Hobby Spending - September 2023.

It's SEPTEMBER, another month has passed through the year, but this one if different.

How? I hear you ask.

Well, because it contains my birthday, so I get extra hobby stuff which I don't pay for* which is always a bonus.

As is the point of this monthly post however, what did I end up purchasing over the month?

We'll start with the latest Warmahordes purchases, again from Privateer committing comercial suicide, I am reaping the benefits.

Epic General-Adept Victoria Hayley. This is the version where she can travel through time and pull her past and future selves into the present to fight alongside her. 

A great set of three mini's, which were normally really hard to get ahold of.

A second unit of Gun-Mage Tempest Chargers, for the cheap asking price I had to snap these up, Warmachine cavalry units start at £60 for 5 models if bought retail.

The broken horse won't be a problem as it's a very clean break in the plastic and the other legs also attach to the base for support:

Captain Maxwell Finn and a Trencher Chaingun Crew are a commando leader and a support weapon for the Trencher company I bought a while back.

These will be added to that force when I get chance to have a look at starting to paint this stuff**:

Moving onto 40k and we start with a unit of second hand Termagants***. A low starting price and no bidders drew me to them, and even though I've just painted 40 of them for the army, you can always use more, so I'm told:

Lastly, the Winged Hive Tyrant was a must buy as the Tyranid didn't have a HQ choice to begin with. I only have a painted photo, but here we go:

And onto the totals for September:

Epic General-Adept Victoria Hayley - £5.

Gun Mage Tempest Chargers - £10.

Captain Maxwell Finn - £1.

Trencher Chaingun Crew - £1.

Tyranid Termagants - £4

Tyranid Winged Hive Tyrant - £16.

Total for September: £37.

Budget for September: £50.

Over/Under Yearly Budget: under budget by £57.44.

Another month under budget, and that is great overall.

I'm hoping to at least keep it underneath the budget target for the rest of the year, as there is nothing big I need to buy, just a few blister packs from West Wind Productions to finish off my Weird World War 2 project, maybe the odd Tyranid purchase here and there.

I did try to be sensible during my convalescence from work and not spend all day on eBay trawling for stuff, so that's a positive outcome at least.

That about wraps up September so,

Until next time, have nice day...

*I would like to clarify that the people who go e me the presents actually paid for the stuff, just making sure that everyone knows.

**I have a couple of other things I want to get done before I look at the Warmachine setting.

***I will never understand why people have to sell off their old mini's as soon as possible, just because a new/updated model is released.

You don't HAVE to get the new one straight away, there is still life in the old mini's.

September Motivational.

 

A little different this month with the motivational...and actual piece of motivation.

My Tyranids made it onto the "viewers work" section of the Plastic Crack Podcast:

So, stay motivated and stay hobbying.

Until next time, have nice day...

Infestation - part 4.

 

Rather then start this post with an animated pixel art of a Tyranid, I decided to hark back to some classic GW artwork from what is known as their "Golden Era"*.

Artwork from this period always evokes the "feel" of the universe I find, more so then the current themes of art.

The black and white, gritty style which emerged after second edition really fed into that Grimdark atmosphere the universe was starting to really build upon and drive down into.

Some of my favourite pieces from this period are the little portraits which you'd often find in the margins of the pages, really evocative stuff.

This is all subjective though and just my opinion, your mileage may vary.

So, on with this update and the final section of this stage of the army is now complete:

Without boring the reader too much, there are twenty Termagants, three Ripper Swarms (I only needed one) and a Winged-Prims (masquerading as a Shrike).

Below are some army shots of the full painted collection so far:

A veritable horde of gribblies, ready to give someone a headache.

Starting around the 6th of September and completing this segment on the 27th of September, I am understandably happy with the work which went into these of the three weeks I've been painting them.

The paint scheme is fast and easily replicable on both the small and larger monsters.

I'm particularly liking how it's not "in yo' face" like some GW paint schemes are, and it works extremely well with the urban/ruin bases I went with. The bright blue brain area's add that spot of colour against the greys and purples, likewise the bone, being the other main contrasting colour works when placed against the mini's as a whole I think.

Left for this project as of this post are:

• One Screamer-Killer.
• One Psychophage**.
• Two Von Ryan's Leapers.
• One Neurothrope.

Now is the time when I become torn, as I don't actually need to complete those models from field my army at 1,500 points, as that's what the army above is built to.

Buuut...

I also kind of want to get the Tyranids crossed off of the To-do list.

Choices, choices...

I'll leave you with this Tyranid girl:

Until next time, have nice day...

*the tail end of second edition through to the end of fifth edition.

**Currently I'm counting these things as Mawlocs, however I really want one of the proper models for the big burrowing beast.

I'll have to try to work out way to backdate the rules for the proper Psychophage...actually knowing what the damn thing does in 10th is.

 +-

Miko yumihei butai.

 

For those readers who can't read Japanese, the title of this post translates to "Shrine Maiden Archer Unit", a most literal description.

The Miko were/are* the priestesses who work at Shinto shrines throughout Japan. In pre-history and ancient times their role could be seen as shamanistic, by the more organised feudal period, and certainly in modern Japan, they are now viewed as a role in daily life. Tending to the spiritual side of society, such as performing sacred cleansing and the sacred Kagua dance.

For my purposes, I've had the Test of Honour miniatures knocking around the project boxes for a few years ( think I picked up the two kneeling women just before the pandemic started).

Rather then paint them in all different coloured dress, I chose to do a unified unit of archers using them, after seeing this artwork from the Legend of the Five Rings** card game, a setting which I am a fan of.

The red Hakama (pleated trousers) and white Kosode (kimono like jacket) are the traditional dress of the Miko, something which seemed like a trope of anime, but turned out was/is* their actual outfits.

The miniatures are armed with an Azusa Yumi which is a sacred bow made from the Japanese Cherry Birch trees called 'Azusa'. They are used in Shinto rituals and it is believed that merely the twanging of the bowstring will frighten ghosts and evil spirits away from a house.

These particular ones were made by using the plastic bowls from the Warlord miniatures Ashigaru models as the plastic is more survivable then the thin metal ones which they came with.

I used the different colours for the bows as just as with the armour of the time, Japanese weaponsmiths also lacquered things such as bows and the handles of weapons before wrapping them with silk cords, this give some variety to a homogeneous unit.

The Nobori banner is based upon this banner from a shrine in Japan, I liked the black and white aspect as a good contrast to the bright red of their Hakama, but didn't feel I could freehand the Mon (symbol) well enough to do it justice, so I'm happy enough with the plain black and white banner.

(They match rather well with my actual Sohei warband too).

Finally I took a group photo, without the scenery to really show them off.

These ladies will feature as a section of a warband in games of Test of Honour.

However, they may get some reinforcements in the shape of some 3D printed troops at some point, as I have been looking at Pike and Shotte by Warlord Games, and may have downloaded their Samurai army list...this could be dangerous for the wallet....

Jikai made, yoiichinichiwo...

(Until next time, have nice day...)

*I say "were/are" and "was/is" because in most things that we talk about with "historical" wargaming the subjects are long gone.

Miko on the other hand are a regular part of modern Japanese life and still tend Shinto Shrines, as well as travel for public duties relating to the state religion of Japan.

**The best description I ever heard of L5R is that is it a "White Guys idea about what is cool in medieval Japan".

This is apt to some degree, given that there are samurai, a great wall of China analogue. The empire of Rokugan is basically mainland China.

One of the clans are Mongolian cavalry Samurai, another are all Tibetan/Shaolin monks. There are dragons, Oni (demons), ghosts, Bakemono (goblin's), and all sorts of supernatural legends from all over the far East thrown into the mix.

It makes for fun reading.

Infestation - part 3.

 

Greetings, welcome to the third part of this push to get the Tyranid army complete for the 28th of September.

I've pushed on and gotten the HQ and a few other bits finished off this week, let's take a look:

Starting with the remaining 11 Neurogaunts, this now finishes off the full unit from the Leviathan sets*:

Next are 3 of the 4 Ripper Swarms needed for the force, these are fun little models to paint:

This is the second Prime for the Von Ryan's Leapers units, I only painted this one as I am aiming to have the force finished, so didn't want to waste brushwork on 2 models which will be sat out for the time being:

Onto the big guys, this is the first Psychophage from the Leviathan sets. I removed the sculpted on smoke effects which is attached to the top of the spore chimneys on its back, as I dislike sculpted on effects in such a large and obvious manner.

It follows a lot of the same techniques as the Screamer-Killer from last week, I took pains to make a fleshy underbelly who h was different to the grey skin of the rest of the Tyranids:

In our game this guy is going to "count-as" a Mawloc, as it fits the role quite well, and saves myself and Cardboard Fortress from messing around having to make rules for the damn thing from scratch:

Lastly the big HQ, the Winged Hive Tyrant**.

This was a very fun model to paint, the wings and weapons provide a really nice contrast to the predominant grey and purple of the Tyranid carapace and Chitin armour:

With a rundown of the armour, we can see how we're getting on:

HQ:

Hive Tyrant - 300.

(Bone Sword, Lash Whip, Wings, Adrenal Glands, Toxic Miasma, Regeneration).

ELITES:

Lictor Brood - 130.

(2 Von Ryan's Leapers).

Lictor Brood - 130.

(2 Von Ryan's Leapers).

The Doom of Malan'tai - 90.

(Neurotyrant).

TROOPS:

Termagant Brood - 100.

(20 Termagants).

Termagant Brood - 100.

(20 Termagants).

Hormagaunt Brood - 120.

(20 Neurogaunts).

Ripper Swarm - 40.

(4 Ripper Swarms).

FAST ATTACK:

Shrike Brood - 80.

(2 Winged Primes, Adrenal Glands).

HEAVY SUPPORT:

Carnifex Brood - 195.

(Screamer-Killer, Adrenal Glands, Regeneration).

Mawloc - 215.

(Psychophage, Adrenal Glands, Regeneration).

1,500 points, exactly.

Quite a lot finished off, and into the final push of the army to get it finished.

Fortunately I'm feeling a lot better and should be back at work the week after, so I still have a few days off in which to get this lot finished and go and have the game at Element Games before then.

Until next time, have nice day...

*I'll be leaving the 2 controller beats out of the force as I only need the 20 Neurogaunts for the squad.

At some point we will have to work up some rules for the little guys, especially if/when a proper Hormagaunt Brood turns up in the force!

**Often referred to as a "Flyrant".

Infestation - part 2.

 

The second batch of Tyranids are now finished, after roughly a week of modelling and painting with them. This is boding well, not only for the to-do list, but also as I may have a game planned against Cardboard Fortress at the end of the month before I go back to work after my convalescence period.

Enough waffle, you don't come here to read about my trivial matters, you come here for miniatures!

For the second batch I picked three bits out of the box, a unit of 20 Termagants, a Winged Prime and a Screamer-Killer:

We'll start with the numbers, so the Termagants. Not much can be said apart from the new models are nice, but they're Termagants. Numbers and chaff:

Some close ups:

Next we have the HQ choice from the Leviathan box, the Winged Prime:

Basically a roided Tyranid Warrior with wings.

I will have to go back and make that marine helmet on the base black again to make it stand out, it's a little tie-in to my friends new Iron Hands army he's working on:

Now let's look at the big guy, the Screamer-Killer:

This was the model which generated the most hype from the Leviathan reveals and rightly so in my opinion. The model itself is quite imposing when you see if amongst it's smaller cousin's.

I took some pains to get some interest into the back plates of the creature, something which could have become a large, fairly flat colours area:

As for the base, as well as doing the urban basing scheme across the Army, I wanted to try something a little more with this as I had a few things lying around.

A series of sandbags from an old tank kit of a friend's, and some spare sentinel weapons created a multilaser position which has been abandoned before the Beast got to it.

Showing a WiP photo on a group on Facebook to ask if it took away from the creature, I was met with a lot of praise, that it added to the mini.

It seemed that I had created the story of a couple of Guardsmen who had decided that they had to be somewhat else at that moment, and the piece was christened "Sound Tactical Decision" by one member:

Here we have everything which has been painted fully in the last two weeks, the force is rocketing along:

Last time I mentioned that we were going to use the 5th edition* rules and simply "counts-as" or create out own rules for the newer units.

Organising a potential meet up at Element Games at the end of the month yielded the need to create an army list, so half hour later after flipping through the codex I had this:

HQ:

Hive Tyrant - 300.

(Bone Sword, Lash Whip, Wings, Adrenal Glands, Toxic Miasma, Regeneration).

ELITES:

Lictor Brood - 130.

(2 Von Ryan's Leapers).

Lictor Brood - 130.

(2 Von Ryan's Leapers).

The Doom of Malan'tai - 90.

(Neurotyrant).

TROOPS:

Termagant Brood - 100.

(20 Termagants).

Termagant Brood - 100.

(20 Termagants).

Hormagaunt Brood - 120.

(20 Neurogaunts).

Ripper Swarm - 40.

(4 Ripper Swarms).

FAST ATTACK:

Shrike Brood - 80.

(2 Winged Primes, Adrenal Glands).

HEAVY SUPPORT:

Carnifex Brood - 195.

(Screamer-Killer, Adrenal Glands, Regeneration).

Mawloc - 215.

(Psychophage, Adrenal Glands, Regeneration).

1,500 points, exactly.

A lot of the force makes sense when you look at the models, as I said before Von Ryan's Leapers are basically Lictors and Neurogaunts are baby Hormagaunts.

The Screamer-Killer is a genus of Carnifex, so that made sense and the Shrikes make use of the two Winged Primes I have, but the Warrior Prime cannot take wings as an option in 5th edition...

Neurotyrant as the Doom of Malan'tai made sense as it looks like a different type of Zoanthrope anyway, I just won't take the the floating little brains with it.

And as for the HQ, you have to have a Hive Tyrant, I don't care what anyone says, so onto eBay and I found a cheap on going for £16, click-click and it's on it's way to me.

The biggest thing I had to look for was the Psychophage as there is nothing like it in the book, however, after having another read through I figured it could very easily "count-as" a Mawloc for the time being.

It's a big monstrous creature, could easily be imagined to burrow**, and has the extendable jaws like the Mawloc, so I felt it was a better fit them anything else.

So there you have it, for the third batch I am going to get the other half of the Neurogaunts, the Psychophage and the Ripper Swarms finished, and as I wait for washes to dry get about building the second Shrike and unit of Termagants.

I have other things on the paint station as well at the moment, as we're hoping to get some other games in, rather then just 40k.

Until next time, have nice day...

*Our favourite edition.

**Look at the Tanker Bugs in the Starship Troopers movie for what I was thinking of with this thing burrowing.

A Weird War* - A Xenos Rampant project, part 2.

 

This is another introduction post to the Weird War Project, this time we run down Cardboard Fortress's plans for his force and what he's looking at collecting.

As per the rules, his list comes out to 40 points**, and includes one armoured vehicle, ready for our mini-November vehicular challenge.

Now he already has a sizeable Bolt Action German force as far as I'm aware, so when we were discussing things, he wanted something to either field alongside, or as an antagonist for smaller games.

Enter the Finnish Survivors, we haven't decided just how things have changed in our world yet, but the remaining Finnish forces, along with some Germans, are hard-bitten survivors of everything which has been thrown at them, and they keep on defending against everything...

The list:

A squad of Elite Infantry:

The cream of the German elements of the force, definitely the Heavy Armoured troopers. The Heavy Weapons upgrade represents their firepower.

A Greater Xenomorph:

Now this is awesome, but definitely a blindside move. As far as I am aware, this is the only Xenomorph unit in all three forces!

When we were discussing ideas, a Finnish Bear God, Otso was mentioned, and then I was linked the above image from Etsy***.

Is this the spirit of the land rising up to defend itself alongside the troopers? Is it just a bear which has been experimented on and escaped?

Who knows, but it's awesome.

Obviously it has the Fearsome rule because who wouldn't have second thoughts trying to fight a normal bear, nevermind one wielding swords?

High Powered blades allows it to attack tanks and regeneration is self explanatory, both suitable things for a 'god'.

This though proves one of the things I love about the Rampant games, you can take a miniature and add it to your force by tweaking rules around it, you're not limited to the prescribed themes of the bigger games.

Onto the regular troops:

A ten man unit of Finnish veterans, normal rifles, but the Armour Piercing rule represents their increased accuracy.

A ten man unit of German Grenadiers:

These soldiers have the stabilised weapons rule to represent their StG44 Assault Rifles.

Finally a recon team with Sniper Rifles:

Because you HAVE to have a Sniper unit in a Finnish force, it is the law. Given the legends about the snipers of the era against the Soviet army, this is a stereotype which I fully support.

The bottom two models are the K'47 snipers from the German range, which I felt could be suitable additions to the Finnish boys above.

Finally, the armoured vehicle:

The second focal point of the force, the Bear is definitely the main focus, the Walker is a chunky model which fits well with the ideas behind the force in general.

Whereas I wanted a tank in my OSE, here we went full "Weird" and added one of the cool walker models from Warlord Games.

Obviously it uses the Walker upgrade, as well as Armour Piercing (Fortress has chosen a lot of AP for the force...hmmm...).

Having seen his German tanks, I am really looking forward to seeing this painted up.

So a preview of what's to come from Cardboard Fortress, just Chris's German's to preview now, and we collect bits for the kick off in October.

I am really looking forward to this project, as it's a setting which I've always wanted to explore but never had the inclination until the Xenos Rampant rules came out.

Sure there have been other games, but I've either never been able to generate interest, or had a look at the rulebook and said "nope".

Not to sing the praises of XR again, but the agnostic, simple, old school approach to the rules is their best selling point in my opinion.

The fact that I can use one book to represent forces from WW2 all the way up to 40k and anything I can think of is a major selling point to me****.

Well until next time, have nice day...

*A personal favourite pulp style setting.

**Some may be wondering, why we are building to 40 points, when the game usually runs at around 24 points.

I chose the higher points total so that we could include a varied amount of gear AND a vehicle, without us just having a squad, a character and a vehicle for the force. This is mainly a painting/modelling project, and the ability to play the force is a bonus.

But as these forces will spend a fair amount of their life sitting on the display shelf, they HAD to look good at the end of it to justify the expense/effort.

***Not only is the though of a Bear God awesome, but that is a great model. I'm not going to begrudge someone buying cool toys to use on the tabletop!

****In fact, I'm going to use XR for my various Iron Kingdoms project's, a fact I've mentioned before, but messing around on Battlescribe has shown how easy it is to sort Warmachine forces for the game!