What's been going on since my last post 3 months ago?
Out of my various hobby related friends and acquaintances, I'm probably 'in to' the fewest number of gaming systems. Of the many Games Workshop games such as Warhammer Age of Sigmar, Middle Earth (Lord of the Rings), Necromunda, Kill Team, Adeptus Titanticus, Warhammer Quest, Aeronautica Imperialis, Warhammer Underworlds and Warcry I stick to just two systems - Blood Bowl & Warhammer 40K. I've been flirting with both since I was a teenager. Games Workshop alone accounts for many of widely played games, but there are many many others out there, like Star Wars, Dungeons & Dragons and BattleTech to name a few.
However, there are restrictions on what gaming systems I participate in... some of them are placed on me by circumstance, and others are self imposed. I do have to make it clear however that you don't have to buy & paint every model for every system going out there in order to enjoy games. It is more than likely that your circle of friends will have plenty of one particular gaming system on their own to have a social game with them whether it be at their house or at a gaming club.
I choose to collect and paint my miniatures first, and if I get to play with them, well, that's a bonus. I simply like the 'me time'. I get to sit down and not think about anything important, wave my brush about a bit, and occasionally enjoy turning out something I'm pleased with and would be happy to share on social media (which doesn't happen too often! - certainly not if it was to stand up to scrutiny from the dauntingly talented number of hobbyists out there!).
These restrictions tend to include the available time to hobby, the cash you are able and willing to invest, availability and access to like-minded friends or gaming clubs, storage space and frankly motivation. And of course, the necessary need to blog progress too!
Storage space
Previous readers of my hobby blog will know that I tried collecting and painting the (correct at the time) 26 Blood Bowl races that were available. I didn't quite complete this before the 2020 Season 2 relaunch came out, but I had a damned good go. Of course, having painted the 11-16 strong team (plus additional figures like cheerleaders, turn counters and reroll markers, etc) I have to store them somewhere, along with pitches and dice and the other paraphernalia, and mix in 40K stuff and space is definitely a frontier! The worst bit is the 'Cupboard O' Shame' with plenty of shrink-wrapped goodies still to paint... but it should be enjoyable and not feel like a chore! And once painted, I don't have anywhere to display them... so they disappear into foam or a Really Useful box.
Cost
Games Workshop team boxes are normally fairly cheap (roughly £22-£26 a box dependant on whether you ordered from GW or from an independent gaming store) but can be relatively expensive if you backed a crowdfunded team project, and it was all metal and was overseas-based for instance. However, units in a 40K army can cost at least that each, and you need a good number of boxes to field a 2000 point army, or at least have some variation for different tactics. It can add up!
Motivation
Then of course is the motivation. When Covid hit, the tournament scene was halted. Almost 2 years later it has started up again. But in that time, the motivation to paint a team wasn't there as there wasn't a tournament around the corner to prepare for. Also, with the 24/26 teams material badge being phased out by the NAF, my personal challenge to complete it sort of died too. However, the tournament scene is starting up again (will probably see my next blog being about the Red Trophy V) so it might be worth collecting some star players I don't have, or finally finish painting the 26 teams I've got.
Work has also played it's role, where my current job has not allowed me the social hours to go to a gaming club and play with these toys! The free time I've had has been (quite rightly) family based, so hobby time goes down the pecking order. Combine that with a need get out from behind a desk and do some exercise, hobby slips down the list even further.
Streamlining
With all this in mind, I have further streamlined my cupboard-of-shame... ebaying off some High Elf Warhammer Fantasy Battle stuff, as well as some newer elements of a Dark Angels army I had in mind (ie adding Primaris marines etc). I'm very tempted to sell my unpainted Eldar army stuff too as I make way for sticking to just two 40K armies: the Sisters of Battle and the Grey Knights (see posts elsewhere on this blog for more info). Given my points above about collecting, I've decided to just stick with the 2 armies for good now - I wouldn't have the capacity for anything more!
All of that is a long way of saying I've not done as much hobby as I wanted to in the last 3 months, and I've just completed a few minor projects since my last blog update, instead of lots of teams and squads which I hoped to accomplish over lock down! I've grouped these into 40K and Blood Bowl, so feel free to scroll down to the bits that interest you!
Warhammer 40K hobby update
Imperial Agents
I noticed that both the Sisters of Battle and Grey Knights (and other Imperial armies) can include Agents of the Imperium, such as Inquisitors and Assassins in their armies. I realised I had few to none of either and decided to change that.
Culexus Assassin - I have an affinity to the older metal cast miniatures in 40K, and I thought that this assassin model would thematically fit with the Sisters of Battle nicely as they nullify psychic abilities and the powers of the warp. Sisters of Battle disdain pyskers. Perfect!
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| I gave all the agents a black base rim, as opposed to the grey of the Sisters'. |
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| Showing off the dark body glove/suit |
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| His eye follows you around the battlefield... |
Eversor assassin - If you are looking to let loose the dogs of war... then look no further than this beserker killer. I decided to paint him in the 'Action Force/GI Joe' theme of the assassin ninja 'Storm Shadow'. What do you think?
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| Again, another older 40K metal model. I think it still looks good! |
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| Storm Shadow should never be without his blade |
Inquisitor Coteaz - The official blurb says "Torquemada Coteaz has ever been driven by a single consuming passion: to destroy Daemons wherever they manifest, and with uncompromising force." He also comes with a two-headed cyber Bald eagle... but I changed this to a Golden Eagle. Again, what do you think?
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| Coteaz and his two-headed eagle |
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| Gave the cloak some nice red shading trimmed with bear skin? |
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| "Look into my eyes..." |
Sisters of Battle - Celestine
I'm starting to have more character models than I have squad members, but I was still in the mood for painting individual models over squads of them. Celestine is a living saint and is a pretty awesome Sisters character that is almost an auto-include in any army. I don't use an air brush, and so I based them with a rattle-can of Retributor Gold... the trouble was it came out quite grainy, which shows up in places like on the smooth armour and the wings. Ah well.
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| That's a picture of paint pots behind the model!... not actual paints! I'm not that neat!! |
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| If you're this close, you're already dead! |
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| Green-glow power swords for the win! |
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| Very delicate and long purity seals! |
Blood Bowl hobby update
Snotlings Team
The Snotlings were one of the new teams launched by Games Workshop that didn't previously exist as part of the 26 races NAF use in tournaments. They were later joined by Imperial Nobility and Black Orcs. I'd got a team box, as well as two of the newer plastic GW Trolls. I didn't particularly like the Troll miniature with his base-ball pitcher pose, but it was part of the 'fun' aesthetic of the team I guess.
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| Photo is a bit dark, but you get the idea! |
All in all, despite being much smaller sculpts than other races, the detail and sheer number of miniatures more than made up for it, so they took some time, and in the end I rushed through them as I was getting bored with them, so not my best paint job. The positionals look fun with their stilts and bouncing ball monsters and smaller bomb monsters too. I also painted their bases so you can tell them apart from normal Snotlings.
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| Taller and faster than the average Snotling! |
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| "Bombs away!" |
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| "Oi!, that's my eye!" |
The Pump Wagons have a reputation for being fiddly to put together, but I took my time and allowed everything to properly dry and set between each stage and didn't have any problems at all. I did use Contrast Paints on the wagon wood which I think came up quite well.
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| Spikey beer barrels, frying pans and catapults... scary! |
The Mighty Zug
With the 2020 (2021!) Olympics going on in Japan, and with a serious lack of Star Players in my collection, I managed to lay my hands on an original metal Zug. I even gave him a vaguely goblin green grass base too, to fit with the era of the model! His kit was a gentle nod toTeam GB and their gold medals with his paint job... Not the best photo as the flash made the skin shiny, but hey, I'm no photographer!
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| The Mighty Zug star player - Well done Team GB! |
And of course, there's other stuff I've made a start on...
All of the models (apart from the Snotlings) had their bases magnetised and I bought a couple more Really Useful boxes, some flexi-iron sheets... and a bit of superglue later I had my new containers for such large and delicate models like the Pump Wagons and Trolls. I think I will need one 11 litre box for each of the Grey Knights, Sisters of Battle and delicate/large Blood Bowl models that can't go in foam, as well as a deeper one for 40K vehicles.
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