The Undead Rise

So now the frantic painting of Bolt Action has finished I really want to make a concentrated effort on getting my Vampire Count army ready for the tabletop. I was to try and get the majority all built in the next few weeks and then hopefully have decent weather to prime as much of it as I can so I can spend the winter months painting it all up.

I've had a box of 40 Mantic Zombies sitting in my wardrobe for about three months now. I know raising the dead is one of the bigger things for Vampire Count armys and I wanted to make sure I've got enough zombies for my army list as well as raiseables. I've already got about 30 GW Zombies so they're going to form the front of my army and then the Mantic Zombies will be backing up the ranks. I've got to admit there is a great amount of poses from the three different legs and bodies you get in the box set. Adding some Renedra gravestones to the odd ones also breaks up the full unit and gives them some character.

Sitting down on Friday night I started working....

15 Zombies Soon Became....

....40 Zombies!

So yeah it's pretty impressive seeing the 40 strong shambling horde all done. To speed up the process of painting these I've got some Army Painter Necrotic Flesh primer which will give me a basecoat of a rotting skin looking colour. I'm not sure how I'm going to be colouring them afterwards. I've got an idea of using numerous different washes over the skin colour to give the Zombies a range of rotting skin colours. Though part of me is thinking about giving the skin a Athonian Camoshade wash to give it that dark green rotting colour and then differentiate the Zombies with different colours trousers and wraps. If I do a test on five or so models then I can decide which will be the best to do. The others that don't cut it can easily be used as raiseables because lets be honest they'll soon be taken off the battlefield anyway!

Basecoated Necrotic Flesh

I've also made a start on my Terrorgheist. I wasn't that impressed with the huge base it comes with and the piddly amount of scenic rocks that the Terrorgheist was mounted on in the stock version of the model. I've seen a couple of different ways people have modelled the dragon using the Garden of Morr set and I wanted to incorporate that into the base. My initial idea was to have two different crypts from the set and have the Terrorghiest crawling on top of them. I got the look ok but the height of the model was ridiculous and even the large box I've got to carry my VC around in was too shallow for this.

I've decided to change it around a bit instead and have just one building at the front. The aim to have the Terrorgheist climbing up it and I've got a pose I'm happy with. I've not glued down the model yet though as I want to paint the base and the Terrorgheist separately as I can see it being a complete ball-ache to do them at the same time. I added some extra gravestones and one of the wall pieces to the base too, I think having these extra little bits will really make the Terrorgheist the centre piece of the army. Let's just hope I can do the painting justice!

Time to be completely honest. I've never painted scenery before so having this big piece on the base of the Terrorgheist was a daunting project. I had an idea of what I wanted it to look like but didn't have a clue whether it would look right with my painting. Having sprayed the base black I then used the GW Large Drybrush to do a heavy coat of Mechanicus Standard Grey and then when that dried highlighted the edges with another lighter drybrush of Administratum Grey. The stonework and the buildings really came out looking exactly like what I wanted so I'm relieved/pleased that it worked ok! I've drybrushed the ground Rhinox Hide, my aim for the whole army is to have a muddy winter basing theme with army painter flowers scattered around to really give it a contrast of life against the death of the VC. For the Terrorgheist I'm going to highlight the ground with a lighter brown and then add some dead grass tufts, scatter snow across certain areas and ontop of the gravestones/walls and then also have the flowers scattered around on the base. I need to detail some bits on the building, for example the skulls and roof top spikes.

It's nice to just take my time on painting and actually enjoy what I'm painting. Don't get me wrong the Japanese were great to paint but being against the clock and having to have them done by the tournament really took out some of the enjoyment in the project. Thankfully with the Vampire Counts I can take my time and really enjoy what I'm doing. There's so many ideas I have for them I just hope I can do it justice!

Beginning of the BA League/Infinity Painting

Ahoy, it's time for another update! I'm fresh from kicking off the NAG Bolt Action League and I managed to hold onto a draw against Jim's Veteran British. I've only defended a couple of scenarios now but I hate it, prep bombardment is really annoying especially with the British rolling two dice and choosing the highest. It can instantly put hurt on your army before you've even activated an order!

We rolled for point defence and had to cut down the distances of the 3 objectives due to playing on a 4' x 4' board for the 500pts. We used three of my 15mm StuGs as objective markers (really need to build some 28mm WW2 objective markers now) and I had my lieutenant, a regular squad and Zis-3 defending the far right objective, left the middle objective free and defended the left hand objective with a Medium Mortar, AT Rifle and Sniper team. I left an inexperienced squad and regular squad in reserve to bring on from turn three depending on where Jim's reserves came on. My regular squad I brought on easily on the left to support the weapon teams, but my Inexperienced squad refused to come on (needing a 6 on two dice) until turn 6 where they rushed the middle objective and reclaimed it from a two man Brit team left taking that objective.

Zis-3 and Lieutenant Defend The Motherland

Regular Squad Defends the Left Objective

Pinned Squads with Reinforcements Coming On

Pesky Heavy Mortar Wouldn't Die

The Brit Vet Squad Moments Before They Were Killed by the Zis-3

As the game ended I held one objective, Jim held one and we were contesting the other. A draw. Not bad for our first league game. Jim took more points than me, I learned killing vets are a tough job to do and can see why the majority of people use vets in comp lists. Going from killing people on half of the dice rolls (4+) for my Soviets to killing them on a 1/3 of dice rolls (5+) for Jims really makes a different. Sure I can hit them easily enough to cause a pin but trying to kill the buggers well that's a different thing. Thankfully the Zis-3 luckily landed a shell straight on the Vet squad coming up the right. The +2 Pen really helps against Vets as you're then killing them on 3+, alot better!

I ranged in on his heavy mortar knocking it down to one man, but then my Medium Mortar couldn't finish it off for the full game, to the point the Heavy Mortar took a pot shot on my Lieutenant (needing a 6+ to range in) and managed it in the very last turn! This left the contested objective on the right was now easily in Jim's control. It was a great game but I cannot wait to attack in a scenario with prep bombardment! Jim went onto play a second league game against Dom's Italians and managed a marginal victory so leads with 4 points. We've already had a couple of extra guys sign up and another couple are showing interest, hopefully we can have even more people join!

So the progress of my Japanese for Bolt Action has been halted for a bit, I was burning myself out doing the same paint scheme over and over! I want to get them finished soon (just 10 men and the weapon teams left) but I needed a bit of time away from them to not get completely bored.

In light of this I've been painting my Infinity Combined Army! I've got another couple of training games with my Morat on Sunday going to be taking 250pts with me so I'm really looking forward to that. I really enjoyed my training game against Mike in June so looking forward to learning the more advanced rules on Sunday. I should be having a couple of games so hopefully I can learn from the first game and then implement it in the second game. Earlier this week I had the Yaogat box set delivered and I've built them along with my Morat Vanguard Boxset. I'm waiting for my bases to be delivered from Element Games which should be tomorrow so I can base everything on the bases and get them all primed grey for Sunday.

So far I've finished two of the Morat Vanguard with Combi Rifles and almost finished the big Suryat beast and got another Vanguard with Combi Rifle as a WIP. I'm not the greatest painter and still learning but I really enjoyed painting these guys. Hopefully once they're all finished and completed and look uniformed together they'll look ok for tabletop. I'm hoping with the others being primed I might be able to make some more progress on them but it all depends on time and whether the weather holds out.

I Think I'm Building Japanese, I Really Think So

So I've been pretty darn busy the last couple of nights. As mentioned a couple of days ago I really needed to make a concentrated effort on my Japanese in the upcoming weeks ahead of the Bolt Action Welsh Open in October. So Wednesday I went on a production line and built all 40 Japanese troops in one night! Granted I was still up gluing pieces at 1am but at least the four ten man squads have been built now! 

My main aim is to get the troops built and painted first and then focus on the weapon teams and guns that I’ll be using in my list afterwards. Last night I primed the first ten men and set upon getting the Japanese colour scheme nailed down. I first tried using the Vallejo Japanese Uniform colour but it’s a horrible yellow colour that looked awful and was a pain to get a consistent coat across the model. I know quite a few people playing Japanese first tried this colour, mainly because of the name but every single one has sworn off it and I can see why.

First Squad Primed

I then tried Vallejo Middlestone and it looked great, more of a greeny yellow this colour will be the full uniform colour of my troops. Browns for the boots, rifle and boxes with a Khaki colour for the bags and pouches. I wasn’t too sure on the colour of the helmet but settled on the German Camo dark green. I then did a full Agrax Earthshade wash before drybrushing Middlestone back over the uniform to bring back up the colour of the uniform. 

It’s a pretty quick scheme but I need something like that for all 40 men. I might try some highlighting if I’ve got the time but my main course of action is get the army tabletop ready and then see exactly how much time 

I have to get everything else sorted. I know what I want to do for the bases too, I want to represent the long grass that a lot of the pacific fighting was fought in. I’ve ordered some 1.2cm long golden grass tufts that should cover halfway up the legs to give this look. If it doesn’t work I’ve got another supplier where you can have a custom length. Hopefully this will add a lot more to the models but I’m going to test one out over the weekend and see what it looks like.

Still trying to sort out my 500pt list for the league game against Jim on Sunday too, I might just use my usual list that is troop heavy but I’m having ideas of adding a Zis-3 Gun so I can use it for any potential armoured cars or as a howitzer on troops. It may be picked ahead of the MMG as I’ve yet to really have much success with that. Keep you all informed on what I go with.

Hopefully another update over the weekend, time depending, on the basing of the Japanese and the list I’m choosing for the Bolt Action League game.

Cheers,

Chalmers

  

AAR - Bolt Action - Soviets vs British

So it's been almost a week since me and Jim played a couple of 500pt Bolt Action games on Sunday at the club and it was great fun! First one was Maximum Attrition just to get the rules nailed down and then we rolled for a scenario and got Demolition. By the end of the first game we had the rules pretty much nailed down and that really is a great thing for Bolt Action one completely new player and someone who hasn't played for 6 months was knowing most of the rules and mechanics by the 2nd turn.

Second game was good fun and after the building, which my squads were about to mount my assault on the objective from, was wiped out by a Artillery strike I was left defending my objective with one squad left! Thankfully the squad won a last minute assault on the approaching team meaning my single squad managed to squeeze a draw out for the Soviets.

As you can see from the photos we changed the battlefield around completely after the first game, it's great that the club has so much scenery and buildings that we could do this. It also meant we weren't going to get bored of the same looking board for the whole day!

Check out the pictures below;

1st Battlefield

Free Inexperienced Squad Advances onto the board

Jim's British Wait To Come On The Board

British Make Their Advance

More British Reinforcements Arrive

Soviet Horde Begins to Grow

MMG Supports the Advance

The Mortar Relies on the Spotter Firing For Effect From The Fields In The Back Corner

British Take the Centralised House

And the Soviets Fail in Their Assault Being Wiped Out

2nd Battlefield For Demolition, Towers Are Used as Objectives and are in Opposite Corners

British Units Start Making Their Way Over the Bridge With Covering Fire From a Sniper

The Mortar Team Overlook the British Objective But Misses With Most Shots

British Finally Make It Over the Bridge

The Squad Comes On Who Hold The Objective until the Very End of the Battle To Snatch a Draw!

Not bad photos for an iPhone, would've loved to use the girlfriend's camera but don't think I can persuade her to take it down the club for the whole day! After such an enjoyable day and being home alone for the Bank Holiday Monday I was spurred on to build all my extra 500pts for the Soviets to bring my force up to 1,000pts. The two ZIS-3 Guns were a complete bitch to build, and it seems looking on the Warlord forums I wasn't the only one who has had this experience. None of the pieces seem to go together correctly but after some swearing, shaving and just sticking and hoping I had them both glued together and based.

Here's the rest of the guys and the progress I've made this week in painting them!

Commissioner - Not a Bad Dice for 15pts!

Flamethrower, Time To See If These Really Are as Good as Everyone says.

Lieutenant

Medic - Not in my army list but can add in when needed

ZIS-3 Spotter Crew

ZIS-3 Loader

T34 - The Rust Effect Isn't as Bright as That

Don't Know Whether To Add a Decal or Paint On A Design on the Turret

So yeah it's been great fun getting all of these extras all built and painted up in realatively quick fashion. Hopefully once I'm back from holiday I'll be able to get a couple of 1,000pts games under my belt and see how the rules for Tanks and Guns fair. I'll also then be making a start on building all my Japanese infantry and working out a 1,000pt list for them for the Welsh-Open in October. It's still a good few months to go but I know it'll be here sooner than I think!

Soviets and Germans

Well I finally think Summer is here! The sun has been shining all weekend, there’s not a cloud in the sky but the weather is still only just heating up. It’s still warm enough to get some priming done outside in the shed but it’s then a rush to get it back inside before the coldness of the wind gets to the box. But hey I’ll take that to pouring rain and no chances to get anything primed which has been the case the past few weeks. Once the summer properly hits I’m going to plan to “stockpile” models for the winter months and get everything that I can primed and ready for painting. This way I’m not sat twiddling my thumbs looking at a cabinet full of grey plastic rather than a cabinet full of canvases ready for colour.

I've had a bit of a rejig in my two cabinets as alot of the Gaunts from my Nids had taken over a second shelf and it was all looking rather messy. I've decided my shelf for the Nids will only have the big creatures which are going to be a focal point of my army. Lets be honest for a minute I don't really want to see hundreds of gaunts filling up my cabinet looking over-crowded and messy. I've relegated these to a padded box to keep them safe and out of way. I think this week I'll spend quite a bit of time getting the Skeleton Bone spray on all of them so they're all ready for the red, green and dipping.

Bolt Action Soviets

So what's gone on my other shelf that I've got clear? Well I thought it was finally time to dust off the Bolt Action Soviets and get them out of the packed container and onto a shelf so I can base them in the next couple of days. I was planning on getting these done over the weekend but other things (explain in a bit) took up alot of my time and when I did have some painting time I made a start on my newly primed Schutzen platoon.

So Thursday I managed to get the remainder of my Volksgrenadier company primed! Rather than trimming down the bases now to fit in my Kerr&King bases I've decided to stick all the men on lollipop sticks with PVA glue (who knew that Metal would stick to wood with PVA) and then prime them. After painting I can them trim down the bases to get them fitting rather than wasting a lot of time now getting them trimmed before priming.

Command (Back) and Schutzen (Rifles)

I've got three different batches of painting in the upcoming weeks, the remainder of my Schutzen (rifle) platoon which consists of four stands. My command team which consists of my Company Command stand, 2iC stand and three Panzerschreck team stands (got to love that Anti-Tank). I've also primed up the special warrior character Major Siegfried Moldenhauer, I won't be using him at all but for a two character stand seemed a waste to keep him in a box never to see the light of day.

Sturm with a few Urban Bases

 Finally I've got my Sturm (Assault Rifles) platoon which is going to be the biggest project to do. I'm going to keep these seven stands until last. I want to get my Schutzen finished off and then the command which shouldn't take too long. Once they're all done and based the Sturm will be focused on and then all my infantry will be completed! After that I want to build my Pak40s and Flak43s however I've yet to order the relevant Kerr&King bases for them so I'll need to get them sorted in the next few days. After that's finished I'll decided whether the Plastic Soldier Company Heavy Weapon teams can be used for my Volksgrenadiers. In the list I've created I need the HMGs but I'll also be making the mortar teams just incase I need to change things around. If they don't look right against the rest of the army I'll be ordering the GE944 HMG Platoon in Winter Uniforms. The Mortars can wait until everything else is bought and painted which looking at my list will only be the Light Artillery Battery and the Infantry Guns! Not too bad when I look at everything.

Anyway the other things which took my time away this weekend, my fricking car. I ended up getting a puncture just as I was coming home on Thursday night, I thought I'd leave it until Friday morning when it was light before work. Got the nuts off fine but then there was a different sized nut that was circular. After looking on the internet I found out it was a Wheel Lock Nut to deter thiefs, apparently the car should have the special key somewhere, looked in every knook and cranny and could I find it? So looking on Youtube I found out how to remove it with a socket and hammer. Though just as I got the socket on the lock the collar of the Lock started rotating meaning I couldn't get it off. Thankfully the socket came off and after numerous calls to garages I've got a mobile tyre guy who can remove these types of locks coming tomorrow morning to remove it and fit a new tyre. It's an expense and a faff which I didn't really need this weekend, it also meant I couldn't make it down the club which was really annoying as I had a 4-Player game of Triumph and Treachery planned and had to cancel on Saturday when I got in from swearing at the car.

So yeah an expense I didn't really need, no models are being bought this month unfortunately but hey it's probably for the best, time to get my paint on!

What a Week!

Well that was unexpected, everything went tits up at work with deadlines popping up everywhere meaning most of my social life for this week has gone out of the window (boo!). It also means I've made no progress with my Nids and at the moment sits with a cabinet full of grey plastic waiting for the moment to prime everything with the Skeleton Bone Spray!

I did manage to test one Gaunt with the Army Painter Strong Tone and after drying for 24 hours it looks to have dried pretty darn good. As expected I need to use the Anti-Shine Matt Varnish over the top as it's rather bright and shiny at the moment. I think my plan this week, as the mrs is working nights again, is to get alot of the Gaunts and Warriors that are primed all painted up and ready for painting on dip.

Then I can do another batch of dipping in one night and have the starts of a finished army already. I've still got to base all the models after painting but I think, especially for the smaller troops, I'll be doing a very basic base and paint scheme while focusing on the larger models for details on the models/more detailed basing.

Now the clocks have gone forward and the nights are lighter I can do quite a bit of priming in the evening, hooray! Well once the weather has decided whether it wants to be dry or raining/foggy. Once I get the majority of the troops done I can get them packed away in a carry case so I can focus on building/painting the larger monsters to fill the display cabinet.

I did participate in the NAG Fantasy Tournament a couple of Sundays back now. I didn't fare the greatest (3rd from last) but it was such a fun day. First game I played James in a Beastmen vs Wood Elves affair, I won the roll and chose to use the Beastmen however I didn't realise the shooting prowess of the Wood Elves and those pesky bowmen of the forest had shot the majority of my Combat-orientated army off the table before I could get across. Also who's idea was it not to give the Ghorgon no armour save what so ever?

Second game I got to try out the new Dwarves against a Skaven list manned by Martin which I was really looking forward to. I absolutely loved this army and the new units including the Gyrobomber that in one turn almost wiped out the Hell Pit Abomination in one turn. I used the Gyrocopter to great use too flying right up to a Stormvermin unit and almost covering the whole thing with a Flame Template. There were a lot of crispy-fried Skaven after the template lifted. I did win but after initial thoughts by both of us of a 20-0 win my inability to completely wipe out a unit meant it was a 16-4 victory instead. Not too bad for the new Dwarves but I'm holding off any urge I have for a stuntie army.

Finally it was Daemons vs Lizardmen against another James. I wasn't fussed on which army I got to use having both of these sitting in a cabinet at home and yet to be able to field them. James won the roll and chose the Daemons so I finally got to try the Lizardmen. My first turn the Salamanders moved forward and both flame breaths rolled a 8 on the distance and covered the Plaguebearers Units. 26 hits, 20 wounds and 16 dead on the first turn....that was an amazing thing from the Salamanders who then spent the rest of the game in close combat with the Beasts of Nurgle. Unfortunately the Salamanders were really only the one thing which did well as the Bloodcrushers one hit killing blowed by Scar Vet on Cold One and my Skinks were wiped out before they even got to hit back by Chariots with a ridiculous amount of impact hits.

So yeah not the greatest in games across the board but some very enjoyable games none-the-less. There is talk of a 4-Player Triumph and Treachery game a week on Sunday which I've been invited for. I think I'll give either my Lizardmen or Empire a run out for that game which should be a great laugh for the day.

Stayed tuned later in the week for more updates on the Nids.

More Nid Progress!

So, tonight I've spent the night doing more Nids. After deciding on the Hive Fleet Kraken my Army Painter Skeleton Bone and Strong Tone Quickshade has arrived. I thought if I've got a huge swarm to paint I may as well find a quick and easy way to paint them.

I did make an initial mistake with the primer, unlike normal primers you have to keep moving the can as if you were fogging the models rather than spraying directly onto the model. I should've tried a gaunt as a sample to see how the spray worked but in my eagerness I chose three Warriors and a Carnifex. Unfortunately I've applied the primer a little too heavy, trying to cover up certain spots that weren't primed I didn't cloud them and instead focused on certain areas. It's not too bad but definitely learnt my lesson and the next four warriors I primed looked a hell of a lot better!

Yeah I know it's cheating using a coloured primer but it's so much quicker. The models look great with all the skin done already and it's a whole lot easier to paint them, so I can see a huge swarm being done in pretty quick fashion.

I also purchased the Army Painter Wargamers Most Wanted Paint Set, it includes a Regiment normal brush, a Insane Detail Brush and a Small Drybrush. The stem of the paintbrush is triangular though and straight away I could feel the difference in being able to control my brush strokes compared to the GW brushes.

So here's the warrior, pretty simple of Mephiston Red on the Carapace, Moot Green on the vents, gun and tounge and that's about it. I've not done any shading yet as I'm not sure whether to paint it on or dip it. I think for mess-sake I'll be dipping. Though I want to test it on a Gaunt this weekend and see what happens. I also want to try the GW Seraphim Sepia wash over the Skin to see whether I need to use the Strong Tone Quickshade.

The Carnifex I've only done the Carapace at the moment and after using the large Drybrush I've made a little mess on the skin, it's not too bad though and can easily be touched up using Ushabti Bone. You can see the priming error on the front of the large carapace where I've applied too much. Hopefully once the shading is on and the rest of the model is painted it'll still look good on the battlefield, and if it doesn't? Well I've still got another four in the display cabinet to use! The previous bloke who sold me the Nids converted the guns to give the twin-linked Devourers more of a lethal look rather than the short stubby ones that the Carnifex normal have and I quite like it. I won't be doing it on the others but it does make this one unique. I'm not too sure on what colour to make the ends of the guns though, I'm thinking the Moot Green again will really make them pop and look alien like but also leaning towards one of the purples I've used in my Tau.

Anyway second training game tomorrow using my Tau at GW Metrocentre, should be good fun. Then got my second tournament in Fantasy at NAG on Sunday. We're doing a random table tournament where armies are already set up on the tables and we're drawn to a table, roll off and the highest picks whichever army they want and then we play. It'll be quite fun and hopefully I can try out some random Fantasy armies I've not played yet. The tables will be set up with the following armies on them;

Table 1 - Lizards vs. Demons
Table 2 - Wood Elves vs. Beastmen
Table 3 - Warriors vs. Empire
Table 4 - Dark Elves vs. Ogres
Table 5 - Warriors vs. Skaven
Table 6 - Skaven vs. Dwarves
Table 7 - Dark Elves vs. Demons


Knowing my luck I'll get Ogres and Empire! Cheers for reading again and comments on the Kraken will be Kraken!...(cracking...kraken...get it? I'll leave now)