A friend picked up a copy of Aeronautica Imperialis Wings of Vengeance and asked if I’d like to play a game. I said, “Sure, why not?”
This game is a starter set which allows you to fight it out in games of air combat between the Imperial Navy and an Ork Air Waaagh. Wings of Vengeance, out of the box, supports air-to-air combat between a handful of opposing aircraft — a typical flight.
The aircraft are 8mm scale. The plane to the left is a dakkajet, which is a fast, pretty agile fighter with a large number of forward-firing machine guns that put out a hail of bullets if you can get close enough to the enemy.
I enjoyed the game and found the rules easy to pick up yet full of tactical possibilities, which is always a good combination to my way of thinking. Players roll initiative with the winner picking who goes first. Then players secretly assign a maneuver for each of their planes using numbered chits. Once that is done, the player with initiative moves one plane according to the parameters of the maneuver they’ve chosen, adjusting speed and altitude as they go. Then the other player moves one plane and so on.
Speed and altitude are tracked on the base of the models with dials and each plane can perform certain maneuvers such as “Swoop” or “Level Flight.” There is a fair amount of possibility within a maneuver for how you move so I didn’t find it too limiting: a swoop can take you quite a few different places. I also appreciate that each player gets a page explaining the maneuvers graphically on one side with a summary of the rules on the other. The maneuver page was particularly helpful and by turn two I was swooping and snap turning like a real Flyboy.*
Once all of the planes have been moved the turn shifts to the shooting phase. The player with initiative shoots all available weapons for one of their planes and then the other player does the same, alternating planes until all aircraft have fired. If a plane is shot down before it fires then it doesn’t get to shoot.
The playing field after we finished setting up.
I like that the game is played on a grid. I’ve played airplane games before where everything is measured out by inches or centimeters and it can become very fiddly and imprecise, which to my way of thinking isn’t so good in games where a plane being angled a few degrees either way can make the difference between it getting to shoot or not shoot, particularly in the case of fighters that only have forward-fixed guns.** I also like that the forward firing arc is molded right into the bases. All of this makes movement and shooting very easy to resolve.
Shooting is fairly simple. Weapons get a certain number of to hit dice at various ranges. The ork planes are most effective at short ranges while the imperial planes are more effective at medium ranges, which makes for some interesting maneuvering battles. The ability to hit is also influenced by relative altitudes with the best results being achieved if both planes are at the same altitude band. If a die achieves a hit then you roll for damage with each weapon having its own damage probability. Most ork guns damage on a 5+ on a D6 if they hit while the imperial autocannons and lascannons generally hit harder.
Also, the Imperial Navy planes are structurally more resilient than the Ork planes, which is to be expected.
“Tailing,” or a situation where one plane has its front arc in an enemy plane’s rear arc, while being at short range, is handled nicely. At the start of the turn, before anyone moves or does anything, a tailing plane gets to shoot for free and then the turn begins as normal. So in the picture above the two ork fighters get free shots at the large Imperial Navy plane they are following. Since the imperial plane has rear-facing tail guns it can also shoot back, which makes sense.
The two dakka jets behind the imperial plane are tailing.
The models are nicely detailed, as one would expect from Games Workshop, and I imagine they’d look great painted up. The game also features bombers and ground assets, and the planes can be given different weapon loads, including rockets, missiles, and bombs. GW sells planes of other factions besides the Imperial Navy and Orks, such as the Tau, Asuryani, and of course the Adeptus Astartes and Astra Militarum. There are also campaign books to expand on the official scenario possibilities. My own interest would be in Chaos Space Marine planes but I suppose nothing is stopping one from painting the loyalist marine planes appropriately if one chose to do so.
The game as it plays out of the box seems fairly balanced based on the first dogfight scenario we played. I obviously can’t speak to the other missions or to the other aircraft one can purchase as expansions to the boxed set.
If you like airplane combat games where it is easy to get up and flying quickly while being tactical enough to be interesting, I think you’ll enjoy Aeronautica Imperialis. All in all, I enjoyed my return to the 40K Universe with this little game and would certainly play it again.
* Given my friend’s and my many past battles between his Imperial Guard and my Orks it went without saying that for our first game I played the orks.
** This can lead to a lot of arguments and confusion that simply don’t come up with a grid.
It is time for the next painting challenge with the second annual “Paint the Crap You Already Own!” painting challenge just ended. So I thought I’d announce a May-June challenge before I get started with the “Paint the Crap You Already Own!” round-up.
For this challenge, I’m looking for pictures of whatever single model you think is the best one that you finished anytime between May 3rd and June 20th, which just happens to be the summer solstice at least in the northern hemisphere where I live. You may also do a diorama for this challenge.
By “best” this can mean whatever you want it to mean: the best paint job, the model you like the most, or any other criteria you wish to apply. The reasons are yours but remember there can only be one best model.
For example, Toad here is one of my favorite miniatures not because of the paint job but because I like the miniature and I’ve built up a fondness for him using him a lot as I have in games of D&D as well as a marker/mascot for my Nurgle army back when I was playing a lot of 40K.
Rules of the Challenge
The challenge closes at the end of the summer solstice: June 20, 2021 at midnight (your local time). If you can’t get your pictures posted by that date, it is fine. Just post them as soon as you can.
A model is eligible for the challenge if it is completed between May 3rd and June 20th, 2021.
I’m looking to only see a single model per artist for this challenge. Instead of a single model, you may complete a single diorama for this challenge.
Questions and/or ideas? Let me know in the comments.
* Photo of “Stonehenge in your face” by Simon Wakefield. Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.
The challenge for March was for people to dig into their pile of models and paint something they had owned for at least a year. I think most miniature painters, who have been at it awhile, have no general shortage of such models. the collector’s bug tends to hit model builders pretty strongly, no matter what they generally like to paint.
Many thanks to the eighteen artists who took part in the challenge. As always, in many cases, if you click on a picture the link will take you to a larger view. If I have accidentally omitted anyone’s work, please let me know and I’ll add you in. I made a list of everyone and checked it trice but you never know.
Steve, of Dreadaxe Games, begins our round up with his rendering of the mighty Inquisitor Coteaz. Steve says he “bought this figure maybe 9 or so years ago,” so it is neglected and then some.
Coteaz has a lot to recommend him: two-handed eagle cyborg mascot, lots of special abilities that made me weep real tears back in 5th edition, his magic hammer, and apparently a stern but calming demeanor. The inquisitor apparently helped Steve, in a small way, through a rough patch, which you’ll have to read about in his blog if you want to know more.
Marouda says that she is fairly new to miniature painting but she isn’t new to artistic endeavors in general and I think it shows in her work. She saw this challenge and Monster March, put on by Path of an Outcast. Between that and Azazel asking, “are you going to paint a model?” she decided that she was. After all, what is the worst that could happen, she thought.
I’d say it all turned out very well with this trio. The first is Giant Iguana from the Bad Squiddo Shieldmaiden Kickstarter from 2018.
This treant is far and way my favorite of Marouda’s work. She did a great job on it and I like the base very much as well as all of the vegetation extras she added to the miniature. The beard is a nice touch and I think adding the crown of green is much nicer than the bare branches of the unmodified miniature.
As you can see, the treant is pretty good sized.
Finally, Marouda painted this rather grotesque Maggotcrown Bonesack, produced by Reaper miniatures. She points out “how easily this miniature crosses genres,” and based on her picture below I’d have to agree with her.
Azazel, of Azazel’s Bitz Box and a most prolific painter, comes in this month with 13 entries. We’ll take a look at his five Dungeons & Dragons-based offerings and see the rest at the end of the round-up.
These four cute (but murderous) frog people are called Grung, from the “Waterdeep Dungeon of the Mad Mage” board game. I like the bright lime green Azazel used for their skin, which he details in his post.
They are “assassins” with the bowfrog being an “elite warrior.”
Muiral the Misshapen is another miniature from the Mad Mage set. Muiral was a warrior, who engaged in magical studies that in hindsight he probably should have avoided. He descended into madness, turned his odd experiments on himself with the result you see below. Azazel was going for a “boiled lobster red” with this guy. I’d say he most certainly achieved that effect and then some.
These goblins are from The Legend of Drizzt board game. Besides having pretty D&D board game sessions, with all of these sorts of miniatures that he as painted over the years, he also has a great collection if he feels like doing a tabletop roleplaying campaign.
Azazel painted this shadow dragon, Shimmergloom, which also from the Drizzt game.
Finally, from the Tomb of Annihilation board game, come a trio of Zorbos. They are apparently vicious koala-looking beasties that can take on some aspects of their surroundings to make themselves more formidable in combat. For example, they could take on the aspects of a stone cave they are in to increase their general toughness.
That is all well and good, but I do have to say these three don’t look terribly vicious. I’d say they’ve probably eaten too much bamboo and eucalyptus and just want a nap.
Eric, of Candore et Labore, painted this WarhammerCarnosaur, which was “epoxied together and primed black with cheap Walmart spray paint,” just before his wargaming group dissolved in the early 2000’s. So this beast has been hibernating for a long time indeed, which seems appropriate somehow for an ancient dragon.
I like Eric’s choice of colors for the dragon and love the base.
The carnosaur missed out on being “the big bad center piece of a bunch of large reptiles” for Eric’s youngest son’s army but I’m sure the beast is a lot happier in its new home than it was ratting around the bitz box for 17 years!
Blaxkleric (or Blax the Kleric), of Fantorical, offers up a White Gorilla produced by North Star Military Figures as part of their “Frostgrave” range. This beast is “known to leave their nest deep in the ruins of the Frozen City in order to hunt, these formidably-sized animals ‘are not above eating human flesh.'”
Blax also painted this steathy-looking FedSec Trooper from Crooked Dice Games Design Studio. He obtained the figure from “their now out-of-production Federated Security Starter Set,” and painted him to evoke a “Federation trooper” from the BBC science fiction television series Blake’s Seven.”
Daniel, Infinity player and local Imperial Guard Commander operating out the Santa Cruz Sector and Infinity player, painted this older sculpt of Gabriel DeFersen from Infinity by Corvus Belli. Gabriel “is one of the last templar knights,” who were broken up this time for the sin of creating artificial intelligence. Daniel relates that Defersen does well in games and has “got all the based covered” but you’ll have to pay a premium for his utility.
Does he seem a little disgruntled or is it just me?
Dave, of Faith & Steel, is adding some walls to his gaming table for his upcoming WW2-based games. This gate and accompanying walls are produced by Rubicon Models. As you can see from the pictures the walls will block line-of-sight nicely. Plus they’ll be good for any battles fought in Melbourne, Australia where “it is just about a law to paint ironwork green.”
I wouldn’t mind a gate like that at my house and, yes, I’d paint it green.
Marvin, of Suburban Militarism, painted these ten 1:72 scale Saxon soldiers, produced by Mars. Each line of five models represents a regiment “of the Saxon army during the Great Northern War.” The front rank in the picture below is “the Kurprinz Regiment.”
The fellows in blue are “Martinière’s Grenadier Regiment.” Check out Marvin’s post if you want to read more about his historical sources (or lack thereof) for the uniforms. As he says, oftentimes “details are scarce,” and he had to use his own judgment.
Marvin painted two more regiments before the month was through. The men in the front rank, below, represent Zeitz’ Regiment. They were “apparently disbanded in 1705 just prior to the Saxon army’s heavy defeat by the Swedes at the Battle of Fraustadt the following year.”
These models represent Hayn’s Grenadiers. The red and yellow piping on the back are Marvin’s “own invention.” He relates that “as key source Daniel Schorr wrote that it was unknown whether the battalion even wore grenadier caps.” Whatever the case, I think they work well with the rest of the uniform.
Marvin’s final offering for the challenge is this 54mm Worcestershire Yeomanry sergeant circa 1900. This piece is one of his “54mm Yeomanry Cavalry Project.” The model was manufactured by Mitrecap Miniatures. Marvin reports that Mitrecap’s source material for this model is 50 Years of Yeomanry Uniforms by R.G. Harris, plate No. 29 by Edmund A. Campbell.
John, of Just Needs Varnish, added two more models to his vast (I’m sure) collection of armored vehicles: a Czech S-I-d tankette (the one on the left) and a French R35 light tank. The Czech tankette is 1/72 and the R35 is 1/75 scale. John writes more at length about these models in a later post for any who are interested.
We’ll conclude our historical foray for the painting challenge with a bit of historical fiction by Mark, of Man of Tin, who refurbished some very rusty figures after watching the 1967 comedy film, The Magnificent Two, which is “set in the fictional 1960s South American ImagiNation of Parazuellia.” He decided the figures would make a good pipe and drum band for his Parazuellian Womens’ Revolutionary Army, complete with a reviewing general.
You can check out Mark’s post if you want to see the condition of the miniatures before he put refurbished them. He writes more about their uniforms in another post.
Tom Douglass, the owner of Dragon Den Games in Stockton, California, tackled a large project this month in the person of Mortarion of The Death Guard. He had fun and it was “easily the biggest project” he’d ever done. The daemon primarch was smaller than the imperial knight he completed last summer but a lot more detailed.
Tom had fun with the base too, adding “extra skulls and goo” and so forth. He even “made sure to always add everything in seven’s because how could I not?” Good man. How not indeed!
Despite completing the mammoth task of putting together and painting Mortarion, Tom still had some painting left to do for March. Some of his friends are “starting to pick up Tyranids,” so he painted up a mob of termagants. He had worked on the models some years ago and wasn’t happy with them. So Tom redid them using the new Games Workshop Contrast paints, which do seem to be perfect for batch painting things like termagants.
I wonder if they are from Hive Fleet Leviathan?
Wudugast, of Convert or Die, completed four miniatures for the challenge. They’d make an unlikely group to be thrown together by fortune for a time in, say, a The Magnificent Four or The Dirty Quartet type of scenario.
Wudugast doesn’t know the origins of this Orc Champion, but he’s had him for more than a decade now. The model does remind him of the work “produced by Rackham for the – sadly defunct and much missed – game Confrontation.”
Larsen van der Grauss was “released as part of the Kill Team: Rogue Trader set” and as “a Lectro-Maester” within the Adeptus Mechanicus. This “means he’s a prospector charged with seeking out new sources of power for the forge worlds.” The sculpt certainly isn’t lacking for detail!
This Data-Scrivener is another representative from Necromunda and an example of “futuristic hackers who specialize in stealing data from the hive’s ancient cogitators and manipulating them to suit their purposes.” Wudugast decided to paint the figure when he saw it in the House of Artifice book.
Corwyn the Hunchback is the last of our quadrumvirate and probably my favorite sculpt, mainly because I have a thing for evil magic-using types. He’s another neglected model having remained unpainted “since the late 2000’s,” and is an “evil shaman from Rackham’s Drune Kelt range.” It has taken quite some time but as Wudugast wrote, “the evil old bastard is finished at last.”
Matt, of pmpainting, painted four miniatures for the challenge. The first is Lord Karghoul, produced by Hasslefree Miniatures. I agree with Matt, who wrote that Karghoul “certainly has that ‘evil warrior vibe about him.”
Matt also painted this Space Goblin Commando by Reaper Miniatures. He wasn’t sure what he’d do with a space goblin commando but named him Globrik. Matt thinks he might go back and do some more work on him but isn’t sure if he should “try to tart Globrik up or just get on with something else.” I’ll be curious to read what he decides to do.
This Post Apocalyptic Hunter is my favorite of Matt’s four offerings for the challenge, who he has named Trevor. I’m not sure if this chap looks like a Trevor or not, but there it is. I thought he did a good job on the urban camouflage. The mask is a bit of freehand that I thought was an effective addition to the piece.
This is the metal version of Reaper’sAina the Valkyrie. Matt acquired the miniature in late 2019, got it 70% painted and then “kind of just gave up.” He isn’t sure why. I particularly like the hair and also favor the shiny scale armor.
The kit gives one the choice between a spear and a sword for Aina. I think Matt chose correctly because I think it would have looked a little odd for our valkyrie to brandish her sword while she has a second sword in the scabbard. One could say it was the sword from an enemy or something else, but I think it is just better to give her the spear.
Plague Gardening painted this Princess Leia miniature from West End Games. He bought the model in 1987 and has completed her after “an impressive 33 to 34 years in my collection.” I think he did a good job with the shading for Leia’s white robe. He painted her base white to go along with his other Star Wars models, which you can see in his Princess Leia post.
David, of Scent of a Gamer, started painting this wizard “maybe 20 years ago.” The model was a freebee “on the cover of a White Dwarf magazine,” which he bought several copies of to “get as many different wizards as possible.” This is an interesting piece: I like how the wizard’s clothing sort of evokes something of a fantasy European Renaissance look juxtaposed with a beard that looks like he’s been using his magic to travel back to Bronze Age so he can hang out in Sumer.
Dave Stone, of Wargames Terrain Workshop, finished his wing of four land speeders. First up is this Land Speeder Tsunami. I think that the freehand work on the vertical stabilizer adds quite a bit of interest; especially when several speeders are displayed together.
Dave also did quite a bit of painting for his Battlefleet Gothic fleets. I don’t know too much about the game and I’m not terribly familiar with the ships, but I do know a Space Marine battle barge when I see one. This one is from the Night Hawks chapter and give him four barges.
Next up are four Strike Cruisers. There are “normally six in a fleet” but Dave’s Night Hawks “lost two to the warp.” Maybe they’ll turn up someday. Hopefully they won’t be painted pink and have grown lots of waving space tentacles or pointy bits during their wanderings. You know, after all, how impressionable these space marines can be at times.
These ships “are the three classes of escort ship” put out by Forgeworld “to use instead of the Imperial escorts.”
Dave tells me that these are also imperial ships, but that another version was released for the Eldar, which “were a lot sleeker.” I think these ships would make appropriate-looking logistics and support vessels.
Finally, we have a Desolator-class battleship, which Dave painted for his Emperor’s Children fleet. With five of these battleships, his chaos space marines have quite a formidable long range (if what I read about them is correct) threat going for themselves.
Tamor, of Dragons of Lancasm, painted this Hero Quest “gargoyle.” Tamor puts the name in quotes because he thinks the miniature is in fact a “second-rate Balrog.” I feel the old school balrog-bloodthirster vibe going on with this guy too. I also agree that this miniature would make a good “terrain piece, and potentially a construct (animated statue).”
Our balrog used to have a whip that Tamor carved off.
Finally, Tamor finished this orc. “He’s a bit paler than his brethren because he’s apparently been hiding with my skaven for at least a decade.”
Heretic 30K painted these ten miniatures – five heroes and five villains – from the Marvel Crisis Protocol starter set. He received them as a Christmas present in 2019 and they have been “collecting dust” until now.
Captain America’s shield is looking very crisp indeed!
“The figures are 40mm scale which makes them quite a bit larger than what most people are likely to already have in their modern terrain collections so it is handy that the starter includes a reasonable amount of scatter terrain too.”
Heretic had to assemble and paint the terrain as well.
We conclude the painting challenge by coming back to Azazel and his eight further entries. The first is a Varghulf Courtier from Citadel. Depending upon which lore you read, the Varghulf are “powerful Vampire Lords who have devolved into a permanently animalistic and bestial form,” or some type of ghoul-like creature.
Azazel painted a number of miniatures for Growing Hunger expansion of the Last Night on Earth board game. The first group of survivors are Kenny the Supermarket Bag Boy, Amanda the Prom Queen, Sam the Diner Cook and Detective Winters.
The next pair of Growing Hungersurvivors are Mr. Goddard the Chemistry Teacher and Jade the High School Outcast. For Jade, he used “some of the Goth chicks I used to know in my own youth.”
The final pair of survivors are Stacy the Investigative Reporter and Victor the Escaped Prisoner. Azazel painted Stacy’s notepad to look like a tablet “to bring her into a slightly more modern timeframe” and because it would be fun to “see if I could make it look good.” It certainly does add some nice detail and a touch of verisimilitude to the model.
Azazel also completed this duo from Marvel Crisis Protocol, Rocket and Groot. He did some extra work on the bases “in order to really mess up the sidewalk where it’s been smashed in and smashed through by Groot’s extended arm.”
That extended arm thing is nifty.
I think it is cute that the angry raccoon’s weapon is much larger than he is. I suppose being a “master of weapons” he can handle it no problem.
I really like this Thrasher Snail by Reaper. Although I’m not buying miniatures very often these days, this is one I’d like to own. (I might go so far as to ask for it as a birthday present this year.) The production model comes with a bunch of what Azazel calls (and I agree from what I see) “poorly-cast flails.” I think his solution of using a “lovely twisted unicorn-style horn” was a much better solution and if I ever get this miniature I’ll do something similar.
Love the shell.
Next up are “Lucius” and “Seth” from Zombicide. I like how the game includes a “zombified” version of each character, which, as Azazel points out in the comments, “can be used as action versions, wounded versions or just extra-nasty zombies in various games as needed!”
We conclude the round up with “Ross” and Phil” also from Zombicide. I particularly like the zombified Ross (aka John Goodman) for some reason. Probably because I like the actor. Azazel relates that the idea of characters as zombies was “to let players who had been killed keep playing.” They never used those rules and instead “played with however many survivors the scenario called for and doubled up when there were more survivors than players – and then we would just hand off a character if someone was unlucky enough to die.”
Well done, Azazel. Thirteen entries and thirty-six completed models. Not too shabby at all!
Much thanks to everyone who participated in the “Neglected” March challenge. The next painting challenge, for May and June, is going to be “The Summer Solstice Painting Challenge,” which begins in May and closes on the Summer Solstice (first day of summer), which is June 20th at midnight (your local time). The idea will be to exhibit a single miniature or diorama that you think is your best or you like the most, which you completed between May 1st and June 20th.
I am thinking of doing a dragon-based painting challenge for July since my mind has been turning to all things draconic lately. I’m looking into to doing a Kickstarter-based anthology of short stories along the theme of dragons. It is all currently in the research and planning stages for now but I’ve been moving forward with the project a little each day.
Túbal Villar is selling some of his painted Dark Angels on Ebay. I thought I’d share his post on the chance someone out there is looking for something along these lines. I think they are well painted and even if you aren’t in the market for some marines, enjoy the pretty pictures. 🙂
Sad to a degree, but needed in the current situation… Both economical and space-wise…
A bit of old and a bit of new… Starting at 50€, it will be my way to measure the market, the interest, and worst case scenario, I could get the same unpainted stuff for more or less the same.
So if anyone is interested, or knows about anyone who might be, needless to say, it would be much appreciated if you share it. It is expected to end in seven days from today.
The “Neglected but Not Forgotten” painting challenge ends on April 2nd, so I thought I’d announce the April challenge before I get too busy doing the “Neglected” round-up, which is looking like it’s going to be large indeed! For April I’m going to do a second annual “Paint the Crap You Already Own!” challenge.*
The idea is simple. You can paint anything you want so long as you owned it on or before April 1, 2021. It doesn’t have to be a neglected model — you can have purchased it the day the challenge begins if that is your desire. A nice way to perhaps add something new to your collection of painted miniatures if you are tired of painting neglected models smelted during the Age of the Antonines.
Always good advice! 🙂
Also, again this year, as a Hobby Challenge, you don’t have to confine yourself to painting models. For example, you can write a short story, paint a picture (or bedroom or some cave art), develop a recipe, post a Youtube video, complete a needlepoint project, finishing putting together a swing set out in your backyard, put in a porch light, etc. Pretty much anything fun, hobby or craft oriented that you start on or before April 1st.**
Rules of the Challenge
Models for this challenge must be ones you owned on or before April 1, 2021.
The challenge closes on May 2nd, 2021 at midnight (your local time). If you can’t get your pictures posted by that date, it is fine. Just post them as soon as you can.
You can complete one model or project for this challenge or as many as you want. Basing is optional if you don’t plan on doing basing later. It is mandatory if the plan is for the finished project to be based.
Models and projects you feature in other challenges (not also run by me) are welcome here too.
You can join in, and add more models at any time as the month goes along.
Models from any company, range, time period, scale, etc. are welcome.
Questions and/or ideas? Let me know in the comments.
For those who missed the 2020 round-up in two parts, you can see part one here and part two here.
Painting an entire diorama is certainly a worthy project and who doesn’t love a fully painted tank?
Panzerkampfwagen VI, Pattern Tintenfisch, from Sir John’sJust Needs Varnish!
Of course some good, old-fashioned space marines are always welcome. One or a whole squad. (Wretched, Gollum-looking person peering out of a hole optional.)
My friend, Daniel’s, Deathwing terminators from a March 2017 game.
Like I said, a project doesn’t have to be painting miniatures to have a place in this April challenge. Something like this map I made using Campaign Cartographer software or one drawn by hand would find a welcome home here.
Might be fun to run a Fantasy-meets-Old West mini-campaign using my little map?
Carve some Easter pumpkins, perhaps?***
If you don’t want to paint a picture, play a game, paint a model and making videos is lame … then when all else fails bake a Cthulhu pie!
Once again, “In his pie at R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu dreams for (drowns in?) whipped cream.”
* This challenge also has the added feature that I can pretty much recycle the challenge announcement, including the pictures, from last year. I kind of wanted to give that Cthulhu pie some more love!
** Home improvement projects may or may not be fun but they are “crafts” and thus count for this challenge.
*** Ensorcelling said pumpkin(s) as container(s) for the bewitched life force(s) of extinct but somehow still nascent being(s) of pure song is, like basing, optional unless you were planning on doing this at some point to complete the project in which case said thaumaturgy is mandatory. I will make case by case exceptions if you have unavoidable blockages such as not being able to secure required material components, timing of sacrifices due to astrological-related issues, ritual assistant union troubles, etc.
For March I’ll be encouraging everyone to revisit their burgeoning pile of neglected models and pick one or a few old chestnuts you started and for whatever reason stopped working on. Or maybe something you bought a year or two ago and despite your best intentions has been gathering dust ever since. I’m sure everyone, who has been involved in the hobby for more than 30 seconds, has a closet full of metal, plastic, and resin that qualifies. I know I do!*
Rules of the Challenge
“Neglected” means a model that you acquired at least a year ago. The models can be sitting in a box still in the shrink wrap, partially assembled, or partially painted. The key is you have to have owned them for at least a year.
Your model must be based unless you aren’t planning on basing it later.
You can enter miniatures you are working on for other painting challenges.
The challenge closes on April 2nd, 2021 at midnight (your local time). If you can’t get your picture(s) posted by that date, it is fine. Just post as soon as you can. The best way to let me know you’ve put up a picture is to either link your post back to this one or leave a comment here.
Questions and/or ideas? Let me know in the comments.
As for me, I can’t remember the last time I successfully completed a painting challenge, including my own. Fortunately I seem to be doing ok lately running challenges even if paint and brushes aren’t my priority right now.
I do have many good neglected candidates, Frank’s Pig Demon being the prime one and probably the less said about poor Becky the Bloat Drone the better. It isn’t all bad news though: I did manage to eventually finish Poxwalker #18, pictured above in its previously neglected state.
How about you — do you have any neglected miniatures you might want to revisit for March?
* I thought of doing this challenge after simultaneously failing three painting challenges all in a go last month, including my own. You’ll notice for this one I didn’t declare that I would actually get anything done since when I do … I don’t. Perhaps this time by not making any declarations, maybe I’ll actually get something done. Probably not though. 🙂
Dave Stone at Wargames Terrain Workshop announced he is doing his “Paint What You Got“ community painting challenge. The idea is to paint one or more models of any type and with the deadline not being until February 28, 2021 there is plenty of time.
My plan is to finally finish Frank’s Pig Demon and since it is a two month challenge perhaps the Hero Forge gnome, who apparently really likes dragons, which I’m painting for a friend. This will allow Frank’s demon to pull double duty, since I plan on having it be the first miniature I complete in 2021 for my own painting challenge.
I’ve made a little progress on the pig demon since I look the pictures in this post. I’ve done the blue shading on his cloak and made a beginning at cleaning it up with more of the base color before I do the final layer and highlights. I hope to have that stage done by the end of next week and then after that I’ll turn my attention to the trident.
I traditionally have several miniatures going at once on the painting table and I am feeling some temptation to make a start at working on the gnome while I press on with the demon. However, I feel compelled to resist that particular siren song because of how long a road it has been with the demon. Now that I’m nearing completion I think it is better to focus my efforts before moving onto another project. Perhaps things will all work out so that my friend’s gnome can find a home in both Dave’s challenge and Alex’s yearly Fembruary challenge at Leadballoony.
I put a little more color on Frank’s Pig Demon today after having left our fiend to its own devices since early October. This time I focused on the loincloth.
My plan is to finish this miniature (and finally give it back to Frank) before the end of January for the community painting challenge I announced a few days ago.
I used Duncan Rhodes’ “White Aelf Robes” tutorial for the loincloth, which is:
Base with Celestra Grey
Shade creases with mix of Drakenhof Nightshade and Lahmian Medium.
Layer with Ulthuan Grey
Highlight with White Scar
I like how the loincloth turned out, though I could have used a bit more more medium and less blue shade (I used about a 50/50 mix of each) to achieve a lighter, more subtle effect. I’ll probably try something along these lines with the cloak where I shade the deeper recesses like I did the loincloth but mix in more medium for the shallow bits, especially on top of the cloak where it might be lighter.
I am going to play around with this recipe and experiment with some other miniatures in the future. I think some blueish white cloth might look pretty good on my Changeling. I suspect at this point the daemon would welcome some cloth in pretty much any color given that it has been sitting neglected (beyond a cursory spray with white primer) since April 2018 when I did a personal assembly challenge. It might also be interesting to do a wraith’s robes in this color or perhaps a daemonette’s hair. Heck, I could even see doing a unit of plaguebearer using this color for their flesh. Lots of possibilities.
So finishing the cloak is next up for Frank’s Pig Demon. After that I’ll tackle the trident and then after that all I’ll have to do is make a few minor tweaks, base it and I’ll be done.
It has been awhile since I’ve done a painting challenge and thought it might be fun to do a challenge where you share a picture of the first miniature you completely finish for 2021. We aren’t interested in completing squads, mobs or other collections this time. The focus is to start 2021 off right by showcasing everyone’s first miniature fruits of the year.
Rules of the Challenge
The model can be a work in progress but must be completed sometime in January 2021.
Your model must be based unless you aren’t planning on basing it later.
A tank, cavalry, chariot, dinosaur or some other miniature with rider(s) counts as one miniature for this challenge.
A stand with multiple miniatures counts as one miniature so long as all of the models are affixed to the same base. This excludes dioramas, but you can certainly post a miniature for a diorama so long as it is the first miniature you complete in 2021.
You can enter miniatures you are working on for other painting challenges.
The challenge closes on January 31, 2021 at midnight (your local time). If you can’t get your picture posted by that date, it is fine. Just post it as soon as you can. The best way to let me know you’ve put up a picture is to either link your post back to this one or leave a comment here.
Questions and/or ideas? Let me know in the comments.
Some ideas from past challenges include a mighty dragon, painted by David from Scent of a Gamer …
or perhaps an Imperial Knight if you are feeling particularly ambitious like the one painted by Thomas of Dragon’s Den Games?
If you aren’t in the mood or have time for a knight or giant, green dragon perhaps something a bit smaller, but still great, like the miniatures from challenges past in this little slide show. Remember any single miniature is fair game, even a status marker and the like if you so choose.
Argent Badger’s Wardog.
Mollog by Mcattila.
Steve’s Word Bearer Rhino.
Azazel’s Orc Abomination.
John’s Shinano class Flying Dreadnought.
Alex’s D’onne Ultani from Necromunda.
Veteran Eagle Warrior by Mark Morin.
One of Marvin’s favorite soldiers.
My Little Pony by Faust’s Little Elf!
Troll by The Introverted Hermit.
Wudugast’s Obliterator.
Faust’s Blood Bowl Ogre.
Necromunda Bounty Hunter by Mikeland82.
Dave’s Reaper Miniatures wizard.
Ann’s Rust Monster
As for me, I’m hoping to finally finish my eternal work in progress, Frank’s Pig Demon. I got pretty far along before I stalled once again. There are a bunch of minor things I need to do, but finishing the demon’s clothing is the last major piece left. I’ll probably keep the basing fairly simple in line with what Frank told me he wanted.
The strange desire to assemble models continues so I finished putting together this mob of 20 zombies, which Games Workshops brands aptly enough as Deadwalker Zombies.
I suspect that this assembly bug I’ve been experiencing probably is because I don’t really feel like painting Frank’s Pig Demon right now even though I am pretty close to being done with it, but I still want to do something hobby related. Well, whatever the case, I find it is more enjoyable to do what is fun rather than slogging through something that isn’t currently interesting so the demon will have to wait awhile longer in the Unpainted Inferno but as for these fortunate zombies they graduate from the donjon of plastic in my closet to my Gray Legion.
Who knows if and when they’ll ever be painted. It is a great mark of ascension that is probably too much to seriously hope for … if zombies were capable of hope.
As is usually the case these days when I’m photographing unpainted models, I like to mess around with filters and the like. I’m pleased with how the mob looks like a Sanguine Swarm or Herd of Blood or whatever. Certainly would be pretty easy to paint with a little Blood For the Blood God technical paint, if one wanted to go that route.
I like the selection of agricultural implements, in addition to the usual knives and spears and such, that are available in the kit. I’m guessing some random village of farmers had a bad time of it.
We’ll close the book on our newest zombies with the standard bearer and one of the three percussionists, since they were the last ones I assembled.
The kit certainly is showing its age and with all of the zombies out there these days, these guys wouldn’t be my first choice if I was paying full price, which is currently $38 USD. Still, I think I might have given some guy $8 or $10 USD for the kit, still in the plastic, about five years ago at a game store flea market/swap meet, so I’m happy with them.
I think the only one who isn’t, at least at my house, is Frank’s Pig Demon, but I’ve learned through experience not to worry too much what my demons think. As my slaves to darkness, it is meet they remember their place!
Ann's Immaterium 