WiPs in my temp paint space!

 The new temp paint space... the computer nook in the kitchen!
yeah... not long term but, with the actual studio supplies not arriving until mid October... this gets me started!

 Speaking of getting started... I've been working on background narratives for my Raging Heroes Jailbirds for quite a while.  One of the things I wanted to accomplish was defining their rebel faction as a nomadic, survival of the tribe, society.  Because of this focus I've been wanting to include some non-military vehicles to give them the feel of a caravan on the tabletop.

I've finally got a start on this with the arrival of the Fast Panda sci-fi food truck from Atenociti's Workshop!  This is a "Made for Infinity" model so has a very cool "Mass Effect" styling about it.

For my purposes I'll want to produce one that is a little worse for the wear as it feeds the Jailbirds, who are constantly on the move to avoid capture by their House Kurganova tormentors.

 I'm starting with a black primer.  The resin from Atenocitis takes paint very well and the model was pretty clean... requiring little clean up!  Score for Jed and Nadine!

With my paints still in transit from Transylvania I took the opportunity to try the new line of weathering paint from Secret Weapon Miniatures and indulged in a couple of Vallejo skin tone sets (Fairy Flesh Set and Malefic Flesh Set).

 I started the work up of white using the Secret Weapon Handle Wood and Weathered Wood and will finish it off with top highlights using CraftSmart white.

The purple trim comes from the Malefic Skin tone set and got highlighted by mixing in some Purple Heat from the Secret Weapon line.  The various "Heat" mixes appear to be slightly viscous, high pigment density, stains.  I've always been a fan of stains so they should be fun!

  Here I've used them to modify another paint so they are performing more like thin paint with better than average covering qualities.

There is also an excellent triad in the set: Tire Black, Rubber, and Rubber Highlight. These are giving really good effects on the rubber boots and seat cushions.  I see a using these quite a lot in future.

I visited one of the FLGSs in Anchorage and picked up a Reaper Mousling Tavern set.  Its all metal, which I was quite happy with in this case, and was missing a model.  A quick e-mail to the Reaper Help desk saw the errant model arriving just a couple of days later.  Those guys at the Helpdesk are great!

 Some before and after wash shots. I'm thinking about doing some tiny Tartan patterns on these to add some cheery color.

I've been getting more interested in filling out my RPG focused collections and these will be pretty cool for that.

Next up on deck a pair of the new style of cottage from Tabletop World.
I just got an enormous shipment from them and the packing job was amazing!  The boxes arrived in a pretty beat up condition but there appears to have been zero damage as a result... those guys really know how to pack!  I'll put up a post about that a bit later.

Finally... a BIG pile of Raging Heroes from the TGG2 Kickstarter is busy getting sorted and labelled... and one of the Girls is even on the desk for painting!  Zoom Zoom!  You'll see her soon!

Daughters of the Crucible TGG2

Daughters of the Crucible

Communication with the colony of Rorschach IV had been lost months ago and the Sisters of Eternal Mercy had dispatched the Daughters of the Crucible to find out why.  It was now clear that it had fallen victim to the predations of Void Elf pirates.

Unencumbered by the iconic power-armored habits favored by the rest of the Sisters the Daughters moved silently through the murky darkness of the warehouse in their own trademark body gloves. The Void Elves, under their infamous leader Ashara, had converted this structure into slave pens for the former inhabitants of the mining colony searching for control functions and guards.  The Daughters were careful not to alert any of the prisoners to their presence to preserve the element of surprise.  Clad as they were they could easily be mistaken for elves in the darkness, by humans anyway, so they moved quickly and purposefully about their mission.  Any Void Elf encountered was quickly, and silently, subdued by lightning quick strikes with bare hand and foot.  The Daughters have such control of their unique spiritual Martial Art that they seem to defy gravity itself when on the move.  Each silent punch, or kick, in the dark guided by the sure knowledge that an adversary would cross it's path.  Once on station Sister "Cookie" La Loca began the Mass, the flashes from her brace of double barreled revolvers turned the warehouse into a stop action film as she was illuminated, eyes closed, firing serenely and precisely into the Void Elf command element.  She recited "Darkness and Light"  as she fired and, at each congregational response, the other Sisters added their individual voice to the smoking darkness each consumed by ecstatic epiphany as she rode the "Sight" and the veritable hail of bullets never finding an accidental target... if targets were even the right word.  Sister Spookie Pepi, almost ethereal in the smoke and broken light, walked forward firing her brace of pistols, seemingly at random, while Void elves fell, surprised... as if they just happened into the line of fire.  By the time the prayer was complete the Void Elves had been destroyed and the liberation of the faithful could begin.









The Daughters of the Crucible are one of the few Orders dedicated primarily to service and street ministry maintained by the Sisters of Eternal Mercy.  Often seen among the masses of the cities they maintain close contact with the lowest members of the societies they serve and have become adept  at infiltration, quick strike, rapid response and covert operations.  The Daughters are among the most beloved units fielded by the Order and are uniquely equipped for their task.  They have always maintained their direct connection to the people they serve, even as the rest of the Sisters of Eternal Mercy drifted into splendid isolation and political distraction.  They are among the most spiritual of the Sisters that remain visible to the people, famed for their charity and compassion, their movements are almost magical. Typically they are employed independently, at squad strength or less, for missions where a full Battle Congregation would be difficult or impossible to use.  They are also used when the Order deploys a full Congregation in the role of scout or saboteur.





Equipment and abilities:

Eschewing the signature power armored habits of the Sisterhood at large in favor of psychically sensitive body gloves that neutralize their silhouette, scent, sound, and heat signatures to maximize their infiltration abilities they also carry unique double barreled revolvers which allow for very high burst rates of close range fire and they ability to carry specialized munitions.  The Daughters are also masters of unarmed combat and both abilities are influenced by their devotion.  They appear to have a precognitive  ability they call "The Sight" triggered by ritual prayer which permits them to melee or fire with their eyes closed for a boost to accuracy.  They are not technically even aiming at an opponent in this state but firing down lines of destiny and probability where their opponents literally move to intercept the bullet, foot, or fist that just happens to cross their path. This is an especially useful ability for night fighting and ambush tactics.   

I think there will be 9 different models for this unit (4 in the troops set and 5 in the command group) I managed to get 4 but am not certain which group set the come from... and it may be both.

Most of the Sisters of Eternal Mercy are armored up and they even have some terminator equivalents. The exceptions are the Davidians, which make great stand ins for Repentia, and the Daughters of the Crucible which I'll likely use as agents of the Inquisition or part of an Inquisitor's retinue. 

 The colors here are chosen to fit in with a daemon Hunter army that has been a regular feature at the annual Geekfest.  I recently acquired it from it's builder and painter A.M. and it'll be the subject of its own post in the near future... but more on that later!

I thought about adding Inquisition Icons to these, and left room to do it later, but I have hopes that Raging Heroes might produce their own game so decide to hold off a little while on the specific details.

 Ahh here is one of the Freebies from the TGG2 it's a mascot for the Sister's and... ack!  I can't remember if it's Vladimir or Tobias!  I have it labelled as Tobias but now.... I wonder!

I decided to go completely fanciful with the color scheme to emphasize its chimerical nature.  Kind of like an attack Owl/Parrot/Raccoon... in crazy colors!

The wee beastie is on a log which I extended a bit with greenstuff to get a better angle when viewed from the tabletop.  I typically paint things for view from three feet and on a gaming surface.  Often there are really cool figures with gorgeous faces.... looking down... and thus... un-viewable in the game environment.  I try to notice this and adjust the angles where I can.

 The sisters have colorful names as they are unit of Heroines or Champion types and not really faceless troopers.  From top to bottom of the post they are:  Sister "Cha Cha" Clemencia, Sister "Cookie" La Loca, Sister "Spookie" Pepi, and Sister "Two Tricks" Felicidad.

 The Daughters of the Crucible are part of the Toughest Girls of the Galaxy 2 Kickstarter from Raging Heroes.  If you like these you can still pledge for a couple of more days. They plan to open the Pledge Manager this week and will close pledges at that time.

Proxy Wars Episode 1: Mordheim

I play a lot of games, and dabble in quite a few more, and for many years I scrupulously used only the exact minis intended by the manufacturer for use with their game.  Its helpful, of course, especially in terms of WYSIWYG, but eventually everyone that plays a faction within a game ends up looking very similar.

( Brunhilde, Kinght of the Blazing Sun and acting  Witch Hunter Captain stands firm against an assault by a Sigmarite Sister and two Novices...Brunhilde is a real Heroine putting one novice out of action and keeping the remaining Sister and Novice tied up in melee for the rest of the game (top and left).  Brunhilde is from the Raging Heroes classic line and the Sisters are GW originals. Below: MVP Gretchin interrupts her journey rescue of Captain Brunhilde to ambush a novice sister that was searching for warpstone.)






For me, these days, the "Looks Cool!" factor is a big deal so I've branched out into proxies in a pretty big way. I'd always used the odd alternate manufacturer figure for special characters, especially those written up in the rules but whose figure was missing from the product line, or just because it looked like it would be a good fit as a sergeant or unit champion/standard bearer/musician as these types of miniatures were often available in only one pose or might even be entirely absent.

 The table was set with a Deepcut Studios cobblestone mat and a pile of Tabletop World buildings.  To give the game a "night time feel"  I used a blue light and a couple of overhead white spots.  The result was stark shadows and a gloomy night time feel while still maintaining enough light for comfortable play.

The match was the opening round of a campaign and first up were Witch Hunters vs Sigmarite Sisters!

 Fueled mainly by the amazing complete proxy armies that are available from folks like Raging Heroes, Avatars of War (Although they now have a rule set of their own in Warthrone), and Scibor, I'm building complete proxy armies as my first choice.  In doing this I'm not necessarily looking for a less expensive way to produce an army.  Raging Heroes, for example, is not a discount mini shop.  I'm looking for the minis that best portray what I want to play.







 There are downsides to proxy armies, of course, but they are largely confined to official company events and tournaments where there may be a requirement for official miniatures in order to participate.  I don't do tournaments for the most part so it doesn't really have an impact on my gaming.



(Above and above right: A large central melee broke out.  The Witch Hunters face off against the Sisters.  Witch Hunter Gretchin, supported by the Warrior Priest Whilhelm and the wardog Walter, faces off against the Matriarch Beatrix.  A lucky crit by Gretchin with the dueling pistol takes the Matriarch out of action before she can strike! Witch Hunters Hildegard and Johan hold fast in a furious engagement with Sister Superior Magda and two Sisters.  One turn later, Wardog Walter, and Warrior Priest Wilhelm add into the grand melee while Gretchin exits the area to head towards Mercenary Captain Brunhilde who is all alone and engaged in a lopsided duel.  Meanwhile two novice sisters decide to dodge the grand melee and scour the area for warpstone.)

After dispatching both the Matriarch and a novice Gretchin claims final victory by forcing the game ending route check...











The teams!  The Sisters spent more gold building their warband (492 to 485) but came up short on rating compared to the Witch Hunters.  The ratings ended up being Sisters - 68, Witch Hunters - 96 not enough for an underdog bonus but enough to notice.

 

The minis:  Sisters of Sigmar are all Games Workshop while the Witch Hunters are a mix of Games Workshop and Raging Heroes.

Aleksandr Kurganov, Krell, and the most disturbing gnome...

 Aleksandr Kurganov, Chief Commander of the KST.  This is a massive, and heavy, model.  I chose the metal version for this one and it plunks down on the tabletop with authoriTAY!

Shown with a Nurgle Terminator and Assault Marine for comparison.  I like that he is shorter than the Space Marines but still imposing.

 I split the difference on positioning on the base.  The left foot overhangs the base a bit but shifting him too much farther over and the cloak would have become a weapon in it's own right!

He's on a 40mm beveled base like the Terminator and is pretty stable on that.  I went with a Grey and Red scheme to fit in with some incoming Inquisition troops that I'll be working into the campaign fluff.

 This cape has a lot of room for silliness.  I did some stark shading but decided against freehand for the moment... I'm kind of torn between inventing a House Kurgan Sigil and waiting to see what Raging Heroes comes up with in that regard.

 Reaper Bones I Kickstarter.   I really just signed up for everything with the idea that I'd be using it to fill out a long neglected FRPG collection as my interest in Tabletop Roleplaying was perking up. 

In one random bag that I pulled out of the massive Kickstarter box was this... Gnome... pleasure cultist?  ... Inquisitor?

In spite of being perhaps the most disturbing Gnome miniature I've ever seen it was a lot of fun to paint and gave me a few ideas for story lines... I was a bit inspired by the Penny Dreadful character with the outrageous and, I assure you , completely natural..... hair! 

 Yeah... chaps!  pimpled, warty, gnome buttocks... oh my!

It did get a Slaanesh-esque sigil on the hood but otherwise but otherwise a plain utilitarian purple color.  I thought about designs and stripes but thought they might obfuscate how outrageous the miniature really was.










The Gnome spending some quality time with Warlord Krell...

Krell is still missing his back banner and is on a round lipped base instead of his original square one.  I think both of these minis are being added to the pile of stuff for Carnevale. 

Have fun and beware of gnomes in chaps!

Kurganova Yaga Coven

 Baba Yaga and Arushka join Shashenka and Tarja to complete the Yaga coven.

I finished Shasenka and Tarja a while back so I'm really excited to finish these two and complete my Elemental Coven.  Mind you the Elemental Coven is a construct for the campaign at home and not an official organization as far as I'm aware.

 Each of the Yagas, as I envision them,  has an elemental specialty Arushka Is the Wind Witch and was worked up using the Reaper Vampire Skin triad on the garments and Vallejo flesh tones.  Gold is vallejo Gold and Secret Weapon Flesh Wash Rustungs Farbe from Gamecraft for metal highlight..

After working on some War Machine models, and playing a lot of Star Wars games, I stated thinking of the staff as a "Force" weapon and went with blue force blades.  Vallejo sky blue, Secret Weapon Blue Wash Vallejo foundation white highlights. 

Both Arushka and Baba Yaga got the blue blades while Tarja and Shashenka's weapons are coded to their element and the blades are not well defined.  I may backtrack and give these two more distinct blades and, in keeping with the "Force" theme may have them color coded to the element instead of defaulting to blue.

 Baba Yaga started ans an Earth Element in the aspect of The Crone.  Armory Olive Green, Reaper Vampire Triad, Reaper Blood and Fire Triads.

She got a tech upgrade along the way and some metal armored cables help give her more of a techno magi feel.

This model is metal and very sturdy while Arushka is resin and seem a bit on the fragile side.

 Another view of the complete coven... although I seem to have botched the focus on poor Baba Yaga...
 

Back to the painting!

Raging Heroes, Carnevale, Rackham, and GW works in progress.

 A lot of stuff in progress... very little finished! 

A lot of legacy stuff that I discovered loose and was too OCD to skip.

The closest thing to finished in this batch is this Rackham mini.  I really love this line of, sadly, extinct miniatures. I'm not sure what it's supposed to be ... a gorgon... or a vampire... I painted it to use either way in a truly willful display of indecision!













This model was partially painted with the skin a dark metallic gloss green and enamel blue boots.  I kept the original color scheme and adjusted shades and textures to suit my taste... primarily lighten the oppressive skin, making it ... not... metallic, and not gloss... same with the boots.... still blue but a different shade and texture.  the rest was an experiment in a quick, translucent nightgown.  Based to fit in with an old undead army of mine and added to the troop tray.

 Next up are some legacy Skaven Poison Wind Globadiers.  These were also acquired from a friend and were painted in very bright, almost glow in the dark, colors in gloss enamels.  We've been playing a bit of Mordheim on the computer and the Globadiers are the Bevie! favorites!.







All I did here was paint in some ropes, repaint all the base colors to get rid of the gloss finish drop a wash or two on them and weather up the air tanks a bit.  They are still a WiP but are close to finished.  I did leave the clobes exactly as originally painted though... the original painter did a really good job with them!

Onward into legacy mini land!  Krell, a model I've never really liked... and likely farmed his banner-pole out for a conversion some years ago, returns in all his chaotic, skeletal, glory!  He's not yet based and a replacement banner-pole is being kit bashed together.  Always fun to have an undead chaos warrior around.

 A more recent model that is nearing completion is the Kickstarter Exclusive Strigoi from the Carenvale Kickstarter.  It's a great pose of the Strigoi climbing the walls or vaulting a fence.

 These models are very old school, inspite of being relased within the past year or two.  I kinda like the rough hewn look of the Strigoi and the scultor did a good job of capturing the horrific aspects of Vampirism.  The Strigoi are not at all the glamorous vampires of the modern tradition but cleave more closely to the older and more monstrous tales.

 Early days on the only male character model for Raging Heroes TGG1 Kickstarter.  Aleksandr Kurganova, patriarch of the Kurganova clan and commander of the KST.

I got this model in metal and its huge, heavy and beautiful!  So far its just the cloak and the basic armor being worked but he'll wind up rapidly as the cloak is the majority of the mini.

 Some WiP views of Arushka.  She's from Raging Heroes and is a KST Yaga.  I refer to her variously as "The Wind Witch", "The Angel of Victory", "The Mad Winds of Despair", or "Aleksandr's Fury""


 She'll be an elemental specialists with Air, or Wind magic and is a bit touched.  All magic is perilous to health and spirit but riding the winds is, of the elemental magics, the most perilous to the mind.. Arushka pays the price!

The model is in resin and is a bit flexible so I may need to stiffen the join at the base a bit... or maybe not!  The flex seems to act as a shock asorber so I may just let it ride.
















Last up today is the lower half of Baba Yaga.  She's the Crone, Earthmother, and Wolf Lord of the KST.  Model in metal for strength in the pose. 

There is also a whole pile of rats adventurers and villains from the Reaper Bones I Kickstarter and a handful of legacy skaven also being processed.  I also got a Tabletop World Townhouse and a  Mantic Abyssal Dwarf Iron Caster on Dread Abyssal primed up and in the queue.

Now if only I could find some packages od 20mm and 25mm square bases,,, hmmm...

Cheers!