On the Bench: Ogre Firebelly

With all of the excitement around AGoM, I am finding it really hard to actually sit down and write-up anything I am working on at the moment.  I guess the positive is that I am getting stuff done and should have a reasonably finished army when I step off the plane next week. 

When it came to creating my firebelly/butcher, I was inspired by the Oni from Japanese folklore.  According to Wikipedia:

Oni (鬼^?) are a kind of yōkai from Japanese folklore, variously translated as demons, devils, ogres or trolls.

Depictions of oni vary widely but usually portray them as hideous, gigantic ogre-like creatures with sharp claws, wild hair, and two long horns growing from their heads.^[2] They are humanoid for the most part, but occasionally, they are shown with unnatural features such as odd numbers of eyes or extra fingers and toes.^[3] Their skin may be any number of colors, but red and blue are particularly common

Looking at various depictions of them, I felt that the horns were the primary element that I had to include on my model if I wished to allude to the folklore.  I also felt that by giving him long hair in a ponytail, it would also provide similar visual cues to a traditional Oni.  I did toy around with the idea of painting the model in darkflesh and adding red highlights to it, but I felt that it would clash too much with the color scheme of the army to be worth the effort.

On the Bench: Citadel Technical: Blood for the Blood God Review

As part of the process of preparing for AGoM, I had to complete a couple more ogre bulls to add to my existing unit. One of the new bulls was going to be armed with an ironfist similar to another model in the unit and since I wanted to keep uniformity across the unit, I decided to paint it with a blood splatter like the other one. The original model was painted using a series of Vallejo reds, gloss varnish, and a good helping of glaze medium and thinner. For the new model, I decided to test out the new Citadel Technical: Blood for the Blood God paint.

One of the things about the new paint is that it is advertised as “It's a translucent paint, similar to a wash, but thicker and with vivid colour”. Opening the pot, I have to agree with the word “thick”, as the paint had a consistency that was more similar to a regular paint than any wash I have purchased. I also agree that it had a deep crimson color, but at first glance, I wasn’t confident that it would result in the range of colors that I was hoping to imitate.

When it came to apply the paint, I decided to not thin it like I usually do with paints. Instead, I poured a little in my palette and applied the first layer using a 0/2 liner brush. I gave the paint a few minutes to dry before applying another layer that was “inside” the first layer. I repeated this process a few times until I had enough coverage that I expected the anticipated effect to be achieved.

As you can see from the end results, the effect was fair, but certainly didn’t produce results that were outstanding. I think the paint can be useful for someone that is looking for something simple and quick, but it will not replace taking the time and effort to paint blood using a more “artistic” approach. I would have liked to have seen GW also provide a little free guidance on how the paint should be used as I am curious if the effect would have been better with a little bit of thinning. Maybe after AGoM, I will give it another try and see if the results are different.

Correction: GW does provide a little tutorial video on how to use the paint.  After AGoM, I will give the paint a try after watching the video and see if I can get better results.

Hump Day Heroes - Waste Wars XI - Part 1

Recently I participated in the latest Waste Wars tournament hosted by the Waaaghcast.  Joe and company usually run 3 or 4 tournaments a year down in Bloomington, Illinois (~100 miles south of Chicago).  This one was a 1000 point primer for the Adepticon version of the tournament being held in early April.  This was also my first outing using my Ogre Kingdoms army.

As much as I want to pretend to be interested in competitive play, the reality is that I always build my armies based around what I am interested in painting.  Sometimes this results in me building an army the swings to one extreme or the other when it comes to playability and tabletop efficiency.  When it came to my ogre kingdom army, I was focused on bringing stuff that I liked and playing with models that I have been interested in for a long time.

Firebelly: Gold Sigil Sword; Talisman of Endurance; Ironcurse Icon; Level 2 Wizard. 205
7 Ironguts: Gutlord; Bellower; standard bearer; Look-out Gnoblar; Dragonhide Banner. 386
4 Ogres: Bellower; ironfists. 138
3 Maneaters: standard bearer; 3× additional hand weapon; heavy armour; Immune to Psychology; Scouts. 178
Gorger 90

997 points

For the first round of the tournament, I was paired up against Ryan G and his lizardmen army.  Lizardmen list have always been a bane of mine as skinks with poison tend to ruin elite armies if not dealt with quickly.  The scenario for this game involved rolling off for each unit, including characters, to determine if they started in reserve or on the table.  The scenario also involved capturing an objective in the middle of the board that basically would freeze a unit in place if they touched it. 

When it came to deployment, I ended up not getting to place my firebelly because of the special rule.  I also had to start the gorger in reserve because its ambusher rule.  This meant that I only had two units place during standard deployment.  The ogres were put directly across from Ryan’s saurus block, while the ironguts were positioned to come in from the right side of my deployment zone.  Ryan focused his salamanders and chameleon skinks deployment on the ironguts while I placed my scouting maneaters to flank the saurus block.

Early Turns

The early part of the game was focused on trying to get the ironguts towards the saurus warriors while getting away from the skinks and salamanders.  At the same time, I jockeyed for position with the maneaters and bulls in an effort to get a double charge off with them.  Ryan pushed his block forward to close in on the objective while his skinks proceeded to kill a couple of ironguts.

The second turn saw my firebelly arrive on the table and wipe out one unit of skinks with magic and the other with its flaming breath.  The gorger on the other hand remained off the board due to a roll of a 2.  The skinks had done what they needed to and had delayed the ironguts long enough to allow the salamanders a chance to get into range with their shooting attacks.

Middle Turns

The middle of the game became focused on close combat as the bulls and maneaters charged the block of saurus.  The maneaters were effective at dropping basic saurus warriors, but Ryan’s characters were equally effective at dropping the bulls at the front of the regiment.  Across the table, the firebelly bought the ironguts time by becoming the focus of the salamanders’ shooting.

Late Turns

The late turns saw the remaining ironguts hit the saurus warrior block and pound on them, only to be grinded away as the special rules for the objective ensured that the saurus warriors would not break from combat.  At the same time, the salamanders and firebelly continued to exchange flaming attacks until the firebelly was dropped.  The game ended with the gorger making it into close combat and killing the saurus BSB with a lucky killing blow.

Overall

Overall, the game was really fun.  Ryan is a great opponent and knows how to play his army very well.  I made a number of mistakes looking back on the game and really wish the gorger would have come on sooner.

 

Next Week – Part 2

On the Bench: Ogre Kingdoms Unit Filler

One of the interesting things about the Midwest WFB scene is our dedication to painting and fielding amazing armies.  At any given tournament, you can expect to see work that would rival the stuff that appears in White Dwarf (R.I.P.) or on the GW website.  While having such a rich environment when it comes to painted armies, it also means that the standards can be pretty high when it comes to paint judging.  To this end, it has become almost mandatory that an army has some level of freehand if it wants to earn maximum points at the majority of tournaments.

Typically when someone is doing freehand, it is done on a standard as they are a great way to add a little uniqueness to a regiment.  Since another element of many local tournaments is to award points for a scratch built model, I decided to combine the requirement with free-hand details to create a custom gong for my ironguts. 

When it came to picking the actual image, I debated for a period whether or not to do some kind of dragon.  It seemed like the obvious choice and easily tied into the Asian inspired theme of the army.  In the end, I felt it was too obvious and decided to explore other Japanese images that might work.  I considered Kirin and phoenix pictures, but again they felt too obvious.  As I was looking at various pictures, I started to notice that koi were a common theme among many of them.  After a bit more searching on the topic, I decided to use one as the basis for the free-hand on the gong.

Using a picture I found on the website Quiet Forest, I drew a similar image on the gong I had created using plastic rods, wire and a wooden 40mm base.  One the image was drawn, I traced over it using a fine detail brush and Vallejo Charred Brown.  Next, I used Reaper Golden triad, Vallejo Brown ink and GW Sepia wash to color the fish.  Once the fish was colored, I reapplied the Charred Brown to better bring out the details.

To complete the background of the gong, I first used a pencil and another 40mm base to trace a semi-circle.  Next, I colored in the first part of the circle using a combination of Vallejo Hexed Purple, Vallejo Purple Blue, and Vallejo Dead White.  As for the blue sections of the model, I used Vallejo Imperial Blue, Vallejo Dark Blue, and Vallejo White to shade and highlight the area around the koi.

To complete the model, I painted the outside ring on the gong using Vallejo London Grey, Vallejo Black Grey, and Vallejo Light Grey.  The wood holding the gong was painted using a combination of Vallejo Charred Brown and Vallejo Vermin Brown.  The base was painted using the same scheme as the army and flocked with a combination of Army Painter and GF9 products.

Episode 25 - A Gathering of Might XII Preview

Episode 25 - A Gathering of Might XII Preview
Sponsored by Heroes Haven Comics and Games & A Gathering of Might

Longtime friend of the show, Adam Turner, is back to share a preview of A Gathering of Might XII.  Adam and John talk about the two day tournament and all the festivities around what will be John's first tournament in the UK.  However, prior to talking about AGOM, the guys talk about the current UK meta and the impact recent army books have had on the scene.

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Episode Timeline
00:00:17 - Sponsors
00:01:11 - UK Meta
00:29:30 - A Gathering of Might XII Preview

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ODT GAMING: 2014 Half-human Army Project

ODT Gaming 2014 Army Project

Half-Humans: Halflings

 

So far I have collected some halflings over the past year and a few are below.  Most of these are this points are pinned and primed but I wanted to post a before picture before these start getting finished soon.  I tried picking up halflings that would match and also give me a variety of troops.  I am still looking for more pony riders, Halfling Spearmen, and Halfling Great weapon troops.     I have a collection of the GW and Battleforge minis with more to come.  Additionally, with the addition of Dwarfs and Brets this coming year I will tailoring this army to both books potentially...

 

Picked up a couple sets of farm animals

Another shot of pinned GW minis in a box Fighting Cocks and 90s Empire Halflings, I have about double this in another box.

Picked up a unit of these guys from battleforge! Sword and Board!

Got a lot of these of ebay, battleforge cavalry yeoman riders.

On the Bench: Veteran Guardsmen with Shotguns - Part Three

The third member of the Matchstick Boys has been completed. With the completion of the third model, I still feel like the casting on these models is not the best. I do like the look of the bandaged head, but it lacks the smooth curves that are on the plastic cadians.

When it comes to the color scheme I am using for this unit, I am finding that I like the sharper highlights on the blue. It does make the models pop a little more and draw the eye to them. I also think the brown boots are a nice contrast with the other colors on the model.

One last note is that I have not been satisfied with the quality of the pictures I have been taking with the iPad mini. I am not certain if it user error, the lens being dirty, or just the quality of the camera, but regardless, I am going to switch back to using my digital camera that I had used in the past. Just wanted to make a note of this as I feel like the pictures I have been posting don’t do a good job of showing off each model.