Paint Log - 4/18/11

Been working on some things off-and-on. Haven't had a lot of time to paint lately.

What I have been working on predominantly is my new Gnarlhorn Satyr. As of today he's probably about 50% through. Some earlier WIP pics below.

Completely finished Dannon Blythe for Tim a little earlier today. Very happy with how she came out. Posted her pics a little earlier.

Purchased Megalith for the tournament. I just have to make sure he's assembled in time to field him... unfortunately, I don't want to field him until I can repose him. I absolutely love his artwork, but his sculpted pose just drives me nuts.  I really want to repose him such that he conveys the sheer power he's supposed to have. I found a really good thread on the PP site today of someone who had done a really nice and fairy simple repose. I plan on stealing (ahem, borrowing, as my old art teacher used to put it) their idea wholesale... the only problem is that I don't have the proper tools to make the cuts I need - specifically, a jeweler's saw (and a vice probably wouldn't hurt, either). Hopefully I can find one this week.

That's all for the moment.

Gnarlhorn Satyr WIPs:

PICS: Dannon Blythe

This figure was the second figure I offered to paint for Tim as thanks for his pinning work.  When he first handed me Dannon Blythe, she was a mess of black and white... I really had no idea how she'd turn out. I also knew that the original artwork for Dannon (and her companion, Bull) was one of the inspirations that drew Tim into the game, so I wanted to make certain she came out looking as best as I could make her. Her colors are a blend between the studio colors and the original artwork, leaning more heavily towards the studio scheme. Tim requested that Dannon not have bright colors on her, so I tried to keep my palate in more muted tones as possible.

Dannon also presented me with my first chance to try out the new detail brush I purchased... I will honestl y say that without it, there's no way I could have done the detail on her face and gunbelt with out it.

Paint Log - 3/28/11

So... there's some painting I've meaning to add here but forgot to... whoops.

So, Laris - still not done. He's looking pretty great, but not quite there yet. I love how his cork "stone" base has come out - Tim's suggestion to use pliers to rip the pieces off came out great - much better than simply cutting them with an x-acto blade. The Druids of Orboros have come along, as has Morvahna and Morraig, but they're still in limbo.

I decided for a change to work on some of Julia's Khador over the weekend, so I pulled out her Devastator and got to work on it. Actually, I pretty much had to start the entire paint job over from scratch, since I wanted the red armor to now match the "official" color scheme I've created for her army. And speaking of scratches...

I found some tutorials online for painting battle-damage and decided this was the perfect 'jack to try them out on. I used the dipped piece of foam sponge method first, but the results were disappointing. Clearly, I'm doing something wrong with it. However, the "scratches" I painted on the armor came out fantastic - from the right angle, they really DO look like gouges and the like. Since the Behemoth isn't entirely finished, I'm thinking of adding a few more scratches and gouges to his paint job to "batter him up" a bit.

There was ONE small snafu during the whole process... somehow, and I have yet to still figure out how I did this... I managed to get a giant glob of silver paint on the finished right arm that then dried over a bunch of the details. I wasn't able to wash it off, but a toothpick allowed me to scrape it off enough so that it didn't obscure the details and I was able to paint back over it. Salvaged, but frustrating.

I also used the opportunity to break out the brand-new fine detail brush that Julia convinced me to buy and decided to use it to help paint her Winter Guard Officer. While not finished, much of the work is done, and dear god, what a difference that brush makes! I was able to paint the eyes, lips, eyebrows, medals, and wood grain on the rifle stock without any trouble.  In fact, I'm almost scared to use the brush, for fear of ruining it and having to find a replacement... I can't wait to post up some pictures of the Officer.

Last night I went ahead and did some more work, this time almost exclusively on Dannon Blythe. This figure is Tim's, the second of two I offered to paint as payment and thanks for the pinning work he did for me (the first was Gerlak Slaughterborn). Tim requested that the colors on Dannon not be bright, her hair be red, and that I could follow the studio scheme/artwork for Blythe if I wanted to. Taking a look at both, I decided I would. It looks like Tim had tried doing some very basic work on her already, and unfortunately the paint on her had obliterated some of the details in her hair and I worried that possibly her face, too. Thankfully the latter wasn't the case, and I was able to paint over the initial work that had already been done, such that it no longer looks like it was there.

Again the fine detail brush came into play, helping to pick out the details on Dannon's face, her eyes, lips, eyeshadow, hair and assorted buckles. I'm quite proud of her so far, overall. While I love the face, the colors still don't quite match the studio's scheme, and I'm trying to make myself ignore that. I almost ruined the face by going back in and reworking parts of it after I finished it. But so far, she's looking quite good. I'll have to take some snapshots of her. I'll be showing her to Tim tonight to get his opinion on her so far.

Battle Reports: eKaya vs. eMorghoul / pKrueger vs. Gorten

Battle Report 1: Kaya the Moonhunter vs. Lord Assassin Morghoul - 15 pts.

Morghoul hissed in fury as he swiped Mercy at the Argus, forcing the two-headed canine to abandon its twin bites to his leg and torso. He ignored his bleeding wounds and danced back from the quivering, eviscerated corpse of the Feral Warpwolf he had slain only moments earlier, then turned at the sound of a raw howl in time to see massive white wolf lope towards him, coming in low. A split-second later the wolf's howl was answered by a massive roar as the Bronzeback Titan charged forward with the mass of a steam-powered train to intercept the wolf in a bone-shattered blow that threw the beast to the ground, its howl turning to a high yelp of agony as bones broke under the impact. Morghoul flicked back Mercy in anticipation of delivering the finishing stroke when a female voice broke from behind him.
"NO ONE harms my companion!" The skorne assassin's head twisted in surprise - the young human female had not been there moments before, she had simply materialized. Caught off-guard, Morghoul attempted to parry, but the young woman's spear flashed quicker than expected to stab deep into his gut...

The Lists:

Kaya the Moonhunter Laris Feral Warpwolf Argus Tharn Bloodtrackers

Lord Assassin Morghoul Bronzeback Titan Cyclops Savage Cataphract Arcuarii

Initial Thoughts:
First time playing against Skorne. I had anticipated a much tougher victory, but some good tactics, backed up by some lucky rolls, swung things in my favor to give me the victory.  I also think my opponent was a tad overconfident (this same player was originally to be part of our current D&D group, but he was dropped partially on account of all the other players got sick and tired of him espousing all the other awesome things he had done in previous games...). He was playing with one of the heaviest non-character warbeasts in the game, and one hell of a nasty combat-caster, and he was counting on both to win him the game.  I had heard of how nasty Morghoul could be, but I had yet to experience it for myself - until he charged my undamaged Feral and proceeded to turn it into little bloody ribbons.  I also had some serious doubts about the Bloodtrackers' ability to deal with the Arcuarii, but they did surprisingly well. That said, my victory almost didn't make it, as the Bronzeback that almost ended my chances before I got there - countercharge placed Laris at exactly 1 remaining life box... but that was just enough to let me get Kaya into place.

Breakdown:
Kaya - Did decently well. Arced Muzzle through Laris to prevent the Bronzeback from moving up to engage my forces or use countercharge initially against the Feral. At game's end she used Laris' animus to teleport into flanking position behind Morghoul for the winning assassination run.

Laris - Mostly used as a "Bark node." Nearly died when setting up the assassination run due to being countercharged by the Bronzeback down to 1 hit point.

Feral Warpwolf - Ripped the Cyclops Savage to smithereens. Died to Morghoul.

Argus - Used the Doppler bark to paralyze several Arcuarii, but that didn't do much. However, scored a boosted Combo Bite on Morghoul just before Kaya went after him and finished him off.

Tharn Bloodtrackers - Tied up the Arcuarii. I didn't expect them to do well when he surprised me by running his Arcuarii up to engage them before I could use my javelins, since their clawed bucklers aren't too impressive. Instead, some really good rolls saw them take down the heavy infantry and suffer only modest losses in return.

Conclusion:
I definitely did not expect Morghoul to be THAT effective in combat. I now wonder if perhaps I should run Kaya a little more aggressively - having her and Laris flank a target should likely see that target destroyed. I think my opponent had a good idea to run very aggressively - I certainly didn't expect him to be engaging my troops that quickly, and I definitely did not expect to see his warlock charge (and kill!) my heavy. However, I had the right idea of how to initially deal with his Bronzeback... by NOT engaging something that big directly. Muzzle meant that for all its scary presence it couldn't do anything, which led him having to bringing Morghoul up to the front ranks and into range of my other beasts. So... maybe some more aggression from me, and maybe a little less from my opponent. ;)

Battle Report 2: Krueger the Stormwrath vs. Gorten Grundback

Krueger settled to the earth at the edge of the forest as he released the wind's hold keeping him aloft.  To the west, the Wolf Lord and his mount were busy finishing up the noisy gun 'jack while to the east the gorax fell upon the dwarven shield wall in a savage fury, tearing it to pieces and hurtling startled dwarves about in its mindless wrath. At his mental command, the feral warpwolf loped forward from the remains of the other 'jack, now a collection of scrap metal. Krueger scanned the area, looking for the enemy caster. Just as his eyes alighted on the dwarf, the ground suddenly gave a mighty heave, pitching and swelling as boulders and other rocks rolled and jumped along, carrying Krueger into the open. As he climbed back to his feet in surprise, he felt the fire of the first slug rip through his armor and into his side. Before he could transfer the injury, two more gunshots rang out, and Krueger slumped to the ground...

The Lists:

Krueger the Stormwrath Feral Warpwolf Gorax Druids of Orboros Druid Overseer Wolf Lord Morraig

Gorten Grundback Ghordson Basher Grundback Gunner Hammerfall High Shield Gun Corp Hammerfall High Shield Officer & Standard Bearer Thor Steinhammer

Initial Thoughts:
Quick friendly game with Tim, with both of us testing out lists for the Highlander Tournament on Mar. 5th. Mostly a test-bed to see if either of our ideas had any merit. While I did surprisingly well with my list, I ultimately lost due entirely to carelessness on my part. However, after gauging his performance, Tim has decided not to run this list at the tournament.

Breakdown:

Krueger - Did what he does best... fries infantry. His feat took out a fair number of High Shields. Between him, the Druids, and the Gorax, the dwarves' resolve broke and then went running. Krueger's Wind Wall helped shield my models, some. Died to a combination of Gorten's feat (which pulled him into the open) and gunfire (more on that below).

Feral Warpwolf - Took out the Ghordson Basher.

Gorax - Acted as fury battery and a dwarf-muncher. Used his Primal animus to make certain he broke through the High Shields' high armor and sent them running. Poised to go after Gorten next.

Druids of Orboros / Druid Overseer- First screened the advance with their vortexes, then used force bolts to pull the High Shields formation apart and twice drop the Devouring on them.

Wolf Lord Morraig - Came in on the flank at top speed. Killed Thor (who was 'jack marshaling the Gunner) and damaged the Grundback Gunner. Would likely have taken the 'jack out if Krueger hadn't died.

Conclusion:
While I'm impressed with how the list did, and even moreso that I seem to have finally found some reliable ways of peeling apart dwarven formations, I lost due to one careless mistake... I didn't pay attention to my stats. Specifically, I had initially left a point of Fury on Krueger for transfers, then realized my beasts were at full Fury so I wouldn't be able to transfer, anyways. So I ditched the fury.
...Only, I forgot the gorax can hold up to 4 Fury, and he was only at 3. So had I kept the Fury, I could've easily transferred the damage from Gorten's first shot to the gorax and survived the second, then wiped out his caster next turn.
Overall, though, I think the list is strong enough to work for the tournament, so it should be fun.