Painting Skeletons Remind of Autumn

I finished up all the bases on my Age of Sigmar skeletons late last week.  When they are on round bases they do look more "shambling hoard" like.  I used the PVA glue as the first layer on the bases with these models as well.  Once again it would appear to really help make the cracking much more pronounced.

I had painted these skeletons a few years ago, fairly quickly.  I am planing to take my time on the next models and try some new techniques and different paint combos.  My primary colour will still be purple (But I might have to go back and highlight the purple on the skeletons at a later date).    

Up next will be the five Grave Guard (and maybe some new Batman models...)

Kevin

The Dead walk

Thank you everyone for the input on my last post.  You made it easy to decide how to base the army.  In the end I went with the popular choice of Moot Green base coat.

I finished up the first unit of 10 Skeletons.  When I rebased the skeletons onto the round bases I used what I had, which was a few solid bases and a lot of slotted round bases.  I did not know at the time how I was going to base the models so I used some tape to cover the gap.  If I went with sand bases there would be no problem.  However with the paint straight on the base I was worried that you would end up seeing a rectangle raised area.

To try and smooth out the transition I gave each base a generous coat of PVA glue to start the process.  I let it dry completely before covering the base in Moot Green.  After that I applied a very thick layer of Agrellan Earth, and let it dry for a few hours.  I applied a thin coat of Biel-tan green wash to the bigger cracks and some Agrax earthshade on top of the Earth.  I then dry brushed on some Tyrant Skull.  Finally finished up with some drying grass and chili flakes for fallen leaves.

What I found was that the bases with the PVA glue coating had a much nicer cracking effect with the Agrellan Earth.  I have since started 20 more bases and had the same success.  Also, no sign of the rectangle of tape!

Without the PVA glue

With the PVA Glue

Kevin

Trying to Base the Legons of Death

I have finished switching the square bases to round bases for my 1000pts Age of Sigmar.  Now I just have to figure out how to paint the bases.  I did not want to just add some sand and static grass to the bases like I have always done.  I wanted to try something new.

I was talking to Jay again at Lords of War Games and Hobbies and he recommended I try Agrellan Earth Technical paint from Games Workshop.  I really like how Chris at the shop did the cracked mud bases on his Malifaux Guild.

I want to base my models from the Realm of Death, so I am thinking dry cracked earth, dead grass and dead leaves (for a little colour).  Jay suggested using a bright colour underneath the Agrellan earth to give it an other-worldly effect.  I went with a green one since all my ethereal models are green.

This is where I need some help/advice.  I have done up three different bases.  One with a brown base, one with a blight green base, and one with a whitish green base.

 Which base do you think looks better?  Any advice, tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Rhinox Hide Base

Moot Green Base

Moot Green and White Base

Kevin

 

Age of Sigmar

It has been awhile, I think I got a little burned out working on those Batman buildings a few months ago and took a little hobby break.  But not un-like the god-emperor Sigmar, I have returned (all be it with far less lightning).

Hows that for a segue?

I have checked out Age of Sigmar before, but I never took the plunge.  Now with the new Generals Compendium, I decided now is the time.  Immediately I was full of nostalgia.  I was sitting in a shop, building an army, looking at the new models, and getting immersed into the lore.  I decided to go with the Forces of Death.  Partly because I have a lot of undead models that where built but never painted, partly because it was my first army.  The very first box of miniatures I bought was a unit of skeletons from Bushmans Games and Comics over 20 years ago.  Time to go back to my roots.

Jay from Lords of War Games and Hobbies was awesome to lend me his copy of  Age of Sigmar source book (as well as a couple of Morgast Archai!)  I wanted to read up on the new mythos.  He also helped me work out a 1000pts army list.  I don't know if it is any good, but it is a start.  

In the middle of switching to circle bases

Kevin

Buildings and Henchmen

It has been a few weeks since my last post.  I was doing pretty good there for a bit.  However, in my defense I have been spending most of my free time making buildings for BMG.  Thanks to the help from my soon-to-be-wife (she did lots of the grey stone basecoats), the finish line is in site.

We will be running a beginners tournament at Lords of War Games and Hobbies on Saturday may 14  (See LoWGH event page for details).  So for the last 3 weeks I have been working on some terrain for the event.  Some of the finished buildings I have posted online already.  The goal was 9 buildings of various sizes (3 per table).  I will be putting the finial weathering paint on the last 3 buildings later tonight!  HUZZAH!

So while I wait for the paint to dry, here is the latest henchman.  I finished this model a few weeks ago but did not get around to posting about it.  I had to do some extra putty work on this guys.  I don't know if anyone else has had this same problem (let me know if you have!), but this models head was really misshapen.

It looked OK from the front, but comically thin from the side.  I built up the head (lucky he was wearing a mask) with some green stuff.  I extended the mask to the bottom of the skull to make the sculpting a little easier.  Hopefully he wont stand out on the the battlefield now.  He has also become one of my favorite guys to use in my crew!    

 Hope to see some of you on the 14th!
Kevin

"The harder I work, the luckier I become" Terry Pratchett

Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, M.D

I finished up my first sidekick for my Joker Crew. I really liked the classic Harley costume (though the Arkham series ones look great too). I liked painting the split colour costume; should I do a two-face crew? One issue with the model was that I had to base Harley standing on a rock. The handle of her mallet was far too long, I would either have had to cut it down or make her higher.
 
In game, Harley is a bit of a puzzle. With "Acrobatic" and "Fast", she is a very agile model that can jump around the table. I have used this to stalk hiding enemy models, as well as grab an objective early on.

She has the large mallet which is heavy (+1 to wound). It also sends wounded enemies flying backward. However, with her low strength, Harley can be limited in combat. In my last game with her, Harley went after her fellow Gotham City Siren comrade Catwoman. After a few rounds of combat, Harley had barely scratched the cat. Instead, I tried using her in more of a supporting role. I used both "Distract" (-1 enemy defense) and "Discourage" (-2 enemy willpower) on Catwoman.  This dropped Catwoman's high defense down to 4 and robbed her of two key action counters that could have been used to dodge.  This allowed a shotgun wielding henchman to fill the cat full of lead.  Harley Quinn is not as straightforward as she would seem.

I have been following my friend Jay's work on his new Plastic Craft Games terrain pieces.  If you have not seen it, check out some of his work here.  While I was at Lords of Wargames and Hobbies last week, Chris showed me some of the Circus themed Plastic Craft kits.

 They are awesome.  I ended up picking up the "Circus Stage" kit to try it out.  I have also been wanting to make a photo back drop for my Joker Crew for a while.

The kit went together very smoothly, and was a lot bigger then I expected.  For the cost and amount of effort it took to make a nice piece of terrain, I highly recommend it.  I will be definitely be doing a full circus table now.    

Kevin

"The pen is mightier then the sword if the sword is very short, and the pen is very sharp" Terry Pratchett

The Ringmaster - No BATS!

I actually finished up the Ringmaster for my Joker crew late last week.  This models has done well in game.  He has a nice endurance of 7, way above average for a henchman.  He also has the "Unpredictable" trait.  This allows him to spend his special counters as any other counter (and does not count to that actions maximum).  So, the Ring master could put 4 of his action counters in attack and then spend one of his special counters to get a fifth attack dice.  His one down side is an average willpower of 5.

We have started to create a Batman tournament.  We are looking at Saturday in mid May,  More details to follow.

Kevin

"The truth may be out there, but the lies are inside your head" Terry Pratchett