"Til Gran Kythera Dow"

Malifaux is the great new game published by Wyrd. The game has been called revolutionary by many people due to the fact it utilizes playing cards instead of dice for determining outcomes of actions. Having read the rules and witnessed many demos, I think it's not a step in a new direction, but definitely a unique one, blending multiple game genres into one solid game. What I mean by blending is that you have, at the core, a miniatures skirmish game (you only really need to pick up a starter box and rulebook to play). The use of cards allows for slight variations in traditional miniatures rules and translates into some card manipulation like you might see in Magic or similar CCGs. The cards also lend the game to a resource management style, as you might see in board games. If you haven't heard about this game yet (I'm sure you have), haven't checked it out, or just need a break from traditional dice tossing, I recommend you give this game some serious scrutiny.

Another big draw for me personally is the miniatures. The minis are 32mm scale, slightly bigger than the GW minis. The bases in the game are the same as you would see in Warmachine, the 30mm round lipped. All types of genres are present in Malifaux. You like horror? It's there. Western? That too. Want some steam punk? How about Victorian? It's all there. For me, I have chosen to run the necromancers of Malifaux, the Resurrectionists. I have picked up all the starters for the 'Rectionists (there's about 3 starters per faction, 5 factions) and decided to paint up one of the more popular of the group: Seamus.

Seamus (aka the Mad Hatter) is Malifaux's version of Jack the Ripper meets Necronomicon. I've seen Seamus painted a variety of ways, however each way seemed to have bright, vibrant colors, sometimes pastel. Not for me! I chosen some more 'earthy' colors, and decided to use some simple designs using those colors to show he isn't wrapped to tightly.

• Hat and coat-Scorched Brown, 50/50 Scorched Brown and Graveyard Earth, Graveyard highlight.


• Cuffs, bag, collar-Graveyard Earth, 50/50 Graveyard and Commando Khaki, Khaki highlight


• Pants and hat band-Catachan green, 50/50 Catachan and Camo Green,Camo highlight


• Pant Stripes-Camo Green, 50/50 Camo and Bleached Bone highlight


• Gunmetal-50/50 Chaos Black and Boltgun metal, highlight with Boltgun


• Pocket watch and bag metal- Dwarf Bronze, 50/50 Dwarf Bronze Mithril silver, Mithril highlight.


• Flesh- Dark flesh, Dwarf Flesh, 50/50 Dwarf flesh and Elf Flesh, Elf Flesh highlight


• Stripes on hat-Chaos Black base, Dheneb Stone (leaving some black showing on the edges), Devlan Mud, Dheneb Stone.


• Whites-Done with building up from Codex Grey to Fortress Grey, 50/50 Fortress and Skull White, with final Skull White highlights.

I really tried to do a better than table top quality on this mini. The fact that I don't need so many models to play really allows me to want to a better job on the individual models. Hope it shows and I'll be posting more soon!



~Grendel

Returning to the Ultramarines – Scouts WIP

I can’t believe its been over two months since my last post.  Time can pass rather quickly when dealing with pesky life issues.  Anyway…

Getting back to it after a solid two month hiatus I’ve decided to return to my Ultramarines.  I’m a fan-boy, what can I say, that and with the new Blood Angel codex coming I figured I’ll take a step back from doing red.  

I’ve started making progress on my scouts, which are thankfully coming along very nicely.  When I fist dove into these guys I was a bit apprehensive as there is a lot of white (anyone who’s painted white onto black understands), but so far so good.

Keeping with (what I feel is) a slightly better than table-top standard these guys are all done in mostly the same manner as my tactical squad.

• Flesh – Tanned Flesh was used as a base coat.  Dwarf Flesh was then applied to all but the deepest recesses.  Finally the most pronounced features were highlighted with Elf Flesh.
• Fatigues – I painted the entire area Graveyard Earth followed by Kommando Khaki, taking care not to get any in the deepest recessed.  Next I built up the the color with a 1:1 mix of Kommando Khaki and Skull White.  Finally I finished it off with a highlight of pure Skull White.
• Aquila – Starting from a Chaos Black undercoat I painted the whole thing Shinning Gold.  I then painted Brown Ink into the recesses (this could be substituted for Devlan Mud).  Once the ink was dry I carefully highlighted the very edges with a 1:1 mix of Shinning Gold and Mithril Silver.

Thanks for stopping by.  Cheers!

Daemons, Part 1

I always wanted to play Daemons when they first came out, but one thing about the army always distressed me: Everything deploys via deep strike (AKA Daemonic Assault). It didn't make any sense to me. Why does GW call this rule 'Daemonic Assault' if my daemons can't assault when they enter play? I guess calling it 'Daemonic Non-Assault' just doesn't sound as cool. Furthermore, I didn't quite grasp the point of an assault army having such a blatant weakness.

The more I thought about it and read, the more mistaken I was. Yes, if you deep strike your units out in the middle of nowhere and in the open, some, maybe even most will be killed. However, the invulnerable saves really help in this matter. Not to mention that Daemons seem to be the type of army that if you loose some models in the beginning of the game, the remaining few can still really ruin an opponents day in close combat.

For the base troops in my army, I have a particular fondness for Daemonettes. For the points cost, you really get a bargain. With fleet, rending, high initiative, and 4 attacks off a charge, these gals pack a punch, and the only real complaint I have about the unit is their low strength and frailty. You need to hug cover or get these ladies into combat ASAP.

For the colors, I have chosen Astronomicon Grey with a 50/50 highlight of Astronomicon/skull white. Any claws, horns, nails, whatever where done with an overbrushing of Regal Blue, highlighted with Enchanted blue. The hair follows this as well but with an added highlight of Hawk Turquoise. The armor bits were actually pretty fun to paint, as it gave me an excuse to use colors I'll probably never get to use again. Amethyst Purple, an old Citadel color from way back when, a purplish metallic. Parts of the armor where painted with that, followed by a highlight of straight Mithril Silver. Other parts of the armor were painted with Boltgun followed by Mithril highlights.

After finishing a squad of Daemonettes, I decided for something a little more brutal. Bloodletters fit the bill nicely. If I tie something up in hand to hand with the Daemonettes, the 'Letters should be able to paste whatever is left. The Furious Charge ability, power weapon attacks, marine strength/toughness are gravy! The only thing I needed to really worry about is making sure I got the charge, which can be problematic at times.

The colors on this squad were done in the quickest way possibly, using alot of drybrushing techniques that included a base of Mechrite Red, then Blood Red, followed by sparingly using some Blazing Orange. The horns and tongues were left black, highlighted with Codex Grey. The Hellblades were done with Tin Bitz, followed by Brazen Brass highlights on the pommels and handguards, the blade itself with some Mechrite/Blood applied at the raised edges. Any skulls were done with the Dheneb/Devlan/Dheneb. It's a very easy paint scheme, and makes the models look good.



Finally, we come to the big boy! Soul Grinders are friggin awesome models, with some pretty solid abilities to bring to the table. Excellent CC potential, Fleet, 50/50 shooting, and anti-armor/infantry upgrades makes for a mean model. The only problem I had with this model is the occasional odd look I got from passers-by for declaring a 'Tongue Attack' on something.

This model was another one I wanted to get done quick but look good. Drybrushing all around, with the skin - Regal/Enchanted/Ice/Skull White. The mechanized portion of the model is just Boltgun. Parts that were left black were highlighted with Codex Grey. The chaos emblems on the leg plates, chest, and abdomen were done with mithril silver, and the the outer edges were hit by a watered down Snakebite Leather, just to make it look a lil' dirty!

This is just a brief taste of the army, as I still have much more to paint. Masque, Fateweaver, and some oh-so-fun-to-assemble Tzeentch daemons will be making their way through my painting desk in the near future. Hopefully.

C&C welcome!

~Grendel