Frostfang Ogre Tribe 09/05/2013 Ogre Bulls

03 Jul 2012

So why ogres? Personally its a mix of the awesome models, ability to play/contribute to every phase of the game and the challenge of painting something I'm not very good at, human(ish) flesh. I'm not gonna lie or make excuses I'm a band wagoner, I never owned any ogre models until a few weeks ago but I have always liked the chubby buggers. When the first book came out I picked it up (I have owned all of the army books at one point or another since 6th edition) and really liked the story and how they "fleshed" out (pun intended) what was once just another monster. They really are unique to GW and the idea of this ravenous race of warlike monsters really is quite fun. The areas of the world discussed like the mountains of mourn and distant Cathay really struck a cord with me, I've always really liked hearing stories set in epic mountainous regions and the idea of this race that lived and fought on top of the world was really cool!

So what have I decided to collect? As I've said before I like to have one of everything and a good mixed army which actually looks like an army(shock horror!) and plays in a really fun way. So without further ado here's what I've got so far:

2x Ogre Battalions
2x Mournfang boxes
1x scrap launcher
1x ironblaster
1x thundertusk
1x stonehorn
1x box of ogre bulls
1x pirate maneater

With this I'm going to build:
1x Hunter on stonehorn (got a really cool idea for him....)
1x hunter on foot (kit bashed)
1x tyrant (kit bashed)
1x brusier bsb (kit bashed)
1x butcher/slaughtermaster (kit bashed)
9x ogre bulls
16x iron guts
8x lead belchers
1x thundertusk
1x ironblaster
1x scrap launcher
4x mournfangs with heavy armour and ironfists

And still to buy is:
40-60 empire free company (used as gnoblars)
5 maneaters
1 firebelly
1 butcher/slaughter master
1 giant
2x rat ogres (to be converted to gorgers)
10x fernrisian wolves (used as sabretusks)

I've been reading Game of Thrones and I'm inspired to theme my army as an army of wildlings north of the wall. Pitching against this will be my friends new army he's working on, a middenheim themed empire army based on an army of the starks. He's using thunder wolves to represent demi gryph knights, which will be all sorts of cool and is even alluded to in the empire fluff. We hope to play border skirmishes as we build up our armies depicticing some skirmishes along and beyond the wall. In the game of thrones books they often mention 10ft tall giants (ogres) and mammoths (thundertusks) beyond the wall in Manse Rayders warband (the king beyond the wall) so I think this could work in many ways thematically.

To also ground this in the warhammer world, my ogre army will be from some of the mountains in Norsca which is raiding down into middenland and kislev. My friend's army will be mainly made up of white wolves, free company and dire wolf cavalry (demi gryphs). Were aiming to build our armies up over the next six months playing 600pt, 1200pt, 2400pt and 3000pt games as we progress through the painting.

Speaking of painting, it will come as no surprise that I'm going to do a lot of snow basing (another first for me) and in general really try to improve my basing. If I'm honest, basing is probably the single worst element in my lizardman army and its something I wish I had spent more time on. If anyone knows a good place I can find tutorials on basing it would be much appreciated

. So the main colours in the army will be flesh, blue, white, browns, blood stains and rusts. I'm going to try quite a few different flesh hues to make the army more realistic but nothing too tanned to keep it in keeping with the northern tundra feel. The blue is going to be a deep navy blue up to a fairly bright blue, with sky blue edge highlights.

Blue will definately be the unifying colour, like red is on my lizards. Having a uniform spot colour definately makes a huge difference to the overall look of an army and makes it much more cohesive overall as a single piece. I really prefer having an almost cartoony clean bright colour in an army like gw schemes, compared to the ultra real "dipped" armies which are common these days, so this should be a fun scheme to do this with. I will also use the deep blue for tatoos and tribal markings on the ogres which I think could look really good.

The other new technique I will be learning is painting rust using stippling, I'm not sure I will nesscesarily go the full dirty rust look, instead maybe following a technique I saw on a youtube video (below this paragraph) which looked incredible on a stonehorn/thudertusk.
I think I might also try my hand at free hand banners which, on an ogre army, should be relatively easy daubing white teeth, maws and skulls onto dark blue backgrounds. Also with the light uses of red for blood stains the banners should really stand out. On the topic of blood, I'm going to try doing the patented gw blood stained feeding hand on a couple of models to see how it looks. I'll try it out on the bulls first to see how it looks in contrast to the blue and pale northern skin.

All in all I'm really looking forward to starting the ogres and I feel I'm doing it for all the right reasons: improving my hobbying, challenging myself and most importantly, having loads of fun!
So over the next few weeks ill be posting up some tester models for the ogres, hopefully some battle reports with the lizards and I might also do some unit reviews on the lizardmen. I'm by no means an expert on them but I have really spent a lot of time thinking with a cold blooded brain.

Well until next time peeps, take care and I hope all your parry saves are 6s!

03 Jul 2012

I started a blog a few weeks ago and will be replicating it here on the Ogre Stronghold as well, this post will act as "contents" page to allow people to easily navigate the thread!

In the mean time here's a few links to some of the posts so far

03 Jul 2012

Just to get it here nice n early in the blog here are my Ogre Achievements!

1. ~~Gettin Started - Play a game of warhammer using the new ogre book~~
2. ~~Going Large - Play a game of warhammer of over 2000 points using the new ogre book~~
3. ~~Brace for impact! - During a game, an ogre unit successfully charges and rolls 10+ on the dice~~
4. ~~I'm in charge! - play a game with the new book using a tyrant in your army~~
5. Incoming! - during a game, lose at least 3 ogres to a single war machine shot
6. ~~look what we can do! - have a mornfang rider successfully parry an attack~~
7. ~~Oooo, shiny! - buy one of the models new to the ogre range~~
8. ~~That's huge! - build a stonehorn or thundertusk model~~
9. ~~Sigh! - lose more than 3 ogres to any one casting of a spell that involved you taking an initiative test as part of it's resolution~~
10. I didn't mean it lads - lose a spellcaster to the "snake eyes" effect of grut's sickle
11. ~~Boom! Hur, Hur, Hur - field a unit of 5+ leadbelchers and shoot with them at least 4 times in a single game.~~
12. ~~Say hello to my little friend! - field an ironblaster in your army~~
13. ~~Still loving it - play 5 games using the new book rules~~
14. ~~Crush the thinlings - take a new book ogre army to a tournament~~
15. getting colder - field a thundertusk OR a unit of yhetees in your army
16. it's freezing! - field more than one thunder tusk AND a unit of yhettes in your army
17. Getting warmer! - field a firebelly in your army
18. Hot! Hot! - field more than one firebelly in your army
19. Unleash Hell! - field 2 scraplaunchers and 2 iron blasters in your army
20. ~~One for the cauldron - paint an ogre model and post it on the stronghold~~
21. ~~Paint a unit of ogres~~
22. ~~Here Kitty! - field 1 or more lone sabretusks in your army~~
23. Win a game using ogres vs. beastmen.
24. Win a game using ogres vs. Dwarfs
25. Does this taste funny to you? - Win a game using ogres vs. Daemons of chaos
26. Win a game using ogres vs. High elves
27. ~~Win a game using ogres vs. Wood elves~~
28. Win a game using ogres vs. Dark elves
29. franzfurters - Win a game using ogres vs. Empire
30. ~~Tastes like chicken - Win a game using ogres vs. Lizardmen~~
31. Stake Out - Win a game using ogres vs. Vampire counts
32. Past their sell-by date - win a game using ogres vs. Tomb kings
33. ~~Eat your greens - Win a game using ogres vs. orcs and goblins~~
34. ~~Win a game using ogres vs. Warriors of chaos~~
35. Overtyrant - win a game using ogres vs. Ogres
36. Tinned food - win a game using ogres vs. Bretonnia
37. Rats! - win a game using ogres vs. Skaven
38. ~~Convert one of the new range of ogre models~~
39. ~~Oops! - destroy either a scraplauncher or an ironblaster with a misfire~~
40. We don't bicker! - field an army containing 4+ units of gnoblars
41. No auto-wounds for you! - have a butcher or slaughtermaster get hit with a poisoned attack
42. ~~What that coming over the hill? - field a unit of 4+ mornfangs~~
43. ~~Now you see me - field a unit of scouting maneaters~~
44. Hunger! - field 3 gorgers in an army
45. ~~Hahahaha! - kill 3+ models in a single use of the gnoblar trappers rule.~~
46. Fork in the eye! - kill an enemy character with a scraplauncher killing blow
47. I'm special - field any one of the ogre special characters in your army
48. The maw! - successfully use the large template version of the maw spell to kill an enemy model
49. the maw the merrier! - have the large template version ofmaw spell roll a misfire and kill one or more of your ogres.
50. Oh no you don't - use the greedy fist item to consume the magical properties of a weapon
51. I Heart you - use the hellheart to cause miscasts in 2+ enemy wizards in one use.
52. hole is where the heart is - cause an enemy wizard to dimensional cascade and go down a hole using the hellheart.
53. Its mine, MINE! - use the gnoblar Thiefstone to steal an item from an enemy character.
54. Just the lads - field an army containing ONLY ogres, no animals, gnoblars, etc. Bonus if you also win.
55. You can't touch this - pass a 4+ ward vs flaming with a firebelly.
56. ~~Start a gnoblog for your ogre army~~
57. ~~Update pics into your ogre gnoblog on at least 4 seperate occasions.~~
58. Use the thunder mace in a game to kill 10+ models with thunder crush attacks (does not have to be all in one attack)
59. ~~Why do I bother? - lose 3 games in a row with your ogre army~~
60. Overpowered! - win 3 games in a row with your ogre army.
61. That's no place for a hatchet - roll a 2 on the scraplauncher misfire chart
62. ~~Jugger! - roll a 10+ when successfully charging with a stone horn~~
63. Re-roll this! - subject 3+ high elf units to numbing chill in the same combat phase
64. Oh shi-! - Have a slaughermaster or butcher die from rolling a 1 on Bloodgruel.
65. Seigebroken - Hit a building with Seigebreaker.
66. OH GOD MY FACE! - Kill an enemy character with the chaintrap from the Thundertusk.
67. Dancing On Sunshine -. Have a character pass his Initative test from being hit by Purple Sun
68. Sunburned - Kill an Ogre with a Purple Sun that YOU cast.
69. Why Can't I Hold All These Items? - Roll 120pts for Golgfag magic item allowance.
70. ~~Buffy The Ogre Caster - Have all of your Slaughtermasters spells be augments.~~
71. It's Rude To Bragg - Have Bragg kill a Large Target in a challenge.
72. ~~WHAT THE FU-BOOOM! - Destroy an enemy model with an Ironblaster misfire.~~
73. Soups on! - Have Skrag kill enough models to unlock all of his special rules in one game
74. ~~Crusher - play 10 games with the new ogre book~~
75. ~~Bruiser - play 20 games with the new ogre book~~
76. Tyrant - play 50 games with the new ogre book
77. Maneater - play with the new ogre book in 5 different venues
78. ~~ker-splat! - kill an enemy unit with just your impact hits alone.~~
79. ~~Box clever - construct, buy or convert a new carry case for your ogre army~~
80. ~~Altered beast power up! - boost every unit in your army with a single augment from the lore of the great maw~~
81. ~~...and you play Ogres!? - Have more war machine weapons in your army than your opponent.~~
82. Small, but many -have a gnoblar horde break an enemy unit.
83. We're all there - have a unit of at least 12 ogres get into the enemy deployment zone with no casualties taken.
84. My horde is bigger then yours - have an ogre horde break an enemy horde.
85. So much power lost - have an ogre unit roll 10 or more and still fail a charge.
86. Rambo or Conan? - have a lone ogre lose a combat but pass his break test.
87. You call that a club?.... THIS is a club - cause 6 S10's with Siegebreaker on a unit occupying a building.
88. Ogre zoo - Paint at least one of the Stonehorn, Thundertusk, Mournfang and Sabretusk models.
89. She's a Maaaaaneater! - paint the female Maneater model.
90. They're not bloody Eagles you know! - Run a Hunter in a unit of 5 or more Sabretusks.
91. But they're soooo cute! - Fill your whole core with Gnoblars.
92. Bird brained - kill an enemy model with a hunter's blood vulture.
93. Timber! - lose an ogre when a giant (yours or your opponent's) falls on one of your units.
94. Thinling roast! - kill 5 enemy models with a single firebelly breath weapon blast
95. Cats paw - Kill a skaven weapon team with a sabretusk
96. Halitosis - use 3 breath weapon attacks in a single game.
97. Billy no-mates - field an army with only 1 character in it. He cannot deploy in a unit or join one. Bonus if he survives the game.
98. ~~Steady now! - Use freehand to paint a banner for an ogre unit~~
99. ~~Da lads! - post a pic of your entire army on the stronghold in your ogre gnoblog.~~
100. Feast master - place 1st, or best in race, at a tournament.
101. Brrrr! - field more than one thundertusk in your army OR more than one unit of yhettes in your army

04 Jul 2012

So here's my first stab at the Ogres and decided to paint this one first because:

A. He's the only Ogre I have assembled
B. He's one of my favourite models ever produced
C. I had some very rare man time this weekend!

It was also my first time using the new GW paints, which to be honest I was really impressed with despite the internet hate. So you will have noticed my crappy basing (and even worse use of the photoshop magic wand cropping tool) which I am trying to improve upon, I used the Mourn Mountain Snow textured paint which was quite good, if difficult to apply. I'm not sure if it is a replacement for traditional glue, sand and paint or GW snow effects but I can definitely see a good use for it painted on top of banners or other static cold features. I've still got a wee bit of tidying to do just to finish off the model (maybe improve the Parrot Gnoblar beak and sort the base.

Flesh
I used the Bugman's Glow Base paint for the flesh and it applied perfectly over a black undercoat on a metal model which is usually as disaster for me so big thumbs up for that. It was then washed down with Reikland Fleshtone which also worked a treat. Not sure this model was the best test for it tho as the flesh/fat is rather flat but it worked well on his face. I then layered up with Bestigor Flesh which was a nice tone for the ogres. I then applied a mix of Bestigor Flesh and Flat Flesh (Vallejo Model Colour) and a final highlight of pure Flat Flesh.

Blue
The blue was quite easy, just a layer of Vallejo Regal Blue, washed with Asurmen Blue highlighted with blue/white mix and then a final layer of GW Guiliman Blue Glaze. Im not 100% sold on the glaze yet but I think it was because I was using it incorrectly. I used it like a wash and it just pooled in the recesses so I think it is best to use a small amount apply slowly on the surface you want glazed.

Red
The red was very easy, Dark Red then washed with devlan mud, highlighted with normal red and then edge highlighted with red/white mix.

Rusted Metal
Im not sure this turned out how I had wanted but I think it works. Used Warplock Bronze Base, which applied really well, then dry brushed with Hashut Copper Layer, then washed with Devlan mud and then dry brushed/edge highlighted with Lead Belcher Dry Compound. The Dry compound worked really well actually it was a bit weird at first but my only advice would be not to put to much on your brush. Finally I applied a watered down red to the hitty ends to give the blood stains.

Overall im really happy with him, I espeically enjoyed doing the flesh (normally my worst nightmare) with the new paints so Im looking forward to painting more Ogres!

04 Jul 2012

So I finished the first of my Frostfang Ogre Tribe last night, really happy with him to be honest, probably one of the best models I've painted. I used a few new techniques (to me anyway!) painting rust and verdigris, im not sure they have turned out how it should have but I'm really happy if I'm honest. I used only the new GW paints to do him and I have to say that they are great! Bugman's Glow Base in particular was outstanding and made painting flesh so easy. So definitely a big thumbs up from me and personally I would ignore the internet negativity! Each Mournfang will be painted with a different fur colour; brown, white, black and grey. It should add some nice variety to the unit and will keep going with my Game of Thrones Wildling theme. Does anyone have any tips on painting white fur, quite intimidated after the albino Scar Vet incident?!

I'm going to hang fire on basing him for the moment and test out a few different methods and if anyone knows some good cheap tufts of dead grass or has some advice on basing with sand please get in touch. Im a bit of a noob when it comes to basing having graduated from the Goblin green school of thought from a few (well more than a few!) years back. As always please let me know your thoughts!

04 Jul 2012

So heres the painted models so far in my up and coming Frostfang Ogre Tribe. Really enjoying them so far and keen to get on with the rest of the army! Speaking of which here's a pic of what Ive got primed and assembled at the moment! I primed, de-mould lined and based them at the weekend.

04 Jul 2012

Last night I did some work on my converted butcher, Buhba The Meatmaster "Butcher Extraordinare", who will be my LvL2 Maw Butcher. I'm quite chuffed with him, it was a very simple conversion just using plastic spares from other kits. I think I'm getting the hang of ogre flesh and the new GW paints are really awesome only cadian flesh is a bit questionable, here's my scheme:

Bugmans Glow Base
Reikland Fleshtone Wash
Bestigor Flesh Layer
Bestigor Flesh/Cadian Flesh 50/50 mix surface highlight
Cadian Flesh highlight
Cadian Flesh/Basic Skintone (Valejo Model Colour) edge highlight
Basic Skintone Extreme edge highlight
Let me know what you think always need critical feedback!

04 Jul 2012

I really like the highlights on the ogres skin looks really good. I have been trying to do some highlights and havent had much luck making em look realistic. I like your butcher alot too, cool conversion.

04 Jul 2012

Painted my first ogre leadbelcher yesterday, pretty happy with him but I need to work on getting flames better before I paint my Firebelly! I'm getting used to doing the flesh now and I think it is working quite well, up close its not quite as good as I would like but the effect from 2ft away on the table is nice! I can't wait to have my first unit painted. Let me know what you think!

04 Jul 2012

I really like the highlights on the ogres skin looks really good. I have been trying to do some highlights and havent had much luck making em look realistic. I like your butcher alot too, cool conversion.

Thanks mate! I use a really simple method, that I detailed on the ogre butcher. I think it works really well and is dead easy

Im gonna do a stage by stage guide on my blog (http://paint-hammer.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Ogres) soon so hopefully that will help you!

Always nice to get feedback!

05 Jul 2012

Your doing a very good job! If you want I can help you:
Rust: Tin bitz with Scorched Brown (1:1) basecoat.
Drybrush any imperfections there might be on the model with Blazing Orange mixed with the base mix. (2:1:1)
Drybrush with Boltgun Metal.
Highlight sharp edges with Chainmail or Mithril Silver.
Voilá!
Blood:
Basecoat with Scab Red.
Layer Res gore over half the area of Scab Red.
Layer Blood Red over half the area of Red Gore.
Use Flesh Wash or some dark brown ink to fully cover all red areas.
Final highlighting with Blood Red.
Ardcoat it to make it look wet and fresh.
The results are amazing!
I like your mournfang, but (not trying to be rude) didn't you say you were painting them White with shiny blue eyes? I like your conversions too! So you need help with the flames huh? Let me help you.
Fire: Basecoat with Sunburst yellow.
Layer with Blazing Orange.
Wash with Yellow Ink or Glaze.
Wash agan with Orange Ink or Glaze.
Repeat with yellow. Repeat with Orange.
Highlight with Sunburst yellow.
Highlight other areas with Blazing Orange.
Wash with the two inks again. (Only once)
Drybrush the "raised areas" with Blazing Orange.
Drybrush again with Sunburst yellow.
Bingo! You have the coolest (or hottest) flames ever!

05 Jul 2012

Thanks mate, ill print that off and give it a go!

RE mournfang, yeah that was my initial thought but decided I would do each a different fur colour like the Dire Wolves in the Game of Thrones Series

Next one will be white!

05 Jul 2012

So I painted my first ogre Bull last night and im pretty happy with the results, I think Ive got my rusted/scraped metal technique down:

Basecoat: Warplock Bronze

Layer (Either depending on whether it will be steel or bronze): Oily Steel (Valejo Model colour) or Hashutt Copper

Wash with loads of Nuln Oil

Then Finally pick out all the edges (feathering on blades) and raised parts with Runefang Silver and highlight the raised bronze surfaces with Bronze (Valejo Model colour)

Easy Peasy! I still need to go back and do some tattoos so will do that late tonight!

09 Jul 2012

His right arm looks a bit... wonky.

10 Jul 2012

His right arm looks a bit... wonky.

Yeah I think the picture isnt doing it justice, I was trying to give him a slightly different stance so it looked like he was turning, not sure it worked tho lol! Cheers for the input tho!

10 Jul 2012

So I got a bit of #hobbytime in last night and painted up my Ogre Mournfang Standard Bearer carrying what will most likely be the Dragonhide Banner. I really enjoyed working on him I just wish I had been a bit braver and painted the Symbol a bit bigger. I was trying to copy the fist grabbing the bleed heart from the Ogre Army Book but its not quite there. It's my first attempt at a free hand banner and I suppose ogres should be one of the easiest armies to try out and develop on! Anyway let me know what you think, has anyone got any tips on doing free hand banners? Eg planning, pre marking?

10 Jul 2012

These guys look great. Love the flesh tone - very clean especially considering you were saying you weren't too great at flesh towards the beginning of this blog. Look forward to seeing your next update!

10 Jul 2012

Very cool, but I think you might be using too much ink or wash as the model now has a shine. I suggest give the skull, horns and tusks a drybrush of bleached bone.
When I paint banners I make an outline of where the shape will be. Then using lines, draw the shape. I use a new stroke each direction for ogres as it gets the best result. Then I fill in the shape with the chosen colour. Clean up any mistakes and you are done.

10 Jul 2012

These guys look great. Love the flesh tone - very clean especially considering you were saying you weren't too great at flesh towards the beginning of this blog. Look forward to seeing your next update!

Thanks mate yeah really wasn't confident with humanish flesh and previously really wasn't happy with my results on other armies. However the new GW paints (Bugman's Glow Base in particular) have really made it a lot easier and helped a great deal! My previous army of lizardmen nicely side stepped any need for these skills so haven't had a proper chance to improve/develop! So hopefully after doing another 40-50 ogres + all the lovely new beasties ill be a better painter for it!

10 Jul 2012

Very cool, but I think you might be using too much ink or wash as the model now has a shine. I suggest give the skull, horns and tusks a drybrush of bleached bone.
When I paint banners I make an outline of where the shape will be. Then using lines, draw the shape. I use a new stroke each direction for ogres as it gets the best result. Then I fill in the shape with the chosen colour. Clean up any mistakes and you are done.

Yeah I'm a bit of a washaholic so probably need to lower the quantity, might also be the light when I took the pictures. I can't get decent images unless I hold the model up near the kitchen light! I agree dry brush might just lift them up a bit, will give that a go!

Thanks for the tip RE the banner, will try that out on my Bull unit's standard!

18 Jul 2012

Here's some pics of another Ogre Mournfang rider from my Frostfang tribe I finished him last night along with his proverbial mount. I tried a different fur colour with this one so that the unit is all unique, I don't think this one was my best work but I'm hoping that as a unit they will look good. I'm not completely settled on the last two fur colours but I'm thinking highland cow orange/ginger (did a test on another model while ill put up later in the week) and then the last I'm not sure about. I'm torn between a really dark scheme, black or dark brown perhaps or more blonde colour scheme, anyone got any suggestions?

This was also the first model I have used the new Agrax Earthshade, the replacement for Devlan Mud, and I can confidently say that it is nothing short of an improvement on what was widely considered perfection. It doesn't cloud or bubble like DM and seems just a little darker but not massively, if anything this highlights definition and recesses better. Count me as one very happy camper. On another note I also picked up Kislev flesh, which is a bloody miracle for me, it is basically the exact mix/blend of flesh colours I used to make to do my highlights so this has removed the time consuming element and has made it a hell of a lot more consistent, more realistic and less "extreme". Very happy camper! However I'm not quite as happy with Cadian Fleshtone, it might just be me and my technique but I have to apply loads of layers of this paint to get a good coverage, its a bit thin and watery. I know a lot of people like to water down their paints but I've never really taken to that method preferring paint to just be right first time. However a few layers of this paint does give a good finish, its just a bit more time consuming! Has anyone else had this problem or is it just my particular pot that is perhaps defective? Or should I just shut up and be a proper painted and embrace watered down paint!?

18 Jul 2012

Nice!

19 Jul 2012

Thanks buddy!

27 Jul 2012

So last night I was having a good hard look at characters in the Ogre Kingdoms book and noticed the amazingness that is the Ogre Bruiser. Previously I had merely looked at him as basically a BSB carrying system but when you really consider him against other races and even choices within the Ogre Book itself, he really stands out. For the paltry price of 105pts you get a M6 WS5, BS4, S5, T5, W4, I 3, A4 LD8 monstrous infantry with the Bull charge special rule. He is inherently immune to fear and killing blow, he has a stomp attack at his base strength (which can be boosted by some items, big names and spells) and can have D3 impacts on the charge. He rivals or even over shadows most races lords making him incredible value and in small pts games, an absolute monster!

Now when you compare this to a Scar Veteran, the poster child of the Lizardmen book you can really see some big benefits. Scar vets are 85pts a piece have very similar stat lines with the notable difference being only having 2 wounds rather than 4. So the ogre gains a stomp, impact hits, 2 wounds, immunity to KB and fear (while also causing fear) but loses Cold Blooded (which is admittedly awesome) and the ability to get a better armour save with being mounted on a cold one (1+ save easily). In fact a Scar Vet on a cold one is precisely the same as a Bruiser. The bull is slightly slower than a mounted scar vet but can quite quickly get the same speed or even faster if you fancy being a bit silly/fun. In pure terms of value I think the bruiser is one of the best standard heroes in the game and so I think I might try and squeeze a couple more in as mobile hard hitters to deal with heavily armour targets and nasty chaff. If you keep him under 150pts then he will also only give away one tournament point.

When comparing him against the mighty Tyrant he looks even more tempting, the Tyrant is double the points of a Bruiser but you do get some nasty extra bonuses: You get an extra WS, W, I, A and LD and obviously the 100pts of magic item/big name allowance. But would you rather have 2 Bruisers which collectively bring 8 wounds, 8 Attacks, 2 stomps and 2 impacts for the same initial investment. Obviously you can make some really nasty combinations using the 100pts of Tyrant magic items but personally 2 Bruisers sound a lot more enticing to me and I think could have some really nasty applications.

So in that vein here are some Bruiser build which I think could work really well, im steering clear of BSBs as that is a separate subject for another day:

Budget Bruiser:
Heavy armour and enchanted shield: 114pts

Big Brawler:
Heavy armour, dragonbane gem, enchanted shield, sword of Anti Heroes 149pts
(could add potion of speed, rock eye or Ironcurse icon to flavour as desired but will take you over the 150pt tournament thresh hold)

Long Strider
Heavy armour, Longstrider, Iron fist, dragon helm, Potion of Strength 163pts

Rocky Bruiser (Survivor) 1
Heavy Armour, talisman of preservation, enchanted shield 159pts

Rocky Bruiser (Survivor) 2
Heavy armour, dawnstone, enchanted shield, sword of might 159pts

Beater Bruiser
Heavy armour, giant breaker, swords of might, enchanted shield 159pts

Aladdin Bruiser
Heavy Armour, Arabyan Carpet, Great weapon 164pts

27 Jul 2012

I agree with you! Even the humble Butcher or Firebelly is better than most (or all) wizards.
I don't understand what you mean by the Tournament Threshold of 150 pts. Is that a rupe or something?

27 Jul 2012

I wouldn't go as far as to say that the Butcher or Firebelly are better than most wizards. At magic, they really aren't anywhere near better than most; they are mediocre. Where they exceed most wizards though, is their combat ability.

As for Tournament Threshold, I do believe it is reference to a particular style of tournament comp, whereby characters have different levels of points threshold, and you get handicapped accordingly.

JJ

27 Jul 2012

Great gnoblog! Thanks for putting this up.

28 Jul 2012

Thanks JJ, but that's what I meant by their combat skills.

31 Jul 2012

I agree with you! Even the humble Butcher or Firebelly is better than most (or all) wizards.
I don't understand what you mean by the Tournament Threshold of 150 pts. Is that a rupe or something?

hey guys thanks for the kind words! What I was meaning that in a 20-0 system you get 1 point for every unit you destroy upto a value of 149pts and for 150-299pts you get two tournament points. So if you keep your bruiser under 150pts you only lose 1 point when he is killed rather than 2 if you just exceed this. It is why MSU mournfang are so good, 2 mournfang with heavy armour and ironfists is just 140pts and packs a huge punch for it's points while only giving up 1 tournament point if it is killed

01 Aug 2012

So I have been toying around with some MSU (multiple small units) lists over the past few weeks and I'm getting closer to a list which I think would be very different to the standard 2400pt tournament build. I think ogres have some real potential as an MSU army with so many threats coming from all angles that the opponent will really struggle to deal with it. I think there is still alot to do to make this army fully functional but with a bit of work I think it could be a real winner.

The principal is simple, loads of drops and each one is a threat, 2 man mournfang units are amazingly good in my opinion, which pack a huge punch for their points and foot print. The lead belchers really hit hard and can give out a decent beating when buffed, so traditional chaff hunters will be wary about charging them. I have nothing but love for Gorgers and yes they aren't quite as good/cheap as last edition but they are still amazing value and 3 on the enemies back lines is a huge threat. My single gorger in my normal list has accounted for a Scar Vet, a Unit of Cold One Cav, an engineer, a cannon, a hellblaster, a lvl 4 wizard and many other bits and bobs! The Trappers are dirty filthy little buggers who love to be charged by Knight buses, since one in 6 is going to die in the attempt and are great at re-directing. The single Ironblaster is the obligatory choice, there to hunt down other warmachines and monsters, keep him close to the gutstar for the hopeful regen and LD/BSB. Finally the Gutstar, Slaughtermaster and BSB are the real meal of the army which when buffed can take on almost any Deathstar/Bus. Most of the list is just a delivery system for this unit but all the "chaff" in its own right is quite a threat (well charging the gnoblars is a threat lol!).

Let me know what you think, I know I should be trying to get some miscast protection and physical protection onto the Slaughtermaster but for the time being I want to test the list and figure out which of the units could be dropped/downsized to tool him up!

Slaughtermaster, LVL 4

Bruiser, BSB, Heavy Armour, Enchanted Shield, Dragonbane Gem, Sword of Anti Heroes, Ironcurse Icon

10 Ironguts, Full command, Standard of discipline, look out Gnoblar

10 Gnoblar Trappers

10 Gnoblar Trappers

10 Gnoblar Trappers

3 Leadbelchers, Musician

3 Leadbelchers, Musician

3 Leadbelchers, Musician

2 Mournfang Cavalry, Heavy Armour, Ironfist, musician

2 Mournfang Cavalry, Heavy Armour, Ironfist, musician

2 Mournfang Cavalry, Heavy Armour, Ironfist, musician

Gorger

Gorger

Gorger

Ironblaster

Total 2401pts

16 Aug 2012

Just another wee update of my ogres, not been able to paint as much recently due to work and going on holiday soon but managed to get a few things done for the hobby like this Leadbelcher. Really happy with him and I'm definitely getting a solid technique for the skin which is easy to follow and repeat! Let me know what you think!

16 Aug 2012

So I finished another Mournfang (who is delightfully called "stripe" by the girlfriend!) which nicely finishes the unit ready for my planned 1200pt game in September. I am absolutely over the moon with them, easily the best unit I have ever painted and I'm really excited to finish the ogres as hopefully the whole army will be finished to this standard. What do you guys think?

16 Aug 2012

I like the leadbelcher, he came out well.
Also Stripe and the rest of the mournfang look really good well done

17 Aug 2012

Thanks mate

17 Aug 2012

Your Mournfang have turned out brilliantly!

Well done! Keep up the good work

JJ

17 Aug 2012

Thanks mate, im really happy with them, just hope I can keep up the focus and complete the whole army to that standard!

17 Aug 2012

Great looking Mournfangs! Love the blood in the snow, too.

23 Aug 2012

Thanks mate,

the blood is just red wash/shade dripped onto the snow lol, dead easy and spreads pretty naturally!

23 Aug 2012

Making Your Own Magnetic Warhammer Movement Trays

So I thought I would do a very short and sweet step by step guide to making your own magnetic movement trays and easily magnetising models themselves. These trays are without a doubt the best improvement to my hobby that I have come across, reducing set up time for games, speeding up play allowing me to focus on the game and making pack up less off a chore!

Step 1
Take a magnetic whiteboard (called a lapboard) that is 3mm thick, preferably with at least 0.3mm thick sheet steel on each side. You want it on both sides so that the base does not warp over time and as with any composite material you want the exact same material in both type and quantity on each side to minimise this warping. Most board have a MDF core but the ones I used have a resin core. If you struggle to find these send me a message and I can sell you some.

Step 2
Cut to size using a band saw, as you are cutting steel, wear goggles, gloves and using a metal cutting blade (very small teeth). As it is a whiteboard marking up is easy using a pen. Try to plan out your most efficient cutting pattern to maximise your yield of movement trays from your boards. Remember that the blade/cutting process will take 1-2mm off the sheet depending on your skill. A metal file can be used to round sharp edges. When planning you cuts it is best to draw it out to scale (most boards are A4 so its pretty easy to draw to scale!). Remember if you want your trays based to match your army leave a suitable border. Be careful when adding sand/gravel not to encroach on model area as this makes placing your models a nightmare! Personally after my Lizardmen army I decided my Ogre movement trays would just be painted and only have 5mm border around the bases for tolerance.

Step 3
Next apply at least 2 strips of self adhesive magnetic tape to the bottom of your trays so that they will adhere to your magnetic carry case (skip this stage if you don't have one). You can buy 5m lengths of the tape off ebay for around £6. That will be enough to do a whole army and some trays.

Step 4
Stick some magnetic models on the tray just to show off.

Step 5
Stick your units on trays into your carry case and there you have it! An army in a box safe for transit which can be set up in under 1 minute!

23 Aug 2012

Cool!

30 Aug 2012

Hey Guys just thought I would share some pictures of my Frostfang Ogres so far! Really happy with the quality so far so now it is on to the hard slog of maintaining the quality, enthusiasm and feel of the army! The army is going to be huge (possible 6000pts of what I have here built and unbuilt). I'm going to spend of my banked hobby time (GF is away all weekend) building the Thundertusk, 7 Ogres, Stonehorn, Ironblaster and Scrap launcher. I have 3 Gorgers (Crypt Horrors), Firebelly and a Giant on their way too so loads still to do! If the rumours are true about the Warriors of Chaos release then ill buy 4 Dragon Ogres to be used as Mournfang and some chaos ogres to be used as maneaters/ironguts providing the models are awesome, which I am sure they will be! Also I still have to get each of the true maneater models, a few of the resin characters and a bucket load of empire free company to be used as my Gnoblar hordes!

Anyway let me know what you think, I'm always open to critical points of view!

31 Aug 2012

Hey guys just a wee update of my painting progress with another lead belcher. It is the first time I have painted a large area of yellow cloth like this so any tips or ideas to improve would be much appreciated! All I did was base coat using Averland Sunset (GW Base) then washed with GW yellow wash (the name escapes me!) and then highlighted using the Vallejo yellow model colour paint, dead easy!

03 Sep 2012

So this weekend I bit the bullet and started assembling the last few Ogres I have using the spares from the stonehorn/thundertusk and Ironblaster kits. I have had the idea for this BSB for some time now and I'm really over the moon with how he turned out. The banner pole from the thundertusk, the skull is the spare from the stonehorn, the banner is standard banner from the ogre kit trimmed down, the vulture is from the thundertusk, the shield is from the thundertusk shoulder pads and the sword is an irongut sword modified for 1 hand.

I tried to give him an almost passive, nonchalant pose as the guardian of the Frostfang Grand Banner. The body is the spare Ironblaster Ogre crewman so he is more upright than standard ogres. The idea is that he will have the sword of anti heroes (apt considering his relaxed pose) and an enchanted shield giving him a 3+ armour save. I can't wait to paint him, he is going to have the most ornate armour except for my Tyrant, with runic golden inlays on his shield and armour.

Let me know what you think!

03 Sep 2012

Wounder full use of spare parts and I particularly love the pose of the BSB with his sword and shield / armour. The Banner trophy itself is a little large for my taste but looks great! Can't wait to see that fella painted!

03 Sep 2012

For BSBs, it can never be too big! Looks awesome.

03 Sep 2012

I love it, perfectly over the top

05 Sep 2012

Thanks guys good to hear the feedback

Ive got some more uses of spare bits coming up later today!

05 Sep 2012

So I spent most of the weekend converting and kit bashing my final Ogres (mainly because I was procrastinating from biting the bullet and assembling the Stonehorn, Ironblaster, Thundertusk and the Lesser Spotted Scraplauncher!) while my GF recovered from hang over (some guilt free #hobbytime!). I really wanted these guys to be unique and I have really spent alot of time choosing bits I was happy with. The one I like best is my second in command Bruiser with the enchanted shield and the Hammer of Anti Heroes (Da Beat Shtick). I really like him and he will also be used as a maneater captain. The unit itself is to be used as either Bulls, Maneaters, Ironguts or even characters. Hopefully they will add some really character and variety to my army, so far I'm over the moon with them!

Thematically they are my Bloody Mummers (or the Brave Companions) from the Game of Thrones, a rabble of brutal sell swords who commit barbaric atrocities upon their captives. I think very fitting *******SPOILER INC********** I even have Jamie's hands on Vargho Hoat's belt!

07 Sep 2012

So last night I finished the Ogre Bruiser/Maneater Captain Vargho Hoat, the model I kit bashed/converted at the weekend. Im really happy with him my only regret was the red trousers, I kinda wish I had done them purple or blue but it isn't the end of the world.

I wrote a blog a few week's ago about Bruisers and their possible builds (you can find it here: http://paint-hammer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/ogre-bruisers-new-scar-vets.html ) and this guy is sporting his Enchanted shield, heavy armour and the hammer of anti heroes (or warrior bane!). Coming in at a cheeky 119pts with warrior bane, he is a force to be reckoned with at a rock bottom price!

07 Sep 2012

Looking good. He has come out really well

08 Sep 2012

I agree!

One suggestion if I may... Tamiya Clear Red for blood.

08 Sep 2012

Looking good. He has come out really well

Cheers buddy im really happy with him too, cant wait to get some more done! Ive got a game next weekend and will report the first major Battle of the Frostfangs here!

08 Sep 2012

I agree!

One suggestion if I may... Tamiya Clear Red for blood.

Cheers for the tip, consider it purchased!

11 Sep 2012

So last night while listening to the amazing Tennis match I finished off this ogre Irongut. I'm really happy with him and I think the cloth and thatched should pad shield in particular came out well. I also tried out a new method on the skin which I think will be my method going forward. I did my usual base of Bugman's Glow but instead of washing there and then with Reikland Fleshshade I applied a thin layer of Cadian Fleshtone, then washed and applied another thin layer of Cadian Fleshtone, finally highlighting with Kislev Flesh. It is a slightly longer process but I think the flesh looks less clumpy. Let me know what you think

On another note I am aiming to have three more Ironguts, my BSB and the last Mournfang complete for the 29th when I play a 2400pt game with my Ogres against my mate's Tomb Kings. I don't think it is a too ambitious a target but my painting speed is leaving much to be desired and I dont want to drop quality to achieve the deadline. I'm going to get the more mundane Ironguts done first and then treat myself to the BSB later on!

12 Sep 2012

Beautiful. One minor point: Have you considered painting the stitching on his butt? I like bleached bone on there or you could do a highlight of the current orange colour for them.

12 Sep 2012

Beautiful. One minor point: Have you considered painting the stitching on his butt? I like bleached bone on there or you could do a highlight of the current orange colour for them.

Thanks mate! I actually did lol, it just doesn't show up very well against the orange. usually shows up well when I use darker cloth colours

I might change the colour on these ones to a darker thread

Cheers for the feedback!

14 Sep 2012

So I finished another Irongut last night and to be honest I think he is the best one yet and since I know have a full rank painted I took some pictures of them all!

17 Sep 2012

So I was being silly the other night and decided to see how many points I will have in total when I finish my ogres and I'm going to have a whopping 6000pts of fatties! Ill probably never use them all at once but just for fun a giggles I thought I would write it down. You never know thought, after listening to Garagehammer Episode 54 (http://garagehammer.net/2012/08/episode-54-new-daemons-and-the-4k-slobber-knocker/) where they play a 4000pt game it looked alot of fun! I would love to play an ogre invasion game where I fight against a few allied 2000pt armies where they have banded together to fight off a Grand Ogre Migration. Or maybe even a game when my whole army has the ambushers special rule but can only come on from my table edge to represent the tide of Ogres sweeping across the lands!

Anyway here's my list, let me know what you think of this sillyness!

The Frostfang Ogre Tribe (All 6000pts!)

Slaughtermaster (Lore of the Great Maw)
lvl4
Ironfist, Armour of destiny, Earthing Rod

Tyrant (General)
great weapon
heavy armour
dragon helm
talisman of preservation
the other tricksters shard

Bruiser
BSB
Heavy Armour
enchanted shield
dragonbane gem
sword of anti heroes

Butcher (Lore of Heavens)
lvl 2
channeling staff
ironfist

Butcher (Lore of Beasts)
lvl 2
Hell Heart
ironfist

Firebelly
Lvl 2
Great weapon
Dispell Scroll

Hunter
harpoon launcher
greedy fist
Warrior bane
Rock Eye

9 Ironguts
command
look out gnoblar
standard of discipline

10 Ironguts
command
look out gnoblar

11 Ogre Bulls
Ironfists
command
look out gnoblar

30 Gnoblars
Trappers
command

30 Gnoblars
Trappers
command

5 Sabretusks

Gorger

Gorger

Gorger

4 Mournfangs
command
dragonhide banner
heavy armour, ironfists

4 Mournfangs
command
heavy armour, ironfists

4 Leadbelchers
musician

4 Leadbelchers
musician

4 Maneaters
command
banner of eternal flame
extra hand weapons, 1 great weapon

4 Maneaters
command
extra hand weapons

Giant

Stonehorn

Thundertusk

Scraplauncher

Ironblaster

18 Sep 2012

So I had a long weekend and managed to paint up 2 Ironguts, a Musician and Standard Bearer. I tried doing them a little quicker and painted them both at the same time. In total they took me 7 hours so not much of a time saving and to be honest I felt the quality dropped so I'm going to drop back to painting one at a time and focus on quality. I have also decided that I am definitely going to do a wider spread of trouser colours as I like the over all look alot better.

I also had a friend over for some small (1200pts) introductory games to get him back upto speed with Warhammer 8th edition. I really love playing games at that point level it is so much faster and more tactical to play! So in that vein I am aiming to paint at least 1200pts but hopefully 1600pts of Ogres for the end of October when I have another friend coming down for the weekend. My full 1600pt list is laid out below but I am going to tweak it a bit to drop 2 lead belchers for a gorger to give me a little bit more flexibility. Both my small lists are below. I think it is important to set yourself intermediate deadlines to keep you focused and playing with and enjoying your models as you go. It can be very demoralising to paint 2400pts of models over a year and never play with them once until then! I realise I am going to be massively ahead of the Club 200 requirement but the winter months are usually very busy for me so I probably wont get much done ( I can hope though!).

1200pt List
Ogre Butcher
LvL 2
Ironfist

5 Ironguts
Command

6 Ogre Bulls
Ironfists
musician

3 Mournfangs
Heavy Armour, Ironfist, Musician

3 Maneaters (Poison, Immune to Psychology)
Extra Handweapons
Musician

Gorger

3 Leadbelchers
Musician

So for this list I just need to paint 5 Bulls, 2 Maneaters and a Gorger. Which should be really easy to achieve in 6 weeks.

1600pt List
Ogre Butcher
LvL 2
Ironfist
Channelling Rod
Gamblers Armour
Warrior Bane, Dragonbane Gem

5 Ironguts
Command, Banner of Eternal Flame, Look out Gnoblar

6 Ogre Bulls
Ironfists
Command

3 Mournfangs
Heavy Armour, Ironfist
Musician, Standard

3 Maneaters
Extra Handweapons
Musician

Gorger

3 Leadbelchers
musician

3 Leadbelchers
musician

4 Ironguts
Champion

To then jump up to 1600pts I need to paint an additional 3 Lead belchers and 4 Ironguts. Bringing the total number of Ogre required up to 15 Ogres in 6 weeks.... This seems like a tall order in all honesty but I think if I push myself I think I can do it!

20 Sep 2012

So I painted another Maneater for my Frostfang Ogre tribe last night, really happy with him! I give my maneaters poisoned attacks (hence the green in the blades,not sure this looks that great tho tbh, any tips to improve it?) and immune to psychology (or scout not sure what is best at the moment). Overall I have definitely ascertained that painting one ogre at a time is the way to go, while it is slower I put in more detail and feel less rushed so that's what I'm going to do from now on

21 Sep 2012

Your maneater looks good...I love the simple pose alongside having his face hidden....very manacing

21 Sep 2012

Excellent stuff. I wish I could paint like that.

21 Sep 2012

Thanks guys! Im motoring through them at the moment so will have another (maybe even 2!) up later today!

21 Sep 2012

Really liking your man eater he looks great and you have exploited a very basic pose and made it look fantastic and as Warlordsteve rightly say very menacing!

21 Sep 2012

Thanks Zolas!

21 Sep 2012

So I finished off an ogre bull standard bearer today and really tried my best at the blending on the banner. It is not a technique that I have really tried properly before but I think it turned out pretty well : ) what do you guys think?

23 Sep 2012

So I have been on a bit of a painting spree and I have painted up a Gorger! Now some of you might notice that this isnt the standard GW model, it is one of the new Vampire Counts Crypt Horrors. I thought the model was perfectly suited to the role and although it is a bit more lithe than a normal ogre I think that fits the fluff. I the story they are mutated ogres born most commonly without a gut and are thrown into the maw pit below which there is usually a network of caves, given as a sacrifice to the great maw. Only the strongest and most vicious survive to adulthood and all that remains is a ravenous, hulking muscle mass. In that respect I think the model is ideal! The protruding bones and sharpened claws I think look just how I imagine gorger to and the growths on his back show some of the mutuations which caused it to be thrown into the maw pit. What do you guys think, is it an acceptable "counts as", bearing in mind the awful actual Gorger model?

24 Sep 2012

So over the weekend I got quite a bit of progress on the ogres and finished another bull, I got the idea for split trouser fabrics from @Gas_Monkey82 (Edward Brown) and thought I might do a few fatties like that for a change of pace! Also took the opportunity to show you guys what I have done so far so below is are a few pics and basically 3 models short of my 1200pt list that I will be using at the weekend for a mini friendly night in tournament. Aim will be to play 3 games each against each other. So all I have left to paint for it is 3 bulls! Let me know what you think of the army as a whole. I've decided thanks to some great feedback that I will need to rework/replace the gorger and the butcher looks like he's been on the sunbeds too long/is from Essex so I'm going to get my metal slaughtermaster painted up ASAP!

24 Sep 2012

Nice models man! I like your maneaters! Mind if I copy one? ;-)

25 Sep 2012

Thanks buddy! OFC go for it, send me a pic of what you do

26 Sep 2012

So I have been on a bit of a self imposed/inflicted big push to get 1200pts of Ogres finished for this weekend when 2 friends are coming round for big gaming night. After several late nights they are all done! I have painted about 600pts this month and a lot of that was in the last 7 days.

So this week I decided that one unit of lead belchers wouldn't be enough and so added them onto what was already a tall order, but their all done now and to be honest I am really, really happy with the army (well except for the gorger and sun kissed butcher!). What do you guys think of the progress so far?

So here is my list for the weekend:

Butcher, LVL2, Gamblers Armour, Ironfist, Ruby Ring of Ruin (183pts)

5 Ironguts, Musician (225pts)

6 Ogre Bulls, Ironfists, Musician (202pts)

3 Lead Belchers, Musician (139pts)

3 Lead Belchers, Musician (139pts)

Gorger (90pts)

3 Mournfang, Heavy Armour, Ironfists, Musician (220pts)

Total (1198pts)

So hopefully this will be a relatively balanced list, my friends are unlikely to bring super filth so the lack of an ironblaster shouldn't be too much of an issue!

Now to relax and chill until the weekend!

27 Sep 2012

Great list and great painting! Way to go!

27 Sep 2012

Thanks buddy, ill hopefully get some shots taken in day light on Saturday for the gaming day! I'm really looking forward to it as everyone knows, painted models roll better!

28 Sep 2012

Nice!

01 Oct 2012

So I got some time to take pictures of my 1200pts Ogres in day light at the weekend before my gaming night against Wood Elves, ill get a battle report up later in the week.

19 Jun 2013

Really nice checkers there... Near perfect even
I detect a cyborg

Haha thanks! I wish! I used a black paint pen with a 0.2mm nib to sketch the edges then filled in with black paint

20 Jun 2013

So that's me finished my Ogre Army! I'm really happy with it and I have had a bucket of fun painting and playing it but have had to sell the army to help pay for my new house! I am however starting a new Orc army soon but progress will be slow for the first couple of months while real life takes over! Any way here are some pics of the army before it is shipped off!

The only outstanding item is another Ironblaster which the new owner commissioned me to produce, I'll get some pics up of that once I complete it on Friday night.

20 Jun 2013

Rich

Awesome Grimgor! I can't wait to see your Black Orc force!

And well done with the Ogre tribe once again, it looks great as a whole force!

Luis

20 Jun 2013

Rich

Awesome Grimgor! I can't wait to see your Black Orc force!

And well done with the Ogre tribe once again, it looks great as a whole force!

Luis

Cheers buddy, its gonna be a big project but gonna just tackle it one greenskin at a time!

24 Jun 2013

So last the weekend I played at the Cry Havok tournament in Dunfermline hosted by the DWARF guys (http://www.dwarfclub.com/Dunfermline_Wargaming_and_Roleplaying_Fellowship/Welcome.html) it was really well run tournament and I had a great time! I had 3 great games against 3 great opponents. I'll try and write up a game by game report however my free time is dwindling to zero at the moment! I also managed not to come last in battle points this time which I am taking as a success!

Here is the list I took to the event:

Tyrant: Talisman Of Preservation; Magic Carpet; Charmed Shield; great weapon; heavy armour.

Firebelly: Hellheart; Level 2 Wizard; additional hand weapon.
Bruiser: Armour Of Destiny; great weapon; battle standard; Lookout Gnoblar.

12 Ironguts: Gutlord; Bellower; standard bearer; Look-out Gnoblar; Dragonhide Banner

6 Maneaters: Bellower; standard bearer; Banner Of Eternal Flame; 3× additional hand weapon; great weapon; Immune to Psychology; Stubborn.
Gorger
Gorger
1 Sabretusk
1 Sabretusk

Stonehorn: harpoon launcher.
Thundertusk

I really enjoyed the army, it was alot of fun to use although not as cutting edge as it could have been!

25 Jun 2013

So last night I finished the final touches on my last ever Ogre model for the Frostfang Ogre Tribe! My buyer has commissioned me to paint an extra ironblaster so I got stuck in! The army is now roughly 6500pts including characters and upgrades so a pretty sizeable gut fest!

Well with this "Last Blast" I will be kicking off with full force on the Orcs and really cant wait to start painting! Ive loved the Ogre, 1 and a half years of solid playing and painting has been great and I've made a lot of friends after taking the army to tournaments and gaming clubs! Anyway I hope the new owner has as much fun with them as I did and I hope this Blaster never misfires!

16 Jul 2013

So after a few weeks of no hobby (I have had train-spotting esque withdrawal symptoms!) due to my girlfriend's mum living with us I got some hobbytime in and converted up a few units I have had ideas for my new Orc and Goblin army! Ill be honest, I've been inspired by the amazing work Dorian is putting out at the moment and felt I needed to up my game (he really needs to share his pics up on here lol!) and start building conversions. So with having built and assembled a bucket of ogre units for the frostfang army I have a multitude of bitz and came up with a few ideas to make my own unique units.

So from 3 Ironblaster kits, 2 tomb king chariot kits, 3 boxes of fenrisian wolves and my bitz box I am going to build:

6 Wolf Chariots
3 Boar Chariots
2 Rock Lobbas
2 Doom Divers

I think this is pretty good going and will mean I can have my own unique units which fit the rest of my army. Im not a huge fan of the GW models above which also cost a fortune and while I haven't really saved that much I do have models I will like and use! I also spent a bit of time converting up my BSB to a suitably Orcy banner! There is still a bit of green stuff work to be done on these models, notably filling gaps and giving the Doom Diver a raised thumb giving the all clear to blast him across the battlefield.

Anyway let me know your thoughts and whether you think these conversions will be acceptable to use in a tournament!

16 Jul 2013

Looking great. Especially the chariot like it a lot

16 Jul 2013

Thanks buddy, 5 more of those bad boys to build! Gonna give some banners and other fun items!

16 Jul 2013

Yeah, that chariot is amazing.

I really like the Doom Diver/Blaster conversion too!

16 Jul 2013

Yeah, that chariot is amazing.

I really like the Doom Diver/Blaster conversion too!

thanks buddy, looking forward to getting this army on the table!

22 Jul 2013

This Saturday night was conversion central for me, finishing off the majority of 6 Wolf chariots! Still some work to do but in the main they are done! Really happy with how they came out! Next up is another doom diver and 2 rock lobbas!

25 Jul 2013

Just a quick post to show a working in progress boar chariot, pretty simple really, ironblaster chassis with two black orcs on the back! Gonna modify the tusks a bit to cover up the cannon fixings but all in all im pretty happy with the principal of using the ironblaster kit to make me 2x rock lobbas, 2x doom divers and 3x boar chariots! Just needed to buy some bitz for the duplicate parts, its probably not much cheaper than buying the standard GW models but I think it should look a lot better and fit my theme properly!

25 Jul 2013

http://paint-hammer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/new-prototype-magnetic-movement-trays.html

Just a wee short video (Link Above) showing my new prototype movement trays. Excuse the dodgy camera work, first time I've done a video and I did it at midnight with one hand lol!

Basically it is sheet steel (1.2mm thick) cut to size (2mm less than the bases) so that the bases look like they are floating and the tray is invisible. The edges and corners have been rounded and de-burred to prevent cutting your hands and the sheet steel is galvanised so it doesn't discolour. The tray can then slot into a Sarissa Precision Movement tray for aesthetic appeal/painting scores at tournaments. The total profile is ultra low as the magnet is inside the base so you really only end up adding 1.2mm to the model!

Personally I prefer to play/game with border-less movement trays as it is quicker and easier to use so this is what I will use them mainly as! Let me know what you think guys but personally this is the perfect movement tray for me and as the sheet steel is galvanised I'm not gonna bother painting it as this always chips (even when varnished!) and scratches.

26 Jul 2013

some really great conversions and such a nice army... shows that you can have quality and quantity. Looking forward to seeing what comes with the orcs and gobbo's. Already loving the start, the fenrisian wolves fit amazingly in the army!!!

Here is a gnoblar to watch over the greenskins

29 Jul 2013

some really great conversions and such a nice army... shows that you can have quality and quantity. Looking forward to seeing what comes with the orcs and gobbo's. Already loving the start, the fenrisian wolves fit amazingly in the army!!!

Here is a gnoblar to watch over the greenskins

Thanks mate! im really looking forward to get them painted and on the table, been a really slow month by my standards!

06 Aug 2013

So anyone who has been following me on Twitter (or been within earshot) for the past few weeks will know that I have been just a wee bit excited about the release of the new lizardmen book. In all honesty my fervour has reached Nick Gentilly (of the Dwellers Bellow Podcast) levels of hobby ecstasy, climaxing this weekend with a prolonged high that I am still buzzing from! I am literarily #SoExcited.......

Long term blog readers will know I used to play lizardmen as my main army and wrote quite a lot on this blog about my exploits, cogitations and ruminations relating to the cold blooded reptilians (and amphibians!!). So my excitement was somewhat accentuated by my previous history and addiction to slann magic phases, the release did not disappoint... Now time to bite the bullet, in my opinion this is THE best Lustrian incarnation to date. Twitter will tell you different, warseer will wail with weeping anguish and all the while I just see so much opportunity!

Now I am probably wrong from a hard sharp end of the tournament stick point of view. Yes slann have been neutered a bit which was absolutely required, he was just silly in 8th edition warhammer, made worse by the fact you could take two of the froggy buggers at 2400pts. Anyone who says that a Loremaster death slann with rumination, becalming cogitation, bsb, leadership 10, ethereal, bane head, a 2+ ward and either the feed back scroll or cupped hands was fair or fun is frankly mental! They are still frickin' awesome however, arguably under costed and a 1+ in any standard tournament list ( I do massively approve of double old blood or carnasaur lord lists! #ManHammer , #BallsToTheWall etc etc....).

Where I am getting to is that the new list is a lot less lop sided. Combat is a genuine option with cheaper, stronger Krox units, wild formed saurus blocks (predatory fighters, 2 attacks each at Strength and toughness 5/6) and scar vet and old blood buses! Stegadons are awesome with some neat wee rules and now initiative 4 for the purposes of purple suns and pit of shades (PIH!) thanks to their new combined profile with skink riders. I'm really stoked to be honest and it is because I can now field my balanced, bit of everything, kid in a candy store list and not be an utter chump! I haven't even got started on the never ending garden of choice and strategy that is the lore of high magic but that is a story for another day along with my initial list idea. No readers, today is a day for dilemmas and head aches of a model variety....

So as you will know I recently started work on my new orc and goblin army with a fair old multitude of conversions and wackiness and as such I am a long way from being able to begin work on a lizard army. More worryingly I don't really know what paint scheme or modelling theme could be a decent successor to my orcs whom I am hoping will be my best army yet. This added to my mental strength of a toddler faced with the choice of chocolate or TOYS(!) meant that I would probably do a rush job and regret the orcs. Also with having relatively recently painted an out of the box lizardmen army and carrying an unhealthy distaste for the saurus models (seriously why can't they all be like the carnasaur rider!!!!) I really can't get a hobby "buzz" for the lizards. Finally I have already reached a bit of impasse of list creativity with the orcs having found a list that is effective but dreadfully boring and will not sustain my hunger for variety!

So my (not-so-secret-thanks-to-the-blog-title) plan is to do a combined army which fits both purposes: The Liz-Orcz! So the general principal is that I won't use any saurus, skink or lizardmen models (barring the big monsters) and instead use orcs and goblins. The idea is simple: goblins = skinks, saurus = orcs, trolls = kroxigor and so on. The "story" of the army is that a visionary orc shaman led a great and devestating waaaagh into Lustria and found/stole a long dormant palanquin which has given him vastly improved magical prowess and physic dominance over the weaker willed indigenous species of the jungle.

Bellow is a break down of my unit cross overs and understandably there are a few orc units which will not have cold blooded partners. Notably this will be the manglers, doom divers, rock lobbas and spear chukkas. Chariots will also be a bit of a poor translation but in the short term they will be used as stegadons and bastiladons.

Slann: Wurzhag on a palanquin carried by four black orcs!

Old blood on a carnasaur: black orc on a carnasaur! This is actually a reverse and will work as a wyvern in the orc list because OMG the new carnasaur model is like sexual tyrannosaurus gold standard model goodness!

Old blood on cold one: Gorbad Ironclaw on boar!

Scar veterans: black orcs on boars

Skink priest/chieftain: goblin shaman/big boss

Saurus warriors: savage orcs

Skinks with blow pipes: night goblins with bows

Skinks with javelins: night goblins with spears

Cold one cav: boar boyz

Templeguard: black Orcz!

Stegadons: stegadon ridden by black orcs!!! (Boar chariots in the short term)

Terradons/ripperdactyles: night goblins riding the aforementioned beasts!

Bastiladons: black orcs riding a Bastiladon (pattern....)

Chameleons: hmm nasty skulkers?

Salamanders: black orcs with a flame thrower

Razrordons: black orcs with bolt throwers?

Jungle swarms: ......jungle swarms?!.....

So the army will be pretty weird and in all honesty I'll use it as orcs at tournaments unless I get approval from the TO. I think it should be OK to be honest, I've seen/heard of much worse proxy armies lol! Thoughts peeps?!

So over the next few weeks ill do a few wee articles on the new lizards and my plans for the Liz-Orcz!

06 Aug 2013

I will be brutally honest, and say from the off that I'm really not sold on the idea. But, that said, I am very much a purist, and prefer my armies to reflect what it says they are; each to their own and all that! I look forward to being convinced otherwise on this army mate

On the topic of the new book, I am glad to finally be reading some positivity... Everywhere I look, people are bitching and whining about the new book, and in honesty I find them to be the people who miss their nerfed Slann. Like it didn't need to happen!?

JJ

07 Aug 2013

I will be brutally honest, and say from the off that I'm really not sold on the idea. But, that said, I am very much a purist, and prefer my armies to reflect what it says they are; each to their own and all that! I look forward to being convinced otherwise on this army mate

On the topic of the new book, I am glad to finally be reading some positivity... Everywhere I look, people are bitching and whining about the new book, and in honesty I find them to be the people who miss their nerfed Slann. Like it didn't need to happen!?

JJ

Haha thanks mate well ill give it a stab and see what I can do, primarily the army will be an OnG force and will be used as this for most tournaments but with a bit of jiggery pokery hopefully ill be able to pull off the theme! Did I mention that every single orc in the army is a black orc model lol? When I went into my local GW and picked up 12 boxes of black orcs they were a bit amazed lol, im now know as "That nutter who bought 120 black orcs!".

With regards to the lizardmen, yup your absolutely right the internet has gone a bit mental in my opinion, Slann needed a nerf but are still one of the best casters in the game, have they not read the Lore attribute for high magic!?! The army is better in my opinion but I speak from a point of balance, better in combat, points have been re adjusted and you can still play jungle gorilla (or lizard) warfare better than any other army!

Im gonna be starting hardcore into the OnG this sunday with a view to getting 2400pts painted and ready for a tournament in November (pretty much 100 days away). It will be a tall order with all the conversions but hopefully ill make it!

07 Aug 2013

No worries dude! I'm always honest, and whilst I'm not sold on it, I reckon I will definitely come round to the idea when I see the army starting coming together mate...

When I went into my local GW and picked up 12 boxes of black orcs they were a bit amazed lol, im now know as "That nutter who bought 120 black orcs!".

I can imagine...

That is a different kind of crazy! Haha!

Completing it in 100 days will be a challenge, but I think it's doable

JJ

14 Aug 2013

Hey guys, here is my first ruminations (pun intended) on the Lizardman army list, creating something which I am pretty happy with avoiding the skink cloud of doom and having actual combat units. I have ordered them in what I predict will be power level. Personally I think the new slann is better in some ways, specifically flexibility in tournaments thanks to the contemplations lore attribute. The oldblood bus and carnasaur lists are more fun and aimed at causing maximum carnage but will probably not be the most optimal list but Ill definitely give it a go! The other list which I think could work is the monster-mash list with multiple stegs and bastiladons but Ill get to that later on once I have gotten the basics and feel of the army figured out!

All Round Slann List
Slann Mage-Priest: Focus of Mystery; Harmonic Convergence; Soul of Stone; Unfathomable Presence; Channeling Rod; Standard Of Discipline; Lore of High Magic; Battle Standard.

Saurus Scar-Veteran: Dawnstone; Dragonhelm; Cold One; great weapon; light armour.
Saurus Scar-Veteran: Armour Of Destiny; Cold One; great weapon.

30 Saurus Warriors: Musician.
10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield.
10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield.
10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield.
10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield.
10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield.

20 Temple Guard: Musician.
8 Cold One Riders: Musician.
5 Chameleon Skinks
5 Chameleon Skinks
3 Terradon Riders

1 Salamander Hunting Pack
1 Salamander Hunting Pack

2,399 points

Plan here is to have an all round list which can effectively participate in every phase. I really tried to not go full on skirmish, skink cloud madness with 3 combat units. If I drop one Scar vet, the chameleons and terradons then I can squeeze in a unit of 8 kroxigor if I want to go more combat heavy (and who wouldn't with 24 str 7 attacks with predatory fighters!). The slann is the real powerhouse in the list with the incredible flexibility of Loremaster Lore of High Magic meaning he can counter most threats and when in the temple guard block he automatically passes any look-out sir rolls he is required to take. This combined with the complete lack of monsters and juicy targets mean that cannon/gunline armies really struggle to make their points back. Ideally the army will surround and whittle down one or two units then the coldone mini bus, temple guard and saurus can move in for the kill. Any of these units buffed with wildform, hand of glory, ice shard blizzard or miasma (which the slann can gain access to) should beat most things. Couple this with being able to walk between worlds or hand of glory the movement of these units the army can bring force to bear where ever it is required. Ideally I would snipe out characters using spirit leech and arcane unforging to maximise my advantage in the magic and combat phases and also critically pick up points for the win!

Oldblood Cold One Bus List
Saurus Oldblood: Dawnstone; Armour Of Destiny; The Other Tricksters Shard; Cold One; great weapon.

Saurus Scar-Veteran: Dragonhelm; Obsidian Talisman; Cold One; great weapon; light armour.
Saurus Scar-Veteran: Tricksters Helm; Cold One; great weapon; light armour; Battle Standard.
Skink Priest: Dispel Scroll; Level 2 Wizard; Lore of Beasts.
Skink Priest: Cube of Darkness; Level 2 Wizard; Lore of Beasts.

10 Skinks: Musician.
10 Skinks: Musician. 10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield.
10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield.
30 Saurus Warriors: Musician.

7 Cold One Riders: Musician.
7 Kroxigor
3 Terradon Riders
3 Terradon Riders

1 Salamander Hunting Pack: additional Skink Handler.
1 Salamander Hunting Pack

2,400 points

This bus list is pretty straight forward: the chaff and terradons ensure the bus gets to fight what it needs to to win the game, the skink priests limit the predatory fighters rule and magical defence with the scroll and cube of darkness capable of shutting down two magic phases. Hopefully chucking two wildfroms on that bus will make it insane in combat, with st7 and t7 characters with 1+ saves will be frighteningly solid and if savage beast of horros can be cast then it becomes all the more insane! The vets and old blood can also be fired out on their own to cause havoc and kill monstrous cav on their own. I particularly like the tricksters helm on a scar vet to force your enemy to re-roll to wound rolls which when combined with wildform can make him an absolute nightmare to kill in combat. Amber spear will also be useful in dealing with difficult units (steam tanks etc). I like this list and will defo be trying it out!

Oldblood Carnasaur List (RAAARRR!!!!)
Saurus Oldblood: Dawnstone; Armour Of Destiny; The Other Tricksters Shard; Carnosaur (Loping Stride); great weapon.

Saurus Scar-Veteran: Tricksters Helm; Cold One; great weapon; light armour; Battle Standard.
Skink Priest: Dispel Scroll; Ruby Ring Of Ruin; Lore of Beasts.
Skink Priest: Cube of Darkness; Lore of Beasts.

30 Saurus Warriors: Musician. 10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield.
10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield.

10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield.
10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield.
10 Skink Skirmishers: javelin; shield.

9 Cold One Riders: Musician.
8 Kroxigor

1 Salamander Hunting Pack: additional Skink Handler.
1 Salamander Hunting Pack

2,400 points

Finally this is my mental carnasaur oldblood list, the oldblood is a rockstar on the back of this king of the jungle and will gain several thousand man points if taken to a tournament. All going to plan I'm going to take this bad boy to CryHavok in 2014. I might have to sacrafice several thousand rat men to Sotek to ensure I dont face any cannons/rocklobbas but if I can get him in a few decent match ups he might just be the man of the match! I think he might actually hold his points quite well, if the carnsaur is killed from under him then he can jump into an infantry unit to keep him safe!

So what do you guys think? I know they aren't net lists and probably not super optimised but that is not my objective, these are meant to be fun but still slightly competitive lists that if played well might win the odd game!

14 Aug 2013

I like the lists, they are very much different to the standard Lizardmen lists cropping up all over the place. The one criticism I have with the last list is that you suggested going for all out carnage with the Old Blood on Carnosaur, yet I have never seen such a defensive build on a model you would really want to be gearing towards close combat. I would have thought that a magical weapon would be better suited to his purpose than all out survivability...

JJ

14 Aug 2013

I like the lists, they are very much different to the standard Lizardmen lists cropping up all over the place. The one criticism I have with the last list is that you suggested going for all out carnage with the Old Blood on Carnosaur, yet I have never seen such a defensive build on a model you would really want to be gearing towards close combat. I would have thought that a magical weapon would be better suited to his purpose than all out survivability...

JJ

thanks buddy, really wanted to do something a little different! Fair play on the Old Blood, my thinking was that with a great weapon he is str 7, 5 attacks with predatory fighter so 83% of the time he will have 6 attacks with OTS forcing re-rolls of ward saves! Same WS as a tyrant so basically outputs the same damage as him PLUS the carnasaur! Really loved using a tyrant on a magic carpet (FLYRANT!!! (Magic Carpet, 4+ Ward, Great Weapon and Charmed Shield)) and never really had any trouble killing opponents but I did die alot lol! So with the ability to get a 1+ re rollable AND a 4++ ward I reckoned he would be an utter badass! Fingers cross I dont fight an ethreal though!

14 Aug 2013

Fair and valid point

Like you say, the only stumbling block would be if you came up against Ethereal enemies...

I like that last list most if I am honest. It's the list closest to what I am building

I picked up my three Carnosaur boxed sets on Monday! :')

JJ

14 Aug 2013

Fair and valid point Like you say, the only stumbling block would be if you came up against Ethereal enemies...

I like that last list most if I am honest. It's the list closest to what I am building I picked up my three Carnosaur boxed sets on Monday! :')

JJ

Wow +100 man points if you field all three at once! I really wish they had put carnasaurs in as a rare choice like the stonehorn!

24 Jun 2014

Looks simply awesome mate....one of your best models in this army, a real centerpiece.

A small bit of constuctive criticism...which you can ignore if you like

The blue glow in the eyes and mouth looks good, but stands out as the only area without much depth. Due the bright colour its also the first thing my eye was drawn to on the model.
It looks like he has a blinding bright white/blue magical light emanating, but perhaps the depths could be whiter?
I think it is the fact I can see the back of the mouth and eyesockets, there is nothing tricking the eye into believing he has a cavernous maw.

24 Jun 2014

I see what you are saying there WS. I am not sure if having the depths lighter will work so well though. It would be correct with OSL and be on the money that the nearer the light the brighter it will be, but if the depths are lighter will they not show up the "non cavernous" status even more? Would it work if the central back of the eyes was darker...just to add depth? I am really happy to be wrong about this.

I am even more ashamed to say that I would even dare to criticize this work as it is head and shoulders above what I can do...but I do see the point.

G_H

25 Jun 2014

thanks guys! yeah i do agree, I think I need to lighter in the depths to really make it look like a bright white light emanating from the depths of the Idol

will rectify!

27 Jun 2014

So last night Scott and I played a cheeky wee 2600pt game under the ToddHammer comp (although my list was illegal after a comp change, woops!). The game was a bit mental with all the luck in my favour and I squeezed out a cheeky 20-0 win (poor Scott!). My list for the game is below!

Borgut Thunderfist "Custodian Of The Titans" (Slaughtermaster): Tricksters Helm; Talisman Of Preservation; Iron Curse Icon; Level 4 Wizard; great weapon

Gurgoroth "Herald Of Cronos" (Bruiser): Armour Of Destiny; great weapon; battle standard; Lookout Gnoblar

Cronos' Fury Guard (10 Ironguts): Standard Of Discipline; Gutlord; Bellower; standard bearer
3 Ogres: Bellower
3 Ogres: Bellower

The Burning Barrage (8 Leadbelchers): Bellower
The Storm Bringers (5 Mournfang Cavalry): heavy armour; ironfists; Bellower

Prometheus' Wrath (Ironblaster)
Ungoliant (Stonehorn): harpoon launcher (reduced points cost in comp pack)
Rock Idol (Stonehorn): harpoon launcher (reduced points cost in comp pack)

2,600 points

So after 7 months of playing with pretty much the same army build Im going to mix things up for a while and play tyrant + firebelly list to see how it goes! I will do a wee post in a few days about this list to see how it goes!

27 Jun 2014

These models look amazing! Love the Rock Giant. Using your basing materials on it makes it look truly remarkable. Can't wait to see an update with the OSL more defined in the mouth and eyes!

27 Jun 2014

Congratulations RJ, looks like your Rock Giant is a celebrity of sorts now. He is featured on the White Dwarf Daily page!

30 Jun 2014

Thanks Buddy! Slow painting weekend for me so falling a bit behind! Will be caught up soon!

30 Jun 2014

Can only compliment your army once again and congratulate you on a fantastic tournament performance and award for best army!

The Idol looks better than I had hoped. I do understand the criticism about the eyes, but I'm not rue it should be white in the centre or a darker blue... it's a minute criticism and personal preference rather than bad execution.

BB

30 Jun 2014

Can only compliment your army once again and congratulate you on a fantastic tournament performance and award for best army!

The Idol looks better than I had hoped. I do understand the criticism about the eyes, but I'm not rue it should be white in the centre or a darker blue... it's a minute criticism and personal preference rather than bad execution.

BB

Thanks buddy

really proud of the army and was so much fun to do! The rock idol was a particular highlight!

04 Jul 2014

Army list Friday! So Im trying out a bit of a different list for a while and will be using no lvl4, stubborn crown or mournfang. Im going for a tyrant + firebelly list which will be pretty tough (the gutstar is certainly starrier!). Personally I think units of 8 ironguts are one of the most optimal units in the ogre book. 24 strength 6 attacks + stomps + impacts is bloody scary. Im going to be using Throgg as my Tyrant (should be finished painting him for Saturday which is coincidentally my first game with this list!), I love this model and he will really standout as a tyrant! I have elected to use the tricksters helm along with a the talisman of preservation making him have a 4+ armour and a 4+ ward save and my opponent has to re roll successful rolls to wound. Needless to say this is a rock solid tank build and combined with his 5 strength 7 attacks he is certified machine!

Jason and I are meeting for a game on Saturday night with the below Ogre list against his new lizards. Im not sure what his list will be so hoping this list is prepared for the inevitable poison newts! Let me know what you guys think of the list!

Throgg The OrcOgre King (Tyrant): Tricksters Helm; Talisman Of Preservation; Iron Curse Icon; great weapon; heavy armour

Gurgoroth "Herald Of Cronos" (Bruiser): Armour Of Destiny; great weapon; battle standard; Lookout Gnoblar
Hargor Doomfire (Firebelly): Dispel Scroll; Ruby Ring Of Ruin; Level 2 Wizard; additional hand weapon

Cronos' Fury Guard (9 Ironguts): Dragonhide Banner; Gutlord; Bellower; standard bearer
The Black Gut Guard (8 Ironguts): Bellower; standard bearer

The Burning Barrage (8 Leadbelchers): Bellower
War Pig (1 Sabretusk)
War Pig (1 Sabretusk)
War Pig (1 Sabretusk)

Prometheus' Wrath (Ironblaster)
Rock Idol (Stonehorn): harpoon launcher

09 Jul 2014

(***NB Better Pictures here: http://paint-hammer.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/throgg-orcogre-king.html )

Hey guys! Ive had a bit of break from painting and blogging these past few weeks, mainly because work and personal life has gone a bit mental and I have had very little free time. On top of this I am really making a big push on my fitness again now I am 100% healed up. I have been trying to a 5km run every day(alternating with a 1-2hr cycle) along side 5km walking and some weights training. Really enjoying getting back into the swing of things and establishing a good balance.

Any way enough of this non hobby chat, I finished off Throgg the OrcOgre (Troll) King who will be getting used as my Tyrant or Slaughter master(basically my general!). Really went to town on him trying my best with the flesh and red cloth blending. I dont usually paint one model at a time (unless it is a big monster) so it was quite liberating spending 15+ hours on one character model. I think the red on his cloak has been washed out a bit in the pictures unfortunately as the contrast between lighter and darker areas is more pronounced in person. I might go back and do some extreme highlights on the edges of the red (need to do this with my mournfang too). The red glaze I apply at the end of the layering/highlighting process, while awesome at smoothing the transitions down, really dulls the red down. That said I am really happy with the way he came out though and is probably the best single model I have painted!

So next up on the painting table is a firebelly, a carmine dragon and my new Realm of Battle Board! Really excited to do the latter as I want to get it ready for a triumph and treachery night I am hosting towards the end of July. Unfortunately I had to curtail my plans. There was going to be two tables playing TnT which fed into and effected each other but alas real life has meant I had to scale down this plan to just a single table with 5 players. I have written a special scenario with loads of free roaming monsters on the board (an aracknarock, a carmine dragon and a rock idol!) which will award bonus points/gold. The table is going to be a bit of a mission and I will probably dedicate a day to getting it painted.

Anyway let me know what you think of Throgg, Im looking forward to having on a table smashing folk up.

09 Jul 2014

Inspiring work again there RJ. This guy looks awesome, loving the blood soaked hammer/ club and I do love that light blue colour on his scales. I can't stop painting that colour at present.

G_H

09 Jul 2014

Inspiring work again there RJ. This guy looks awesome, loving the blood soaked hammer/ club and I do love that light blue colour on his scales. I can't stop painting that colour at present.

G_H

Thanks GH

really fun model to paint!

09 Jul 2014

Looks great! I love that model. It really is a fantastic GW model. Great pose and your painting along with it really bring him to life.

Great work yet again Payne.

Kind regards Zolas.

09 Jul 2014

No one will want to engage him in combat because it would be a crime to remove it from the table! Awesome bright colours love it.

09 Jul 2014

I really love your basing. Nice job.

09 Jul 2014

Brilliant as always

10 Jul 2014

Another fantastic stand out piece in one of the best looking armies Ive ever seen!

10 Jul 2014

Thanks for all the kind words guys!

next up is my realm of battle board.....

21 Jul 2014

Thanks for all the kind words guys! next up is my realm of battle board.....

Particularly keen to see how you go about this - just bought one myself, and am holding off working on it, for lack of inspiration!

Great work on Throgg dude - like all of your models for this army, I love the technical depth of your painting, and the vibrancy in colour choice is sublime

Also, I'm sure you haven't got sick of me complimenting your basing yet

JJ

23 Jul 2014

Thanks for all the kind words guys! next up is my realm of battle board.....
Particularly keen to see how you go about this - just bought one myself, and am holding off working on it, for lack of inspiration!

Great work on Throgg dude - like all of your models for this army, I love the technical depth of your painting, and the vibrancy in colour choice is sublime Also, I'm sure you haven't got sick of me complimenting your basing yet

JJ

haha thanks JJ! Working on the realm of battle board as we speak......

23 Jul 2014

Its been a while since my last hobby blog post but work has been pretty mental and there is a lot going on it my personal life! What I have been working on is my realm of battleboard and my new army list. The board is coming along well and there isn't much left still to do (just some more flocking to make it look more realistic). I will do a full blog post on the board showing a stage by stage process

So the other thing I have been working on is my new 2400pt list. I have used the tyrant list a few times recently but it really wasn't getting my engine going and the lack of a decent magic phase just wasn't as fun! So I have resolved to try out different lvl 4 lores (beasts and heavens) to see how they work now that I have played a lot more games with ogres. Below is my prototype lvl4 heavens list which can easily be switched to a beasts lvl 4 if I want. You will notice the Rock Idol isn't on the list and that's because I am also practising for the Scottish Open in October which gives you a free scroll of binding/ally up to 200pts

He is a daft choice but I love the model

The main things I am looking at tweaking is the magic items on the lvl 4 to get a better balance, I am going off the crown of command but it is hard to argue with just how good it can be if it all goes wrong! The other things I am toying with swapping the crown of command for are Magic Res 3, the Armour of Silvered Steel, the power stone, the earthing rod and the tricksters helm.

Slaughtermaster: Talisman Of Preservation; Crown Of Command; Level 4 Wizard; Lore of Heavens; great weapon

Butcher: Hellheart; Level 2 Wizard; great weapon
Bruiser: Armour Of Destiny; great weapon; battle standard; Lookout Gnoblar

9 Ironguts: Standard Of Discipline; Gutlord; Bellower; standard bearer; Look-out Gnoblar 437
4 Ironguts: Bellower 182

8 Leadbelchers: Thunderfist; Bellower 364
3 Mournfang Cavalry: heavy armour; ironfists; Bellower 220
3 Mournfang Cavalry: heavy armour; ironfists; Bellower 220
1 Sabretusk 21
1 Sabretusk 21

Ironblaster 170

2,400 points

23 Jul 2014

I look forward to that step-by-step on the board

I'm still not convinced on what I wanna do with mine, but I might just flock it.

JJ

23 Jul 2014

Its an interesting looking list RJ.
I assume you are looking to get a couple of turns of shooting before crashing into combat. Sort walk across the board instead of run.
I have been looking at a Heavens list myself, though with less Mournfang and 2x 6 packs of leadies.
My advice for magic items is to try out grut's sickle instead of the crown. I have found that the sickle often lets me push all 4 spells off in a phase.
Your level 2 maw guy can always default to the stubborn spell if you find you need it.

I'm interested to hear how your list goes as I am not getting many games in myself and want ot get a feel for the Heavens SM.

24 Jul 2014

Where to begin... Such a load of new models to check out!

Let's see, the Dragon Ogres: Absolutely gorgeous models! I've liked the new sculpts ever since they were released, but still haven't gotten around to getting them for my small, albeit growing Chaos army. Your painted models really make me question my decisions on that front

A stunning unit, amazing work there!

And the entire army just blows me away! Like I said before, the idea is great and the way you've combined the Orc and Ogre bits is seamless! I actually spent a while wondering how I could've missed the Orc helmet in my Ogre sprues, until I realized the true side of things

Simply amazing work!

Great pics from the games before the tournament. Amazing painting on all the armies. It's always nice to see fully painted armies face against each other, as I all too often see a nicely painted army facing against a horde of grey plastic... And it's even more fun to see armies that are lovingly painted to a stunning degree

And a big thanks for all the tutorials! Especially the basing tutorial was great. Very well written and great pics to illustrate the points

Also, the write-up of the Cry Havoc tournament is fun to read, and it's obvious that you had a great time. The references to popular culture things (like the Carlsberg thing) makes the whole read interesting and fun. Well done!

And thanks for all the pics of the games and armies, that High Elf Dragon conversion is epic!

The Rogue Idol looks amazing! I get what people said about the depth of the eyes in the first posts, but that thing looks awesome!

And next to the rest of the army, it's even better

Not to mention your Throgg model. I have to agree with Rorhammer, no one should kill it so that it can stay on the table longer

Keep it up, have a Gnoblar!

- Loran

25 Jul 2014

Its an interesting looking list RJ.
I assume you are looking to get a couple of turns of shooting before crashing into combat. Sort walk across the board instead of run.
I have been looking at a Heavens list myself, though with less Mournfang and 2x 6 packs of leadies.
My advice for magic items is to try out grut's sickle instead of the crown. I have found that the sickle often lets me push all 4 spells off in a phase.
Your level 2 maw guy can always default to the stubborn spell if you find you need it.

I'm interested to hear how your list goes as I am not getting many games in myself and want ot get a feel for the Heavens SM.

Hey Steve,

Used this list last night against Daemons.... it went bloody well and crushed him 19-1! really liked harmonic convergence and sneaky placement of comets pushed all his spell casters closer to me (was in combat with most of my units on turn 2) which meant I could fire off hellheart very early and hit 2 units of horrors, a herald on a disc and a lord of change

defo worth giving the list a go

Rich

25 Jul 2014

Where to begin... Such a load of new models to check out!

Let's see, the Dragon Ogres: Absolutely gorgeous models! I've liked the new sculpts ever since they were released, but still haven't gotten around to getting them for my small, albeit growing Chaos army. Your painted models really make me question my decisions on that front A stunning unit, amazing work there!

And the entire army just blows me away! Like I said before, the idea is great and the way you've combined the Orc and Ogre bits is seamless! I actually spent a while wondering how I could've missed the Orc helmet in my Ogre sprues, until I realized the true side of things Simply amazing work!

Great pics from the games before the tournament. Amazing painting on all the armies. It's always nice to see fully painted armies face against each other, as I all too often see a nicely painted army facing against a horde of grey plastic... And it's even more fun to see armies that are lovingly painted to a stunning degree

And a big thanks for all the tutorials! Especially the basing tutorial was great. Very well written and great pics to illustrate the points Also, the write-up of the Cry Havoc tournament is fun to read, and it's obvious that you had a great time. The references to popular culture things (like the Carlsberg thing) makes the whole read interesting and fun. Well done! And thanks for all the pics of the games and armies, that High Elf Dragon conversion is epic!

The Rogue Idol looks amazing! I get what people said about the depth of the eyes in the first posts, but that thing looks awesome! And next to the rest of the army, it's even better Not to mention your Throgg model. I have to agree with Rorhammer, no one should kill it so that it can stay on the table longer

Keep it up, have a Gnoblar!

- Loran

Wow thanks for all the kind comments Loran

loving using the army! forgot how much I loved ogres!

Rich

29 Jul 2014

Really interesting list there Rich. Def make me consider what magic I wamt to use for mine. Keep up the great work

04 Aug 2014

Really interesting list there Rich. Def make me consider what magic I wamt to use for mine. Keep up the great work

Was a lot of fun to use, going to test it over the coming months

05 Aug 2014

Hey guys very quick delayed post (internet has been a nightmare recently!) showing off some pics of our big triumph and treachery game and my almost finished realm of battleboard! Can't wait to get it finished, not much left to do just some more flocking to smooth the transitions between grass and mud! I will do a wee stage by stage blog post on the board soon to show how I did it!

05 Aug 2014

Here is something that few of us get to witness in person; absolutely beautiful painted armies all on the same beautiful table. Seriously though, amazing jobs to everyone who played that game, all of their armies are gorgeous!

Looked like one hell of a fun game as well!

A gnoblar for sharing these awesome pics, and I wish I could give bestow gnoblars on all of them as well!

05 Aug 2014

Here is something that few of us get to witness in person; absolutely beautiful painted armies all on the same beautiful table. Seriously though, amazing jobs to everyone who played that game, all of their armies are gorgeous!

Looked like one hell of a fun game as well!

A gnoblar for sharing these awesome pics, and I wish I could give bestow gnoblars on all of them as well!

Thanks mate! yeah weve got quite a good group of painters in glasgow that are all friends

The scottish scene really is great for painting at tournaments

only a few unpainted models but those will be ready for our next game I am sure! I need to get that realm of battleboard finished this week!!

Rich

05 Aug 2014

Wow, this thread contains so much inspiring stuff. Kept me busy reading the backlog,really enjoyed seeing the possibility of these models. That rock idol looks amazing, as do all the other models.

06 Aug 2014

Wow, this thread contains so much inspiring stuff. Kept me busy reading the backlog,really enjoyed seeing the possibility of these models. That rock idol looks amazing, as do all the other models.

Thanks mate

let me know if you need to know anything

06 Aug 2014

(BETTER PICS HERE: http://paint-hammer.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/warhammer-realm-of-battleboard-finished.html)

So after a good few weeks of stop start flocking and working on the Realm of Battleboard I finished it last night. Brutally honest im not super happy with the lighter dead grass at the edges, it is too much of stark end to the grass which didnt come off quite how I had wanted. So I am going to go back and feather on some more of the green grass in a light layer over the egdes just to smooth the transition down.

Anyway so here is a step by step guide as to how I did my board:

Stage 1
Spray the entire board Black.

Stage 2
Spray the main soil area brown and the rock areas grey.

Stage 3
Wash the entire board with a very dark wood stain (works like a Dip or wash).

Stage 4
Dry Brush the brown areas with light brown. Dry Brush the rock with progressively lighter greys.

Stage 5
Wash the edges of the grey rock with Athonian Camoshade to give a moss effect on the rock.

Stage 6
Cut and PVA down a roll of model railway grass mat (I used 1 and a half Javis Autumn 4x2 grass mats). This will take 24hours to fully glue with pva, very very messy!!

Stage 7
Smooth the transitions between the mat and soil with loose flock to match your grass mat (I used Javis Autumn Flock Mix). This will take 24hours to fully glue with pva, very very messy!!

Stage 8
Around the edges of the mat put down an layer of dead grass (I used GW Dead Grass) as this is generally how grass ends. This will take 24hours to fully glue with pva, very very messy!!

Stage 9
Apply a final layer of your original flock to smooth the transition between dead and living grass (I still need to do this). This will take 24hours to fully glue with pva, very very messy!!

Stage 10
Dry Brush the trademark GW skulls with bleached bone or similar!

Stage 11
Feet up, beer out, army deployed, roll dice and enjoy!

06 Aug 2014

Wow. This is awesome. I really love the moss effect with the wash, that's a great tip for terrain and basing.

Thanks for taking the time to do this.

07 Aug 2014

Wow. This is awesome. I really love the moss effect with the wash, that's a great tip for terrain and basing.

Thanks for taking the time to do this.

No problem and thanks for the kind words!

07 Aug 2014

The board looks really good there! I Know that there have been a couple of people looking out for this tutorial so well done and thanks for posting it up.

All it needs now is a few thinling corpses to help the grass grow and it will be a legendary filed of war!

G_H

08 Aug 2014

Whoa! Amazing!

That is an absolutely stunning gaming table there! Great work mate! And to top it off, some amazingly painted armies. That is the dream: to have a great gaming table with some amazing armies painted and facing each other. Truly inspirational stuff, have a gnoblar!

- Loran

08 Aug 2014

Thanks Guys!

here's the table after I smoothed the transitions between the dead and living grass:

11 Aug 2014

Speed Painting Grey Knights Part 1: Fellowship of the Filth

So a few months back Mike, Scott, Charles, Joe, Andy and I embarked upon the dark a dangerous journey into the perverted depths of 40k Now I am actually quite a big fan of the 40k fluff universe having read more than a few Horus heresy novels and the several editions worth of 40k army books etc. Frighteningly over the years I have painted 6 or so marine armies, a tyranid horde and some necrons! I have however barely played the game and certainly not since 3rd edition way back when!

With the launch of the new edition of 40k (which I hear is actually quite a decent game outside of tournaments and the whole bound/unbound mess)we were keen to try out some small games and in particular killteam and zone mortalis. So a few months ago when I saw a cracking deal on some metal grey knights (I have always wanted an all metal grey knight army but could afford it until I got a big boy job!) I snapped them up. Being that I am OCD adverse to owning/playing with unpainted (by my own hand) models this meant stripping and repainting them all. I set a peasant(scott) to task to strip the models for me ready to be painted.

As with all new armies I wanted to test myself and try a new technique or two. So the experiments with this army was MASS batch painting, single colour completion painting and large area wash painting. I had a discussion a few months back with Steve Wren, Chris Tomlin and Dorian about how we go about painting. They differed in that they paint one colour or part to completion before moving on to a new part and repeat this until the whole model is finished. Personally I approach this differently and complete the model fully basecoated, washed, highlighted and finally glazed. I wanted to try out this other method and will report back at the end of the project as to how I have got on.

So the army theme is based around two of my own small fluff amendments and adjustments. The main part is my force is to based on the Ghost Knights which are part of Grand Master Mordraks fluff (WH40K Wiki link here: http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Vorth_Mordrak ). These ghost knights materialise around Mordrak and fight for him. My other fluff part which is a contortion of the truth is that I want the force to be based around the chapter which has descended from Loken from the Horus Heresy series so having the sea green armour of the Sons of Horus seemed fitting!

Ok so down to the painting method. My goal with this army was to speed paint it following the speed painting technique used by Guild Painting detailed in the garagehammer episode (link: ) where by they paint a model bit by bit (eg just a boot, then just a sword etc etc). So here is the stage by stage guide and timings of what I have done for roughly 70 grey knights! Im going to assume all models are assembled for the start of this guide as all of mine were lol! Pics below of each stage!

Stage 1: Glue Sand and Gravel to base (30minutes, dry 1 hour)
Mix glue with sand and gravel and put on bases using knife clean mess with thumb and have a bowl of water to hand to keep you thumb clean.

Stage 2: Spray Grey (3 minutes x4, dry 1 hour)
Pretty simple.BnQ grey Primer, spray lol.

Stage 3: Dry Brush Entire Model with light Grey (25 Minutes)
This brings out the detail and will make the next stage look that much better

Stage 4: Wash all armour with a 50:50 mix of Beil Tan Green and Lahmian Medium (1hour, dry 1 Hour)
This effectively paints all the armour for you and thanks to the previous dry brush it does your highlighting too!

Stage 5: Force Weapons (4 Hours)
Paint entire force weapon blade dark blue, progressively move up through the blade both in distance and slightly lighter blues until you reach near white at the extreme edge.

Stage 6: Red Cloth and Purity Seals (4 Hours)
Paint all red areas dark red, then raised surfaces lighter red, wash red. The progressively layer, highlight and blend up to finished very light red.

This is where I am upto so far!

Total Time so far: 13 Hours

Let me know what you think guys!!

13 Aug 2014

Hello All,

it's been a bit of a crazy month for me, got a tonne on my plate and it seems like everything is slipping! I Have a lot to get done so here is a list of my current painting projects and two WiP pics of my WoC Disc rider. A few more hours and he should be done! Needed to write down and make public what I am working on to spur me on for completion!

As an example, here are my current painting projects:

Project Type Time (hours) Priority Due Date
Disc Rider Painting 5 1 29/08/2014
Misc WoC for Scott Painting 15 1 29/08/2014
Ogres for Chris Painting 10 2 10/10/2014
Carmine Dragon for James Painting 10 2 29/08/2014
Finish Grey Knights Painting 24 3 10/09/2014
Citadel Trees/Terrain Painting 10 3 10/09/2014
Brets for John Painting 6 3 10/10/2014
Firebelly Painting 6 4 10/10/2014
Bruiser + Gorger Painting 10 4 10/10/2014
Warboars Painting 3 4 10/10/2014

25 Aug 2014

Over the weekend I have been on a bit of painting marathon and managed to finished a Carmine Dragon. I didnt realise it until I sat down to paint it but it was the first dragon I have ever painted! It was a pretty difficult model to paint, the red scales took an inordinate amount of time to paint. The wings were also a nightmare as there is no flat surface to blend up, instead they are all crenelated surfaces. Other than that though it is a lovely model and probably one of the best dragon models GW or any other manufacturer produce.

Anyway let me know what you think as it is quite different to my normal painting style with a much more muted colour palate (read not bright purple and luminous green

).

25 Aug 2014

Well, your work never ceases to amaze me. This Dragon looks the business, the first one you have painted? You Jammy git!

The depth of colour in it is superb and despite the crenelated surface you still seem to have blended the main raised areas of the wings. Basing as always is fantastic, and overall the dragon looks very impressive.

Quite frankly I hate you!

I would ask though; what colour (s) did you use to get that dark shading down his back/ belly? I really like the "almost black with a hint of red" going on there and I am painting a sceptic chaos Giant that could use a touch of that to really bring him out.

Once again, amazing work mate...not that I am jealous, oh no, not a bit...have you insured your hands? You want too

G_H

26 Aug 2014

Its a great looking model and your paint job really works.
I love that its a proper red dragon....something we don't see a lot of in warhammer...at least not where i play.

26 Aug 2014

Well, your work never ceases to amaze me. This Dragon looks the business, the first one you have painted? You Jammy git!

The depth of colour in it is superb and despite the crenelated surface you still seem to have blended the main raised areas of the wings. Basing as always is fantastic, and overall the dragon looks very impressive.

Quite frankly I hate you!

I would ask though; what colour (s) did you use to get that dark shading down his back/ belly? I really like the "almost black with a hint of red" going on there and I am painting a sceptic chaos Giant that could use a touch of that to really bring him out.

Once again, amazing work mate...not that I am jealous, oh no, not a bit...have you insured your hands? You want too

G_H

Thanks mate! The black scales were painted black then washes with red and edged with a dark red

26 Aug 2014

Its a great looking model and your paint job really works.
I love that its a proper red dragon....something we don't see a lot of in warhammer...at least not where i play.

Thanks Steve!

29 Aug 2014

Gather up one and all the Scottish Open has been announced! Hosted by the wondrous and magnificent King Pash (@kingpash) at Common Ground Games in Stirling, Scotland. To say I am excited would be like saying Nick Gentily (of Dwellers Below fame) is mildly aroused by cavalry princes and talks in hushed whispers. It is already being billed as the premier Scottish 2 day tournament and is one which we hope will draw in foreign (or soon to be foreign L ) tournament go-ers as well as the brilliant Scottish Scene regulars!

So why should you go to the Scottish Open or Scottish tournaments in general? Well frankly we are a great bunch of gamers who embrace all sides of the hobby (gaming, painting and socialising) and the atmosphere is just incredible on the day. We all have a great laugh and nothing is taken too seriously but if you want some competitive tactical games the top tables always play host to our best players who compete on an international stage. Further down the tables (where I belong) we regularly play drinking games (secure the pint of beer objective or double six charges are always in). Furthermore the venue is second to none at Common Ground Games, great tables, a custom built gaming hall and an attached hobby shop and café. Ive been told it is similar to the maelstrom of old. Saturday will likely be host to a group meal out and a night on the Stirling tiles. Being Scotland accommodation, food and drink are very cheap compared to down south and transport links are excellent (Stirling bus and train station are 5 minutes walk from the venue) to Glasgow, Edinburgh and the south so it is very easy to get to!

To top this of Pash has released a very unique tournament pack (can be found here: http://warhammer.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=125031 ) at 2500pts, win/loss/draw and you are free to bring upto 300pts of allies, scrolls of binding or monstrous Arcanum models. This can be cherry picked from any book and in any combination but bear in mind the standard Warhammer allies rules (eg suspicious allies etc). There are scenarios in place (blood n glory & modified watch tower(hill)).

So with this all in mind I thought I would post up my planned (closed) list. I have been tossing and turning about whether to bring filth (Tettoeko, Demigryphs, A lvl4 on Light or Big Waaaagh (hand of gork on a gutstar lol) or 2 empire cannons lol) but have settled on a more themey but still competitive Ogre list and have brought a (shockingly terrible) Rock Idol. This monstrous beastie 200pts of utter fail but I love the model and I feel it will be in keeping with the spirit of the tournament. This bad boy has a rule called big un which is all the worst parts of animosity and frenzy and none of the benefits, it MUST declare a charge if possible and if it cant then you rolls a d6 on a 1 it charges one of your own units!!! I can see this biting me in the bum at some point!

The rest of the list more conventional (I have some sneaky tricks with items which I am keeping secret) but I have taken the decision to use a lvl2 on beasts. I am undecided on the lvl1/2 but my thinking for level 2 is I might roll savage beasts, amber spear or pans impenetrable pelt which would be useful and it makes casting wild form that bit easier. Wildform on the mournfang, lead belchers, bulls or gutstar can be an utter game winner especially when combined with bubble maw magic! Excited to try this out!

Anyway guys let me know what you think and if you can make it to one Scottish event this year, make it this one and sign up!

Slaughtermaster: Level 4 Wizard; great weapon

Bruiser: heavy armour; battle standard; Lookout Gnoblar
Butcher: Level 2 Wizard; Lore of Beasts

9 Ironguts: Gutlord; Bellower; standard bearer
8 Ogres: additional hand weapons; Bellower; standard bearer

8 Leadbelchers: Bellower
4 Mournfang Cavalry: heavy armour; ironfists; Bellower; standard bearer
1 Sabretusk
1 Sabretusk

Ironblaster

Rogue Idol (Pile)

2,500 points

29 Aug 2014

Sounds exciting! Are you doing the marketing for the Scottish event? If not...you should haha.

List looks competitive and fun. Mostly due to the inclusion of the rock idol as mentioned. Whilst adding endless humour to the game, it's inclusion pretty much guarantees your opponent knows you are not the just for the win, leaving you both with a glowing feeling afterwards (and not just because of the beer objective!)

Also - Trisha carden's dragon model is epic and your paint job makes me want it more!

01 Sep 2014

thanks mate!

Haha no Im not lol! Just passionate about it

Yeah its a great dragon model, just took ages to paint lol!

Yeah hoping I will have a good time

Rich

03 Sep 2014

Hey guys! I hope your all doing well and are as excited by the End Times and Nagash as I am!

I have been having a think and as our gaming group does not have an undead player and the new books are amazing Im going to switch up my empire and do an Undead Empire army! Going to write a short story for the back ground of my army to help with the narrative side of things. Really dont want to miss out on this expansion, I genuinely think it is the best product and concept GW have released to my memory!

An empire army sent out into the Kislev wastes to help relieve the kislevites from the chaotic onslaught. Only a few years prior the Kislevites had raided their garrison town taking their stores of food and killing many villagers. The nobles of both sides settled the matter amicably and no vengeance was enacted much to the anger and disgust of the common soldiery. The local empire general and elector count were too cowardly to fight themselves and lead the troops so they hired the Order of the Blood Lion and their Grandmaster Wilhelm Von Kurst to lead the army.

On the march toward kislev the army is ambushed by a chaotic host and are badly depleted but not defeated and they receive dire news that their home town and garrison have been sacked. All of their families and friends put to the sword by the marauding norsemen. In need of shelter the army makes way to the nearest kislev town. The kislevites demand gold to enter, paying for the scarce food and accommodation that they will have to supply. Grandmaster Wilhelm realises the dire situation and nobly donates his Orders hire payment. Upon opening the chest gifted to them by the empire nobles he finds that it has transmuted to common iron, a vile alchemical trick! Betrayed and abandoned the army is forced to march and camp in the freezing storm that has been blowing for days.

Days turn weeks, weeks to months and the storm does not let up. Supplies and men dwindle until morale is broken, desertion and anarchy reigns. In the depths of midnight the darkness somehow grew darker, the storm fiercer and the chill colder. Out of the swirling maelstrom of the blizzard a tall and impossibly evil figure approached Grandmaster Wilhelm and offers him and his lieutenants a choice:

"Die fighting and serve me for eternity as slaves or die willingly and wreak vengeance forever on your betrayers".

Months of bitter thoughts and cursing to the midnight wind made the decision easy, Grandmaster Wilhelm accepts his fate and to prove his loyalty puts his unwilling men to death and gifted his followers with the vampric kiss. That day "The Forlon Legion" was born and it's relentless march to revenge began.....

So as you will see I have painted a test model as I was so excited using a high elf as a base. I will be using empire models going forward with a mix of conversions and vampiric models (hexwraiths, varghiests, terrorghiest, ghouls and the new Mortarchs etc). The infantry will all be ghost like as shown above as well as all the mounts (to represent the common soldiery and beasts of burden being put to the sword) and the elite knights and characters have been given the vampiric kiss in exchange for their desertion to the ranks of the unliving. This is a newly dead army so there will not be as much degradation in the armour or appearance of the Forlorn Legion contingent but the rest will be more standard in undead appearance.

So just now I am looking for comments on the colour scheme (I know not technically my best paint job but please comment on the colour mix and balance). I am not sure if the infantry will look to ghostly and bland in isolation? Do they need another colour? More armour? Darker weapons? Bear in mind that there will be other units balancing the army out with the basing being consistent and the beasts/infantry all ethereal?

Input would be greatly appreciated!

08 Sep 2014

Boosh! Finished 3 Warpigs (Sabretusks) for my OrcOgres! Pretty chuffed with how these boys came out! Also some pics of my planned Scottish Open 2014 Army list, just 2 models and movement trays to paint, wooo!

16 Sep 2014

Been doing a wee bit of work on some scenery for my realm of battleboard and have put together 3 GW forests! They were pretty fiddly to build (the leaves were difficult to attach after painting in parts) but overall I think they look pretty good. I sprayed the base and tree trunks brown, dry brushed light brow, washed with devlan mud and then drybrushed with a light green and a light brown. I washed the lower parts of the trees with Athonian Camoshade to make it look moss covered. The rocks were just grey painted, black washed and dry brushed with lighter grey. The leaves were grey sprayed, orange painted, washed with yellow and then I glued scatter leaves on the surfaces and the base. All in all I think they came out pretty well and definitely look like an autumn forest! Let me know what you think!

16 Sep 2014

Have to say those trees are really amazing. So rich in colour with that Autumn look. Very few gamers think to do trees anything but green. (Though there is a few purple one running around the forums that I remember!)

Never would have thought to base grey then paint to orange though. Was there a reason for this?

Kind regards Zolas.

17 Sep 2014

Have to say those trees are really amazing. So rich in colour with that Autumn look. Very few gamers think to do trees anything but green. (Though there is a few purple one running around the forums that I remember!)

Never would have thought to base grey then paint to orange though. Was there a reason for this?

Kind regards Zolas.

Thanks Zolas! I cant wait to get them on a table and roll dice!

17 Sep 2014

(*****BETTER PICS HERE: http://paint-hammer.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/orcogre-firebelly-and-butcher.html *****)

Hey guys! Been doing a wee painting spree and finished off my firebelly and butcher meaning I am now fully painted for the Scottish open! Went a bit left wing with the paint scheme on the firebellys flames and ended up with a pinky flame. Quite happy with how they turned out as at one point I was pretty down with how they were looking. I think the reason was that due to my life being a bit hectic at the moment it took me a week or so to get them painted up meaning that the models were half painted for days. Usually I paint pretty quickly and get to sit for 5-6 hours in the evening so this change of pace meant I was staring at half finished work. Let me know if you suffer from similar annoyance at half painted projects and if you do try painting for as long as possible to finish a model to completion to keep morale up!

17 Sep 2014

Oh yes the half painted models syndrome is a real thing! I totally get that problem far much more then I would like to admit.

Your firebelly and butcher are looking fantastic. Skin tone on those guys is just superb! Pink flames really work with that guy though. Goes well with your purple pink flower shrub basing.

Great work! +1 Gnoblar for you.

Kind regards Zolas.

26 Sep 2014

I m cursed with the half-finished syndrome. I have more "almost finished" models that I do have ones that are completed...which is absolutely appalling really.

I have worked out that I have a 3 or 4 day ceiling on painting. I can (almost) guarantee that if I don't keep at a model/ unit and leave it for 3 or 4 days, then it wont get finished. The return time at present seems to be about 8 or 9 months.
After 3 or 4 days I find that I have had another idea or seen something that has inspired me to move on to another project or model and the one I started is then lost.

It actually is a curse and though it's never intended, it seems to happen to me way, way too much.

love the Slaughtermaster and Firebelly, excellent work as always mate.

G_H

05 Nov 2014

Hey guys, very quick post to show a couple of Empire test models that I finished. Super happy with how they came out, and I think this will be my scheme going forward. Might drop the light green ribbon as I think this I think there are a bit too many colours. So the scheme will be deep red and cream quartered on any fabric/clothing, dark silver for armour and light blue as spot colours. Im still in limbo on basing for the moment but after spending a few days in autumnal Scottish Highlands I think I might try to replicate that with dark granite/slate rock, browns and tan long grass and deep red and gold leaves. Maybe a bity of (purple) heather too if I feel like infuriating Mike!

Anyway let me know what you think guys, absolutely champing at the bit to get this army built and on the table!

05 Nov 2014

Hey RJ, so I think I know you well enough now to be able to share some critique with you. You are an amazing painter, there is no doubt about that and I am in awe of your work.

In the case of these guys they look really good. I love the Parchment coloured cape and the detailing on the horse riding dude.

If I had a critique on these guys it would be the banner tops and blue cloth/ strap in the horses mane. To me (and this is just me, obviously) they look a bit...flat. The feather is really nicely done but somehow this doesn't seem to have transposed onto the cloth/ banner tops. Somehow a bit more depth would really add to this cloth.

Don't get me wrong, I doubt I could do anything close to this, but I know how good you are so that would be my observation here.

Keep on posting and i'll keep on watching.

G_H

06 Nov 2014

Hey RJ, so I think I know you well enough now to be able to share some critique with you. You are an amazing painter, there is no doubt about that and I am in awe of your work.

In the case of these guys they look really good. I love the Parchment coloured cape and the detailing on the horse riding dude.

If I had a critique on these guys it would be the banner tops and blue cloth/ strap in the horses mane. To me (and this is just me, obviously) they look a bit...flat. The feather is really nicely done but somehow this doesn't seem to have transposed onto the cloth/ banner tops. Somehow a bit more depth would really add to this cloth.

Don't get me wrong, I doubt I could do anything close to this, but I know how good you are so that would be my observation here.

Keep on posting and i'll keep on watching.

G_H

Thanks for the kind words as always GH! Yeah think you are right, needs one or two more highlights (and maybe a recess wash) to add the depth

Rich

24 Nov 2014

Hey guys! Super busy few weeks but managed to get some painting done (at long last!!) and I have painted up Nagash for a friend. Really is an awesome model and as someone who is a product designer, let me just express the obvious, this model is an utter feat of CAD (Computer Aided Design). Utterly incredible and I wouldnt even know where to start in producing something like this. On an aside I believe GW must be using bleeding edge rapid prototyping in cobalt to make their tools. They really are world leaders in plastic moulding, let alone model design!

Anyway the model was a bit of challenge to paint and had to be base coated and washed in several parts, layered in intermediate sub-assemblies and then highlight finished in one piece. It did take a monstrous amount of time (Easily 20+ hours). Did really enjoy painting him though and it is easily one of my favourite models. In retrospect I think it is not my best paint job, the purple armour could be improved. If I was to do it again I would also do the armour the same ethereal colour as the cape/ghosts. (Please note the model is un-based so Andy can match his army when he starts it

)

Anyway guys let me know what you think!

24 Nov 2014

I have to say, this looks utterly amazing. My favorite part of the whole model has to be the book in his hand, along with the heavy OSL onto his right shoulderplate; that splash of red is an awesome highlight, without being too distracting, but giving purpose. Very well done!

As for the armor, I'd say that it's better to do it a different color than the cape o' souls, just so you don't lose the definition of one or the other; if there's a lot of the same color on the model it gets a tad boring/redundant, and on such a big guy that could be a bit more of an issue. I think you did a fine job on the armor! Much better than I would, probably

25 Nov 2014

I have to say, this looks utterly amazing. My favorite part of the whole model has to be the book in his hand, along with the heavy OSL onto his right shoulderplate; that splash of red is an awesome highlight, without being too distracting, but giving purpose. Very well done!

As for the armor, I'd say that it's better to do it a different color than the cape o' souls, just so you don't lose the definition of one or the other; if there's a lot of the same color on the model it gets a tad boring/redundant, and on such a big guy that could be a bit more of an issue. I think you did a fine job on the armor! Much better than I would, probably

Thanks Sazel

06 Dec 2014

Seeing how you painted him doesn't make him look nearly as challenging as the picture on the box. And trust me that is not me insulting your painting at all. He looks amazing, but its so cool that you got some really really tremendous looking detail with what looks like some progressive dry brushing? and blending. Great stuff man, really great.

PS. Don't know if you knew this but they actually mentioned you on the last podcast episode of garage hammer talking about your OrcOgres.

04 Jan 2015

Hey conogre!

Sorry for the delay in response and thanks for the kind words! Yup it's defo not my best work but very happy and it was quite easy to achieve!

Really?! Never heard that will have to go back and listen out for that

do you know which episode?

Rich

05 Jan 2015

Hey RJ, I hate to disagree with you but I think the Nagash model isn't much better than the original. It's a great big pile of steaming mournfang dung. It looks way too busy and I chalk it up as a failure. That being said I'm taking away absolutely nothing from the usual incredible paint job give slapped on it, it looks fantastic so big thumbs up for that.

. I guess I'll have to wait for their third attempt before picking up one of my favourite characters in warhammer!

03 Feb 2015

Sweet job man!
On the armour I would agree with Sazel in not doing it like the ethereal cloth, rather I would darken the armour a bit and maybe gloss the recess to give a liquid shade appearance? Anyways, love the model and I love the paintjob you gave it!

05 Feb 2015

I dont like the red skull on shoulder but finaly i see someone did nagash with blue etheral cloak nod grrreeeennnn. + for you! Anyway nice job!

05 Feb 2015

Lovin the 'dusty, old, undead' and not 'pristine, clean, and perfect' look on a model that was resurrected and is essentially the king of undead things!

but seriously, great job! Intimidating model to paint, I'm sure.

27 Feb 2015

Thanks for the kind words gys

yeah red is defo not great and not my best work if I am honest

Rich

27 Feb 2015

So last night I finished off a Troglodon as a prize for the winner of Winter War Raffle 2014. The winner (Chris Maker) requested that I paint this awesome model and I was more than happy to oblige! Really is one of my favourite large monster plastic kit released in the past few years, brilliant sculpt. The scales were pretty soul destroying to paint (took over 10 hours to do the green and turquoise!) but I think the final effect came off rather well. Please note that the model is un-based so Chris can match his Lizardman basing scheme. The sand was drying last night (and still was this morning lol) so Ill give it a quick wash and drybrush tonight to tidy it up!

Really chuffed with how it came out though, probably one of the best models I have done. Actually really put cravings back into me to go and paint lizardmen again (my first love!). Also gave me a funny bit of nostalgia to go back and look at my lizards (http://paint-hammer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/my-lizardman-army.html ) they were finished in May 2012 (just under 3 years ago) and Im really happy with how I have progressed with my painting since then. The lizardmen were the first army which I used washes on (I know crazy!) and really got me into painting properly. Since then I have tried to learn one new technique for every army I have done to push myself as a painter and get better with each new project.

So with that in mind I thought I would set out some plans for 2015 (super busy year so a bit less ambitious than most my years!):

· 1200 pts of High Elves/Empire for Cally Carnage Team Event (May). Need to decide soon lol.
· (~)2400pts of the above for Winter War (November).
· 2000pts of Grey Knights(half painted)
· Techniques to practise: NMM, Freehand Banners, OSL (maybe!).

What new techniques are you going to try to learn in 2015? What are your next projects?

27 Feb 2015

Incredible work, your gnoblog never fails to amaze me. Your painting certainly has come a long way in the last 3 years

What are more projects for 2015 well
1. Complete Ogres + Display board (This includes narrative campaign report vs Dark Elves)
2. Finish Tau
3. Watchmen and Bane gangs for Batman miniature game + Gotham specific terrain
4. Unspecified amount of Blood bowl

27 Feb 2015

Thanks mate! sounds like you have some great projects planned

27 Feb 2015

The empire model and Nagash are gorgeous, but seeing your usual blend of purple, green and blue brings back the best of memories of your Orc-Ogres!

Lovely model, one of my favorite monster sculpts (too bad the thing is mediocre at best...

), and you nailed it!

Can't wait to see more! Maybe a Kharibdyss is in the mix?

27 Feb 2015

Thanks mate! would love to do a Kharibdyss actually!! Next in the pipe line is some empire characters a stank and maybe a nice big Carmine Dragon!

27 Feb 2015

Looking good RJ! I love your Nagash - you really made him look great and the photo backdrops are a nice touch.

02 Mar 2015

Looking good RJ! I love your Nagash - you really made him look great and the photo backdrops are a nice touch.

thanks mate

04 Jun 2015

Steve Wren gets my vote, but holy cow it was hard to decide, all of these are extremely good. Skill across the board is great, I really like the chest hair of Jon Kerr.

Yeah same here, cant decide who I'm going to vote for either! Some amazing work!

22 Jul 2015

Hey guys just a quick blog post to say I am selling my Empire army to help fund my wedding/honeymoon and more Age of Sigmar purchases. Would love to see the army go to a good home and a blog follower! Blog/twitter followers can get this for £300 including UK postage. Just hit me up and we can arrange a paypal transaction! Here is some info on the army:

You will receive:
Empire 8th Edition Rule book

Models:
Metal Steamtank (OOP)
6 Demigryphs
Exalted Valten on Elven Horse (finecast)
Valten on horse (finecast)
Kurt Hellborg (metal)
Marius Lietdorf (metal)
Luther Huss (metal)
Ludwig Swartzchelm (metal)
Empire General on horse (plastic)
Metal exalted Valten on foot (PLEASE NOTE THIS HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM ITS UNIT FILLER)
Metal OOP Truthsayer
Metal Bretonnian Damsel on Foot

PLEASE NOTE that the unit filler has been removed and is not included in this auction, if this is a problem I can rebase it for you. Please ALSO NOTE that the Forgeworld Lietpold the black model is not part of this sale, it was a wedding gift from Joe and is being kept for sentimental value.

Please contact me should you have any questions. The army will be sent via courier and each model will be individually bubble wrapped. Due to the delicate nature of the models and high quality of their painting and basing I would not recommend international shipping but if you are willing to pay an additional amount I will get a quote but shipping will be at your risk and damages or losses will not be refunded.