Scrapheap Challenge

Whilst my mind was occupied with all things Rebel Grotz, I also explored my somewhat diminished pile of 40k bits and pieces to see what else I could cobble together.

The answer turned out to be...cannon!

This creation is my attempt at a Gretchin Lobba, essentially a mortar, designed to drop large templates of explosive death somewhere in the vicinity of the enemy.

The decision to make a Lobba rather than any other form of Gretchin cannon was informed by the fact that in 5th edition 40k, which is the version we play most often, units of Big Gunz are required to all be of the same type.

As I already have a catapult-style Lobba, a mortar it needed to be.

The Lobba itself is mainly made from spare parts from my Leviathan Dreadnought, which were stuck together to form the frame of the gun.

The wheels are spares from when Pete printed me some Soviet AA Guns for Bolt Action, with the tyres that I removed from the car I turned into Fallout scenery - fortunately they fit perfectly.

A few metal resin bits from 7TV kits and other areas of my bits box finished off what I think is a pretty good approximation of the real model.

The crew are the last three Gnoblars I still had hanging around. One of them had his hands swapped so he could be holding two flintlock pistols (that counts as an Auto pistol, right?)

After painting the metal Rebel Grotz, these were a bit of a chore as they lack the detail and character of their more venerable cousins. I kept things simple to get them done quicker.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with this unit. I've managed to craft something unique which evoked the spirit of the official model and is totally recognisable as to what it is.

I'm still in a kitbashing mood, so I'm keen to see what else I can come up with. Given that I have two more of those wheel/tyre combinations left, along with the original third wheel from the Big Lugga, I'm currently looking at how to construct a chassis for a Grot Cutta for Gorkamorka.

Acquired: 14

Painted: 99

Lead Mountain: 673

Wot A Revoltin' Development

For a variety of reasons, I've had a bit of an odd March, hence the lack of posts.

I needed something fun to break me out of a bit of a funk and there is very little in wargaming more fun than cramming a load of goblins into a cobbled together vehicle and launching it at the enemy in the vague hope that they might achieve something.

This is a Rebel Grot Big Luggage from Gorkamorka, crowded with as many Rebel Grotz as I could lay my hands on - which turned out to be eleven.

As it happens I could have done a couple more, but I ran out of Gorkamorka bases, so those little runts are destined for other projects.

The Rebel Grotz themselves are great little metal models from the mid-nineties, armed to the teeth and all wearing armbands that affirm their loyalty to the Red Gobbo.

I think these are either variations on the standard Gretchin models, or they provided the inspiration for the current plastic models as they are very similar.

Whichever is true, these sculpts give the lie to the idea that newer and plastic is always better.

The banner is a second edition banner I've had lying around for many years. Technically it's a speed freak banner, but it fit the colour scheme I was going for and saved me a lot of effort.

The rest of the gang are regular Gretchin without armbands and equipped with less stuff. I think the chap with the catapult might technically be a Snotling, but I'm not sure I care enough to find out.

Like the Ork gang I made for Gorkamorka, I can easily use these chaps in 40k if I ignore the base size issue, however, I think some of the Rebel Grotz have weapons that aren't available as options outside of Gorkamorka.

The Big Lugga itself actually began with me having only part of the model: the base, the catapult, the propeller and three wheels.

I've constructed the canopy out of spare bits I had lying around, including undead banner sections to use as ladders, an engine block that came with a 7TV vehicle and a couple of Meccano wheels.

One of the elements I was sad to be missing from the original vehicle were the Snotlings pumping the clockwork propeller into action.

Even though I had the engine, I wanted to pay an homage to this by adding a Snotling whose job it is to hit the engine to make it go.

I'm really pleased by the final outcome for a number of reasons: I think I've done a pretty good job on the Rebel Grotz, which are great miniatures; the rescued Big Lugga is pretty damn close to what it should look like; and the whole gang can cram on board, giving me a second Gorkamorka gang should Matt never get round to finishing his.

It should be noted, that the arrangement to get them all on board is more than a little precarious. Given that in Gorkamorka (as in 2nd edition 40k) the transport capacity is whatever you can fit on board and models that fall off, fall off in game too, I'm looking at kitbashing a Grot Cutta (a smaller vehicle) to ease the pressure on space.

However, that's for a later date, as I've currently got a few other Orky projects waiting in the Mekboy's workshop.

Acquired:15

Painted: 95

Lead Mountain: 681

"Just when I thought I was out..."

"...they pull me back in!'

This week I've turned my attention to finishing something off that I've finished off twice before.

My Orlocks for Necromunda.

Back in the late nineties I had the plastic models in the starter set, supplemented by the original metal gang box, and subsequently supported them with a Heavy with a flamer and a couple of models from other manufacturers to stand in as extra Juves.

They were one of the very few projects that I painted to completion at the time.

Fast forward more than a few years and I made a few alterations to the gang such as removing the unofficial models to be used in other projects, changing their bases and repainting their bandanas purple (from the original pale green) to enable them to be used as the Purple Dragons gang as opponents for my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles project.

Fast forward again and I rebased back to regular bases for a return to the Underhive and added a couple of Juves from eBay and a couple of plastic models (my originals disappeared somewhere down the years) to boost their numbers to more effective levels.

And so we reach the present day.

Another set of four metal models that I did not already own have found their way into my possession and I've been inspired to add them to the crew at last, bringing a good deal more long ranged firepower to the fray.

As ever, metal miniatures from. The nineties are packed with character, detail and a few questionable choices - I never did understand GW giving minis basic weapons, pistols and close combat weapons. It's almost as if the miniatures were designed without the game designers being consulted.

I have a similar job to do with some Goliaths, but I'm not sure that will be completed immediately.

Acquired: 15

Painted: 83

Lead Mountain: 694

And now for something completely different...

I've never really been one for big robots.

Pacific Rim was 'fine', I prefer my Anime with cyberpunk ninjas, Tau don't float my boat in 40k,  and I only own Battletech because Pete is trying to bully me into playing it.

Obviously, I was into Transformers (and their cheap knock-off cousins the Gobots) in the 80s, although I only owned three proper Transformers, Ramjet, Grimlock and Slag.

All of which makes me most recent purchase a bit odd.

I've gone Gundam, or Gunpla, or whatever the correct terminology is.

Why?

Well, I'm starting to find that social media influencers actually have an ability to, well, influence me (although I'm not at the buying bathwater point...yet) and several videos suggested that building these things is fun.

So I thought I'd give it a go.

I picked up an Entry Grade (Beginner) 1/144 Lah Gundam for a tenner at Hobbycraft as I figured I don't dmt want to go too deep down the rabbit hole to begin with.

It's all very Airfix when you open it, but just a moments perusal and you start to notice that not only is there quite a lot of plastic for ten quid (at least by GW standards), but there's different coloured plastic...on the same sprues!

Sorcery!

There's an extremely well laid out bilingual instruction booklet that also comes with a bit of background about the model and the builder that is a little confusing about whether it's talking about in world information or a profile of a real designer.

I only figured it was the former when the builder profile started talking about battling against Mask Lady.

The instructions suggest a lack of need for any glue or clippers, and although technically true, I was only two parts in when I decided having clippers on hand would help prevent sprue marks.

However, the sprues are laid out really well, numbered parts are in sequence, most pieces pop straight off and slot together perfectly with almost zero mould lines.

There are one or two companies that could learn a thing or two from Bandai.

Before long, I'd put together the head with pretty much zero fuss.

It's a bit like building a Lego kit. It's relaxing following instructions and slotting brightly coloured plastic into place and watching a model come to life before your eyes. It's almost meditative.

Fortunately, unlike Lego, I didn't need to sell a kidney to join in.

I know this is a beginner kit, but the level of engineering in making it have multiple articulated joints is fascinating. I can only imagine what the more advanced kits are like.

There's also a limited degree of customisation available, even in a cheap kit like this. Alternate backpacks, helmets, knee joints and crotch plates mean that you could easily buy the same kit a second time.

However, this was the one failing if the instructions as they don't always make the options clear and it's only one thing I worked out at the end of the process.

Before long I had a fully poseable mini just waiting for its weapons: a halberd, a rifle and a shield...a combination that doesn't feel like it works together.

I like the halberd best as it has a glowy blade made of semi-transparent plastic and breaks in half to slot on his backback.

All in all, I really enjoyed this process. It was quite therapeutic, especially because I don't now have to paint the bugger.

I will admit that I'm not a massive fan of the look of Gundam robots or their primary coloured aesthetic, and so I'm not sure I'll suddenly become a massive collector of them. 

However, I will now keep my eye out for affordable kits that might prove useful.

For now, this chap might actually be destined to turn up in a game of 7TV fairly soon.

Path of Damnation: Damned, but not Lost

Regular readers of the blog will know that just over a year ago I sold my soul to Nurgle and set out to create a Warriors of Chaos army for Warhammer: The Old World using only models that were collected in the dim and distant past by a teenage me.

I have now put the finishing touches to that army by adding a handful of models and a command group to the Chaos Marauders, the unit I began with.

My own personal rule for this army was that it needed to fit the Oldhammer brief and only feature miniatures which were produced in the early 90s or before, and there were to be no duplicate models.

The aim was to get an army which evoked the cover image of Realms of Chaos: The Lost and the Damned).

I've drafted in every metal Chaos Warrior, Chaos Thug, Beastmen, Chaos Dwarf, Barbarian, Minotaur and monster that I could lay my hands on, supplemented with a handful of plastic miniatures from Heroquest and Warhammer Quest.

Perhaps the most recognisable model in this batch is the dynamically posed, and taller than I remembered, Warhammer Quest Barbarian.

He will take the role of unit champion, but I may need to lighten his skin at some point as I think he lacks a little definition.

Also from the boardgame department is this Zombie from Heroquest. I've come to really like this sculpt and have started to look for ways to use more of them in other projects.

Although he's joining a unit of, very much alive, Chaos Marauders, he's also a nod to the fact that the first Nurgle army list did allow units of Plague Zombies and Plague Skeletons.

I've also been drafting in a handful of Blood Bowl star players, who are very much Chaotic in nature and add a flamboyant amount of mutation to the army.

This is Dieter Hammerlash, one of a very early batch of star players, whose star card I first got from a copy of White Dwarf.

Although he could quite easily have been given a Tzeentchian flavour (he has a touch of the Pink Horror about him), I've gone for a more fleshy look and just added a weapon.

The most obvious Blood Bowl player of the bunch is also the most fitting for a Nurgle army: Bilerot Vomitflesh.

I was presented with a conundrum of how to get his very 'football' look to fit in, and so I opted to turn him into a musician, by giving him a bell ( which I think is from the Grenadier Undead Mammoth I wish I still owned) to dangle.

I also added a shield on his other arm to make him a little less sporty looking.

The final miniature and standard bearer for the unit is Slarga Fourstrike (which I've discovered the internet often, wrongly, refers to as Slarga Fourstrike - check his card).

I commited Oldhammer sacrilege and pinned the banner, which was cobbled together from my bits box, in place and left him at that.

I'm really pleased with this one.

And there we have it.

A 2000 point Warriors of Nurgle army for Warhammer: The Old World. Admittedly it's probably not very good and needs a hefty chunk of magic items to get across the points threshold, but that's pretty normal for Chaos armies.

This army has been at least 37 years in the making and I'm actually a little bit choked up to finally have the Chaos army (or at least a variation of it) that I planned so long ago.

In other news, I've printed and painted some rock formations.

They're not really exciting enough for their own post, so they're here.

Acquired: 15

Painted: 79

Lead Mountain: 698

Rough and Reddy

After focussing on Fallout and Carnevale for the past couple of months, I decided to turn my attention, for simplicity's sake, to some models I've had assembled and undercoated for a while.

Namely a squad of Cataphractii Terminators for my every expanding Blood Angels army.

I say 'army' but in reality this unit is probably the most significant step in them becoming 'armies' as it will now push my Indomitus pattern terminators (the normal ones) into being a purely 40k unit, leaving just my Dreadnoughts, Baal Predator and Rhinos straddling both armies.

I've wanted to add some Cataphractii Terminators for some time, for several reasons.

Firstly, they look cool. Secondly, one of my character models is similarly equipped and mismatched armour in a unit leads to experiencing the worst aspects of both choices.

The third reason is that in the second edition of Horus Heresy, Cataphractii Terminators can take a Land Raider Spartan as a designated transport, whereas the Indomitus Terminators couldn't.

This seems to be simply because Games Workshop insist on making the units in the pdf supplements just a bit rubbish.

Anyway, this frees up a slot in the overworked heavy support section of my army, and allows me to use more of my units.

Their equipment is a bit of a mishmash largely because I picked the unit up of eBay.

I bought them pre-painted because it looked like, from the photo, that they were already painted red and I could quickly and easily touch them up to add to my army.

Unfortunately, the paint job of the models seemed to have been done by a blind badger in the dark whilst drunk, with thick layers of badly applied paint.

What's more, there are several areas of some of the models where far too much glue had been applied or there had been carelessness cleaning up the model leaving them a bit battle damaged.

In short, I think I've finally learned my lesson about buying painted models off eBay unless the photograph is really clear.

However, despite this, I managed to clean them up and paint them in my usual (tediously slow) manner and the will fit right in.

Additionally, I took the opportunity to paint a regular Terminator that I picked up for 50p at a show to add to my 40k unit.

I've realised I've run out of suitable transfers for his shoulder pauldron and so I need to source some more.

I will continue to add to this unit, taking them to a maximum 10 models as other come available.

Acquired: 15

Painted: 72

Lead Mountain: 705

The After-Party After-Party

Whilst I've been occupied by all things Fallout for the last month, work was suspended on my Venice gaming table project for Carnevale, despite having already printed several buildings and a significant number of street tiles.

However, the February installment of the Carnevale MyMiniFactory tribes rewards hit my inbox and included a way to get get back on track prompted me to finish off the remaining contents of the World's Faire After-Party starter set: the Patrician's.

I think.i mentioned when I painted the Doctors that I really appreciated the fact that the forces in the box fit very well with the particular flavours of both factions that I have already collected.

The Patricians in the starter set are partying nobles and their servants, much like what I already own, rather than the more military or naval options available to the faction.

The premise of the story in the starter set is that Viviana, a Barnabotti, has decided that she wants to steal a unicorn rumoured to be on display at the World's Faire. The rumours are actually a trap laid by the Doctors.

The Barnabotti model representing Viviana appears more daunting to paint than it actually is, and the miniature responded well to contrast paints, with the hardest part of painting her was all of the gold trim, even though the details are all very crisply detailed.

To help with the theft, Viviana hires an experienced Cat Burglar (nobles who steal from their peers for kicks) to lead the expedition. 

The Car Burglar is actually a Hero model, rather than a Henchman like the Barnabotti, and so is the actually leader in the scenarios in the box.

To aid her venture, Viviana has forced one of her servants to accompany her, probably to deal with the messy business of handling a unicorn.

Armed with only a poker, he will attend to his mistress' needs, no matter how bizarre.

Viviana may be deluded and irrational, but she's not stupid. The mean streets of Venicame are dangerous, and so she has acquired the services of some Hired Muscle to deal with anyone attempting to prevent the noble teaching her goal or take advantage of her being out on the streets at night.

I decided to print the Ponti di Called Medicanti partly because many of the buildings Ive received from the tribe subscription have been a little large for my Bambu A1 Mini.

Admittedly, the Ponti di Called Medicanti is also large, but it was printable in sections, although I did have to add an extra cut in the base piece.

I painted it with contrast paints and sponges for the most part, with a bit more detail on the bricks without going overboard (it is, after all, meant to be a backdrop).

I added a statue into the alcove on the steps section made from a WizKids miniature I had no plans for.

Finally I printed another two street tiles, on of which is a newer style with steps.

I'm pretty sure I now have enough to fill a 2'x2' table and so I might play out the World's Faire After-Party scenarios on it soon.

Acquired: 14

Painted: 66

Lead Mountain: 710