+ inload: Crusader and Servitor +

+ Combat Arena Completed +

+ The Crusader and Servitor below are the last two figures from the Combat Arena boxed set, and that means – for the first time in my life – I've painted a boxed game ready to play. +

+ Seems weird – I've painted lots of miniatures, but never a whole set: some figures from every set have either been cannibalised, repurposed, or left unpainted. It's a nice feeling to have a game all ready! +

+ Gotfret de Montbard, Crusader +

+ A characteristically stoical pose, I'm slightly disappointed that GW essentially redid the previous metal iteration of this character type rather than trying something a bit more dynamic. That said, I don't have any of the metal ones, so no great loss. +

+ For the paint scheme, I knew I wanted to keep things nearly completely red in order to suggest Emperor Palpatine's Guard from Star Wars. I think these sinister figures have a lot in common with Inquisitorial Crusaders, and the all-red scheme is very striking. +

+ The shield's an obvious exception – and intentionally so. The helmed head doesn't make a great focal point, so I've made that secondary. Gofret de Montbard is a bodyguard, an anonymous figure; and so his mistress' heraldry – displayed on the shield – is paramount. Nevertheless, I've used a warm, red-tinged yellow for the shield in order to keep things harmonious. +

+ To avoid having all the elements blurring together, I used cool reds for the capes and warm red for the armour. This standalone figure was thus a useful bit of practise for both Blood Angels and Word Bearers. Lone characters are useful for this – had something gone awry, I'd only have to adjust this one figure. +

+ Note the orange eye lens, red purity seals and warm-brown leather – again, all adding to the warm scheme. +

+ The chequerboard effect (or 'dicing', as I recently found out it's referred to) was originally subtler. I used a mid-brown rather than cream. It had a nice effect, but I felt the shield needed more punch to work heraldically. The result is a bit scrappier than I would have liked, so perhaps I'll return to re-work it. Note the lens on the shield is painted in the same way as the eye. The legend on the shield-scroll reads Vici – 'I conquered'. +

+ Combat Servitor X-101 +

+ As mentioned in an earlier inload [+noosphericinloadlinkembedded+], I used a very workmanlike scheme for this fantastic figure, intending this brainless man-machine to appear like a JCB or similar piece of heavy equipment. +

+ Besides the techpriest, this figure is probably my favourite in the set. Clunky, ungainly and asymmetrical, it looks lumbering and threatening – in a brainless zombie sort of way. +

+ The scheme hopefully has echoes of the power-lifter from Aliens, a similar piece of industrial tech that fits neatly into the 40k universe. Like the power loader, it's got a pair of big claws, some pitted metal and a load of lights and dials. +

+ I've used a piercing green for the bionic eye – the other one is rolled back to suggest this poor soul's mindless nature. +

+ The big claw is the only bit of metal that gets the yellow scheme – all the rest is less bare. To show the rigid texture, I've added some light damage – and avoided doing so on the workmanlike 'overalls'. You can add scratches and so forth on those (to an extent, that's how I did the leather coat on the psyker in the inload linked above), but if you're trying to distinguish two similarly-coloured but differently-textured areas on one figure, I find it best to avoid confusing matters. +

+ One thing I've noticed about all these Combat Arena models is that they've got great details on their backs. The dials and switches here, the dangling charms on the Crusader... I'm not sure if it's intentional, but it'll likely look nice during the game, where you're probably looking at the rear of your character for most of it. Nice touch! +

+ As with the dials, I added some red warning lights, but kept the searchlight dim – by painting it as switched off, I didn't have to do any object source lighting, and kept the focus on the face. Note the little barcode on the shoulder, and the yellow banding on the cable around its stomach. Little details like this add some freehand personalisation for very little effort. +

+++

+ ...and so, with the addition of a drybrush and few tufts of static flock, that completes the motley crew for Combat Arena. They look nice together – so hopefully they look equally good beating the [SCRAPSHUNTERRORABORT] out of each other, too. I'm looking forward to playing a fully-painted game. +

+ Which one's your favourite? +

+ inload: Imperial psyker +

+ Primaris psyker +

+ Aradia Madellan, primaris psyker – no, not an eight-foot tall genetically engineered superhero, but an Imperial battle psyker. +

+ Following on from her Rogue Trader and techpriest comrades, the third hero/combatant for Combat Arena steps up. A similarly dynamic sculpt, I wanted to get across a slightly grubbier feel than Nayam Shai Murad, as Madellan is effectively a guardswoman. She's effectively an officer, sure, but still a relatively low-ranking member of the military. I used similar techniques for her coat, boots and gloves as for the Rogue Trader, but added touches of grey and brown to mute and neutralise the colours, giving a grubbier, less opulent result. +

+ The scheme is thus a bit of a 'symphony in brown'. Brown coat, brown trousers, brown holsters and pouches, brown wood on the staff... even brown-based skin. I hope, however, it's not dull. I've made sure to use different hues of brown, from pale wood on the staff to deep black-brown on the coat. The advantage this scheme gives is that it works beautifully as a base for some parts to leap out: +

+ To avoid the scheme being entirely brown, I added a flash of red for her sash. This 'hot spot' warms the scheme and draws the eye, so I added a little pattern with repeated dots, just to give a little freehand flair. +

 + I'm not generally a big fan of glowing eyes and so forth for psykers; I prefer to picture battle psyker's powers as more akin to Scanners-style brutality – less wizardy pyrotechnics, more people coming apart at the seams for no apparent reason. This is an example of leaving 'design space' in my collection for Eldar and similar figures who can be a lot more showy in their psychic showing. +

+ With that said, I'm always happy for technology to have a bit of object source lighting, so her psychic hood/collar thing has been painted with bright pale green light to suggest her psychic powers manifesting and being channelled through the hood. This is really at the root of why I opted for the deep dark brown scheme. +

+ If you want lights on a model to be effective, the underlying scheme needs to be low key – that is, for all the tones to be relatively dark – so that the lit-up parts stand out properly. If I'd used (say) a clean white coat, the lights on the collar wouldn't have read properly, as they'd be darker in tone than the coat – and clearly the object giving light needs to be lighter than the surroundings. Hue is largely irrelevant here; it's all down to tone. +

+ What's next? +

+ BEEP BOOP BEEP +

+ One last character – the sword and shield-carrying Crusader – is left, along with the pair of servitors above. As you can see, these are coming on quite swiftly. As befits these man-machine hybrids, I'm painting them up to look like a cross between workmen and a JCB, using the same scheme as I did for the galvanic servo-haulers terrain [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] . +

+ inload: Rogue Trader and Techpriest +

+ Rogue Trader and Techpriest +

+ Neyam Shai Murad and Daedalosus are characters from Blackstone Fortress: Escalation, and re-used in Combat Arena, which serves as a prequel of sorts. Both models were very enjoyable to paint, and were a great opportunity to play around with some different schemes and ideas. I've always loved ranks of uniformed troops, but the more I paint figures like this, the more I see the appeal of rag-tag bands. +

+ The basing is unfinished. I'll be doing all of the figures from the set in one fell swoop, to make sure it's coherent. Other than that, they're complete. +

+ Nayam Shai Murad, Rogue Trader +

+ Daedalosus, Technoarchaeologist +

+ Neyam Shai Murad +

+ The Rogue Trader's a great figure, though she has quite unusual composition – the masked face gives her anonymity and character, but makes it a less obvious focal point. There's also a lot of framing and extension going on with the cables, skulls, pistols and flaring coat. In planning the scheme, I wanted her to look wealthy but deadly, a sort of sci-fi Anne Bonny. To this end, I avoided a really ostentatious colour scheme, instead going for tastefully subdued to let sculpt's baroque weirdness and over-the-top nature really speak for itself. +

+ (And then I added bright red and white feathers, because muted and tasteful is all very well, but she is a Rogue Trader, after all!) +

+ To adapt to this, I chose to make the brightest points the leg-blade (I thought this was a cool sci-if touch that visually explains 'space pirate') and the feathers in her hat. The eye then travels up the length of the leading leg – note the use of cool white (silver), warm white (ivory chasing) and neutral white (breeches) to create some variety without sacrificing the overall hue. The eye is then led up the neckerchief thingie before resting on the head. +

+ I've made the studs on the front silver, on the advice of PCRC buddy Lucifer216 – a nice touch that breaks up the ivory; thanks for the idea. For comparion's sake, you can see the original ivory version in the top pict-capture of this inload. Subtle, but striking. +

+ I included the ivory on the mark and weapons as a way of suggesting opulence and wealth. A warm colour, It also echos the bone of the servo skulls, helping the piece to feel cohesive. To complement the warm yellow-tinged ivory, I used some of its complementary (purple) as a subtle glaze on the armour. +

+ A little freehand ensures that the mid-reloading six shooter has holes for the bullets to go into. +

+ Perhaps my favourite part is the worn leather of her coat. I was tempted to do something more flash, but in the end decided a weather-beaten but comfortable coat would reinforce the privateer-like feel of her character. +

+++

+ Daedalosus +

+ I was rubbing my automanipulator claws together with glee as I approached this figure. The Adeptus Mechanicus are a huge favourite of mine, and this sculpt has almost everything I love about the faction. +

+ In terms of scheme, I wanted to nod back to my Braun VI Skitarii – a long-lamented army which I lovingly converted and painted a decade or so ago – with the use of purple and green accents. I have moved the robes from the red of the originals to a rustier orange. Less Christmassy, I think. +

+ With such complex sculpts, it's sometimes hard to know where to begin. I painted the whole figure using a similar recipe and techniques as the Iron Warriors of Officio Monstrosa [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. This gave me a metallic figure; and it was then a case of overlaying the fabric, skin etc. with the appropriate colours – in effect, a form of negative painting. +

+ The orange-red was an experiment. I painted it a mucky pink first (a mix of Vallejo white with a touch of Dark Flesh) to ensure the silver was properly covered. Once dry, I overlaid it with Gryph-Hound Orange, one of the new Contrast Paints. This gave a nice clean starting point, which I then highlighted further with creamy additions to an orange paint. I pushed the shadows further with sepia ink and granulation medium, too. This added some subtle visual texture, and generally dirtied him up so the robe went with the beaten-metal appearance of the techy bits. +

+ After the fun I'd had with the astronomical/astrological freehand on the Word Bearers recently [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], I couldn't resist adding some similar 'circuit diagram'-style embroidery on Daedalosus' robe. There's a hint of the Necrons to this type of design, which I thought fitted nicely with the idea of a Technolarchaeologist without banging you over the head. +

+ I think it's very easy for the 'tech' part of techpriest to get emphasised, but the appeal to me of the faction is the mysticism and ignorance of the setting, so I've left the metals mostly fairly dull – with the exception of the tools themselves. I thought that precious technology like his pistol and tool belt would have religious significance, so would be especially carefully maintained. I gave these an addition highlight and some gold detailing. +

+++

+ Still to go to complete the set are the remaining two adventurers and the servitor. I've got an additional servitor because I love the figure (in fact, you can have a sneak peek of the twins by looking at the opening panoramic pict-capture of this inload), and so my Combat Arena will be especially deadly! I'm looking forward to getting a game in at some point soon. +

+ Next up: the psyker. +

+ inload: Catch-all +

 + Pondering the imponderables and taking stock +

+ No hobby should become a job; so I make no apologies that this inload's a bit diffuse – it's just a collection of odd thoughts and pictures that don't really warrant full inloads of their own. +

+ Combat Arena +

+ Hooray, I thought, as I saw an awesome Mechanicus model previewed last year. Boo, I thought, as I found out it would only be released in the US or Germany. A similar train of thought occurred when I found out – hooray – the model would be available locally after all... but only as part of a very expensive expansion to a game I don't own – booooo. +

+ In comparison to the closed, Stazi-like '**** you, peasants' attitude that GW had during the turn of the century, new GW is doing a great job; but with all the different (and, in fairness, fun) ways they're bringing models to the market, there are inevitably minor annoyances like this. +

+ I had resigned myself to waiting, as I'm sure the sprue will be available in some more affordable way one day, but then stumbled upon a box of the US-exclusive game on eBay for a decent price, and picked it up. I really liked Gorechosen – a very silly, very quick and very fun gladiatorial combat game – and this essentially looked like a reskin. +

+ Lovely delicacy and movement in the stock poses. +

+ To cut a long story short, the models are beautiful. In an unusual move, I decided to build them as the God-Emperor intended, straight out of the box. Since I don't usually do this, I'd forgotten how nice – and quick! – it is to do so. I ended up getting all five built and primed in under an hour. +

+ A Techpriest leads two servitors on techy-shenanigans+

+ The techpriest above was the catalyst for the purchase, but I'm starting to warm to the quick boardgame-style games GW have been putting out. In the past I've regarded them merely as extraneous packaging, but with hobby time disappearing, it's nice to go back to them and find some way to play with toy soldiers that can be set up, played and broken down in a short time. +

+ I think I'll always prefer the spectacle of a tabletop wargame, but with this and Betrayal at Calth [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] under my belt, perhaps I'll have an easy option for when time is tight. +

+ Either way, when I get a chance to play, I'll pop up a battle report. +

+++

+ Speaking of Wargames +

+ Ah, back in the comfort of serried ranks of troops. Age of Sigmar interest has returned to the PCRC, with Warmtamale and Lord Blood the Hungry leading the charge, and a couple of us gathering our forces in the wake of the release of Cities of Sigmar. +

+ With the drums and horns calling the Throng of Nog [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] to war once more, I did a quick squizzy at where they stand. +

+ Being a very mixed combo of swaps, ancient lead and second-hand rescues [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] built up over a few years, they're quite a mixed bunch. Now there's a bit more certainty about what things can be in the rules, I'm feeling more motivated to paint them up. They are, however, perhaps understandably a little mixed. From left, we've got:

• 18 undercoated crossbow dwarfs (their leader and a lone drunkard are on my painting desk).
• 33 dwarf warriors: 10 in the early stages of painting (the red file); 11 undercoated black, including the banner and musician; 11 undercoated grey and one filly painted leader.
• 5 grey-undercoated Hammerers, along with a painted Thane and Wizard.
• Roughly 40 Ironbreakers, around 15 of which are fully painted.
• In addition, there are a scattering of oddments.

+ Not as huge a backlog as I'd feared, but still something that's going to require some batch-painting. +

+++

+ Apropos of nothing +

+ In addition to the KR cases I use for storing most of my finished/ongoing armies (the poor dwarfs above will remain homeless for a little while), I have a small case which houses some more unusual miniatures, united only by being odd one-offs. The Court of the Sun King project is housed in here in its entirety, for example, including a number that I've never got round to painting. +

+ I mention this only because there's really no other reason that I got a pict-capture of the two below. I just happened to have five minutes and wanted to take a picture of some favourites. It's nice to look back, sometimes. +

+ Of course, looking back's also good to ensure we don't rest on our laurels. I remember being very proud indeed of these miniatures. Brother Hicks and Hutch (rear row, right and left respectively) in particular saw much battlefield time. Feast your eyes on the awesome freehand on their Legion of the Damned colleagues! +

(Shut up, those are excellent rib-cage patterns)

+ Onwards and upwards with the painting journey, I say; and remember – your hobby's not your job, and no-one giving you marks. +