Progress Report 5/27/16 - Cat got my tongue.

It's been a rough week... my beloved cat of 20ish years had a heart attack and died on Monday. Getting used to not having her around is a challenge but working on miniatures has been a good source of joy and humor. It also makes me think of all the times she tried to knock my hard work off the table and on to the ground and why I had to lock my painting room door so she couldn't break in and mess with my stuff. I'd take all that back though if it meant having her around a bit longer.

My grouchy old bitty kitty Schwinn. RIP

On to a happier note - I won my first painting competition with the Nurgle Plaguebearer conversion I posted in my last update! Exciting! I've also been busy assembling (more!?) miniatures and even painting a little bit too. I have the TNT bug right now and even though I am not playing the game often it occupies a lot of my thoughts. I love the setting and the creative freedom the game brings to the table. 

First I built this thing out of junk and some toy bits - a caravan for the Caravaneers and caravan scenario:

This Dunger has been sitting around collecting dust so I put him to work pulling the wasteland scrapcart he is now attached to. I think it turned out pretty good! Still going to add a couple details and some basing but pretty much it is done. 

And what would a caravan be without some Caravaneers? I picked up these Pigiron minis to represent a mix of wasteland warriors (possibly Tribals, or Reclaimers, or Caravaneers). 

Neat models that come in various sets of legs, torsos, and heads. I mixed them all up to give them that "we live in the wasted lands" kinda vibe. Still going to do the bases and probably add some greenstuff cloaks/cloth to a few minis. A nice mix of weapons and stances and I am impressed with the sculpting quality and casting. Very minimal mold lines and everything fit together nicely (even though it was technically 3 different product lines). 

And last but not least I have a new Mutant warband with 2 Psychic mutants and a couple of nasty big'uns too. Using the old Deadzone minis that are sitting around. Here is the current state of the warband. 

Hoping to get these guys out into the wastes and taking back their mutant lands soon! No updates on the Nurgle forces but I heard a rumor of a 40k escalation campaign starting at the FLGS and while I have very little interest in the game I do want to play something so... perhaps a Daemons of Chaos 40k force is starting up too?? We'll see...

Progress Report 5/3/16 - Keeping the piece(s)

The past couple weeks I have been focused on two things.

1. Assembling the TNT Peacekeeper minis I recently acquired.

2. Painting some Nurgle fun.

And I have accomplished these things! But first up... some minis from the wastes!

Here we have a collection of irradiated radical rats, roaches, razorbacks, and a few Trogg's/Chud lovers with a rogue psychic husk. Never know what you might bump into out there...

Got a few folks in suits trying to keep the place clean and next thing you know... 

The Peacekeepers show up to tell you how to run things! Maybe we like breaking the law! 

Took a few of the extra pieces from the TNT assembly line and added a bit of flavor and fun to these minis from the Bones line that are taking up space in my unpainted miniature collection. I figured they could make good additions to the Peacekeepers or maybe a group of Caravaneers out looking to make a few caps?

And in the other world we have this guy...

Pretty happy with how this Nurgle Herald turned out. Bits from the Plaguebearer, Blight King, and Plague Drone kits all bashed together with a bit of additional sculpting. Having a lot of fun painting the ooze!  

Here are some less fancy shots...

Those were taken before I finished the base, a few details, and the Nurgle ooze. I think he looks fun! And speaking of fun...

This big boy is just about ready for a priming! Can't wait to get this painted up. Wondering what colors I should paint him? Maybe a purple or grey? 

Progress Report 4/16/16 - Getting sloppy.

Slogging along through the priming and pre-painting stage of these Nurgle dudes. Feeling pretty good about where they are at now and wanted to share my test model. 

Started off with some simple basecoats and slight washes/highlights to get the solid funk going on.

Added some additional details and highlight and I am feeling pretty good about the results on this test model. Still need to finish a few details and the base of course but not bad for a rank and file troop. Might get more gribbly later on... 

Also spent some time last weekend playing two games of TNT with a local player at the FLGS. My Raiders vs his Caravaneers. Both games went to the Raiders (Skullkrushas) but they were close fough affairs with the Raiders being outgunned in every situation but still making it in to crush heads. 

First game was A Little Slice of Heaven with the Raiders bringing it to the Caravan's hideout in the middle of the night while some of their group were away or asleep. The Caravan had a very well defended position and lots of shooting to keep the Skullkrushas at bay so a bit of tactical approach was needed to keep them safe. 

After a daring run in approach and deftly dodging most of the incoming fire the Raiders caught up with the Caravan forces and beat them off of the objective to claim the win. Groin (pictured at the top) was extremely lucky and survived 6 rounds of close range blasts from a large caliber shotgun before crushing the head of the Caravan guard holding the high ground. 

The second match was a race for a water supply in a nearby rusted out water container set in the center of the board. Both forces held occupied positions around the outskirts of the supply but again the Caravan brought the big guns and outgunned the Raiders for most of the encounter. The Skullkrushas did manage to bring on a Flamethrower and Assault Rifle to help even the playing field a bit and the Raider leader also brought a compound bow which he used to Rambo off a few of the guards on his way towards the objective.  

Floyd the mutant tried desperately to punch a whole in the water container before the Caravan shoots him to death (he failed to do either).

Another two great games of TNT and I just fall in love with this game more every time I play it. A lot of luck helped keep the Raiders safe but we all know luck can't last forever out there in the wasteland...

Progress Report 4/9/16 - Lumbering along...

Slow and steady wins something or so I hear? I've been spending a few minutes each day working on assembling, converting, and basing my Nurgle force. Thought it would be a good time to share my progress...

First up... a few more Plaguebearers! You can see what my basing looks like on the other models which didn't have this done when I posted my last update.  I wanted it to look as if the ground was erupting in slime, rot, and giant grubs/maggots wherever the Nurgle fellas went. I think it looks gross. A couple small conversions in this bunch including the musician with bits from the Drone kit. 

Speaking of conversions here is my pile of Nurglings I made out of the extra ones found on the sprues from the starter box. Doesn't look identical but I am okay with that. I didn't feel like sculpting a bunch of little faces in the middle so I went with a big dung heap instead. Some closeups below:

I took one of the Plaguebearers from the basic box and converted him into another Herald for my force using bits leftover from the Blight Kings sprues. I'm really digging the way it turned out! 

I pictured him as somewhere between life as a Warrior of Chaos and Nurgle Daemonhood. I have enough bits to make another 1 or 2 Blight Kings with some more full on sculpting and perhaps I will get around to it once I see how they do on the tabletop. 

And speaking of Blight King types here is Gutrot Spume who will most likely fill the roll of a Blight King in games where named characters aren't welcome. 

Really cool kit that was easy to put together. Actually all of the newer Nurgle kits have been very easy to slap together with minimal gaps and filling needed. 

And last but not least the first of two big monstrous buddies I have to add...

Just finished the main assembly of this big gribbly last night and I still have some filling and small additions and alterations to take care of. I plan on using this mostly as Daemonspew though I put the Bloab Rotspawned body on him. I didn't like the static swarm of flies or the static stream of vomit so I left those out. I added a nice fleshy appendage/mouth bursting out of his back and the big guy will have a big nasty tongue. Going to do the base up with a big puddle of slimy ooze and of course some giant grubs/maggots to go along with it. 

Thinking about what I can add to this force to make it something I could use in 40k if the whim and wind strikes me that way. I have lots of Chaos Spawns sitting around there and might make some Nurgle Spawns/Beasts of Nurgle with those. Also have some Chaos Warriors and Chaos Knights I am considering adding with a Nurgle touch. And of course a Great Unclean One would be fun... but next up we have this guy!

Mr tons o' fun himself... the Glottkin! Really looking forward to painting all of this stuff up and hopefully will be able to get some priming done this week... if it would stop snowing in April!!!