Procrastination by Numbers

[cunningmatt]

Procrastination by Numbers: Update 127 And We're Off!! Monday 7th July 2014



127.1 Tale of OG Gamers: Tzeentch Warriors – Week 4

So after three weeks of prattling around poking a Manticore with a paintbrush it's time for the Tale of OG Gamers to begin. As Dermot O'Leary would say "The Painting Lines are Open" along with "Shut up Louis Walsh".

So after teasing you with hints of what I'm painting over the last three weeks - like a flirtatious little hussy. I can now tell you that this pile of boxes, which I've collected over the last year and thought "I must get round to painting these" (along with "shut up Louis Walsh"), makes up my painting challenge.



It's all pretty straight forward - the Ogre Ironguts are going to be Chaos Ogres in a conversion much less original than Annie converting a My Little Pony Princess Castle into a Chaos Dwarf Lord on Bull Centaur. And the plain box isn't actually a shed load of cigarettes, but it's Chaos Dwarf Hellcannon - those things are deeply addictive, can't display them on the packet in case we corrupt any children to them. Their wallet would die should they get addicted to Chaos Dwarfs.

Wow three mentions of Chaos Dwarfs in one paragraph, that's more than the last ten years of White Dwarfs.

Any how this month my target is to paint up my 20 Forsaken to form the bulk of the core of my supplementary army.





One of the advantages of the Forsaken is that they have no command models, so my 20 can easily be deployed in units of 10 or 5 or whatever as I see fit.

The corresponding disadvantage is that this is a Tzeentch army, and so I will be assembling and painting them as Tzeentch Forsaken - even though that's a rubbish choice. For Forsaken Mark of Tzeentch gives them Magic Resistance (2) – useful to precisely no one. I am guessing they don't have the usual 6+ Ward save due to their potential to roll a 5+ Ward save as one of their bonuses. Still I wouldn't object to a 4+ Ward save. Besides any one worth playing a game against won't mind if I take them as an alternative mark/unmarked even though they are daubed in Tzeentch colours. Though knowing me I'll just use them as Tzeentch anyway! Who cares about winning, it's the themeing that's important - and the cake, that is very important (I don't know where the cake came from)!

What follows now are a serious of weak comedic photos of the assembly of my Forsaken.



These Forsaken cost me an arm and a leg, or should that be a tentacle and a leg! HA HA HA.



These Forsaken are taking me Forages to build...



...but don't worry I'm building them Formyarmy HA HA HA.

Enough.

So comedy's not working, how about tension? With 20 Forsaken assembled would I have enough sand to base them all? If I didn't it would be a disaster, as I'd have to go to Games Workshop and buy some more. This would delay me completely, any chance of staying on schedule destroyed at the first hurdle - would I be able to do it with such a limited amount of sand?



Maybe it would help if you played some tension music while you read the rest of this piece.



The first five had been based, incidentally I PVA glued sand onto the base, then once that is dry washed over it with watered down PVA glue to seal it in place. This is no time for tips though, there's models to glue and I'm running low on sand!



We've made it up to 10 based.



And now 15.



But the sand is running very low, will we do it?



We're up to 19 Forsaken based now, we're nearly there.



But have we got enough sand for the final model? It's touch and go, but yes we have!



With just a few grains left...



But with one hurdle overcome would another hurdle trip us up straight away. Would there be enough Chaos Black undercoat for the models. If there wasn't then all the work of the basing would be undone, the project would be derailed at this early stage and the models would not be finished in time. This was a critical juncture.

But it was ok. Turns out I even had a spare can of Chaos Black and so they were all undercoated...





Hope the tension wasn't too much to bare. It's like Masterchef. Undercoating doesn't get tougher than this.

The kit comes with a liberal sprinkling of Chaos God symbols. So I added a few Tzeentch ones to choice models in the unit.





And all the symbols of the heathen gods were burnt. Scum.



Due to all the burning, breathing in of noxious fumes and rushing to the hospital there wasn't any time to slap on a bit of colour. Oh well.

So there's where we are after Week 1 or 4 or 55 depending on how you are counting. I'm off on holidays later this week, but hopefully they'll be chance for some painting and a brief update!

127.2 Get In Touch

I'm on Twitter @ProbyNumbers sometimes I say useful things.

Oh and incidentally if anyone has any of the aforementioned Tzeentch symbols from the Forsaken kit (or any other kits), do let me know I'd be happy to find a home for them. Beer, sexual favours or !@%$#%@ will be offered in return!

[cunningmatt]

Procrastination by Numbers: Update 128 Sun, Sea and Slopping on Paint Monday 21st July 2014



128.1 Tale of OG Gamers: Tzeentch Warriors – Weeks 5 & 6

Last week there was no blog update. Did you miss me? Did you notice more like? Come on you need to put more into this relationship. Well fearless reader(s) in case you worried, I was off browning my skin - not through Agrax Earthshade spillages, but through Vitamin D exposure on my holidays!!

Yes a very long weekend on the island of Guernsey was just the trick, though don't worry judgemental painting overlords it was a working holiday.



It wasn't just reading material though, as many paints were smuggled into my hold luggage to be liberally applied in a bid to help whittle down the painting mountain.

Of course there was still time to observe the beautiful scenery on a coastal walk.



Though I spent most of this walk imagining that this coastline was being assailed by Dark Elf raiding parties and High Elves were valiantly holding them back. I probably need to have a word with myself to be honest.

Still there was real life drama on the island of Guernsey as I survived a magnitude 4.2 earthquake that shook the island to its very knees.



There were many stories in the local media of the damage. One woman thought the neighbours had slammed their door; someone else witnessed the perfume bottles on her vanity unit rattle. Whilst a man in the local technology shop thought it was part of a new interactive iPad demonstration he was watching. Genuinely all those stories were reported, none were from my imagination!

I will be holding a survivor's concert though to raise money for those traumatised by the event. Please do give generously it all goes to an important fund (and definitely not my model allowance)!

Despite all this carnage there was still time for some relaxed painting. Seriously who wouldn't enjoy painting in this environment?



And the good news is that I've managed to lick off a couple of stage of my Forsaken unit. As is typical for me there's painting guide for no one to read. And before you say it, no I wasn't painting these during the earthquake – rude!!

128.2 Forsaken Painting Guide Stages 1-2

Forsaken Painting Guide – Stage 1





Wood: Drybrush Codex Grey
Base: Steel Legion Drab
Skulls/Horns: Steel Legion Drab
Boots, Belts and Straps: Scorched Brown
Silver Metal: Chainmail
Chainmail: Drybrush Chainmail
Light Gold Metal: Tin Bitz
Dark Gold Metal: Tin Bitz
Blue Cloth: Necron Abyss
Flesh: Rakarth Flesh
Flames: Skull White
Light Blue Trim: Shadow Grey

Forsaken Painting Guide – Stage 2





Wood: Drybrush Fortress Grey
Base: Baneblade Brown
Skulls/Horns: Wash Nuln Oil
Boots, Belts and Straps: Wash Nuln Oil
Silver Metal: Wash Drakenhof Nightshade
Chainmail: Wash Drakenhof Nightshade
Light Gold Metal: Auric Armour Gold
Dark Gold Metal: Shining Gold
Blue Cloth: Layer Regal Blue
Flesh: Wash Drakenhof Nightshade or Carroburg Crimson or Cassandora Yellow or Leviathan Purple
Flames: Layer Bad Moon Yellow, then layer Sunburst Yellow
Light Blue Trim: Layer Space Wolves Grey

128.3 Get In Touch

Ok so I haven't sent you a postcard, sorry get over it. But if you want to tell me how amazing I am you can. Just feel free to comment here, and/or harass me on Twitter @ProbyNumbers I literally can't wait. No literally, I have nothing else to do...

Still waiting...

[TkaiC]

I still don't see the point of Forsaken (I mean, they're spawn right?  But not full spawn yet?  Why?) but those are looking suitable lurid.  9 days to get them done, tick tock!

[cunningmatt]

I still don't see the point of Forsaken (I mean, they're spawn right?  But not full spawn yet?  Why?) but those are looking suitable lurid.  9 days to get them done, tick tock!

Chaos Spawn-lite I like to refer to them as. Yes I need to get painting, I have a bloody wedding to go this weekend as well - wrong to paint in the church during the service?

[roland murat]

Glad to see you put your holiday to good use. Guernsey is a nice place.

[cunningmatt]

Glad to see you put your holiday to good use. Guernsey is a nice place.

Yes it's lovely, I could retire there (today if possible)!

[cunningmatt]

Procrastination by Numbers: Update 129 Oops I Did It Again! Tuesday 29th July 2014



129.1 The Next Project

So something bad has happened since we last spoke, no I haven't been questioned under Operation Yew Tree. Nor have I developed a new biogenic weapon. But nearly as bad, I may have decided to start a new army. Oops. How did this happen?

Well firstly it's worth pointing out I've been considering a new army for a little while. My High Elves are pretty much done.


*yes I need to do a full army shot with my few new bits – it's a lot of effort!!

I'm thinking of adding a Frostheart Phoenix as I enjoyed painting the flaming one. Maybe some Shadow Warriors as the new kit is cool. And maybe Eltharion the Grim just for completeness - and model nostalgia. Which actually isn't very much!

The Beastmen are even closer to being there.



I have a handful of special characters for these on the painting table which I'm planning to sort out for them. And barring new book and a shed load of new models, I'm done for the Beastmen.

The Warriors of Chaos are supposed to be taking up the bulk of my painting time at present.


*this is a really old army shot, I really must take a new one!!

Which they are sort of, more on that later in this blog. But supposing I finish my Tale of OG Gamers. Possibly a big suppose. But if so this army will be complete by Christmas.

That leaves my classic Dwarf army which I'm likely to be revisiting with the odd model/unit in response to the new book/releases.


*turns out I have no photos of my Dwarf army – something I will rectify soon, in the meantime here are three Dwarf Rangers!!

And lastly there's my Ultramarine army. I'm enjoying painting the Ultramarines. I've even added some bits, which I'll mention in a bit.


*ok this is a rubbish army shot, but if you're good I'll take a new one!!

Ok this army isn't quite a finished army, but they're pretty close to decent table top size (currently just short of 1,500 points) - and to be honest there's only so much blue plus a few details I can paint in one sitting!!

So what is the next project going to be? Well I've toyed with a number of Warhammer armies for a while Dark Elves (or possibly Wood Elves) would make a fun counterpoint to my High Elves - painting new versions of designs/styles I'm very familiar with. Bretonnians and Orcs & Goblins are also up there - I have classic 4th/5th edition armies of both these. And then there's always been a temptation to paint The Empire - I seem to remember someone putting it well in a White Dwarf, or similar, that "The Empire are interesting as they are the eyes and ears through which we see the rest of the Warhammer world".  Which I think is very good way of explaining my long standing temptation to dabble with these guys.

However I've not done any of these. The problem with Warhammer armies is that I got interested in Warhammer as a young teen, and generally you have the strongest feelings for the things you enjoyed at that age. What this means is that I have an affinity to each of the units, for example when I painted my High Elves - Shadow Warriors, Phoenix Guard, Dragon Princes, Lothern Sea Guard have all been kicking around in my mind since then - and the collector in me wants to paint them all! And whilst that would be fun to start another Warhammer army, knowing that I would want a unit of 40 Night Goblins with Bows, and with Spears or all the Dark Elf units or the full set of Bretonnians, seems both a daunting expense. Plus it's going to take up a huge amount of room and cost - neither of which are at a great abundance presently. It's not a "no" to a new Warhammer army forever - just now feels like a bad time. Conversely Warhammer 40,000 is new to me, it doesn't have a history. I've enjoyed painting up some new Ultramarines every now and again - but I don't feel a compulsion to complete the book. I paint the models I like or feel like they are missing from the table top and that's it. It's quite refreshing really. In fact a few months ago I undercoated a load of individual models from different armies.



And I've been flitting between these models ever since, a few have been finished and made it to this blog, others are still to come. But don't worry I will bore you with then at some point.

Anyway the point of all this waffle is that a new Warhammer 40,000 army would add a new small set of models I can flit between alongside odd bits and pieces for my current armies.m And so I've made a decision... and the new army will be. Drum roll please. Brrrbrbrbrbrbr - how do you write the sound of a drum roll? Sorry I'm distracted. The next army will be... Orks (with a k not a c). Durr durr durrrhhhh!

129.2 New Army Guilt

Cue bit where I justify to you and myself why this isn't such a bad idea, to mitigate the guilt I'm feeling – come on we all know that sensation?!!!!

Ok so after saying I can't collect a massive army, I go for a big horde army? What am I thinking? Well no, it's not that bad, though I was tricked chiefly by a good opportunity. Yes I will be picking up the Storm Claw, in fairness Tom C will be keeping the Space Wolves and I'm going halves for the Orks, plus we'll have shared custody of the new small format rule book.

Given I spent £18 hunting down the 6th edition rule book on eBay, £30 ish for access to the rule book and a decent number of Orks doesn't seem that bad. Plus I already have all the Orks from Assault on Black Reach, that I bought to start my Ultramarines. So my logic is I get a decent sized painting project underway for £30ish, plus the cost of a few new colours and probably the Codex. I get to paint Greenskins, without opening up the Pandora's box of thousands of pounds of Savage Orcs, Forest Goblins and Snotling Pump Wagons. If I like painting the Orks I could add a few more, some of the new kits look good. But no great loss if I don't, I only spent £30 on models!

Obviously this is the plan, cut to four years later when I have painted an entire Goff clan and defaulted on the rent!

Another advantage of this is both me and Tom like the idea of trying out some themed linked battles to help hone our Warhammer 40,000 rules knowledge (in my case learn). So the box set will hopefully do that!

129.3 Ultramarine Painting Corner

Above I mentioned I'd made a few additions to my Ultramarines. After recent games I've realised my army is primarily full of Troop choices. Good for the basics, but it really lacks the killer punch of some Heavy Support. So I've added a Vindicator – after borrowing one of these in a game and seeing how everyone backed away from it, it seems impressive. And a Devastator Squad to bring some extra Heavy Weapons – yes I know I shouldn't have painted a mix of heavy weapons, they should have four the same for maximum efficiency. But that looks dull. After some advice I've tried to choose weapons that all have similar range so at least they should all manage to shoot when picking off a target.

So here's the new units...

















And as a treat here's the army as it currently stands...









A perfect counter point to the Orks I'm about to start. In fact if this was 5th edition you could say my painting was topical!

129.4 Tale of OG Gamers: Tzeentch Warriors – Week 7

Oh and finally onto the thing I am supposed to be doing...

We've got a handful of days of July left, the good news I have to report is that I'm broadly on track to finish the Forsaken by then. The good news is this is by far the biggest unit for this army. So in terms of effort I think this is the hardest month under control. Obviously I'm always insanely busy towards the end of the year, but who knows this could actually happen!

Do I have anything to add about my army progress this week? Any exciting anecdotes?

Errr.... No. But I've at least painted Stage 3!

129.5 Forsaken Painting Guide Stage 3

Forsaken Painting Guide – Stage 3





Wood: DONE
Base: Baneblade Brown
Skulls/Horns: Layer Baneblade Brown, then layer Rakarth Flesh
Boots, Belts and Straps: Highlight Scorched Brown
Silver Metal: Highlight Mithril Silver
Chainmail: Drybrush Mithril Silver
Light Gold Metal: Wash Gryphonne Sepia, then highlight 5:1 Auric Armour Gold/Mithril Silver
Dark Gold Metal: NONE
Blue Trim: Layer 2:1 Regal Blue/Enchanted Blue
Flesh: Layer Rakarth Flesh
Flames: Layer Golden Yellow, then layer Fiery Orange
Light Blue Cloak: Wash Drakenhof Nightshade

129.6 Get In Touch

That's your lot this week, hopefully next week I'll be telling you about how I've finished my first month's models for the Tale of OG Gamers, or failing that I won't write anything. In the meantime do get in contact on here, or on Twitter @ProbyNumbers

Until Update 130...

[Berimbolo]

Man I don't know how you have the motivation to paint all this, great work.

[cunningmatt]

Man I don't know how you have the motivation to paint all this, great work.

I don't get out much! Cheers much appreciated.

[cunningmatt]

Procrastination by Numbers: Update 130 A Brief Gasp of Success! Tuesday 5th August 2014



130.1 Tale of OG Gamers: Tzeentch Warriors – Week 8

So the time of reckoning is upon us (technically it passed last week but you're ruining the mood by bringing that up). This is the time that will make or break heroes, this is the time that will see cities fall and civilizations tumble. Have I painted my 20 Forsaken by the end of July (cough cough I know it's the 5th of August)? (I have also realised finally it is spelt "Forsaken", not "Foresaken" apologies to all of you grinding your teeth in British anger at my spelling)

Well the good news is yes I have. 20 Forsaken done, yes it is a couple of days late, but in fairness this is probably the biggest quantity of models I'll be doing of any month so I am sure none of you will complain. Failure to comply will result in me smacking you with a wet flip flop.

Here's some juicy photos to whet your appetite. Of course there is a full photo guide to come!! I know you don't care, but I don't care you don't care even if you don't care that I don't care that you don't care. I still don't care.







I have to be honest I wasn't sure whether I'd like the Forsaken models. There's a tendency with Chaos Mutations for the models and conversions to go over the top and look a bit too comical in my opinion. Things like the old Chaos Mutations frame spring to mind, plus sometimes I see Chaos conversions on Twitter/Games Workshop magazines that look downright daft. There's clearly a huge potential for the Forsaken to cross that line, and while a couple of the parts probably do, what has won me over is the fact that these models take a lot of cues from the Chaos Warrior kit - even though it's far older. Whilst some of the heads are a bit crazy, I like the fact that the armour they are bursting through is very much like the Chaos Armour of the Chaos Warriors, they even share the same boots - those that wear boots! So while the Forsaken probably are never going to replace Chaos Warriors, Chosen and Chaos Knights in terms of what I think a Chaos Warrior should be. I have enjoyed painting them and adding them to my collection.

Painting wise it's my usual Tzeentch painting colour scheme. I added an extra glaze of Guilliman Blue to the silver armour and really liked it - so may have to go back and add that to all my army. Fortunately I suspect you can't glaze over a varnish coat so I might be saved from that chore. Otherwise it was the skin that was unique to these models. I didn't want to paint them just solely bright blues/pinks/purples as that richness of tone I think is reserved for Daemons and Chaos Spawn, so instead I painted them a neutral colour (Rakarth Flesh) before washing them with the colours of Tzeentch (blue, pink, purple or yellow) then highlighting them up with neutral colours (Rakarth Flesh then Ushabti Bone). This seemed to do a good job of giving them an unnatural skin colour, but not quite taking them all the way up to the full on mutated level of Spawn.

Anyway enough of this waffle and onto the painting guide (contain yourselves). Here's Stage 4:

130.2 Forsaken Painting Guide Stage 4

Forsaken Painting Guide – Stage 4





Wood: DONE
Base: Drybrush Ushabti Bone, then flock with Scorched Grass, then Citadel Snow, then Citadel Snow (with Skull White paint)
Skulls/Horns: Layer Ushabti Bone
Boots, Belts and Straps: Highlight Bestial Brown
Silver Metal: Wash Gulliman Blue
Chainmail: Wash Gulliman Blue
Light Gold Metal: DONE
Dark Gold Metal: Wash Gryphonne Sepia, then highlight 5:1 Shining Gold/Mithril Silver
Blue Trim: Layer 1:1 Regal Blue/Enchanted Blue
Flesh: Highlight Ushabti Bone
Flames: Highlight Blazing Orange
Light Blue Cloak: Highlight Space Wolves Grey

130.3 Get In Touch

Time for a lie down and a rest. What do you mean I've got to now start painting August's models? Aggghhh!!!! Well in the meantime you can get in touch as usual, comments or Twitter: @ProbyNumbers - all welcome all appreciated!