Iron Empire Mecha Lance goes operational

 The last of the Iron Empire Mecha comes online completing the Ushabti Honor Guard for my Necrontyr.

These great models took a bit of getting used to but I'm more confident in the construction method now and the other faction Mecha should be a lot easier to assemble. The models have complete freedom of pose so can be a very dynamic element on the tabletop.

 Here with Mortaria and Vera the Ushabti prepare to enter the fray.

The kit comes with three different heads so no two are alike in this unit.  The heads are really elaborate funerary masks so identical heads could just as convincingly be used if you prefer... or really have a big pile of Mecha!

I'll have to name these individually as I imagine them to be notables of the Empire serving in a near death state... possibly even former Yagas or, perhaps, their loyal parents.

I've relocated the the army lists I was working on for these so that's another thing to get up to speed.

Back to work on Dwarfs, Papa Kurganova, and the rest of the Yaga coven.

Mantic Berserker Brock Riders WiP, repairs day, and a Mystery figure

 Lots of stuff seeing the light of day after a long time here... Given how often I move its no surprise that I am often rediscovering projects that have languished for years, sometimes decades, in a storage box or bin just waiting to be finished.  Today I knocked out a few.

Random GW ghoul that I got from a friend who was , sadly, getting out of the hobby.  This is a salvage job that had been partially painted a long time ago.

 With salvage work I like to retain what I can of the original paint scheme and you see that in these GW Zombies.  They came along in the same batch as the ghouls and had been base coated and the first colors blocked in... primarily the yellows and blues... I kept the scheme but gave them the Blanche treatment which narrowed, and dulled, the color palette and gave them a "just dug up" vibe.









Some GW Spectres or Wraiths... I don't remember which ... and there may be one of each..  These are form different editions and show the growth in figure size over the years... mind you,... both of these are older edition models and, as such, are considerably smaller than their modern equivalent.  Fortunately the Undead army they will be joining has been kicking around the tables for for 35+ years so they are in good company scale wise.

 A mystery figure.... Hey Pat!  I think this might be one of those Rackham models.

This is a really great Elven Fire Mage.  I'm going to lump it in with the Carnevale stuff for the moment and use it in that game until I get Cadwallon running...

 Mantic Berserker Brock Riders!

Ok its just the Brocks at the moment but they are well under way.

Here you see the size difference between the Hero mount and the regular Brock.... That is one big hunk of angry metal there!

 I'd first thought of Brocks as bears... but on closer look they remind me more of  badgers, wovlerines, or some similar feisty... subterranean... rodent thing.... obviously not sourced from the Skaven.... but.... if you are gonna have some shame to work out ...

Bevie has comanded the creation of a Dwarf army stat!  and wanted Berserker Brock riders first!  Of course, it doesn't fit with the "Everything Fantasy must be playable in 3rd Edition WHFB"  but maybe I can get a friendly geek to cobble me together an army entry for them anyway!

Next post should have the final Iron Empire Mecha up and more salvage work...

Iron Empire Mecha 2 and Mantic Musings

What's better than an Iron Empire Mecha?

Why two Iron Empire Mechas!  The second of three rolled off the line today after some major construction mishaps.... I managed to drop the thing during assembly and accidentally batted it across the room while trying to catch it.... making a small drop into a long journey.











The beast broke apart as expected but the bad impact angle caused half of the Halo to snap off and those tine little resin support struts were a booger to reconstruct.  Its together now so I'll try not to repeat that particular bit of drama in future!

Number 3 is coming along which will finish up the unit.











Here you see the pair escorting Hilda.










 I'm leaning towards calling these mummy driven mecha "Ushabti" in keeping with my Necrontyr theme.  These are great Tomb Guardians and life support systems animated by the will of Necrontyr nobles who have aged well beyond their normal span of years.  These heroes are trapped within the life-giving shells and have been maintained for centuries in the twilight land between life and death.

 Over the Holiday... and really a bit before that... I got involved in a ton of Mantic Kickstarters.  I've always been attracted to Mantic because of the price point but had been afraid to get much from them because I'd heard horror stories about the tremendous amount of clean up they required.

I bit the bullet and went in for Abyssal Dwarfs and then Regular Dwarfs and then.... Warpath and Deadzone... DoH!

 Anyway after looking over the minis I was very pleasantly surprised!  The minis were great quality, the casting was relatively clean, and certainly no worse than average... the material is solid and dry to the touch.  It took primer very well so I'm not anticipating any problems with paint adhesion..  all in all I gotta say these are ace models and a great value for money as well.








I got in about a dozen games of Kings of War second edition over the holiday and now feel like I've got a grasp of it.  The rules are very fast playing and easy to learn.  I think they are a bit too streamlined for my preference, but not a lot so and I think a few house rules would make them just the right amount of fiddly... for example there are no formation changes in KoW.  It would be pretty easy to add that to the game and bring the complexity level up to my comfort zone.  Also there are only about six spells in the magic system... its a very tight system and that would be harder to mess with in terms of balance.  I approve!  Mind you I'm a 3rd Edition WHFB player at heart so all of my fantasy armies are built with the idea that they'll be used in that game as well.

Finally... Our friend Ed let us know that we'd missed out on a pile of expansions for Firefly the Board Game!  For Christmas we got ourselves that big pile and are busily working our way through them!  Zoom Zoom! 

See it set up on a 6x4 table... lots of board and just enough room for all the card decks.


All is shiny in the verse!