+ inload: Tallowlands Invitational MMXXVI +

+ Blood Bowl season +

It's that time of year again – time for Blood Bowl! After some fun warm-up games last weekend to get back into the swing of things and try the new edition, the PCRC are starting a new Tallowlands Invitational league.

I used my human team, Chaunterwick Unathletic, over the weekend, but the new season rules have introduced lots of subtle changes. I've decided to use this as an excuse to finish off my dwarf and elf teams, both of which have quite substantial changes that I hope will make for exciting plays and a fun experience all-round.

Both teams are still being kitted out (read: being painted), but I thought you might like to read a little about them.

+++

+ The Karak City Griefs +

Nickname  Blackened Angers

Head coach  Loki Nogson

Sponsors  Nogmeister beer – 'Follow the bear (he's nicked your pint)'

Stadium   Arrow-in-Head stadium

Hailing from the new port of Karak-Scael, the Karak City Griefs have long drawn their players and supporters from the port itself, along with the numerous mining villages in the foothills of the Greyspire Mountains. 

The Griefs describe themselves as a 'popular and successful' team; a claim which is certainly made by them.

More cosmopolitan than many dawi settlements, Karak-Scael – known outside of Khazlaid circles as 'Slate-on-Usk' – has only distant connections to the traditionalist and inward-looking dwarfs of Migdahlgorm to the west, and is refreshingly liberal. The port attracts travellers and traders of all kinds; and the streets – like the Griefs' home stands – is packed with dwarfs, humans, halflings and even the occasional elf, ogre or lizardfolk.

The dwarfs of Slate-on-Usk are as well-known for their wiliness as their more traditional dawi virtues of thrift and hard work. Riddling and gambling are common pastimes, and the culture of the port town has rubbed off on the team, who pride themselves on their 'unconventional' strategies and tactics.

+++

Starting lineup

Loki Nogson, a new coach for this season, has brought in a swathe of new young (well, youngish) players, including Bori Beardwold, a groggy transfer whose contract was definitely legal whatever you say, you can't go back on that just because you had too much ale, and Travage Kelsy, who made a name for himself as the fastest dwarf in the league last season – his quick thinking and speed making headlines across the region.

These new players join an experienced line-up of names like Morris Minehead, beloved for his reliable engineering, excellent ball-handling and classic style; the team's blitzer, Brock Brewcannon; and crowd favourite Ofdahn Pitt, a thoroughly local character, beloved for his ability to wind up the opposition with well-placed digs that inevitably leads to a big, crowd-pleasing scrum.

Leading this team into the Tallowlands Invitational is Captain Padraig Mastones, who previously headed up the Cadair-ap-Nadhg Capstones, a team of wood elves, dwarfs and gnomes who play Green Rules Blood Bowl, a little-known local variant. 

Mastones brings a wealth of experience from his time with the Capstones. His silver tongue (and heavy fists) means referees tend to be understanding if he occasionally 'happens to forget which variant he's playing', and 'accidentally' undertakes a play that is 'perfectly acceptable in Green Rules, I assure you' and unaccountably disallowed under the laws of both standard Blood Bowl and the Slate-on-Usk Town Watch.

• (Captain) Padraig Mastones (Runner)
Arin Fyrmfforge
• Brock Brewcannon (Blitzer)
• Bori Beardwold
• Travage Kelsy (Runner)
• On the Ball
• Ori Oakbrandy
• Stann Blockbeard
• Harri Halvpint
• Ofdahn Pitt
• Taunt
• Morris Minehead
• Biffur Broadbeam

+++

+ Argo Owlbears +

Nickname   The 'Chic'

Head coach  Vidal Monsoon

Sponsors  Elvies djeans – 'Denim that's better than yours, peasant'

Stadium   Sailor Field stadium

The Argo was supposedly the first elven ship to reach the Tallowlands, and – while possibly mythical – is a cultural touchstone for all Elves on the continent of Rho.

Amongst the great and the good*, the fact that this team of foppish, prancing chancers has adopted the name as their symbol is universally** agreed to be in terribly poor taste.

The Owlbears care not a jot, as long as they get a chance to show off their sparkly uniforms, glossy hair and perfect skin on the field of dreams.

Head Coach Vidal Monsoon is an outspoken advocate for the elf method of play – which is to say that the opposition aren't allowed to do any blocking in the first quarter, and ideally not the first half. Few other Tallowlands residents agree.

Famed mostly for the splendour of their coiffures, tightness of their uniforms and willingness to grant pre-, post- and during-match interviews, the Argo Owlbears are almost always known by their team nickname, which has become an honorary epithet amongst both home and away fans.

At least, the team think the traditional chant from the Away stands is 'You're chic and you know you are'.

* Here meaning 'other elves', of course, because who care what the other species think?

** Again – elves.

+++

Starting lineup

After a disastrous first season, where funds meant that only four extremely overpaid players signed contracts and took to the field, Monsoon's strategy this year can be summed up as 'never mind the quality, feel the width', with an eye-watering twelve players on the benches – almost unheard of for an elf team. 

Up-and-coming players to keep an eye out for are Loriel Elvies, who has impressed in early training by keeping his kit extremely clean through the canny expedient of staying away from any grubby-looking opposition players; and the dashing Brythael Pureologie, the only player remaining from the Owlbear's first season, who has been awarded the Captaincy on account of actually knowing how to play the game.

• Garniere Parée – line elf
• Owain Olaplex – line elf
• Brythael Pureologie – thrower (Cap) 
• Pro
• Twrch Vosiene – line elf
• Loriel Elvies – line elf
• Hit and Run
• Tre Sùmme – line elf
• Ceredig Kérastacy – line elf
• 'Red' Cenn Gracious – blitzer
• Eithinyn Ethique – line elf
• Seisyll Batiste – line elf
• Ouai Detocs – line elf
• Ceremonia – line elf

+++

+ inload D: Schwerpunkt – Mordheim MMXIX +

+ Something a little special for inload 'D' (that's number 500 for non-Romans). I have been invited by Alexander Winburg of the ever-inspirational Echoes of Imperium blog to get involved in a celebration of Mordheim, the Warhammer skirmish game which turns twenty this year [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. +

+ I was very flattered to be involved, then found out the other contributors – and very quickly became a bit intimidated! A list of the hobbyists taking part can be found here [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], but far more fun is the blog post with pictures of some of the miniatures [+noosphericinload link embedded+]. I thought I'd give a run-down of what my plans are, in order to give a little insight into my working methods, for what they're worth. +

+ The idea has been churning over for quite some time – Alexander asked if I would like to be involved back in mid-2018. I can only apologise for the time it's taken, but a combination of real-life busy-ness and wanting to do something really special meant it's been a while in the making. +

+ Anyway sufficient excuses; on with the plans. Regular inloaders will know I like to put together a 'conceptinload' of notes, to give me a feel for the idea as a whole. I then refer to this to develop the models. +

+ Theoretical +

+ As I understood things, at the root of the idea was an an affectionate retelling of Mordheim from 1999. Alexander was keen to strike a good midpoint between being us all having the freedom to be as creative as possible; while also not going too far off-piste. I had a little dig around history to find something appropriate to the concept of Mediaeval Europe through a dark mirror, and stumbled upon Jan Žižka.:

Žižka helped develop tactics of using wagon forts, called vozová hradba in Czech or Wagenburg by the Germans, as mobile fortifications. When the Hussite army faced a numerically superior opponent they prepared carts for the battle by forming them into squares or circles. The carts were joined wheel to wheel by chains and positioned aslant, with their corners attached to each other, so that horses could be harnessed to them quickly, if necessary. In front of this wall of carts a ditch was dug by camp followers. The crew of each cart consisted of 16-22 soldiers: 4-8 crossbowmen, 2 handgunners, 6-8 soldiers equipped with pikes or flails (the flail was the Hussite "national weapon"), 2 shield carriers and 2 drivers.

+ Poached from Wikipedia, I've added my own emphasis. That little list seemed to describe a Mordheim band to a T; and I started gathering bits... +

+ ...however, as more details emerged, the concept slightly evolved to an even more post-Apocalyptic setting – that of the ruined city twenty years on (i.e. Mordheim had moved on with real-world time). Other people's models started emerging at this point, and were very different to the fairly conservative approach I had started with (basically resculpted mercenaries). The stuff that was coming out was fantastic – heavily influenced by Bosch and full of Baroque grandeur. +

+ I scrapped my initial idea, and went back to the drawing board. I had been avoiding looking too much at the other contributor's works, as I don't want to be derivative, but instead give my response to the idea; but felt I wouldn't be giving enough with such a simple idea. So, I mused a bit more. +

+ The idea of 'twenty years on' really resonated with me, and I thought back to what I was doing twenty years ago – namely playing Advanced Heroquest and watching Conan the Barbarian with my brother. 'Now there's an idea,' I thought; and started gathering things together. The following are a few scribbled thoughts as visions of Advanced Heroquest, Heroquest and Warhammer Quest all got a bit bashed together. Hope you enjoy; and I hope to bring some proper models together to show soon. Can't all be planning, after all!

+++

Abstract – a pathetic group of old men and scared youngsters led by a man with a burning need to succeed, but none of the power. Everyday regular treasure-hunters; a mix of everyone. No-one in their prime. Not at all prepared for the monsters. Be a contrast for the other warbands – the regular folk that are scared of the dark

• Sertorius – Marienburger Captain. An Othello figure – proud but conflicted; hires the greatest warriors of a generation – unfortunately; the last generation...
• Heinrich Löwen (the fighter) – old and grizzled; Champion in charge of a group of henchmen. Scrubby beard; missing eye?
• Sven Hammerhelm (the Dwarf) – Champion in charge of another group of henchmen. Imperial Dwarf with ruffs and puffs, or stern classic?
• Torallion Leafstar (the Elf) – Abandoned the group; NPC that follows them? Elf Ranger NPC
• Magnus the Bright (the wizard) – senile (NPC); bathchair?
• Wizard's apprentice from Heroquest
• Barbarian from Heroquest – Ogre Bodyguard NPC?

At the height of their powers....

Use this shield design – update with Mordheim skull-headed crow?

FISHFISHSFISH

Owls – birds; carrion

Option 1

• [115GC] Sertorius, Mercenary Captain – 60GC; duelling pistol (25); light armour (20); sword (10)
• [110GC] Heinrich Löwen, Mercenary Champion – 35GC; heavy Armour (50), sword (10), shield (5) and helmet (10)
• [73GC] Sven Hammerhelm Mercenary Champion – 35GC; hammer (3), light armour (20), shield (5) and helmet (10)
• [30GC] Youngblood – 15GC; double-handed weapon [staff] (15), dagger (free)
• [200GC] 5 warriors – 125GC, three with a halberd (30), two with axes (10), three shields (15), two helmets (20)
• [70GC] 2 Marksmen – 50GC, each with a bow (20)

Hired swords

• [30GC+15] Magnus the Bright, Warlock
• [40GC+40] Torallion Leafstar, Elf Ranger
• [80GC+] The Barbarian, Ogre Bodyguard

Knight (injured?) and bearded wizard – ancient/senile(?); dwarf and elf absent(?)

Slambo enslaved? Or NPC?

Words:

• Canticle for Leibowitz
• Viriconium
• 'Scarred and scared': old and leathered leading fresh-faced and terrified henchmen
• Viginti – Twenty years on; aggressive sounding. Spiky.
• Scherpunkt – critical point. Punky puns.

[T]he most warlike of commanders and those who have accomplished most by a union of daring and cunning, have been one-eyed men, Philippus, Antigonus, Annibal, and the subject of this Life — Sertorius; he whom one may affirm to have been more continent as to women than Philip, more true to his friends than Antigonus, more merciful to his enemies than Annibal, inferior in understanding to none of them, but in fortune inferior to all; and, though he always found Fortune more hard to deal with than his open enemies, yet he proved himself her equal by opposing the experience of Metellus, the daring of Pompeius, the fortune of Sulla, and the power of the whole Roman state; a fugitive and a stranger putting himself at the head of barbarians.

Plutarch: Life of Sertorius

Palette:
Ratspike Ian Miller – greens and blacks; Rembrandt – deep rich darks; reds and yellows. Touch on three-dot yellow-ochre used on Unfortunus Veck – perhaps servo-souls? Punk stylings. Leather jerkins; grubby metal. Pastel pinks? Outré exorbitant fabrics utterly spoiled in the City.

+ inload: Chaunterwick Unathletic ready for play +

+ First drive +

The team's moving out onto the pitch. After a push last night, I've got the squad ready for gaming. I hesitate to say absolutely finished – I'd like to punch up the red with some glazes, and I'm umming and ahhing about weathering – but they're certainly at a stage I'm happy with for a few games.

Numbering on both the front and the back helps with identification during gaming, so I've added high contrast flashes with the player's number on. These also look nice, of course! A few little details like this work wonders for making them appear like a sports team.

You won't have missed the names on the front of the base, either. These are visually distracting, but these are gaming pieces first and foremost, so I think they're worthwhile here. In the past, I've always found it adds hugely to the enjoyment of the game if I can think in terms of individuals rather than abstract pieces – and that applies to both sides. Victories are sweeter when 'such-and-such' scores a sweeping touchdown; and setbacks are softened if you can think in sports terms – 'so-and-so' stealing an interception from your pass is a more immersive result.

Distinguishing positional players is important, and I like to make it as easy for the other coach as possible. In addition to the differences in sculpt and pose, my blitzers all have a white frontpiece to their helm. This is the sort of decision you can make that doesn't compromise the uniformity of the team strip, but does avoid confusion, which is the bane of Blood Bowl. No-one likes seeing a critical play fail because you mistook the stormvermin for a gutter runner.

Fortunately, the sculpts of this team make distinguishing positionals relatively easy; the catcher and thrower here are good examples of how a change in pose and a few select details can help a sculpt to tell a story – in addition to having a ball sculpted on, the throwers share open-faced helms (in contrast with the barred helms of the linemen and blitzers), and their poses make them look lighter on their feet without charging (as with the blitzers). Similarly, the catcher is much more lightly armoured, and has an oven glove catcher's mitt that further emphasises his pose.

Here's the team photo. The throwers are my favourite sculpts; probably because their faces are more visible. You'll notice the ball on Jimmy Turnpike's base – it's easy to forget the other bits and bobs you need for the game; and I think it's a shame to have a pair of lovely teams playing with unpainted reroll counters, turn markers etc. As a result, I started painted those at the same time; though I'm afraid my eyelids drooped before finishing the re-roll marker!

+ inload: Blood Bowl – Chaunterwick Unathletic +

+ Return to the Tallowlands +

+ With the Iron Circle polished off [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], part II of my short-term 2018 plans, detailed in inload #400 [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] is in motion. After a push last night, the whole team is at a stage where I can turn to the enjoyable detailing. +

Excuse the slightly scary pupil-less eyes; still WIP!

+ Chaunterwick Unathletic's 'stadium', the Purefinder Bowl; capacity 1200(ish, depending on whether smaller spectators are willing to sit on larger spectator's shoulders) – isn't the most attractive, comfortable or practical playing field. You might expect a 'but' to append that last sentence, but there isn't one. +

+ A Catcher and two throwers: #7 Marius Magismet; #3 Jimmy Turnpike; and #1 Karljung Eastmoor (VC). +

+ With the exception of the Captain, Piritt Silvers, who is a slightly converted version of Forge World's Griff Oberwald, the team is the metal version released by Games Workshop in 2004. I bought a set years back, and regretted selling it on, so it's nice to have a set again. Nicer still to have it (nearly) painted! The original set was unusual for a GW release in that it had a full sixteen-man team, each with a unique sculpt. Mine has a duplicate, because I wanted a crouching scrimmage line (see below). +

+ The team's blitzers: #10 Harald Furness, #2 Piritt Silvers (C), and #13 Bobby Tuppence. +

+ Prior to the new plastics, this was the most up-to-date human set, though because it was received a limited release through the short-lived Fanatic subsidiary, it may be unfamiliar to some readers. The sculpts vary in quality. I think the throwers are fantastic, but there are huge inconsistencies within the set in terms of height, hand size and general bulk. +

+ Even taking into account differences in posture and physical variation, the set is a bit all over the place, particularly in the standing linemen, which I think are the weaker sculpts of the set; their poses a bit half-hearted. With that said, it does give the models great character and individuality; meaning that each one really does feel like a real person. +

+ Bruisers on the line of scrimmage: #5 Derby Welch, #4 Bartram Binks, and #12 Bryan Wobegone. +

+ One thing I didn't like about the set was the huge spikes and blades all over the models. Yes, they add to the over-the-top Blood Bowl feel, but to be honest, I think they look much better trimmed down – you can judge for yourself by comparing the unmodified Derby Welch (on the left) with Bryan Wobegone (on the right). Apart from anything else, I think easily-hidden knuckledusters and subtly sharpened rivets are much more in-keeping with the (admittedly fairly blurry) in-universe rules of having no weapons on the pitch. +

+ ...and the remaining linemen: #9 Ifor y Gyrdl, #8 'No-Hope' Nobbins, #6 Toby Riverbank, and #11 Colin Ap Scond. +

+ Part of the reason I like this set so much is that it's largely divorced from the Warhammer military. Most of the 3rd edition Blood Bowl releases took too many design cues from their respective Warhammer army (the High Elves were a particularly bad culprit), and lost the 2nd edition fantasy football charm. These have it back in spades, and it's interesting to note the similarities between these relatively unsophisticated sculpts and the new Griff model, who reads like a very slick update of the metals. +

+ What next? Well, I'm hoping to finish off the team this week, if not tonight, and then it's on to the next part of my short-term plan: a return to the Alien Wars [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]; though perhaps with a quick diversion to the Iron Warriors – the PCRC are meeting up at the end of the month, and we've got a big game planned. +

+ inload: New camera, old – and new – models +

+ inload: Witness the marvels of the Mechanicum +

+ I've upgraded my phone, which means future pic-captures should be slightly improved. +

+ Not being the most technically-minded person in the world, I'm sure I'm not quite getting the best out of it, but even these quick snaps are an improvement over my old phone in terms of sharpness and white balance. +

+ Anyway, enough technobabble. What better showcase than my own minion of the Machine God, Magos Manderghast? He's particularly precious because I (rather stupidly) left him on a table at Warhammer World after a visit. +

+ Fortunately, some kind soul handed him in, which rather affirmed my faith in humanity; and the staff at GWHQ very kindly sent him home free of charge. Thanks chaps! +

+ He's a very fragile miniature, so I was anticipating a fairly major repair job, but the damage was fortunately minor. Aside from the resin snapping on his servo arm, and his arm becoming detached, he was intact. A little glue fixed things right up. +

+ As you can see, the new camera's optical zoom means I'm getting better depth of field, so more of the figure is in focus, and I'm getting less issues with amount of light. The plus side of this is that you can see details like the text on his auspex-scanner thingies. The downside is that all the painting blemished will be visible! +

+ It's quite nice coming back to an old figure. I've always been pleased with Manderghast, who has a relatively simple but effective scheme; but had quite forgotten the heavy weathering on that chequered parchment, and the red overload area on the dial on his backpack. +

+ A dwarfen throng +

+  Dwarfs! Shadespire has my Warhammer autoglands secreting once more, so I built these over the weekend. +

+ Legio Nikator +

+ Slow but inexorable progress on the Titans of Legio Nikator. +

+ inload: Painting Stormcasts WIP +

+ Stormcast of the Tallowlands +

Battered, war-weary and quietly noble is how I like my heroes, whether that's in the grim darkness of the far future, or in the PCRC's little nook of the Mortal Realms, the Tallowlands.

The examples here, of an as-yet-unnamed Chapter Chamber, are my version of the three lost in the city of Shadespire. The game, Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire, is very fun, by the way. I picked it up on a whim, and very much enjoyed my first game. The figures are good too; it's nice to see both a bare-headed and a female Stormcast, and their Khorne adversaries are also fun.

As you can see, I've gone for a turquoise and bronze scheme. I think it makes them look a little like worshippers of Manaan, the Old World god of the sea. Perhaps that's where I'll take the concept of their Chamber.

+ Painting bronze +

_1 Prime grey.

_2 Paint the metal areas with a 70:30 mix of Abaddon Black and Balthazar Gold.

_3 Add more Balthazar Gold to the mix, along with a drop or two of silver ink (I use Winsor & Newton's inks). Use this mix to highlight, leaving at least a third of the armour plate as the darker base coat in the areas away from the light source. This is generally the bottom third of the area, but this will depend on the shape. 

At step 5, you should have three main areas of tone, which blend
smoothly into one another, as shown on the helmet here.

_4 Wash with Druchii Violet.

_5 Dilute Balthazar Gold with silver ink (a drop or two is fine) and a little flow medium. Use this to highlight, looking to cover roughly a third of the armour plate. As with the earlier highlighting (step 3), pay attention to the light source, and apply the highlighting to the upper third.

_6 Using a dry soft brush and silver ink, make small, light, circular movements to texturise and highlight the metal in direct light. Think of it as very controlled drybrushing.

_7 You can edge highlight now, if you want to make the shapes pop.

That's about as far as I've got at the moment; the rest is firmly work-in-progress.

 +++

+ Severin Steelheart +

I treated the exposed face of the leader of the group as an exercise in strong directional lighting. In essence, I added highlights on one side and shading on the other, rather than the more neutral 'modelling' lighting I usually use, where highlights are applied more evenly, as though lit from above.

The right-hand side, as you can see, is considerably darker than the left. Note that this sort of painting relies on using an imaginary source of light that is consistent across the model; so the metals are also highlighted as though there's a light to the left of him.

Note that the right-hand side of the face (his left) does not remain highlighted entirely  – you can see this in the detail above – but the highlights are less strong, and the shadow covers more of his face (look below the cheekbone, for example).

I'm pleased with how the experiment worked out, as I think it gives a fairly dramatic effect. There's nothing inherently more difficult than 'normal' highlighting to this; it's just a case of treating the figure's face as any other object, and changing the place where you add your highlighting. 

The rest of the figure is fairly straightforward. I've added a quick chequerboard pattern to the hem of his cloak, and need to decide whether the shoulder pads are going to remain the same bronze as the armour, or be picked out in a different colour.

I'm fairly sure the weapons will be silver. Bronze may make a nice change of pace for the armour, but a bit of contrast in tone is necessary to make the figures sing.

Hopefully the bases will also help with this.

+ Obryn the Bold +

As seems typical, I tried out the technique on the most important model (Steelheart, in this case), in the expectation that I'd do my best job while fresh. 

As it turned out, going straight in and spending less time faffing around with experimenting gave a more striking effect on the other two. On balance, I think the bronze at least is better here than on Steelheart. However, I'm annoyed about the line between parts on the pad on this figure, Obryn the Bold; I should have spent more time prepping such an obvious area. 

Other than that, I'm pleased. I found Obryn the least charismatic of the sculpts because he's the most 'typical' of the Stormcast, and so I wanted to do something that made him look more interesting. 

His background suggests that he's gradually losing his soul and character through being reincarnated, so I tried to represent this through the use of some verdigris; the implication being that he's becoming less aware of his surroundings out of battle, so he's starting to miss areas when maintaining and clearing his gear.This makes a virtue of the monolithic stance and slow, imposing sense of weight. 

I didn't want to go over the top – a little goes a long way with weathering. In any case, with turquoise used elsewhere, the verdigris needs to act subtly, or it'll just get confusing.

+ Angharad Brightshield +

Brightshield has a much more dynamic pose than Obryn, and it is one that worked well with the painting technique detailed above.

The open stance meant that it was easy to get highlights and shading where they should be, as the arms are conveniently held out to the sides.

I did leave the shield off when painting, but made sure to take it into account when working out what would be catching the light and what would be obscured.

For the most obvious example, the gauntlet behind the shield would have been brightly lit were the shield not there, but I needed to paint it as though in shadow once the shield was taken into account.

I'm looking forward to finished off these figures. A few of the PCRC are meeting up at the weekend, and I'd like to have them finished in time for a game or two.

+ inload: Witchhunters of Shallowell +

+ Witchhunters +

+ Quick, dirty and done. No, not their modus operandi, but the paintjob on these witchhunters. As you can see from these pictures – taken last thing at night – the paint's still wet, but they're complete enough to take part in the PCRC's opening game set in the town of Shallowell. +

+ The game is a bit of a tutorial – only the organiser, Lord Blood the Hungry – has played Mordheim before, but he's been beavering away building a very cool little town – I'm looking forward to getting some pictures of the game. +

+ Before that, though, here's a quick peek of my band of merry frightful worshippers of Alluminas. They're a good example of the sort of finish I get from batch painting – nothing to look at individually, but with a good cohesive feel. +

+ The Witchhunters themselves mainly wear heavy leather coats, painted with a simple mix of sepia ink, Charadon Granite and Abaddon Black paint. The models are loaded down with quite a lot of detail, so – aside from the old man on the right – these will probably just get some grass tufts and cleaner highlighting before I call them properly finished. The old witchhunter will benefit from some freehand – something like some damage to his breastplace and a chequered set of hose, perhaps. +

+ Very few worshippers of Alluminas can be called sane – and these flagellants are not counted amongst them! Their bright white robes, torches and bells are intended to draw the attention of their enervating deity. +

+ A chirrhound and three bullying lunks with hammers. Not much to say about them paint-wise, beyond that they were a bit more interesting than the mostly-black witchhunters and mostly-white flagellants. +

+ To finish, a terrible pict-capture of the group. Two further chirrhounds and a horse (and an extraneous flagellant) still await paint – but I decided I'd rather field most of the group painted to a slightly better level than all of them at an earlier stage. +

+ inload: Mechanicum, Witchhunters and blog updates +

+ Ongoing datahub polishing +

+ The more observant amongst you [praise be the Omnissiah for additional optic/haptic systems] might have spotted an '+ ACTIVE DATASTREAM +' tab at the top of the page. After the requisite incense is burnt and runes have been scribed on the data-engines, this will be joined by a few other tabs in the near future, which will provide summaries of my various projects and generally help to guide people around this little corner of the noosphere. +

+ I'd very much appreciate any thoughts on this minor reorganisation. I've had some very useful comments on which inload-posts people like best – generally tutorials, battle reports and theory stuff seem to go down well – but I've always got an audio pickup out for anything that people would like to see, so do feel free to let me know what you like or dislike about the blog, and would like to see more/less of. +

+++

+ Witchhunters +

+ Painting has picked up – and none too soon; the inaugural game set in Shallowell is this Saturday, and I'd like the Witchhunters to be at a decent level before then. I had planned to get further, but an unfortunate 24-hour bug over the bank holiday weekend put paid to those plans! +

+ Batch painting versus the individual approach +

+ I'm fairly pleased with what I got done in the limited time, though the curtailed painting time meant I was forced to go for a batch approach over the individual approach I had intended. Batch painting isn't bad – no approach to painting is, in my opinion – but I rarely find it as enjoyable and absorbing as painting models one at a time. The strengths of batch painting (at least for me) are:

• Speed – The desaturated yellow is a good example of an accent used in various places – ribbons, loincloths, feathers etc. These are tiny little areas on individual models; batch-painting allows you to hop from model to model to apply the same colours across the group. Similarly, it helps to streamline drying time – hope to another model while you wait for the first to dry.
• Less wastage – If you're using a mix from your palette (as with most of the colours here), you don't need to mix them afresh every time. I find this hugely useful for painting skin, where I tend to work from large pools of paint that I mix visually – it's incredibly hard to remix these later, so I often end up using huge amounts of paint for relatively tiny areas of single figures.
• Cohesiveness – Painting a group in one go makes it easy to remember paint recipes, techniques and any considerations about the figures (colours of details, how you approach particular areas and so forth) across the whole group.

The downsides are:

• Repetitiveness – Inevitably, painting the same colour or areas cross a number of figures can get repetitive, leading to loss of concentration and boredom, or a slap-dash approach that leaves some of the figures painted less carefully than others.
• Lack of connection – This is the big failure of batch painting for me. It takes away the sense of artistry and flow in a piece; jumping from model to model stops me caring about the individual pieces. No matter how good the result, I never enjoy the process of painting as much. 
• All or nothing – Until you put the last touches on the batch, you haven't got a single finished figure to show for your work. I find this can be disheartening – particularly if you don't know when you'll next have some time to paint.

+ Of course, one person's famine is another's feast – you may find consistently painting a particular area of detail across a group more relaxing and approachable than having to face it as part of the broader individual; or find it rewarding to suddenly have a whole group 'fall into place' almost at once, in which case the weaknesses I identify above might be positives for you. As I mention above, there's no right or wrong way to paint. While I generally avoid batch painting, I always keep it as an option. The broader your range of techniques and approaches, the better. +

+ In a demonstration that great minds think alike (or fools seldom differ!) The inimitable Asslessman's excellent post on Leadplague last week [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+] shows just how effective batch painting can be, even in combination with time-intensive techniques like wet-blending. +

+ It's also worth mentioning that there's a bit of a false dichotomy in the heading. It's not a case of 'either/or', but rather two approaches that can, and should, be combined. Whether that's simply by undercoating ten models at once before painting them all individually; batch-painting in small groups of two or three; or batch-painting the regiment but treating the command group as individuals, varying your approach can help to keep your painting time fresh and rewarding. +

+++

+ Marvels of the Mechanicum +

+ The remaining Thallax [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+] have been assembled and stand ready to receive some paint. The scheme's going to match Manderghast here [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+] – that is, if I can remember how I tackled the robes to get that orange! +

+ The scuttling foot troopers of the Mechanicum bring me neatly on to something that I very rarely work on – vehicles. In this case, a particularly big task, as it's a Knight-class battle walker. Not quite a true Titan, this chap's still intimidatingly large. Having been sitting, accusingly unbuilt, for over a year as I build up the confidence to tackle something so big, I've finally started cleaning and assembly. +

+ Nothing ever improves your work like stepping outside your comfort zone, so I hope you'll follow along as I finally pull my finger out and get working. +

+ inload: Witchhunters of the Tallowlands

+ inload: The Subtlety of Witchfinders +

“It’s no stone. Samphire is hobbled. She won’t be carrying you further today.” Madczek looked up from the horse’s hoof. Ne’erwell’s pinched face screwed tighter.

“On the crossroads, too.” He pulled his cloak about him as he spoke. The wind was picking up, and the storm was coming in. “Whatever way you look at it, it’s an ill-omen.”

The rest of the group stood in silence as Madczek stood up, snapped his knife shut, and dusted the knees of his breeches. In the dim light, the group’s long capes made them look like statues, or temple-stones. Even the hounds were quiet tonight. There was electricity in the air; a sullen, bruised sense of expectation.

“A happening in this benighted place speaks volumes.” Ne’erwell intoned. “Dante, Plainacher.” The two stood a little straighter. “Lodgings. Find us some.”

“And the captive?” Madczek queried.

Ne’erwell looked over at Pendle, who grinned, his teeth glistening and wet. The sadist’s long, pale fingers ran caressingly up and down the wicker cage.

“Until those two find us a village or hamlet with lodgings, we’ll need warmth.” Ne’erwell declared. “The witch can serve in more than one way tonight.”

+++

+ Dramatis Personae +

Left to right: Pendle Anderssen, Tobias ne'erwell, Marios Madczek, Fausta-Severia de la Saul

“Tobias Ne’erwell, Witchfinder. Not a man with a great sense of humour. Not much to him beyond his hatred of witches, to be honest. Why’s he that way? Some say his own kinder was a witchling. Not me. I know what’s gossip, and what’ll get you… disappeared.“

• Witch Hunter Captain (60 GC) 20 exp
• Sword (10 GC)
• Light armour (20 GC)
• Lantern (10 GC)

“Fearful. It’s not a word you associate with the witchfinders, but in its own way, it’s as staunch as courage. Shows a man who thinks. Shows a man who’s wise enough to jab a blade through his bed each night – just in case of monsters. Marios Madczek. An old associate of Ne’erwell; his old master, if you can believe it. Goes to prove the saying.”

• Witch Hunter (25 GC) 8 exp
• Sword (10GC)
• Light armour (20 GC)
• Lantern (10 GC)

“Pendle Anderssen. Notorious sadist. Notorious pervert. Good at finding witches, mind. You wouldn’t know him from the next man in the bawdyhouse. And if you think what goes on in your own house is private, you don’t know the witchhunters.”

• Witch Hunter (25 GC) 8 exp
• Hammer (3 GC)
• Axe (3 GC)
• Torch (2GC)
• Rope and Hook (5 GC)

“That's Fausta-Severia de la Saul. Tilean. A fine shot. Nobility, some say. ‘Course, some say she’s a conartist, a highwaywoman and vagabond – no better than them she hunts. Not in earshot, though. Leastways, not more‘n once.”

• Witch Hunter (25 GC) 8 exp
• Axe (3 GC)
• Dagger (free)
• Crossbow pistol (35 GC)
• Net (5GC)

+ Grubby henchmen +

Yes there are three here; and yes I did get carried away building them!

“Devotees of some dead god. Mad as a box o’ fish, both of ‘em. Don’t go near ‘em, don’t talk to ‘em. Don’t look at ‘em.”

• 2 Flagellants (40 + 40 GC)
• Flagellant with flail (15 GC)
• Flagellant with flail (15 GC)

Samphire the horse is at the back. She's not part of the warband yet, but will (hopefully) be joining once her hoof heals (i.e. I manage to trade for a horse in-game).

“Fine trackers. Good manhounds. Strong as an oak beam and about as deadly if one falls on you.”

• 3 Warhounds (15 + 15 + 15 GC)

Dante, Cosmo, Plainacher. I wanted to get a slightly hesitant look – hence weapons across bodies and hunched, closed-in posing.

“Wherever you find a leader, you get the dullards who follow. When you get leaders with funny ideas, you get zealots. One come in the public house over at Mensgrave – aye, just down the way. Came back every night for a week straight. Just sat and stared. Fair put the fright on the village. Came back Sallowstag to find the place shut; some learnedman’s writing nailed to the door. It burned the following week.”

• 3 Zealots (20 + 20 + 20 GC)
• Zealot with Hammer (3 GC)
• Zealot with Mace (3 GC)
• Zealot with Hammer (3 GC)

 +++

+ As part of the PCRC's Tallowlands setting, Lord Blood the Hungry is running a Mordheim-based campaign. I say Mordheim-based as I think the plan is to make the games more exploratory and open-world. He's created a mysterious town in the woods that we'll be exploring. +

+ inload: Six Species Player Profiles #1

+ Player Profile: Jimmy Turnpike +

Height: 5' 9"

Weight: 194lbs

Age: 19

Experience: First season

Team: Chaunterwick Unathletic

Season stats:

Position: Thrower

MA: 6  ST: 3  AG: 3  AV: 8

Skills: Pass, Sure hands, Dump-off

Games played: 2

TD scored: 1  Comp: 1  Int: 0  Cas: 0  MVP: 2

+ James Turnpike is a new signing to Chaunterwick Unathletic, a promising youngster recruited by a talent scout after winning the parish horseshoe-tossing contest at the Grimchurch village fête. After his interview*, Turnpike signed a short-term** contract to the team, where he swiftly stood out as one of the few members of the 'Bobbins' (as Unathletic are fondly known) to show some ability to handle the ball. +

+ Proving himself a valuable member of the team, Turnpike combines two traits uncommon, even surprising, for a Blood Bowl player: a reluctance to be punched and a genuine talent for getting rid of the ball before the tackle is made. His position as quarterback makes use of his keen eye, and means that the other 'Bobbins' are keen to get the ball to him – much to his dismay! + 

* i.e. fighting his way out of the sack into which he had been bundled and finding himself miles from home.
** In relative, geological, terms.

+++

+ Painting +

+ Still nominally WIP, Turnpike's a colour test for my first new team in a good few years; a scheme loosely based on both the Welsh Rugby strip and Charlton Athletic's. He's worked up from a red primer base, with a pair of reds (one for armour, one for cloth) and a pair of creamy whites (again, one for armour, one for cloth). +