Grey Knight Librarian: Quickie Post

I've been a bit under the weather this week, but I did get some painting done.  I finished up this Grey Knight Librarian for the Tim That Can, which is an addition to his Grey Knights army I did for him as commission work.

I did the same model for the Card Pimp in Question some time back...

...so my goal was to paint a model that was different but would still fit in the army.  I chose to do a more 'working psyker' approach, thus the leather tabard and muted colors.

Ah well - enough typing.

Chaos Daemon Prince of Nurgle: Quickie Post

I finished the Nurgle Daemon Prince for Tim That Can's commission.  This bad boy is a whopping WS  9... take that, Marines!  I'll admit, I fought the impulse to snap this dude's sword off and replace it with a Black Mace.

For No Apparent Reason: The Video Edition

Call of Duty, Back in Black

I've been hard-pressed to wanna do much besides play Call of Duty Black Ops II.  If you don't know, the Call of Duty series is by far the best online competitive shooter experience, and so far this version tops Modern Warfare II as my favorite version.

Why?  The Pick 10 system is simply too much fun.

...

You know, I'm inspired to write about this game but I'm not sure how many of you are interested.  Let me know, or hit me up online.  I'm playing this version on the XBox.

Scrapbookin'

The Changeling: Quickie Post

One of the character models from a commission I'm working on for the Little Tim That Could Can.

Somebody Else's Daemons, Again

Back into the painting schedule, and currently working on multiple elements of the Little Tim That Could's Daemons army.

Maybe he should be 'That Can' - his constant practice is paying off in wins.

We played on Saturday, with me breaking out my old CSM army to see how well it stands up in 5th.

Somebody Else's Daemons

Feast of Blades Retrospective, Part 1 of ?

The ?  until I finish or get tired of talking about it or get worn out by work or move on to other projects.

You know.  Let's have some pictures!

 I took the RustyCrons, heavy on troops and tricks.  Frankly, it's not a great tournament list, but it has teeth and I know how to use it.  Ultimately, that's why I took it.  I toyed with borrowing the Grey Knights I painted for the Little Tim That Could - but that would have been a mistake.

In one sense, experience, anyway!  There were more Daemon armies than you cold shake a stick at!

Vargard Obyron.  I painted this in the hour before the flight, and it shows... but this is one bad dude.  I would have been better served dropping the Stormlord - 'cause frankly, that trick is tired - and sticking with this beatstick.

Some pics of the Fabricator General's beautiful CronAir army.

Funny, I recognized this style the moment I saw it.  Bigger Barrera has a very distinctive look of washes and layers over grey.

Another shot at the RustyCrons.  The Quad-Crystal was useless - did you know it can't shoot by itself? It's not an emplaced weapon, a la the Bastion.  Since I believe you win in the movement phase (with this type of army, anyway) I hardly shot that damn thing.

We're still all shaking out the minutia of 6th.

A few pics of my last game against Kenny of Next Level Painting and his unreal-beautiful Daemons army.

He hit his preferred - which was a stacked drop - hit his drops - not so hard, nowadays - and played his game to the hilt.

Against an army geared around Fateweaver, the only good strategy is taking the Flying Chicken out.  I never came close.

I'll go over the game in more detail in the future.  Vacation is over - off to work!

Feast of Blades Live Blogger Roundtable!

Join now! Yours truly is on the panel... So where should you be going?

Go to FeastofBlades.com and you'll see the link.

But here it is....

http://www.feastofblades.com/2012/10/live-coverage.html

NOW!

NecroNid Hybrid

Busy, busy, busy...

...busy busy busy busy!

Isn't it a constant of human experience that if you say a word over and over and over again it begins to sound strange, and lose all meaning?

Still and all, I've been in a much better place recently.  The weather transition has passed (for the most part; this being the armpit of Texas, the weather is as changeable as the Master Manipulator (every store needs one)'s moods...

(Congrats to him, by the by, on the birth of the Mini-Manipulator who cries and cries!)

...and so my leg is feeling a bit less Abhuman.  (See what he did there?  He thinks he's sooo clever.)

This week's Terrible Tuesday article is a bit of a deliberate flame-fest plus an army challenge.  I'm trying to work out what the prize will be.  I posted a picture of my NecroNid Hybrid, though.  This post is an excuse to post more.

Note the colors are hard to capture in film.  The yellows and greens give the Cybershot a digital headache, which I can relate to, being but an Empty Digital Headache myself.

Lines on your computer screen, mate; how real am I?

Choices, Collections, and Naughty Places

The Emperor Protects!

As long as you've invested in the right wargear, including your basic munitions manual and uplifting primer.

Lately, I've been sort of wishing the Emperor would set up a Forge World America: have you scoped the prices on the new Horus Heresy book?

It's big.  Like Titan naughty-places big.

$114 bucks.  And totally worth it, darn it all.  Speaking of worth it...

It's exciting to be a collector these days.  In fact, it's these thoughts that led to the Terrible Tuesday article, The Science of (too much!) Choice.  Why, you ask?  Simply put, I look around my game room and there's too much to work on.  I don't mind taking the long view, but even I'm thinking it's time to pair down.

That seems to be catching.  The Mighty Mighty Carlos brought his Dark Eldar to the store Friday and traded for Little Barrera's Imperial Guard.

Collection for collection - a straight trade - both admitting they will never really work on X when Y is available.

I'm in the same boat; too many interests and not enough time.  Right now I'm thinking I'll collect a few 'main' armies that host a number of 'side' armies.  Basically, big armies with allied contingents.  To make it work will require pitiless choices...

(That screams 'To Be Continued'...)

Back to Painting!

The airbrush is back to full functionality - now the only error is the typical kind.

User.

Here's my current project:  a one-off to get back into the groove of painting every night.

Gone! A Month of Sundays

I'm alive, I suppose.

It's been almost a month since I've posted here.  I'm enough of a Blogger veteran to know it's best not to start and stop in fits...

...since I didn't have the energy to blog regularly it was best to avoid it entirely.

(Meaning, yeah, he'll be blogging regularly again.  You've been warned.)

It wasn't just Strictly Average, but Bell, too.  I've been as regular as a laxative for years now, but then I look up and I've missed three of four Terrible Tuesday articles!

It's not just an online presence.  I've barely stepped foot into my game room.  The contents of the new Dark Vengeance box sit untouched on the desk!

Yeah, I stole this image - what of it? :)

So what gives?

(They don't care; I don't care.  I'm editing four paragraphs of Brent's blather - you'd thank me for it.)

And that's what's been going on!  I'm starting to feel human again, thanks for asking.

I finally received the replacement parts for my airbrush.  The little-teensy-tiny-piece-of-crap washer went missing; turns out, it blocked air back-channeling into the paint.  Without it, the thing just didn't work.

Ordered two of those bad boys!

I also tried to upgrade the airbrush for wider sprays.  The one I purchased came with a '1' set, for pencil-thin lines.  I purchased everything for a '3'... except one little cylindrical thing that fits inside the contraption that screws onto the front.  Thing.

See how technical this all gets?

Now I have to order that, but pish and tosh - I HAVE AN AIRBRUSH AGAIN!

Seriously, you just can't move backwards.  Yours truly is a far cry from an expert, but an airbrush is the single greatest thing ever.  It's like air, or food.  Can't go without it.

Okay.

I think I'm going to brave the game room now and the game store later...

Struggling with the BoLS Daemon Series

The following is a section I cut from today's Terrible Tuesday Bell of Lost Soul's article.  Sometimes you gotta edit, and this didn't belong, being interesting but not pertinent.  Still, it does explain my views on articles in general, so some few may be interested.

The Importance of Doin' It Up Right

Writing last week's article was tough; harder by far than any other article.  Heck, any other series of articles, or combine two or three of the articles that felt like birthing a True-Scale Space Marine...

...and none of them compare.  This is brutal.

Don't believe me?

For those of you who've followed the Terrible Tuesday (and yeah, sometimes it's Wednesday) series over two years and 97 98 articles have probably realized I closely follow the comments.  It's part of my style to avoid talking out a subject as an attempt to encourage you, Oh Faithful Reader, to take the time to jot a thought or three.  Following comments, particularly by those of you who do so frequently, is part of the satisfaction derived from maintaining a competitive slot on Bell of Lost Souls.

Last week, I couldn't even look.

Batch Painting with an Airbrush

So, 68 Genestealers to paint - and they came in all red and blotchy.

Video: Terrain as Per the Book in a 2K Game

The Mighty Mighty Carlos and I played a game last week at 2K; me with Sisters and allied Eldar and he with double Bastions and Imperial Fists.

My 2K Sisters has four squads of Sisters of Battle, four Exorcists, Jacobus with Crusaders and Assassins, Celestine, a Farseer (for psychic defense and jankiness), Pathfinders, and a Fortification with a Quad Gun.

Gak! 'Net Down, Disconnected!

As the title suggests, I've been off the grid since last week.  A lightning storm killed my internet.

And my couch.  Stupid electric old-person recliner - I was perfectly content with manual models.  Now the recliners are in a permanent state of... excitement.

I won't bore you with my "the ISP took freakin' forever story" as you no doubt have one of your own.  Getting *SELF-EDIT* by utilities is a Universal Truth, along with, "Underwear is never clean in an accident, so why wear it?"

Hey, I don't make the rules.

This is a short post, largely because the technician just left and I have to head back to work.  Here are some pics to try and begin catching up on my posting.

Imperial Catachans and Ethnic Diversity

I painted up these Catachans over the last week and some, but bogged down when it came to different shades of skin.

BoLS Terrible Tuesday, Leftovers

The Terrible Tuesday BoLS article was on budget terrain.  Given there were more than the usual number of unused pictures, I decided to drop them in an article here.  Leftovers, as it were.

(As an aside - doh!  I finished at like, 11:57pm!  Way past deadline, even for me.  Larry probably dreads Monday nights.)

Laying out the bits, seeing what inspires.

Feast Invitational, 8/4: Galaxy in Wichita Falls, TX!

"We'll be there!"  (No they won't.)

Galaxy Books and Comics is hosting a Feast of Blades Invitational this Saturday, the 4th of August.

Feast Invitational, North Texas!

It's Monday - so register for this Saturday's Feast of Blades Invitational at Galaxy Books and Comics in Wichita Falls, Texas already!

Feast of Blades: Saturday August 4, 2012
Registration starts at 9:30 am
Game time starts at 10:00 am
Painting points applied to event.
All players must turn in army list two days before tournament date to reserve your spot in the tournament.
Send all list to: info@galaxycomics.net.
Lists turned in on time will be billed the $10.00 entry fee.
Army list turned in after the deadline will not be guaranteed a spot in the tournament for spots are limited to 16 spots.
Lists not turned in on time will be billed $15.00 to enter.
All players must have a copy of their army list.
All players must have a copy of the army codex you are playing.
All players must have their own copy of the rule book, NO PDF.
All armies must be represented with what they are equipped with.
To obtain painting/base bonus army must have at least three colors in appropriate locations.(if applied)
All army list must have on them: Player Name, What Army You are Playing, e-mail address.
All winnings must be used up 30 days after end of event or you for-fit your prize winnings.
Can not use tournament winnings to pay for other events.

From the Feast of Blades site:

- Qualifiers will be played at 1999+1 points. (no 2 FOC)- Qualifiers will be played "by the book!" with the following exceptions below
- Qualifiers will NOT be using "mysterious terrain" rules.
- Qualifiers will NOT be using "Archotech artifacts" rules (p 106)
- Qualifiers will NOT be using "unique terrain" rules (p. 107)
- Qualifiers will NOT be using "Warlord Traits" rules
- Qualifiers will NOT be using "Mysterious Objectives"

What are you waiting for?  There are only 16 spots in all, and more than half are gone!

Yeah, you missed out. :)

North Texas Feast of Blades Invitational!

Guess there's always the finals...

...but we have room for 16 and the expectation is we'll fill up.

Airbrushing Tyranids: Completed and WiP

These Nid models aren't Bugs! - 'cause Bugs! are older than some of you and aren't nearly so done.

No, this army belongs to the Client Pimp in Question, and I'm satisfied that these are complete.

Khorne Herald on Chariot

Here's an example of a model that got better with 6th Edition!  A charge range of 2d6, a collar for psychic defense, and a rending high-strength attack are all pretty darn nifty.

Especially the increased charge range!  I never used these in 6th 'cause a Strictly Average 6" was never long enough.

Anyway, I built and painted this dude in the last 24-hours for the Little Tim That Could - something to supplement his Chaos army.

This is 95% airbrushing, and most of it was done before breakfast then after lunch yesterday.  Details went on this morning before work, and I just now took these pictures lunchtime of day two.

Finally! Finished Grey Knight Commission

The title says it all; this is the first commission work I've taken on that involved painting a complete army.  It's fair to say it became somewhat laborious; the scheme I chose was designed for a tabletop level of quality, but when the second owner wanted a higher level, it actually worked against me.

Still, no regrets; I learned more about speed painting and pitfalls and pricing and time management and whew! loads of other stuff that it was well worth it.

Here is the LINK for the Bell of Lost Souls Article.  Here is the LINK for the first batch of completed models (remember to hit 'more' for the actual pictures).

On Tyranids for 6th Edition 40K

Bugs!

The Black Blowfly or the Big Black Fiend - Steve! - wrote an article on Bell this morning outlining his thoughts on Tyranids.  Check it out - here's the LINK.

Anyway, it prompted me to jot down some of my thoughts, which I'll apply to my Bugs! army.  I enjoy Necrons, but for a variety of reasons I'm pulling out Sisters of Battle and Bugs! to work on over the next year.  Not sure which will become my primary tournament army just yet, but I'm on record saying Tyranids are going to be brutal in 6th Edition...