Author Archives: Alex

Yey! I won a thing!

30 Saturday Jul 2016

Posted by in 215th Praetorian

≈ 25 Comments

So I happened to put my 2000ad inspired pit slave into the monthly painting comp down at the local store – weird, because I’ve never entered anything like it before… I took it down to show folks the sort of thing I like to do, (I think I perplex some of the younglings in the hobby these days, so was trying to illustrate). Anyway, I ended up leaving him there as my first ever entry to a painting comp… he only went and blinkin’ won it! Now, to put it in perspective, there was only one other entrant, but it was also a very good entrant, so I’m still chuffed :-)

Here’s the proof, and here’s my trophy!

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Tidy!! Anyway, take it easy dudes – off hiking for the week, (so no hobby), and then off to BOYL next weekend, (so all hobby!). I shall endeavour to post over that weekend and keep you worthies in the loop. Catch you on the flip-side!

Return of the Dauntless 215th!

29 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by in 215th Praetorian, OldHammer

≈ 10 Comments

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Hi guys, bit of a different kind of post today – I haven’t gotten anything painted this week what with one thing and another, but one thing I did do was get prepared for this year’s ‘Bring Out Your Lead’. For those of you that don’t know, BOYL is an annual get-together of the OldHammer community up at The Wargames Foundry in Newark. It is run by the legendary Ansell family – custodians of many a fine mould from the early days of Games Workshop, and has been graced many of the sculptors of the early days of GW, (Trish & Ali Morrison, Kev ‘Goblin’ Adams, Colin Dixon to name a few). You can check out more about the Wargames Foundry here.

Anyway, the weekend itself is basically a celebration of all things from the early days (pre ’92) days of WFB and 40k, plus all the specialist games, the miniatures of the era, the painting styles, the publications… you name it! There are a number of organised games, participation games, plus free tables for general use. There are so many games I want to see and try, people I want to meet, and miniatures I want to gawp at! That said, I’m only really geared up to play Rogue Trader, and I needed to prepare a force for a 1200 pt. rolling game… there was only one way to go for me – Praetorian Imperial Guard!

Those of you who have been following this blog for a while might remember my Praetorian force – the Dauntless 215th. Praetorians really were my first OldHammer crush, and I collected and painted them obsessively for quite a while! I’ve amassed quite a sizeable force of more than a hundred of the chaps, plus vehicles, support troops, characters, etc… All are painted to the best of my ability at that time, so no ‘table-top standard’ corners were cut… I’ve developed a bit of a Steampunk/Victoriana theme throughout, and I am really very proud of them all :-)

Feel free to go back and look at the early months on this blog (for more pictures, battle reports, conversions, etc.) if this has piqued your interest, but as I was doing the list, I thought it might be nice to set up my chosen 1200 point force for a quick photo shoot… So here we are – Lt. Bromhead and 1 Platoon, (mechanised infantry), plus a small sniper support section, have been conscripted by Arturo Lamina – a callow Rogue Trader of growing reputation. His mission is to investigate the mysterious forge world known only as ‘Foundry’… Departure countdown is 7 standard rotations:

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So, I hope you enjoyed this post – I know I did! I had forgotten just how much I love my Praetorians, and I’m feeling the urge again… I still have a couple of platoons in the lead pile too, and I keep meaning to get back to them one day… Hmmm… ;-)

I wish I was a little bit taller…

25 Monday Jul 2016

Posted by in Warhammer Quest - Silver Tower

≈ 18 Comments

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Hello chaps – another week, another mini, another sketchy song-lyric-for-a-title… (nice one Skee-lo!). I’ve been on a bit of a go-slow this last week – there is so much going on at the moment! It’s all mostly study related, but I did manage to finish the Dwarf from WQ-ST (hence the title & song choice… see what I did there?)

Well, what can I say about the Dwarf? This was the hero that I was least looking forward to painting… fiddly, complex, and a faction that doesn’t really draw me in. I found him a sod to paint – the level of detail is insane, while the proportions, exaggerated musculature, and total lack of clothing conspire to make this model quite grotesque in my opinion… I mean, I had to paint his cheek-meat ffs, and if you get the chance, look carefully under the kilt – I am sure there is a hint of a ball-sack :-/

Ahem… anyway, I decided to embrace this ugliness, and had a play with the idea of the runes that are hammered into his skin to give him super strength & armour, (and remove the need for clothes apparently). I figured that such an effect might reasonably be expected to leave its mark, (beyond the obvious), and so I painted lots of livid veins, as if the runes are polluting the character’s blood stream somehow. I think this exaggerates the grotesqueness of the mini nicely, while contrasting pleasantly with the otherwise clean-cut and heroic look of his equipment. To me, it reads like he’s ostensibly a ‘good guy’, but there is also something disturbing going on… maybe even a little sinister…  This, (in my humble opinion), makes him a bit more interesting than he might’ve otherwise been. Anyway, enough chit-chat, what do you guys think?

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Next up, I’m going to tackle the Griffhound – I’m away on a hiking break next week, so I just want something quick and easy to crank out. Also, I’ll be working out a 1200 point force for Rogue Trader, ready for BOYL (Bring Out Your Lead) – the annual OldHammer event at the Foundry Miniatures in Nottingham on the 5th, 6th & 7th of August. Time to dust off my Praetorian Imperial Guard and do a spot of spot of list building! I may well take a few pictures as I sort out the list and share them with you – it has been too long since the Dauntless 215th graced the pages of this blog ;-)