Temptation rears its ugly head...

OK, I admit it. When it comes to miniature figures (little dollies as my wife likes to call them), I'm a bit of a consumer. Can't resist the lure of shiny metal, and always own more than I can paint.

This time it's Rackham's Confrontation that has caught my eye. The appeal here is threefold. First the miniatures (and paint work) on the Rackham site is just that good. Secondly, it feels like a pure, or high fantasy setting, which nicely complements Warmachine's gritty, industrial fantasy. Lastly, armies are typically made up of 10-20 figures, which seems fairly manageable, even for me.

Watch this space...

The "Old Man"

After finishing Lylyth and her pack of Shredder's, I needed a change of pace, or at least colour palette. Returning to my "main" army, I felt like doing a single figure, and there was the "old man" Irusk waiting for paint.

I'm also keen to get him onto the battlefield with lots of troopers and burst templates! So here he is, looking ready to inspect his troops.

Speaking of which, here's the army to date. Just over 500 points, I think, If you count both warcasters. I'm quite keen to get to th poit where I can play only painted figures. It feels so much more rewarding, and it's a state I haven't been in for quite some time!

Good sunlight and a few minutes to spare...

Well, I finally managed to get some pictures taken. Here's the first lot, and perhaps the oldest in terms of when the painting was finished. They're the Legion of Everblight starter box for Hordes. Hordes is the "feral twin" of Warmachine. It's played in the same world setting, using largely the same rules as warmachine. In fact it's compatible, allowing games with heavy machinery and wild beasts tearing into each other. Very cool.

I've been using YoungWolf 7's tutorial as a guide. It's very well written. One of the issues I seem to have with painting is a difficulty in picking a good order to paint in. Following a "recipe" like this gives you a really good feel for how far through the painting you are - which is great when you need some motivation!

It's also the first miniatures that I've painted completely at work. I try to get about half an hour a day in, which so far has been enough to increase my productivity significantly. From zero to some!

The colour palette is very limited, and takes a bit of getting used to as the contrast between colours is very slight. It's not too bad on the war beasts, but can seem a bit minimal on characters. Ive tried to provide a bit more contrast to Lylth (See more pictures at right), but it's still not much. It may be something I revisit later.

The warbeasts (Shredders) are mouths and legs, with not much else. They can be deadly on the battlefield, especially in packs. However, if you fail to keep them under control, they'll turn on themselves in preference to anyone else! Painting these you really had to be patient, as most of the time they seemed fairly dull. Once the mouth and teeth are done though, they really jump out at you.

Camera shy...

I've been away with work for a while, in the UK where it was exceedingly hot. It makes a nice change from Dunedin winters, but it was even better to get home to family again. I haven't managed to get the camera set up to take any pictures lately, but here's a quick update on what I've been doing...

- Finished painting Irusk (Khador army).
- Started painting Widowmakers (Khador)
- Finished Lylyth (Legion of Everblight)
- Started painting Carnivean (yikes - here's a job and a half!)
- Assembled another unit of Winterguard (Khador)
- Finished assembling some more Iron Fang Pikemen, including the Kapitan and Standard Bearer (Khador).

I've also been casting more Hirst Arts molds to build more ruins to match the one I already have built, without a photo of it, of course.

So, lots to do, including a tournament at the LGS to prepare for. Plus family. And Work. And sleep too.