Christmas Prezzie...

Hopefully everyone is enjoying the festive season and as an early Christmas present I got some painted models to show off, aren't I generous...

Admittedly these are the Colony 87 civilians that I showed WIP weeks ago and that I finally got around to photographing...

Anyway enjoy...

First up, the xenobotoanist

the mechanic...

and the junker...

Quick group shot:

And the whole collection including the ones I already painted.

Anyway

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.


Till next time...


Cap'n Smyrk

Came in from the Cold...

So after a very productive time last month various outside commitments and a very stubborn cold have somewhat curtailed my hobby time this month.

But I have finished the first of my 'Champions of Law' which I mentioned earlier, the other one is still awaiting his shield but has recovered from his run in with the green wash.

Anyway here is Ukko, Priest of Law.

He is a 'Nordic Warrior Priest' from the old Clerics range, although he looks more medieval Russian than Nordic to me...

Also in the works are the second half of Axiom's Colony 87 range of sci-fi civilians to go with the ones I've already painted.

Still WIP at the moment but hopefully will get them finished off soon.

Till next time


Cap'n Smyrk

Happy Orktober...

So for the last couple of years I have looked on at the Orctober painting challenges held by Erny on the Oldhammer forum wanting to take part but forgetting about it until part way through October and always being in the middle painting of something else.

Well the same thing basically happened again this year, but I sucked it up and managed to squeeze in a little something alongside my current painting projects.

I knew that I would only have the time to paint one mini so scoured my small collection of Orks (all Rogue Trader) looking for a suitable victim volunteer.

In the end I plumped for the original Rogue Trader Ork (well original named Ork anyway...) Thrugg Bullneck himself from the Battle at the Farm from the Rogue Trader rulebook.

I painted him in my now preferred 'grimy' Rogue Trader Ork style compared the quite colourful Ork Clan style of my first space ork.

I imagine that his furs probably came off a fur squig or some other exotic alien beastie and so painted them a lurid green...

Here he is with my other painted orks, showing off my change in style since the guy on the right, I will have to tone down the yellow on his helmet and darken up his skin to match the others at some point.

Still working on my Champions of Law, one of the them is done but the other one had an unfortunate run in with a green wash and needed some repainting and still needs finishing off (and his shield...).

Till next time.


Cap'n Smyrk

Laying down a little more of the Law...

Finished off the Arbite that I was painting in the last post.

So Arbitrator Pawl steps up to reinforce the Euphoria Arbites Precinct.

And the whole Precinct gathered together.

Still working on the Champions of Law, and I'm also trying to squeeze in a little something for Orktober.

Till next time...


Cap'n Smyrk

Collecting Conumdrums...

So recently I've been contemplating the collecting side of the Oldhammer hobby and its numerous facets, especially as it is the primary direction of my own hobby.

However despite that I've never really attempted to collect the entirety of a particular range as many people attempt. I have mostly worked on finding particular figures that I have always wanted or really liked the look of.

Admittedly I have by chance managed to acquire most of the original Eldar range with just two or three that I am currently missing.

This line of thinking was mostly inspired by a recent purchase which has moved me closer to completing another range. Here is the offending individual WIP.

He means that I have only two figures remaining to complete the first two Adeptus Arbites ranges (even if I had the fiscal means to afford them I'm not overly bothered with the Necromunda Enforcers).

The above acquisition means that I have only two remaining, the bolter armed Arbite from the RT range and the Arbite Champion from the 2nd Edition range.

Of course the chances of finding the Arbite Champion at an price I can stomach are limited but a man can still dream...


Anyway the new recruit should hopefully end up like his buddies sometime soon.

Also on the painting table at the moment are some fantasy minis that will form the start of a "Champions of Law" warband somewhat inspired by the amazing work of Asslessman at Leadplague.

My current plan is to have a series of "champions" each with their own "apprentice/sidekick" who will reference their master in appearance and colour. Have three champions currently and plans for one or two more (my painting speed means they will never match the small army JB has reached).

Till next time.


Cap'n Smyrk

Belated Civi's

Uh... Oh dear, I've had the Colony 87 minis I showed last finished for over a week but haven't actually got around to posting them.

So time to get on with that then!

Haven't got any backstory for any of these as they are there to provide extras rather than stars, but I guess most of them would fit in with Regis d'Sarck's retinue.

First up with have the Recordist.

I'm particularly happy with how the red came out on his coat, not that it shows that well in these photos, ho hum...

Then the Priestess with feline friend.

And finally the advisor.

With a quick group shot to finish off.

Not decided on what to work on next got a few historical modelling projects to finish up first.

Till next time.


Cap'n Smyrk

WIP... WIP... Work faster vermin...

Just a quick one today, mostly to keep up my at least monthly posting.

I'm just going to show a couple of WIP shots of the first three of Axiom's Colony 87 Kickstarter minis that I've started so far.

Still need to do some highlights and a minor details picking out (and a few touch ups judging by the photos... dammit).






Anyway hope to have these three finished by the end of the week so should have another post up shortly.



Till next time...



Cap'n Smyrk

Cultists with guns... Big ones...

Bit quiet on the Oldhammer front for me of late but I have finished a couple of additional cultists for the Astral Wyrm Cult.

First up to give the cult some heavy firepower is Brother Reepah.

His colour scheme ties in with that of the Brother's Dymm...

...but with groovy purple hair...

Then there is an additional bullet shield, Brother Slink, who I imagine is some sort of twist.

Finally a shot of whole cult as it now stands.

I will probably add one more member to bring them up to a round ten.


Till next time...


Cap'n Smyrk

More civilians... Coming soon...

Not much to say this month, still working on a couple of further members for the Astral Wyrm Cult including one with a very big gun...

However my day was brightened when I got home from work and found a package waiting for me. This contained my order from the Colony 87 kickstarter courtesy of Jon over at Magpie and Old Lead.

Further day brightening occurred when I noticed that I was one of the lucky recipients of the Gargouille bonus figure.

Photo from the kickstarter page

After a closer look these are a great set of figures and will be provided also sorts of interesting characters for my Euphoria setting.

Hopefully soon I will have something physical to show.

Till next time.


Cap'n Smyrk

Non-combatants...

I've started painting up a few civilians minis to provide some background to the more violent gun toting types.

The first two are a couple of Hasslefree villagers I bought at Salute.
Neither have any particular sci-fi or 40k elements but Rogue Trader was all about using fantasy models, and it does mean I can use them in fantasy projects as well if I wish.

Not the best pics I'm afraid, will maybe try and take some better ones later.

I'm pretty happy with how they have turned out particularly the barmaid. Both painted with my normal eclectic mix of citadel, vallejo and humbrol paints.

Anyway next on the painting table are some more members for the Astral Wyrm Cult, including some more serious firepower.

Till next time...


Cap'n Smyrk

Rampant battling Dragon Gods...

So to keep up with my resolution to post something at least once a month and realising that the end of the month has snuck up on me I've thrown together this post on the fly without anything specific to show off.

As such I'm mostly going to be talking about some of the stuff I bought whilst at Salute a couple of weeks back. Unusually given my predilection for Rogue Trader and sci-fi subjects these mostly consisted of Fantasy rule sets...

I will admit to being somewhat of a collector of rules possessing many which I've never really played but enjoy perusing. Anyway this post isn't going to be a review of these rules, I leave that to more qualified observers but will mostly be my rambling thoughts.

First up was Dragon Rampant which is obviously fairly well known in the old school gaming scene along with its historical parent Lion Rampant.

The other was Foundry's God of Battles by Jake Thornton. I will admit to having fairly fond memories of Jake's tenure as White Dwarf editor (despite it being during the dreaded 'Red Period'), possible as it was around that time that one of my favourite GW games, Necromunda, came out.

Notably there are are some similarities in the basic rules concepts of the two sets although they are intended to work on slightly different scales and Dragon Rampant is of course a lot more generic not being tied to a specific world or miniatures range.

Having said that creating your own lists for GoB wouldn't be particularly difficult, and the concepts behind some of the armies included are quite interesting. The army based terrain tables and weather charts add a touch of flavour to the proceedings. The Habitat rules which have terrain pieces inhabited by various denizens that will defend their homes violently (often against both sides...) are also quite amusing.

I particularly liked the 'Miracles' magic system in GoB which is a relatively simple card based (using normal playing cards) system but includes a lot of tactical depth at the same time.

I suspect that overall Dragon Rampant is likely to be more useful to me if I ever feel like getting any fantasy games, mostly as I'm only likely to ever be able to field a enough models for a skirmish.


On the painting front I'm currently painting some Hasslefree villagers (also bought at Salute) to use a non-combatants.

Till next time.


Cap'n Smyrk

Adventure time...

I finished off the Eldar Scout I was painting this weekend. I'm pretty happy with how he came out, I am finally getting the hang of painting gemstones.

Anyway here he is in glorious technicolour...

Have to say his sword is more of a bludgeon than a blade, being somewhat lacking in the edge department...

A shot of him with his fellow scout that I already painted.

Finally here is my Rogue Quest adventuring party as they currently stand.

Now I just have to decide what to paint next...

Till next time.


Cap'n Smyrk

Adventurer in Progress...

Thought I show a few work in progress picks of my Eldar Adventurer.

He has his base colours and is just waiting for a bit more shading and some highlights. Still need to paint his various gem stones as well.

And a pic of him with my earlier Scout to show where he should end up.

Also remembered that I have this Necromunda Wyrd lying around who might end up taking on the role of the Wizard in the Rogue Quest party.

 Till next time.


Cap'n Smyrk