The Black Skaven Part 4

Hello all, It's been a wee while since my last post, and despite some serious "real life" issues getting in the way, I've managed to get 4 more Black Skaven finished and it feels pretty damned good. 

I had to substitute old lead with some of the 2nd Ed plastic Clanrats circa '95;

I can already hear the boo-hisses coming from some of the old hammer elitests out there but I think they came out looking pretty slick. 

The reds came out pretty damn fine: nice and matt, actually red, not orange or yellow which I've made the mistake(s) of in the past. 

The true reason I used the plastics was to save these guys;

To use in my Stormvermin unit, I figure their weapons are menacing enough to count as double handed and with their addition the unit has now reached 13 figures! 

These two Black Skaven are the ones I'm the most proud of (so far)

I couldn't be more pleased with their shoulder pads, the one on the left came close to blending, something I've not done in a dogs age.

Even the beige work came out better than the last batch:

Well that's it for now, seven more to go, well I should probably do 8 in case I want to hide a plague censer bearer or assassin in there, I mean no I'd never do something as underhanded as that.....

Comments are always welcome, I was a bit snippy with my replies last time round but I had some real shit going on. 

That's no excuse and it's not right to take it out on my loyal viewership, I apologize. 

So please comment, let me know what you like, don't like or anything 

in-between.

Thanks as always for stopping by! 

Black Skaven Part 3

Hey guys, 

I've been going through some serious painter's block, I can't seem to sit down and lay on the paint. 

Well, foolishly I forced myself to paint, which rendered sub standard results. If I have any advice to a painter it is this: When it begins to feel like work, stop.

To be fair he does look a tad better in person

The beige is particularly shitty, which is too bad, I quite liked the first batch of 5:

To be fair, once their bases are done they will look a lot better, and split up into a unit who will notice, right? RIGHT?!

So just a quick update for today, I'm trying desperately to get them finished but not before a bit of a break. 

April 18th is my next game against Crapfang's Backwoods Bandits and I can't wait!

Black Skaven Part 2

Hello all, I was supposed to wait until the unit was halfway done before posting my progress but, it has been quite a while since I've put this much effort into painting figs; drybrushing, edging, layering are all things I've not done in a dog's age. 

With the exception of the skin and weapon shaft everything else got at least two highlight coats. I like how the red turned out; it didn't come out orange at all while hits in all the right spots (I think)

And the rear

They're going to look especially good once the unit is finished and I can get the basing done in one fell swoop.

This is the look I wanted to emulate and I think it's a reasonable facsimile. 

Let me know what you think, comments welcome! 

Today's Progress: An Homage

Clan Scourge is now down to the last thirty odd models, 20 of which are +1 shock elite Black Skaven with halberds.

I want them to stand out from the usual basecoat, wash, varnish method I've used for the rest of my horde. 

They'll take a lot more time but they're worth it. 

I plan to paint them in the classic Stormvermin scheme from the original Skaven army book besides the painted toenails;

Here's my work in progress:

These are the newest sculpts I've got, the rest are Oldhammer. 

A long way to go, a long, long way! But I'm still working away, posting will be slow but when the unit is halfway finished I'll get some better pics up. 

Good luck with whatever it is you're up to and thanks for looking. 

Clan Eschin Koga Ninja Team

Hey guys, I've finally finished my gutter runners, they've taken me a dogs age, not because they are beautiful and I've elected to lavish attention on them, actually quite the contrary. These are in fact the worst skaven sculpts I've ever laid hands on. Oh and I've never painted black before, just a bit of a problem. 

As my regular readers know; to get my horde finished I've used nothing but neat even base coats and a carefully applied wash coat with some kick ass basing to get them table ready. But with the amount of overlap in the modelling of these sculpts (nets, swords, cloaks etc) neat base coating has required about 5 times the work of a Clanrat.

I've done what I can with my meagre skills but they've been a real chore. However, they're done and boy am I'm glad. I've tried to vary the blacks (grey, blue, flat) while also including some of the main force's colours to tie them in. I even bothered to paint the underside fur  on their cloaks and pick out their elaborate cloak pins and belt buckles just to add some detail. 

This is my unit champion, I actually like how he turned out. 

All the work is well worth it as Gutter Runners are a huge tactical asset in 3rd edition! They're skirmishers, they're scouts, all of their attacks are poisoned, 

they get slings and throwing knives plus they move/charge nine inches (with light armour and shield/net) a turn? Yes please!

In conclusion I have a slightly unhealthy obsession with the anime flick "Ninja Scroll", not the most stellar of contributions to the genre but I saw it for the first time while very young and the term Koga Ninja Team has stuck with me. 

Thanks for reading, please comment and let me know how you think they've turned out.

The Ashtray Turns 2

This little skaven blog of mine is now two years old, it makes me happy to have picked up so many followers, especially my regular commenters, so thank you.

it makes me a bit sad that in two years I've still not finished my dream 3k Skaven army but I'm damn close, at the latest by May I should have them finished which I guess is not so bad considering. 

But what makes today special? Shall I unveil my greater daemnon of the horned rat? A screaming bell just like Mr. Chambers prototype? A pack of 100 Clanrats. 

Nah.

Here's a work in progress of my gutter runners, after all Skaven armies are built on the little guys, not the centrepiece units other armies need to win.

These are beyond a doubt the WORST Skaven sculpts I've ever laid hands on, absolutely terrible. Shit, quite frankly. But, they are an invaluable asset to Clan Scourge thus I shall persevere in their completion.

That's it really, happy birthday to the ashtray, to conclude I leave a photo montage of the years gone by for those who are new to my blog/those who give a shit and special thanks at the finally.

My original bag of skaven

My first "army" shot

My inspiration, I think he's high. 

My latest army shot

My last game, a bitter defeat. Not really bitter moreso milk choclatey. 

In conclusion I want to thank Andy Chambers for showing what a Skaven army can be, Nico from realms of chaos for his banner tutorials/inspiration, Blue in VT for teaching how basing should be done and for showing me how, Snikkit for nearly ALWAYS commenting and giving some guidance, Mr Mouse for commenting regularly, Gaj for starting Warhammer for Adults which got me into this in the first place, and lastly to Sir Sully of oldhammer in toronto for being himself the avatar of what an oldhammer opponent should be.

If I have not included you it was not deliberate or meant to slight you in any way. Thanks for stopping by.

Long live Clan Scourge! 

Clan Scourge Vs Krapfang's Backwood Bandits 1,500pts

I can only say that I had a great time against a fun opponent and marvellous host with a beautifully painted army and quite nice terrain. 

I should also include that my teeth were severely kicked in by the end of the game. Curb stomped or "smiley" would be an accurate description. 

The armies arrayed for combat. I really like this photo's composition except that some tom fool left his iphone on the table. It was me. 

I deployed in an even line with jezzailachis on hills in my deployment corners with good lines of sight. I placed my plague monks between my 2 big Clanrat blocks as their relic banner could potentially stop an all out rout spreading through my lines. 

Everything was going fine until my rat ogres failed their charge by a 1/4 inch, they now sat before a pack of trolls lead by a wizard. 

You can see them unformed in the top right. 

I then had to pull my wizard out of his unit (he had aura of protection and hammer hand up) and then cast flight in order to intercept a unit of Wulfboyz from flanking me. What should've been a 1 turn combat turned into a 3 turn engagement, at this point I knew I was doomed, I had no way to get him back where I needed him to cast wind blast and tie the giant up for awhile.

My opponent then scored a direct hit with his man mangler on turn 3: 16 Clanrats dead, panic test, which I passed surprisingly. On his next turn he did 16 wounds to my plague monks with another direct hit. 

This is the photo which really sums the game up for me. Top left: Fancy pants lvl 20 hero with his parasitic blade and magically inscribed armour fails a cool test in the giant's charge and legs it off the table sharpish. 

At this point I conceded, my opponent Sir Sully had played an excellent game and besides the occasional botched animosity roll his plan went off without a hitch. It does sting to lose but to lose against a genuinely nice guy with a superbly painted army stings just a little bit less. 

Here are some extra pics:

Rat ogres right before failing the charge into the trolls

Sully's dastardly bolt thrower, you can just make out the manmangler in the top right. His army is absolutely stunning to see in person. 

Well Sewertyrant Xerxes has been excommunicated non gratis. I'm back to the drawing board.

Thanks for stopping by.