Progress Report 6/3/13 - Necrotrolls

New home is great. Still working out the kinks and upacking things as we go. Kitchen is about 90% of the way there and the rest of the house is following suite. Haven't had as much time to paint as I would like but this is mostly due to changes at work and using the free time to play D&D! More on that later perhaps... for now here are some minis! 

Troll-gating mini for the 40 Miners Big House turned out pretty good. Vision was a big dumb stone troll covered in Gnoblar/Goblinoid things who are ready to party. I think it conveys that nicely. Hopefully he will look good in the new stadium seating!

Also spent some time finishing up the building and magnetizing of my first Necromunda gang... the Goliaths known as the Skullkrushas!! Added a couple of converted gangers made from 40k bits too. More on these guys as they are painted and completed. 

Still working on terrain as well... you might see it in the background of these photos if you peek. This week I am headed back to Austin for a work related thing so no painting for me. Until next time...

Progress Report 5/11/13 - The Trollgating Continues...

Hey look! I unpacked my stuff and got back to work on this Troll/Ogre thing for the 40 Miners Big House! Decided to add a few more details... in the form of Gnoblar/Goblin things. The theme here is a Trollgate party. Bring food, horse urine, rotting bits of food, and your team spirit!!

Got him primed and ready for some paint now too. In other news Massive Voodoo blew my brains out on the wall earlier today with the first (in a series!?) of "behind the scenes" photos for the stunning "Touch of Death" diorama. Wow. WOW. Must... get... better?!

Progress Report 3/25/13 - Stuck between a rock and a lobsterman's hard place.

What the heck!? March is almost over!? Where does the time go...

It has been a very busy few weeks here. Still finishing the new house buying process, still trying to get my Necromunda Goliath gang built up, still working on terrain, and now I have a new Lobsterman themed Halfling Blood Bowl team in the works?! All while trying to pack up all my stuff so I can move it to a new nerd cave? Oh yeah and I played in Headbanger's Ball III last weekend and took something like 5th with my Vampires. That was cool. 

On to the photos! First up we have some primed terrain that I want to paint. Added a couple more pieces since the last photos I posted.

Pretty happy with how they turned out. Can't remember who I stole the idea of staples as ladder rungs from but thanks for that! The super glue "rivets" are passable but not fantastic. Still some areas I could touch up but I am okay with the medium level of quality on these. 

Next up we have the miniature I am painting to add to the Big House! I figure a big dumb Ogre/Troll is just what the stands need with all those drunk Dwarfs hanging around.

Got this guy from Ramshackle Miniatures last year and have been wanting to paint him up for awhile. Didn't really have a reason to until now! Gotta figure out how to work in the Maize & Blue.

"But wait Randroid... you said something about a lobsterman's hard place!?" Why yes... yes I did. On a whim I picked up enough small Lobstermen from Tor to make a Halfling team for Blood Bowl. Got them in the mail and giddily ripped them open and started gluing them on bases.

The bigger Lobstermen are the "Treemen" of the team and they represent what the smaller fellows grow into (assuming they survive that long) later on. I have a special mini coming in the mail to represent Deeproot but I will save that for another day (it's a mini I have wanted a reason to paint since I first saw it). Got them all built and primed so I thought I would do a quick test model too...

Pretty happy with how this looks and it was super quick and easy to do. Might still add a bit of highlights to the back carapace but otherwise I think this is a go! Going to add some water to the bases later on but you can see my attempt at "faking it" with gloss varnish on this one. 

So that's what I have been up to! Oh... and also playing in a D&D 3.5 game too. I'll have some minis for that coming sometime soon. Tonight is the first game in the KUBBL 4 season and it's KRB against... ELVES. There will be blood, oh yes, there will be blood.

Work work ...

Something need doing?

I've been busy working at my new job, finishing the second issue of the Bellower, and dealing with random new home things. Not a lot of time for drinkin' or modelin' which is a damn shame as I have quite the hankering for both.

I did manage to play five games of WHFB last weekend at the local store, Titan Games. Got in three with the Beer Gut Tribe on Saturday against Dark Elves, Orcs & Goblins, and Orcs & Goblins again (three different players). I won all my games, two by a large margin with the last one being a bit closer. All of them were 1,000 or less which is a rough place to be when building an OK army list. 

Sunday I went back and played two more games, this time with my Ogres being proxies for a Throgg Troll army! First game was against Brets and it ended with 3 dead Trolls on my side and nothing on the board on turn 5. Second game was a team game with a Skaven ally against the combined forces of the Brets and the Empire which ended in a win for the forces of Troll-Skavenry. Fun was had by all?

Actually I think I am gaining a bit of an unwanted reputation. The overall level of play here is not what I am accustomed to from the gaming scene in Austin. I think I need to dial back my desire to win all the games I play and go easy on some of the new players I am up against.. something I am sure won't be easy for me at first but will reward me in the long run with a stronger community and gamers who want to play! 

The Bellower is almost done. I know I said that about two weeks ago but this time I really mean it! I was waiting on an article that has since been cut due to the late date. I was hoping to have it out today but I am waiting on some touched up images and I need to slap it all together. It will be done this weekend! This I swear!

Modeling and painting is almost non-existent for me right now. I managed to slap together a flying Vampire model, a Vargulf, and I am in the early stages of assembly for the Beastmen that will be used as Marauders for my Malal themed WoC army. Things are moving slow but I hope to get more done once the Bellower is back on track! Stay tuned...

Boars and Trolls - New plastic O&G models available for advance order from GW.

BLARRGGHH! Plastic vomit ahoy! GW just added the new plastic Boar Boyz and River Troll models to their advance orders page. Most exciting! I've been waiting awhile for the plastic Troll sprues to help me make my WoC Throgg/Troll/Monster army and from what I have seen things look good. Take a look at the sprues:

While there does appear to be a lot of "river" and not enough "troll" in these plastics I have to say I am pretty happy with the overall look of the models. It also appears as if the fins and river bits can be left off the main body to allow for other Troll creations.

And if plastic vomit isn't your thing perhaps you'll be more interested in plastic boars that don't look like old and outdated?

Boars! Just in time for anyone looking to make some Razorgor or Tuskgor chariots perhaps? The faces are a bit odd on the boar models but I think a lot of it comes down to their new paintjob. I'll be interested to see these new models up close and on the table. What do you think?

Trolls! Gamezone releases new Chaos Troll models.

As you may or may not know I am a little bit obsessed with the Warriors of Chaos Trolls. Trolls! They are big and dumb. Trolls! They puke on everyone. Trolls! Mutant Regen gets them fun new things. Trolls! You never know what kind of game they'll bring.

I am still working towards having my very own monster-centric Troll list at some point in the future, and I have played quite a few proxy games with the Throgg and his Chaos Troll companions. It is mostly a coin toss as to if you will win or lose with the Trolls but I always have fun playing with them and that is the most important thing for me.

The only problem I have with Chaos Trolls is their crappy GW model. I decided I was going to use Ogre, Gorger, and Spawn bits to fashion my own "Trolls" for use on the table but then Gamezone Miniatures has to go and ruin everything by releasing these bad boys:

Hell, you could even use these as Yhettees or Gorgers in an Ogre Kingdoms army and be doing well! I wish they looked a little less hairy but overall I am impressed with their Trollish bad looks.

While we are on the topic of Trolls, here is a quick and dirty Monster/Troll list I came up with for 2,250. I dropped all magic and magic defense to focus on straight Monster brutality. I really want to give this a shot sometime soon and see how it fares against some of the nastier lists out there.

LORDS: (605)
Kholek Suneater (605)

HEROES: (175)
Throgg the Troll King (175)

CORE: (540)
Trolls x 3 (135)
Trolls x 3 (135)
Trolls x 3 (135)
Trolls x 3 (135)

Chaos Warhounds x 5 (30)

SPECIAL: (693)
Dragon Ogres x 3 - Great Weapons (231)
Dragon Ogres x 3 - Great Weapons (231)
Dragon Ogres x 3 - Great Weapons (231)

RARE: (205)
Hellcannon (205)

Total Points: 2,248 (of 2,250)

Dragon Ogres will stay near Kholek - Trolls near Throgg. Hopefully their Ld bonuses will overlap enough to deal with the Stupidity. Hellcannon is there as a random source of problems for my opponent. I don't really care what it does as long as it is killing things or being an active threat. Hounds are throwaway fast cav blockers, bait, or flank guards for whichever side needs it. Possibly even a screen for the Dragon Ogres.

I considered adding two Shaggoths to this list but I just can't see them being worth the points! You can get more attacks with Dragon Ogres for less points and they don't take up a Rare slot. Anybody have any luck with them?