New Year New Army Completed

Good tidings dear reader(s) wherever you may be.  I hope all is as well as they can be amidst the uncertainties of our time.  It's been some time since I've given a hobby update and while the blog has been quiet, it's been busy on my end!  As I mentioned in the earlier post I've been using painting as a way to do some self-care for my own stuff and as such, I've managed to reach some goals for the year!  So let's dive right into some of what I've managed to get done!

I didn't quite realize that it's been...a few months...5 maybe...since my last update.  It's been a wild time for everyone across the globe and typing things hasn't been on top of my list.  As much as I've been busy with work and managing life, I've been painting a lot as well.  I've taken myself to a challenge of "let's see how many I can paint in a single batch" and just kept increasing the number.  Right now the highest I've painted as one batch is 60, but looking through some of these pictures it's been large group after another it seems.  Let's start off with the smallest group size of 10, the ladies of the Escher gang in Necromunda!

I toyed around with using the color green throughout the models.  I wanted them to be an Escher cult of Nurgle that started to dip into toxins/poisons with their diseased patron and so I went with a cooler/pale flesh tone with some hints of green.  I did part of their armor using Scale 75 Orcs and Goblins set green and also contrast Warp Lightning with some highlighting/shading.  Overall I was really pleased with the vibrancy of the green compared with the pale skin and the black leather pants!

The Pox Walkers are the models that started this whole "see how many I can batch paint" deal because I grabbed one randomly to show a friend how "you can get quick decent results with contrast, see?  I hate these models but with contrast...huh...well...I actually really like that...damn I guess I need to paint these nerds up."  So 40 Pox Walkers later with majority contrast and some weathering/rusting effects and here we are!  I aimed not to do any sort of prep work other than what I already had, so if the area didn't have a strong primer presence then it just became natural shading.

So next came the Plaguebearers which I went off of the mutations in the Pox Walkers being blue, so then naturally they needed to be blue too!  Another set of 31~ miniatures using mostly contrast paints with some highlighting and selective shading.  In this case, I took an "I don't really care" attitude because my goal was speed and tabletop "good enough" rather than effort for a display piece.  I think I took more time with the skirmish game sorts because they tend to have smaller numbers of models whereas Pleaguebearers I can remove en masse.

 Then came the big project.  The Ossiarch Bonereapers.  This time I was going for something a little bit more than just "slap the paint on" as I did with the previous two.  My goal was still to try and get them done quickly as I could, but now to a new level of quality.  I managed to knock out this whole army in about 7 weeks time with taking breaks here and there.  Overall I am very pleased with the overall outcome and the tone of the army.

Finally, I've started a new army project, this time I'm going to knock out the Hadross from Wrath of Kings.  I started experimenting with airbrushing some inks on some of these models and I've been learning a good chunk of stuff on how to use them.  My biggest takeaway is that I have discovered that I really, REALLY, like using white ink as part of zenithal priming.  Prime the model in black/grey, and then hit them with some white ink.  It takes about 2-3 passes but for smaller batches of models it really stands out!  I've had some issues with white priming since contrast paints came out but this technique was smooth, effective, and gave me some great results.  Another thing I've learned is that you should probably get familiar with the intensity/color of your ink before airbrushing them...because I didn't realize it was going to end up looking that intense...I still like it and will work with it but yeah, just be careful.

PURPLE

A year later after contrast was released I've come to realize a lot about my own painting style, approach, and attitude.  It's truly been a game-changer for me and painting without contrast kind of sucks for me.  As I painted these Hadross Deepmen mostly without it, it's been agonizing and I just haven't enjoyed it as much as I might have if I had just used contrast initially.  I just don't like it as much and truthfully I'm not trying to become a Sam Lenz, Vince Venturella, or Angel Giraldez.  I'm just a dude trying to get his models pained so I can play games with painted models, and they look somewhat decent.  As a podcast, I've listened to (link right here to Trapped Under Plastic) mentioned, that I am going to paraphrase, a good 85% of the work is the base coating and shading and the rest are the highlights and details and I've taken that to heart.  Contrast knocks out 85% of my time with decent results that I then build on with the rest of the details.  Whether I choose to put more effort into that 15% or not is up to me as most of the model is done already.  I love it and for all the flak I give GW it's a great product I will continue to use.

I hope all has been well with you all out there and that you are taking care of yourselves out there.  If you've done any hobbying please feel free to leave a comment/link and let me check out your work!  If not then until next time take care of yourselves, happy hobbying, and good luck out there!

Self-Care and painting amidst the "Everything"

Good tidings to you all fellow wargamers and welcome.  It's been a rough year so far for the world with everything that has been going on here in the US and globally and it's been challenging for many to cope.  So I wanted to take this post in a slightly different direction than I usually do because of what's been going on and while I could write as if nothing is going on it would not be fair for you dear reader to not acknowledge the reality of where we are as a people.  So without focusing on doom and gloom here, we go!

When I originally wrote some form of below it was during a time when the "biggest issue" was the outbreak and spread of the COVID19 virus.  Since then we have been through A LOT of other things here in the US.  It's been a really tense and stressful time for many people.  Myself being a counselor in the mental health field, have been working with folks dealing with new stressors and their own mental health pieces.  It's been challenging for many, and myself with my own mental health challenges have been figuring out how to navigate everything so that I can help those who need it.  That's partly why I've not kept up with this blog as I would have liked, but here we are in hopefully what is a moment of calm to shelter from the storm at large.

As wargamers, I would dare say that there are many of us who are struggling with some of these issues right now.  Therefore I want to help encourage you in this time and offer some insight into parts of our hobby that may not have been considered therapeutic before.  With that, I have to throw out the caveat (thanks to our litigation-happy nation) that this is not intended to diagnose/treat/provide any services to anyone who is suffering from mental health conditions.  If you suspect that you suffer from mental health concerns and need additional assistance please consult your local provider for referrals to services as available in your local area.  This article is not to be taken as mental health advice/research/treatment/etc but a source of encouragement and some considerations to be taken.

A big thing that I am going to advocate for in this time is the concept and practice of self-care.  It's a pretty common buzzword I hear a lot online that for many translates to "treat yourself" or "spend money on spa days/chocolate/whatever."  Self-care is simply making sure you take care of yourself and get the things that you need to keep going.  There is a lot of stress/anxiety/depression going around and that has an impact on interfering with self-care practices. We can easily forget at the moment when folks are faced with new challenges, old stressors, and the events continuing to take place in our world, that part of regular mental health care includes practicing self-care.

Self-care as we clinicians help clients with often incorporate things like making sure you're eating well, getting good sleep as much as possible, getting some exercises in, socializing to some degree, engaging in activities, etc.  It's about taking care of yourself in these trying times and not some sort of fantasy that society thinks you need to do.  Self-care is a personal/individual thing and while these are some suggestions for you feel free to adapt things as you need to for your routine.  I want to caution that doing self-care isn't the same as getting actual treatment or help.  This won't treat depression quite like a counseling session would, or get to the root cause of issues.  What this will do is help the foundation of "you" being at a stronger place so when those things do hit then you're hopefully in a better spot to handle them.  These things are bad enough as it is, but it's even worse when you don't feel great in general already and then it hits you.

So I've found in my experience hobbying, specifically painting, has an interesting effect on anxiety. Now I preface this with: it works for me, and I hope it helps you but if not then that doesn't mean something is wrong with you.  I've noticed that for me painting has a grounding effect on my anxiety. What I mean by it being grounding is that anxiety has a tendency to push people into this zone of "what ifs."  You know it's like you start going "what if X happens, and then what if Y happens, what if I do Z," and so on.  Grounding techniques can help bring you back down from that zone and back to your 'normal' sort of state.  You have to focus on the here and now instead of the "what ifs," so things like the colors/textures/shapes/painting can help manage some of these anxious feelings.  Personally, I found that painting plus some audio medium like a podcast has done wonders for my stress and anxiety.  It's helped bring it from some pretty high levels to something more manageable, and that's truly the goal of self-care is to make all the stuff more manageable.

Like I said it may not work for you, but if it's something you're able to do and need something to help focus on something then give it a shot.  You might find something new to help out in times of great stress you never thought of before.  It's a wild time right now with a lot of uncertainty, fear, confusion, stress, and so on so please take care of yourselves.  Do the self-care and be safe out there.  If you are reading this and you feel like you need additional help then I encourage you to go talk to someone whether it's a local counselor, crisis worker, or whatever it is you have in the area.

Well, folks, that's all I got for now.  Take care of yourselves out there, it's a crazy time and my hope is that we get through this with our health (mental and physical) intact.  Hopefully, some of this stuff helps you out, if you're already practicing it then great!  If not then I hope that it encourages you towards keeping yourself sane and floating in these times.  Next time I'll go back to the usual hobby posting and help give a break from the real world.  Until then folks stay safe out there and take care of yourselves.

Spending February deep in the Underhive

Greetings wargamers and hobby enthusiasts!  I hope your month of February was well spent and that you are faring well.  We're a few days into March already so I'll keep this short and brief hopefully.

As much as I wanted to get my Bonereapers worked on this month, I ended up not only doing the exact opposite of that but also got a large share of gaming instead.  A buddy of mine who had spent the better part of the year away for work came back and stayed with us for a couple of weeks.  Suffice to say we ended up doing a lot of tabletop gaming to a point where I have been enjoying the break.

While we played a large variety of games, 3 of them managed to stick out the most: Age of Sigmar, Warcry, and Necromunda. 

BONEWALL

When you forget your Lord of Change you get Lord of Cups

My friend plays a few armies in 40k and one of them is Tzeentch Daemons, so it really wasn't too much of a stretch to get him to try out AoS.  After our first game, I think it got him hooked because he ended up swelling his ranks with Kairic Acolytes and Tzaangors.  He managed to get a game in with my dear friend and Ironjawz player Corey (who gave those slippery daemons a boot to the head/birdface) and with each game, we played it was like we both got hooked.

Boot to da face!

I managed to cycle out a couple of legion traits in our games and tested the Null Myriad and Petrifex Legions against his Tzeentch dudes.  While I like the idea of the Null Myriad, I think it really is niche in its matchups but when you get that matchup is it like golden honey.  The Petrifex Legion is just straight up busted though.  A +1 save to everyone AND I can spend a discipline point to add -1 to my rend?  Oh, and the basic bonedaddy unit can reroll failed saves in the combat phase? 

Warcry is just a solid game.  Fun, easy to pick up, and interesting.  It's better than Kill-Team.  I said it, but we were all thinking it!  It was a nice warm-up game or just quick "hey work sucked and I'm tired except for this" kind of game.

CAW CAW there's Batman!

Now if you've read my blog some before I know I've mentioned Necromunda before but I've not really like dived into the game as I did this time around.  We sat down and after a couple of games, it just clicked like it hadn't before.  Now I'm hooked on it, despite the flaws of the system and the flaws of GW.  It was so fun that my friend bought a gang for himself.

As a side note, the Corpse Grinder Cult is bullshit*

I really like the game and I think it's thematic as all hell, which I really appreciate.  The potential shenanigans an Arbitrator can bring to a campaign is like music to my ears and just resonates with my years of being a DM.  It certainly feels like the game is a "diamond in the rough if that rough kept going because of GW" sort of adventure but despite that, with some polish, it would be phenomenal!  I liked it so much that the only painting I finished this month was my Goliath gang. 

The Forge Kings

Speaking of Goliaths, I appreciate that GW is putting forth some effort on making the older gangs a little more interesting than they have before.  Don't get me wrong, the differences between the gangs before were there, but now with House of Chains it's even more evident.  I originally wasn't too interested in the beefy boys of the Underhive but now that I can take a skill that lets me flex and scare people because my biceps and pecs are amazing?  I mean how can I refuse?  Also if I take cigarettes my more stupid gangers think my leader is so cool they get a bonus because of it?  I can elbow drop off of a ledge to kill a dude?

The game against brother: Cawdor leader charged Enforcer sniper, got killed/bonked by a Shockmace after failing all rolls

So yeah.  Not a lot of painting but enough gaming to stoke the fires of passion for a couple of budding game-loves.  I hope your February was just as kind or fortunate and I hope you've enjoyed your hobby time.  Until next time folks stay safe and happy wargaming!

*I mean sure they might have some weaknesses/counters (according to Internet Wisdom) but when you group activate your Butcher and Cutter to use Overseer on said Cutter and he moves 15+d3" for a charge and gets like stupid amounts of attacks that hit on a 3+ and deal enough damage and AP to where it just auto-takes out guys essentially (which said Cutter gets permanent 1" stat increased per dude he kills) and you can't shoot the damn dude without passing a Willpower test and he starts off with a 3+ save because I don't know why...yeah CGC is bullshit.  Don't @ me.  Still love Necromunda though.

For reference with that combo his Cutter can reach the center in 1 activation

The Journey of a new Army - January

Good tidings folks!  We've managed to make it through the first month of 2020 and barely any issues at all (except for the whole US/Iran thing, Australian Wild Fires, threats of a plague)!  So I hope wherever you are you are doing well, safe, and following your hobby heart wherever it is leading you.  So let's get started with a wrap-up of this month's progress.

So I set out with a goal this month of trying to get to work on some Ossiarch Bonereapers.  I originally didn't intend to do GW's challenge of a "New Year, New Army" ya know because I feel like that's just marketing shenanigans.  That being said I did happen to get started on an army for Age of Sigmar and managed to get a solid 2k point list in models so why the hell not?  New year, new army! 

First hit with ink and contrast paints

Vallejo Air Metallics cover up white primer REALLY well

Yeah I know my historical stance on Age of Sigmar has been pretty rocky.  Admittedly I was one of those salty folks who hated the change from Warhammer Fantasy and vowed to have nothing to do with AoS.  Then the second edition came along and it went from this really awkward kind of game in my eyes to a game with some potential.  The armies started to divert from their historical fantasy roots and now we started seeing Little Mermaid elves, distinct chaos armies, angry ghosts, and so on.  In most fantasy games I favor the undead and so originally I wanted to get into the Nighthaunt but never really committed myself to them.  I got a half of the Soul Wars box but to be honest their awkward packaging of units (like 5 Stalkers, 4 Reapers? That won't work in matched play, wtf GW?) really turned me off from going any further.

Then came the Ossiarch Bonereapers and then my interest went from "yeah one day I'll get into it," to "I really need to get into this game."  Fast forward some time and a fortuitous event and I managed to get the following list:

• Mortisan Soulmason
• x2 Mortisan Boneshaper
• x3 units of 20 Mortrek Guard 
• Gothizzar Harvesters
• Unit of 3 Necropolis Stalkers
• The Endless Spells
• Bone Tithe Nexus

2k points of Bone Daddies!

Add in the Mortrek Shield Corp Battalion option in there and I'm hovering around 2000 points.  So my goal was to get these bone daddies assembled, primed, and started on the painted train.  Unfortunately, I was not able to make that goal this month, which while I'm a little disappointed in myself for personal reasons I did manage to pass some of the metrics.  So while I didn't get to a spot where I could have primed the army, I got them assembled and I even managed to get a game in with them!

Setup was really close and I foolishly thought "how well can the Bonereapers take an Ironjawz charge turn 1?"

I spent the first half of January cleaning and reorganizing my basement, but by the time I was done half of the month was already gone.  Weather has not been too kind and frankly, I didn't really want to airbrush about 60 Mortrek Guard when I knew the first Monday in February the weather would be warm enough to rattle can them to paintable levels.  So when I was able to get some painting in I started testing out acrylic inks and using some techniques on some Goliaths I had for Necromunda!

They can take it...sort of...not really...they need Shieldwall.

Turning out great so far, but I'll tell you after that game?  I'd rather get started on those Bonereapers.  It's not often I talk about when I game here and most of that is because I forget to take pictures and I don't want to just type about the game without some nice pictures!  I really enjoyed the game with my good friend Corey and he was a great teacher for how the game rolls.  It's got enough similarity to 40k that I could pick it up but with enough differences to have a distinct feel.  So to summarize here's what I learned and loved about the Bonereapers:

A really good game and it was violent!

• Mortrek Guard and that Shieldwall ability? Good lawl that's ridiculous staying power on top of the recursion mechanic with the Harvesters and Boneshapers
• While I like spears for their reach, having the sword option on the Mortrek and the rend that comes with it can be so nasty (especially if you can buff them up)
• Gotta protect the Harvesters in a list like this, losing one can put a strain on the frontlines that a single Boneshaper cannot keep up.
• The Crematorian legion trait is a fun one but without the recursion mechanic to keep it strong, it loses its appeal.  If you have the Harvester/Boneshaper keeping the numbers up though...kaboooom!
• The Discipline mechanic (i.e. alternative command point for this army) is really cool and useful and I think it rewards smart use.
• Gimme them bones boy

Gimme dem bones hee hee hee!

So I'm hoping to knock these Goliaths out real quick because here in the near future (couple days I would say) the weather will be ready for some Bonereapers to be primed and then my focus will go to them.  I've got a couple of ideas floating in my head for color schemes but my painting focus will be "speed at the best quality I can."  We'll see how that goes, but until next time fellow hobbyists have a great month!

2019: A year in review

Greetings fellow wargamers and welcome back to Wargamer Ramblings!  It's been a helluva year for many of us in this hobby and in our lives so I hope you are doing well and that fortune has favored you in your endeavors.  It's been a year in the making but here is the last wrap-up post on the journey in 2019 where I resolved to "just try and paint more minis."  I can say that compared with a lot of years in my hobbying career that I did just that.  So grab a nice drink/snack, get comfy, and enjoy this segment on your Sunday morning/afternoon/whenever.

In total, I have painted 235 (forgot to include the 8 Battletech minis on the board) miniatures this year which as a ratio of miniatures to days I have painted the equivalent of a "mini a day" for about 62% of the year!  Compared to my historical average of about 0% I'd say that's a pretty nice change of pace.  So what can I say I've taken away from this information?  Well, earlier in the year I had a personal revelation where instead of relying on motivation I would discipline myself to try and do some kind of hobby-related thing daily.  For the most part, this was painting but there were times where I gamed some, assembled some, and truthfully allowed myself a break from time to time.  I think for me personally this resulted in a lot of painted stuff than I would have any other year!

Now I won't say that I'm a pro-painter or anywhere super-skilled compared with a lot of folks out there, but I like to think that I did improve somewhere along the road here.  I've experimented with some weathering powders, started using contrast paints as a base, and trying out different basing textures.  I think mechanically I've got some work to do on things like edge highlighting as they still end up being thick, but now I'm able to go back and fix them a little instead of just leaving them thick and ugly.  Throughout the year I have learned a lot of valuable lessons and have made an effort to try and be less afraid of new techniques in fear that I'll "ruin the model" and "waste money."  I hope in the end I improved my skills as well, which after 235 models I would hope so!

So does this mean my model queue has been relieved somewhat?  Uhhhhh...........

Not really...

I'll get to that in a second but 2019 was a great year in my hobbying world and I have felt great being able to sit back and complete projects that I have for the longest time let fester in my mind.  Some were new and goal-directed, such as the Thousand Sons for NoVA Open, and others because I either really liked the models or the game, much like the 4 Blood Bowl teams and Shadespire bands.  Motivation does have a use in sparking that "ooooh I should paint X next," but in making sure I actually follow through and complete the project I rely on discipline.  It's inspired me to continue the process of painting and I would be interested in seeing the hobby results in 2020.

So now what does that mean for the blog?  Well, I started this blog at the end of 2015 because I love this hobby and just getting my thoughts out there.  Last year was hobby/painting focused and for my resolutions this year I am still keeping "paint more minis" as one of them.  I also want to try and expand my projects from just minis.  In a couple of recent games I've played I kept thinking to myself "man if only this terrain was painted up. We have our armies painted up but the scenery isn't," and with that, I want to (weather permitting) start getting terrain painted up.  First I have to get a gameplan established but then once spring hits I should have some terrain up.

Also, I have recently invested in Age of Sigmar for real this time as I have purchased a 2000 point set of Ossiarch Bonereapers (hereafter referred to as Bone Daddies).  I've dabbled in AoS models but not the game, however, with the release of these Bone Daddies I have taken the plunge and so with that in 2020, in addition to the paint more minis and paint terrain, I will take a monthly look at my progress in building, playing, and painting up these Bone Daddies.  I am very excited about this upcoming prospect and I hope here in the next week or so I should get to cracking down on assembling some of them for a 1000 point game.

So that's 2019 in a nutshell with pictures of models all throughout the year.  I hope your year has been kind or productive, especially both, and that I hope 2020 is a great year for your hobbying.  What are some of your resolutions this year?  Did you keep your 2019 resolutions for the hobby?  I'm curious to hear what you have to say so leave a comment below and as always happy gaming until next time folks!