March of War(machine) & Hordes of Hordes

[voyager]

So... a while ago - maybe even a year ago - a certain nautical gentlemen suggested I journal some of my stuff up for the Tale of Gamers. Initially I resisted the idea, but of late I've come around to it, and so here it is - the beginnings of my Tale of Gamers.

Now, me being, well, me... I paint at the speed of dark I guess - that is, very slowly. This is something else I am addressing with this tale - because I now think I can paint up my armies to a reasonable standard without resorting to taking years per unit, or compromising too far on the standard. Yes, this means that not every figure in my armies are going to be painted to my limit, but that is the price I must pay for completion. Still, these need to be at a level I will accept for my armies, so they will have to be decent.

I'm calling this my "March of War(machine)) & Hordes of Hordes" Journal. Given I have one Warmachine army and three Hordes ones, I'm just going to drop them all into this one place. Progress - even at an accellerated (for me) pace, would still be way too slow to separate them out.

I'm going to begin by listing down what I have in terms of armies, what's assembled, what's not, what's painted (haha!!), that sort of thing. So the players amongst us can see what pain and suffering I have ahead of me.

Warmachine - Protectorate of Menoth

Possibly the second ugliest faction (after Scyrah) but I got a job lot of them a few years back in a trade, so I stuck with them. I don't play them much, I find them quite dull to play at lower points values. Painting wise I decided to paint them in line with the book art - not the sample miniatures, but the artwork in the unit descriptions. So far that's working out OK for me.

Casters: pFeora, eKreoss, pKreoss,
Light 'jacks: Devout, Repenter, Revenger
Heavy 'jacks: Avatar, Castigator, Crusader, Guardian, Templar, Reckoner x 2, Vanquisher
Units: Choir, Cinerators, Temple Flameguard + UA
Solos: Allegiant, Covenant, Heirophant, Dartan Vilmon, 2 x Paladins, Mechanik


Hordes - Circle Orboros

My primary playing faction at present, I love the look and feel of them, even if I'm a rather.. poor.. player with them. Painting is the same as the above, following the book art (not sample minis) for the most part.

Casters: pBaldur, pKaya, eKaya + Laris, Kromac, Mohsar
Light Beasts: Argus x 2, Gorax, Scarsfell Griffon, Winter Argus, Woldwyrd
Heavy Beasts: Feral, Ghetorix, Gnarlhorn, Pureblood, Shadowhorn, Stalker, Wold Guardian, Woldwarden, Megalith*
Units: Druids + UA, Bloodtrackers + Nuala, Reeves, Stones + UA, Ravagers + Chieftain, Skinwalkers
Solos: Blackclad Wayfarer, Wilder, LotF, White Mane, War Wolf, Morriag

* - I HATE the Megalith model, so I've swapped it for an Ultraforge Treewoman. MUCH better!!!


Hordes - Trollbloods

I was given the starting point for this army and grew it from there. I'm looking forwards to a very different playstyle to my Circle army. They are also quite chunky, making them very different to work on for modelling/painting. I'm keeping them with blue skintones (none of my other WM/H armies are blue) for the most part, outside of that I want them to feel like they are all from different kriels (clans) but working together.

Casters: Gunnbjorn, pDoomshaper, eDoomshaper, pMadrak, eMadrak
Light Beasts: Impaler x 2, Bouncer
Heavy Beasts: Mauler, Earthborn, Mulg
Units: Whelps, Krielstone Bearers + UA, Sons of Bragg, Champions + UA, Runeshapers
Solos: Fell Caller, Janissa Stonetide, Champion Hero
Gargantuans: Mountain King


Hordes - Blindwater Congregation (Minions)

I just plain liked them. Yes, these are from the Minions line, but the only models in this group are the ones from the Gatormen list. All other minions & mercenaries are listed in the last section. They are quite rewarding to work on as they look terrific as units, and I'm building custom bayou bases for them which I reckon have come up a treat.

Casters: Barny, Calaban, Wrong-Eye & Snapjaw
Light Beasts: Bull Snapper
Heavy Beasts: Wrastler x 2
Units: Gatormen Posse x 2, Bog Trogs
Solos: Croak Hunter, Swamp Gobbers Bellows Team


Hirelings - Mercs & Minions

These are the rest of the odds and ends, the ones who will just go wherever they are needed.

Units: Aiyanna & Holt, Cylena Rafyll & Nyss Hunters
Solos: Alten Ashley, pEiryss, Gorman, Lanyssa, Madelyn Corbeau, Reinholdt, Taryn di la Rovissi


All up, near as makes no difference - 200 models.

Those of you who follow my WIP diary may know that I have pSkarre around somewhere, and I do, I also have the special Seb Archer sculpted Ashlynn D'elise, Kovnik Markov, the NQ Eiryss and a few others. These I don't count - they are not part of my armies and were obtained for painting/collection purposes only.

That's the intro at least. I'll keep my WM/H ARMY model work in here, my WIP journal will now contain the painting/modelling only figures.

[Nameless]

how much time do you need for these, 96 hours?
good luck!

[sea.man]

good luck, quite big pile of lead to paint

[voyager]

Well, a start has been made. Being injured - put my shoulder out on an SES job - kinda screwed everything up for a while. Anyway, the first of the mountain of lead has been painted. Pretty happy with it.

Click to see full-sized image
Menoth Reckoner Heavy Warjack

We're underway!

In other news, a new airbrush is on my desk. Picked up an Iwata HP-BP to sit alongside my workhorse HP-CP. Already put it to work on the model above.

[voyager]

Actually there is more...

Click to see full-sized image
Trollblood Krielstone Bearers

Ignore the massive gap on the stone, it was a saga getting the part after the blister arrived with 2 left sides and no right. By the time it arrived I didn't want to look at it.

[sea.man]

Good that you are ok now!
Finally some progress in your tale This will be very interesting one, because the painting quality is high very cool bases on the trolls.

[voyager]

very cool bases on the trolls

Thanks! I wanted to make it look like a highland meadow (since they wear tartans and all), so I built them up with woodchips that I "borrowed" from the park, added some sand and painted it like dark loamy soil, then added the tufts on. I like them, the whole army will have those sorts of based, but each unit will have different tartans.

[Nameless]

good start!

Ignore the massive gap on the stone

that's not a gap, it's a crack... right?

[voyager]

Completed a bit more through the week, but didn't have chance to photograph them until today. Another Reckoner and the Guardian are done and dusted. Yes, I have two Reckoners. They are probably the best 'jack in the Menoth army, why wouldn't I have two?

Click to see full-sized image
Guardian & Reckoner #2

I also built the bulk of "Bruce", the Trollblood Mountain King. AWESOME model!!!

[Nameless]

yes, 2 is almost always better than 1