A Dreaded Sunny Day, So Let's Go . . .

prime some minis.

Leader of the Beastmen.  "Right, where's Ned Stark then?"

I've been priming both metal and plastic minis in flat black Krylon automotive primer the last few years, unless I'm using the Army Painter color primers (Dragon Red for Blood Angels and Platemail for Grey Knights - the stuff works great . . . a quick spray, then a quick wash, then you're ready for the fun detail work in no time).  A black base coat works really well for me - when I miss a spot, I can just call it a "shadow."  And some of my mini's have enough shadows to look like dames from a 1950's film noir.

But, back in the 80's, we primed with grey.  I don't recall if it was an artistic choice, or if grey primer is all that was available back then, but that's what I was taught to use.  Maybe we just didn't know any better.  I certainly didn't.

Going Rogue (Trader): A study in pants

Over the last few years, I built up five different Warhammer 40,000 (WH40k) armies, with about 2,000 points for each army (in order of acquisition): Orks, Ultramarines, Grey Knights, Blood Angels  and Chaos Daemons.  Yeah, a bit heavy on the power armor, I know.  As I started the Chaos Daemons (are there any other kind?  Lawful-good daemons?) army, I wound up buying a few Reaper minis, and realized that - while they're not particularly detailed - they are still just as fun to play as highly detailed, resin-cast minis that cost four times as much.  And, I didn't mind painting them quickly to get them to the table for some dice rolling.

Then, just as I was getting my head around the changes from 5th edition to 6th edition - 7th edition came down like a ton of bricks.

Since the advent of 7th edition, I've been more interested in looking back instead of keeping up.  So, I've gone rogue.

I already had a few random WH40k minis in my old collection and recently acquired a few more.  There's lots of painting to be done, but here's a work-in-progress overview of how my forces are shaping up:

Spahze Mahrines:

First up is my oldest space marine.  I believe he's from Bob Naismith's 1988 sculpts:

This is from when Space Marines wore bloomers.  How do you go into battle without pants?  Maybe you make up for it by attaching a huge machete to your laspistol.

Chaos Warband - Part Four: Warband Assembled

After the great scouring of eBay, soaking metal dudes in Simple Green, scrubbing with a toothbrush, more simple green and/or acetone baths, and lengthy negotiations with the Beastmen's union boss, my Chaos Warband is assembled.

As a recap, the warband consists of:

• Dark Elf Hero;
• Three Hobgoblin; and
• Elevensies Beastmen.

A quick overview, before the lot of them heads off to the spray booth (i.e., a cardboard box and a can of Krylon in my backyard):

The fearless leader, telling his troops they're heading the wrong way.

Night Goblins into Hobgoblins (Part Two) . . . or Hobgoblins in Pantaloons

An attempt at adding a chaos symbol to a hat.  No worries, I'll just fix it in post production (i.e. paint over it).

Following a night of putting some goblin mini's on the rack, I arose in gleeful anticipation of finishing the job.  Unfortunately, it turns out greenstuff doesn't stick to plastic as easily as I'd hoped.  So, everything kind of fell apart.  Mostly, I was able to crazy glue the bits back together, but it was all a bit messier than I had hoped.

And, I also learned why people use metal wire framework for building up greenstuff.  Getting the legs together was so difficult, I wound up with giant greenstuff legs.  I just went with it, deciding they sort of looked like baggy pants.  

So, here we go:

Night Goblins into Hobgoblins (Part One) . . . or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Greenstuff

I needed three hobgoblin minis for my Chaos warband.  However, these old minis seem to be particularly hard to find at a reasonable price.  At the same time, I did randomly happen to have a box of the newer Night Goblins minis, as well as as an itch to try to do some simple greenstuff sculpting.  So . . . 

New Logo

I've spent the last three nights working on a new logo for TBW.

From pencil, to pen and ink, to photo, to GIMP, I've learned a lot in putting the logo together.  It's as busy-as-busy-gets, but I hope it captures the Oldhammer aesthetic whilst paying homage to the games I love.

At some point, I will likely refine the logo, but for now, I just need some sleep.

Building a (Tiny) Mordheim Board

Right, then.  We need someplace to put on a Puppet Show.

Seeing as I don't have enough projects to keep me busy, I (and my untreated ADHD) decided to start a small, 24"x24" Mordheim board this summer evening.  

Mordheim intrigues me, as it allows for small sets of minis to spar over a smaller board.  Fewer minis, smaller board, sounds like more gaming to be had!  As if I have time for that . . .

Mini-wise, I have acquired a small selection of Witch Hunters (half painted) and an unopened box set of the Possessed warband: 

And I've got a few Skaven and Sisters of Sigmar to start some additional small warbands.  Plus, I'm working on a Chaos Warband for WHFB3rd that can join in the fun.  These hardworking guys deserve some sweet terrain to fight over.  Nice terrain will inspire me to paint my minis, which will inspire me to buy more minis, and then build more terrain.

Chaos Warband - Part Three: Assembling the Troops

On the Chaos Warband front, I have three potential leaders for the warband.  First up, a pointy, dress wearing dark elf.  I will use him to display the glorious impact of a fine, Minwax finish on a mediocrely painted mini (which I didn't paint).  Don't listen to the guys at Home Depot, this stuff was made for dipping minis (that's why it's called Minwax!).

They went that way.

The First Games Workshop Space Marine?

Is this Games Workshop's first use of the term Space Marine?

Whilst playing the Doctor Who board game the other day, I came across something very surprising - at least to me.  In addition to the well known companions which a Doctor may acquire during the game, such as K-9 or Sarah Jane, a character named a "Space Marine" is available.

Second billing to Lyla.  Not too shabby, Mr. Space Marine!

I loved Doctor Who as a young lad, but I'm not so well versed in its cannon as to recognize that any Space Marines had been involved with the Doctor at all, let alone enough to qualify selection as a companion to the Doctor.  Other than "Army Unit" - which I assume refers to the United Nations Intelligence Team - the "Space Marine" is the only generic, unnamed companion.

Doctor Who Board Game - Games Workshop 1980

I can hear the title song now . . . Whoo eeee oooo, Ooo wee oooo.  But where is Mr. Baker's unforgettable smile?

My game collection, spotty as it is, includes a copy of Game Workshop's 1980 board game "Doctor Who - The Game of Time and Space."  Whilst it was largely acquired for nostalgic reasons, this morning I played a round of the game with a young companion (at his incessant urging).  I thought I'd share some pics and my thoughts for anyone who's ever seen the game but not had a chance to have a peek beneath the bonnet.

Back of the tin.