads. They are not being drilled in the places I would like, and this is causing the models to look... Not Good. I'll have pictures later, but once you see them I think you'll agree that things have gone awry. Perhaps (most likely) it is because I am using a Dremel to drill out the holes. I really wish this weren't the case as drilling 122 holes by hand will be a nightmare. Not to mention the wear on my hands. I'm going to give it a shot on a few more minis, but right now I don't like the look of things. I'll stick to it though, as this is sort of a fun thing for me (in theory) and I really don't want to admit defeat here.

 

More exploring of Super Dungeons.

Next up is Christmas. I was a good Vassal this year, so my family got me Super Dungeon Explore: Von Drakk Manor. This both pleases and irks me. Now I honestly do not know what to paint. Listen to me here; I love, repeat love the aesthetic of SDE, and I still have most of the Caverns of Roxor to paint. This places my SDE queue along the magnitude of my Irken, and they need less (read no) fiddly drilling into tiny metal heads. Just mold line cleanup and base hole patching.

 

White primer is needed for both, so no difference. What else is there? Likelihood of use. This one's a really tough call. I'm not sure here. Demitra and I are less and less likely to be able to get a full game of 40k in any time soon, as my "job", despite my protestations, has begun to fiddle around with my hours. This reduces our Tuesday Gaming Time to being long enough for some Infinity or X-Wing, but not really much more. Super Dungeon Explore does not fare much better here. The game is fun, and I do have one person interested in playing, but as far as I know that's it. It's a really tough call.

 

This is worth the price of admission.

Finally, on the whole 40k note, I went ahead and downloaded my first Games Workshop digital book, Kill Team. For those of you who don't know what this game is, allow me to explain. Kill team is for those of us who like to take an occasional break from the legion-sized battles so common in the 40k universe. It is the polar opposite of Apocalypse. Kill team is about one or two squads of elite troops who infiltrate into no-man's land or even enemy territory to accomplish a vital mission. This is the scalpel to regular 40k's sledge hammer.

 

Every miniature, despite being purchased as part of a squad, deploys and plays as a unit consisting of a single miniature.

 

I love this way of playing 40k.

 

Now, this version of Kill Team (for those of you familiar with the game) is tighter and brighter. They have tweaked several things that made original Kill Team... A little unbalanced. New composition rules are in place for your team, which are:

 

- 0 HQ, 0-1 Elite, 0-2 Troops, 0-1 Fast Attack, 0 Heavy Support.

- Must consist of 4+ non-vehicle models.

- Nothing with more than 3 wounds.

- No vehicles with more than 33 total armor across the total of all three values or more than 3 Hull Points.

- No Flyers.

- Nothing with a 2+ Armor Save.

 

Now, I disagree with the 2+ save rule (as this removes the super-fluffy Grey Knight Terminator squad suicide mission option) but all the rest I am down with. There have been Kill Team events where the "elite fighting force" consists of a single Riptide (not exactly subtle). Big vehicles (and especially flyers) would just plain remove playability. Lots of wounds means things like Trygons & Carnifexes, which again are not exactly the "elite fighting force" the designers professed to envision. There is also the ability to have the elite hero/villain surrounded by a bunch of mooks, which I also kind of like. It's tough to play against, but as Demitra will attest to, it's not unbeatable by any means.

 

Further tweaks can be found in the Specialist rules. For starters, you Leader now cannot be a Specialist. Instead he gets a sort of "mini Warlord Trait" that can either drastically alter the game, or in a few cases do just plain nothing. Secondly, the Special Rules your Specialists can take have been tweaked. Gone is the ability to give Shrouded to your heavy weapon trooper (or anybody at all). The Special rules have been broken up into categories- Combat, Weapon, Dirty Fighter, Indomitable, & Guerilla. Your three Specialists must choose their abilities from amongst these groups, and a group may not be repeated. Special Rules are now clearly defined as to what kind of weapon they can be attached to. For example, a Fleshbane weapon may only be a close combat one.

 

Death Watch: the original kill team.

 

A personal favorite of mine is to attach Haywire to a Splinter Cannon. Now, not only does it shred any model that gets in its path, it will glance pretty much any vehicle to bits in a single volley. Yep, interesting combinations of Special Rules and miniatures abound in Kill Team. I've found a fair few, but I'd be tipping my hand were I to reveal any more.

 

I've been thinking up various Kill Teams over this last week. Purifiers in a Razorback, a Tau incursion team, Dark Eldar raiders...

Most likely naught will come of this but maybe, just maybe, I can find some like-minded individuals who would be up for a game.

I've rambled long enough. Happy Holidays to you regardless of which one, none, or all you observe, and thanks for reading over the last year. I'll see about an end or year roundup in the next five days, but failing that I'll see you in 2014!

 

The Irken Terror Arrives... But For How Long?

Well, at least part of my army has arrived. My big stompy robots came in the mail yesterday, and I am pleased. They are much larger than their box suggests, which means they fill out the oval bases they go on rather convincingly. I am pleased because, despite them being noticeably smaller than Riptides, they're still big. Especially when compared to my "Irken to be". I did a bit of "conversion" (if you can call it that) to the models, but this is best saved for a post with pictures.

Suffice it to say, I'm on a roll here.

This actually worries me a touch. Why? Because I don't want to be diverted. Already I am putzing around the interwebz checking on various other minis. This is, in a word, stupid. I need to focus. Here's the problem; I am missing some very key parts to the army. For example, no Irken. I know that Josh over at Zombiesmith runs his business out of his garage. I know that he is a two-man operation. I know these things. Unfortunately I am impatient. I have a lot of work to do, not the least of which is drilling two holes into each of the little buggers' heads to put antenna into. This is one of those times I would prefer resin to metal. Drilling holes into 61 minis' heads will be quite a process. That's 122 holes (Dremel time). That's 122 antenna to be clipped and glued into place. That's 122 gaps to be filled on 25mm bases. I'm game, but other projects beckon.

Nyan Cat.

Take, for example, Nyan Nyan over here. I got her for Super Dungeon Explore, mainly because she's a "limited run" mini. Now, I have yet to see a single SDE mini disappear- Candy & Cola, the Herald of Vulcanis, and Vandella the Succubus are still going strong, but dang it if I didn't want the mini just because she's a catgirl. Besides, maybe they did a more limited run of Nyan Nyan.

Yeah, sure.

What I'm getting at here is that I have many, many Super Dungeon Explore minis waiting to be painted. Pretty much the entirety of The Caverns of Roxor, and all three extra plastic minis. These guys and gals are fully assembled, most of them are primed, and all of them hold interest for me. This is also a game I can easily play. A fair few people around me would enjoy goofing off with SDE, but I refuse to play the game with unpainted minis. Entirely. This is just too slick a looking game to pass up the opportunity to play a full-on beautifully realized session. That means I pretty much only have the base game to use. This is not an awful thing, just limiting. Of course, I ought to get a few "Super!" level games under my belt before I aim too high. I've only played at the "8-Bit" and "16-Bit" levels thus far.

Remember us?

My point is, I want to paint these minis. I want to game with these minis. There is a problem, though. What I want out of these minis conflicts with what I want out of the other minis. The longer my Irken take to arrive, however, the more Super Dungeon Explore beckons. Besides, I've been feeling like painting in this style for a while now. I also have some partially painted (and then abandoned) minis sitting in my gaming closet. They need some lovin', and soon. I feel bad letting them sit there in the darkness...

I need to avoid distraction. Christmas is just a little bit away, however, and I featured the "Von Drakk Manor" expansion prominently on my wish list, so there's a very good potential for yet more chibi goodness on the horizon. They will get in the way. They will grab my attention.

My next post definitely will feature new pictures. I just had to get this off my chest.

Irken Rising

It's got chicken legs! I'm gonna eat you!

The Cygnar minis have been sold, and (hopefully) soon I shall have enough money to assemble my mighty Irken invasion force! I have (of course) located my Irken soldiers, I have found my SIR Units (Hydra Miniatures' Minibots with a head resculpt), and I have even found my Megadoomers (Hasslefree's Grymm Walker to the right). A little tweaking will be in order for all above, and they will not quite look the same as their cartoon counterpart, I will strive to get as close as possible.  A rocket pod added here, a gun repositioned there, and voila! The Megadoomer Mk. II Combat Mech!!!

But then I am confounded. I need a Riptide stand-in. I need something to represent my Crisis suits.

My first concern is the Riptide. I have a plan here. I'm thinking of using a decent sized Zaku model. It has to be big enough to fill a GW oval base convincingly, so I'm thinking 1/100 scale, but that might be too big. I'm pretty sure 1/144 will be too small though. Another model altogether would be preferred, but what to match this?

You! Twist some knobs! And you! Pull some levers!

I'm also hung up on what I should use as my Crisis Suits. Since they're pretty agile I was thinking some sort of hovering machine, sort of like these, but I'm not sure. Irken technology tends to be rather bulky. Again, I continue pondering.

Since this "invasion" takes place some time after the events in the series (yeah, we'll say that) the vehicles can look a bit different, but I don't want things to be too radically so. I posted the question on a couple of forums looking for help, so hopefully I'll get a response soon. If not, however, my friends have been quite helpful in finding minis thus far, so here's hoping, right?

It is Done. A New Era Dawns.

A new home for so many minis.

Well, I went through with it. Many, many miniatures are now briskly on their way to the local landfill. I would be lying if I said it didn't break my heart a bit, but it is something that had to be done. I needed to refocus my time, attention, blog space, and most importantly money onto something actually useable. The many, many minis that were trashed last night were not amongst those games.

This brings some changes to Wargaming Chaos. This is now primarily a 40k, WHFB, and Infinity blog, with bits of boardgaming miniatures thrown in here and there. That's pretty much it. Maybe a miracle will happen and I'll get back into Warmachine; I've decided to hold on to my Cryx, but that's it. My Cygnar stuff is gone. Finished. Outta here. After hearing that you pretty much need a Stormwall to be effective, I decided to bail.

Seriously, no.

I know you can potentially run (almost) any list in Warmachine, but I don't want this mini. In my opinion it is ugly, overpriced, and it being an auto-include doesn't help my opinion of it. The fact that you have to have this hunk of resin to be competitive just grinds my gears. I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them "Sam I Am".

I am still not pleased that I have to buy a Bane Thrall command section for my Cryx, but it is much less a bitter pill to swallow than having to spend a hundred and some-odd dollars on that Gargantuan.

Now the problem:

Selling my Cygnar minis.

I hate eBaying things, I prefer to get rid of things in one fell swoop. I want somebody to swoop in and grab up my stuff at the low, low price I'm offering them for. The problem is that not everybody (in fact fairly few people) want to drop the kind of money involved in picking up an army all at once. I have one potential buyer, but that's assuming he doesn't balk at the $400 price tag. This, for this much pewter, is a STEAL. The fact that they are (in my opinion) quite well painted only adds to the value. I can try posting them on eBay if nobody bites, but will anybody start the bidding at $400 plus shipping? I am seriously not willing to let them go for anything less.

Operation: Impending Doom

But what to do with said money? Well, as alluded to in my last post, Tau.

...But wait! Not just any Tau. I've been wanting to do this army for a while, and now that I am refocusing my attention onto games I can actually play, I will build an Irken army worthy of the Almighty Tallest! The Tau, with their high-tech weaponry, inability in close combat, and overall shootyness just screams Irken. I will be using the Zombiesmith "Grey Alien" range, as the sculptor basically said he modeled them after Invader Zim. I've got some ideas as to how to represent other machines of war, but they're still in the planning stage and may or may not change as I consider my options. This is my dream, it will be realized.

Oh, and I'm building an army for my wife, too. It's pretty stupid to be honest, but it does have potential. I'll just say I flagrantly stole it from somebody else and leave it at that.

Breaking Radio Silence: Lots of Progress

It's been a while, eh? Not that I've been lounging around, no, quite the opposite! First thing's first; my Zombiesmith grey aliens. Well, actually they're more the classic "little green men", but the point is now they have a ride. The UFO is known as the "Area 51 Flying Saucer, but I forget who made it. If you know please comment and I'll give the manufacturer their proper credit.

Now I'd like to find a skirmish game to use them with. Especially against the women from Venus I found a while ago.

Unfortunately the glue I used to attach the windows fogged them over. It's an annoyance, but not worth buying another kit.

My next project (and the one consuming most of my time) is the expansion of my new board. The original is starting to show its age and now is the time to upgrade. I started the project with gluing some trees I had lying around that I originally bought for 15mm gaming to some Games Workshop titan bases. The trees were far too big to be used in either Hordes of the Things or Song of Blades and Heroes, so they were pressed into service on my new board.

I then covered the bases with medium railroad ballast using Elmer's Wood Glue. Let me tell you, this stuff works wonders. I've yet to have anything I attached using this stuff come apart, and it goes on easily with a brush and a little water.

Next outside for a coat of brown paint. The stuff I use is as close as I could find to Vallejo "Earth" at Wal-Mart. I know, boo hiss for supporting a "big box store", but there's just not a mom and pop hardware store around here.

After the paint dried I drybrushed the closest color I could find to "Khaki" over the bases. This approach has given me a board that looks much closer to a desert than I had originally cared for, but over time the color has grown on me. Besides, the original game this stuff was assembled for is MalifauX. If that game doesn't take place in a desert no game does.

I kind of miss playing MalifauX, but oh, well. More eBay fodder for if I get into Dust Warfare. I do however once again digress.

I also went through and repainted my original forest templates from my first board. There was already static grass on the boards which kind of made them look a touch sub-optimal. I'm not sure if these are going to make the final cut. I'm leaning toward yes as I just don't want to go through and cut out more templates. You see, Demitra's jigsaw is a touch, well he uses the term "classic". This means the blade is dull and you have to push it with both hands in order to get it to cut. As I like my fingers where they are, I don't think we'll be utilizing that particular tool any time soon. In fact, that particular tool has stalled our current "making hills so that the table isn't totally flat and boring" project. I'll have more on that in a later post, but just know that they're in the works.

Next it was on to expanding the board from its original 4'x4' size to 6'x4' so that games like Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, and maybe one day Dust can be played on it. This job, while the easiest, would prove to be by far the most time consuming. The boards (made of MDF- ask for it at your local hardware store if you don't know what it is) were first covered in wood glue. You'll need to thin it out a very little bit to get it to go on evenly. Once that's accomplished, sprinkle your railroad ballast over the board, making sure to coat the whole thing. Now the boring bit; leave it alone for several hours to dry. I suggest playing video games during this time. Once the glue is set, go over it with your base paint using a paint roller like you'd use for your walls. This makes sure the paint both goes on fast and evenly. Now it's time for more waiting. The paint must be given plenty of time to dry, or the next step will only make a mess.

Grab your can of paint you intend to use as a highlight and a large paintbrush. Like painting your house large. A cheapo one will do the job just fine, as you're about to destroy it. Drybrush the table. be sure you get a good, even covering. This will keep your table from looking all streaky (like a few of mine do). As I said before, this will probably destroy your brush, so don.t invest in a good one. In fact, the stiffer bristles of cheap brushes actually help this part.

That's it, you now have a fully painted table!

You may, as I have done with this 3'x3' table, wish to add patches of static grass and/or flock of varying shapes and sizes to the finished board. Be sure to attach this with Elmer's Glue-All as wood glue will turn everything yellow.

One final thing:

The long wait is finally over. just a couple of days ago my Candy and Cola miniature for Super Dungeon Explore arrived. Again, finally. The wait time and total lack of communication on the part of Sodapop Miniatures was totally unacceptable. At least I eventually got my miniature.

Well, here she is! all painted up and ready to whack some Kobolds.

Now to wait for the weather to break (the humidity is nightmarish) so I can varnish her.

More on Games I Will Never Play

On a whim ( a bored whim), I threw together some status tokens for Songs of Our Ancestors. It's a game I've yet to actually play, so I kind of threw them together. There is apparently no need for a "sentry duty" token, as your entire squad is either on it or not. It's a bit of a waste of time and paper throwing them together, but what will be will be.

I ended up spending this month's gaming money on Quar as well. I know, I was going to spend it on Infinity minis, but Zombiesmith is having a 15% off sale before they raise their prices in July, so I figured I'd grab some minis before it's too late. Especially with the way Games Workshop is attempting to force me out of playing their games, and with my newfound lacking love for Privateer Press games.

Those are thoughts for another post, however. For now I'll just wait for my packages to arrive. Word to the wise; never order directly through Sodapop Miniatures- their customer service is sub-par to say the least. Again, another rant for another post. For now, seeyuh!

Super (Sized) Smash Brothers

Well, that's it! My Super Dungeon Explore game is completely painted. With the two Rexes pictured above, I have a complete set (barring Candy and Cola, who will be added soon) of SDE ready for tonight.

...At least until the Caverns of Roxor expansion later this year...

But let me tell you, this is quite a feeling of accomplishment. I think I painted the miniatures rather well, and that leads to my swollen head.

That's one more project off the ol' "Coming Attractions" list.

Now to get ready for some hero thwomping tonight.

Post-Christmas Wrapup

Well, I got what I really wanted for Christmas. Guess what it is.

Hint ------>

Yep, it's Super Dungeon Explore. I'm a really big fan of Descent, so when a chibi dungeon crawl game hit the market, I had to have it. The miniatures are now all assembled, and await play.

But, you say, SDE is a boardgame, not a wargame. Yep, it sure is, but those will likely be some of the miniatures you see splashed in here and there, so I figured I'd give you fair warning.

Oh, the first expansion features a short guy in overalls and with a hammer, a princess, and hordes of turtle baddies. How cool is that?

Now from games I'm 100% sure I'll be able to play (my boardgaming group consists of anime and RPG nuts, so this game is pure gold for us) to games I'm pretty sure I'll never get beyond the painting stage.

I also got Songs of Our Ancestors, complete with 30 Quar minis. I've already finished painting up the Crusaders and the Royalists, and I'm looking at spending what dribble of Christmas money I have left (about $30 depending upon certain circumstances) to round out my collection so, should anybody show intrest, I can play the majority of the scenarios in the book. The game looks like a blast to play (I just love scenario-driven wargames) and with five more minis I'll be able to run a trench raid, an ambush, and a straight-up battle. I'll say one bad thing about the bundle I got, there aren't enough miniatures to play some of the intended scenarios (thus why I have to order two more Partisans). I can fill in the gaps easily enough, but c'mon, would two more minis really break the bank? As it stands, if someone wanted to play the Partisans they'd be stuck with an incomplete force. Really unfortunate.

That's really about all in terms of miniatures-related news for right now. I may throw up a "year in review" article (shamelessly ripped off from Demitra) but with the literally hundreds of minis painted in the last twelve months, that might be a touch hard. I'll definately have an article on the progress of my Quar soon, so stay glued to your computer screen!

Little Green Men

For my birthday I received a set of grey aliens from Zombiesmith. They arrived about a week and a half ago, and I tore open the envelope giddy with anticipation. I'd been lusting after these minis for a while, and was ready to get to work on these fellows. I laid them out on my table and checked them out. There was a bit of flash, but nothing an X-Acto blade couldn't cure. They were lightly coated with mold release, so they took a quick bath in some hot water and dish soap. Onto the drying towel they went, and after a bit they were ready for cleanup. The flash came off pretty easily, and a couple of mold lines were easily cleaned up. Some of the tabs were too long for the slots in the round bases provided, so I clipped them down with side cutters. From there, it was supergluing time.

 All of the (now cut down) tabs went into the bases without issue. As expected, the tiny little fellas' bases were much too large for them, so I had to cover up the holes left in the base. I tore up little bits of of receipt paper from a recent shopping trip and attached them over the slots using Elmer's Glue-All.

 
Base issues resolved, I glued down some ballast...

Then outside for some primer...

As usual I used Rust-Oleum automotive primer. I then went over them with thinned-down Chaos Black, and began painting. I was inspired by Invader Zim,  so I decided to paint their skin green and give them beady red eyes. Their skin was basecoated and washed the same way I painted my Yu-Jing minis, and their eyelids were highlighted with green mixed with a little bonewhite. Once their eyes were painted red, it really made the faces pop. I gave the models different uniforms based on their roles, the commander a bright red, the psychic turmoil team colors revolving around which role I have in mind for them, and the basic warriors got a black and purple uniform (shocking, I know based on my propensity for painting things purple). The bases got painted in a moon-like grey since they're from outer space and all.

I'm tempted to collect an entire army of these guys. It's a shame the sculptor seems to have fallen off the face of the earth, as that means the promised heavy weapon troopers and robotic familiars will probably never be seen. Boo, hiss. I'm pleased with these minis in the end. Maybe I can convert some of these guys into special weapons troopers if I buy some more.


...With my sculpting skills, maybe not.