Deadzone: The Red Caps

 It's been months since I last worked on anything for Deadzone but I finally made a little more forward movement... in another direction... since its not terrain, or Rebs, or Plague...

Instead, its Marauders.

While cleaning up, I dug up my collection of 40k Orks from back around the Assault on Black Reach era (no idea what edition that was...).  I had collected a pretty good sized force back then but I wound up focusing on Warmachine instead so the boyz just went to the wayside and collected dust.  Everything else I sold or threw away but not da boyz.

Fast forward to now and my too-many-projects-that-I'm-trying-to-work-on-but-not-being-successful phase and hey... let's add another!

The thing is, Orks are just fun to paint.  The models have always had tons of character and they were a blast to modify as well.  With me looking at dabbling in Deadzone at some point, this gave me a good excuse to grab a few and put some paint to them.  In fact, I have one done already (minus the base...).

As you can see, it's a pretty basic paint scheme.  Since the Marauders used to be part of the GCPS, I thought some kind of standardized uniform would be fitting which is why I went with the grey and black.  The red on the helmet was just going to be an accent to the scheme but as soon as I did it, I knew they had to be the Red Caps.

I already have five more minis lined up to be painted which will give me a 100 point team.  I can proxy them into Deadzone and see how they work... once I make some more terrain...  Until next time...

Frostgrave: For the Kriel!!!

With Frostgrave 2nd edition coming out, there is talk of it starting up at my LGS again.  Not sure when exactly but I picked up a copy of the book and I'm already started looking at minis for my warband.

At first I was going to pick up some new Reaper Bones dwarves because they've got a few that are packed full of character!  I mean a butcher as one the thugs?  Perfect!  But I decided that I should do the responsible thing... and I'm going to field my Trollbloods instead.

I've been sitting on most of these minis for years now and it will be great to be able to use them.  I had initially gotten into them back in Hordes 1st edition but they were really just a ho-hum faction at that time.  Tons of character in the models but gameplay was pretty blah.  Then they went to Mark II and yeah, that was enough for me.

Still love the minis though and I'm looking forward to finally having a reason to get some paint onto them!  I had planned on painting up the lot and then posting but considering how slow they've been progressing I've decided to show them off one at a time.  So without further ado, here is the first of my Trollblood warband!

This model was a test and also let me knock the rust off the painting gears again.  Given the size of the typical Trollkin mini this is a really good use for them!  This particular figure is one of the stone scribes that come with the krielstone bearer though in this case he will be filling the role of man-at-arms in my warband.  I'm happy with how the figure turned out overall and I'm looking forward to moving on to the next one soon.

Plus I might even start working on some terrain pieces as well.  Our LGS is very GW centric so I'd like to bring in some pieces that are all skulls and gothic architecture just to mix things up.  I'll have to see how it pans out but think it will be fun.  Until next time...

Antares: Striking Colors for Strike Troopers

Been able to get a bit of progress on my new paint scheme for my Strike Troopers.  Feel like this ties in nicely with the other pieces that I've already done.

Strike troopers supported a C3D1 drone and its batter drone

I also did some more detailing to the backs of the troopers just to break it up and add a bit of something to their scheme.

Little touches like that along with the black lining that I did on some of the armor really made them pop more than they did.  I've also done similar with my various drones, picking out their propulsion systems with the same blue "glow".

Rear view of the C3D1...

...and the spotter and batter buddy drones.

I still have more Strike troopers and the support team crews to do, but once those are out of the way I'm thinking it's time to finally get my NuHu into the que.  I had started her months ago but really wasn't happy with the direction she was heading so I set her aside.  Thinking this incorporating the new scheme along with some nice orange/red paints that I picked up will make her pop.

Of course with the release of Frostgrave 2nd edition this might be going on hold for a little bit.  My LGS is supposed to have my copy by Saturday and then it's time to start painting my new warband, but more on them later.  Until next time...

Antares: New Colors for the Concord

I had "finished" painting my Concord troops months ago but I was never really that thrilled with them.  The Strike Troopers were okay but once the paint scheme was scaled up to my light support drones and especially the T7 transport... it was just kinda blah.

Then this past weekend I had a bolt of inspiration and so far I'm really liking the change.  Introducing the new colors for the Concord shard of Bastion!

The changes were pretty simple really but I think that they make the model pop more.  The black detailing offsets the light grey nicely and I'm quite happy with how the suspensors turned out.  I might have been aggressive with what I painted up as a suspensor as well but my thoughts are the smaller ones on the fins are for finer control.  Don't know if that was the intention when Warlord designed the model but I like how it looks so I'm gonna run with that.

I've also updated the scheme on the light drones as well.  Again, a very simple change but I think it is much more effective as it makes them more interesting visually.

I still need to go over the grey on these to match it up with the T7 but that should be a quick fix.  Then it's on to the Strike Troopers and weapon crews!  I still need to figure out how exactly I'm going to bring the new scheme across to them but I've got some ideas floating around already, and I'm excited to see how they look!  Until next time...

Random Update: Digging Out Yet Again!

It's been forever since I posted and longer since I've had a chance to hobby!  Argh!!!  I've been slowly making progress cleaning out my office/hobby space yet again so I should be able to start painting again soon.

Thankfully we have been more active with our board gaming recently though, largely because a friend of ours and his girlfriend have been coming over for game nights!  Been a ton of fun breaking out some games that haven't been touched in a while, plus we have been working our way through Betrayal Legacy!

So far we have finished six of the chapters (plus the prologue) and it has been so cool to see the story of the house take shape.  We enjoyed the original but this really makes the whole thing a more organic experience that has been a blast.  There are also aspects that have been added to the game which are providing some cool twists.  For example, as you draw items you might have the option to make them heirlooms for your family which gives you a bonus when you use them.  Then there are background cards that you draw right at the beginning of the game that give your character a unique bonus.  Maybe you are a war veteran, an occultist, or well-to-do.  All of these add to the flavor of the game and more are being added as the story continues.  I can't wait to see what other twists and turns we will run into as we try to unlock all the secrets the house holds, the trick will just be working out way through it before the end of the month.  I see some marathon Betrayal sessions in my future!

I'm also very slowly making some headway with a short campaign using the Frostgrave rules to explore a desert wasteland looking for an ancient treasure.  My daughter and I will be playing this one but I want to incorporate some cooperative elements to it as well.  The wastes are a harsh land after all, and sometimes you need all the help you can get just to survive.

Here is the board for our first scenario, still in progress at the moment.

We talked about incorporating clue markers into this adventure to represent us searching for information to figure out where the final location is, the idea being whoever finds the most clues gets to decide what the next scenario will be.  She likes the idea and I think it will be fun to craft our own campaign story together.

And last but not least, I was able to meet up with a friend of mine at our LGS and play a game of Bolt Action.  I'll admit that Bolt Action isn't my favorite game (I blame Antares for this even though I haven't played it against a live opponent) but it was great to hang out with him and push around some minis.  Of course hilarity ensued as well, with both of us taking a bunch of inexperienced troops and I just had to squeeze Stewie into my force too.  Lots of fun but I think the best moments were when my lieutenant and his minder walked onto the board next to my friends mortar team and gunned them down.  This was followed by the same dastardly duo spraying the truck my target was hiding inside, only to have it go up in flames and letting me pull out a draw on the last turn.  Pure action movie stuff!

Hopefully I can squeeze in some more cleaning this weekend so I can finally get back to painting again.  Wish me luck!  Until next time...