Granny Weatherwax

Granny Weatherwax is one of my favorite Pratchett characters.  I think I was first introduced to her when I read the Wee Free Men series.  Granny is a witch.  Witches do not have a hierarchy with leaders (that is wizards stuff) but "Granny Weatherwax was the most highly-regarded of the leaders they didn't have" (Pratchett, Wyrd Sister).

She is your stereotypical witch.  However she was been cursed with a full set of teeth and has yet to get a single wart anywhere; which for a witch is a real image problem.

I wanted a more natural black colour for the cloak.  I tried going about it a little differently this time.  I would usually start with a black base coat and highlight the edges.  This time I went with a dark grey base.  From there I highlighted up to a light grey on the extremities.  Then gave the who model two coats of Nulin Oil.  I am happy with the result, it has a more realistic black cloth appearance.   
 

“Personal’s not the same as important. People just think it is.” Granny Weatherwax (Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies)


“Don’t hold with schools. They gets in the way of education.”  Granny Weatherwax (Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies)

Kevin

Time for Something a Little Different

I did not get much finished on any Discworld miniatures.  I was all set to paint Death.  However as I was applying a base coat I found two grooves and a strap on his belt that looked a bit off.  I searched for pictures online and lo and behold, I was missing Death's sword (his second favorite weapon). 

I am doing a little Flames of War campaign over the month of December.  It will be me and my buddy Josh.  Neither of us have played any games really.  We are going to do a Tank Aces campaign.  He will be playing his Soviet Union army and I will be using my Canadians.

We decided that we will only play games once we have fully painted that campaign phase worth of points (500pts, 700pts, 900pts).

Here is Josh's  first round of T-34s.

 And here is my force.  I originally built them using GW's plastic glue.  Apparently there was a bad batch a while back that crystallized.  All the details and barrels broke off all my tanks...I was not happy.  I have since begrudgingly repaired them.

 Kevin

Bugrit, millennium hand an' shrimp

The fifth Discworld miniature is finished.  This one took me a little longer.  I did some highlighting on the cloak and then gave it a wash.  The wash ended up staining the model and giving it a really sloppy appearance.  So I highlighted the cloak back up and I am much happier with it.

Foul ole Ron is a member of the Canting Crew (Arnold Sideways is also a member, which I painted a few weeks ago).  He is known by his ranting catch phrase "Bugrit, millennium hand an' shrimp."  According to wikipedia, Pratchett came up with this phrase by putting a Chinese menu and the lyrics to They Might Be Giants "Partial Man" song into a random text generating program.

Also on the base is Gaspode, the world's first Thinking Brain Dog (instead of a seeing eye dog).  Gaspode is a small dog that has gained the ability to talk by spending so much time around the Unseen University (Random magic changes the locals) .

First game with miniatures! 

Full review of "Guards Guards" to follow soon!

Kevin

Nobby Nobbs

“They always gives me bath salts. And bath soap and bubble bath and herbal bath lumps and tons of bath stuff and I can’t think why, ‘cos it’s not as if I hardly ever has a bath. You’d think they’d take the hint, wouldn’t you?” ~Corporal Nobby Nobbs

The orange player in Guards Guards will use Corporal Nobby Nobbs of the Night Watch.  Nobby Nobbs always reminds me of my old friend Brad; it might be their appearance, or use of "under handed" tactics, or their desire to always use the flame thrower.  In any case, Nobby is one of the most memorable of Pratchett's characters. 

 

Kevin

More Discworld

I did not get to much progress done over the last few days.  I did manage to build, base and prime the next two discworld mini's I will be working on: Foul ol'Ron (with Gaspode) and Nobby Nobbs.

I will also have some more Flames of War models coming soon (and perhaps a battle report/campaign).  More details to follow.  

Kevin

Arnold Sideways

I am going to post on a schedule now.  I will make an entry every Wednesday and Sunday.  Topics may vary, but I will show progress on the models that I am currently working on.

 
 "Arnold Sideways, whose lack of legs only served to give him an extra advantage in any pub fight, where a man with good teeth at groin height had it all his own way." - The Truth by Terry Pratchett



 
This week I spent a few nights working on the next miniature from the Discworld series: Arnold Sideways.  This miniature is one of the members in the "The Canting Crew" set.  He is one of the famous beggars of Ank-Morpork.  The model even has a boot on a stick, which Arnold uses to "kick" people in the head.  I had a sewer lid base lying around, so I strategically placed him on it so the word "foul" is prominent.

Kevin

Lord Downey : The current head of the Assassins' Guild

Lord Downey, drawn by Paul Kidby.

  The first player game piece is done.  Lord Downey of the Assassins' guild.  I went for darker colours, but still wanted to give him a pleasant look (best look for an assassin).  I am not happy with the shine on the coat, I tried using some matte varnish but to no avail.

"The doors are locked. The windows are barred. The dog does not appear to have woken up. The squeaky floorboards haven't. I really doubt that you are a ghost, and gods generally do not announce themselves so politely. You could, of course, be Death, but I don't believe he bothers with such niceties. Besides, I'm feeling quite well." Lord Downey, The Hogsfather by Terry Pratchett

In the last game of "Guards Guards" the highlight was amazing.  It was a close game, all players were just one spell away from victory.  Suddenly a dragon appears in the assassins' quarter...right where Joseph needs to be.  Joseph sends six volunteers to fight the dragon, with their combined attack power he only needs to roll a 3+ (on a die 8)....he gets a 2, the dragon then goes on to eat every last volunteer.


Next up for painting is Arnold Sideways

All Packed Up

The luggage is finished.  It felt good to put paint to a model after so long.  I painted it over the course of two nights while watching "The Addams Family".  The sculpt is nice and easy to paint.

Brad pointed out after I was finished painting that the knot holes on the lid look like eyes (I did not notice that the entire time I was working on it)

"The Luggage had an elemental nature, absolutely no brain, a homicidal attitude toward anything that threatened its master, and Rincewind wasn't quite sure that its insides occupied the same space-time framework as its outside." ~Terry Pratchett, The Colour of Magic

 

The arrow on the base is to help identify what tile on the Guards Guards board the luggage currently occupies (since the base is just a little too big).  It is nice seeing the luggage run around the board eating people.

Next up on the painting block is Lord Downey...

Kevin

More Discworld

On my recent trip to Ireland, I was lucky enough to find a copy of both "Guards Guards" and "The Witches" (the former was a very thoughtful gift from my girlfriend).  Once I get the rules down for both games a little more I will make a review post with more details. 

To enhance both games I ordered some of the Discworld Minatures from Micro Art Studio.  The models are very nice and alot of fun to work on.  I have not picked up a paint brush for a few months, so I am looking forward to painting these.

The Luggage is the first off (since it is one of my favorite characters and the model looks cool).  In the Guards Guards game, the luggage roams the table sending any character it comes in contact with to the hospital (this happened to Josh in round 2 of the first game).

 

Kevin

Tank Aces

I am looking to start a small Tank Aces campaign sometime this week.  I have a few people new to table top games in my group and I figured this would be a good introduction without overwhelming them.

I have several small Tank forces at my disposal including: Germans (StuG and Panzers), British Sherman, and I will be using my Canadian armored company (Market Garden list).  There will also be a force of Soviet T-34s.  Pics to come.  

In Tank Aces campaigns there are special in game objectives called "Tactical Edges".  There are six per game that a placed through out the battle field.  They can be captured like all other objectives in FoW.  Tactical Edges allow the holder to use a re-roll.  This re-roll can be used on a die roll the player failed, or used to force their opponent to re-roll a successful role.  Each Tactical Edge can be used for a specific type of role; one can be used on firepower tests, another on skill test etc.  Click here for a full list.  The other interesting part to Tactical Edges is that no one knows which is which on the table top until they capture it.

Instead of just putting pieces of paper down, I decided to design my own tokens.  I had some cargo from Forgeworld Warmaster series collecting dust.  I tried to keep them all identical as I could to keep the mystery of  their contents in game.  
 

 Kevin

Plastic Germans are Completed!

My plastic Germans from the Open Fire box are done!  Check it out.  More tanks to come next week as I work on some Panzers.

 Kevin