Steampunk Dwarf force next stepsteps

The next step was liberal drybrush in weapon bronze. Because of the nature of these models bronze is the dominant color. I could decide to change some of the weapon colors but not yet. The picture below is a sampling of models with their drybrush of Weapon Bronze.

Now to begin painting all the items that are not bronze. In progress is several item on each model painted in Golden High Flow Acrylic Raw Sienna. The image below has two of the models for which I completed this step, Now I just have to repeat for all the belts, skin (very little really), pouches, tools and other bits until they start to look less like statues and more like dwarves. Thinking about it now the next steps will probably be pants and shirts where they are visible.

Step by Step painting my Dwarf SciFi/Steampunk Force

I am going to show step by step my creation of a sci-fi/steam punk dwarf army. I am using the Kharadon Overlords from Games Workshop and the Einherjar from Wargames Atlantic. During the build I swapped in some parts from the GW kit into the WA kit to make them a little funkier. 

Above is the state of the models after giving them a prime of black spray paint and an attempt to zenethal highlight them with white spray paint. The paint was not the best and the coverage was spotty  but at least the paint was smooth.

The next step was to even out the zenethal highlighting using Golden High Flow Acrylic Tittinium White using a dry brush technique. Now the white on the top of each model is far smoother and the dark of the black is much more shadowy.

The final part of the day's work was using Citadal Contrast paint Snakebite Leather to  coat the models. tThe picture above shows two of the WA Einherjar models one with just the black and white and the other with the Snakebite Leather. The head on the model on the right game from the GW set.  The next step will be to dry brush all of the metal parts with Weapon Bronze by Army Painter. 

The overall goal here is to use mostly warm colors on the armor, weapons and clothing and then highlight the power areas with blue and/or green so that they really pop.

Big Game Prediction

Today I played through the big game using Blitz Bowl. In the end the Kansas City Orcs lost to the Tampa Bay Dwarves 13-6. It was a lower scoring affair with the Dwarves taking a 2-0 lead before falling behind 6-3. Then the opportunistic Dwarves rattled off 10 straight points to take the game. 

The upclose and personal view of the game early on.

Returning Soon

 Why? I am not completely sure. I feel like there is a lot for me to put out there. I don't know if anyone is reading this but it is cathartic to post. Not much more for now and I also need to fix some links and maybe add few new ones. Hold that thought.

Gift from Dungeons Past

A few weeks ago a friend of mine at work, Tony, approached me after a meeting. He said he had a box of D&D miniatures and wanted to know if I would like them. He had heard around the office that I still played games and liked to paint miniatures. I told him of course I would take them. This the pictorial documentation of that haul.

This is the haul in total. The boxed sets and the large watch box full of loose minis.

This is all of the minis from the watch box after a quick bath in soapy water. A few broken ones but overall a really good collection of older figures. In truth this is what I thought the entire haul would be when Tony mentioned it.

Ral Partha, 1985. The set appears to be complete. The box is not in great shape but the minis inside look just like the day they were made. A wonderful blast from the past.

Grenadier Models 5004 Tomb of Spells. From the figures it looks like the second release of this set when they swapped out some monsters for the cockatrice and a shrieker. Probably produced around 1981.

Grenadier Models 5002 Monsters. The foam has been losing the battle with time but the minis are still in great shape. This set appears to be short a few models.

 Grenadier Models 2001 Wizards and 2012 Dwellers Below. Missing a wizard. 

Grenadier Models 2002 Halflings and 2003 Dwarves. Both sets appear complete and some minor painting.

Grenadier Models 2008 Thieves and 2011 Orc's Lair. Two thieves escaped and all orcs accounted for.

Grenadier Models 2004 Hirelings and 2005 Fighting Men. "Fighting Man" evolved into "Fighter" by the time Advanced Dungeons and Dragons came out. The term was still fairly common into the mid-eighties. And of course we have a missing fighter.

Grenadier Models 2010 Denizens and 2009 Wizard's Room. I think these are both complete even though a compartment in the box is empty I believe the white figure in the stone ring belongs there. The Snake in the Denizens set was my daughter's favorite followed closely by the lizard in the Wizard's Room set.

There it is. The haul of a lifetime in classic D&D figures. I am probably going to paint a few of them to see if "modern" techniques hold up on these classics. The ironic thing with these boxed sets is that when these we being produced I generally bought smaller packs and single figures. Getting them now is just amazing.

Finally 40k

I have never played Warhammer 40k. The cost in money and time of building an army was too high for me especially when none of my gamer circle was going to build an army to play against. Well, now there has been a slight shift in my view of 40k based on the introduction by Games Workshop of the Warhammer 40k Killteam boxed set.

The idea of Killteam (KT) is that you build a 200 point force for smaller tactical engagements. So far, the forces I have seen built for KT range from 4 to 40 models. The boxed set comes with enough Space Marines for 200 points and enough Tau for about 140 points. Also included are painting guides, a KT rulebook and mini version of the full 40k rulebook as KT uses most of the combat mechanics of 40k and all of the point values. My buddy and I each picked up a set for fifty bucks and I gave him the Tau and he game me the Space Marines.

The first thing I did before assembling the models is research how to get my Marines to as close to 200 points as possible. A few days and spreadsheet later I was able to build two squads, each with a veteran sergeant, one with a special weapon, one with a heavy weapon and each sergeant with a combi-weapon.

Then I built the squads and started painting them. Since I had very little knowledge of the chapters or codices I decided to paint them in Cthulhu themed colors. Below is the work in progress picture of the main sergeant.

 Below is squad two on the ground floor. The special weapons squad with a flamer. They are set on a piece of terrain I built for Frostgrave.

Below is the first squad with heavy weapon. 

The picture of the whole group of Adaptus R'lyeh.

The last of the Dungeon Saga basic set

Barbarian warrior

The book...possibly the smallest individual item I have painted.

Everyone needs an elf ranger.

Wizard

Dwarf warrior

bookshelf

weapon rack

Alchemist cabinet

Skeletal warriors